Russia’s Grom-2019 (“Thunder-2019”) strategic exercise conducted from October 15-17 in the Arctic can be described as “a rehearsal of all-out nuclear war” according to Alexander Golts, editor-in-chief of the Russian online magazine Yezhednevny Zhurnal (Daily Journal).

As reported previously by the Russian Defense Ministry, the exercise involved troops from all four of Russia’s military districts and its Northern Fleet. During the training maneuvers, the Russian military practiced “deploying …

At the Komarno compressor station in Ukraine’s Lviv region, construction and installation work has been completed and a new stretch of pipeline connector has been commissioned, Ukraine’s national gas pipelines operator UkrTransGaz announced in a press statement.

“The updated configuration of the linear part of the gas pipeline will allow us to transport the blue fuel in both the obverse and the reverse modes between Ukraine and Poland. The reconstruction will increase the capacity and …

The Venezuelan government is considering handing over complete control of the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) to the Russian oil corporation Rosneft, the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reported, citing sources in the country’s energy sector.

According to the news outlet, the Venezuelan government proposed this initiative in exchange for writing off the country’s debt to Russia. Moscow apparently viewed the initiative positively, because it sent several commissions …

Israel's Chief Rabbi David Lau called on Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to support the Syrian Kurds, who are fighting with the Turkish army. "These days, our hearts are with the Kurds, who are facing mass destruction," said Lau.

The Rabbi made this statement in the festive tabernacle (sukkah), which the Israeli President visited the day before to congratulate the spiritual leader of Ashkenazi Jews on the Sukkot holiday, reports TV channel 7.

"It is our moral duty to act immediately before it …

Lithuania and Russia have agreed to exchange a number of prisoners accused of espionage, the Lithuanian news agency BNS reported, citing informed sources.

Lithuania will hand over Nikolai Filipchenko, a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agent who was convicted two years ago. In turn, Russia will release the Lithuanian citizens Yevgeny Mataitis and Aristidas Tamosaitis.

The exchange agreement also includes a Norwegian citizen who was convicted in Russia and one other Russian citizen. …

The Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov called Kyiv's proposal to dissolve the self-proclaimed republics of the Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics) "very unexpected." According to him, these are some "new inputs" for Moscow, as well as for Berlin and Paris, reports RIA Novosti news agency.

After a meeting of a Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk, the Press Secretary of the Kyiv's representative, Darka Olifer, stated that Ukraine is ready to fulfill its …

Journalist Babak Taghvaee reported on his Twitter account that Israel had used the Turkish offensive against Kurdish militias and the chaos in Northern Syria to conduct airstrikes in another part of Syria.

According to the journalist, Israel conducted the airstrike on military bases in Eastern Syria near the city of Abu Kamal. Israeli aircraft had previously attacked the surrounding areas of this city, and Israeli media claimed that Iranian and Pro-Iranian forces were the target of the strikes. …

Three US embassy employees were removed from the Nyonoksa – Severodvinsk train in Russia since they lacked authorization to enter the restricted territory, Interfax reports, citing an informed source.

The US diplomats included Navy Attache Curtis, Attache Arriola and Attache Colonel Dann.

“Since this territory is restricted, the US embassy staff were removed from the train, and signs of an administrative offense have been perceived in their actions,” the report reads.

The source noted that …