Contents tagged with Russia
-
No end in sight for Russia’s economic woes
With the Russian economy continuing to plummet as a result of western sanctions and low oil prices, the Kremlin seems to be sticking to its reliance on hydrocarbon exports, as oil revenues still account for 44% of the federal budget. For the 25 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian government has done little to relieve the economy from its dependence on oil and gas, and with the value of the ruble at a record low, many experts worry that it may be too late to diversify …
-
Ukrainian intelligence determines location of 57 prisoners in Donbas
An Adviser to the Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), Yuri Tandit, stated that illegally armed groups hold about 140 Ukrainian citizens as prisoners, and the SSU has found the exact location of 57 of them. “We know the exact location of 57 people. We have seen traces of others, there are almost 140 hostages in Ukraine. We hope that Russia, as a participant of the Minsk Agreements, will do everything in its power to accelerate the exchange of prisoners,” Yuri Tandit said.
Tandit …
-
Russian Spy Chief Dies
According to a statement released by the Interfax news agency, Colonel General Igor Sergun, the director of GRU (Russia’s military intelligence agency) unexpectedly died on Sunday at the age of 58.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu did not specify the cause of death and offered no additional details.
Igor Sergun joined the Soviet military in 1973, in 1984 he joined military intelligence and became chief of the GRU in 2011.
Last year the US and European Union added Sergun to the sanction …
-
Crimea’s Electricity Problems Continue
Crimea continues to experience power shortages, which are especially pronounced at peak hours. The head of the Crimean Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, Sergey Shakhov, said that Crimea now needs up to 1350 megawatts, but the supply is still short. This was the reason why the planned blackouts were to take effect during peak hours.
"As of 6:00 PM on January 3rd, the total amount of power generated on the peninsula is 931 megawatts. Crimea itself generates 513 megawatts while the …
-
OSCE Informed Of Pro-Russian Separatists' Weapons Violations
The General Intelligence Directorate reported that Ukraine has informed the representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine about the placement of prohibited weapons in the regions of three settlements: Lobachyov, Bezymyannoye and Jubileynoye.
“The situation in the ATO zone remains challenging. Pro-Russian militants shelled Ukrainian positions 20 times using small arms and grenade launchers,” the report said. Intelligence officers noted that they provided information about …
-
ATO command names Russian agent in charge of removing insubordinate separatist officers
Gangs suspected of being accomplices to the terrorist Evgeny Wagner were recently found in occupied territory in the region of Ozeryanovki near Horlivka. The ATO press-center reported this discovery, citing a source living in militant-controlled territory. Wagner is a Colonel in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, and has taken part in many conflicts since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Ukrainian military belives that groups are involved in the elimination of pro- …
-
Moscow: Kiev is aggravating the situation in Transnistria
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Grigory Karasin, expressed Moscow’s concern over the lack of progress in the negotiations on the Transnistrian issue, stating that the Ukrainian position has a negative impact on the situation in the region.
"The change of Kiev's position on the Transnistrian issue supports the delay of an appointment of a new Ukrainian representative in the "5 + 2" negotiation that was supposed to happen in May of 2015. We are concerned about the …
-
40 tons of Belgian pears destroyed at Russian border
Russian Federal Security Bureau (FSB) agents and Roskomnadzor’s employees found two batches of pears at the Troitsk checkpoint in the Chelyabinsk region. The shipment of pears falls under the Presidential Decree issuing retaliatory sanctions, the Rosselkhoznadzor press service reported.
Fresh pears from Belgium were imported to Russia by two cars from Kazakhstan. Kazakh certificates, indicating Serbia as the country of origin, were attached to them. The total weight of the two batches was 40 …
-
Waszczykowski: War in Donbas one of the main threats to Poland
The Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Witold Waszczykowski, stated in a radio interview that the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, initiated by the Russian Federation, is one of the main threats for Poland in 2016. “It wasn’t Poland that created the ice age, nor was it responsible for attacking other countries and it was not us who sent little green men to other countries in order to take away part of their territory,” Waszczykowski said.
“Therefore, if we are talking about problems, they …
-
Turkish citizens no longer have visa-free entry to Russia
Russia suspended the visa-free policy with Turkey effective the 1st of January 2016. The Presidential decree suspending the visa-free policy with Turkey is now in force. As noted by RSN Ankara, in response to Moscow's decision, Turkey is now refusing visas for Russian citizens. The bilateral visa-free agreement has been in place since 2011.
As previously reported, Russian authorities announced the abolition of the visa-free regime after a Russian Su-24 bomber was shot down by the Turkish Air …