<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ukraine is launching a major counteroffensive to bring the fight to the Russians.</li><li>But an expert said it will likely suffer from a significant capability gap: close air support.</li></ul><p>Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive against the Russian invading force appear to be underway.</p><p>The country is bristling with new and powerful equipment from Western allies — from long-range missiles to advanced tanks to infantry fighting vehicles.</p><p>But one expert cautioned that Ukraine's chances of success may be blunted by a looming gap in Ukraine's military that Western help has so far done little to fill: its air force.</p><p>Michael Clarke, a visiting professor at the respected Department of War Studies at King's College London, gave the assessment as part of <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ukraine-war-map-russia-counter-offensive-g9wt8khdk">a broader look at the counteroffensive published by The Times of London</a>.</p><p>He said that a key challenge Ukraine will face trying to break through Russia's thick defenses in the south of the country is taking out its artillery.</p><p>Russia's dominance in artillery has been one of the defining features of the conflict so far, and Ukraine doesn't have that many ways of countering their superiority in the number of artillery pieces and their stockpile of ammunition, which allows Russia to fire many times the shells that Ukraine can.</p><p>Per Clarke: "We'll also see if their rockets are enough to knock out the covering Russian artillery fire. Because this is where they'll feel their lack of aircraft to attack those, the close air support which F-16s would do very well."</p><p>Close air support is pretty much what it sounds like — aircraft working closely with ground units, usually to clear out obstacles or damage key positions or weapons so that foot soldiers and armor can advance.</p><p>It is a sophisticated way of fighting that involves good coordination — and which Russia has often struggled to pull off when fighting in Ukraine.</p><p>The F-16 — a US-made fighter jet fielded by numerous NATO countries — has been the most prominent item on Ukraine's military wishlist that it has so far not been able to get.</p><p>The F-16 has distinguished itself in the past in close air support, including <a href="https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104505/f-16-fighting-falcon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in the Kosovo War</a>, the First Gulf War and in <a href="https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/the-ups-and-downs-of-close-air-support/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the US invasion of Afghanistan</a>.</p><p>President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his allies lobbied for months to get hold of some of the jets to help even the odds against Russia's larger and better-equipped air force.</p><p>Even as it acquired longer-range missiles, the Patriot air-defense system, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-tanks-how-russia-neighbors-got-west-send-advanced-tanks-2023-3">and advanced Western tanks</a>, modern fighter jets remained out of reach.</p><p>Another big gap is air-defense systems mobile enough for the Ukrainians to bring with them as they advance to keep Russia's attack aircraft at bay.</p><p>In late May, Ukraine's lobbying finally succeeded, with the Biden Administration <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/us-allies-plan-provide-ukrainian-pilots-f-16-fighter-jets-official-say-rcna85270" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreeing that F-16s should be sent to Ukraine</a>, though possibly by other allies rather than the US itself.</p><p>But the lead time is so long that it won't be able to use them any time soon.</p><p>As a Pentagon spokesman said in a recent briefing, F-16s to Ukraine is a "long-term" endeavor and "will not be relevant to the upcoming counter offensive."</p><p>As Insider's Ryan Pickrell reported earlier this week, Ukraine is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-counteroffensive-western-weapons-dangerous-time-tough-russian-defenses-2023-6">facing a tough challenge trying to advance on Russia</a>, even with its advanced weaponry.</p>

Ukraine's offensive against Russia is missing a key element because no allies sent F-16 jets fast enough: expert

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ukrainian troops have entered a strategic occupied city and Russian forces have withdrawn, officials said.</li><li>News of troops entering Lyman comes a day after Putin declared the annexation of the Donetsk region.</li></ul><p>Ukrainian forces have entered the strategic city of Lyman on Saturday, as Russia said it had decided to withdraw its troops.</p><p>"Ukrainian Air Assault Forces are entering Lyman, Donetsk region," Ukraine's defence ministry said on <a href="https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1576181741986885632">Twitter, </a> along with a video appearing to show a Ukrainian soldier unflurling a flag.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Defense of Ukraine  (@DefenceU) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1576181741986885632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2022</a></blockquote><p>The news comes a day after President Vladimir Putin had declared the Donetsk region, where Lyman is, part of the Russian motherland.</p><p>On Friday, Ukrainian forces began encircling the city, with Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesperson for Ukraine's army in the east, <a href="https://hromadske.ua/posts/zsu-faktichno-otochili-rosijskih-vijskovih-u-rajoni-limanu-ta-zajshli-u-yampil">telling Ukrainian news outlet Hromadske</a> that almost all logistical routes were under Ukrainian control, he said. </p><p>That assessment was <a href="https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-september-29">echoed by the Institute for the Study of War</a>, which said that as of early Friday, the Ukrainians had cut off Russian forces in the city and the surrounding area from critical ground lines of communication. </p><p>The ISW said that it is "highly unlikely" that any new Russian forces would be able to bolster the troops already there.</p><p>Russia's Ministry of Defense said on <a href="https://web.telegram.org/z/#-1590534742">Telegram</a> on Saturday that it had taken the decision to withdraw its troops and move them to "more advantageous frontiers" due to "the creation of a threat of encirclement."</p><p>Lyman was overrun by Russian forces in late May, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/28/russia-takes-control-lyman-ukraine-missiles-donbas-region">as The Guardian reported</a> at the time. It's a crucial city for Putin's planned advance in the Donbas, which comprises the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Lyman serves as a logistics and supply hub for Putin's operations in the region, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-forces-encircling-russian-units-around-lyman-stronghold-spokesperson-2022-09-30/">according to Reuters</a>. </p><p>The military developments come as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-declares-there-4-new-regions-russia-annexation-speech-2022-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">Putin declared both regions Russian territory</a>, based on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/occupied-ukraine-holding-contentious-referendum-on-joining-russia-2022-9">referendums widely dismissed as a sham</a>. </p><p>Such a reversal on territory he has just declared Russian would make him "look stupid," said security and defense expert Prof. Michael Clarke of the University of Exeter.</p><p>The loss would play badly with Putin's own hawkish critics, such as Igor Girkin, the former commander who now runs a far-right military blog, he said.</p><p>"They'll say: 'Well look, you've declared these to be Russian territory, so now you're now losing bits of Mother Russia,'" Clarke told Insider. </p><p>One of Putin's puppets in the region confirmed the presence of Ukrainian troops around the city in <a href="https://t.me/pushilindenis/2716">a somewhat crestfallen statement on Telegram</a> at around noon local time.</p><p>Dennis Pushilin served as leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, the region's breakaway separatist state not recognized by most of the West or Ukraine. He wrote that the Ukrainian army "is trying with all its might to somehow overshadow this historical event for us.</p><p>"At the moment, Krasny Liman is in a semicircle," he added, using a Russian term for the city. </p><p>Michael Kofman, a Russia expert at CNA, wrote in a tweet: "Russia's annexation announcement stands in sharp contrast to the military reality on the ground, as Russian forces face envelopment at Lyman."</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Michael Kofman (@KofmanMichael) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1575835398202626049">September 30, 2022</a></blockquote><p>The potential recapture of Lyman puts a major brake on Putin's ability to advance, or even hold, much of the Donbas, Clarke told Insider. </p><p>Lyman was to serve as the jumping-off point for Putin's plan to take two other cities, Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, which would have sealed his control of the Donbas region, Clarke told Insider.  </p><p>But Lyman's likely loss puts that plan "out of the window," he said. "It just can't be done this side of the winter."</p><p>A second reason Lyman's recapture would be such a strategic blow is that it opens up a strategic path to completely cutting off Russia's north-to-south supply routes, Clarke said.</p>

Putin is facing a major humiliation as Ukrainian forces enter a key city in territory Russia has just annexed

