Contents tagged with Russia
-
The Guardian - Ukrainian rebels grow restless amid cracks in alliance with Russia
Portraits of Putin and Stalin adorn the room where the rebel commander, Yuri “Rostov” Shevchenko, holds court.In this former KGB complex in the industrial town of Alchevsk in the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic, members of Shevchenko’s militant Ghost Brigade are growing restless as a shaky ceasefire holds in eastern Ukraine.With their Russian backers turning their attention to the war in Syria, cracks are appearing in the rebels’ alliance with Moscow. The Kremlin is reportedly pressing …
-
At least 2 killed in Ukraine ammunition depot explosion.
At least two people have been killed in the Ukrainian town of Svatove after a series of blasts at a ammunition depot.
Local media has said the Ukrainian security forces were investigating and claimed it could be a terrorist act.
The town lies in a government-controlled part of the Luhansk region. In addition to the two casualties, four civilians and four servicemen were wounded.
According to Ukraine's Defence Ministry statement, the fire was started by "the release of a flare that fell onto …
-
Soccer World Cup in Russia agreed before vote.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter says there was a deal in place for Russia to host the 2018 World Cup - before the vote took place.
The 79-year-old Blatter is serving a 90-day ban alongside Uefa chief Michel Platini.
Asked whether it was a mistake to hold voting for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments simultaneously, Blatter replied that before the ballot: "It was agreed inside the group that we go to Russia because it has never been to eastern Europe, and for 2022 we go back to America.
"And so we …
-
Suspended OSCE monitor turns out to be a Russian GRU officer.
As reported by Ukrainian TSN news service, a monitor from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine in the town of Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk region, who has been suspended for misbehavior apparently involving alcohol, has turned to be an officer from Russia's GRU Main Intelligence Directorate.
A TSN journalist once heard an OSCE SMM monitor who later introduced himself as Maksim Udovichenko promoting Russian propaganda among locals in Luhansk region while being not on OSCE …
-
Russia's military casualties concealed.
As reported by StopFake.org, Russia has been concealing its military casualties as part of propaganda war.
In the four weeks since Russia entered the conflict in Syria, Moscow has waged a fierce campaign for the hearts and minds of ordinary Russians.
Public support for the Syria intervention was initially limited. But as Russian war correspondents have filed patriotic reports from the urban front lines, and the defense ministry has posted bombing videos on social media, support has increased, …
-
Ukrainian ceise-fire shaken.
As reported by a military spokesman Oleksandr Zavtonov, a Ukrainian soldier was killed by fire from Russia-backed separatists near the Donetsk airport on October 26.
It is the first reported Ukrainian military death since mid-October, as the fragile cease-fire negotiated in Minsk in February has generally held.
At the same time a separatists spokesman accused the Ukrainian military of launching an attack on the airport. Officials in Kyiv denied that claim.
AFP reported that local residents …
-
Air traffic between Ukraine and Russia to stop.
As announced by Andriy Pyvovarsky, Ukraine's Minister of Infrastructure, all flights between Ukraine and Russia will be stopped effective October 25."Technical consultations between the State Aviation Service of Ukraine and the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) were held in Brussels today, but in spite of these consultations the sanctions imposed on Russian airlines that violated the laws of Ukraine will come into force," he said.
Mr. Pyvovarsky also said that the Russian Federal Air …
-
Syria talks held in Vienna.
Top diplomats from Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey arrived in Vienna for talks aimed at charting a new path toward ending the Syrian civil war.
The envoys from Washington, Riyadh and Ankara – all of which back groups battling against Assad – will look to sound out Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the embattled Syrian strongman made a surprise visit to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin this week.
On September 30 Russia launched air strikes in Syria which …
-
Putin's approval rating hits new high.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval rating has hit a record high of almost 90 percent, primarily as a result of his decision to launch air strikes against Islamist militants in Syria, Russia's state pollster said on Thursday.
It is slightly smaller than the rating of the president of Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu, shortly before his execution, but higher than the rating of Hosni Mubarak, a few years before the Revolution of 2011, which resulted in Egypt's President resignation and trial. …
-
Russian military to be permanently stationed in the Arctic.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russian news agencies on Thursday that a military unit will be permanently stationed in the Arctic by 2018. He said Russia is building several new bases in the Arctic as well as rebuilding six Soviet-era air bases there.
"We are not hiding this from anyone: we have practically finished building bases on the Novosibirsk Archipelago and on Kotelny island," Shoigu said, adding that modern military technology was "necessary for guarding borders" in the …