The total damage in the corruption cases concluded in the first eight months of 2019 in Russia is approximately 102 billion rubles, around $1.6 billion at current exchange rates.

These figures were cited on Monday by Dmitry Sevastyanov, deputy head of the division for combating the misuse of budget funds at Russia’s Chief Directorate for Economic Security and Opposing Corruption, Kommersant reports.

The average rate at which money leaked from the budget on various levels was thus around $200 …

During a press conference in Spain, Ukrainian film director and former political prisoner Oleh Sentsov said that the European Union could take stronger measures against Putin and confront him harder, reports Ukrinform news agency.

"[European] countries continue to buy Russian gas and oil, and because of that, Putin is still in power and does what he wants," said Sentsov.

Sentsov is participating in the events organized by the Bureau of the European Parliament in Barcelona. Together with the …

Refusing to enter into a union with Russia will drive Belarus into an economic crisis, said Konstantin Zatulin, deputy chair of the State Duma committee for the CIS, Eurasian integration and relations with Russian nationals abroad. The Russian politician was commenting on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s decision not to sign any documents to deepen integration with Russia that might deprive Minsk of its sovereignty.

Russia wants Belarus to transition to a full-fledged union state …

The Board of Directors of the Polish national  oil and gas company PGNiG notified Russian gas giant Gazprom of its intention to terminate the binding contract for the purchase and sale of natural gas. The so-called Yamal contract was signed on September 25, 1996 and expires on December 31, 2022.

In the Declaration of PGNiG, it is noted that deliveries of liquefied natural gas and fuel from other countries will replace the Russian gas supply.

In the first half of 2019, Poland reduced purchases …

During a joint patrol by Russian and Turkish forces in northern Syria, a group of teenagers threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the patrol vehicles. No soldiers were injured, the vehicles remained operational, and the convoy continued its patrol, RBC news agency reports, citing a representative of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria.

“In order to prevent possible accidents, the convoy’s seniors decided to go around this group of young people and continue …

Russia returning the three captured Ukrainian naval vessels should be considered nothing more than the implementation of a court ruling, wrote Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zahorodniuk on Telegram.

“It is not an act of goodwill… I consider these developments nothing other than the aggressor-state implementing the May ruling of the International Sea Tribunal,” Interfax-Ukraine cites him as saying.

The head of Ukraine’s defense department noted that specialists will soon examine the ships …

On Monday, Gazprom sent Naftogaz of Ukraine an official offer to extend the current gas transit contract by one year or to sign a new one-year contract, Interfax reports.

As a precondition, all lawsuits and claims in international arbitration courts must be withdrawn.

This would also include the withdrawal of the Ukrainian Anti-Monopoly Committee’s fine against Gazprom for economic competition violations and of Naftogaz’s motion to have the European Commission investigate the Russian company. …

French President Emmanuel Macron held a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Presidents discussed the situation in Ukraine in advance of the Normandy Four Summit, which is scheduled for December 9 in Paris, reports the Kremlin's press service.

Macron and Putin noted that "holding such a meeting should contribute to the quick and full implementation of the Minsk agreements."

"In this context, the importance of Kyiv to fulfill its obligations on the political …