Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Russian military used the experience gained in current armed conflicts, including the one in Syria, in practice while holding the strategic exercise Kavkaz-2020, the chief of Russia’s General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, told a news briefing for foreign military attaches following the last drills on Friday.“At the proving ground today you saw drills held in the zone of responsibility of the 58th Combined Arms Army. The experience of modern armed conflicts, including the one in the Syrian Arab Republic, was used as its basis. New modes of operation by troops and forces, tested in the process of combat training, were…

Sarkis Kassargian expert analysis Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Today, violent clashes broke out between Armenia and Azerbajian, which left four of Azerbaijan’s helicopters, 15 drones and 10 tanks destroyed. Armenia has declared martial law and mobilized its male population in what appears to be edging toward a full scale war on the edge of Europe.  The conflict goes back to 1991 and has been a source of sporadic fighting over decades. Armenian Prime Minster Nikol Pashinyan has written on Twitter: “We’re united as always, as we have been in all crucial moments of our history, when enemy has…

Tankers of the Central Military District repelled a night attack of a mock enemy during a tactical exercise at the Totsk training ground in the Orenburg region.According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the night offensive of the mock enemy forces was recorded using drones.The crews of the T-72B3 tanks, using the Sosna-U multichannel thermal imagers, detected targets at a distance of up to 3 km and destroyed them with 125-mm guns.The tankers’ actions were supported by the Msta-S self-propelled howitzers, which illuminated the battlefield with lighting shells and hit the enemy’s firing points with high-explosive fragmentation shells.

Russian and Syrian warplanes carried out a series of heavy attacks over central Syria on Friday, targeting several dens belonging to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) terrorist organization.According to reports from the Homs Governorate, a mix of Russian and Syrian aircraft carried out several strikes on the Islamic State’s hideouts, resulting in the destruction of these dens used by the terrorist group to store weapons and supplies.At the same time, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and National Defense Forces (NDF) continued their patrols in the vast desert region between Homs, Al-Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, as they searched for Islamic State terrorists…

A U.S. spy plane was observed on Friday, flying towards the largest Russian base inside the Syrian Arab Republic.According to flight radar, a U.S. P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft flew near the airspace of the Syrian Arab Republic, approaching the Hmeimim Airbase before rerouting its course.The reason for the U.S. flights in this region of the eastern Mediterranean is unknown, but the Russian publication Avia.Pro has theorized that Washington is testing the radar systems at the Hmeimim Airbase.The U.S. spy aircraft has conducted several of these flights in the past; however, on at least two occasions this year, the Russian Air…

A large demonstration was held on Thursday, September 24, in the Al-Qamishli countryside against the U.S. and Turkish forces inside the country.The demonstration, which was held in the village of Tal Satah, witnessed several protesters marching in unison against the presence of Turkish and U.S. forces inside Syria.The protesters were filmed carrying flags of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Ba’ath Party, as they chanted in support of President Bashar Al-Assad. The residents of Greater Al-Qamishli have repeatedly protested against the U.S. and Turkish forces in Syria, prompting some confrontations with the Coalition troops that attempt to pass through their…

A Russian Su-27 fighter jet scrambled on Thursday to prevent a U.S. B-52H bomber from entering its airspace from Poland, the Sputnik News Agency reported.“On the 24th of September, the means of controlling the airspace over Polish territory detected a strategic bomber, B-52H, belonging to the U.S. Air Force, approaching the Russian border,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said.The statement indicated that a Russian Su-27 fighter belonging to the Air Defense Forces in the Western Military District scrambled to prevent it from violating the airspace.The statement said that “the Russian fighter conducted an air patrol along the country’s borders with…

The U.S. military reportedly used a powerful missile to kill a senior leader in an Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group in northwestern Syria two weeks ago.In that operation, the U.S. forces used a “Ninja Hellfire” missile, in which the explosive head was replaced and long blades were installed to crush or cut the victim, while reducing the risks to any civilians nearby, according to the New York Times.This is the second time in three months that U.S. forces have killed a prominent leader of al-Qaeda in northwestern Syria using these specially designed missiles.Previously, the U.S. military and counterterrorism officials said that…

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced that it has detained a number of foreign ships in the Gulf waters, as part of an operation to stop fuel smuggling.Ali Reza Tungsiri, commander of the naval forces in the Revolutionary Guards, said on a program with Iranian television that “23 foreign ships are being held with us,” and described the reason for their detainment as ‘smuggling’, without providing further details about the ownership of the ships and their cargo.He only said that the confiscation of the ships was to combat smuggling.Turning his attention to the recent drone footage of the U.S. warship in…

Johanna Ross, journalist based in Edinburgh, Scotland When I reported on the leak of Integrity Initiative documents back in 2018/19 which exposed the extent of the UK’s propaganda war against Russia, I didn’t think it could get much more organised and coordinated than it was. Involving hundreds of journalists and academics across the globe to spin disinformation about Russia and paint the country in as negative a light as possible in the mainstream media, the UK government-funded campaign was as sophisticated as the information war gets. But here we are in 2020, still uncovering the true scope of western government influence on…