Amnesty International, an international human rights organization, demanded that the Russian authorities "immediately and unconditionally" release all detained protesters and investigate allegations of police abuse of power in St. Petersburg and Yakutsk, as reported by the Russian broadcast of Radio Liberty.

The Amnesty International statement notes that the rallies took place in many cities in Russia on Vladimir Putin’s birthday.

"The intention of the Kremlin is beyond doubt - to deprive the …

Negotiations between Russian Presidential Assistant Vladislav Surkov and US State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker were constructive, RBC news agency reports quoting Surkov as saying.

"We discussed the draft resolution of the UN on the Donbas proposed by Russia, and understanding was found on a number of positions. Most of which were recognized as surmountable," Surkov said.

He added that both sides stressed the need to carry out the Minsk deals, with the Normandy …

Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said that he is skeptical of statements made by the Russian Defense Ministry regarding its successes in the fight against the Islamic state (IS).

TASS quotes Pahon as saying that "The efforts of the authoritarian regime of [Syrian President Bashar Assad], Russia and Iran are unlikely to lead to a complete defeat of IS."

According to Pahon, the emergence of IS "is linked, inter alia, with the repressive measures of the Assad regime." Against this background, he …

At least 262 people were detained during protests in support of Alexei Navalny in 27 cities across Russia, according to OVD-Info.

As of 8:00 p.m., 66 people had been detained in Petersburg, 54 people in Yaroslavl, and 20 in Lipetsk. Detentions also occurred in Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Perm, Pskov, Saransk, Selyatin, Sochi, Stavropol, Tver, Tyumen, and Yakutsk.

In Krasnodar, one of the protesters was arrested for three days. In Yekaterinburg, Izhevsk, Nizhny Tagil, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, …

The submarines “Rostov-on-Don” and “Novorossiysk” from the Russian Black Sea Fleet in annexed Crimea fired Kalibr missiles at ground and above-water targets in the Opuk training area in Black Sea waters, the Russian Defense Ministry press service reported.

“The missiles were fired from a submerged position. During the firing, two practice Kalibr missiles were used. In order to ensure the security of the military exercises and close off the dangerous region, more than 20 combat ships and …

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, participated in conflicts in the Donbas in 2014, and subsequently in Syria.

“An evidence base has been collected on the activity of Russian soldiers in the Donbas and in Syria, the activity of the Wagner Group. The campaign’s leader is Dmitry Utkin. This project makes it possible for the Kremlin to tell the international community that there are none of its soldiers there [in Eastern Ukraine],” …

The Russian government has proposed to increase total defense spending in 2017 by 179.6 billion rubles - to 3.05 trillion rubles or $52.4 billion (3.3% of GDP), as indicated in a draft amendment to the budget submitted to the State Duma, Rosbalt.ru reports.

The increase in expenses will be for the closed part of the military budget. The expenditures in all other areas, including social policy, education, and healthcare, are planned to be reduced by 54 billion rubles ($938.5 million). …

Ukraine and the United States of America have begun the joint production of small arms. Demonstration of the first batch of weapons took place on Thursday at the National Guard shooting range near Kyiv, reports Voice of America.

The venture is a joint project of the state concern Ukroboronprom and the American company Aeros. The weapon mainly being produced is an automatic carbine that works with both 7.62 mm cartridges and 5.56 mm cartridges. The former is standard for the Kalashnikov assault …