Latest news with #GUR
Miami Herald
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
What North Korea's New Russian Weapons Tech Means for South Korea
It's not just Ukraine that is now facing the low, buzzing hum of Iranian-designed explosive drones. It is the U.S.'s key allies in Asia, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has declared. "This must be addressed now—not when thousands of upgraded Shahed drones and ballistic missiles begin to threaten Seoul and Tokyo," the Ukrainian leader said on June 10. Shahed drones, a brainchild of Tehran, have borne down on Ukrainian air defenses since the early months of the full-scale war Russia launched in February 2022. While slow-moving, the uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as Geran drones, are difficult for Ukraine's strained air defenses to detect. They're known for their low and distinctive buzzing sound that signals they're closing in on a target, ferrying along warheads that can shatter or explode. The scale of attacks on Ukraine varies, but Kyiv said Moscow launched 479 UAVs, including Shaheds, at the country in one night earlier this month. Russia has now agreed to help North Korea set up sites on the divided peninsula to manufacture Shahed drones, said Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Kyiv's GUR military intelligence agency. "It will for sure bring changes in the military balance in the region between North Korea and South Korea," the intelligence chief told The War Zone outlet. Experts agree. "This is gravely concerning," William Alberque, a visiting fellow at the Henry L. Stimson and a former director of NATO's Arms Control, Disarmament and WMD Non-Proliferation Center, previously said. Drones aren't the only thing North Korea is getting from Russia. Becoming embroiled in the Ukraine war—and turning into the only country outside the two warring nations to commit troops to the front line—has bought North Korea an economic and military hand-up from Russia, observers say. Western intelligence suggests North Korea is receiving help with its advanced missiles, space and nuclear programs from Russia, on top of Ukraine's assessment of new drone factories. Russia and North Korea announced a mutual defense pact in June 2024, which was inked in November. While South Korea is not yet prepared for this new threat from its northern neighbor, it won't be long before Seoul gets there, analysts say. North Korea has contributed three major things to Russia's war effort against Ukraine: Troops, ammunition and missiles. Pyongyang sent roughly 11,000 of its troops to Russia's western Kursk region late last year to help push Ukrainian forces that controlled a chunk of territory over the border back to Ukrainian soil. U.K. military intelligence assessed this month that the North Korean forces were replenished with some limited reinforcements, but that more than 6,000 of the soldiers had been killed or injured. Assessments of how well the troops performed varied wildly. Some reports suggested the soldiers were little more than "cannon fodder" and ill-prepared for drone-heavy combat, while others described the fighters hailing from a heavily militarized society as disciplined, in good shape and adept with weapons. Either way, Pyongyang is learning in a way Seoul is not. "The South Korean military's relative lack of combat experience has to be mentioned, especially given that North Korean forces are now gaining meaningful experience fighting a well-equipped conventional enemy in Ukraine," said Jacob Parakilas, research leader for defense strategy, policy and capabilities at the European branch of the Rand think tank. The combat experience and the technological expertise North Korea is thought to be accruing "pose a new challenge to South Korea," added Ramon Pacheco Pardo, professor of international relations at King's College London. This will "accelerate North Korea's development of its own military capabilities, and even though South Korea is already working on its own preparedness against them, it lacks the battlefield experience that the North Korea army is gaining," he told Newsweek. Missiles North Korea has supplied short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, keeping up the stockpiles to fire on Ukraine. Ukraine's air force frequently reports the use of North Korea's KN-23, also known as Hwasong-11, short-range ballistic missiles, in overnight strikes. Ukrainian officials had described the earlier iterations of the KN-23 as deeply unreliable and unable to strike its targets consistently. But the Hwasong-11 of mid-2025 is an "absolutely different missile," and much more accurate, Budanov said. The KN-23 is similar to Russia's SS-26 ballistic missile, "so it makes sense that Russia is able to rapidly fix shortcomings in North Korea's designs," Alberque told Newsweek. SS-26 is the NATO moniker for Moscow's Iskander-M mobile short-range ballistic missile system. North Korea's improved designs are "concerning," he added, despite South Korea's strong web of air defenses. Air defenses can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers of incoming threats if there are more targets to intercept than interceptor missiles in launchers. Some of North Korea's factories, mainly those producing weapons and ammunition, are operating at "full capacity," South Korea's then-defense minister, Shin Won-sik, said in February 2024. "If the North Korean missiles that make it through are more accurate and capable, it's