Russia claims to have used hypersonic rockets during the Ukraine war as cosmonauts with Ukrainian colors in space

The Russian military claims it used the first hypersonic missile in the Ukraine conflict to eliminate an underground arsenal in Delyatyn, western Ukraine.

“Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic ballistic missile” has been activated, Major General Igor Konashenkov said in an unconfirmed news release video, according to the Associated Press.

The agency added that Russia first deployed high-tech missiles during its participation in the Syrian civil war in 2016.

Russia continued shelling Ukraine, killing at least 700 civilians, including dozens of children, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Attacks have often appeared indiscriminately. On Wednesday, Russian forces are said to have attacked a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, where hundreds of people are sheltering, although locals have placed giant signs on the ground warning of potential enemies. The attacker has children in it.

Website Twitter / Mariupol City

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted on Thursday that the majority of those in the theater had somehow survived.

Two days later, three Russian cosmonauts made the news after docking the International Space Station with the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The gesture is seen as a swipe at the invasion.

“It was our turn to choose a color. But in fact, we’ve accumulated a lot of yellow matter so we need to use it,” explained one of the cosmonauts, seemingly in a whimsical explanation, as the Guardian did. previously reported. “So that’s why we have to wear yellow.”

The Russian cosmonauts will spend six months at the station and may receive icy reception when they hit the ground again.

Russian space station

AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stepped up his crackdown on anti-war rhetoric. His government has blocked social media sites and threatened long prison sentences for those who spread “misinformation” about the conflict.

Several American and Western media outlets have been forced to temporarily shut down operations in the country over fears that journalists will be jailed for reporting.

Multiple Russian newspapers also reported this week that residents of Kaliningrad, Russia, had received text messages inviting them to find the phone numbers or email addresses of people sharing unwelcome information about the war.

Putin’s antics have reached new levels of bizarreness in recent days. Tens of thousands of people crammed into a stadium on Friday to mark the eight-year anniversary of the annexation of Crimea.

The event was also a nationalist rally, with slogans such as “For a World Without Nazism” and “For Russia”, as The Daily Beast reported this week.

Putin declare from the stage.

It appears that some — perhaps many — of those who attended the rally were facing pressure to attend.

Will Vernon, BBC News senior producer in Moscow, Written on Twitter that his team spoke to dozens of people at the event. Some students revealed that they had been told they would get a day off from school if they “attend” a concert”, but not all of them knew the nature of the protest.

“Compared to the protests, most people do not want to talk, be filmed or answer any questions,” Vernon wrote. “Some will cover their faces or wear a hood when we say we are journalists. Many people seem embarrassed or embarrassed to be there. “