About 300 people presumed dead after Malaysian Boeing 777 crash in Ukraine

MOSCOW/KIEV, July 17. /ITAR-TASS/. 

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing-777 passenger plane en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in Ukraine 60 km from the Russian border on Thursday, July 17, and as many as 300 people aboard are presumed to be dead.

The plane was flying at an altitude of 10,000 km and was supposed to enter Russia’s airspace at 17:20 Moscow time. Malaysian Airlines confirmed that it had lost contact with the plane over Ukraine.

A source in the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transportation said the plane’s crew had not contacted Russian air traffic controllers. The plane was supposed to fly through Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine’s air navigation service said there were 280 people and 15 crew members aboard the plane.

A source in the aviation circles told ITAR-TASS that up to 300 people could have been traveling by that flight. “It crashed 60 km from the border. Its emergency locator beacon sent a signal,” the official said.

Malaysia Airlines plane crashes in Ukraine in 60 km from Russian border

Ukrainian mass media said the plane had crashed in the Donetsk Region. The commanders of the army operation being conducted by Kiev in this eastern Ukrainian region said the military had found the crash site north of the city of Torez.

A competent source cited objective control data as indicating that the Ukrainian army’s Buk air defense battalion had been moved to the Donetsk area on Wednesday, July 16. Another such battalion is getting ready for redeployment in Kharkov.

The source said aircraft flying at altitudes higher than 10,000 meters could be reached only by weapons like S-300 or Buk systems. The militia does not have and cannot have such weapons, the source said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered the creation of a government commission, with the participation of ICAO officials and representatives of the Netherlands and Malaysia, to investigate the accident.

The presidential press service said “the armed forces of Ukraine did not take any actions against air targets”.

Six Russian helicopters violate Ukrainian airspace

July 10, 2014
 
Russian helicopters crossed the Ukrainian air border in the area of the counter-terrorism operation in eastern Ukraine, the National Security and Defence Council said. 

"Our border guards registered six Russian helicopters flying 4 km into Ukraine near the settlement of Illienkove, and returning later," the Council’s information centre spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on Thursday. Border guards checked the area and found mortar positions and military ammunition items, he said.

15 killed in car bomb attack in Russia 

A suicide car bomb attack in a busy marketplace in Russia's Vladikavkaz city, capital of North Ossetia, left at least 15 people dead Thursday, according to the Itar-Tass news agency.

Around 80 people were injured when the car packed with 40 kg of TNT exploded, according to the interior ministry of the Republic of North Ossetia.

Two people were in the car, which bore the licence plates of the neighbouring predominantly Muslim republic of Ingushetia.

The attack, which occurred on the final day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, damaged numerous buildings in the city and set dozens of cars on fire.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin condemned the attack and called on the region's Muslim population to help prevent similar incidents in the future.

Security precautions were increased after the blast, with authorities evacuating all schools and kindergartens in North Ossetia.  

Six years ago, Islamist separatists carried out one of the worst attacks in Beslan, North Ossetia, in which more than 330 people were killed - including 168 children.

The neighbouring republics of Dagestan and Chechnya have seen repeated attacks by the separatists.

Medvedev ordered his special envoy for the northern Caucasus, Alexander Kloponin, to travel to Vladikavkaz. Police in the city defused a second bomb at the entrance to the marketplace, after the first one went off.

Putin accused the terrorists behind the car bombing of seeking to sow discord.

'We are counting on the Muslim population to make a decisive contribution towards the fight( against terrorism), Putin said.

Islamic separatists in the Muslim north Caucasus are fighting elements loyal to the Kremlin with the goal of setting up an independent 'Caucasus Emirate' in the region.  

Red Terror File: GRU dep. head dies mysteriously in Syria, Turkish fishermen find body; UK espionage expert: Spy's death "wet job" by Russian SVR

Major General Yuri Ivanov

Some time last month, reports the British media, the “badly decomposed” body of the deputy head of Russian military intelligence (GRU), Major-General Yuri Ivanov (aged 52), washed up on the Turkish coast after he disappeared in the Syrian coastal resort of Latakia. The Russian Armed Forces in-house newspaper, Red Star, did not report Ivanov’s death until August 28, when he was “quietly” buried in Moscow. According to the Kremlin, the GRU’s second-in-command was on holiday in Latakia at the time and perished in a “tragic swimming accident.”

