Russia Resurgent - A TL

[Superpacman_21/]

Economics I agree. Geopolitics....well let's just say it will be interesting.

You know .
I think that this russia can have a better political relationship with china than how it is now.
One of the aims if not "the aim of russia" is to dominate europe but she is blocked because of the europeans and their ally the usa so it will have to comforme itself lording over the central asian nations even then it won't be enough to feed their growing economy so they will have to trade more with china and more russian trade with china will mean less chinese trade with nations such as Germany and the USA.
A stronger Russia can mean too a more cautious Japan or a more agressive Japan.

 

[Archdoor]

How is North Korea behaving with a stronger Russia?

 

[Sarthak]

How is North Korea behaving with a stronger Russia?

Pretty non entity really. They don't feature in mainstay Russian politics unlike with China.

 

[Sarthak]

Chapter 4

***

1999 (1st Half)

***

As the year 1999 came about the 3 year plan was under full swing. Researchers and analysts gave reports that showed that the North Caucasus Region, the Black Sea Region and the Volga Delta would be the most ideal place for Russia to start developing their agriculture and to invest into it. Yavlinsky in January 2nd announced an Agricultural Drive. The government of Russia began to open massive farm industries in these areas, with employment in these areas rising. Most particularly, these areas had grown to have a Chechen minority due to the Chechen Wars, where hoards of Chechen people had fled and settled. These Chechen refuges were mostly unemployed, and the new opportunity of receiving proper wages coupled with work experience meant that the Chechen refugees became the most positively affected people in the immediate sense of the new Agricultural Drive. The government also began a mechanization and ‘To the Future of Agricultural Plan’ as the government started to invest heavily into newer Agricultural technologies to create better yields and better productivity in the Russian agriculture.

Agriculture was one of Russia's most developing sectors.

Meanwhile in the government of Russia, FSB director and head, Vladimir Putin was agitating the government with the need of making the FSB to be a worthy successor to the KGB. The FSB was underfunded and the quality of intelligence that the FSB produced was poor. In fact in the Chechen Wars, they had been of negligible help to the war, when in fact in wars, intelligence agencies should have been on the forefront of any kind of communication scheme. Vladimir Putin gave a passionate plea in the Cabinet, and Sergey Shoyu and Alexander Lebed both supported the stance of Vladimir Putin.

Logo of the FSB

However finances were all being directed towards economic development at the moment and no new funds could be given to any other project until the completion of the Yakutsk-Anadyr Railway Extension to the Trans-Siberian Railway. Yavlinsky spoke to Putin and promised him that the next year, a new set of funds would be allocated specifically for the FSB for its development and regrowth to be a power to make. Putin was slightly disappointed that it could not happen soon, however he agreed to Yavlinsky’s proposal and declared that the FSB would start new defensive and developmental projects from the next year onwards.

On January 25th international concerns arose once again, as the Japanese government once again asserted its claim to the Southern Kuril Islands of Kunashir. Yavlinsky turned the claims down and stated that “These islands were given to us by right of international decree in Yalta and San Francisco.”

However Japan disputed the terminology of even calling the southern islands as a part of the Kuril Islands Chain. Russia responded harshly. Yavlinsky was in no mood. NATO had severely attacked and undermined Russia’s influence in Yugoslavia and Yavlinsky could not face another undermining of strength. The opposition parties would bring hell to pay to him. Yavlinsky ordered 5,000 troops of the 3rd Sakhalin Regiment to be transferred to the Southern Kuril Islands sparking diplomatic fallout with Japan. Japan withdrew their ambassador to Russia calling the series of events as ‘Unfortunate’.

Yavlinsky retaliated by sending 3 new squadrons of Su-27 to the Kuril Islands as well. Yavlinsky also ordered the construction of a complete aerial defense dome over the Kuril Islands calling their defense to have been neglected for far too long.

Su-27

Meanwhile however as the month ended, the Russian 3-Year Plan was further implemented as Russia announced that new medical plants would be opened in Siberia and the Baikal Region, where herbs were found in abundance. The medicinal industry was a part of the Russian resource sector that Russia wished to exploit to its fullest extent.

