One of the Russian government’s premier cyber espionage units is deploying malware against embassies and diplomatic organizations in Moscow by leveraging local internet service providers, Microsoft said on Thursday.

Russian internet service providers are obliged to work with the government, and attackers use them to plant malware on diplomats’ computers.

Russian-state hackers are targeting foreign embassies in Moscow with custom malware that gets installed using adversary-in-the-middle attacks that operate at the ISP level, Microsoft warned Thursday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Syria's foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani in Moscow on Thursday, the first visit by a top official from Syria's new government since the toppling of longtime Russian ally Bashar al-Assad in December.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday promised reconstruction aid to Syria and extended an invitation to President Ahmed al-Sharaa to visit Moscow. "We expect President al-Sharaa to be able to attend the first Russia-Arab League summit,

Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war, the new rulers in Damascus, headed by interim President Ahmed al-Sharra, have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow.