Breaking News, February 12th, 2018

The General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces reported the liquidation of 103 «terrorists» at the end of the day during the military operation in Afrin region, in Syria. «103 members of »People’s Self-Defense Forces», »the Kurdistan Workers’ Party», »the Democratic Union Party», and the extremist group «Islamic State» were eliminated during Operation »Olive Branch». The number of terrorists neutralized since the beginning of the operation reached 1,369 people.» — the statement declares. The on-going military operation with the participation of the Air Forces and the ground forces is being executed as planned.

Ukrainian forces have violated the ceasefire agreement nine times in the DPR for the past day. This was announced today by the operational command of the DPR. Mortars, IFV weaponry, various types of grenade launchers and small arms were used in the shellings. Seven front-line settlements of the DPR were under attack. The information about the victims and the destruction is being specified at the moment.

The agents of the Federal Security Service detained a citizen of Ukraine in Simferopol. He is being suspected in espionage. «On February 11th, the FSB of Russia detained a Ukrainian citizen Davydenko Konstantin Alexandrovich, in the city of Simferopol. The aforementioned person purposefully collected and transmitted, to the special services of Ukraine, the information regarding the activities of units of the Russian National Guard troops and about the FSB officers, the leakage of which abroad could damage the security of the state.» — The statement said. It is noted that a criminal case under the article «espionage» was initiated on this matter.

In response to the fact that the area, where the Russian Embassy in the United States is located, was renamed as »Boris Nemtsov Square», the chairman of the State Duma Committee, Mikhail Degtyarev, sent a letter to the Mayor’s Office of Moscow in January with a proposal to name the nameless passage to the American Embassy as «North American Deadlock», and he suggested to assign the postal address to the old building of the US Embassy: ‘North American deadlock, house number 1’. Currently the American diplomatic mission is located at ‘Bolshaya Devyatinsky Lane, house 8’. In response to his suggestion, he received a letter that the mayor’s office can consider his proposal in February.

The Russian military presence in Syria makes it difficult to conduct joint coalition operations against the ISIS. Such conclusions are contained in the report of the General Inspectorate of the US Department of Defense. According to this document, Russian warplanes made «dangerous maneuvers» near American ones, which provoked the probability of unintentional shooting down of planes. In addition, the United States are concerned that in 2018 Russia will exert the «increased pressure through diplomatic and military channels» in order to achieve the withdrawal of US troops from the territory of the Syria.

Russian Ministry of Defense has repeatedly reported that US and its allied aircraft are trying to prevent the Russian Air Force’s strikes against ISIS in Syria. The Russian Ministry of Defense asserted that «the actions of the «coalition» indicate that the United States has started creating »pro-American authorities» beyond the control of the official Syrian government, for the management of the territories on the eastern bank of the Euphrates.»

The Pentagon spokesperson Michel Baldansa made a statement that «The deployment of short-range ballistic missiles in the Kaliningrad region is regrettable, and it has a destabilizing effect, given the offensive capabilities of the missile complex itself, and its proximity to several NATO allies». The Russian Duma responded to this statement with the following: «By deploying the Iskander missile systems on the territory of the Kaliningrad region, Russia operates within the framework of international law. Moscow only reacts to the destabilizing actions of Washington, which, in its turn, places air defense systems near Russian borders». End of quote.