Author: Mideast discourse

One of US servicemen who described himself as ‘a veteran of the Marine Infantry, YPG, YBS, and Ukrainian Spetsnaz’, shared videos of his first and last missions in Ukraine. The first video showed his first military operation in Ukraine which took place in the Kherson region and was a complete failure. The group of foreign fighters was disorganized and surrounded by Russian forces. Their leader was lost for several hours, so foreigners only managed to drink some tea with the locals and hide in a civilian house. The US veteran confirmed that some of the foreigners and Ukrainian fighters had…

The EU executive is retreating from imposing a price cap on Russian gas, but pushing ahead with windfall taxes on energy company “surplus” profits, according to a leaked document. A draft regulation on the “electricity emergency tool” seen by The Guardian contains neither a price cap on Russian gas nor on imported gas, after member states were unable to agree on restrictions last week. The EU is expected to levy windfall taxes on the high profits of fossil fuel companies, with a separate cap on revenues of low-carbon electricity producers. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is expected to…

The party is a divided house in Rajasthan – one of the two states it still rules without an alliance. While a section of the party’s base is loyal to State Chief Ashok Gehlot, another wants him to be replaced by Sachin Pilot, his ex-deputy and former chief of the party in the state. In-fighting in the Congress Party in India’s Rajasthan state has boiled over after one of its ministers publicly criticized another key figure who has also served as deputy state chief. Rajasthan Sports Minister Ashok Chandna hit out at former Deputy State Chief Sachin Pilot on Monday…

Turkey has requested a clarification from Kiev and demanded Ukraine take steps in connection with a massive campaign against Turkish businessmen and banks in the country, Turkish newspaper Aydinlik reported on Tuesday, citing diplomatic sources. The campaign calling for sanctions against Turkish businessmen and banks began in Ukraine over Ankara’s non-alignment with the Western policy against Russia, the newspaper said earlier on Monday. Reportedly, a list of heads of Turkish banks Ziraat, Isbank and Credit Europe Bank with their photos and calls for sanctions against them and their companies was published in Ukraine. According to diplomatic sources, Turkey has brought to…

The Israeli occupation forces arrested three Palestinians on Tuesday, south of Bethlehem in the West Bank. Wafa News Agency stated that the occupation forces stormed al-Dheisheh camp, south of the city, and they arrested three Palestinians. On Monday, the occupation forces arrested dozens of Palestinians in separate areas of the West Bank. Source: SANA

As Kirill Stremousov noted, the bodies of many of the dead continue to lie where they were killed The Ukrainian armed forces lost about 3,500 servicemen who were killed during an attempted offensive towards Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Kherson Region’s military-civilian administration, said on Tuesday. “[The Ukrainian armed forces have tallied] about 3,500 dead Nazis who did not get to Kherson,” Stremousov said in a video message published on Tuesday on his Telegram channel. He told TASS that the last time the Ukrainian military had suffered losses like these was on August 29. As the official noted,…

The decades-old hostilities over the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh are back as they were instigated by Azerbaijan. Russian news media reported that clashes between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops started early Tuesday, resuming decades-old hostilities over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijani soldiers advanced along various areas of the border, according to Aram Torosyan, spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry. “The enemy continues to use artillery, mortars, drones, and large-caliber small arms. Attacks are being made on both military facilities and civilian infrastructure facilities. In some areas, Azerbaijani units have taken actions to advance positions. Positional battles continue. The Armenian Armed…

Kiev’s military command earlier said longer-range weapons would force Russian citizens to feel the “acute” cost of the conflict Ukraine’s latest wish-list for US weapons reportedly includes a repeat request for longer-range tactical ballistic missiles. Washington previously declined to send such weapons, for fear of escalating the conflict with Russia. The Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, can be fired by M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS multiple launch rocket systems, both of which Ukraine already has. But compared to regular rounds for the launchers, it has a significantly longer range of some 300km. The missiles are among the 29 types…

Yerevan accuses Baku of military “aggression against our sovereign territory” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan convened an emergency security council meeting early on Tuesday to devise “countermeasures” following an escalation of hostilities along the border with Azerbaijan. “In the face of the aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, it was decided to officially appeal to the Russian Federation in order to implement the provisions of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, as well as to the Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO] and the UN Security Council,” the government in Yerevan announced after the national security meeting chaired by Pashinyan.…

Police are still investigating the motive behind the mall shooting in Sariyer, Istanbul, between 2 groups of people that left 1 person in critical condition. According to the Sabah daily newspaper on Monday, at least six people were wounded in a shooting inside a shopping mall in the Turkish capital of Istanbul. Per the newspaper’s report, the injuries were the result of an argument between two groups of people at the Sariyer mall and the dispute quickly escalated into a fight with the parties involved eventually opening fire at each other. The incident was caught on surveillance cameras, and the Turkish newspaper…