Military
Saturday 23 September 2017
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Aleksey Pushkov
Chairman of the Commission on Information Policy in Russia’s Federation Council
“There is no basis for the deployment of peacekeepers on the border between the DNR/LNR and Russia. It is a zone of peace and tranquility. So let them deal with the zone of tension.”
Read more...The Russian authorities’ insistence that the mandate of UN peacekeepers in Ukraine should be limited to the area along the “borders” between Ukraine and the conflict zone in the eastern part of the country is based on their claim that the region is a “zone of peace and tranquility.” That claim is neither true nor logical. Eastern Ukraine remains a war zone and the only internationally recognized borders are those between Ukraine and Russia. -
Aleksandr Khrolenko
Columnist for the Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today) international news agency
“…[A]ll these means [components of the U.S.-made, Japan-operated missile defense system] proved ineffective on August 29, when a DPRK ballistic missile flew over the territory of Japan and landed 1,180km off Cape Erimo in Hokkaido … No damage to aircraft or sea-craft was recorded, but the Japanese at least could have tried to shoot down the missile, purely for training purposes.”
Read more...Despite their arguable capability to hit the missile, Japan’s BMD systems were not designed specifically to shoot down the type of missile test-fired by Pyongyang or protect fully against all missiles. Nor was it necessary to do so, given a number of considerations that the author totally ignores. -
RT
Russian government-funded international broadcaster
“U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker stated that Russian authorities intend to ‘freeze’ the situation in Donbass.”
Read more...In fact, Volker said that Russia appears ready to “live with” the status quo in the region and that there are political and economic costs for its actions in Ukraine. -
Yuri Shvytkin
Deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma’s defense committee
“Today, unfortunately, it can be noted that the United States is trying to establish a loyal regime [in Afghanistan] under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Our country takes the position that the United States (should) withdraw its troops from Afghanistan; the legitimately elected government of Afghanistan takes principally the same position. U.S. success in the fight against terrorism, especially in Afghanistan, is not particularly discernible.”
Read more...U.S. and Afghan forces have, in fact, made major counterterrorism gains, and Afghanistan’s government supports fully the U.S. military presence and the newly unveiled U.S. strategy. -
Russian Embassy to the United Kingdom
“The civil war is over, that is between the Syrians. But foreign jihadists, who invaded Syria in 2012, still have to be defeated.”
Read more...Russia’s embassy to the United Kingdom claims that the Syrian civil war is over. So why do regime attacks on rebel-held areas continue? -
RT
Russia’s state-funded international network
“The UK will oppose a preemptive ban on ‘killer robots’, despite widespread calls in the UN to prohibit the use of ‘murder machines’.”
Read more...RT neglects to point out that Russia itself has developed such autonomous robots and has not supported a UN ban on them. -
Russian Foreign Ministry
“The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has confirmed that Syria’s chemical arsenal was completely destroyed under international supervision.”
Read more...The OPCW, tasked with overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles, has stated it can only confirm the elimination of materials declared by the Syrian government. It has growing suspicions, in the words of the director, that Damascus may have hidden 'some chemical weapons," in light of corroborated reports of their use by Syrian forces. -
Мikhail Aleksandrov
Expert with the Center for Military and Political Research, MGIMO
“U.S. actions in Afghanistan are destabilizing, harmful to neighboring countries but above all to Afghanistan itself… ISIS was created by the United States to solve geopolitical problems in the Middle East, [but] now they see it’s not working there and are preparing to move ISIS to Central Asia.”
Read more...The U.S. is actually fighting Islamic State and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan, contributing to the region’s security, as well as its economic and democratic development. -
Dmitry Rogozin
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister
“‘Design and construction of facilities for military operations training in urban terrain’ – the Americans are starting to train Moldovan saboteurs and special forces in the event of new armed conflict with Transdniester.”
Read more...In fact, the U.S. is assessing contractors’ readiness to build civilian structures for regular peacekeeping training under UN mandate -
RT
Russian government-funded international broadcaster
“Afghan military are suspected of molesting minors. However, a public acknowledgement of this fact would mean a rupture of the U.S. relationship with Kabul. But Washington has invested about $700 billion in the Afghan campaign over the last 15 years and is not ready to lose its investments."
Read more...SIGAR and State Department actually acknowledged the problem publicly. -
Oleksandr Turchynov
secretary of Ukraine's Security and Defense Council (NSDC)
"Ukraine has never supplied rocket engines or any kind of missile technology to North Korea.”
Read more...Aside from Ukrainian denials, even Michael Elleman, the missile expert cited by the New York Times, conceded that the engines could have come from a Russian factory. -
Aleksandr Zakharchenko
leader of Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's Donetsk region
“Our desire is to create favorable conditions for the work of the OSCE mission, full cooperation. I would like the whole world to know what is happening in the DPR.”
Read more...In fact, obstruction of OSCE monitors and armed attacks on their patrols have mounted in recent weeks with clear indication of separatist responsibility.