Russian Ministry of Defense: 63,000 Russian soldiers fought in Syria

63 thousand Russian soldiers took part in the military operation in Syria, launched by Russia on September 30, 2015, stated the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on Wednesday, August 22 in a video posted on YouTube. 434 generals and about 26,000 officers were among them. According to the Ministry’s information, all commanders of the military districts, commanders of the Air Force and Air Defense divisions, and 95 percent of the commanders of combined arms brigades and regiments were …


Putin calls his meeting with Trump useful

Russian President Vladimir Putin called his meeting with American counterpart Donald Trump, which took place in Helsinki last month,  useful .

"As for our meeting with President Trump, I assess it positively and I think that it was useful," he said at the press conference in Sochi while answering the correspondent's question. Putin stressed that "no one expected that in a two-hour conversation it would be possible to resolve all issues that until now were controversial." He noted that the U.S. …


Kyiv willing to pardon two Russians to begin prisoner exchange

During negotiations with Russian representatives in Minsk, Ukraine offered to pardon two Russian citizens and hand them over to the Russian consul in exchange for the simultaneous transfer to Ukraine of Ukrainian soldiers illegally detained in the annexed Donbas territories, as reported by Iryna Herashchenko, Ukraine’s representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) and First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada.

“The Ukrainian side is looking for all …


Georgia files lawsuit against Russia for the occupation of Abkhazia

The Georgian Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit against Russia to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and accused Moscow of occupying the country’s territories and deliberately harassing ethnic Georgians in the republic, reported TASS with a reference to the Georgian Ministry of Justice.

“Georgia demands that the European Court recognize Russia’s responsibility for the violation of more than one articles of the European Convention (on human rights). In particular, the occupation …


Putin invites the president of Finland for a ride on his yacht

After the official part of talks by both sides, Presidents of Russia and Finland, Vladimir Putin, and Sauli Niinisto continued the conversation in an informal atmosphere: the Russian leader invited his Finnish colleague to take a boat trip on the presidential yacht Chaika, reports Interfax.

According to the agency, the presidents departed on the yacht from the port of Sochi to the marina in the Imereti Lowlands. Their conversation was in English without the use of an interpreter.

The official …