• U.S. to sanction Nord Stream 2 pipe laying vessel

    The U.S. continues to increase pressure on the Nord Stream 2 project, which has already been left without key European participants fearing U.S. sanctions.

    Following the expansion of restrictions on insurance, engineering and certification companies, the U.S. authorities are preparing a new sanctions package that will hit the only pipelaying vessel available to Gazprom - the Fortuna barge, Handelsblatt reports, citing its sources.

    According to Handelsblatt, sanctions will be imposed on …

  • Social network Parler relaunches with help of Russian web hosting provider

    All the problems that the social network Parler has experienced after the riot at the Capitol Building will be solved, said its founder John Matze, adding that Parler would "solve any challenge" and "welcomes users again."

    So far, only Matze‘s message appears on the page of the social network. Its apps are not available in the App Store and Google Play.

    According to open data, Parler's website is now hosted on the servers of the Russian company ddos-guard.net. DDOS-GUARD is based in Rostov-on- …

  • Belarus stripped of ice hockey world championship

    Minsk has been stripped of the right to host the 2021 Ice Hockey World Championships, said the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).

    The Federation's statement notes that this decision was made for security reasons.

    The 2021 World Cup was to be held in Minsk and Riga from May 21 to June 6, 2021. However, due to the political situation in Belarus, a number of European countries have spoken out against holding competitions in the country.

    Earlier, Czech automobile manufacturer Skoda …

  • Russia deploys 300 troops to Syrian Hasakah province

    Russia has sent additional military units to Syrian Hasakah province, Major Dmitry Suntsov, a chief of the joint Russian-Syrian monitoring center, said on Monday, January 18. According to him, about 300 soldiers will be deployed there. Their main task is to "contribute to the de-escalation of the conflict in the region," Suntsov said. They will make sure that the ceasefire is respected, he explained.

    The Syrian province of Hasakah borders Turkey. The Russian military is stationed there as part …

  • Ukraine to build a bridge to Moldova at its own expense

    Ukraine plans to build a bridge over the Dniester in Yampil at its own expense, said the deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration Ihor Zhovkva in an interview with TSN.ua.

    "One of the projects that we will start immediately will be the construction of a bridge over the River Dniester in the Yampil-Cosauti area and the corresponding highway that will connect Kyiv and Chisinau. And not just connect, but it will allow almost 5 hours to get by car from Kyiv to Chisinau via the new …

  • Kremlin claims Trump supporters inquiring about obtaining Russian citizenship

    U.S. officials ask in comments on social networks to explain how they can get Russian citizenship, said the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova on air of the talk show "Sunday Night with Vladimir Solovyov" on the TV channel "Russia 1."

    According to her, President Donald Trump's supporters fear persecution because of their political beliefs. "This country [the U.S.] is conducting a repressive policy in the world, and today it also uses it against its own citizens. We are …

  • Russia and Belarus to hold large-scale military exercises

    Russia and Belarus plan to hold strategic military exercises Zapad-2021 from September 10 to 16, reports Belta news agency.

    The self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko discussed the upcoming exercises with Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin.

    It is noted that last year a five-year period of building and development of the Belarusian Armed Forces was completed. Lukashenko asked the Defense Minister about the achieved results.

    "However, I would ask you to report …

  • Navalny detained upon arrival in Moscow

    Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny returned to Russia after his treatment in Germany, reports the news outlet Meduza.

    As Navalny’s plane was approaching Moscow it had to change its route. Vnukovo Airport, where the flight was initially scheduled to arrive and where supporters of Navalny came to meet him, did not allow landing and the plane eventually landed at Sheremetyevo airport.

    While the plane with Navalny was still in the air, mass detentions of oppositionist supporters and …

  • Russian billionaire warns of economic collapse caused by Russia’s isolation

    Russia is critically dependent on exports and imports, and economic isolation will be a "disaster", said the chairman of the board of directors of the Russian conglomerate Severstal, the 4th richest man of Russia, Alexei Mordashov during Gaidar Forum.

    "We are a country that is very dependent on exports and imports. If it stops tomorrow, the national economy will shrink twofold. We will simply physically stop, just because almost half of the budget depends on oil and gas export revenues," …

  • In a leaked wiretap, Belarusian Interior Minister reveals Lukashenko’s orders to shoot at protesters and create special detention camps

    Belarusian opposition initiative By_Pol, the union of the security forces of Belarus,  posted on the Internet an audio recording, where a man, with a voice similar to the Belarusian Interior Minister Nikolai Karpenkov’s, discussing the use of weapons against protesters and the creation of special detention camps.

    In the released recording, one can hear Karpenkov talking about a meeting with the self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, where Lukashenko directly approves the …