Inevitable De-Dollarization: Which Countries Are Moving Away From Greenback?

The trend of cutting dependence on the US dollar and switching to national means of payment in international settlements is gaining steam across the globe.

US sanctions against Russia and other countries have put the dollar's dominance at risk, as targeted nations are seeking out alternatives, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told an American news outlet on Sunday.

“There is a risk when we use financial sanctions that are linked to the role of the dollar that over time it could undermine the hegemony of the dollar,” Yellen said.

So, which countries are poised to scrap the use of the US currency in trade transactions? Sputnik explores.

Russia

In a new sign of Russia’s push to ditch the dollar, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a statement last week that the trend of abandoning the dollar for settlements in international trade is “irreversible.”

Lavrov added that the process of a number of countries, including Russia, “running away” from the dollar is already in place and that it “will certainly accelerate” in the immediate future.

According to the minister, the US has shot itself in the foot, managing the world economy by means of the dominant role of the dollar. Lavrov added that Washington slapping sanctions on Moscow over its special military operation in Ukraine has indicated the need for other countries to cut their dependence on the West.

This echoed previous remarks by President Vladimir Putin about the “inevitable process of de-dollarization,” which he said is currently taking place in Russia and necessitates the restructuring of the national economy as soon as possible.

The Russian Finance Ministry, in turn, has repeatedly called the dollar “toxic,” while head of Russia’s VTB bank Andrey Kostin described the US currency as Washington’s most powerful weapon, allowing it to "dominate and scare other countries." Russia has no other choice but to "follow the path of de-dollarization,” according to him.

Brazil, China

In a separate development last week, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged BRICS nations to come up with an alternative to replace the dollar in foreign trade. The BRICS countries include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

"Why can’t an institution like the BRICS bank have a currency to finance trade relations between Brazil and China, between Brazil and all the other BRICS countries? Who decided that the dollar was the (trade) currency after the end of gold parity?" Lula said during a visit to the Shanghai-based New Development Bank.

At the same time, he admitted that ditching the dollar is “difficult because we are unaccustomed [to the idea]. Everyone depends on just one currency." Lula spoke after Brazil clinched a deal with China to trade in their own currencies, in a bid to abandon the US dollar as an intermediary. The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency said that the agreement will help “reduce costs and promote even greater bilateral trade and facilitate investment."

Western media, in turn, reported at the time that the deal is expected “to enable China, the top rival to US economic hegemony, and Brazil, the biggest economy in Latin America, to conduct their massive trade and financial transactions directly, exchanging yuan for reais and vice versa instead of going through the dollar.”

A state-run Chinese media outlet has, meanwhile, said that the country’s largest commercial bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), has processed the first cross-border yuan settlement in Brazil at its local branch there, “marking another significant step in the yuan's globalization."

The transaction became the first of its kind since China's Central Bank authorized the ICBC as a yuan clearing bank in Brazil in February.

Chinese experts were cited by the outlet as saying that “yuan settlements are expected to boost the regional economic and trade recovery in the post-COVID era and help companies to find a more reliable alternative to the US dollar as they seek safer cross-border trade and investment deals.”

Zhang Jieyu, assistant research fellow at the Department for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, China Institute of International Studies, told the outlet that the yuan settlement with Brazil “sends a clear message of the growing acceptance and influence of the Chinese currency globally which will serve as an example for more countries to follow.” The outlet reported that “while the US dollar still dominates Brazil's foreign exchange reserves, the yuan's role, as a rising international reserve currency, has been highlighted lately.”

A recent survey report by the Central Bank of Brazil showed that as of the end of 2022, the proportion of the yuan in Brazil's international exchange reserves had reached 5.37%, exceeding the proportion of the euro at 4.74%, which means that the yuan becomes the South American country's second-largest reserve currency.

India

While India is downbeat about trading in yuan due to the country’s tense relations with China, the very idea of diversifying foreign trade currencies is of great interest to New Delhi.

