Latest news with #MarkTrevelyan
The Star
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Russia becomes first country to recognise Taliban government of Afghanistan
(Reuters) -Russia said on Thursday it had accepted the credentials of a new ambassador of Afghanistan, making it the first nation to recognise the Taliban government of the country. "We believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries in various fields," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. (Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia jails senior defence official for 13 years in corruption trial
By Mark Trevelyan (Reuters) -Russian former deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov was found guilty of corruption and condemned to 13 years in a penal colony on Tuesday, the harshest sentence yet in a series of graft cases against defence officials. Ivanov was arrested in April 2024 on suspicion of taking bribes, and investigators added new embezzlement charges in October. More than a dozen people, including two other former deputy ministers, have been arrested in investigations into separate cases. The trial was closed on grounds of state secrecy. Anton Filatov, a former logistics company boss on trial with Ivanov, received a 12-1/2 year sentence. State media reported that the total sum embezzled was 4.1 billion roubles ($48.8 million), mostly in the form of bank transfers to two foreign accounts. Ivanov, who pleaded not guilty, was stripped of all state awards and the court confiscated 2.5 billion roubles worth of property, cars and cash from him. Russian media said he and his wife owned a luxury apartment in central Moscow, a three-storey English-style mansion on the outskirts of the capital and an extensive collection of classic cars including a Bentley and an Aston Martin. Russia's "Z-bloggers", an influential group of war correspondents, have voiced outrage at the scale of corruption reported in the defence establishment while young Russians are dying fighting in Ukraine. One blogger, Alexander Kots, said 13 years was a long sentence but corrupt defence officials should be put on trial in wartime as "traitors to the Motherland". SHOIGU DEPUTIES Ivanov had since 2016 been responsible at the defence ministry for big logistics contracts including those related to property management, housing and medical care. He was a deputy to Sergei Shoigu, who was replaced as defence minister last year but retains an important role as secretary of President Vladimir Putin's Security Council. Two of Shoigu's other former deputies have been arrested in separate investigations. In April, the former deputy head of the army's general staff, Lieutenant-General Vadim Shamarin, was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. The prosecutions signal a drive by Putin to clamp down on graft, inefficiency and waste in Russia's huge military budget as it wages war in Ukraine. Defence spending accounts for 32% of the federal budget this year. Ukraine has also moved to clamp down on military corruption. A deputy defence minister in charge of weapons purchases was sacked in January, while in April authorities accused five suspects of involvement in a procurement scandal.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia flies bomber planes over Baltic for first time since Ukrainian drone attacks
By Mark Trevelyan (Reuters) -Russia sent Tu-22M3 long-range bomber planes on a flight over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday, the defence ministry said, in the first such mission since Ukraine carried out a stunning June 1 attack on air bases in Siberia and the far north. A number of Tu-22M3 and Tu-95MS bombers were destroyed or seriously damaged in those strikes, conducted by drones that were smuggled close to the airfields in trucks. Russia regularly conducts heavy bomber flights as a show of strength and deterrence to its adversaries, but Wednesday's also appeared aimed at sending a message of business as usual despite the Ukrainian attacks. The defence ministry said the Tu-22M3s flew for more than four hours over neutral waters of the Baltic, escorted for some of that time by fighter planes from foreign, presumably NATO, countries. The Tu-22M3 and Tu-95MS, known to NATO respectively as Backfire and Bear-H, are part of a long-range aviation fleet that Russia has used throughout the war to fire conventional missiles at Ukrainian cities, defence plants, military bases, power infrastructure and other targets. The Bear-H and the newer Tu-160M Blackjack are nuclear-capable aircraft which, alongside ground- and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, form part of Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that Moscow's potential for nuclear deterrence against the United States had not suffered "any tangible damage" as a result of the Ukrainian attacks. Ryabkov has previously said Russia would repair the damage from the strikes, although commercial satellite images show a number were clearly destroyed. The United States assesses up to 20 warplanes were hit, around half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and around 10 were destroyed, two U.S. officials told Reuters last week. Ryabkov, without citing evidence, said Western countries had provided technical help to Ukraine when it came to targeting and transmission of real-time data, and this made them complicit. "These countries, which have such capabilities, took this step, deliberately testing our patience and endurance - they encroached on the foundations of the concept of nuclear deterrence, not just with their irresponsible indulgence of the Kyiv regime, but by supplying this regime with key sensitive information," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying. The United States has said President Donald Trump was not informed in advance of the Ukrainian operation, dubbed "Spider's Web," which Zelenskiy has said was 18 months in the planning.
