Defense minister updates Putin on latest Ukrainian losses

Dhaka July 05 2022 :

Inside Russia : Outside Russia : News Digest by the Embassy of Russian Federation in Bangladesh on July 05 2022.

INSIDE RUSSIA

Defense minister updates Putin on latest Ukrainian losses

In just two weeks, Ukraine has lost almost 5,500 troops, including over 2,000 killed, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Monday while delivering an update on the conflict with Ukraine to President Vladimir Putin.

The minister made his second report to the Russian leader in as many days. On Sunday, he confirmed that Russian and allied forces had assumed full control of the territory that the government of the Lugansk People’s Republic claims as its own, after the capture of the city of Lisichansk. The report, delivered in-person, provided additional details on the outcome of the operation.

According to Shoigu, Ukrainian troops sustained 5,469 casualties over the last two weeks, including 2,218 fatalities. The fighting also cost Kiev a significant amount of hardware, including 12 warplanes, six long-range air defense missile systems, 97 rocket artillery launchers and almost 200 tanks and other armor, the defense minister reported. Ukrainian troops abandoned some of the weapons in Lisichansk, including almost 40 vehicles, he said.

Earlier, Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, reported suffering heavy losses in the east, with an average of 200 casualties per day. Kiev claimed its troops were vastly outgunned by Russia and its allies in artillery and urged Western nations to speed up delivery of promised military aid to Ukraine.

Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”

In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.

Transcript from www.kremlin.ru

Meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu: Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief,

Since June 19, formations and units of the Centre Group under the command of Colonel General Alexander Lapin, in co-operation with units of the Second People’s Militia Corps of the Lugansk People’s Republic and supported by the southern group of forces led by Army General Sergei Surovikin, have successfully carried out an offensive operation to liberate the Lugansk People’s Republic.

Within two weeks, they encircled and destroyed the groups in the Gorskoye cauldron, around Lisichansk and Severodonetsk. Twenty-five localities have been taken under control, the largest of which are Severodonetsk, Zolotoye, Gorskoye and Volcheyarovka. The operation ended yesterday with the liberation of Lisichansk, one of the largest towns in the Lugansk People’s Republic. A total of 670 square kilometres of territory were taken under control during the active offensive.

The total losses of the Ukrainian armed forces amounted to 5,469 personnel, including 2,218 killed and 3,251 wounded; 196 tanks and other armoured vehicles, 12 aircraft, one helicopter, 69 drones, six long-range surface-to-air missile systems, 97 multiple rocket launchers, 166 field and mortar artillery pieces and 216 vehicles of various purposes.

When retreating from Lisichansk, the enemy abandoned 39 tanks and other armoured vehicles, 11 guns and mortars, 48 Javelins and NLAW anti-tank missile systems, 18 Stinger systems, and three unmanned aerial vehicles.

Today the demining of the city of Lisichansk and its environs is underway, as is the delivery of humanitarian cargo, as well as the provision of medical assistance to civilians.

The Russian Armed Forces are continuing the special military operation.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good. Thank you.

As you know, Colonel General Alexander Lapin and Army General Sergei Surovikin also reported to me today on the progress in fulfilling their tasks and presented their proposals for the development of offensive operations. Both the Defence Ministry and the General Staff are considering the proposals of the field commanders.

The units that took part in active combat operations and achieved success and victories in the Lugansk direction, of course, should rest and build up their combat capabilities. Other military formations, including the East Group and the West Group, must carry out their tasks according to the previously approved plans, according to the single scheme, and I hope that everything will happen in their directions in the same way as it has happened in Lugansk.

I agree with your proposal to award Commander of the Centre Group Colonel General Lapin and Deputy Commander of the 8th Army of the Southern Military District Major General Abachev the title of Hero of Russia. The corresponding Presidential Executive Order will be signed today.

