Merkel Urges Putin to Bring Peace to Donbas

On Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a telephone conference with President Vladimir Putin, as reported on the website of the Government of Germany.  “The conversation mostly focused on the status of the implementation of the Minsk Agreements.  Merkel had also discussed this topic the previous day with Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko, in Berlin,” the statement continued.

Merkel made it clear to Putin that the Russian government must observe the ceasefire on Ukraine’s eastern …


No Comment from the Kremlin on Kadyrov's Latest Controversial Instagram Post

The Kremlin doesn’t plan to comment on the last Instagram post made by Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya. The President’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said that he was not going to comment on those matters, as reported by Interfax.

"I do not intend to make any comments," said Peskov when answering journalists’ questions as to whether he planned to comment on the posting made by Kadyrov.

Earlier Peskov promised journalists he would show Kadyrov’s postings on Instagram and give comments …


Russia issues travel ban on five US officials

In response to the expansion of the U.S. Treasury’s ‘Magnitsky list,’ Moscow published a list of U.S. citizens "involved in the legalization and use of torture," who are now denied entry into Russia.

The day after the expansion of Washington's ‘Magnitsky list,’ Moscow retaliated. On Tuesday, February 2nd, the Russian Foreign Ministry published a list of U.S. citizens who are prohibited from entering Russia. All of them are former high ranking officials of the Pentagon, the CIA and the Justice …


230 km of anti-tank ditches were dug by Ukraine along border with Russia in 2015

In 2015, the Russian-Ukrainian border was equipped with 230 km of anti-tank ditches in the Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions.  This was noted in the government’s program performance report in 2015, which was sent to the Verkhovna Rada.

“Taking into account the priorities of the development of the Russian-Ukrainian border, the regions of Chernihiv and Kharkiv were equipped with 230 km of anti-tank ditches,” the report states.

It is also reported that a 72 km long metal barrier fence was …


DiCaprio to Star as Putin in new Film

American actor Leonardo DiCaprio has preliminarily agreed to perform the title role in a film about the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, which is expected to be released in the spring of 2017, as reported by Dozhd, citing sources from the film company Knightsbridge Entertainment.

According to the company, work on the film about Putin began last year and now the final draft of the script is being approved. Several Hollywood celebrities have been approached to appear in the film. Dozhd was …