Britain has been among Kiev’s principal backers, providing armor and controversial depleted uranium shells
The British military destroyed dozens of Challenger 2 tanks that could have been sent to Ukraine to help it fight Russia, the Times has reported.
A total of 43 main battle tanks were scrapped by the UK ministry of defense between 2010 and 2014, the paper revealed on Sunday, citing a freedom of information disclosure.
The disposal cost £4.3 million (around $5.5 million), and needed to be made because the Challenges 2 tanks were in a condition “beyond any economic repair,” the documents read.
The decision was made before Crimea voted to rejoin Russia and relations between Moscow and the West began to deteriorate rapidly. However, the outlet emphasized that the British military has generally underestimated the importance of tanks on the modern battlefield.
The defense ministry procured 386 Challenger 2s in the mid-1990s, but the number was cut by 40% as part of the 2010 Strategic Defense and Security Review. Britain now plans to reduce its tank fleet to 148, while upgrading to the new Challenger 3 version, the paper reported.
Another 75 Challengers have been put into long-term storage, which was criticized by the chairman of the defense select committee, Tobias Ellwood. According to the Times, he argued that those tanks should have been sent to Ukraine instead.
So far London has provided Kiev with 14 Challenger 2 tanks. However, there have been no reports of Ukraine using them, despite actively deploying German-made Leopard 2s and American Bradley fighting vehicles, several dozen of which have already been lost.
The US and its allies beefed up Ukrainian forces with tanks, APCs, and other hardware in advance of a much-hyped counteroffensive, which started in early June. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged several times that the Western armor “will burn” on the battlefield. Moscow says Kiev’s assaults have not produced significant gains to date.
In March, Putin said that Russia planned to produce or modernize some 1,600 tanks over the next three years.
The Times also quoted the assistant chief of the general staff, Maj. Gen. Charles Collins, who said in March that due to the drawdown of its military, Britain should have the “strategic humility” to accept that it cannot fight a major war on its own anymore.
Russia has long condemned the supply of American, British, and other foreign weapons to Ukraine, arguing that it will only prolong the fighting, without preventing Moscow from achieving its military goals. According to the Kremlin, the assistance provided to Kiev by the US, the EU, and other Western nations makes them de facto parties to the conflict.
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July 31, 2023 at 12:18AM
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State companies should develop joint standards in the gemstone mining industry, the head of Alrosa says
Russia and Africa account for more than 90% of the global diamond mining market and should develop a joint roadmap for sustainable business development, the head of Russian mining giant Alrosa has said.
Pavel Marinychev urged countries and producers to work together and establish common approaches in the gemstone industry.
“State-owned diamond companies in Russia and Africa should decide on an appropriate common sustainable development agenda and common standards in the field of responsible business. Standards that are basic, and not imposed on us,” Marinychev said during the Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg.
He said dialogue between African diamond-producing countries and Russia will “ensure a stable, predictable and sustainable diamond market that meets our national interests.”
Alrosa is the world's largest diamond producer, accounting for 30% of the $80 billion-per-year global trade in rough precious stones.
Russia’s diamond trade has so far avoided sanctions due to resistance from major importers such as Belgium, which is home to the world’s biggest diamond trading hub in Antwerp. Brussels has repeatedly blocked the EU’s embargo plans, warning that the move could cost thousands of jobs.
However, the EU and G7 have long been looking into ways of hunting down Russian diamonds across borders, with plans to introduce a “watertight” tracking system that would restrict their trade.
The shelling also set fire to a bus and two cars, local officials have said
At least two people were killed and six others injured in a Ukrainian attack on the city of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, the acting head of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic, said on Monday.
In a statement on Telegram, Pushilin said that a total of two districts in the city center came under bombardment. He noted that the strike also destroyed a bus, adding that all those who were hurt are being taken care of.
The DPR head also said that Ukrainian forces launched a drone attack that damaged a water treatment plant in the town of Yasinovataya in Donetsk Region.
Donetsk Mayor Aleksey Kulemzin said the attack on the Voroshilovsky district in the city center also set fire to two cars, with several people hurt in the area, adding that shells were also falling near the marriage registration hall.
He uploaded photos from the scene showing the charred remains of several vehicles, with firefighters working to put out fires, and buildings with smashed windows.
On Monday, the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC), which tracks Kiev’s recurring shelling of Donbass, registered at least half a dozen artillery and missile attacks launched in the direction of the city, most of which used heavy 155m and 152m shells.
According to Kulemzin, this came after Ukraine fired 72 artillery rounds between Sunday evening and Monday morning, targeting both Donetsk and nearby areas. He said that these attacks killed one 31-year-old man and injured another person, while damaging several residential buildings.
Donetsk and other Donbass cities have been under constant Ukrainian attacks which have claimed numerous civilian lives since 2014, when the region broke away from Kiev after a Western-backed coup in the Ukrainian capital.
In early March, the JCCC estimated that Ukrainian attacks killed a total of 4,453 civilians in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic since February 2022, when the conflict between Moscow and Kiev erupted. Officials also estimated that more than 900 people were killed in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic within the same period of time.
