Lavrov troubled that Kiev may sabotage new disengagement efforts in Donbass

A new attempt to disengage forces near Stanitsa Luganskaya in Donbass is set for November 4.

MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. A new attempt to disengage forces near Stanitsa Luganskaya in Donbass is set for November 4, but Ukraine will undermine it for sure, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at Tuesday’s meeting with the members of the Association of European Businesses.

"The [Normandy format] leaders agreed to galvanize establishment of security areas along the contact line a year ago," Lavrov reiterated. "Several areas were chosen as a pilot zone. Heavy armaments were disengaged in two areas, and the third area, coordinated by all, is called Stanitsa Luganskaya.

Efforts to disengage heavy armaments there failed, as Ukrainians said they could not do it because of the ongoing firing."

The minister noted that the Ukrainian side said then it was ready to start the disengagement only after a week of complete silence. "Since that time - you can learn it from the members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission - this organization reported absolute silence eight times, but each time when the OSCE reported about it and suggested the start of heavy arms disengagement, Ukrainians said ‘this is your statistics, and we counted one hundred shots,’" the Russian top diplomat continued.

"There [will be] a new attempt to start the disengagement on November 4," Lavrov added. "This will be the ninth week of complete silence that - I hardly doubt it, although I want to be mistaken - will be disputed by Ukrainians who will present their statistics.".

Source: ITAR-TASS 31-10-2017

Kremlin comments on Russian journalist's intension to run for president

The Kremlin spokesman notes the Russian Constitution imposes no restrictions on the participation of candidates with no political background in elections.

MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/. The Russian Constitution imposes no restrictions on the participation of candidates with no political background in elections, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media after journalist and singer Yekaterina Gordon declared her intention to run in the 2018 presidential election.

Asked about the Kremlin’s attitude to the intention of media persons to nominate themselves as presidential candidates Peskov recalled that "under the Russian Constitution the possibility of taking part in elections depends on a number of conditions, but a candidate’s previous involvement or non-involvement in politics is not among these."

"For this reason we just read the Constitution to see if a candidate matches the requirements of the fundamental law. There’s nothing else to discuss," Peskov said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 30-10-2017

Russia neutralizes threats along western borders by beefing up troop combat strength

According to the Russian defense minister, the military and political situation at Russia’s western border remains tense and tends to aggravate.

MOSCOW, October 27. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry is neutralizing the challenges and threats along the country’s western borders by improving the combat strength of Western Military District troops, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said.

"In these circumstances, we are implementing a series of measures to neutralize the evolving challenges and threats. In accordance with the plan of work, we are improving the combat strength of Western Military District troops and their deployment," Shoigu said at a meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry’s board.

According to the minister, more than 20 organizational events aimed at boosting the military district’s combat potential were held in 2017.

Tense situation at Russia's western border 

The military and political situation at Russia’s western border remains tense and tends to aggravate, according to Shoigu.

"First of all, I want to note that the military and political situation at our western borders remains tense and tends to aggravate," the defense minister said at the ministry’s board meeting.

Four NATO multinational battalion-level tactical groups with a total strength of up to 5,000 servicemen have been deployed in the Baltic states and Poland. Besides, an armored brigade and a combat aviation brigade of the US Army are stationed in Poland and Germany. Work is under way in Eastern European countries to deploy US missile shield elements, the Russian defense minister said.

"The intensity and the scope of operational and combat training of the armed forces of the alliance’s member states near our borders are growing. In the past three months alone, over 30 exercises have been held on the territory of Eastern Europe and the Baltic states," Shoigu said.

More than 1,800 pieces of new equipment

The Western Military District’s armed forces will receive more than 1,800 pieces of new modernized equipment before the end of 2017, Shoigu said.

"Great attention is being paid to supplying the army with modern arms, military and special equipment. By the end of the year, it will receive more than 1,800 pieces of new and modernized equipment, the supplies of which coincide with construction of infrastructure for its storage and service," he said.

Special attention is being paid to improvement of the qualification level of servicemen and military authorities, the minister said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 29-10-2017

Russia may set up maintenance center for MC-21 aircraft in Uzbekistan

MC-21 is a new Russian short-and medium-range passenger jet.

