• Kremlin: US purposely introduced new sanctions on eve of Russia Day

    Russia’s Foreign Ministry has commented on the new anti-Russian sanctions introduced by the US. The Russian department emphasized that Washington “can’t shut up with its sanctions”.

    “The result, as before, will be null – it will not be able to force Russia to change its independent course in the international arena. But the American politicians continue to entertain illusions that the US is the world’s policeman, and with each new failed attempt to pressurize our country, they only demonstrate …

  • Norway asks the U.S. to double contingent at the Russian border

    Norway has suggested that the United States more than double the number of U.S. marines deployed in the country. The government in Oslo is increasingly concerned about the threat posed by Russia after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Radio Liberty reports.

    Approximately 330 U.S. marines were scheduled to leave Norway at the end of this year after an initial contingent arrived in January 2017 to prepare for fighting in winter conditions. However, the decision to withdraw the troops has been …

  • US Justice Department accuses five Russians of supplying Syria with aviation fuel

    On Tuesday, the US Justice Department filed charges against five employees of the Russian company SovFracht for supplying Syria with aviation fuel, thereby contravening the sanctions introduced by the US government against Damascus.

    The Justice Department said that allegations have been brought against Ivan Okorokov, Ilya Loginov, Karen Stepanyan, Alexey Konkov and Liudmila Shemlkova at the District Court of Columbia. The SovFracht employees allegedly “conspired to violate US economic …

  • Lawyer: Russia illegally detains 4 Ukrainian sailors in the Crimea

    Russian security officials have not brought any charges against sailors from the Ukrainian vessel YMK-0041, which was detained near the annexed Crimea. The Ukrainians are thus being held illegally, stated the lawyer Edem Semedlyaev, Radio Liberty reports.

    "Four sailors, with the exception of the captain, are at the border agency in the city of Balaklava. They have not been charged with anything; their status as of today is unknown. They are not permitted to see lawyers. They are being held …

  • Ukrainian official: Crimea drying out completely

    Crimea, which used to live off water from mainland Ukraine, is completely drying out, Deputy Minister for the Occupied Territories Yuriy Hrymchak said in a comment for Obozrevatel news outlet.

    “We monitor using satellites that photograph Crimean territory. Today, more than 70% of the previously normal vegetation is drying up. Put in understandable language, steppe Crimea, which lived off water which came from Ukraine, is drying up completely, it’s true,” Hrymchak said.

    When asked whether …