• EU diplomats warned about Russian and Chinese spies in Brussels

    The European Union External Action Service (EEAS) warned European diplomats and military about espionage by Russian and Chinese intelligence services, Die Welt reported with a reference to diplomats and the data of the EEAS.

    According to the European Union External Action Service, there are about 250 Chinese and 200 Russian spies in Brussels. Diplomats told the newspaper that they have been warned against visiting certain places, in particular, a cafe near the European Commission (Berlaymont) …

  • Russia not getting paid for arms shipments

    Russia has started making arms shipments without receiving payment due to the US sanctions that prohibit dollar transactions for Russia’s defense-related export company, Rosoboronexport, finanz.ru reports.

    The Russian Federal Customs Service’s (FCS) final statistics for 2018 appear to indicate that some of Russia’s weapons are being sold abroad for free, according to a review by Raiffeisen Bank analysts.

    By the end of the year, Russia’s export revenue had grown by 25.8% to $443 billion, which …

  • Ukrainian Border Service: pro-Russian militants use laser weapons in Donbas

    The Ukrainian State Border Service reported that Ukrainian border guards once again saw evidence of the use of laser weapons by pro-Russian militants in the Donbas. 

    “Starting 10 pm on February 8th until 4 am on Saturday, in the area of the Stanytsia Luhanska checkpoint, border guards providing protection to the road corridor recorded light purple beams from the temporarily occupied territory every two to three minutes,” says the message. 

    The State Border Service stated that due to the …

  • Putin accepts invitation to visit Italy

    Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted an invitation to visit Italy, stated the Russian Ambassador in Rome, Sergey Razov in an interview with RIA Novosti. 

    “With regard to the Russian President's visit to Italy, the relevant invitation from the Italian leadership was received and accepted with appreciation,” he noted. Razov added that they will agree on a specific time frame later through diplomatic channels. 

    Razov stressed that Putin's visit to Italy could be a key event in bilateral …

  • Kremlin: Russia is ready to continue gas transit through Ukraine on its own terms

    Russia is ready to continue the transit of gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine, stated the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Alexander Pankin in an interview with RIA Novosti. “We are ready to continue Ukrainian transit, but under the conditions we need,” explained Pankin. At the same time, according to him, there is "a whole range of elements that Ukrainians cannot go for yet", as well as "the uncertainty of Ukraine itself regarding its gas-transport system, its successor, consortium, and …