a fairly substantial problem for the South," Alberque said. Drones The Ukraine war has been a crucible for drone advancement. "The longer this war continues on our territory, the more warfare technologies evolve, and the greater the threat will be to everyone," Zelensky said earlier this month. "As of today, North Korea likely has [the] advantage, and that advantage will grow exponentially over the next year," Alberque added. Pyongyang has already sent drones over the border and into South Korea's airspace. Seoul established a drone-focused command in September 2023, not long after five drones made it into the South's territory in late 2022. South Korea's military later said one of the drones had made it into a no-fly zone around the presidential office in the capital. "I do not believe that South Korea is ready right now, but they are taking some steps, including creating structures and working with industry, and they do have time to study and prepare; however, not too much time," Alberque said. "South Korea has a lot of work to do." Experts say Seoul should be paying close attention to how drones have been used in Ukraine, as well as in the Middle East. Any information funneled from Ukraine can feed into South Korea's defenses, Alberque added. Pyongyang has adopted an increasingly belligerent tone toward South Korea, sharply departing from the long-held policy of reunification with the south and doubling down on anti-Washington rhetoric. North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, put the country's industry on a war footing, pumping out weapons as Pyongyang committed to building a large, modern military. South Korea has very capable forces in its own right, supported by a defense industry that is rapidly making a name for itself. It's got a very clearly defined purpose, too. "The South Korean armed forces have one primary mission and focus, which is maintaining the ability to win a war with the North," said Parakilas. Analysts say there are some areas where South Korea has the upper hand. "South Korea still has a technological advantage over North Korea plus the support of its ally, the U.S., which Russia cannot match in terms of technological development," said Pacheco Pardo. How the U.S. slots in has a significant impact on how South Korea would fight the North, said Alberque. "Whether or not they have the full support of the American military makes a pretty substantial difference to planning," he added. Another of South Korea's strengths is its navy. Seoul's capabilities outweigh Pyongyang's, Parakilas said, adding North Korea won't be able to pull any real naval experience from the land war in Ukraine. "Of the capabilities that Moscow seems to be helping Pyongyang with, the surface fleet is probably the least worrisome," said Parakilas. In May, North Korea tried to launch a new destroyer at its northeastern Chongjin port—an ill-fated attempt state media reported ended in a "serious accident." The 5,000-ton warship was damaged "due to inexperienced command and operational carelessness," state media reported. It was an unusually candid public assessment for a country seeking to exude military strength. Kim, who was present for the bungled launch, irately denounced the incident as "criminal." At least four North Korean officials were arrested. North Korea said in mid-June the formerly capsized ship had been successfully relaunched. Related Articles US Stages Air Combat Drills With Allies Amid North Korea ThreatUS Ally Reveals Chinese Military Activity Near American BaseDonald Trump Issues Next Trade Deal Update After ChinaUS Ally Seeks China's Help in Dealing With North Korea 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
IOL News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Our Soil, Their War: How Ukraine, NATO and the DA Hijacked South Africa
Ukrainian military intelligence is reportedly conducting covert operations in South Africa, raising serious questions about the implications for national sovereignty and international relations. Image: IOL / Ron AI Last week I reported that Ukrainian military intelligence operatives are conducting clandestine activities in South Africa. Surveillance. Disruption of Russian linked logistics. Plans to attack Russian naval presence in Cape Town. These actions are carried out by GUR agents, foreign military operatives with protected diplomatic status, made legal under a visa agreement quietly ushered in by Democratic Alliance (DA) Minister Leon Schreiber in late 2024. The story broke through veteran Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. His article was not just a piece of reporting. It functioned as an official communique from the heart of the United States intelligence apparatus. Ignatius has long served as a narrative conduit for the CIA and Pentagon. When he singles out South Africa in an exposé about Ukrainian covert war, the implications are pointed. Yet the reaction from South Africa's leadership has been to bury their heads in the sand. No word from President Cyril Ramaphosa. No inquiry from Parliament. No comment from Minister of State Security Khumbudzo Ntshavheni. No diplomatic protest from Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola. No explanation from Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs, a department now compromised by Democratic Alliance control. And so the questions remain. Who authorised the presence of a foreign military intelligence force in South Africa? What role did Ramaphosa play in allowing Ukraine to wage shadow warfare from our territory? Why has the state avoided even a minimal response? The GUR claimed they tracked the Lady R to Simon's Town in 2022 and alleged that arms were being transferred to Russia. They admitted to interfering with a Russian cargo flight and acknowledged that their agents contemplated an attack on the Smolnyy, a Russian naval ship docked in Cape Town. These are acts of hostility against a BRICS partner. They were conducted from within our borders. And they have gone unchallenged by the executive. The silence is coordinated. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading GUR chief Kyrylo Budanov has publicly declared Ukraine's mission to target Russian assets globally. He posed a rhetorical question to Ignatius: 'Why should Africa be an exception?' It wasn't a question. It was a threat veiled in smug certainty, certainty that the West's sphere of influence now includes South Africa. Ignatius's article performs a layered function. To Pretoria: You are being monitored. Your diplomatic alignments are under audit. The so called 'non aligned' position is seen as defiance, and defiance has consequences. To Moscow: Your partners are compromised. Your alliances in Africa are penetrable. Your backchannels can be severed at will. To Kyiv: Celebrate your reach, but stay within boundaries. The failed attempt to strike the Smolnyy is mentioned, but the narrative steers blame away from Washington. The mission was conceived in Kyiv, not coordinated through Langley. Deniability remains intact. Ignatius uses his platform to draw the blueprint for a global dirty war, a campaign of psychological and covert disruption dressed up as proactive defence. The framing legitimises a foreign military's activities in sovereign countries far from the battlefield. Africa is presented as free territory for geopolitical experimentation. Nowhere in his column does Ignatius interrogate the legality of these actions. He valorises GUR strikes in Mali and Central African Republic, including a drone attack that reportedly killed over 130 people. This is terrorism, not liberation. It is framed as righteous because it aligns with United States foreign policy. The Gaze, a Kyiv based media outlet tightly aligned with Ukrainian government messaging, amplified the South African aspects of the Ignatius story almost immediately. Its coverage read like a warning to Pretoria. The timing points to a coordinated narrative campaign, not a random editorial interest in Africa. The deeper objective becomes clear: push South Africa further from BRICS and closer to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) interests. Discredit its partnerships. Isolate its diplomatic independence. Expose the African National Congress (ANC)'s internal fractures and accelerate its ideological collapse. Mali Has Severed Diplomatic Ties With Ukraine And is Now Set To Ban Ukrainian Goods From Entering The Country. The decision follows allegations of Ukraine's intelligence support to rēbel groups behind several attācks on Malian Troops and Russian Wagner forces. — Africa Archives (@AfricaArchives_) June 17, 2025 Ramaphosa's silence is more than evasion. It may point to collaboration. His grooming by corporate capital in the 1970s positioned him as a long game candidate for imperial management. Phala Phala exposed a man entangled in quiet deals and unaccountable wealth. His presidency survives scandals that would sink others, because he remains useful. And with each silent concession, the idea of an ANC government dies a little more. The visa exemptions that granted Ukrainian agents access to our soil were signed under a Democratic Alliance controlled ministry. They became active under Ramaphosa's watch. There has been no reassessment of that agreement. No attempt to vet or restrict those entering. No safeguards against abuse. If Ukraine uses South African territory to target Russia, Pretoria becomes complicit. Under the United Nations Charter, this constitutes a breach of international peace. The consequences will not only be diplomatic. They will be structural. South Africa will be recast as a proxy zone in NATO's extended theatre. Its voice on global platforms will carry less weight. Its people will pay the price for elite submission. The Black working class has already seen how white capital benefits from chaos. Under a Democratic Alliance led administration, land reform will stall. Redistribution will be erased. Afrocentric education will vanish. Political resistance will be criminalised under new definitions of extremism. What was claimed back after apartheid will be recolonised before decolonisation ever begins. Black political movements—the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK), African Transformation Movement (ATM), and others—must see this moment clearly. Fragmentation will ensure the fall. A revolutionary coalition must form, rooted in sovereignty and grounded in anti imperialist clarity. Otherwise, we hand our country to NATO's security architecture wrapped in DA branding. South Africa has become a chessboard. The pawns are moving. The king remains silent. The war has arrived quietly. And our government let it in with both hands. Ukrainian military intelligence is reportedly conducting covert operations in South Africa, raising serious questions about the implications for national sovereignty and international relations. Image: IOL
Russia Today