On February 4th, the killing and murder of Amadou Diallo by New York Police sparked international outrage. In response, Yavlinsky asked Zyuganov to head a chair meeting for consideration of any future reforms to the Russian Federal Police as well. Zyuganov agreed and later on the Russian Federal Police was reformed with the following reforms being applied:-

• Use of chokehold to be banned by the police.
• Only officers to be allowed with gunnery weapons.
• Gunnery weapons only to be allowed to be used in extreme cases.
• Creation of an Anti-Terror Unit in the Police that can respond quickly to terror activities and to detach the use of force and the police within the country.

Amadou Diallo

Yavlinsky and Zyuganov stated that the new reforms would go into action on the starting of the month of July. On February 12th, the Impeachment Hearing of President Bill Clinton was broadcasted all over the world. And Bill Clinton was cleared of all impeachment charges raised against him. This was bad news for Russia, who had wished for America’s position in Yugoslavia to decline once Bill Clinton had been impeached. However with Clinton not impeached, Yavlinsky and Zyuganov was now forced with the potential that Russia and America could lock heads with one another regarding Kosovo and Yugoslavia. Yavlinsky wished to not be caught in such an event, however the reforms of the military that had been passed the last year were accelerated and the new Order 100 of February 15th called for the raising of 3 more divisions, all in all 60,000 men. Volunteer parades to make people enlist were held throughout the nation and slowly the numbers trickled in.

On February 16th the attempted assassination of the President of Uzbekistan also raised a fair few amount of trepidation all across the planet, and for good reason. However the government of Russia was also looking into matters such as internal security to maintain the security of the nation, which in Yavlinsky’s own words had grown quite loose. However if there was one aspect of Yavlinsky’s security policy, it was weeding the criminal mafias which had run amok in Russia for the first half of the decade unchecked. Russian police and anti-terror units started to knock on their doors as after 3 years of intense investigation, most of their positions were outted by investigation teams. Rounds of criminal gangs and mafias were arrested and many were executed on the spot in an ‘engagement’ as the government believed that dealing with them later on would be an headache of epic proportions. These Mafia’s and cartel’s assets were absorbed by the state.

On February 24th the LeGranda Case came to a formal end with an execution in Arizona. The complete and blatant ignorance that America had shown towards the International Court of Justice even when Germany had raised hell over it in the Court. Russia criticized this move stating that the International Court of Justice must be recognized as a legal executive body by every state involved and simply ignoring them, was a gross violation of International Law. Yavlinsky and Russia as of late had become increasingly critical of the way America was reacting to Russian advances and his new policies were aimed at accelerating the growth of the Russian economy.

On February 28th the Russian government announced that the railroad to Anadyr would begin construction within three years. This was met with widespread celebrations, as it would mark the end of the first megaproject of the Russian Federation after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Anadyr, Russia.

Zyuganov also spoke out in March 2nd stating that the nation would now orient more money into making Russia into a ‘grand new country’. Zyuganov stated that President Yavlinsky would provide more answers on a later date. That later date proved to be on March 9th when Yavlinsky made himself known in Grozny after much of the city had been reconstructed.

“The Prime Minister spoke about creating a ‘grand new country’. And it is within many rights of the nation very correct. We are looking into the forums of nations such as Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Britain to form a great welfare state for the people of Russia. For far too long has our health been overlooked by previous governments. With the aid of researchers and foreign experts, we believe we can continue and implement this new drive of ours.”

On March 12th the former Warsaw Pact nations of the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary joined NATO. There was little Russia could do however this meant that the Russo-Polish Border in Belarus would have to be manned and become well fortified. Russian military experts called for a modern fortification line all across Belarus for purely defensive type of warfare, as the Russian military was still deemed to be lagging behind in front of NATO and the NATO powers of America, Britain and France.

