Iran will all allow Russia to use the Hamedan airbase as long as Moscow sees fit, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said on Saturday, August 20, Tasnim news agency reported. He added that Tehran does not plan to provide Russia access to other military bases. Dehghan also said that Iran has received the bulk of the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems, and the deliveries are expected to be completed within a month. The Minister noted that Moscow has offered to sell Iran S-400 and " …

The Russian Federation has deployed intelligence systems in conjunction with the beginning of the provocations in the Crimea

Air monitoring along the Ukrainian border confirmed the deployment of electronic intelligence systems in the Russian Federation in close proximity to the Russian-Ukrainian border.

According to the press service of the Ukrainian State Border Service, Russian intelligence systems have been deployed opposite the border units in the Kharkiv region at distance of 2.5 km from …

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has prepared a note of protest over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Crimea. This was stated by Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mariana Betsa, Krym.Realii reports.

"Today's visit indicates the neglect by the Russian side that was continuing for a long time of the international law, the UN Charter, the resolution of the UN General Assembly with respect to the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the laws of Ukraine," Betsa said.

She also …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sees no reason to lift the economic sanctions against Russia, as stated by the German politician on Friday, August 19, in an interview with the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland media group.

According to her, Moscow provoked a severe crisis with the annexation of the Crimea and its military operations in eastern Ukraine. "Europe had to respond to the violation of the basic principles of world order," Angela Merkel said.

According to her, the observance of the …

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova expressed discontent with Russian diplomats concerning recent exercises conducted by Russian troops in the territory of Transnistria.

On 18 August, the Ministry gave a statement indicating that the exercises are "illegal, provocative and inadmissible." The statement notes that the exercises are focused on "undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Moldova.

The Ministry reiterated Chisinau’s demand that Russia withdraw its troops and …

Candidates to the State Duma of the Russian Federation from the PARNAS party will not campaign in the Crimea without Ukraine’s permission, as stated by the Krasnodar branch of the party.

“We will take Ukraine’s advice and will act according to international law. PARNAS will not campaign in the Crimea,” the statement on the official page of the branch stated on the social network, Vkontakte.

Earlier the Ukrainian Director-General of the Directorate General for Policy and Communications, …

Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with the members of the Security Council in the Crimea, accused Ukraine of its "unwillingness or inability" to implement the Minsk Agreements regarding the settlement of the conflict in the Donbas. According to him, this explains Ukraine’s "provocative acts" in the Crimea.

At the same time Putin expressed hope that this is not Ukraine’s "final choice" and that "common sense will prevail."

Putin also stated that Moscow is not going to sever  …

Declassified accounting documents of the Ukrainian Party of Regions were published on Friday. They reflect payments in the amount of 12.7 million dollars to Paul Manafort, head of Trump’s electoral campaign.

Earlier this week, the Associated Press reported that Manafort helped the pro-Kremlin party to secretly transfer at least $2.2 million to two Washington lobbies. In an interview with Yahoo News, Manafort said that this information was incorrect.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of …