In an interview with newspaper Argumenty i Fakty, Former Russian Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Center for Strategic Research (CSR) Alexei Kudrin has spoken about a funding shortage in the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation.

Kudrin replied to a question of whether Russia retained enough financial resources "for a modest pension for seniors”, Kudrin responded: "I will tell you straight: yes, there is none left." He stressed that in 2016 "the state violated its obligations for the …

The Russian President Press Secretary has said that Vladimir Putin has influence on the leaders of the LPR and DPR separatist republics.

Commenting on Putin's recent talks with militants over the exchange of prisoners, Dmitry Peskov said that the influence is "not unlimited."

"The president has never concealed that he has the opportunity to handle appeals, the ability to exert a certain influence - not unlimited, but definite," the spokesman said.

Peskov said that the Kremlin "does not have …

Russia is misinterpreting the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which creates transparency but does not restrict freedom of speech or prevent the spread of information, an official US State Department representative told TASS.

The State Department spokesperson was commenting on the amendments adopted in Russia which make it possible to recognize overseas media as foreign agents.

According to the representative, in official Russian statements this bill is connected to the demand to “ …

Sweden might start training Ukrainian military, Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said in an interview with Ukrinform.

"Sweden expressed its intention to consider the possibility of the participation of its servicemen in the training of our military personnel next year. The Swedish Defense Minister will arrive in Kyiv in the first quarter of next year to make a final decision on this," he said.

The Ukrainian army is now being trained by instructors from the United States, Canada, Britain and …

The Russian Ministry of Justice of Russia has sent a notice to the Radio Liberty project Krym.Realii as well as Radio Liberty’s Tatar-Bashkir service that the two publications may be recognized as foreign agents, reported RIA Novosti, citing a source in the department.

The projects Idel.Realii and Kavkaz.Realii, Voice of America, and Current Time, a joint project between Radio Liberty and Voice of America, as well as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty were also warned earlier.

The day prior, the …

On the morning of November 16 at the Karpata resort near Mukachevo, law enforcement officers arrested Horvat Attila, alias “Doki”, who is the owner of the so-called “private border” with Hungary that is used for smuggling, reported Mukachevo.net with reference to sources in Ukrainian law enforcement.

The article also reported the arrest of the chief of the regional StateGeoCadastre (the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre) department.

UNN, citing Oleh Senyuk, …

The Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) has adopted a law similar to the Magnitsky Act adopted in 2012 by Washington authorities to punish Russian officials guilty of the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Ukrainian-born Russian accountant who stood up to Russian authorities, accusing them of large-scale fraud. The law passed by the Lithuanian Seimas bans the entry of people suspected of corruption, money laundering, and persons accused of crimes against human rights and civic freedoms.

In particular, …

The Foundation Board of the World Anti-Doping Agency or WADA decided not to restore the rights of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency or RUSADA.

Leaving in force the decision on RUSADA, the Foundation Board noted the absence among Russian sports functionaries of the "unconditional recognition of the conclusions from the McLaren report," the BBC reports.

RUSADA activity was suspended in November 2015 after the independent WADA commission published a report that revealed a state-supported system of …