RUSSIA24 — V tsentre Azii
20260920 113800 UTC
314 transcript segments
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[00:00:00] competencies for maintenance and modernization of such
[00:00:02] systems. It is curious that only a week earlier, during
[00:00:06] the first ever state visit of
[00:00:09] Uzbek leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Belgrade,
[00:00:13] the President of Serbia offered Tashkent cooperation in
[00:00:16] the defense industry. Then Vucic stated that Serbia already
[00:00:20] produces short-range missiles, and in about a year
[00:00:23] plans to start production of long-range ballistic
[00:00:27] missiles. According to him, Belgrade is ready to cooperate with Uzbekistan
[00:00:31] in this direction. Serbia currently
[00:00:34] does not have a disclosed line of long-range ballistic
[00:00:37] missiles. Therefore, Vucic's statement is
[00:00:40] more an application for launching such production. And,
[00:00:44] judging again by the statement within a year. An important detail,
[00:00:48] Vucic directly linked this progress to technologies and
[00:00:51] competencies obtained from foreign partners. At the same time,
[00:00:54] he did not specify which partners he was talking about, nor the future
[00:00:58] characteristics.
[00:01:00] Serbia has its own multiple rocket launcher systems, such
[00:01:04] as the wheeled Shumadija. The main munition, Yerina 1,
[00:01:08] is a 400-millimeter guided solid-fuel missile.
[00:01:12] The Serbian company EDPro classifies it as a tactical
[00:01:15] ballistic missile, with a declared range of up to 280
[00:01:19] km. Another system is Tamnava, which can use
[00:01:22] 122-millimeter Soviet-standard missiles and
[00:01:26] 262-millimeter
[00:01:28] long-range ammunition. The longest-range weapon publicly confirmed in Serbia
[00:01:32] is the Chinese CM-400 AKG system, a supersonic
[00:01:36] air-to-ground missile adapted for
[00:01:39] the MiG-29. How these technologies might be
[00:01:42] of interest to Central Asian partners, we will discuss with military
[00:01:46] expert Vasily Dondykin. Against
[00:01:49] the backdrop of the general militarization of Europe, how
[00:01:52] should we interpret Vucic's statements about the creation of long-range
[00:01:55] ballistic missiles, for whom
[00:01:59] is it?
[00:02:30] its tasks, because the arms market is now quite
[00:02:33] oversaturated and there is fierce competition. As for
[00:02:37] missiles, we need to think about what range they have, of course, there is some
[00:02:41] competition, now it is Europe, to some
[00:02:44] extent, probably less so the Americans, now they have their own problems,
[00:02:48] but nevertheless they do not want to let go of
[00:02:51] the market, well, it should be borne in mind that the Chinese
[00:02:54] People's Republic is rapidly expanding its cooperation with many countries in this market. In July, the sixth
[00:02:58] year, that is, this summer, Moscow
[00:03:00] began to revise agreements on military-technical cooperation with
[00:03:04] Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which just
[00:03:06] includes the already mentioned supplies, repair, modernization
[00:03:10] of equipment. Can we talk about increased competition in this
[00:03:14] sphere? Well, I don't think it will be much competition, because
[00:03:17] Serbia is a small country, smaller than
[00:03:21] Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan both in
[00:03:24] terms of territory and population. Our cooperation
[00:03:26] is due to the fact that there was the Soviet
[00:03:30] Union and there was a common space, and when it was divided, a lot
[00:03:33] of things were left over, all this developed, they also had
[00:03:37] a military-industrial complex and so on, so such cooperation was carried out, so I don't
[00:03:41] think that this will in any way affect our
[00:03:45] arms market, we have other directions, first of all, I
[00:03:48] think that these are relations with India, with
[00:03:51] the Gulf countries as
[00:03:52] well.
[00:03:57] continuing the military theme, in Kazakhstan, the active
[00:04:01] phase of the CSTO exercise "Rubezh-2026" has passed.
