• US State Department tells companies that there are many risks in doing business with Russia

    The US State Department confirmed that it is working with representatives of the business community in order to convince companies to not do business with Russia in the usual way, RIA Novosti reported. “We continue to clearly state in communications with US companies that we believe that a return to the usual means of conducting business with Russia causes both economic and reputation risks,” the agency quoted the unnamed representative of the US State Department as saying.

    According to the …

  • Russian S7 Airline finds way to circumvent ban on flights over Ukraine

    The largest private Russian airline company, S7 Airlines, wants to provide service through another airline in Bulgaria’s capital for flights from Moscow to Europe through Ukraine, RIA Novosti reported.

    “Yes, we have sent the documents for the registration and purchase of the local airline company. Ukraine’s airspace is closed to us and it is impossible to fly to Bulgaria while bypassing Ukraine,” S7 co-owner, Natalya Fileva, stated in her interview with journalists.

    She noted that a few …

  • UNESCO: Crimean Chersonesus Site does not belong to Russia

    UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) doesn’t recognize the Chersonesos Taurica museum and reserve as being under Russian control. “Today, UNESCO doesn’t recognize this. A vote was held in the United Nations that Crimea is not yet recognized as a part of Russia in the international legal understanding of this issue,” the Permanent Delegate of the Russian Federation to UNESCO, Eleonora Mitrofanova said.

    According to Mitrofanova, Kiev holds that the …

  • Novaya Gazeta article on Nemtsov murder raises new questions

    Russian independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, has published a lengthy article entitled "How Boris Nemtsov was killed”.  The authors of this article belong to the investigations departments of the newspaper, and wrote that the name of Nemtsov’s murderer was reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 2nd of last year.  The article also mentions that the report of the Director of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, stated that the perpetrators of the crime were members of the Chechen …

  • Lawyer says the exchange of Sentsov and Kolchenko will only be possible after Ukraine sentences 2 Russian soldiers

    Lawyer Svetlana Sidorkina said that the exchange of her clients who were detained in Russia, Crimean activist Alexander Kolchenko and Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov, is only possible when two members of the Russian Special Forces, who were arrested in Ukraine, are sentenced.

    "As long as a final decision isn't made, I believe that the question of the exchange will not be considered. Although, I still hope that the issue of the exchange will be the subject of negotiations by the two countries, …