Latest news with #Ufa
The Guardian
22-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
One million and counting: Russian casualties hit milestone in Ukraine war
Over the past few years, Nikolai has seen the ups and downs of the funeral trade in his native Ufa, a Russian city in the plains west of the Ural mountains. The coronavirus pandemic, which hit Russia with devastating force, brought an unexpected boom to his family-run business, forcing him to hire extra staff almost overnight to cope with the rise in funeral demand. 'But after Covid, there was a real dip; people just stopped dying in such numbers,' Nikolai said. That lull didn't last. Over the past two and a half years, business has picked up again. Part of the reason: Russia's casualties in its continuing invasion of Ukraine. Few regions in Russia have sent as many men to fight and die in Ukraine as the republic of Bashkortostan, whose capital, Ufa, draws recruits from poorer surrounding areas in search of money. 'Sometimes, I check the name of the person we're burying and realise it's someone I know – someone I went to school with or met before,' said Nikolai, who asked that his last name be withheld for fear of government reprisal. Since the start of its war in Ukraine, Russia's military casualties have remained a closely guarded state secret. But look a little closer and the signs of devastation are unmistakable – from the booming funeral industry to the rising number of veterans returning home without arms or legs. In total, between January and April 2025, funeral service providers in the country earned nearly 40bn rubles – (£380m), a 12.7% year-on-year increase, according to Rosstat, Russia's federal state statistics service. This month, Russia's wartime toll of dead and wounded reached a historic milestone. According to the British Ministry of Defence, more than one million Russian troops have been killed or injured since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022. The estimate aligns with a recent study by the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which puts Russian military deaths at up to 250,000 and total casualties, including the wounded, at over 950,000. Ukraine has suffered very high losses as well, with between 60,000 and 100,000 personnel killed and total casualties reaching approximately 400,000. While precise wartime casualty figures are notoriously difficult to verify, the independent Russian outlet Mediazona has identified the names of more than 111,000 Russian military personnel killed, using official records, social media obituaries, and images of tombstones. The outlet believes the true death toll is significantly higher. These are staggering figures by any measure of comparison in modern Russian history. In just over three years, Russian fatalities are estimated to be five times higher than the combined death toll from all Soviet and Russian wars between the end of the second world war and the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. The war in Ukraine has proved far deadlier for the Kremlin than other recent conflicts: Russia's losses are roughly 15 times greater than those suffered during the Soviet Union's decade-long war in Afghanistan, and 10 times higher than in Russia's 13-year war in Chechnya. And it's not just the dead returning in caskets – soldiers with amputated limbs and serious injuries are also coming home, driving a sharp rise in the production of prosthetic limbs. 'We doubled the number of our clients one year into the conflict and since then it has been a steady 10% increase annually,' said Igor Vinogradov, the director of a mid-sized prosthetics and orthopaedics firm in northern Russia. 'By far, the majority are war veterans,' Vinogradov said, adding that his company relies on imported prosthetic arms and legs from Germany, as well as some homegrown technology. Data from Russia's labour ministry shows the state subsidised the provision of 152,500 prosthetic limbs to people with disabilities in 2024. That marks a 53% increase on the previous year, when 99,200 artificial arms and legs were distributed – itself a sharp rise from 64,800 in 2022. 'The market has exploded,' said a prosthetics manufacturer in Moscow, who asked not to be named. Russia's losses in Ukraine are likely to further accelerate the country's deepening demographic crisis. The invasion has already caused tens of thousands of young Russians to emigrate to the west and has claimed the lives of many others who might have formed the backbone of the workforce for decades to come. The toll compounds the damage from the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused more than a million excess deaths and left lasting scars on Russia's population. Alexander Raksha, an independent demographer and former analyst at Rostat, estimates average male life expectancy has fallen from 68 to 66 since the start of the full-scale invasion. He said the government has made it harder to track the long-term demographic consequences of the ongoing fighting. 'Russia stopped publishing all mortality and life expectancy data for its male population from 2024 onwards,' Raksha said. Russian anti-war activists, inside and outside the country, initially believed the rising number of returning bodies would spark public protests. But Russia's expansive propaganda campaign has portrayed the fallen as heroes, with Vladimir Putin repeatedly touting the idea that dying on the frontlines is more meaningful than enduring a bleak existence in the country's impoverished towns. Responding to a grieving mother during a televised meeting in late 2022, he said: 'Some people die in road accidents, others from alcohol – when they die, it's unclear how. But your son lived, do you understand? He fulfilled his purpose.' Instead of widespread public discontent, the opposite now appears to be true: many Russians who have lost relatives are urging the Kremlin to press on, convinced that the losses must be justified. Among them is Dmitry Shkrebets, whose son, Yegor, was one of more than three dozen sailors killed when Ukraine struck Russia's Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, in 2022. Shkrebets now runs a blog in which he routinely urges Russia to step up its attacks on Ukraine. 