ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

The Iraqi army has been reportedly deploying floating bridges in roder to link the government-held eastern part of the Iraqi city of Mosul with the western part of Mosul controlled by ISIS terrorists. If this is done, Iraqi army troops will be able to launch an advance against ISIS terrorists in western Mosul. Alleged photos of floating bridges en route to Mosul ( source ):

The LPR People’s Militia managed to capture an unmanned aerial vehicle of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Photo: YouTube / Voyennaya zona On Thursday, the People’s Militia of the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) managed to catch and land an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of Sokolniki village. Reportedly, the drone was flying from the direction of Krymskoye village, located on the territory, controlled by Ukraine. The unmanned aerial vehicle was the RQ-11B Raven with the number 23018, produced by the US AeroVironment company. In July 2016, the US handed over to the Ukrainian Armed Forces a batch of the RQ11s, consisting of 24 drones. Later, a video, showing the captured UAV, was published online. According to spokesman for the LPR People’s Militia Maj. Andrey Marochko, the Ukrainian side actively continues to conduct reconnaissance on the territory of the republic, using UAVs that are prohibited by the Minsk agreements. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian

The Azerbaijani Army has shelled a military truck with servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces. Troops in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (Sputnik / Ilya Pitalev) The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported about another escalation of the situation in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict . According to the department, during the erupted hostilities, the Azerbaijani Army shelled a military truck. Reportedly, servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces were in the vehicle during the attack, however, this information still has not been confirmed. Later, a video, showing a result of the attack on the military vehicle, was published online. At the same time, the Azerbaijani side considers the destruction of the military truck and troops, who were inside of it, as a great success, and does not think that it can be one of the reasons of increasing of probability of a new escalation of the conflict in the region. There is no information about the destruction of the military vehi

The Pentagon believes that members of the alliance should “pay their fair share.” US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (Photo: The Daily Signal / Steven Purcell) On Friday, ahead a meeting of the US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis with defense ministers of NATO states, spokesman for the Pentagon , Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said that members of the alliance should “pay their fair share.” “We have had a long-standing policy in our government: we want everyone to pay their fair share when it comes to defense,” Davis told reporters at an off-camera briefing. The statement was made just ahead of the meeting between the US Defense Secretary and defense ministers of other members of the alliance, which will be held in Brussels, Belgium, next week. According to a membership requirement, each member of NATO should spend at least two percent of their gross domestic product on their military budget. However, only five nations, including the US, fulfill this condition. During his campaign trail, US President

Written by The Saker; Originally appeared at his blog Something interesting is happening in Russia. The recent murder of Givi is attracting A LOT of attention from the main media outlets, much more than any of the other murders of Novorussian commanders. Furthermore, a majority of the key people invited to express their opinion generally seem to agree on a number of conclusions: Poroshenko is pretty much gone and finished. The Ukronazis have all but officially declared Minsk-2 dead. The Urkonazis have all but officially declared that they are at war with Russia The Urkonazis don’t want any negotiated solution The Urkonazis have now decided that an military attack on Novorussia is the only solution Interestingly, the actual amount of Ukronazi artillery shelling has actually gone down, very significantly, during the last 48 hours, and yet by all reports the Novorussians remain in a state of pre-war. If the purpose of the murder of “Givi” was to demoralize the Novorussians then it achi

By Arina TSUKANOVA US Ambassador to UN Blames Russia for new violence in eastern Ukraine: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, blamed Russia on Thursday for the recent surge of violence in eastern Ukraine and warned Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia will not be lifted until Moscow returns Crimea to Kiev. The speech by the new US permanent representative to the UN Security Council, Nikki Haley, at a Security Council meeting on 3 February backed up the idea that the foreign policies of two American administrations – the previous one and the current one – will be continued. Haley said exactly the same as Samantha Power before her: «Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control of the peninsula to Ukraine». The White House supported Haley’s statement on the need for Crimea to be returned to Ukraine, and the White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, stated during a briefing that: «With respect to the sanctions, I think Ambassador Haley

A controversial new monument has been erected in Dresden in honor of the victims of the battle for Aleppo. Photo: Getty Images / AFP / Sebastian Kahnert Syrian artist Manaf Halbouni has erected a controversial new monument in the central square of Dresden city, Germany. According to the artist, he tried to recreate a famous photo, taken by a Reuters’ photo-journalist during the battle for Aleppo in order to honor memory of the victims of the hostilities in the city. However, some people think that the monument may have been inspired by temporary fortifications, set up by radical Islamists, who killed Christians and was linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist group. A photo, which inspired Halbouni, shows three buses, which were vertically set up on one of the streets of Aleppo city and used as a fortification against snipers of the Syrian Arab Army. According to anti-mass migration NGO Einprozent, the flag, which can be seen on the top of one of the buses, belongs to the Ahrar al-Sham group,

Original by Dr. Evgeniya Bilchenko; translation by J.Hawk My address is intended for those Ukrainian intellectuals who have not lost the remnants of their common sense, my colleagues and kindred spirits. It’s pointless to discuss with closed minds. By intellectuals I don’t mean a specific social class of snobs, but people whose lives revolve around letters, spirituality, and education. Many of them attempt to participate in social and academic life. And I know that the overwhelming majority of these people are not in agreement with what’s happening in the country. Here’s what I’ve seen in recent times: kitchen talk, half-whispers, pleas whispered into ears, claims that still more can be lost, injunctions to act with care. Why are you afraid to speak the truth? Simple truth that our country is under a totalitarian regime. A dumb, lying totalitarian regime only interested in prolonging the war and profiting from it. In sacrificing soldiers for the sake of cheap PR. In repressing civilian