4 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Kiev and London plotting ‘bloody provocations'
Kiev and London have been plotting a series of 'bloody provocations' to escalate the Ukraine conflict and disrupt dialogue between Moscow and Washington, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has warned. In a statement issued on Monday, the agency described growing coordination between Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) and its military intelligence (GUR) with British intelligence, which it said is due to Kiev's 'mounting battlefield setbacks and deepening moral exhaustion.' Such sabotage operations typically follow a set pattern, the SVR said, with Britain planning and coordinating, and Ukrainian operatives carrying out the attacks. The report suggested that the same approach was used in recent railway sabotage in Russia's Bryansk and Kursk Regions, which Moscow denounced as Ukrainian 'terrorist attacks.' The incidents killed seven and injured over 120, including children. The agency also cited the June 1 Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian airbases as part of the same playbook. The 'Anglo-Ukrainian terrorist tandem' is now preparing more attacks, the SVR claimed, aiming to escalate the conflict, derail Moscow-Washington dialogue, and convince the White House to maintain large-scale military support for Kiev. According to the agency, one such scenario involves a false flag Russian torpedo attack on a US Navy ship in the Baltic Sea. Ukraine has already supplied Soviet-made torpedoes to the UK, the SVR said. Some are meant to detonate at a 'safe distance,' while one will be left unexploded 'as evidence of Moscow's malicious activity.' Ukrainian operatives, it added, are prepared to carry out the plan. Another alleged scheme involves British, Ukrainian, and Northern European partners 'accidentally' recovering Russian-made naval mines in the Baltic, supposedly placed to sabotage international maritime shipping routes. 'Kiev has become the perfect executor of vile provocations and terrorist acts for perfidious Albion [England],' the SVR concluded. The agency's chief, Sergey Naryshkin, has repeatedly warned of possible British provocations, saying the SVR is well aware of London's covert hostile activities against Russia.
IOL News
13-06-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Ukrainian Operatives in South Africa: The War Arrives Quietly
Ukrainian military intelligence is conducting covert operations in South Africa, revealing a complex web of international relations and security implications that challenge the nation's sovereignty. Image: IOL / Ron AI On June 6, 2025, veteran Washington Post columnist David Ignatius published a revealing exposé that sent shockwaves through diplomatic and intelligence communities. Citing high-level intelligence sources, Ignatius confirmed what has long been whispered in strategic circles. Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) has been conducting covert operations in South Africa. These include surveillance, disruption of alleged weapons shipments to Russia, and even consideration of attacks on Russian naval assets in Cape Town. Ignatius is no ordinary columnist. He has deep ties to the United States intelligence establishment. His columns often mirror the thinking of the CIA and are used to signal key geopolitical developments. When Ignatius puts something in print, it carries the weight of the security apparatus behind it. According to the article, GUR operatives tracked the Russian cargo ship Lady R to Simon's Town naval base in December 2022. They claimed the vessel was there to receive South African arms destined for Russia. It was GUR, not U.S. intelligence, that first delivered this claim to the American government. The U.S. ambassador in Pretoria went public months later. The damage to South Africa's international credibility was immediate. The public inquiry later found no evidence of wrongdoing, but the diplomatic blow had already landed. Ignatius goes further. He states that GUR agents also disrupted a weapons transfer involving a Russian cargo plane in 2022. In August 2023, when the Russian training ship Smolnyy docked in Cape Town, some GUR officers reportedly considered launching an attack. The operation was ultimately abandoned, but the plan itself was real. Against this backdrop, the South African Government of National Unity quietly moved to grant visa-free entry to holders of Ukrainian diplomatic, official, and service passports. This was first publicly announced by Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber of the Democratic Alliance on 27 October 2024. The waiver was said to apply only to official travel and still required the President's formal ratification. Nonetheless, by March 2025, the visa exemptions were operational without any press release, public announcement, or parliamentary debate. The GNU, in its current formation, had already been established months before this announcement. It is under this coalition government—led by President Cyril Ramaphosa and supported by DA power brokers—that the visa waiver was implemented. The implications of this move are serious. Ukrainian operatives now have legal access to South African soil under diplomatic protection. There is no indication that they are being vetted, tracked, or restricted in their activities. GUR chief Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov has stated plainly that Ukraine conducts operations anywhere Russian interests exist. In an interview with Ignatius, Budanov explained: 'We've offered a plan aimed at reduction of Russian potential. It encompasses a lot of aspects, like the military industry, critical military targets, their airfields, their command-and-control posts.' Regarding Africa, Budanov was even more explicit. 