• Russia considers penalizing companies for complying with western sanctions

    Vladislav Reznik, a member of the United Russia party, has proposed amendments to legislation that would effectively force out of the Russian market all of the companies and organizations that comply with western sanctions against the Russian banking system, Vedomosti reports, citing Reznik himself.

    The Russian MP proposed new rules which stipulate that, if a company is found to be in breach of a contract due to compliance with external sanctions, then the Bank of Russia will put it and its …

  • Defence Minister Poltorak: Ukraine will continue sending its ships through the Kerch Strait

    Ukrainian ships will continue navigation through the Kerch Strait, stated Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak during the 12th Kyiv Security Forum. The Defense Minister stated that abandoning the navigation through the Kerch strait would mean that Ukraine surrenders the Sea of Azov and its territory.

    “We will carry out the navigation through the Kerch Strait, because if we abandon such voyages, it will mean that we abandon the Sea of Azov and our territory,” said Stepan Poltorak. …

  • General involved in Russia's operation to annex Crimea to head Russian forces in Syria

    Russian Colonel General Andrey Serdyukov, who commanded the operation to seize Crimea in 2014, led the Russian military group in Syria, reports the Russian newspaper Kommersan" quoting its sources.

    The Russian Ministry of Defense has not officially commented regarding this information.

    According to Kommersant, Serdyukov was appointed as the commander of the Russian contingent in Syria on April 10, replacing Colonel General Sergei Surovikin, who commanded the military groups in Syria longer …

  • Poland denies entry to Russian sailing ship because of Crimean cadets on board

    On Friday, the press secretary of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ewa Suwara, announced that the Polish government denied entry into its territorial waters to the Russian sailing ship Sedov carrying cadets from the city 0f Kerch, reports the Polish Press Agency.

    “The prime minister’s decision is negative. We believe that allowing the ship to enter Poland’s territorial waters would contradict the policy of respecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the non-recognition of the …

  • Poland: cause of ex-Polish President Kaczynski’s plane crash near Smolensk was an explosion

    The cause of ex-Polish President Lech Kaczyński’s plane crash near Smolensk was an explosion, said the chairman of the subcommittee on the re-investigation of the Smolensk disaster Antoni Macierewicz.

    He confirmed once again that the crash of the Tu-154M in April 2010 was not caused by a pilot error or the actions of other people on board. Doing so, he referenced the British Forensic Explosives Laboratory experts who had analyzed more than 200 samples given to them by the Polish National …