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ukraine has received powerful Storm Shadow missiles from the UK, and appears to be putting them to use.</li><li>The missiles are giving Russian forces real problems in Ukraine, an expert told Insider.</li></ul><p>Storm Shadow missiles provided by the UK to Ukraine are proving "absolutely critical" to its counter-offensive — but they must be effectively used to maximize its limited arsenal, experts told Insider.</p><p>Since the British government provided an undisclosed number of the air-launched missiles to Ukraine earlier this year they have been striking Russian targets "almost without fault," <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-storm-shadow-missiles-accurate-strikes-russian-forces-uk-2023-6">UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace said late last month</a>. </p><p>The missiles, which are fired from a plane and have a range exceeding 155 miles, are designed to fly low after launch to evade detection. They also have an onboard infrared target-seeking system that allows them to recognize planned targets for a precision strike.</p><p>Defense analyst Michael Clarke, a former director of the Royal United Services Institute think tank, told Insider that the range and impressive precision of the Storm Shadow in Ukraine's hands heralds a "new dimension of air warfare," which Russia is struggling to counter.</p><p>"The Storm Shadow gives [Ukraine] a real edge in terms of destroying everything behind the lines that the Russians have got," he said, adding: "If they can see it, they can destroy it."</p><p>The weapon has also increased the relevance of Ukraine's air force, which seems to be using it to strike fuel and ammunition depots, key bridges, and headquarters well into Russian-held areas.</p><p>But Ukraine likely has only a limited number of aircraft capable of carrying them — and they are vulnerable, Marina Miron, a research fellow at the Defence Studies Department at London's King's College, told Insider.</p><h2>'An absolute step change'</h2><p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-strikes-key-bridge-between-mainland-crimea-russia-appointed-officials-2023-06-22/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">A gaping hole in a strategic bridge</a> connecting Kherson to Crimea. <a href="https://twitter.com/Wild_Vagabond_/status/1664561982404546560" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">A massive plume of smoke</a> over the seaport of Berdyansk. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-ukraine-used-storm-shadow-missiles-britain-attack-luhansk-2023-05-13/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Destroyed factories</a> in Russian-occupied Luhansk.</p><p>While it's hard to confirm irrefutably that the Storm Shadow inflicted this damage, there are few other likely explanations at such a distance from the front line. </p><p>With strikes like this, "you think to yourself, 'Well, that can only have been a Storm Shadow,'" said Clarke.</p><div type="image" title="A hole in the Chonhar bridge that connects Russian-held Kherson to Crimea, which on June 22 2023 Russia says was caused by a Storm Shadow missile strike." height="1499" width="1999" msid="101667717" hostid="261"></div><p>The missile is equipped with inertial, GPS and terrain-referencing navigation, <a href="https://www.mbda-systems.com/product/storm-shadow-scalp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">according to its manufacturer</a>, and its pre-set target systems make it highly resistant to Russian jamming.</p><p>Its nearly 1,000-pound warhead is also capable of penetrating concrete bunkers.</p><p>The cruise missile's long range, meanwhile, allows Ukraine's jets to fire it beyond the reach of Russia's air defenses, which have largely restricted Ukraine's air forces to operations far from the battlefield.</p><p>"In practice it's an absolute step change in the range of a very capable missile," Clarke said. </p><h2><strong>Getting past Russian air defenses</strong></h2><p>Designed to fly low and packed with stealth aids, the Storm Shadow is effective at skirting air defenses. </p><p><a href="https://theaviationist.com/2023/05/16/mald-decoys-ukraine/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reports suggest</a> they are being launched in conjunction with the US-made MALD decoy system, creating a false target that can confuse Russia's air defenses.</p><p>Once launched, the Storm Shadow hugs the terrain, just a couple of hundred feet above the ground. Meanwhile, much higher, a MALD takes the same route, acting as what Clarke describes as "an electronic shapeshifter."</p><p>"A MALD missile can make itself look like a flight of aircraft or it can make itself look like several missiles [...] when in reality there's one Storm Shadow several thousand feet below it, traveling fast towards the target," he said.</p><div type="image" title="lot 9 mald-j" height="447" width="894" msid="101667719" hostid="261"></div><p>This means the strike is almost impossible to stop once launched, although Russia's Ministry of Defense claimed in late May that <a href="https://tass.com/defense/1625035" target="_blank" rel="noopener">it had intercepted 29 of them that month</a>.</p><p>"They might have managed to shoot a couple down, but we haven't seen any hard evidence," Clarke said. "As far as we know, they've all got through."</p><p>On Thursday, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-says-intact-storm-shadow-missile-studying-parts-ukraine-2023-7">Russia claimed that it secured the intact parts of a Storm Shadow</a> missile brought down in Zaporizhzhia, which could provide Moscow with insight into the weapon.</p><h2>Aiding Ukraine's counter-offensive</h2><p>Ultimately, Russia is likely to alter its tactics to adapt to the Storm Shadow threat in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-adapted-himars-ukraine-storm-shadow-missiles-bring-fear-back-2023-5">the same way it did to US-provided HIMARS</a>, as Insider's Jake Epstein previously reported.</p><p>But in the meantime, the weapon spells headaches for Russia's command and control behind the front lines, Clarke said. </p><p>By all indications, Ukraine's counter-offensive hasn't kicked into high gear yet, he said. Clarke estimates that Ukrainian forces are currently testing the front lines and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-russia-deadly-game-main-attack-likely-still-to-come-2023-6?r=US&amp;IR=T">holding the majority of their firepower in reserve for a big push</a>.</p><p>When that happens, "Storm Shadow will be absolutely critical in making it difficult for the Russians to react," he said.</p><p>Clarke envisages strikes on Russian command and control centers, ammunition dumps, storage facilities, strategic locations like bridges, and concentrations of troops.</p><p>Russia is particularly vulnerable to this because of its slow, centralized organizational systems in the field, he said. </p><p>"If they're there for more than a couple of hours, they can be hit," he said. </p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Um0Se9CvHrE" frameborder="0"></iframe><h2>A precious and limited resource</h2><p>On June 23, <a href="https://eng.mil.ru/en/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12471298@egNews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russia claimed to have destroyed an entire cache of Storm Shadows</a> in retaliation for the strike on the Chonhar Bridge, which connects Crimea with the southern Kherson region also under its occupation.</p><p>Whether or not that can be confirmed, the missile is clearly a valuable and finite resource. It's also uncertain how many Ukraine received from the UK.</p><div type="image" title="A photograph of a note written on an image of a Ukrainian Su-24MR reconaissance craft, which onlookers have speculated carries a Storm Shadow. The image was tweeted as part of a collage by Ukraine Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov on May 24, 2023." height="1282" width="1709" msid="101667720" hostid="261"></div><p>At around $1 million each, they're expensive. Before Russia's full-scale invasion, the UK was generally thought to have held between 700 to 1,000 of them, Clarke said. What proportion of that stockpile was transferred to Ukraine is unknown — "probably some hundreds," he estimated.<br /><br />On Tuesday, France also announced the delivery of an undisclosed number of SCALP missiles — the French name for the Storm Shadow — to boost Ukraine's supply, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/france-send-long-range-missiles-ukraine-macron-2023-07-11/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters reported</a>.</p><p>But Miron told Insider, before the French announcement, that "Ukrainians have to be very, very mindful for two reasons."</p><p>Their stockpile is limited, she said, and in the face of superior Russian ground-based air defenses the delivery aircraft is highly vulnerable.</p><h2>Getting Storm Shadow in the air</h2><p>It's Storm Shadow's air launch that gives it real reach. But there is still an open question of how many aircraft Ukraine actually has that can carry the missile.</p><p>Being heavy, it's not well-suited to Ukraine's main Soviet-era fleet of Mig-29s and SU-27s. It has been seen on both variants of its Su-24, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/06/03/ukraine-has-armed-both-of-its-bomber-types-with-high-tech-british-cruise-missiles/?sh=74f56fb33778" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Forbes</a>. </p><p>But it's not clear how many of those Ukraine has left — and only one unit, the 7th Bomber Regiment, flies it, the outlet reported. </p><p>"[UK Defence Minister] Ben Wallace privately has said that there were quite a lot of tests to make sure that they could put Storm Shadow onto something that the Ukrainians had flying," Clarke told Insider.</p><div type="image" title="a 41 Sqaudron (the RAF's test and evaluation Sqn) Tornado GR4, preparing to test fire four Storm Shadow missiles over the Atlantic Ocean." height="1550" width="2067" msid="101667721" hostid="261"></div><p>One possible delivery vehicle, per Miron, is an F-16, which was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-offensive-big-gap-because-nobody-gave-f-16s-expert-2023-6?r=US&amp;IR=T">only given the nod for distribution to Ukraine by the US in May</a>. Ukraine is yet to receive any of the planes.</p><h2>Celebrity weapons</h2><p>There's no doubt that when wielded effectively, the Storm Shadow is a major piece of the counter-offensive puzzle.</p><p>But from Miron's perspective, the really important point about the UK handing over Storm Shadows is the fact that it signals an unprecedented level of trust in Ukraine.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1661324917856501765">May 24, 2023</a></blockquote><p>The West has long hesitated in giving Ukraine long-range weapons, given their ability to potentially hit targets in Russia — a much-emphasized red line.</p><p>But that implicit vote of confidence from the UK should "open the floodgates," politically, for all the other weapons Ukraine needs, Miron said, including F-16s to carry the Storm Shadow. </p><p>(The UK's Ministry of Defence has declined to specify if the Storm Shadow has been modified for Ukraine's use, in the same way the US <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-modified-himars-rocket-launchers-before-sending-to-ukraine-wsj-2022-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">limited the range of HIMARS launchers</a>.)</p><p>On June 29, it emerged that the US is once again discussing the possibility of sending Ukraine ATACMS, a much-desired long-range missile also fired from HIMARS launchers, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-close-to-approving-long-range-atacms-missiles-to-bolster-ukraines-fight-cc4e389c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal reported</a>.</p><p>The French SCALP announcement also appears to show the influence of the UK's decision-making.</p><p>Moves like this are why, Miron said, Ukraine makes such a big deal of its Western-sent weapons being put to use — not only because they're effective in battle, but also because they make for great PR. </p><h2><strong>Brute force versus superior weapons</strong></h2><p>"There's no such thing as a war-winning weapon," said Miron. And the Storm Shadow is no exception.</p><p>As Clarke points out, the West helping Ukraine bring state-of-the-art weaponry to the field is only one part of the equation. While Ukraine has been getting to grips with the Storm Shadow, Russia has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russias-success-at-equipping-simple-bombs-with-guidance-systems-report-2023-4?r=US&amp;IR=T">re-engineered crude Soviet-era bombs to be guided to target</a>, albeit much less precisely.</p><p>"Western weapons systems now are proving themselves to be technically superior, really superior, but they're much more expensive," Clarke said.</p><p>"The old basic is repeating itself," he added. "Western weapons are far superior to the Russian weapons, but the Russians have got a lot more of them."</p>

