Russia

MOSCOW (Web Desk) Russia has criticized the West for “whipping up hysteria” about ongoing joint military exercises by Russian and Belarusian forces.The exercises, code-named Zapad (West) 2017, started on Thursday and will last until September 20.We believe that whipping up hysteria around these exercises is a provocation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry …

MOSCOW (Web Desk) Russia is set to launch major joint military drills with Belarus on Thursday, amid continuing tensions between Moscow and NATO.The large-scale drills, called Zapad (West) 2017, are scheduled to be held from September 14 to 20 around the Baltic Sea, in western Russia, Belarus, and the Russian …

BEIRUT (Web Desk) Separate Russian and US-led coalition air strikes on Tuesday killed 35 civilians in Syria’s eastern Deir Ezzor province, where parallel offensives against the militant Islamic State group are under way, a monitor said.The province lies along Syria’s border with Iraq and is seen as a strategic prize …

MASCOW (Web Desk) Russia’s deputy foreign minister says Moscow could impose more restrictions on the American diplomatic corps in the country in retaliation for Washington’s hostile measures against Russian diplomats and diplomatic facilities on US soil.“The conditions for the stay of US diplomats in Russia are being adjusted to reflect …

MASCOW (Web Desk) Russia has taken the final step to grant a major loan to Iran for the development of a power plant in the country’s south thus moving close to a promise of providing the Islamic Republic with funds amounting to above €2 billion for infrastructure projects.Russia’s government-owned Vnesheconombank, …

MASCOW (Web Desk) Russia’s Defense Ministry has rebuked German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen for falsely claiming that Moscow planned to send more than 100,000 troops to take part in the upcoming joint military drills in Belarus.Russia has said the exercises with Belarus, code-named “Zapad 2017” and scheduled for …

MOSCOW (Web Desk) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is to pay a working visit to Saudi Arabia, the latest country long at odds over Syria which seems to be coming to terms with President Bashar al-Assad at the helm.Lavrov will be visiting Saudi Arabia and Jordan on September 9-11, Russian …

MOSCOW (Web Desk) Russia claimed on Friday to have killed several top commanders of the militant Islamic State (IS) group in an air strike in Syria,including the US-trained “minister of war”who has a $3 million bounty on his head.As a result of a precision air strike of the Russian air …

MOSCOW (Web Desk) About 40 Daesh militants, including four influential warlords, were destroyed in Russian air strike near Deir ez-Zor,the Russian Defense Ministry revealed Friday.Terrorist commanders were holding a meeting at the command post near Deir ez-Zor, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.The ministry said that on …

MOSCOW (Web Desk) Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a telegram to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, hailing the breaking of the siege of Deir ez-Zor by Syrian troops, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters that Putin had hailed the breakthrough as “a …