Russia – Newswire Report

Amid Escalating Syrian Carnage, Turkey Shoots Down Assads Planes

March 6, 2020March 6, 2020 NewsEditorBashar al-Assad, Free Syrian Army, Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russia, Syria, Turkey

GAZIANTEP, TurkeyOver the last several days Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan has pulled out all the stops in his attempts to deal with the Syrian crisis, even shooting down fighter jets from the Assad regime air force. It's a very high-risk strategy in a complicated conflict that's less a chess match than a game of deadly tic-tac-toe, with every option blocked until nobody wins. Erdoan's campaign is an attempt to exert maximum pressure on his two purported allies, the adversaries Russia and the United States, using the Americans to influence…

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U.S. Readied Sanctions on Russian Oligarchs AssociatesThen Mysteriously Backed Off

February 24, 2020February 24, 2020 NewsEditorOleg Deripaska, Russia, United States Department of the Treasury

Something strange happened in mid-December involving Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch. Late last year, the U.S. government signaled that it was about to level a new round of sanctions targeting people and entities linked to to convicted Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort as part of a decades-long relationship between the two men. Over the following months, Deripaskas allies estimated net worth of $4.5 billion, entered the Treasury Departments crosshairs in the wake of the Kremlins campaign to shape American opinion about the 2016 election. Manafort and Deripaska have known each…

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Russia to Iran: Dont Admit GuiltBlame the U.S. Instead

January 29, 2020January 29, 2020 NewsEditorIran, MH17, propaganda, Russia, ukraine

After mounting evidence, Iran finally acknowledged that it accidentally shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet earlier this week, killing all 176 people aboard. Following the admission, Iranian protesters have told Al Jazeera, There is a lot of anger. Iranians are demanding justice and accountability. Many people including families of the victims are in shock. They do not understand why their government would have lied to them for this long. There is also a lot of anger in Russia, but for an entirely different reason. Yuri Shvytkin, deputy head of the…

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Did Russian Prime Minister Medvedev Drop a Grim Hint About Putins Latest Power Grab?

January 20, 2020January 20, 2020 NewsEditorDmitry Medvedev, Russia, Vladimir Putin

At a celebration of the Russian Orthodox New Year on Tuesday, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev chose a grim message, the sarcasm of which left his audience on edge. But, then, Medvedev probably knew what Wednesday would bringthe resignation of his entire governmentand the audience did not. On national television, the prime minister remained stone-faced. The prime minister seemed nervous anddescribed as the taxman of the future, digitally acquiring receipts of every transaction in Russia within 90 seconds. It's unclear whether Mishustin will be a placeholder technocrat or assume other responsibilities…

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With the Children on the Ukraine Wars Front Lines Praying for Peace

December 31, 2019December 31, 2019 NewsEditorEastern Ukraine, putin, Russia, Russia-Ukraine, ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky

KRASNOGORIVKA, UkraineThe front line is only one kilometer away from the childrens soccer club where five- and six-year-old boys were exercising on Monday morning. And the childrens music school is even closer, 800 meters, which is to say half a mile. All the windows are covered, since shock waves from explosions have broken them so many times. Machine guns and artillery could be clearly heard while 6-year-old Daria Pamazanova, in a funny hat with teddy-bear ears, was rehearsing at her singing class. During the break Daria told me about the…

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Russia Banned From the Next Olympics and World Cup Over Doping

December 26, 2019December 26, 2019 NewsEditorFIFA World Cup, International Olympic Committee, Olympic Games, Qatar, Russia, Tokyo, World Anti-Doping Agency

Russia has been banned from all major international sporting events for the next four yearsa prohibition that will see Russias athletic teams excluded from next summers Olympic Games in Tokyo, the 2022 soccer World Cup in Qatar, and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. The World Anti-Doping Agencys board met in Switzerland on Monday and agreed unanimously to the ban. Its the most severe punishment dished out yet to Russia following years of the country carrying out a highly sophisticated and widespread state-powered doping program. However, Russian athletes who can…

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At Least One Dead in Shooting at Russias FSB Security Service Headquarters

December 20, 2019December 20, 2019 NewsEditorCrime, FSB, gun violence, Russia, Vladimir Putin

At least one person is reported to be dead in Moscow after a shooter opened fire Thursday evening at the highly secure headquarters of Russias Federal Security Service, or FSB, according to according to the agency, and the gunman involved was neutralized. according to the Interfax news agency. Some people were injured. The Health Ministry said that five other people were wounded in the shooting, including two Federal Security Service personnel, the told Reuters she had heard shots fired in the same area and sirens, gunfire, and screams were heard…