Contents tagged with Russia

  • Finnish company refuses to ship generators to Crimea due to sanctions

    The Finnish company Wärtsilä refused to supply generators to the Crimean Zaliv shipbuilding yard in Kerch due to EU sanctions, RBC news agency reported with reference to a source in the Russian Ministry of Transport.

    The factory had to shift the deadlines for the construction of an emergency rescue ship to the value of 2.8 billion rubles. Four such ships have been built in Russia.

    According to the source, the refusal to supply the diesel generators led to an extension of the construction …

  • Ukrainian official: Lavrov is lying blatantly about Budapest memorandum

    According to the text of the Budapest memorandum, its signatories undertake not to use nuclear weaponry or any other kind of weaponry against Ukraine, said Yevhen Marchuk, Ukraine’s representative in the Trilateral Contact Group, who has previously held the positions of prime minister, defense minister and NSDC secretary, in a comment on statements made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

    “Take a look at the text of the Budapest memorandum and just read article No. 2 of this document, …

  • France arrests Swiss businessman in the case of Russian billionaire Kerimov

    Swiss businessman Alexander Studhalter has been arrested in France in connection to the case of Russian senator Suleyman Kerimov, who was accused of tax evasion and money laundering, reported the newspaper Nice Matin.

    Studhalter was arrested on January 12; investigators say that the Swiss businessman was a stand-in for Kerimov when the latter was purchasing property in southern France.The Swiss businessman’s attorneys are appealing against the court arrest.

    Kerimov was detained at Nice …

  • Belgium scrambles fighter jets to intercept Russian warplanes

    Two Belgian F-16 fighters scrambled on the morning of January 15th to escort two Russian bombers over the waters of the North Sea, as reported by Le Soir, citing a military source.

    According to the report, the Belgian fighters approached the Russian Tu-160s. No additional information was provided.

    As of last Thursday, January 11th, Belgium is responsible for the security of the airspace of the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg). This mission is performed in turns by the …

  • U.S. aircraft conducts reconnaissance near Crimea

    A U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft carried out a several-hour reconnaissance flight off the coast of the annexed Crimea, as well as near the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation, reported Interfax, citing Western aviation resources.

    “The naval intelligence aircraft, with the tail number 168432 and the call sign PS156, departed from the Sigonella airbase in Sicily, made an approach to the coast of the Krasnodar Territory, and then flew in the area of Novorossiysk …

  • Lithuania releases list of Russians affected by Magnitsky Act

    On Monday the Lithuanian Department of Migration released a list of 49 Russian citizens who are banned from entering Lithuania due to rights violations and money laundering, Delfi news agency reports.

    The list was released last week on the basis of the so-called “Magnitsky Act”, which came into force on January 1 in Lithuania. The list which was published online mentions the names, surnames, dates of birth and nationalities of the people it affects. Notably, the list features the name of …

  • Lavrov: Ukraine violated the Budapest Memorandum not Russia

    By allowing the Maidan (Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity), the Budapest Memorandum was violated by Ukraine, not Russia, which “never used” nuclear weapons against the Ukrainian state, stated Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a press conference in Moscow on Monday, January 15.

    “We have answered these questions many times, including those connected to the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, according to which Ukraine renounced nuclear weapons and Russia pledged not to use nuclear weapons against …

  • Russia has placed 72 Ukrainian soldiers under investigation over the past three years

    In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the Head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin said that since 2014, agents of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation have initiated 146 criminal cases against 72 officials of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including 20 persons from ranks of Ukraine’s highest military leadership.

    "For three years, Ukrainian military personnel have repeatedly fired at civilian objects, including houses, schools, and hospitals in the …

  • Putin compares Lenin’s body to the relics of saints

    In journalist Andrei Kondrashov’s documentary film “Valaam”, Russian President Vladimir Putin compared Communist attitudes toward Vladimir Lenin with the veneration of the saints in Christianity, and he compared the communist ideology to Christianity, Novaya Gazeta writes.

    "The Communist ideology is very much akin to Christianity, in fact. Freedom, brotherhood, equality, justice—it's all laid down in the Holy Scripture. It's all there. And the code of builders of communism, it's a sublimation, …

  • Ukrainian military shot down third Russian drone since the beginning of ceasefire in the Donbas

    Since December 23, when the New Year-Christmas ceasefire in the Donbas began, Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense units have shot down third enemy drone, the press center of the headquarters of the Ukrainian Military in Donbas reports.

    "In the area of the ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operation), the air defense unit shot down a Russian-made Orlan-10 UAV. Since the beginning of the ceasefire (December 23), this is the third downed UAV of this type," the report said.

    It was noted that Orlan-10 is an …