Russian oligarchs have begun to dispose of assets ahead of the publication of the US Finance Ministry’s report on businessmen who are close to the Kremlin and may be placed under sanctions.

As TASS reported with reference to information from the London Stock Exchange, at the end of December a large block of shares in the Petropavlovsk gold-mining company was sold by billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who is number 10 on the Russian Forbes list with $12.4 billion.

The Petropavlovsk shares were …

The Ukrainian military opened fire during an operation to detain a foreign ship accused of smuggling in the Black Sea, the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Facebook on January 1.

"After ascertaining the futility of an attempted escape from the Ukrainian military boat, the vessel made contact and was questioned according to the procedures established by international maritime law. However, the violating vessel did not comply with the request to stop. In order to force an end to …

 The Russian Foreign Ministry believes that mass unrest in Iran should be considered part of the country’s internal affairs, Russia’s TASS news agency reports. The Foreign Ministry also expressed hope that the situation will develop without bloodshed in the future.

"External interference destabilizing the situation is inadmissible," the Foreign Ministry added.

Protests across a number of major Iranian cities began on Thursday, December 28, in Meshed. The demonstrators took to the streets, …

As of January 1, 2018, the Reserve Fund of Russia no longer exists. In early December there was about $17 billion remaining in the fund, but it was decided that it would be combined with the National Welfare Fund and all additional revenues from the oil and gas industry would be sent there, reports news agency Rosbalt.

The reserve fund was established in 2008. It was to become a source to finance the budget deficit in the event of a sharp drop in treasury revenues. At its peak - in mid-2008 - …

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have agreed to hold a meeting "shortly," the Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov stated, Interfax reports.

According to Peskov, the meeting of the leaders of the two countries is needed to "discuss current bilateral relationships and exchange views on various international and regional issues." He also said that during the conversation, Putin congratulated Netanyahu on the New Year. "The leaders …

As of January 1, 2018, Ukraine has launched a system of recording biometric data of foreigners.

From now on, citizens of 71 different countries, including Russia, will have to be fingerprinted – all five fingers – for identification at the Ukraine border, and they will have to give advance notice about the purpose of their stay.

“We will cover all the stationary checkpoints, and then later, small checkpoints of local significance. These databases allow us to enter the ten countries with the …

President Vladimir Putin has signed a law to increase the maximum punishment for telephone terrorism from five to ten years in prison. The document signed by the president has been published on the official Internet portal for legal information.

The law was earlier adopted by the State Duma and the Federation Council. The amendments were prepared together with law enforcement agencies, and aimed at combating terrorism, said United Russia MP Vasily Piskarev, RBC news agency reports. The …

The Russian-appointed head of the Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, promised in his New Year's address that construction of the Kerch bridge and the thermal power station will be completed in 2018. A video of the greeting was posted on Aksyonov’s official YouTube channel.

"The new Simferopol international airport terminal - the largest in the south of Russia - will receive its first passengers. The first electric power plant in Simferopol will give its first current. A flow of cars will pass along the …