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Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers arrive in South Africa
Two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers arrived at the Waterkloof Air Base in South Africa, reports Interfax news agency, citing Russian Defense Ministry.
Russian Defense Ministry reports that the aircraft flew over the Caspian and Arabian seas, as well as the Indian ocean. The duration of the flight exceeded 13 hours.
In the last stages of the route, Russian bombers were accompanied by Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighters of the South African Air Force.
Russian air group consists of two Tu-160 aircraft …
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Putin: Russia has written off $20 billion of African debt
Russia has written off more than $20 billion of debt owed by African countries, said Russian President Vladimir Putin at a plenary session of the Russia – Africa Economic Forum, reports finanz.ru.
This is 42% more than the annual budget of Russia’s entire higher education system ($14 billion), and more than the amount that will be allocated to the national healthcare project between now and 2024 ($18.8 billion), for example.
Putin said that Moscow is systematically contributing to the …
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Russian military police start patrolling Syria-Turkey border
For the first time in years, Damascus has begun to control the north-eastern border with Turkey.
On Wednesday, Russian military police began patrolling Syria’s north-eastern border as part of an agreement with Turkey to expel the Kurds from the region.
The arrival of Russian police in the Syrian border city of Kobani marks the start of Moscow and Damascus’s joint mission to keep the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) at least 30 km from the Turkish border, as part of an agreement made by …
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Bulgarian media: Russia is wearing out our MiG-29 fighters
The Bulgarian military is frequently placed on alert in connection with Russian combat aircraft flying past. Bulgaria believes that the greater intensity of flights is deliberate provocation by Moscow, designed to wear out Bulgaria’s fleet of fighters.
The Bulgarian news agency Mediapool writes that since the start of the year, the country’s air force has been forced to scramble fighters on 19 occasions to inspect aircraft with deactivated transponders. Almost all of these aircraft are …
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Half of Russians can only just afford food and clothing
In Russia, the number of families whose financial resources are only just enough to buy food and clothing is growing, according to data from the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), as cited by RBC. Between April and July 2019, 49.4% families fell under this category, 0.6 percentage points more than a year ago. These families cannot afford durable products such as computers, refrigerators, washing machines, furniture, etc.
This year, the proportion of Russian families with just enough …