Contents tagged with Kremlin
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Kremlin conducts inspection of tanks, troops and S-400 missile systems in western Russia
A comprehensive final inspection of troops for the summer training period has begun in Russia’s Western Military District (WMD). Several armies and the Baltic Fleet will participate in the inspection, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on its website.
The inspection, led by WMD Commander Colonel-General Alexander Zhuravlev, will affect 26 regions where military divisions are stationed within the district.
The ministry states that during the inspection in the Leningrad province, the …
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Russian lawmakers admit that 2018 GDP growth figures were falsified
No confirmation can be found for the 6-year record economic growth reported by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and the Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) last year, said Andrey Makarov, head of the State Duma taxes and budget committee, during a session of parliament on Friday.
Instead of a 2.3% GDP growth, a figure that Rosstat plucked “like a rabbit from a hat”, Makarov said that three weeks after a change of management “completely different figures” are being arrived at.
He …
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Kremlin to sacrifice economy for the sake of larger military budget
The Russian Finance Ministry has published a draft federal budget for 2020-2022 in which it has further increased financing for the security forces and reduced the budget for the economy, education and regional assistance.
According to the document and its appendices, which have been uploaded onto the official legal information portal, the Russian government plans to spend $302 billion out of its expected $315 billion in revenue.
Overall, the government will spend $5.65 billion (1.9%) more …
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Russia to strip Deutsche Welle’s accreditation due to ‘extremism’
The State Duma commission for interference in Russia’s affairs will ask the Foreign Ministry to consider stripping Deutsche Welle (DW) of its accreditation, said the head of the commission, Vasily Piskarev, as cited by the Russian State Duma website.
The commission believes that DW has broken a number of Russian laws by tweeting “calls to participate in unsanctioned protests”, and claims that the parliamentarians’ opinions are supported by a linguistic analysis. DW itself explained previously …
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Russia starts installing equipment to isolate internet
Russia’s federal communications censorship agency,Roskomnadzor, has begun installing equipment to implement the law “On a sovereign internet”, which will come into force partially on November 1 this year and completely in 2021.
Devices to “block network security threats” are currently being installed on the networks of the primary telecommunications operators, Roskomnadzor head Aleksandr Zharov told the TASS news agency.
Testing will start at the end of September and continue for several …
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Director of Russian Foreign Intelligence Service: Moscow is collecting data on drone attack on Saudi Aramco facilities
The Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin said that SVR is collecting data to identify persons responsible for the attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, reports TASS news agency.
"We are collecting this data [about who organized the attack], but conclusions have not yet been made," said SVR's director.
Naryshkin also pointed out to the premature accusations of Iran's involvement in the attacks on the oil company Saudi Aramco's facilities. "It seems to …
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Russia denies supporting Taliban
The Russian embassy in Afghanistan says that local media reports that Russia is assisting the Taliban are nothing but speculation and sensationalism.
“After the recent visit by a delegation of the Qatar Taliban office to Moscow, the Russian Embassy in Kabul has drawn attention to the appearance in the Afghan press of more baseless accusations that Russia is supporting the Taliban,” the embassy said in a statement on its Facebook page.
The embassy cites two example articles, one of which was …
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China promises Kremlin $2.6 billion to accelerate Russian economy
The Russia-China comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation has reached a new level, said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev after meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Moscow.
Medvedev said that after the meeting he and Mr Keqiang signed a set of agreements consisting of nearly twenty documents, including commercial agreements and investment agreements.
Overall, China plans to allocate roughly $2.6 billion to projects that form part of the plan to accelerate the Russian …
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Kremlin confirms that ‘CIA agent’ Smolenkov worked in Russian embassy in USA
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova has confirmed that former Russian presidential administration employee Oleg Smolenkov, whom CNN considers a CIA agent, also worked in the Russian embassy in the US. She added that she did not know him personally, and that he was involved in economic matters.
“At some point in his career he worked in our embassy in Washington. I have no more to comment on that. I did not know him personally, our paths did not cross. The only thing I know …
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Russian pension funds to be invested in securities that caused 2008 financial crisis
Mortgage bonds, which gained infamy in 2007-2008 when they bankrupted Bear Stearns, sent markets plummeting and caused a global financial crisis, will now be promoted in Russia using national pension savings.
The Russian Finance Ministry, Central Bank and the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending (Dom.RF) have approved a roadmap to develop the mortgage bond market, with banks “packaging” physical entities’ mortgage loan payments and reselling them to investors.
Such bonds will be included in …