• Ukrainian MFA: Ban of Crimean Tatar Mejlis is reminiscent of forced deportations in 1944

    According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign affairs, the attempts of the Russian-Crimean authorities to ban the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People is evidence that Russia is attempting to oust the Crimean Tatars from the occupied Peninsula, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

    "We regard the plans for the banishment of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People on the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea to be a deliberate imposition by Moscow of a sentence on the presence of the Crimean Tatar people …

  • So-called Donetsk People's Republic begins mass distribution of passports

    The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has begun to issue its own passports to the population in the separatist areas of the Donetsk region. The leader of the self-proclaimed state and rebel group, of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, called this an important step towards state building, as quoted by Interfax.

    According to Zakharchenko, who was one of the first to get the DPR issued document, passports will initially be issued to young people (including 34, …

  • Putin: Operation in Syria cost Russia $485 million

    Russia’s military action in Syria has cost about 33 billion rubles ($485 million), according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    "The military operation in Syria, of course, required certain spending but the main part was from Defense Ministry’s resources - around 33 billion rubles. This was included in the ministry’s 2015 budget for holding drills and military training. We just redirected these resources for supporting the group in Syria," Putin said on Thursday.

    On March 14th, Putin …

  • Chechen ombudsman demands criminal case be brought against Russian journalist

    Chechen ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhiyev addressed the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (SKR) with an appeal to open a criminal case against Elena Milashina, a correspondent with Novaya Gazeta. From the ombudsman’s official website he accused Milashina of spreading false information about Magomed Daudov, Speaker of the Chechen Parliament. Nukhazhiyev alleged that Milashina’s aim was to discredit the speaker’s honor and dignity.

    The issue is based on Milashina’s article published in …

  • Iraqi Kurds hope for more weapons from Russia

    Iraqi Kurds are expecting the delivery of hundreds of Russian ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns, according to a representative of northern Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Moscow, Aso Talabani, as reported by Interfax.

    On March 14th, Russia gave the Kurdish Peshmerga forces five such anti-aircraft installations.

    “I hope there will be more supplies. Russia delivered five installations the day before, and I think this is just the beginning,” Talabani told Interfax.

    "We need hundreds of …