The Star
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Russia says plan to boost role in Africa includes 'sensitive' security ties
FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russia's President Vladimir Putin and President of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia Badra Gunba in the Grand Palace at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 10, 2025. Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia plans to step up cooperation with African countries, including in "sensitive areas" such as defence and security, the Kremlin said on Monday. Russian mercenary group Wagner said last week it was leaving Mali after helping the military junta there in its fight with Islamist militants. But the Africa Corps, a Kremlin-controlled paramilitary force, said it would remain in the west African country. Asked what this meant for Russia's role in Africa, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "The Russian presence in Africa is growing. We really intend to comprehensively develop our interaction with African countries, focusing primarily on economic and investment interaction. "This also corresponds to and extends to such sensitive areas as defence and security. In this regard, Russia will also continue interaction and cooperation with African states." Russia's growing security role in parts of the continent, including in countries such as Mali, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea, is viewed with concern by the West, and has come at the expense of France and the United States. Russia's Africa Corps was created with the Russian Defence Ministry's support after Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and commander Dmitry Utkin led a failed mutiny against the Russian army leadership in June 2023 and were killed two months later in a plane crash. About 70-80% of the Africa Corps is made up of former Wagner members, according to several Telegram chats used by Russian mercenaries seen by Reuters. (Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Mark Trevelyan and Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Mark Trevelyan/Guy Faulconbridge)
Daily Maverick
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Russia faces struggle to replace bombers lost in Ukrainian drone strikes
By Mark Trevelyan and Tom Balmforth Satellite photos of airfields in Siberia and Russia's far north show extensive damage from the attacks, with several aircraft completely burnt out, although there are conflicting versions of the total number destroyed or damaged. The United States assesses that up to 20 warplanes were hit – around half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy – and around 10 were destroyed, two U.S. officials told Reuters. The Russian government on Thursday denied that any planes were destroyed and said the damage would be repaired, but Russian military bloggers have spoken of loss or serious damage to about a dozen planes, accusing commanders of negligence. The strikes – prepared over 18 months in a Ukrainian intelligence operation dubbed 'Spider's Web', and conducted by drones that were smuggled close to the bases in trucks – dealt a powerful symbolic blow to a country that, throughout the Ukraine war, has frequently reminded the world of its nuclear might. In practice, experts said, they will not seriously affect Russia's nuclear strike capability which is largely comprised of ground- and submarine-based missiles. However, the Tu-95MS Bear-H and Tu-22M3 Backfire bombers that were hit were part of a long-range aviation fleet that Russia has used throughout the war to fire conventional missiles at Ukrainian cities, defence plants, military bases, power infrastructure and other targets, said Justin Bronk, an aviation expert at the RUSI think tank in London. The same fleet had also been carrying out periodic patrol flights into the Arctic, North Atlantic and northern Pacific as a show of strength to deter Russia's Western adversaries. Bronk said that at the outset of its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia was operating a fleet of 50-60 Bear-Hs and around 60 Backfires, alongside around 20 Tu-160M nuclear-capable Blackjack heavy bombers. He estimated that Russia has now lost more than 10% of the combined Bear-H and Backfire fleet, taking into account last weekend's attacks and the loss of several planes earlier in the war – one shot down and the others struck while on the ground. These losses 'will put major pressure on a key Russian force that was already operating at maximum capacity,' Bronk told Reuters. Russia's defence ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. PROJECT DELAYS Replacing the planes will be challenging. Both the Bear H and the Backfire are aircraft that were designed in the Soviet era and have been out of production for decades, said Douglas Barrie, aerospace expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, although existing planes have been upgraded over the years. Barrie said that building new ones like-for-like was therefore very unlikely, and it was unclear whether Russia had any useable spare airframes of either type. Western sanctions against Russia have aimed to restrict the import of components such as microprocessors that are vital to avionics systems, although Moscow has so far been comparatively successful at finding alternative sources, Barrie added. Russia has been modernising its Blackjack bomber fleet, and Putin sent a pointed signal to the West last year by taking a 30-minute flight in one such aircraft and pronouncing it ready for service. But production of new Blackjacks is slow – one Russian military blogger this week put it at four per year – and Western experts say progress in developing Russia's next-generation PAK DA bomber has also been moving at a crawl. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) said in a report last month that Russia had signed a contract with manufacturer Tupolev in 2013 to build the PAK DA, but cited Russian media reports as saying state test flights are not scheduled until next year, with initial production to begin in 2027. While it would be logical for Russia to try to speed up its PAK DA plans, it may not have the capacity, said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the FAS. He said in a telephone interview that Russia is facing delays with a range of other big defence projects including its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. RUSI's Bronk was also sceptical of Moscow's chances of accelerating the timeline for the next-generation bomber. 'Russia will struggle to deliver the PAK DA programme at all in the coming five years, let alone accelerate it, due to budgetary shortfalls and materials and technology constraints on industry due to sanctions,' he said.
