Russia Sentences Former Defense Official to 13 Years for Graft
The Moscow City Court on Tuesday found Timur Ivanov, who was one of 12 deputy defense ministers, guilty of misappropriating funds destined for the purchase of two ferries connecting the occupied Crimea peninsula with Russia. Ivanov, who was detained in April last year on allegations of bribery, was also convicted of siphoning off 3.9 billion rubles (about $50 million) from a bank, the state-run news service reported.
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Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israeli satellites took tens of millions of photos of Iran leading up to recent war
Leading up to Operation Rising Lion, Israeli satellites took millions of photos of multiple locations in Iran, the Defense Ministry announced. Israeli satellites took tens of millions of photos of Iran leading up to, and during, the recent war, the Defense Ministry announced. Comprehensive space-based intelligence gathering captured tens of millions of square kilometers through day-night surveillance, producing over 12,000 satellite images of Iranian territory. Since the Islamic Republic spans approximately 1.6 million square kilometers and much of the Israeli operation focused on the Tehran area and Western Iran, parts of Iran needed to be photographed extensively. This also means that Israel's satellites were surveilling hundreds of different targets per day, the ministry said. Overall, Israeli satellites surveilled hundreds of thousands of in Iran on a daily basis. With Israel reaching a new level of power, quality, and volume in satellite use, the ministry said that the Jewish state has also shifted its use of satellites from only receiving an intermittent snapshot of the status of a specific spot in Iran for general analysis, to being able to maintain real-time constant tactical and operational surveillance of many places all over the Islamic Republic. Ergo, satellites have proved useful against Iran in terms of altering live Israel Air Force attacks based on real-time analysis of the Islamic Republic's ballistic missile shooting patterns and trends. Further, the satellites were able to achieve new levels of immediate battle damage assessments, enabling them to quickly determine the effectiveness of strikes against targets in Iran. They were also used to determine the extent to which additional aerial sorties against a target may be necessary, and regarding complex and large objectives, which portion of such a target needed to be struck again, as opposed to portions of the objective that were already destroyed. There were also significant advantages during the war with Iran in terms of the quality of surveillance from newer satellites, such as the Ofek 13, which was introduced into use in March 2023. The Ofek 13 satellite, developed jointly by the ministry and the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), was launched using a Shavit 2 satellite launcher from an open space in the center of the country. At the time, Avi Berger, the head of the Defense Ministry's Space Directorate, said, 'The launch was successful. It went according to plan. The first indications from the satellite are also excellent. In the coming weeks, we will complete the technical tests and receive the first images.' Besides the ministry and the IAI, the development and production of the satellite were carried out cooperatively with several other IDF divisions, including the 9900 Unit and the air force. Back then, Berger had said that the 'Ofek 13 is a radar-based observation satellite with the most advanced capabilities of its kind in the world, all of which are the result of Israeli development.'
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Russia-Ukraine war comes home to North Korea
It is also part of an effort to ensure the pact, which has made North Korea useful to a world power for the first time in decades, endures, analysts say. Advertisement 'Once the decision was made [to send troops to help Russia], he has been very consistent' in his messaging, said Fyodor Tertitskiy, an expert on North Korea's history and military at Seoul's Kookmin University. 'They are trying to show all possible optics in hopes that Russia won't abandon them once the war is over.' Kim has become one of Putin's staunchest supporters since the start of the war in Ukraine more than three years ago, which left the Russian leader clamoring for troops and munitions, and the North Korean in the unusual position of having assets that someone else wanted. Kim dispatched some 12,000 troops to fight in Russia's western region of Kursk last year, and thousands of them died, according to US, Ukrainian, and South Korean officials. This helped Moscow retake the region, and Russia has thanked North Korea for helping 'in the operation to liberate' Kursk. Advertisement North Koreans were highly motivated on the battlefield and tended to fight to the death or kill themselves with grenades rather than be captured, according to Ukrainian soldiers. Kim may be preparing to send thousands more within the next two months, the South Korean intelligence agency said last week. The decision to send North Korean soldiers to fight for Moscow was an unusual move for a country perennially preparing for invasion from its enemies. North Korea is also believed to have sent large amounts of munitions, including artillery shells, to Russia. North Korea held a commemoration in Pyongyang on Sunday, the anniversary of Putin's summit with Kim in North Korea's capital, where the two leaders signed a landmark strategic and military treaty. As Russians and North Koreans performed onstage to orchestral music, a giant screen displayed images and videos relating to North Korea's dispatch of troops to Russia, and Kim was pictured with about a half-dozen coffins with the North Korean flag draped over them. A somber Kim hunched over in front of one coffin and placed both hands on it, appearing to pay tribute to the repatriated remains of the soldiers who were sent to Russia, according to footage aired on Korean Central Television. The state media footage also showed Russian officials at the event crying and wiping their eyes. The performances celebrated the 'militant ties of friendship and the genuine internationalist obligation between the peoples and armies of the two countries that were forged at the cost of blood,' state media outlet Korean Central News Agency said. Advertisement The report, using