80 years ago, on December 21, 1940, the legendary PPSh submachine gun was adopted by the Red Army

 The Shpagin PPSh-41 submachine gun can be considered one of the main symbols of the Victory over Nazi Germany. Less than five months have passed since the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, as the serial production of the PPSh-41 submachine gun began. This submachine gun became the most famous Soviet submachine gun of the Second World War.

PPSh-41 with a drum magazine

PPSh-41 with a box magazine

The PPSh-41 is a Soviet submachine gun designed by Georgy Shpagin as a cheap, reliable, and simplified alternative to the PPD-40. A common Russian nickname for the weapon is "papasha", meaning "daddy", and it was sometimes called the "burp gun" because of its high fire rate. The PPSh is a magazine-fed selective fire submachine gun using an open bolt, blowback action. Made largely of stamped steel, it can be loaded with either a box or drum magazine and fires the 7.62×25mm Tokarev pistol round.

Wehrmacht Feldwebel Wilhelm Traub armed with a PPSH-41 scanning the view of Stalingrad in the middle of a ruined town in autumn 1942

Soviet War Memorial in the Treptower Park in Berlin.

The PPSh saw extensive combat use during World War II and the Korean War, and it is common for monuments in Eastern Bloc countries celebrating the actions of the Red Army to have a PPSh-41. It was one of the major infantry weapons of the Soviet Armed Forces during World War II, with about six million PPSh-41s manufactured in this period. 

The Music at War

 

As you know we have long and bloody aggression of the Russian Federation in Eastern Ukraine. Those who protect our land are not only professional military men. Some of them are volunteers who took up arms to defend their homeland. When there is no shelling on the front lines, amazing things sometimes happen. Let's wish this gifted guy to come back home alive and give his music to peaceful people for many many years. Please, look at his performance at    https://www.facebook.com/BolyestyevV/videos/2201725749970868

Ukraine, Sweden discuss preparations for January visit of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to Kyiv

 December 14, 2020 (UKRINFORM) Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar and Swedish Ambassador to Ukraine Tobias Tiberg discussed preparations for a visit of the Swedish Foreign Minister as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to Ukraine in January, according to the Foreign Ministry’s press service.

"The parties discussed the preparations for a visit of Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to Ukraine in January 2021. The agenda of her trip will include a visit to Donbas to analyze the situation on the contact line," the report reads. The diplomats also discussed the prospects for cooperation between Ukraine and Sweden in the field of nuclear energy, in particular, regarding the joint production and supply of nuclear fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants. The deputy minister stressed that cooperation with Sweden in the diversification of energy sources was a significant factor in the context of strengthening the energy and national security of Ukraine.

Kyiv's St. Andrew's Church resumes services after repairs

 December 14, 2020 (UNIAN) First service at St. Andrew’s Church in Kyiv after 11 years of restoration. Metropolitan Emmanuel of France along with the Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Ukraine, Bishop Michael of Komana and Bishop Chernigiv and Nizin Efstratios officiated the first service.

St. Andrew's Church is a major Baroque church located in the capital of Ukraine. The church was constructed between 1747 and 1754, by the design of the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The church is part of the National Sanctuary "Sophia of Kyiv" as a landmark of cultural heritage. The church has no bells, as according to legend, their noise would cause flooding of the left part of the city. St Andrew's Church overlooks the historic Podil neighborhood, situated on a steep hill to which the church gave its current name - Andriyivska Hill. As the church sits atop a hill, foundation problems have been one of the main concerns of preservationists. More recently, the foundation below the church has started to shift, causing some concerns that the church's foundation might collapse.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the installation of Norwegian anti-ship missiles NSM on missile boats of the Ukrainian Navy

 December 9, 2020 (mil.gov.ua) The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak confirmed that the Ukrainian Navy will receive missile boats, which will be built by Britain, with the Norwegian Naval Strike Missile (NSM) anti-ship missiles, and not with the Ukrainian anti-ship missile "Neptune". He told about this in an interview with the "Apostrof" edition. According to the general, an agreement was reached that instead of eight missile boats, Britain will build six missile boats and two minesweeping boats.

In addition, according to plans, the Naval Forces of Ukraine should receive 4 corvettes in the coming years and Khomchak would prefer that they be armed with the Ukrainian anti-ship missile "Neptune", but the naval version of this missile does not yet exist.

Ukrainian Armed Forces to take part in 22 multinational exercises in 2021 – defense minister

 December 5, 2020 (UKRINFORM) The Ukrainian Armed Forces are planning to take part in 22 multinational exercises in 2021, including eight in Ukraine and 14 abroad, Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Taran has said. He said this at a briefing entitled "Defense aspects of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration: main achievements and tasks for the future" for ambassadors and military attaches of NATO member states and representatives of the NATO office in Ukraine, the Defense Ministry's press service reported. 

"We invite all our partners to increase the level of participation in exercises in Ukraine next year. For our part, given our status as an enhanced opportunities partner, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are ready to join the relevant exercises of the Alliance related to collective defense," Taran said. He also stressed that the Ukrainian Defense Ministry is working with partners to improve the skills of Ukrainian servicemen in such military training missions as JMTG-U (Joint Multinational Training Group - Ukraine), Orbital (the UK's training mission to Ukraine), UNIFIER (the Canadian Armed Forces' training mission) and LMTG-U (the Lithuanian Armed Forces' training mission).

UN warns of threat to Carpathians over climate change, illegal deforestation

 November 30, 2020 (UNIAN) The United Nations says the Carpathian region is in real danger over climate change and illegal deforestation. "The heightened cooperation will be essential as we seek to address growing threats to the Carpathians. Make no mistake: the Carpathian region is in real and immediate danger," Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme Inger Andersen said on November 25, 2020. A 2017 report from UNEP, WWF and Eurac Research was unequivocal about the threats, particularly from illegal deforestation, she said. "The old-growth forests of the Carpathians and their unique biodiversity are disappearing at alarming rates as timber is being illegally cut and transported across and beyond the borders of mountain range States. This has many consequences," Andersen said.She reiterated Ukraine had seen several devastating floods over the last years.

"Villages and roads submerged. Bridges brought down. People killed. These are, in part, linked to climate change. But illegal logging – taking place under the cover of the difficulties Ukraine has suffered – has removed large chunks of forests that soak up excess water and provide a buffer against flooding." Meanwhile, over the past 20 years, illegal logging has cost Romania over five billion euros. "The report I mentioned, found that, in 2016 alone, around 187,000 cubic meters of timber were illegally cut in Romania… We need to step up to the first stop, then reverse, the damage being done to these essential ecosystems," the official noted.