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☆ Ukraine says it shot down 6 of the high-powered Kinzhal missiles that Russia boasted were unstoppable
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine says it shot down six of Russia's "unstoppable" Kinzhal missiles over Kyiv early Tuesday. In total, a barrage of 18 missiles were intercepted from land, sea and air, officials claimed. According to the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's army, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, six Russian MiG-31K jets launched the Kinzhal missiles overnight. "It was exceptional in its density — the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time," said Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, of the barrage, per The Telegraph's translation. Firefighters work at a site of a vehicle parking area damaged by remains of Russian missiles, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 16, 2023.

☆ Kyiv breathes sigh of relief after air defenses shoot down barrage of Russian rockets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Josh Pennington Tim Lister Kostan Nechyporenko Olga Voitovych Ivana Kottasová Yulia Kesaieva | Josh Pennington | Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Most Kyiv residents would have had no way of knowing for sure that the sudden, terrifying loud bangs were the Ukrainian air defense systems taking down Russian missiles, rather than rockets hitting their city. Yulia Kesaieva/CNN“My wife counted over 30 explosions and we saw dozens of launches by the Ukrainian air defense from our balcony. Our air defense are real heroes. I think it’s both – the experience and the new air defense systems we got,” he told CNN. Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin have repeatedly talked up the hypersonic Kinzhal missiles for their ability to evade Ukraine’ original air defense systems.

☆ Russia's Kinzhal was never an unstoppable hypersonic missile, but the Patriot shot that killed one is still 'impressive,' expert says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Ukraine shot down a Russian Kinzhal missile described as a hypersonic weapon with a US-made Patriot interceptor. Still, a missile defense expert told Insider the missile is tough target, making it an "impressive" kill. A missile defense expert called the intercept by a Patriot missile "impressive," for both the advanced American-made missile defense system and its Ukrainian operators. A general view of a mobile defence surface-to-air missile system, Patriot, before it is transported to Poland from Gnoien, Germany January 23, 2023. Gen. Pat Ryder said that he could "confirm that they did down a Russian missile by employing the Patriot missile defense system."

☆ The U.S. is providing $1.2 billion for Ukraine to buy air defense missiles and other crucial equipment.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The goods will arrive in Ukraine in the months and years to come, as defense companies produce them. A major focus of the $1.2 billion in new funds for Ukraine will go to purchase air-defense missiles for Kyiv to use in repelling Russian aerial attacks, General Ryder said. Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, has been targeted repeatedly by Russian strikes, including on Monday and early Tuesday. “We’re going to continue to rush ground-based air defense capabilities and munitions to help Ukraine control its sovereign skies and to help Ukraine defend its citizens from Russian cruise missiles and Iranian drones,” he said. “This is something that we’re going to keep after both in the near term and the long term.”General Ryder also confirmed reports that an American-made Patriot air-defense system provided to Ukraine shot down a Russian Kinzhal missile last Thursday.

☆ Ukraine conflict: Kyiv says it stopped a missile Russia said was unstoppable
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

An air-launched ballistic missile, the Kh-47 has a range of some 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), so can be fired far from the battlefield. It travels at about 10 times the speed of sound and is derived from the shorter-range Iskander ballistic missile, which is ground launched. Ukrainian intelligence believes Russia has only a few dozen Kinzhal missiles in its arsenal – a claim which couldn’t be independently verified. In April, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Patriot systems had arrived from the US, Germany and the Netherlands. The Patriots provide a modern dimension to Ukraine’s air defense layers, as does the German IRIS-T system.

☆ Belarus units complete training on Russian tactical nuclear missile systems
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 22 (Reuters) - Units from Belarus returned home from Russia on Saturday after training on how to use the Iskander tactical missile system to launch nuclear weapons, the Belarusian defence ministry said. It made the announcement exactly four weeks after President Vladimir Putin said Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus, sending a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine. In early February, Belarus said its armed forces were in autonomous control of Iskander mobile guided missile systems that Russia had already provided. Those units returned to Belarus on Saturday, the defence ministry said on Telegram. Russia has not given a clear timetable for moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, but Putin said the construction of storage facilities should be complete by the start of July.

