Russia details use of hypersonic missiles in Ukraine

Dhaka August 22 2022 :

Inside Russia : Outside Russia : News Digest by the Embassy of Russian Federation in Bangladesh on August 22 2022

INSIDE RUSSIA

Putin hails national flag as sacred symbol for all generations of Russians

MOSCOW, August 22. /TASS/. Russia’s national flag will always be a sacred symbol for the country’s people, President Vladimir Putin said in a video address on National Flag Day.

“Today, we are marking National Flag Day. We pay respect to Russia’s official state symbol that, along with its emblem and anthem, represents its sovereignty and independence and asserts the continuity between generations of our multi-ethnic people,” he noted.

“Our flag that was raised on Russia’s first warship over three centuries ago, remained Russia’s symbol in difficult, challenging periods of its history – under Peter the Great when the Russian Empire was still forming, on the battlefields of World War I, and amid the dramatic changes of the contradictory, arduous 1990s. On August 22, 1991, the white, blue and red flag once again flew over Russia,” the president stressed.

According to Putin, “the national flag and the unfading Red Banner of Victory instil in the rising generation an appreciation for the values of patriotism, citizenship and responsibility for the future of the Motherland.” The president noted that “from September 1 of this year, all schools in the country will begin every school week with a ceremony of raising the flag and singing the anthem.”

“I am confident that Russia’s national flag will always remain a sacred symbol for all generations of our citizens. It will inspire them to military glory, professional achievements and new heights in science, culture and sports. It will make them proud of their Motherland,” Putin emphasized. “Russia is a strong, independent world power. On the international stage, we are committed to pursuing only such policies that meet the vital interests of our Fatherland,” he pointed out.

“The national flag symbolizes our faith in our traditional values that we will never give up – truth and justice, solidarity and mercy, and respect for Russia’s centuries-long uninterrupted history, the achievements and victories of our ancestors that inspire us to care for and defend our Motherland and never permit any foreign hegemony or diktat. The desire to live according to our own will, to choose our own path and to follow it, has become part of our people’s genetic code,” Putin said.

National Flag Day was created by a presidential decree in 1994. On August 22, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic passed a resolution establishing the historical flag of Russia (a white, azure and scarlet tricolor) as the national flag of the Russian Federation. In 1993, the azure color was replaced with blue and the scarlet color was replaced with red.

Ukraine conflict prophet: Who is Aleksandr Dugin, whose daughter was killed in a Moscow blast?

Dugin predicted the bloodshed in Ukraine and was dubbed ‘Putin’s brain’ in the West

Famed anti-Western writer and Russian political commentator Aleksandr Dugin was reportedly admitted to a hospital after visiting the site of a car bombing which took the life of his daughter, Darya Dugina, on Saturday night.

His hospitalization was announced on social media by fellow pundit Sergey Markov.

Dugina, a 29-year-old journalist and a commentator in her own right, was killed while returning from a conservative family festival outside Moscow, which she attended with her father.

Andrey Krasnov, an acquaintance, told TASS that the SUV she was driving belonged to her father.

According to unconfirmed reports, Dugin planned to leave the event in the same car as his daughter, but at the last moment decided to take a separate car.

From conservative firebrand to ‘Putin’s brain’

Dugin was dubbed ‘Putin’s brain’ and ‘Putin’s Rasputin’ by Western media for his supposed influence on the worldview of President Vladimir Putin and the country’s ruling elite. Foreign Policy magazine included him in its 2014 ‘Global Thinkers’ list “for masterminding Russia’s expansionist ideology.”

He rose to popularity as a prolific conservative writer in the 1990s when Russia was going through a crippling economic crisis and an ideological void left after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Known for his fiery rhetoric and hawkish anti-Western stance, Dugin envisioned Russia as a powerful, ever-expanding continental empire whose mission is to serve “as a serious bulwark against the ubiquitous spread of the Western liberal model on the planet.”

