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Russian Warships Launch 18 Cruise Missiles on Terrorist Targets in Syria (Video)

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1030470129Russian warships from the Caspian flotilla have launched 18 cruise missiles on terrorist targets in Syria, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday.

“On November 20, warships of the Caspian Flotilla have launched 18 cruise missiles on seven [terrorist] targets in the provinces of Raqqa, Idlib and Aleppo. All targets were destroyed,” Shoigu said in a report to president Vladimir Putin.

“In the whole, during the aerial operation cruise missile were launched from the Mediterranean and Caspian Seas over a distance of up to 1,500 km, and aircraft were taking off from Russian and Syrian airfields. From the Caspian Sea, 29 aircraft of the long-range and bomber aviation were involved in the airstrikes.”

According to Shoigu, ten ships are involved in Russia’s military operations in Syria, six of them are in the Mediterranean Sea.

“In the past four days, Russia’s strategic and tactical aviation carried out 522 combat sorties, a total of 101 air-and sea-based cruise missiles were launched, some 1,400 tonnes of bombs of various types were dropped.”

He added that during the mission the operational range of Tu-160 strategic bombers from the Mediterranean was over 13,000 km.

“A total of 826 enemy targets were destroyed,” Shoigu added.

“Each day, 143 sorties are carried out. The sea fraction includes ten ships, six of which are in the Mediterranean Sea,” the minister said.

“In accordance with your instructions, the [Russian] Armed Forces are carrying out a retaliation operation to destroy the leaders of terrorist organizations and their supporters, disorganize their control and logistics systems, as well as destroy ISIL military and oil and gas infrastructure.”

He added that “in this regard, the aviation group has been doubled and increased to include 69 aircraft.”

Russian military operation in the Syrian Arab Republic has prevented the transportation of 60,000 tonns of illegal oil to the “black market” by ISIL, Shoigu said.

The Russian Aerospace Forces are focused on undermining ISIL’s financial base, the minister said.

“Main efforts are focused on destroying the ISIL financial and economic base. A total of 525 tank trucks and 15 storage and refinery facilities have been destroyed in the operation.”

Russia’s military action in Syria is carried out well, but is not enough to free the Arab Republic of terrorism and protect Russia from potential attacks, President Vladimir Putin said during a video conference with military commanders, thanking them for their work.

“The tasks are being carried out, and they are carried out well,” Putin said Thursday.

“But this is so far not enough to clear Syria of fighters, terrorists, and shield Russia from possible terrorist attacks,” the president added. “There is a lot of work ahead of us and I hope the next stages will be carried out just as professionally, and bring the expected results.”

Source: sputniknews

The Armenian-Russian Margarita Gasparyan in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Tournament Limoges

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arton118611-480x330The young Armenian-Russian Moscow Margarita Gasparyan (20 years) is in the quarterfinals of the women’s tennis Limoges Tournament (France), an international competition with 125 000. Margarita Gasparyan (Russia) has emerged in the second round facing Marina Zanevska (Ukraine) on the score of 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour and 22 minutes. In the quarterfinals, the opponent will be the Margarita Gasparyan gagnate confrontation between Francesca Schiavone (Italy) and Mandy Minella (Luxembourg).

Krikor Amirzayan

Armenia: Syria talks should not focus on ousting Assad: Russian FM

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) speaks during a joint press conference with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian following their meeting in Yerevan on November 9, 2015. (AFP)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) speaks during a joint press conference with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian following their meeting in Yerevan on November 9, 2015. (AFP)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that the upcoming Syria talks should not be based on demands for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

Speaking at a press conference in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Monday, Lavrov said that such an approach was “simplistic” and that the summit should be instead focused on agreeing delegates for the Syrian opposition and which groups should be considered as extremists.

He noted that Russia had already shared its “list of terrorist organizations” with its partners on Syria, and that during the upcoming rounds of talks, scheduled for the weekend, Moscow expects the drawing up of a “unified list, so that there are no issues about who is striking whom and who is supporting whom.”

The previous negotiations about the Syrian crisis were held in the Austrian capital Vienna on October 30, bringing together top diplomats from 17 countries, including Iran, as well as envoys from the United Nations and the European Union.

Lavrov also called for wider participation in the talks, saying that following this weekend’s summit, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League should be included.

“There will be another meeting in the nearest future in an enlarged format… that is about 20 countries and organizations,” he said.

The foreign-backed militancy in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has so far claimed the lives of over 250,000 people and displaced millions of others.

80,000 Russian tourists still in Egypt to travel home separately from their luggage

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563de796c3618847028b457cRussian tourists leaving Egypt will only be able to take cabin baggage with them, and their other luggage will be delivered later on cargo planes, Russia’s tourism chief said. There are an estimated 80,000 Russians staying in Hurgada and Sharm el-Sheikh.

