Russia

Russian Plane Crash Leaves 1 Dead 4 Injured

ABC News is reporting that a Russian military aircraft has crashed in the southern area of the country leaving one crewman dead and four more injured.

The Antonov AN-26 transport crashed as it came into land after a training flight at Balashov airbase in the Saratov region and then burst into flames after hitting the ground according to Russian Defense Ministry authorities.

The surviving crew were being treated at a nearby military hospital, some for serious injuries, Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s equivalent of the FBI, said in a statement.
There had been four pilots and a cadet aboard the plane, the statement said.
The Investigative Committee said it appeared the crash may have been caused by the failure of one of the plane’s engines but that it was still investigating. The Committee said it had opened a criminal investigation into the incident, examining whether flight rules and preparations for it had been properly followed.
The AN-26 is a Soviet-era transport plane, still widely used by the Russian military.
In recent years, Russia’s air force has suffered a series of deadly crashes, mostly caused by technical failure. Last summer, Russia grounded around 300 of its Su-27 fighter jets after a fatal crash. In 2015, it also grounded its fleet of long-range Tupolev Tu-95 bombers that serve as part of the country’s nuclear deterrent after one of the Cold War-era planes caught fire.
Aviation experts have blamed the crashes in part on Russia’s ageing fleet of military aircraft largely constructed under the Soviet Union, but note the uptick in accidents has also coincided with increased activity by the Russian air force in the past two years.

The Russian’s aging fleet of aircraft and the increased operational tempo is not a recipe for stopping this kind of accident. With their increased presence in many parts of the world, the Putin government will have to start putting more money in their aircraft industry to upgrade their inventory.

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Photo courtesy ABC News

North Korea Fires Scud Ballistic Missile into the Sea of Japan

The North Koreans are it again, test firing a Scud-type ballistic missile that successfully launched and landed in the Sea of Japan off Korea’s east coast. This was the latest in a series of missile tests that the reclusive, belligerent nation has conducted in recent weeks.

This latest test unleashed a protest from Japan who stated that the missile landed in their exclusive economic zone. President Trump, returning from a weeklong trip overseas was briefed on the situation. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis spoke on television about the latest developments and was asked what a conflict in Korea would be like answering, “probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetimes”.

The missile was believed to be a Scud-class ballistic missile and flew about 450 km (280 miles), South Korean officials said. North Korea has a large stockpile of the short-range missiles, originally developed by the Soviet Union.
Monday’s launch followed two successful tests of medium- to long-range missiles in as many weeks by the North, which has been conducting such tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the mainland United States.
North Korea likely showing its determination to push ahead in the face of international pressure to rein in its missile program and “to pressure the (South Korean) government to change its policy on the North”, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Roh Jae-cheon said.
It was the third ballistic missile test-launch since South Korea’s liberal President Moon Jae-in took office on May 10 pledging to engage with the reclusive neighbor in dialogue.

The Russians called for restraint in the area while Pyongyang’s protector, China, in a statement to the UN’s Security Council that the council’s resolutions had ‘clear rules’ and urged the North Korean government to follow them.

In a statement from the Foreign Ministry, China stated, “The situation on the Korean peninsula is complex and sensitive, and we hope all relevant sides maintain calm and exercise restraint, ease the tense situation as soon as possible and put the issue back on the correct track of peaceful dialogue.”

To read the entire article from the Reuters click here:

Photo courtesy BBC

Russians Arming Taliban in Afghanistan Fight with the US

The Russians are supporting the Taliban in northern Afghanistan by sharing intelligence with the former leaders of Afghanistan and also by ferrying in weapons and equipment by helicopter and by boat. The later parts are denied by Russian government officials.

The head of the US Central Command, General Joseph Votel had stated earlier this year that the Russians are trying to peddle their influence and that they were sending arms and equipment to the Taliban forces in the north.

Moscow has openly stated that it has an intelligence-sharing relationship with the Taliban regarding the ISIS threat. But they have staunchly denied that the Russian military is aiding or arming the Taliban. Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid also denied any Russian monetary or material assistance.
On Wednesday, the police chief of the northern province of Baghlan, Brig. Gen. Ikramuddin Sarai, told Pajhwok Afghan News that Russian and other foreign military advisers had arrived to support the Taliban amid heavy clashes. Similar reports surfaced last month in the southern province of Uruzgan, in which police chief Ghulam Farooq Sangari told Voice of America’s Afghan service that advisers — including two women dressed in doctor’s uniforms and guarded by four armed Taliban along with an Afghan translator — were in various locations. The accusation was denied by Russian officials.
However, another senior Afghan government security official told Fox News that they have solid, although classified, documents indicating Russia is supporting the Taliban through its ally Iran, under the rationale that they are trying to bring the terrorist group to the negotiating table to form a peace treaty similar to the one recently signed by militant group Hezb-e-Islami.
“Iran — a Shia country — has its advisers in the north,” an intelligence source told Fox News. “The small pockets of Shia in Afghanistan used to get attacked by the Taliban; now they are not harming them or forcing them to pay taxes.”

US intelligence has reported that Russian arms, were used to attack US forces in southern Afghanistan in southern Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan Provinces

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Photo courtesy BBC

Russian Military Buildup in the Arctic Has US Concerned

Russian President Vladimir Putin is beefing up his military forces in the Arctic on a scale that hasn’t been seen since the days of the USSR and the Cold War. He’s reopening closed bases and opening new ones in a bid to control the cold but natural resource-rich region

One such base holds the 80^th Motor Rifle Arctic Brigade where Putin put on a dog and pony show for the press complete with tanks, snowmobiles, even dog and reindeer sleds in a show of force projection.

Located near the border with Finland in the Murmansk region, the Soviet-era base was refurbished and formally opened in 2015.

Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia has launched the biggest military build-up in the Arctic since the fall of the USSR — bolstering its fleet of nuclear-fueled icebreakers, reopening abandoned Soviet military bases and building a string of new ones.
Russia isn’t alone in its Arctic ambition. The United States, Russia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland all lay claim to the area and its abundant natural resources.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Arctic may contain 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30 percent of its natural gas. And thanks to climate change, melting polar ice is expected to make drilling, mining, and shipping even easier.
With billions of dollars in potential profits at stake, the race to control the region’s riches is on.
Russia is trying to claim 460,000 square miles of the Arctic Ocean as its national territory — an area that includes the North Pole. Russian divers even planted a national flag on the North Pole seabed in a symbolic claim to the region’s energy riches.
Washington is watching closely. Asked about Russia’s military build-up in the Arctic at his confirmation hearing, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said it was “not to our advantage to leave any part of the world” to others.

With tensions rising again between the US and Russia, the highest since the Cold War, is the Arctic going to be the new German frontier in the escalation of arms?

To read the entire article from the NBC News, click here:

Photo courtesy AP