Putin to address digital economy development, global trade at G20
Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to raise the issue of digital economy development and outline his vision of the situation in the international trade system at the G20 summit, set to take place in Buenos Aires on November 30-December 1, Russian G20 Sherpa Svetlana Lukash told reporters on Thursday.
"We have proposals, which the President will voice at the summit," she added, pointing out that the Russian side "aims to actively engage in the discussion."
The Sherpa also said that the program of the entire summit will take two days and comprise five main sessions of different formats. "Generally, the priorities of Argentina's G20 Presidency are focused on the issues of a fair and sustainable development of the world," she emphasized.
"We’ve tried to assess how the world is going to develop in the next 10 years given the current challenges, primarily those related to digitalization of the economy, how labor markets will change and how people need to be adapted to it, and which steps governments should do about that."
Lukash added that this time the summit will open with informal talks, involving only the leaders of G20 states and Spain. The purpose of this format is to build a dialogue on the development of the world for the next decade given technological transformation in the global economy.
There are no political issues on the summit’s agenda, the Sherpa stated, noting however that such issues, as migration, etc., could still be addressed.
Kremlin on updating nuclear doctrine: Putin already listed grounds for use of nukes
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that he was unaware of any possible discussion to review the grounds for which Russia could use nuclear weapons.
"Recently, the president listed all the reasons that can serve as grounds for using nuclear weapons. Conceptually, everything has been placed on record in the Russian Federation. I am unaware of whether any discussion is underway to update these arguments," he said in comments on Russian senators’ suggestions to review the policy of nuclear deterrence, specifying legislatively the conditions under which Russia could resort to nuclear weapons.
On Wednesday, the Russian Federation Council’s Committee for Defense and Security suggested that the Security Council discuss a new policy of nuclear deterrence.
The Security Council and its inter-departmental commission for military security were asked to consider revising: "The basic principles of the Russian Federation’s policy of nuclear deterrence," the document said.
Recommendations came during a roundtable on bolstering the Russian Armed Forces, "in the context of changing forms and methods of warfare".
Committee chief Viktor Bondarev told the roundtable that the priority task for the army and the navy right now is to beef up combat training using the experience of the anti-terrorist operation in Syria.
NEW RUSSIA’S ISKANDER. INF IS ALMOST DEAD
The Russian Military has received a first batch of Iskander tactical ballistic missile systems, which were produced in 2018, according to the Russian state media. The systems were produced under the deal reached by the Defense Ministry and the KB Mashinostroyeniya company.
These very systems are produced for the 448th missile brigade of the 20th Guards Army. This brigade is deployed in Kursk. Military experts already noted that the newly-produced missile systems have an expanded hull, which means that they will be capable of using the 9M729 (SSC–X–8) long-range ground-based cruise missile. This missile has the range of 480–5,470 km.
The deployment of such missiles is banned by the INF Treaty, which the US administration has recently decided to ignore.
So, Russia is already preparing for the US official withdrawal from the INF.
WATCH Mysterious Helicopters Transport Secret Cargo Over Kremlin
The authorities did not officially announce any kind of flights over the Kremlin today, and the identity of the helicopters’ passengers and the nature of the cargo remain a mystery as well.
Residents of the Russian capital were left scratching their heads today as a pair of enigmatic helicopters was spotted over Moscow city center, departing right from the Kremlin.
A video posted on Instagram shows what appears to be two Mi-8 transport helicopters taking off from a helipad located inside the citadel’s walls and flying away, with one of the of the helicopters apparently carrying some sort of underslung cargo.
According to local media reports, the authorities made no official announcements about any kind of flights over the Kremlin today, and the identity of the helicopters’ passengers and the nature of the cargo remain a mystery as well.
Helicopter flights are generally forbidden over central Moscow.
Russian FSB Prevented Series of Terror Attacks on Schools After Kerch Tragedy
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) prevented a series of attacks on schools in Russia in October 2018, the first deputy head of an FSB department, Sergei Yegorov, said Thursday.
"After the events in Kerch, in October alone we prevented a whole series of real attacks on schools," the first deputy head of FSB, Sergei Yegorov, said at a roundtable in the Federation Council on security issues in educational institutions.
Yegorov's comments follow an October 17 incident when an 18-year-old student started shooting and detonated a bomb in a college in Kerch, Crimea, where he studied himself.
The attack claimed the lives of 21 people, including 16 students and 5 staff members, while over 50 were injured. After the attack, the perpetrator killed himself inside the college library.
Russia’s sole aircraft carrier sustains $1.1 mln damage in floating dock incident
Russia’s sole aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov has sustained damages in 52 places to the tune of 70 million rubles ($1.1 million) in the floating dock incident, Head of the United Ship-Building Corporation Alexei Rakhmanov told TASS on Thursday.
"The commission [set up to estimate the damage] counted 52 damages. Overall, the ship’s recovery will cost about 70 million rubles, i.e. this is referred to the category of inconsiderable damage within the budget of the Admiral Kuznetsov’s modernization," the chief executive said, responding to the corresponding question.