[00:04:04] About one and a half thousand servicemen from Kazakhstan,
[00:04:08] Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarus and Russia took part. At
[00:04:11] the Koktal training ground, the allies practiced destroying illegal
[00:04:15] armed formations. This year, the emphasis is on new tactics
[00:04:19] with active use of technical means. A total of
[00:04:22] about 300 units of weapons were involved, including 115
[00:04:25] drones. The experience of modern armed conflicts has reduced
[00:04:29] the concept of forward bases, new threats can be quickly
[00:04:33] countered only with the help of drones and high-precision strikes. The core
[00:04:36] of the Russian contingent consists of experienced soldiers and officers of the Central
[00:04:40] Military District and representatives of the famous
[00:04:42] 201st Russian military base stationed in
[00:04:45] Tajikistan. By the way, we will talk about Tajikistan
[00:04:49] and its military glory today, but closer to the end of the program we will tell
[00:04:52] how in 1979 Russians, Tajiks, Uzbeks,
[00:04:56] Turkmens, shoulder to shoulder as part of one Muslim...
[00:05:00] carried out a daring operation in
[00:05:02] Afghanistan.
[00:05:07] What else did the past week in Asia bring? In
[00:05:11] Minsk, a meeting was held between Russian Prosecutor General Alexander Gutsan
[00:05:15] and the head of the Anti-Corruption Agency of Uzbekistan Akmal
[00:05:18] Burkhanov. The parties coordinated approaches in the fight against economic
[00:05:22] crimes, and also signed a program of cooperation and
[00:05:25] joint activities for the next 2 years. In
[00:05:28] the foundation of the Rogun HPP dam in Tajikistan, almost
[00:05:32] 50 million cubic meters of building materials have already been laid, which is
[00:05:35] almost 2/3 of the total planned volume. I remind you
[00:05:39] that the commissioning of the facilities is scheduled for 2000... twenty-
[00:05:42] ninth year, and 6 years later, the planned annual output
[00:05:46] of the station should exceed 14 billion
[00:05:49] kWh. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan congratulated the veteran
[00:05:52] of the Great Patriotic War Aspek Zhumashev, who
[00:05:56] turned 102 years old. He went through the entire war in
[00:05:59] the railway troops of the NKVD, met victory in
[00:06:02] Ukraine, then served in East Germany, guarding secret
[00:06:05] objects near Dresden. In honor of his birthday, law enforcement officers presented
[00:06:09] Aksakal with a medal and gifts.
[00:06:16] The rare earth riches of Central Asia continue
[00:06:19] to attract, now Seoul is interested in them. This interest is quite
[00:06:23] natural, as South Korea, as one of the world's centers for the production
[00:06:26] of batteries and microelectronics, proposes to the five Central
[00:06:30] Asian countries to create common supply chains for critical
[00:06:34] minerals. For the first time, a meeting in the 5+1 format
[00:06:37] was held in Seoul at the level of heads of state. Before that,
[00:06:40] the dialogue remained at the level of ministers and
[00:06:43] experts for almost 20 years. The parties adopted the Seoul Declaration and
[00:06:47] agreed to make summits regular, once every 2 years. At
[00:06:50] the center of the agenda are critical minerals, energy and digital
[00:06:54] technologies. At the same time, Seoul demonstrates
[00:06:57] its readiness to finance and technologically support not
[00:07:01] only extraction, but also the value chain of high added
[00:07:04] value. At the meeting of industry ministers, in the same
[00:07:07] 5+1 format, a memorandum on industrial
[00:07:11] cooperation was signed. Lithium, rare earth
[00:07:14] elements, and other metals are needed for the production of batteries,
[00:07:17] semiconductors, microelectronics, and
[00:07:20] the machine-building industry. In return, localization of
[00:07:23] the processing of these elements and investments in technology-
[00:07:27] intensive production in the territory of the region's countries are offered. South Korean
