More than 150 Russian paratroopers to take part in Serbian military drills

The Slavic Brotherhood-2016 military drills will be held from November 2 to 15 near Serbia’s capital of Belgrade.

IVANOVO, October 31. /TASS/. Over 150 paratroopers from the Separate Reconnaissance Battalion of Russia’s Ivanovo Airborne Division will take part in the Slavic Brotherhood-2016 drills in Serbia, Russia’s Defense Ministry’s press service reported on Monday.

The military drills are scheduled to be conducted from November 2 to 15 near Serbia’s capital of Belgrade, Serbian, Russian and Belarusian troops will participate in the exercise.

"Over 150 paratroopers will represent Russia at the international military drills dubbed Slavic Brotherhood-2016. 

Taking into account the specific nature and the plan of the drills, the servicemen of the separate reconnaissance battalion of the 98th Airborne Division were chosen to take part in the exercise," the Defense Ministry’s press service said.

The drills will also involve three BMD-2 combat vehicles, Tachyon unmanned aircraft crew as well as four quad-bikes for conducting raids and reconnaissance missions.

The first Slavic Brotherhood drills took place last year at the Rayevsky shooting range near the Russian city of Novorossiysk at the Airborne mountain force base. This time Serbia is supervising the drills.

 
Source: ITAR-TASS 31-10-2016

Ukrainian military intelligence takes over Third Reich's slogan - Russian Deputy PM

"Ukraine ponad use is the slogan they placed above the composition. Doesn't it stir recall of something?" Dmitry Rogozin said.

MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. The new emblem of the Ukraine's Main Intelligence Department (GUR), against the backdrop of which President Pyotr Poroshenko introduced the new chief of the agency to the staff, has astounded the Internet users. The styling of the owl, which is an element of the emblem, and the slogan 'Ukraina ponad use' (Ukraine above all, or Ukraine uber alles) carries direct reference to the Third Reich while the owl holds a sword, the nib of which is about to pierce Russia on a map below it.

"I'd like to call attention to the imbecilic emblem of Ukraine's army branch," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in a reaction to the photo on Saturday. "Ukraine ponad use is the slogan they placed above the composition. Doesn't it stir recall of something?"

"A similar line, Deutschland uber alles, opens the anthem of the Third Reich, the leadership of which was responsible for the unleashing of World War II," he said."

Observers also point to the project of the map on the emblem, on which the surface of the Earth is presented. It is highly unusual for such situations and shows the Earth as if one looks at it from above the Arctic.

In this case Russia appears to be below the owl, which targets a weapon at it, while the U.S. happens to be behind the bird's back. To enhance the effect, only Russia is singled out on the map with gray color out of all other countries.

What is even more conspicuous, the map does not show the borders of any other countries, even Ukraine itself.

 
Source: ITAR-TASS 30-10-2016

Shelling of Russian embassy attempt to make Russia disrupt humanitarian pause — lawmaker

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, terrorists fired two mortar shells at the Russian Embassy in     Damascus on Friday.

MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. The mortar shelling of the Russian Embassy in Damascus represents an attempt to provoke Russia to disrupt the humanitarian pause, Frants Klintsevich, first deputy chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s Committee on Security and Defense, said.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, terrorists fired two mortar shells at the Russian Embassy in Damascus on Friday. One shell exploded near the entrance to the diplomatic mission. No one was injured, but material damage has been inflicted on the building, and four cars were damaged as well. Fire was opened from the Jobar district which remains under control of anti-government forces.

"I am confident that the shelling of the Russian embassy by militants is an attempt to provoke Russia, to disrupt the humanitarian pause," Klintsevich said. He added that the provocation will fail because Russia will continue to observe the humanitarian pause "until the very end." "There can be no option of making any concessions to terrorists. This is both a political and military decision, a decision from the position of force," he noted.

The decision to extend the humanitarian pause in Aleppo should be considered in the framework of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech at the Valdai discussion club, he stressed. "Russia does everything possible to ease the tensions of confrontations in any ‘hot spot’ of the planet," Klintsevich continued adding that "by this decision, Putin extend a hand to US to cooperate not only in Syria, but in the Middle East as a whole."

On Friday Putin said that resumption of Russian Aerospace Defense Forces’ airstrikes in Aleppo is unreasonable and ordered to extend the humanitarian pause in this region, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters commenting on the address of the Russian General Staff to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief with a request to allow resumption of Russian airstrikes at terrorists in east Aleppo.

Source: ITAR-TASS 29-10-2016

Moscow court upholds arrest of Ukrainian accused of spying

On September 30 Ukrainian citizen Roman Sushchenko was arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage.

The Moscow City Court on Wednesday upheld the arrest of Ukrainian national Roman Sushchenko accused of spying in Russia, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.

"The ruling of the Lefortovsky court remains unchanged, the complaint of the defense lawyers is rejected," the judge said. The court session was held behind the closed doors.

The defense lawyers had filed an appeal against the ruling asking for a milder measure of restriction for Sushchenko. The Lefortovsky court earlier arrested the Ukrainian until November 30 on suspicion of espionage.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) earlier said that Col. Sushchenko, a staff member of the main intelligence department of Ukraine’s defense ministry, was detained in Moscow on September 30 "while on a spy mission." Sushchenko collected secret information on Russia’s Armed Forces and the National Guard and the disclosure could have undermined Russia’s defense capabilities, it said.

Lawyer Mark Feygin said his client is a reporter of the Ukrinform news agency in Paris and he came to Moscow on vacation to visit his relatives. The Ukrainian news agency confirmed this information saying that Sushchenko had been a staff member since 2002 and was "a journalist with a long-term impeccable professional reputation."

The defense lawyers plan to bring the case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). "We will lodge a complaint against his arrest with the ECtHR, the case lacks evidence of his guilt," Feygin said, asking to change the pre-trial restriction measure to house arrest.

Sushchenko faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty. The Ukrainian pleads not guilty to the charges.

 
Source: ITAR-TASS 28-10-2016

Kremlin pays no attention to Kiev's protest over Putin’s trip to Crimea

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry sent a note of protest to Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday amid Putin’s working trip to the Black Sea Peninsula.

MOSCOW, October 27. /TASS/. The Kremlin does not consider it is necessary to react towards Kiev’s note of protest over Vladimir Putin’s trip to Crimea as the Russian president can visit any region of the country, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"Ukraine traditionally voices protest, and we traditionally pay no attention to these protests," Peskov said. "The president visits those Russian regions if he believes this is necessary." The Kremlin spokesman stressed this is Russia’s domestic affair. "This does not concern any other country, including Ukraine."

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry sent a note of protest to Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday amid Putin’s working trip to the Black Sea Peninsula. Putin attended the regional All-Russia People's Front (ONF) Action Forum in the Crimean city of Yalta.

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of Kiev authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. Putin signed the reunification deals March 18, 2014.

 
Source: ITAR-TASS 27-10-2016