I would also ask you to recommend for state decorations all military personnel who distinguished themselves in the course of these combat operations. Based on your daily reports, I know that the Russian army has many such brave, professional soldiers, daring – in a good way – warriors, and they should all be honoured with corresponding state decorations of their Motherland.

My congratulations and words of gratitude also go to the soldiers of the 2nd Army Corps of the LPR People’s Militia. I know that they worked actively and competently, too, and showed courage and heroism in the truest sense of the word, when liberating their native land.

I congratulate all of you and wish you further success.

Thank you.

Moscow works on scenarios in case blockade of transit to Kaliningrad continues — Kremlin

MOSCOW, July 4./TASS/. The Kremlin hopes that the situation with the transit of cargo to Kaliningrad will be resolved, meanwhile looking into various scenarios in case the blockade continues, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

“We are waiting for this situation to be resolved. We hope for the better, but, of course, we are also mulling various schemes in case of the worst-case scenario, in case of the worst-case developments. So for now we do not want to elaborate, we still hope that some common sense will prevail,” Peskov said when asked about the response plan submitted by the regional authorities to the government and the presidential administration.

Lithuania earlier halted rail and motor transit of goods under sanctions from Russian regions to the Kaliningrad Region. The Russian Foreign Ministry and the Kremlin said Lithuania’s actions are unlawful and contradict international agreements.

Russia makes massive oil discovery in the Arctic

It is one of the largest recent findings on the Russian shelf, energy giant Rosneft says

Russian energy major Rosneft has announced the discovery of a huge oil deposit in the Pechora Sea containing an estimated 82 million tons of oil.

The field was discovered thanks to a drilling campaign in the Medynsko-Varandeysky area. “During the tests, a free flow of oil was obtained with a maximum flow rate of 220 cubic meters a day,” the company’s statement read on Wednesday, noting that the “oil is light, low-sulfur, low viscosity.”

Rosneft noted that the exploration works in the waters of the Pechora Sea proved the “significant oil potential of the Timan-Pechora province on the shelf and became the basis for continuing the study and development of the region.”

The company reportedly controls a total of 28 offshore licenses in the Arctic, eight of them in the Pechora Sea.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section

Russian Industry Ministry unveils launch of electric catamaran

YEKATERINBURG, July 4. /TASS/. An electric twin-hull passenger vessel under construction in the Leningrad Region, known as the Ecocrusier, has been floated out, the Russian Ministry of Industry said on Monday.

“The passenger vessel’s capacity is 130 persons. The range in cruise mode is up to 180 km with a speed of 13 km per hour (the maximum speed is 40 km per hour). Outfitting is now underway at the shipyard’s dockside. Preparatory work is being undertaken for mooring and performance trials of the watercraft,” the Ministry said.

The second watercraft model is planned to be launched by the end of this year and several more are expected in 2023, Minister Denis Manturov is cited as saying.

“The unique feature of the Ecocruiser electric vessel project is the combination of modern technologies, high-efficiency motors, optimized hull lines, a high-performance battery system and a modern electronic control system and status monitoring network. The Ecocruiser monitoring system enables online gathering and the evaluation of the ship’s system data, route information and occupancy data. The ship’s design is tailored for modern operational requirements, in addition to being environmentally-friendly,” the minister stressed.

Russia ready to discuss permanent UNSC seats for India, Brazil, says envoy

BEIJING, July 4. /TASS/. Moscow is ready to discuss expanding the UN Security Council by providing membership to India and Brazil but sees no reason to give permanent seats to Germany and Japan, Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov said on Monday.

“Russia is calling for the expansion of the UN Security Council based on a broad consensus. It requires increasing the proportionate share of African, Asian and Latin American nations for the UN Security Council to be able to reflect the aspirations of people around the world and be a more democratic body,” he stated at the 10th Global Peace Forum. “At the same time, I would like to be frank – we aren’t ready to support the accession of actors such as Germany and Japan,” the envoy pointed out.

