ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Illustrative image The US State Department has confirmed the delivery of anti-tank missile systems Javelin to Ukraine. “They have already been delivered,” a US State Department official said on April 30 in response to  an RFE/RL query  on the handover of Javelins. In March, the US confirmed the deal to sell 210 Javelin anti-tank missiles and 37 Javelin launchers to Ukraine.  According to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency , the deal also includes “United States Government and contractor technical assistance, transportation, training and other related elements of logistics and program support” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also confirmed the delivery and said his country would continue “to strengthen” its “defense potential.” “I am sincerely grateful for the fair decision of [U.S. President] Donald Trump in support of Ukraine, in defense of freedom and democracy,” Poroshenko said. “Washington not only fulfilled our joint agreement, it...

Illustrative image: Netflix The US State Department freezed financing the White Helmets, which had been working in war-torn Syria,  the US  TV channel  CBS reported on May 3. According to CBS, the US government accounted for about a third of the overall funding of White Helmets. CBS stressed that “the US State Department said the support is ‘under active review,’” adding that the organization had not been receiving financial funds from Washington for several weeks already. The leader of White Helmets Raed Saleh stated that there had been no signs of stopping the financing two months ago during the visit of the organization’s members to the US, CBS reported. “Our meetings in March were very positive. There were even remarks from senior officials about long-term commitments even into 2020,” Saleh said. “There were no suggestions whatsoever about stopping support.” “Ultimately, this will negatively impact the humanitarian workers ability to save lives,” clai...

Click to see the full-size map On May 5, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the Palestinian Liberation Army (PLA) and their allies captured the southern part of the strategic al-Hajar al-Aswad district, south of the city of Damascus, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).  The SANA said that the SAA is now clearing the liberated area from mines and IEDs. The SAA and its allies split the ISIS-held pocket south of Damascus on May 3  capturing several key positions between the al-Hajar al-Aswad district and the Yarmouk refugee camp. From its side, the ISIS linked news agency Amaq claimed that ISIS fighters killed 90 SAA soldiers and damaged a BMP-1 armored vehicle of the SAA during the clashes in al-Hajar al-Aswad district and the Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus on May 4 and 5. However, most of these claims were not verified. Currently, ISIS fighters control more than 80% of the Yarmouk camp, less than 20% of the Hajar al-Aswad district and a few positi...