Contents tagged with Syria

  • Russia conducts air strikes in Northern Syria near Turkish border

    Russian warplanes carried out a massive attack in the southwest of the Syrian Idlib province, Al-Masdar news outlet reports .

    According to Al-Masdar, Russian aircraft attacked rebel-held territories near the city of Jisr al-Shughur along the Turkish border. The Russian military also launched several ballistic missiles at Jisr al-Shughur and the northern part of the Al-Ghab Plain.

    The strikes were carried out after the recent drone attack on Russian Khmeimim airbase on June 30.  According to …

  • Russian airbase in Syria comes under drone attack

    On the night of June 20, Russian Khmeimim airbase came under drone attack, reported Russian Ministry of Defense.

    According to the Russian military, the airfield was attacked by small drones and Russian anti-aircraft destroyed all of them.

    According to the Ministry, at the moment, base is operating as usual. No casualties or material damage has been reported.

    Youtube users also published videos which show a drone being destroyed by a rocket from an air defense system. It is reported that …

  • Talks between Russian military and Syrian opposition on ceasefire in Daraa break down

    On Saturday, June 30, representatives of the Syrian opposition announced the failure of negotiations with the Russian military on a peaceful settlement in south-west Syria. The rebels rejected Moscow's demands to surrender, the representative said, DW reports.

    According to the rebels, the Russian side "was not ready to listen" to their demands. The representatives of the Syrian opposition called the proposed Russian version of the agreement "humiliating”.

    Earlier on Saturday, negotiators from …

  • Lavrov: Russia does not set time limits for its military presence in Syria

    Russia does not set artificial time limits on its military presence in Syria but it gradually reduces the length of presence there, depending on how the situation develops "on the ground,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with British Channel 4.

    When asked if Russia troops could be expected to withdraw from Syria by the end of the year, Lavrov gave a negative reply.

    "No. And I do not think that this is a topic on which we can conduct a sensible dialogue. We do not …

  • French company Lafarge charged with cooperating with terrorists in Syria

    Lafarge, a large French construction materials company, has been charged with cooperating with terrorists in Syria and complicity in crimes against humanity, reported France 24.

    The investigation took two years. It revolved around the Syrian branch of the company, to which the head office, from 2011-2015, allocated 13 million euros to maintain the plant in northern Syria. Part of this money, according to the investigation, was given to extremist groups, including terrorists from the Islamic …

  • Georgia closes its airspace to Syria

    Georgia closed its airspace to two Syrian airlines because of Syria’s recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as stated by the CEO of Sakaeronavigatsia (Georgian air traffic controller) Gocha Mezvrishvili, Interfax reports.

    He noted that the Georgian government, in connection with the decision of the Syrian leadership to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia , had already made the political decision to sever diplomatic relations with Syria. “ …

  • Putin reports withdrawal of 1000 Russian soldiers from Syria

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said that over the last few days 1,140 Russian soldiers have been withdrawn from the Middle Eastern country, RIA Novosti reports.

    “They are all people who have experience and have been tested in combat,” the Russian president said during a meeting with military university graduates in the Kremlin. He gave the order to withdraw when he visited the Khmeimim air base. “This withdrawal is underway now,” he noted.

    14 helicopters and 13 planes have also returned to …

  • UN: Escalation southern Syria will be like battles for Aleppo and Ghouta combined

    The United Nations warned that a full-scale battle in the southwest of Syria could affect the population and area similar to those affected by the battles for Eastern Ghouta and Aleppo combined.

    UN special envoy for the Syria crisis Staffan de Mistura told the UN Security Council that such a battle could exacerbate tensions with Israel and jeopardize the small progress being seen in international political negotiations, which are focused on efforts to establish a constitutional committee. …

  • Russian Ministry of Defense: Two military helicopters returned to Russia from Syria

    Two Ka-52 helicopters returned to Russia after carrying out military tasks in Syria, RIA Novosti reported, citing the Ministry of Defense. The helicopters and their crews were transported by an An-124 Ruslan military transport aircraft from the Khmeimim aerodrome.

    As indicated by the military department, after returning to Russia, the pilots and helicopters will be sent to permanent deployment bases.

    Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta previously reported that over the past week, 11 planes …

  • Washington: Russia must do its part to uphold the ceasefire in Syrian southwest de-escalation zone

    Washington believes that the Syrian authorities are fighting in the southwestern portion of the country, in violation of a de-escalation regime that has been in place there since summer 2017. The US is hoping that Moscow will help reduce resultant tensions, stated US Deputy Representative to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen during an open debate at the UN Security Council on the topic of the "Maintenance of International Peace and Security: [A] Comprehensive Review of the Situation in the …