On march 21st, FSB director Vladimir Putin spoke with Yavlinsky about how NATO intervention in Kosovo was very likely and that the Russian forces in Yugoslavia would probably have to be withdrawn, or Russia would have to exert its position and force NATO to back down. Neither was a good option for Russia. Yugoslavia was a key ally of the Russian state and there was little to no one in the Russian administration who wished to have Yugoslavia lost as an ally. However exerting Russia’s military on the world stage would mean that there was a chance that Russia’s economic power and progress could be curtailed by embargoes and the such. Russian Prime Minister Zyuganov called the situation unfortunate and Russia was now starting to find itself in a very untenable position.

On March 24th, Vladimir Putin’s assertions became reality as American, British and French airforces in majority and NATO airforces started to bombard the Yugoslav country in support of the KLA and the Kosovo Separatists. Russia immediately condemned the action in the United Nations calling the attack to be indiscriminate and an unnecessary escalation of the situation that was so fragile in Kosovo.

On March 25th Yavlinsky publically denounced the action in public. “Like we have reiterated for many times, the situation in Kosovo is a delicate matter. We cannot allow escalation to happen under any circumstance. However NATO has taken upon itself to create a situation of abrasive escalation which will only make intentions of peace to be long gone and thrown out of the window.”

Yavlinsky criticizing the NATO intervention in Kosovo.

Russian military spending was increased directly from the central government and the United Nations supported Russia’s view.

On march 27th the government of Russia after learning about the downing of the F-117 in Yugoslavia employed intelligence operatives mercenaries to get the remains of the plane. They were partially successful as they were able to steal portions of the wreakage containing the engine of the plane. The plane was then transferred to the military wing of the government and sent for research to denote the weaknesses of the vaunted American F-117 bomber.

On April 5th the government of Russia announced that they were going to conduct a military exercise later on next month. The exercise was called ‘Zapad-99’ which would be the largest military exercise Russia conducted after the fall of the Soviet Union. The Exercise would be a combined arms exercise with he Navy, Airforce and Army all taking part. The Exercise was aimed to deciphering if the new Russian reforms were capable of being fully implemented in a full war scenario. The Russian military experts were hopeful that the entire military exercise could be possible to show that Russia would not need to simply back onto their nuclear weapons to maintain global parity with it’s enemies.

Russian tanks practising in the Zapad-99 military exercise.

On April 7th, the border between Yugoslavia and Kosovo was closed up by the Yugoslav army. This sparked condemnation from NATO however Russia supported the action stating that ’the group of nations attacking a sovereign and independent nation have no right to decry the actions of said sovereign and independent nation.’

On April 14th NATO fighters and bombers by mistake started to bomb a refuge alley of Ethnic Albanians fleeing Kosovo and in the resulting chaos managed to kill over 73 Albanians. This sparked another diplomatic row as Yavlinsky called it “Direct proof that NATO intervention in Yugoslavia is simply escalating dangers in the area and killing more people than what was previously thought to be.”

NATO states denied this allegation. It didn’t help NATO’s case that NATO had started to bomb Belgrade and Novi Sad, both of which were great civilian centers and the resulting chaos had led to deaths of hundreds of Serbians and Montenegrins.

On April 27th amidst this international tension, the government started deeper construction of the Yakutsk-Anadyr railway line which had now been being completed and constructed. Excess railway workers were diverted to the construction of the Central Asian Railway Line. The new railway line construction showed the new return of Russian megaprojects and Zyuganov stated that he hoped that Russia could continue to conduct more projects which would be in the best case of the Russian people.

On May 7th, tensions rose once again as an American B-2 Bomber bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and managed to kill 3 Chinese officials. China immediately decried the event as a deliberate action and the Chinese Nation officially stated that if any such further actions would have severe consequences to the NATO pact. Russia backed China on the issue and stated that ‘NATO’s faulty system of differentiating military fighters from civilians have been showed to all. They could not differentiate refugees from soldiers. Neither could they differentiate embassy from military targets. The International community must stay united in this time to condemn this act of aggression on the part of NATO.’

NATO bombing of Belgrade.