TASHKENT, October 27. /TASS/. Russia may set up a maintenance center for its MC-21 aircraft in Uzbekistan, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.

When visiting the Tashkent Mechanical Plant he said that the plant may become a basis for the establishment of such a center.

"We also wanted to talk about the MC-21. Let’s assume that Uzbekistan is actively participating in this program, and we are talking about the possibility of using this ultra-modern aircraft by the Uzbek airlines, then we could create a spare parts warehouse for the entire region on the basis of this plant," he said.

Rogozin stressed that Russia is interested not only in selling aircraft, but also in its maintenance.

MC-21 is a new Russian short-and medium-range passenger jet. First deliveries of the aircraft are scheduled to the fourth quarter of 2018.

Source: ITAR-TASS 28-10-2017

Moscow vows retaliation over new US moves against RT and Sputnik

Maria Zakharova believes that this is an "unprecedented American attack on media".

MOSCOW, October 26./TASS/. Moscow sees the decision to off-board advertising from all Twitter accounts owned by RT (Russian English-language television channel broadcasting around the world) and the news agency Sputnik as an aggressive move taken under the pressure from US intelligence agencies and will retaliate to restrictions against Russian media, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"We see this as a next aggressive move aimed at blocking the activity of Russia Today (RT) and coming as a result of pressure from a faction in the US establishment and intelligence agencies," the diplomat said, adding that retaliatory moves will follow.

She said that preventing the activity of Russian media outlets, also "carried out with the use of intelligence services’ arsenals, testifies to a blatant violation by the US of international as well as domestic legislative acts, guaranteeing the freedom of speech". "Private corporations’ joining this campaign testifies to an unprecedented attack by American security agencies on media," Zakharova added.

The online news and social networking service Twitter, the owner of the same-name microblog service, has made a decision to remove advertising from all accounts of the RT, a Russian English-language television channel broadcasting around the world, including the United States, and the news agency Sputnik. The decision is effective immediately, Twitter said.

"Twitter has made the policy decision to off-board advertising from all accounts owned by Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik, effective immediately," the statement said on Thursday.

Twitter explains this decision is based on what it describes as "retrospective work" it has been doing "around the 2016 U.S. election and the U.S. intelligence community’s claims" that "both RT and Sputnik attempted to interfere with the election on behalf of the Russian government."

"We did not come to this decision lightly, and are taking this step now as part of our ongoing commitment to help protect the integrity of the user experience on Twitter," the company argued.

Early this year, the U.S. intelligence community named the RT and Sputnik as "implementing state-sponsored Russian efforts to interfere with and disrupt the 2016 presidential election." This decision does not apply to any other advertisers. RT and Sputnik may remain "organic users on our platform," in accordance with the Twitter rules, the statement ran.

Source: ITAR-TASS 27-10-2017

Russian defense contractor delivers third regimental set of S-400 systems this year

The concern will supply another S-400 regimental set to the Defense Ministry before the end of 2017.

MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. The Almaz Antey concern has delivered to the Russian Defense Ministry the third regimental set of the missile system S-400 Triumf this year, and a fourth set will be supplied before the end of the year, the concern’s press service said on Thursday.

"The Almaz Antey concern has delivered a new (second in October and third in 2017) regimental set of the S-400 Triumf missile system to the Russian Defense Ministry, as obliged under the state defense order."

The concern will supply another S-400 regimental set to the Defense Ministry before the end of 2017. Overall, four regimental sets will be delivered to the client this year.

The transfer took place at the Kapustin Yar military range, Astrakhan Region, where flights following real air targets were carried out, the press service reported.

S-400 Triumf

The S-400 Triumf consists of a combat control center and a radar servicing up to six air defense missile systems. Each system has up to 12 launchers carrying different types of missiles.

According to information provided by public sources, 19 regiments with S-400 were operating in the Russian Armed Forces by April 2017. This is in total 38 battalions and 304 launchers.

