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World | Wed Sep 23, 2015 3:40pm EDT Related: World Syria says would welcome Russian army base in Latakia: Interfax MOSCOW The Syrian ambassador in Moscow said on Wednesday Damascus would welcome the deployment of a Russian military base in the city of Latakia (Lattakia) if Moscow decides to build one there, Interfax news agency reported.

September 23, 2015 3:45 pm Russia’s Syria build-up takes Iran by surprise Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/da2bc14e-61e2-11e5-9846-de406ccb37f2.html#ixzz3ma7Pkrmp The US is not the only country puzzled by Moscow’s recent military build- up in Syria. The leaders of Iran, supporters of Damascus alongside Russia, are also scratching their heads about President Vladimir Putin’s intentions. ...snip.... High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this...

(Translated via Google Translator) Russia has information that the US know the specific location point of the "Islamic State" (extremist organization banned in Russia), but did not give an order to strike on the positions "of the IG," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In the program "Sunday times" on the "First Channel" Lavrov said that the US government "was not originally a very carefully created a coalition, or conspired to it so that it is not the goals that have been declared." According to the Foreign Minister, the coalition was created spontaneously, "just a few days it was announced...

...snip... However, it is important to understand why Russia chose this moment to move, when it could have done so at any time. ...snip... With Mr. al-Assad now controlling only 17 per cent of the country, and fighting on an axis running from Damascus, Homs, Aleppo and Latakia (oddly enough the centres of Alawite and Christian populations), the fear is that without any discernible moderate opposition the groups best positioned to take advantage of an Assad collapse are IS – the best organized – and any number of splinter Islamist groups such as the al-Nusra Front. IS was not spawned...

i24news Published August 31st 2015 10:08pm Russian jets take to Syrian skies to combat IS Russia begins military intervention against IS in Syria; IS closes in on Damascus Russian fighter pilots, jets and helicopters will begin arriving in Syria in the coming days to join in the offensive against the Islamic State (IS) and rebel-aligned targets within the failing state Israeli news site Ynet News reported Monday. According to Western diplomats, Russian expeditionary forces have already arrived in Syria to set up camp in an Assad-controlled airbase near Damascus, and will operate as a Russian forward operating base. Thousands of...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Wednesday called for a coalition to combat terrorism in the Middle East. Opening a meeting with Putin in Moscow, el-Sissi said "the Egyptian people" are hoping for broader ties with Russia in all areas, particularly in fighting terrorism in the Middle East. El-Sissi's Russian visit, his second in the past three months, highlights Moscow's attempts to expand its influence in Egypt at a time when Egyptian-U.S. relations have soured in the aftermath of the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

When Russia annexed Crimea, the Kremlin installed a reputed gangster known as "the Goblin" to run the peninsula. When Moscow's agents abducted Estonian law enforcement officer Eston Kohver, they used a mafia-run smuggling ring to set him up. And of course, organized crime groups have played a prominent role in the Moscow-instigated conflicts in Transdniester, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Donbas. It has become something of a cliche to call Vladimir Putin's Russia a "mafia state." But cliche or not, the term actually fits. Not just because the Kremlin and organized crime groups are closely linked. And not just because Moscow...

Konstantin Goldenzweig resigned from the Kremlin-backed NTV channel Renowned Russian journalist Konstantin Goldenzweig has resigned from state-funded TV channel 'NTV' after becoming disenchanted with the Kremlin's misinformation campaign. He announced the move through Facebook on June 9, TJ reports. "I want to thank all my colleagues who helped me, taught me, encouraged me and were my friends. And continue to be my friends. And sorry for taking part in this propaganda madness. There is only one banal conclusion: the deals with your own conscience are only as good as those you can cancel" - Goldenzweig wrote.

One of the pillars of President Vladimir Putin’s new national ideology is that Russia should occupy the Soviet Union’s onetime prominent place in the world. That aspiration, however, keeps hitting snags in areas where the Soviet Union excelled, such as space launches and ice hockey. These misfires may present a bigger threat to Putin’s regime than falling living standards.

The trial of Dzhokar Tsarnaev has gripped America, but in Russia the Boston bomber’s trial has received little media coverage, with even the arrival of five Tsarnaev family members from Russia to testify receiving no attention. The relatives are staying in Massachusetts over the weekend, after a sick juror meant their testimony for the defence could not be heard on Thursday. But Russian state-controlled media has shown little interest in their trip to the US, and a decision appears to have been taken that the Tsarnaevs’ links to Russia should be played down. On 8 April, the jury convicted Tsarnaev...

Russia has unveiled a new-generation battle tank called Armata T-14 ahead of World War Two Victory Day celebrations on 9 May. It is among several new weapons systems featuring in a vast parade on 9 May. It is 70 years since the Soviet and Allied armies defeated Nazi Germany in 1945. The Russian defence ministry has posted photos of the new military hardware, taken during a rehearsal. Most Western leaders will not go to Moscow because of the Ukraine crisis.