• Russia to bolster defense in Armenia

    Last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Armenian counterpart Seyran Ohanyan signed an agreement on the creation of a Joint Regional Air Defense System in the Caucasian Collective Security Region.

    “During the talks, we discussed a broad range of issues of cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres. The plans of bilateral cooperation of the defense ministries were signed for the next year,” Shoigu stated.

    Armenia is home to two Russian military bases and 4,000-5 …

  • Russian ruble hits lowest level in a year

    On December 30th, the Russian ruble reached its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in a year, falling to 73 rubles and 20 kopecks to the dollar.

    The ruble lost 40 percent of its value last year. Its present value is 20 percent lower than a year ago. This is an indication of how the Russian economy has suffered from Western economic sanctions and falling oil prices.

    Russia's economy was hit hard by the sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and other countries. The …

  • Ukraine introduces a moratorium on payment of $3 billion to Russia

    The Ukrainian Government confirmed its decision to impose a moratorium on the payment of debt to the Russian Federation worth $3 billion, that was loaned to the government of Viktor Yanukovych in 2013. In December of 2015, it was recognized as an official debt of Ukraine.

    This was said by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk during a Cabinet meeting.

    "We succeeded in stopping the military aggression of Russia, and now we are stopping the economic, financial and diplomatic …

  • FSB agents now allowed to use force against women and children

    The State Duma of the Russian Federation passed a bill expanding the Federal Security Service’s (FSB) the power to use weapons. The MPs approved the bill via an emergency order, which was then signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    The new law authorizes officers of the FSB in some cases to use weapons "against women, persons with obvious signs of disability" and minors.  The law was posted on the internet via the Russian Federation's official legal portal on Wednesday, December 3 …

  • Despite ceasefire violations, Ukraine will not abandon Minsk Agreement

    During a visit to the Aerotekhnika-MLT Company to examine the production and modernization of air defense systems, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, spoke about ceasefire violations and the Minsk Agreements.

    The news agency Ukrinform reported Turchynov as saying "Russia has completely disrupted the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. Of course, the Minsk process is not halted. It will continue next year and, hopefully, more effectively …