As Rakhmanov said, "we have not found anything serious that could have entailed the extension of the repair period or could not have been restored."
"The repair is planned to be completed in late 2020 and its trials are scheduled for 2021. The warship is planned to be delivered to the Navy in mid-2021," the head of Russia’s United Ship-Building Corporation said.
Floating dock incident
The PD-50 floating dock sank overnight to October 30 in Murmansk during the planned floatout of the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov from it. According to preliminary information, the warship itself had its take-off deck damaged by the fallen crane and is now at the 35th Ship Repair Factory.
The PD-50 is one of the world’s largest floating docks and the biggest in Russia. It was built in Sweden in 1980 on order from the Soviet Navy. It is 330 meters long and 67 meters wide and has a lifting capacity of 80,000 tonnes. The floating dock has an area of 22.1 sq. km, which is slightly less than Red Square in Moscow.
According to corporate financial statements, the 82nd Ship Repair Factory where the floating dock incident occurred was integrated into Russian oil giant Rosneft in November 2015. Russia’s Defense Ministry currently holds a minor stake of 0.0001% in the Ship Repair Plant.
Rosneft uses the 82nd Ship Repair Factory as the base for developing a modern center of coastal logistics support for offshore projects.
Aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov
The Project 11435 heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov is designed to gain superiority at sea and in the air in the areas of the fleet’s operation to ensure the fleet’s combat sustainability, deliver air strikes against enemy objectives and support troops’ landing operations.
The warship entered service in 1990. It displaces 58,000 tonnes and has a length of 304.5 meters. The aircraft carrier has a full speed capacity of 200,000 horsepower and develops a speed of up to 30 knots. Apart from the air task force of 24-26 fighter jets and 12 helicopters, the Admiral Kuznetsov is armed with anti-ship and air defense missile systems.
The warship is equipped with a ski-jump and two aircraft elevators. It has a crew of 1,300 while the air group’s personnel numbers 660 men.
Russian rescue vessel in service since tsarist era takes to sea after repairs
The rescue vessel Kommuna that has been in service for over 100 years has departed for the Black Sea after repairs and upgrade with modern equipment on its board, Fleet spokesman Alexei Rulev said on Thursday.
The Kommuna is the rescuer of submarines and a catamaran by its design. It is the Russian Navy’s sole operating vessel inherited from the Imperial Fleet and the oldest operational ship in the world. The vessel Volkhov (the original name of the ship renamed into the Kommuna in 1922) was laid down on November 12, 1912, floated out on November 17, 1913 and made operational in the Baltic Fleet on July 14, 1915.
"In accordance with the combat training plan, the crew of the Russian Navy’s oldest submarine rescuer of the Black Sea Fleet has started accomplishing missions at Black Sea practice ranges. Earlier, planned dock repairs and maintenance works were carried out aboard the vessel. The vessel has undergone modernization, as a result of which modern rescue equipment has been installed on its board and currently it continues performing inherent tasks as part of the Black Sea Fleet’s search and rescue forces," the spokesman said.
At the initial stage, works will be carried out aboard the Kommuna to measure physical fields, check the operational performance of all the shipborne assemblies and mechanisms and practice the rescuer’s defense in an unsafe roadstead, after which the vessel adapted for housing various types of deep-water rescue vehicles will test practical interaction for several days with the crew of the AS-28 underwater manned search and rescue apparatus and the team of the Pantera-Plyus unmanned vehicle.
"In order to improve the rescuers’ practical skills, a mock-up of a submarine coaming platform will be installed on the seabed at a depth of about 40 meters. Kommuna specialists will provide for the dives of the AS-28 vehicle, its approach to the mock-up and docking/undocking operations. Specialized diving ships and support vessels of the Black Sea Fleet have also been involved in the ongoing exercises," the Fleet spokesman said.
The Kommuna vessel was for the first time used according to its designation in 1917 to lift the submarine AG-15 off the Aland Islands. During World War I, the salvage vessel took part in the operation to raise the allies’ sunken British submarine and got praise from the UK government.
During the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 against Nazi Germany, the vessel was in operation in the Baltic Fleet and provided for the repairs of submarines, including the docking of Malyutka-class submarines. In 1967, it was redeployed from Kronshtadt to Sevastopol.
Russian hi-tech firm creates unique lightweight space solar panel
The Obninsk-based Technologiya Research and Production Enterprise of RT Chemcomposite Group (part of the state hi-tech corporation Rostec) has developed a carbon fiber load-carrying panel for the newest solar module of a promising spacecraft, Rostec said on Thursday.
"Thanks to the use of composite materials, the panel is the lightest in the world by its weight while its high firmness ensures the protection of the module’s photocells from cosmic particles, radiation and space debris. The carbon fiber panel, into which solar batteries will be installed, is considerably lighter than its analogs, which makes it 30% more efficient in the use and several times cheaper than the existing variants," the high-tech corporation said in a statement.
