The US Embassy in Moscow urged Americans living in Russia to be alert because of the political situation.

“U.S. Embassy Moscow reminds all U.S. citizens that the current political climate in Russia requires them to exercise the highest levels of vigilance and situational awareness.  Given recent events, the possibility for large-scale demonstrations, personal harassment, and increased anti-U.S. sentiment is elevated.  U.S. citizens are reminded that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful …

Russia is not ready to build a "real" Union State with Belarus. This was stated by the Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in an interview with television channel MIR.

"We are not ready for this today; and not so much Belarusians, as Russians, Russian leaders," he said.

In his opinion, Russia and Belarus should have earlier held a referendum and established common legislation, including a Constitution, but did not do so "in due time". Instead, they "chose certain issues and began to …

Last year, the number of Russians living in poverty reached 19.8 million, which is the highest point in 10 years. The number of poor Russians increased by 300,000 in 2016, according to data released on April 5th by the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, Rosstat.

More than 13% of the population have incomes below the subsistence minimum, which in the fourth quarter of 2016 was 9,691 rubles a month (this is about 4,600 hryvnia).

This is the highest level since 2006, when 21.6 million …