'We conduct such operations aimed at reducing Russian military potential anywhere where it's possible. Why should Africa be an exception?' Ukraine has already struck Russian-linked positions in Mali and the Central African Republic. In July 2023, a GUR-orchestrated strike reportedly killed 84 Wagner Group fighters and 47 Malian soldiers. This is the same military intelligence now welcomed into South Africa with open diplomatic channels. President Ramaphosa has said nothing about these developments. There has been no statement from the Presidency addressing the security risk. When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited South Africa in early 2025, the visit was accompanied by the usual diplomatic messaging and limited media coverage. Official photos were released, and standard statements of cooperation were made, but there was little substance beyond the choreography. What stood out was what remained unsaid. There was no press conference, no detailed communiqués, and no public articulation of strategic agreements. Beneath the surface of diplomatic protocol, a quiet shift was taking place. The Democratic Alliance, which now holds significant sway in the GNU, has long aligned itself with NATO positions. Its figures have repeatedly voiced support for Ukraine in the ongoing war. Leon Schreiber's announcement of the visa-free arrangement fits into this pattern. The DA has inserted itself into foreign policy at the highest level, without public mandate or parliamentary oversight. There are reasons to believe that Ukrainian operations in South Africa go beyond surveillance. The disruptions to Russian cargo and naval vessels indicate a direct role in undermining South Africa's cooperation with Russia. This serves the interests of the United States and NATO, not the South African public. The goal is to fracture BRICS alignment and weaken Russia's partnerships across the continent. The DA's growing influence over security, immigration, and foreign policy within the GNU allows for decisions that align with Western strategic interests. This is compounded by Ramaphosa's ideological ambiguity and his growing proximity to pro-Western actors. The ANC's historical orientation has been diluted. What remains is a compromised posture and a government incapable of articulating or defending an independent foreign policy. There are also long-standing connections between white right-wing networks in South Africa and Ukraine. After 1994, several individuals linked to the apartheid security state relocated to Eastern Europe. Ukraine's far-right nationalist structures, which absorbed neo-Nazi formations into state security after the 2014 Maidan coup, provided fertile ground for ideological and logistical integration. Many of these actors now travel freely between South Africa and Ukraine, with no public scrutiny or security checks. South Africa's intelligence architecture is fragmented. There has been no formal protest to the Ukrainian ambassador. No inquiry has been launched into the GUR's confirmed activities. The Presidency has not responded to revelations in the Washington Post. The visa agreement has not been revisited. Under the UN Charter, hostile operations by one state against another on foreign soil constitute a breach of international peace and security. South Africa has previously cited this principle to avoid escalation in conflicts like Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo. That logic has not been applied to Ukraine. South Africa now finds itself as an unacknowledged battleground in the West's proxy war with Russia. The infiltration is legalised through visa exemptions. The sabotage is framed as intelligence work. The silence is interpreted as compliance. This is the opening chapter in an ongoing investigation. The next instalment will explore how Ukraine's intelligence war dovetails with American and Israeli regime change strategies aimed at dismantling what remains of the ANC-SACP legacy. South Africa's sovereignty is on the line—and the fight is already under way. * Gillian Schutte is a South African writer, filmmaker, and critical-race scholar known for her radical critiques of neoliberalism, whiteness, and donor-driven media. Her work centres African liberation, social justice, and revolutionary thought. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russian Cruise Missile Strikes Ukrainian-Controlled Black Sea Drilling Platform