The assembled panel’s weight measured 1.5 kg per square meter, making it the lightest in the world by this indicator. The panel successfully passed autonomous testing and is currently involved in several comprehensive tests, the statement says.
"An item’s ergonomic efficiency and weight play a key role for space hardware.
Each additional weight kilogram reduces the efficiency and the time of operation of space vehicles. Our developers have been able to create a light and simultaneously very firm structure by using unique composite materials," Rostec Executive Director Oleg Yevtushenko was quoted by the corporation’s press office as saying.
The panel made of composite materials has been developed by the Technologiya Research and Production Enterprise in partnership with TAIS R&D Enterprise. In turn, special solar elements have been developed jointly by Hevel Group and TAIS.
Technologiya Research and Production Enterprise is a leading innovation company in the development and production of composite materials and a leader in Russia by the volume of producing articles made of composites. The Enterprise accounts for a third of the Russian market of composite materials and is among the world’s top five leading enterprises in this industry.
The volume of R&D and experimental design work and the deliveries of serial-produced items made of polymer composite materials annually grows by no less than 20% and makes up about 20 tonnes of carbon fiber products a year. The larger part of products made of polymer composite materials are manufactured for the aerospace industry.
Russia may launch 3rd military communications satellite on December 21
The launch of the third Blagovest military communications satellite is planned for December 21 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a source in the domestic space industry told TASS on Thursday.
"The launch of the Blagovest satellite is planned for December 21 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Proton-M carrier rocket," the source said.
A final decision on the date and on the launch will be made by the state commission, the source said.
A source in the space industry earlier told TASS that the Blagovest might be launched in the third ten-day period of December but declined to specify the date.
Head of the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Nikolai Testoyedov earlier told TASS that the company would manufacture two Blagovest military satellites at the end of this year and at the beginning of 2019, correspondingly.
According to him, both satellites are expected to be launched by a Proton-M booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The launch of the fourth Blagovest satellite is planned for the first quarter of 2019, if the state commission makes the corresponding decision.
Blagovest satellites
The first Blagovest military satellite, the Kosmos-2520, was launched from the Baikonur spaceport on August 17, 2017. The second satellite of this series, the Kosmos-2526, was launched on April 19, 2018 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Initially, its liftoff was planned for December 25, 2017 but was rescheduled due to problems with an onboard device.
Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to deploy a grouping of four Blagovest satellites by 2020.
These satellites are designed to provide high-speed access to the Internet, transmit data and offer telephone and video conference communications using the advanced Ka-and Ku-band frequencies.
Moscow court to pass sentence on plotters of terror attack during 2017 FIFA Confederations
The Moscow District Military Court will pass sentence on the Gakayev brothers, who were involved in plotting a terror attack in Moscow during the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, on November 23, the court’s spokesperson Irina Zhirnova told TASS on Thursday.
"The court will pass sentence concerning the Gakayev brothers at 12:00 Moscow time on November 23," she said.
The Gakayev brothers, along with their accomplices, were detained in June of last year.
WATCH Russian Hikers Move Towards Life-Threatening Erupting Volcano
After managing to safely complete the risky walk, the hikers released a horrifying video online which displays a massive mushroom cloud that has emerged out of Ebeko volcano's crater.
A group of hikers walked right up to an erupting volcano, Ebeko, in far eastern Russia. Its crater was spewing a huge threatening thick grey ash cloud into the air.
The extravagant walk took place on one of Russia's Kuril Islands, Paramushir Island, located in an area close to Severo-Kurilsk.
The eruption comes after Ebeko awoke from dormancy in 2016, and the volcano has repeatedly spewed ash since then.
Moscow Region’s mammoth discovery: Archaeologists dig up fossils with buried ‘treasure’
Archaeologists have discovered an early settlement, bones and a skull of a mammoth containing treasure in the town of Zaraysk, in the Moscow Region, the press service of the regional Ministry of Culture said on Wednesday.
Archeologists unveil materials on Moscow Region’s mammoth find
A detailed analysis of the treasure, found in a skull of a mammoth during excavations at the Zaraysk Kremlin State Museum, showed that it had been left by an ancient craftsman who had the skill of making tools and hunting equipment, expedition head of Russian Academy of Sciences Archaeology Institute, Sergei Lev told a news conference on Thursday.
"From a typological point of view, things (found in the skull of a mammoth) are a spear-tip and a cutting tool used for bone processing. Scraping and bow-shaped blades used for scouring animal skin, and a fragment of an ancient knife, in addition to many other things. (This is) quite a big set of tools. So here it is, the craftsman’s set, that people hid in the skull of a mammoth," he added.
However, researchers cannot say for sure why the treasure had been left in the skull, suggesting that early humans could have just forgotten about it, saved it for some specific work, or those objects might have been sacred to them.
The Zaraysk site is the most ancient human settlement in the Moscow Region. Earthworks here have been conducted for several years with this year’s dig having kicked off in August.
