Russian warships returning home from Mediterranean

The warships’ crews earlier held various drills.

MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. The frigate Admiral Grigorovich and the guard ship Pytlivy have completed their missions as part of Russia’s Mediterranean permanent taskforce and have set off for Sevastopol, Black Sea Fleet spokesman Captain 1st Rank Vyacheslav Trukhachyov said on Thursday.

"Currently, the warships are passing though the Straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, heading for the Black Sea," the spokesman said.

The warships’ crews earlier held various drills to practice a battle solely and as part of a naval group, performing artillery fire against practice surface and air targets, and also sharpened the skills of anti-submarine warfare.

"Currently, the Mediterranean taskforce comprises about 15 warships and support vessels," Trukhachyov said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 31-05-2018

Lavrov: Russia deliberately accused of involvement in MH17 crash ahead of FIFA World Cup

According to the Russian foreign minister, accusations against Moscow were not based on facts.

MOSCOW, May 30 /TASS/. Moscow has been deliberately accused of being involved in the MH17 crash ahead of important international events, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, addressing the Primakov Readings conference in Moscow on Wednesday.

According to him, accusations against Moscow were not based on facts. "They want us only to admit that it indeed was our military unit and our Buk missile system - that’s all," Lavrov pointed out. "The investigation is not over yet but our offers of assistance are being rejected," he added.

"I think they decided to make public accusations in light of the upcoming important international events," the Russian top diplomat noted. "They seek to spoil the mood but they are trying to employ useless tools," he said.

Lavrov also said that Australia and the Netherlands had sent an official note to Russia demanding talks on compensations to the families of the crash victims though the investigation had released only preliminary conclusions. "What do they mean by that? How can they expect us to deal with them normally when they show such an approach?" the Russian foreign minister said. "They should learn good manners. I have already said that many have lost the culture of diplomacy. It is a sad thing which seems to be contagious," he noted.

MH17 crash case

The Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, a Boeing-777 passenger plane travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down on July 17, 2014, over Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk. The crash killed all the 283 passengers and 15 crewmembers. There were nationals of ten states among the dead.

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) looking into the crash comprises representatives of the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine.

On May 24, the team gave an update of the state of affairs in the criminal investigation, claiming that "the BUK-TELAR that was used to down MH17, originates from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile brigade (hereinafter 53rd brigade), a unit of the Russian army from Kursk in the Russian Federation."

Russia’s Defense Ministry rejected all the allegations and said that none of the missile systems belonging to the Russian Armed Forces had ever been taken abroad. The ministry noted that Moscow had provided Dutch investigators with overwhelming evidence proving that a Ukrainian Buk missile system had been used to bring down the aircraft.

Nevertheless, on May 25, Australia and the Netherlands issued a statement saying that they "hold Russia responsible for its part in the downing of flight MH17."

Source: ITAR-TASS 30-05-2018

Prosecutor demands 14 years behind bars for Ukrainian accused of espionage in Russia

According to the Federal Security Service, he had been collecting top-secret information on Russia’s Armed Forces and the National Guard.

MOSCOW, May 28./TASS/. The state prosecution asks a 14-year prison term for Ukrainian national Roman Sushchenko, accused of espionage in Russia, a source in the court told TASS on Monday.

"The prosecutor has asked 14 years in maximum security correctional facility for Sushchenko," the source said. The case is classified and is heard in camera.

Sushchenko case

Ukrainian national Roman Sushchenko is charged with article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code (Espionage), that stipulates a penalty of up to 20 years of imprisonment.

As the Public Relations Center of the Russian Federal Security Service earlier stated, Sushchenko is a Ukrainian Defense Ministry intelligence staffer and was arrested while spying.

According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), he had been collecting top-secret information on Russia’s Armed Forces and the National Guard.

The Ukrainian has pled not guilty to the charges.

Source: ITAR-TASS 29-05-2018

Two Ukrainian security officers killed in Donbass - LPR

Ukraine’s Security Service said they had been killed in an "artillery shelling allegedly conducted from the LPR’s positions".

LUGANSK, May 27. /TASS/. Two officers of the Ukrainian Security Service died in clashes with servicemen of the Ukrainian army in the zone of the so-called Joint Forces Operation (JFO) in Donbass, Andrei Marochko, a spokesman for the defense ministry of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), said on Sunday.

"According to our data, Ukrainian Security Service officers were killed in yet another conflict with servicemen of the Ukrainian army in the zone of the so-called Joint Forces Operation," LuganskInformCenter quoted him as saying.

