Why Russia condemns U.S. missile strike on Syria, suspends key air agreement

Putin’s spokesman said the Russian president considered the attack an attempt to distract attention from the heavy civilian casualties caused by a U.S.-backed offensive to capture the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State group.

Russian president Putin

MOSCOW — Russia on Friday condemned a U.S. missile strike against Syrian government forces as an attack on its ally and said it was suspending an agreement to minimize the risk of in-flight incidents between U.S. and Russian aircraft operating over Syria.
Even as Russian officials expressed hope that the strike against Syrian President Bashad al-Assad’s forces would not lead to an irreversible breakdown in U.S. relations with Moscow, the Kremlin’s decision to suspend the 2015 memorandum of understanding on the air operations immediately raised tensions in the skies over Syria.

Russia rejects criticism of air strikes in Syria, Iraq welcomes air strikes

Lavrov says operations targeting "ISIL and other terrorist groups", with announcement of raids in two Syrian provinces.

Russia's foreign minister has defended Russia's military operations in Syria after it came under international criticism during a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York.

Addressing the media on Thursday, Sergey Lavrov said the goal of the Russian military operation was in response to the request of President Bashar al-Assad and on the basis of the decision granted by the Russian parliament with the Russian president and in accordance with the Russian constitution.

Russian warplanes backing Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad bombed rebel groups for a second day Thursday as reports suggested Iran is sending combat troops to support the embattled regime in Damascus.

Rising tensions in Ukraine as NATO ships arrive in Lithuania

A group of NATO ships has arrived in the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda to “ensure regional security,” the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense has said. Russia has already voiced its concern over the “unprecedented” buildup of NATO forces in the region.

The group is composed of 4 minesweeping ships from Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and Estonia as well as one supply vessel. The ships will take part in intensive military drills, stopping off at various ports in the region. They will also participate in operation “Open Sprit” deactivating underwater explosives.

Ukrainian Army confront Russian forces on strip alongside Crimea, Putin sees no "Cold War" because of Ukraine

Ukraine's military scrambled aircraft and paratroops to confront Russian troops landing on a spit of land between Crimea and the mainland, defence officials said and the foreign ministry demanded their immediate withdrawal.

The border guard service said Ukrainian forces had taken up defensive positions on Arbatskaya Strelka, running parallel to the east of Crimea, now controlled by Russian forces.  It said about 60 Russian troops had landed on the strip and begun digging in, assisted by three armoured personnel carriers.