☆ Opinion: How the battle for Bakhmut exposed Russia’s ‘meat-grinder’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Michael Bociurkiw | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

It will also be recorded in history as a battle that exposed more than anywhere the meat-grinder approach of Russian fighting. Taking Bakhmut would be the first Russian gain since it captured (and later lost) the key southern Ukrainian city of Kherson in November. That Ukrainian forces have demonstrated such endurance in the battle for Bakhmut should come as little surprise. Like the current battle for Bakhmut, it too became emblematic of Ukraine’s tenaciousness to defend itself against Russia’s aggression – particularly considering the Ukrainian Armed Forces were far less prepared and equipped. “The battle for Bakhmut in winter-spring 2023 will surely enter the history books as the bloodiest battle in Europe since World War II,” said Masliychuk.

☆ Finland Joins NATO in Historic Move, Sparking Russian Outcry
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Sune Engel Rasmussen | Daniel Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS—Finland officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Tuesday, a historic security-policy shift that was prompted by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and which has spurred a furious response from the Kremlin. With officials preparing to hoist Finland’s blue-and-white flag at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told a military conference in Moscow that the West was escalating its confrontation with Russia. He reminded participants that Belarus would soon have the ability to strike enemy targets with tactical nuclear weapons after Mr. Putin said last week that Moscow planned to base the Iskander-M missile system there.

☆ Russia: Finland's NATO accession carries risk of escalation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 4 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia would be forced to take "counter-measures" to Finland's accession to the NATO military alliance, as Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the move raised the prospect of the conflict in Ukraine escalating further. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the expansion of NATO - long criticised in Moscow - was an "encroachment on our security and on Russia's national interests" and that Moscow would watch closely for any NATO military deployments in Finland. Shoigu told Russia's military leadership in a meeting that Finland's accession "creates the risks of a significant expansion of the conflict" in Ukraine, according to a transcript published by the Defence Ministry. But he said it would not affect the outcome of what Russia calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine. Shoigu said Russia was also taking practical steps to boost the nuclear strike potential of its close ally Belarus in response.

☆ Ancient Egypt excavation uncovers 2,000 mummified ram heads at Abydos
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CAIRO, March 25 (Reuters) - At least 2,000 mummified ram heads dating from the Ptolemaic period and a palatial Old Kingdom structure have been uncovered at the temple of Ramses II in the ancient city of Abydos in southern Egypt, antiquities officials said on Saturday. It added that the discoveries would expand knowledge of the site over a period of more than two millennia up to the Ptolemaic period. The Ptolemaic period spanned about three centuries until the Roman conquest in 30 B.C. It was a necropolis for early ancient Egyptian royalty and a pilgrimage centre for the worship of the god Osiris. The structure could help "reestablish the sense of the ancient landscape of Abydos before the construction of the Ramses II temple," the head of the mission, Sameh Iskander, was quoted as saying.

☆ Putin says Moscow to station nuclear weapons in Belarus for the first time since the 1990s
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday, marking the first time since the mid-1990s that Moscow will have based such arms outside the country. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," he said. "Tactical" nuclear weapons refer to those used for specific gains on the battlefield. Russia has stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, he said, adding that Moscow had already transferred to Belarus a number of Iskander tactical missile systems that can be used to launch nuclear weapons. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, nuclear weapons were deployed in the four newly-independent states of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

☆ What did Putin say on tactical nuclear weapons and Belarus?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, March 25 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Russia has struck a deal with neighbouring Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons on its territory. Even outside the context of these events, this statement, Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has long been raising the question of the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus." They have long ago deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries, NATO countries, in Europe, in six states. From April 3 we will start training the crew and on July 1 we will finish the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus." This is exactly what Alexander Grigoryevich (Lukashenko) has asked for."

