Russia’s Black Sea Fleet based in Ukraine’s Crimea will receive new frigate-type vessels and diesel-powered submarines by 2015, a top naval officer said Friday. The unnamed admiral gave his reaction to RIA Novosti on some media reports that had earlier said at least two corvettes and three subs would join the Black Sea Fleet within the next five years. "In line with the approved shipbuilding program and armaments program until 2015, the Black Sea Fleet is to receive two frigates and three diesel submarines," the admiral said, stressing that he indeed meant frigates, which are capable of traveling much longer distances than corvettes. "We need to realize that the Black Sea Fleet’s responsibility zone is the entire Mediterranean and not only the Black Sea. Besides, Russia’s Navy... faces the task of fighting piracy off the Horn of Africa," he said, adding that only frigates are capable of fulfilling this task. The Russian Navy has maintained a permanent presence off the Horn of Africa, with warships operating on a rotation basis. Russia joined international anti-piracy efforts off the Somali coast in October 2008. Pirates based in Somalia, which has been without an effective government since 1991, hijacked more than 35 vessels in 2009, and have already seized two this year. The Black Sea Fleet uses a range of naval facilities in the Crimea, including a base in Sevastopol, as part of a 1997 lease agreement valid until 2017. Outgoing Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has led calls for Russia to pack up and pull out of Ukraine when the lease expires, although Russia hopes to extend it. Relations between Moscow and Kiev have deteriorated markedly during Yushchenko’s presidency. Russian leaders have said they hope to establish constructive cooperation with the new Ukrainian president, ruling out any rapprochement with Yushchenko.

SEVASTOPOL, February 5 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100205/157787857.html

Ukrainian nationalist leader urges support for Tymoshenko

13:44 05/02/2010

A Ukrainian nationalist leader on Friday urged his supporters to back Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in this weekend’s presidential poll runoff in a bid to defeat pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovych. Speaking on television in western Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankovsk, Mykhailo Zelenchuk urged "all Ukrainian patriots to vote for presidential candidate Tymoshenko to defeat the pro-Moscow Yanukovych" in Sunday’s polls. Zelenchuk, leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, said the country is in "a critical condition" and "at a turning point in history." He also said he hopes the new president will finally recognize the organization’s role in the fight for Ukraine’s independence. Ivano-Frankovsk is home to more than a thousand veterans of the organization, which was originally established in 1929 in western Ukraine and fought Soviet, German forces during WWII in a bid to secure Ukraine’s independence. Outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko’s move in January to award the Hero of Ukraine title to Stepan Bandera, who led the movement in 1941-1959, fueled fierce debate in Ukraine and triggered condemnation from Russia, as well as Poland. Bandera is a controversial figure in Ukraine, seen by many as a national hero and as a Nazi collaborator and extremists by others. Polish President Lech Kaczynski said in a recent statement that the organization slaughtered 100,000 Poles during its independence battle. Both Tymoshenko and Yanukovych, a frontrunner, have pledged to improve relations with Moscow, which have soured in recent years, as Yushchenko sought to distance Ukraine from Russia, launching bids to join NATO and the European Union. Moscow and Kiev have also been embroiled in bitter disputes over natural gas supplies and Russia’s war with Georgia in August 2008.

KIEV, February 5 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/exsoviet/20100205/157780784.html

