Contents tagged with Russia

  • Russian Parliament approves draft law introducing punishment for disseminating fake news

    Thursday, January 24, Russian State Duma approved four draft laws  in the first reading. Among them were the laws on disseminating fake news, on criminal responsibility for insulting the government and on administrative penalties in both cases.

    The draft law regarding dissemination of "false public information" on the internet relates to information that can "be a cause for serious bodily injury and lead to other serious consequences," stated the Deputy from the United Russia party, Dmitry …

  • PACE calls on Russia to release Ukrainian sailors

    The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted the resolution "The escalation of tensions around the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait and threats to European security,” Ukrinform reports.

    In this resolution, PACE officially demands that Russia treats the captured sailors in compliance with the Geneva Convention on to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. "The Assembly urges Russia to immediately release the Ukrainian servicemen and ensure they are granted the necessary medical, …

  • Swedish Air Force: Russian warplanes violated Sweden's airspace

    A surveillance aircraft and two destroyers of the Russian Air Force violated Swedish airspace over the Baltic coast entering it for a short period, the Swedish Air Force reported.

    In the report published on January 24th, Swedish Air Force stated that the incident occurred on January 19th. An Il-20 surveillance aircraft and two Su-27 fighters flew near the city of Karlshamn, in south Sweden. The Russian aircraft entered Swedish airspace without permission, which the Swedish military reported to …

  • Russia warns of ‘catastrophic consequences’ if US sends troops to Venezuela

    The US can expect “catastrophic consequences” if Washington opts for military intervention in the Venezuelan political crisis, Russia’s Foreign Ministry threatened on Thursday. 

    The swearing in of oppositionist Juan Guaidó, head of the National Assembly, as “acting president of Venezuela” and his immediate recognition in this capacity by the US points towards the “desire to pull off in Venezuela the time-tested script of replacing unfavorable governments,” the Russian department said in a …

  • Russia prepares a trial batch of new AK-12 for Armenia

    In an interview with Kommersant, Vladimir Dmitriev, the head of the Kalashnikov concern stated that a contract was signed with Armenia, for the supply of the new AK-12 automatic weapons. 

    According to him, the first batch is ready for delivery. “For now I can say that Armenia will be the first country, besides Russia, to purchase the AK-12. The contract is signed, we are preparing a small batch with approximately 50 assault rifles. They will assess, field test them, and we hope, continue to …

  • Russia cautions Israel against airstrikes on Syria

    During a briefing, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that it is necessary to stop Israeli airstrikes on Syria. A video of her speech was published on the Russian Foreign Ministry's Facebook page. 

    “The practice of arbitrary strikes on the territory of a sovereign state—in this case, we are talking about Syria—should be stopped,” Zakharova stated. According to Zakharova, such strikes added to tensions in the region that were not in the long-term interests of any …

  • Stoltenberg: NATO and Georgia are concerned about Russia’s military buildup in the Black Sea

    NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated at a press conference with the Georgian President Salomé Zourabichvili that the North Atlantic Alliance and Georgia are concerned about Russia’s military buildup in the Black Sea region. 

    "We are stepping up our cooperation at sea, including training for Georgian Coast Guard boarding teams, more cooperation between Georgian and NATO naval forces and cooperation between Georgia’s Joint Maritime Operations Centre and NATO’s Maritime Command,” …

  • Kremlin preparing for secret negotiations to sell off Russian state companies abroad

    The Russian government is preparing to privatize a number of state companies, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

    The negotiations with foreign investors will be closed off to the public.

    “We are working on a number of deals, working in a closed format,” TASS cites Oreshkin as saying. “When you prepare a deal, it doesn’t have to be public, we don’t need to discuss who we are negotiating with. There are a number of assets …

  • Russia shows the contentious missile which US believes violates the INF Treaty

    On Wednesday, Russian authorities showed military attaches and journalists accredited in the Russian Federation the new missile system, which, according to the United States, violates the terms of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty concluded during the Cold War. With the presentation of the missile system, Moscow made another attempt to refute accusations and prevent the withdrawal of Washington from the treaty. 

    Washington threatens Russia to withdraw from the INF Treaty, stressing …

  • Putin expects TurkStream pipeline to be launched by the end of 2019

    Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes that the land section of TurkStream will be ready as planned before the end of 2019. 

    "We hope that the work on laying the land part [of the TurkStream pipeline] will be conducted in the same quick manner, so as to launch the gas pipeline as planned before the end of this year," said the Russian President at a press conference following the Russia-Turkey negotiations. 

    “The joint strategic cooperation is being successfully carried out on the largest …