According to Marochko, Ukraine’s Security Service has confirmed the death of its officers but said they had been killed in an "artillery shelling allegedly conducted from the LPR’s positions."

"We would like to recall that the LPR’s forces have withdrawn their heavy weapons from the contact line, which fact was confirmed by OSCE reports," Marochko stressed.

Press secretary of the Ukrainian Security Service Elena Gitlyanskaya said earlier Security Service officers had come under artillery shelling while performing their combat duties in Donbass. Two were killed and one was wounded.

Source: ITAR-TASS 28-05-2018

Four Russian military killed by militants’ fire in Syria - Defense Ministry

Two Russian military advisers, who controlled fire of the Syrian battery, died at the scene.

MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. Four Russian servicemen were killed by the militants’ fire in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

"Two Russian military advisers, who controlled fire of the Syrian battery, died at the scene. Five other Russian military were wounded and immediately taken to a Russian military hospital. The military doctors had been fighting for the life of two wounded servicemen, but they did not manage to save them," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the fighting occurred in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate in the dark time when several mobile terrorist groups attacked an artillery battery of the Syrian government forces.

The Syrian troops together with the Russian military from the military advisers’ group entered the battle. "During the fighting, which lasted for nearly an hour, the military destroyed 43 terrorists and six all-terrain vehicles with large-caliber armaments installed on them," the ministry said.

The Russian military have been granted state decorations.

Source: ITAR-TASS 27-05-2018

Cultural contacts with US have never stopped, Russian Deputy PM Golodets says

According to Deputy Prime Minister, contacts at the level of cultural institutions are very active.

ST. PETERSBURG, May 26. /TASS/. Cultural contacts between Russia and the United States have not stopped for a single day, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said in an interview with TASS at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, adding that tours of major theatres prove it.

"(Russia’s - TASS) contacts with the United States have not stopped for a single day. Tours of all major theatres prove it," she said, mentioning tours of the Bolshoi Theatre and the Theatre of Nations as examples.

According to Golodets, contacts at the level of cultural institutions are very active, and keep up.

SPIEF-2018 runs on May 24-26. The forum’s events are held under the motto: "Creating the Economy of Trust." TASS news agency is acting as an information partner and the official photo hosting agency of SPIEF. TASS is also the operator of the zone of SPIEF’s presentations with the support of EY consulting company and the Advisory Council on Foreign Investments in Russia.

Source: ITAR-TASS 26-05-2018

Russia must take part in flight MH17 crash probe to accept its results — Putin

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Russia’s readiness to cooperate.

STRELNA, May 24./TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was at the moment unaware of the findings of the Dutch investigators on the crash of MH17 flight in Ukraine as had been working in St. Petersburg all day long, but stressed that anyway Russia must take part in the probe to accept its results.

He said Russia’s stance on the issue was the following - "we right from the start suggested joint work to investigate this tragedy, but to our surprise we are kept out of the investigation," Putin said.

"The Ukrainian side is working there although Ukraine violated international rules and did not shut the airspace over the territory where warfare was underway," he went on. "Russia, however - is not [taking part in the investigation]," the president said.

"In order to recognize what is stated there, we must have a full role in the investigation," he said. "In any case, Russia will deal with this attentively, with respect, will analyze all that is stated there and will voice its attitude to this case," he said. "However, so far I haven’t even seen this text."

French President Emmanuel Macron said his country welcomes Russia’s readiness to cooperate with the investigation.

"The [Russia] president has just said a very important thing about the readiness to cooperate," he said. "I stand in full solidarity with The Netherlands and I believe that Russia should demonstrate a constructive approach."

Source: ITAR-TASS 25-05-2018

Kremlin says Russia not gearing up for hacker attack against Ukraine

The warning of the attack came from the US government, according to reports.

ST.PETERSBURG, May 24. /TASS/. Russia has not been preparing a hacker attack against Ukraine using infected routers, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday commenting on media reports.

"Russia has not been planning a hacker attack with the use of routers," Peskov said.

Earlier media reports warned of alleged preparations for a large-scale hacker attack against Ukraine through infected routers.

The warning of the attack came from the US government, the reports said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 24-05-2018

Russian diplomat vows 'tough retaliation' over Ofcom’s RT investigations

This is yet another attempt at restricting the activity of Russian media in Britain, Maria Zakharova believes.

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/.Russia is going to make a tough response to the British media regulator Ofcom’s three newly-launched investigations of the television broadcaster RT, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the media on Wednesday.

"The response to this show and the outcome will be tough," she warned.

