Free Republic

Russia will transfer two to four S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria within the next two weeks, the Russian news website Kommersant reported Tuesday, citing a source familiar with the details. The amount of systems may increase in the future. The Assad regime will use the systems to defend Syria's coastline and its borders with Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, the report said. According to the official, Russia may end up transferring up to eight systems to Syria, depending on the circumstances.Meanwhile, Russian outlet Izvestia reported that Moscow is boosting its electronic warfare systems in Syria, which were brought...

The Russian government's cyber-espionage campaign against the American political system began more than a year ago and has been far more extensive than publicly disclosed, targeting hundreds of key people -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- whose work is considered strategically important to the Putin regime, official sources told NBC News. The targets over the past two years have included a Who's Who of Hillary Clinton associates from her State Department tenure, the Clinton Foundation and her presidential campaign, as well as top Republicans and staffers for Republican candidates for president. Starting in earnest in 2015, Russian hackers used sophisticated...

Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw on Tuesday the launch of the second line of Russia's power link to Crimea which will allow to double Russian power supplies to the peninsula to 400 megawatts. Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, was plunged into darkness around three weeks ago after electricity pylons in southern Ukraine that carry the four lines that supply Crimea with the bulk of its power were blown up by unidentified people.

The Prosecutor General's Office has recognized the US-Russia Foundation for Economic Advancement and the Rule of Law (USRF) as undesirable organization, banning Russian citizens and companies from any cooperation with it. Agency spokesperson Marina Gridneva told reporters on Friday that the decision to put the NGO on the list of undesirable foreign organizations was made after prosecutors had thoroughly studied its work on Russian territory. She also noted that USRF is headed by a US citizen who has been banned from entering Russia until 2025. USRF was registered in Russia in 2009 as an affiliate of the US group bearing...

Russian Air Force heavy bombers made their first appearance over Syria yesterday night. It looks like Moscow stepped up its military effort in Syria even before the intention to intensify the air strikes was announced by Putin on Nov. 17. As initially reported by Reuters, a US official has confirmed that Moscow has conducted a significant number of strikes in Syria using both sea-launched cruise missiles and long-range bombers. The Russian MoD said 25 long-range bombers took part in the raid: 5 x Tu-160s, 6 x Tu-95MS and 14 x Tu-22M3.

President Vladimir Putin says he's shared Russian intelligence data on Islamic State financing with his G20 colleagues: the terrorists appear to be financed from 40 countries, including some G20 member states. During the summit, "I provided examples based on our data on the financing of different Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) units by private individuals. This money, as we have established, comes from 40 countries and, there are some of the G20 members among them," Putin told the journalists. Putin also spoke of the urgent need to curb the illegal oil trade by IS. "I've shown our colleagues photos taken...

As investigators pick through the rubble of a Russian airliner that crashed in Egypt's Sinai on Saturday, and as Western officials sift through their own intelligence reports, a report says Metrojet Flight 9268 may have been brought down by a bomb planted by an airport worker. The bomb could have been smuggled on board by someone working at the airport in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the BBC is quoting UK intelligence as saying.