ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Photo : Andrey Veselov The Russian state-run news agency Sputnik reports ( source ): In an exclusive, in-depth interview with Sputnik, Sergei Sanovsky, a former training instructor for one of Ukraine’s most notorious far-right volunteer militias, shared his story about how he went from being hailed a “hero of Maidan” to getting kidnapped and tortured by Ukraine’s Security Service for refusing to run an extrajudicial death squad. By Andrei Veselov, with contributions from Alexei Sakhnin and Yevgeny Belenky ‘A Simple Hero of the Maidan’ Sergei Sanovsky comes from a long line of career military men. Before 2014, he served in a Spetsnaz detachment of Ukraine’s Internal Troops, commanding a reconnaissance group and working as a sniper instructor before leaving military service. Sergei participated in the Maidan street protests, which rocked Ukraine in late 2013 and early 2014 and culminated in the overthrow of...

Sergei Malgavko/TASS On June 26, the US State Department once again announced that Turkey would be targeted by sanctions if it receives S-400 air defense systems from Russia under a contract signed by Ankara and Moscow earlier. The State Department recalled that this decision is a result of the bill President Donald Trump signed into law last summer, which seeks to punish companies that do business with the Russian defense industry. “We made it clear that if Turkey buys S-400s… there will be consequences. We will introduce sanctions within Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA),” Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell said at a hearing of the  Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “We believe that we have existing legal authorities that would allow us to withhold transfer under certain circumstances, including national security concerns,” he said. “We believe that we continue to have the time and ability ...

Click to see the full-size image Written by Elijah J. Magnier –  @ ejmalrai ; Originally appeared at  his blog Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria “very soon” and to  deliver   the city of Manbij to Turkey fell as a shock to the Syrian Kurds gathered in the northern part of the country. These Kurds, who act on a day-to-day basis as a shield for the US forces, have been deliberately manipulated by the US establishment to cover and protect its occupation forces in the north-east of the Levant. Trump is apparently ready to dump the Kurds from one day to the next. Not content with that, Trump is now putting the Kurds “up for auction”, betting on which Arab country will occupy the Kurdish controlled area and dispose of the territory they are currently based in. So, what are the Kurds’ options? The US President clearly attaches no importance to the fate of the Kurds. He is ready to abandon them, despite knowing that they have no other place to go ...

Illustrative image On June 24, the Yemeni Missiles Force [loyal to the Houthis] announced that it had launched a salvo of Burkan-2H ballistic missiles at the information center of the Defense Ministry of Saudi Arabia and other military positions in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. The Burkan-2H is a is a mobile short-range ballistic missile with a range of over 800km. According to experts, the missile is a member of the Soviet Scud family, and shares design features with the Iranian Qiam-1 missile. The Houthis unveiled the Burkan-2H for the first time on July 22 of 2017 when it was launched at Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the UAE-based al-Arabiya TV reported that the Royal Saudi Air Defense Force (RSAF) intercepted a ballistic missile with its Patriot surface-to-air missile systems over Riyadh. Saudi activities released videos confirming the interception of at least one missile. This missile strike is likely a response to the recent attacks of the Saudi-led coalition and its Yeme...

Supporters of Muharrem Ince, presidential candidate of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), attend an election rally in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 23, 2018. Osman Orsal / Reuters Polling has started in Turkey’s parliamentary and presidential elections. There are 56,322,632 registered voters and 180,065 ballot boxes across the country. About 1.49 million expats already voted in a 13-day period between June 7-19 at 123 Turkish missions abroad. Recep Tayyip Erdogan needs more than 50% of the presidential vote to secure his post in the first round of the presidential election. If no candidate gets more than 50%, there will be a second round.  MORE HERE: “ Another Political Crisis May Erupt In Turkey “ Erdogan’s main challenger is Muharrem Ince of the Republican People’s Party (CHP). According to pre-election surveys, Erdogan will get about 47-48% in the first round while Ince will get up to 30%. Thus, many experts predict a two-round challenge. ...