Moscow to provide assistance to Yerevan if hostilities spill over to Armenia

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to start consultations in order to determine the type and volume of assistance that Russia could provide to Armenia to ensure its security

MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. Moscow will provide all necessary assistance to Yerevan in accordance with the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the two countries, if hostilities spill over to Armenia’s territory, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

It noted that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to start consultations in order to determine the type and volume of assistance that Russia could provide to Armenia to ensure its security. "We confirm the Russian Federation’s commitment to its allied obligations towards the Republic of Armenia, including those arising from the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia of August 29, 1997," the ministry said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry added that some articles of that treaty presupposed specific actions in the event of a threat of an armed attack or an act of aggression against each other’s territory. "In accordance with the treaty, Russia will provide all necessary assistance to Yerevan, if fighting spills over to the territory of Armenia," it stressed.

"We once again call on the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to agree on an immediate ceasefire, the de-escalation of tensions and a return to substantive negotiations in order to achieve a peaceful settlement based on the underlying principles in line with the agreements reached by the foreign ministers of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia in Moscow on October 10," the Russian Foreign Ministry concluded.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians.

Baku and Yerevan have disputed sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh since February 1988, when the region declared secession from the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic. In the armed conflict of 1992-1994 Azerbaijan lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjoining districts.

Source: ITAR-TASS 31-10-2020

Russian Navy tracking NATO warships in Black Sea

The NATO mine countermeasures group includes the Hellenic Navy general support landing ship Aliakmon, the French Navy minehunter Orion, the Italian Navy ocean minesweeper Alghero and the Spanish Navy coastal minesweeper Duero.

MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. The Black Sea Fleet has launched continuous monitoring of a group of NATO’s warships that entered the Black Sea, Russia’s National Defense Control Center reported on Thursday.

"The Black Sea Fleet’s forces and capabilities have started to continuously monitor the NATO mine countermeasures naval group that entered the Black Sea on October 29, 2020," the Center said.

The NATO mine countermeasures group includes the Hellenic Navy general support landing ship Aliakmon, the French Navy minehunter Orion, the Italian Navy ocean minesweeper Alghero and the Spanish Navy coastal minesweeper Duero.

Source: ITAR-TASS 29-10-2020

Clashes continue in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia says

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27.

YEREVAN, October 27. /TASS/. Sporadic clashes continue in Nagorno-Karabakh between the Defense Army of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces, the Armenian government’s Unified Information Center said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Local clashes continue along the line of contact. The Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] Defense Army continues the combat task of maintaining control of the situation," the statement reads.

According to the information center, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces used unmanned aerial vehicles late on Monday, some of which "were downed by the Artsakh Defense Army’s air defense forces." "The enemy continues to shell residential areas, including the towns of Martuni and Martakert, as well as settlements in the Askeran district," the statement added.

On October 25, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a US-brokered humanitarian ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, which took effect on October 26.

On Monday morning, the Armenian Defense Ministry accused Baku of violating the ceasefire, saying that Azerbaijan had shelled the positions of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army along the northeastern sector of the line of contact. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry, in turn, said that Baku was committed to the ceasefire and accused Armenia of violating the agreement.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The parties made ceasefire agreements twice but hostilities continue.

Source: ITAR-TASS 27-10-2020

Blast-hit tanker in Sea of Azov was in good repair, says emergencies ministry

The reason of the explosion will be defined by a commission.

MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. The Russian tanker General Azi Aslanov hit by an explosion in the Sea of Azov was in good repair, chief of the Emergency Ministry’s directorate in the Krasnodar Region Oleg Volynkin told reporters.

"According to the information we obtained, the vessel that underwent maintenance was in good repair. The reason of the explosion will be defined by a commission," he said.

The emergency response group will examine the scene of the accident concerning a possible oil and petroleum products spill, he added.

An explosion rocked the oil tanker General Azi Aslanov sailing under the Russian flag from the Kavkaz port to Rostov-on-Don without a cargo on Saturday. There were 13 crew members onboard. Ten of them were rescued.

The cause of the emergency is being investigated. Safety violations and hot work might have caused the explosion, a source in the emergency services told TASS earlier.

Source: ITAR-TASS 25-10-2020

Soyuz MS-16 reentry vehicle with three crew members onboard lands in Kazakhstan

Returning ISS crew evacuated from Soyuz MS-16 reentry vehicle.

MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/. The Soyuz MS-16 spaceship’s reentry vehicle with Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy has landed in the steppe southeast of the city of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.

