Avrora, Pallada Laid Down by Shipyards
Heroic workers of Baltic Shipyards No.189, the people of the Russian Federation congratulate you on the keel-laying of the new cruisers
Avrora and
Pallada! These new cruisers shall symbolize the continuing legend of the Military-Maritime Fleet of the Russian Federation. Once completed and crewed by our valorous comrades of the Russian Navy, they shall steam the world's oceans in the traditions of their namesakes, defending our beloved Motherland from villains and desecrators of peace!
Litvinov Condemns Confederation Plan
On March 2nd, retired Foreign Minister Litvinov, speaking to a Social Revolutionary Party gathering in Moscow, roundly condemned the Dutch government's blatant attempt to usurp the sovereignty of Belgium, Kongo and East Indies through the Confederation Plan proposed and championed by nefarious arch-monarchist Queen Wilhelmina of the House of Orange. Litvinov expressed his support for his Socialist comrades in the Netherlands and Belgium who are undertaking the struggle to defeat the monarchist menace.
Russian Workers Celebrate Construction Milestones
With the arrival of spring, construction work accelerated on three major construction projects within the Russian Federation. With the retreat of the winter, the valiant crews of Russian labourers engaged in building the Baikal-Magadan Mainline undertook to achieve new records in the expansion of their railway. Thousands of kilometers of mountains and wilderness, and the crossing of many mighty Siberian rivers, remain before the railway is completed on schedule in 1954. One of the greatest challenges is the conquest of the three-kilometer wide Lena River, which floods massively with the coming of spring. The engineers and academicians designing the Baikal-Magadan Mainline have planned to circumvent this formidable natural barrier by means of a tunnel passing under the bottom of the river.
On May 15th, construction crews celebrated reaching the three-quarters point of construction on the new hydroelectric plant at Bratsk, on the River Angara. The dam, at 120 meters height and 4.4 kilometers length, will be the largest hydroelectric plant constructed in the Russian Federation, and shall produce more electricity than any other dam in the world. An aluminium smelter is currently under construction to take coincide with the dam's completion in 1947, and shall add 25% to the production capacity of aluminium in the Russian Federation.
Dredges continue to work the lengths of the Mariinsk Canal (or Volga-Baltic Waterway) as part of the project to enhance the capacity of this vital maritime artery. In February, Senior Engineer Vladimir Kuzlov and several project foremen were awarded Heroes of Russian Labor medals for their rapid and skillful redesign of three major locks of the canal, allowing reconstruction of critical infrastructure with a minimum of disruption for shipping. The reconstructed Mariinsk shall complete in 1946, allowing shallow-draft oceanic ships to travel through Russia from the Baltic Sea to the Caspian Sea.
American General Electric Delivers New Locomotives to Trans-Siberian Railway
The American firm General Electric delivered the first of one hundred new EF-4 electric locomotives to the Trans-Siberian Railway. The first locomotive, delivered by the motorship
Celtic Tiger to the Petrograd in March, was displayed to local civic leaders, industry administrators, and the press prior to beginning its operation. According to industry insiders, General Electric is contracted for the delivery of over fifty examples of the EF-4 locomotive for use by the fully-electrified Trans-Siberian Railway. Deliveries are scheduled to continue through late 1946. Russian officials selected the type after reviewing submittals from Swiss, British, French, German, and American manufacturers.
Aeroflot Purchases, Evaluates Foreign and Domestic Aircraft
Aeroflot's effort to replace its obsolescent fleet of airliners continues to bear fruit with the March order of sixty more Il-12 twin-engine airliners, a product of the Ilyushin design bureau. The Il-12s shall replace American and Russian-license built variants of the Douglas DC-3 airliner primarily on local routes. Six further examples of the Bloch MB.972 Transatlantique airliner were ordered from France in January, joining the eighteen extant aircraft already in service. Aeroflot also submitted a request to the German Blohm-und-Voss firm to evaluate six Bv246 airliners between July and December. Aeroflot is evaluating the Bv246 for use in regional and low-density flights within the Russian Federation.
