Russian President Vladimir Putin wished good health to Sergei Skripal, who has been discharged from the hospital, but believes that if a poisonous substance had been used against his person, Skripal would have died on the spot.

 “I think that if, as our British colleagues claim, a weapons-grade poison had been used, that person would be dead on the spot. Combat chemicals are so strong that the person either dies immediately or within seconds, maybe minutes," Putin said at a press conference …

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Argentine newspaper Clarin in a recent interview that Russia will maintain its military contingent in Syria as long as the local government continues to need it.

The Russian military personnel, as the Minister recalled, have been there since fall 2015 "at the invitation of the legitimate government of the Arab Republic." It then asked Moscow to help "in stabilizing the situation in the country, creating conditions for a political settlement of …

Ukraine’s state-owned Design Bureau Luch has successfully completed the final stage of tests of a new upgraded Skif missile system, which is an export version of the Stugna-P anti-tank missile system, the press service of the Design Bureau reported on Facebook.

"The final stage of testing of the export Skif anti-tank guided missile system was held in the Chernyhiv region in the presence of the customer's representatives. During the tests, launches of guided missiles were carried out. All the …

Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska decided to leave the Board of Directors of En+ Group, which is the largest shareholder of aluminum producer Rusal, Deutsche Welle reports.

The website of En+ Group reports that on Friday, May 18, at the meeting of the Board of Directors at the end of which his Chairman Gregory Barker accepted Mr. Deripaska's resignation, the Board unanimously endorsed the proposals aimed at lifting sanctions against En+ and its subsidiaries.

It is noted that the so-called …

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has named the members of Russia’s new government. Medvedev presented the new Cabinet of Ministers at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin accepted all proposals made by Medvedev, the website of the Russian president reports.

Medvedev proposed appointing Anton Siluanov as First Deputy Prime Minister, who, in his opinion, should also take on the role of the Minister of Finance.

Among other candidates for the posts of  vice premiers are …

A joint investigation by SWR and the Berliner Zeitung has uncovered that Russian oligarch Arkady Rotenberg, who has been individually sanctioned by the EU and US, is investing in large real estate projects in Germany, DW reports.

The authors of the investigation have specifically linked Rotenberg with the Kudamm-Karree-Hochhaus building complex in Berlin. The complex is located on Kurfürstendamm boulevard in the western center of the city, and includes a high-rise building, shopping center, …

Oleg Mamiev aka Mamai, Commander of the Donetsk People's Republic and head of Pyatnashka battalion, was killed during an exchange of fire in Donbas, RIA Novosti reports.

Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin, who fights on the side of the separatists, said in a Facebook post that Mamai was killed by a grenade explosion from the automatic grenade launcher.

Mamiev came to the Donbass from Ossetia in 2014. He fought in the Vostok battalion, later he became a commander of the battalion Pyatnashka. …

The Law on Anti-Сorruption Court is a critically important requirement for the completion of the fourth revision of Ukraine’s program of cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, the official representative of the IMF, Gerry Rice said during a traditional briefing in Washington on Thursday, May 17, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

"More progress needs to be made on a number of fronts before we can conclude that fourth review; and issues include the energy sector and fiscal policy; an approval …