Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval rating has hit a record high of almost 90 percent, primarily as a result of his decision to launch air strikes against Islamist militants in Syria, Russia's state pollster said on Thursday.

It is slightly smaller than the rating of the president of Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu, shortly before his execution, but higher than the rating of Hosni Mubarak, a few years before the Revolution of 2011, which resulted in Egypt's President resignation and trial. …

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russian news agencies on Thursday that a military unit will be permanently stationed in the Arctic by 2018. He said Russia is building several new bases in the Arctic as well as rebuilding six Soviet-era air bases there.

"We are not hiding this from anyone: we have practically finished building bases on the Novosibirsk Archipelago and on Kotelny island," Shoigu said, adding that modern military technology was "necessary for guarding borders" in the …

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, advanced radar systems being shipped to Ukraine to counter artillery strikes by pro-Russia separatists have been modified to prevent them from peering into Russia.

The modifications drew fire from a leading Republican critic of the Obama administration, who called it a misguided attempt to mollify Vladimir Putin.

President Barack Obama signed an order on Sept. 29 to give Ukraine two radar systems worth $10 million each. U.S. officials said this week …

As reported by The Informational Resistance group, Russian citizens taking part in the coflict in east Ukraine, both the Russian armed forces servicemen and mercenaries have received Kremlin's conditions for the return to their homeland. It is only through the signing of the contract with the Russian Defence Ministry for further deployment to Syria that they would be allowed return entry to Russia.

For the signing of the contract such persons supposedly will have to provide three photos and …

According to the U.S. top military officer, Iraq is not planning to turn to Russia for airstrikes and other military assistance in its fight against Islamic State militants.

“Both the minister of defense and the prime minister said absolutely there is no request right now for the Russians to support them,” Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff, said following his visit to Iraq. 

“I said it would make it very difficult for us to be able to provide the kind of support …

As reported by Reuters,A ceasefire in eastern Ukraine means more work for the volunteer group Black Tulip, which can now collect remains of Ukrainian soldiers killed in action without the risk of being caught in crossfire between rebels and government troops.

The group used to locate and rebury soldiers killed in World War Two, but when hundreds of Ukrainian troops were killed in the battle of Ilovaisk last year, the volunteers decided their skills could help more recent victims of conflict. …

As reported by Reuters, at least three Russians soldiers fighting alongside Syrian government forces were killed and several more wounded when a shell hit their position in the coastal province of Latakia.

If confirmed, these casualties which occurred on Monday night would be the first known incidence of Russians being killed in Syria since Moscow began air strikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad on September 30.

The Russian embassy in Damascus declined to comment on the reported …

Portraits of former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin emerged on displays in the center of Donetsk, the pro-russian rebel capital of eastern Ukraine. as the separatist authorities fuel a mood of Soviet nostalgia.The rebels revive Soviet customs to cement their Moscow-backed rule and fuel a mood of Soviet nostalgia.The horrors of Stalin's repressions and the deaths of up to five million Ukrainians in the 1930s due to famine caused by forced collectivization go unmentioned.The Donetsk rebel leader …