Contents tagged with Russia

  • Russia admits its vulnerability to US nuclear missiles in Europe

    The deployment of American nuclear missiles in Europe, which will become possible once the US withdraws from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, will render Russia’s “Dead Hand” nuclear response system ineffective, said Colonel-General Viktor Yesin, former head of Russia’s Strategic Missile Troops, in an interview with Zvezda, the Russian Defense Ministry’s official press outlet.

    The Dead Hand system, also known as Perimetr in Russia, is operational and has even been …

  • Media: Indonesia's contract for purchase of Russian Su-35 fighters falling apart

    The official representative of the Indonesian Air Force, Novyan Samyoga, stated that the U.S. sanctions could cause issues to the Indonesian procurement contract for 11 Russian Su-35 fighter jets, reported the British publication Jane's.

    Samyoga explained that if Washington imposes tough sanctions against Jakarta for the purchase of military equipment from Moscow, Indonesia would be forced to buy "Western-made fighters". The representative of the Air Force added that in this case, Indonesia …

  • Poroshenko urges Ukrainians not to participate in the LPR and DPR elections

    During a press-connference in Paris, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko urged Ukrainians, who live in the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk which are controlled by pro-Russian militants, not to participate in the elections in the  so-called Luhansk and the Donetsk People’s Republic.

    “Russian Federation does [the elections] in its usual manner and only to eliminate former puppets first, who took part in murders, torture, law violations… Russia is accomplishing this step just to choose …

  • Switzerland seizes Gazprom’s revenue from Nord Stream

    The gas dispute with Ukraine may cost Gazprom its profits from pumping gas through the Nord Stream pipeline, which has been operational since 2012, and through which 61 billion cubic meters of gas were pumped to Europe last year, a third of Russia’s entire gas export.

    A Swiss court has seized payments made by the pipeline operator, Swiss-registered Nord Stream AG, to Gazprom, the operator’s 51% shareholder.

    The seizure was imposed as part of the interim measures for the ruling by the …

  • Austria accuses Russia of espionage

    Six months after the attempted poisoning of the former double agent Sergei Skripal in the UK, Russia found itself in the middle of a new “espionage scandal.”

    The Austrian Defense Ministry on Friday reported the arrest of a 70-year-old retired colonel, who engaged in espionage for Russia more than 20 years.

    “The military counterintelligence service through international cooperation opened the espionage case. The retired officer of the Austrian army from the 1990’s spied on the Bundesheer ( …

  • EU: elections in Donbas are illegitimate

    Ahead of the elections organized by Russia in the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions which are controlled by pro-Russian militants, the European Union reiterated its support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

    In a statement published on Saturday, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Frederica Mogherini said that Brussels will not recognize the results of these elections.

    "The EU considers the “elections” planned for 11 …

  • Ukrainian politician: Russia plays Transnistria’s scenario in Donbas

    Deputy Minister for the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, Georgiy Tuka, announced on Hromadske Radio that Russia is organizing so-called “elections” in the occupied Donbas to repeat Transnistria’s scenario.

    The official noted that Russia organized “elections” in the “occupied territories” of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in order to legitimize the leaders of the “republics”. Thus, the Russian Federation is trying to push Ukrainian authorities into direct negotiations, same as it …

  • Putin’s friend Prigozhin took part in negotiations with Libyan marshal Khalifa Haftar in Moscow

    Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian businessman with ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, was captured on video among the members of  the delegation headed by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu during negotiations with the commander of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar. The video recording was published by the Libyan Defense Ministry on its Youtube channel.

    Prigozhin is the co-owner of the Concord group of companies and he has been repeatedly associated with the Wagner private …

  • Ukraine’s Representative to UN: Russia is preparing to deploy nuclear weapons in Crimea

    The permanent representative of Ukraine to the UN, Volodymyr Yelchenko, stated that Russian Federation has doubled its military forces on the peninsula and continues preparation of the Crimean military infrastructure for deployment of nuclear weapons. According to him, the UN Security Council should meet to discuss the situation in the occupied Donbas, and the escalation in the Sea of Azov reports TSN.

    “For example, Crimea is often used as the headquarters and a supply base for military …

  • Media: Austrian army colonel detained on suspicion of spying for Russia

    The Austrian special services detained a colonel of the Austrian Army who is suspected of spying for Russia for 20 years, the Austrian Kronen Zeitung reported on Friday with reference to the Austrian Defense Ministry.

    According to the newspaper, the Austrian special services investigate the case of the 70-year-old retired colonel who, since the late 1990s, allegedly transferred to the Russian military intelligence information on the migration crisis, the Austrian military aviation and …