• Klintsevich: Russia will complete operation in Syria before year’s end

    The First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, Franz Klintsevich, has predicted that the fight against the Islamic state (IS) in Syria will be completed before the end of this year. In addition, he predicts that Russian military aircraft will leave the country during this time, RIA Novosti reports.

    Klintsevich commented thusly on statements made at a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria:

    "Yes, these …

  • Russian billionaire detained in France over tax evasion

    Russian businessman Suleyman Kerimov, a member of Russia’s Federation Council was detained in Nice, France, TASS reported with reference to the press service of the Russian Embassy in France.

    "Suleyman Kerimov was detained late in the evening of November 20 at Nice airport. He was transferred to the police station," the diplomatic mission announced.

    The French have not officially reported any charges or allegations against Kerimov. The Russian Senator is currently in police custody in Nice. …

  • Russian plane violates Estonian airspace

    A Russian Il-76 plane violated Estonia’s airspace, the Estonian Defense Forces headquarters reported.

    The headquarters’ press service reported to Interfax news agency on Tuesday that “today at lunchtime, an Il-76 state airplane of the Russian Federation entered the airspace in the region of the Vaindloo island without authorization”.

    The plane was reportedly in Estonian airspace for less than a minute. Its transponder was active and a flight plan had been filed. The plane made no radio …

  • Media: Kremlin gave LPR leader Plotnitsky final chance to rectify situation in the republic

    In the conflict between the head of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky and LPR Interior Minister Igor Kornet, whom Plotnitsky fired, the Kremlin has sided with the latter, a source close to Russian Presidential Aide Vladislav Surkov told RBC news agency.

    The source noted that Plotnitsky is not yet being threatened with dismissal – he has been given a “final chance”.

    “If Donetsk is quite independent from the Kremlin, and essentially their relationship can be …

  • Complaint filed with FSB in response to speech given by Russian student at Bundestag

    Elena Kukushkina, a Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Russia), has filed a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office regarding a student from Novy Urengoy who spoke at a meeting of Russian and German children at the German Bundestag on the Day of Sorrow,Komsomolskaya Pravda has reported.

     Around the same time, Yekaterinburg-based blogger Sergei Kolyasnikov filed a complaint with the FSB.

    Nikolai Desyatnichenko, a pupil of Novy Urengoy Gymnasium No. 1, …