The Russian Defense Ministry has denied media reports its aircraft hit hospitals in Syria, saying the medical facilities mentioned by Western media don’t actually exist. The Defense Ministry has checked the data presented in recent media reports, which blamed Russian aviation for hitting several hospitals in Syria, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, the ministry spokesman said in a press briefin [...]

Sending some 50 US advisers to Syria illegally to train the so-called ‘moderate rebels’ looks like a calculated move. If, or when, someone gets hurt, the US will have a pretext for boots on the ground, believes retired US Air Force Lieutenant Col Karen Kwiatkowski. Does this deployment mean Americans will be putting themselves in the direct line of fire in Syria? [...]

Obama’s decision to send Special Forces into Syria is being widely viewed as a US military escalation in the country. The troop dispatch also signals that the US trying to forestall Russian successes in wiping out Washington’s regime-change assets in Syria. In short, the US Special Forces are being used as “human shields” to curb Russian air strikes against anti-government mercenaries, [...]

The subsidiary of the Russian Space Center and French satellite provider Eutelsat has signed a long-term launch contract. “Several Proton-M carrier rocket launches with Eutelsat satellites will be carried out between 2016-2023 from the Baikonur space center,” Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said on Thursday. [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin blasted the government for turning a blind eye on US dollar payments in the domestic oil trade. "I would like to mention one crucial issue in the development of the energy industry, and the economy as a whole. It is a question of finally stopping the use of foreign currency in internal trade,” said Putin at the fuel and energy presidential commission on Tuesda [...]

Once again, whatever hangs in the future for Syria on both the political and military fronts depends on the new Battle of Aleppo. The city and its outskirts, with the influx of internal refugees, may be harboring up to three million people by now. It’s always about Aleppo. Here’s what’s going on, essentially, on the ground. West Aleppo is controlled by Damascus, via the Syrian Arab Army ( [...]

In three days of operations, the Russian aviation group in Syria has hit 258 targets belonging to the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terror groups, the Defense Ministry said. "Over the past three days, the warplanes of the Russian air group have carried out 164 sorties, hitting 285 targets,” Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said Monday. [...]

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BRICS states should support their IT-companies and open their markets to each other in order to challenge the US monopoly in the sphere, Russia’s minister of Communications and Mass Media said at the first meeting of the BRICS Communications Ministers. [...]

Russia’s intervention in Syria amid the EU migrant crisis has possibly prevented a NATO induced crisis similar to the one in Kosovo, where refuges where used as an excuse for bombing, suggests international affairs commentator Marco Gasic. [...]

Russia and Jordan agreed to create a coordination center in Amman, which will be used by the two countries to share information on the counter-terrorism operations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. Russia is already in touch with Iran, Iraq and Syria through a Baghdad-based center used for the same purpose. [...]

There can be no "moderate" terrorists, President Putin said, speaking about the situation in the Middle East at the Valdai discussion forum. "Why play with words dividing terrorists into moderate and not moderate. What's the difference?" Putin told the forum. [...]

The approval rating of President Vladimir Putin is now higher than ever at 89.9 percent and pollsters say the fresh surge in the Russian leader’s popularity is due to the successful anti-terrorist operation in Syria. “Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has set a new record at 89.9 percent refreshing the previous maximum set in June 2015 [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin plays a key role in fighting global terrorism, his Argentinian counterpart Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner told RT, after speaking with the Russian leader on Wednesday. The two presidents held a video conference to mark 130 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and discussed Russian-Argentinian partnership in a number of fields. [...]

Another certified moron bites the dust! JOHN SIMPSON, BBC: Western countries almost universally now believe that there’s a new Cold War and that you, frankly, have decided to create that. We see, almost daily, Russian aircraft taking sometimes quite dangerous man oeuvres towards western airspace. That must be done on your orders; you’re the Commander-in-Chief. It must have bee [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar Assad held talks in Moscow on Tuesday. The Syrian leader said Russia’s actions have prevented the terrorists from seizing larger areas in his country. “Yesterday evening Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in Moscow for a working visit,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. [...]

The whole Global South is now informed about how the Russian campaign in Syria has swiftly smashed all of ‘Exceptionalistan’s’ elaborate plans for a “Greater Middle East.” These plans span everything from the Wolfowitz Doctrine to Dr. Zbig “Grand Chessboard” Brzezinski’s categorical imperative of preventing the emergence of a strategic competitor across Eurasia. [...]

Russia and the US have signed an agreement regulating the operations of the two countries' air forces in Syria. The deal is aimed at preventing incidents and providing for the smooth operation of the two nations' aircraft, and for mutual aid in critical situations. [...]

The French Ambassador to Russia has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry after a French Air Force warplane allegedly came dangerously close to a Russian aircraft carrying State Duma speaker Sergey Naryshkin. [...]

Russian bombers and assault planes have attacked 49 terrorist targets, making a total of 33 sorties over the last 24 hours. All the planes have successfully returned to the Khmeimim air base in Latakia, Russia’s Defense Ministry reports. The airstrikes hit targets in the provinces of Aleppo, Damascus, Hama, Idlib and Latakia. [...]

Russian attack jets have hit 51 Islamic State targets in Syria in the past 24 hours, including four command posts, six arms depots, a mortar battery, two underground bunkers, 32 field camps and six outposts. The strikes took place in the Latakia, Aleppo, Hama and Damascus provinces. [...]

Since Moscow joined the struggle against Islamic State in Syria, its military efforts in the region have become a target in themselves with western mainstream media attacking Moscow, publishing unconfirmed reports and scaremongering at every opportunity. A drone over Turkey near the Syrian border is one of the recent "Russian" targets. After the Turkish military released a statement saying that [...]