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Kyiv to ban all Russian vessels from entering Ukraine's inland waters
After the incident with the "Nord" vessel, ships from Russia may lose the right to visit Ukraine. Kyiv cited "the high level of terrorist threats" as its justification.
The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine has proposed to close the entrance of the inland waters to all Russian vessels, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Yuriy Lavrenyuk said. The Ministry wants this proposal to be considered by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC).
According to Lavrenyuk, it is unacceptable for …
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Mercenaries from Russian Wagner Private Military Company appear in Central African Republic
This year Russia sent to the Central African Republic (CAR) the detachment of the mercenaries from Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) reported.
On March 22, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that in late January and early February, a small batch of arms and ammunition was delivered to the CAR, and that five military units and 170 Russian civilian instructors were sent to train servicemen of the Republic. The CIS stated however that those personnel …
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Ukraine detains a woman who worked for Putin's elections campaign in Crimea
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko announced on Facebook that a citizen of Ukraine had been detained by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Prosecutor’s Office in connection with organizing signatures in support for the presidency of Vladimir Putin for the Russian Federation. The detained woman was a confidant of Putin, who supported his candidacy in the territories of the Crimea and Sevastopol by collecting signatures.
“The detained citizen of Ukraine assisted the Russian …
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Paris: Russian warplanes harass French warships off Syrian coast
Chief of Staff of the French Navy, Admiral Christophe Prazuck, reported that Russian Military aircrafts have approached French warships eight times “over the past eight months.”
Agence France-Presse quoted this information from Prazuck, who spoke before the Senate’s international and security commission on April 11.
The Admiral noted that the French frigate has been located off the coast of Syria since 2015. He added that at the beginning of April 2018, the French warship Aquitaine was …
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Russian space expert: Russia has nothing to contribute to Lunar Orbital Platform project
The international Lunar Orbital Platform–Gateway (LOP-G) is effectively the US’s project, and its partners, including Russia, cannot offer the US any unique technologies, member-correspondent Andrei Ionin from the Russian Cosmonautics Academy told RIA Novosti.
“After the ISS, the partner countries, including Russia, will have virtually nothing to offer the US when it comes to space – they now have everything we used to have, and enough of their own financial resources,” the expert said.In his …
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Russia begins military exercises in the Crimea
In the annexed Crimea, the Russian military have begun exercises for mastering the detection of enemy vessels, Krym.Realii reports.
The press-service of the Russian Black Sea Fleet reported that the Fleet’s coastal missile systems take part in these exercises. The Russian military currently have the Bastion and Bal coastal missiles systems deployed in the Crimea. Command-staff exercises of the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s missile brigade are conducted at the training site in the Crimea.
“In …
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Hungary blocks the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission
For the third time, Hungary vetoed the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission at the level of foreign ministers, Ukrinform reports.
The Hungarian government is apparently making good on its promise to apply "pressure" on Kyiv until it changes the law on education that was passed in autumn. Hungary believes that the newly-adopted law violates the rights of national minorities to study in their languages.
At the beginning of the year, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that the …
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Russian companies under sanctions ask Kremlin for $1.6 billion in aid
The Russian companies suffering from the most recent round of US sanctions have asked the government for roughly 100 billion rubles ($1.6 billion) in assistance, reported Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
According to him, in one of the ministries a structure will be created that will communicate directly with the enterprises under sanctions, including Rusal and the power stations that service it, and draft proposals for the government on the basis of the received information.
The …
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Russia may start supplying Syria with S-300 missile systems
Russia has the technical capability to supply Syria with S-300 anti-air missile systems within a month, by using what the Russian military department has available and carrying out the necessary modifications, TASS reported with reference to a military diplomatic source.
According to the source, there are two ways that S-300s could be sent to Syria. One would be to produce systems of the export variety, but then Syria would only receive them in one and a half to two years. The other option …
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German Defense Minister: Russia should be pressured by sanctions until it fulfills promises made at Minsk
Deutsche Welle reports that German Defense Minister Ursula Von der Leyen called for a tougher line against Moscow during an interview with Bild am Sonntag published on Sunday, April 22. "President Putin doesn’t appreciate weakness," she said.
According to the Minister, by means of sanctions it is necessary "to insist on Russia’s fulfillment of the promises made at Minsk" until the situation is mitigated.
Von der Leyen believes that improvements in relations with Russia are hampered by a …