Moscow’s Ukraine hawk

In his seminal work, ‘The Foundation of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia’, published in 1997, Dugin predicted the bloodshed in Ukraine.

“The sovereignty of Ukraine is such a negative factor for Russian geopolitics that, in principle, it can easily trigger an armed conflict,” he wrote. Dugin argued that, while retaining a certain degree of autonomy, Ukraine should be integrated into the Russian state, as it had been in tsarist and Soviet times.

The author passionately supported Moscow’s decision to reabsorb Crimea, after the peninsula voted in a referendum to leave Ukraine in the wake of the 2014 coup in Kiev. He was subsequently blacklisted by the US and Canada. In 2014, he left Moscow State University, where he had led the department of sociology of international relations for five years.

Fighter against the West

Dugin similarly backed the military operation that Moscow launched against the neighboring state in late February of this year. He argued that, since Ukraine’s independence in 1991, the US-led West has been fueling the conflict by supporting nationalists and other anti-Russian forces in Kiev, and continues to do so by sending weapons to Ukraine.

From the start, the project of an independent Ukraine has been directed against Russia and overseen by the Anglo-Saxons.

“The battle for Ukraine and against Russia is the historical constant of the West’s geopolitical strategy,” Dugin wrote in an op-ed for conservative media group Tsargrad TV in March. He also argued that Ukraine’s present borders were artificially drawn when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.

Ukraine has no history of statehood whatsoever, while its current territories are historically accidental and a result of the administrative design of the Bolsheviks. When Putin, as he was justifying the military operation in Ukraine, said ‘Ukraine was created by Lenin,’ he was absolutely correct.

“The Russian army is currently fighting the sovereign states that are imposing a unipolar world. We can’t lose this war. Otherwise, the whole world will go up in flames,” Dugin told Turkish newspaper Turkiye Gazetesi in April.

Following in her father’s footsteps

Like her father, Dugina supported the Russian military campaign in Ukraine, a country she described as “a failed state.”

Appearing on the ‘Solovyov LIVE’ podcast just hours before her death, she accused the West of trying to impose its will on others. “The special military operation [in Ukraine] is the last nail in the coffin of the world hegemon [the West],” she said.

Britain blacklisted Dugina this month as “a frequent and high-profile contributor of disinformation in relation to Ukraine.”

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhail Podoliak denied Kiev’s involvement in the bombing. “I want to stress that Ukraine, obviously, has nothing to do with it,” he told Ukrainian media on Sunday.

Dugina Moscow car bombing death officially confirmed

Experts are examining the type of explosive used, the Investigative Committee says

A criminal case has been launched over the death of the daughter of prominent Russian philosopher and political commentator Aleksandr Dugin, the Investigative Committee announced on Sunday morning, adding that a car bomb is suspected as the cause.

Darya Dugina, 30, has been officially confirmed as the victim of the explosion outside the Russian capital, the agency said in a statement.

According to investigators, a blast ripped through her Toyota Land Cruiser at around 9pm local time on Saturday as she was driving near the village of Bolshie Vyazemy in Moscow Region.

It is thought an explosive device detonated inside the vehicle, which then caught fire. “The female driver, who was behind the wheel, has been killed on site,” the Investigative Committee said.

A journalist and political commentator, Dugina was the daughter of philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, who is often painted in the West as the ideologist of President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy over the past decade.

However, in Russia, Dugin is viewed as a relatively marginal figure due to his often extreme anti-Western and ‘neo-Eurasian’ views. The 60-year-old has never been officially endorsed by the Kremlin.

On Saturday, he was giving a lecture at family festival called ‘Tradition’, with his daughter in attendance. Some reports suggest that Dugin initially planned to leave the event in the same car with his daughter, but later changed his plans.

Russian writer and political activist Zakhar Prilepin, who also attended the festival, hinted that Ukraine could be behind the bombing.

