Russian Nuclear Supplies In Ukraine (Dan 7)

Russia Deployed Nuclear-Capable Gear, NATO Commander Says

by Ian Wishart
8:50 AM MDT May 21, 2015

Russia has deployed equipment during the conflict in eastern Ukraine that can be used for nuclear weapons, NATO’s top military commander said.

While there’s no “direct evidence” that the Kremlin has made deployments of nuclear arms, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove said on Thursday, “that does not mean that they may not have happened.”

“Lots of the systems that the Russians use to deliver nuclear weapons are dual-use systems — they can be either conventional or nuclear — and some of those systems are deployed,” Breedlove said.
Violence has continued in Ukraine’s easternmost regions despite a cease-fire agreed to in February, with NATO accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of deliberately destabilizing the area following Russia’s annexation of Crimea last year.

“We do not need to make any adjustments to our nuclear posture,” Breedlove told reporters in Brussels. “First and foremost, we have a secure, a safe and a very capable nuclear response and that’s our mission — to keep it that way.”

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said last week that it was “deeply concerned” about Russia’s statements about possible stationing of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems in Crimea. Putin told a documentary film aired on Russian television two months ago that he was ready to put his country’s nuclear forces on alert when he annexed the Crimean peninsula in March 2014.


Baltic Nations

During the lull in fighting since the February cease-fire, Russia has “resupplied and stockpiled forces” in eastern Ukraine, Breedlove said.

He said NATO will assess a joint request from the Baltic nations — Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — for more troops to counter increased threats from Russia, with which they share a border. The three countries said they want NATO to provide more than the increased air patrols and rotating U.S. troop presence secured last year.

“Any request that a nation sends forth in such a serious manner, we will look at,” Breedlove said.

Russian Nuclear Horn Spreading Into Europe (Daniel 7:7)

Russia says has right to deploy nuclear weapons in Crimea: report

MOSCOW | Wednesday, March 11, 2015

 

Russian army's armoured vehicles are seen on a road in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov region, near the border with Ukraine, August 23, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Alexander Demianchuk

(Reuters) - Russia has the right to deploy nuclear arms in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine last year, a Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday, adding he knew of no plans to do so.

"I don't know if there are nuclear weapons there now. I don't know about any plans, but in principle Russia can do it," said Mikhail Ulyanov, the head of the ministry's department on arms control, was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

(This version of the story was refiled to fix garble in line seven)

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Writing by Thomas Grove; Editing by Christian Lowe)

Russian Nuclear Horn Extends Into Indian Ocean

Putin Ready to Lease Nuclear Submarines to India, Minister Says

By Natalie Obiko Pearson and Anurag Kotoky
December 12, 2014 6:05 AM EST

Russia said it’s ready to lease India more nuclear-powered submarines a day after President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to deepen defense ties.

“If India decides to have more contracts to lease nuclear submarines, we are ready to supply,” Russian trade minister Denis Manturov said in an interview in New Delhi today.

The vessels would bolster India’s ability to patrol its waters as it seeks to thwart China’s efforts to extend influence in the Indian Ocean. Russia, whose economy is being pushed toward a recession by sanctions over Ukraine, aims to boost defense sales and deepen its ties to friendlier nations in Asia.

“Russia will remain our most important defense partner,” Modi said yesterday after welcoming Putin to the capital. They discussed a “broad range of new defense projects,” including plans to make one of Russia’s most advanced helicopters in India, he said.

India inducted its first nuclear attack submarine from Russia for $1 billion in 2012 under a 10-year contract, which can carry out longer missions and respond faster to threats. It’s fleet of 14 diesel-power submarines are more than a decade old, with half of them commissioned in the 1980s.

“Nuclear-powered submarines have assumed far greater significance and changed the complexion of maritime warfare,” then-Defence Minister A.K. Antony said the induction ceremony.
 
China Fleet

India is seeking to build up its naval defenses amid growing maritime tensions with China. It sent a nuclear submarine to the Indian Ocean in December for a two-month anti-piracy patrol. The waters are home to shipping lanes carrying about 80 percent of the world’s seaborne oil.

China has at least 52 submarines in its fleet, including three nuclear-missile vessels and three operating on nuclear power, the U.S. Congressional Research Service said in July, citing Jane’s Fighting Ships 2013-2014 and previous editions.

India has also yet to build a single submarine of the 24 it’d planned starting in 1999, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told parliament today. Mishaps are also common: an explosion in August 2013 on a diesel-powered submarine, just months after the vessel returned from a $133 million refit at a Russian shipyard, was the worst-ever disaster for India’s submarine program.

Putin this week pledged to supply oil, weapons and nuclear power reactors to India. Modi, in turn, reassured the Russian leader that India opposes sanctions and asked Putin to build factories in the country to supply spare parts and components for Russian military equipment.

Russia will have to quadruple its current investments of $3.7 billion in India for the two countries to meet their bilateral trade target of $30 billion by 2025, Manturov said. Reaching that target will mean India breaking into Russia’s top five trading partners, up from the current rank of 21, he said.

The two nations said they recognized “the virtually unlimited opportunities for enhancing” their defense cooperation, including joint manufacturing and technology sharing, according to a joint statement yesterday. India allows foreign direct investment in the defense sector of up to 49 percent.