 Russia to deploy new howitzers to Ukrainian battlefront. Russia plans to deploy its latest howitzers against the Ukrainian armed forces, according to Sergei Chemezov, the head of the Rustic State Defense Conglomerate. These howitzers, which have a top range of up to 70 kilometers, are reportedly designed to provide a strategic edge over Western artillery models. Earlier reports in the Russian media suggest that several coalition SV howitzers have already been deployed to Ukraine's front lines. The coalition SV features a modern 2A 88 gun with a 152 millimeter caliber with a firing rate exceeding 10 shots per minute. It also incorporates modern automation for aiming, target selection and navigation processes. I think they will appear in the northern military district soon, since howitzers of this class are needed to provide an advantage over Western artillery models in terms of firing range, Chemezov said. In 2021, Russia's President Vladimir Putin changed the status of the Russian northern fleet, whose zone of responsibility was chiefly the Russian Arctic to the northern military district, incorporating into it also the Murmansk region, which shares borders with Finland and Norway.