Yavlinsky along with his Finnish counterparts were trying to negotiate for Yugoslavia to back down, even with his strong anti-NATO rhetoric, Russia could not be seen in another major conflict. The recent ZAPAD-99 Exercise had shown that the Russian military was capable of defending itself, however it was not still capable of launching offensive operations until the full extent of the reforms were completed.

NATO and UN convened in an emergency situation on what to do. America tried to raise a resolution to back Russia down, however unsurprisingly the Russian delegate vetoed it in the Security Council and then attacked the American position for completely ignoring Resolution 1244, which called for NATO to retreat.

Finally, the Russian Government and the Finnish government with coercion with each other managed to push forward a resolution, which Yugoslavia was amenable to. Russia had extensively persuaded Yugoslavia (read: Threatened) and it’s leader Slobodan Milosevic to accept the proposal. At first the man had been very rigid and stubborn in his stance about the issue and asked repeatedly for Russian military intervention rather than Russian military intervention. However, Russia was in no way possible could do this at all; and despite the loss of prestige that would come with it, the Russians swallowed it and politely persuaded (read: threatened his family) to accept the deal. Milosevic agreed reluctantly.

Slobodan Milosevic.

A democratic referendum or a demographic split. It was agreed later on with the Albanian Delegate present that Kosovo would be split between Albania and Serbia. Serbia would retain Peja, Mitrovica and Northern Gjakova where Serbians made plurality and the rest of the territories were to be ceded to Albania where Albanian Kosovars made up the plurality. Albania and America reluctantly agreed to these terms however the most reluctant of all had been Yugoslavia. Russia had basically threatened Yugoslavia to accept the deal and Yugoslavia signed the deal having preserved half of their pride and dignity, and Yugoslavia was in gratitude of Russia for intervening on Yugoslavia’s part.

The Helsinki Accords were signed on June 9th and ratified by the United Nations General Assembly on June 12th.

Back in Russia’s Yavlinsky’s popularity had surged due to his action in the Kosovo War and the death of Slavs in Yugoslavia was considered to be ‘avenged’. Yavlinsky’s approval rate of 73% soared to a record high of any head of state at 86% among the Russian populace. On June 16th, after the last Yugoslav troops from the territories were cleared to be annexed into Albania. There were annexed the next day with international recognition of the annexation. Yugoslavia had come out of the war with worse for the wear, and it was clear that Milosevic was now not a sustainable option. In Yugoslavia, Milosevic was ousted from power by popular vote and riots from the population. Montenegrin Svetozar Marovic took power and became the President of the Yugoslav Federation of Serbia and Montenegro.

Svetozar Marovic.

On June 28th the government of Russia announced that they were in talks with the new Yugoslav government regarding Yugoslavia joining the CSTO alliance. Russia was given authority to open up a permanent military base near Nis in Serbia by the Yugoslavian government as a show of support between the Russian and Yugoslavian governments.

***

 

[Whiteshore]

What is Zhirinovsky doing ITTL?

 

[Sarthak]

What is Zhirinovsky doing ITTL?

being the lunatic that he is. Really in Russia, no one really listens to him seriously.

 

[dino1x]

How does its economy stack up to otl? I dont know much about russia in the 90s early 2000s only that putin was somehow a major improvement

 

[Sarthak]

How does its economy stack up to otl? I dont know much about russia in the 90s early 2000s only that putin was somehow a major improvement

Economics will come slightly later, in comparison. What are your thoughts btw?

 

[dino1x]

Pretty interesting russia seems like one of those cuntries that has always had alot of potential. The police reforms seem a bit on the nose tho

 

[Sarthak]

Pretty interesting russia seems like one of those cuntries that has always had alot of potential. The police reforms seem a bit on the nose tho

Thanks!

 

[Sarthak]

Thoughts?

 

[Woooinion]

The militarization of the Kuril islands seems like a mistake, but an believable one.
I recall there being some blustering over those islands a few years ago, with Putin visiting them and making a speech about the many beautiful parts of Russia.

