• Washington: Russia must do its part to uphold the ceasefire in Syrian southwest de-escalation zone

    Washington believes that the Syrian authorities are fighting in the southwestern portion of the country, in violation of a de-escalation regime that has been in place there since summer 2017. The US is hoping that Moscow will help reduce resultant tensions, stated US Deputy Representative to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen during an open debate at the UN Security Council on the topic of the "Maintenance of International Peace and Security: [A] Comprehensive Review of the Situation in the …

  • Company owned by Putin's friend demands dismissal of charges made by special prosecutor Mueller

    On Monday, Russian company Concord Management and Consulting, accused of financing a Russian campaign of influence on American elections, demanded that the Court drop charges made by special prosecutor Robert Mueller on the grounds that, according to the company, he was appointed illegally and does not have appropriate prosecutor’s powers.

    The company is controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin stated in court documents that Deputy …

  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Trump Advisor John Bolton to meet in Moscow

    Interfax reports that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet with US National Security Adviser John Bolton on June 27 in Moscow. Information about the upcoming meeting was released by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    On June 21, White House spokesperson Garrett Marquis announced on his Twitter account that Bolton would visit Moscow in preparation for a meeting between the Presidents of the United States and Russia. Information about the forthcoming visit by the official was …

  • Human rights activists fear growth of forced prostitution during World Cup 2018 in Russia

    Women from Asia and Africa may be brought into Russia under the guise of soccer fans for the purpose of forced prostitution, anti-slavery NGO “Alternativa” believes.

    The human rights activists warn that there is a danger that forced prostitution will increase in Russia while it is hosting the FIFA World Cup.

    “This tournament inflates the demand for prostitutes and attracts clients,” the chairperson of Alternativa told the German Press Agency on Tuesday, June 26.

    The NGO representative …

  • Peskov: Putin works regardless of ratings

    Russian President Vladimir Putin is pragmatic about changes in his ratings, he carries on doing his job without looking at these indicators, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

    “I would not want to exaggerate. Undoubtedly, the government’s initiative with respect to the pension reform is an extremely socially significant and socially prominent topic. It will be subject to further scrupulous clarification,” Peskov replied, when asked whether the Kremlin is concerned about …

  • Putin to ramp up surveillance of Russians’ travels abroad

    The Russian government is preparing to take steps to increase the monitoring of Russian citizens’ tourist travels abroad.

    In order to do this, they plan to increase usage of the Electronic Pass system, which will collect data on tours purchased by citizens through tourist companies.

    The system, which has been under development since 2015 as part of the law “On the fundamentals of tourist activity”, was initially intended to be voluntary.

    Now, however, the Federal Agency for Tourism ( …

  • Russia accuses U.S. of trying to push its gas into Europe

    The United States is trying to push its gas into the European market, said First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy Igor Anansky, commenting on the words of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Sandra Oudkirk that Europe may halt the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline. 

    “The U.S. is again confusing politics with economics. All of America’s hopes are connected solely with the desire to prevent the cheapest gas from going to Europe and by attempts – using political …

  • Military intelligence from eight countries hold emergency meeting in Kyiv

    Representatives of military intelligence from eight countries gathered in Kyiv for an emergency meeting to assess the most immediate threats from Russia in the Black Sea.

    According to the official website of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, an international forum – the Black Sea Intelligence Forum – was held in the country for several days.

    “The forum was organized due to the recent significant deterioration of global and regional security due to …

  • Ukrainian intelligence officers detain pro-Russian spies at the demarcation line in Donbas

    Ukrainian intelligence officers detained two men that were collecting intelligence on the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Joint Forces Operation's area on the demarcation line, reported Ukraine’s military Task Force Pivnich (North) on Facebook.

    "The mobile intelligence group that monitored one of the areas of the contact line found and detained two unknown persons in the area of responsibility of Pivnich task force. After verifying the detainees' personal identities it turned out that they had …

  • An assistant of the Moldovan oligarch Platon was detained in Kyiv

    In Kyiv, police detained a citizen of Moldova named Alexander Balike who is known to have close ties to the Moldovan oligarch Veaceslav Platon, noi.md news outlet reports. Balike was detained for extradition to Moldova where he is being investigated for committing several serious crimes.

    The detainee is also a suspect in offences committed in the territory of Ukraine. Ukrainian lawyer Alexei Shevchuk, who is leading a case against Platon stated on his Facebook page that the law enforcement …