The Russian Defense Ministry earlier reported that four S-400 missile systems will be supplied to the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2017. In September, Almaz Antey delivered to the Defense Ministry this year’s first regimental set of S-400 systems. Another regimental set followed in October.

The S-400 Triumf is a long-range air defense system authorized for service in 2007. It is meant for eliminating aircraft and cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium range ones, and can be used against ground targets. Deputy Commander of Russia’s Aerospace Forces Viktor Gumenny said last April that S-400 systems had begun to be armed with missiles capable of hitting targets in near space.

Source: ITAR-TASS 26-10-2017

Firebrand MP slams Sobchak’s Crimea remark, demanding jail time for socialite

Russia’s presidential election is due in March 2018.

MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. The leader of Russia’s Liberal Democratic party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, has urged criminal proceedings against TV host Ksenia Sobchak, who just recently declared her presidential ambitions, for stating that from the standpoint of international law Crimea belonged to Ukraine.

"How come that at a semi-official level there appears a lady eager to participate in the presidential election who says that Crimea is Ukrainian? That’s a crime," Zhirinovsky told the media on Wednesday.

He argues that such a statement alone is a reason enough for launching criminal proceedings.

"Isn’t there an article in the Criminal Code? The Prosecutor-General must open a criminal case, the Investigative Committee must do the same and take it to court to have her jailed for five years or so… Imagine what people in Crimea may feel like today. That’s nonsense, but nobody seems to be able to muzzle her," Zhirinovsky said.

Zhirinovsky said that Sobchak was not a registered presidential candidate yet so he would be able to lodge a complaint at the Central Election Commission.

"We will send a protest to the CEC. She has no right to conduct a campaign yet. The election will be announced in the middle of December. Only after all have been registered it will be possible to conduct an election campaign," he said.

Earlier, Sobchak said that in her opinion Crimea belonged to Ukraine "from the standpoint of international law" and that Moscow and Kiev should try to mend relations at any cost. Also, she argues that by its consent to incorporate Crimea Russia violated the Budapest memorandum of 1994.

Russia’s presidential election is due in March 2018. The election campaign will begin between December 7 and 17. Several potential candidates have already declared their intention to participate - LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, founder of the Yabloko party and chief of its political committee Grigory Yavlinsky, political scientist, chief of the Center for Social Technologies Andrey Bogdanov, who plans to run from the Communist Party of Social Justice, and TV host Ksenia Sobchak.

Source: ITAR-TASS 25-10-2017

US agents deny Russian diplomats access to remove archive from San Francisco consulate

The US authorities independently packed and removed it to Washington, according to the Russian embassy in the United States.

WASHINGTON, October 24. /TASS/. US authorities prohibited Russian diplomats from entering the building of the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco to remove the consular archive, the Russian embassy in the United States said on itswebsiteon Monday.

"The US authorities did not give us access to the building of the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco, that was closed by their decision on September 2, in order to take away the consular archive. Instead they independently packed and removed it to Washington," the statement said.

The diplomatic mission noted that this was done "regardless of repeated protests of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the embassy."

On October 23, the archive was moved to the Russian embassy.

The statement stresses that "consular archives and documents are inviolable at any time and regardless of their whereabouts."

"By its actions, the US party once again grossly violated the relevant provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the bilateral consular convention," the Russian embassy said.

"The official Washington's contemptuous attitude to the international law, our diplomatic and consular facilities and property has opened the possibility of similar dealing with US missions in Russia. That is in accordance with the principle of mutuality, diplomatic relations are based on," the Russian diplomatic mission concludes.

On September 3, the US closed the Russian trade mission in Washington and its branch in New York.

It also demanded that the Consulate General in San Francisco should stop its activities and free the residence of the Consul General in that city. The US authorities gave Moscow time until October 1 to ensure that employees of the Consulate General in San Francisco were able to pack their things. The US administration believes that those facilities are no longer subject to diplomatic immunity.

Nevertheless, they are still the property of Russia, with the exception of the branch of the trade mission in New York, which was on lease.

These facilities actually passed under control of the Diplomatic Security Service of the US State Department and its department of foreign missions.

