[🇷🇺] Russian army News/Views

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Date of Event: Jun 28, 2025

Source : https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/national/putin-says-russia-plans-to-cut-military-spending-from-next-year

Putin says Russia plans to cut military spending from next year

REUTERS
Published :
Jun 27, 2025 22:58
Updated :
Jun 27, 2025 22:58

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting dedicated to the foundation of cultural, educational institutions and museums via a video link at his residence outside Moscow, Russia, June 25, 2025. Photo : Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS/ Files

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia was looking to cut its military expenditure from next year, contrasting that with NATO's plan to ramp up defence spending over the next decade.

NATO allies on Wednesday agreed to raise their collective spending goal to 5per cent of gross domestic product in the next 10 years, citing what they called the long-term threat posed by Russia and the need to strengthen civil and military resilience.

In his first reaction to that move, Putin told a press conference in Minsk that the NATO spending would go on "purchases from the USA and on supporting their military-industrial complex", and this was NATO's business, not Russia's.

"But now here is the most important thing. We are planning to reduce defence spending. For us, next year and the year after, over the next three-year period, we are planning for this," he said.

Putin said there was no final agreement yet between the defence, finance and economy ministries, "but overall, everyone is thinking in this direction. And Europe is thinking about how to increase its spending, on the contrary. So who is preparing for some kind of aggressive actions? Us or them?"

Putin's comments are likely to be greeted with extreme scepticism in the West, given that Russia has massively increased defence spending since the start of the Ukraine war.

The conflict shows no sign of ending and has actually intensified in recent weeks, as negotiations have made no visible progress towards a ceasefire or a permanent settlement.

Putin said Russia appreciated efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to bring an end to the war.

"He recently stated that it turned out to be more difficult than it seemed from the outside. Well, that's true," Putin said.

Trump said this week that he believed Putin wanted to find a way to settle the conflict, but Ukraine and many of its European allies believe the Kremlin leader has no real interest in a peace deal and is intent on capturing more territory.

Putin said Russian and Ukrainian negotiators were in constant contact, and Moscow was ready to return the bodies of 3,000 more Ukrainian soldiers.

ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN

Russia is seeing a sharp slowdown in economic growth as the budget comes under pressure from falling energy revenues and the central bank is trying to bring down inflation.

Russia hiked state spending on national defence by a quarter in 2025 to 6.3per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), the highest level since the Cold War. Defence spending accounts for 32per cent of total 2025 federal budget expenditure.

Defence plants have been working round-the-clock for the past several years, and the state has spent heavily on bonuses to attract soldiers to sign up and on compensation for the families of those who are killed.

Putin acknowledged that Russia had paid for the military spending increase with higher inflation.

The finance ministry raised the 2025 budget deficit estimate to 1.7per cent of gross domestic product in April from 0.5per cent after reducing its energy revenues forecast by 24per cent, and it plans to tap into fiscal reserves this year to balance the budget. The next draft budget is due to appear in the autumn.​

 

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Powerful quake in Russia's Far East causes tsunami, Japan, Hawaii order evacuations

A magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday, damaging buildings and generating a tsunami of up to 4 metres (13 feet) that prompted warnings and evacuations stretching across the Pacific Ocean. Several people were injured in the remote Russian region,

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Powerful quake in Russia's Far East causes tsunami, Japan, Hawaii order evacuations

REUTERS
Published :
Jul 30, 2025 09:15
Updated :
Jul 30, 2025 09:55

A magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday, damaging buildings and generating a tsunami of up to 4 metres (13 feet) that prompted warnings and evacuations stretching across the Pacific Ocean.

Several people were injured in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan's eastern seaboard - devastated by a powerful earthquake and tsunami in 2011 - was ordered to evacuate.

"Today's earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors," Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.

A tsunami with a height of 3-4 metres (10-13 feet) was recorded in parts of Kamchatka, said Sergei Lebedev, regional minister for emergency situations, urging people to move away from the shoreline.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was shallow at a depth of 19.3 km (12 miles), and was centred 119 km (74 miles) east-southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city of 165,000. It revised the magnitude up from 8.0 earlier, and reported a strong aftershock of magnitude 6.9 soon after.

Japan's weather agency upgraded its warning, saying it expected tsunami waves of up to 3 metres (10 feet) to reach large coastal areas starting around 0100 GMT.

Tsunami alarms sounded in coastal towns across Japan's Pacific coast with authorities urging people to seek higher ground.

Footage on public broadcaster NHK showed scores of people in the northern island of Hokkaido on the roof of a building, sheltering under tents from the beating sun, as fishing boats left harbours to avoid potential damage from the incoming waves.