Broadcasting was available at the website of Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos.

Ivanishin, Vagner and Cassidy are out of the Soyuz MS-16 spaceship’s reentry vehicle which landed early in Kazakhstan’s steppe. Ivanishin was the first to be evacuated from the capsule.

"Cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy feel well," Roscosmos said on its Twitter account.

The spaceship undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 02:32 Moscow time on Thursday.

The ISS current crew are Russian cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and US astronaut Kathleen Rubins.

A spokesman for the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center told TASS that because of the coronavirus situation Ivanishin and Vagner will be able to see only those of their family members who are not in a risk group and are coronavirus-negative. They will be able to see children under 12 and parents older than 65 "after a period of rehabilitation of five to seven days," the spokesman added.

While on a space mission, Ivanishin and Vagner conducted scientific experiments and took part in efforts to trace an air leak aboard the orbital outpost from August. On October 15, Ivanishin reported to Earth that a probable air leak location had been traced in the inter-section compartment of the Russian Zvezda module thanks to a tea bag. The leak might have been cause by a crack, which was temporarily sealed. The leak will be completely fixed when the Soyuz MS-16 lands, a source in the space industry told TASS.

Source: ITAR-TASS 24-10-2020

Two extremist cells eliminated in Russia’s North Caucasus Region

Its members actively promoted extremist ideology and recruited new supporters to the group, according to the Federal Security Service.

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has eliminated two extremist cells in Karachay-Cherkessia and Dagestan, the FSB Public Relations Center informed TASS on Friday.

"The Federal Security Service in Malokarachayevsky District of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic and in the cities of Makhachkala, Kaspiysk and Izberbash in the Republic of Dagestan foiled the activities of two cells of the At Takfir wal-Hijra international extremist religious organization (outlawed in Russia) with a total number of more than 20 people," it said.

According to the FSB, its members actively promoted extremist ideology and recruited new supporters to the group. "They urged believers to reject secular laws and civil society institutions. They also advocated the creation of a theocratic Islamic state - a caliphate - in the North Caucasus," it noted.

During the searches, FSB officers seized, in particular, three grenades, three Makarov pistols, 190 copies of pseudo-religious literature and five handwritten texts of lectures by extremist preachers.

The FSB directorates in Karachay-Cherkessia and Dagestan have initiated criminal cases to identify the organization’s members and bring them to justice.

Source: ITAR-TASS 23-10-2020

Security services can do plenty to defend Russian, Belarusian interests, intel chief says

MINSK, October 22. /TASS/. Special services of Russia and Belarus have a great potential to ensure the two states’ interests and react adequately to the emerging threats and challenges, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Head Sergei Naryshkin told a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday.

"The security services can do a great deal to guarantee the interests of our countries and the interests of our citizens and protect them from those threats that emerge from time to time," Naryshkin affirmed.

According to the Russian foreign intelligence chief, Minsk will host a joint meeting of the two countries’ special services’ boards. "We are holding it [the meeting] at a difficult time. I absolutely agree with the estimates on the degree of tensions in the world in general, including around our countries," Naryshkin said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 22-10-2020

Su-34 bomber crashes in Russian Far East, pilots eject to safety

The crew members have now been evacuated to the home airfield.

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. A Sukhoi Su-34 frontline bomber crashed in the Khabarovsk Region in the Russian Far East, with pilots ejecting to safety, the press office of the Eastern Military District reported on Wednesday.

The bomber crashed during a training flight on October 21, the press office said.

"The pilots ejected. There is no threat to their health. The crew members have now been evacuated to their home airfield," the press office specified.

The bomber crashed in a wooded and low-land area. The combat plane performed its training flight without an ammunition load and the crash caused no damage on the ground, it said.

"A commission of the Eastern Military District has been sent to the incident site to establish the causes and circumstances of the crash," the press office said.

The Su-34 multirole supersonic fighter-bomber is designated to effectively strike enemy ground and air targets day and night in any weather conditions.

The Su-34 carries long-range air-to-surface and air-to-air missile armament with the multi-channel employment capability. The Su-34 has an operating range of 4,000 km, can develop a maximum speed of 1,900 km/h and is capable of carrying a weapon payload of up to 8 tonnes.

Source: ITAR-TASS 21-10-2020

Two Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers perform flight over Arctic and Far East

The bombers were escorted by US Air Force F-22 fighter jets.

MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. Two Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic missile-carrying bombers performed a scheduled flight over the neutral waters of the Arctic and the northern part of the Far East, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.

