The US defense budget for 2020 will include a provision on sanctions against companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Republican Senator James Risch, Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Defense News on October 23.

The text of the sanctions has not yet been publicized, but the senator said that it is similar to the “Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act”, which was sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz.

The bill will impose sanctions on the …

The Russian Armed Forces may receive groups of multifunctional combat robots by 2025, reports RIA Novosti, citing a source in the defense industry. Each group will be controlled by only one operator.

The Russian Scientific and Technology Association, Android Technology, created an experimental platform named “Marker” for controlling five unmanned machines, capable of solving various combat tasks, simultaneously. The Marker platform was presented in October 2019 at the Magnitogorsk test range …

On November 23, the Russian military satellite Kosmos 2422 left earth orbit and burned up in the atmosphere, reports TASS news agency, citing the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Kosmos 2422 satellite was  a part of the orbital early missile attack warning system.

According to the NORAD, the satellite left its orbit on the night of November 23. The last time the spacecraft was detected at an altitude of 80 km. Now, this satellite no longer exists.

Later, the Russian Defense …

The conclusion of a peace treaty between Russia and Japan is hindered by the military-political alliance between Tokyo and Washington, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Nagoya, Japan. The broadcast of his speech was published on Twitter by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The military alliance with the United States, of course, is a problem in giving a new quality to Russian-Japanese relations," he said. The Minister recalled that when agreeing on the Soviet- …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission in Ukraine, led by Ron von Roden, stated that the IMF will continue to discuss the new program for Ukraine next week, reports Ukrinform.

"The mission has made notable progress in discussions on reforms that could form the basis of a new IMF-supported program. Such steps include measures in the monetary, fiscal, and financial sectors, as well as reforms aimed at improving the business environment, strengthening the rule of law, and boosting economic …

Ukrainian Energy Minister Oleksiy Orzhel said that the Ukrainian authorities might appeal against Denmark's permit for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

"We are now considering possibility of appeal from the environmental point of view," said Orzhel in an interview for Channel 24.

At the same time, the Ukrainian Minister recognized that considering Russia's expenses, Nord Stream 2 project will be implemented anyway.

"But I don't think that Nord Stream 2 will be fully …

The Press Secretary for the Russian President Dmitry Peskov commented on the video of the Syrian soldier's execution, which was published on the Internet, reports Interfax news agency. Syrian soldier was tortured to death allegedly by the soldiers of the private military company (PMC) Wagner.

Peskov said that the published video was "truly shocking." Peskov emphasized that he is not sure whether attempts to find out who is seen on the record are justified. According to him, the Russian …

The press service of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that nine members of the radical Islamist political organization Hizb ut-Tahrir were arrested. Hizb ut-Tahrir is recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia, Germany, Denmark, the UK, as well as in South and South-East Asia.

According to a report published on the website of the FSB, two persons among arrested are leaders of the group.

"The members of the organization carried out anti-constitutional activities based …