Russian Exports to China Fall Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
Russia's export volumes to China fell by more than a quarter in the first 1-1/2 months of 2020 as China grappled with the coronavirus epidemic, Russia's Izvestia newspaper cited the customs service as saying on Wednesday.Moscow has imposed various restrictions on travel to China, its biggest trade partner, to stop the spread of the virus and said on Tuesday it would not allow Chinese citizens to enter Russia from Feb. 20.Russian exports to China fell 27.6% year on year from Jan. 1 to Feb. 10, the Federal Customs Service in Russia's Far East was cited as saying. In the first 10 days of February, exports halved from 237,000 tonnes to 118…
Russia Struggles to Modernize its Navy
President Vladimir Putin calls improving the Russian navy's combat capabilities a priority.The unfinished husks of three guided-missile frigates that have languished for three years at a Baltic shipyard show that is easier said than done.Earmarked for Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the frigates fell victim to sanctions imposed by Ukraine in 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, prompting Kiev to ban the sale of the Ukrainian-made engines needed to propel them.With Moscow unable to quickly build replacement engines for the Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates, construction stopped.
Russia Beefs Up Baltic Fleet Amid NATO Tensions
Russia is sharply upgrading the firepower of its Baltic Fleet in Kaliningrad by adding warships armed with long-range cruise missiles to counter NATO's build-up in the region, Russian media reported on Wednesday. There was no official confirmation from Moscow, but the reports will raise tensions in the Baltic, already heightened since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, and are likely to cause alarm in Poland and Lithuania which border Kaliningrad. The reported deployment comes as NATO is planning its biggest military build-up on Russia's borders since the Cold War to deter possible Russian aggression and will be seen as a riposte to that.
Russia to Build Permanent Syrian Naval Base, Eyes Other Outposts
Russia will create a permanent naval base in Syria to expand its military footprint in its closest Middle East ally, a government official said on Monday, a week after Moscow said it was considering reopening Soviet-era bases in Vietnam and Cuba. The move, announced by Russian Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov, is further evidence Russia is building up its capabilities in Syria despite a partial drawdown in March and another sign it is digging in for the long haul to help prop up President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia Plans to Raise Sunken Nuclear Submarines
The two submarines need to be raised & scrapped so as to avoid radiation pollution & are located in the northern Barents and Kara Seas. The ministry will announce an international tender, which may include companies from the France, the Netherlands, South Korea and United States, as the Russian Navy does not have the necessary equipment to carry out deep-sea salvage operations, the official Russian news agency, Izvestia informs RiaNovosti. The B-159 (K-159), a November class nuclear submarine…
