Sir Richard Moore and Bill Burns did not list examples but there has been a spate of mysterious sabotage and arson attacks on infrastructure in the UK, Germany and in the Baltics.

Russia is waging a “reckless campaign of sabotage” across Europe, the heads of MI6 and the CIA have warned in their first-ever joint remarks.

Sir Richard Moore and Bill Burns also said the UK and the US faced an “unprecedented array of threats”, and said the entire world order was under the most serious strain since the Cold War.

In a newspaper article, the spymasters pointed to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, while also describing China as “the principal intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the 21st century”.

  • BaroqueInMind@lemmy.one
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    4 months ago

    Those guards are ceremonial and deliberately trained to pose like that and follow their gaze towards an elected leader of the Russian Federation with their entire head while the leader is within view.

    It’s called tradition, you silly bitch, and you are correct to laugh at it because it indeed looks stupid as fuck. It mirrors the traditions and stupidity that the general Russian government and military still maintain to this very day (see the three-day Ukraine “Special military operation” that has somehow lasted two years and is spilling into their own borders as evidence).

    • ulterno@lemmy.kde.social
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      4 months ago

      I am starting to understand why stealth games portray guards as easily head-flippable.
      It’s because they already have it halfway there for the player.

    • drathvedro@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      It’s called tradition, you silly bitch, and you are correct to laugh at it because it indeed looks stupid as fuck

      I think this applies to all ceremonial military stuff: The queen’s guard, the India-Pakistani border guards (at least they own it), the french foreign legionnaires who go out with a fucking axe and an apron, the US also has a tendency to flash ancient rifles on parades and then… juggle them? And so does Russia, aside from whatever that shit in the OP-post is, always brings out an old WW2-era tank on parades, alongside with the only available prototype sample of a new one, which then proceeds to stall in the middle of it and has to be towed out with said WW2-era tank.

      • BaroqueInMind@lemmy.one
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        4 months ago

        the US also has a tendency to flash ancient rifles on parades and then… juggle them?

        Please show me one video of a modern US military parade where they juggle rifles, otherwise you just made this bullshit up

        • drathvedro@lemm.ee
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          4 months ago

          Here ya go.

          Before you go on to tell anything,

          A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching […] parades may also hold a role for propaganda purposes, being used to exhibit the apparent military strength of a country.

          The United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon is a 24-man rifle platoon led by a Captain and Platoon Sergeant of the United States Marine Corps (USMC). Often referred to as The Marching Twenty-Four, the unit performs a unique silent precision exhibition drill. The purpose of the platoon is to exemplify the discipline and professionalism of the Marine Corps

          This is definitely a parade. Don’t think I need to argue that synchronously throwing rifles at each other counts as pass juggling.