“We don’t see any added value from their potential accession. Given the current balance on the council – or imbalance, I should say – the membership of the two above-mentioned candidates is unlikely to strengthen it, rather it will make the imbalance even more striking. On the other hand, we are open to the prospects of India and Brazil joining [the council],” the Russian ambassador stressed.

“We have been persistently calling for making the UN Security Council as representative as possible. Despite all the difficulties, the UN remains a unique organization. We hope to preserve and improve this platform,” Denisov emphasized.

The forum brings together over 300 former and current diplomats, government officials, researchers and experts in-person and online. This year’s event is dubbed “Preserving International Stability: Commonality, Comprehensiveness and Cooperation.” Tsinghua University has been holding the annual forum since 2012.

Russia to lift coronavirus restrictions on land border on July 15

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. On July 15, Russia will lift restrictions on crossing the country’s land border which were introduced over the spread of the coronavirus infection in 2020, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told journalists on Monday.

“Following the results of the crisis center’s discussion, a decision was made to lift the epidemic-related temporary restrictions on crossing the state border of the Russian Federation starting on July 15, 2022,” the statement said.

On June 14, due to the improved epidemic situation, a decision was made to lift the restrictions on foreign citizens entering Russia via air and maritime checkpoints yet a number of restrictions on land arrivals continued to be in effect.

Russia introduced the restrictions at border crossings in March 2020 over the threat of the coronavirus infection.

Russia, Venezuela to Expand Oil Sector Cooperation, Working on Pact to Circumvent Western Sanctions

Moscow and Caracas have dramatically expanded economic, political, and defense ties over the past two decades, with the United States placing crushing sanctions on the Latin American nation and repeatedly attempting to institute regime change in the country over its attempts to secure independence from Washington’s influence.

Russia and Venezuela will continue to expand their cooperation in the oil sector, and are working on new agreements to circumvent Western sanctions in finance and logistics, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Carlos Faria has indicated.

“As far as cooperation in the energy sector is concerned, it never stopped since the rapprochement between our countries. We are working on specific projects with Russian companies, and are continuing to deepen this work. We hope to reach an agreement on ways to circumvent the existing obstacles, to solve problems related to financial mechanisms”, Faria said, speaking to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Monday.

Emphasizing Caracas’ “extremely negative view” of US attempts at sanctions pressure, Faria said that when it came to sanctioning Russia, Washington’s policy backfired and hit ordinary Americans and Europeans instead.

“The aim of these sanctions was not achieved. This is a very serious miscalculation, a miscalculation I would characterize as unforgivable. And the problems which the economies of the United States and the European Union have run into are the result of this miscalculation. Today, they do not know how to resolve the difficulties that have arisen, how to return life to normal. And I think this will certainly hit the people of these countries,” he said.

The foreign minister expressed hope that Moscow and Caracas can overcome roadblocks connected to US restrictions. “The conditions in which we found ourselves thanks to the actions of the US administration hindered the development of the oil industry,” Faria said, specifying that sanctions have affected investments, financing, loans, and the purchase of equipment and spare parts.

Pointing to the alternative finance systems worked out by Russia, China, and India to circumvent the West’s attempted “blockade” against Moscow, Faria noted that “more and more countries are interacting with Russia, and they are not afraid of the consequences they are being threatened with.”

The Venezuelan top diplomat also expressed support for Russia’s position on the crisis in Ukraine, saying Caracas sees Russia’s readiness for dialogue and negotiations, and hopes that an agreement is ultimately reached which takes into account the interests of both Moscow and Kiev.

“I would like to thank you, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government for the political support of the national processes that are taking place in Venezuela. I’m speaking about Russia’s participation in the role of mediator in talks with the Venezuelan opposition,” Faria added.

Lavrov welcomed the “normalization of the situation in and around Venezuela,” and promised that Moscow would continue to “contribute” to the country’s sustainable development “in any way we can.”

