Interfax, citing Western media, reports  that the Dutch Prosecutor's Office has launched investigations into seven Dutch companies suspected of violating EU sanctions against Russia.

"An investigation is under way regarding the alleged relationship of seven Dutch firms to the construction of a bridge connecting Russia and the Crimea," the Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.

 According to the investigators, the companies may have supplied technical equipment for the construction of the …

The Russian Ministry of Defense of Russia has confirmed deployment of Iskander-M missile systems in Kaliningrad Oblast for the first time, reported Interfax, citing a representative of the Russian Defense Ministry.

"Last Thursday, during nighttime training for the Victory Parade for the Kaliningrad community, several Iskander-M military vehicles were specially demonstrated. Residents of the Russian exclave should see and understand that the Russian army’s most modernized weaponry stands in the …

On Friday, May 4, Russian Border Guard service detained a Ukrainian fishing boat in the Black Sea, the press service of the Russian Border Guard of the FSB of Russia in the Crimea reported.

"On May 4, west of Cape Tarkhankut in the waters of the Black Sea, the ship Ametist of the Border Service of the Federal Security Service of Russia in Crimea detained the Ukrainian fishing vessel YMK-0041 (port of registration - Ochakov, Ukraine), which was engaged in illegal fishing of flounder with …

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that his country will not release physician Shakil Afridi, whom Washington values for his participation in the operation to kill terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, from prison. Pakistan will also not extradite him to the US.

According to the Foreign Ministry’s Press Office, the Minister made assurances at a briefing that the extradition of Afridi, who was sentenced to 23 years in prison, is not even under discussion.

Faisal was …

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova called on so-called Operational Group of Russian Forces (OGRF) not to participate in the Victory Day military parade in Transnistria on May 9, Deschide news agency reports, citing a statement by the Moldovan Foreign Ministry.

According to the statement, information about the organization of the military parade on May 9 was published in the local press.

The Ministry stated that "it disapproves of the decision and the attitude …

This year air defense units in the Crimea will be equipped with S-400 surface-to-air missile systems and Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile systems, said the commander of the Russian Southern Military District, Colonel General Alexander Dvornikov.

"We managed to significantly strengthen security on the western flank, including through forming the new units in the 150th Motorized Rifle Division and 22th Army Corps stationed in the Crimea," said Dvornikov, adding that “strengthening defense on the …

According to the US Navy press service, the USA Navy strike group headed by the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier has reached the coast of Syria and has already started strikes against ISIS positions.

In a twitter message, the US Navy Forces Europe said that the US Navy started sorties against ISIS positions on May 3.

“The USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group conducts aviation ops May 3 in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, which began Oct. 17, 2014, to defeat ISIS in designated …

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its disappointment that the Russian Federation remains the only OSCE member that "aggressively blocks" the expansion of the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) mandate to cover the entire stretch of the border adjacent to the separatist controlled territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The Ministry released a statement detailing its position in response to a decision by the OSCE Permanent Council to extend the mandate of the OSCE SMM at …