The Storm Shadow missile is 'absolutely critical' to Ukraine's counter-offensive, say experts. But Ukraine needs to use it carefully.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A top Russian official repeated Russia's nuclear threats, saying it "isn't a bluff."</li><li>Dmitry Medvedev said NATO countries wouldn't step in if Russia fired a nuke on Ukraine.</li></ul><p>Russia's former president repeated the country's threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, and mocked NATO by saying it would not come to Ukraine's aid if Russia struck. </p><p>Dmitry Medvedev, who is now Russia's Security Council chief, took aim at US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, and the wider NATO alliance <a href="https://t.me/medvedev_telegram/181">on Telegram</a> early Tuesday.</p><p>He said those leaders "constantly threaten us with 'terrifying consequences' if Russia uses nuclear weapons," and accused Truss of being "completely ready to immediately begin an exchange of nuclear strikes with our country."</p><p>Medvedev said Russia's laws around the use of nuclear weapons mean it can retaliate with them if it is hit with nukes, or if it is attacked with conventional weapons that threaten "the very existence of our state."</p><p>Russia will also "do anything" to prevent the nuclear weapons emerging in the country's "hostile neighbors" such as Ukraine, Medvedev said. </p><p>"If the threat to Russia exceeds the established danger limit, we will have to respond," he said. "Without asking anyone's permission, without long consultations. And it's definitely not a bluff."</p><p>And if Russia did strike Ukraine with a nuclear weapon, NATO member states will put their own security ahead of protecting "a dying Ukraine that no one needs," Medvedev said. </p><h2>An isolated Russia</h2><p>Security expert Professor Michael Clarke told Insider he believes Putin using a nuclear weapon "would bring him down immediately."</p><p>"The whole world would turn against him," he said, arguing that he believed NATO would hit back, albeit with conventional weapons. China would likely drop its muted support for Russia also, he predicted. </p><p>Clarke, associate director of the Strategy and Security Institute at the UK's University of Exeter, said: "I think there would be an immediate upping of the campaign, and I suspect that would actually bring Western forces into Ukraine." </p><p>Medvedev's remarks come as Russia moves to annex large parts of occupied Ukraine <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/occupied-ukraine-holding-contentious-referendum-on-joining-russia-2022-9">through sham referendums</a>.</p><p>Should President Vladimir Putin announce annexations — expected this Friday, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-could-formally-annex-parts-occupied-ukraine-friday-uk-intel-2022-9">per the UK's Ministry of Defence</a> — any attempt to re-take those areas may be interpreted in Moscow as an attack on Russia itself.</p><p>Reminding the world about Russia's nuclear arsenal is nothing new among Putin and his allies. He <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-threatens-worst-ever-consequences-if-west-intervenes-in-ukraine-2022-2">alluded </a>to it in February, and in March Medvedev <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/26/russia-reasserts-right-to-use-nuclear-weapons-in-ukraine-putin">re-asserted</a> Russia's stated right to use nukes.<br /><br /></p><iframe src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/2k8DEwKJ-rpoASVKQ.html" width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute;" title="When Vladimir Putin's gone, who comes next?"></iframe><p>But a recent spate of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-threatens-nuclear-weapons-over-ukraine-says-not-bluffing-2022-9">statements like these</a> is "trying to ramp up the threat" and scare the West away from further support of Ukraine because Putin is "in a corner," Clarke argued.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-speech-partial-military-mobilization-draft-reservists-ukraine-war-2022-9">Putin's recent announcement calling up reservists</a> has been viewed internationally as a desperate act spurred by Ukraine's successful counter-attack.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-snubbed-by-india-china-turkey-ahead-of-ukraine-escalation-2022-9">Putin has recently been snubbed</a> even by semi-allies such as Turkey, India and China.</p><p>Clarke said Putin was "humiliated."</p><h2>Is Putin bluffing?</h2><p>After Putin's latest statement, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-russia-catastrophic-consequences-firing-nuclear-weapons-ukraine-war-2022-9">White House warned</a> Russia would face "catastrophic consequences" if it used tactical nuclear weapons.</p><p>In an interview aired on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zelenskyy-says-he-doesnt-think-putin-is-bluffing-nuclear-threats-2022-9">he didn't think Putin was bluffing</a>. </p><p>Clarke said he believes Russia's threats are indeed a bluff — but that the West must still take them seriously.</p><p>"Even when people are bluffing, they find themselves running out of room to maneuver and then get locked into doing what they thought they wouldn't have to do," he said. </p><p>He added: "Whenever you start to play games with nuclear strategy, the danger of a mistake or sheer miscalculation can never be ruled out. So yes, the West has got to take it seriously."</p><p>The defense minister of Russia neighbor Latvia also <a href="https://www.insider.com/putin-nuclear-threats-are-bluff-scare-west-ukraine-support-latvia-2022-9">told Insider</a> he believes Putin is likely bluffing in the hopes of getting West to reduce its support for Ukraine.</p>

Russia's former president said nuclear threats are not a bluff, and that NATO won't step in if Russia nukes Ukraine