Latakia, as it turns out, is only 50 miles from Tartus, the site of a Soviet/Russian naval facility, and relatively near the Turkish port of Ceyhan, which is the terminus for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. In South Ossetia, one of Georgia’s breakaway regions, Russian occupation troops are only a short distance from this pipeline. During Russia’s 2008 re-invasion of Georgia, the Russian Air Force tried to bomb the BTC pipeline. According to The Guardian, General Ivanov inspected the naval base at Tartus, before heading off for a visit with Syrian intelligence agents.

“Other reports,” state The Telegraph, suggest that Ivanov was on “official business” when he died. The British newspaper intimates that the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, may know something about Ivanov’s death: “The facility is Russia’s only foothold in the Mediterranean Sea, and Mossad . . . is known to be concerned that Moscow will use the upgraded facility as a base for spy ships and electronic espionage directed at the Middle East.” The Russian Defense Ministry, like its Soviet predecessor, is “overwhelmingly” pro-Arab.

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Moscow views embassy incident as attempt to mount tensions

MOSCOW, August 31 (Itar-Tass) - Moscow said on Tuesday it views the incident on premises of the Russian Embassy in Minsk as an attempt by certain forces to introduce "elements of mistrust and tensions in bilateral relations."
"In the evening of August 30, unidentified persons threw two petrol bombs onto the premises of the Russian Embassy in Belarus. Luckily, none of the Embassy personnel was hurt," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We regard this incident as an outrageous act, behind which we seen the wish of certain forces to try to interfere with the normal work of the Embassy and introduce elements of mistrust and tension in bilateral relations.

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France unfazed by Russian tender, Mistral talks ongoing
PARIS, August 20, 2010 (RIA Novosti)

Paris is continuing negotiations with Moscow on the purchase of a Mistral-class warship and is not concerned about Russia's decision to call a tender for the construction of two helicopter carriers, a spokeswoman for the French presidential administration said on Friday.

"France has no cause for concern over the current developments and negotiations are ongoing," she said.
Russia is holding talks with France on the purchase of Mistral-class warships on a 2+2 scheme whereby Russia will buy one or two French-built Mistrals and build another two under license at home.

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Russia, Armenia committed to stable Caucasus region
GYUMRI (Armenia), August 20,2010 (RIA Novosti)

Russia and Armenia will continue to work to maintain stability in the Caucasus, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

Medvedev, on an official visit to Armenia, lauded Yerevan's commitment to the work of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and CIS Anti-Terrorist Center.

"We will use the potential of these structures to strengthen peace and stability across the entire territory of the Caucasus," Medvedev said in the north Armenian city of Gyumri near the Turkish border.

"This is essential for all of the countries in the region. It is essential for Russia," he said at an opening ceremony of the Hill of Honor memorial, which commemorates Russian soldiers who died fighting the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said Yerevan views friendly ties between Russia and Armenia as a key component in maintaining stability in the Caucasus.

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Thailand to extradite suspected Russian arms dealer
By Ambika Ahuja Ambika Ahuja

BANGKOK (Reuters) – A Thai appeals court ruled on Friday that suspected Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout can be extradited to the United States to face terrorism charges following two years of diplomatic pressure from Washington.

Nicknamed the "Merchant of Death" and the inspiration for Hollywood movie "Lord of War" starring Nicholas Cage, the 43-year-old Bout faces U.S. accusations of trafficking arms since the 1990s to dictators and conflict zones in Africa, South America and the Middle East.

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Russia Pushes to Increase Afghanistan Business Ties

August 18, 2010

By: Andrew E. Kramer

MOSCOW — Twenty years after the last Russian soldier walked out of Afghanistan, Moscow is gingerly pushing its way back into the country with business deals and diplomacy, and promises of closer ties to come.

Russia is eager to cooperate on economic matters in part by reviving Soviet-era public works, its president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, said Wednesday during a summit meeting with the leaders of Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan, the second such four-way meeting organized by Russia in the past year. 

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Russian mafia buying jobs in police and judiciary

Jobs in Russia’s law enforcement sector are being bought by the mafia for more than £30,000 a time, such is the level of corruption, according to a new report.

It warned that Russian law enforcement structures were increasingly intertwined with the country’s organized crime scene and said the most popular job to be bought and sold on the black market was that of a traffic policeman.

By Andrew Osborn, Moscow
Published: 2:12PM BST 19 Aug 2010

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