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Yeltsin’s associate: Ukraine was forced to take Crimea in 1954
The first President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, when offered to conclude a deal with Kyiv, under which Crimea would be given to Russia, and Ukraine, in turn, would receive free gas for ten years, said: "Whey do we need this Crimea, this Sevastopol. We have free piers in St. Petersburg, we will move the fleet there," said Mikhail Poltoranin, a well-known Soviet and Russian politician, in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon.
"It was a good deal, not only to snatch Crimea for free, …
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Russian mercenaries in Central African Republic accused of rape, torture and executions
Radio France Internationale (RFI) published an investigation into the crimes of Russian "instructors" in the Central African Republic (CAR), which is based on the stories of dozens of witnesses and reports of human rights organizations.
The main source of information in the article under the headline "In the Central African Republic, victims of Russian atrocities broke the law of silence" is the report of a special working group of the UN. It reports that between January and mid-April this …
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Russia’s mortality rate reaches record high
Russia continues to record a sharp acceleration of natural population decline and double-digit increase in mortality on a scale that official statistics have not seen for more than 70 years.
As of March, 191,320 people died in the country, Interfax reports, citing data of the Federal State Statistics Service, Rosstat.
Compared to February, the mortality rate increased by 18,648 people, or 10.7%. The increase in mortality was 25.3% annually and compared to February it accelerated by 4.7 …
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Germany suspends construction of Nord Stream 2
The permit for the construction of Nord Stream 2 in Germany economic zone in the Baltic Sea has been suspended, reports Interfax citing German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH).
The permit, which was in effect until the end of May and applies to a 16-kilometer stretch of pipeline under construction, has been suspended due to a lawsuit filed by environmentalists, said a representative of BSH.
In April, Germany's Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) tried to challenge …
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Ukrainian companies file $4.5 billion in lawsuits against Russia
Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Yenin said that Ukrainian companies, which lost profits and assets due to Russia's annexation of Crimea, have already filed lawsuits in international courts for more than $4.5 billion.
"We actively encourage our enterprises, which have lost their property, lost their income, to go to arbitration and to fight again and again with the Russia for all that they have lost," said Yenin on air of the TV channel "Dom".
According to Yenin, lawsuits from …