• Levada Center ordered to pay fine for failing to register as a foreign agent

    Moscow’s Tverskoy Court has ordered that the Levada Center pay a fine of 300,000 rubles ($4,800) for failing to register as a foreign agent, Interfax reported.

    In September, the non-governmental research organization was officially included on the list of non-profit organizations (NGOs) that perform the functions of a foreign agent on Russian territory.

    The Center has repeatedly denied that it is associated with foreign governments.

    The Tverskoy Court determined on Wednesday that the Levada …

  • Russian Defense Ministry: Russia and Syria haven't bombed Aleppo for a week

    The Russian and Syrian Air Forces have completely stopped flights over Aleppo during the last seven days, stated the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, on Tuesday, October 25. “Aircraft do not approach the city and do not attack,” Konashenkov said. According to the colonel, six humanitarian corridors continue to work for civilians on a round-the-clock basis; points providing hot meals and first aid are open.

    A representative from the Defense Ministry …

  • U.S. surveillance aircraft fly near the Crimea and Russia's flotilla in the Mediterranean

    U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft flew along the coast of the Crimea on Wednesday, Interfax reported. A separate surveillance aircraft flew near Russia’s warships in the Mediterranean Sea, according to websites that track the movement of military aircraft.

    The first U.S. plane reportedly took off from the Sigonella Naval Air Station in Sicily, where it proceeded to fly over the Black Sea south of the Crimean coast.

    The second aircraft also took off from Signolla, and flew over the eastern …

  • Media: Russia is strengthening its military presence in the Baltics

    According to the Russian Izvestia newspaper, Russia is reinforcing its Baltic fleet with a division of small Buyan-M type missile corvettes equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles. In addition a new coastal defense brigade equipped with Bastion and Bal missile systems will be deployed in Kaliningrad.

    Russian military experts believe that these modern weapon systems will allow for the strengthening of defense around the Kaliningrad region in the view of the increased NATO military presence in the …

  • Chechen oligarch’s daughter is 'getting sick at the mere thought' of returning to Russia

    Elina Bazhaeva, 22-year-old daughter to Chechen oil tycoon Musa Bazhaev and a student of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, shared her impressions on the trip across the United States with her subscribers on social networks. Elina visited the U.S. with her husband, 25-year-old entrepreneur Bek Ali Khan Mamakaev.

    In response to the question posed by her subscriber, “Where is better, in the United States or in Russia?” Elina answered quite categorically: “Everywhere is better …