(November 30, 2024)
Russia appears to be „letting the Syrian rebels overthrow“ President Bashar al-Assad according to Richard Grenell, who served as acting director of National Intelligence for a time during Donald Trump‘s first administration.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Grenell, who had been tipped as a possible member of Trump‘s incoming administration, commented: „Russia seems to be letting the Syrian rebels overthrow Assad. Big. Time to play chess.“
5. Examined in details the situation in the Idlib de-escalation area and reaffirmed their determination to fully implement the Memorandum on Stabilization of the Situation in the Idlib De-escalation Area of 17 September 2018. In this regard they expressed their concern with the ongoing violations of the ceasefire regime, and declared that, as guarantors of the ceasefire regime, they would step up their efforts to ensure observance with it, including by enhacing work of the Joint Iranian-Russian-Turkish Coordination Center. They stressed the importance of a lasting ceasefire while underlining the necessity to continue effective fight against terrorism. They also emphasized that under no circumstances the creation of the above-mentioned de-escalation area should undermine the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic;
The offensive is led by Hayʼat Tahrir ash-Sham (HTS), a Sunni Islamist opposition group backed by Turkey and designated a terrorist organization by the U.S.
On Friday, the rebels entered the old city of Aleppo and took over several key sites, including the historic citadel and the Umayyad Mosque, according to videos posted on social media.
Syrian armed rebels have entered Aleppo just three days into their surprise offensive, marking the first time they have set foot in the country’s second largest city since government forces recaptured the city in 2016.
Rebel forces launched a surprise attack this week, sweeping through several villages outside the city and reigniting conflict that had been largely static for years.
(November 24, 2024)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has given his general until early February to eject the Ukrainians from western Russia. But the real deadline, it seems, is the Jan. 20 inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to end Russia’s wider war on Ukraine but whose offhand proposals hinge on an unenforceable ceasefire that would freeze the front line in place.
(November 21, 2024)
Bereits Ende August hatte der Spiegel unter dem Titel „Wladimir Putin und seine Schauermärchen von den roten Linien“ Verniedlichung betrieben. Die Autorin Ann-Dorit Boy, die laut Spiegel auch „Public Information Officer bei UN OCHA in Kiew“ war, schreibt:
„Die Erkenntnis, dass Putins Drohungen leer sind, ist nicht neu. Der Kreml hat in seinem Krieg gegen die Ukraine schon viele angeblich rote Linien gezogen. Militärhilfe von Drittstaaten sollte tabu sein, später Angriffe auf die Brücke zur Halbinsel Krim, die Lieferung von weitreichenden Raketen und Marschflugkörpern und F-16-Kampfjets. Alle diese Linien sind überschritten worden. Passiert ist nichts.“
(November 21, 2024)
Ukraine’s military has accused Russia of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile in an attack on the city of Dnipro. The air force did not say what kind of ICBM was deployed and CNN has not been able to verify the claim.
NATO and Ukraine are to hold emergency talks on Tuesday next week, after an attack with intermediate-range Oreshnik missile hit a military facility in central Ukraine. The event was an escalation of the war, which Poland‘s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said is „entering a decisive phase“ and „taking on very dramatic dimensions“ as it nears 33 months in duration.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Friday that the missile attack was in response to Ukraine using longer-range missiles capable of striking further into Russian territory, which had been provided by the US and Britain.
The new doctrine states that Moscow will have the right to consider the nuclear option if Russia or Belarus come under attackby conventional arms and if such aggression creates a „critical threat“ to their sovereignty or territorial integrity.
Additionally, any act of aggression by a non-nuclear state with the participation of a nuclear state against Russia will now be regarded as a joint attack and could also trigger the new doctrine.
Moscow signaled to the West that it’s ready for a nuclear confrontation.
Ukrainian news outlets reported early Tuesday that missiles had been used to attack a Russian military facility in the Bryansk border region.
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the attack.
Mobile bomb shelters are going into mass production in Russia, a government ministry said.
(2 hours ago)
It is likely that about 11,000 North Korean troops have moved into Russia‘s Kursk region, said Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, who spoke to the media today.
Ms. DiCarlo condemned not only the RSF attacks but also the indiscriminate airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in civilian-populated areas such as the capital Khartoum and El Fasher, a major city in North Darfur hosting thousands of internally displaced which has been besieged for months by the RSF.