Source: ITAR-TASS 24-10-2017

Baltic Fleet corvettes on long-distance voyage pass through English Channel

The voyage aims to ensure the Russian Navy’s regular presence in the World Ocean.

KALININGRAD, October 23. /TASS/. The Russian Baltic Fleet’s corvettes Boiky and Soobrazitelny currently on a long-distance voyage have passed through the Dover Strait and the English Channel and entered the Atlantic Ocean, Fleet spokesman Roman Martov told TASS.

"The Baltic Fleet’s warships have successfully passed through the Strait of Dover and the English Channel, which are uneasy for passage in fall, and have entered the Atlantic Ocean," the spokesman said.

The corvettes’ crews replenished fuel stocks in the north Atlantic and held the warships’ planned inspection. For this purpose, the sea tanker Kola making part of the naval group was involved.

In addition, the corvettes’ combat teams practiced joint search for notional enemy’s submarines as part of the drills to organize anti-submarine warfare defense while on the move in the Atlantic.

As was reported earlier, the corvettes Boiky and Soobrazitelny, and also the tanker Kola left the naval harbor of Baltiysk on October 14. Kamov Ka-27PS anti-submarine warfare helicopters are aboard the corvettes along with marine infantry units that have undergone special training.

The voyage aims to ensure the Russian Navy’s regular presence in the World Ocean, Martov said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 23-10-2017

Youth Festival in Sochi succeeds as international event - organizer

The organizers received assistance from 5,000 volunteers, including 100 UN volunteers, Sergei Kiriyenko said.

SOCHI, October 22. /TASS/. Russia’s First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration and head of the Russian organizing committee of the World Festival of Youth and Students Sergei Kiriyenko gave positive comments on the event’s results.

"

The festival was a success as a big international event," he said. "Almost 25,000 young people from 188 countries have participated in it."

The organizers received assistance from 5,000 volunteers, including 100 UN volunteers, he added.

"The total number of people we have accredited is 67,670," he said.

The XIX World Festival of Youth and Students began in Moscow on October 14 with a carnival. The main events took place at the Sochi Olympic Park on October 15-22. The festival featured young professionals in various spheres, aged between 18 and 35 from more than 180 countries. Russia’s other cities also hosted the holiday. The forum’s 2,000 foreign participants during the first three days visited 15 Russian regions.

The Russian news agency TASS is the festival’s general information partner and official photo host.

Source: ITAR-TASS 22-10-2017

Russian diplomat says temporary checkpoints may appear on border with Belarus

Drug trafficking through the Russian-Belarusian border has grown significantly.

MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. The Russian government has discussed establishment of temporary checkpoints on the Russian-Belarusian border in advance, Russian First Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Gorovoy said at Friday’s Federation Council meeting.

"The Russian government has discussed establishment of temporary border checkpoints along the borders with Belarus both along the highway and the railroad," he said, noting that there will be no need for halts of passenger trains.

"We will be working rather hard starting from May 2018. We are, of course, concerned about our open border regarding the decree signed in Belarus that provides the right of visa-free entry for five days for citizens from 80 states," Gorovoy said in response to a question on preparation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Drug trafficking through the Russian-Belarusian border has grown significantly, the deputy minister said. "Drug trafficking has increased many times both through trains and the highway across the Smolensk Region," Gorovoy noted, adding that it was necessary to unify the migration legislation and transfer to a single migration card by March 2018.

Source: ITAR-TASS 21-10-2017

Kiev police fail to make protesters pack up tents from streets

About 100 demonstrators gathered outside the parliament this morning, and their numbers are growing.

KIEV, October 20. /TASS/. Police have been struggling to sway rally participants since early Friday to take down their tents that they had set up on Grushevskogo Street, blocking traffic in the center of the Ukrainian capital.

The protesters, mostly supporters of Mikheil Saakashvili’s Movement of New Forces, have no intention of removing tents and their field kitchen from the streets yet, and say that the demonstration organizers should make that decision first, TASS reported from the site.

The demonstrators repeatedly tried to extend the tent camp, but the police confiscated tents and styrofoam used to make them warmer. A few tents are fanned out across the Konstitutsii Square. National Guard and police officers are guarding the area. Police barricades were erected around the parliament’s building.