"Two Tu-95MS strategic missile-carrying bombers of long-range aviation performed a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Chukchi, Beaufort, Bering and Okhotsk Seas. The flight lasted about 12 hours," the statement says.

At some sections of the route, the bombers were escorted by Su-35S fighters of Russia’s Aerospace Force, MiG-31 aircraft of the Russian Navy’s naval aviation, and also by US Air Force F-22 fighter jets, the ministry said.

The pilots of Russia’s long-range aviation regularly perform flights over the neutral waters of the Arctic, the Northern Atlantic, the Black and Baltic Seas and the Pacific Ocean, the statement says.

"The aircraft of Russia’s Aerospace Force perform all the flights in strict compliance with the international rules of using the airspace," the Defense Ministry stressed.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) reported earlier on Tuesday that US Air Force fighter aircraft intercepted two Russian Tu-95 bombers escorted by two Su-35 fighters near Alaskan shores on Monday evening. NORAD said in a statement that all the Russian aircraft remained in the international airspace and at no time entered sovereign airspace.

Source: ITAR-TASS 20-10-2020

Yerevan says Karabakh army ready to deliver strikes at enemy deployed at border with Iran

The Armenian defense ministry informed that it was said to the Iranian side that the Azerbaijani army must relocate combat operations to a safe distance from the border with Iran

YEREVAN, October 16. /TASS/. The defense army of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic reserves the right to deliver strikes at Azerbaijani troops pulled to the border with Iran, Levon Aivazyan, chief of the Armenian defense ministry’s defense policy management and international cooperation directorate, said on Friday at a meeting with Iranian embassy’s defense attache Bahman Sadeghi.

"Despite the numerous calls from the Armenian side, the Azerbaijani armed forces continue to be pulled to and conduct operations along the border with Iran. On behalf of the Arstakh (the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic - TASS) defense army, Levon Aivazyan states that in case the situation in the above mentioned area remained the same the defense army reserved the right to deliver strikes at the Azerbaijani armed forces in this area," the Armenian defense ministry said after the meeting.

According to the ministry, it was said to the Iranian side that the Azerbaijani army must relocate combat operations to a safe distance from the border with Iran.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July. Azerbaijan and Armenia have imposed martial law and launched mobilization efforts. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs - Russia, France and the United States.

Source: ITAR-TASS 16-10-2020

Suspected gunman who killed three in Nizhny Novgorod bus shooting found dead

A source in the law enforcement agencies said the man had committed suicide.

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. Police and the National Guard officers found the body of a young man, who is suspected of killing three citizens of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, in western Russia, the Interior Ministry’s regional department told TASS on Tuesday.

Earlier, a source in the law enforcement agencies said the man had committed suicide.

"Police officers together with members of Rosgvardiya [the Russian National Guard] in the region found the body of an 18-year-old resident of Nizhny Novgorod, who is suspected of killing three people," the press service said. The body was discovered in a forest near the Bolsheorlovskoye settlement in the Borsky district.

According to preliminary data, the young man had come to the village to visit his relatives. A criminal case was launched, pressing charges of murder of two or more people (Part 2 of Article 105 of the Russian Criminal Code).

On the evening of October 12, a man opened fire in the Bolsheorlovskoe settlement in the Nizhny Novgorod Region and later fled the scene. Russia’s Investigative Committee’s regional directorate reported that three people had been killed and three more had been wounded. Special purpose police units and a rapid deployment task force were dispatched to the crime scene to apprehend the armed assailant. Law enforcement sources told TASS that the shooting was initiated by a local 18-year-old resident Daniil Monakhov.

The incident was triggered by a conflict between him and his grandmother whom he had wounded by firing a rifle. The woman was rushed to a local hospital in serious condition. The shooter also gunned down his neighbor and then killed two more people at a bus stop. Two more women were also wounded there. Later, the source told TASS that the grandmother died in the hospital and the number of victims climbed to four.

Source: ITAR-TASS 13-10-2020

Stepanakert comes under shelling again

Armenia’s Cabinet of Ministers information center has reported that explosions were heard in the city.

YEREVAN, October 12. /TASS/. Armenia’s Cabinet of Ministers information center has reported that Stepanakert was shelled again by Azerbaijan’s armed forces on Sunday night.

"Stepanakert is under fire again. Explosions are heard in the city," the statement said.