Media reports said last week that a whole array of countries was holding talks with India’s Central Bank to discuss the conclusion of mutual trade transactions in Indian rupees.

The countries reportedly include India’s immediate neighbors, such as the Maldives and Myanmar, as well as Russia, and even the UK, Germany, and New Zealand.

According to the reports, companies and banks of the above-mentioned countries now plan to create the so-called vostro accounts in Indian banks, which will help them clinch deals for the supply of Indian goods abroad, and vice versa.

At the moment, the system looks rather cumbersome, given that the opening of each such account should be approved by Indian regulators, and that accumulated account balances can only be invested in Indian government bonds. Experts say that even though the system is out of sync with free trade principles, it represents a major step forward. The scheme is thought to have already been tested in transactions related to Russian-Indian trade and that of India and Iran.

BRICS' Single Drive to Scrap Dollar

As for BRICS on the whole, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in February that the group’s member states are already actively working on increasing payments in national currencies in mutual trade and financial operations due to the unreliability of the dollar.

“The share of national currencies in settlements between the BRICS countries is already rapidly growing. The BRICS countries have initiatives that address the need to work on the creation of their own currency. The reason is very simple: we cannot rely on mechanisms which are in the hands of those who can cheat at any time and refuse to fulfill their obligations," Lavrov told reporters.

Russian economist and researcher Mikhail Khazin told Sputnik in this vein that the dollar's dominance might be brought to an end by the emergence of several alternative currency zones, comprising the Latin American, Eurasian, Chinese, and Indian regions.

Khazin argued that the process is already underway, and that "it now makes sense to create a payment system that combines the currency systems of the Eurasian, Chinese, Indian, and Latin American zones." "It is necessary to create a payment system independent of the dollar," he pointed out.

Gulf Nations

In mid-March, the Chinese Export-Import Bank reportedly clinched the first cooperation and loan deal with the National Bank of Saudi Arabia. The goal is to ensure future settlements of transactions between companies from the two countries in national currencies.

According to experts, Riyadh began to mull switching to yuan trading as early as in March 2022, and its active cooperation with Beijing in this sector in recent months has added significantly to the process.

In a separate development late last month, China signed the first ever yuan-settled energy deal pertaining to some 65,000 tons of the UAE’s liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The transaction was carried out by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and France's TotalEnergies through the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange. Representatives of the Chinese oil and gas company CNOOC said in this regard that they intend to continue promoting "innovation" in LNG trade. The deal came after Iraq's Central Bank announced in February that it planned to allow trade from China to be settled directly in yuan for the first time, in an effort to improve access to foreign currency.

The Central Bank said it looks to compensate for a dollar shortage in local markets, which had previously made the government approve a currency revaluation. "It is the first time imports would be financed from China in yuan, as Iraqi imports from China have been financed in [US] dollars only," Mudhir Salih, the government's economic adviser, told a UK news agency.

The remarks followed Russian expert Mikhail Khazin telling Sputnik that the “inevitable” process of de-dollarization has been facilitated by Washington's sweeping sanctions against major global players, including Russia, and the use of the dollar as a "punishing" mechanism. By freezing Russian Central Bank assets, severing the nation from the SWIFT payment system, and prohibiting exports of US dollar-denominated banknotes to the country, Washington sent an ominous signal to other world players, the Russian expert concluded.

China smartphone sales rise to more than 70% of Russian market

Chinese smartphones made up more than 70% of the Russian market in the first quarter of 2023, consumer electronics retailer M.Video-Eldorado said, up from around 50% last year.

China's smartphone surge comes after Samsung and Apple both curtailed sales in Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, with Chinese manufacturers Xiaomi and Realme now occupying the market's top two spots.

Moscow is becoming more dependent on Beijing, having sharply raised its use of the yuan, increased energy supplies to China and started selling more Chinese-branded cars as Western automakers leave Russia.