Russia hoping for calm Ukrainian elections runoff

12:38 05/02/2010

Russia hopes the February 7 Ukrainian presidential runoff will go ahead without incidents of a destabilizing nature, a Foreign Ministry source said on Friday "We hope that the elections will be held without any events destabilizing the situation in the country," the source, who refused to be identified, told RIA Novosti. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is facing a presidential runoff against frontrunner Viktor Yanukovych, has threatened to call mass rallies over controversial amendments to the election law. Tymoshenko, who co-led mass protests against rigged elections five years ago, said the changes, which introduced new rules for local election commissions, could allow poll fraud. She pledged on Thursday to call her supporters to join mass protests that would diminish even those of 2004 if she thought the polls were rigged. Yanukovych, a foe of the "orange" camp, insisted the amendments are needed to prevent Tymoshenko from avoiding defeat at certain polling stations by telling her representatives not to turn up, therefore invalidating the vote. He said there would be no mass protests at Kiev’s central square - the site of the popular protests from late November 2004 to January 2005. However, Ukrainian acting Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko refused to rule out in an interview with the Zerkalo Nedeli paper the possibility of clashes between Tymoshenko and Yanukovych supporters if turnout was high in both candidate’s strongholds. "If turnout reaches 95-98% in Donetsk and Lvov, then neither of their supporters will recognize the result. In this case, anything could happen," he said, adding however that he was counting on the "common sense" of both candidates to avoid cashes. Earlier this week, a court in Kiev banned rallies at the square throughout February. The Russian Foreign Ministry source also said that Moscow hoped that its relations with Ukraine would improve after the polls "The main thing for the Russian side is a stable situation in Ukraine," he said, adding that Russia would respect any choice made by the Ukrainians. Both Tymoshenko and Yanukovych have pledged to improve relations with Moscow, which have soured in recent years, as outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko sought to distance Ukraine from Russia, launching bids to join NATO and the European Union. Moscow and Kiev have also been embroiled in bitter disputes over natural gas supplies and Russia’s war with Georgia in August 2008. Observers say people have grown largely disillusioned with the "orange" movement. Yushchenko received just 5% in the first round of the current vote compared to about 52% in the third runoff held in late December 2004.

MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/exsoviet/20100205/157780092.html

Polish president condemns Ukrainian nationalist leader’s heroization

01:25 05/02/2010

Polish President Lech Kaczynski has said a decree by outgoing Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to declare Stepan Bandera, whom many see as a Nazi collaborator during WWII, a national hero, runs contrary to the historical truth. Yushchenko, known for his promotion of Ukrainian nationalism, often at the expense of relations with Russia, awarded the Hero of Ukraine title to Stepan Bandera in late January. Bandera was a leader of the Ukrainian national movement in Western Ukraine and headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) in 1941-1959. The Soviet authorities accused him of numerous acts of murder and terrorism and authorized his assassination by the KGB in Munich, Germany, on October 15, 1959. "An estimate of activities of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army is categorically negative in Poland," Kaczynski said in a statement. He said the OUN and the UIA "carried out large-scale massacres" of the Polish people in eastern territories of the former Rech Pospolita, and "more than 100,000 Poles died just because they were Poles. "These killings raise unambiguous protest in Polish society," he said. "The Ukrainian president’s latest actions are aimed against the process of historical dialogue and reconciliation. Current political interests defeated the historical truth," the president added. Yushchenko’s move has already fueled fierce debate in Ukraine, where Bandera is a controversial figure, with his mainly West Ukrainian supporters considering him a hero. An MP from Sevastopol in the Crimea burned his passport in protest against the president’s move, and two Ukrainians, a lawyer from the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk and the chairman of the Lugansk regional council, have challenged the decree in court. On Tuesday, the head rabbi of Ukraine and Kiev, Moshe Reuven Asman, said he would reject a national award over Yushchenko’s decision to declare the "Nazi collaborator" a national hero. Previously, Yushchenko awarded the Hero of Ukraine title to another leader of Ukrainian nationalists, Roman Shukhevych. Yushchenko, swept to power by the 2004 pro-Western street protests, gained slightly more than 5% of the January 17 vote. His presidency has been marred by continuous political infighting and economic problems. He will be succeeded by opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych or Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who face each other in a runoff vote on February 7.

WARSAW, February 5 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100205/157776510.html

