• EU agrees to extend individual sanctions against Russia for six months

    On Wednesday, ambassadors of the countries of the European Union agreed to extend a package of individual sanctions against Russia for six more months. These sanctions, which provide for the freezing of assets and the ban on obtaining visas, are in place because of Russia’s annexation of the Crimea and the war in the Donbas.

    According to Rikard Jozwiak, the Brussels correspondent for Radio Liberty, the European Union has extended for another six months the sanctions applied to 150 citizens and …

  • Russia plans to replace troop commander in Syria

    The Russian Armed Forces command in Syria may once again be headed by Sergey Surovikin, current Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), RIA Novosti, citing to a source close to the Ministry of Defense.

    According to the source, "this possibility is being discussed." At the same time, as the source specified, in the case of departure to Syria, Surovikin would remain the commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, and his deputy would temporarily perform his duties.Surovikin led …

  • The US State Department estimates that Russia lost $3 billion in cancelled contracts due to sanctions

    Due to new US sanctions, Russia has lost contracts with a number of foreign countries amounting to more than $3 billion, according to Heather Nauert, an official representative of the US State Department's official.

    "We are pleased that some countries have stopped the purchase of certain Russian materials and supplies. We believe somewhere north of $3 billion – we’ve been able to stop those transactions," Nauert said.

    According to her, the United States warned countries around the world on …

  • Russian parliament urges Foreign Ministry to react firmly to extradition of Russians to US

    Mikhail Degtyaryov, head of the State Duma committee on physical culture, sport, tourism and youth affairs, has officially requested information from the Russian Foreign Ministry on the measures taken to ensure the security of Russian nationals abroad, reported RBC news agency with reference to the parliamentary press service.

    Degtyaryov believes that “recently cases of the extraterritorial application of US laws have become more frequent”. “Among the recent examples is the Spanish police’s …

  • Russia will jam cell communications at military bases in Syria

    Russian electronic warfare troops will begin to jam cellular communication on Russian bases in Syria. The order to suppress 2G and 3G cellular communication signals on bases in Khmeimim and Tartus was signed by the chief of the 8th Department of the General Staff, General Yuri Kuznetsov.

    Details were reported on February 20 by RBC news agency, citing a source in the Ministry of Defense. According to the news agency, these measures were taken after the attacks of unmanned aerial vehicles on …