The Russian army has no plans to conduct exercises near the borders of NATO countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and has generally scaled them down, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a video conference press briefing.

"For the period that we are now going through, during the period of coronavirus infection, our military has reported that they are reducing the scale of the exercises and do not plan any exercises near the line of contact with the North Atlantic Alliance," said …

Former Defense Minister of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Igor Girkin (Strelkov) sold the medal for the annexation of Crimea.

According to Strelkov, the medal for the annexation of Crimea was presented to him by the Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeev.

"I recently sold it because of the material difficulties that every honest person in Russia has," the former defense minister said in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon.

The fact that Strelkov put the medal, …

First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy announced an informal video conference at the UN Security Council with residents of annexed Crimea on May 21.

"On Thursday, 21 May at 3 pm NYC time UN Security Council will for the first time hold informal VTC with participation of the residents of #Crimea. This will be a good opportunity to learn real facts about life in this Russian region," Polyanskiy wrote on Twitter.

The permanent mission of Ukraine to the UN …

Former Defense Minister of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic Igor Girkin (Strelkov) said that the Russian authorities "manage" the militias in the Donbas.

"DPR is a gray area that is completely controlled from the outside. And it is managed disgustingly by people with disgusting moral and business qualities. It’s managed from the outside, from the Russian Federation," he told Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon in an interview.

At the same time, according to Strelkov, the Russian …

Moscow has handed over to Damascus six MiG-29 fighter jets in order to strengthen the air force of Bashar al-Assad's army and improve its effectiveness against the Israeli Air Force, reports the ITV’s channel 12.

Russians will assist the Syrian army in the maintenance and upgrading of these aircraft.

The delivery of MiG-29 fighter jets to Syria was previously reported by the Russian Telegram channel “Notes of the Huntsman”

"Today the Tu-154 85042 route from Privolzhskiy Air Base to Syria was …

Nord Stream-2 is not yet completed, but Russian gas giant Gazprom has already started designing a new gas pipeline, which will transport Russian gas to China via Mongolia. On Monday, the head of Russia's Gazprom, Alexei Miller, announced the start of work on the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline.

"On behalf of the Russian President, Gazprom has started design and preparatory work on the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline. It could become a new export channel with a capacity of up to 50 billion …

The salary of Russian soldiers and contract sergeants in Syria is up to 200,000 rubles ($2746 USD) per month, reports the Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty with reference to the Russian command.

The officer's salary is 200-300 thousand rubles ($2746 –$4120 USD). Pilots making combat sorties, on average, receive 400,000 rubles ($5492 USD) a month. Their salary depends on the number of flights.

It is noted that the servicemen also receive travel expenses: 43 dollars a day for soldiers and …

A new phase begins in the legal battle between Russia and the former Russian oil company Yukos

At the beginning of May, Yukos shareholders seized the rights in the Benelux countries for a series of alcohol brands registered in the Netherlands,which are owned by the Russian state. The claim includes iconic vodka brands Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya, reported the Ducth news agency NRC.

On February 18, the Hague Court of Appeal reinstated the decision of the lower court, the Hague Arbitration …