'Any compromise with Ukraine would be a betrayal of the country. A betrayal of the blood our sons have shed,' Shkrebets said. 'We need to see this through to the end,' he said, adding that he hoped Russia would soon launch an offensive on the Ukrainian cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv. To maintain support among grieving families, the Kremlin has also resorted to offering generous payouts to the relatives of the dead and wounded. According to a study by the Re:Russia thinkthank, the government allocated at least 1.2tn rubles (about $15.3bn) in 2024 alone for compensation to the families of the dead and injured. The sheer scale of the losses – and the money involved – has given rise to dedicated message boards and online discussion groups, where relatives of the deceased exchange advice on how to access death benefits, or vent their frustrations about long-absent family members suddenly reappearing to claim a share of the compensation. 'My husband signed the contract a few days before we got married. He died shortly after. Now his children from a previous marriage are suing me to take away the death payouts … Please help!' read one recent post on VKontakte, Russia's equivalent of Facebook. For now, Moscow appears able to replenish its manpower for the war, allowing it to slowly advance and capture more territory in Ukraine despite the human cost. Military recruitment continues to surge across many regions, with signing bonuses for contracts to join the war reaching record highs – up to 2m rubles (about $25,000). Janis Kluge, a researcher on the Russian economy at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, estimates Russia recruited 89,601 men between January and March 2025, based on federal spending on sign-up bonuses. 'This represents a 22% increase over the same period last year,' Kluge said. Nikolai, the funeral home director, said he's closely watching the ongoing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine to determine his next business move. 'Of course, I hope this ends soon and the deaths stop,' he said, noting with disappointment the talks appear to have stalled. 'It just feels wrong to be making money off young guys dying.'
New York Times
18-06-2025
- General
- New York Times
We Cannot Escape History
This personal reflection is part of a series called The Big Ideas, in which writers respond to a single question: What is history? You can read more by visiting The Big Ideas series page. When I was born, only 22 years had passed since the end of World War II. Throughout my childhood, as I grew up in the center of East Berlin, I played in the ruins. When the Berlin Wall fell, I was in my early 20s. Not long ago, a publisher prepared a biographical note to be printed with one of my stories claiming that my father was Russian and my mother was Polish. But this was not quite true. My father was born in Ufa, then the capital of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. His parents were Germans who had emigrated to the Soviet Union to escape fascism and returned to Germany after the war. My mother was born in a small town in what was then German East Prussia. When that area became part of Poland at the end of the war, my great-grandmother took my 3-year-old mother and her two siblings westward to what was still Germany. They traveled partly on foot, partly by train, partly by horse-drawn cart. My mother's father was still a prisoner of war in Norway then, while her mother had been transported by the Red Army to Siberia, where she was performing forced labor. Shortly before Christmas 1946, she returned to Germany and was reunited with her family. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Russia has its own interests in the region as the U.S. shifts its focus there from Europe
U.S. NAVY / 2012 The Russian navy ship Admiral Panteleyev transits the waters of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam during a Rim of the Pacific exercise. 1 /2 U.S. NAVY / 2012 The Russian navy ship Admiral Panteleyev transits the waters of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam during a Rim of the Pacific exercise. STAR-ADVERTISER / 2012 Russian crewmen inspected docks the last time Russian ships came into Pearl Harbor for RIMPAC in 2012, their first time. 2 /2 STAR-ADVERTISER / 2012 Russian crewmen inspected docks the last time Russian ships came into Pearl Harbor for RIMPAC in 2012, their first time. U.S. NAVY / 2012 The Russian navy ship Admiral Panteleyev transits the waters of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam during a Rim of the Pacific exercise. STAR-ADVERTISER / 2012 Russian crewmen inspected docks the last time Russian ships came into Pearl Harbor for RIMPAC in 2012, their first time. As the Trump administration pushes efforts to end the war in Ukraine and shift its attention to the Pacific, the Russian navy's Pacific fleet has been asserting its presence. In late March the Russian submarine Ufa, one of the Russian Pacific fleet's newest missile subs, launched cruise missiles from a position in the Sea of Japan. The Ufa is considered one of the world's most silent submarines, and has been reportedly referred to as a 'black hole ' in Russia's submarine fleet by its rivals due to difficulty tracking the stealthy sub. Meanwhile, U.S. Navy jets responded to a Russian spy plane flying near the American aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson as it sailed through the Pacific on its way to the Indian Ocean for operations against Houthi militants in Yemen. Spy planes regularly monitor the military activity of other countries, but commentators noted that released video of the incident indicated this plane was flying lower—and closer—than normal. Before making its way to the Middle East, the Vinson had been training with South Korean and Japanese forces as Seoul condemned what it called repeated airspace intrusions by the Russian military. Though Russia has taken heavy military and economic losses since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, in some ways Russian forces are also feeling a new confidence amid the bloody stalemate. The annual U.S. intelligence community threat assessment, released in March, said that 'the war in Ukraine has afforded Moscow a wealth of lessons regarding combat against Western weapons and intelligence in a large-scale war. This experience probably will challenge future U.S. defense planning, including against other adversaries with whom Moscow is sharing those lessons learned.' Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. Professor Yu Koizumi, an expert on the Russian military at the University of Tokyo, said the European conflict has been a drain on Russia's military forces along its Pacific coast but that it remains a major player in the region that shouldn't be dismissed. 'Since the war began, I have been observing the facilities of the Russian Far East military using satellite images, and the Russian military (presence ) in this region has further decreased, ' said Koizumi. 'However, Russia is able to combine its relatively small (Pacific ) military force with its political behavior to create a significant impact. In this sense, it is worth noting that the nuclear submarine and bomber forces in the Russian Far East have not decreased, and in fact the former has been strengthened.' Russia has sought to deepen military and economic coordination with China and North Korea. In February at the Honolulu Defense Forum, an international military affairs conference hosted by the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Pa paro referred to the three as a 'triangle of troublemakers ' and an 'axis of autocracy ' that he said threatens stability in the Pacific. 'Russia views itself as an Indo-Pacific power, with much of its territory bordering Northeast Asia, ' said Kimberly Lehn, a senior director at the Pacific Forum who planned the conference. 'Russia's engagement in the region can be viewed as a means to demonstrate great-power status and counterbalance Western influence while advancing its own strategic interests.' 'Much more active' Russia has for some time sought to focus more on the Pacific as it looks to harvest its vast oil and natural gas reserves to export to growing economies across Asia. That interest has only grown as melting arctic ice caps potentially open up new sea routes through the Arctic linking the Pacific and Atlantic. Koizumi said that 'Europe, which was (Russia's ) largest trading partner, has reached the limits of its growth and has become a geopolitical enemy. In this context, Russia's attention has turned to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, which have a lot of growth potential and are not its geopolitical enemies.' In June 2021 the Russian military launched what it called the largest exercise it had conducted in the Pacific Ocean since the end of the Cold War—400 miles west of Hawaii with a variety of warships, anti-submarine aircraft, fighter jets and long-range bombers. Hawaii National Guard F-22 fighter jets scrambled several times to respond to Russian aircraft flying close to Hawaii's airspace. Since then Russian forces have been spotted conducting joint patrols with Chinese forces around Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Guam and Alaska. Koizumi said Chinese forces operating in waters claimed by Russia like the Sea of Okhotsk, with Moscow's blessing, changes the equation for Japan, explaining that 'even if we are preparing for the threat from China, we can't just think about the southwest of Japan ; we also need to look to the north. Russia has made this possible.' Lehn noted that 'last year it was reported that the Chinese military exercised with Russian air and maritime forces in the Bering Sea that included ships and long-range aviation. Their military exercises have become a common practice and beg the question as to where they might cooperate next.' Koizumi said that 'the strengthening of the Russian Pacific fleet is not progressing uniformly, ' and pointed out that the fleet has not received any new destroyers for 30 years and has been getting smaller warships. He said that means 'the number of surface vessels in the Pacific fleet is on a downward trend. This trend is not expected to change significantly in the near future.' But the story beneath the surface is different. An American intelligence official in Hawaii told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that since the beginning of the Ukraine war, Russia has delivered seven new submarines to its Pacific fleet, with the Ufa arriving in 2024. It's not uncommon for U.S. forces to detect Russian submarines lurking beneath the surface in waters around Hawaii, according to current and former U.S. military personnel who spoke to the Star-Advertiser. American submarines also routinely conduct operations near Russian and Chinese waters. 'According to my analysis using satellite imagery, the Russian Pacific fleet's (ballistic missile submarines ) have become much more active in recent years, ' said Koizumi. 