Contents tagged with Russia

  • European Parliament MP Rebecca Harms called for boycott of 2018 World Cup in Russia

    In an interview with the German publication Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung , Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Rebecca Harms has urged politicians and visitors to boycott the World Cup in Russia.

    "Politicians and visitors should stay away from the 2018 World Cup," Harms said.

    The MEP added that Russia is not a country where it is worth holding such competitions. She named former German President Joachim Gauck, who refused to attend the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014, as a model example. …

  • US general: Russia and China working on new weapons to challenge the US

    Russia and China are creating anti-satellite weapons to reduce the United States’ capabilities and to shift the balance of power in the world, said the Head of the US Strategic Command, General John E. Hyten, Interfax reports.

    "They have been building weapons, testing space weapons that can be controlled from Earth, electronic warfare weapons, laser weapons… and they make no secret of it," noted Hyten and added that in doing so, Moscow and Beijing defy the United States and its allies, …

  • American warplane conducts reconnaissance flight near annexed Crimea

    On Saturday, a U.S. Navy anti-submarine aircraft made a reconnaissance flight near the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea, reports Interfax, citing aviation websites.

    According to their information, the U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft, with tail number 168437 and call sign PS026, departed from the Naval Air Base Sigonella on the Italian island of Sicily and patrolled in the area to the southwest of Sevastopol for several hours.

    After taking off from Italy, the plane’s route took it over …

  • Media: Russian air strikes leave dozens of victims in Syria

    In Syria, as a result of the bombing that was carried out on December 3 by the Syrian military aircraft with the support of the Russian warplanes, at least 19 civilians were killed in the area of East Ghouta, located near the capital of Damascus, reports DW, citing as a source the Syrian Monitoring Center for Human Rights Observance.

    According to observers, the air strikes were inflicted on several cities in Eastern Ghouta. Most of the victims of the bombings were in the city of Hammuria, …

  • Russia armed the Black Sea Fleet with more than 50 warships since annexation of Crimea

    During an interview with the Interfax news agency, Aleksandr Vitko, Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, stated that Moscow has transferred more than 50 new warships, boats and auxiliary vessels for "tasks in the Mediterranean and Black Seas” since 2014.

    "Over the past three years, we have received more than 50 new warships, boats and auxiliary vessels, which without a long commissioning period immediately began realization of tasks ", Interfax quotes Vitko as saying.

    According to Vitko, …

  • Lavrov: US used Russian Zapad-2017 exercises as a pretext to deploy more troops to Poland and Baltics

    Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview for Belarusian television that the US and NATO fears over the Zapad-2017 military exercises were just a pretext for the deployment of troops in Poland and the Baltic States.

    According to Lavrov, "the West was not so much afraid but tried to use the exercises as an excuse to start hysteria."

    "Everyone who wanted to come to these exercises found that everything was transparent. But, amid the growing hysteria, our American colleagues …

  • In one week, 3 Russian citizens requested asylum in Ukraine because of persecution in Russia

    Over the past week, three Russians have asked for political asylum in Ukraine because of the persecution by Russian law enforcement, as reported on the website of the State Border Service.

    "During last week three Russian citizens 45, 38 and 27 years old, who are being persecuted in the Russian Federation, asked employees of the State Border Service of Ukraine for refugee status," the report said.

    Two Russians asked for asylum at the Kyiv Passazhyrsky  checkpoint . They wanted to be recognized …

  • Media: Russia to permanently station Iskander ballistic missiles near Kaliningrad

    Russian newspaper Kommersant reports that Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile systems (SRBMS) will be stationed in the Kaliningrad region on a permanent basis in the near future, citing a source close to the General Staff of Russia.

    Until now, the newest SRBM systems had only been transferred to the region on a temporary basis.

    The publication reports that the Iskanders will be put on combat duty in early 2018. The 152nd Guards Missile Brigade (Chernyakhovsk, Kaliningrad region) will …

  • Moscow prepares for a meeting between Lavrov and Tillerson in Vienna

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia has announced the possibility of a meeting between the heads of the foreign affairs agencies of the United States and Russia, to occur in Vienna on December 7-8, Radio Liberty reports.

    The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that a meeting in Vienna between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is "being worked out."

    The US Department of State previously reported that a meeting between Lavrov and Tillerson had …

  • Media: Russia halts development of 'nuclear train' due to the lack of funding

    The development of the Barguzin new generation railway strategic missile train (BZhRK) for Russia’s Strategic Missile Troops has been put on hold, as reported by journalists from the Rossiyskaya Gazeta – Russian Weaponry project, with reference to a source in Russia’s military and industrial complex.

    “The development work on the Barguzin has been done. The experiment with an ejection launch was carried out successfully,” the Rossiyskaya Gazeta notes. At the beginning of this year, President …