How Russia Relies on Old Tech in Weapons Aimed at Ukraine The New York Times

Table Of Content

• "No change" in Sweden and Finland's desire to join NATO "simultaneously," Finnish PM tells CNN
• Russia launches cruise missiles at Ukraine from the Black Sea, Kyiv says
• Test flights
• War Is More Offensive Than Protesters
• Outgunned Ukrainian pilots are taking the fight to Russia in ancient Soviet-era helicopters
• Spice Girls Reunite With Surprise Performance: Video

Ukrainian officials sought during the talks to recruit China’s support for Kyiv’s own peace plan, according to Ukraine’s presidential office. Zelenskyy’s proposal includes the restoration of his country’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian forces and holding Russian President Vladimir Putin legally accountable for the invasion in February 2022. Zelenskyy expressed confidence Sunday that Russia could be defeated and warned that the war in Ukraine has shown that Europe should develop a joint weapons production with Ukraine and build a sufficient weapons arsenal for its defense. In the western region of Khmelnytskyi, officials said a Russian missile strike killed at least two people. On Christmas Eve, Ukraine claimed to have shot down two Russian fighter jets.

"No change" in Sweden and Finland's desire to join NATO "simultaneously," Finnish PM tells CNN

Overnight, loud explosions were heard in Kyiv as the Kremlin’s forces targeted the capital for the ninth time this month. It was a clear escalation after weeks of lull and before a much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive using newly supplied advanced Western weapons. One person was killed and two were wounded by a Russian missile that got through and struck an industrial building in the southern region of Odesa, according to Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the region’s military administration.

Russia launches cruise missiles at Ukraine from the Black Sea, Kyiv says

Harris's speech cited evidence of indiscriminate attacks that deliberately targeted civilians including the bombing of a maternity hospital that killed a pregnant mother and a theater in Mariupol where hundreds were killed. The vice president spoke of the horrific images out of Bucha that showed men and women shot and left to rot in the streets and reports by the United Nations of a four-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by a Russian soldier. In some places, the enemy is making significant aggressive actions and infantry attacks. But there are constant enemy attacks using everything possible -- MLRS, tanks, mortars. Every day, sometimes even every hour,” he said, adding that such occurrences take a psychological toll on his fellow soldiers.

Test flights

Just a couple days earlier, Russian state media had shown video of the military landing ship offloading armored vehicles and tanks at the port, which had been taken over by Russia. From the images available, officials believe that Ukraine destroyed the ship. Two explosions were reported in the Ukrainian city of Khmelnytskyi on Saturday, Serhiy Hamaliy, the head of the region's military administration, said in a post on Telegram. As well as their expanded range, the Kh-69 can also reportedly be launched from Sukhoi Su-34 and Su-35 tactical aircraft which are more common than the Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bombers and MiG-31K interceptors usually used in missile strikes.

“As a result of the strike, a large depot of weapons and military equipment of the Ukrainian troops, including those received from Western countries, was destroyed,” a statement on the ministry’s Telegram channel said. The tightly cropped video first shows multiple large explosions in succession above a ship, while someone off camera counts, “First, second, third, fourth.” The video then cuts to a wider view of a sunset where the long tails of the eight missiles are visible. This exceeds a previous estimated range of 190 miles and also the 120-mile range of the most recent Kh-59MK2 variant, the ISW said. The Burevestnik reportedly suffered an explosion in August 2019 during tests at a Russian navy range on the White Sea, killing five nuclear engineers and two servicemen and resulting in a brief spike in radioactivity that fueled fears in a nearby city. The CSIS Missile Defense Project’s monthly newsletter has info on the project’s latest publications, events, and missile defense news. Since entering service in 2012, the Russian air force has employed the Kh-101 several times in combat operations.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 19, 2024 - Critical Threats Project

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 19, 2024.

Posted: Sat, 20 Apr 2024 00:02:12 GMT [source]

Cruise missiles are among a growing collection of North Korean weapons designed to overwhelm regional missile defenses. They supplement the North’s vast lineup of ballistic missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles aimed at the continental United States. SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Saturday it tested a “super-large” cruise missile warhead and a new anti-aircraft missile in a western coastal area as it expands military capabilities in the face of deepening tensions with the United States and South Korea. Russian forces have also repeatedly used the S-300 surface-to-air defense missile systems for striking ground targets, which was seen by some observers as a sign of a Russian weapons shortages. Experts examined remnants of Kh-101 cruise missiles found in Kyiv, the capital, after an attack on Nov. 23 that knocked out electricity and shut down water systems in large areas of the country.

A small team of its researchers arrived in Kyiv just before the attack at the invitation of the Ukrainian security service. Weapons investigators in Kyiv found that at least one Russian Kh-101 cruise missile used in widespread attacks there on Nov. 23 had been made no earlier than October. In a speech at a forum of foreign policy experts, Putin announced that Russia has effectively completed the development of the Burevestnik cruise missile and the Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile and will work on putting them into production.