'In particular, in 2024 the (subs ) made six patrols, the most of any year, and some of these were long voyages of more than two months. Since I began observing, the Russian Pacific fleet was most active last year.' Despite growing military cooperation among Russia, China and North Korea, the intelligence official said Moscow 'has been ungenerous with submarine technology ' and has worked hard to protect those secrets. He argued that despite increased cooperation, Russia and China are not 'natural allies.' In 1969 the two fought a violent, bitter border conflict, and many officials on either side distrust each other. New strategies But close relationships among Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have helped tighten their alliances. The war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia by the U.S. and Europe have pushed Putin to lean into those partnerships even more. Lehn said that 'both China and North Korea have enabled Russia's war machine to continue (in Ukraine ), whether it is China purchasing oil and gas, sending technology and equipment, or North Korea sending munition and troops to fight on the front lines. These efforts have explicitly linked the Indo-Pacific to Europe and likely means Russia will be required to return any support to China and North Korea should a kinetic conflict arise in the Pacific, whether in the Taiwan Strait or on the Korean Peninsula.' In 2023, Putin broke with years of neutrality when it came to China and Taiwan. China regards Taiwan, a self-ruled island democracy, as a rogue province, and Xi has vowed to bring it under his control by any means. After years of trading with Taiwan, Putin endorsed China's position and officially added the island to Russia's list of 'unfriendly countries.' In 2024 the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand traveled to Washington, D.C., for the annual NATO summit. The four aren't NATO members, but regularly cooperate with the alliance. During the summit, the growing relationship among China, Russia and North Korea was a major point of discussion. At the same time as the summit, the militaries of several NATO counties were participating in Exercise Rim of the Pacific in Hawaii for the first time as they looked to increase Pacific engagement. But the Trump administration's approach to Russia has drawn concern—and in some cases bafflement—from traditional American allies. Trump has repeatedly criticized Ukraine, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of provoking Russia into invading by not 'making a deal ' with Russian invaders, and expressed a preference for dealing with Putin and other Russian officials whom he says he finds easier to deal with. In an interview with Breitbart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration hopes to improve relations with Russia and seek cooperation in a way that can pull it from its increasingly deep relationship with China, comparing it to President Richard Nixon's embrace of China during the Cold War. However, while Nixon exploited existing hostilities between China and the Soviet Union, today Moscow and Beijing have unprecedented cooperation. 'Dialogue is important, and you need to do so to broker an agreement, and if you can achieve other significant concessions, then that's worthy to pursue, ' Lehn said. 'But I think we should be concerned and skeptical with any collaboration or cooperation with Russia or China. Ultimately, China and Russia have different strategic goals and are paving the terms for a new international order that is based on their interests and leadership, not ours. That understanding should be our underlying compass.' While Trump's approach in Europe has caused consternation among NATO allies, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in March went on a Pacific tour that included stops in Hawaii, Guam, Japan and the Philippines. During the trip Hegseth asserted that the Pacific is the most important region for the U.S. and pledged to back regional allies in their disputes with China over territorial and navigation rights. But American Pacific allies like Japan and South Korea are still watching Russia with unease as well. In the U.S. intelligence assessment, the nation's spy chiefs concluded that 'despite having paid enormous military and economic costs in its war with Ukraine, Russia has proven adaptable and resilient. … President Vladimir Putin appears resolved and prepared to pay a very high price to prevail in what he sees as a defining time in Russia's strategic competition with the United States, world history, and his personal legacy.'
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Russian Navy submarine launches missiles in Sea of Japan drills, TASS agency reports
(Reuters) - A submarine of Russia's Pacific Fleet conducted drills in the Sea of Japan, launching cruise missiles at sea and coastal targets, the Russian state TASS news agency reported on Wednesday. "During a scheduled exercise, the diesel-electric submarine Ufa of the Pacific Fleet launched Kalibr cruise missiles at sea and coastal targets from the waters of the Sea of Japan," TASS cited a statement from the Russian defence ministry. The ministry said all mock targets were hit during the exercises and that the firing range was more than 1,000 km (620 miles). Ufa, considered to be among the world's most silent submarines, was put into service with the Russian Navy in November 2022, TASS reported in earlier stories. The submarine is 74 metres (243 ft) long, with a maximum displacement of more than 3,900 tons. It can dive to a working depth of 240 metres and a maximum depth of 300 metres.
Reuters
26-03-2025
- General
- Reuters
Russian Navy submarine launches missiles in Sea of Japan drills, TASS agency reports
March 26 (Reuters) - A submarine of Russia's Pacific Fleet conducted drills in the Sea of Japan, launching cruise missiles at sea and coastal targets, the Russian state TASS news agency reported on Wednesday. "During a scheduled exercise, the diesel-electric submarine Ufa of the Pacific Fleet launched Kalibr cruise missiles at sea and coastal targets from the waters of the Sea of Japan," TASS cited a statement from the Russian defence ministry. The ministry said all mock targets were hit during the exercises and that the firing range was more than 1,000 km (620 miles). Ufa, considered to be among the world's most silent submarines, was put into service with the Russian Navy in November 2022, TASS reported in earlier stories. The submarine is 74 metres (243 ft) long, with a maximum displacement of more than 3,900 tons. It can dive to a working depth of 240 metres and a maximum depth of 300 metres.
