1 year ago

429

John Steppling says the US is escalating the tensions in Ukraine not only by advising them to reject any peace talks but also by shipping off billions of dollars of weapons into the country.
[VoV News]
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Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles that Kiev has received for what Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov claims to be coastal defense pose a serious threat to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and its shores, Head of the Bureau of Military and Political Analysis Alexander Mikhailov told TASS on Thursday.

"The Harpoon missile is quite a dangerous weapon, even though these missiles are not new, are subsonic and fly at a speed of Mach 0.85. Harpoon anti-ship missile systems based on the coast of the Black Sea can be a cause of our concern because they are capable under certain circumstances of breaching even well-organized air and anti-missile defenses. A simultaneous strike by several missiles of this type can lead to the loss of ships. To my mind, this already means crossing red lines," the expert said.

Measures must be taken to prevent a scenario, in which the Russian infrastructure and the Navy can be threatened by launchers armed with Harpoon missiles capable of striking targets at a distance of 280 km, he pointed out.
Harpoon as a direct threat and a provocation

As the expert pointed out, "Harpoon missile systems can target Russian naval ships and civilian vessels operating in the Black and Azov Seas."

"This is already a direct threat to the Crimean Bridge and the peninsula’s residents. This is yet another signal that the country’s territories close to the Black Sea coastline must be promptly taken under control," Mikhailov added.

By supplying Harpoons to Ukraine, NATO countries are trying to deal a blow on the Russian Navy, thus provoking Russia to strike decision-making centers in Kiev and Lvov, the expert said.

The RGM-84 Harpoon cruise missile is standardized and fits into various NATO launchers, including Mk 41 vertical launching systems, the expert specified.

"At the same time, the operational range of the supplied missiles is yet unclear. The missile’s first versions flew to 40-50 km. The latest versions have a strike range of 280 km," he said.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov said earlier on Thursday that the costal defense line had been bolstered by "highly efficient Harpoon complexes." US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in late May that Denmark planned to supply a launcher and Harpoon missiles to Kiev.
[TASS]
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Ukrainian forces commit war crimes daily by shelling civilian objects in DPR and LPR far behind the contact line, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said in an interview for BBC.

"What is very disappointing and what Mr. Zelensky failed to mention is that the Ukrainian forces continue to target civilian areas in Donetsk and Lugansk regions which are far away from the line of contact," he said. "The regions that I mentioned are not situated in the Ukraine-controlled area; they [have been] under the control of the Republic for eight years. So they are now being shelled and there are casualties."

Polyansky underscored that there are no military objects on the territories being shelled.

"There is absolutely no military sense of doing this. That's what Mr. Zelensky doesn't mention that his forces are committing these war crimes on daily basis," the diplomat said.
[TASS]
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President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has provided near-daily updates of Russia’s invasion on social media; viral video posts have shown the effectiveness of Western weapons in the hands of Ukrainian forces; and the Pentagon has regularly held briefings on developments in the war.

But despite the flow of all this news to the public, American intelligence agencies have less information than they would like about Ukraine’s operations and possess a far better picture of Russia’s military, its planned operations and its successes and failures, according to current and former officials.

Governments often withhold information from the public for operational security. But these information gaps within the U.S. government could make it more difficult for the Biden administration to decide how to target military aid as it sends billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine.

U.S. officials said the Ukrainian government gave them few classified briefings or details about their operational plans, and Ukrainian officials acknowledged that they did not tell the Americans everything.
[NYT]
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Western arms would end Severodonetsk fight in 2-3 'days', Ukrainian official says:
(https://youtu.be/msHuwYC7U-c)
Donbass, Donetsk: Battle rages on for key city:
(https://youtu.be/Q-92XdX9tWE)
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Russia will push Ukrainian troops further away from its borders, Harpoons arrived in Ukraine:
(https://youtu.be/JDN7t8kRL08)