• Ukraine extends embargo on Russian goods

    The Ukrainian government has extended the embargo on a number of Russian products until 2020, the press service of the Ukrainian cabinet of ministers announced on Monday 15 July. Originally the embargo was imposed at the end of 2015 as a response to similar restrictions imposed by Russia. On 15 May 2019, Kyiv decided to significantly expand the list of goods that may not be imported from Russia.

    Since 1 July 2019, the embargo has applied to the raw materials for producing cement, all prepared …

  • Italy seizes air-to-air missile from Neo-Nazis who fought in Donbas

    The Italian police have uncovered a network of Neo-Nazis and seized an arsenal of weapons that includes automatic rifles, pistols and objects with Nazi symbols.

    In a special operation, the anti-terrorist division of the Italian state police in Turin arrested three people and seized an arsenal of weapons, which included an air-to-air missile, which presumably belonged to the right-wing extremists who had been involved in the Donbas conflict, the Italian police announced in a statement on 15 …

  • Russian media: Kremlin will punish Greece if Athens provides information about S-300 missile systems to Israel

    Athens could suffer if it gives Israel information about S-300 aerial defense systems and lets the Israeli Air Force practice against such systems, writes the Russian site Avia.pro.

    “If the key problem of the S-300s is the difficult attacking conditions for Israeli fighters, which are still taking cover behind civilian aircraft, then Iran will certainly be willing to act, attacking any hostile objects without restraint. Obviously, Israel is aware of this, which is why this country’s air force …

  • Foreign interest in Russian sovereign debt down by over 80%

    The influx of foreign investors into Russian government securities has sharply declined: by the end of June, their share in the Russian government debt market had effectively ceased to grow, said Elizaveta Danilova, head of the Bank of Russia’s financial stability department.

    According to her, on 29 June, non-residents owned 30.1% of the federal loan bond market, as opposed to 30% at the start of the month.

    The data comes from the National Settlement Depository, and may not take into account …

  • Visa and MasterCard may leave Russia

    The newly proposed provisions of Russia’s law “On the national payment system” could result in the international payment system (IPS) wrapping up its activity in Russia, and Russian citizens being unable to use their cards abroad, writes Kommersant. Within Russia, cards belonging to foreign credit institutions may no longer be accepted. Russia’s State Duma will consider the second reading of the law on 23 July.

    The amendments themselves are supposedly meant to maintain the continuity of card …