The Motherland Monument in the country’s capital will be called the Ukraine-Mother monument instead, a senior official has said
Ukrainian authorities will rename the iconic Motherland Monument in Kiev as part of Kiev’s long-running push to sever cultural ties with Russia, a senior official said on Saturday. The statue celebrates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
Speaking to local media, Yury Savchuk, director general of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in WWII, which is responsible for the sculpture, revealed that the institution’s scientific council had made a “number of important decisions.”
“One of them was to rename the Motherland Monument to the ‘Ukraine-Mother’ monument,” he said, adding that he expects the move to be formally approved by the Ministry of Culture before the country’s Independence Day on August 24.
Without giving details of the deliberations, Savchuk portrayed the decision as a part of a more comprehensive process that he said would involve changing the monument’s Soviet coat of arms, renaming the statue and the museum itself in a bid to project a new overall image.
The 102-meter-high Motherland Monument, which towers over the Dnieper River, holds a 16-meter-long sword in its right hand and a shield emblazoned with the hammer and sickle, the Soviet coat of arms, in its left. Inaugurated in 1981 by Ukrainian-born Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, it is the fifth-tallest statue in the world and the tallest monument in the country.
The site escaped Ukraine’s infamous 2015 decommunization law, which banned Soviet-related symbols and led to the mass removal of monuments and the renaming of hundreds of places across the country as the legislation made an exception for WWII landmarks.
However, in May, Ukrainian Culture Minister Alexandr Tkachenko said Kiev planned to replace the Soviet coat of arms on the monument with a Ukrainian one, a golden trident. The Culture Ministry plans to have completed the overhaul by the end of August, and on Tuesday it released a video showing workers preparing to remove the hammer and sickle from the monument.
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July 29, 2023 at 11:25PM
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The deal earned Volkswagen Group just €125 million, according to a company report
The world’s number one car manufacturer, Volkswagen Group, has completed the sale of its Russian business unit for €125 million ($139 million), the company’s financial statement for the first half of 2023 showed on Thursday.
The German automaker finalized the sale of its stakes in its Russian business to a local investor, Art-Finance, supported by Russian car dealer Avilon. The report showed that the deal was completed on May 18.
Apart from Volkswagen Group Rus, the buyer purchased Volkswagen Components and Service, Scania Leasing, Scania Finance, and Scania Insurance.
At the beginning of 2022, the minimum value of Volkswagen’s business division in Russia was hovering at around $1.5 billion, even without taking into account intangible assets, Russian business daily RBK reported in March, citing the CEO of INFOLine-Analytics, Mikhail Burmistrov.
Volkswagen followed other major foreign auto manufacturers and suspended operations in Russia last year, after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine.
The company’s flagship Kaluga production plant ceased operations, having incurred massive expenses. As a result, the estimated value of the entire business unit in Russia earlier this year was no more than 40 billion rubles ($436 million). The factory in Kaluga had a maximum production capacity of 225,000 vehicles per year and produced the Volkswagen Tiguan, Volkswagen Polo, and Skoda Rapid models.
The company also suspended vehicle assembly at a plant in Nizhny Novgorod belonging to a Russian commercial vehicles manufacturer. In June of 2022, some 200 Volkswagen employees in Nizhny Novgorod were offered six months’ salary for resigning voluntarily.
Last month, the former Russian subsidiary of Volkswagen changed its name to AGR Automotive Group.
Seven individuals and five entities have been targeted for alleged ‘digital information manipulation’
The European Union announced on Friday an escalation of Ukraine-related penalties against Russia, adding seven individuals and five entities to the sanctions list.
According to a statement from the Council of the EU, the measures target Russian citizens and legal entities allegedly responsible for an information manipulation campaign known as Recent Reliable News (RRN).
The report states that “this coordinated and targeted information manipulation is part of a broader hybrid campaign by Russia against the EU and the member states.”
The new sanctions apply to the online media resource InfoRos, the autonomous non-profit organisation Dialogue, the Institute of the Russian Diaspora, as well as the Social Design Agency and Structura National Technologies, two Russian IT companies allegedly involved in the RRN campaign, along with their representatives.
Earlier this month, EU authorities added to the sanctions lists 18 individuals and five entities accused of gender-based violence. Brussels has also extended restrictions against several sectors of the Russian economy until January 31, 2024.
The EU has imposed sanctions against approximately 1,800 Russian individuals and legal entities since the launch of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.
Kiev is also expecting another $2 billion from Japan following the latest payment guaranteed by Tokyo
The World Bank has transferred $1.5 billion to Kiev via the Advancing Needed Credit Enhancement for Ukraine Trust Fund, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry announced on Thursday.
“The funds raised will be directed towards economic recovery and strengthening social security for the population,” Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko was quoted as saying.
The transfer was carried out under guarantee from the Japanese government.
“I am grateful for the continuous support of Ukraine by the Japanese government during their presidency in the G7, as well as the World Bank team,” Marchenko added.