U.S. to beef-up Gulf air defense force to keep Iran, Israel in check - Guardian

13:32 01/02/2010

Washington will deploy Patriot missiles in the Gulf region as a balancing force in the troubled region, the Guardian daily said on Monday. The United States raised arms sales to some Gulf states, such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait, and deployed warships capable of shooting down missiles. U.S. officials say the decision was intended to deter both possible attacks by Iran and to discourage Israel from striking Iran. "Our first goal is to deter the Iranians. A second is to reassure the Arab states, so they don’t feel they have to go nuclear themselves. But there is certainly an element of calming the Israelis as well," the Guardian cited an unnamed senior administration official. The United States will deploy two batteries of air defense Patriots in each of the four Gulf countries. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Israel already have older versions of Patriots. The chief of the U.S. central command, General David Petraeus, said the region is concerned about Tehran’s military ambitions and the prospect of it becoming a dominant power in the Gulf. "Iran is clearly seen as a very serious threat by those on the other side of the Gulf front," he said. The move comes after Obama’s failure to persuade Tehran to open its nuclear installations to international controls, despite the U.S. president’s attempts to emphasize diplomacy over confrontation in dealing with Iran. The White House is also drawing an agreement for sanctions towards Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which is allegedly in charge of the country’s atomic program. The deployment was not announced officially; however, the information was leaked to U.S. media. Russia and China are still pressuring for a diplomatic solution. Last year Tehran, annoyed by Russia dragging its feet on delivering S-300 surface-to-air missiles under a 2005 contract, said it was capable of producing their clones. The latest version of the S-300 series, S-300PMU2 Favorit, has a range of up to 195 km (120 miles) and can intercept aircraft and ballistic missiles at altitudes from 10 meters to 27 km. It is considered one of the world’s most effective all-altitude regional air defense systems, comparable in performance to the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot system. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have bought more than $25 billion of U.S. arms in the past two years when Abu Dhabi has bought $17 billion of U.S. weapons since 2008, including Patriot anti-missile systems, and the UAE recently bought 80 F-16 jets and is buying fighters from France. Petraeus said last year the UAE Air Force "could take out the entire Iranian Air Force."

MOSCOW, February 1 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100201/157737724.html

India to buy more BrahMos missiles

14:31 02/02/2010

India has plans to introduce into its armed forces the new BrahMos missile, the head of the BrahMos Aerospace company, Sivathanu Pillai, told RIA Novosti on Tuesday. Established in 1998, BrahMos Aerospace, a joint Indian-Russian venture, produces and markets BrahMos supersonic missiles. The sea-based and land-based versions have been successfully tested and put into service with the Indian Army and Navy. Earlier on Tuesday, Russia’s security chief, Nikolai Patrushev, visited the BrahMos headquarters in New Delhi. BrahMos is an acronym for the cities of Brahmaputra and Moscow. The missile, known as BrahMos Block-2, can have a top speed of over Mach 5, which could make it virtually impossible to intercept, and can effectively engage even slightly visible ground targets. It has been designed primarily to meet the needs of the army. "The army officials said they were pleased with last year’s ground trials of the missile, and approved of putting it into service," Pillai said. The company has also been developing another version of the missile for Air Force, the BrahMos-A missile, with a reduced mass and increased aerodynamic stability. The Indian Air Force chose the Russian-made SU-30 MKI Flanker-H multirole fighter as the trial platform for the missile. "[This] version of the missile is now ready. Air trials will commence in 2011, and by 2012, we are planning to fit the missiles onto aircraft," Pillai said. The required modifications of the SU-30 MKI for integration with the BrahMos-A missile system are being carried out by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russia’s Sukhoi Design Bureau. Analysts estimate that India could purchase up to 1,000 BrahMos missiles for its armed forces in the next decade, and export some 500 to other countries during the same period.

NEW DELHI, February 2 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100202/157751742.html

Iran boasts of new Apache-killer weapon as tensions rise with U.S.

00:37 03/02/2010

Iran has developed a new weapon to shoot down U.S. Apache attack helicopters, the Iranian Fars news agency has reported. "Our enemies should not imagine that if their Apache choppers have shown a mighty and desirable performance in Iraq and Afghanistan, they can show the same might and power in any possible aggression against Iran. We will certainly put an end to the power of their Apaches through our measures," Fars quoted Col. Nasser Arab-Beigi of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps. The official did not specify the type of the weapon Iran is manufacturing to shoot down Apache helicopters. The United States and Israel have refused to rule out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to resolve the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program. In a further rise in tensions, Iran hit out on Tuesday at U.S. plans to boost Gulf defenses. Parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani called the move to deploy ships with missile-targeting abilities off Iran’s coast and anti-missile systems in the Gulf states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates "a new political trick to pave the way for its presence at others’ expense." Iran launched a domestic arms development program after a U.S. weapons embargo was imposed during its 1980-88 war with Iraq. Since 1992, the Islamic Republic has reportedly produced its own Saeqeh and Azarakhsh jet fighters, stealth-capable Ghadir submarine, missile boats, torpedoes, tanks and armored carrier vehicles. Iranian officials said last year that Tehran had achieved self-sufficiency in manufacturing combat missiles of various modifications. Iran frequently holds military drills and shows off modern weaponry in an effort to demonstrate its readiness to thwart any attack on its territory.

