Breaking News, February 27th, 2018

The US authorities urged Turkey to cancel the purchase of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia. US promised sanctions against Ankara. Turkey’s purchase of S-400 could «negatively affect the inter-operability of NATO,» RIA News reports Washington believes with a reference to Haberturk. According to the publication, an unnamed American official expressed concern over Turkey’s purchase of Russian SAMs, and the official said that the USA wants to «Help Turkey find a better alternative to meet its air defense needs.»

Over the past day, Ukrainian forces violated the ceasefire agreements 16 times, firing 352 shells at the front-line territories of the DPR. Heavy artillery, IVF weaponry, mortars, ATGMs, various types of grenade launchers and small arms were used. The outskirts of Donetsk — the towns of Staromikhaylovka and the Abakumov Mines, Lozovoye, Zhabichevo, the Volvo-Center district, the airport, Dolomite and Verkhnetoretskoe, Dokuchaevsk, the southern villages of Kominternovo, Styla, and Novolasp were under attack.

In Iraq, several civilians were killed in the village of Namla, east of Hawija, as a result of an attack by a group of ISIS militants. In the province of Diyala, the terrorists threw grenades at the home of a federal serviceman in the Abu Sad area. In the Tuz Khurmatu area, three militants of Shia groups »Hasd Al-Shaabi» were abducted. As we reported earlier, the difficult situation with the security in Iraq allows local sources to talk about stronger than before position of the militants in quite a number of provinces.

The USA continue their reconnaissance flights in the Black Sea. An American reconnaissance aircraft was seen recently near the Russian borders — the plane kept flying for several hours near the coast of the Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory, at an altitude of 7.500 meters. In particular, it cruised along the southern coast of the Crimea from Alupka to the Kerch Strait and along the Anapa-Novorossiysk-Gelendzhik line. According to the intelligence services of the Black Sea Fleet, after the departure from Suda Bay airbase on the Greek island of Crete, the route of the plane passed over Greece and Bulgaria.

Today, on February 27th, Russia celebrates the Special Operation Forces day — a structure that unites special forces in the army. It was established in 2013, to effectively carry out «expedition missions». The deeds of the Russian special forces include their participation in operations in the Crimea and Syria. Western analysts believe that these special Forces is Moscow’s main instrument in carrying out «wars of the new generation».

The Turkish army, together with their allies from the Free Syrian Army, established control over all the border areas of the Afrin region, in north-west Syria. Thus, a ground corridor has been opened for the opposition forces from Idlib to Azaz. From now on, the opposition fighters will be able to freely transfer troops between these areas, and Turkey will only fortify its influence in the north-west of the country. According to data provided by the official authorities of Ankara, the army forces involved in the Operation »Olive Branch» currently control 23% of the territory of Afrin.