“They do things like this. They’ve crossed the line long ago,” he wrote on Telegram, noting the assassination of the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, in 2018, which was blamed on Kiev, and other high-profile bomb attacks in Donbass in recent years.

“This comedy idol, this sleepy man in a T-shirt – he greenlights such actions,” Prilepin said in an apparent reference to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who was a comedian before turning to politics.

Judging from his post, the writer believes that Dugin, not his daughter, was the real target of the attackers. No evidence of Kiev’s role in the bombing has been made public so far.

Moscow: If ‘Ukraine’s Trace’ Found in Dugina’s Death, It’ll Point at Kiev’s State Terrorism Policy

Sofia Chegodaeva, Sputnik News

Earlier in the day, Russian investigators said they believe the deadly car accident that left Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin’s daughter Daria dead was ordered and planned.

If suspicions that Ukraine was involved in Daria Dugina’s death are confirmed, then it will point at Kiev’s policy of state terrorism, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

“If the Ukrainian trace is confirmed – and this theory was voiced by the head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin – it should be checked by competent authorities, then we need to talk about the policy of state terrorism implemented by the Kiev regime,” Zakharova wrote on Telegram.

Earlier on Sunday, Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a criminal case of murder after Daria Dugina, the 29-year-old daughter of Russian political philosopher and analyst Alexander Dugin, was killed in a car accident in the Moscow region on Saturday night.

According to investigators, an explosive device was planted under the bottom of a Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle Daria was driving. The car was traveling at full speed when it exploded in the Odintsovsky District in the Moscow region at about 21:00 local time (18:00 GMT) on Saturday.

At present, investigators are inspecting the scene of the accident. The burnt car, which was subsequently removed to specialized parking, has been examined by an explosives specialist. Investigators have seized a video recording from the car and the security services were ordered to identify those involved and witnesses.

In addition, expert examinations are being undertaken, including biological, genetic, physical, chemical and explosive forensic examinations.

Russian Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin has instructed the relevant authorities to transfer the criminal case on the murder of Dugina to the Main Investigation Department for a further comprehensive and objective investigation.

Daria Dugina was born in Moscow in 1992. She graduated from the Philosophy department of the Moscow State University and worked as political analyst and journalist. Like her father Alexander, Daria was a proponent of traditionalist beliefs and supported Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. In July, she was included in UK sanctions lists. Dugin himself was sanctioned by the EU, US and Canada in 2014 and 2015.

OUTSIDE RUSSIA

Swiss politician slammed for stance on Ukraine

Christoph Blocher criticized Switzerland for supporting the West’s military assistance to Ukraine

A former member of the Swiss Federal Council and ex-head of the Federal Justice and Police Department provoked a wave of criticism by suggesting that Switzerland has made itself a party to the conflict in Ukraine by supporting Western military aid to Kiev.

In a widely published column, politician and industrialist Christoph Blocher wrote “It is true that many young soldiers die. On both sides.”

However, this is only a “half-truth,” he said, arguing that Russian soldiers are being killed by Ukrainian troops who are “armed primarily by the US but also by the EU.”

“In the face of the teenage Russian soldiers killed, one has to ask the question: Why are they dead?”

His words drew furious responses from fellow politicians and the Ukrainian ambassador in Bern.

The former minister criticized Switzerland’s policies, saying Bern has “breached the Swiss neutrality [principle]” and become a “party to the war,” contributing to a situation in which “very young Russian soldiers have to die.”

Why did Switzerland get involved here?

Blocher’s piece was met with an angry response by Swiss media and politicians, who blasted him for not saying “who started the war.”

“He doesn’t say a word about the fact that Ukraine was attacked by Russia and is defending itself, that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin started the war,” the Switzerland Times wrote.

Swiss Watson news outlet called Blocher’s column “bizarre” and accused the former minister of “ignoring Russian war crimes.” According to the outlet, Blocher is currently working on an initiative that would compel Bern to not only refrain from participating in conflicts outside of its territory, but avoid imposing economic sanctions in such cases as well.