About 100 demonstrators gathered outside Rada this morning, and their numbers are growing.

The demands 

The mass rally outside Verkhovna Rada erupted in the early hours of Tuesday. It was put together by several opposition forces: the Self Reliance, Fatherland and Movement of New Forces political parties and the Freedom, National Corps and Right Sector (outlawed in Russia) far-right organizations, as well as some Verkhovna Rada members from the ruling Pyotr Poroshenko Bloc. Several clashes between the demonstrators and the police broke out during the rally. 

On late Thursday, the rally organizers announced that the Movement of New Forces supporters will continue demonstrating outside Rada, whereas the members of other political forces will continue the rally by other means. The activists demand the abolishment of parliamentary immunity, amendments to election laws and the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Court.

The parliament sent two draft laws on abolishment of parliamentary immunity to Ukraine’s Constitutional Court - one from Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko and the other proposed by a group of MPs.

As for the second demand (to change the election legislation), the MPs did not use any of the suggested draft laws as a basis and rescheduled their review for the next plenary meeting scheduled for November 7-10. Overnight, the protesters headed by Self-Reliance MP Yegor Sobolev and independent Yury Levchenko forwarded a draft law on the Anti-Corruption Court to the presidential administration that Poroshenko should present on his behalf for Verkhovna Rada’s study.

There are no draft laws on Friday’s agenda that the demonstrators are seeking to be adopted. 

Source: ITAR-TASS 20-10-2017

Moscow hopes Kiev won't use Rada protests to escalate conflict in Donbass

It might cause the most significant repercussions for the intra-Ukrainian settlement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/. Russia hopes that the Ukrainian leadership will not use protests outside the Verkhovna Rada parliament in Kiev for escalation in Donbass, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Moscow "closely watches the protests underway in downtown Kiev, outside the building of Verkhovna Rada."

"The events show weariness that has accumulated in Ukrainian society due to the Ukrainian authorities’ numerous abortive promises to overcome hard social and economic crises, to uproot corruption and drastically improve lives of the country’s population," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"Again, as almost four years ago, squares of the Ukrainian capital hear appeals for the president’s resignation," it said. "One cannot help the feeling of deja vu."

"We expect the Kiev leadership not to try to use the current political turbulence for another spiral of escalation in Donbass," the ministry said. "It might cause the most significant repercussions for the intra-Ukrainian settlement."

On Tuesday, protesters gathered outside the Verkhovna Rada building demanding that lawmakers’ immunity be lifted, legislation amended and the Anti-Corruption Court be established. Diverse political forces staged the rally. Among them are Samopomich (Self-Reliance), Batkivshchyna (the Ukrainian Union ‘Fatherland’ led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko), Movement of New Forces (led by former Georgian President and former Ukraine’s Odessa Governor Mikhail Saakashvili), and 5.10 political parties. Some ultra-radical movements like Svoboda (Freedom), National Corps and Right Sector (banned in Russia) were among the organizers as well.

The protest turned violent as demonstrators clashed with police later in the day. As a result, one officer and three protesters were injured.

The protesters put up tents in the central park vowing they would stay until their demands met. The prosecutor general and police promised not to remove the tents in case the protesters did not take active steps.

Source: ITAR-TASS 19-10-2017

Kremlin highlighting rocky developments in Kiev, keeps close eye on events

More than 5,000 protesters gathered for a rally in front of the parliament’s building in Kiev.

MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/. The Kremlin is closely following the developments in Kiev where protests are underway and highlights the lack of stability there, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

"We are closely following the developments there," he said. "The situation is far from stable, that’s an obvious fact," Peskov added, commenting on the protests in the Ukrainian capital.

On Tuesday, more than 5,000 protesters from across the political spectrum gathered for a rally in front of the parliament’s building demanding, among other things, to establish an anti-corruption tribunal and to strip lawmakers of their immunity. One of the protest leaders, Georgian ex-President and ex-Governor of Ukraine’s Odessa Region, Mikhail Saakashvili, demanded President Pyotr Poroshenko resign.

