Contents tagged with Russia

  • 600 foreign merchant ships have docked in the Crimea in the last two years

    Over the last two years, 602 foreign ships that had visited the annexed Crimea were added to Ukraine’s “black list”. This number was provided by journalists of the “Schemes” TV program through a special journalistic investigation titled “Crimean corsairs”.

    The journalists were able to determine that most of these vessels had a Russian registration or a Russian flag. However, European ships were also trading with the Crimea.

    These journalists reported that over the last two years, 24 ships …

  • Special Presidential Envoy: The US will not include Russia in the coalition against ISIS

    The Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, Brett H. McGurk, denied the possibility that the Russian Federation would be included in the coalition, Sky News Arabia news agency reported.

    "Washington doesn't trust Moscow, which supports the Syrian government, both materially and in military fields," the agency reported, quoting President Obama’s representative.

    According to McGurk, Russia and the United States coordinate actions in carrying out strikes against the …

  • Latvia detects another Russian Navy ship near its border

    On the 24th of July, Latvian soldiers spotted another Russian warship near the border, the Bira supply ship of the Russian Armed Forces, Delfi reported.

    “The Bira supply ship of the Russian Armed Forces was identified in the Latvian exclusive economic zone, 12 nautical miles from the territorial waters of the National Armed Forces of Latvia” the statement said.

    According to the Ministry of Defense of Latvia, Russian military aircraft and ships approached the borders of the Republic more than 2 …

  • Bulgaria accuses Russia of repeatedly violating its airspace

    The Minister of Defense of Bulgaria, Nikolay Nenchev, stated that Bulgarian airspace has been increasingly violated by Russian aircraft—actions that can be interpreted as provocation against Bulgaria and its Air Force, Reuters reported. According to Nenchev, four cases of flights of military aircraft and six cases of flights of passenger liners through Bulgarian airspace were recorded in June.

    Nenchev claims that Russian aircraft entering Bulgarian airspace switch off their transponders— …

  • Russian MoD: The West is to blame for the strikes against the US garrison in Syria

    Russian Defense Ministry blamed the U.S. anti-terrorist coalition for the air strikes on the Anglo-American base in Syria. The Russian military is not well informed about the location of the bases of the Syrian opposition forces, the speaker of the Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, said on Saturday, July 23, 2016.

    He said that Russia has repeatedly asked for the coordinates of the bases used by Syrian opposition forces. According to Konashenkov, a "joint action" against the extremists will …

  • US Anti-Doping Agency criticizes decision to allow Russia to participate in Olympic Games

    The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency called the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow the Russian team to participate in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro an enormous blow against clean athletes.

    “Many people, including clean athletes and informants, demonstrated strong character and strength in the fight against the culture of doping and corruption in Russia. However, unfortunately, the International Olympic Committee didn’t take on the role of leader at a crucial moment for …

  • Fitch confirms Russia's 'BBB-' investment rating

    The international credit rating agency Fitch has given Russia the lowest possible investment grade, a BBB-, Rosbalt reported. Fitch also gave Russia a negative growth outlook.

    "In line with the updated guidance contained in Fitch's revised Sovereign Rating Criteria dated July 18, 2016, Russia's credit profile does not support a notching up... This reflects Fitch's view that neither of the two key factors cited in the criteria that support upward notching of the LTLC IDR [long-term local …

  • NATO fighters escorted three Russian military aircraft over the Baltic last week

    NATO fighters intercepted and escorted three Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea last week, Delfi reported, citing the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense.

    According to the Ministry, fighters, as part of NATO’s air patrol mission over the Baltic Sea, escorted a Russian Tu-134 military cargo plane and two Su-27 fighters on July 18th.

    The Russian planes were flying with disabled transponders, which NATO believes is a threat to civil aviation.

    The presence of Russian military aircraft and  …

  • Russia has not found investors for the construction of a power plant for the Crimea

    A Russian contract proposal for the construction of a power plant in the Krasnodar region, needed to support the annexed Crimea, has not received any bids, reported Reuters.

    No companies have submitted bids for the contract, and authorities subsequently deemed the proposal invalid.

    The proposal planned to search for new investors to fund the construction of the 450 MW capacity power plant on the Taman Peninsula by 2018. The power plant is needed to supply power to the Krasnodar region of …

  • Ukrainian Intelligence: Russian troops in the Donbas are moving closer to the demarcation line

    Ukrainian Intelligence has reported that pro-Russian forces in the Donbas are actively strengthening their positions in three areas.

    According to the main intelligence directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the enemy is reinforcing divisions at the front, transporting weapons and military equipment towards Novoaidar, Donetsk and Sloviansk. The rotation of the troops is taking place near settlements which are in the immediate vicinity of the demarcation line.

    In the area of …