MP Philipp Matthias Bregy, the head of the Center party’s parliamentary group, accused Blocher of distorting history, and said the former minister himself told a “half-truth” by “ignoring the aggressor.”

Andrea Caroni, the vice president of the Swiss Liberals, claimed Blocher is playing into the hands of the Kremlin. “Putin does not need a propaganda minister anymore,” he told Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung. “Blocher does it for free.”

Ukraine’s ambassador to Bern, Artyom Rybchenko, reacted to Blocher’s words in what some Swiss media called an “undiplomatic” way. “You can only say something like that from the sofa at home,” he told journalists, adding that Blocher had lost contact with reality, and calling his column “a bad joke.”

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 Pyotr 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.

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SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE

Russia details use of hypersonic missiles in Ukraine

The hardware has demonstrated its “outstanding qualities,” the defense minister has said

Russian forces have successfully fired three Kinzhal hypersonic missiles during the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has said.

The missile “has been used by us on three occasions during the special military operation [in Ukraine]. And it showed its outstanding qualities on three occasions, qualities that no other similar missile in the world possesses,” Shoigu told Russia 1 TV on Sunday.

The Kinzhal (Dagger) is a Russian hypersonic air-to-surface missile that entered service in 2017. It can travel at a speed of Mach 12 (around 14,800kph), while constantly performing evasive maneuvers, which is believed to allow it to penetrate any currently existing air defenses. The nuclear-capable munition can be launched by the country’s Tu-22M3 bombers or MiG-31 interceptor aircraft.

The Defense Ministry reported the firing of a Kinzhal missile in mid-March, saying it destroyed an arms depot near the city of Ivano-Frankovsk deep in western Ukraine. This is apparently the first time ever that a hypersonic weapon has been used in combat.

The missile is one of several hypersonic systems developed for the Russian military in recent years, along with the Avangard glider, which is fitted on silo-based ICBMs, and Zircon missiles, to be used by the Navy.

Shoigu also expanded on the deployment of Russia’s Su-57 fifth-generation stealth fighter jets in the conflict in Ukraine, saying the plane, which entered into service in the Air Force in 2020, “has a very high degree of protection against various air defense systems; it has protection against missiles. There are a lot of things… most importantly, it also has very powerful weapons.”

“We’ve also tested these weapons, tried them out – they work perfectly,” he noted.

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 Pyotr 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.

Russian army destroys ammunition depot with HIMARS missiles near Odessa — Defense Ministry

MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. The Russian Armed Forces have destroyed with Kalibr cruise missiles an ammunition depot in the Odessa Region, where missiles for US multiple rocket launchers HIMARS were stored, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Sunday.

“High-precision sea-based long-range Kalibr missiles near the village of Mayorskoye in the Odessa Region destroyed an ammunition depot with missiles for the American HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems and Western-made anti-aircraft systems,” Konashenkov said.

The Kalibr (NATO classification: SS-N-27 Sizzler) is a Russian cruise missile developed and produced by the Novator design bureau in Yekaterinburg (part of the Almaz-Antey Air Defense Concern). The Russian Armed Forces currently use two modifications of these missiles: Kalibr-NK (ship-based) and Kalibr-PL (mounted on submarines).

The exact characteristics of the Kalibr are not known for certain. According to various data, range of these missiles is up to 375 km against sea targets and up to 2,600 km against land targets, maximum weight of the warhead is 500 kg.

The complex entered the service of the Russian Navy in 2012. The missiles were first used during the military operation in Syria. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the missile was used on 13 occasions, with a total of at least 99 missiles fired at terrorist targets.

Shoigu says weapons of Su-57 fighter jets excel during special operation

TASS, August 21. The latest Su-57 fighters have shown themselves brilliantly in terms of weaponry during Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the country’s Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 TV channel on Sunday.

