Contents tagged with Russia

  • Court Rejects Appeal made by Former Yukos Shareholders to Suspend Construction of Orthodox Center in Paris

    A French Court rejected an appeal made by former Yukos shareholders to suspend the construction of an Orthodox Center in Paris. This plot of land belongs to the Presidential Property Management Department of the Russian Federation. The plot is almost 5,000 square metres, and is located near the Eiffel Tower.

    However, the Court rejected the appeal of the former Yukos shareholders, explaining that this plot is protected by diplomatic immunity. On the 22nd of January, the Collegiate Council …

  • Russia begins surprise inspection of Southern Military District

    On February 8th, Russia began a sudden inspection of the combat readiness of the troops of the Southern Military District.According to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergey Shoygu, “troops of the Southern Military District, detached formations of airborne troops and military transport aviation” were brought into a state of full combat readiness.  He added that during the inspection, there was a need to determine the missions of the armed forces in critical situations, “ …

  • Lithuania to Import more Gas from Norway than Russia in 2016

    In 2016, Lithuania will import more gas from Norway than from Russia, as stated by the Minister of Energy of Lithuania, Rokas Masiulis, Reuters reports.

    Russian Gazprom enjoyed a monopoly on the Lithuanian gas market before the end of 2014, when Lithuania opened a floating liquefied gas terminal.  This allowed tankers from Norway to supply gas to Lithuania.

    The volume of imports of liquefied natural gas to Lithuania this year is expected to triple following the signing of two new agreements …

  • Russia found new arguments to challenge decision in Yukos case

    Russian lawyers will use the recent decisions of courts in Stockholm and Washington to challenge the legitimacy of The Hague's jurisdiction in the Yukos case.

    Russia has found new arguments to challenge the decision on the payment of 50 billion dollars to the former shareholders of Yukos, as a result of a lawsuit, reported Vedomosti.

    On February 9th, in the District Court of The Hague, Moscow's appeal will question the illegality of the application of the Energy Charter to this case, as well …

  • Russian Foreign Ministry: UN Secretary General is biased against Russia in its role in Syria

    The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, has accused the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, of being biased and of having a lack of objectivity with regard to his assessment of Moscow’s role in the resolution of the Syrian conflict.  Zakharova’s comments were published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

    According to Zakharova, “a campaign has been launched through a number of foreign media platforms discussing the role of Russia in the Syrian …

  • Zakharchenko demands recognition of DPR as an independent state

    The leader of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko, has stated that the separatists are ready to cooperate with Ukraine.  In return, they demand official recognition of the so-called DPR as an independent state.  Zakharchenko detailed these conditions to the RIA Novosti news agency.

    Zakharchenko is awaiting the recognition of the so-called DPR as an equal partner.  In addition, he hopes that Ukraine will implement all points of the Minsk Agreements, reformat …

  • Berlin's Prosecutor's Office investigates Russian journalist

    Berlin prosecutors began a preliminary investigation into Ivan Blagy, a correspondent for Russia’s First Channel. This was reported to DW on the 7th of February by German lawyer, Martin Luithle. Luithle’s application for verifying the legitimacy of one of Blagy’s stories formed the basis of a criminal case.

    The story in question is about the alleged kidnapping and rape of a 13-year-old Russian-speaking young girl known as Lisa F. These alleged crimes occurred in Berlin and were reportedly …

  • Russia Accused of Assisting North Korea in Building Ballistic Missile

    The intelligence service of South Korea claims that the ballistic missile launched by North Korea on Sunday night was built with technology and resources obtained from Russia, as reported by Yonhap, citing an MP who attended the closed-door briefing of the South Korean security forces. Earlier, the media reported that at least one structural element of the launched missile was found in the sea near a South Korean island; it is believed to be the first stage of the rocket as reported by Glavnoe, …

  • Savchenko extradition procedure could start in March

    The extradition procedure of the illegally imprisoned Ukrainian pilot, Nadia Savchenko, may begin by mid-March.  This was stated by Savchenko’s lawyer, Mark Feygin, in an interview for Apostrophe.  Savchenko is currently imprisoned in Russia.

    “The verdict will be announced at the end of February or in early March, in just three and a half weeks.  The sentence will then come into legal force 10 days thereafter.  Savchenko refused to appeal, but I do not entirely agree with that.  I think that …

  • Syrian Opposition: Russia is not interested in a political solution to the conflict in Syria

    In the wake of the UN Special Envoy for Syria’s announcement  that Syrian peace talks in Geneva would be delayed until February 25th, Syrian opposition leader Bassma Kodmani blamed Russian aggression for the postponement. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Kodmani told correspondent Naomi Conrad that it is clear that Russia is not interested in a political solution to the conflict that has ravaged Syria for nearly 5 years.

    “Were the Russians preparing all along to discredit the US in this …