"We have taken note of the British media regulator Ofcom’s statement it had launched three new investigations of the television channel RT over alleged violations of the broadcasting code and license terms," she said. "The regulator did not bother to explain what its criticism of the RT programs’ content was all about, though."

"This is yet another attempt at restricting the activity of Russian media in Britain. The reason is obvious. Russian media publish facts that Britain finds annoying," Zakharova said.

Russia’s authorities concerned have already begun to scrutinize the content of British media publications represented in Russia."

"This is no choice of ours. We’ve never indulged in such activities," Zakharova said. "Whenever fake news was published or facts were distorted, we preferred to say so aloud in public, but never use the measures of the sort being taken against Russian media, including those by London, which leads the crusade against Russian media."

"We shall reply to this in the same style and fashion," Zakharova said.

Far-fetched criticism

The newly-announced investigations focus on two RT newscasts of April 26 and May 4 and one talk show, Crosstalk, of April 20. Ofcom said on its website investigations are launched if the regulator suspects the broadcaster or service provider is in breach of the regulator’s code, rules, license terms or other requirements.

Ofcom’s press-service said the regulator would look into whether the discussion of US policies in Syria in Crosstalk was balanced enough. As for the two newscasts Ofcom plans to scrutinize, one was devoted to nationalism, Nazism and the attitude to Gypsies in Ukraine, and the other, to fracking in Britain.

In the middle of April, Ofcom opened seven investigations against RT on the suspicion of bias in covering the poisoning of former GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on March 4. Since the moment of the Salisbury incident Britain has launched ten probes into RT’s content - as many as in the previous eleven years. If the probe launched late last year into the RT’s show hosted by the former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond is to be counted, the list of investigations will grow to eleven.

Earlier, the RT told TASS in London it had seen the Ofcom statement but not received an official notification yet.

Source: ITAR-TASS 23-05-2018

Russia’s State Duma passes law on counter-sanctions against US, unfriendly states

The law is aimed at protecting the interests and safety of Russia from unfriendly actions by the US and other states.

MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. Russia’s State Duma (lower house of parliament) has passed the final third reading of a law on counter-sanctions against the US and other unfriendly states.

The law stipulates that the Russian president may provide the government with the right to impose restrictions, provided they do not apply to vital supplies which have no analogues produced in Russia or other countries. Decisions on sanctions may be made by the president based on proposals submitted by the Russian Security Council. At the same time, in case the situation causing the introduction of sanctions should change, the government will remove these restrictions.

"The federal law is aimed at protecting the interests and safety of Russia, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens, from unfriendly actions by the US and other states, which may take the form of political and economic sanctions on Russia, Russian citizens and legal entities, as well as from other actions posing a threat to Russia’s territorial integrity and aimed at destabilizing the economic and political situation in the country," the document reads.

The document was initiated by a group of lawmakers led by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.

Changes for second reading

Ahead of the second reading of the bill, the reference to specific industries, goods and services was omitted, while the list of possible actions was reduced from 16 to six. Counter-sanctions may be imposed on unfriendly countries, organizations under their jurisdiction, directly or indirectly controlled by those countries of affiliated with them, as well as on those countries’ officials and citizens.

Companies from the US and other unfriendly states and those controlled by them or affiliated with them, will be barred from participating in contracts concerning government purchases and the privatization of state property.

The Russian cabinet will have the right to halt cooperation with unfriendly states and organizations controlled by them or affiliated with them.

The government can also ban and limit the export of goods and raw materials from the US and other unfriendly states. However, restrictions will not apply to goods that Russian and foreign citizens may bring from abroad for personal use.

The law is expected to take effect on the day of its official publication.

Source: ITAR-TASS 22-05-2018

Russia’s FSB shuts down extremist group in Crimea

The group was created by an aide to Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada MP.

MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. The Federal Security Service (FSB) has shut down the activity of an extremist group in Crimea that had been created by an aide to Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada member of parliament, the FSB Center for Public Relations told TASS.

"The Federal Security Service and the Russian Interior Ministry have revealed the activity of an extremist group created by Erol Veliyev, aide to Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada member of parliament [Mustafa] Dzhemilev, as ordered by [Refat] Chubarov, who is the leader of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, which is outlawed in Russia, and is on the wanted list, with support from the Ukrainian Security Service," the FSB Center for Public Relations reported.

Apart from Veliyev, former boxers Steshenko and Tretyakov are also members of the group that was formed in Kharkov, FSB reported. "The extremists planned to commit crimes based on political hatred with a goal to threaten the pro-Russian Crimean Tatars and stoke national tensions on the territory of the Republic of Crimea," the Center noted.

