The Ministry of State Security of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) banned the activities of the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists (AUC ECB) and declared the organization extremist, Novosti Donbasa (News of Donbas) news outlet reports, citing separatist media.

The organization was accused of “spreading the ideas of forcible seizure of the [separatist] Republics by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, maintaining contact with Ukrainian nationalist …

About 200 military police serviceman have returned from Syria, stated the Russian Ministry of Defense as quoted by RBC news agency.

According to the Ministry, the servicemen were brought to the Mozdok aerodrome in North Ossetia by Il-76 military transport aircraft from the Russian Aerospace Forces. The Russian Defense Ministry thanked the Command and personnel of the military police for their professionalism and courage in protecting civilian facilities and providing escorts for humanitarian …

Members of Russia’s State Duma have proposed to tighten the legislation governing citizens’ travels abroad.

The amendments to the law “On entry and departure” put forward by members of the United Russia party would lead to the closure of all foreign countries’ visa centers operating in the country, Irina Tyurina, spokeswoman for the Russian Union of the Tourism Industry, told Interfax.

According to the amendments, companies administering visa centers will have to receive accreditation from …

Maria Butina, who is detained in the US on suspicion of working as a foreign agent, is a political prisoner, stated at a press briefing the deputy director of the Department of Information and Press of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Artyom Kozhin.

Kozhin said that he believes that Butina’s arrest is due solely to the motives of American domestic and foreign policy. He stated that Moscow demands US authorities to immediately stop arbitrariness and release Butina.

According to Kozhin, …

Russia is preparing to swallow Belarus. Moscow is demanding increasingly closer integration from Minsk as part of the Union State, and giving energy and financial assistance in exchange. This was discussed in an article by the Polish news outlet Rzeczpospolita.

Several days ago, the presidents of Russia and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, met in Minsk to discuss the foundations of the Union State.

“We are on the front line. If we don’t hold out for the next few years, we …

Armenia has an interest in having Russian military base on its territory since it is an important part of the country's national security system, said the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, in an interview with the editor-in-chief of the radio station Echo of Moscow, Alexei Venediktov.

"We have military cooperation agreements, and under these agreements, the military base has specific obligations. This does not mean that we have no problems with the activities of the military base. …

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its support for the “Crimean Declaration” of the USA, reaffirming their position of non-recognition of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula.

“Norway welcomes and supports the statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, reaffirming the US stance against Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. International law must be upheld. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected,” said the ministry in a published statement …

In a summit in Helsinki, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin reached an agreement on a possible partition of the breakaway state of Kosovo, reports Gazeta Ekspres, citing diplomatic sources.

According to these sources, the Trump administration has agreed that Kosovo should cede territory, particularly in the northern regions, to Serbia in exchange for recognition.

“It is clear that the Trump administration is of one mind with Russia when it comes to the partition of …