•Blacklits 33 Russian intel, military officials The United States (US) hit a Chinese military organization with punishing financial sanctions for buying Russian fighter jets and missiles as it stepped up pressure on Moscow over its “malign activities.” It was the first time the Trump administration targeted a third country with its CAATSA
Russia and Euroasia
Syria: Putin, Netanyahu defuse tension over downing of Russian jet
•15 Russian servicemen killed GETTY IMAGES The Il-20 aircraft was returning to a Russian base on the north-western coast of Syria (file photo) The leaders of Russia and Israel have sought to defuse tension after a Russian plane was shot down by Syrian forces amid an Israeli air raid. In a call to Vladimir
Putin’s Victory in Syria Threatened by Russian Military Deficits
By William Tucker Contributor, In Homeland Security It was only two months ago that Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a surprise visit to Syria. His goal was to declare victory over the various forces that have sought to unseat the regime of Bashir al-Assad. Putin’s visit was a bold move meant to telegraph
Russian plane crash kills all 71 people on board
By Sebastian Shukla, Alla Eshchenko and Holly Yan The debris field is more than than 1 kilometer wide, investigative committee says Airline and airport employees are being interrogated, but the cause of the crash is unclear The crew of the Saratov Airlines flight that crashed near Moscow on Sunday didn't report
Russian MPs vow to investigate origin of MANPAD used in downing jet in Syria
Senior Russian lawmakers have urged the country to probe the origin of the man-portable air-defense system (MANPAD), which was reportedly used by Takfiri terrorists to down a Russian jet over Syria. Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed in a statement on Saturday that the Su-25 fighter jet had been shot down in Syria's
Russia is preparing for N/Korea war as tensions rise, Says Putin’s top Security Adviser
Russia is making preparations in case the diplomatic crisis around North Korea’s nuclear testing escalates into a fully fledged armed conflict, the head of Moscow’s Security Council said on Friday. North Korea and the U.S. have threatened each other with war over Pyongyang’s decision to defy international appeals and continue developing
Prepare for war: Putin tells Russian Defense Companies
By Damien Sharkov The Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that his country’s biggest enterprises must show that they can step up arms production and important services on short notice to be war-ready. “The economic ability to increase the production of defense products and services quickly is a vital element of military security,”
Russian investigative journalist: Snowden is ‘a sort of ghost’
By Michael B. Kelley Russian investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov, who co-wrote the definitive books on the post-Soviet security services and the history of the Russian internet, has kept tabs on National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden’s ongoing exile. “He is a sort of ghost,” Soldatov told a recent Lawfare podcast. “It looks like
Despite the Fearmongering, Russia is actually relying less on nuclear weapons
Nukes will likely lose further importance as the Kremlin develops precision-guided missiles In recent months there has much hysteria in Washington about Russia allegedly lowering its nuclear threshold and particularly about Moscow’s arsenal of non-strategic nuclear weapons. However, there is little evidence that Moscow has lowered its nuclear threshold — nor
Russia’s Air Defenses In Syria Have Some Big Problems
Terrain limits the radars' effectiveness In late September 2017, satellite photographs indicated that Russia had deployed a second Russian SA-21 surface-to-air missile system in Syria. Purportedly, the system in question is deployed high in the mountains near Masyaf, fewer than 40 kilometers southeast of Lattakia, and right next to a battery