In January 2018, members of the extremist group set Crimean mufti Emirali Ablayev’s house on fire with Molotov cocktails. "They were promised 500 dollars for each event carried out in Crimea," the Center reported. In April, one of the extremist group members - Steshenko - was detected when entering the territory of Crimea where he had been sent by Veliyev to prepare and commit provocations in the run-up to an anniversary of the signing of the law "On the measures to rehabilitate the Armenian, Bulgarian, Greek, Crimean Tatar and German peoples and on state support for their resurgence and development" by the Russian president. A criminal case was launched under Part 2 Article 167 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Deliberate destruction or damage to property inflicted in a dangerous way") over the arson of an Interior Ministry facility in Crimea.

Investigators from the Federal Security Service Directorate for Crimea and Sevastopol launched criminal cases for offences under Parts 1 and 1.1 Article 282.1 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Establishment of an extremist group and recruitment of people for activity in an extremist group") against Veliyev and under Part 2 Article 282.1 ("Participation in an extremist group") against Steshenko and Tretyakov.

"Extremist group members Veliyev and Tretyakov were sentenced in absentia under the corresponding Criminal Code articles. Both were put on the federal wanted list," the Center for Public Relations added.

Source: ITAR-TASS 21-05-2018

TASS photo exhibition opens in Urals city of Yekaterinburg

The photos are on display in Atrium, the biggest exhibition hall of the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg

YEKATERINBURG, May 20. /TASS/. ‘The Main Shots’ exhibition of digitalized pictures from the TASS photo archives, first showcased in Moscow late last year, opened in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on Saturday night, as part of the Night in the Museum event.

"It took us about two years, or two years and six months, to convert 860,000 photos into the digital format," TASS Director General Sergei Mikhailov said during the opening ceremony. "Those precious works have an almost unlimited life span now, and we are going to continue this effort, because this is important not just for TASS, but for the entire country as well."

The exhibition features more than a thousand of historical and hundreds of contemporary photos made by more than 250 photographers from the period of early 20th century and until the present day.

The photos are on display in Atrium, the biggest exhibition hall of the Yeltsin Center in Yekaterinburg. The exhibition will stay in Yekaterinburg until June 12.

‘The Main Shots’ premiered at Moscow’s Manezh exhibition center on November 1-24, 2017, and was attended by more than 60,000 visitors.

Over the past three years, TASS has transferred into digital form and given description to almost 860,000 pictures made by the press photographers who worked for the agency during various periods of history.

The visitors can see political leaders of the USSR and other nations, actors, writers, physicians, engineers, teachers and the people of numerous other trades, who lived in the 20th century and contributed to its history.

Source: ITAR-TASS 20-05-2018

Putin: Russia ready to help UK probe into Salisbury incident

The Russian president said he was glad to hear that Sergei Skripal had been released from hospital and wished him good health.

SOCHI, May 18. /TASS/. Russia has repeatedly offered its assistance to the United Kingdom in investigating the Salisbury incident and this offer is still in place, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a news conference after his talks with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday.

"As for the investigation, we, on our part, have repeatedly offered all possible assistance to the British partners in this investigation, with no reply as of yet. Our offer is still in place," he said.

The Russian president said he was glad to hear that Sergei Skripal had been released from hospital and wished him good health. "Yes, I learnt from the mass media today that he had been discharged from hospital. I wish him good health. We are really very glad," he said.

Former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal, 66, who had been earlier sentenced in Russia for spying for the UK, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious on a bench near the Maltings shopping center in Salisbury, UK on March 4. Police said they had been exposed to a nerve agent.

After the incident, the British media reported the two had been in critical conditions, with chances for survival next to zero. However both soon began to recover. Yulia was released from hospital on April 10 and her father was reportedly discharged on May 18.

Following the incident, London claimed that the toxin of Novichok-class had been allegedly developed in Russia. With that, the UK rushed to accuse Russia of being involved, while failing to produce any evidence. Moscow refuted the accusations that it had participated in the incident and points out that neither the Soviet Union nor Russia have ever done research into that toxic chemical.

Source: ITAR-TASS 19-05-2018

Russia’s VGTRK TV crew sound engineer wounded in Donbass shelling

A TV crew of Russia’s VGTRK Media Group has come under fire in the Donbass region in east Ukraine and its sound engineer Igor Uklein has been wounded.

MOSCOW, May 18. /TASS/. A TV crew of Russia’s VGTRK Media Group has come under fire in the Donbass region in east Ukraine and its sound engineer Igor Uklein has been wounded, Rossiya 1 TV Channel reported on Friday.