“We can <…> [say] we have used and are using the Su-57 aircraft. This aircraft has shown itself brilliantly. The aircraft has a very high degree of protection against various air defense systems, has protection against missiles. There is a lot of stuff there. <…> Most importantly, it has very powerful weapons. We also tried and tested these weapons, they work brilliantly, I can’t find another word for it,” Shoigu said in reply to a question about the use of the latest Russian equipment on combat targets during special operations.

In May, a source reported to TASS about the use of Su-57 fighter jets by the Russian Aerospace Forces during the military special operation in Ukraine. The Su-57 was tested for the first time in actual combat operations in Syria in 2018. As it was previously reported, the Russian Air Force would receive 22 Su-57 jets by the end of 2024, and by 2028 their number will be increased to 76. The first fighter jet entered the troops in 2020.

The Su-57 is designed to destroy all types of air, ground and surface targets. The aircraft has a supersonic cruising speed, in-fuselage armament, radio absorption coating (stealth technology), as well as the latest complex of onboard equipment.

Air defense systems intercept Ukrainian strike on airfield in Sevastopol — Governor

The request is for everyone to remain calm, Mikhail Razvozhaev said

SEVASTOPOL, August 21. /TASS/. Ukraine’s armed forces attempted to strike Belbek military airfield in Sevastopol on Sunday with air defense systems deflecting the attack, the city’s Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev said on his Telegram channel.

“Our air defense systems took down new targets approaching Belbek from Yevpatoria. The request is the same – for everyone to remain calm,” he wrote.

Over recent weeks, Crimea and Sevastopol have been attacked several times. Earlier, another attack was directed against the Black Sea Fleet headquarters. A drone was shot down by an air defense system and there were no casualties.

INSIGHTS

Is It Possible to Lift Sanctions Against Russia? — No

By Ivan Timofeev. PhD in Political Science, RIAC Director of Programs, RIAC Member, Head of “Contemporary State” program at Valdai Discussion Club

Every conflict sooner or later ends in peace. Such is the conventional wisdom that can often be heard from those who, amid the current situation of the sanctions tsunami and confrontation with the West, are trying to find hope for a return to “normality”. The logic of such wisdom is simple. At some point, the parties will cease fire and sit down at the negotiating table. The end of hostilities will lead to a gradual reduction in sanctions pressure on Russia, and our businesses will be able to return to work with Western partners.

We have to disappoint those who believe in such a prospect. Sanctions against Russia, for the most part, will not be lifted even in the event of a ceasefire in Ukraine and a peace agreement. There will be no return to “pre-February normality”. Instead of remembering a lost past, we will have to focus on creating a new future in which Western sanctions remain a constant variable.

Why is the lifting of Western sanctions on Russia extremely unlikely? There are several reasons.

The first reason is the complexity of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. It has every chance of being prolonged for a long time. There may be pauses in active hostilities. The parties may conclude temporary truces. However, such truces are unlikely to remove the political contradictions that gave rise to the conflict. Currently, there are no parameters for a political compromise that would suit all parties. Even if an agreement between Moscow and Kiev is reached, its sustainability and feasibility are not guaranteed. The experience of Minsk-2 shows that the mere appearance of agreements does not automatically resolve political problems and does not lead to the lifting or easing of sanctions. The Ukrainian problem can smoulder and flare up again for decades, partly because both sides are limited in the possibilities of a decisive military victory and complete surrender of the enemy. Relations between Russia and Ukraine are at risk of entering the ranks of long-term conflicts, similar to relations between India and Pakistan, or North and South Korea. The complexity and longevity of the conflict guarantee Western sanctions for the long term.

