AK 239: The Enemy Is Already Here

Several courageous Russian journalists had written articles on the massive amounts of money being poured into Skolkovo and submarine technology but now those voices had mysteriously gone silent. This wasn’t mysterious to the average Russian over the age of forty. They could see what was happening. Russia was transitioning into this weird form of an oligarchy, run by communist KGB oil and gas billionaires.

Six reporters had turned up dead and several others were jailed for investigating the Russian military. Opposition leaders and journalists had been trashed, imprisoned or ended up murdered as well.

A political consultant commented: “This is a now a Weimar atmosphere where there are no longer any limits."

Weimar is obviously a reference to the regime just prior to the Nazi takeover of Germany.

This is the greatest insult you can tell a Russian as the Nazis attacked Russia and killed many millions of Russians in World War II.

But there is some truth to the Weimar insult. Russia is now the third deadliest country in the world for journalists only behind Algeria and post war Iraq!

With President Ivan Mironovich graduating more pilots, taunting American warships, making new ICBMs and running massive war games, the military has boosted his popularity in Russia to over eighty percent.

Crazy Ivan was even more emboldened in his plan to restore Russia knowing he had a far higher approval rating in the U.S. and Great Britain than their own president and prime minister!

Mironovich, through his friends, have let it be known that he does not want a repeat of the 100,000 people who marched in Moscow in 2011 against him. The President, a former KGB officer in the old Soviet Union, believes the CIA was behind that dissent. So President Mironovich is doing all he can to insure his own reelection would proceed without any disturbances.

So why are all of these generals assembled in the same room at the old KGB headquarters near Red Square?

All these Russians (and some Americans) have seen much weakness in the U.S. and, now, believe they have a way to “help” the world.

Just in case anything went wrong and nuclear war broke out they could always retreat to the Metro-2 running under the Kremlin to their hardened command posts some 275 meters below ground! This Top Secret Metro-2 line is rumored to travel to several hardened military sites and directly under the president’s house. Metro-2 travels all the way to Vnukovo airport, just in case they start a war and someone fights back, they can make a quick get a way.

Admiral Perchinkov presided over an aging fleet of outdated ships, mostly relics of the old Cold War. He knew what most every expert in the world had concluded: Irreversible collapse of the Navy was imminent. Instead, he had managed the impossible. He modernized his 271-ship Navy at an incredibly rapid pace.

The problem was many commanders now were refusing orders to be more aggressive against Western and especially American planes, ships and subs.

The situation had become so bad that Admiral Perchinkov was promoted to Minister of Defence.

That meant the only person he would now answer to would be: President Mironovich.

This quiet little move made Admiral Perchinkov the second most powerful man in all of Russia.

All submarine orders would now be given directly from the president’s office to Admiral Perchinkov and not go first to naval command.

In addition, the new admiral had been given the task of sacking over fifty naval commanders in his Baltic Fleet for refusing to follow presidential orders.

Many considered this similar to some of Stalin’s famous military purges.

It is clear to any reasonable observer what’s going on. The president was consolidating power with his siloviki clan loyalists. Any dissenting opinion and you were, at best, not trusted, at worst you could end up missing and nobody wanted to end up missing.

Jane’s Fighting Ships, the Bible of military assessments, felt the emphasis the Russians were putting on their submarines for fighting old Cold War scenarios was misplaced but even Jane’s had no idea what the Russians were really up to. In fact, no one in the West had a clue as to what had been transpiring for five years on American soil.

It’s not good to keep such powerful men waiting. Not good unless you’re the right hand man to the most powerful man in Russia, President Ivan Mironovich.

Viktor Sokolov was a serious man with immense power. The president trusted this child prodigy with his life. So everyone waited patiently.

Russian history is full of great drama and a great drama is once again about to unfold.

Finally, Viktor Sokolov, enters with a leather briefcase and in a $2,000.00 Italian suit.

An eerie hush falls over the room. Sokolov is not happy that he is leading this meeting and yet had to walk over here from his office in the Kremlin. Sokolov was a man of business and didn’t believe in chitchat.

Viktor pulls exactly four sealed envelopes from his black Italian briefcase. He passes them out as he speaks.