Escalation of the situation at north of Syria

1 Syria

The Russian military police suspended the escort of civil transport on the M4 ’Tell Tamer — Ain Isa’ section of the highway in Syria due to the escalation of the situation — the Deputy Head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in Syria, Rear-Admiral Vyacheslav Sytnik, stated during a briefing. According to him — the escort of the transport will be resumed «once the situation is resolved». Earlier he noted that since May, on that exact section of the M4 highway, the Russian military police escorted more than 35,000 of civilian vehicles and more than 67,000 of people. A company of Russian military police had arrived at a joint observation post with the Syrian army in the city of Ain Issa, at north of Syria. Earlier the Syrian military independently held the post, located near the positions of the terrorists. They were under constant attacks.

2 Syria

The Turkish artillery in Syria fired at the villages on the east of the border town of Ras al-Ain, in the province of Hasakah. The villages of Al-Abbush, Bab al-Heir, Tell-Ward and Hirbet Shueir were under fire. No data on the victims has been reported so far. There is information about material damage done to the residential and utility buildings. The SANA news agency reported that the city of Tell Tamer, located 40 km away from Hasakah, was attacked as well. In the north of the Raqqa province, the Turkish troops and pro-Turkish militants opened fire on the outskirts of the city of Ain Isa, where the Kurdish units from the ’Syrian Democratic Forces’ operate. Since the start of December, there are intense exchanges of fire between the sides.

3 Syria

The Syrian state-owned TV channel «Al-Ikhbariya» reported that the residents of the Syrian province of Hasakah, in the north-east of Syria, blocked the road and pelted stones at a US military patrol. It was noted that the residents have blocked the way for a US military patrol near the settlement of Al-Kakhtaniya, east of the city of Qamishli. The US troops, together with Arab-Kurdish forces from the ’Syrian Democratic Forces’, illegally control the territories at north and north-east of Syria, in the provinces of Deir ez-Zor, Al-Hasakah, and Raqqa. The largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located in those areas.

4 the USA

The US President-elect Joe Biden has accused the Pentagon’s political leadership of hampering the transition of power to the next administration. According to him, a similar situation has developed in the Administration and Budget Office of the White House. Joe Biden added that the current American administration, led by the President Donald Trump, is behaving irresponsibly in the process of handing over the affairs to the next executive branch of the USA. “Right now we just don’t get all the information we need from the out-going administration in the key areas of national security. In my opinion, this is irresponsible” — Joe Biden concluded. The acting secretary of Defense, Christopher Miller, responded that the US Department of Defense is making every possible effort as part of the transition process to the new administration.

5 Russia

«Russia has yet to receive any guarantees of compliance with the ’Open Skies Treaty’ by its participants. The fate of the document is in question» — said the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during an interview to the RIA NEWS. ’’The first reaction of the countries, participating in the agreement, to the Moscow’s demand to provide clear legal guarantees for the fulfilling of obligations was incomprehensible’’ — Lavrov stated and added that — “the same was the response to our 2nd demand to guarantee the possibility of performing the observation flights over the entire territory of the participating states, including the facilities of the countries that are not parties of the treaty. We have information that the USA are trying to get their allies to hinder us in this matter. We warned the partners that the half-tones are unacceptable here. If the remaining member states follow the lead of the USA — our tough response will be swift. We are ready to continue the cooperation within the framework of the treaty only on the understanding that in the very near future all the states, remaining in the Treaty, will give us direct and firm legal guarantees of their readiness to comply with the requirements» — Lavrov concluded.

6 Russia

On Tuesday, the head corvette named «Thundering», was transferred to the Russian Navy at the «Severnaya Verf» in St. Petersburg. The ceremony of raising the Andreevsky flag took place on the warship. In the near future, the corvette will be redeployed in the Pacific Fleet. It is planned to commission 6 more similar corvettes for the Russia Navy — they will be transferred to the Pacific Fleet as well. The corvette is designed to perform escort and strike missions in the maritime zone, patrol the coastal waters, to combat surface ships and submarines, and provide an artillery support for the amphibious assault forces during amphibious operations. The corvette carries artillery, anti-missile, anti-submarine, sonar and radar systems, plus a hangar for a Ka-27 helicopter. In the future, such corvettes will be equipped with the latest ’Zircon’ hypersonic missiles. Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.