• Lebanon asks Russia for $1 billion in aid

    Yet another Middle Eastern government is asking Russia for financial assistance. Following Iran, which is expecting a $2 billion Russian loan, and Syria, which has already been allocated $500 million for expanding its port infrastructure, Lebanon is requesting Kremlin money.

    According to the Lebanese media, Beirut would like a $600 million - $1 billion loan from Russia.

    The foreign currency is sorely needed by Lebanon, which is undergoing a severe currency crisis with a shortage of dollars, …

  • Belarus hikes tariff on Russian oil transit by 6.6%

    The Belarusian Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade (MART) has decided to hike the tariff on the transit of Russian oil through the country by 6.6%, the department announced on its website.

    The tariff increase is calculated according to a special formula. “The tariff hike amount has been determined… as the average annual consumer price index established by parameters of Russia’s predicted socio-economic growth in 2020, amounting to 3.6%, plus three percentage points,” the ministry …

  • Kremlin files case against Facebook and Twitter

    Russia’s federal communications censorship agency, RosKomNadzor, has initiated an administrative case against Facebook and Twitter due to their non-compliance with Russia’s law on personal information.

    The department’s press service reported that the two social networks which, according to BR Analytics, have 2 million content creators and 210 million messages on a monthly basis, have failed to provide proof within the stipulated time frame that they are complying with the requirement to …

  • Four Russian special forces officers killed in Syria

    According to unconfirmed reports, four officers from the Russian FSB Special Forces counter-terrorism directorate were killed yesterday in the Aleppo province.

    The Telegram channel “Special Forces Channel” reported the news and published the name and the photo of one of the killed officers.

    According to the channel, Captain Dmitry Minov was killed on February 1.

    The officers were reportedly killed after coming under mortar fire in the Aleppo Province.

  • Russia explains how Israel managed to destroy Pantsir air defense system in Syria

    Israel was able to destroy the Russian anti-aircraft missile system used by the Syrian army only after the Syrian crew made a mistake, and instead of changing its position, it remained in the same location waiting for the ammunition resupply vehicle, said Valery Slugin, the chief designer of the Pantsir system, in an interview with the Russian news agency TASS. The Pantsir system was created in Design Bureau of Instrument Engineering named after academician A.G. Shipunov which is part of the …