Russia will block navigation through the Kerch Strait beginning August 28
Russia plans to completely stop navigation through the Kerch Strait from August 28 to 31, 2017 due to the construction of the Kerch Bridge. The corresponding order has been published on the site of the Kremlin-controlled Black Sea Ports Administration.
"Beginning 00:00 local time on August 28 to 00:00 local time on August 31, the navigation of all ships and vessels will be prohibited in the restricted area of construction within the waters of the Kerch Strait, with the exception of ships and …
Main Crimean bank may lose access to SWIFT payment system due to loss of its software license
The British company Finastra, which produces software that allows banks to access SWIFT (Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system, discovered that one of its clients was the Russian National Commercial Bank (RNCB) operating in the Crimea and decided to stop this cooperation.
According to Russian Vedomosti newspaper, the bank can switch to another interface for accessing SWIFT, but if it does not manage to do this before August 31 when the license for the Finastra …
Media: Siemens turbines for Crimea were resold in order to prevent court appeal
The Russian news outlet Kommersant reported that its journalists have uncovered the scheme according to which Siemens gas turbines were transferred from Russia to annexed Crimea, in circumvention of EU sanctions. As the media claims, this took place by means of resale.
According to the publication, it follows from the arbitration court documents that the scheme involved two Russian companies with the same name: JSC Foreign Economic Association Technopromexport, which is a subsidiary of the …
Lithuania calls on the US to start shipping weapons to Ukraine
The United States should be helping Ukraine with arms supplies, said Lithuanian Minister of Defense Raimundas Karoblis on Thursday on national radio.
"Assistance from the US should not be just symbolic, but also be the supply of specific weapons that would help neutralize modern Russian weapons available in the Donbas," Karoblis said.
The head of the Defense Ministry expressed hope that "sooner or later such a decision will be made by Washington. Then, perhaps, the example of the United …
German politicians demand that German Foreign Minister explain his dinner with Putin
Alliance 90/The Greens is asking the head of the Foreign Ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, Sigmar Gabriel, to explain the dinner with Russian President Vladimir Putin and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who is supposed to join the supervisory board of Rosneft.
Gabriel was asked to respond before the September elections to the Bundestag, reports DW.
"The Foreign Minister should dispel suspicions that Schröder is trying to use him to promote the interests of Putin and …