Spice Girls Reunite With Surprise Performance: Video

Harris is in Germany as a part of the Biden administration’s intense efforts to show commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, and unity among western allies who have provided billions in aid, funding and weapons to combat Russia’s aggression. Some analysts believe Russia could be running down its stockpiles of long-range precision weapons as the nearly 8-month-old war drags on and sanctions hit its economy, forcing it to resort to less-accurate missiles. Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed the deployment of the missiles or the destruction of an arsenal near Rivne. A video filmed by a witness from the Sevastopol waterfront on Tuesday shows at least four projectiles being fired from the water.

One of the missiles was made this summer, and another was completed after September, markings on the weapons show, according to a report released by the investigators on Monday. On July 5, Russian Tupolev-95MS “Bear” long-range strategic bombers fired Kh-101 cruise missiles to destroy three Islamic State ammunition depots and a command facility near the town of Aqirbat on the border of the Syrian provinces of Homs and Hama. In the last major air attack on Kyiv, on Tuesday, Ukrainian air defenses bolstered by sophisticated Western-supplied systems shot down all the incoming missiles, officials said. In many cases, the official noted, the air-launched cruise missiles simply don't release from the rails of the plane that is trying to fire them. Russia has launched four cruise missiles at Ukraine from the Black Sea on Saturday, the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed forces said Saturday on Telegram. Their use, however, could be explained by an abundant stock of older subtypes of such missiles, which were superseded by more advanced air defense weapons, as well as the military’s desire to keep more expensive, advanced long-range missiles for priority targets.

Analysts say anti-aircraft missile technology is an area where North Korea could benefit from its deepening military cooperation with Russia, as the two countries align in the face of their separate, intensifying confrontations with the U.S. The United States and South Korea have accused North Korea of providing artillery shells and other equipment to Russia to help extend its warfighting in Ukraine. Photos released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency showed at least two missiles being fired off launcher trucks at a runway. On 16 August 2022, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed over Social Media that Kh-59 missiles were used to strike an airbase in the Zhytomyr Oblast, the missiles being fired from towards the Belarusian border from what was believed to be Su-34 jets.

As the heir to the substantial Soviet missile arsenal, Russia boasts the widest inventory of ballistic and cruise missiles in the world. Russia remains a major power in the development of missiles of all kinds, and Russian strategic rocket forces constitute a significant element of Moscow’s military strategy. Russian missiles perform a wide variety of missions, from anti-access/area denial in local conflicts to delivery of strategic nuclear weapons across continents. A significant modernization program continues in Russia, producing new variants of both ballistic and cruise missiles with significant new capabilities. Russia is also making major advancements in the field of precision-guided cruise missiles.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell are among other top officials in attendance. On Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg suggested Finland and Sweden could join separately. Harris laid bare some of what could be used as evidence of Russia’s alleged crimes against humanity. She outlined specific instances that have peppered news clips and official reports from the United Nations. “The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity,” Harris said during a high-profile speech at the Munich Security Conference. Reciting international rules and norms, Harris said the Western alliance’s response to Russia’s war is a reflection of how they have been upheld.

Target coordinates are fed into the missile before launch, and the initial flight phase is conducted under inertial guidance. At a distance of 10 km (6.2 mi) from the target the television guidance system is activated. An operator aboard the aircraft visually identifies the target and locks the missile onto it.

Russia is experiencing high cruise missile failure rates upon launch, ranging from "20% to 60%" a senior defense official said this week, citing U.S. assessments. Russian forces overnight conducted a combined aerial attack with the use of 22 missiles of various types and 14 Shahed drones during the night, the Ukrainian air force said. KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s air force claimed Friday it shot down a Russian strategic bomber, but Moscow officials said the plane crashed in a sparsely populated area due to a malfunction after a combat mission. The decision to announce the official findings comes days before the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Those restrictions were intended to stop the shipment of high-tech items that could help Russia’s military abilities. In four previous research trips to Kyiv since the invasion, the investigators found that almost all of the advanced Russian military gear they examined — like encrypted radios and laser range finders — was built with Western semiconductors. Also, two people were wounded in a drone attack in Russia’s southern Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, the regional governor reported Thursday. There was no immediate word about any victims, Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration, said in a Telegram post. Meanwhile, Kremlin-installed authorities in occupied Crimea reported the derailment of eight train cars Thursday because of an explosion, prompting renewed suspicions about possible Ukrainian saboteur activity behind Russian lines. Beijing’s peace proposal has so far yielded no apparent breakthrough in the war.

Among those killed in the strikes was employee Oksana Storozhenko, the mother of two teenage sons, it said. The Russian defense ministry said the warplane crashed “in a deserted area” in the southern region of Stavropol, hundreds of kilometers (miles) from the Ukrainian border. Russia’s haphazard missile campaign reflects both internal strategic failures and Ukraine’s critical thinking prior to the invasion. Often shoulder launched, the man-portable missiles can send a helicopter into a ball of flame in seconds. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who made a speech via video link on Friday, continued to urge his Western allies to make speedy weapons deliveries. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to urge world leaders on Saturday to “double down” on military support for Ukraine.