The Czech Foreign Ministry announced that it is expelling 18 Russian diplomats. They are accused of working for the Russian special services, reported Novinky, citing the country's Interior Minister, Jan Gamachek.

According to Gamachek, these people were identified as employees of the Russian Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and the Foreign Intelligence Service. The diplomats were given 48 hours to leave the Czech Republic.

The authorities in Prague made this decision, as they came to …

On April 17, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it detained two people who allegedly were preparing a military coup in Belarus and an assassination attempt on the self-proclaimed president Alexander Lukashenko, TASS reports.

"The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, together with the Committee of State Security of the Republic of Belarus (KGB), as a result of the special operation, foiled the illegal activities of Yuri Zyankovich, who has dual citizenship …

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Ukrainian consul Alexander Sosonyuk. He was allegedly detained in St. Petersburg, “when he was receiving information of a classified nature during a meeting with a Russian citizen," TASS reports, citing the FSB Center for Public Relations.

"On April 16 in St. Petersburg, the Federal Security Service detained red-handed Ukrainian diplomat, consul of the Consulate General of Ukraine in St. Petersburg Alexander Sosonyuk, during his meeting with …

The National Bank of Belarus continues to lose its gold and currency reserves as the value of Belarus ruble continues to fall.  In April the Belarusian ruble broke the "bottom" reached during the summer protests and set a new historical low.

In the five quarters from January 2020 to April 2021, foreign currency reserves of Belarus decreased by 25% - from $9.2 billion to $6.9 billion.

Since the beginning of 2021, the reserves of the National Bank have lost $310 million due to the repayment of …

Russia has announced the that it is closing the Kerch Strait for warships of Ukraine and other countries during its military exercises, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

According to Kyiv, the decision comes into force from next week and will be in effect until October. It extends to parts of the Black Sea adjacent to the Kerch Strait.

"Such actions of the Russian Federation are yet another violation of the norms and principles of international law. They are intended to usurp …

On April 15, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov met with U.S. Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan, reported the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The ministry said that the Russian side gave an assessment of the "unacceptable actions of the American side", which allegedly inflicted a heavy blow to the Russian Federation instead of the stated intention to build pragmatic relations.

Ryabkov told Sullivan that "a series of retaliatory measures will follow" in the near …

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country does not take sides in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

"Turkey has good relations with both Russia and Ukraine," Cavusoglu said in an interview with the Turkish news agency NTV.

Cavusoglu said Turkey wants to see peace in the Black Sea region, but existing tensions between Russia and Ukraine are hampering that. He stressed that Ankara would like a diplomatic solution to this conflict.

"We don't take sides. Our position is …

If Ukraine is not accepted into NATO, it may consider restoring its nuclear status to defend against Russia, said Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk on Deutschlandfunk radio.

According to him, to date, about 90,000 Russian military personnel have been transferred to the borders of Ukraine, the annexed Crimea and territories of the Donbas which are not under Kyiv’s control. The intelligence information indicates that their number will increase to 110,000.

The Ambassador drew …