The protest turned violent as demonstrators clashed with police on Tuesday afternoon. As a result, one officer and three protesters were injured.

The activists put up more than 40 tents in the area to stay overnight. Last night, the situation in downtown Kiev remained calm, no incidents were reported.

Source: ITAR-TASS 18-10-2017

Expert points to European Union's growing confusion over Kiev’s policy

Kievs makes the implementation of the Minsk Agreements impossible, experts warn.

MOSCOW, October 17. /TASS/. Confusion over actions that Kiev has been taking is growing in the European Union, as these actions run contrary to norms accepted in Europe and put EU countries in an awkward position in talks on the Donbass conflict, President of the Center for Systemic Analysis and Forecasting Rostislav Ishchenko said at a roundtable hosted by TASS on Tuesday.

"Over the recent weeks and maybe even months, confusion has been growing between the European Union and Ukraine," the expert said. "The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has stomped on the Ukrainian state and its president. Hungary even started encouraging separatism in the Zakarpatye region, actually manifecting its territorial claims," Ishchenko added.

The Donbass reintegration law, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada [Ukraine’s parliament] in the first reading together with a bill extending the law on the special status of Donbass, put the European Union in an awkward position. "These two laws contradict one another," Ishchenko said. "They make the implementation of the Minsk Agreements impossible because Russia is a guarantor state of the accords, while a guarantor cannot be aggressor at the same time," the expert pointed out.

"The reintegration law puts both Ukraine and the EU in a very awkward position because our European partners and counterparts in the Minsk process and the Normandy Quartet will now have to decide what Russia actually is - a guarantor from the standpoint of international law or an aggressor in accordance with the Ukrainian legislation," Ishchenko said.

At the same time, in his words, in the near term the European Union is likely to continue turning a blind eye to Kiev’s actions and demanding that Russia implement the Minsk Agreements, as Brussels believes that Kiev’s policy is based on some domestic reasons. "As soon as Ukrainian negotiators start to deviate from their own legislation, their worthy Nazi friends will come to them asking ‘Why do you not enforce our laws?’ And then the next stage of the Ukrainian crisis will being," the expert concluded.

Source: ITAR-TASS 17-10-2017

Post-Soviet security bloc begins military drills in Kazakhstan

The maneuvers will be held until October 20.

ASTANA, October 16. /TASS/. The Indestructible Brotherhood-2017 drills on the post-conflict settlement involving peacekeeping forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a post-Soviet security bloc, kicked off in Kazakhstan on Monday.

The maneuvers in southeastern Kazakhstan’s Iliysky firing ground will be held until October 20, the country’s Defense Ministry said.

"The drills involve peacekeeping contingents from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, and police units part of the CSTO Collective Peacekeeping Forces," the press service said.

Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the joint headquarters and the secretariat of the CSTO have been also invited, it said.

The major goal of the drills will be deepening mutual understanding among the CSTO peacekeeping contingents. During the maneuvers, the commanders and staff will practice to prepare for peacekeeping operations and control CSTO units, solve the tasks on localizing conflicts and improving field training during joint actions in tough conditions of Central Asia.

The participants will also train to hold negotiations, accompany humanitarian cargos, patrol and be on duty at observation points and checkpoints, and destroy militants’ training camps. The maneuvers will also involve psychological operations and information warfare units.

According to the scenario of drills, the situation will gradually change due to the massive arrival of refugees. Special attention will be paid to improving cohesion of the peacekeeping contingents.

Source: ITAR-TASS 16-10-2017

Kremlin says ‘compensating’ Kiev for Crimea out of question

The reunification of Crimea with Russia was legal, the Kremlin spokesman stated.

VORONEZH, October 13. /TASS/. Crimea’s reunification with Russia was legal, so any compensation to Ukraine for the peninsula is out of the question, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, commenting on an initiative that Czech President Milos Zeman put forward at the PACE session.

"It is not right to speak about annexation of Crimea both from a factual and legal standpoint, so any compensation is out of the question," Peskov said.

