russian defense ministry

Ramzan Kadyrov’s Islamist-Chechen paramilitary group signed a deal to come under the control of the Kremlin, Russia’s Defence Ministry said.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov claimed Friday that unnamed foreign interests are funding a scurrilous campaign to discredit Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine candidate.

Russian President Vladimir Putin took the momentous step of canceling the annual Victory Day parade last week, under pressure from veterans groups.

A top Russian cybersecurity official claimed on Thursday that Russia has been subjected to a massive campaign of cyberespionage, including attacks on government and financial institutions, and said most of the attacks are emanating from the United States.

Russia’s defense ministry insisted on Thursday that Monday’s jet fighter intercept of a U.S. Navy surveillance plane, in which the Russian pilot flew within five feet of the American aircraft, was perfectly safe, but suggested the U.S. should stop flying in international airspace near the Russian border just to be sure, because American pilots are suffering from “depression and phobias.”

Dozens of Islamic State group members and their families have crossed into areas controlled by the extremists despite US threats to bomb the convoy days after they left the Lebanon-Syria border, Syrian opposition activists said Saturday.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Friday that Moscow would “strengthen and raise the effectiveness of the Syrian armed forces’ systems of anti-aircraft defense systems” following the American missile strike on Syria’s Sharyat airbase.

Ambulances trying to evacuate people from rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Thursday came under fire from fighters loyal to the Syrian government, who killed at least one person, a rescue service spokesman said.

JAFFA, Israel — Major security preparations are underway in Saudi Arabia, according to Arab media reports, in light of the hazy political and security situation in the region.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that it is planning to upgrade its naval base in the Syrian port city of Tartus into a permanent facility, a move that comes as the Kremlin has expressed interest in erecting military bases in Latin America and Egypt, as well as reopening Soviet-era facilities in Vietnam and Cuba.

Turkey claims another Russian warplane violated its airspace on Friday, only two months after Turkish planes shot down a Russian jet, killing the pilot. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Russia would “endure the consequences” if its planes keep crossing into Turkey.