• Russia to create its own Wikipedia

    Part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s directive to create an autonomous internet will include a Russian alternative to Wikipedia.

    According to materials from Russia’s draft budget for 2020-2022, development of the National Interactive Encyclopedia Portal (OIEP) will begin in 2020 and will be financed by the federal treasury.

    The Russian government plans to spend a total of 1.7 billion rubles ($26.3 million) on its Wikipedia alternative. Of these funds, $10.6 million will be allocated in 2 …

  • Residents of annexed Crimea confuse aerial bombs with UFOs

    The majority of the anomalies observed in annexed Crimea are the result of military exercises, Dr. Anton Anfalov, an expert on anomalous objects, told the Russian radio station Sputnik in Crimea.

    “In August this year in Kerch and Feodosia, strange fires were observed in the sky. The mass media immediately released stories about visits by aliens. But in actual fact these were luminous or illuminating aerial bombs,” he explained.

    He noted that such devices are a container with a flammable …

  • Kremlin to sacrifice economy for the sake of larger military budget

    The Russian Finance Ministry has published a draft federal budget for 2020-2022 in which it has further increased financing for the security forces and reduced the budget for the economy, education and regional assistance.

    According to the document and its appendices, which have been uploaded onto the official legal information portal, the Russian government plans to spend $302 billion out of its expected $315 billion in revenue.

    Overall, the government will spend $5.65 billion (1.9%) more …

  • Kremlin: publication of Zelensky and Trump conversation transcript shows the danger of negotiating with US

    Official Representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said on a Channel One Russia that the transcript publication of te telephone conversation between the US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky showed that it is dangerous to negotiate with Washington, reports TASS news agency.

    "I agree with many assessments that this [publication of the transcript] certainly changes the form of relations between countries, between presidents, and between …

  • Media: Russian special forces spotted in Norway

    Several news outlets have reported that Russian special forces were seen entering the Svalbard archipelago and mainland Norway.

    According to Aldrimer news outlet, sources in NATO and in Norwegian intelligence have reported that the Russian troops were studying the terrain and important infrastructure. The US has obtained satellite images depicting the Russian special forces troops in Norwegian territory.

    Oslo said that the incident was related to Russia’s military exercise in the Barents Sea, …

  • Prague: Russia continues cyber attacks on Czech Republic

    More than 90% of cyber attacks on the Czech Republic are carried out by foreign countries, reports vinegret.cz news outlet with reference to the report of the Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NÚKIB) for 2018.

    It is noted that in most cases, hackers are associated with Russia and China. According to the NÚKIB, an investigation is carried out into a large-scale attack on one of the "important government structure." At the same time, the report informs that there were no …

  • Russia to strip Deutsche Welle’s accreditation due to ‘extremism’

    The State Duma commission for interference in Russia’s affairs will ask the Foreign Ministry to consider stripping Deutsche Welle (DW) of its accreditation, said the head of the commission, Vasily Piskarev, as cited by the Russian State Duma website.

    The commission believes that DW has broken a number of Russian laws by tweeting “calls to participate in unsanctioned protests”, and claims that the parliamentarians’ opinions are supported by a linguistic analysis. DW itself explained previously …

  • Ukrainian President Zelensky plans another visit to the US

    An aide to the Ukrainian President, Andriy Yermak said that Zelensky will make another official  visit to the United States, reports TSN TV channel.

    According to Yermak, during the meeting in New York, Trump and Zelensky discussed the possibility of the next visit.

    "This conversation [that launched the impeachment procedure on Trump] is in the past. And now the presidents discussed other questions. President Trump made an emphasis on important issues. He said that Secretary of State is …

  • Russia conducts another military exercise in Crimea

    Russian troops conducted naval military exercises in annexed Crimea, reports Interfax news agency, citing Russian Defense Ministry.

    Exercises of marine units of the Black Sea Fleet were held at Opuk firing range near Feodosia.

    "More than 3 thousand soldiers, 12 ships and vessels of the fleet, including Admiral Essen frigate, small missile ships Vyshny Volochek, Mirage, Orsk large landing ship, sea minesweepers, about 300 units of military and special equipment, including Bastion, Bal, and …

  • Media: Israel behind new paramilitary force in Syria

    Arab media outlets reported that a new paramilitary force  is being created in southern Syria called the Southern Army. The new paramilitary force is supported and funded by the countries of the Middle East, and its goal is "to counter Iranian influence in the region."

    The media "give contradictory reports about the nature, strength, and weapons of the new army," reports Lebanese newspaper Al Modon.

    "The task of the militia is to expel the Iranians from Syria by conducting military operations …