“As our presidents have agreed, we have reaffirmed our focus on the deepening of political dialogue, of economic, trade, cultural and humanitarian exchanges. We agreed to promote mutually beneficial projects in a host of areas, including energy, pharmaceuticals, industry, transport and military-technical cooperation”, Lavrov said. The foreign minister also revealed that the two countries have hammered out an agreement on space cooperation, under which Russia will be able to place a ground-based GLONASS satellite navigation system station in Venezuela.

“We know how seriously the Americans and their allies sought, seek and will continue to seek to undermine the foundations of the Venezuelan economy. It’s already clear now that these plans will not come to pass. The Venezuelan economy is demonstrating its capability to withstand this sort of pressure. And of course, we will help in every possible way,” Lavrov stressed.

Russia and Venezuela enjoy warm ties, with relations dramatically improving under the late President Hugo Chavez, a leftist president who came to power on the wave of the Bolivarian Revolution and began to institute a broad range of socio-economic, political, and foreign policy reforms which severely strained Caracas’ ties with Washington.

Despite the vast geographic distance between them, Moscow and Caracas have built up close economic, trade, and defense ties, with the significance of this relationship demonstrated when the US attempted a coup d’etat against the government of President Nicolas Maduro in 2019 and placed crushing economic pressure on Caracas. Russia, China, and Iran provided significant diplomatic, economic and other assistance to Venezuela to ease the blow, and have expanded cooperation with the Latin American nation to help it achieve economic independence from its powerful neighbor to the north. Venezuela has reciprocated by supporting its partners diplomatically at various international venues, and by welcoming Russian, Chinese, and Iranian businesses to develop the country’s resources and industry.

Kaspersky lab releases world’s first IoT secure gateway

YEKATERINBURG, July 4. /TASS/. Kaspersky Lab presented the world’s first cyber-immune gateway for the Industrial Internet of Things within the framework of the Innoprom exhibition, the Russian technology company said on Monday.

“Kaspersky Lab presented the world’s first solution for protection of the Industrial Internet of Things at the Innoprom international industrial exhibition – the Kaspersky IoT Secure Gateway 1000. The cyber-immune product, that is, resilient to the overwhelming majority of cyberattack types, is designed for use in various areas: industry, energy and smart city systems, including road infrastructure, CCTV and public utilities systems,” the press service said.

The gateway was developed and operates using the Kaspersky OS operating system and helps administrators to control developments in the IoT infrastructure, the press service added.

OUTSIDE RUSSIA

Russia becomes India’s top fertilizer supplier

Moscow offers its agricultural commodity at lower prices than China, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Jordan

Russia has become India’s biggest supplier of phosphate fertilizers due to discounts it’s offering amid Ukraine-related Western sanctions, The Indian Express reported on Thursday, citing industry sources.

According to the report, over the past three months India imported 350,000 tons of diammonium phosphate, or DAP, a fertilizer that provides agricultural crops with phosphorus nutrition for the entire period of their growth.

“Imports came at just the right time as planting began for the rain season, which will peak in July,” the publication states.

Russian fertilizer producer PhosAgro has offered Indian companies a heavy discount on its products, while also covering bank commissions for payments transfer. As a result, the cost of Russian fertilizer for India amounted to $920-925 per ton, which is lower than the prices offered by other international suppliers, including China, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Jordan.

According to the Express report, the price offered by Russia also coincides with the price cap India recently put on fertilizer importers. It also notes that the situation may force other fertilizer suppliers to lower their prices if they want to retain their share in the Indian market.

The only problem regarding Russian imports is making payments, which is a complicated process now that Russia is forced to operate under sanctions. However, sources say the industry has come up with “innovative methods” to solve the issue.

“The risk in this case has had to be borne by the seller (PhosAgro), since banks weren’t willing to open letters of credit (to serve as a guarantee for payment) on the importers’ behalf.

