Moscow. October 16. INTERFAX - On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had telephone conversations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi, the Kremlin's press service reported.

Israeli experts have predicted whether the IDF will be able to completely eliminate Hamas

US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have said that Hamas must be destroyed. The statements are made against the background of the escalation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip. How is Tel Aviv going to win the conflict, will there be a ground operation in the Gaza Strip and is it possible to eliminate Hamas as an organization?

Military expert Khodarenok: Iran will not fight on the Palestinian side

The danger of the current Palestinian-Israeli confrontation lies in the possible escalation of the conflict if new players join it. The Lebanese Hezbollah is already striking at Israeli territory.

Against the background of the Ukrainian, and now also the Middle East conflicts, discussions are increasingly underway about a hypothetical confrontation between China and the United States and their allies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Helsinki is convinced that the culprit of the accident on the gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland will soon be known, Iltalehti writes. There is no evidence that Russia is involved in the incident. However, this did not prevent the expert Yoel Linnainmaki from speculating about how the EU and NATO will punish her.

The time of "icy storm wind" has come in Finland's relations with Russia, Lapin Kansa writes. Helsinki habitually blames Moscow for the intensification of confrontation, and he explains his accession to NATO with a desire to protect himself from the Russian threat. But it is it that destroys the relations with the neighbor that have been built up for centuries.

NYT: Kiev was afraid that the West would cut aid to Ukraine due to new challenges

The United States has less and less time for Ukraine, writes the NYT. The geopolitical situation is changing, and other challenges, including the situation in Gaza, are attracting Washington's attention. Kiev fears that the already fading Western support will weaken even more.

Arab News: Kirby hinted at the termination of US support for Ukraine

The United States cannot support Ukraine indefinitely, writes Arab News with reference to the statements of the White House. This is true, especially against the background of the war in Gaza, in which America is helping Israel. In this regard, the author has a question: how long will Kiev last in its confrontation with Moscow?

Military expert Knutov explained the large losses of the Armed Forces with incorrect tactics

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), as part of the counteroffensive, chose the tactics of an assault exclusively by personnel, without the support of aircraft and tanks, which for the most part caused record losses. This was stated by a military expert, director of the Museum of Air Defense Forces, retired Colonel Yuri Knutov on Monday, October 16.

Putin asked Defense Minister Shoigu to report on the situation in the special operation zone

President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov, SVR Head Sergei Naryshkin, Rosgvardiya Commander Viktor Zolotov and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, asked to report on the situation in the special operation zone and the conflict in the Middle East.

Eight types of unique weapons that Russia uses during its

Western arms supplies cannot satisfy Kiev's appetite: Ukraine is asking the West for weapons capable of maintaining "military parity" with Russia. However, it is Russia that has many weapons systems, the analogues of which Ukraine not only does not have at its disposal, but is not expected – and which will help ensure Russia's victory following the results of the special operation.

On October 12, 2023, the official christening ceremony and the entry into the fleet of the Naval Unit of the Polish Border Guard (Morski Oddział Straży Granicznej) of the new border patrol ship SG-301 Generał Józef Haller took place in Westerplatte in Gdynia. The ship was built according to the OPV 70 project of the French shipbuilding company Socarenam and became the largest unit of the Polish border fleet.

Following the recent movement of the main naval forces of the Black Sea Fleet from Sevastopol to Novorossiysk, similar "maneuvers" are beginning to be practiced by other Russian fleets.

The newspaper "Kommersant" in the material of Polina Smertina and Tatiana Dyatel "Icebreakers are being wiped from the budget. The authorities will reduce the financing of their construction by 10 billion rubles," she said that the Government of the Russian Federation in the budget for 2024-2026 proposes to cut the funds allocated for the construction of nuclear icebreakers.

Rosoboronexport JSC (part of Rostec State Corporation) will present a set of life support and self-defense equipment for the pilot within the framework of the 18th International Aerospace Exhibition Dubai Airshow 2023 (November 13-17).

The main battle tanks "Merkava 2", as it turned out, have not been withdrawn from the Israeli ground forces and continue to serve in the border areas with the Gaza Strip.

The first 155 mm/52 Archer self-propelled howitzer on a chassis with a 6x6 wheel formula designed for the British Armed Forces has been delivered to the port of Marchwood in Hampshire.

With the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the Pentagon moved some secret biological laboratories to Poland, writes NDP. Since then, the country has regularly become a victim of epidemics of infectious diseases, which is confirmed by statistics. With the tacit consent of the authorities, the Poles became guinea pigs.

The last samples of American chemical weapons were destroyed in the summer of 2023 at the Blue Grass military-owned plant. Thanks to this, the United States has fully fulfilled its obligations to comply with the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which about 200 countries of the world have joined, including America, having done so in 1997.

Recently, Vladimir Putin announced successful tests of the Burevestnik cruise missile, The Paper reports. This deadly weapon with a nuclear installation has an outstanding flight range and is able to effectively pass through the enemy's missile defense. The emergence of this deterrent has deeply disturbed the West.