Author: Steven Sahiounie

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Russia’s attitude toward US sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project remains unchanged, and that Moscow considers any restrictions to be a manifestation of unfair competition and a violation of international law. The Akademik Cherskiy pipelaying ship left the Nord Stream 2 logistics facility in the German port of Mukran on Thursday morning, data from the Marine Traffic and Myshiptracking portals has confirmed. Two hours after departing, the vessel inexplicably dropped anchor about 6.5 km southeast of the port. It’s not immediately clear what motivated the ship to change locations.…

Global oil prices accelerated growth to 5 percent on Friday evening, and the price of WTI crude futures rose above $35 per barrel for the first time since March 11. As of 18.33 GMT, the price of July futures for WTI crude rose by 4.63 percent to $35.27 per barrel. Brent crude futures for August delivery were trading up 4.41 percent to $37.62 per barrel. Minutes earlier, the growth of both crude brands exceeded 5 percent. The situation on the global oil market has been volatile since early March when the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

Protests have flared up across the United States over the past four days following the death of an African American man in police custody, and while many are demonstrating peacefully, demanding justice for the victim, some groups have taken advantage of the resulting turmoil by engaging in violence and looting. The death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American resident of Minneapolis, who was pronounced dead shortly after being brutally pinned to the ground by police and was struggling to breathe as one of the four officers pressed a knee to his neck, has triggered ongoing state-wide unrest, which kicked off in…

Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations of involvement in the Libyan civil war, stressing that it wants to see a diplomatic settlement in the war-torn country, and recalling that it was a NATO military intervention in the country in 2011 which turned Libya into a failed state. The United States may send a brigade of troops for training purposes to Tunisia to counter the alleged ‘Russian threat’ to regional security, US African Command (AFRICOM) announced, citing a May 28 telephone conversation between AFRICOM Commander Gen. Stephen Townsend and Tunisian Defence Minister Imed Hazgui. “As Russia continues to fan the flames of…

Protests over the death of George Floyd have grown nationwide and are expected to continue for a fifth day in Minnesota and across the US. The Pentagon said it has increased an alert status of some US military units amid civil unrest. It added that it has not received a request ‘at this time’ by Minnesota governor for US military troops to support the state’s national guard or state law enforcement. Stores were looted and gas stations were set on fire in Minneapolis as rioting continued overnight. Earlier this week, the National Guard was sent to the area to control the situation.…

Some active-duty US military police officers have reportedly been ordered to prepare to deploy if local authorities request their assistance. The Pentagon has announced an increase in the alert status of some US military units in order to potentially support Minnesota which is currently struggling with civil unrest. The Pentagon also noted that some US military units units are now on four-hour recall status, though the Minnesota governor apparently hasn’t yet sent a request for the support of US troops. “At this time there is no request by the Governor of Minnesota for Title 10 forces to support the Minnesota…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator US Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander, US Africa Command, released a statement on May 26 accusing Russia of sending Russian military aircraft to Libya to support the Libyan National Army (LNA).  The accusations are detailed and include photos and images, which are supposed to convince the reader that Russia sent planes to Syria, where they were repainted to disguise their source, and then flown on to Libya. However, the photos don’t provide evidence of the accusations. The US statement uses the word “assesses” five times, and also uses the phrase “are likely to”.  Those…

Two Russian Su-35 aircraft intercepted a P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft assigned to U.S. 6th Fleet over the Mediterranean Sea May 26. The spy plane was flying in the international airspace close to the Syrian coast, where Russia’s Hmeimim airbase located. The Pentagon said that “the intercept was determined to be unsafe and unprofessional due to the Russian pilots taking close station on each wing of the P-8A simultaneously, restricting the P-8A’s ability to safely maneuver, and lasted a total of 64 minutes.” “U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert…

On May 25th, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that Turkish security forces had “neutralized” 1,458 “terrorists” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and Syria, since the beginning of 2020. “As of Jan. 1, a total of 1,458 terrorists have been neutralized as a result of the operations carried out within the framework of the fight against terrorism in northern Iraq and Syria,” Hulusi Akar said in the central Kayseri province.“Turkish Armed Forces will resolutely continue its fight until the last terrorist is neutralized,” Akar added. “The neutralization of these terrorists” came within the framework of counter-terrorism operations…

On May 27, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) carried out a series of airstrikes on ISIS remnants around the Homs desert in central Syria. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the airstrikes targeted the southwestern Raqqa countryside, which borders the northeastern part of the Homs desert. The National Defense Forces (NDF) are currently conducting a large-scale operation against ISIS cells in southwestern Raqqa. Russian journalist Oleg Blokhin shared many photos of the ongoing operation a few days ago. ISIS launched a series of fierce attacks from the Homs desert in the last few months. The Syrian…