The economic mobility that the Chechnyan diaspora are experiencing in the new economic developments would probably do more to reduce conflict than anything else.

The more I learn about the breakdown of Yugoslavia, he more it seems like a colossal failure on the part of every party involved.
It makes sense to me as a point where Russia might have improved it's position.

Anyway, I'm enjoying this quite a bit.

Thanks for writing.

 

[Sarthak]

The militarization of the Kuril islands seems like a mistake, but an believable one.
I recall there being some blustering over those islands a few years ago, with Putin visiting them and making a speech about the many beautiful parts of Russia.

The economic mobility that the Chechnyan diaspora are experiencing in the new economic developments would probably do more to reduce conflict than anything else.

The more I learn about the breakdown of Yugoslavia, he more it seems like a colossal failure on the part of every party involved.
It makes sense to me as a point where Russia might have improved it's position.

Anyway, I'm enjoying this quite a bit.

Thanks for writing.

Thanks!

 

[Sarthak]

Chapter 5

***

1999 (2nd Half)

***

On July 1st the government of Yavlinsky finally got some breathing room, as after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation had put herself forward and intervened for the first time. However this wasn’t necessarily a good one. Yavlinsky feared that Russian foreign investments would be hit from the issue, however it quickly became apparent, that the United States wasn’t going to attack the Russian economy like the way Russia feared it would. The simple matter of fact was that Russia’s drive on electronic development and the currently rising oil prices meant that America’s allies would be worse for the wear, if America attacked Russia, which is why, America was quietening down for the moment.

Meanwhile, as the Kargil War in the Indian Subcontinent grew larger and larger in scope, the Russian government scrambled for de-escalation. The Chinese consulate was demanding that Russia do something in return for the aide China had given Russia in the UN and the International Stage during the Yugoslav and Kosovo Crisis. Russia this time publically stated that India should not cross over from the Line of Action and Line of Control stating that doing so would be a gross overstepping of bounds. This got a bad reaction from India as expected, as the old Indo-Russian friendship was quickly becoming old. In return, Russia was now courting Pakistan and in July 2nd Pakistan took an order of 100 Sukhoi Su-27M from Russia. This brought widespread criticism from India who were quickly becoming agitated with Russia.

Indian Artillery in the Kargil War.

Meanwhile, Yavlinsky was again caught in a slight dilemma. China and Pakistan together were a far greater asset than India was, and therefore most unfortunately for India, Yavlinsky stated that Russia would support the Chinese position on the situation on the geopolitical scenario and stage.

On July 7th, Yavlinsky announced that the ‘Russian Healthcare Proposal’ had passed through with the Duma with overwhelming majority as the new Russian plan for a welfare state were now being implemented. The Federal Health Service of Russia (FHSR) was established that day. It was modeled after the NHS of Britain and its foundation was based off the Danish and Canadian model. Around half of the FHSR budget was funded by the government and the other half was funded by the public. The FHSR was also devolved between the various Republics of Russia like how in Dagestan, the FHSR was called FHSR Dagestan was under local authorities. The FHSR had been meticulously planned for a year and the establishment came at a time when psychological disorders in the country was lowering and the country’s demographic status was slowly starting to even out as the rate of decline had started to stagnate in the country. Yavlinsky and the Russian nation held hopes that the FHSR would make Russia into a healthy state.

The Russian Duma passing the Health proposal.

On July 10th, the FHSR was fully made public and went into service with the Russian populace. The FHSR was described by the WHO “An important step by the Russian nation towards aiding its citizens and nationals towards their betterment in all physiological and areas of health. This organization applauds the acts of the Russian Federation in what was undoubtedly a grave challenge to implement. Should the FHSR require any material aid, under the WHO jurisdiction, we are willing to help.”

And help they did as Russia did recruit supervisors and doctors in areas they were short in from the WHO. FHSR also used domestically produced medicine, which made Russia’s medicinal industry productivity, which was aimed to increase and diversify Russia’s exports and industrial base, was slowly becoming successful in its endeavor.

