CCTV: Wolves attack Russian traffic cops on M23 highway

RussiaToday | October 16, 2010
Security camera footage posted online shows a pack of wolves charging at a traffic police patrol on a highway in southern Russia. The police officer jumps into the car he has pulled over moments before - just in time to escape the animals.

The M23 highway runs along the Black Sea coast, connecting the cities of Rostov-on-Don and Taganrog.

The Soil
There are nearly 40 types and subtypes of soils in Ukraine. Almost 45% of the whole area is fertile farming land.
34% of Ukrainian land is formed by mixed zones of forests and plains (steppe), where the gray forest soil is widespread. In the zone of plains, which forms 40% of all state land, the soil coverage is relatively even and is dominated by chornozem (the black soil) — the most fertile in the world and covering two thirds of Ukraine.

The area around the rivers Dnipro and Dnister is the only place in the world where the width of the so-called “sweet” black soil line reaches 500 km. This soil is exceptional in providing very high natural quality of the harvests and belongs to the national wealth. There are some other types of soils in different areas of Ukraine (including the nutrient-rich riverbed soils) but in much lesser amounts. In Ukrainian Carpathians the soils vary with altitude.

Ukraine has an abundance of coal, natural gas, iron ore, manganese, kaolin clay, rock salt, nickel, and titanium.

The country has rich reserves of iron ore, bituminous and anthracite coals, and manganese-bearing ores located in close proximity to each other in Donetsk Coal Basin. This region, in east-central Ukraine, is industrial heartland of Ukraine and one of the major heavy-industrial and mining-metallurgical complexes of Europe.

Ukraine is also an important producer of natural gas and petroleum, though reserves of these fossil fuels were partly depleted during the Soviet period. The Donetsk is the most urbanized, and russified area of Ukraine. The key cities of Donetsk are Kharkiv (Kharkov), Dnipropetrovsk (Dnepropetrovsk), and Donetsk.

The newest addition to the Quark Expeditions fleet is the largest, most sophisticated, and powerful icebreaker ever constructed. Twenty years in the making, 50 Years of Victory is the first Arktika-class icebreaker to have a spoon-shaped bow. Boosting the efficiency is the all-new automated digital control system. The ship, designed with a stainless steel ice belt 5 meters (18 feet) wide, breaks through ice up to 2.5 meters (9.2 feet) thick. The icebreaker is driven by 2 nuclear reactors that produce 75,000 horsepower. In open water, top speed can be as much as 21.4 knots.

50 Years of Victory carries 128 passengers and provides ample public space: featuring an Aft Saloon and Forward Lounge, in addition to a bar and library. The Aft Saloon converts from a presentation room during the day to a place to dance and socialize in the evening. For relaxing, there is an indoor pool and two saunas. The gym has windows. While you exercise you won’t miss a moment of passing scenery. A shop and massage services provide other diversions.

The largest nuclear-powered icebreaker ever launched crushes ice up to 3 meters (10 feet) thick and carries a maximum of 128 guests. The ship is equipped with a helicopter and a fleet of Zodiacs for shore transfers and landings.

Onboard you hardly feel a thing. Absolutely unforgettable is the sound of mammoth slabs of ice colliding with the hull! An onboard helicopter extends the vessels ability to reach ice-locked, remote Arctic islands en route from the North Pole.

Experts said Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin isn’t coming to Ukraine for nothing.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is coming to Kyiv, and once again he’s got gas on his mind.

Russia’s most powerful man will meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Mykola Azarov, during the seventh session of the Ukrainian-Russian intergovernmental committee on economic cooperation on Oct. 27.

Shortly after Azarov’s boss, the Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, came to power in February, Kyiv extended the Russian navy’s presence in Ukraine’s autonomous region of Crimea for another 25 years in exchange for a cheaper gas price, which nevertheless continues to climb.

Then Putin began proposing all kinds of far-reaching integration projects such as the unification of the two countries’ nuclear industries, aviation sectors and, most importantly, their state gas companies – Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukraine.

Could Ukraine be a Eurasian rather than a European country after all? Contrary to what the 2004 Orange Revolution suggested, is Ukraine perhaps just a smaller version of Russia? And, if President Yanukovych is creating a political system similar to Putin’s, should Ukraine enter the Russian Federation rather than the European Union? Andreas Umland explores.

Ukraine’s currency may strengthen to 7.30 per dollar by the end of 2011 as the U.S. Federal Reserve keeps interest rates low and capital floods into emerging markets, Investment Capital Ukraine said.

The hryvnia will probably appreciate to 7.80 per dollar by the end of this year, the Kiev-based investment bank’s analysts, led by Alexander Valchyshen, said late yesterday in an e-mailed note to clients.