The Russian Federal Security Service detained the alleged founder of the Shaltay-Boltay (Humpty-Dumpty) website, Vladimir Anikeev, who gained notoriety after publishing the correspondence of high-level officials. The detention took place in October 2016. On the 28th of January 2017, Rosbalt reported on this event with a reference to its own source. Anikeev was taken into custody in Saint Petersburg after arriving from Ukraine.

According to the edition, he was engaged in publishing the …

The command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reports that on Sunday, January 29, at around 7:00 am, separatists, after a massive artillery barrage, attacked Ukrainian positions near Avdiivka industrial zone.

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the attack on the Ukrainian positions was repelled.

“As a result of a successful defensive maneuver, the Ukrainian forces stopped the enemy attack and prevented them from taking over the Ukrainian positions. The separatist forces suffered heavy …

The Norwegian Police Security Service stated that the Russian special services attempted to influence the Nobel Committee in order to avoid awarding the Peace Prize to the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, as reported by the Norwegian public broadcasting company NRK.

To discredit Poroshenko, in the summer of 2015, the Russian TV channel Sputnik disclosed a letter signed by the then Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Volodymyr Groysman, addressed to the U.S. Ambassador to Norway.

According …

The head of Germany’s Christian Social Union in Bavaria party and Bavaria’s Prime Minister, Horst Seehofer, stated that sanctions on Russia should be lifted as early as this year, TASS reported.

Seehofer’s party is an ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats.

Speaking during an interview with Bild am Sonntag, Seehofer said, "The sanctions against Russia should be lifted as early as this year. Russia should also return to the G8 circle.”

"We need to abandon the bloc mentality as …

On January 27, the State Duma of Russia passed a law on the decriminalization of domestic violence on the third and final reading. 380 deputies voted for and only three opposed it.

According to the bill, one-time blows inflicted by close relatives are no longer criminal offenses, but will now be administrative offenses. Criminal responsibility will only ensue from repeated beatings. Supporters of these changes in the legislation believe that they will protect traditional family values. …

Serbia is sending weapons and military to northern Kosovo with the aim of dividing the country, as stated by the President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

"We know that Serbia has a plan for Kosovo’s division and that Belgrade is arming Serbs in the north," he said. He also noted that he has evidence that Serbia is sending weapons there as well as people, both civilian and military.

Thaçi added that Russians are actively helping Serbia by preparing paramilitary …

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump conducted their first telephone conversation which lasted 45 minutes.The Presidents discussed current world affairs including Ukraine, as reported on the web site of the Kremlin.

In particular, the presidents of the two countries “touched upon the issues of terrorism, the situation in the Middle East, Arab–Israeli conflict, the balance of the nuclear armaments and their non-proliferation as well as Iran nuclear program and North …

The Russian Black Sea Fleet in the annexed Sevastopol may be reinforced with the new Bastion coastal defence missile systems, as was reported by Interfax on January 27th, referring to a statement by the general director of the Russian company NPO Mashinostroyeniya, Alexander Leonov.

The news agency writes that according to him, the delivery of the Bastion system is provided for in a 2017 state defense order. The Baltic, Black Sea, Northern, and Pacific Russian fleets will be reinforced by the …