Meanwhile in July 11th, the Pakistani army was expelled from Kargil by the Indians the Kargil War came to an end. However as an aftermath effect of the war, Russo-indian relations had suffered a lot. Despite this however, Russia was now determined to keep a neutral face to the Indians whilst now grow their new growing relations with the Pakistanis and Chinese.

Indian Media was absolutely drowning Russia with insults and the such, however this was simply exemplified when around 25, or a quarter of the order of Su-27M were delivered to Pakistan by the Russian government. The Su-27M was not offered to India at all, and right now the Indian government was currently looking towards the British, French and Americans more equipment from weapons contrasted by their previous alignment with the Russians which was obvious in the fact that almost all of their foreign weapons were Russians. Meanwhile on July 28th the Central Asian Railway Line construction came to an end with all of the Central Asian capitals and important Russian cities linked through it. The Russian investment was also growing into the CSTO countries and the Russian government was currently making headways into economic measures in Estonia to make rapprochement between the two nations likely.

CSTO logo

Meanwhile talks between Mongolia and Russia were also happening between the two nations. Russia could easily see Mongolia for its untapped potential of resources and the possibilities were endless regarding natural resources. Russia and Mongolia were now talking about a new railway project for the infrastructure wise weak nation of Mongolia. On August 2nd a deal was cut out between the two nations as Russia agreed to build a railway line from Khovd to Sainshad. The railway line would mean that the transportation sector of Mongolia in the least developed south would be very much made better and the living costs in the area would decline. This project was seen as a godsend for the Mongolians who feared that the deficit and infrastructural outdatedness on which they were running would quickly evaporate and make them depend solely on other investors.

A Russian constructed railway line in Mongolia.

On August 7th, minor scuffles broke out in Chechnya with some of the few remaining guerillas where the Russian military broke into the mountains where one of the last holdouts of the guerillas were found and destroyed by the Russian military with the aid of Russian satellites. The professional way with which how Russian military officials took care of the problem signified that the Russian reforms for the military had been effective and the government was clearly happy with its new situation with the Russian military.

August 17th was a good day for Russian economics as the Izmit Earthquake hit Turkey. Russia immediately went into economic mode, as they offered reconstruction and through the UN managed to secure a deal of sending multiple aid projects to Turkey. The destruction created by the earthquake freed up several wary investors in Russia to invest into the Russian reconstruction projects of the Izmit Earthquake as the Turkish government warily allowed the Russian reconstruction to take place as Russian overseers and construction tools were spread out and seen all across the destroyed city.

Izmit Earthquake in Turkey

On August 20th the new government in Yugoslavia officially opened talks with Russia regarding potential entry into the Collective Security Treaty Organization of CSTO. Yugoslavia was currently running high on social problems, however having a Montenegrin leader had managed to refute and shoot down much of its societal problems and the remaining Albanian Kosovars had finally immigrated to Albania and Albanian Kosovo which had previously been partitioned. The relations with Albania which had openly attacked Yugoslavia were strained however, the entire country was willing to let go of it, if only because Albania made up a series of export and import details in Yugoslavia.

Pristina Kosovo.

Meanwhile in Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Renewal Movement under Vuk Draskovic were becoming increasingly popular in the Yugoslav populace and extremely even more so when Alexander, Prince of Yugoslavia started to advocate for Yugoslavia to follow Russia’s model of the FHSR and to follow in Russia’s economic miracle as it was being called amongst the general populace of the world.

Vuk Draskovic

Support for the monarchy in Yugoslavia had always been quite ambivalent and trusting of the monarchy despite the efforts of the previous communist governments to eradicate it and the Greek journal named The Dawn went on a tour of post-war Yugoslavia and tallied a highly accurate report stating that around 60% of the population wished for a restoration, and Alexander’s humanitarian efforts certainly made him extremely well liked by the populace, so much so, that even people who wished for the status quo stated that they would be amenable to the monarchy under Alexander even though they wouldn’t necessarily vote for it under any referendum or such.

Alexander, Prince of Yugoslavia

On August 29th things came to a head, when a Yugoslav Renewal Movement Rally in the reconstruction of Belgrade called upon nearly 200,000 activists and supporters down to the streets in Belgrade in support of the movement. However the rally proved to be counter helpful as much of the reconstruction was slowed. Alexander himself pleaded for a safe and peaceful rally which would not obstruct the way towards reconstruction and reconciliation.

However things for now seemed to quiet in Yugoslavia as well, however with a more monarchist leaning in the country itself.

On September 15th the government announced that country was now going to fund the construction of around 150 new hospitals around the country with around 80 in European Russia and 70 in Asian Russia as a part of the FHSR directive. The construction is slated to end sometime next year with doctors and nurses receiving employment. Russia also updated its immigration policy for simply professional manpower. Russia was targeting the Doctors, Engineers, Psychiatrists, Physiologists etc for immigration to Russia and the government was consistent in stating that they wished only for the best people to migrate to Russia. This policy meant that migration to Russia was in low numbers, however when they came, they provided a lot of experience and hard power to the Russian intellectual society, which was a very net gain for the Russian government and nation.

Athens Earthquake.

On September 7th the Athens Earthquake also allowed for Russia to gain reconstruction access to Greece. It was in significant lower numbers than the Turkish Earthquake reconstruction process, however the government of Russia was still quite happy with the amount of money they could invest into the Greek economy, which would help the Russian monopoly over the Black Sea in and the subsequent areas of the place.

Meanwhile on September 21st, the new Sukhoi-Mikyogan Aerospace Companies collectively named SM Aerospace, managed to produce their very first proto-type of the SM-Boggrom, or the Russian answer to the American F-22 which was in developmental phases at the moment.

The Boggrom project was an evolution of the MiG 1.44 Project and the Sukhoi PAK Project merged into one, and after months of careful production, the very first prototype plane was produced. Some of the characteristics of the SM-Boggrom (as it was being called for the moment) were:-

• Like the F-22 it combined Supercruise, Super-maneuverability, Stealth, sensor fusion, and active phased array.
• It had a canard layout which gave it extra mobility and maneuverability.
• It had a blended wing fuselage with horizontal and verticle stabilizers with LEVCONs.
• It also had a quick stall recovery system for if the thrust vectoring failed.
• It had an angle of attack of 60 degrees.
• It’s structural weight was around 30% titanium and 15% composites.
• It also contained a double intake ramp.
• Top speed of the plane was 2.35 Mach.
• It also a reduced infrared signature
• Reduced RCS; the leading and trailing edges of the wings, control surfaces and serrated edges of skin panels are carefully angled to reduce direction of radio wave deflection.
• RAM used.
• Leading edge sweep was used.
• Dielectric fairings at the tip of the wings which housed electronic countermeasures.
• Full serpentine ducts.
• RCS with usage of plasma shield and ducts.

Other data were of course classified by the government, however only the data given by the Russian government was a huge warning signal to the NATO countries and the United States was now clearly thinking about extending its F-22 program to the British and French, the two other great powers of the NATO alliance.

Meanwhile the government of Russia was also doubling down on it’s military standards. Russian pilots were now slated for around 300 hours of training a year from the next year, with the government emphasizing on the need for professional corps in the army and the military to maintain parity with the western powers who were committed to a fully professional corps in their military as well.

Meanwhile Russia and Pakistan’s new President Mashraff also signed a deal in October 22nd which committed Russia to sell around 150 T-72 tanks to the Pakistanis for a discounted price of around 10%. This deal shook and reverberated in India as there was a possibility that the Russian government would give up details about the military hardware used by the Indians to the Pakistanis. This reverberation and insight was famously known as the Indian Military Panic. There was no way the Indian military could actually replace all of their Russian stocks and the government was now trying to buy up NATO weapons slowly, however the threat remained and any thought of war with Pakistan quickly evaporated because of this reason.

