Sergey Shoigu, the Russian Defence Minister, said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s armed forces command is plotting to deliver strikes on Russian territory, including Crimea, with HIMARS rockets and Storm Shadow missiles.
Shoigu said: ‘According to our data, the leadership of the Ukrainian armed forces is planning to deliver strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation, including Crimea, with HIMARS and Storm Shadow missiles.’
He also stressed that the use of these weapons outside of the special military operation zone would trigger immediate strikes by Russia on decision-making centres in Ukraine and would imply the full-fledged involvement of the US and UK in the conflict.
Additionally, Shoigu noted that the Kiev regime is continuing its attempts to mount attacks south of Donetsk and in the Zaporozhye and Donetsk areas, engaging its elite NATO-trained units as well as a large number of Western-supplied weapons.
Shoigu added: ‘Since June 4, the Ukrainian army has launched 263 attacks on the positions of Russian troops. Thanks to the competent, selfless actions of our units, they were all repelled and the adversary did not achieve its goals.
Shoigu has also instructed that special control be established over all security issues during the Army-2023 international military-technical forum slated for August 14-20.
He concluded: ‘Coordinated actions by military administration agencies and all relevant structures are required to ensure the successful functioning of the forum. It is necessary to place all security issues during this event under a special control regime.
According to Shoigu, delegations from more than 40 countries are expected to take part in this year’s forum.
The Army-2023 international military-technical forum will be held on the premises of the Patriot Exhibition Centre near Moscow.
The organisers expect that more than 1,500 companies will exhibit more than 28,000 defence-related products.
The annual forum exhibits Russia’s cutting-edge, modern weaponry and military and special vehicles, as well as Russian-made weapons and vehicles designated for export.
Russian forces delivered multiple strikes by seaborne precision weapons targeting the Ukrainian army’s foreign equipment storage sites on Tuesday, during the special military operation in Ukraine.
Russian forces delivered a multiple strike by seaborne long-range precision weapons against foreign-made military equipment storage sites. All the designated targets were destroyed. The goal of the strike was achieved.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the West sees the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) as a threat to its dominance in the international arena, which explains why it has been trying to split its ranks, as well as to breed discord within the BRICS group (Russia, Brazil, India, China and South Africa) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organ.
Lavrov said: ‘We noted that this organisation, as well as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS are considered by the West as a threat to its dominance in the international arena, as the emerging centres of a future multipolar world order, which the West sees as a threat to its interests and its hegemony.
‘In this regard, we also observe the West’s vigorous and aggressive actions to split the CSTO members, as well as the BRICS group, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and other organisations independent of it, including attempts to resort to some dishonest methods to drive a wedge between members of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.’
He said that the two sides had an hour and a half-long conversation with the president of Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko explained his vision of the situation in the world, which was in line with common actions and furnished the basis for the further development of the CSTO.
The participants in the meeting came to the conclusion that it was necessary to resist the pressure of the West and to fully implement the allied obligations and strengthen solidarity.
Lavrov stated: ‘The president of Belarus stressed that this is required, in his opinion, which we share, not only by the allied moral duty, but also by purely pragmatic interests.
‘Ultimately, we all have to live together within the CSTO, within the Commonwealth of Independent States, within the Eurasian Economic Union and, of course, within the Union State, and solve our problems together.
‘We are destined to live side by side with each other,’ Lavrov concluded.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to dialogue and communication on the Ukrainian issue, but Kiev’s current position does not provide stable ground for talks, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Peskov said on Tuesday: ‘Putin is open to dialogue, he is open to contacts. A quite productive exchange with the African (peace) delegation took place on Saturday, and this dialogue will continue.
‘Taking into account the position that the Ukrainian regime has now taken, and considering the backstory of this position, it is now hardly possible to talk about any stable ground for such eventual talks.
• ‘The United Aircraft Corporation plans to start testing the SSJ New jet liners with Russian-designed and made PD-8 engines in the autumn,’ Yury Slyusar, the UAC CEO, said on the sidelines of this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
‘The UAC is already starting to receive the engines for their subsequent installation on the aircraft. The PD-8 will replace the Russian-French SaM-146 engine currently in use.
‘We have approached the final stage of preparations for the first flight, namely the handover of the aircraft to the flight test station.
‘Russian systems are already installed on this aircraft, but the PD-8 engine is still being tested in parallel on the flying laboratory.
‘We are just beginning to get Russian engines to be installed on the second prototype.
‘We will start the flights with the French engine.
‘The second aircraft, which will begin to be tested in the autumn, will be equipped with Russian engines.’
At the beginning of June Rostec announced that the first sample of the SSJ New airliner was handed over to the flight test station.
The aircraft was also fueled for the first time and the specialists of Irkut Corporation (the aircraft manufacturer) commenced ground tests of the plane’s new systems.
The SSJ New – Russia’s latest generation short-range narrow-body aircraft – is an updated version of the Sukhoi Superjet 100.
The maximum substitution of previously imported components is its key feature. The project was initiated after the introduction of Western sanctions against Russia.
Simultaneously with the import substitution of components, many processes will be improved, including those related to the reliability of systems, improved comfort, safety and airworthiness maintenance.
