Russia wants to equip submarines with hypersonic missiles

Russia wants to equip submarines with hypersonic missiles

11:20 p.m.: The Russian Navy wants to equip its submarines with modern hypersonic weapons. “Let no one doubt that we will do this,” said Navy Chief Nikolai Yevmenov in an interview published in the army newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda on Friday. The admiral did not specify a date for the conversion of the submarine fleet to the new missiles.

According to him, there are currently around ten submarine types in service, belonging to four different generations. The modern guided missiles of the Kalibr type have been tested on second-generation submarines. “And today, all submarines in service can be equipped with them, including strategic submarine cruisers.” The next step would then be to upgrade with hypersonic missiles, according to Yevmenov.

Russia has so far introduced three types of hypersonic missiles: the Avangard, the Zirkon and the Kinzhal. Due to their high speed, these are currently considered practically unattainable for air defense. The Zirkon missiles, which can potentially also be equipped with nuclear warheads, are ship-based. So far, however, only one ship in the Russian fleet, the frigate “Fleet Admiral of the Soviet Union Gorshkov”, has been equipped with it.

Zelenskyi promises liberation of Mariupol

10:52 p.m.: On the anniversary of the bombing of the Mariupol theater, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the recapture of the city and a war crimes tribunal against Russians. “The day will come and we will liberate Mariupol,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address on Thursday. At the same time, the 45-year-old recalled the Russian air raid a year ago on the theater in the then heavily contested port city, where many civilians had found shelter at the time.

“Russian bombs destroyed the theater in Mariupol,” said the Ukrainian leader. To this day it is not clear how many people died. “Hundreds? One thousand?” says Zelenskyj. Moscow denies responsibility for the attack, claiming the theater was blown up by the nationalist Ukrainian Azov regiment.

Zelenskyy described the bombing of the theater as one of Russia’s many war crimes. “The day will come when a tribunal will be established to restore justice to our people,” he promised. According to him, the Ukrainian judiciary is working to clarify the cases. The country’s diplomats forged partnerships with foreign countries to bring the crimes before an international criminal court.

Russia exports grain from occupied Ukrainian territories

9.40 p.m.: Russia has once again exported grain from the occupied Ukrainian territories by ship. Wheat was exported via the port city of Berdyansk on the Sea of ​​Azov, the Ukrainian General Staff said in its evening report on Thursday. A loaded Russian barge was escorted out of the port by several tugboats.

The Moscow-appointed head of the Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balizki, had previously written to the Telegram news channel that the port was being prepared for grain exports. In total, it is planned to export two million tons of grain by ship and rail from the Russian-controlled part of the region. Half a million tons are intended for personal use.

Large parts of the arable land in the Zaporizhia and Cherson regions of southern Ukraine were conquered by Russia over a year ago. Kiev has repeatedly denounced the Russian practice of exporting and selling grain from the occupied territories. Ukraine is missing out on important export earnings.

Chinese companies sent 1000 assault rifles to Russia

6:37 p.m.: A new report suggests that Chinese companies sent around 1,000 assault rifles and other equipment to Russian companies. How “Politico“writes, among other things, drone parts and protective vests are said to have been part of the equipment deliveries. The US magazine relies on trade and customs data. One of the Chinese companies is said to be in contact with the Chinese government.

The exact use of the rifles and equipment has not been finally clarified, but use in the war zone cannot be ruled out.

Deliveries are said to have taken place between June and December 2022. China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, one of the largest state-owned defense companies, sent the guns to a Russian company called Tekhkrim in June 2022. The company also does business with the Russian state and military.

By the end of 2022, Russia had received 12 shipments of drone parts and over 12 tons of Chinese body armor. The parts are said to have arrived in Russia via Turkey.

The report is the first confirmation that China is supplying rifles and body armor to Russian companies. One of the companies had actually promised to suspend its business with Russia and Ukraine for the time being. Now drone parts have been delivered to Russia.