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Tucker Carlson pushed a Russian conspiracy theory suggesting the US blew up the Nord Stream pipeline. </li><li>The claim was then recycled by Russian state TV, and other far-right influencers. </li></ul><p>Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Wednesday seized on the news that that the Nord Stream pipelines, which were built to channel gas from Russia to Western Europe, appeared to have been sabotaged. </p><p>Officials in <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/28/nord-stream-pipeline-explosions-eu-00059262">Germany and other EU nations said</a> the undersea pipeline <strong>— </strong>built by a consortium of European companies and Russia's state-run gas giant Gazprom — appeared to have been deliberately damaged. Western officials pointed to Russia as the likely culprit. </p><p>Their predominant theory is that the Kremlin was signaling that this vital line carrying energy to Europe is vulnerable to attack — a means to warn the EU over its support for Ukraine. </p><p>But Carlson had a different view. </p><p>"If you are Vladimir Putin, you'd have to be a suicidal moron to blow up your own energy pipeline," he said.</p><p>He pointed to remarks, by President Joe Biden from February, where he opposed activation of the pipeline.</p><p>Biden had said if Putin invades, "there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2, we will bring an end to it." Those remarks came as the US sought to tighten economic pressure on Russia before the war started. Nord Stream 2 is not in service. </p><p>Distorting the president's remarks and ignoring that context, Carlson said they could be construed to mean: "We will blow it up."</p><p>Within hours, the claim was being promoted by far-right influencers in the US, and pushed by the network of Russian state media networks, despite a lack of credible evidence that US warships or operatives had taken part.</p><p>Russian lawmakers on Wednesday called for Biden to address the allegations at the UN. </p><p>The case is another example of the lightning-fast reciprocity between far-right influencers in the US and Europe, and the Kremlin's propaganda machine. </p><p>Matt Gertz, a researcher with Media Matters, which monitors right-wing media, told Insider that Carlson's rhetoric and the Kremlin's propaganda have long mirrored one another. </p><p>"Carlson's coverage of the war in Ukraine has consistently aligned with that of Russia's government. He is part of a segment of the American right that is blithely uninterested in the suffering of Ukrainians, credulous of Vladimir Putin's stated motivations, and generally more interested in denouncing the US government than the Russian one," he told Insider. </p><p>Fox News did not respond to Insider's request for comment. </p><h2>'Wish fulfillment'</h2><p>Defense and security expert Michael Clarke, a professor at the University of Exeter, told Insider that the clip of Biden speaking in February was "neither here nor there" as a form of evidence that the US masterminded the attack. </p><p>"What Tucker Carlson says is completely at variance with all the known factors," he said.</p><p>There is no publicly available evidence proving Russia was behind the attack. But Russian warships and submarines <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/28/politics/nord-stream-pipeline-leak-russian-navy-ships/index.html">were spotted</a> in the area and have the capability, via divers or mini subs, needed to place and detonate what's estimated to be hundreds of pounds of explosives to create pipeline breaks of this size. </p><p>Clarke added: "America would have far, far more to lose by doing something so stupid as this. The only government for whom it would make any sense would be the Russian government."</p><p>Carlson's take on the issue is merely "wish fulfillment," he said. </p><p>Isolationist, "America First" commentators like Carlson oppose US involvement in foreign conflicts, and have long harbored an admiration for Putin's Christian nationalist <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/07/04/us-politics-ukraine-russia-far-right-left-progressive-horseshoe-theory/">Russia, say experts. </a> </p><p>Russia has been keen to exploit the admiration, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-crafts-ukraine-disinfo-to-appeal-to-us-audience-experts-2022-3?r=US&amp;IR=T">tailoring conspiracy theories designed</a> to appeal to the Western far-right.</p><p>Gertz, from Media Matters, pointed to a Russian government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/mar/14/kremlin-memos-russian-media-tucker-carlson-fox-news-mother-jones">document obtained by Mother Jones in March</a> telling state media outlets "it is essential to use as much as possible fragments of" Carlson's show because he "sharply criticizes the actions of the United States."</p><p>Since then, Carlson's attacks on US and western policy in Ukraine have been a weekly staple on Russian TV networks, and are praised by pro-Kremlin Russian pundits who say they show ebbing support for the war in the US.</p><p>And they may be right. One recent <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-poll-signals-americans-are-growing-tired-of-supporting-ukraine-2022-9">poll</a> found that a majority of Americans want the war to come to a negotiated end.</p><h2><div type="image" title="Nord Stream pipeline leak" height="1200" width="1599" msid="94571967" hostid="261" sizebytes="244816"></div></h2><h2>How the Nord Stream claim spread </h2><p>The journey taken by the Nord Stream pipeline Biden conspiracy theory is emblematic of the way pro-Russian propaganda travels. </p><p>A Wednesday tweet by Polish EU parliamentarian Radek Sidorski, which has since been deleted, triggered intense scrutiny from Russian state media and diplomats. It included a picture of the ruptured pipeline, with the caption: "Thank you, USA."</p><p>Sidorski's follow-up tweets<strong> a</strong>ppeared to attempt to clarify that the original tweet was a criticism of US <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/21/us-germany-strike-deal-to-allow-completion-of-russian-nord-stream-2-pipeline.html">support</a> for the pipeline being built in the first place, but it was too late. </p><p>Russia's UN representative Dmitry Polyansky instantly amplified it, saying it made it "crystal clear who stands behind this terrorist-style targeting of civilian infrastructure."</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Dmitry Polyanskiy (@Dpol_un) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1574840289419792384">September 27, 2022</a></blockquote><p>Sidorski's spokesperson declined to comment or to clarify the lawmaker's meaning to Insider.</p><p>Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia's foreign ministry, demanded that the EU answer to the tweet, <a href="https://tass.com/politics/1514613">per Russian state media agency TASS</a>.</p><p>The claim was then picked up by Carlson, who combined it with the footage of Biden in February. This was then shared by US far-right influencers including <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1575200242688876544">Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk</a>, before being recycled by Russian state media, claiming its traction in the US gave it another layer of credibility.</p><p>In a particularly absurd laundering of the speculation, Russian state media outlet <a href="https://ria.ru/20220928/vinovnye-1819977461.html">RIA Novosti then wrote an article</a> compiling credulous and largely anonymous reader comments on UK conservative news outlet The Daily Mail. "Daily Mail readers accuse US of attacking Nord Stream," wrote the outlet. </p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/29/russia-nord-stream-tucker-carlson-fox-news/">The Washington Post noted that clips</a> of Carlson's show were on continual rotation on Russia's main TV news networks Wednesday.  </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1575327656261947392">September 29, 2022</a></blockquote><p>As the war enters its seventh month, one of the key questions is whether the Western alliance, on which Ukraine's military and financial support depends, will hold. </p><h2><strong>A strategy to split the West </strong></h2><p>The Kremlin and elements of the US far-right share the broader goal of undermining Western <a href="https://www.state.gov/2-8-billion-in-additional-u-s-military-assistance-for-ukraine-and-its-neighbors/#:~:text=These%20announcements%20will%20bring%20the,countries%20to%20support%20Ukraine's%20defense.">support for Ukraine</a>, which has so far amounted to an estimated $15 billion. </p><p>The rhetorical attacks have the additional advantage of forcing the US to respond; State Department spokesman Ned Price <a href="https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-september-28-2022/">called</a> the claims "preposterous.</p><p>And the claims about Nord Stream could not come at a moment of higher tension between Russia and the West. Europe faces a painful winter as it attempts to wean itself off the supply of Russian energy, of which the Nord Stream pipelines were both a potent symbol and a flagship piece of infrastructure.</p><p>The West's economic sanctions of Russia have caused fuel inflation to spike in Europe, which has already led to protests in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, this week. </p><p>The US is less dependent on Russian energy, but the Republican Party, whose "America First" wing remains powerful, is increasingly forecast to regain control of the House of Representatives in the November mid-terms.</p><p>Key members of the party have signaled they may seek to place obstacles in front of future multi-billion military aid packages to Ukraine.</p><p>It is these factions whose profile the Kremlin is likely seeking to boost, as it steps up its propaganda war and seizes on Western commentators to bolster its campaign. </p>

How wild and baseless claims that Biden blew up the Nord Stream pipelines moved seamlessly between Tucker Carlson and the Kremlin

