Section: Newsweek (USA)
Putin Appoints Crimean Commander to Head Baltic Fleet
Russia has appointed Crimean-born Alexander Nosatov as the new commander of its Baltic Fleet, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on its official TV channel Zvezda. Nosatov has been interim commander, since his predecessor Viktor Kravchuk was dismissed in June by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, after a scathing review of his efforts to...
International Monitors Spot Russian Insignia Brandished in East Ukraine
International monitors in eastern Ukraine have reported several instances of run-ins with individuals sporting Russian flag symbols. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which monitors the conflict between government and pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, reported Thursday that its observers had been impeded on the...
Netherlands Unlikely To Sign Ukraine Treaty, Prime Minister Warns
The Netherlands is unlikely to ratify an EU treaty with Ukraine that Dutch voters roundly rejected in a referendum earlier in the year, its prime minister says. “I think that ultimately we will not ratify [the agreement],” Prime Minister Mark Rutte told MPs on Thursday, the Financial Times reported. In April, a referendum on the deal, aimed at...
Ukraine Plans Reinforcement of Regional Crimea Border
Ukraine is sending around 10 train-loads of supplies to reinforce the border between its Kherson region and annexed Crimea, Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform reports. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014 and, although the Russian government is not recognized as legitimate by the U.N., its appointed officials have effectively governed the...
Russian Votes From Syria Hint At Size of Military Deployment
Nearly 5,000 Russians voted in the country’s parliamentary election from the territory of Syria, a large part of whom are suspected to be Russian military personnel in the country, news channel RBC reports. Russia has never made the size of its deployment to Syria public and announced that the majority of its force would return home earlier...
Lithuania Recalls Moscow Defense Attache Over ‘Russian Wife’
Lithuania has recalled its military envoy to Russia after citing a “change in familial circumstances” reportedly involving a Russian wife. Lieutenant-Colonel Saulius Pikturna was promoted to the prestigious office of defense attache, at Lithuania’s Moscow embassy earlier this year, however the country’s Ministry of Defense has...
Ukraine Reports Russia Is Practicing Its Readiness For Nuclear Conflict
Ukraine’s military intelligence claims Russia’s nuclear forces have begun training, simulating the conditions of a large-scale conflict. Kiev’s military intelligence posted a statement on Facebook Wednesday, reporting that Russia’s 33 Guards Rocket Army, based in the western Siberian city of Omsk, had kicked off a nuclear...
Russians Less Keen to Improve Ties With the West
Russians are growing less keen to mend ties with the U.S., worrying less and less that Moscow and the West do not see eye to eye, a new poll shows. According to the latest instalment of an opinion poll by independent pollster Levada Center, measuring Russian attitudes since the start of the Ukraine crisis in 2014, Russians are less enthusiastic...
Who Are Putin’s New Members of Parliament?
Russia’s parliamentary election seemed like business as usual as President Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party hailed a record victory, despite plummeting approval ratings. While the election failed to give the opposition a foothold beyond the margins of Russian politics, the result means a tide of new pro-Kremlin faces...
Ex-Kremlin Bodyguard Becomes Governor in Landslide Victory
A former Kremlin security agent has won a seat as governor in a landslide at Russia’s nationwide elections on Sunday, Russian independent news agency Interfax reports. The vote, which included elections to Russia’s lower house of parliament, as well as gubernatorial and local positions, gave ruling United Russia party a bigger...
