▲ In a video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense, the launch of a hypersonic cruise missile is observed Zirkon from a frigate of that country’s navy, during military exercises carried out in the eastern Mediterranean.Photo Ap
AFP and Sputnik
La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, December 4, 2024, p. 23
Moscow. Russia reported yesterday that it carried out exercises that included missile launches, some of them hypersonic, in the eastern Mediterranean, at a time when its Syrian ally, Bashar al Assad, loses ground to a coalition of rebels led by radical Islamists.
High-precision missiles were fired into the sea and into the air in the eastern Mediterranean, in an exercise to test the methods of joint action of the Russian Navy and air forcesindicated the Ministry of Defense in a statement.
Hypersonic missiles launched Zirkon and a cruise missile Kalibr from the frigates Admiral Gorchkov and Admiral Golovko, as well as from the submarine Novorossiysk, the ministry specified.
The designated targets were hit by direct hitsadded the ministry, and detailed that these practices, which involved more than a thousand elements, 10 ships and 24 planes, were planned.
Russia is one of Al Assad’s main allies and has a naval and air base in Syria, where it has intervened militarily since 2015.
On the front with Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrei Sibiga signed a memorandum of understanding to provide $825 million in new assistance to kyiv, the State Department spokesperson reported. , Matthew Miller.
In the middle of the year, Washington announced a package of more than $500 million for energy assistance to Ukraine, plus $324 million previously announced by the Agency for International Development.
This financing will repair war-damaged energy infrastructure, expand generation, encourage private sector investment, and protect energy facilities.Vice President Kamala Harris then reported in a statement.
Sibiga demanded that the Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) take strong and historic decisions to strengthen Ukraine against Russia and pointed out that for kyiv it is the moment of truth in order to provide geopolitical certainty.
We need firm decisions to strengthen our capabilitiessaid the head of Ukrainian diplomacy upon his arrival at the meeting with his NATO counterparts, in which the EU high representative for foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, also participated.
The Secretary General of the transatlantic mechanism, Mark Rutte, urged allies to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense and increase military support to the country.
The allies are on their (Ukraine’s) side. We need to ensure the protection of energy infrastructure and do more on air defense to protect your country as much as possible. We also need to provide the required military aidRutte said in a joint speech with Sibiga.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reiterated in a statement that it hopes to receive a formal invitation to join NATO as soon as possible. We will not accept alternatives or substitutions to full integrationhe stated in a statement.
