• Ankara arrests Assad supporters with Russia’s consent

    The Turkish Defense Ministry reported that 18 people linked to Bashar al-Assad’s government have been detained near the captured Syrian city of Ras al-Ayn. The Turkish department called them “elements of the regime” in a tweet.

    Turkey claims that the matter was coordinated with Russia.

    Ankara did not specify the circumstances of the arrests. There is also no information on whether or not the detainees are Syrian government soldiers. The Syrian state news agency SANA has not yet commented on …

  • Denmark authorizes Nord Stream 2 construction

    The Danish Energy Agency has given permission for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Denmark’s exclusive economic zone, Interfax reports.

    The pipeline will be laid to the south-east of the island of Bornholm.

    Andriy Kobolyev, CEO of Naftogaz of Ukraine, wrote on Facebook that Ukraine had been expecting Denmark to make a decision in autumn.

    Kobolyev said that Denmark’s principled stance delayed the project, but “geopolitical weapons cannot be halted using instruments that …

  • Russia to test newest intercontinental ballistic missile

    Tests of the latest RS-28 Sarmat Intercontinental ballistic missile will begin in early 2020, reports Vedomosti news outlet, citing a source close to the Russian Defense Ministry and a manager of the enterprise in the defense industry.

    According to them, at the first round of testing, the rocket will be launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome to the Kura Missile Test Range in Northern Kamchatka Krai. If the initial tests are successful, at the round of tests, the missile system will be tested in …

  • Bloggers find evidence of Russia bribing FIFA officials ahead of 2018 World Cup

    In the hacked correspondence of Sergei Kapkov, former head of the Moscow Department of Culture, the Black Mirror Telegram channel has found evidence that Russia may have bribed FIFA officials in order to get the right to host the 2018 World Cup. Among the correspondence published on Tuesday, October 29, was a letter from Alexander Djordjadze, head of the Russia 2018 organizing committee, dated March 15, 2010, which contained a dossier on each member of FIFA’s executive committee.

    Joseph …

  • Russia offers to share Nord Stream 2 gas transit profit with Europe

    At the recent trilateral talks on gas transit through Ukraine, the Russian delegation brought up the topic of authorization for the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev wrote in a Facebook post.

    “This issue was brought up in a bilateral format, where the Ukrainian party was not present. However, as sources from the European Commission told me, there was one interesting point among Gazprom’s arguments: Our project is not only purely commercial, it is …