At the talks, mediated by Russia and held in Moscow on October 9, Azerbaijan and Armenia had agreed on a ceasefire. It came into effect at 12.00 local time on Saturday, October 10 for humanitarian reasons, in order to trade detainees and recover the bodies of those killed in fighting. However that very evening the opposing sides again blamed each other of ceasefire violations and renewal of strikes.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July. Azerbaijan and Armenia have imposed martial law and launched mobilization efforts. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians.

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs - Russia, France and the United States.

Source: ITAR-TASS 12-10-2020

Azerbaijani, Armenian top diplomats sign joint document after talks in Moscow - Lavrov

A ceasefire agreement in Nagorno-Karabakh starting on October 10 has been reached after trilateral consultations in Moscow.

MOSCOW, October 10. /TASS/. A ceasefire agreement in Nagorno-Karabakh starting on 12:00 on October 10 has been reached after trilateral consultations in Moscow between foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday.

"A ceasefire is declared to begin on October 10 at 12:00 with the humanitarian aim of exchanging prisoners of war and other captured persons as well as to exchange bodies of victims with the facilitation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and in line with its regulations," Lavrov stated early on Saturday citing a joint statement, signed by the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"Detailed parameters of the ceasefire regime will be agreed upon in the near future," the Russian minister stated citing the signed document.

The document also states that Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to begin practical talks with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group representatives on the peace settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The Republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia, with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and based on the principles of conflict settlements, begin practical negotiations with the main task of reaching the peace settlement as soon as possible," the statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry reads.

"All involved parties have confirmed their adherence to the invariability of the negotiating process," the statement added.

Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to begin practical talks with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group representatives on the peace settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh, a joint statement, adopted by the Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, said.

The Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers - Sergey Lavrov, Jeyhun Bayramov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan correspondingly - held talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement for more than 10 hours. Their meeting started at 16.30 Moscow time and Foreign Minister Lavrov appeared to journalists to read out provisions from the adopted statement late after 2:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July. Azerbaijan and Armenia have imposed martial law and launched mobilization efforts. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians.

Source: ITAR-TASS 10-10-2020

Munitions explode at military base near Ryazan in central Russia after fire

According to an emergency service source, the fire continues to spread because of wind gusts and the shells are exploding nearly every ten seconds.

MOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. An ammunition depot went on fire on the territory of a military garrison near Ryazan in central Russia, with sporadic explosions taking place, the press office of the Western Military District reported on Wednesday.

The blaze occurred near the settlement of Zheltukhino after the grass caught fire, the press office said.

"A gusty wind spread the fire to the artillery ammunition storage site. The military garrison’s on-duty fire-fighting team started to extinguish the blaze but failed to stop the fire outbreak. Sporadic munition explosions are currently observed on the technical premises of the military base," the Western Military District said.

Reports from the scene say that the military and civilian personnel have been evacuated and there are no injuries.

According to an emergency service source, the fire continues to spread because of wind gusts and the shells are exploding nearly every ten seconds. "The fire has not been contained and the shells are exploding about every ten seconds," the source said.

The local fire-fighting and rescue service has sent teams and a fire-fighting train to the scene of the incident. An Il-76 plane of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry is ready to join the fire-fighting effort.

Traffic on the R-22 "Kaspiy" highway has been halted. According to the Emergencies Ministry, over 1,600 locals, including almost 150 children, have been evacuated from 14 settlements in the Ryazan Region. "According to preliminary data, over 1,600 people have been evacuated from 14 settlements," the Ministry's press service said.

"Evacuation has been organized in cooperation with Skopinsky District's authorities," the regional government disclosed. "First and foremost, all children have been evacuated from the settlements: 130 schoolchildren and 16 younger children. All of them are currently with their relatives, in a safe zone."

Source: ITAR-TASS 07-10-2020

Russian expert: The bill for cooperating with Erdogan proves high

Russian expert Arkadievich: The Turkish state wants to expand its borders through an aggressive policy towards its neighboring countries. Therefore, it is experiencing a crisis with Greece and Cyprus while occupying Syria and Iraq.

Bagdasarov Semen Arkadievich, Head of the Center for Research for Central Asian Countries said that the friendship with Erdogan has caused Russia a great harm. "This mistake should be reversed now, if we do not cooperate with the Kurds, Erdogan will win the war both in Syria and in Nagorno Karabakh."

Arkadievich is one of the leading Middle East and Central Asia experts in Russia. Known especially for his research on the resolution of conflicts and crises in the region, he is also a retired colonel.