☆ Putin says Moscow has deal with Belarus to station nuclear weapons there
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 25 (Reuters) - Russia has struck a deal with neighbouring Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons on its territory but will not violate non-proliferation agreements, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had long raised the issue of stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which borders Poland, Putin told state television. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," he said. Russia will have completed the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus by July 1, Putin said, adding that Moscow would not actually be transferring control of the arms to Minsk. Russia has stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, he said, adding that Moscow had already transferred to Belarus a number of Iskander tactical missile systems than can be used to launch nuclear weapons.

"Tactical" nuclear weapons refer to those used for specific gains in the battlefield rather than those with the capacity to wipe out cities. Putin told state television that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had long raised the issue of stationing tactical nuclear weapons in his country. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," he said. Russia has stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, Putin said, adding that Moscow had already transferred to Belarus a number of Iskander tactical missile systems that can launch nuclear weapons. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, nuclear weapons were deployed in the four newly-independent states of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment about the researchers' findings. Reuters could not determine how closely the conclusions reflect the thinking among China's military leaders. A U.S. defence official told Reuters that despite differences with the situation in Taiwan, the Ukraine war offered insights for China. The conflict has also forged an apparent consensus among Chinese researchers that drone warfare merits greater investment. Beyond the battlefield, the work has covered the information war, which the researchers conclude was won by Ukraine and its allies.

The key to it all, of course, is money, and as organized and funded now, the World Bank would be stretched to meet those goals. He also serves on the advisory board of Beyond Net Zero, a climate finance fund. This will be especially difficult for the World Bank's top shareholder, the United States, due to political brawling between the Biden administration and the Republican-majority House of Representatives. The House has major sway over the country's purse strings and its leaders are not disposed to widen the World Bank's role in fighting climate change. In fiscal 2022, the World Bank committed more than $104 billion to projects around the globe, according to the bank's annual report.

☆ Russia advances in eastern Ukraine, strike on apartments kills civilians
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Fierce fighting was unabated in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops are trying to gain ground near the strategic logistics hub of Lyman, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said on Wednesday evening. The Russian forces were trying to make gains that they could show on the anniversary of their Feb 24, 2022 invasion, Zelenskiy said. At least 44 people were killed in January when a Russian missile hit an apartment building in the city of Dnipro. In April 2022, Ukraine said 57 people died when a Russian missile hit the train station in Kramatorsk. Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of war crimes and targeting civilians, charges Russia rejects.

☆ Belarus says Russia-deployed Iskander missile systems ready for use
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 25 (Reuters) - The Iskander tactical missile systems and the S-400 air defence systems that Russia has deployed to Belarus are fully prepared to perform their intended tasks, a senior Belarusian defence ministry official said on Sunday. "These types of weapons (Iskander and S-400 systems) are on combat duty today and they are fully prepared to perform tasks for their intended purpose." It is not clear how many of the Iskander systems - which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons - have been deployed to Belarus after Russian President Vladimir Putin said in June that Moscow would supply Minsk with them and the air defence systems. The Iskander-M, a mobile guided missile system code named "SS-26 Stone" by NATO, replaced the Soviet "Scud". The S-400 system is a Russian mobile, surface-to-air missile (SAM) interception system capable of engaging aircraft, UAVs, cruise missiles, and has a terminal ballistic missile defence capability.

REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneKVIV/MOSCOW, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Russian forces bombarded scores of towns in Ukraine on Christmas Day as Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open to negotiations, a stance Washington has dismissed as posturing because of continued Russian attacks. Ukraine has traditionally not celebrated Christmas on Dec. 25, but Jan. 7, the same as Russia. That range reaches deep into neighbours of Belarus: Ukraine and NATO member Poland, which has very strained relations with Minsk. The S-400 system is a Russian mobile, surface-to-air missile (SAM) interception system capable of engaging aircraft, UAVs, cruise missiles, and has a terminal ballistic missile defence capability. Blasts were heard at Russia's Engels air base, hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the Ukraine frontlines, Ukrainian and Russian media reported on Monday.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Putin says Russia ready to negotiate, attacks continue
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 26 (Reuters) - Russian forces bombarded scores of towns in Ukraine on Christmas Day as Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open to negotiations, a stance Washington has dismissed as posturing because of continued Russian attacks. * Pope Francis called for an end to the war in Ukraine and other conflicts in his Christmas message, saying the world was suffering from a "famine of peace". [1/9] A Ukrainian serviceman waves from a tank, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, during intense shelling on Christmas Day at the frontline in Bakhmut, Ukraine, December 25, 2022. * Blasts were heard at Russia's Engels air base, hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the Ukraine frontlines, Ukrainian and Russian media reported on Monday. The air base was hit on Dec. 5 in what Russia said was an Ukrainian drone attack.

