• Pro-Iranian and pro-Russian forces clash in Syria

    The Tiger Forces, an elite formation of the Syrian government army, have clashed with the 4th Armored Division, the Turkish Anadolu Agency reported, citing sources in Syria. According to the news agency, the Tiger Forces are backed by Russia, whereas the tank division, which is commanded by Bashar al-Assad’s brother General Maher al-Assad, is backed by Iran. 

    The encounter reportedly took place in Syria’s Hama province in the north-west of the country. Anadolu did not specify an exact date.  …

  • Ukrainian Security Service: Russian private military company Wagner active in Syria and Sudan

    The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has published documents belonging to mercenaries from the Private Military Company (PMC) Wagner which confirm that it is a secret detachment of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). 

    “Russia continues to lie shamelessly, trying to justify its crimes committed throughout the world. The Kremlin doesn’t stop ‘shouting’ that its GRU armed divisions are not protecting dictator regimes in Sudan and Syria, and were not involved in the killing of …

  • Media: US steps up pressure on EU regarding Nord Stream 2

    The US has stepped up the pressure on EU countries to halt the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the German newspaper Handelsblatt reports, citing an anonymous White House official.

    Despite the cold winter months, work on the German-Russian gas pipeline has continued. One third of the 1,230 km gas pipeline has already been laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, and the construction is scheduled to finish by the end of the year.

    However, this is not to the US’s liking, …

  • Kremlin : Japan's support for sanctions against Russia is an obstacle to signing the peace treaty

    The Press Secretary to the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov said that one of the obstacles to signing a peace treaty is that Japan actively supports the sanctions against Russia, Interfax reports.

    “They support the sanctions and this is one of the questions and one of the situations that prevents us from signing the peace treaty,” Peskov noted during the program “Moscow.Kremlin.Putin” on channel Russia-1.

    He recalled that last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to sign the peace …

  • Czech Republic investigates its citizens’ involvement in Donbas war

    The Czech Republic is investigating the involvement of at least 10 of its citizens in combat in support of the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR & DPR) in eastern Ukraine.

    The Czech news outlet Denik N reported that a Czech by the name of Pavel K traveled to the Donbas through Russia at 22 years of age, and stayed there between the summer of 2015 and May 2016.

    The news outlet would not disclose the suspects’ names or cities of origin before the trial, in order to protect …