Contents tagged with Russia

  • U.S. builds new military base in northern Syria

    The U.S.-led coalition forces have begun building a new military base in northern Syria, where Russia has been trying to establish its presence, reported Russian Telegram-channel " the Military Observer" which monitors the Syrian conflict.

    It is noted that the new base is being built in rural areas in Deir ez-Zor province, which is home to a third of Syria's oil deposits. Russia is very interested in this territory and it has repeatedly made attempts to take control of it. One such attempt a …

  • Putin signs law allowing Kremlin to fine YouTube and social networks

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved an amendment to the Code on Administrative Offences, which will allow to fine foreign Internet platforms that allow discrimination against Russian state media.

    The document provides for sanctions for non-compliance with the regulations of the Russian media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, which previously received the right to block or slow down access to resources listed as violators by the Prosecutor General's Office and the Foreign Ministry.

    According …

  • Largest investor leaves Nord Stream 2

    Germany's Wintershall Dea no longer plans to provide funding to the Nord Stream 2 project, the company said in a annual report.

    "The Group‘s involvement with the Nord Stream 2 project is limited to the provision of loans together with four major European energy companies (ENGIE, OMV, Shell and Uniper). The company‘s loan payments to Nord Stream 2 AG amount to €730 million and were completed prior to the revision of the ‘Countering America‘s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act ‘CAATSA‘ Section 232 …

  • Armenian Prime Minister: during Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Russian missiles worked only 10 percent of the time

    During the war in Nagorno-Karabakh in the autumn of 2020, the Russian Iskander missiles in service with Armenian Armed Forces did not exploded "or exploded only 10% of the time", said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in an interview with the website 1in.am.

    Answering the journalist's question: "How is it possible?", Pashinyan replied: "I don't know... Maybe it’s an 80s weapon."

    Pashinyan’s comments came in response to the words of the country's former Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan that …

  • Washington imposes sanctions on Russian pipe-laying ship working on Nord Stream 2

    The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Fortuna pipe-laying ship and its owner, which are involved in the construction of Russia's Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, as stated on the website of the U.S. Treasury Department.

    Last December, Fortuna's specialized barge laid about 2.6 km of pipeline in German waters, after a nearly year-long hiatus in construction due to U.S. sanctions.

    Now the ship, which flies the Russian flag, has been added to the list of companies and entities that …

  • EU prepares to impose sanctions on Russia over Navalny’s prosecution

    The European Council may impose new sanctions against the Russian authorities in connection with the persecution of Alexei Navalny, said the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn.

    According to him, the new measures should be legally indisputable and directed against officials from Russian law enforcement agencies.

    Asselborn noted that during his tenure, the crisis in relations between Russia and the EU has never been so deep. The Minister believes that Alexei …

  • Pro-Russian militants suffer heavy losses during fire exchange with Ukrainian troops in Donbas

    On February 20, pro-Russian militants in the Donbas suffered heavy losses after their positions were shelled by the Ukrainian military, reports Ukrainian news outlet Censor.NET with reference to pro-Russian Telegram channels.

    One channel, Sladkov+, wrote that after Ukraine slammed sanctions on Putin’s friend, Viktor Medvedchuk, the situation in the Donbas escalated. According to the channel, the losses of pro-Russian militants are more significant than officially reported.

    This information …

  • Kyiv: 400,000 Ukrainians affected by war in Donbas

    Minister for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov said at a briefing for UN member states that almost 14,000 Ukrainians have been killed in the war in the Donbas.

    "The war, to some extent, directly affected about 10 million Ukrainians, residents of these regions, as well as citizens of Ukraine, who have gone through conscription in the army, members of their families, etc.," he said.

    “To date, 400,000 of our citizens have been affected by …

  • Russia to scrap world's largest nuclear cruiser

    The nuclear battlecruiser Admiral Lazarev will be sent for disposal, reports Interfax, citing materials of the Russian government’s procurement website.

    The Admiral Lazarev battlecruiser, one of the four Kirov-class cruisers (Soviet designation Project 1144 Orlan), was launched when Brezhnev was in power. This is one of the heaviest and largest ships in the world.

    The decision to dispose of the ship was made after assessing its technical condition, an industry source told Interfax.

    "Its …

  • Russia expels Estonian diplomat in tit-for-tat

    Estonian authorities expelled a Russian diplomat from the country, announced at a briefing the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

    "The newly sworn-in Government of Estonia may have decided to show loyalty to Washington and Brussels in this way. The Russian Embassy diplomat in Tallinn was announced persona non grata without any justification. He was responsible for culture, education, that is, just those areas where cooperation still remains," she said.

    "The Russian …