Contents tagged with Russia

  • Kremlin: Russia will respond to deployment of U.S. missile defense systems in South Korea

    The deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile defense system near the Russian border may raise a question about Moscow’s military response, as stated by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.

    “If all this happens at such an alarming rate, it is inevitable that at some point, perhaps, the question will arise about our reaction in the military sense of the word, in the creation of some kind of counterbalance. I do not want to anticipate anything. But you can’t take this or that thing out of context,” …

  • Ukrainian diplomat: Americans have legal right to conduct searches in Russian diplomatic buildings in the US

    US representatives searched the premises of former Russian consular offices in an attempt to find evidence of Russians engaging in prohibited activities, such as interfering with elections, the Ukrainian diplomat Bohdan Yaremenko wrote on Facebook.

    Apparently, the Americans needed to conduct searches inside some of the buildings, free from Russian diplomatic protection. To accomplish this, they gave Russian diplomats insufficient time (only 2 days) for a complete pullout, depriving them of the …

  • Head of SBU: Ukrainian politicians should be disallowed from traveling to Russia

    The head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Vasyl Hrytsak, proposed to legislatively prohibit visits to Russia by members of Parliament, politicians and public figures.

    In answering journalists’ questions on Saturday in Kyiv regarding the decision to introduce biometric control of Russian citizens’ entry to Ukraine in 2018, Hrytsak said, "This will definitely help us in our work. I support the President’s initiative. I would go even further, I would introduce a legislative ban and …

  • Immigration lawyer: Staff from Russian San-Francisco consulate seeking asylum in US

    The President of the law firm, American Corporate Services, Inc., Gregory Finkelson, said that several employees of the Russian consulate in San Francisco appealed to his company asking for political asylum in the United States.

    ”We have already received several calls from employees of the Russian Consulate in San Francisco and are already starting to work with them. They do not want to go back, by the way, and I understand them very well," Finkelson said during a conversation with Russian …

  • Ukraine strengthens its borders ahead of Russian-Belarusian Zapad-2017 military exercises

    The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS) will intensify guarding the borders during the Zapad 2017 joint Russia-Belarus military exercise, as stated by Oleh Slobodyan, an assistant to the head of the SBGS.

    According to Slobodyan, Russian troops began to arrive in Belarus before the beginning of the exercise. Therefore, "it is necessary to control the situation."

    "We started command and staff exercises during which the border line was fortified in all directions without exception, …

  • Ukraine: Construction of Kerch bridge by Russia violates international law

    Russia is violating international maritime law by constructing the Kerch bridge in occupied Crimea, which will cause a reduction in trade between Ukraine and other countries.

    Such an opinion was expressed by the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies (CACDS), Interfax-Ukraine reported.

    As noted in the CACDS statement, contrary to the reassurance given by Russia’s political leadership, the construction of this facility will restrict the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea and …

  • Muzhenko: Russia’s Zapad-2017 military exercises threaten NATO

    The Zapad 2017 exercises have a broader context than it has been announced by Russia. They have the goal of preparing the Russian forces for offensive action, and are a threat both to NATO and to the states of the post-Soviet space, stated Viktor Muzhenko, Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as reported by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

    “We are considering various scenarios of enemy action, including offensive action,” he noted.

    According to …

  • Russia accuses U.S. of seizing its diplomatic facilities

    In a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website on Sunday , Russia has accused the U.S. of seizing its Consulate-General in San Francisco and a trade mission in Washington.

     “On September 2, U.S. authorities seized buildings of the Russian Consulate-General in San Francisco and a trade mission in Washington, which are Russian property and have diplomatic immunity. Russian representatives were also denied access to the leased premises of a trade mission in New York,” the Russian …

  • Lithuanian ambassador to Ukraine: Lithuania concerned about human rights violations in Crimea

    Lithuania is extremely concerned about human rights violations in the annexed Crimea, including the rights of the Crimean Tatars, with whom Lithuania has close historical ties.

    Ukrinform reports that Lithuanian Ambassador to Ukraine Marius Janukonis, who took part in the 4th Baltic-Black Sea Economic Forum as part of a delegation led by the Lithuanian Seimas Chairman Viktoras Pranckietis, spoke about this topic on September 1 at a briefing in Kherson.

    "This is the first such visit at the …

  • Turchynov: Russia remains in Donbas to put pressure on Europe

    Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin are not going to leave the "occupied territory" because he regards the war in the Donbas as a lever of pressure on Europe.

    Secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov stated this at a meeting with the head of the World Congress of Ukrainians, Eugene Czolij, the press service of the National Security and Defense Council reported.

    "Putin is not going to get out of the occupied territory, and for him, the war in the Donbas is …