MOSCOW — Russia plans to massively strengthen its navy against the backdrop of tensions with the West.
"The US and other NATO states are expanding their military naval presence in the world's oceans, including in the waters directly bordering Russia," said Nikolai Patrushev, a close adviser to President Vladimir Putin and the country's former intelligence chief.
He claimed Russia needs to modernize its fleet because trade routes are being blocked and cargo and passenger ships of independent nations are being stopped, searched and in some cases confiscated under the pretext of the fight against piracy.
"Ensuring the constant readiness of our fleet to deter and prevent military conflicts and to protect our country in accordance with international norms is necessary," Patrushev said on Wednesday.
Putin had ordered the strategic documents on the development of the navy to be revised and corresponding instructions have been sent to the ministries and shipbuilding companies. Details of the naval armament programme were not disclosed.
Russia is using its navy in its war against Ukraine, which has been going on for more than two years. Ships from the Black Sea Fleet and the flotilla in the Caspian Sea regularly fire missiles at cities and other targets in Ukraine.
Following heavy losses - such as the sinking of the flagship Moskva - the main part of the Black Sea Fleet has withdrawn from its base on the Crimean peninsula, which has been annexed since 2014, to Novorossiysk in the Krasnodar region.
Ukrainian hackers disrupt Russian online banking, mobile, internet
Computer experts from Ukraine's military intelligence service reportedly disrupted Russian banking systems, mobile phone and internet providers briefly on Tuesday, several Ukrainian media reported, citing intelligence sources.
Russian customers were temporarily unable to access their online banking or pay by card for several hours. Customers saw an announcement on their Russian bank's apps that there was a system failure, and the faults would be rectified as soon as possible.
The services were working again on Wednesday.
Ukrainian secret services regularly claim successful online attacks on Russian resources. However, they have not yet succeeded in carrying out an attack on the scale of the one on the Ukrainian mobile phone provider Kyivstar in December last year. Its services were paralysed for days.
Car bomb explodes in Moscow injuring senior military officer
A high-ranking Russian military officer was seriously injured in a bomb attack in the north of Moscow on Wednesday morning, authorities said.
A car bomb exploded when the man got into the car, injuring two people, investigators said. Local media reported that the officer's legs had been torn off in the explosion and that his wife was also injured.
A report in the Kommersant newspaper suggested that the injured man is a senior military intelligence officer. He is said to have been responsible for satellite communications in the military and had served in the war against Ukraine. No official details were initially available.
Investigators were deployed to the car park in a residential area to clarify the background to the attack. A Ukrainian lead was also being investigated, it was said.
There have been several bomb attacks on Russian territory since Moscow launched its war of aggression against Ukraine, including in the capital. Investigators always hold Ukrainian secret services responsible for the attacks.
Videos from surveillance cameras showing an explosion of the parked vehicle circulated on social networks. The footage showed the destroyed car and other damaged vehicles.
©2024 dpa GmbH. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
