Mission Baikal: subs to explore world’s deepest lake

A new mission to explore the mysteries of Lake Baikal is to begin in southern Siberia.
Two mini submarines are being taken by road from Ulan-Ude to the village of Klyuevka, where they will be reconstructed and put on a ship.

They will then begin their search of Baikal, the world’s largest and deepest freshwater lake, on Wednesday, 23rd July

The subs involved are the Mir-1 and Mir-2 – best-known for planting a one metre-high titanium Russian flag on the Arctic’s underwater Lomonosov ridge in August 2007. The subs will research the underwater thermal springs and mud volcanoes.

Baikal’s hydrocarbon reserves will also be thoroughly monitored, and scientists will keep an eye out for any historic artifacts.

During the first part of the expedition, which runs till September, they will make 60 dives. That will be followed by a further hundred in 2009.

Moscow mayor calls Ukraine ‘undemocratic’

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, who has been banned from entering Ukraine, said on Saturday that the recent detention of a Russian journalist in the country shows it is ‘undemocratic’.

A journalist for the Russian channel TVTs, who had filmed a report about Ukrainian authorities’ plans to separate the national Orthodox Church from the Moscow Patriarchate, was stopped at Kiev’s Borispol airport late on Thursday and held overnight.

“This shocking incident makes Ukraine look not like a country seeking to position itself as a showcase for promoting democracy from West to East, but like a nation frightened by the truth coming from Russia, and restricting the press, which is absolutely impossible in a democratic state,” Luzhkov told reporters.

Other countries’ security at Russia’s expense?

Yevgeny Kozhokin for RIA Novosti

Analysts started discussing Moscow’s future relations with other countries, after President Dmitry Medvedev approved the Russian foreign policy concept which only addresses the most important long-term issues, while issues of current politics should be tackled separately.

It appears that the concept sets forth clear long-term guidelines with regard to other former Soviet republics, emphasizing the fact that Russia has not renounced the idea of post-Soviet integration. It sets out three main objectives that must be accomplished in this respect.

First, the concept recognizes the importance of the Russia-Belarus Union State focusing on real economic development, the introduction of market-economy principles and the creation of a common economic space.

Second, the document attaches priority to the Eurasian Economic Community and its main driving force, collectively, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. It also says that the Eurasian Economic Community could become an effective mechanism for implementing ambitious projects such as hydropower plant construction, transportation infrastructure, and other large-scale projects.