03/17/2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 00:53 Russia wants to equip submarines with hypersonic missiles +++
The Russian Navy wants to equip its submarines with modern hypersonic weapons. “Let no one doubt that we are doing this,” Navy chief Nikolai Yevmenov told the army newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda. The admiral did not specify a date for the conversion of the submarine fleet to the new missiles. According to him, there are currently around ten submarine types in service, belonging to four different generations. The modern guided missiles of the Kalibr type have been tested on second-generation submarines. “And today, all submarines in service can be equipped with it, including strategic submarine cruisers.”
+++ 10:06 p.m. Poll: Majority of Swiss for rapprochement with NATO for the first time +++
In neutral Switzerland, opinion on defense policy has shifted since the start of the war in Ukraine. According to a poll commissioned by the Ministry of Defense and published today, for the first time more than half of the population supports their country’s rapprochement with the transatlantic military alliance NATO. According to this, 55 percent approved of such a strategy in January, 10 percentage points more than a year earlier. 53 percent were of the opinion that neutrality made it possible to plan Switzerland’s military defense together with NATO. However, two-thirds of those questioned continued to oppose joining NATO. According to the survey, approval of Switzerland’s neutrality is still very high at 91 percent, but this value has fallen by six percentage points.
+++ 21:35 report: Chinese companies are said to have delivered assault rifles and protective equipment to Russia +++
While Beijing today again called on Kiev and Moscow to hold peace talks, a report by the News site “Politico” published, which revolves around arms deliveries from Chinese companies to Moscow. According to this, at least 1000 assault rifles and other equipment that could be used for military purposes were delivered. Including drone parts and body armor, it is said. “Politico” relies on trade and customs data available to you, which are intended to prove the export to Russia. According to this data, these deliveries took place between June and December 2022. Whether the equipment was used in the Ukraine war is not confirmed.
“Politico” specifies that the Chinese arms company China North Industries Group Corporation Limited is said to have sent the rifles to the Russian company Tekhkrim in June 2022. These are said to have been CQ-A assault rifles, which are replicas of the US M16 rifle. According to Politico, Tekhkrim does business with the Russian state and military. The rifles are said to have been marked as “civilian hunting rifles” in the documents. Customs data does not show that Beijing is selling a large amount of arms to Moscow, Politico writes. However, the delivery of “dual-use” equipment, i.e. items that are used both civilly and militarily, raises questions about Beijing’s involvement.
+++ 21:00 “We are going into the gray area”: Ukrainian unit is chasing saboteurs in the border area +++
In the Russian-Ukrainian border area in the Kharkiv region, Russian troops are repeatedly planting mines and other explosive devices. ntv accompanies a Ukrainian reconnaissance squad on a nightly hunt for the saboteurs in the gray area.
You can read earlier developments in the Ukraine war here.