President Mashraff of Pakistan

On November 10th, the FHSR announced that under some conditions it would agree to become functional in the Central Asian states. This offer was taken quite quickly by all of the Central Asian states barring Turkmenistan, who were all facing a lot of health issues in their countries. The first FHSR to open up in Central Asia would be FHSR Astana in Kazakhstan. The FHSR would grow on to become one of the most influential and instrumental institutions in Central Asia, a testament to its skill and expertise in its field.

Meanwhile on November 25th the government of Yavlisnky also announced a Poverty Alleviation Program. Russia was a developed country and poverty wasn’t going to stop the Russians. This plan aimed to completely eradicating the poverty of the Russian state, particularly in the overlooked Siberian region to increase the standard of living in the nation within 12 years of its implementation. Works were being done to start its implementation from the next year in 2000.

On December 4th the government of Yugoslavia and Russia signed the instrumental Belgrade Accords where Yugoslavia fully joined the Collective Security Treaty Organization between Russia, the Central Asian States with Ukraine which was an observer state and not a full member.

This declaration caught the world off guard however for the moment it was glossed over though with suspicions from all western powers involved. However in the UN, the UN resolution after the declaration on part of the Russians stated that they would not expand their military presence beyond the Nis Military Base in Yugoslavia and the docking rights that the Russian Navy held in Montenegro.

***

 

[Sarthak]

OTL vs ITTL Russian Economy

OTL:-

1999 GDP: 195 Billion USD
GDP (Per capita): $1320
inflation: 37%
Reserves: $13 Billion
Debt: 78% of GDP
Pension: RUB 500
Average Wage: RUB 1500

ITTL:-

1999 GDP: $517.95 Billion Dollars
GDP (Per Capita): $3385
Inflation: 12%
Reserves: $49 Billion
Debt: 34% of GDP
Pension: RUB 2750
Average Wage: RUB 7650

 

[Food-Oh_Koon]

OTL vs ITTL Russian Economy

OTL:-

1999 GDP: 195 Billion USD
GDP (Per capita): $1320
inflation: 37%
Reserves: $13 Billion
Debt: 78% of GDP
Pension: RUB 500
Average Wage: RUB 1500

ITTL:-

1999 GDP: $517.95 Billion Dollars
GDP (Per Capita): $3385
Inflation: 12%
Reserves: $49 Billion
Debt: 34% of GDP
Pension: RUB 2750
Average Wage: RUB 7650

those seem to be some drastic changes...

Thoughts?

Will we see any major geopolitical changes outside Russia? I think Montenegro will not go independent TTL, and Central Asia will be well connected with Russia. Hope we avoid dictatorships in Central Asia tho.

 

[Sarthak]

those seem to be some drastic changes...

actually it's not.

Will we see any major geopolitical changes outside Russia? I think Montenegro will not go independent TTL, and Central Asia will be well connected with Russia. Hope we avoid dictatorships in Central Asia tho.

yes we will; Russia is too well entered into the world stage not to. Any predictions?

 

[Food-Oh_Koon]

yes we will; Russia is too well entered into the world stage not to. Any predictions?

I am personally partial towards the proper integration of Central Asia (well at least Kazakhstan) and I think Georgia is going to be a problem soon... Russia seems to be internally stable so it will have a lot of power externally as well.

And I think any conflict with the Ukrainians can be avoided with closer relations. Putin can work on that through the FSB. Hope he doesn't come to power TTL

 

[Sarthak]

I am personally partial towards the proper integration of Central Asia (well at least Kazakhstan) and I think Georgia is going to be a problem soon... Russia seems to be internally stable so it will have a lot of power externally as well.

And I think any conflict with the Ukrainians can be avoided with closer relations. Putin can work on that through the FSB. Hope he doesn't come to power TTL

The CIS, and the CSTO will be interesting ITTL, and yes the Ukrainian and Georgian crisis will still happen, the seeds had been sowed before the PoD, however the effects and duration will be very interesting and different.

 

[LordYam]

Why is Milosevic being supported? The man was a god damned monster.