Authorities stressed they are not planning any emergency evacuation, the head of Russia’s federal tourism agency Oleg Safonov told journalists Saturday. “A process of planned transfer of tourists from Hurghada, Cairo and Sharm el-Sheikh will take place,” he said.

Safonov said that new tourists from Russia will not be able to visit the country. Russia will send empty planes to bring home travelers scheduled to come back at the end of their vacations.

Azerbaijan shooting makes it impossible to remove damaged Russia truck from Armenia road

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Azery shootingA Russian truck was damaged Thursday in the Tavush Province of Armenia, and due to the shots fired by Azerbaijan.

The incident took place on the Baghanis-Voskepar motorway.

The tires of the vehicle were punctured and its engine was damaged in the shooting.

The truck cannot be removed from the main road for two days now, Baghanis village mayor Narek Sahakyan on Saturday told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He noted that they had attempted to remove the vehicle from the road on Friday evening, but they could not due to the Azerbaijani shooting.

In Sahakyan’s words, now the villagers prefer not to travel along the Baghanis-Voskepar motorway, since it is not safe.

Syria-Update: Russian Warplanes Hit 263 Terrorist Targets in 2 Days

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1028742067Russian warplanes have carried out 81 sorties and hit 263 terrorist targets over the past 48 hours in 8 provinces in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday.

“In the past two days, aircraft from the Russian air group in the Syrian Arab Republic have conducted 81 sorties and hit 283 [terrorist] targets in the provinces of Aleppo, Damascus, Deir ez-Zor, Idlib, Latakia, Raqqa, Hama and Homs,” the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said.

“In the area of Tadmur in the province of Homs, a Su-24 bomber destroyed a major ISIL fortified area, as well as a tank firing position, a Zu-23 anti-aircraft gun and a mortar battery. The destroyed fortified area was located over 30 kilometers away from ancient Palmyra.”

“I draw your attention to the fact that Russian aviation launched airstrikes only against terrorist infrastructure targets that are located at a considerable distance from historical landmarks.”

A Su-34 bomber destroyed a Nusra Front training camp in the Deir ez-Zur province. “Near Al-Muhasan in the Deir ez-Zur province, a Su-34 bomber carried out a strike against a Nusra Front training camp.”
The Russian general added that as a result of a guided bomb strike, training infrastructure, as well as buildings and facilities used by terrorists for storing explosives were completely destroyed.
Moreover, Russian Su-25 attack aircraft destroyed a Nusra Front ammunition depot with anti-tank missiles in the Idlib province. Nusra Front jihadists wanted to use the missiles to target Syrian government army’s armoured vehicles, Konashenkov said.
“According to data received from the joint Information Center in Baghdad, a batch of anti-tank missiles was delivered to one of the ammunition depots near Maarrat al-Nu’man in the province of Idlib.”
“After checking the information via several channels, two Su-25 attack aircraft launched a strike against this target, as a result of which the ammunition depot was destroyed.”
The Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed two fortified checkpoints in Raqqa, he said.
“Su-34 bombers hit by two fortified checkpoints of terrorists located on the outskirts of the city of Raqqa. A pinpoint strike with a bomb destroyed terrorist fortifications, as well as four units of armored vehicles.”

According to the Russian defense ministry spokesman, Russian aviation hit an ISIL base in the mountains of Jebel-Mgar near Damascus. A terrorist ammunition depot, a command post and shelters with military equipment were located in caves of the mountain.
Russian Su-24M bombers destroyed ISIL workshops in the Aleppo province, which repaired armoured vehicles.
“In the vicinity of the Al-Nayrab airport in the province of Aleppo, Su-24M bombers destroyed workshops located in several buildings that repaired ISIL armored vehicles.”

Source: sputniknews.com

Russia Federation Council chief visits Armenian Genocide Memorial

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Russian-armenian genocideYEREVAN. – report news.am On Tuesday morning, a delegation, led by led by chairperson Valentina Matviyenko of the Federation Council of Russia, paid a visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia .

Matviyenko was accompanied by National Assembly of Armenia Vice President Hermine Naghdalyan, and Russian Ambassador Ivan Volinkin.

She laid a wreath and placed flowers to the Genocide monument, and paid tribute to the 1.5 million victims of this tragedy.

The speaker of the Russian Federation Council also toured the exhibits in the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, where she could not hold back her tears.

At the end of the tour, Valentina Matviyenko signed the Book of Condolences of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

Syria-Update: Russian Airstrikes Disrupt ISIL Supply Chains, Ammunition “lacking food and water”

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1027121892According to various information sources, terrorists are lacking food and water as result of the recent military operation, which destroyed most of their supplies.
The airstrikes affected basic food supply chains of the fighters, ammunition and medical supplies, RIA Novosti reported, citing representative of Syria’s military intelligence.

