Contents tagged with Syria

  • Putin signs decree allowing Russian intelligence agencies to recruit private spies

    Russian President Vldaimir Putin has signed a decree allowing Russian intelligence to have a new type of secret service agents - "foreign intelligence officers of the Russian Federation that are not part of the staff", but are involved in performing intelligence missions, the newspaper Vedomosti reports.

    Information about such employees is now classified.  According to the new decree, disclosing of such information entails criminal liability.

    This is the first time such definition appears in …

  • Turkey condemns Russia's strikes on Syrian Idlib

    Ankara condemns air strikes on Syrian Idlib carried out by Russian aircraft, stated Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, as quoted by Anadolu news agency.

    According to him, after the attacks, Turkey informed Russia that it considers an attack on a province not controlled by Syrian President Bashar Assad, a mistake. “The purpose of the attacks is, to capture Idlib. This poses a serious risk. This will be a disaster in every way,” said Cavusoglu. He added that an offensive by Assad's …

  • Iran decides not to transport 300 million euros in cash from Germany

    Authorities in Tehran changed their mind about withdrawing 300 million euros in cash from a German bank account and transporting it by aircraft back to Iran.  As reported on Tuesday, September 4th, by the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, the European-Iranian Trade Bank told the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and the German government about its change of plans.

    The US insisted on the cancellation of the operation, accusing Tehran of intending to use these funds for terrorist …

  • Kremlin responds to Trump's call to stop military operation in Syrian Idlib

    The press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov believes that U.S. President Donald Trump’s call to prevent attacks in the Syrian province of Idlib is a manifestation of a "noncomprehensive approach" to assessing the situation in the region.

    "The situation in Idlib continues to be a topic of special concern in Moscow, Damascus, Ankara and Tehran. A nest of terrorism was formed there [in Idlib], "Peskov told journalists.

    He commented on the statement of the American leader, who …

  • Ukrainian Security Service publishes names of Russian mercenaries killed in February fight with Americans in Syria

    Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) published names of 50 mercenaries of the Russian private military company (PMC), the Wagner Grour killed in February fight with Americans in Syria.

    The list was published on the SBU website on Tuesday.

    The list includes not only Russian citizens but also several Ukrainians from the Luhansk and Kharkiv regions, as well as one Moldovan and one Armenian citizen.

    On February 7 in Syria, pro-government armed groups attacked the headquarters of the Syrian …

  • US nuclear submarine moves from Gibraltar towards Syria

    The USS Newport News, a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine which entered Gibraltar last week, left the port four days later and adopted a course towards the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Interfax reports, citing Gibraltar monitoring resources.

    In the published vessel tracking data, one can see that the cruise missile-bearing nuclear submarine rounded Europa Point and headed towards the Eastern Mediterranean.

    The US already has two of its nuclear submarines in the Mediterranean, …

  • French Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Assad won the war in Syria

    French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stated that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won the civil conflict that took place in the country.

    “Assad won the war. We must admit this,” stressed Le Drian.

    At the same time, he pointed out that the Syrian leader may have won the battle, but did not achieve peace, which is possible “with the participation of international mediators.”

    The Idlib province in northern Syria remains the only region controlled by the Syrian opposition and some militat …

  • Russia: US forces and allies can increase missile strike capabilities in a day to strike Syria

    The US Armed Forces and allies can build up missile capability to strike Syria in a day,stated the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova during a briefing.

    According to her, currently, the strike capabilities of the armed forces of the United States, Great Britain, and France consists of strategic and tactical aircraft, which are deployed on bases in Jordan, Kuwait, and Crete. According to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the fleet consists of about …

  • Syria confirms preparation of an offensive in the Idlib province

    Syrian government forces are preparing a large-scale attack on insurgents in the province of Idlib, said the Minister of Foreign Affair of Syria, Walid al-Muallem, on August 30th after a conversation with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

    According to him, the Syrian military “will make their way through Idlib,” and “the main objective” of the upcoming operation will be the Al-Nusra Front, which at a time had ties with Al-Qaeda.

    The province of Idlib is the last of the de- …

  • Russia to conduct extensive naval maneuvers in Mediterranean

    Russia has been expanding its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean ahead of Syrian government forces’ expected offensive on the final rebel and jihadist stronghold in Syria, the Idlib Governorate. From 1 to 8 September, the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean will carry out drills involving 25 ships and around 30 Aerospace Forces aircraft, the Russian Defense Ministry announced.

    The exercise will focus on a range of tasks relating to anti-air and anti-submarine defense, as well as …