The Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Alexander Hug, said information collected by the organization indicates that Russian troops have been directly involved in the war in eastern Ukraine since the conflict first erupted in the spring of 2014.

At the same time, speaking at a press conference in Odessa, Hug stressed the mission itself only reports on what it sees and hears, and refrains from drawing conclusions.

"From the beginning, we wrote in …

A new motorized rifle division with approximately 10,000 soldiers will be deployed by the end of 2016 to the Rostov region, as reported by TASS, citing a source from the Southern Military District headquarters.“The new ‘full-blooded’ motorized rifle division will be created by the end of this year in accordance with the directives of the Chief of General Staff and the Commander of the Southern Military District troops. Three military compounds are to be built in order to accommodate this new …

According to a poll conducted by the Levada Center, 54% of Russian citizens believe that Josef Stalin played a positive role in the country’s history, Vedmosti reported. Approximately the same number of respondents believe that Stalin was a wise leader who led the Soviet Union to prosperity. The majority of respondents (60%) would not want to live under such a head of state, falling from 74% in 2008.

At the same time, two-thirds of respondents considered Stalin to be a tyrant, responsible for …

Mercedes has abandoned its plans to build its car factory in Russia, favoring Poland.

In January, the Head of Mercedes-Benz Daimler Dieter Zetsche stated that the construction of the Mercedes plant in Russia was still in the plans of the auto giant despite the situation with the Russian economy.

In 2015, new car sales in Russia dropped to 36%, or 1.6 million cars. 2016 is likely to be more significant. The Hyundai plant in Saint-Petersburg brought 1 billion rubles ($14.6 million) inlosses to …

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has established an interim administration for the first Czech-Russian bank, which is known for providing loans to the National Front political party (France), headed by Marine Le Pen. “The interim administration will quickly prepare proposals regarding the future activities of the bank,” as reported on the bank’s website.

Russian media had previously reported on problems at the bank. In particular, on the 13th of March, the daily newspaper Vedomosti …