Location of Northernmost Artillery Batteries in WWII discovered
Moscow: Northern Fleet researchers have, through the analysis of satellite images, discovered the whereabouts of the Soviet Union’s northernmost artillery batteries during World War II in the Taimyr Peninsula, the naval fleet’s press service said on Saturday.
“Two groups of objects located in the Taimyr Peninsula have been reliably identified as artillery batteries of the White Sea Flotilla. To be specific, these are batteries No. 264 on the Mikhailov Peninsula and No. 265 on the island of Nansen,” the Northern Fleet said.
According to the researchers, these sites were established in 1943, at a time when Nazi German submarines posed a severe threat to the Soviet Union in the Kara Sea. Each battery was equipped with four 122mm guns. “In the satellite images, the main and reserve gun positions are clearly identifiable, as well as their location.
Military personnel were on duty here until the very end of the war. According to the logbook of the Nazi German submarine U-711, which was deciphered by our expedition team, the deployment of naval gunners in the Arctic was an unpleasant surprise and forced them to retreat,” the Northern Fleet’s press service added.
A Northern Fleet expedition to the region to study these sites for the first time is expected to take place in August, in conjunction with specialists from the Russian Geographical Society. (UNI)
HK bans annual pro-democracy rally for 1st time in 17 years
Hong Kong: Police in Hong Kong announced on Saturday that the annual pro-democracy rally which takes place every year on July 1 has been banned for the first time in 17 years.
The protest rally has been taking place every year since the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, reports Efe news.
Hong Kong had been under British colonial rule until then when the control of the territory was handed back to the Chinese.
The July 1 rally this year took aim at China’s national security law which human rights groups fear could smother the semi-autonomous region’s freedoms.
China announced a draft national security law in May that would be imposed across its territory, including Hong Kong, to tackle “terrorism”, “separatism” “subversion of state power” and foreign interference.
The sweeping bill, which would bypass Hong Kong’s legislature, would mean that mainland China would implant its national security apparatus to operate in the semi-autonomous region for the first time. (IANS)