the abbreviation for North Korea's official name, claimed the 'annals of the DPRK-Russia friendship will last forever along with the history of victory.' A Russian delegation led by Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova and the staff of the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang attended, along with senior party and government officials, KCNA reported. South Korea's intelligence agency said Kim appears to have sent additional troops to Russia earlier this year. South Korean lawmakers briefed by the spy agency said those additional troops may total about 4,000 soldiers. Top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu made two visits to Pyongyang last month, which were made on 'special instructions' from Putin, according to Russian state-run news agencies. Russian media reported after Shoigu's trips that Pyongyang plans to send about 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 land mine removal workers to Kursk. Those 6,000 workers could leave as early as this month, the spy agency told lawmakers last week. North Korea has already begun recruiting soldiers to be sent to Russia, the lawmakers said, citing the intelligence service. Kim has hailed the 'excellent soldiers' for their 'heroic feats' in the Kursk region, saying in April the men 'who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honor of the motherland.' Kim also vowed to establish a monument in Pyongyang in their honor.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
New evidence suggests Russian forces shot down Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243
Russian military forces were involved in the missile strike on Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 which crashed on 25 December 2024, a new audio recording and a letter published by an Azerbaijani news website on Tuesday purport to prove. Azerbaijani news outlet Minval claims it received an 'anonymous letter ... containing testimonies, audio clips, and technical details' pointing to 'technical deficiencies in the communications equipment used at the time. Minval claims the letter includes a written statement 'allegedly signed by Captain Dmitry Sergeyevich Paladichuk, a Russian air defence officer (who) was acting under direct orders from Russia's Ministry of Defence when he authorised the missile strike.' Euronews cannot independently verify the authenticity of the claims in the Azerbaijani news outlet's report. Minval's news report on Tuesday quoted the letter claiming that 'Captain Paladichuk was stationed near Grozny on duty from 24 to 25 December. At 05:40 on the day of the incident, his unit was ordered to enter full combat readiness." "Due to poor mobile reception and a lack of functional wired communication, coordination relied heavily on unstable mobile connections," the letter added. "A potential target was detected at 08:11 and tracked using radar. Two missiles were reportedly fired at the object after Paladichuk was instructed via phone to destroy it — despite heavy fog obscuring optical confirmation.' According to the letter, 'the coordinates, speeds, and directions of the target at the time of both missile launches were provided in detail in the written explanation. The first missile is said to have missed, while the second one allegedly detonated close enough for shrapnel to strike the aircraft.' Minval also claimed that it reviewed "three voice messages" believed to support the claims made in the letter. The voices reportedly confirm that operational orders were given, two missiles were fired, and shrapnel from the explosion struck the aircraft, according to the outlet. The outlet has released one audio recording purporting to depict the sequence in which a voice in Russian gives military directions, orders a missile to be fired, followed by the sound of what appears to be a firing sequence, the same voice saying 'target missed', and allegedly ordering another missile to be fired. On the day of the tragedy, Azerbaijani government sources told Euronews that a Russian surface-to-air missile was fired at Flight 8243 during drone air activity above Grozny, the flight's destination. The same sources said that the shrapnel hit the passengers and cabin crew as the missile exploded next to the aircraft mid-flight, disabling it. Related Azerbaijan Airlines crash caused by foreign object damage, official report shows Russian air defence missile incident emerges as likely cause of Azerbaijan Airlines crash The damaged aircraft was not allowed to land at any Russian airports despite the pilots' requests for an emergency landing, the same sources said, and it was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Aktau in Kazakhstan, where it crashed while attempting an emergency landing, killing 38 and injuring 29. Subsequent reports after the tragedy claimed that Flight 8243 was downed by a missile from a Russian Pantsir-S1 system. Three days after the crash, in an address to the nation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, "we can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia (...) We are not saying that it was done intentionally, but it was done.' At that time, on 29 December, Aliyev stated that Baku had made three demands to Russia in connection with the crash. 'First, the Russian side must apologise to Azerbaijan. Second, it must admit its guilt. Third, punish the guilty, bring them to criminal responsibility and pay compensation to the Azerbaijani state, the injured passengers and crew members,' Aliyev outlined. Aliyev noted that the first demand was 'already fulfilled' when Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to him on 28 December. Putin called the crash a 'tragic incident," though he stopped short of acknowledging Moscow's responsibility. The Kremlin said at the time that air defence systems were firing near Grozny, where the plane attempted to land, to deflect Ukrainian drone strikes. In the days following the tragedy, Russian military bloggers claimed that the said explosion happened over the Naursky District of Chechnya, where several Russian military units were posted at the time, including those with air defence systems, basing their conclusions on open-source data. The new claims linking the Russian military to the Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 tragedy appear at a time of a fast-moving escalation of judicial measures between Russia and Azerbaijan, as relations between the two countries reach a new low.