[00:07:31] President Lee Jae-myung held separate negotiations with each of the five
[00:07:35] leaders of the region, and the presidents of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and
[00:07:39] Turkmenistan came to Korea on state
[00:07:42] visits. At the Blue House, the leaders of Korea
[00:07:45] and Turkmenistan signed an intergovernmental agreement
[00:07:49] on the promotion and mutual protection of investments, and also
[00:07:53] concluded a large-scale package of contracts in energy,
[00:07:56] logistics, and water management. Korea and
[00:07:59] Kazakhstan elevated their relationship to strategic partnership and
[00:08:02] signed agreements on critical minerals, artificial
[00:08:06] intelligence, and scientific and technical cooperation. The focus is on several
[00:08:10] large industrial projects: lithium extraction,
[00:08:14] expansion of car production, construction of a gas
[00:08:16] processing plant. An agreement was signed
[00:08:20] to open a branch of one of the leading Korean technical
[00:08:23] universities. Among the agreements is also an agreement
[00:08:27] on joint research of peaceful atom. With Uzbekistan,
[00:08:31] the total portfolio of promising projects is estimated at approximately 12
[00:08:34] billion dollars, including chemical production,
[00:08:38] electrical engineering, and the automotive industry. Korean companies are increasingly
[00:08:41] actively entering the Uzbek market in terms of
[00:08:45] biotechnology, medicine. A joint center for
[00:08:49] rare metals is being created, which will be engaged in exploration,
[00:08:52] development, and processing. Tashkent offers Korean business
[00:08:56] such areas as copper processing, production
[00:08:59] of electrical engineering, localization of car production and
[00:09:03] components for them, as well as the production
[00:09:05] of robots.
[00:09:10] Water is life, and there is enough water. This question in the region
[00:09:14] is raised not only on the eve of a hot summer before the irrigation
[00:09:17] season, but also on the eve of a cold winter. For
[00:09:21] Kyrgyzstan, the Toktogul reservoir is not just
[00:09:24] the country's main water reservoir, but also
[00:09:27] essentially a winter accumulator for the entire
[00:09:29] energy system. The reason for concern is the recent
[00:09:33] blackout in August. Then, I remind you, on the fourteenth, the shutdown of two
[00:09:37] hydroelectric units of the Toktogul HPP with a total capacity of 600
[00:09:40] MW caused a cascading failure in the general energy system of all
[00:09:44] Central Asia. Part of Kyrgyzstan, the south of Kazakhstan,
[00:09:47] separate regions of Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan were left without power.
[00:09:51] Against this backdrop, Bishkek states that no
[00:09:54] restrictions for the population are planned for the winter, there is enough water
[00:09:58] in Toktogul. Currently, more than 11 billion
[00:10:01] cubic meters have been accumulated in the reservoir. By the beginning of the heating
[00:10:05] season, the authorities expect to bring the volume to
[00:10:07] 11.5 billion. Critical for
[00:10:10] the station's operation is considered
[00:10:27] consumption of almost 20 billion. The deficit,
[00:10:30] the missing 4 billion kWh, the country plans
[00:10:34] to import from Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and
[00:10:37] Turkmenistan. In parallel, Kyrgyzstan is trying, with
[00:10:41] the support of partners, to reduce the deficit by commissioning
[00:10:44] new generation capacities. In Issyk-Kul, in
[00:10:47] the village of Taroai, the first phase of the Russian-Kyrgyz solar
[00:10:51] power plant Bishkek Solar, with a capacity of 100 MW, was launched.
[00:10:55] The total investment volume is declared to be more than 300 million dollars,
[00:10:59] after the completion of construction, the station's capacity should be 300
[00:11:02] MW, and another 200 MW is planned to be commissioned in
[00:11:05] 2027.