Arkadievich talked to ANF about the aggressive policies of Erdogan towards both Syria and Nagorno Karabakh.

Stating that the Middle East is still an unstable region because the war in Syria has still not ended, Arkadievich made a proposal for a solution “It seems – he said - that the war in Syria won’t end anytime soon. The way to end the war is through ending Turkish colonialism in the region. Therefore, the government of Damascus should join forces with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and fight with them against Turkish colonialism."

Noting that the forces loyal to the Erdogan regime do not intend to leave neither Ezaz, Afrin, Jarablus nor any other occupied territories, Arkadievich said: “Erdogan is a cunning politician and understands only power. Therefore, I think that a common struggle of all forces could end Turkish colonialism in Syria. Currently, Syria has a strong army and the SDF is also very strong. Both forces should unite against this common enemy.”

Arkadievich said that the Ankara regime is spreading seeds of discord not only in Syria, but also in a wider territory, from Iraq to Libya and even to Nagorno Karabakh.

Drawing attention to the support of many Muslim countries to Armenia in the Karabakh crisis, Arkadievich added: “The Turkish state wants to expand its borders through this aggressive policy towards its neighbouring countries. For this reason, it is experiencing a crisis with Greece and Cyprus on the one hand, while on the other, it occupies Syria and Iraq and enters the war in Karabakh siding with Azerbaijan. Turkey is doing all this to show its strength. Erdogan's only aim is to rebuild the Ottoman Empire and to dominate the region as it was during the Ottoman period."

Stating that the Turkish state played a decisive role in the war that broke out in Nagorno Karabakh, the Russian expert reminded of Azeri president Aliyev which once said at the conference of the Turkic republics: ‘We must unite the Turkic states by destroying Armenia’. "The Ankara regime – said Arkadievich – has joined this war with all its military power under the slogan ‘one state, one nation’. The Turkish army is also bombing Armenian points in Karabakh with its air forces."

Saying that the Turkish state has established a mercenary army of between 80,000 and 100,000 men in Syria, Arkadievich added that some 1,500-2,000 of these mercenaries have joined the war in Nagorno Karabakh.

The Russian expert stated that the Turkish government only by providing military and logistical support to the war in Karabakh "is an active party to this war."

Arkadieviç said "it was a very wrong step" for Russia to establish an alliance with the Erdogan regime under Putin's administration. Stating that Russia's cooperation with Erdogan has a heavy cost, Arkadievich added: "The friendship we established with him in Syria turned into hostility towards us, the mercenaries got stronger and the front opened against us expanded even more."

Arkadievich went further and said: "Turkey is in fact Russia's geopolitical enemy, and this won’t change."

Source: ANF MOSCOW 04-10-2020

Armenia ready to request military assistance from Russia, ambassador says

On Sep 27, Baku said that Armenia had shelled the Azeri army’s positions and Yerevan, in turn, claimed that Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces had launched an offensive towards Nagorno-Karabakh, shelling regional settlements.

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Armenia is ready to request additional military assistance from Russia but sees no reason to do it at the moment, Armenian Ambassador to Moscow Vardan Toganyan told the Govorit Moskva radio station on Monday.

According to him, Yerevan and Moscow continue to boost defense cooperation. "We believe that should the need arise, we will request Russia [for additional military assistance]," the envoy pointed out. "As of today, we don’t think that we need additional troops or other forces," he added.

"However, we do believe that Russia has a major role in the Caucasus and is capable of using political methods to put an end to bloodshed," Toganyan emphasized.

On September 27, Baku said that Armenia had shelled the Azerbaijani army’s positions and Yerevan, in turn, claimed that Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces had launched an offensive towards Nagorno-Karabakh, shelling regional settlements, including the capital, Stepanakert. Both parties reported casualties, including civilian casualties. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have declared martial law and announced a mobilization.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs - Russia, France and the United States.

Source: ITAR-TASS 03-10-2020

Russia's radars track spy 52 planes, 9 drones near borders over past week

No violations of Russia's airspace were permitted.

MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. Russia's radars over the past week tracked 61 foreign aircraft near the country's borders, the Russian Defense Ministry said in the daily Krasnaya Zvezda.

As follows from the published infographic illustrations, 52 spy planes and nine foreign drones were conducting reconnaissance near Russia's borders. All flights were monitored by Russian radars. No violations of Russia's airspace were permitted.

The Defense Ministry says that air defense fighter-jets on duty were twice dispatched to prevent violations of the sate border.

Source: ITAR-TASS 02-10-2020