The separatist-held territories of the Donbas owe about 2.5 billion hryvnia ($96.3 million) to Ukraine for electricity supplied since March 2015, as stated by the Acting Director of Ukrenergo, Vsevolod Kovalchuk, in his commentary on Espreso TV.

He noted that separate accounting records for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions were only introduced in May 2015.

"If we are talking about the debt that is guaranteed to be confirmed as of the introduction of separate accounting, it amounts to about 2.5 …

President Vladimir Putin, commenting on the Russian-Chinese military exercise, Naval Interaction 2017, said that Russia and China have not created any military blocs or alliances. He stated this at a press conference following talks with the Finnish leader, Sauli Niinistö.

Putin explained that the military "is simply refining their skills and interaction with each other." According to Putin, this is a good example of cooperation.

According to the Russian President, cooperation between Russia …

On July 27, the Latvian court issued a final judgment on case of two Russians who had infiltrated the Adazi military base, reported Mixnews.lv. Alexander Kurkin and Andrei Popko admitted that they were guilty of hooliganism.

The Latvian political party leader and pro-Russian activist Vladimir Linderman was accused of complicity in the crime. Linderman maintained his innocence.

Popko and Kurkin were sentenced to nearly 4 months of imprisonment. They had already served some of this time during …

Belarus is inviting “a large number of observers” to the upcoming Zapad 2017 joint military exercises with Russia which have been a cause for concern for Ukraine and NATO states, reported by BelTA with reference to statements by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting with the leaders of the Security Council’s State Secretariat.

“The exercises are open; we are inviting and have already invited a large number of observers. Come, look,” Lukashenko said.

Lukashenko mentioned that …

President of Finland Sauli Niinistö discussed the situation in Ukraine with his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, Helsingin Sanomat reported.

“We also talked about the situation in Ukraine, which is not improving. The ceasefire remains the primary task and the onward progress, at least must be taken in small steps. For example, it is necessary to release the prisoners,” the President Niinistö said.

President Putin arrived on Thursday, July 27 at the Finnish city of Savonlinna for …

On Friday, 28 July, another blackout hit the annexed Crimea. The blackout was reportedly caused by an accident in Krasnodar Krai in neighboring Russia.  

It is reported that there is no power in the cities of Simferopol, Sevastopol, Yalta, Kerch, Feodosiya and other places.

The Russia-controlled Ministry of Fuel and energy of the Crimea also confirms the loss of power throughout the peninsula. According to the Minister Vadim Belik, the Crimea was "completely without electricity" due to an …

The border authorities of Moldova have banned a Russian MP from the LDPR party, Pavel Shperov, from entry into the country's territory, reported Omega Media Group, citing a source in the Moldovan Ministry of Internal Affairs.

According to the source, the MP was not allowed to leave the airport in Chisinau, and "was sent back on the nearest flight to Moscow" without an explanation why. The agency spokesman added that the border authorities also detained an additional ten people who were …

Russian President Vladimir Putin, commenting on the U.S. bill on sanctions against Russia, said that “it is impossible to endure rudeness endlessly.”

“As you know, we act with great patience and restraint, but at some point we will have to respond. It is impossible to endure endlessly this rudeness in relation to our country,” Putin said at a press conference following the Russia-Finland talks, reports Interfax.

According to the Russian president, the bill on sanctions is an attempt to use U. …