• Russia expands area of helicopter patrol in Northern Syria

    The Russian Air Force expanded the territory of the helicopter patrol in northeastern Syria, reports RIA Novosti.

    Mi-8 and Mi-35 helicopters of Russian Aerospace Forces started to conduct air patrol over the settlements in the Al-Hasakah Governorate, thereby significantly expanding their air patrol area. According to the Russian military, such measures will allow controlling a vast territory, as well as to use new routes for the Russian military police patrols.

    “We carry out air patrol …

  • Russia to put Avangard hypersonic missiles into active service

    The first UR-100N UTTKh intercontinental missiles with an Avangard nuclear glide vehicle will be put into active service in the next few weeks, TASS reports ,citing a source in Russia’s defense industry.

    “At the end of November or start of December, two UR-100N UTTKh missiles equipped with hypersonic glide vehicles from the first generation of Avangard systems will enter into trial combat duty in the Dombarovsky division of the Strategic Missile Forces,” the news agency cites the source as …

  • US troops occupy several oil fields in Syria

    The US military entered Syrian territory through a checkpoint on the border with Iraq and deployed in the oil fields in the northeast of the country, reports Al Ekhbariya TV channel.

    The convoy included 22 army vehicles and two trucks moving under air cover.

    About 90 percent of Syrian oil production is concentrated on the Eastern Bank of the Euphrates River. In October, US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops from Northern Syria , but shortly after that said that part …

  • Russian Gazprom cancels eurobond placement due to Ukraine's lawsuit

    The Kremlin’s gas strategy in the last few years, designed to deprive Ukraine of revenue from gas transit to Europe by replacing the Ukrainian gas transport system with the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream pipelines, appears to be backfiring on Gazprom.

    Already faced with a legislative ban on utilizing more than half of Nord Stream 2’s capacity, and having lost one third of Nord Stream 1’s capacity due to a ruling by the European Court of Justice, the Russian gas company has now sustained …

  • Russia replaces commander of forces in Syria

    The commander of the Russian troops in Syria has been replaced. Instead of Colonel-General Andrey Serdyukov, who has commanded the Russian forces in the country since April, the position will now be held by Deputy Chief of General Staff Lieutenant-General Alexander Chayko, Vedomosti reports, citing a source close to Russia’s Defense Ministry.

    Chayko also featured in photographs published by the Moskovskij Komsomolets on November 11 following a visit by members of the Defense Ministry Public …

  • Ukrainian President Zelensky has three main steps planned for ‘de-occupation’ of Crimea

    Anton Korynevych, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s permanent representative to Crimea, named three primary steps that will be taken towards the restoration of the annexed peninsula to Ukraine, reports UNIAN news agency. In particular, there are laws that are important to Crimeans which need to be drafted.

    “We are really trying to become the organ that drafts the bills that are necessary for Crimea and Crimeans. Some initial work has already been done. We look forward to distributing it, …

  • Kyiv: War with Russia will end after reparation has been paid and Crimea returned

    The Russian-Ukrainian war will end once the aggressor-state returns all of the occupied territories, including Crimea, and pays reparation, said Dmitry Kuleba, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, as cited by RBC-Ukraine.

    The vice prime minister said that the full extent of the damage caused by Russia’s invasion of the Donbas has not yet been determined.

    “Factories there have been ripped apart and taken away, mines there have been flooded, and if there is …

  • American F-35 fighter jets turned out to be 'invisible' for Russian S-400 missile systems

    Despite the fact that it was previously reported that the Russian S-400 missile systems can detect American F-35 fighters at a distance of 200-250 kilometers, it turned out that these systems which are deployed in Syria were unable to do so, reports Al-Masdar News.

    Al-Masdar notes that the emergence of the latest Russian S-500 missile systems is due to the inability of the S-400 systems to counter the "invisible" American fighter jets.

    "It is expected that the Russian S-500 Prometheus missile …

  • Libyan Interior Ministry: Russian Pantsir missile system belonging to Khalifa Haftar army has been destroyed

    The Libyan Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha said that one of the Russian-manufactured Pantsir air defense systems had been destroyed in Libya, reports defense-arabic.com news outlet. According to Bashagha, the system was installed on a German-made chassis which was allegedly made for the UAE's order, which points that the missile system was brought from that country.

    Earlier, it was reported that the troops of the Libyan National Army, headed by Khalifa Haftar, have one Russian-made Pantsir …

  • Russian-Serbian ‘Slavic Shield’ aerial defense exercise to be held annually

    The Slavic Shield joint exercise for anti-air divisions from Russia and Serbia will become an annual event, Russian anti-air commander Yuri Grekhov told Echo of Moscow radio station in an interview.

    The commander noted that the countries are currently considering numerous options for joint exercises. One such option would be to conduct exercises annually, but alternating the host country, i.e. one year in Russia, the next in Serbia. However, other formats are also possible.

    “Next year we are …