Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) has been reportedly using dual-purpose Kh-35U cruise missiles against high-value targets in Ukraine. On April 11, photos showing several Kh-35U missiles loaded onto Russian Su-34 fighter bombers before combat missions over Ukraine surfaced online. The Kh-35U, which is the latest version of the Kh-35 subsonic cruise missile, was developed by Russia’s Tactical Missiles Corporation. While the original version was just an anti-ship missile, a land-attack capability was added to the new version. The cruise missile has a maximum range of 260 kilometers with a speed of no more than Mach 0.85. The missile can fly…

At the International Maritime Organization, Ukraine’s representatives are refusing to discuss issues of ensuring safe passage of ships and are demonstratively evading dialogue, Mizintsev said Ukraine’s authorities shun cooperation with representatives of the countries and the ship-owning companies to find a solution to the safe passage of foreign ships from Ukrainian ports, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, said on Wednesday. “The Kiev authorities are still shunning cooperation with the representatives of the states and ship-owning companies in resolving the issue of the safe exit of foreign vessels to the meeting area. At the International Maritime…

A young Palestinian teenager is martyred by occupation fire near Beit Lahm in the occupied West Bank. Al Mayadeen’s correspondent to Palestine reported on Wednesday that Palestinian teenager Qusai Hamamra,16, from the town of Husan near Beit Lahm in the occupied West Bank, was martyred by occupation forces fire, and dozens were also injured in confrontations with the IOF. Twitter activists shared a photo of Hamamra. The IOF prevented ambulance crews from reaching the teenager’s body after he was shot. The mayor of Husan said occupation forces fired on the young man, and then covered him with a black bag.…

The Russian military said it could target decision-makers in Kiev if Ukraine continues attempting attacks on Russian soil Moscow has so far refrained from attacking Ukrainian decision-makers, but if Kiev continues attempts to carry out acts of sabotage or conventional attacks inside Russia, this will change, the Russian Defense Ministry warned on Wednesday. “We have seen attempts at sabotage and attacks by the Ukrainian military against facilities in Russian territory. If such attempts continue, the Russian Federation’s Armed Forces will strike at the decision-making centers, including Kiev – something we have so far refrained from,” explaned spokesman 2Major-General Igor Konashenkov. While…

Muhammad Hassan Muhammad Assaf, 34, was martyred after being shot in the chest by Israeli occupation forces, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Al Mayadeen correspondent reported that a Palestinian youth was martyred after Israeli occupation forces opened fire on him as they stormed Nablus this morning. “The young man, Muhammad Hassan Muhammad Assaf, 34, was martyred after being shot in the chest by the Israeli occupation army during the aggression on the city of Nablus,” the Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed. Assaf is still a master’s student in law at An-Najah National University, and he is working on his thesis…

Total US aid total aid to Kiev will allegedly pass the $2.4 billion mark US President Joe Biden is looking to mobilize his country’s military industry and send another $750 million worth of the Pentagon’s own weapons stockpiles to Ukraine, according to new reports citing the customary anonymous officials in Washington. This is on top of the $1.7 billion worth of materiel sent to Kiev, courtesy of American taxpayers, since Russia attacked its neighbor in late February. So far US “lethal” aid has consisted mainly of Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger portable anti-air systems. Now, Biden is preparing to escalate the supplies to…

The Ukrainian military-industrial complex is not the most developed in the world because of Ukraine’s geographical and resource location. Therefore, the country has to fight for what it has. Ukraine does not refuse assistance from third countries and takes it positively. However, the countries that help Ukraine are also lobbying for their interests and one cannot say that they will not demand compensation in some form after the war is over. There is increasing concern that NATO is at war with Russia in Ukraine. For example, according to Western media reports, elite British and U.S. special forces units are deployed…

“We must try to end the war as soon as possible, but we care how it ends, and it will always end with negotiations,” the head of EU diplomacy said The European Union is not contributing to the spread of the conflict around Ukraine, but is trying to contain it, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said in an interview published on Wednesday in the El Mundo newspaper. “We are not promoting war, we are not contributing to the spread of war,” he said, “We are trying to contain it, both in its spatial dimension,…

Over 1,000 of Kiev’s troops reported to have laid down their arms More than 1,000 service members of Ukraine’s 36th Marines Brigade have surrendered in the port city of Mariupol, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Wednesday during a daily briefing. According to a Russian military report, the troops laid down their arms at the Illich Steel and Iron Works, a giant metal mill they were using as a stronghold against Moscow’s forces. A total of 1,026 service members, including 162 officers, were among the captives, ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said. He said 47 of the soldiers were female.…

By: Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Since the outbreak of military operations in Ukraine, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has encouraged Russian exports to be paid for in rubles. The process of buying rubles in a big enough quantity to make a large order for wheat, for example, is difficult. US sanctions make a direct order of Russian wheat dangerous for importers. There is a wheat importer in Egypt who is willing to buy Russian wheat in rubles, but has found a way to avoid sanctions by ordering from an Indian exporter.Russia is on track to grow 76 million…