Only 41,000 Russian tourists visited Turkey in May 2016. This is 91.82% less than in the last month of spring 2015, as indicated by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Usually, the flow of Russian tourists to Turkey increases dramatically in May. For example, in 2015 the country was visited by over 501,000 Russians, in 2014 – by almost 695,000. However, the bans on selling trips and the cancellation of charter flights has led to an almost complete block of tourist flow. In May 2016, …

On Tuesday, the deputies of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) again introduced a bill at the State Duma, which proposes a simplified procedure for granting Russian citizenship to residents of the Donbas, TASS reported.

"The initiative concerns the citizens of Ukraine and stateless persons who previously permanently resided or are residing now in the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine, and who, according to Russian law, are classified as compatriots; and, …

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has initiated changes to the country’s Constitution with regard to the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. RBC-Ukraine reported that Poroshenko said this on the 28th of June during a meeting dedicated to the Day of the Constitution of Ukraine.

“We must begin the process of making additions and changes to section 10 of the Constitution regarding the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. These changes deal with the right of the Crimean Tatars to self- …

The European Union (EU) wants to find a legal solution that will allow the Netherlands to ratify the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. RIA Novosti reported that this was said by the head of the European Council, Donald Tusk, after the summit of the EU leaders.

“The European Council has discussed the ratification of the EU-Ukraine free trade agreement. We have decided to do everything possible to find a legally binding decision that will enable the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, …

Russia has donated two Mi-17-B5 military transport helicopters to the Serbian Army. The ceremony was held on Tuesday at the Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade in the presence of the Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, the Minister of Defense of Serbia, Zoran Đorđević and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Nebojša Stefanović.

“For the first time in the past 36 years, the Army of Serbia received new helicopters,” the Prime Minister said. Vučić thanked the Serbian Ministry of Defense for …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated at a briefing on the results of European Council meeting in Brussels that the extension of sanctions against Russia is connected with the implementation of Minsk Agreements, RIA Novosti reported.

“Both the President of France, François Hollande, and I reported once again on the degree of the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. We pointed out that the extension of sanctions is unfortunately necessary in connection with the level of implementation. That …

The American and Russia navies have accused each other of performing unsafe maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea. The incident involved the USS Gravely and a Russian Neustrashimyy-class frigate, the Yaroslav Mudry, Reuters reported.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the commander and crew of the USS Gravely were in “gross violation” of international maritime agreements. The MoD stated that the USS Gravely approached the Yaroslav Mudry at a distance of 60-70 meters on the port side and …

Japanese military jest were scrambled to intercept two Russian Navy anti-submarine IL-38 planes off the Japanese Pacific coast. The incident was reported by the Command of the Self-Defense Force of Japan.

The Russian planes approached the Japanese coast from the direction of Sakhalin Island, flew over the southern coast of the Kuril islands, then they made a detour to the east of the Japanese island of Honshu and followed the same route back. The incident took place on June 27.

The Ilyushin …