Sudan Says Plan for Russian Naval Base Is up for Review

This picture taken on February 28, 2021 shows a view of the Russian Navy frigate RFS Admiral Grigorovich (494), anchored in Port Sudan. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 28, 2021 shows a view of the Russian Navy frigate RFS Admiral Grigorovich (494), anchored in Port Sudan. (AFP)
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Sudan Says Plan for Russian Naval Base Is up for Review

This picture taken on February 28, 2021 shows a view of the Russian Navy frigate RFS Admiral Grigorovich (494), anchored in Port Sudan. (AFP)
This picture taken on February 28, 2021 shows a view of the Russian Navy frigate RFS Admiral Grigorovich (494), anchored in Port Sudan. (AFP)

Sudan is reviewing an agreement to host a Russian naval base on its Red Sea coast, which was reached under former President Omar al-Bashir who was toppled in 2019, the Sudanese military chief of staff said on Wednesday.

Chief of Staff Mohamed Othman al-Hussein told Sudan’s Blue Nile TV that the transitional authorities now have “the freedom to review the agreement to meet the interests of the country.”

“If the agreement achieves gains for us and meets Russia’s interests, there’s no problem.”

Sudan has been improving its ties with the United States since Bashir was toppled by the military after 30 years in power, following widespread demonstrations against his rule. Sudan is now run by a technocratic government and council of civilian and military figures due to cede power by the end of 2023.

Last year Washington appointed its first ambassador in Khartoum for decades and removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. As part of the thaw, Sudan has agreed to normalize diplomatic relations with US ally Israel.

Moscow has long sought warm water ports for its navy. President Vladimir Putin published a decree in November saying he had approved a Russian government proposal to set up a naval logistics hub in Sudan.

Hussein noted that the deal for a Russian base had not been presented to a yet-to-be-formed legislative council that will act as a parliament during the political transition in Sudan.

The Kremlin said it had seen Hussein’s comments, and that Moscow was in regular contact with Sudan and hoped it could resolve the situation.

Senior Russian foreign ministry official Mikhail Bogdanov suggested additional talks to clarify the situation, and said Russia would be happy to clarify anything on its side, the Interfax news agency reported.



UN Says 875 Palestinians Have Been Killed Near Gaza Aid Sites

Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured at sunset from a position across the border in southern Israel on July 15, 2025. (AFP)
Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured at sunset from a position across the border in southern Israel on July 15, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Says 875 Palestinians Have Been Killed Near Gaza Aid Sites

Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured at sunset from a position across the border in southern Israel on July 15, 2025. (AFP)
Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are pictured at sunset from a position across the border in southern Israel on July 15, 2025. (AFP)

The UN rights office said on Tuesday it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and convoys run by other relief groups, including the United Nations.

The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, while the remaining 201 were killed on the routes of other aid convoys.

The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led fighters loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation.

The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade, previously told Reuters that such incidents have not occurred on its sites and accused the UN of misinformation, which it denies.

The GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest UN figures.

"The data we have is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical human rights and humanitarian organizations," Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.

The United Nations has called the GHF aid model "inherently unsafe" and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

The GHF said on Tuesday it had delivered more than 75 million meals to Gaza Palestinians since the end of May, and that other humanitarian groups had "nearly all of their aid looted" by Hamas or criminal gangs.

The Israeli army previously told Reuters in a statement that it was reviewing recent mass casualties and that it had sought to minimize friction between Palestinians and the Israeli army by installing fences and signs and opening additional routes.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has previously cited instances of violent pillaging of aid, and the UN World Food Program said last week that most trucks carrying food assistance into Gaza had been intercepted by "hungry civilian communities".