Belgorod nuclear sub begins its first sea trials — source

The nuclear submarine is to be handed over to the ordering party in late 2021

ST. PETERSBURG, June 26. /TASS/. Russia’s Belgorod special-purpose nuclear-powered submarine of Project 09852 began the manufacturer’s sea trials in the White Sea, a shipbuilding industry source told TASS on the sideliens of the International Maritime Defence Show 2021.

"On June 25, the Belgorod nuclear sub took to the White Sea for the first time, for the manufacturer’s sea trials," he said.

According to the source, state trials will begin once the manufacturer’s trials are completed.

"The nuclear submarine is to be handed over to the ordering party in late 2021," he said.

The Sevmash shipyard’s press service refrained from any comments on the issue.

Earlier, a source close to the Russian Defense Ministry said the special-purpose nuclear sub is to enter service with Russia’s Pacific Fleet.

The Belgorod is the first carrier of the Poseidon strategic unmanned underwater craft. It has to deliver a retaliation nuclear strike at the potential adversary in case it attacks first. The Belgorod was floated out on April 23, 2019.

Source: ITAR-TASS 26-06-2021

Key rate decline to 0% in Russia will push inflation up to double digits, says regulator

There would be several severe consequences at once: first, the fall of the ruble’s exchange rate, second, businesses would stop investing in development, Russian Central Bank Chief Elvira Nabiullina said.

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/. The decline of the key rate to 0% in Russia by the example of developed countries will result in inflation rising to double digits and the fall in the ruble’s exchange rate, Russian Central Bank Chief Elvira Nabiullina said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

"Those would definitely be double figures. There would be several severe consequences at once: first, the fall of the ruble’s exchange rate as people would take savings to foreign exchange, second, businesses would stop investing in development, since long-term predictability is very important for that," she said when asked about the consequences of the key rate’s decline to 0%.

The board of directors of the Bank of Russia raised the key rate for the second time in a row - by 0.5 percentage points to 5.5% per annum at its meeting earlier this month, noting that it will possibly go up in the future. The recovery of the Russian and global economies faster than expected, as well as proinflationary risks, were the reasons of such a decision, the regulator explained.

Source: ITAR-TASS 21-06-2021

Two missing, 24 injured in Yalta after heavy rains — mayor

Crimea was battered by torrential rains and gusts of the northwest wind.

SIMFEROPOL, June 20. /TASS/. Two people remain unaccounted for and 24 were injured after floods caused by torrential rains in the Crimean city of Yalta, Mayor Yanina Pavlenko said.

"24 [people have been injured], two are missing and one dead. None of them are tourists. All injuries are slight ones," she said.

According to earlier reports, 19 people were injured and one was killed. A woman was reported as missing, a search for her is under way.

On Thursday night, Crimea was battered by torrential rains and gusts of the northwest wind. A regional state of emergency was declared. The floods hit the resort city of Kerch and eastern regions of the peninsula. In the south of Crimea, the city of Yalta faced over 135 mm of precipitation. Yanina Pavlenko, the head of Yalta’s administration, said that the city had not witnessed such heavy rain since 1922, when the city had over 190 mm of precipitation. As many as 26,200 customers were left without electricity.

As a result, hundreds of houses all over the republic were damaged. 13 hotels were flooded in Yalta, with evacuation ordered in two of them. Beach infrastructure was damaged as well. At the moment, post-disaster recovery efforts are under way in many areas, including works to clear debris and resume electricity, water and gas supplies.

Source: ITAR-TASS 20-06-2021

Russia to exit Open Skies Treaty on December 18 — statement

Russia has notified all the member states about its decision to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty six months after sending a notice, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, June 18. /TASS/. Russia will completely withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies on December 18, 2021, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

"Russia has notified all the member states about its decision to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty six months after sending a notice. Therefore, this will occur on December 18, 2021," the statement says.

Following the federal law "On the Denunciation of the Treaty on Open Skies by the Russian Federation" that has entered into force and in compliance with the established procedure, Moscow has sent notices to Hungary and Canada as the document’s depository states and to the other member states through the embassies in the corresponding capitals, the Foreign Ministry said.

"A request has been sent to the depository states of the Treaty on Open Skies to immediately inform all the member states of the corresponding notice and convene within the shortest time possible stipulated in the Treaty (i.e. in 30 days) a conference of the member states to examine the consequences of Russia’s exit," the document reads.

The situation with the Treaty on Open Skies shows that the attempts to achieve unilateral advantages while ignoring Moscow’s interests and concerns hold no prospects, the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.

