Russia’s Federal State Unitary Enterprise “General Radio Frequency Center” (GRFC) has created a special department which investigates and analyses means of blocking websites and online services, and how to bypass the blocking, said Roskomnadzor (Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) head Alexander Zharov, newspaper Izvestiya reports.

“They [the department] practice blocking all the resources which would have to be blocked if they …

In an interview with TV Rain (Dozhd), founder of Open Russia political initiative Khodorkovsky said he was happy to congratulate Putin on his 65th birthday. "If Vladimir Vladimirovich found the strength to separate himself from the country (from the point of view of its management), then I think our country would finally see some prospects for the future, as would Putin himself. I really wish this for him," Khodorkovsky said.

Khodorkovsky recalled that he also had congratulated the President …

A wealthy Odessa businessman, Boris Kogan, who started working as a taxi driver and got rich on the international arms trade, died at his home on October 6, as reported by a local newspaper, Dumskaya, with reference to sources close to the businessman. Kommersant reported that Kogan died suddenly due to heart problems.

Kogan was a minority shareholder and a member of the RT-Logistics board, 51% of which belongs to the Russian state. The company is a part of the Rostec consortium, dealing with …

Flight crews of Su-30SM multi-role fighter planes of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia have executed sea target bombings, the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry reported. A small-sized ship was used as a target for naval aviators to fulfill the task of destroying the mock enemy.

"The results of direct hits are confirmed by telemetry and visually from unmanned aerial vehicles. To ensure the safety of combat exercises, more than 20 warships and auxiliary vessels, as well as aircraft of …

Amnesty International, an international human rights organization, demanded that the Russian authorities "immediately and unconditionally" release all detained protesters and investigate allegations of police abuse of power in St. Petersburg and Yakutsk, as reported by the Russian broadcast of Radio Liberty.

The Amnesty International statement notes that the rallies took place in many cities in Russia on Vladimir Putin’s birthday.

"The intention of the Kremlin is beyond doubt - to deprive the …

Negotiations between Russian Presidential Assistant Vladislav Surkov and US State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker were constructive, RBC news agency reports quoting Surkov as saying.

"We discussed the draft resolution of the UN on the Donbas proposed by Russia, and understanding was found on a number of positions. Most of which were recognized as surmountable," Surkov said.

He added that both sides stressed the need to carry out the Minsk deals, with the Normandy …

Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said that he is skeptical of statements made by the Russian Defense Ministry regarding its successes in the fight against the Islamic state (IS).

TASS quotes Pahon as saying that "The efforts of the authoritarian regime of [Syrian President Bashar Assad], Russia and Iran are unlikely to lead to a complete defeat of IS."

According to Pahon, the emergence of IS "is linked, inter alia, with the repressive measures of the Assad regime." Against this background, he …

At least 262 people were detained during protests in support of Alexei Navalny in 27 cities across Russia, according to OVD-Info.

As of 8:00 p.m., 66 people had been detained in Petersburg, 54 people in Yaroslavl, and 20 in Lipetsk. Detentions also occurred in Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Perm, Pskov, Saransk, Selyatin, Sochi, Stavropol, Tver, Tyumen, and Yakutsk.

In Krasnodar, one of the protesters was arrested for three days. In Yekaterinburg, Izhevsk, Nizhny Tagil, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, …