"The TV crew of our correspondent Alexander Sladkov has come under fire and sound engineer Igor Uklein has been wounded. This was the same shelling attack, in which commander of the Pyatnashka brigade Oleg Mamiyev known under the call sign of Mamai was killed," the presenter of the "60 Minutes" program said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 18-05-2018

State Duma urges Kiev to immediately release Russian journalist

Kirill Vyshinsky, editor-in-chief of the RIA Novosti Ukraine news agency, is accused of high treason in Ukraine.

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. Russia’s lower house, the State Duma, on Thursday passed a statement calling on Kiev to immediately release Kirill Vyshinsky, editor-in-chief of the RIA Novosti Ukraine news agency, who was detained and accused of high treason in Ukraine.

The Russian lawmakers also called on the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to take a principled stance regarding the violations of journalists’ rights in Ukraine. "Such steps by the Kiev authorities against RIA Novosti Ukraine and its personnel working there are a flagrant arbitrary action of Ukraine’s special services," the document stressed.

The statement says that using force against journalists who fulfill their duties runs counter to basic European values such as the freedom of speech and expression enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and other international documents.

"The State Duma calls on the OSCE and the Council of Europe to take a principled stance regarding the repeated facts of violating journalists’ rights in Ukraine and demands that the Kiev authorities immediately release Vyshinsky," it said.

On May 15, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) carried out a large-scale operation against RIA Novosti Ukraine staff members, accusing them of high treason. The news agency’s chief editor Kirill Vyshinsky was detained outside his home early in the morning.

Soon after that, searches were conducted in the news agency’s Kiev office and press center, as well as in some journalists’ apartments. At the same time, the SBU issued a statement claiming that "a network of media structures, which Moscow used for carrying out a hybrid war" against Kiev had been exposed. Russia has sent a note of protest to Kiev.

Source: ITAR-TASS 17-05-2018

Russia to do its utmost to secure release of journalist detained in Ukraine

KERCH, May 16. /TASS/. Moscow will do everything it can to make sure that the journalist apprehended in Ukraine is released and other media workers are not treated that way, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

"We voice strong protest over Ukrainian law enforcers’ raid against the Rossiya Segodnya news agency," she noted. "Russia will do everything it can to make sure that the Russian citizen is released and there are no more such actions against other media outlets."

Source: ITAR-TASS 16-05-2018

Russia reserves right to respond to EU’s expansion of anti-Russian sanctions — diplomat

According to Maria Zakharova, the EU’s new measures once again demonstrate its real attitude to Crimea’s population.

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. Moscow reserves the right to give a tit-for-tat response to the European Council’s decision to blacklist five more Crimean officials, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday.

"The European Union’s new measures once again demonstrate its real attitude to Crimea’s population, to their interests and aspirations. Forgetting the high principles of democracy and human rights, Brussels is stubbornly seeking to ‘punish’ those who organized democratic expression of will on the Crimean peninsula," she stressed. "It looks like that the positive changes in Crimea after 2014 give no peace of mind to EU officials, especially in contrast to the situation in Ukraine, where people feel deceived by the European Union, which once promised them a ‘better tomorrow.’"

According to the Russian diplomat, it is clear to all in the European Union that the anti-Russian sanctions, which "have turned into ritualistic demonstration of EU ‘solidarity,’" are futile. "Their only practical outcome is accumulation of ‘irritants’ hampering mutually beneficial dialogue and cooperation with Russia," she said.

"The Russian side reserves the right to give a tit-for-tat response to the European Union’s yet another unfriendly step," Zakharova added.

On May 14, the European Council supplemented its blacklist with the names of five members of Crimea’s and Sevastopol’s election commissions who had organized presidential elections in Crimea in 2018.

Source: ITAR-TASS 14-05-2018

Paris attacker born in Chechnya was on security suspects list

He had been put on the list of security suspects for having ties with a person located in Syria, according to the data provided by investigative authorities.

PARIS, May 13. /TASS/. The knife attacker who killed one and wounded four other people in a suspected terror attack in Paris, was in the police’s database of security suspects with propensity for radical Islamic actions, AFP reported on Sunday with reference to investigative authorities.

The attacker, aged 20, was born in Chechnya, his parents have been taken into custody, the agency said.

He had been put on the list of security suspects for having ties with a person located in Syria, according to the data provided by investigative authorities. Meanwhile, no law violations were registered regarding the young man, BFM TV said.

