Putin's press secretary refutes media allegations Putin met with Iranian general

A number of media said earlier Gen Suleimani, the commander of an elitist regiment of the Guardians of the 

Islamic Revolution whom the UN prohibits to leave the Iranian territory, visited Moscow

MOSCOW, August 7. /TASS/. President Vladimir Putin did not have any meetings in Moscow with Iranian general Qassem Suleimani and the Kremlin does not know anything about it, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"The president's itinerary did not feature any meeting of that kind," he said.

"I actually don't have any information on whether or not this general really visited Moscow," he said.

A number of media said earlier Gen Suleimani, the commander of an elitist regiment of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution whom the UN prohibits to leave the Iranian territory, visited Moscow and held talks with a number of top-rank Russian officials, including President Putin and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.

The media also alleged that Gen Suleimani had come to Moscow by a scheduled flight.

Source: ITAR-TASS 09-08-2015

More than 2,000 Houses are to be Rebuilt in LPR

Houses of World War II veterans, single mothers and pensioners would be restored in the first place

This article originally appeared at TASS

The government of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) will soon begin the implementation of two national projects to restore houses completely destroyed or damaged during the hostilities, LPR Prime Minister Gennady Tsypkalov told a government meeting with the participation of the head of the Luhansk republic on Friday.

“We have prepared two projects to rebuild the houses that were destroyed [during the fighting]. The first project focuses on the restoration of 100 houses that were completely destroyed. They will be rebuilt in four populated localities — Khryaschevatoye, Novosvetlovka, Georgievka and Chernukhino,” LuhanskInformCenter quotes him as saying.

He noted that the immediate decision on the restoration of a certain building would be made at the municipal level.

“We also prepared a project to rebuild 2,000 houses that were partially destroyed. Limits will be defined for each district,” Tsypkalov said.

The LPR premier added that houses of World War II veterans, single mothers and pensioners would be restored in the first place.

Source: Southfront 08-08-2015

Russians have positive views of Soviet symbols — pollster

The survey showed that the Russians’ attitude to the swastika is the most univocal, with 74% of Russians viewing it negatively

MOSCOW, August 7. /TASS/. Most Russians have a positive view of the Soviet symbols, such as the hammer and sickle and the five-pointed red star. This data was obtained during a survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM).

"A total of 73% of Russians view the hammer and sickle positively, and only every tenth Russian (11%) — negatively," VCIOM said. The share of those who do not know that the hammer and sickle mean makes up 6%. Similar attitude is observed towards another Soviet-era symbol — the red five-pointed star. A total of 66% of Russians said they viewed it positively, and 11% said they viewed it negatively. Every tenth Russian (10%) doesn’t know what the five-pointed red star means.

According to the survey, Russians perceive international and foreign symbols worse or are just unaware of them. For example, the United Nations symbol is viewed positively by a little less than half of Russians (44%). At the same time, 17% of those polled view this symbol negatively. Every fourth Russian (24%) does not know that the UN symbol represents.

Ukraine’s state emblem is perceived positively by more than a quarter of Russians (27%). Every third respondent (34%) said he or she viewed it negatively, and 23% of Russians said they did not know that Ukraine’s state emblem represented.

The survey showed that the Russians’ attitude to the swastika is the most univocal, with 74% of Russians viewing it negatively. Only 8% of those polled perceive it positively, and 7% said they didn’t know what the swastika means. Sociologists note that most Russians (62%) favor a ban on the swastika.

The poll was conducted on May 2 and 3. Taking part in it were 1,600 people in 130 populated localities in Russia’s 46 regions, territories and republics. The statistical error does not exceed 3.5%.

Source:  ITAR-TASS 07-08-2015

Americans to break Ukraine apart if they fail to get Russia involved in the conflict officially

Kiev representatives have left the talks of the contact group for the conflict settlement in the Donbass following appropriate instructions from the United States, experts say.

"Kiev doesn't have an independent strategy in the talks. The Kiev authorities are completely dependent on the United States and partly on the EU. The EU needs to solve the Ukrainian crisis as soon as possible, as it causes critical damage to the EU. The United States does not have such problems. America, on the contrary, wants to help Ukraine to create as many problems for Russia. This is where contradictions come from. The EU is putting pressure on Kiev to implement Minsk-2, which makes it possible to stabilize the situation," President of the Center for Systems Analysis and Forecasting, Rostislav Ishchenko, told the Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Pravda.Ru reports.

At the same time, "the United States forces Kiev to suicidal provocations in a hope that they will get Russia involved in the conflict sooner or later. If they fail to do that officially, then they will break Ukraine apart to leave the scorched land for Russia," the expert said.

The Kiev government is absolutely impotent and does not decide anything. Moreover, Ukrainian top officials do not even control their own lives, the expert concluded.

Pravda.Ru

Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

Also read: The true effects of American involvement

US started Ukraine civil war

Source: English Pravda 06-08-2015

Kiev Attempting to Return War to East Ukraine - DPR Negotiator

The negotiator for the eastern Ukrainian self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said that Negotiations on Ukrainian reconciliation need to be renewed on the so-called Normandy format because Kiev is attempting to bring war back into the country’s eastern regions.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Negotiations on Ukrainian reconciliation need to be renewed on the so-called Normandy format because Kiev is attempting to bring war back into the country’s eastern regions, the negotiator for the eastern Ukrainian self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said Wednesday.

On Monday, the sides to the conflict in Donbas were due to sign an agreement to pull back weapons with a caliber of less than 100mm. However, a source in the talks on the weaponry withdrawal said that Kiev refused to remove its weaponry from four specific areas, while the militias demanded that the entire contact line be cleared of such weapons.

"Kiev is doing everything it can already for the fourth time and at the last minute [of negotiations] not to withdraw its hardware armed with 100mm [from the contact line]. Kiev has proposed adding an exception to withdrawing hardware from the entire line of contact. [Kiev] tried to make amendments that would allow it another 60 days to withdraw its hardware and continue shelling," Denis Pushilin said on Russia’s Rossiya-24 television channel.

He said that these type of tactics are purely "an attempt to return the situation to war."

An agreement urging the sides to the Ukraine conflict to pull back weapons with a caliber of less than 100-mm was supported in July by the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine, the so-called Normandy Quartet. 

It also envisaged the creation of a nearly 19-mile demilitarized zone along the contact line that separates Kiev-led forces and local militia in eastern Ukraine.

On July 28, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the agreement between the warring sides would be signed by August 3 and implemented within 10 days.

The immediate withdrawal of heavy artillery from the contact line and a ceasefire were stipulated in the Minsk peace deal signed by the Normandy Quarter in February, however, both sides have since repeatedly accused each other of violating the agreement.

Source: Sputnik News 05-08-2015