"The history of the Open Skies Treaty makes it possible to draw at least two conclusions. Firstly, the attempts to secure unilateral advantages while ignoring Russia’s interests and concerns are doomed to failure. Secondly, the intent that the West’s ‘technical supremacy’ will make it possible to outstrip and marginalize Russia is also failing," the statement says.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on Western partners to realize that they will fail to ensure their security without taking the security interests of Russia and its allies into account.

"We will always find an effective response. But it is still better to work constructively together on strengthening European and global security, relying, in particular, on the experience of the years-long fruitful cooperation of the states within the framework of the Treaty on Open Skies," the statement reads.

Russia has done everything for preserving the Treaty and it is the United States that bears full responsibility for its collapse, the document says.

As the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out, the Americans actively favor transparency in the military field "only in the cases when they expect to secure some advantages of their own through it."

"However, when it comes to openness measures regarding their own territory, they backtrack and begin creating obstacles for the fulfillment of these accords, without thinking either about European security or their allies’ concerns or the assessment of their ability to honor agreements," the statement says.

Source: ITAR-TASS 19-06-2021

Russian radars track over 50 foreign spy planes and drones near state borders over week

No violations of the Russian state border were allowed.

MOSCOW, June 18. /TASS/. Russian radars tracked 54 foreign aircraft that conducted air reconnaissance near Russia’s state borders over the past week, the Russian Defense Ministry’s Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper reported on Friday.

The paper’s infographics show that 49 foreign spy planes and five drones conducted air reconnaissance along Russia’s state borders in the past week. All the flights by foreign spy aircraft were tracked by Russian radar stations.

No violations of the Russian state border were allowed, the paper said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 18-06-2021

Russian troop movements near Ukrainian border mentioned at Putin-Biden summit — Kremlin

"We, however, are acting on our own territory," Dmitry Peskov pointed. He also noted that drills with the American troops and American hardware were taking place along the Russian borders

MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/. The Russian troop movements near the Ukrainian border were mentioned at the summit of Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden in Geneva but no accusations are ever made at the highest level, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Ekho Moskvy radio station on Thursday.

"It was mentioned. It was mentioned as a factor that the Americans do not like. On the other hand, President Putin stresses each time in this regard that dear friends, we can talk with you in any way and on anything in this context, but the reality is that you discuss the territory of the Russian Federation with us while your troops fly from America near Russian territory, which is taking place now," the Kremlin spokesman said, responding to a question about whether Washington had voiced another complaint at the summit over Russian troop movements near the Ukrainian borders.

Drills with the American troops and American hardware are taking place along the Russian borders, Peskov noted. "All these events are taking place near our borders. We, however, are acting on our own territory," the Russian presidential spokesman emphasized.

Responding to a question about whether any accusations had been made at the Russia-US summit, Peskov stated: "No accusations are made at the highest level. There can be no talk about that. I cannot speak on behalf of other presidents but if you try to accuse President Putin of anything, he will respond with reason and forcefully," the Kremlin spokesman explained.

The head of the Russian state communicates with his counterparts quite correctly, Peskov noted, adding that this was an implied rule of inter-state communication.

"He represents such a state as Russia, after all. On the other hand, the person sitting next to him is a man with extensive experience, who has lived all his life in American politics and represents such a major state as the United States," the Kremlin spokesman said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 17-06-2021

Russia to develop two-seat Su-57 fifth-generation fighter for exports

By 2028, the number of Su-57 fighters in the Russian Armed Forces will grow to 76.

KOMSOMOLSK-ON-AMUR, June 16. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry and the Sukhoi Design Bureau are planning to develop a two-seat Su-57 fifth-generation fighter in its export configuration, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said on Wednesday.

"There is interest in this aircraft and, in my view, it will grow with every passing year as our Russian Army is supplied with this model. Foreign customers at first look at how a particular weapon of the Russian Armed Forces operates. The Defense Ministry and the Sukhoi Design Bureau have plans to develop a two-pilot aircraft that will boost the export demand for this model … and it may create additional demand," the vice-premier said during his working trip to the Primorye Region in the Russian Far East.

CEO of Russia’s state arms seller Rosoboronexport Alexander Mikheyev said in early June that five Southeast Asian countries were displaying interest in the latest Su-57 fifth-generation fighter.

