Read this excellent post by naganoff about that now-infamous NATO base in Ulyanovsk.
What makes the post interesting is that it exposes the Kremlin crooks' pathological lying about absolutely everything. So, a NATO base, fine. They could have just said: "we allowed NATO to use Russian territory to transit military cargo and to open a base here because the Americans are fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. We are interested in an American victory. We do not have the resources ourselves to fight the Taliban, so let the Americans fight both for themselves and for us. If they lose the war, the Taliban will come to Tajikistan too, and that will lead to nothing good".
There is nothing catastrophic about it. Let's discuss the issue publicly and professionally. Do we need this or not? How does it fit with our military doctrine and with our foreign policy plans in Central Asia, etc.? But no, these idiots absolutely have to lie to their own people, even when they are caught in an obvious lie: Russian Foreign Ministry: What is being considered is the possibility of arranging the transit exclusively of non-lethal (non-military) cargo for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, using a combination of air, road, and rail transport through the territory of the Russian Federation. Russian Government Resolution No. 219 "On the procedure for the overland transit through the territory of the Russian Federation of weapons, military equipment, and military property destined for the International Security Assistance Force in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and in the reverse direction": • Prepared explosives, except gunpowder; • Safety fuses; detonating fuses; percussion or detonating caps; igniters; electric detonators; • Signal rockets, rain rockets, fog signals, and other pyrotechnic articles; • Radar equipment, radionavigation equipment, and radio remote-control apparatus used for the combat employment of weapons and military equipment and for command and control of troops, weapons, and military equipment; • Tanks and other armored self-propelled fighting vehicles, whether or not fitted with weapons, and parts thereof; • Other aircraft (for example, helicopters and airplanes); spacecraft (including satellites) and suborbital and space launch vehicles; • Warships; .... Why lie endlessly? And where are all those nimble Pyotrs Tolstoys, writers like Starikov, political analysts like Kurginyan, deputies like Sergei Markov and Yevgeny Fyodorov, and all the other fighters against American spies and agents of influence? This is a perfect occasion for some shocking exposés. They ought to be hunting down the politicians dancing to the tune of the global backstage puppet masters and groveling in NATO offices. Channel One is silent. NTV is not making an "Anatomy of a Military Base." Looks like the American spies have infiltrated very high up indeed.