Payments were then made by telegraphic transfer to the seller’s account, upon the latter physically presenting the necessary documents (copy of invoice, certificate of origin, bill of lading, insurance policy, etc.) seven-to-ten days after the cargo had set sail,” the sources explained.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section

Pope Francis hopes to visit Moscow, Kiev after returning from Canada — agency

LONDON, July 4. /TASS/. Pope Francis hopes to visit Russia and Ukraine after returning from Canada later in the month, as he himself said in an interview with Reuters.

According to him, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin had discussed a possible visit to Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Reuters points out that “no pope has ever visited Moscow” and Pope Francis’s position on the Ukrainian conflict complicates the situation. “When the Vatican first asked about a trip several months ago, Francis said Moscow replied that it was not the right time,” the news outlet notes. However, the pontiff “hinted that something may now have changed.”

I would like to go (to Ukraine), and I wanted to go to Moscow first. We exchanged messages about this because I thought that if the Russian president gave me a small window to serve the cause of peace… And now it is possible, after I come back from Canada, it is possible that I manage to go to Ukraine,” he noted, adding: “The first thing is to go to Russia to try to help in some way, but I would like to go to both capitals.”.

New documents expose secret US wars – The Intercept

Washington has conducted at least 23 proxy wars around the world under the guise of counterterrorism

The US has reportedly used a secretive authority called ‘127e’ to launch at least two dozen proxy wars since 2017, according to an article published on Friday by The Intercept. The outlet claims to have obtained never-before-seen documents and spoken to top officials with intimate knowledge of these programs.

The Intercept received the documents through the Freedom of Information Act, claiming these papers are the first ever official confirmation that at least 14 so-called ‘127e programs’ were active in the greater Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions as recently as 2020. In total, the Pentagon reportedly launched 23 separate 127e programs across the globe between 2017 and 2020, which cost US taxpayers $310 million.

The Intercept explains that 127e is one of several virtually unknown authorities granted to the Defense Department by Congress over the last two decades. It authorizes US commandos to conduct “counterterrorism operations” in cooperation with foreign and irregular partner forces around the world with minimal outside oversight.

The program allows the US to arm, train, and provide intelligence to foreign forces. However, unlike traditional foreign assistance programs, which focus on building up local capacity in partner countries, 127e “surrogate forces” are expected to follow US orders and conduct Washington-directed missions against US enemies to achieve US goals, essentially serving as the Pentagon’s proxy armies.

According to the outlet, almost no information about these operations is ever shared with any members of Congress or State Department officials. It is generally unknown where these operations are conducted, their frequency, targets, or even the identity of the foreign forces the US cooperates with to carry them out.

Critics of the programs warn that they could lead to unanticipated military escalation and engage the US in over a dozen conflicts around the world, since 127e does not allow for any oversight or input from foreign affairs officials.

The outlet notes that although the latest batch of documents sheds more light on the 127e program, it still remains mostly unknown to both the public and members of Congress, who almost never receive any reports pertaining to the program.

A government official familiar with the program, who requested anonymity to discuss it, told The Intercept that most congressional staffers don’t even have the clearance to view 127e reports, and those who do rarely ask for them.

“It was designed to prevent oversight,” he explained.

Stephen Semler, a co-founder of a US foreign policy think tank, told The Intercept that the Pentagon prefers to run its operations with minimal oversight, input or bureaucracy from Congress and has done so for many years. “The Special Operations community likes autonomy a lot,” he explained to the outlet, adding that “the problem is this stuff is so normalized.”

“There should be more attention paid to these train-and-equip authorities, whether it’s special forces or [Department of Defense] regular, because it’s really kind of a PR-friendly way to sell endless war,” Semler concluded.

