ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Su-35 flanker. Click to see full-size image Turkey could possibly purchase Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, if Washington realizes its threat to block the delivery of F-35 joint strike fighters,  Viktor Litovkin, a military analyst with the Moscow-based TASS news agency was cited by RT. “If the US fails to ship the jets to Turkey, Ankara can certainly buy the Su-35s from Russia instead,” he said. Also according to Litovkin, both aircraft have characteristics that are comparable, Moscow also wouldn’t be worried of theft of sensitive military technology, because the aircraft’s software is “hard to crack.” It would also be possibly to easily integrate the fighter jets in the Turkish military. The possible block of the delivery the F-35 joint strike fighters is due to Turkey’s conclusion of a deal for the purchase of Russian S-400, which it says is final. On February 15 th , US President Donald Trump signed  a spending bill  according to which delivery of t...

  Dumb Bombs   A recent series of Russian strikes on positions of militant groups in the Syrian province of Idlib has once again caused a wave of mainstream media reports regarding civilian casualties caused by Russian bombings. According to “local activists” quoted by media, the Idlib strikes led to tens of civilian casualties. There are no MSM reports about casualties among members of militant groups or destruction of their infrastructure. Since the very start of the Russian military operation in Syria, Russia has been under fire over its usage of unguided weapons – missiles and bombs – as a main mean of engagement. The key idea repeated by Western diplomats, military officials and media in various formats is the following: While the US-led coalition carries out pinpoint strikes with precision weaponry, the Russian Aerospace Forces employ indiscriminate strikes with unguided bombs, whic...

On March 26, the Federal Security Service (FSB) detained former Russian minister Mikhail Abyzov. The Investigative Committee accuses Abyzov of organizing a criminal group and, together with other individuals, embezzling 4 billion rubles ($62 million) from two energy companies supplying electricity to the Novosibirsk region in Siberia. Abyzov, 46, was minister for open government affairs in Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s cabinet until 2018. He was tasked with coordinating cooperation between the government and representatives of civil society and the business community. During his time in office, he was criticized for “sabotaging” government intiatives. Besides this, Abyzov was named the richest member of the 2012-2018 cabinet with a net worth that had grown to $600 million. Mikhail Abyzov Abyzov is accused of founding and running the criminal group in the period between April 2011 and November 2014 and embezzling money from the Novosibirsk-based Siberian Energy Company and R...

Click to see full-size image On March 28 th , the Venezuelan Security Service’s HQ – el Helicoide in Caracas, Venezuela – caught fire. It serves as the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN). Guaido’s arrested chief of staff Roberto Marrero was also held there,  according to a report by Te Lo Cuento. There has been no official announcement by the Venezuelan authorities as of the morning of March 29 th . For their part, the firefighters of the Capital District are in the place trying to put out the fire, but according to journalist Román Camacho,  the fire was possibly produced by the adjacent brush. Roberto Marrero was the last person to be put in the branch for political prisoners of el Helicoide, but the director of the NGO Penal Forum, Alfredo Romero, explained that the fire occurred on the opposite side in which the prisoners are, so it would not affect the prisoners. He also said that the political prisoner wing currently held ...