Apple and Samsung have dropped to third and fourth spot respectively, from first and third in 2022, Russia's leading consumer electronics retailer M.Video said.

"Demand for brands from China in quantity terms increased by 42% relative to last year, and their total share was over 70%," M.Video added in a statement on Monday.

Russia is trying to wean itself off Western technology and the Kremlin told officials involved in preparations for the 2024 presidential election to stop using Apple iPhones because of concerns that the devices are vulnerable to Western intelligence agencies, Kommersant newspaper reported last month.

The Kremlin has also moved to allow Russian companies to ship in some products, including smartphones, without the license holder's permission in so-called parallel imports.

Analysts say that most devices are imported from China, but the Vedomosti newspaper in February cited research by GS Group, which said that parallel imports had helped iPhone imports from India double in 2022 compared with the year before.

Last year, M.Video and mobile operator MTS began selling discounted and used smartphones, offering Russian consumers cheaper alternatives as Western sanctions contributed to economic contraction and falling wages.

M.Video noted that demand for smartphones was recovering in the first quarter of this year.

Sudan ruling council declares rival faction as 'rebels', battles unrelenting

The violence erupted Saturday after weeks of power struggles between Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. (AFP)

Sudan's army chief on Monday branded the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces a rebellious group and ordered it be dissolved, the foreign ministry said, as the faction battled the army in the capital and across the country.

The rupture between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed at least 97 civilians and 45 soldiers according to a medics’ group, with airstrikes and fighting in the capital and strife spilling across Sudan

Both sides claimed they made gains on Monday as smoke hung over the capital Khartoum and residents reported a clamour of airstrikes, artillery fire and shooting that cut off basic services and damaged hospitals in a city unused to violence.

The order follows a violent power struggle that has killed at least 97 civilians and injured 365 since the fighting started early on Saturday, according to a toll published by the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, an activist group. The government has not published a toll.

Bombardments and airstrikes rocked Khartoum on Monday, including near the military headquarters, and in Bahri just across the Nile River near another base, witnesses in the areas said. Smoke billowed from the runway of the capital's international airport, where explosions and fires were visible on TV images.

The rare outbreak of violence in the capital has also spread to other parts of Sudan, pitting the armed forces against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a former militia that had been due to merge with the army and whose leaders shared power in a ruling military council.

Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan heads the ruling council while RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, is his deputy. Both sides said they had made gains on Monday.

A protracted power struggle raises the risk of Sudan falling into civil war four years after long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled in an uprising, as well as derailing an internationally-backed framework deal to launch a civilian transition that was due to be signed earlier this month.

Army chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan heads a ruling council installed after a 2021 coup and the 2019 ousting of veteran leader Omar Bashir during mass protests. RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, is his deputy.

Under an internationally backed transition plan, the RSF was shortly due to merge with the army. Burhan on Monday ordered the group to be dissolved as the two sides exchanged bitter accusations.

In comments to Sky News, Burhan said he was secure in a presidential guesthouse within the defense ministry compound. He said his goal was to defeat the RSF, but did not rule out some form of negotiation. “Every war ends at the negotiation table even if the opponent is defeated,” Burhan said.

Egypt, which has long been wary of political change in Khartoum, is the most important backer of Sudan's armed forces. Hemedti has cultivated ties with several foreign powers including the United Arab Emirates and Russia.

There was no sign on Monday that either side was willing to back down. While the army is larger, and has air power, the RSF is widely deployed inside neighborhoods of Khartoum and other cities, making it hard for either side to secure a quick victory.

Fighting between the sides in Darfur has meanwhile raised the spectre of renewed conflict in the western region that from 2003 was plagued by years of bloody warfare that killed as many as 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million

Hospitals damaged

Offices, schools and petrol stations in the capital were shut on Monday, while health services were widely disrupted and four major hospitals said they had been damaged and two were out of action due to the clashes.

The bridges linking Khartoum with Omdurman and Bahri across the Nile River’s two main branches were blocked by armored vehicles and some roads leading from the capital were impassable.

