Sergei Shoigu News

Ukraine struck a large Russian landing warship in Crimea with cruise missiles in an overnight attack that killed at least one person and could hinder any Russian attempt to seize more Ukrainian territory along the Black Sea coast.The Russian defence ministry, cited by the Interfax news agency, said Ukraine had used air-launched missiles to attack the Crimean port of Feodosia and that the Novocherkassk large landing ship had been damaged.Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had briefed President Vladimir Putin in detail about the attack, the Kremlin said.

A Chinese research vessel flanked by coast guard and nearly a dozen boats on Wednesday entered a gas block operated by Russian and Vietnamese state firms, two monitoring groups said, another potential flashpoint in the South China Sea.It follows a pattern of assertive moves of late by Beijing in its neighbors' exclusive economic zones (EEZ), as it presses its claim to sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, testing the United States and its allies at a time of heightened regional tension.Strong relations between Russia and China are a major factor supporting global stability…

Russia will conduct missile launches and torpedo tests as part of a surprise inspection of its Pacific naval fleet, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday.The drills come amid heightened tension in the Asia-Pacific region, as the United States and South Korea conduct joint air exercises following an intercontinental ballistic missile test by North Korea."The main objective of this inspection is to increase the ability of the Armed Forces to repel the aggression of a probable enemy from the direction of ocean and sea…

President Vladimir Putin sent a frigate to the Atlantic Ocean armed with new generation hypersonic cruise missiles on Wednesday, a signal to the West that Russia will not back down over the war in Ukraine.Russia, China, and the United States are in a race to develop hypersonic weapons, which are seen as a way to gain an edge over any adversary because of their speeds - above five times the speed of sound - and maneuverability.In a video conference with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Igor Krokhmal…

Russia said on Wednesday it would resume its participation in a deal to free up vital grain exports from war-torn Ukraine after suspending it over the weekend in a move that had threatened to exacerbate hunger across the world. The Russian defense ministry said it had received written guarantees from Kyiv not to use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia. "The Russian Federation considers that the guarantees received at the moment appear sufficient, and resumes the implementation of the agreement," the ministry statement said.

Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal on Friday to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion can be eased.The accord crowned two months of talks brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, a NATO member that has good relations with both Russia and Ukraine and controls the straits leading into the Black Sea.Speaking at the signing ceremony in Istanbul, U.N. Secretary General Antonio…

Turkey is calling on all sides in the Ukraine crisis to respect an international pact on passage through the Turkish straits to the Black Sea, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was cited as saying on Tuesday after Ankara closed access.NATO ally Turkey borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good ties with both. Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Ankara has the right to limit transit through its Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits during wartime.This allows it to curb Russian warships going to the Black Sea.

Russia's navy practiced firing at targets in the Black Sea off the coast of annexed Crimea using its Bastion coastal missile defense system, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Thursday as Ukraine held joint military drills with the United States.The exercises in Ukraine involving U.S. and other NATO troops are set to run until Oct. 1. They follow huge war games staged by neighboring Russia and Belarus earlier this month that alarmed the West.Kyiv's relations with Moscow plummeted…

The nuclear icebreaker Lenin, the pride and joy of the Soviet Union's Arctic great game, lies at perpetual anchor in the frigid water here. A relic of the Cold War, it is now a museum. But nearly three decades after the Lenin was taken out of service to be turned into a visitor attraction, Russia is again on the march in the Arctic and building new nuclear icebreakers. It is part of a push to firm Moscow's hand in the High North as it vies for dominance with traditional rivals Canada, the United States, and Norway as well as newcomer China.

A new era of dominance in a polar region opening up. The size and scale of Russia's military activities in the Arctic are producing negative perceptions and growing suspicion in the West. UPI reports that  Russia, long seen as an aggressive and unpredictable bear in international politics, has stepped up its military activities in the region – including large-scale exercises, an extensive modernization program and the reconstruction of infrastructure. Observers, mainstream media in particular, have adopted the Cold War narratives of the Russian bear vying for military superiority, border delineations and dominance over natural resources in the High North. This is something that's raising fears that the Arctic could become the next crisis zone between Russia and the West.

Russian media reports that a Russian diesel-electric submarine operating submerged in the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday launched Kalibr cruise missiles at  Islamic State terrorists’ (ISIL) vital facilities for first time in Syria. Agence France-Presse, citing Russian news agencies, reported that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military had launched strikes in Syria for the first time from a submarine stationed in the Mediterranean. The 3M-54 Kalibr missiles were launched from the Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine “Rostov-on-Don”, Defense Minister told President Vladimir Putin. Russia’s warships based in the Caspian and Mediterranean seas launched similar missiles targeting ISIL Takfiri group (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant) positions in late November.