<br />There is nothing quite like the drama of the Ashes. English and Australian players are known to get along well off the pitch, but on it, especially when they are wearing whites, the intensity and animosity of the years gone by between cricketers of the two country takes over and players end up making or breaking their careers.<br /><br /><strong>Usman Khawaja, 171 at Sydney in 2018<br /></strong><br />England posted a competitive total of 346 and it looked like they were carrying forward the momentum of the previous match in Melbourne which was drawn at the end of what was another forgettable tour of Australia. They got Cameron Bancroft out for a duck but that was the end of England's resurgence in that series. Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith came in and normal service resumed with the Australian batsmen dominating the Englishmen. Khawaja was one of three centurions in that innings, the other two being the Marsh brothers and Australia declared on a mammoth 649/7. They won the match by an innings and 123 runs. <br /><br /><strong>Alastair Cook, 235* at Brisbane in 2010<br /></strong><br />Cook was at his prolific best when England arrived in Australia in a bid to defend their title. They started off on shaky ground though, with Australia taking a lead of 221 thanks to a brilliant pair of centuries by Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin. What followed was two and a half days in hell for the Aussie bowlers as Cook, Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott pushed England to 517/1, a scorecard that broke quite a few records. Cook was unbeaten 235 having shared a 188-run stand with Strauss before putting on 329 for the second wicket with Trott. <br /><br /><strong>Steve Smith, 215 at Lord's in 2015<br /></strong><br />Smith was on overdrive and before this match, his previous totals in Test cricket read as 214,161,206,188,30,253 and 66. Australia made a strong start to the second Test, batting first with a 78-run stand between David Warner and Chris Rogers. What followed that was the end of any hopes England had of taking a 2-0 lead in the series. Smith and Rogers put up 284 runs for the second wicket. While Rogers fell to Broad on 173, Smith carried on, even sharing a 91-run stand for the sixth wicket with Peter Nevill before being trapped leg before by Joe Root. Australia won the match by 405 runs. <br /><br /><strong>Alastair Cook, 244* at MCG in 2018<br /></strong><br />When Cook bowed out of Test cricket in 2019 with a century, he was celebrated as one of England's greatest ever batsman in the longest format of the game. But for much of the two years preceding that moment, the former England captain cut an embattled figure. The ball was not going to the places that he wanted it to and he was a shadow of his former prolific self. The colossal 244 in Melbourne, in which he batted through an innings that lasted 144.1 overs was an island in this run of bad form however. England finally showed fight in a series that they were trailing 3-0, and the match ended in a draw. <br /><br /><strong>Kevin Pietersen, 227 at Adelaide in 2010<br /></strong><br />Pietersen's Test career started and ended with the Ashes. Since he made his debut in 2005, the Ashes was his theatre and he was the anti-hero. The Australians were onto him every time he came out to bat as they knew getting him out is crucial to winning the match while his England teammates themselves were not too fond of him because of all the off-field problems that came with him into the dressing room. His ability with the bat however, was never in question and Adelaide was always a happy hunting ground for him. His 227 in the 2nd Test of the 2010 series helped England declare on a monumental 620/5. England went on to record an innings victory in that match and the icing on the cake for Pietersen was that he managed to get the prized wicket of Michael Clarke, something that he says he makes sure to remind 'Pup' to this day. <br />

Top five Ashes knocks in the last decade

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/596f5c61abc1c892048b5930-1633/cook%20out-13.jpg" alt="Cook Out 13" /><p class="source"><span>Hollis Johnson</span></p>A furious customer is claiming that an employee at a cult favorite fast-food chain threw ketchup at him and harassed him for wearing a Trump t-shirt. <p>On Tuesday, Daniel Kaspar <a href="https://twitter.com/TheManKaspar/status/886950012302786561">posted on Twitter</a> that he had been harassed and heckled while trying to order food at a Cook Out in Durham, North Carolina. </p><p>"When I walked in wearing a Donald Trump t-shirt, the employees threw a packet of ketchup at me before I even placed my order," Kaspar wrote. "I then was called out and heckled several times by the manager, who also encouraged other customers to join in." </p><p>"I don't care who you support or why you support them, but this is unacceptable, unprofessional and un-American," he continued, saying he would never return to this Cook Out location. </p><p>Cook Out responded to Kaspar's tweet to apologize, calling the incident "extremely unprofessional." </p><p> A man who is apparently Kaspar's father also took to Twitter to back up his son, calling the incident "absurd." </p><p>"Liberals have gone overboard," <a href="https://twitter.com/jkaspar2/status/887091125701533696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&amp;ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fpost%2Fpreview%3Fpost_id%3D596f5d18c50c298d088b51c7%26mode%3Ddesktop">John Kaspar wrote.</a> "We should all infiltrate the store with our deplorable shirts." </p><p>Other respondents were less sympathetic, with some expressing suspicion regarding Kasapar's depiction of the incident. </p><p>This is not the first time that Cook Out, a North Carolina-based chain known for its burgers and milkshakes, has received boycott threats from Trump supporters. Workers at a Colonial Heights, Virginia, location <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cook-out-refused-to-serve-trump-fans-2016-6">reportedly refused to serve customers in Donald Trump shirts and hats</a> in June 2016, sparking controversy. </p><p>While Cook Out did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, the chain claimed it was a "politically neutral company" after the 2016 anti-Trump incident. </p><p>"We welcome all customers regardless of political affiliation," the company said in a statement at the time. </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews">@FoxNews</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BoycottCookout?src=hash">#BoycottCookout</a> <a href="https://t.co/thtaBdOSTs">pic.twitter.com/thtaBdOSTs</a></p>- Daniel Kaspar  (@TheManKaspar) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/886950012302786561">July 17, 2017</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Daniel, we are so sorry this happened to you. This was extremely unprofessional, and it is being handled to ensure it never happens again.</p>- Cook Out  (@CookOut) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/887392925554020352">July 18, 2017</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>I'm crying 😭😭 little man called in pops to back him up</p>- Andrew Tenbusch  (@10busch) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/887377420663312385">July 18, 2017</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Durham is predominantly liberal. Nobody gives af. If anything, I'm going to eat cookout more. Good work cookout!</p>- Jordan  (@Jordan_p34) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/887426374608269312">July 18, 2017</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p> <a href="https://t.co/BAYG0jKvL3">pic.twitter.com/BAYG0jKvL3</a></p>- Michael Clark 🏎💨  (@clarkmike36) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/887170490263101441">July 18, 2017</a></blockquote>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/qvc-behind-the-scenes-tv-retail-e-commerce-2017-7">INSIDE QVC - the retail powerhouse that plans to buy rival HSN for $2.1 billion</a></h3>                                    Please enable Javascript to watch this video                    

'THIS IS UN-AMERICAN': Furious Trump supporter calls for boycott of fast-food chain after workers allegedly threw ketchup at him

<p>A new "Daredevil" series will launch in April on Netflix.</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It's the first of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/disney-marvel-shows-on-netflix-2013-11">four upcoming Marvel series</a> to appear on the streaming site.</span></p><p>We've seen a few teasers and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/daredevil-trailer-2015-2">trailers</a> for the upcoming show, including many images of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) as the blind lawyer who becomes the famed vigilante.</p><p>Monday, Netflix unveiled the first image of the villain, Kingpin, who will be played by Vincent D'Onofrio ("Full Metal Jacket").</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54f4a38169bedd966ee84a6a-1200-2000/daredevil-kingpin.jpg" border="0" alt="daredevil kingpin vincent d'onofrio netflix"><p class="source"><span>Barry Wetcher/Netflix</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Here's the previous teaser image Netflix released of the character.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54f4a62e69bedd6a78e84a67-1200-924/netflix-daredevil-kingpin-3.jpg" border="0" alt="netflix daredevil kingpin"><p class="source"><span>Barry Wetcher/Netflix</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">D'Onofrio will be the first actor to play the "Daredevil" nemesis since Michael Clarke Duncan in 2003's </span><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/daredevil/">heavily-panned film</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> starring Ben Affleck.</span></p><p>The actor tells <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2015/03/02/vincent-donofrio-daredevil-first-look/24116765/">USA Today</a> he gained about 30 pounds and studied the comic book series for the role.</p><p>"I wanted him to have an appearance of being super-powerful so that when he throws a punch, it's a major punch," said D'Onofrio. "There's a lot of weight behind it."</p><p>"Daredevil" premieres on Netflix April 10.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marvel-legend-stan-lee-mistake-2014-6">This Was Marvel Legend Stan Lee's One Big Mistake</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="lzYXg1bjr9epa5ZDxnn_UFMFj2QioKSb" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'lzYXg1bjr9epa5ZDxnn_UFMFj2QioKSb',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Here's the first picture of the new 'Daredevil' villain