With water and power services also cut across large parts of the capital, some residents were venturing out to buy food, forming long queues at bakeries. There has been no police presence on the streets of Khartoum since Saturday and witnesses reported cases of looting.

There has been no police presence on the streets of Khartoum since Saturday and witnesses reported cases of looting.

“We’re scared our store will be looted because there’s no sense of security,” said Abdalsalam Yassin, 33, a shopkeeper who had bought in extra stock ahead of the coming Eid Al-Fitr Holiday.

UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned the outbreak of fighting and urged a return to calm, saying an already precarious humanitarian situation was now catastrophic.

The RSF claimed it had captured an airport and military bases, while the military said it was in control of its headquarters despite what it called “limited clashes” in the vicinity. Reuters verified video showing RSF forces in some of those locations but could not verify battlefield claims.

The army regained control of the main television station, which briefly went off air after gunfire was heard during a live broadcast. The station began broadcasting videos showing the army destroying RSF vehicles, a day after the RSF said it had taken over the building.

Power struggle

The eruption of fighting over the weekend followed rising tensions over the RSF’s integration into the military.

Discord over the timetable for that process delayed the signing of the framework framework deal to launch a civilian transition that was due to be signed earlier this month.

It comes four years after Bashir was toppled, and nearly two years after a military coup.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an immediate cease-fire was needed and that the fighting potentially posed a threat to the wider region. Germany called on both sides to de-escalate.

In Darfur, residents said fighting continued. “It’s calmer than yesterday but there was heavy artillery in the morning,” said Mohamed, a doctor in El Fasher in North Darfur.

In Nyala, the region’s biggest city, a member of a monitoring group said people were terrified. “We see men on motorcycles and they have been going into people’s homes, stealing cars, going into buildings, and going into NGOs and looting,” he said.

SpaceX postpones debut flight of Starship rocket, citing frozen valve

Elon Musk's SpaceX called off the highly anticipated debut launch of its newly-combined Starship cruise vessel and Super Heavy rocket in the final minutes of countdown due to a frozen valve, delaying the uncrewed test flight for at least two days.

The two-stage rocketship, standing taller than the Statue of Liberty at 394 feet (120 m) high, was originally slated for blast-off from the SpaceX "Starbase" facility at Boca Chica, Texas, during a two-hour launch window that began at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT).

But the California-based space company announced in a live webcast that it was scrubbing the planned 90-minute flight into space for a minimum of 48 hours, citing a frozen pressurization valve in the lower-stage rocket booster. That would make Wednesday the next available launch window for the mission.

SpaceX officials on the webcast said ground teams would nevertheless continue pre-flight fueling of the rocket until the last seconds of Monday's countdown, turning the canceled launch bid into a "wet dress rehearsal" for the next attempt.

Musk, the company's billionaire founder and chief executive, had told a private Twitter audience on Sunday night that the mission stood a better chance of being scrubbed than proceeding to launch on Monday.

Getting the vehicle to space for the first time would represent a key milestone in SpaceX's ambition of sending humans back to the moon and ultimately to Mars - at least initially as part of NASA's newly inaugurated human spaceflight program, Artemis.

Tourists take photos at sunset of SpaceX's Starship the day before it launches from the Starbase launchpad on an orbital test mission, in Boca Chica, Texas, U.S., April 16, 2023. REUTERS/Gene Blevins

A successful debut flight would also instantly rank the Starship system as the most powerful launch vehicle on Earth.

Both the lower-stage Super Heavy booster and the upper-stage Starship cruise vessel it would carry to space are designed as reusable components, capable of flying back to Earth for soft landings - a maneuver that has become routine for SpaceX's smaller Falcon 9 rocket.

But neither stage would be recovered for the expendable first test flight to space. Instead, both parts of the spacecraft would end their inaugural flight with crash landings at sea - the upper-stage of the Starship coming down in the Pacific after achieving nearly one full orbit of the Earth

Prototypes of the Starship cruise vessel have made five sub-space flights up to 6 miles (10 km) above Earth in recent years, but the Super Heavy booster has never left the ground.

