Author: Steven Sahiounie

Ukrainian troops, civilians reportedly stranded in Azovstal plant with Russian forces surrounding them Russian military spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Friday that Moscow informed Kyiv about the order of civilian evacuations from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. Konashenkov said the situation in Mariupol had normalized and residents could calmly wander the streets and humanitarian aid was provided to the city. Noting that the Azov Battalion and foreign mercenaries from the EU and the US were besieged at the Azovstal metallurgical plant, he said their demands for the release of Ukrainian women and children allegedly standing by Ukrainian troops were ignored. The…

A number of US occupation backed-QSD militia armed men were killed and wounded in an attack with rocket shells that targeted a military point in Theban town, Deir Ezzor eastern countryside. Local sources told SANA that an attack with rocket shells, carried out by unknown individuals, targeted a military point of SDF militia in Theban town in the eastern countryside. Meanwhile, violent clashes erupted that led to the killing and injury of a number of the militia members. Most of areas in the countryside of Deir Ezzor, Hasaka and Raqqa seized by SDF militia are witnessing a state of anger…

According to Chief of Russian Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Force Igor Kirillov, the plan is a reaction to Russia’s success in the special operation The United States is preparing provocations to accuse the Russian side of using chemical, biological, or tactical nuclear weapons, Chief of Russian Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Force Igor Kirillov announced on Saturday. “The Russian Ministry of Defense has information about the United States preparing provocations to accuse the Russian Armed Forces of using chemical, biological, or tactical nuclear weapons,” he said. According to Kirillov, the plan is a reaction to Russia’s success in the…

At least three people were killed and eight others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a popular beach restaurant in the Somali capital in Mogadishu on Friday evening. Police spokesman Abdifitah Aden Hassan said the wounded were rushed to a hospital after the security forces controlled the new Pescatore Seafood restaurant, which recently opened on Lido Beach and is frequented by celebrities. According to Xinhua, he said the security officers who rushed to the scene prevented other al-Shabab fighters who attempted to force their way into the restaurant after the blast, which happened at 8:40 p.m. (1740…

Three Pakistani soldiers were killed in the country’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in a cross-border attack from Afghanistan, a Pakistani military statement said on Saturday. Terrorists from inside Afghanistan across the international border opened fire on Pakistani troops in the North Waziristan district of the province, the Pakistani military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said in the statement. Pakistani troops responded in a befitting manner, causing heavy casualties to the terrorists, the statement added. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is one of the most insecure states in Pakistan. Hundreds of Pakistani soldiers and civilians have been killed so far in attacks by terrorist…

The Russian Ministry of Defence shared a video showing the demining of the areas left by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region. The demining operations are carried out by the engineering troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation at the request of local residents. The residential areas, homesteads and farmland were heavily mined in the region by the AFU. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, “engineering reconnaissance is carried out on the spot, the situation is assessed, after which the mine clearance group begins to clear the area of explosive objects.” The detected ammunition is loaded into…

The Israeli occupation forces attacked a leisure event west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, causing dozens of Palestinian children to suffocate. Dozens of Palestinian children suffocated Friday evening following an attack by the Israeli occupation forces during a leisure event west of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. Marwan Nofal, head of Ras Karkar village council, said that the Israeli occupation forces “fired tear gas canisters towards an amusement park in the village, close to a mosque, coinciding with the evening and Tarawih prayers. “About 300 people, most of them children, were attending the event, in addition to…

Russian forces hit 66 Ukrainian military facilities over night, official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov announced Russian air defense systems shot down Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft in the Kharkov region. At the same time, Pantsir-S crew shot down two Tochka-U tactical missiles in the air around the settlement of Chernobaevka, Major General Igor Konashenkov announced on Saturday. “Russian air defense systems shot down Su-25 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Forces in the Novaya Dmitrovka area of the Kharkov region,” he said. The Russian Aerospace Forces hit 66 military facilities in Ukraine overnight, including three warehouses with rocket…

On April 22, the U.S. Department of Defence published a “fact sheet on U.S. security assistance for Ukraine”. The document includes the list of weapons that have already been delivered and those that the United States is yet to transfer to Ukraine: “As of April 22, the United States has now committed more than $4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration, including approximately $3.4 billion since the beginning of Russia’s unprovoked invasion on February 24. On April 21, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance…

The Norwegian ‘Oil Fund’ has reported a $74 billion loss in the first quarter Norway announced on Thursday that the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, lost $74 billion (- 4.9%) during the first quarter of the year due to the market turmoil caused by geopolitical tensions in Ukraine. According to the country’s central bank, which operates the $1.3 trillion fund, the world’s largest single shareholder lost 5.2% on stocks and 4.8% on fixed income. “The first quarter has been characterized by geopolitical turbulence, which has also affected the markets,” the deputy head of the fund, Trond Grande, said in…