• Russian newspaper published the main provisions of the newly drafted Syrian constitution

    The Russian daily newspaper, RBC, published the main provisions of the draft constitution of Syria, which was written by Russia and presented in the negotiations in Astana on the 23rd-24th of January. A source close to Syrian opposition provided the text of amendments consisting of 27 paragraphs to RBC.

    This document implies a change of the name of the Syrian State. If the Russian version is approved, the country will be officially named the Syrian Republic instead of the Syrian Arab Republic. …

  • Roskosmos recalls Proton-M rocket engines

    Roskosmos recalled Proton-M rockets engines due to technical problems which came to light in the course of launch tests. This was reported by the Kommersant newspaper on Wednesday, January 25th, referencing several top managers of the space industry enterprise.

    According to them, this concerns the RD-0210/0211 and RD-0213/0214 engines produced by the Voronezh Mechanical Plant, which are installed in the second and third stages of Proton. The investigation revealed that during the assembly of …

  • Russia demands that Ukraine extradite a detained Georgian officer

    Russia wants Ukraine to extradite a Georgian volunteer, Gia Tsertsvadze, who participated in the war in the Donbas. He was detained at Kyiv's Zhulyany Airport on January 15 while trying to leave Ukraine.

    Tsertsvadze was told he was on Interpol’s international most wanted persons list. The manhunt was initiated by Russia, who is accusing him of a murder in the territory of the Russian Federation in 2003. Kyiv court chose a 40-day arrest as a preventive punishment for Tsertsvadze and put him in …

  • Russia's Almaz-Antey defense company loses court battle over sanctions

    The General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg confirmed that the sanctions and freezing of the assets of Russia's state defense company Almaz-Antey are in accordance with the law.

    "In today's decision the court rejected the claim of Almaz-Antey and thus, supported the freezing of the company’s assets," the statement of the Court reads.

    The court noted that "the freezing of funds of such entities can achieve the goal of preventing the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine."

    According …

  • Japan scrambled fighters to intercept Russian bombers

    During the second half of the day on January 24th, Japan's air force scrambled their fighters in response to three Russian bombers Tu-95 approaching the borders of the country.

    Russian planes flew along the borders of the country in the north and then flew over the Sea of Japan, the Ministry of Defense of Japan stated. A map with the route of the Russian bombers’ flight and their photos were published on the ministry's website. Two bombers flew to the south of the island of Okinawa, flew …