Contents tagged with Russia

  • Ukraine to discuss conditions of Russia's participation in Eurovision 2017

    Only Russian performers who “understand that the annexation of Crimea and the occupation of the Donbas is a crime” should be allowed to participate in the Eurovision contest in 2017, according to a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the Narodny Front, Anton Herashchenko. He said this on the 15th of May while at the Govorit Moskva radio station.

    According to him, Kiev “does not see any obstacles” for contestants who “do not speak out in support of Russia’s aggressive policies” and who “do not …

  • Estonian Defense Minister favors the deployment of NATO equipment near the borders of the country

    The Estonian daily newspaper Postimees reported that the Estonian Minister of Defense, Hannes Hanso, favored the deployment of NATO heavy military equipment near the country’s borders.

    “We want NATO heavy military equipment to be deployed closer to Estonia rather than a thousand miles away from it. For our part, in alliance with Latvia and Lithuania, we will do our best to ensure simplified transportation of the units across the state border and provision of weapons to our allies,” Hanso noted. …

  • Amnesty International: Russia is last in tolerance for refugees

    According to a survey by Amnesty International, almost two-thirds of Russians are opposed to the settlement of refugees in the Russian Federation.

    The Head of the Amnesty International representative office in the Russian Federation, Sergei Nikitin, reported at a talk at the anniversary conference of the Moscow Helsinki Group that “a statistical review by Amnesty International about the attitude of authorities and population toward refugees from other countries will be released in a week. …

  • Ukrainian court refused to recognize Russian aggression against Ukraine

    A Ukrainian court has refused to recognize Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine. This was reported by the initiator of the case, and human rights activist, Stanislav Batrin. He is also head of the “Open Court” project.

    According to Batrin, this decision was made by the Shevchenko district court of Kiev on the 12th of May after nearly two years of judicial proceedings. It was also noted that the court had twice refused to open proceedings on the lawsuit. Batrin then went to the appeals …

  • US Deputy Defense Secretary: Putin's threats over missile defense shield are problematic

    As was stated by the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, Robert Work, the Pentagon is concerned about statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding threats against Russia due to the placement of U.S. ABM systems, The Wall Street Journal reports.

    “We would like to ask Russia to think about what they are saying, because we intend to cooperate with them wherever possible. However, such threats are highly problematic and of serious concern to us,” Work said.

    On the 13th of May, Work …

  • Russian Navy ships seen near Latvian border

    The National Armed Forces of Latvia (NAF) have noticed the presence of Russian naval ships near Latvian territorial waters on several occasions over the last few days, Rosbalt reported, with reference to the NAF’s Twitter account.

    On Monday, the Russian Frigate Boikiy was seen near the Latvian economic zone, and on Sunday a NATO patrol aircraft spotted a Russian Il-76 cargo plane near the border.

    Also on Sunday, Russian ships Boikiy, Bira, Irgiz, Alpinist, and Zhigulevsk GS-19 were spotted. …

  • Russia wants to purchase license to manufacture Ukrainian Antonov aircraft

    The Russian Minister Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov, said that his department is ready to meet with the Ukrainian company Antonov in order to discuss purchasing a license to manufacture the An-140 aircraft in Russia, RBC-Ukraine reported.

    At a government meeting, Manturov explained that the Aviacor plant in Samara continues to deliver An-140 aircraft to the Russian Defense Ministry. The aircraft were assembled from left over parts at the plant, as the supply of new parts was discontinued …

  • Auto sales in Russia fall to the lowest level in ten years

    On Thursday, May 12, the Chairman of the Automobile Manufacturers Committee of the Association of European Businesses (AEB) stated that auto sales in Russia fell to the lowest level in the last ten years. This applies to both March and April and to the cumulative result for the first four months of 2016.  Overall in Russia, since the beginning of the year, 440,600 cars have been sold; a 15% decrease from the same period last year.

    The largest drop was in the brands Datsun and Honda, with 56% …

  • Crimea hopes to attract Chinese tourists

    Authorities of the occupied peninsula are waiting for tourists from China for the 2016 holiday season.

    The occupational authorities of the Crimea hope that they will be able to surprise tourists from China during the holiday season and compensate for the shortage of vacationers, according to the head of the Crimean Parliament Committee for Health Resorts and Tourism, Alexey Chernyak.

    "The first group of more than 20 people visited Sevastopol on May 9th. We are already receiving pre-orders for …

  • Russia may refuse to participate in next year's Eurovision contest in Ukraine

    Russia may refuse to participate in the next Eurovision contest which will he be held in Ukraine next year.

    Franz Klintsevitch, First Deputy Head of the United Russia faction of the Russian Parliament, made these remarks while speaking to Russian journalists.

    "It wasn't Ukrainian singer Jamala with her 1944 song who won the Eurovision-2016 contest but rather politics took the upper hand over art. And this is the first time it happened so obviously. Next year Eurovision will be held in Kiev …