The ministry noted that since the launch of Russia’s military operation against its neighbor, Kiev has received more than $581 million in financial aid through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
According to the ministry, the Ukrainian authorities expect to receive another $2 billion from Tokyo for direct budget support by means of the World Bank’s ADVANCE fund.
Last week, the Washington-based institution said it would mobilize additional aid of $1.76 billion to the conflict-torn nation. The funds will reportedly be allocated for state salaries and pension payments, as well as support for the most vulnerable groups of the Ukrainian population.
Tokyo’s top diplomat hailed New Delhi as an ‘indispensable’ partner as the two nations push to advance trade and defense ties
India is an “indispensable partner” for ensuring a “free and open” Indo-Pacific, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi has said, highlighting Tokyo’s desire to expand cooperation with New Delhi in the region. He made the remarks in an address to the India-Japan Forum in the Indian capital on Friday morning as he continues his six-nation tour of Asia and Africa.
Hayashi’s two-day visit to India is part of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ diplomatic outreach. Tokyo has been pushing for a “prosperous, inclusive and rules-based” region, where China has been flexing its diplomatic muscles through its Belt and Road Initiative.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar welcomed his counterpart’s “thought-provoking ideas and views” during the discussions, noting the close diplomatic and economic ties between the two Asian powerhouses.
“Our convergences happened as Japan was desirous of stepping out and India ready to look and act east. Our inclination to work together in third countries is an important aspect of our ties,” he stated. Jaishankar also said India and Japan were “natural partners” in the areas of “resilient and reliable supply chains, trust and transparency, democratic values and market economy, and addressing demographic challenges.”
Spoke at the India-Japan Forum today in New Delhi. Appreciate my colleague FM Yoshi Hayashi’s thought provoking ideas and views.
Made the following 6 points:
1.For India, Japan is the modernising inspiration that is particularly relevant as the Modi Government advances… pic.twitter.com/h7ayNPRd5u
On Thursday, the two foreign ministers held a 15th round of bilateral talks. According to the Indian Foreign Ministry, the discussions covered a wide range of issues of bilateral, regional, and global significance. Japan plans to invest 5 trillion yen ($36 billion) in India between 2022 and 2027.
Bilateral trade between the countries reached $21.96 billion in the financial year 2022-23, with the majority of this amount accounting for Japan’s exports to India, the Indian Embassy in Tokyo said. Tokyo accounted for around 2.3% of India’s total imports, while just over 1% of its exports were destined for Japan.
The two ministers explored potential areas of collaboration in critical and emerging technologies, including semiconductors, resilient supply chains, and digital public infrastructure. They also exchanged views on the movement of skilled human resources from India to Japan. Strengthening defense and security cooperation, including holding regular exercises and deepening military equipment and technology cooperation, was also discussed.
Engagement between New Delhi and Tokyo in the Indo-Pacific region figured prominently in the talks within the Quad framework, where both countries are a part of dialogue with the US and Australia. Last week, Japan became the second Quad partner after the US to sign an agreement with India for the joint development of the semiconductor ecosystem. The agreement was signed between Indian Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura.
They also agreed on the need for early reforms of the United National Security Council. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pushing for permanent membership of the global body, as well as representation for Africa, which would be seen as a boost to the countries of the Global South.
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July 27, 2023 at 11:58PM
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The extensive use of air defense systems in the Ukraine conflict has made fighter jets almost obsolete, a senior US official suggests
The delivery of US-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine would be unlikely to have a significant impact on the battlefield, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan claimed last week during a speech in Washington, DC.
When asked to respond to continued demands for the jets, with Kiev arguing that they are crucial in providing air cover for troops and defending the country’s airspace, Sullivan stated that the US is “moving rapidly to try to help Ukraine get the capability it needs to be able to actually operate those F-16 effectively.”
According to Sullivan, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, those steps include working with US allies to create training programs for Ukrainian pilots, and figuring out how to sustain and service F-16 squadrons in battle.
However, while that work is “underway”, the official said it’s unlikely that these capabilities will play a decisive role in the conflict.
“Russia has somewhere in the neighborhood of eight or nine hundred fourth and fifth generation fighters,” Sullivan said. “And yet, they have not played a significant role in Russia’s counter-offensive or defensive efforts in the South or the East. Why is that?” he said.
The official suggested that as air defense is “such a significant element to both side’s capabilities,” both Russia and Ukraine can put each other’s fourth and fifth generation fighters at risk.
Sullivan went on to claim that US military commanders don’t believe F-16s would be able to play a decisive role in the counter-offensive, but stressed their importance for the “long term defense and deterrent capability of Ukraine.”
US Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley earlier acknowledged that Washington does not have the ability to supply enough F-16 fighter jets to assist Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
He said it would take “years” to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the jets, and that a significant amount of time and money would be needed to provide enough F-16s to match Russia’s air fleet.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last month that any F-16s delivered to Ukraine “will burn,” as has happened to tanks and other Western-supplied weapons.
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July 27, 2023 at 01:29AM
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