Contents tagged with Russia

  • European Union calls on Russia to release illegally held Ukrainians

    The European Union called on Russia to release the Ukrainian sailors captured in the Kerch Strait and other Ukrainian citizens, that Brussels says, are also held illegally, DW reports.

    “The European Union reiterates that all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens in the Crimean peninsula and in Russia and the crew of the vessels captured by Russia on 25 November must be immediately released. International human rights observers must be granted full, free and unhindered access to the Crimean …

  • Belarusian President Lukashenko threatens to break off alliance with Russia

    Russia risks losing its “sole ally” in the west, Belarus, if it refuses to compensate Minsk for the losses arising from a Russian tax maneuver in the oil sector, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Interfax in an interview. 

    According to Lukashenko, if the monetary dispute with Russia’s leaders is not resolved, it will not be a catastrophe for Belarus. 

    The amount in question is in the region of $400 million per year, the amount that the Belarusian budget earns from the fact that …

  • US reports that a Russian military satellite has burnt down

    Russian spacecraft Kosmos-2430, which is part of the missile attack warning system Oko, has ceased its orbital existence on January 5th, TASS reported , with reference to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) data.

    According to the data, the satellite deorbited and burned down in the atmosphere. According to unconfirmed data, connection with Kosmos-2430 was lost back in 2012-2014, at the end of the satellite life span. 

    The spacecraft was launched into space on October 23, 2007, …

  • Ukraine refuses to register Russian observers for Presidential Elections

    The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will not accept applications for registration of Russian observers for the Ukrainian Presidential Elections, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin wrote on Facebook. 

    Klimkin said that several days ago, he wrote a letter to Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). He invited the monitoring mission for the Ukrainian Presidential elections. 

    “Among other standard things I pointed out that …

  • Turkey wants to invite Russia and Iran to monitor withdrawal of US troops from Syria

    Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke about the need to exercise joint control with Russia and Iran over the withdrawal of the US troops from Syria. 

    “The United States faces some difficulties withdrawing the US troops from Syria. We want to coordinate this process together with Russia and Iran, with whom we have been working in the framework of the Astana process,” the minister said as reported by NTV TV channel. The Foreign Minister spoke about the need for coordination to prevent …

  • Russia sends guided-missile destroyer Severomorsk to the Black Sea

    On Wednesday morning, the guided-missile destroyer Severomorsk (hull number 519) of the Russian Northern Fleet  entered the Black Sea, as reported by Bosphorus Strait marine spotter Yoruk Isik, on his Twitter blog.

    “Russia brings real fire power to Black Sea. Backbone of the Fleet: Project 1155 Northern Fleet Udaloy class destroyer, armed with SA-N-9 Gauntlet/Kinzhal & SS-N-14 Silex/Rastrub & 533mm torpedoes, Severomorsk 619 transited Bosphorus en route to Sevastopol,” Yoruk Isik wrote.

    The …

  • US will not deploy troops in South Kurils if given to Japan

    The US does not intend to deploy troops on the southern Kuril islands if Russia gives them back to Japan, Lieutenant General Jerry Martinez, Commander of the US Forces in Japan, said in a press conference. 

    “At this stage the US has no plans to deploy troops there,” Martinez said. 

    On January 5, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe said that the Japan-Russia peace treaty negotiations had reached a “decisive moment”. He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin also wants to put an end to the …

  • Russian soldier killed in Syria

    On November 2, a soldier from the Russian Orenburg region died in an explosion of an anti-tank mine in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor. 

    As reported by the Russian service of the BBC, the soldier, 28-year-old Andranik Arustumyan, was a native of the village of Medvedka, and it was his second trip to Syria. 

    The fatal accident took place near the Russian military base, the entrance to which was guarded from suicide bombers of the Islamic State, by Russian servicemen. 

    It was noted that …

  • Russia summons Japanese ambassador due to statements about Kuril islands

    The Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned Japanese Ambassador Toyohisa Kozuki due to statements made by the Japanese government on the Kuril islands, the ministry reported on its official website. 

    The ambassador was summoned due to statements by Tokyo that Japan would “waive” its claims to compensation for the Kuril islands. His attention was also drawn to statements by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe that the islands may be given back to Japan with the consent of the Russian citizens …

  • Kyiv: there will be no direct negotiations with Russia on gas transit

    Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev announced that in 2019, the Ukrainian company would continue negotiations on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine. He stressed that the format of the negotiations will remain trilateral and not directly with Gazprom.

    "We rely on European law and Ukraine's interests and will start negotiations with Gazprom on further transit solely in the trilateral format with the participation of the European Commission,” Kobolev wrote on Facebook .

    In late December, …