Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stated that his army has shattered the West's attempts to overthrow his government, thanks to the help of allies, including Russia, Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.

"Their direct support - politically, economically and militarily – has made possible great successes on the battlefield and reduced the losses and hardships of the war," Assad said during a television broadcast on August 20.However, he noted that "the battle continues," and that it's still …

The Vatican has officially announced that Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Patrolin will visit Russia, the press service of the Holy See reported.

“From August 21 to 24, 2017, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, will visit Russia at the government’s invitation. The goal of the visit will be to meet with the country’s leadership as well as the high clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church,” the document states.

As the announcement indicates, on August 21, Cardinal Parolin will meet …

The head of the Pentagon, James Mattis, told reporters on August 20 that during his visit to Ukraine he intends to confirm Washington's commitment to its strategic partnership with Kyiv, reports the press office of the US defense department.

Earlier, the Pentagon reported on Mattis' visit to Kyiv, which will occur on August 24. The Ukrainian presidential administration has provided information that Petro Poroshenko will hold talks with the US Secretary of Defense.

"I have meetings with …

The Moscow Arbitration Court refused to seize the Siemens-produced turbines which were shipped to annexed Crimea in circumvention of sanctions, the Dozhd TV channel reported with reference to a court file.

Furthermore, the court refused to prohibit the mounting of these turbines. Their seizure was specified as a security measure in the lawsuit.

The consideration of Siemens’ case against the corporate structures of Rostec, who relocated the turbines to the peninsula, has been scheduled for …

Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Tatyana Chornovol from the People's Front party stated that the Nizhinsky repair plant for engineering equipment suspended its work six months ago after it had been sold because of 11 million UAH ($432,000 USD) in debt.

"Military engineers complained to me that not any other part of the Ukrainian army is experiencing the same difficulties as they were. Not a single unit in the technology line in Ukraine is being produced; everything at the front is legacy equipment …

Beginning from the new academic year, Georgian schools in South Ossetia, the territory that declared independence from Georgia in 1991, are shifting to the Russian educational program and will teach courses using the Russian language. The Georgian language will be taught to schoolchildren only as a particular subject, BBC News reports.

The affected Georgian schools, most of which are located in the Akhalgori district, were formerly controlled by Tbilisi before the 2008 war.

The authorities of …

The volume of export of special and dual-purpose arms and services by enterprise-members of the state-owned concern Ukroboronprom in the first half of 2017 was $345 million, the press service of Ukroboronprom stated on Friday.

Comparative dynamics of arms exports for the same period of 2016 were not indicated in the data published on the website of the State Concern. At the same time, Ukroboronprom’s export orders portfolio as of July 1, 2017, according to the published data, is estimated at $2 …

President Vladimir Putin signed a list of orders "on measures to reduce the administrative burden on business entities in the Russian Federation,” as indicated in a statement by the press service of the Kremlin.

The orders are divided into two main parts. The first concerns planned and unscheduled inspections of businesses by the government controlling bodies and the second is regarding the detention of "suspects and those accused of committing crimes in the field of entrepreneurial activity." …