Author: Steven Sahiounie

Russian Deputy Prime Minister reveals that most of Gazprom European clients have switched to paying for gas in rubles Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that the majority of Gazprom’s European clients have switched to paying for gas in rubles, accounting for 90-95% of supplied volumes (SPIEF). “Those who expressed a desire to switch, they switched, I think, about 90-95 percent, if we take into account the total volume of consumption,” he said, speaking about gas buyers in Europe and payment in rubles. Yesterday, Gazprom said it had…

The Russian Defence Ministry earlier reported discovering files in seized bio laboratories in Ukraine which indicated that scientists were carrying out tests on dangerous pathogens with the presumed intent to use them as components in biological weapons. The ministry said these laboratories were funded by the US for over a decade. The Ukrainian biological laboratories studied fever-carrying mosquitoes Aedes – the same genus of insects that was presumably used by the US to spark a pandemic of type 2 dengue in Cuba in the 1970s and 1980s, head of the Russian Armed Forces’ Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Unit Igor…

They condemned increased presence and activities of terrorist groups and their affiliates under different names in various parts of the country Russia, Iran and Turkey are determined to continue working together to combat terrorism in Syria, the three guarantor countries of the Astana process said in a joint statement adopted at the 18th Astana Format international meeting on Syria on Thursday. The parties “expressed their determination to continue working together to combat terrorism in all forms and manifestations and stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as threatening the national security…

The US-led coalition revealed that it captured an experienced bomb maker of ISIS during the June 16 northern Syria raid. The raid took place in the Turkish-occupied village of al-Humayrah in the northern countryside of Aleppo in the early morning hours. The special operation force that carried out the raid moved into the village in six helicopters, at least some of which were reportedly from the US Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The raid was launched from Syria’s northeastern region where the US-led coalition maintains a number of bases in cooperation with tis proxy, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).…

Ankara earlier said that a new military operation in Syria’s north was in the works, but not cast in stone. Turkey lambasted the lack of progress on establishing security in the region exhibited by its Syrian and Russian counterparts. Russia openly warned Turkey against launching a new military operation in Syria because it could lead to a new round of violence and armed conflict in the region, as well as prompt separatism, the Russian President’s Special Envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev stated. “As we all know, the decision on holding the military operation [in Syria] has not been made yet. [We believe]…

Syrian army units repelled a violent attack by terrorists on the axis of Saraqib near Idlib province on Wednesday and early hours of Thursdays. The Syrian army’s reconnaissance units who were monitoring movements of armed groups said have been able to inform the military of and attempt by the militants to advance towards army positions along the line of contact near the city of Saraqib in the southern countryside of Idlib, resulting in violent clashes in which the Syrian army used artillery and missiles to halt the terrorists’ advance. A field source confirmed to “Sputnik” that the Syrian army units…

Early on June 16, a series of airstrikes hit positions of US-backed Maghaweir al-Thowra (MaT) in the southeastern Syrian area of al-Tanf, where the US-led coalition maintains a garrison. A US military official told BBC journalist Nafiseh Kohnavard that the airstrikes were carried out by warplanes from the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) in response an attack with a roadside bomb that resulted in Russian military casualties. The unnamed official said that Russia blamed MaT for the attack. The US-led coalition was alerted ahead of the airstrikes. MaT shared photos showing the aftermath of the Russian airstrikes on Twitter. The group claimed that…

The bomber struck on Wednesday night as “Haidari was driving home, killing him and injuring others in the car,” according to a security official. A Yemeni journalist was killed by a car bomb in Aden, the country’s second-largest city and the main center point for the Saudi-backed forces, a security official said on Thursday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that “unidentified assailants had planted an explosive device in the vehicle of journalist Saber Al-Haidari, who works for a number of foreign media outlets.” The bomber struck on Wednesday night as “Haidari was driving home, killing him…

An air raid warning siren sounded in Kiev shortly after the arrival of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. The leaders of France, Italy and Germany arrived in Kiev Thursday morning from Poland where they were expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a show of support. The three rode in a train car together bound for the country’s capital. The visit will be the first by the men since beginning of what Russia calls a “military operation” in Ukraine in late February and comes amid a fierce battle in the…

Premiers of Germany, France, Italy and Romania had traveled overnight on a train to get to the Ukrainian capital German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis arrived by train in Ukraine’s capital Kiev on Thursday morning. This is the first visit for each of them since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in late February. According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Scholz, Macron and Draghi had to cross the Poland-Ukraine border on foot, had slept “in bunks” and held a late-night “summit” in their train carriage during their 11-hour-long…