• Belarusian President Lukashenko threatens to break off alliance with Russia

    Russia risks losing its “sole ally” in the west, Belarus, if it refuses to compensate Minsk for the losses arising from a Russian tax maneuver in the oil sector, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Interfax in an interview. 

    According to Lukashenko, if the monetary dispute with Russia’s leaders is not resolved, it will not be a catastrophe for Belarus. 

    The amount in question is in the region of $400 million per year, the amount that the Belarusian budget earns from the fact that …

  • US reports that a Russian military satellite has burnt down

    Russian spacecraft Kosmos-2430, which is part of the missile attack warning system Oko, has ceased its orbital existence on January 5th, TASS reported , with reference to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) data.

    According to the data, the satellite deorbited and burned down in the atmosphere. According to unconfirmed data, connection with Kosmos-2430 was lost back in 2012-2014, at the end of the satellite life span. 

    The spacecraft was launched into space on October 23, 2007, …

  • Ukraine refuses to register Russian observers for Presidential Elections

    The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will not accept applications for registration of Russian observers for the Ukrainian Presidential Elections, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin wrote on Facebook. 

    Klimkin said that several days ago, he wrote a letter to Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). He invited the monitoring mission for the Ukrainian Presidential elections. 

    “Among other standard things I pointed out that …

  • Turkey wants to invite Russia and Iran to monitor withdrawal of US troops from Syria

    Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke about the need to exercise joint control with Russia and Iran over the withdrawal of the US troops from Syria. 

    “The United States faces some difficulties withdrawing the US troops from Syria. We want to coordinate this process together with Russia and Iran, with whom we have been working in the framework of the Astana process,” the minister said as reported by NTV TV channel. The Foreign Minister spoke about the need for coordination to prevent …

  • Russia sends guided-missile destroyer Severomorsk to the Black Sea

    On Wednesday morning, the guided-missile destroyer Severomorsk (hull number 519) of the Russian Northern Fleet  entered the Black Sea, as reported by Bosphorus Strait marine spotter Yoruk Isik, on his Twitter blog.

    “Russia brings real fire power to Black Sea. Backbone of the Fleet: Project 1155 Northern Fleet Udaloy class destroyer, armed with SA-N-9 Gauntlet/Kinzhal & SS-N-14 Silex/Rastrub & 533mm torpedoes, Severomorsk 619 transited Bosphorus en route to Sevastopol,” Yoruk Isik wrote.

    The …