[00:11:06] What else made the past
[00:11:11] week in Asia memorable? Kyrgyzstan received a new
[00:11:15] batch of aid from Russia through the World Food Program of the UN. This
[00:11:18] is over 470 tons of fortified wheat flour
[00:11:22] and...
[00:11:38] Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan. Rescuers
[00:11:41] practiced several realistic scenarios, from extinguishing fires
[00:11:45] and evacuation measures on land and water to eliminating
[00:11:49] serious chemical threats. And important
[00:11:52] news for football fans. The Kazakhstani... arena
[00:11:55] will host the UEFA Super Cup of the 2027-2028
[00:11:57] season.
[00:12:00] The date of the match between the future winners of the Champions League and the Europa League
[00:12:04] has not yet been set, but it can already be assumed that there will be many fans
[00:12:08] from neighboring countries in the stands, including, of course, Russia. However, to comply
[00:12:11] with international regulations, the artificial turf at the stadium will need to be replaced
[00:12:15] with natural grass.
[00:12:19] Kassym-Jomart
[00:12:24] Tokayev participated in the BRICS summit in New Delhi,
[00:12:28] although Kazakhstan is not a full member
[00:12:30] of the organization. Moreover, Tokayev has repeatedly
[00:12:33] articulated Astana's position that Kazakhstan does not plan
[00:12:37] to join BRICS in the foreseeable future. The status of partner
[00:12:41] or observer is quite satisfactory. Tokayev proposed that BRICS countries
[00:12:44] unite efforts in the development of artificial intelligence, in
[00:12:48] particular, to mutually provide access to laboratories, scientific
[00:12:52] developments, and also to concentrate on creating
[00:12:55] multilingual solutions. Also in India, Tokayev held a number
[00:12:59] of bilateral meetings in a busy schedule. Separately, one can highlight the conversation with
[00:13:02] Sergio Gor, the US President's special envoy for South and
[00:13:06] Central Asia. Gor conveyed to Tokayev a personal message from
[00:13:10] Donald Trump congratulating him on the thirty-fifth anniversary of
[00:13:14] Kazakhstan's independence. And this is quite curious, because the country
[00:13:18] celebrates that very anniversary only on December 16. The letter
[00:13:21] was handed over on September 12, that is, 3 months before
[00:13:24] the actual date. Thus, Trump emphasizes the status
[00:13:28] of Kazakhstan as a key partner in the region. Also in
[00:13:31] the message, Trump called Tokayev a strong and decisive
[00:13:34] leader and reminded him that he expects him at the G20 summit
[00:13:38] in Miami. Tokayev, in turn, confirmed Trump's invitation
[00:13:42] to visit
[00:13:43] Kazakhstan.
[00:13:48] They fought together, so they should make movies together. This week in
[00:13:52] Tajikistan, a project of a feature film was presented. Muslim
[00:13:56] battalion. The film is dedicated to the Soviet special forces
[00:13:59] unit, which in 1979 participated in a daring
[00:14:03] operation in Afghanistan. The presentation took place as part of a meeting
[00:14:06] of the historical club at the Russian House in Khujand.
[00:14:10] The plot will be based on the story of the 154th Separate
[00:14:13] Special Purpose Detachment, more commonly known as the First Muslim
[00:14:17] Battalion. It was formed in 1979
[00:14:21] on the basis of the Fifteenth Separate Special Purpose Brigade.
[00:14:25] Tashkent region of the Uzbek SSR. The strength of the formation
[00:14:28] was about 532 people, and the personnel were specially
[00:14:32] selected mainly from servicemen of three nationalities: Uzbeks,
[00:14:36] Tajiks, and Turkmens. On December 27,
[00:14:39] 1979, the assault detachment, together with special units
[00:14:43] of the KGB, USSR, Cascade and Grom, took part in Operation
[00:14:47] Storm-333. This is the legendary capture of Amin's palace
[00:14:50] in Kabul. Today, the operation to capture the Tajbeg palace is included
[00:14:55] in the special forces training program of almost all countries of the world, as
[00:14:58] the only case in the history of military science when a group of officers
[00:15:02] captured a fortified position in 45 minutes, outnumbering
[00:15:06] and outgunning the enemy several times over.