Workers evacuated the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, where a meltdown following the 2011 tsunami caused a radioactive disaster, operator TEPCO said.

There were no injuries or damage reported so far, and no irregularities at any nuclear plants, Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said.

WARNINGS ACROSS THE PACIFIC

The US Tsunami Warning System also issued a warning of "hazardous tsunami waves" within the next three hours.

Waves reaching more than 3.0 metres were possible along some coasts of Russia and Ecuador, while waves of 1-3 metres were possible in Japan, Hawaii, Chile and the Solomon Islands, it said. Smaller waves were possible along coastlines across much of the Pacific, including the US West Coast.

"Due to a massive earthquake that occurred in the Pacific Ocean, a Tsunami Warning is in effect for those living in Hawaii," US President Donald Trump said in a social media post.

"A Tsunami Watch is in effect for Alaska and the Pacific Coast of the United States. Japan is also in the way. Please visit tsunami.gov/ for the latest information. STAY STRONG AND STAY SAFE!"

Hawaii ordered evacuations from some coastal areas. "Take Action! Destructive tsunami waves expected," the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management said on X.

The Hawaii warning urged residents of low-lying areas to either move to higher ground or to the fourth floor of a building.

Several people sought medical assistance following the quake, Oleg Melnikov, regional health minister, told Russia’s TASS state news agency.

"Unfortunately, there are some people injured during the seismic event. Some were hurt while running outside, and one patient jumped out of a window. A woman was also injured inside the new airport terminal,” Melnikov said.

“All patients are currently in satisfactory condition, and no serious injuries have been reported so far.”

Russia's Ministry for Emergency Services said on Telegram that the port in the Sakhalin town of Severo-Kurilsk and a fish processing plant there were partially flooded by a tsunami. The population has been evacuated.

While a kindergarten was also damaged, most buildings withstood the quake and no fatalities had been reported, the ministry added.

'RING OF FIRE'

Kamchatka and Russia's Far East sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active region that is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The Russian Academy of Sciences said it was the strongest quake to hit the region since 1952.

"However, due to certain characteristics of the epicentre, the shaking intensity was not as high ... as one might expect from such a magnitude," said Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka Branch of the Geophysical Service, on Telegram.

“Aftershocks are currently ongoing ... Their intensity will remain fairly high. However, stronger tremors are not expected in the near future. The situation is under control.”​

 

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Russian surgeons keep steady hands during massive Kamchatka quake

A team of medics was in the middle of surgery in the Far Eastern Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky when Wednesday's very powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake shook their equipment and the floor beneath them. The medics used their hands to try to steady both the patient and their equipment, CCT

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Russian surgeons keep steady hands during massive Kamchatka quake

REUTERS
Published :
Jul 30, 2025 20:18
Updated :
Jul 30, 2025 20:18

A kindergarten damaged by the earthquake is seen in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka Krai, Russia, July 30, 2025. Photo : Administration of the Governor of Kamchatka Krai/Handout via REUTERS/Files

A team of medics was in the middle of surgery in the Far Eastern Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky when Wednesday's very powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake shook their equipment and the floor beneath them.

The medics used their hands to try to steady both the patient and their equipment, CCTV footage released by the Kamchatka region's Health Ministry showed.

"Despite the danger, the doctors remained calm and stayed with the patient until the very end," Oleg Melnikov, the minister, wrote on Telegram. He gave no details of the surgery but added that the patient was currently out of danger.

Russian scientists said the quake off the coast of Kamchatka, which triggered tsunami warnings as far away as Hawaii, Japan and Chile, was the most powerful to hit the region since 1952.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there had been no casualties in Russia from the quake, crediting solid building construction and the smooth working of alert systems.

Still, there were scenes of chaos along Russia's remote and sparsely populated Far Eastern seaboard, and scattered reports of damage.

Roman Kripakov, a chef in Severo-Kurilsk on Paramushir, one of the Pacific Kuril Islands chain, said he was at the cafe where he works when it began to shake.

“We ran out onto the street, and saw that all the buildings were trembling. Pipes, bricks, they were all falling down from the roofs,” he told Reuters

“Did I think about death? Yes, it did come to mind. I asked everyone for forgiveness, and recalled happy moments in my life. I wrote to my wife.”

A verified video shot by a Severo-Kurilsk resident showed water engulfing a fish processing plant as it rushed inland, carrying a lightweight metal building and containers with it.

A woman can be heard cursing as she laments the loss of the plant. "Our factory is sinking along with our seafood production," she says.

Elsewhere on the Kamchatka Peninsula, video showed startled sea lions diving into the sea as the quake hit Antsiferov Island, just off the coast.

The island is known as a natural habitat for Steller sea lions, a large, near-threatened species.​