Naval Maneuvers by Russian Federation Navy a Success, Admirals Report; More to Follow
Russian destroyers of the Black Sea Fleet under Captain First Rank Sergei Gorshkov returned to Sevastopol after a highly successful series of exercises, conducted alone and in collaboration with the forces of allied and neighboring nations. Captain Gorshkov's twelve destroyers, led by his own
Korolyov, departed Sevastopol in February to call in the Bulgarian port of Varna, where they exercised with their counterparts, acquitting themselves well against their Slavic cousins. After departing Bulgarian waters, Gorshkov's seamen steamed to visit Constantinople before sallying into the Aegean. Once in the Mediterranean Sea, the flotilla rendezvoused with French destroyers and light cruisers for a session of gunnery exercises, followed by a joint port call to the French Lebanese port of Beirut, as well as several Greek ports. Captain Gorshkov's destroyers returned triumphantly to their home base of Sevastopol at the end of April.
This is the first of several extended naval exercises and port visits to be undertaken by Russian Federation Navy forces this year. In May, the heavy cruisers of the Northern Fleet will travel to Brest prior to conducting long-range cruising and underway replenishment exercises in the Atlantic. A reciprocal visit and joint exercise by the French Atlantic Fleet will take place in Murmansk in July. In September, following the completion of the second trio of
Smolensk-class torpedo cruisers, the 6th Cruiser Squadron will undertake a cruise of certain Western European ports, with the schedule yet to be determined.
Marches in Petrograd and Moscow
Eighteen thousand citizens of Petrograd marched the Nevsky Prospekt on Friday, June 1st to petition for their city to be renamed Sankt Peterburg (Saint Petersburg), as it was called prior to 1917. The march leaders addressed the crowd in Palace Square and called on the city officials to permit a referendum on the town's name during the 1946 municipal elections.
In Moscow, marchers gathered on May 23rd to advocate their city being made the capital of the Russian Federation. Muscovites argue that their city is more centrally-located within Russia, and has a better culture suitable for serving as the capital of the nation.
President, Police Crack Down on Automobile-Smuggling Ring
Russian Police arrested eighty-one individuals implicated in a massive smuggling ring, illegally smuggling automobiles into the Russian Federation. Due to the long waiting lists to purchase automobiles in the Russian Federation, an enterprising group of Georgian mafiosi began smuggling automobiles across the border. According to police officials, the gang successfully smuggled over three thousand new and secondhand automobiles from Western Europe into the Russian Federation before selling them to resalers for a high markup. The smuggling ring was aided by several corrupt customs officials in Batumi, who are now jailed awaiting trial.
Speaking before the Duma in June, President Fyodorov condemned the attempts by the criminal class to evade the laws of the nation, a deed which directly harms the dedicated workers of the Russian automobile and steel industries. Fyodorov proposed a two-pronged attack on such criminal enterprises, firstly toughening penalties for corruption and tax evasion, and secondly by lowering the automotive import tariffs for automakers in the Grand Alliance and the United States to import their products into the Russian Federation, thus eliminating the high prices which allow automobile smuggling to turn criminal profits. Fyodorov further vowed to continue his pursuit of corrupt officials within the Russian Federation, and work with Interpol and other European police agencies to destroy organized crime families in Russia and elsewhere.
Prokofiev, Eisenstein Advance Russian Kul'tura
The second installment of Sergei Eisenstein's
Ivan the Terrible arrived in cinemas across the Russian Federation. The film, scored by Sergei Prokofiev, chronicles the attempt on Tsar Ivan the Terrible's life by his aunt Efrosinia Staritska as part of her attempts to place her immature son Vladimir on the throne.
Ivan the Terrible is Eisenstein's first production since
Alexander Nevsky, which riled high officials in the Russian government due to its negative portrayal of the German people.
GAZ Initiates Volga Brand; MZMA Sells Big
Automaker GAZ, in Nizhny Novgorod, displayed the first production example of their new Volga brand in a trade show in Petrograd in June. The new car, the M20, is well-appointed four-door fastback saloon designed to complete with the higher-quality marques of Western Europe and the United States, such as Hispano-Suiza or Cadillac. The line of cars shall use a distinctive bonnet badge of a leaping stag. Initial production cars shall be shown internationally for the first time at the Berlin Auto Show later this year, although international export likely shall not start at this time except in very specific markets.
MZMA (Moscow Small Car Factory), a subsidiary of French automaker Renault, continues to manufacture the 4CV under the Moskvitch brand name; it is now the best-selling automobile in the Russian Federation. Due to the Moskvitch's low cost, it has become a highly desirable accessory for the Russian working class. Such is the demand for the Moskvitch that a two-year waiting list has formed, and MZMA has moved to a six-shift factory schedule to undertake 24/7 manufacture.