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Russian soldier killed in Syria
On November 2, a soldier from the Russian Orenburg region died in an explosion of an anti-tank mine in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor.
As reported by the Russian service of the BBC, the soldier, 28-year-old Andranik Arustumyan, was a native of the village of Medvedka, and it was his second trip to Syria.
The fatal accident took place near the Russian military base, the entrance to which was guarded from suicide bombers of the Islamic State, by Russian servicemen.
It was noted that …
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Russia summons Japanese ambassador due to statements about Kuril islands
The Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned Japanese Ambassador Toyohisa Kozuki due to statements made by the Japanese government on the Kuril islands, the ministry reported on its official website.
The ambassador was summoned due to statements by Tokyo that Japan would “waive” its claims to compensation for the Kuril islands. His attention was also drawn to statements by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe that the islands may be given back to Japan with the consent of the Russian citizens …
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Kyiv: there will be no direct negotiations with Russia on gas transit
Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev announced that in 2019, the Ukrainian company would continue negotiations on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine. He stressed that the format of the negotiations will remain trilateral and not directly with Gazprom.
"We rely on European law and Ukraine's interests and will start negotiations with Gazprom on further transit solely in the trilateral format with the participation of the European Commission,” Kobolev wrote on Facebook .
In late December, …
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IMF may allocate two more tranches to Ukraine by the end of 2019
The new 14-month Stand-By Arrangement or SBA for Ukraine envisages the allocation of three tranches of funds, two of which amount to the equivalent of $2.6 billion dollars, by the end of 2019, reported Ukrinform, citing the IMF’s recent analytical report.
There are three dates in the timetable of the planned review of Ukraine's implementation of the program’s conditions after which the Fund's Executive Board must decide whether to allocate the next tranche. The first date was December 18, 2018 …
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Lithuania: Russian may attempt to interfere in forthcoming presidential elections
After the meeting of the Lithuanian State Council on Defense, government officials stated that Russia and other countries may conduct cyber-attacks this year to influence the results of the presidential elections, the Lithuanian presidential press service reports.
The State Defense Council under the leadership of President Dalia Grybauskaite reviewed the country’s security situation, did an annual review of threats and approved the long-term operational strategy for the intelligence services. …