Author: Steven Sahiounie

Late on July 20, Russian air defenses intercepted two unidentified drones which attempted to attack Hmeimim Air Base on the Syrian coast. “On July 20, 2022, at about 10:10 p.m., Russian air defense systems detected unmanned aerial vehicles approaching the area of ​​​​the Russian Hmeimim airbase from the northeast,” RIA Novosti quoted Russian sources as saying. The source said that drones were shot down two kilometers away from the base. The failed attack didn’t result in any casualties or material losses. Russian media suggested the drones were “makeshift” and didn’t pose a real threat. They were likely launched from the…

The shipment will include 1,600 anti-tank weapons and 50,000 artillery shells The UK will send Ukraine anti-tank weapons, drones, artillery guns and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Parliament on Thursday. Ukraine will receive more than 20 M109 and 26 L119 artillery guns, as well as counter-battery radar systems and more than 50,000 rounds of ammunition for its existing Soviet-era artillery systems. The UK will also send 1,600 anti-tank weapons as well as drones, including hundreds of “loitering aerial munitions,” more commonly known as “suicide drones.” The arms will be sent to Ukraine in the coming weeks,…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, and President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran held talks yesterday in Tehran at the 7th Astana summit for peace in Syria, stressing the need for respecting Syria’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The summits date from January 2017, and are named for the Kazakhstan capital they were first held at. The trio of leaders decided the next meeting will be held in Moscow before the end of the year. The Syrian Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, arrived in Tehran late on Tuesday to be briefed…

A Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher that was recently supplied by the US to Ukraine had been destroyed in a pinpoint strike by the Russian Aerospace Forces, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on July 20. “High-precision weapons of the Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed US-made Harpoon missile launcher near Usatovo, Odessa Region,” ministry spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said during his daily briefing. The Harpoon is a sea-skimming anti-ship missile that is equipped with a radar altimeter and a GPS-aided inertial navigation system, or INS. The missile locks on its target with an active radar seeker. When launched from surface, the…

Led by Rosatom, the $30 billion project is expected to be completed by 2028  Russian state-owned Rosatom has begun construction on the El Dabaa nuclear power plant, the company said in a press release published on Wednesday. “The start of construction on the El Dabaa power plant’s first reactor means Egypt is now joining the club of the world’s nuclear energy producing nations,” Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachyov said at a ceremony launching the construction. Located on Egypt’s northern coast some 130 kilometers northwest of Cairo, El Dabaa will be Egypt’s first nuclear power plant as well as Rosatom’s first major project…

China calls on the United States to halt its illegal activity of siphoning Syria’s resources out of the country as its occupation persists. The United States must stop siphoning oil and grain out of Syria and make up for the damage caused by its military presence on Syrian soil, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Wednesday. “The US must … immediately lift unilateral sanctions on Syria, stop plundering Syrian national resources and take concrete steps to compensate Syrians for the damage,” Wang Wenbin told a press briefing. The US occupation forces remain largely in control of oil and grain-rich…

President Erdogan criticizes US aiding and working with YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria, close to Türkiye’s border The US needs to withdraw its forces from regions of Syria east of the Euphrates River, as part of the Astana peace process for Syria, the Turkish president said Wednesday. “America has to leave east of the Euphrates now. This is an outcome that came out of the Astana process,” said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one day after an Astana process summit with the Russian and Iranian presidents, stressing that his Astana partners agree with this judgement. “Türkiye expects this as well because it…

The seventh package includes a ban on Russian gold imports and jewelry. The European Union has adopted the seventh package of sanctions against Moscow that will take effect this Thursday after they are published in the official journal, according to the Czech EU Presidency on Wednesday. In a tweet, the presidency said, “Ambassadors approved the next sanctions package in response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine. The new measures will align the EU with G7 partners, reinforce implementation and close loopholes where necessary… This package will be adopted by the Council by written procedure, which will end tomorrow at 10:00. The sanctions…

Kiev will receive four additional advanced rocket systems in the next military aid package, Pentagon chief says  Ukraine will receive four more high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) from Washington as part of the next security assistance package, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced on Wednesday. “Later this week, we’ll roll out our next presidential drawdown package of weapons, ammunition and equipment for Ukraine,” Austin said while hosting a virtual meeting of the US-led Ukraine Contact Group. “It will include four more HIMARS advanced rocket systems, which the Ukrainians have been using so effectively and which have made such…

At least nine people were killed and 25 injured in a Turkish rocket attack in Iraq’s northern province of Dohuk, a Kurdish security source and a Kurdish official said on Wednesday. The Kurdish official said that the attack hit a resort in Zakho, a city on the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and Türkiye. Kurdish sources, publishing a video, reported that the Howitzer missile hit a resort in northern Iraq in the attack, and several people were injured. News sources also confirmed that several Arab tourists were killed and wounded in the artillery assault. Moments later, media sources reported that several women…