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Russia to fire Iskander-M missile systems during Vostok 2018 exercise
Troops from the missile unit of the 41st Combined Arms Army of Russia’s Central Military District, which is stationed in the Sverdlovsk region, will fire shots from Iskander-M mobile tactical missile systems at the Kapustin Yar training ground as part of the Vostok 2018 military exercises, said the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday.
“Iskander-M missile system crews were transferred earlier to the Astrakhan region by railroad transport. At the training ground, the troops marched to position …
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Kyiv may impose sanctions against Swiss ‘delegation’ for visiting Crimea
The Ukrainian Embassy may initiate sanctions against the Swiss delegation headed by Edward Belzer, a former member of the Council of States of Switzerland, for visiting the annexed Crimea.
As the diplomatic mission reported on September 10, this visit was “a violation of the Ukrainian legislation and contradicts Switzerland's official position on the non-recognition of the attempt to annex the Crimea to Russia”.
“We are sorry, but despite the well-known observance of the supremacy of the …
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Kremlin: Putin has no plans to visit Vostok 2018 military exercises with other leaders
Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have no intention of inviting other world leaders to join him in attending the Vostok 2018 military exercises. His press secretary Dmitry Peskov said there are no plans “[to invite other leaders to visit the exercises] together with the President of Russia,” Interfax reports. Peskov added that does not know if the leaders of other countries will attend the exercises separately.
The Vostok 2018 exercises will be held in Siberia and in the Far East …
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Russia creates an offshore zone on an island that does not exist
One of the two newly created Russian offshore companies on Oktyabrsky Island, cannot be realized, since the island does not exist as a geographical entity, writes the newspaper Vedomosti.
The publication refers to the words of Deputy Finance Minister Ilya Trunin, who complained that his “Kaliningrad colleagues have a basic problem".
”As it turns out, there is no Oktyabrsky Island in the Kaliningrad region. This geographical entity does not exist,” the official noted.
According to the former …
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Russia’s real foreign debt five times higher than official figure
The Russian government’s nominally low foreign debt of $50 billion, at 3.6% of the GDP, is only the tip of the iceberg with respect to the government’s lending to western creditors, finanz.ru reports.
If one takes into account the loans of the state banks and the state corporations and structures which are more than 50% owned by the government, the total foreign debt of the government sector exceeds the official figure by a factor of five, at $255 billion.
These were the figures cited by the …