Contents tagged with Russia
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Kremlin blocks the bill legalizing Russian private military companies
The Russian government has refused to support a bill to legalize private military companies (PMCs) in Russia, Interfax reports. The relevant revocation was sent to the State Duma.
The Cabinet of Ministers said that the bill goes against Russia’s constitution. Section 5 article 13 of the Russian constitution prohibits the creation and activity of public unions whose goals and activities are directed at the creation of armed formations. Article 71 stipulates that matters of defense and security, …
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Kyiv bans entry to 23 Russians expelled from UK
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has placed an entry ban on the 23 Russians who were expelled from the UK in connection with the poisoning of former intelligence agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, as announced in statement of the SBU’s website.
“SBU head Vasyl Hrytsak said that their activity is a brazen mockery of one of the key functions of the diplomatic representation determined by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 – to promote friendly relations between …
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Russian Ministry of Defense claims Novichok poison that killed Skripal could have been produced in US
Russia has documents indicating that Novichok gas was being developed in the United States, said Igor Rybalchenko, head of the laboratory for chemical and analytical control at the Russian Ministry of Defense, during a broadcast on the Russia-1 television channel, RIA Novosti has reports.
According to Rybalchenko, Russian specialists found informational records regarding an organophosphorus substance with a "strong lethal effect" dating back to 1998 in the Spectral Library of the US National …
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37 perish in shopping mall fire in Russian city of Kemerovo
Thirty-seven people died in a fire in the Zemnyaya Vishnya (Winter Cherry) shopping mall in Kemerovo in Russia. This was reported by RIA Novosti, citing a source in the operational headquarters at the emergency site.
The fire started in a children’s trampoline area. According to preliminary reports, one of the children set fire to foam rubber with a cigarette lighter.
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Russia and India to sign a contract on the supply of S-400 missile systems
Russia and India are in the final stage of negotiations to purchase Triumph S-400 air defense missile systems. The contract is expected to be signed in the first week of April, the Economic Times reports with reference to internal sources.
According to the Economic Times, the contract might be signed during the first visit of Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Moscow in early April. Indian Air Force representatives note that the procurement of the S-400, developed by Russia, is …
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Doping whistleblower Rodchenkov meets with US senators
Members of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, Senators Ben Cardin and Cory Gardner, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee held a meeting on Capitol Hill with the former head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov, who was the first to report the existence of a state-supported doping program in Russian sports.
The website of the commission says that during the meeting, threats to the United States from Russia, corruption in international sports structures, and possible measures to …
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Russia accuses Britain of developing chemical weapons
The Russian Embassy in London has released a statement alleging that the head of a the laboratory of the British Ministry of Defense in Porton Down “confirmed the development of poisonous substances”, including the one that was used to poison Sergei Skripal, Russia’s Interfax news agency reports .
According to a Russian Embassy spokesperson, the statements by Gary Aitkenhead, the Chief Executive of the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory in Porton Down who spoke about the laboratory’s …
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Kremlin: Russia will continue to develop new advanced weapons
Viktor Bondarev, the Head of the Council of the Federation Committee on Defense and Security, told RIA Novosti that Russia will continue to develop advanced weapons, despite the reduction of the defense budget.
Dmitry Peskov, the Russian President's Press Secretary, said earlier in an interview with RT that Russia's defense budget would be reduced. In five years Russia is planned to spend less than 3% of GDP on defense purposes.
Bondarev said that "This won’t affect the financing of the …
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Russia may lose $3 billion over tariffs imposed by Trump
The losses of Russian companies from the introduction of duties on imported steel and aluminum by the US may amount to about $3 billion, Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Viktor Evtukhov stated on the Rossiya 24 TV channel.
"As for the losses to our businesses, our companies, according to preliminary estimates, it is at least $2 billion in steel and $1 billion in aluminum," Evtukhov said.
According to him, the high level of losses is explained, in particular, by the fact that …
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Estonia considers expelling Russian diplomats because of 'Skripal case'
The Prime Minister of Estonia, Jüri Ratas, canceled his trip to Russia as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Estonia’s independence. According to the Estonian Foreign Ministry,the decision was made after negotiations in Brussels, RBC news agency reports.
“I decided not to visit Russia in May where I planned participate in activities devoted to the 100th anniversary of Estonia,” the press service of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign affairs quoted the Minister as saying. …