He reiterated that the decision to secede from Ukraine had been taken by a legitimate body - the Crimean Supreme Council - amid the Ukrainian coup and the spread of radical nationalist ideas, "which, unfortunately, still remains there." Only after that did Moscow make a decision to accept Crimea into Russia, Peskov noted. 

"This is why using the word ‘compensation’ and saying that it can be applied to the situation is not correct in our view - actually, it is totally incorrect," he added.

When asked as to how important Kiev’s possible recognition of Crimea’s reunification with Russia was for the Kremlin, the Russian presidential spokesman hoped that "sooner or later we will have that recognition." "The will of millions of people living on the peninsula should be respected. And we also hope that after that it will be possible to normalize relations between Russia and Ukraine," the Kremlin spokesman stated.

According to Peskov, the Czech president’s speech in PACE is part of the European Union’s internal debate. 

"We definitely respect Zeman as a very reputable politician who has long had good relations with President Putin," he said. "We have been keeping an eye on the EU’s internal debate, so we also paid attention to Zeman’s recent statement [on Crimea]," the Russian presidential spokesman noted.

Zeman’s initiative

On October 10, in response to a question by a member of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE, the Czech president said that Crimea’s reunification with Russia was "an accomplished fact". He added that Russia could pay compensation to Ukraine "in financial form or in oil and gas." According to Zeman, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s decision on handing over Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 was a mistake. "Nikita Khrushchev did an unpardonable foolish thing, and many politicians acknowledge today that Crimea cannot be returned to Ukraine," Zeman stressed.

Ukraine sharply reacted to Zeman’s statement, the country’s foreign ministry protested, and President Pyotr Poroshenko, while addressing the PACE session on October 11, said that Ukraine would not sell its territories.

Source: ITAR-TASS 15-10-2017

Ukrainian detachments violate ceasefire in Donetsk Republic

Since the fall of 2014, participants in the Contact Group on East Ukrainian settlement have announced about a dozen of ceasefire deals.

DONETSK, October 14. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Armed Forces over the past 24 hours violated ceasefire 35 times as they fired on 16 compounds in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the republic’s command said on Saturday.

"Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Armed Forces 35 times violated ceasefire as they opened fire on 16 compounds in the republic," the Donetsk news agency quoted the command’s representative as saying.

The military used "tanks, mortars, weapons of infantry fighting vehicles, armored vehicles, grenade launchers and small arms," the command said.

Since the fall of 2014, participants in the Contact Group on East Ukrainian settlement have announced about a dozen of ceasefire deals. On June 24, the so-called "harvest ceasefire" came into effect - it was expected to hold until the end of August. However, shelling incidents continued to happen.

On August 23, the Contact Group members declared a "back-to-school" ceasefire in Donbass starting from August 25. However, on that very day, defense authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk Republics reported that their territories had come under shelling from positions of the Ukrainian troops. Kiev, in turn, has been accusing the republics of violating the ceasefire.

Source: ITAR-TASS 14-10-2017

Russian servicemen deliver humanitarian supplies to refugees from Syria’s Ar-Rastan

About 1,500 refugees are staying in the area.

DAMASCUS, October 13. /TASS/. Russian servicemen from the Center for Reconciliation of the Conflicting Parties have delivered humanitarian supplies to refugees from the city of Ar-Rastan that is controlled by the so-called moderate opposition, the center’s official Alexey Sergeev said on Friday.

"This time we’ve brought about 400 food packages to refugees. Each of them contains flour, sugar, rice and canned meat," he said.

The Russian aid convoy arrived in the town of Kerbat Ash-Shabat, Rif Dimashq Governorate. About 1,500 refugees are staying there, most of them from Ar-Rastan.

Russian medics who set up a mobile medical station for refugees say that intestinal infections are raging in Ar-Rastan, and most locals are suffering from acute exacerbation of chronic diseases due to complete absence of medical aid during the blockade.

"[People] are coming with chronic and cardiovascular diseases, various inflammatory diseases and gastrointestinal upsets. We are providing full ambulatory care and examining [patients] at the equipped medical station," said Roman Rassadnikov, physician from the Center’s medical department.