West has ‘buried’ freedom of speech – Moscow

The persecution of Russian journalists in the West has reached an unacceptable scale, Russia’s foreign minister has said

The harassment of Russian journalists in the US, Europe and Ukraine has reached “a massive scale,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday. Moscow never wanted to take any measures that would affect journalistic freedoms, but Washington and its allies leave Russia with no choice but to reciprocate, the minister told reporters during a joint press conference with Venezuela’s top diplomat, Carlos Faria.

Russia is interested in ending this “war on journalists,” Lavrov said, adding that the Western nations apparently cannot stop it without “losing face.” Moscow cannot just stand idly by given the pressure its journalists are facing, especially since the persecution has reached a scale “that is impossible to bear any longer,” he argued.

“We initially did not want to give a mirror response that would affect journalists’ rights, but the West has buried the freedom of speech with its own hands,” the minister said. He did not announce any new measures against any foreign media in Russia, though.

“It was not us who started this war,” Lavrov said, adding that the West “has just gone too far.” The minister accused Western governments of deviating from the norms of international law and instead creating their own rules that allow them to unilaterally decide what is “freedom of information” and what is “propaganda.”

In particular, the minister referred to French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to bar Russia’s RT broadcaster and Sputnik news agency, first from covering his campaign in 2017 and later from accessing the Élysée Palace in 2018. He also described both outlets as “organs of influence and propaganda.”

“There is a large number of such examples,” Lavrov said on Monday. Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, which was launched in late February, has further strained relations between Moscow and the West, including in the media field. In response to Russia’s offensive, Western countries introduced bans and restrictions on certain media outlets. As a result of these measures, RT and Sputnik – and even their accounts on some social media platforms – were made inaccessible in the EU. Australia, Canada and the UK have followed suit.

The US has a constitutional ban on overt censorship, but YouTube has blocked the accounts of RT and Sputnik. Russia has retaliated by blocking the websites of several Western state-run outlets, including BBC, Deutsche Welle, Svoboda, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Anti-Russian sanctions driving Germany into misery — Readovka.world

Every fourth German is inevitably sliding into poverty due to anti-Russian sanctions

After several fuel price shocks, most of Germany’s population now spending more than 10% of their wages on gas, electricity, and oil, informs the German Institute for Economic Research (IW). For comparison, consumers now pay 38% more for energy and 11% more for food, quotes BILD.

Moreover, Germans experiencing anxiety over the coming winter – every second German is afraid to freeze due to problems with Russian gas supply and inflation in the European Union. 91% of INSA respondents said they started saving money. People are less likely to go to restaurants, less likely to buy clothes, and 48% of Germans did not go on vacation this summer.

More than 20 million West Germans are now under the threat of energy poverty caused by sanctions against Russia. Single parents, the elderly and the unemployed take it the hardest, receiving a tiny allowance of about 449 EUR.

«There was nothing like it even during the oil crisis of the 1970s. The boom in energy prices is putting increasing financial pressure on private households», – says the housing economist of IW.

The German authorities are trying to support people who are falling into poverty by spending €30 billion this year to compensate almost completely (90%) for the difference between higher prices of necessities for the poorest.

SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE

Ukrainian Forces Fire HIMARS at City in Donetsk People’s Republic

The United States has committed at least eight M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) batteries to Ukraine. Russia and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics have repeatedly warned Washington that Kiev could use these weapons systems against civilian targets.

Ukraine has fired HIMARS rocket artillery shells at the city of Snezhnoe in eastern Donetsk People’s Republic, DPR representatives with the Joint Center on Coordination and Control (JCCC) have indicated.

“According to military experts of the DPR JCCC, the enemy, situated in the area of settlement of Konstantinovka, launched missiles from the M142 HIMARS Multiple Launch Rocket System supplied to the Ukrainian Armed Forces by NATO countries at the city of Snezhnoye,” the press service of the JCCC said in a statement Monday.