Newly emerged video footage purportedly shows the attack on a Ukrainian drilling rig in the Black Sea by a supersonic cruise missile launched by a Russian Tu-22M3 Backfire-C bomber. The incident underscores the importance of the Tu-22M3 fleet, which was recently targeted as they sat on the ground at Russian airfields in an unprecedented Ukrainian drone strike. The cruise missile attack highlights the ongoing battle for the control of northern Black Sea drilling platforms, something that we just covered in an exclusive interview with Ukraine's spy chief. The Russian side released footage from a strike with the Kh-22 cruise missile launched from the Tu-22M3 bomber on the "Tavrida" self-elevating drilling rig located in the Black Sea on June object has been occupied by the Russians since 2015 and recaptured by Ukraine in… — Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (BlueSky too) (@Archer83Able) June 10, 2025 While the exact origin of the video in question is unknown, it began circulating on Telegram earlier today. Russian accounts claim that it documents a successful strike against the Tavrida self-elevating drilling rig, carried out yesterday, June 9. It's claimed that a Tu-22M3 used a Cold War-era Kh-22 (AS-4 Kitchen) anti-ship cruise missile to attack the rig, which was occupied by Russian forces since 2015 but was recaptured by Ukraine in 2023. While the Russian side claims that Ukraine used the Tavrida rig — located close to Snake Island — to launch special operations raids into and around Russian-occupied Crimea. At least one Russian military blogger claims that Ukraine was using this drilling rig as a forward base for personnel from the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR). They write that it was also used for launching aerial drones, refueling naval drones, as well as for hosting electronic warfare and communication systems. Speaking to TWZ, Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, commander of Ukraine's GUR, denied those Russian claims about the military uses for the rig, stating instead that 'We use the defense and control towers for other reasons,' but declined to provide more details. Budanov did confirm that the rig had been hit in the past more than 10 times, by Kh-22s as well as Kh-59 standoff missiles. From the available footage, captured from an aerial surveillance drone in the vicinity, it's not possible to determine what aircraft and missiles were involved, but the impact, close to the base of the drilling rig, results in a large explosion. Meanwhile, Budanov shared a photo with TWZ showing what he says was the rig after the latest attack, which you can see at the top of this story, which suggests that the main structure remains intact. Generally, the video footage appears consistent with the use of the very heavy Kh-22, or perhaps the more modern version of the same weapon, the Kh-32, which is externally similar. Both the Kh-22 and Kh-32 are carried exclusively by the Tu-22M3. The launch of two supersonic cruise missiles kh-22 from a long-range supersonic missile-carrying bomber Tu-22. fighter_bomber — Massimo Frantarelli (@MrFrantarelli) May 11, 2022 During the war in Ukraine, the Tu-22M3 has primarily been associated with attacks using Kh-22 missiles repurposed for use against ground targets. In this role, the weapon has proven to be very destructive, although not highly precise, and has resulted in significant numbers of civilian deaths. Video reportedly shows the moment of the Russian Kh-22 cruise missile hits the apartment block in Dnipro during Saturday's missile strikes. — ELINT News (@ELINTNews) January 16, 2023 In the past, we looked at the particular characteristics of the Kh-22, after seeing the first apparent evidence of the missile being used in combat in Ukraine, in May 2022: The Cold War-era Kh-22, known to NATO as AS-4 Kitchen, dates back to the early 1960s, and production ceased as long ago as 1988. The delta-wing missile is powered by a liquid-fuel rocket and is typically launched from a Tu-22M3 flying at a speed of Mach 1.5. The missile then accelerates to Mach 3 before approaching the target. In its terminal phase, the missile dives at a steep angle and attains a maximum speed of over Mach 4. Each Tu-22M3 can carry up to three of these missiles in overload configuration, although one is more usual. In Cold War times, the Kh-22 was primarily armed with a nuclear warhead, although an alternative conventional high-explosive charge was available for the anti-ship version. The limited accuracy of the land-attack version meant that this one previously only carried a nuclear warhead, which would have been used against large targets like airfields or ports. With that in mind, it's possible that a Kh-22 could have been used to strike the drilling rig in much the same way that it might target a naval vessel, using its active radar seeker for the final run-in to the target. Another option is that the missile was a Kh-32, which retains the same physical characteristics of the Kh-22 but offers improved performance, including a dual-role anti-ship and land-attack capability. Apparent Kh-32 test rounds carried by Tu-22M3s: 現在は改良型のKh-32が有りますね。これは近代化改修されるTu-22M3Mに搭載されます。 — 高町露化@ロシア海軍情報管理複合体 (@xia_takamachi) May 13, 2019 It's unclear to what degree the drilling rig might have been provided with any kind of air defenses. In the past, however, Ukrainian officials have stated just how difficult it is to shoot down the fast-moving Kh-22 missile without calling upon the most advanced Western-supplied surface-to-air missiles. Even these may well be of only limited effect against the missile, especially during its terminal phase. For now, we await more details about the nature of the attack on the Tavrida drilling rig, including potential post-strike imagery that might reveal the extent of the damage. However, the mission emphasizes the considerable value that both sides in the conflict place on this type of infrastructure. Despite Ukrainian denials that these kinds of platforms are not used for launching raids and drone attacks, their strategic location ensures they have been highly prized assets since even before the start of the current conflict. Contact the author: thomas@
