News
Russia says it used hypersonic missiles in Ukraine again
(Al Jazeera) Russia’s defence ministry says it attacked Ukraine with cruise missiles from ships in the Black and Caspian Seas, and with hypersonic missiles from Crimean airspace.
Russian defence ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday that the Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missile hit a Ukrainian fuel depot in Kostiantynivka near the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv.
He added: “Kalibr cruise missiles were launched from the waters of the Black Sea against the Nizhyn plant that repairs Ukrainian armoured vehicles damaged in fighting.”
The attacks marked the second day in a row that Russia used the Kinzhal, a weapon capable of striking targets 2,000km (1,250 miles) away at 10 times the speed of sound.
Konashenkov added that another attack by air-launched missiles hit a facility in Ovruch in the northern Zhytomyr region where foreign fighters and Ukrainian special forces were based.
The previous day, the Russian military said the Kinzhal had been used for the first time in combat to destroy an ammunition depot in Diliatyn in the Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine.
Russia prides itself on its advanced weaponry, and President Vladimir Putin said in December that Russia was the global leader in hypersonic missiles, whose speed, manoeuvrability and altitude make them difficult to track and intercept.
The Kinzhal missiles are part of an array of weapons unveiled in 2018. Russia first used the hypersonic missile during its military campaign in Syria in 2016.
Putin has called the Kinzhal missile “an ideal weapon” given its speed and ability to overcome air-defence systems.
“This is a missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads and is believed to be undetectable by western air defence systems,” said Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari, speaking from Moscow. “It is being called an unstoppable ballistic missile.”
Putin announced an array of new hypersonic weapons in 2018 in one of his most bellicose speeches in years, saying they could hit almost any point in the world and evade a US-built missile shield.
The following year, he threatened to deploy hypersonic missiles on ships and submarines that could lurk outside US territorial waters if Washington moved to deploy intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe.
The US has actively pursued the development of hypersonic weapons – manoeuvering weapons that fly at speeds of at least Mach 5 – as a part of its conventional Prompt Global Strike programme since the early 2000s, according to a new congressional report.
These weapons could enable “responsive, long-range, strike options against distant, defended, and/or time-critical threats [such as road-mobile missiles] when other forces are unavailable, denied access, or not preferred”, said former Commander of US Strategic Command General John Hyten.
The government, under heavy Opposition fire over inclusion of a sex website in the Grade 6 English module, as well as overall education reforms, has decided to put on hold reforms in respect of Grade 6.
Cabinet Spokesman and Media and Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa announced the government decision yesterday (13) at the post-Cabinet media briefing at the Information Department.
According to him, the decision had been taken at the previous day’s Cabinet meeting, chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Dr. Jayatissa said that education reforms pertaining to Garde 6 had been put on hold until 2027.
The Minister said that other proposed education reforms would be implemented as planned. The Minister said that action would be taken against those responsible for the inclusion of a link to a sex website following investigations conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department and the National Education Institute.
The SJB and several other political parties, as well as civil society groups, have accused the government of promoting an LGBTQ agenda, through the proposed education reforms.
The Opposition grouping Mahajana Handa, on Monday, made representations to the Mahanayake Thera of the Malwatta Chapter regarding the controversial reforms, while urging their intervention to halt the project.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday (13) vowed to go ahead with his government’s agenda, regardless of the destruction caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Emphasising the responsibility on the part of all to contribute to the post-Ditwah recovery efforts, President Dissanayake said that he would have complete faith in the public service.
The President said so at the launch of the re-building Sri Lanka project at the BMICH yesterday.
The JVP and NPP leader said that he wouldn’t take advantage of the death and destruction caused by the cyclone or use the situation as an excuse to reverse their agenda or weaken it.
President Dissanayake said that in spite of many calling for amending the then Budget, in view of the cyclone, the government presented the proposals that were agreed before the disaster struck.
The United States has announced that it will provide the Sri Lanka Air Force with 10 US Navy TH-57 helicopters free of charge.
The announcement was made by outgoing US Ambassador Julie Chung, who stated, on social media, that the helicopters would be transferred under the United States’ Excess Defence Articles programme. The aircraft are Bell 206 Sea Ranger helicopters previously operated by the US Navy.
US sources said that the transfer was intended to strengthen Sri Lanka’s disaster response capabilities, following the devastating cyclone that struck the island at the end of 2025 and killed more than 600 people. US officials have framed the move as a humanitarian measure aimed at improving aerial rescue and relief operations.
Fair weather will prevail except for a few showers in the Uva, Eastern, Western and Central provinces and in Galle, Matara and Rathnapura districts
Trump cancels US-Iran meetings, urges protesters to take over institutions
Govt. bows to pressure, shelves Grade 6 reforms
AKD: Govt. agenda on track despite Ditwah disaster
SL to receive 10 helicopters from US
Foreign couple held over alleged biopiracy at Horton Plains
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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