According to him, militants are experiencing serious difficulties with food and drinking water. In some terrorist units, the food will run out in less than a week, the source said.
He quoted imprisoned terrorists who reported that a “critical” situation for ISIL “has evolved with the medicines necessary to treat the wounded and injured fighters.”
“The shortage of medicines and medical supplies forced the militants to leave the wounded to the care of the local people. Moreover, in order to hide from the Russian aviation, fighters had to get rid of large trucks with material supplies, which slowed down the retreat of the forces,” he added.

Source: sputniknews.com

‘We’re Here to the End’: Russian Servicemen in Syria Speak to French TV

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1028982274The off-duty life of Russian servicemen in Syria seems to be of such interest to journalists that they are resorting to all kinds of tricks in order to get a story; one French TV crew, for example, left their camera running while casually chatting to Russian officers outside their air base in Latakia, and here is what they learnt.

Russian speaking journalists working for France 24 ran into Russian servicemen in the port of Latakia. The TV crew claimed the servicemen were “military instructors sent by Moscow to train Syrians.”
Even though the officers asked them to switch off their camera and take no pictures, the crew left the camera running.
When asked how long they think they will stay in Syria, the servicemen replied:
“We’ll take a pass on that one. We can just tell you that we’ve been here since the beginning and will be here until the end. In fact, we don’t know ourselves when we’ll be leaving…But at least it will be over soon…” (the crew translated it as “but we hope it will be over soon” and then added sub-titles on their own initiative: “since the air force is doing a good job.”)
When apparently asked to comment on the Syrian army, the officers said:
“You know, they [presumably the Syrians] have got everything: tanks and equipment…it is just such a mindset, the mentality is kind of like, more or less, Chechnya – [everything] is being bought and sold.”
The crew translated it as “it is a bit like the war in Chechnya…the guys sell everything on to the enemy.”
“Take Ossetia for example (the crew translated it as “You remember the war in Ossetia?”) It is the same generals who were in control there, the same 58th army, they…have been sent here, and they are in control of armed operations here.”
The servicemen however noted that the Syrians are really grateful for Russia’s intervention.
“I’m really happy that Russians are helping us! They are the only ones who are truly honest with us. When they say they will do something, they do it,” one of the Syrians in a military uniform told the crew.
As proof, the TV crew took a shot of a city market which is now selling underwear emblazoned with the Russian two-headed eagle emblem.

sputniknews.com

Syria: Aleppo-Armenian says Russian intervention ‘inspiring’

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f5628ba3bb016b_5628ba3bb01a6.thumbThe Russian air forces’ intervention in Syria inspires serious hopes in the Armenian community, an Aleppo-Armenian public figure said today, commenting on the recent developments in the country.
Speaking at a news conference, Vazgen Mesropian, the vice-president of the Social-Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) of Armenia, admitted that the Syrian-Army has seen a considerable progress after the Russian operation.
“Eighty percent of Aleppo is almost liberated, so I am hopeful that the districts still remaining under terrorists’ control – who bomb also the Armenian neighborhoods from there – will be liberated in the couple of days to come,” he said.
Mesropian further hailed Syrian President Bashar  al-Assad’s surprise visit to Moscow and his meetings with President Vladimir Putin. “It was a surprise,” he said, considering the move  a positive sign.
Mesropian admitted that Syria had to rely on Russian assistance, finding itself unable to fight alone the militants’ troops of more than 1,500.
“We believe that very soon – if not in the near future, at least in the four to six months to come – those terrorists will leave, and Aleppo will be liberated. The Russian air forces kill heads of terrorist centers; this is really important as they will later liberate also entire regions,” he added
Mesropian agreed that a key concern now is over the remaining Armenians’ number, the community being considered the mother colony of Diaspora-Armenians.
He added that the local schools and kindergartens have merged, continuing their work at the Gulbenkian School of Aleppo as a safer area.
“Today, we have a total of 2,080 pupils in [the schools] of Aleppo, whereas their number topped 4,500 before the war. There are presently 7,000-8,000 Armenians remaining there, instead of the [former] 40,000. So that’s regrettable,” the Aleppo-Armenian activist said, giving assurances that most of those who have fled Armenia or other countries, will return home after peace is established.
Of the 10,000 community members who are now in Armenia, only about 1,000 work,  Mesropian added. “The rest are without a job, and those who work are mainly young people.”
“Most are waiters or businessmen who have set up a small business here. There are also others who return, as they have no means of subsistence; they have spent all their money,” he said, adding that more 100 Armenians were killed in Syria in the past four years of war.