The U.S. is concerned about the sudden checking of the Russian Armed Forces’ combat readiness and hopes that Moscow will fulfill its obligations to its neighbors regarding arms control and transparency, the Pentagon said.

"We have received reports that the Russian military launched a snap military drill. We hope that Russia will comply with all relevant obligations and commitments in the framework of existing agreements on arms control and confidence building measures in order to ensure its …

Ukrainian Oschadbank aims to receive indemnification worth more than $1 billion from Russia for the assets in annexed Crimea, the bank’s press service reported.

“On August 26 Oschadbank filed a lawsuit with all the evidence attached. The required compensation includes the cost of the loss of assets, the value of business losses, as well as interest rates that will be charged before the tribunal’s final decision and before the actual acceptance of the payment at the commercial rate determined …

The first tests of a new Zenit rocket are scheduled for 2024.

Russia and Kazakhstan have agreed on the details of a project to replace the Ukrainian Zenit carrier, the assembly of which was carried out by Yuzhmash, with a Sunkar rocket, Izvestia wrote. The experts are working on a rocket within the scope of the Baiterek project, Kazakhstan having previously agreed to the Russian proposal.

Sunkar will differ from Zenit in the design of the second stage. The RD-120 engine produced in Ukraine …

After the elections in France next year, relations with Kyiv may deteriorate. The Ambassador of Ukraine to France, Oleh Shamshur, expressed this opinion in an interview with Europeyska Pravda.

According to him, potential successors to the current president Hollande – Le Pen and Sarkozy – have not yet spoken about their vision for the Normandy group (Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany); however, their position regarding the restoration of relations with Russia does not favor Ukraine.

"2017 …

Russian mercenaries from the Wagner private military company who fought in Syria earned between RUB 5.1 billion ($78.7 million)and RUB 10.3 billion ($159 million, RBC wrote, referencing their own calculations. According to the statement, up to 2,500 mercenaries from the private military company are in Syria.The officer from the Ministry of Defense reported that the salaries of each mercenary in Syria rarely exceeded RUB 300,000 ($4,630). In Russia, fighters got paid at least RUB 8,000 ($123). …

A jury in the US city of Seattle found Russian citizen Roman Seleznev, the son of Valery Seleznev, a State Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party, guilty of cyber fraud. He was accused of stealing more than a million credit card numbers and reselling them on the black market, the Seattle Times wrote on Thursday, August 25.

The jury found Seleznev guilty of 38 of the 40 charges, including fraud using electronic means of communication, bank fraud, hacking of computer systems and theft of …

Following talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Moscow and Washington are engaged in two-way communication on a regular basis in an attempt to pursue a settlement in eastern Ukraine, RBC-Ukraine reported.

"We have an open two-way channel, which is operated fairly regularly. We believe that this channel can actually help the efforts that are being made in the Normandy format,” Lavrov stated.

The Russian Foreign Minister also …

Russia is preparing for a deployment of military aircraft to operational airfields for surprise-combat readiness inspections of the military districts near the Ukrainian border, a statement on the Russian Defense Ministry website reads.

“Crews of fighter, bombardment and army aircraft at the Russian Aerospace Forces Airbases of the southern, western and central military districts are preparing for deployment to the operational airfields for a surprise-combat readiness check,” the office noted. …