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/529cada569bedda36c851f40-942-706/ithaca-college-logo.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="Ithaca College Logo" width="480" /><p class="source"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42974443@N00/5150964813/in/photolist-8Rb3oa-7F32NC-8Rb38V-7Q4cnz-c8bV5j-c3gjVw-aoNEwC-aoKUVH-aoKPnP-aoKXkK-aoKTrP-aoKPJx-aoNB8W-aoNyts-aoKVdv-aoKNf2-aoNvab-aoNzrm-aoNzFU-aoNwvG-aoNtA7-aoNDio-aoKNtx-aoKVwi-aoKKQ6-aoNFg7-aoNz29-aoKSin-aoKMBr-aoNAXw-aoKUfp-aoKQHa-aoKTNR-aoKUAK-aoKPcV-aoNw1d-aoKXee-aoNCSy-aoNu1j-aoKRWe-aoKNWe-aoKVT8-aoNFqU-aoKVCD-aoKNBT-aoKRk8-aoNuxd-aoKRAT-aoNuaY-aoKUGM-aoKKVP">Via Flickr</a></p></div><p></p></div>An Ithaca <keyword id="6360288" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="college">College</keyword> student passed away this weekend in a <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/APe1f0d1ed3d4e48dba7c168fc8ed02fa2.html?dsk=y">car crash that occurred on his ride back to the Upstate New York school</a> after Thanksgiving Break, the Associated Press reports.</p>
<p>Michael Clark - a 21-year-old IC junior - was driving back with three other <keyword id="3216" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="students">students</keyword>, all of whom sustained injuries in the crash.</p>
<p>According to the AP, police say the students lost control of their SUV Sunday night after the driver swerved to avoid a deer on the highway, causing the car to roll over several times. </p>
<p>Clark was <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Ithaca-College-student-dies-in-wreck-5027429.php">originally from Boxborough, Massachusetts</a>, and was studying English at IC.</p>

Ithaca College Student Dies In Car Crash On Trip Back To School After Thanksgiving Break

<p>A computer scientist has created a fascinating chart of top 25 deadliest actors of all time by on-screen kills.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Drawing on the the database of </span><a href="http://www.moviebodycounts.com/">MovieBodyCounts</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> database, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/randal_olson">Randal Olsen</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> created a mostly complete list that shows that </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000216/?ref_=tt_cl_t1">Arnold Schwarzenegger</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> is the deadliest man in <keyword id="406" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Movies">movies</keyword>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">A couple surprises on the list are </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000221/">Charlie Sheen</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> and </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003817/">Michael Clarke Duncan</a>, who has more on-screen kills than Chuck Norris (<a href="http://www.moviebodycounts.com/Chuck_Norris.htm">102</a>).</p>
<p><div class="image-container"><div class="image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52c59acfeab8ead536bd3b57-688-642/25-deadliest-actors.png?maxX=800" border="0" alt="25 Deadliest Actors" width="800" /><p class="source">Randal Olsen</p></div></div><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">In an accompanying blog post, Olsen notes a couple of interesting facts:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><span> </span><big>•</big><span> </span>Uma Thurman is deadliest woman with 77 on-screen kills.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><span> </span><big>•</big><span> </span>150 of Tomisaburo Wakayama's 226 kills came in the film "Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell" (1974). It is considered the highest kill count by any one person in a film.</span></p>
<div>
<p><div class="image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/52c5a574eab8ea564cbd3b55-493-369/commandoarnoldschwarzenegger-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Commando_Arnold_Schwarzenegger" /><p class="source">screenshot/"Commando"</p><p class="caption">Arnold Schwarzenegger's highest single-film kill count comes from Commando (1985). His character racked up 74 kills in the final scene.</p></div></div></div>Olsen told BI the body count database took more than five years to build, but some kills may be missing from the list because "some actors have worked in dozens of low-kill-count, B-rated movies" that haven't been cataloged.</p>
<p>Olsen added that there is one key omission in the database: John Wayne.</p>
<p>"I'm almost certain he'd be ranked in the 'deadliest actors' chart if some film-watching hero were willing to do the counts on his [pre-1960] films," Olsen told BI. "That said, it may be best to qualify that these counts cover the period of 1960 and onward."</p>
<p>Olsen also charted the <a href="http://www.randalolson.com/2013/12/31/deadliest-films-of-all-time-by-on-screen-death-counts/">deadliest films</a> and <a href="http://www.randalolson.com/2013/12/31/most-violence-packed-films/">most violent films</a> of all time based on the kill count data.</p>
</div>

The 25 Deadliest Actors of All Time

<p>Pro-Russian separatists have stirred up tension in eastern Ukraine over the past few days, occupying and taking control of building in as many as 10 Ukrainian cities. </p>
<p>The chances of a full-fledged Russian invasion of Ukraine have grown, U.S. officials and observers say. The White House has openly accused Moscow of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-russia-lies-ukraine-state-department-2014-4" target="_blank">supporting the pro-Russian separatists - or, as they have called them, "provocateurs."</a></p>
<p>The Ukrainian government issued an ultimatum on Monday to the separatists - one that has now expired and, so far, gone largely unenforced through any military or diplomatic pressures. The reality is that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/15/world/europe/russia-east-ukraine.html" target="_blank">Kiev has few plausible options</a>, but if it does respond with force, Russia is expected to use it as a pretext for invasion. </p>
<p>The Royal United Services Institute, a security and defense think tank based in London, published <a href="https://www.rusi.org/downloads/assets/UKRANIANMILITARYDISPOSITIONS_RUSIBRIEFING.pdf" target="_blank">a report and map last week</a> outlining Russia's potential moves into Ukraine and redeployments of forces (<a href="http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/04/14/what_would_russian_troops_do_once_they_cross_the_ukrainian_border" target="_blank">via Foreign Policy</a>):</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/534d35d569bedd0570106b05-1200-597/russia-ukraine-9.jpg" border="0" alt="Russia Ukraine" /><p class="source"><span>RUSI</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>The map lays out Russia's possible military options in Ukraine. <span>The authors of the report - Igor Sutyagin, a research fellow at RUSI, and Michael Clarke, the Institute's director general - write Russia has about 50,000 troops lined up on the border. </span></p>
<p><span>As the authors see it, there are four military options for Russia:</span></p>
<ul>
<li>The first is the build-up is simply "muscle-flexing" by Russia, the authors wrote, for it to achieve its goal of wielding more influence in local Ukrainian governments. That scenario, however, is not likely.</li>
<li>The second: Russia is playing out the "Crimea scenario" with the corridor that connects Crimea to Russia - Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson. Russia would "covertly support" or even openly engineer civil unrest en route to annexation. </li>
<li><span>The third: "Unrest and separatist pressures in south and eastern Ukraine, real or manufactured, may present a dangerous, but nevertheless tempting op</span><span>portunity to split the country in two, south and east of the Dnieper River." Russian troops are currently well-positioned for this scenario, but it would be even more aggressive.</span></li>
<li><span><span>The fourth scenario posits Russia could go even further, wherein Russian troops execute a move of "grand strategy" and "create a </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">western corridor from Transnistria in Moldova </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">into Crimea through Odessa and Mykolaiv Oblasts, which would encompass </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">the historic city of Odessa itself." This scenario seems highly unlikely at this point, but the report's authors argued there are reasons to think it could happen, given the fact that key Ukrainian suppliers of the Russian defense industry are located in eastern Ukraine. But the authors also said it would be a very "nineteenth century way of looking at a twenty-first century relationship."</span></li>
</ul>