MOSCOW, February 3 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20100203/157756768.html

U.S. missiles in Romania would threaten Russia - analyst

13:56 05/02/2010

U.S. plans to place elements of its global missile shield in Romania pose a real threat to Russia’s national security, a Russian military analyst said on Friday. Romanian President Traian Basescu said on Thursday his country was ready to host U.S. medium-range interceptor missiles to counter a potential ballistic missile attack, but stressed that they would not be directed at Russia. "We are talking about the placement of the land-based Aegis system in Romania by 2015 which uses the new Standard Missile interceptor, SM-3. This weaponry, without a doubt, could significantly reduce Russia’s deterrent capability," said Col. (Ret.) Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine. He said SM-3 missiles would be able to intercept Russian ballistic missiles shortly after launch and on their initial flight trajectory. "Russia must warn Romania that if the elements of the U.S. missile shield are placed in the country they will become a target of Russia’s preventive missile strikes," Korotchenko said. Last year U.S. President Barack Obama scrapped plans for Poland and the Czech Republic to host missile shield elements to counter possible strikes from Iran. The missile shield plans infuriated Russia. However, Washington has announced a new scheme for a more flexible system, with a combination of land- and sea-based interceptors, to be deployed in Central Europe by 2015. U.S. Vice-President Joseph Biden visited Romania, Poland, and the Czech Republic last October to promote the new missile shield plan. Warsaw and Prague have already expressed their support of the revamped U.S. strategy. Korotchenko said that with ship-based SM-3s in the North, Black and Mediterranean seas, and mobile land-based SM-3s in Central Europe the western borders of Russia would be surrounded by U.S. missile interceptors by 2015.

MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20100205/157780962.html

Russian president approves new military doctrine

18:07 05/02/2010

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has approved the country’s new military doctrine which allows preventive nuclear strikes against potential aggressors. "The president informed the members of Russia’s Security Council on Friday that he has approved two documents - the military doctrine and the Fundamentals of the state policy on nuclear deterrence until 2020," said presidential press secretary Natalia Timakova. According to Russian officials, the adjustment of the country’s military doctrine was prompted by real threats and challenges faced by Russia. Russia’s nuclear triad comprises land-based ballistic missile systems, nuclear-powered submarines equipped with sea-based ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers carrying nuclear bombs and nuclear-capable cruise missiles. Under the new doctrine, Russia will continue developing and modernizing its nuclear triad, increasing its capability to overcome missile defenses of a potential enemy. The new military doctrine also aims to transform the Armed Forces into a more effective and mobile military force. Their structures will be "optimized" through the use of combined arms units performing similar tasks. The previous document was adopted in 2000. It outlined the role of the Russian military in ensuring the defense of the country and, if necessary, preparing for and waging war, although it stressed that the Russian military doctrine is strictly defensive. Russia’s military expenditure has of late been steadily growing, and the country reportedly plans to increase the current defense budget of $40 billion by 50% in the next three years.

MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20100205/157785368.html

Iran builds own aerial drones with strike capabilities

15:14 08/02/2010

Iran started on Monday production of two domestically-developed unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering high-precision bombing strikes and performing reconnaissance missions, the Fars news agency said. Iran unveiled the drones, dubbed Ra’d (Thunder) and Nazir (Harbinger), at a plant in the northern province of Mazandaran. "We plan to manufacture UAVs...at this site" Fars quoted Hamed Saeedi, managing director of Farnas Aerospace Company in charge of the project, as saying. He said both UAVs were short-range, low-altitude drones with reduced radar-detection signature. According to analysts, Iran has recently made significant progress in developing various types of combat planes and succeeded in gaining the technical know-how for producing aircraft and drones with stealth capabilities. Iran launched a domestic arms development program after a U.S. weapons embargo was imposed during its 1980-88 war with Iraq. Since 1992, the Islamic Republic has reportedly produced its own Saeqeh and Azarakhsh jet fighters, stealth-capable Ghadir submarine, missile boats, torpedoes, tanks and armored carrier vehicles. Iran frequently holds military drills and shows off modern weaponry in an effort to demonstrate its readiness to thwart any attack on its territory.

MOSCOW, February 8 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20100208/157809895.html