“Both warring parties bear responsibility for this violence,” she stressed.
She added that as the rainy season nears its end, both sides continue to escalate their military operations, recruit new fighters and intensify their attacks, fuelled by “considerable” external support and a steady flow of arms.
“To put it bluntly, certain purported allies of the parties are enabling the slaughter in Sudan. This is unconscionable, it is illegal, and it must end.”
(…)
The situation in Sudan has been in a freefall since the war erupted last April.
It is now the world’s worst displacement crisis, with more than 11 million people driven from their homes – nearly three million among them into neighbouring countries as refugees, according to the UN relief coordinating office, OCHA.
The war has also unleashed a severe hunger crisis, affecting millions.
Russia has asked Israel to avoid launching aerial strikes near one of Moscow‘s bases in Syria, a top official said on Wednesday.
(August 7, 2021)
Because they want to.
And almost 8 billion morons on the planet are too stupid to understand this, first of all the bunch who think they do other politics than the imperial complex, the war lobby, “political classes”, rulers and their courtiers.
(November 2, 2024)
The daily continued to criticise the stances of these two countries, comparing them to some European nations that have tense relations with Iran.
As western sanctions against Iran have increased in recent years, Tehran has strengthened economic ties with Moscow and Beijing, with one key outcome being the sale of cheap oil to China.
Q: So, just to follow up on that, let‘s say US weapons are used to kill North Korean soldiers and that could have far reaching implications. I mean, how do you handle that, or you have — will you have limits on what US weapons can be used if it‘s a bunch of North Korean soldiers?
MS. SINGH: No. I think I mentioned this on Thursday and the secretary has said this as well — If North Korea — if we see DPRK troops moving in and towards the front lines, I mean, they are co-belligerents in the war. And so, they are fighting on these front lines and the Ukrainians are defending their sovereign territory and pushing the Russians back.
(…)
MS. SINGH: I don‘t have more details on the type of troops or equipment capabilities that they have. In terms of the numbers, what I have is that, you know, we estimate
approximately 10,000 are moving to train in eastern Russia. That is going to help augment Russian forces.
Again, don‘t have more fidelity to share right now on kind of what their makeup looks like, capabilities, etc. But, you know, we‘ll of course keep you updated on that.
Adding thousands of North Korean soldiers to Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II will pile more pressure on Ukraine’s weary and overstretched army. It will also stoke geopolitical tensions in the Korean Peninsula and the wider Indo-Pacific region, including Japan and Australia, Western officials say.
Good morning. This morning, a delegation from the Republic of Korea, a close NATO partner, briefed the North Atlantic Council and our other Indo-Pacific partners – Australia, Japan and New Zealand – on North Korea‘s growing involvement in Russia‘s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.
The delegation included senior representatives from the Republic of Korea‘s National Intelligence Service and Ministry of National Defence. Allies also shared their intelligence assessments. Today, I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that there is evidence North Korean troops are in Russia, branding their presence a „very serious“ escalation in the war that started with Russia‘s unprovoked invasion in 2022 and has left tens of thousands dead.
Source: Rutter on X (Twitter)
Rutte discussed with President Yoon the information regarding the possible deployment of North Korean troops to fight in the war against Ukraine.
Quote: „North Korea sending troops to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine would mark a significant escalation,“ Rutte said.
They also talked about Seoul‘s partnership with NATO, defence cooperation, and interconnected security in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions.
Nordkorea hat sich zur Bekanntgabe der südkoreanischen Regierung über eine Entsendung nordkoreanischer Soldaten nach Russland bislang nicht geäußert.
Der südkoreanische Geheimdienst (NIS) hatte am Freitag mitgeteilt, dass 1.500 nordkoreanische Soldaten ins russische Wladiwostok verlegt worden seien.
On Friday, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said the North had shipped 1,500 special forces troops to Russia’s Far East for training and acclimatizing at military bases there, probably to be deployed for combat in the war.