The Sukhoi Su-57 is a Russian-made fifth-generation multirole fighter designated to destroy all types of air, ground, and naval targets. The Su-57 fighter jet features stealth technology with the broad use of composite materials, is capable of developing a supersonic cruising speed, and is furnished with the most advanced onboard radio-electronic equipment, including a powerful onboard computer (the so-called electronic second pilot), the radar system spread across its body and some other innovations, in particular, armament placed inside its fuselage.

The Su-57 took to the skies for the first time on January 29, 2010. Compared to its predecessors, the Su-57 combines the functions of an attack plane and a fighter jet while the use of composite materials and innovation technologies and the fighter’s aerodynamic configuration ensure the low level of radar and infrared signature.

The plane’s armament will include, in particular, hypersonic missiles. The fifth-generation fighter jet has been successfully tested in combat conditions in Syria.

The Russian Armed Forces received the first Su-57 fighter in 2020. Russia’s Aerospace Force will get 22 Su-57 fighters by late 2024, and their number in the Russian Armed Forces will grow to 76 by 2028.

Source: ITAR-TASS 16-06-2021

Russia’s upgraded grenade launcher to get capability to hit tank from 1,000 m distance

Specialists will increase the weapon’s accuracy with new sights

MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/. The Bazalt Research and Production Association (part of the Techmash Group within the state tech corporation Rostec) is working on upgrading the RPG-7V2 grenade launcher to boost its firing accuracy, Bazalt Design Bureau Chief Nikolai Sereda told reporters on Tuesday.

"The RPG-7V2 has already been accepted for service but an upgrade, even for this weapon, is currently underway under a contract with Russia’s Defense Ministry to boost its firing accuracy," he said.

Specialists will increase the grenade launcher’s accuracy with new sights. Today, the RPG-7V2 boasts an accuracy of around 40-50 cm per 150 meters of the direct fire range, Sereda noted.

"There is the need to fire to longer ranges, up to a kilometer. And it must hit a tank at such a distance. Currently, the accuracy at such ranges goes beyond the tank’s dimensions. That is why a need has emerged to increase this accuracy to get the capability to hit the target and strike the tank even at a distance of up to 1 km. The firing accuracy is up to five meters," he said.

The legendary Soviet RPG-7 grenade launcher will celebrate its 60th anniversary on June 15, 2021. The work on the anti-tank weapon began in 1958. On June 15, 1961, an order was signed to accept the grenade launcher for service together with the PG-7V high-explosive charge. Today the RPG-7 grenade launcher is operational in over 80 countries of the world. Many countries also serial-produce both this grenade launcher and its munitions.

Russian tech firm launches serial production of latest rounds for RPG-7V2 grenade launchers

The Bazalt Research and Production Association has launched the serial production of the latest rounds for the RPG-7V2 grenade launcher with the unconventional method of striking enemy manpower, Sereda said.

"Another munition for the RPG-7V2 has now been developed. It has the O1 designation [the serial production], has passed state trials, and uses unconventional methods of striking and disabling enemy manpower," he said.

Despite its long service life, the legendary PRG-7 grenade launcher has bright prospects, he said.

"I believe that this grenade launcher has a big future at least for the next 30 years, which is linked with upgrading the grenade launcher itself and developing ever new rounds that enhance it," he stressed.

For his part, head of the Defense Ministry’s 204th military representative office Colonel Leonid Maslennikov emphasized that the RPG-7 with its new rounds was a third-generation grenade launcher.

"The new rounds have boosted the scope of the grenade launcher’s application. Today these are not only anti-tank munitions but also thermobaric and fragmentation charges that strike both the enemy’s armor and manpower," he said.

Rostec to develop more efficient munitions for RPG-7 grenade launcher

A new series of rounds 30% more efficient than previous munitions will be ready for the RPG-V2 grenade launcher in two years, the head of the Bazalt Design Bureau said.

"As for rounds, more advanced munitions 20-30% more efficient than their predecessors are undoubtedly being created for the modified RPG-7V2 grenade launcher. A whole series of rounds is being developed. The timeframe [for the work’s completion] is at the earliest possible date, and I believe that we can offer it in two or three years," he noted.

Specialists are working on boosting the munitions’ armor-piercing, thermobaric and fragmentation effect, Sereda said.

"More effective rounds will be capable of hitting a really full range of targets on the battlefield: from openly deployed manpower to most advanced armored vehicles, including those with reactive armor," he said.

The munitions for the RPG-7 grenade launcher available today are capable of striking a whole range of targets: from enemy tanks and helicopters to manpower. The RPG-7 grenade launcher has actually turned from an anti-tank weapon into a more versatile one for striking various targets on the battlefield, he stressed.

Source: ITAR-TASS 15-06-2021