Contents tagged with Russia

  • Kyiv: more than 70 Ukrainians held captive in Russia

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine claims that Russia holds more than 70 Ukrainians captive. As stated in the ministry's response to the query of Radio Liberty, the list does not include the 24 Ukrainian servicemen captured by Russia near the coast of the Crimea.

     “As of February 9, 2017, more than 70 Ukrainian citizens are illegally held by the Russian Federation on fabricated charges. At least 30 people are held in Russia (excluding the 24 servicemen of the Ukrainian Navy captured …

  • Kremlin: former Ukrainian president Yanukovych is guarded in Russia by Putin's order

    The Russian Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is being guarded by Russian government security. Peskov noted, “government security is provided based on the decision of the head of the state.”

    Peskov affirmatively answered the question about the existence of a presidential decree regarding Yanukovych’s protection saying: “Yes, yes, it (the decree) was given, when he (Yanukovych) left (to Russia) as the head of (the Ukrainian) government.” …

  • Kremlin: Russia will not send observers to monitor Ukrainian elections

    Russia will not send observers to join the mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor the presidential elections of Ukraine on March 31, Russian Foreign Ministry stated on Friday, February 8.

    According to the Russian side, this decision is due to “security reasons”.

    Earlier, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry refused to accredit “long-term observers” from Russia. Sergei Kislitsa, Deputy …

  • Russia demands that Israel stop bombing Syria

    TASS reports, quoting the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Vershinin that Moscow consider Israel’s strikes against Syrian targets unacceptable and demanded they stop.

    According to the diplomat, Israel’s attacks “add to the destabilization of the situation” and “nobody should do anything in Syria that does not support antiterrorist goals.”

    “Concerning the latest Israeli attacks, we stated that such arbitrary attacks on Syrian sovereign territory must be stopped and …

  • Russian observers will try to enter Ukraine on Monday as part of OSCE mission

    Two Russian observers in the long-term mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) intend to fly to Kiyv on Monday, February 11, to observe the Ukrainian presidential campaign, announced the head of the Russian Public Institute of Election Law, Igor Borisov.

    “An attempt will be made if nothing else happens. They are part of the ODIHR mission, which currently does not refuse the Russian segment as part of the mission in Ukraine,” Interfax-Ukraine quotes …

  • Berlin: German fighter aircraft intercepted Russian warplanes over the Baltic thirty times over pas six months

    According to Deutsche Welle, during a visit to the Bundeswehr soldiers stationed at the Estonian Emari airbase as part of a NATO mission, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen reported that German fighters scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea thirty times in six months. 

    "This large number indicates that the presence of German soldiers here is very important," said the Minister. 160 Bundeswehr soldiers and four German Eurofighter planes are stationed in Estonian …

  • Swedish experts: Moscow is preparing for full-scale war

    The Swedish National Defense Research Institute (FOI) stated that the Russian army is being prepared for participation in large-scale military requirements. They came to this opinion analyzing the military exercises conducted in Russia from 2009-2017.

    The experts note that the Russian Federation armed forces, which had previously been involved only in local conflicts began to prepare for continuous regional wars starting back in 2009.

    According to FOI, Russia considers NATO or the Chinese …

  • Media: US will not sell Patriot air defense systems to Turkey if Ankara buys Russian S-400 missile systems

    The United States will not supply Turkey with the Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems if Ankara acquires Russian S-400s, Turkish daily newspaper Yeni Şafak reported on Thursday with a reference to a representative of the US administration.

    It became known in December that the State Department approved the sale of missile systems to Turkey for $ 3.5 billion. In particular, the State Department approved the sale of 80 Patriot missiles and 60 other missiles to Turkey, including related …

  • Russia believes US is planning to invade Venezuela

    Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a press conference that the US is working on scenarios to invade Venezuela, thereby violating the UN Charter.

    “Signals keep coming from Washington on the possibility of using a forceful scenario in order to overthrow the legitimate government, even through a military invasion,” she said, claiming that the White House has been speaking about this openly.

    Zakharova emphasized that such statements contravene article 2(4) of the UN …

  • Media: The Netherlands expects to start of negotiations with Russia regarding MH17 air disaster

    The Netherlands expects to start negotiations with Russia regarding its responsibility for the crash of Boeing-777 in Ukraine in July 2014, announced RTL channel on Thursday with reference to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

    At this stage, the ministry does not want to disseminate too much information, "so as not to harm the confidentiality of the process." “However, everything is moving in the right direction, and there is hope that official negotiations will begin soon,” …