RIA Novosti reports that Leonid Slutsky, Head of the State Duma Committee on Foreign Relations, told journalists on Friday that new US sanctions are another destructive step aggravating the state of Russian-American relations.

"New US sanctions are a destructive step that aggravates relations between Russia and the United States. It is clear that Washington seeks to achieve its own geopolitical goals, unfair competition and to gain an advantage in global markets," Slutsky said.

In turn, …

There was a new bill registered on January 25th in the Russian State Duma (the Russian Parliament) that seeks to designate a Russian cryptoruble as a means of payment in Russia. The bill was authored by Communist Party member and member of the parliament, Rizvan Kurbanov.

The draft law, On the National Blockchain Mining System, seeks to introduce several new notions into Russian legislation, including the notion of a cryptoruble.

Under the definition provided by the author of the bill, the …

Russian cargo ship Inzhener Trubin loaded with military equipment passed through the Bosphorus, as reported by observers tracking the movement of ships.

It is reported that the destination of the vessel is the Syrian port of Tartus.

Pictures show at the least two dozen GAZ, ZiL, KamAZ and UAZ trucks on the deck of the ship.

The cargo within the hull holds is not known but the sources assume that it could be weapons such as tanks and artillery.

This is the third such shipment to be delivered …