The stabbing attack took place at about 21.30 in Paris’ second arrondissement where the city's opera and prestigious residential areas are located. The assailant was shot dead by police after carrying out the assault on Saturday evening. Initial reports said eight people were injured. Later, it became known that four people had actual knife wounds, while some others sought medical assistance for the state of shock. Two of those injured were hospitalized in critical condition.

The authorities are treating the attack as terror related, primarily because witnesses described him shouting "Allahu akbar", a refrain commonly used by jihadists when carrying out attacks, AFP said.

The Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Source: ITAR-TASS 13-05-2018

Two US F-22 jets escort Russia’s Tu-95 aircraft - Russian Defense Ministry

According to Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov, the crews of the Russian aircraft have fully accomplished their air patrol missions.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. Russia’s Tupolev Tu-95 aircraft were escorted by two F-22 jets of the US Air Force at some section of the route, which did not approach them closer than 100 meters, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Saturday.

He noted that "the Tu-95MS strategic bombers operated by the [Russian] Aerospace Forces and the Tu-142 long-range anti-submarine aircraft operated by the Navy successfully performed a planned flight over the neutral waters of the Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk on May 11." "At some section of the route the aircraft operated by the Russian Aerospace Forces that were carrying out a patrol flight were escorted by two F-22 jets of the US Air Force for 40 minutes, which did not approach them closer than 100 meters," he said.

According to Konashenkov, the crews of the Russian aircraft have fully accomplished their air patrol missions.

He added that Russia’s long-range and naval aviation pilots regularly performed flights over the neutral waters of the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Black Sea and the Pacific. All flights by Russian aircraft are performed in strict conformity with the international airspace rules, without any violations of other countries’ borders.

Source:  ITAR-TASS 12-05-2018

Ukrainian military intelligence operative sentenced to 8 years in jail in Crimea

Limeshko, a native of Ukraine’s Kharkov region, was a senior intelligence operative at a regiment deployed in the east of the country.

SIMFEROPOL, May 11. /TASS/. The city court in Sudak, the Republic of Crimea, on Thursday issued a sentence for eight years in a general penitentiary to the Ukrainian citizen Gennady Limeshko, a former military intelligence operative of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who planned subversive acts in Crimea, the press service of the Crimean branch of the FSB federal security service said on Thursday.

"The Sudak city court has found Limeshko guilty of the offenses he was charged with and it has issued a sentence to him for eight years in a general prison," the press release said.

Limeshko was found guilty of an illegal manufacturing of an explosive device and an illegal purchase, storage and carrying of explosives and munitions committed by a group of persons upon complicity.

Limeshko, a native of Ukraine’s Kharkov region, was a senior intelligence operative at a regiment deployed in the east of the country. The Russian authorities detained him last August. Two TNT blocks, a mechanism for setting an explosive device off, a grenade for an RDG-5 grenade launcher, and containers with an inflammable mixture were confiscated from him.

Information released by the law enforcement agencies said he arrived in Crimea on August 9, 2017, for the purpose of blowing up a high-voltage power transmission line between the towns of Sudak and Novy Svet. This subversion would have left more than 50,000 people in a blackout.

He was detained while making a cut in a pylon.

A law enforcement source also told TASS the SBU had instructed Limeshko to organize a number of explosions and arsons in Crimea in order to disrupt the normal functioning of transportation and infrastructure facilities.

Source: ITAR-TASS 11-05-2018

Talks on Normandy Quartet top diplomats' meeting underway — Russian Foreign Ministry

The top diplomats of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine were expected to hold a meeting on the situation on Donbass on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in February.

BAKU, May 10. /TASS/. Talks on the next meeting of the foreign ministers of the Normandy Quartet member states (Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine) are underway but its date has not been set yet, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told reporters on Thursday.

"No timeframe has been established so far," the senior Russian diplomat said in response to a question about the prospects for a foreign ministers’ meeting. "Talks about such a meeting are underway but there is no date yet," he added.

The top diplomats of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine were expected to hold a meeting on the situation on Donbass on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in February. However, no such meeting took place.

Source: ITAR-TASS 10-05-2018

Putin: Russia’s won’t allow denying the feat of Soviet people who saved world from fascism

Putin said that at the military parade on Red Square devoted to the 73rd anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War.

MOSCOW, May 9. /TASS/. It was the Soviet Union that determined the outcome of World War Two and Russia will resist attempts to deny this feat, President Vladimir Putin said at the military parade on Red Square devoted to the 73rd anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

"Today there are attempts to deny the feat of the people, which saved Europe and the world from slavery, from extermination and from the horrors of the Holocaust, and bury in oblivion the authenticity of the heroes, falsify, re-write and distort the entire history," the Russian president said.