MAP: This Is What A Russian Invasion Of Ukraine Could Look Like

There are some cricket grounds where batsmen amass runs in their sleep. The records which they have established at a particular venue make them memorable. Gocricket.com takes a look at batsmen who have scored plenty of runs at a particular venue.<br />
<br />
1. <strong>Mahela Jayawardene </strong>at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) (Tests: 26, Runs 2838*, Average: 79.97, Centuries 11, Fifties 8)<br />
<br />
One look at the numbers that <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/mahela-jayawardene/9001/9003">Jayawardene </a>has amassed at the SSC is eye-popping. 11 centuries at this venue is a world record. He has scored 2799 runs, which is the most by any batsman at a venue. The consistency of Jayawardene at the SSC is legendary. His first major knock was 242 against India in 1999 which gave <keyword id="6355572" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sri-Lanka">Sri Lanka</keyword> victory. At one point, from 2006 to 2008, Jayawardene scored four consecutive centuries at this venue. However, his knock of 374 and his partnership of 624 with Kumar Sangakkara against <keyword id="6355117" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="South-Africa">South Africa</keyword> will be remembered for its sheer enormity of the numbers. It is only a matter of time before the SSC stadium is renamed as the Mahela Jayawardene Recreation Park.<br />
<br />
2. <strong><keyword id="61954" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Jacques-Kallis">Jacques Kallis</keyword> </strong>at Newlands, <keyword id="33769" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="cape-town">Cape Town</keyword> (Tests 22, Runs 2181, Average 72.7, Centuries 9, Fifties 9)<br />
<br />
Without a shadow of doubt, <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/jacques-kallis/8001/8004">Kallis </a>is the Lord of Newlands. He has smashed nine centuries at a venue which has traditionally favoured bowlers. Some of his exploits at this venue are legendary. He smashed 161 and 109* against India to help South Africa avoid defeat. The most astonishing part was that he did it on one leg. His knocks against England and Australia set up victory for the team. Newlands is associated with the picturesque Table Mountains but it will also be associated with Kallis' knocks.<br />
<br />
3. <strong>Sir <keyword id="80481" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Donald-Bradman">Donald Bradman</keyword> </strong>at the <keyword id="9385" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Melbourne">Melbourne</keyword> Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne (Tests 11, Runs 1671, Average 128.53, Centuries 9, Fifties 3)<br />
<br />
Bradman's monstrous appetite for runs was evident in the way he played at the MCG. In 11 matches, he scored nine tons and went without a century only once in his whole career at the MCG. His lowest century score is an unbeaten 103 but it came in the infamous Bodyline series of 1932/33. He was dismissed for 0 in the first innings but slammed 103 in the second to help Australia level the series in what was a bitter series. His next greatest moment came in 1937 when, on a damp sticky dog of a wicket, he reversed the batting order and scored 270 batting in the No. 7 position. He shared a 346-run stand with Jack Fingleton to help Australia win the match by 365 runs. This performance helped Australia come back from 0-2 down to win the five-match series 3-2. This is the only time so far that this feat has been achieved.<br />
<br />
4. <strong>Kumar Sangakkara </strong>at the SSC (Tests 21, Runs 2159, Average 77.1, Centuries 8, Fifties 5)<br />
<br />
Jaywardene's record is unbelievable at the SSC but <a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/kumar-sangakkara/9001/9011">Sangakkara's </a>record is no flash in the pan. Out of his eight centuries at the SSC, he has scored three double centuries. His first major knock was 232 against South Africa in 2004 and South Africa never managed to get past his individual score in both innings. His 287 against the same opponents in 2006 was memorable for the 624-run stand with Jayawardene. The SSC has indeed been a happy hunting ground for these two best friends.<br />
<br />
5. <strong>Michael Clarke </strong>at Adelaide (Tests 9, Runs 1279, Average 98.38, Centuries 6, Fifties 3)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.gocricket.com/player/michael-clarke/1001/1027">Clarke</a>, in a way, has been Bradmanesque at Adelaide. He has scored three consecutive centuries twice at this venue. His first purple patch came in 2006 and 2008 when his 124 helped Australia achieve a remarkable come from behind win against England. In his next two matches against India and <keyword id="22501" type="COUNTRY" weightage="40" keywordseo="New-Zealand">New Zealand</keyword>, his centuries gave Australia a platform from where they could push for victory. In his next patch, he scored two consecutive double centuries against India and South Africa as he made the venue his own. His average of 98.38 is second only to Bradman when it comes to his performances at this venue.<br />
<br />
*The number of runs is updated at the end of day one of the second Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa at the SSC. The order is according to the most number of centuries.<br />
<br />
<em>For the latest cricket news, like us on</em> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/gocricket" target="_blank"><em><b>Facebook</b></em> </a><em>or follow us on</em> <a href="https://twitter.com/gocricketnow" target="_blank"><em><b>Twitter</b></em></a><em>. Download our app for</em> <a href="http://bit.ly/1iS811t" target="_blank"><em><b>Android</b></em></a> <em>and</em> <em><b><a href="http://bit.ly/1eqImA5" target="_blank">iOS</a>.</b></em>



