RT — Putin: No external pressure on Russia will go unchallenged

“Nobody should have any illusions that it’s possible to achieve military superiority over Russia – or put it under some sort of pressure – as we’ll always have an adequate response to such reckless schemes,” Putin told the audience. 

The President said that Russian “soldiers and officers have proven that they are ready to act decisively, coherently, professionally and courageously, performing the most difficult unconventional tasks, as befits a modern, experienced, combat-ready army, which values its traditions and military duty.”

“A large-scale program of rearming the Army and Navy is being successfully implemented, which includes an active development of the aerospace and nuclear forces. This is the guaranty of global parity,” the president said,…

RT

Putin: No external pressure on Russia will go unchallenged

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Foreign military threat real, most Russians believe – poll

Some 68 percent of Russian citizens hold that the likelihood of foreign military aggression towards their country has increased. At the same time, 49 percent consider the current state of Russian military as ‘good’.

The research conducted by the government owned agency VTSIOM in mid-February among 1,600 respondents in 132 cities and towns across Russia. According to the poll, the ‘foreign threat index’ is currently at a record high – the number of Russians who think an unspecified foreign military threat is real rose from 52 percent year ago to 68 percent. The share of those who doubt in the existence of such threat has fallen from 42 percent a year ago to 28 percent. 

The share of positive appraisals of the Russian military has also grown – 49 percent of the audience describes the current state of the forces as good compared to 24 percent in 2014. Another 40 percent answered that the Russian military is strong enough to repel threats, but still needs improvement. The percentage of responders who gave a negative appraisal of the forces’ condition fell from 14 percent to just 6 percent over the same period. 

However, 40 percent of Russians said that the strength of the country’s military forces must be increased. Forty-two percent see no such urge and 7 percent that the ranks of the military can be slashed.…

In late January this year, major independent pollster Levada Center released the results of its own poll that showed that the record number of Russians confessed to negative attitude to Western nations. 

The number of Russians who claimed their negative attitude to the United States rose to 81 percent compared to 44 percent a year ago. About 71 percent of those polled claimed a negative attitude to the European Union (up from 34 percent). Some 24 percent said that the EU and Russian Federation were in hostile relations, compared to just 1 percent in January 2014.