Kremlin: 11 Russian aircraft and helicopters returned from Syria

11 Russian military planes and helicopters returned from Syria last week, arriving at their permanent bases in Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry reported as quoted by to RIA Novosti.

“Eleven aircraft have returned to their permanent bases in the Russian Federation from Syria over the past week,” the Ministry informed.

According to the Defense Ministry, the Russian warplanes flew to their base while the army aviation helicopters were carried by military-transport aircraft. Additionally, the …


Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania visits the boundary line in the Donbas

On Saturday, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius visited a local school and one of the transit checkpoints in the frontier town of Stanytsia Luhanska.

On his Twitter, he shared his impressions from the visit. "I am at the Stanytsia Luhanska checkpoint on the line of contact. The only operating checkpoint in the region: a violation of the Minsk Agreements. People are standing in line for 4 hours in the heat. It’s inhumane and unacceptable,” the Lithuanian diplomat wrote.

The Head of …


High-ranking Iranian officer killed in Syria

The news  outlet Sepah News reported on Saturday that a senior officer of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the elite part of the armed forces of Iran, has been killed in Syria.

"Second Brigadier General Shahrokh Daeipour, one of the commanders and veterans of the Iran-Iraq War, died in [the] Syrian [town of] Al-Bukemal during an advisory mission," the portal said, without specifying in what circumstances and when the Iranian officer was killed.

Al-Bukemal was considered less …


American congressmen seek sanctions against Russian oligarch over 'large-scale investments in Crimea'

Shares of billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov's companies were pummeled on the Moscow Stock Exchange on Friday following news from the US that a group of congressmen is seeking sanctions against the businessman, who has already given the State key oil assets and lost 70% of his fortune due to a conflict with Rosneft.

US Congressmen affiliated with the Republican Party, Mark Walker and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, argued that the inclusion of Yevtushenkov, as well as his companies AFK Sistema and MTS, in …


Russian companies prepare to be disconnected from SWIFT

Russia’s largest companies continue to report that they are ready for a possible disconnection from the SWIFT international payment system.

Gazprom Neft announced that it has followed Rostec and Rosneft in transitioning to the Central Bank of Russia’s SWIFT equivalent - the Financial Message Transmission System (FMTS).

The nearly 100% Gazprom-owned company, which holds the 4th place for oil extraction in Russia, has begun to use the Russian SWIFT equivalent instead of the traditional one, …