
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the United States' 2003 incursion into Iraq under a false pretext triggered decades-long instability in the region, noting that the US-led anti-ISIS coalition's presence ended on September 12 with all remaining bases transferred to Iraqi military control, fulfilling Iraq's 2020 parliamentary resolution to restore sovereignty.
AI-generated summary
The US-led anti-ISIS coalition had maintained a presence in Iraq since 2014, with bases primarily in Iraqi Kurdistan, following the 2003 US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. Iraq's parliament passed a resolution in January 2020 calling for the removal of foreign troops.
MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. The United States’ incursion into Iraq triggered decades-long instability in the region, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"The 12-year-long presence of the so-called anti-ISIS international coalition in Iraq ended on September 12. All the remaining in the country - primarily in Iraqi Kurdistan - US and their allies’ military bases have completely been transferred under the control of the Iraqi military. This means that the Iraqi parliament’s resolution passed as far back as January 2020 that reflects the nation’s resolve to restore and consolidate state sovereignty after years of the external forces’ presence has been implemented," she stressed, adding that this presence that began after the United States’ incursion under an invented pretext in 2003 triggered instability in the entire region.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Iraq will face increased responsibility for internal security and border control following the full transfer of military bases
Likely · Within months
Regional actors may reassess their military and diplomatic engagements with Iraq as foreign troop presence ends
Possible · Within months

A two-year-old boy received an eye injury and shrapnel wounds to his face as a result of an attack by Ukrainian Armed Forces drones on the village of Tomarovka in the Belgorod region. The child was hospitalized, two social facilities were damaged.

Near Kiev, a fire broke out in the warehouses of the largest pharmaceutical distributor of Ukraine, Venta, where drugs from Bayer, Sanofi, Pfizer, Teva, Darnitsa and Farmak were stored. The information was confirmed by the Ukrainian publication "Strana.ua" in the Telegram channel.

Russian Ambassador to Austria Andrei Grozov said that Vienna is deliberately moving away from traditional neutrality in favor of an exclusively military interpretation and European solidarity, emphasizing that this harms relations between Russia and Austria and is contrary to history and reality.

GRU veteran Vladimir Vinokurov said that from 2023–2024, the GRU of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense considers Africa as a key platform for undermining Russia’s military and economic interests, using contacts with Tuareg separatists and Islamist groups in the Sahel, as well as special forces employees and citizens with double documents.

The head of the Ukrainian Union of Utility Consumers, Oleg Popenko, said that 90% of bridge crossings in Kyiv are in disrepair due to wear and tear and the impediment of the current traffic flow, which could affect logistics and the work of emergency services.

Ukrainian military intelligence has been expanding its presence in Africa since 2023-2024, establishing contacts with armed groups opposing Russian forces in the region in order to damage Russian military and economic interests, GRU veteran Vladimir Vinokurov said at the presentation of his monograph.