• Russia appoints permanent trade representative in Ukraine for the first time since 2012

    Russia has appointed Andrey Babko as its permanent trade representative in Ukraine. Since 2013, Babko has served in the same capacity in Armenia.

    The relevant government decree has been published on Russia’s official legal information website.

    The position of Russia’s permanent trade representative in Ukraine has been vacant since February 2012, when the former representative Sergey Ivanov retired. Since then, the trade representative’s duties have been carried out by Sergey Solomin.

    Oleh …

  • Polish president: Russia is the aggressor in Ukraine

    Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Russia is the aggressor in Ukraine, it is also behaving aggressively towards other countries, and is flaunting its power by violating other countries’ airspace.

    “And so you can’t say that it’s a trustworthy state, which realizes its interests in a peaceful way. We are absolute supporters of complying with international law, whereas by Russia it is being clearly and consistently violated. On many occasions we have protested against this, defending Ukraine …

  • $190 billion withdrawn from Russian as capital amnesty program comes to an end

    The Russian government is concluding the capital amnesty program, in which major businesses have been given the opportunity to bring assets and capital back into the country in exchange for a guarantee that they will not be prosecuted for tax and foreign currency violations.

    Another round of amnesty, the third since 2015, when President Vladimir Putin called on billionaires to aid the country’s failing economy, will end on February 29. There are no plans for a fourth round, Deputy Finance …

  • Russian-produced MiG-29 carrier-based aircraft crashes in India

    The Indian Air Force is continuing to suffer non-combat losses to its aircraft, reducing the size of its already small fleet of carrier-based aircraft.

    A MiG-29K carrier-based fighter recently crashed in India. Fortunately, the pilot was able to eject safely. The incident took place in Goa, where INS Hansa, India’s main naval air station, is situated.

    In 2004 and 2010, India’s Air Force ordered 45 MiG-26K and MiG-29KUB aircraft from Russia (the agreements were fulfilled by 2018). According to …

  • Russia to build two helicopter carriers in Crimea

    Before the end of April, the Russian Defense Ministry plans to sign a contract to build the first two Russian amphibious assault ships, a source in the defense industry complex told the TASS news agency.

    “We expect that, by the end of April, the military department will sign a contract for the construction of two amphibious assault ships, which will be built at the Zalyv Shipbuilding Yard in Crimea,” the source said. He added that “a technical design for these ships has been developed in …

  • Erdogan wants to meet with Putin for Syria talks no later than March 5

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the situation in Syria no later than March 5, Anadolu agency reports, citing Erdogan.

    "We agreed to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at worst on March 5," Erdogan said. According to him, the meeting can take place either in Istanbul or in Ankara. The presidents will continue to discuss the road map on Syria's Idlib.

    In addition, Erdogan said that on February 26, a Russian delegation …

  • Latvia denies entry to Russian journalist

    Andrey Zakharov, a journalist for the Russian newspaper Izvestia, was denied entry to Latvia and, at Estonia’s request, his three year Schengen visa was also canceled, Izvestia reports.

    Zakharov had flown to Riga as part of a film crew on the morning of February 24. However, the Latvian border authorities denied him entry.

    The Russian Foreign Ministry has said previously that, in recent times, Russian journalists are being subjected with increasing frequency to lengthy checks by police and …

  • Ukrainian Foreign Ministry summons Serbian ambassador over ‘Russian’ Crimea representation at tourism fair in Belgrade

    The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has summoned Serbian Ambassador Aca Jovanovic in connection with the placement of the name and symbols of the so-called (Russian) Republic of Crimea at Russia’s stand at the International Tourism Fair in Belgrade.

    The Ukrainian foreign policy department expressed its profound concern to the ambassador, the ministry noted in a press release.

    “The Serbian ambassador’s attention was drawn to the inadmissibility of the Russian Federation’s attempts to legitimize in …

  • Russian warplanes strike Turkish army checkpoint in Idlib

    A Turkish army checkpoint was attacked near the village of Kansafra in the southern province of Idlib. Syrian news agency SANA reported, citing The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), that the strike was carried out by the Russian and Syrian air forces.

    According to the SOHR, ten people were killed and wounded in the attack and severalTurkish vehicles were destroyed. Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports, citing their source, about 13 dead servicemen.

    According to Syrian media, the …

  • Israel attacks Islamic Jihad positions in Syria, killing two militants

    Two members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group were killed in an overnight Israeli air strike in Damascus, the group itself said on Monday.

    Israeli fighter jets carried out air strikes on suspected Islamic Jihad positions in Syria shortly before midnight on Sunday after clashes between the militant group and Israeli forces in Gaza earlier in the day.

    The strikes on the outskirts of Damascus targeted the "Islamic Jihad activity center in Syria," as the Israeli military described it. The …