• Russia closes border with DPR

    Russian authorities temporarily closed entry for residents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), reported the news agency TASS with reference to the border control department of Russian Federal Security Service's Border Directorate for the Rostov region.

    "For this category of citizens, entry to the Russian Federation is temporarily restricted," the department said.

    The Russian Federal Security Service also confirmed that the entry of foreign nationals to Russia is restricted. …

  • Zelensky: Ukraine to receive a million coronavirus test kits

    A large shipment of rapid coronavirus test kits will soon be delivered to Ukraine, said Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky during the TV talk show "Freedom of Speech."

    "We have agreed with China, we are grateful to them, we are grateful separately to Jack Ma (the head of Alibaba Group). He helped us by providing $80 million dollars. And thanks to him and Mr. Yaroslavsky (Alexander Yaroslavsky - Ukrainian businessman). We also want to thank him. On Saturday we expect the arrival of these …

  • ‘Putin’s chef’ intends to sue US authorities for $50 billion

    Concord, which is owned by Evgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of Vladimir Putin, is preparing a lawsuit against the U.S. authorities, accusing them of illegal prosecution and sanctions. According to Prigozhin’s statement, which was published by Concord’s press service, the amount of the lawsuit is $50 billion

    The businessman's statement comes after the U.S. Department of Justice asked the court to drop charges against Russian companies Concord Management and Consulting and Concord Catering, …

  • Russia and Turkey fail to conduct first joint patrol in Idlib

    Turkey and Russia are facing obstacles in establishing a security buffer zone along the M4 motorway and ensuring a ceasefire in Idlib.

    Russian and Turkish military planned to start joint patrols along the M4 motorway on March 15. But it became known that the road was blocked in several places by the militants from Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly "Jabhat al-Nusra").

    The Russian part of the convoy advanced several kilometers from the town of Saraqib towards the village of Nayrab, but after …

  • President Zelensky asks Ukrainian oligarchs for $500 million to fight coronavirus

    During a meeting with representatives of big business, which was held at the Presidential Office on the evening of March 16, Vladimir Zelensky asked the businessmen for 12 billion hryvnias ($500 million),

    "I spoke to them very frankly. I said this country has been feeding you for a long time. It's time for you to help. We are establishing a separate fund. We're going to need about 12-13 billion hryvnias. We need their help," Zelensky said on the “Freedom of Speech” talk show.

    Earlier, the …

  • Lukashenko: Russia is 'engulfed with coronavirus'

    "Russia is engulfed with coronavirus. The situation in Belarus is calm," said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko commenting on Moscow's decision to close the border with Belarus because of the coronavirus pandemic.

    "So, who should be isolated from whom. The question is rhetorical," the Belarusian news agency BELTA quoted Lukashenko as saying.

    "There are a lot of challenges. You see: the world is crazy about coronavirus or maybe based on all the speculations on coronavirus. But for us, …

  • Russia: NATO thinks twice before sending ships to Crimean shores

    The main obstacle for NATO ships approaching Russia's maritime borders near Crimea are the coastal electronic warfare (EW) systems deployed in the peninsular, reports RIA Novosti, citing a source in the security forces of the region.

    According to the source, NATO ships are trying to infiltrate digital and communication networks during their reconnaissance operations. However, Russian EW systems knock down the navigation systems of NATO ships and make the reconnaissance equipment unfunctional. …

  • Russia closes its borders with Belarus

    Russia is closing its borders with Belarus for passenger traffic because of coronavirus pandemic, said Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, as quoted  by TASS.

    "We have also decided to close the border with Belarus, we have taken a number of other pre-emptive steps," he said. "We will continue to do everything to protect our country from this new threat, to act ahead of time, to take exhaustive measures to prevent, first of all, mass spread of coronavirus."

    According to World Health …

  • Putin: We don’t care about Western sanctions

    Russia lost about $50 billion as a result of Western sanctions, but was able to earn it back, said Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with TASS

    "I don't care about them, these sanctions. So, according to various estimates, we lost about 50 billion, but we earned the same amount back," he said.

    According to Putin, these are not small losses, but sanctions have forced the country to "turn on its brains."

    "We spent quite a lot of money on the so-called import substitution and …

  • Russian combat helicopter accidentally discharges ammunition at residential building

    A Russian Defense Ministry’s Combat helicopter accidentally fired a salvo at an apartment building in the city of Chita. No one was killed or injured. The building was only slightly damaged, reports the Telegram channel Baza.

    The incident took place on March 14 when the ammunition was offloaded from a Mi-35M helicopter at Cheryomushki Air Base near Chita. During the procedure there was a technical malfunction, and one of 23mm shells was fired.

    The shell flew almost a mile and a half and …