The JCCC was established in 2015 to monitor the ceasefire in the Donbass to help implement the Minsk ceasefire agreements and ensure the safety of Organization for Security Co-Operation in Europe observers in the war-torn region. The monitoring center has been semi-defunct since 2017, when Russian observers were pulled out due to changes in Ukrainian legislation making it difficult for them to carry out their monitoring duties. However, Ukrainian and Donbass observers have remained in place, with the latter documenting many of the Ukrainian side’s attacks against civilian settlements since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis in February.

Snezhnoe is a city of 46,000 situated in the eastern DPR near the border with the Lugansk People’s Republic and Russia. The city suffered Ukrainian aerial bombardment in July 2014 during Kiev’s bid to crush local militias which proclaimed independence in the aftermath of the US-backed coup in Kiev in February of that year.

The United States has committed eight HIMARS to Ukraine since this year’s escalation of the crisis, and is training Ukrainian troops to operate the medium-to-long-range strike systems in Germany and the United Kingdom. The system has an effective firing range of up to 84 km. Ukrainian defense minister Oleksii Reznikov announced the arrival of the first HIMARS in Ukraine on June 23.

Russia and its Donbass allies have repeatedly warned the US and its allies against sending advanced weapons systems to Kiev, stressing there is a strong likelihood that these arms could end up on the international arms black market, and warning that Russian forces could conduct retaliatory strikes against ‘decision-making centers’, including those in Kiev, in the event of attacks inside Russia or targeting civilian areas.

Russia’s aerospace forces have also made Ukraine’s NATO-provided artillery and howitzer systems a top priority target, owing to their advanced capabilities and deadliness, but finding and destroying the platforms can be complicated by their high mobility and shoot-and-scoot tactics designed to avoid retaliatory fire.

Kherson region forms new government

KHERSON, July 4. /TASS/. A new government has been formed in the Kherson region, the regional military-civilian administration said in a statement on Telegram on Monday.

“Having studied the experience of Russian regional government agencies, Head of the Kherson region’s military-civilian administration Vladimir Saldo decided to form a new government in the Kherson region, recruiting the best people not only from the Kherson region’s residents but also from Russian experts and managers,” the statement reads.

Sergey Yeliseyev, who earlier served as First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia’s Kaliningrad region, will head the cabinet. There will be Russian nationals and the Kherson region’s residents among his deputies.

The Kherson region is located in southern Ukraine and borders Crimea. The Russian Defense Ministry said in mid-March that Russian troops had taken full control of the region. A military-civilian administration was formed there in late April. The regional authorities later announced plans to join Russia.

INSIGHTS

Unmatched the world over: Russia’s Sukhoi combat aircraft family

2022 marks the 45th anniversary of the maiden flight of the Su-27 fighter prototype developed by the Sukhoi Experimental Design Bureau, which marked the birth of the famed family of Su-27/Su-30 fighter jets.

In the 21st century, the Su-27/Su-30 aircraft became among the most in-demand fighters in the world: they were purchased by Angola, Belarus, Venezuela, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, China, Malaysia, Uganda and other countries. Much of the credit for this should go both to aircraft designer Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi personally and his unparalleled Design Bureau team, which managed to derive a technically perfect formula for the global success of the Sukhoi brand.

“Air superiority is a key factor in any confrontation. That is why we pay great attention to developing new advanced platforms. At one time, the Su-27 became a technologically breakthrough machine and the progenitor of a whole family of outstanding aircraft: the Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35. Today, these jets are the mainstay of the Russian Aerospace Forces and successfully perform missions even under especially adverse conditions on a daily basis. This is a vivid demonstration of our technological capabilities,” said Vladimir Artyakov, First Deputy Director General of Rostec State Corporation.

Currently, the family of Russia’s Sukhoi high-performance heavy multi-mission aircraft systems offered for export is represented by Su-30SME, Su-34E and Su-35 4+/4++ generation aircraft.

“Rosoboronexport has delivered about 700 Su-27/Su-30 combat aircraft abroad since 2000. In 2021, the company’s order book was replenished with new contracts for the supply of Su-30SMs,” said Alexander Mikheev, Director General of Rosoboronexport (part of Rostec State Corporation).

