• Russia calls presence of US warships in the Black Sea a ‘provocation’

    Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu called constant visits of American and other warships to the Black Sea a "provocation".

    "This is, you know, an almost constant attempt to test us, to check how ready we are, how much we have built the entire system along the Black Sea coast, in general in the south of our country. They (the United States) are not alone in this, in such inspections and in such campaigns," Shoygu said on TV Channel Russia 1.

    According to him, the Russian military is …

  • Der Spiegel: Germany ignored Poland's position on Nord Stream 2

    The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy did not take into account Poland's position in its assessment for the certification of the Russian Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, Der Spiegel reports.

    At the end of October, the Ministry sent to the German Federal Network Agency (the regulatory office for energy sector) an analysis of the reliability of gas supplies. It said that the issuance of the certificate "does not jeopardize the security of gas supplies to Germany and the European …

  • Belarusian soldiers threaten to shoot at Polish border guards

    The Polish Defense Ministry reported about the worsening situation on the Belarusian border due to a large influx of illegal immigrants.

    According to the Polish Defense Ministry, Belarusian soldiers threatened Polish border guards with weapons while trying to move a large group of illegal immigrants across the border.

    The incident occurred on November 3. Polish border guards found a huge group of about 250 illegal migrants trying to cross the border. They were accompanied by Belarusian …

  • Russian diplomat found dead in Berlin

    A Russian diplomat was found dead near the embassy building in Berlin, Der Spiegel reported, citing sources in German intelligence and security forces.

    The body of a 35-year-old man was discovered on the morning of October 19 by German police officers responsible for guarding an area around the Russian diplomatic buildings a few hundred meters from the Brandenburg Gate.

    Medics who arrived at the scene were unable to resuscitate him, and the police concluded that he probably "fell out of the …

  • Russia prepares to absorb Belarus as Minsk's debt mounts

    Russian President Vladimir Putin and self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko put their signatures under the integration decree of the Union State, approving 28 programs in the areas from gas price regulation and defense to central banks policy.

    The document, the preparation for which was going slowly for more than three years and accelerated dramatically after the elections in Belarus, was signed via a videoconference on Thursday.

    Russia will continue to "provide assistance …