In February, SpaceX did a test-firing of the booster, igniting 31 of its 33 Raptor engines for roughly 10 seconds with the rocket bolted in place vertically atop a platform.

The Federal Aviation Administration just last Friday granted a license for what would be the first test flight of the fully stacked rocket system, clearing a final regulatory hurdle for the long-awaited launch.

If all goes as planned for the next launch bid, all 33 Raptor engines will ignite simultaneously to loft the Starship on a flight most of the way around the Earth before it re-enters the atmosphere and free-falls into the Pacific at supersonic speed, about 60 miles (97 km) off the coast of the northern Hawaiian islands.

After separating from the Starship, the Super Heavy booster is expected to execute the beginnings of a controlled return flight before plunging into the Gulf of Mexico.

As designed, the Starship rocket is nearly two times more powerful than NASA's own Space Launch System (SLS), which made its debut uncrewed flight to orbit in November, sending a NASA cruise vessel called Orion on a 10-day voyage around the moon and back.

‘Teen Takeover’ terrorizes Chicago as hundreds of teenagers destroy property, attack tourists

Hundreds of teenagers stormed the streets of downtown Chicago, smashing car windows, attacking bystanders and sending panicked tourists running from the sound of gunfire.

"Where are their parents at? That's my question," a woman who identified as a Chicago native told Fox 32 as the unruly scene played out in downtown Chicago on Saturday night.

Fox 32 cameras captured video of teenagers crowding the streets and police seeking to restore order to the area.

Large groups of teens were seen blasting music from Bluetooth speakers and roaming in front of traffic, with some attempting to gain access to the city's Millennium Park, which is off-limits to those under 21 after certain hours, and the downtown Art Institute.

Police attempt to restore order in downtown Chicago after hundreds of teens descended on the area Saturday night.

Some teens in the group began jumping up and down on cars, smashing windows and attacking people inside. One woman told Fox 32 her husband was attacked from the driver side of his vehicle and beaten after a group of teens jumped up and down on the couple's windshield. The man was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Hundreds of police officers assisted by SWAT teams descended on downtown in an attempt to restore order as gunfire was reported multiple times amid the unfolding scene.

Police were seen escorting frightened tourists back to their cars or hotels to escape the chaos, and traffic on Chicago's Michigan Avenue ground to a halt as police attempted to restore order.

Police say a 6-year-old boy was shot in the arm near the Chicago Loop and a 17-year-old boy was shot in the leg. Both were taken to Northwestern Hospital and listed in fair condition, according to a report from WLS.

Fox 32 reported that the chaos appeared to be another "Teen Takeover" of the city that was planned on social media, noting that a similar scene played out in Chicago last year.

"I understand kids having a good time, but this is simply bad parenting," the Chicago native witness told Fox 32. "We have to do better as parents. Our kids should not be out here."

Teens flooded downtown Chicago on Saturday night, smashing car windows and attacking tourists.

LIVE UPDATES - Wagner Assault Teams Liberate Two Areas in Artyomovsk

©Valentin Sprinchak/TASS

Russian air defense forces intercepted three rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and destroyed four Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Monday.

"Air defense capabilities intercepted three rockets of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system. In addition, they destroyed four Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Verkhnetoretskoye, Vasilyevka and Krapivnitskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Golaya Pristan in the Kherson Region," the spokesman said.

Russian forces neutralize three Ukrainian subversive groups in Kupyansk area

Russian forces struck Ukrainian army units and neutralized three enemy subversive groups in the Kupyansk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Kupyansk direction, assault and army aviation and artillery from the western battlegroup struck Ukrainian army units. The activity of three Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance groups was thwarted," the spokesman said.