FSB building burns in Rostov-on-Don, Russia

4:10 p.m.: A fire broke out in an explosion in a building of the Russian domestic secret service FSB in the city of Rostov-on-Don near the border with Ukraine on Thursday. The FSB in Moscow said fuel and lubricants ignited in a workshop, causing an explosion and partial destruction of the building.

The FSB did not give any further details. Photos and videos of a large fire and a huge plume of smoke in the sky were shared on social networks. A loud bang was heard. The Civil Protection Ministry extinguished the fire.

Governor Vasily Golubev initially stated that, according to preliminary findings, the fire broke out due to a short circuit in power lines. The flames would have spread to 800 square meters. The fire also caused flammable liquids to explode. Two walls of the building collapsed, Golubev said. He had spoken of an injured person. The fire at the FSB was also widely reported in the Ukrainian media.

The FSB is also responsible for border security in Russia. In the region near Ukraine there have recently been repeated incidents with rockets and drones. According to its own statements, the FSB in Russia repeatedly uncovered acts of sabotage against infrastructure objects in the course of Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine. According to official information, the task of border guards is also to prevent suspected sabotage groups from entering the region illegally.

In the Belgorod region, which is also close to the border, the authorities reported again on Thursday that the Russian air defense system had shot down two missiles. As on the previous day, when there was talk of three rockets fired, residential buildings and this time administrative buildings in the city of Belgorod were again hit and damaged by fallen fragments of rockets. There are no injuries, said Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. He accused the Ukrainian troops of increased activity. In the past four days, 58 buildings and 31 cars have been hit by debris.

Human Rights Council report on Ukraine: Serious allegations against Moscow

2:01 p.m.: According to an investigative commission of the UN Human Rights Council, Russian troops committed numerous war crimes in the Ukraine war. These included intentional killings, attacks on civilians, unlawful detention, rape and forced deportations of children, the report said in Geneva on Thursday. In addition, waves of attacks by Russian forces on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and the use of torture could constitute crimes against humanity.

The Ukrainian armed forces are also to be criticized in some cases. Indiscriminate attacks and two cases of torture of Russian prisoners of war are war crimes, the commission said.

“Many of the premeditated killings, unlawful detentions, rapes and acts of sexual violence were committed in the context of home searches aimed at locating supporters of the Ukrainian armed forces or finding weapons,” the report noted. The people arrested arbitrarily were often held captive by the Russian armed forces in overcrowded cells under the worst possible conditions.

“In one case, ten elderly people died as a result of the inhumane conditions in a school basement, while the other detainees, including children, had to share the same room with the bodies of the deceased,” it said. In the case of rapes, family members, including children, were forced to watch the crime.

According to its own statements, the commission traveled to Ukraine eight times for the investigations and visited 56 towns and settlements. In addition, graves, places of detention and torture were inspected and photos and satellite images were evaluated. A total of 600 people were interviewed. According to UN figures, more than 8,000 civilians have been killed and more than 13,000 injured since the war began. However, these numbers probably only reflected part of the real numbers, it said.

Poland confirms fast delivery of four fighter jets to Ukraine

1:57 p.m.: According to President Andrzej Duda, Poland wants to hand over four MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in the coming days. More MiG-29s are currently being serviced and prepared for a later transfer, Duda said in Warsaw on Thursday after a meeting with Czech President Petr Pavel. The country’s leadership made a corresponding decision, and the government then passed a resolution.

Duda further said that the Polish Air Force currently has about a dozen MiG-29s, which were taken over from East Germany’s stocks in the early 1990s. “They continue to be used all the time as functioning MiGs for our air defense.” The machines handed over to Ukraine are to be replaced by modern fighter jets, which Poland ordered from South Korea and the USA.

The discussion about the Polish MiG-29s had already arisen in 2022 shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last week, Duda said his country wanted to hand over the MiG-29 to Ukraine as part of an international coalition. However, he did not provide any further information about this coalition.

At the Munich Security Conference in February, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki named a NATO decision as a prerequisite. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said his country would not stop others from supplying fighter jets. In addition to Poland, Slovakia is also ready to surrender its MiG-29s in consultation with European partners.

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