"We will never allow this," Putin stressed.

Source: ITAR-TASS 09-05-2018

Immortal Regiment march to take place in Antarctica for the first time

Thirty-two people who are working at the Novolazarevskaya station will take part in the parade.

MOSCOW, May 8. /TASS/. The first Immortal Regiment march in Antarctica will take place ahead of Victory Day at the Novolazarevskaya station of the 63rd Russian Antarctic Expedition, one of the march organizers, station surgeon Mikhail Vorontsov, told TASS.

"We’ve been taking part in the Immortal Regiment in St. Petersburg each year since the launch of this movement. This time, as Victory Day falls on the wintering, we thought why not the sixth continent, as long as the Immortal Regiment is marching across the whole planet? Such events have never been held here before, and ours will be the first one. The station head, Yury Nezderov, approved our proposal," Vorontsov said.

The winterers prepared placards with photos of their relatives who fought in the Great Patriotic War beforehand. Thirty-two people are working at the Novolazarevskaya station, and all of them will take part in a short-distance march from the station’s entrance gates to its unofficial symbol - a large round shield with the station’s name and a map of the sixth continent on it.

A group of scientists from India’s Maitri station located nearby will also come to Novolazarevskaya. Indian and Russian polar scientists will attend a festive dinner and watch fireworks in the evening.

The Russian Antarctic Expedition is an ongoing expedition of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. Five permanent Russian stations are operating on the sixth continent: Progress, Novolazarevskaya, Vostok, Mirny and Bellingshausen. Winterers spend about a year in Antarctica, while seasonal groups work there in summer.

The Immortal Regiment

The Immortal Regiment movement was first launched in Tyumen in 2007 and was initially called "Victors’ Parade." It acquired its current name in 2012 in Tomsk, and in 2013 it involved 120 cities. In 2014, residents from about 500 cities in seven countries crowded streets carrying portraits of their relatives who fought in World War II (the Great Patriotic War). The movement officially became nationwide in 2015. According to the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 96% of Russian citizens - a lot of young people among them - like the idea of the Immortal Regiment. The Immortal Regiment is taking place in many countries now.

Source: ITAR-TASS 08-05-2018

Putin takes office for second six-year term as Russia’s president

This is Putin’s fourth term as head of state.

OSCOW, May 7. /TASS/. Vladimir Putin has officially assumed office as Russia’s President, Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin announced after Putin accepted the presidential emblem and took the presidential oath in the St. Andrew Hall at the Grand Kremlin Palace.

This is Putin’s fourth term as head of state. His first two terms lasted four years each. The head of state’s tenure was extended to six years after the Russian Constitution had been amended. Putin’s first six-year term began in 2012, while the second term of office will end on May 7, 2024. According to Article 81 of Russia’s Constitution, an individual cannot serve as president for more than two consecutive terms.

After winning the presidential race in March 2018, Putin commented on his possible return to the presidency in 2030, dismissing such assumptions as ridiculous. "What you are saying is a little bit ridiculous," said the 65-year-old head of state answering a reporter’s question during his visit to his election headquarters on March 18. "Let’s count… I am supposed to sit here until I am 100 years old? No!"

Putin first assumed office as Russia’s president in 2000, having served two terms until 2008 when Dmitry Medvedev was elected the nation’s head of state. In 2012, he again got the opportunity to run for the presidency. Putin was the first president whose tenure is six years.

Chairperson of Russia’s Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova handed the presidential certificate over to Putin for a new term of office on April 3.

Source: ITAR-TASS 07-05-2018

Israeli premier calls upcoming talks with Putin especially important for Israel’s security

"Meetings with the Russian president are always important for security of Israel and coordination between the Israeli and the Russian army," Benjamin Netanyahu told a weekly government session.

TEL AVIV, May 6./TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his upcoming talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 9 "especially important" in the lights of Iran’s Syrian activity.

"Meetings with the Russian president are always important for security of Israel and coordination between the Israeli and the Russian army," the prime minister told a weekly government session on Sunday. "But next week’s talks are especially important in the light of Iran’s growing efforts to create military bases in Syria aimed against Israel," Netanyahu said in a speech circulated by his office on Sunday.

Source: ITAR-TASS 06-05-2018

Putin: memory of the nation's unparalleled feat unites all generations of Russians

The President also noted the importance of the Immortal Regiment movement.

MOSCOW, May 5. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has welcomed participants, organizers and guests of the military-patriotic event "Thank you for loyalty, descendants!" dedicated to Victory Day. The telegram was published on the Kremlin website on Saturday.