Source: ITAR-TASS 13-10-2017

Diplomat blasts desecration of Russian flag at diplomatic missions in US

Moscow gave no permission to take down the flags, Zakharova noted.

MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/. The removal of Russian flags from the Consulate General in San Franciscoand the trade mission in Washingtonis the violation of a state symbol, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

Russia’s Embassy in the United States said earlier it had lodged a protest to the US side over the removal of flags from the seized Russian diplomatic facilities on Wednesday, and demanded the flags be immediately placed back.

"We view this as a desecration of Russia’s state symbol. We have already voiced a strong protest to the United States," Zakharova stressed. "Certainly, Russia gave no permission to take down the flags," she said, calling this "a hostile act of the US" against Russia’s diplomatic facilities.

"This was done by the people, who earlier intruded Russia’s territory, broke open the gates, the entry doors and since then have been bossing around there already not as raiders but as occupants," the diplomat said.

The diplomat slammed the US State Department’s statements that no one stripped Russia of its right to the property as "flagrant hypocrisy," stressing that the Russian staff members are not let there.

Over the past months, Russia’s representatives have been deprived of access to five Russian diplomatic facilities in the US, Zakharova said. "This has never been seen in the history of Russian-US relations."

"Besides the apparent encroachment on the flags, the Americans make no secret of the fact that they also rummaged through the papers left in the Consulate General," the diplomat said. "And that’s despite the fact that the consular archives enjoy immunity under the bilateral Consular Convention.

They enjoy immunity always and everywhere even after the consulate halts its activity," she said.

On September, 3 the United States closed down Russia’s trade mission in Washington and its branch in New York and also demanded curtailing the activity of Russia’s consulate-general in San Francisco and vacating the residence of consul-general in that city in California.

The US authorities set October 1 as the deadline for the staff of the consulate-general in San Francisco to pack their bags.

The US Administration believes that the diplomatic immunity has been lifted from these facilities. In the meantime, they still remain Russian property except for the office of the trade mission in New York, which was used under a lease contract.

On Wednesday Russian flags were removed from the Russian trade mission in Washington and the building of the consulate-general in San Francisco, California.

Source: ITAR-TASS 12-10-2017

Four Ukrainian citizens arrested in absentia for attacking Russian diplomatic missions

The Ukrainians have been put on the international wanted list.

MOSCOW, October 11. /TASS/. Four Ukrainian nationals, including member of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) Vladimir Parasyuk, have been arrested in absentia in Russia for attacking Russian diplomatic missions in 2014-2016 and put on the international wanted list, Russian Investigative Committee Spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said on Wednesday.

"The investigation has established that Ukrainian citizens Vladimir Romantsev, Alexey Bakay and Vladimir Nazarenko were actively involved in the willful damage of the property of the Russian diplomatic mission, while the latter also took part in desecrating Russia’s national flag," she said.

Petrenko added that member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada Vladimir Parasyuk was involved in the attack on the Russian Consulate General in Lvov in March 2016 and the abuse of Russia’s national flag.

"The above-mentioned individuals have been put on the international wanted list and, at the request of investigators, the court has imposed in absentia a pre-trial restraint in the form of custody on them," Petrenko said.

Charge in absentia

According to Petrenko, on the basis of the evidence collected by investigators, including video recordings obtained from open sources and the results of forensic examinations, a decision was made to involve the four individuals as defendants for committing a crime under Part 2 of Section 360 of Russia’s Criminal Code ("Attack on an institution that enjoys international protection committed with a view to complicating international relations"). Nazarenko and Parasyuk are also charged under Section 329 of Russia’s Criminal Code ("Abuse of Russia’s national flag").

Petrenko noted that the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies "have been conducting their own investigations over attacks on the Russian diplomatic missions for a long time, during which no one has been charged with a criminal offense so far."

"Despite the fact that Ukraine actually refused to comply with the requests for legal assistance from Russian investigators, the Investigative Committee is pushing ahead with its efforts to identify and bring to justice all the individuals who took part in the above-mentioned attacks on the Russian diplomatic missions abroad," she stressed.

Source: ITAR-TASS 11-10-2017