Day: October 14, 2019

President Vladimir Putin signaled Moscow’s growing Middle East clout on Monday by visiting Saudi Arabia for the first time in over a decade, buoyed by Russian military gains in Syria, strong ties with Riyadh’s regional rivals and energy cooperation. Moscow accrued power in the Middle East in 2015 by sending troops to Syria, where it and…

Russia announced on Monday it would hold a large test of its Strategic Missile Forces that will see it fire ballistic and cruise missiles from the land, sea and air this week. The exercise, from Oct. 15-17, will involve around 12,000 military personnel, as well as aircraft, including strategic nuclear bombers, surface ships and submarines,…

Authorities have opened a criminal case into abuse of authority after a prison warden was caught on video beating an inmate in northern Russia, investigators said Monday. Russia’s prison system has faced tighter scrutiny since the summer of 2018, when revelations of torture prompted nationwide inspections and dozens of legal cases. On Oct. 8, President…

Russian police have arrested four people on suspicion of assaulting police officers at opposition protests this summer, the Investigative Committee said on Monday, an announcement likely to be condemned by the Kremlin’s critics. The jailing of a handful of other protesters on charges including assaulting police at political rallies that began in July caused a…

An undocumented American citizen has been detained south of Moscow on suspicion of beating a Russian police officer, authorities said Monday. The unnamed 68-year-old American faces up to five years in prison if found guilty of assaulting a police officer, prosecutors in the Kaluga region said in a statement. “The man struck the police officer…

The Kremlin said on Monday it did not want to entertain the possibility of a clash in Syria between Russian and Turkish forces and said Moscow was in regular contact with Ankara, including at a military level. The Kremlin was commenting after Syrian Kurdish leaders said they had struck a deal with the Syrian government, brokered…

Russia has denied an explosive New York Times report saying it bombed Syrian hospitals, including four in one day in May, insisting that its planes attacked a “terrorist bunker” rather than an underground hospital. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said Monday that the ministry last week organized a press tour for dozens…

Russian jets have repeatedly bombed Syrian hospitals, including at least four in one day this spring, The New York Times reported, citing intercepted Russian Air Force radio recordings, witness accounts and data gathered by plane spotters. Western states have accused Russia and its ally Syria of targeting civilians in northwest Syria, a charge that Moscow…

Police have detained an activist identified by state television as an “organizer” of this summer’s election protests in Moscow, the MBKh Media news website reported Monday. Russia’s Ren-TV state broadcaster said in July that Danny Kulinich had organized protests over the exclusion of opposition candidates from local elections held last month. Kulinich, who is a…

The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been holding negotiations with Russian participation, a Syrian Kurdish politician said on Sunday, expressing hope for a deal that would halt a Turkish attack. Ahmed Suleiman, a senior member of the Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party in Syria, said the talks were being held at…