Breaking News, 29th of March, 2018

The Russian Foreign Ministry proposed to close the American diplomatic mission in Saints Petersburg as a retaliatory measure to the closing of the Russian consulate in Seattle, the »Izvestia» newspaper reports. Russian diplomatic circles will send this proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will make the final decision.

Over the past day, Ukrainian troops violated the ceasefire agreement 13 times, firing 320 shells at the front-line territories of the DPR. North of Donetsk, the outer parts of the village Spartak, villages near the town of Gorlovka, Dokuchaevsk itself, and the south of DPR were under fire. It is specified that mortars of various calibers, tank guns, weaponry of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles were used during the shelling.

Ukrainian troops fired at the positions of the LPR five times over the past day. The areas of settlements of Pervomaisk, Slavyano-serbsk and Krasny Yar were under attack. Grenade launchers and small arms were used in the shelling.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the United States insist on the increased combat readiness. In particular — the operational effectiveness of NATO troops in Europe. The US military believes that out of 1 million people serving in NATO in Europe, only a few thousands can be deployed within 30 days. The US intends to increase the combat readiness so that at least 30,000 troops, as well as additional aircraft and Navy ships, could reach the potential disaster zone within 30 days after the NATO commanders put the forces on alert.

Large-scale exercises of finding potential enemy submarines were conducted by Russian military pilots in the Mediterranean Sea. The Tu-142 anti-submarine aircraft made a flight of 10,000 kilometers in length and dropped the newest radar buoys in the given area. The exercises were conducted in close cooperation with the Russian Navy ships of the permanent presence in the Mediterranean Sea.

Recently, ANNA-News Agency received a high recognition from the Syrian military itself. On March 27th, during the meeting of the »Tiger’s Division», General Sukhel Hassan suddenly asked our front-line staff to come closer to him, after which he warmly embraced our entire team, and in front of the eyes of hundreds of his own generals and officers — Sukhel Hassan demonstratively saluted us. After that, he heartily thanked our team for many months of hard work on the front-lines, and for our contribution to the division’s victory. The general announced that ANNA-News works at the highest standards and directly on the front-lines. He added that he immensely respects our efforts, and that the contribution of the news agency on the coverage of war is no less important to the Victory than the brave efforts, and self-sacrifice, of his own fighters.