The financial ombudsman of the Russian Federation, Pavel Medvedev, has declared that he doesn't see prospects for growth of the Russian economy any time soon. In his opinion, the "junk" rating assigned by Moody's agency is not politicized and therefore is quite reasonable.

Medvedev explained his position in an interview with the Govorit Moskva radio station.

"It is considered that their ratings are politicized, but it seems to me that this opinion isn't very reasonable. The matter is that …

According to Igor Strelkov (a.k.a. Igor Girkin), two people, claiming to be representatives of the Russian police, came to his mother's home and inquired about him.

"Is there a limit to human idiocy? Today [April 22] two 'policemen' came to my mother and stated that I killed 2 people in Saint Petersburg and that a police report was filed against me. They made my mother sign a document stating that she hadn't seen me" he wrote on his VKontakte page (Russian social network).

Strelkov said that …

The German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that the US expects greater participation from Germany in deterring Russian aggression in Europe. Washington insists that the Bundeswehr actively participate in the planned deployment of rotating NATO units on the eastern borders of the Alliance.

The US expects Germany and the UK to deploy soldiers and military equipment to the Baltic States, Poland, and Romania, US President Barack Obama reportedly told the US National Security Council.

Obama plans …

The Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany, Andrey Melnik, wrote on Twitter that Ukraine sent a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany protesting the visit of the Chairman of the youth wing of the anti-migrant Alternative for Germany party, Marcus Frohnmayer, and Alternative for Germany Member of the European Parliament, Marcus Pretzell.

“We sent note of protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany because of illegal visit of German politicians to Crimea,” Melnik wrote.

“The …

In an interview with the New York Times, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that it is important to establish two zones of “eligible military operations” in Syria to fight against terrorists and to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire.

Kerry noted that the US is most concerned about the situation in the north of Syria where Kurds, moderate opposition forces, Syrian government forces, the al-Nusra Front, and the so-called Islamic State are all active.

According to Kerry, military …

The Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Alexander Vershbow, stated in an interview with BGNES that the Alliance is ready to strengthen its support for Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova.

"It is essential to strengthen our work of stabilizing the neighboring region by strengthening the support of such countries in the east as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, which are under pressure from Russia and need help to improve their security and sovereignty," Vershbow stated.

The Deputy Secretary General also …

Kerch media published a video with the commentary by a perturbed local resident, who claimed to be a victim of the anti-terrorist exercises of Russian special services.

Accorting to Kerch.com.ru website, in one of the recreational areas in Kerch on Kirov Street, near the Cherepashka beach, Russian intelligence officers with machine guns carried out military exercises on the 22nd of April. Civilians who passed by, people of different ages, including children, the elderly and anyone who happened …

Tactical missiles have been tested in Ukraine with the participation of the First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleg Gladkovsky.

"The Ukrainian defense industry continues to work on the creation of tactical missiles commissioned by the Ministry of Defense. Today one of the main tasks is to improve the performance of the missiles and ensure the complete production cycle in Ukraine," the press service of NSDC cited Gladkovsky on Friday.

According to …