If anyone needed a sign that Russia is preparing for all-out war, they need only look at what took place today earlier in Moscow. PANTSIR-S air defense systems were hoisted by cranes onto the rooftops of Russia's Ministry of Defense, and several other government buildings around Moscow.
In the photo below, you can see the PANTSIR-S installed atop Russia's Ministry of Defense Headquarters in Moscow:
In the brief 20 second video below, you can see a large crane, surrounded by Russian Army trucks on the street below, hoisting a PANTSIR-S1 onto the roof of another government building elsewhere in Moscow:
Here is what it looked like once the crane had finished:
PANTSIR-S1
The PANTSIR-S-1, shown below in a FILE PHOTO from an Air Show, is one of the most formidable anti-aircraft defense systems in the world.
It comes in a variety of models, some all-inclusive with Radar, missiles, and anti-aircraft guns, as shown above, or with the Radar unit separate from the missile and gun batteries, as seen in this additional FILE PHOTO from an air show:
The radar unit above can command and control several different batteries of missiles and guns.
The fact that the Russian government is now moving THIS type of defensive system onto the roof of the Ministry of Defense and onto other roofs of other government buildings in Moscow, shows they __ E X P E C T __ to be at war soon, and they __ E X P E C T __ Moscow to be attacked by air.
One does NOT hoist anti-aircraft missile systems onto the roofs of government buildings on a lark; they do this because they EXPECT to need it.
The Pantsir missile system is a family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems. Starting with the Pantsir-S1 as the first version, it is produced by KBP Instrument Design Bureau of Tula, Russia, and is the successor to the Tunguska M1.
The Pantsir-S1 was designed to provide point air defense of military, industrial and administrative installations against aircraft, helicopters, precision munitions, cruise missiles and UAVs; and to provide additional protection to air defense units against enemy air attacks employing precision munitions, especially at low to extremely low altitudes.
The first finished version was completed in 1995 with the 1L36 radar, later another was designed. It is a short to medium range ground-based air defense system, wheeled, tracked or stationary with two to three operators. Its air defense consists of automatic anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles with radar or optical target-tracking and radio-command guidance.
Its purpose is the protection of civil and military point and area targets, for motorized or mechanized troops up to regimental size or as defensive asset of higher ranking air defense systems like S-300/S-400. The system has capability for anti-munitions missions. It can hit targets on the waterline/above-water. It can operate in a fully automatic mode. It has the ability to work in a completely passive mode. The probability of hitting a target for one missile is not less than 0.7 with a reaction time of 4–6 seconds. It can fire missiles and gun armament while in motion.
For its main radar station, early detection in height may be between 0–60° or 26–82° depending on the mode. The system is claimed to have significant advantages over other systems, such as Crotale NG (France), Roland-3 (France + Germany), Rapier 2000 (UK), SeaRAM (Germany + USA). This is not confirmed by comparative testing, but clearly follows from the declared limit of possibilities of systems (2010). In 2013, there was a variant with two radar stations for early detection, standing back to back. The system has a modular structure which enables a fast and easy replacement of any part.
After receiving target coordinates (from any source) it may engage the target (using all the radar except the early detection radar) within a range from −5 to +85 (82) degrees (vertical). The interval between missile launches is 1–1.5 seconds (a world record for analogue systems).
The S-400 Triumf and Pantsir missile system can be integrated into a two-layer defense system.
The images and video above PROVE that things between Ukraine and Russia are getting very much worse and that Russia expects to be attacked by NATO. Ukraine no longer has much ability to attack Russia and certainly not Moscow. So it is only logical for one to conclude that these defensive missile systems are being mounted because Russia now EXPECTS to do battle with NATO.
This is the worst sign yet that World War 3 is very much heading our way.
TAKE-AWAY: Since Ukraine lacks any real ability to hit Moscow, the question now facing all of us is simple: Will NATO simply "jump-in" to the Ukraine-Russia fight, or has Russia now decided that NATO has interfered so much, they must be hit first? Of course, if the latter is the case, then there wouldn't logically, be a NATO counter-attack and Moscow could be hit.
This is how dangerously close all of us actually are to the commencement of World War 3. And the mass-media, in the US, UK, and EU . . . haven't said much about it at all. Most citizens in the US, UK, and EU are blissfully unaware of how much trouble our "aid" to Ukraine is causing.
UPDATE 2:13 PM EST --
The European Union (EU) has set up its first stockpile to respond to nuclear emergencies. The stockpile has been deployed into Finland.
A total of €242 million has been allocated to Finland by the European Commission to create the bloc's first strategic reserve against chemical, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats for use by all member states.
"Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has confirmed the need to strengthen EU CBRN preparedness," Janez Lenarcic, European Commissioner for Crisis Management, said.
The stockpile, he added, "will provide the EU with a significant safety net enabling a quick and coordinated response at EU level."
The new reserve will include critical medical countermeasures, such as vaccines and antidotes, medical devices and field response equipment to ensure better protection in preparation and in response to biological, radiological and nuclear incidents.
RUSSIA CANCELING ALL TREATIES WITH COUNCIL OF EUROPE
President Vladimir Putin instructed Russian lawmakers on Tuesday to adopt a law that would formally end the country’s participation in 21 treaties and charters related to the Council of Europe. Moscow withdrew from the human rights body last March, claiming it had been captured by the US and its allies and only serves Western political objectives.
Putin has formally submitted the bill on terminating the treaties to State Duma chair Vyacheslav Volodin, following the provisions of a 1995 federal law.
Among the 21 treaties that will cease to apply to Russia is the charter of the Council of Europe (CoE), the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism, the European Charter of Local Self-Government, and the European Social Charter. The CoE will also lose the immunities and privileges granted by the charter.
The CoE was established in 1949 by several Western European countries, with a mission to promote “democracy, human rights and the rule of law.” Russia joined the organization in 1996 and in 1998 ratified the human rights convention.
In February 2022, however, 42 out of 47 members voted to suspend Moscow’s membership, citing the conflict in Ukraine. Russia condemned the “openly political” decision by which the nominally neutral body sided with the US and NATO, and withdrew from the CoE on March 15. Moscow also announced it would send only the prorated amount of its 2022 contribution to the CoE budget, approximately 5.7 million euros.
In June, Putin signed a law that declared all verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights after March 15 null and void in Russia. Moscow formally repealed the convention accepting the ECHR jurisdiction in September 2022. The following month, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution urging member countries to declare “the current Russian regime as a terrorist one.”
(HT REMARK: So now, the Treaties started being canceled on Tuesday, The EU began deploying its Strategic Reserve for Nuclear incidents into Finland on Wednesday, Russia began deploying anti-air missile defenses onto its; Ministry of Defense and other government buildings in Moscow (Story Here) on Thursday . . . . it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where all this is heading: World War 3.)