“Over the past 10 years, the share of aircraft supplies in Russia’s total arms exports has stood at 40-50%, and even exceeds this figure today,” he said.

As the Rosoboronexport head pointed out, currently the company’s partners highly appreciate the fact that engines, avionics, weapons, systems and components in Russian combat aircraft are exclusively Russian-made.

“This ensures the independence of the purchasing countries from unfair actions taken by third countries. In addition, an open architecture of avionics and weapons systems, implemented in Russian fighters, enables foreign customers, with the involvement of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, to integrate some of domestically-made systems and air-launched weapons into them,” he said.

The Russian Aerospace Forces are the largest operator of Sukhoi combat aircraft. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Su-30SM and Su-35 aircraft can effectively intercept air targets and attack military installations with precision-guided weapons from low, medium and high altitudes. Their airborne equipment enables the use of air weapons with maximum accuracy. According to Hero of Russia, fighter pilot Major Viktor Dudin, the Su-35 is the perfect fighter jet that outshines all its foreign rivals.

The Su-35 is a powerful 4++ generation aircraft system that incorporates fifth-generation fighter technologies. The Su-35 handles the entire range of fighter missions over a wide altitude and speed envelope.

As Rosoboronexport specified, a large number of hardpoints allows the use of up to 12 medium-range air-to-air missiles or 6 air-to-surface missiles in one sortie. Its powerful onboard radar can detect aerial targets at long ranges (up to 350 km). The Su-35 also effectively engages ground (surface) targets, even without entering the enemy’s air defense zone. In addition, the Su-35 is able to control a group of planes in the skies, acting as an AWACS aircraft.

Listed below are the advantages of Su fighters:

• super-maneuverability that gives a clear edge in close air combat, enabling the Sukhoi aircraft, inter alia, to disrupt retaliatory missile attacks;
• powerful missiles and rockets plus a 30 mm autocannon;
• autonomous basing and in-flight refueling capability;
• open architecture of the avionics and weapons systems.

“The intensity of military threats in the world is not decreasing, which predetermines an increased interest in Russian combat planes that have proved their reliability and effectiveness, and have outperformed their Western competitors in many respects,” Alexander Mikheev stressed.

“In the foreseeable future, the predominant combat effectiveness of Russian aircraft will remain, and continuous platform upgrading is underway, as clearly illustrated by the case of the Su-57,” he said.

As the Rosoboronexport head pointed out, in this context, it is curious that “some Western media, spouting falsehoods about the alleged ‘technological gap of the Russians,’ are silent about the fact that a mere appearance of Russian fighters in the sky often dramatically changes the situation in the theater of war not in the enemy’s favor.”

One of the most notable foreign operators of Su-30 fighters is India where the program of licensed production of Su-30MKI jets, which make up the backbone of the country’s Air Force, has been successfully implemented.

“Rosoboronexport is ready within the framework of the Make in India program to supply additional completely knocked down kits for the assembly of the Su-30MKI and carry out joint work on their modernization, including the integration of the latest air weapons, avionics, etc. At the same time, the existing portfolio of aviation projects allows the company to globally develop technological cooperation in a broad range of areas,” the company said.

Incidentally, the world-famous Russian Knights and Falcons of Russia aerobatic teams, flying Su-27/Su-30/Su-35 fighters, have repeatedly received applause from the audience at international air shows in dozens of countries around the world. Even the presidents and prime ministers of the customer countries, who participated in the demo flights of these beautiful aircraft, have repeatedly convinced themselves of the high flight performance and reliability of the Russian Sukhoi fighters. This summer, the legendary aircraft will be demonstrated at the Army-2022 International Military and Technical Forum.

TASS appreciates the assistance of the press offices of Rosoboronexport and Rostec State Corporation in preparing this material.

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