"This sacred holiday will forever remain in the history of the country and the fate of each family and each person. The memory of our nation’s unparalleled feat unites all generations of Russian citizens, helps overcome any difficulties and inspires us to new deeds," the telegram says.

The president also noted the importance of the Immortal Regiment movement and highlighted that such public initiatives are "coming from the heart and serve to youth patriotic upbringing and development of an active and vital civil position among boys and girls, as well as responsibility for the future of their motherland."

"I congratulate you on the upcoming holiday from all my heart! Victory Day greetings to you!" Putin added.

The concert of the "Thank you for loyalty, descendants!" event will take place in the State Kremlin Palace on Saturday.

The military-patriotic event "Thank you for loyalty, descendants!" was launched in 2013 to keep the memory of the Great Patriotic War (World War II) heroes and their contribution to the common Victory.

Source: ITAR-TASS 05-05-2018

Air defense jets fly ten sorties in one week to intercept spy planes near Russian borders

Seventeen aircraft were conducting air reconnaissance along Russia’s borders.

MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/. Russia’s air defense jets flew ten sorties in one week to intercept spy aircraft near Russian borders, the Defense Ministry’s daily Krasnaya Zvezda said on Friday.

"Seventeen aircraft were conducting air reconnaissance along Russia’s borders. Air defense planes on duty flew ten sorties to intercept and escort them. There were no violations of Russia’s airspace," the daily said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 04-05-2018

Russian fighter jet crashes over Mediterranean Sea

Both pilots have died in the crash.

MOSCOW, May 3. /TASS/. A Sukhoi-30SM jet of Russia’s Aerospace Force has crashed in the Mediterranean killing both pilots, the Defense Ministry told the media on Thursday.

"At 09:45 on May 3, a Russian Sukhoi-30SM fighter crashed in the Mediterranean during the climb shortly after taking off from the Khmeimim airdrome. As follows from an onsite report, both pilots tried to keep the plane under control till the last moment. Both died," the Defense Ministry said.

According to preliminary estimates, a bird hit the plane’s engine.

"There was no fire impact on the plane," the Defense Ministry said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 03-05-2018

US-made Javelin missile systems won’t give advantage to Kiev troops, Donetsk says

Ukraine’s President Pyotr Poroshenko confirmed on Monday that Ukraine had received a batch of US-made Javelin anti-tank missile systems.

DONETSK, May 1. /TASS/. The use of US-made Javelin anti-tank missile systems won’t give advantage to Ukrainian troops in Donbass, a spokesman for the operation command of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Eduard Basurin said on Tuesday.

"Today Ukrainian propagandists in coordination with their American mentors are using another trick - they cry in every corner about the supplies of Javelin anti-tank missile systems for Ukraine’s Armed Forces. These armaments won’t bring any real success on the battle field," Basurin said, according to the Donetsk News Agency.

Ukraine’s President Pyotr Poroshenko confirmed on Monday that Ukraine had received a batch of US-made Javelin anti-tank missile systems. He did not say however how many Javelin systems had been delivered.

Source: ITAR-TASS 02-05-2018

Some 130,000 people attend Labor Day march in Moscow

The demonstrators are chanting traditional slogans: "Peace, Labor, May!", "For Peace and Stability," "Jobs For the Youth," "Care About Pensioners".

MOSCOW, May 1. /TASS/. A march in downtown Moscow on occasion of Spring and Labor Day has drawn 130,000 people, the Russian Interior Ministry’s press service told TASS on Tuesday.

"A festive demonstration organized by representatives of the Moscow Trade Union Federation is held in the center of the capital," the press service said.

Police together with the National Guard and voluntary people’s patrols are ensuring security.

The demonstrators are chanting traditional slogans: "Peace, Labor, May!", "For Peace and Stability," "Jobs For the Youth," "Care About Pensioners."

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin led the march of trade unions on Red Square, promising to make every effort to improve living standards of citizens. Lawmakers of the State Duma and Moscow City Duma took part in the demonstration.

Communist Party’s march in Moscow

Some 3,500 people are taking part in a march of the Russian Communist Party devoted to Labor Day, the Interior Ministry’s press service said on Tuesday.

"A march organized by the Communist Party has started in downtown Moscow and will end by a rally on Teatralnaya Square," a spokesman said.

More than 245,000 personnel of ministries, agencies and services are ensuring security, a spokesperson for the Emergencies Ministry said.

Over 4,400 festive events are scheduled in the Russian regions on Tuesday.

Source: ITAR-TASS 01-05-2018