Iran on Tuesday (Feb 13) said that it has launched long-range ballistic missiles from a warship for the first time. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that the launch was from the Shahid Mahdavi, which is Iran’s multi-purpose heavy warship. 

It said that the launch during naval manoeuvres involved firing two ballistic missiles capable of striking targets up to 1,700 kilometres (1,050 miles) away. 

In the 2014 war when Russia annexed Crimea, Syrskyi was the ground commander for operations in eastern Ukraine and played an important role in the conflict.

‘He is a traitor’

Reacting to Syrskyi’s appointment, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev accused Syrskyi, who did not serve in post-Soviet Russia’s army, of breaking his oath as an officer. 

Medvedev, who is currently deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said on Telegram, “Looking at the biography of the new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Syrskyi one feels a sense of hatred, contempt and disgust.”

“Disgust for a man who was a Soviet Russian officer, but became a Bandera traitor, who broke his oath and serves the Nazis, destroying his loved ones. May the earth burn under his feet!” he added.

Bandera here is a reference to Stepan Bandera, a World War Two-era Ukrainian nationalist who collaborated with Nazi Germany to fight against the Red Army. Bandera is regarded as a freedom fighter by some Ukrainians but as a traitor by many Russians.