(August 7, 2024)
The report did not specify the exact type of equipment Russia is delivering. Iran is interested in acquiring the long-range, strategic S-400 Triumf air defense missile system. Tehran acquired advanced S-300PMU-2 systems from Moscow in 2016 and also operates short and medium-range Russian Buk and Tor systems. (…)
Israel trained for striking S-300s for over a decade before the Isfahan strike. Its air force trained against Greece’s S-300PMU-1 based on the island of Crete in 2013, gaining valuable insights about its capabilities and potential vulnerabilities it could one day exploit against a Syrian or Iranian system.
(February 26, 2022)
Following the 2015 Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war, Israel set up a „deconfliction mechanism“ with the big power to prevent them clashing inadvertently during Israeli strikes against Iranian deployments and arms transfers in the neighbouring Arab state.
„Our military officials discuss the practical issues of this substantively on a daily basis. This mechanism has proven to be useful and will continue to work,“ the Russian embassy in Israel said in a statement.
(September 24, 2024)
„Indiscriminate Israeli strikes on residential areas under the pretext that Hezbollah weapons are being stored there led to massive civilian casualties and significant destruction of civilian infrastructure,“ Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
Citing the Lebanese Health Ministry, Zakharova said that at least 492 people, including around 150 women and children, were killed by Israel’s „armed aggression“ on Monday.
(July 2, 2024)
During a press briefing on 1 July 2024, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh addressed the issue. When asked about indications of North Korea sending troops to Ukraine to support Russia, Singh replied,
“I don’t have anything for you on that. We certainly know that North Korea is supporting Russia’s efforts in Ukraine with supplying them different military support, but I don’t have anything for you on any specific troops going into Russia at this time.”
As East-West tensions over Ukraine enter a new and dangerous phase, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. President Joe Biden are holding talks in Washington on Friday on whether to allow Kyiv to use long-range U.S. ATACMS or British Storm Shadow missiles against targets in Russia.
„I have received preliminary reports on the Russian strike against Poltava. According to the information currently available, there were two ballistic missiles. A hit on the territory of an educational institution and a neighboring hospital. One of the buildings of the Institute of Communications was partially destroyed. People were trapped under the rubble. Many were saved. More than 180 people were injured. Unfortunately, many people died. As of now, 41 people are known to have been killed. My condolences to all the families and friends,“ he said in a video message.
In one case, McMaster recalls sidelining Netanyahu about his close relationship with Putin at the Munich Security Conference in 2018, where he voiced frustration at Netanyahu over his “hedging approach” to Russia.
“Prime Minister, you know that Putin is using a bait and switch – baiting you with the promise to curtail Iran’s presence and influence in Syria while actually enabling Iran’s proxies on your borders,” McMaster said he told Netanyahu, who sat next to him to confer about a speech he would give mentioning Hezbollah.
“Netanyahu smiled and said he had better return to his seat,” McMaster wrote.
(22. März 2011)
Am 19.März, dem Tag des Angriffs von Frankreich, Großbritannien, Kanada, Italien und den USA auf Libyen, wurde in Moskau eine der erbärmlichsten Erklärungen in der russischen Geschichte veröffentlicht (Angriffskrieg gegen Libyen beginnt: Ticker). Das russische Außenministerium von Sergei Lawrow:
“In Moskau bedauern wir diese bewaffnete Intervention im Rahmen der UN Resolution 1973, die hastig beschlossen wurde.”
Die Weltöffentlichkeit konstatiert: Russlands Staatsführung ist ein Haufen Tölpel, dem – wenn er schon nicht lesen kann und deshalb nicht weiss was vor sich geht – selbst das Wort „Veto“ mit einem einfachen Armhochhalten schon zu viel ist. Das Gleiche gilt für die Atomschwachmacht China, deren leseunkundige kommunistische Staatspartei immerhin 1.3 Milliarden Menschen herumkommandiert. In der Parteizeitung „People´s Daily“ redete man sich heute nun selbst in ein Gewissen, was man nicht hat (1):
„Die blutgetränkten Gewitter, denen Irak seit acht Jahren unterzogen wurde und das unaussprechliche Leiden seines Volkes sind ein Spiegel und eine Warnung. Die militärischen Attacken auf Libyen, folgend den Kriegen in Afghanisten und Irak, sind das das dritte Mal, dass einige Länder bewaffnete Aktionen gegen souveräne Staaten gestartet haben. Es sollte augenscheinlich sein, dass jedes Mal, wenn militärische Mittel benutzt werden um Krisen zu begegnen, dies ein Schlag gegen die Charta der Vereinten Nationen und die Regeln der internationalen Beziehungen sind.“
Die Weltöffentlichkeit versteht: früher hiess es in China „Bombardiert das Hauptquartier“, letzten Freitag hiess es „Bombardiert Libyen“ und heute wieder anders herum. Mal sehen, zu was sich Chinas Staatsführung am Donnerstag entscheidet. Vielleicht der Einfachheit halber zu „Bombardiert irgendwas“.