Lords Of A Cricketing Venue

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/563881fb9dd7cc24008c69cb-1777-1333/egypt egyptian security forces russia russian aircraft airplane crash debris.jpg" alt="Egypt Egyptian Security Forces Russia Russian Aircraft Airplane Crash Debris" data-mce-source="AP Photo" data-mce-caption="Egyptian security forces stand guard by debris of a Russian airplane at the site a day after the passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg, Russia crashed in Hassana, Egypt, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015." /><p class="source"><span>AP Photo</span></p><p class="caption">Egyptian security forces stand guard by debris of a Russian airplane at the site a day after the passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg, Russia crashed in Hassana, Egypt, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Aviation experts disagree on what caused a Russian jetliner to suddenly plummet from a high altitude and crash into the Egyptian desert on Saturday, killing all 224 people aboard.</p><p>On Monday, the airline ruled out pilot error or a technical fault, but Russian aviation officials dismissed those comments as premature.</p><p>Robert Galan, a French aviation expert, said Metrojet's claim of an "external impact" pointed to two possibilities: a bomb or sabotage.</p><p>"Either a bomb was placed during the stopover and programmed to explode after takeoff, or a mechanic sabotaged the plane," he said. "These are the two most probable hypotheses."</p><p>Sabotage would require familiarity with the electrical or fuel systems of the A321-200, but hiding a bomb would need less knowledge, he added.</p><p>Galan said an analysis of the plane's data and voice recorders - the "black boxes" - will not confirm either a bomb or sabotage, as it records only the pilots' communications and technical readings.</p><p>But he said investigators could know within 48 hours whether a bomb downed the jet because the debris would show traces of explosives.</p><p>James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said that while there is no direct evidence of any terrorist involvement yet, it couldn't be excluded that the plane was brought down by Islamic State extremists in the Sinai Peninsula.</p><p>"It's unlikely, but I wouldn't rule it out," he told reporters in Washington.</p><p>Asked if a terrorist attack could be ruled out, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said: "No versions could be excluded."</p><h2><span>'An external impact'</span></h2><p>The Metrojet was flying at 31,000 feet over the Sinai when it crashed Saturday only 23 minutes after taking off from the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for St. Petersburg with mostly Russian passengers.</p><p>Metrojet firmly denied that the crash could have been caused by either equipment failure or crew error.</p><p>"The only possible explanation could be an external impact on the airplane," Metrojet's deputy director Alexander Smirnov told a news conference in Moscow. When pressed for more details, Smirnov said he was not at liberty to discuss them because the investigation was ongoing.</p><p>Asked if the plane could have been brought down by a terrorist attack, he said only that "anything was possible."</p><p>But Russia's top aviation official, Alexander Neradko, dismissed the company's statement as premature and unfounded.</p><p>In televised comments from Egypt, Neradko said it would be possible to draw conclusions about the crash only after experts examined the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders and studied the wreckage.</p><p>He said the large area where debris were scattered indicated the jet had broken up at high altitude, but he refrained from citing a reason for the crash pending the investigation.</p><p>Viktor Yung, another deputy director general of Metrojet, said the crew did not send a distress call and did not contact traffic controllers before the crash.</p><p>Russia's Interfax news service, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/11971577/Russian-plane-crash-cockpit-recordings-show-pilots-could-not-send-distress-signal-after-sudden-situation-latest-news.html">according to a report cited in The Telegraph</a>, has viewed transcripts of the cockpit recordings and noticed "sounds uncharacteristic of routine flight" right before the crash.</p><p>"Sounds uncharacteristic of routine flight were recorded preceding the moment that the aircraft disappeared from radar screens," a source told Interfax, according to The Telegraph. "Judging by the recording, a situation on board developed suddenly and unexpectedly for the crew, and as a result the pilots did not manage to send a distress signal."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/563884eb9dd7cc10008c6c01-1333-1000/alexander smirnov metrojet russia russian.jpg" alt="Alexander Smirnov Metrojet Russia Russian" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Denis Tyrin" data-mce-caption="Alexander Smirnov, the deputy general director of Metrojett, the Russian airline company speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Nov. 2, 2015." /><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Denis Tyrin</span></p><p class="caption">Alexander Smirnov, the deputy general director of Metrojett, the Russian airline company speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Nov. 2, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>ISIS warnings</h2><p>Egyptian officials have offered conflicting accounts on whether or not the plane issued any distress calls.</p><p>Experts say planes break up in flight usually due to one of three factors: a catastrophic weather event, a midair collision or an external threat, such as a bomb or a missile.</p><p>A local affiliate of the extremist Islamic State group has claimed it brought down the aircraft, which crashed in the northern Sinai where the Egyptian military and security forces have battled militants for years. Both Egyptian and Russian officials have dismissed that claim as not credible.</p><p>Still, the U.S., Germany, and Britain all had overflight warnings in place for the Sinai. They advised airlines to avoid flying over the peninsula below 26,000 feet and to avoid the Sharm el-Sheik airport due to extremist violence and, notably, the use of anti-aircraft weapons.</p><p>British military analyst Paul Beaver said he thought the crash was most likely caused by a bomb on board, because the IS hasn't been known to possess surface-to-air missile systems capable of striking passenger planes at cruising altitude.</p><p>"That's a very serious piece of equipment, and I don't think they have that sophistication," Beaver said, adding that the Sinai desert is well-scrutinized by intelligence agencies, so a missile system would have been seen.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/563652c59dd7ccfc418bb441-3017-2263/rtx1u56w.jpg" alt="egypt russia plane crash" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Stringer" data-mce-caption="Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail (2nd L) and Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou look at the remains of a Russian airliner which crashed in central Sinai near El Arish city, north Egypt, October 31, 2015." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p><p class="caption">Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail (2nd L) and Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou look at the remains of a Russian airliner which crashed in central Sinai near El Arish city, north Egypt, October 31, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>'An explosion on board'</h2><p>Terrorism expert Michael Clarke, the director of Britain's Royal United Services Institute, told BBC that a mechanical failure would likely have led to some sort of distress call from the crew, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3299886/Russian-airline-reveals-holiday-jet-crash-caused-mechanical-impact-NOT-technical-fault-pilot-error-evidence-points-bomb.html">according to The Daily Mail</a>.</p><p><span>"So the fact that there was a catastrophic failure at 31,000 feet, with the aircraft falling in two pieces, suggests to me an explosion on board," Clarke told BBC, according to The Daily Mail. <span>So was this caused by some form of terrible accident, which is unlikely, or a bomb, which is much more likely, my mind is moving in that direction rather than anything that happened on the ground.</span></span></p><p>A senior United States <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Defense">defense</keyword> official seemed to rule out a missile attack late Monday, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/russian-plane-crashes-in-the-sinai/satellite-shows-heat-flash-when-russian-metrojet-plane-crashed-no-n456161">telling NBC News</a> that an infrared satellite "detected a heat flash at the same time and in the same vicinity over the Sinai where the Russian passenger plane crashed." However, the official said, the satellite did not detect the heat trail of a missile from the ground.</p><p>A second defense official confirmed the satellite images, according to NBC News, and said that the heat flash indicates "there was an explosion of some kind."</p><p>US intelligence analysts currently believe the explosion could have been caused by either a fuel tank or an on-board bomb, NBC News reports.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56372f1cbd86ef15008c65a1-1280-960/russian russia egypt airplane crash debris sinai.jpg" alt="Russian Russia Egypt Airplane Crash Debris Sinai Helicopter" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany" data-mce-caption="An Egyptian military helicopter flies over debris from a Russian airliner which crashed at the Hassana area in Arish city, north Egypt, November 1, 2015." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany</span></p><p class="caption">An Egyptian military helicopter flies over debris from a Russian airliner which crashed at the Hassana area in Arish city, north Egypt, November 1, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Safety concerns</h2><p>The plane's operator has a spotty safety record and was rebranded recently in the wake of another deadly accident. The airline, registered as Kogalymavia, changed its trade name to Metrojet after one of its Tu-154 jetliners caught fire in 2011 while taxiing before takeoff, killing three people and injuring more than 40 others.</p><p>The Airbus A321-200 that crashed Saturday was built more than 18 years ago and changed several operators before entering Metrojet's fleet in 2012.</p><p>One area investigators will look at closely is whether the tail separated from the rest of the plane in-flight as the result of damage caused by a previous incident in which the tail struck the runway during a landing, said aviation safety consultant John Cox. Such "tail strikes" can cause extensive damage to the aircraft's skin in the region located by behind the rear lavatories and galley.</p><p>The incident occurred in Cairo in 2001. Metrojet said the jet underwent factory repairs and was safe to fly.</p><p>Cox said monthly maintenance checks typically can't spot a return of damage from a tail strike because the cracks are inside the plane in an area that's not normally accessible during visual inspections.</p><p>Instead, tail strike repairs are examined during heavy maintenance checks that typically take place about every four to five years, he said. Parts of the plane are disassembled so that inspectors can see inside. The plane's skin is checked for cracks using a device that employs low voltage electricity or special dye.</p><p>"That's a very complex repair and it requires very special expertise," said Cox, a former airline pilot and accident investigator. Investigators will "look not only at whether the repair done properly, but were the inspections of the repair done on a regular basis during the normal heavy maintenance checks."</p><p>If damage from a tail strike returned, it would be in form of small cracks that grow larger with the normal stresses of repeated pressurization and depressurization.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/563889e0bd86eff45b8bb98f-1332-999/russia russians memorial candles airplane crash egypt.jpg" alt="Russia Russians Memorial Candles Airplane Crash Egypt" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky" data-mce-caption="People light candles during a day of national mourning for the plane crash victims at Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015." /><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky</span></p><p class="caption">People light candles during a day of national mourning for the plane crash victims at Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>In 2002, China Airlines Flight 611 disintegrated in midair while flying from Taiwan to Hong Kong, killing all 225 people aboard. Accident investigators cited metal fatigue caused by inadequate maintenance after an earlier tail strike as the probable cause of the accident.</p><p>The Irish Aviation Authority said the Metrojet plane was registered in Ireland and regulators there found its safety documentation in order earlier this year.</p><p>At the crash site in the Sinai, emergency workers and aviation experts from Russia and Egypt searched the barren terrain for more bodies and examined the debris.</p><p>Teams finished combing a 20-square kilometer (7.7-square mile) area for bodies by afternoon and expanded the search to a 30-square kilometer (11.6 square mile) area. Russian Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov promised they will not rest until all victims' remains are found.</p><p>Investigators from France and Germany, representing Airbus, and from Ireland, where the plane was registered, were to join investigators in Egypt.</p><p>White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the U.S. offered support for the investigation, but he added that he's not aware of any resources that have been dedicated to it so far.</p><p>"Rather than speculating on what may have led to this terribly tragic incident, we're going to allow the investigation to move forward to try to get the bottom of what happened," he said.</p><p>A Russian government plane brought 130 bodies and partial remains to St. Petersburg. The city is holding three days of mourning through Tuesday.</p><p>In his first public appearance since the crash, Putin described it as an "enormous tragedy" and said his thoughts are with the families of the victims.</p><p>Mourners have been coming to St. Petersburg's airport since Saturday with flowers, pictures of the victims, stuffed animals and paper planes. Others went to churches and lit candles in memory of the dead.</p><p>Sunday was a national day of mourning, and flags flew at half-staff across Russia.</p><p>___</p><p>Associated Press writer Dmitry Lovetsky reported from St. Petersburg and Associated Press writer Vladimir Isachenkov reported from Moscow. Associated Press writers Nataliya Vasilyeva and Katherine Jacobsen in Moscow, Joan Lowy and Ken Dilanian in Washington, Lori Hinnant in Paris and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/swimsuit-models-in-real-life-2015-10">What Sports Illustrated swimsuit models look like in real life</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1xdThjeDr9rdJ_RuiU9J86ltIF4jL-Qf" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '1xdThjeDr9rdJ_RuiU9J86ltIF4jL-Qf',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

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