☆ Petrofac CEO to step down, shares fall
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Radhika Anilkumar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies CEO Sami Iskander to step down end of MarchTo be replaced by senior McDermott executive Tareq KawashShares down 3.2%Nov 22 (Reuters) - Oilfield services provider Petrofac Ltd (PFC.L) said on Tuesday that Sami Iskander would step down as chief executive officer at the end of March 2023 and be replaced by Tareq Kawash, a senior executive at energy firm McDermott. Shares in Petrofac, which did not give a reason for Iskander's planned departure, were down 3.2% at 0855 GMT. "PFC's balance sheet will come under renewed scrutiny," analysts at Jefferies said in a note. He will take over as Petrofac CEO on April 1. Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Qatar World Cup: 'Our dreams never came true.' These men helped build Qatar's tournament, now they are struggling to survive.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Aimee Lewis Pramod Acharya Sugam Pokharel | Aimee Lewis | Pramod Acharya | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +31 min

It will be a historic event, the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East, but one also mired in controversy. He had dreamed of watching World Cup matches from the rooftop of the hotel he had helped build. In Qatar, migrant workers can now change jobs freely without permission from their employer. However, a number of European federations have issued a joint statement saying they would campaign at the tournament on human rights and for a migrant workers center and a compensation fund for migrant workers. The motto for Qatar’s bid team in 2010 was ‘Expect Amazing.’ In many ways, this year’s World Cup has replicated that maxim.

☆ Analysis: North Korea's missile launches show no scarcity of weapons funding, materials despite sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Josh Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Last week the country fired more than 80 missiles, including its latest short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) and a new variant of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), by far the North's most launches in such a short period. North Korean state media showed older SCUD-type missiles were also fired. Analysts and sanctions experts say North Korea continues to rely on materials and other inputs from overseas. "Russia and China are where most of the overseas North Korean ballistic missile procurement agents are based," said Hugh Griffiths, a former coordinator for a U.N. panel of experts that monitors sanctions on North Korea, and now an independent sanctions consultant. North Korea wants to import some 100 tons of solid propellant by 2030, according to the advisory.

☆ Factbox: Pakistan's history of coups and assassinations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pakistan has a history of political coups and unrest. 2007 - Two-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in a gun and bomb attack after holding an election rally in Rawalpindi. He puts Bhutto under house arrest, imposes martial law, suspends the constitution and bans political parties1973 - Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto elected as prime minister, taking over from General Yahya Khan. 1958 - In Pakistan's first military coup, Governor-General Iskander Mirza enforces martial law with General Ayub Khan as chief martial law administrator. 1951 - Pakistan's first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, after the 1947 partition of India, is shot dead at a political rally in Rawalpindi.

☆ Iran's plans for its drones may be much different than how Russia is using them in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Shahryar Pasandideh | World Politics Review | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Russia's use of Iranian drones in Ukraine has been framed as Iran trying to test out its hardware. But Russia has so far been using those drones in a manner different than Iran would likely use them. For all the attention given to Iran's ballistic missiles, the country has spent more than a decade diversifying its strike capabilities. Iranian drones were notably employed alongside cruise missiles in the attacks on Saudi oil facilities in September 2019. Second, the propeller-driven Iranian drones that Russia is now using are slow and, if detected while in transit, provide ample warning for defenders to activate defenses.

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