In October 2017, about 236,000 tons of coal were exported from the separatist-controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and sent from Russia to Europe, which is about 13.5% or 28,000 tons more than in September of this year (about 208,000 tons), as reported by LIGA.net, citing data from RZD Holdings (Russian Railways) and the FCS (Russian Federal Customs Service).

According to the report, in October, 73% of all coal, or 172,900 tons, belonged to four Russian companies: Gas Alliance, …

First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Frants Klintsevich, while commenting on a ban on the participation of Russian military equipment in a British international airshow, which will be held in 2018, stated that best demonstration site in the world today for Russian weapons is Syria, newspaper Izvestia reports.

The Airshow’s public relations arm explained earlier that the ban on the demonstration of Russian military equipment at the Farnborough …

The European Union added the "Governor" of Sevastopol, Dmitry Ovsyannikov to the sanctions list established by Resolution 269/2014 regarding "actions that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine." This was reported in the journal of the European Union.

"Ovsyannikov was elected the Governor of Sevastopol after elections held on September 10, 2017, organized by Russia in illegally-annexed Sevastopol,” the journal explained as the reason for …

The Standing Committee of the Parliament Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has received a request to hold an extraordinary meeting to consider lifting sanctions on the Russian Federation and to reinstate its delegation on the assembly’s panel.

The debate over lifting the sanctions was set on the agenda of the PACE’s Standing Committee meeting to take place on November 24th in Copenhagen.

There is no direct mention of Russia on the agenda. The agenda item is listed as Defending the …

The First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, Franz Klintsevich, has predicted that the fight against the Islamic state (IS) in Syria will be completed before the end of this year. In addition, he predicts that Russian military aircraft will leave the country during this time, RIA Novosti reports.

Klintsevich commented thusly on statements made at a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria:

"Yes, these …

Russian businessman Suleyman Kerimov, a member of Russia’s Federation Council was detained in Nice, France, TASS reported with reference to the press service of the Russian Embassy in France.

"Suleyman Kerimov was detained late in the evening of November 20 at Nice airport. He was transferred to the police station," the diplomatic mission announced.

The French have not officially reported any charges or allegations against Kerimov. The Russian Senator is currently in police custody in Nice. …

Belarus recently announced that the adviser of the Embassy of Ukraine in Belarus, Ihor Skvortsov was persona non-grata. To reciprocate, Ukraine expelled the Belarusian diplomat from the country, said Mariana Betsa, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

"Because the Belarusians declared persona non-grata and expelled a Ukrainian diplomat, Ukraine, guided by the principle of reciprocity, also expelled the Belarusian diplomat from the country," Betsa told Interfax- …

A Russian Il-76 plane violated Estonia’s airspace, the Estonian Defense Forces headquarters reported.

The headquarters’ press service reported to Interfax news agency on Tuesday that “today at lunchtime, an Il-76 state airplane of the Russian Federation entered the airspace in the region of the Vaindloo island without authorization”.

The plane was reportedly in Estonian airspace for less than a minute. Its transponder was active and a flight plan had been filed. The plane made no radio …