• Moscow and Kiev Disagree On Sequence of Proposed Peace Plan in Donbas

    Boris Gryzlov, the representative of Russia in the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in the Donbass visited Kiev. Unfortunately, Gryzlov’s visit yielded no results. There remain serious differences in opinions between Moscow and Kiev about the how the war should end. This information was relayed by Apostrophe from a source in one of the European observation missions in Ukraine.

    According to the source, Gryzlov has brought President Vladimir Putin's proposal to Kiev. …

  • Russia Prepared To Reduce Sanctions Against Turkey To Complete World Cup Projects

    The Kremlin is ready to reduce sanctions against Turkish construction companies in order to complete construction projects for the World Cup Championship that is to be held in the Russian Federation in 2018. The reduction of sanctions can affect about 30 Turkish construction companies. According to Kommersant, the total cost of these works is estimated at 60 billion rubles (approximately $784 million).

    Moreover, developers can be allowed to stay in Russia under the condition that they will …

  • Russian Agriculture Minister Denied German Visa

    The Russian Minister of Agriculture was denied a German visa. Alexander Tkachev, who was going to visit the agricultural exhibition in Berlin, was denied an entry visa because at the time of his request, he was listed on an EU sanctions list. As a result, the Ministry said that Russia no longer considers it possible for them to participate in the event.

    "Russia was going to take part in the World Food and Agricultural Exhibition at Green Week 2016, but due to the fact that the German Foreign …

  • Two Czech Deputies Visit Donetsk, Spark Outrage

    On January 14th, two Deputies, Communists of the Czech Republic, Zdenek Ondracek and Stanislav Markovic travelled from Russian Federation territory to an area in Donetsk controlled by illegal armed groups.

    The Foreign Ministry released a statement on Friday that expressed its vehement protest at the illegal entry of the two Czechs into the territory of Ukraine as they visited the temporarily occupied Donetsk region. The Foreign Ministry pointed out that this trip was not coordinated with …

  • Authorities in Russia's Komi Republic accused of ordering destruction of books

    Russian authorities in the Northern Republic of Komi have been accused of ordering the destruction of dozens of books and the removal of hundreds of others from university libraries in the region on the grounds that they contain “elements alien to Russian ideology and form a distorted perception of the country's history.” The books, the majority of which were humanities textbooks, were published with money from the Soros Foundation, a philanthropic organization which in November of 2015 was …