• Putin intends to dispel Estonian security fears

    In meeting with Estonian President  Kersti Kaljulaid, Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to dispel Estonian security concerns about its neighbor to the east. This was relayed in a telephone interview to the Postimees newspaper by the press secretary of the Russian Head of State, Dmitry Peskov. He also defined one of the main goals of the meeting.

    “Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to dispel Estonian security fears in meeting with Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid,” said Peskov in …

  • Putin sends birthday wishes to former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder

    President Vladimir Putin sent birthday wishes to former German Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Russian oil giant Rosneft, Gerhard Schroeder, on his 75th anniversary, said Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov as quoted by  TASS.

    Peskov noted that Putin called Schröder and wished him success.

    Putin and Schroeder has maintained friendly relations from the time Schroeder served as chancellor of Germany. Schroeder also chairs the Nord Stream AG shareholder committee and sided …

  • Chairman of Ukraine’s Parliament: Children in Crimea are being trained for war against Ukraine

    Russia is using its education system in annexed Crimea as a weapon against motherland Ukraine, said Andriy Parubiy, Chairman of Ukraine’s parliament, at the 140th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Qatar.

    “The children of Ukrainian citizens in the illegally occupied territory are being forcibly indoctrinated and turned into supporters of the Russian imperial idea. Russia, in breach of international humanitarian law, is deliberately training the Ukrainian citizens residing in Crimea …

  • Russian production of spacecraft and missiles decreases dramatically

    The production of high-tech manufacturing industries has decreased by almost 5% after two years of growth, RBC reported. The decline was caused by the collapse in production of civilian and military aircraft, helicopters, spacecraft and intercontinental missiles.

    According to the news agency, in 2018, the production of Russian aircraft, including spacecraft, decreased by 13.5%, although in 2014-2017, the production was growing by 9-20% annually.

    The decline continued in early 2019. The …

  • Nearly one quarter of Russians lack access to sewerage systems

    In modern Russia, 22.6% of the population does not have access to centralized sewerage systems, according to a survey performed by the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) in September 2018. The investigation into the quality of life in Russia showed that most of these families (16.8%) use a pipe to a pit latrine, and 5.8% of Russians simply lack any sewerage system.

    There is no centralized sewerage system for 66.5% of Russians residing in rural areas (half of them use pit …