Russian naval units are conducting a defense drill in the Barents Sea, which Russia shares with Norway, involving more than 20 vessels from the country’s Baltic Fleet, as part of the Russian Northern Fleet exercises. The press service of Russia’s Western Military District said in a statement that various ships of the auxiliary fleet, diesel-electric submarines, small missile and anti-submarine boats are participating in the drill. The ‘strike and search group’, as the Russian Ministry of Defence referred to it, from the navy’s Northern Fleet comprised of Tu-142 ‘Bear’ naval aviation reconnaissance bombers and Il-38 ‘Dolphin’ maritime patrol jets as well as two small anti-submarine ships and support vessels.

Russian President Vladimir Putin put the nation’s northern fleet on full alert in the Arctic Ocean this week, as the U.S. and several Eastern European NATO countries conduct a series of military exercises near Russia's border. According to the ministry, the operational zone of Russian warships during the exercises will be expanded to several areas of the Norwegian Sea. The order issued on Monday allows for the mobilization of 38,000 military personnel, 3,360 pieces of equipment, 41 ships, 15 submarines and 110 airplanes, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. This was followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to bring the country’s Northern Fleet to full alert in a snap combat readiness exercise.

A Russian intelligence warship Viktor Leonov CCB-175 docked in Havana on Tuesday, January 20, a day before the start of historic US-Cuba talks aimed at normalizing diplomatic relations, reports AFP. The spy ship arrived at a passenger cruise terminal in full public view for what a Russian embassy official called a “friendly” three-day stay. There was nothing stealthy about the arrival of the ship, which was moored to a pier in Old Havana where cruise ships often dock. But the visit was not officially announced by Cuban authorities. Observers feel that the whole incident looked like Russian President Vladimir Putin sends Cold War-style message to Washington on day that Kremlin announces plans to extend global military presence with new bases.

Russia will take France to court within six months over its failure to deliver the first of two Mistral-class warships to the Russian navy, the Russian Defense Minister has said. “There is a contract, so everything must be strictly complied with,” Sergei Shoigu said. The dates there are split into three parts. The first one is in January, and it has already been done. It was an explanation why [the contract has not been fulfilled]. The other dates are three and six months, he added. The Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation issued a warning notice to France on Jan. 13 after the delivery of the Vladivostok, scheduled to be delivered in late 2014, and the Sevastopol, set to be handed over in 2015, failed to materialize.

The United States is considering limiting hi-tech exports to Russia's Arctic oil and gas industry as part of plans to strengthen sanctions against Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine, a U.S. envoy said on Wednesday. On the eve of a NATO summit in Wales, the United States is expected to join the European Union in imposing new sanctions on Russia after EU leaders agreed at the weekend that the direct engagement of Russian troops in Ukraine in support of separatist rebels merited such a step. "We are looking at further tightening of restrictions on energy exports and the licensing of hi-tech exports, not only to the energy sector but specifically to Arctic oil and gas," the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Anthony Gardner, told Reuters in Brussels.

Russia will beef up its Black Sea fleet this year with new submarines and warships, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted as saying on Tuesday, following the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. New air defense and marine infantry units would also be deployed at the fleet's bases, which include Sevastopol in Crimea. "New submarines will join the Black Sea fleet, as well as new-generation surface ships, this year. All this requires much attention from us," Interfax news agency quoted Shoigu as saying. Shoigu said the fleet would receive funding of 86.7 billion roubles ($2.43 billion) by 2020. The fleet, which analysts say comprises around 40 frontline warships…

The Russian navy will add three new large landing ships next year to the 19 already in service, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted as saying on Tuesday. The Russian navy is under scrutiny during a widening international crisis over Crimea, a region with an ethnic Russian majority in Ukraine which Moscow has effectively wrestled from Kiev in recent days, causing outrage in the West. President Vladimir Putin has ordered troops involved in a military exercise in central and western Ukraine back to base, a move that appeared intended to help ease tension. But the timing of Shoigu's comments signalled Moscow was still flexing its muscles, underlining Moscow's commitment to building up its armed forces in coming years. Russia's Black Sea Fleet has a base in Crimea.

Reuters - Russia is taking measures to ensure security of the facilities and arms at its Black Sea Naval Fleet based on the Crimean coast in southern Ukraine, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday. "We are carefully watching what is happening in Crimea, what is happening around the Black Sea Fleet," Russian state news agency RIA reported Shoigu as saying. "We are taking measures to guarantee the safety of facilities, infrastructure and arsenals of the Black Sea Fleet." He gave no specific details

A Russian spy ship slipped into Havana Bay for an unannounced visit during a period of turmoil in Ukraine and displays of military strength elsewhere in the world. The Viktor Leonov SSV-175, part of the Vishnya class of intelligence ships, quietly entered Cuban waters earlier this week and was docked at a cruise ship terminal on Thursday, its crew casually taking in the view of the old colonial section of the Cuban capital as passers-by gawked. Russian warships have come and gone in Cuba since the collapse of the Soviet Union…