(17 March 2011)
Adopting resolution 1973 (2011) by a vote of 10 in favour to none against, with 5 abstentions (Brazil, China, Germany, India, Russian Federation), the Council authorized Member States, acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements, to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory — requesting them to immediately inform the Secretary-General of such measures.
(29 June 2023)
Ukraine is seeking to obtain from Israel missile interceptor capabilities, but Jerusalem has so far refused as Israeli leaders seek to avoid overly antagonizing Russia. This hesitance appears largely linked to Israel’s strategic need to maintain freedom of operations in Syria, where Russian forces largely control the airspace. Israel is one of the few countries that maintains relatively good relations with both Ukraine, a fellow Western democracy, and Russia.
(10.04.2024)
In an editorial on April 8, Masih Mohajeri, the influential managing editor of Jomhouri Eslami daily, a newspaper that was founded by Ali Khamenei in 1979, asked: „Why Russia, which controls the Syrian airspace does not prevent air strikes on Iranian targets in Syria?“ Also implicating Syria and possibly Iranian infiltrators in tipping off the Israelis, Mohajeri wrote: „We have had too many losses in Syria during the past months and this is certainly because of the treason by infiltrators.“
Since December, Israel has eliminated 18 high ranking IRGC officers in Syria, in what appears to be a systematic campaign to limit the danger of Iranian proxies on its borders.
Peskov emphasized that Russia is open to talks on Ukraine, but seeing as how Kiev has banned itself from negotiating, Moscow does not see any prospects for this. „President [Vladimir] Putin has repeatedly emphasized that we remain open to the negotiating process, as we prefer solving problems this way, but in an environment where these negotiations have been banned by Ukraine itself, we don’t see the horizon ahead at this point,“ he added.
On Wednesday, Swiss President Viola Amherd said that Switzerland will hold a conference on the so-called Ukrainian peace formula in the Burgenstock region in June 2024.
(05.04.2024)
Bei der Regierungspressekonferenz am 3. April war auch der israelische Angriff gegen das iranische Botschaftsgelände in Damaskus, bei dem mindestens 13 Personen starben, darunter mehrere Diplomaten sowie der Brigadegeneral Mohammad Reza Zahedi und dessen Stellvertreter, ein Thema. Die Bundesregierung vertrat in der BPK die Linie, dass man nicht wisse, wer für die Tat verantwortlich sei, daher könnte man auch keine Wertung vornehmen. Dies, obwohl bereits einen Tag zuvor das US-Verteidigungsministerium offiziell eingeräumt hatte, dass es sich bei dem Militärschlag um eine israelische Operation gehandelt habe. Wohl einer der seltenen Fälle, in denen die Bundesregierung nicht der Einschätzung der USA folgt.
U.S. officials in Washington and the Middle East said on Friday that they were bracing for possible Iranian retaliation for the Israeli airstrike on Monday in Damascus, Syria. U.S. military forces in the region have been placed on heightened alert.
(02.04.2024)
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An Israeli airstrike that demolished Iran’s consulate in Syria on Monday killed two Iranian generals and five officers, according to Iranian officials. The strike appeared to signify an escalation of Israel’s targeting of military officials from Iran, which supports militant groups fighting Israel in Gaza, and along its border with Lebanon.
(February 26, 2022)
Following the 2015 Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war, Israel set up a „deconfliction mechanism“ with the big power to prevent them clashing inadvertently during Israeli strikes against Iranian deployments and arms transfers in the neighbouring Arab state.
„Our military officials discuss the practical issues of this substantively on a daily basis. This mechanism has proven to be useful and will continue to work,“ the Russian embassy in Israel said in a statement.