Russian forces destroyed P-18 and 36D6 surveillance radars of the Ukrainian army in the Kharkov Region and the enemy’s total losses amounted to 35 personnel and an Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer in that area in the past 24 hours, the general specified.

Russian forces eliminate over 70 Ukrainian troops in Krasny Liman area

Russian forces eliminated over 70 Ukrainian troops and a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer in the Krasny Liman area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Krasny Liman direction, aircraft, artillery and heavy flamethrower systems of the battlegroup Center struck the enemy units in areas near the settlements of Terny and Grigorovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Chervonaya Dibrova in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

The strikes "eliminated over 70 Ukrainian personnel, an armored combat vehicle and a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer" in that area in the past 24 hours, the general specified.

Russian forces destroy over 270 Ukrainian troops, mercenaries in Donetsk advance

Russian forces destroyed over 270 Ukrainian troops and mercenaries in their advance in the Donetsk area in the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"The enemy’s total losses in that direction in the past 24 hours amounted to over 270 Ukrainian personnel and mercenaries, a tank, an infantry fighting vehicle, seven armored combat vehicles and five motor vehicles," the spokesman said.

Wagner assault teams liberate two areas in Artyomovsk

Assault teams from the Wagner private military company liberated two areas in northwestern and central Artyomovsk over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

It was reported on April 16 that Wagner fighters liberated two areas in the northwestern and southeastern parts of Artyomovsk.

"In the Donetsk direction, assault teams captured two areas in the northwestern and central parts of the city of Artyomovsk," the spokesman said.

Russian Airborne Force units, operational/tactical and army aviation aircraft, artillery from the battlegroup South provided support for the assault units and immobilized the enemy’s forces on the flanks, the general said.

"Aircraft flew 22 sorties and artillery of the southern battlegroup accomplished 54 firing objectives," Konashenkov reported.

The strikes inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army units in areas near the settlements of Bogdanovka, Chasov Yar and Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the spokesman said.

Russian forces eliminate 60 Ukrainian troops in southern Donetsk, Zaporozhye areas

Russian forces eliminated roughly 60 Ukrainian troops in the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

In the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas, operational/tactical and army aviation and artillery from the Russian battlegroup East struck the enemy units near the settlements of Ugledar and Velikaya Novosyolka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Zagornoye, Malaya Tokmachka and Kamenskoye in the Zaporozhye Region, the spokesman specified.

"As many as 60 Ukrainian personnel, two pickup trucks and a Msta-B howitzer were destroyed in those directions in the past 24 hours," the general reported.

Russian forces destroy over 55 Ukrainian troops, US-made M777 howitzer in Kherson area

Russian forces destroyed over 55 Ukrainian troops and a US-made M777 artillery system in the Kherson area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the Kherson direction, over 55 Ukrainian personnel, three motor vehicles, a US-made M777 artillery system, and also Akatsiya and Gvozdika motorized howitzers were destroyed as a result of damage inflicted by firepower," the spokesman said.

Russian forces wipe out Ukrainian army’s ammo depot, equipment hangar in Zaporozhye area

Russian forces destroyed an ammunition depot and a hangar with military equipment belonging to the Ukrainian army in the Zaporozhye area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the areas of the settlements of Novodanilovka and Novoandreyevka in the Zaporozhye Region, an ammunition depot and a hangar with armaments and military equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 65th mechanized brigade were obliterated," the spokesman said.

In addition, "in the area of the settlement of Novomikhailovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the activity of a Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance group was thwarted," the general said.

Russian forces strike 95 Ukrainian artillery units in past day

Russian forces struck 95 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions over the past day, Konashenkov reported.

"In the past 24 hours, operational/tactical aircraft, missile troops and artillery of the Russian group of forces struck 95 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and equipment in 123 areas," the spokesman said.

In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 407 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 228 helicopters, 3,764 unmanned aerial vehicles, 415 surface-to-air missile systems, 8,699 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,086 multiple rocket launchers, 4,606 field artillery guns and mortars and 9,552 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.