The second reason is the stable nature of the contradictions between Russia and the West. The conflict in Ukraine is part of a larger Euro-Atlantic security palette. An unstable system of asymmetric bipolarity has formed in Europe, in which the security of Russia and NATO can hardly be indivisible. Russia has no way to crush the West without doing unacceptable damage to itself. However, the West, despite its colossal superiority, cannot crush Russia without incurring unacceptable losses. Containing Russia is the best strategy for the West. Ukraine is doomed to remain one of the areas of containment. For Russia, the strategy of asymmetric balancing of Western superiority remains optimal. It is possible that part of such a strategy will be a course towards a radical territorial redistribution of Ukraine, tearing away from it the eastern and southern parts. But in itself, such a redistribution will not remove the problems of Western sanctions.

The third reason is the institutional features of the sanctions policy of the initiating countries. Experience shows that sanctions are relatively easy to impose but very difficult to lift. Thus, with regard to Iran, a whole “web of laws” has formed in the United States, which significantly limits the administration’s ability to lift sanctions. Even if the sanctions are not enshrined in law, their cancellation or mitigation still requires political capital, which not every politician is ready to spend. In the US, such steps will cause criticism or even opposition in Congress, and in the EU – disagreements among member states. Of course, individual restrictions are lifted or relaxed in the interests of the initiating countries themselves. The experience of sanctions pressure on the Republic of Belarus shows the existence of the “sanction remissions” when restrictions are eased. However, the legal mechanisms of sanctions themselves remain and can be used at any time.

The fourth reason is the quick reversibility of the sanctions. Often, their abolition is accompanied by political demands, the implementation of which is a complicated process. For example, the Iranian nuclear deal required several years of complex negotiations and significant technological decisions. However, the return of sanctions can be carried out overnight. There is an asymmetry in the fulfilment of obligations. Fulfilling the requirements of the initiators requires significant changes, while the return of sanctions requires only a political decision. Rapid reversibility breeds distrust among target countries. It is easier for them to continue to live under sanctions than to make extensive concessions and risk receiving new sanctions. Historical experience shows that the initiators of sanctions tend to play the game of “finishing” the opponent. After the concessions come new, more radical political demands and the threat of new sanctions. The “Pompeo 13 Points” – a list of US demands on Iran beyond the limits of fulfilling the terms of the nuclear deal – have already become a textbook example. The Iranian lesson, apparently, was well learned in Moscow. Iran itself is actively working to achieve its goals in the field of nuclear arms. Ultimately, this shows the ineffectiveness of sanctions in terms of influencing the political course of the target country. But questionable effectiveness does not negate the fact that sanctions continue to be applied and enforced.

The fifth reason is the ability to adapt. Without a doubt, Russia will suffer enormous damage from the restrictive measures which have been introduced. However, the possibility of it adapting to the sanctions regime remains high. Russia has the chance, first, to partially make up for the shortfall in supplies from abroad with the help of its own industry, although this will require political will and the concentration of resources. Second, it has access to non-Western markets, as well as alternative sources of goods, services and technology. The key conditions for solving this problem will be the creation of reliable channels for financial transactions that are not related to the US dollar, the Euro, or Western financial institutions. Such a task is feasible both technically and politically, although it will also require time and political will. Iran’s experience shows that sanctions have seriously hit the country’s development opportunities. However, they did not interfere with the development of agriculture, industry and technology. The modernisation of the Soviet Union also proceeded under severe Western sanctions. The ability to adapt reduces the motivation for concessions to the demands of the initiating countries, especially given the risk of playing for “finishing”.

These reasons make the prospect of lifting or significantly reducing sanctions pressure on Russia extremely unlikely. The US, EU and other initiators have already introduced the most severe restrictions on Moscow. But the upward wave of sanctions escalation has not yet been exhausted. In addition, the achievement of the ceiling of the applied measures is unlikely to mean the abolition of those already introduced. However, the sanctions also do not mean the “end of history” of the Russian economy. It found itself in new conditions that will require adaptation and the search for new opportunities for development and growth.

First published in the Valdai Discussion Club.

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