• Latvian military begins to strengthen its borders

    An active roll-call of staff has started in the Latvian National Armed Forces, as well as strengthened surveillance of the Latvian border and airspace. The reason for this is the high activity from the Russian army in the vicinity of the Baltic States, Delfi reports, referring to the Ministry of Defense of Latvia.

    Over the past three days, planes from the Russian Air Force were identified near the border of Latvia: Su-24 tactical bombers, Su-27 multipurpose fighters, as well as an An-26 …

  • Lavrov: There have been fundamental changes in relations between Russia and U.S.

    According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Moscow has long shown a “strategic patience” towards Washington, but now there have been fundamental changes in relations between Russia and the U.S., RIA Novosti reported.

    During an interview with Channel One, Lavrov was asked to comment on whether the U.S. had missed an opportunity to improve relations with Russia.

    “This is, in my opinion, a fact,” Lavrov responded.

    “We have, to be honest, for a long time we have shown the Americans ‘ …

  • Syrian opposition calls for new sanctions against Russia

    Representatives from the Syrian opposition have called on the European Union to impose sanctions against Russia for the use of high-tech weapons, including the bunker-buster bombs that it uses against the civilian population in eastern Aleppo, a senior member of the opposition Syrian High Negotiations Committee (HNC), Bassma Kodmani, said.

    “The EU should immediately introduce targeted sanctions against Russian officials and companies that are directly involved in the uncontrolled attacks …

  • First unmanned KrAZ Spartan armored vehicle tested in Ukraine

    The first armored vehicle equipped with autopilot has been tested and is ready to join the ranks of the Ukrainian military equipment, reported the press-service of the manufacturer, Ukrainian factory KrAz.

    The first Ukrainian unmanned vehicle was created from the KrAZ Spartan armored vehicle and equipped with autopilot. The autopilot sensors include thermal imaging with automatic targeting systems, all-sky camera, front and rear radar for detecting obstacles, a rangefinder and a capacitive …

  • Ukrainian state-owned Pivdenmash is developing analogue to Russian Iskander missile system

    Ukraine is developing a Grom-2 (Thunder) system which will be “a close analogue” to the Russian Iskander. This was reported by the LIGA.News Ukrainian agency.

    “This system,in fact, is a close analogue to the Russian Iskander. It is being created through the efforts of the state-owned enterprise Pivdenmash,” the news agency said.

    The initially planned maximum firing range was 300 km, with the possibility of extending it to 500 km. However, currently th system is being designed with the ability …

  • 60% of employees of Ukraine's tax service will be laid off

    The Minister of Finance of Ukraine Oleksandr Danylyuk said that 60-70% of the employees of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine will be laid off. He made this statement during his speech on Friday at the Kennan Institute in Washington. In his opinion, this is an example set by his agency for the whole country, which "needs the renewal of the entire apparatus of the state civil service."

    "One example is the State Fiscal Service,'' Danylyuk said. ''There, I believe 60-70% of people will have to …

  • German Bundestag confirmed intention to impose sanctions against Russia because of Syria

    The Chairman of the Bundestag's Committee on Foreign Affairs, Norbert Röttgen, stated that Russia must be held accountable for military crimes in Syria and confirmed the possibility of sanctions against Moscow, as reported by Suddeutsche Zeitung.

    "The absence of sanctions for horrible military crimes would be scandalous,” he said. Röttgen also stressed that the new sanctions will have an impact on Russian policy, although it might not happen immediately. He also criticized other European …

  • Ukrainian PACE delegation will pursue demarche if Russia is allowed back in

    According to the Chairman of the Ukrainian delegation to the PACE, Volodymyr Ariev, if Russia is allowed back into the Parliamentary Assembly without restrictions, the majority of the Ukrainian delegation will pursue a demarche, Evropeyskaya Pravda reported.

    "And we can be not the only one who will make a démarche. There are some quite well-known politicians, who told us they do not want to remain in the Assembly under such conditions," Ariev said.

    He noted that the PACE leadership in general …

  • Russian MFA: US accusations about Russian war crimes in Syria are propaganda

    During an interview with TV Dozhd, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement about Russian war crimes in Syria, calling it propaganda.

    According to her, “there are very serious legal consequences” behind the terminology in his words.

    “And I think Kerry is using all these terms to escalate the situation. If it comes to war crimes, US officials must begin with Iraq. And then continue with Libya. Be sure to mention Yemen, to …

  • US and Finland sign cooperation agreement on defense development

    Finland and the United States have signed a declaration to cooperate in the field of defense development, Yle reported.

    The document notes that the defense cooperation between Finland and the United States is one of the main factors of stability in the Baltic Sea region and in northern Europe.

    “The US presence in the Baltic Sea region contributes to stability in the region,” the document stated.

    According to the declaration, Finland and the United States will increase the number of joint …