Russia extended residence permit for Snowden
Russian authorities have extended former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee Edward Snowden’s residence permit in the Russian Federation for two more years, as stated by the Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, on her Facebook page.
"The funny thing is that the former Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency doesn’t know that Snowden’s residence permit in Russia has just been extended for two more years," …
Lavrov: We are ready to allow armed OSCE observers in the Donbas
Russia agreed to providing the OSCE observers with small arms in the Donbas although it believes that having an armed police mission in the region contradicts the Minsk Agreements, as stated by the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, Interfax reports.
"We are ready to increase the number of monitors at the contact line and weapons storage facilities, to have this presence around-the-clock, and to give observers the ability to carry their personal small arms," Lavrov said. …
Naftogaz refuses to pay Gazprom for non-purchased gas
Naftogaz of Ukraine has confirmed the receipt of Gazprom’s $5.3 billion invoice for the gas that the company had neither ordered nor received during 2016. However, the company does not intend to pay for it until the decision of the Stockholm arbitration. This was reported to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency by the press service of Naftogaz.
"In its explanation of the bill, Gazprom refers to the take-or-pay form of gas delivery. At the same time, Naftogaz has no plans to pay the bill until the …
US, Swedish and German aircraft conducted reconnaissance missions near Russia's borders
According to websites that track the flights of military aircraft , planes of the U.S. Air Force, Swedish Air Force and the German Navy conducted reconnaissance missions near the sea borders of the Kaliningrad region on January 18, as reported by Russia’s Interfax news agency.
According to their information, an RC-135W strategic reconnaissance aircraft of the U.S. Air Force with tail number 62-4138 and call sign LAVIC45, took off from an air base in Mildenhall, UK. It approached the coast of …
Ukrainian forces advanced 20 kilometers towards Debaltseve over the last year
During the last year, the soldiers of the 54th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces and the contract soldiers of the Podolyanina Wolves special forces unit of the Pravy Sector, which is a part of the Ukrainian military, who are deployed along the Svitlodarsk Salient, advanced by almost 20 kilometers towards Debaltseve.
The information has been confirmed by the Ukrainian volunteer activist Yuriy Mysyagin on his Facebook page.
“Our positions on Svitlodarsk Salient are …