During talks held in Moscow, Vladimir Putin and President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso agreed that Russian military will be sent to Congo, according to the contract published on the Kremlin’s website. 

RIA Novosti, citing Deputy Minister of Defense Alexander Fomin, reported that the two sides are also negotiating arms transfers. “We expect that we will be requested to supply new equipment. There is a need for it,” the official explained.

The parties signed …

Victoria Nuland, the former State Department representative and former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, was denied a Russian visa because she was blacklisted, according to the newspaper Kommersant.

According to the newspaper, the former official was planning to fly to Moscow for an international conference, organized in part by the Russian Council on International Affairs (RIAC, headed by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov). It took place on May 20-21. …

At a meeting with public activists in the president’s administration, President Vladimir Zelensky said that putting the question of concluding peace agreements with Russia to a referendum has no legislative initiative, but this is a way to assess popular opinion, according to the President’s website.

 “We must listen to every person. This is not a legislative referendum, but an informational one. Citizens, what do you think? We are having a regular conversation with the people,” said Zelensky. …

With the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) recording a slowdown of Russia’s GDP, which grew by only 0.5% in the first quarter, the least since 2017, half of the country’s regions have already plunged into a recession reports finanz.ru.

At the end of March, an increase in economic activity was documented in only 42 of Russia’s 86 federal subjects, observes the Moscow-based Higher School of Economics (HSE) in its “Commentaries on the government and business”.

The number of …

The Black Sea ports of annexed Crimea and neighboring Russia suffered a loss of more than 760 million rubles (around $11.8 million) in 2018 due to sanctions, reports the Ukrainian Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons.

“By comparison with other years, specifically 2015, 2016 and 2017, the annual revenue of the Black Sea Ports Administration was between 32 and 152 million rubles. In 2018, the Black Sea Ports Administration’s earnings were only 359.6 …

The Russian news site Avia.pro claims that Russia’s “Krasukha” electronic warfare systems have disrupted the Israel Defense Force’s radars.

The site presents arguments to support its theory: the regular flights by Israeli reconnaissance aircraft in the Golan Heights region, and at least three cases of blimps being launched in the same territory to observe the positions of Syrian aerial defense systems. The Russian news outlet sees this as evidence that Israel’s ground radar systems are …

The commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, Sergei Karakayev said that Russian Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) started receiving Avangard missile systems, which will be on combat duty by the end of the year, reports RIA Novosti.

"The commissioning of stationary and mobile Yars and Avangard missile systems of the fifth generation continues as well as their setting for the combat duty," said Karakayev.

According to the commander, the Missile Division in the Orenburg region has …

Turkish Defence Minister said that Ankara is preparing for possible US sanctions in connection with the purchase of Russian anti-aircraft S-400 missile systems.

At the same time, he noted that there had been some progress in the negotiations with the US on the purchase of F-35 fighter aircraft.

The US and Turkey have disagreements on several issues, including Ankara's decision to purchase S-400 systems that cannot be integrated into NATO systems. Washington stated that this would jeopardize …