Bankers have asked the Central Bank of Russia to introduce a fixed preferential exchange rate for the Ruble; however, the regulator has refrained from doing so for now.The collapse of the Russian currency was the main reason for holding an emergency meeting of the representatives of the Russian Central Bank and leading bankers of the country on Thursday, January 21st. The importance of the meeting is evident as the Chairman of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, cancelled her trip to the …

Threats made by the head of the Chechen Republic against opposition leaders, the media, and human rights activists have raised the concern of Amnesty International. The organization notes that it's dangerous to do human rights work and openly criticize the government in Russia.

International human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) has urged the Russian authorities to "immediately and unhesitatingly" respond to the harsh statements of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, which …

The Deputy Chair of the Economic Committee of the Russian Duma, Sergey Kalashnikov, told RIA Novosti that the Russian Central Bank has to cancel the convertibility of the Ruble and set a fixed exchange rate in relation to the dollar and main reserve currencies. The preferable rate would be 40 rubles per dollar.

According to Kalashnikov, if the exchange rate is fixed, a black market in currency exchange would inevitably emerge in the country. However, that would not be as harmful to the …

Officers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are providing training for militants in Torez according to the Intelligence Agency.

"On a training ground near Torez, they are training tank and mechanized infantry units. There are assault troops practicing offensive maneuvers under the leadership of senior officers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation who have recently arrived in Torez," the statement said.

In addition, Russia continues to supply pro-Russian separatists in the …

The Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk indicated that the government has approved the expansion of the list of Russian goods that are subject to sanctions, as reported by LigaBusinessInform.

"Today, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has decided to expand the list of goods that are prohibited from being imported from the Russian Federation. It's an addition that consists of more than seventy items. This is a countermeasure to the economic aggression of the Russian Federation, and we …

Test results on prominent journalist Vladimir Kara Murza show irregular levels of heavy metals in his system. Kara-Murza mysteriously and famously fell ill in May 2015 due to unknown causes at the time. As his condition steadily worsened and and he received more medical attention, many began to speculate that he may have been poisoned—a standard tactic that has been employed on Russian activists before. His lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov, said that the medical test results have been submitted to the …

The U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt and the Commander of the U.S. Special Forces in Europe, Gregory Lengyel, attended training in Khmelnytsky, where US Special Forces instructors are working with the Special Forces of Ukraine as part of the "Joint Multinational Training Group – Ukraine," the US Embassy in Kiev said.

The Embassy reiterated that the training is being held at the invitation of the Ukrainian government. At the same time, since 2014 the U.S. has provided Ukraine with $266 …

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, and the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, met in the Swiss city of Zurich for the first bilateral negotiations of the year. The meeting was a prelude to the Syrian negotiations to be held in Geneva on January 25th.

Earlier, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, said that Lavrov and Kerry would also discuss the situation in Ukraine and the implementation of the Minsk Agreements in eastern Ukraine. The issues regarding …