[00:15:10] The film's director is Boris Galkin, Honored Artist of Russia,
[00:15:13] known for the film "In the Zone of Special Attention."
[00:15:17] The scriptwriter is Valery Kiselev. Tell me,
[00:15:20] why only now did the idea
[00:15:22] come to make a film about this incredible
[00:15:26] event? In 2029, it will be 50
[00:15:29] years since the start of the special military
[00:15:32] operation, as the Afghan war is now
[00:15:35] also called. the unity of the peoples of Russia,
[00:16:11] therefore it is a very important
[00:16:15] component that prompted us at this
[00:16:17] time to create a film about international
[00:16:21] friendship, about international relations, which
[00:16:25] says only one thing: when we are together,
[00:16:27] we are united, we are strength. All the more, we are making this project
[00:16:31] in such a way that first we show the actions of Americans.
[00:16:35] English, the Afghan government, because
[00:16:38] all the events that were then on December
[00:16:41] 27, 1979
[00:16:44] and a little earlier, were responsive reactions
[00:16:47] to what Americans were doing, what
[00:16:51] the British were doing, what the so-called world
[00:16:54] anti-Soviet government was doing at that
[00:16:57] time, as it was called,
[00:17:00] so it is necessary to create this project
[00:17:04] to show today that the heroes of that
[00:17:07] time, as they say, are remembered today,
[00:17:11] honored, understood and respected. And what
[00:17:14] is the uniqueness of this unit that
[00:17:17] participated in this operation in Afghanistan? The Muslim
[00:17:21] battalion is a whole phenomenon, as
[00:17:24] they say, in the Soviet country. The fact is that around
[00:17:27] the palace there was a large number of opponents, who, as
[00:17:31] they say, outnumbered with forces
[00:17:33] and means, so it was decided to operate.
[00:18:07] in the Republic of Uzbekistan, in the Republic of Kazakhstan
[00:18:11] and Kyrgyzstan, where negotiations are underway
[00:18:15] to support this project, why are we trying to unite
[00:18:18] all other Central Asian countries in this project?
[00:18:22] Yes, it's very simple, we fought together, so we need to make movies
[00:18:25] together too.
[00:18:27] That's all from us, see you, as
[00:21:32] marked "Lightning": deputies of the North Ossetian parliament elected Sergey
[00:21:36] Minyailo as the head of the region for a second term, according to Ria
[00:21:39] Novosti. We are closely following the progress of voting
[00:21:42] in different regions. Well, now about how the
[00:21:46] voting is going abroad, where more than
[00:21:50] 330 polling stations are open in
[00:21:53] 152 countries, and we are waiting
[00:21:56] for a direct connection with the official representative
[00:22:00] of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria
[00:22:01] Zakharova,
[00:22:04] we hope that she will join the broadcast in the next
[00:22:07] few minutes.
[00:22:14] My editors are telling me that they are trying to connect with Maria Vladimirovna
[00:22:18] right now.
[00:22:21] but, unfortunately, we are having some sound problems, we will definitely
[00:22:25] return to this topic in the next few minutes, well, and I
[00:22:27] remind you that today is the final day of voting in the elections
[00:22:30] of State Duma deputies, in a number of regions, election
[00:22:34] campaigns are also being held for regional and municipal executive bodies, according to
[00:22:38] the Central Election Commission, voter turnout for the State Duma elections has already exceeded
[00:22:41] 50%. in 33 regions,
[00:22:45] electronic voting is available, this year
[00:22:48] for the first time in the Duma elections, polling stations abroad
[00:22:51] are working,
[00:22:54] as we have already said, votes are already being counted in the State Duma elections in the Far
[00:22:58] East, where in a number of...