• Russia: Ukraine ‘went too far’ with unfriendly steps

    The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova stated at a press briefing that Ukrainian authorities went too far with their unfriendly steps and provoked retaliatory steps from Russia, TASS reports.

    “Russia restrained itself for a long time in order not to take such measures, but the current Kyiv regime went too far, and we cannot ignore such unfriendly steps,” she explained. When asked about a possible negative reaction from the west, Zakharova said, “People …

  • New russian MC-21 airliner 50% more expensive than Elon Musk rockets

    The project to develop the mid-range MC-21 aircraft, included in the Russian government’s innovative rebuilding of the economy plan in 2008, has become 130% more expensive over the course of its existence, reports finanz.ru.

    The completion deadline was missed, and instead of two models, a 300 and a 400, the project was downsized to one, according to a report published by Russia’s Accounts Chamber on Thursday.

    During the course of the project, the time needed to develop the plane grew to three …

  • Germany and France accuse Russia of the OSCE drone disappearance

    According to Ukrinform, Germany and France, as Normandy format participants strongly condemned the downing of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission drone in Eastern Ukraine on October 27 and accused Russia of being responsible for it.

    A joint statement by the two countries in the OSCE Permanent Council of November 1 stated, “Evidence collected by the SMM suggests that Russia and the separatists it backs bear responsibility for the targeting and downing of the LR UAV.” They emphasized that those …

  • Kremlin: Russia will need huge military expenses if Georgia joins NATO

    The accession of Georgia to NATO, which is expected to take place in 2021, will require “huge” expenses from Russia, stated Andrey Kelin, Director of the Department of European Cooperation of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

    According to Kelin, Georgia's decision to become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance is viewed by Moscow as a problem and to resolve it Russia would require additional investments in defense.

     “We will have to form a defense zone near Sochi,” Kelin said, adding that "it …

  • Russian politician proposes shooting down US planes over Syria

    The Russian military may shoot down more than just US-guided drones if there is another assault on its air base in Syria, warned Vladimir Shamanov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee. Russia may even target the American aircraft from which the drones are believed to be controlled.

    Shamanov stresses that Moscow’s accusations that Washington attacked the Khmeimim Air Base using drones controlled from a US Poseidon 8 aircraft are based on “reliably gathered information”.

    “Next time, this …