Section: Voice of America (USA)
Special Counsel Investigation Encompasses Business, Cybercrime, Obstruction
Nearly a year ago, an investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller was tasked by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein with exploring any links or coordination between the Russian government and “individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump,” and, additionally, “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the...
Anti-Putin Activist Among Hundreds Arrested in Russian Protests
Russian’s most widely known opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, along with hundreds of his supporters, were detained Saturday as street demonstrations unfolded in Moscow and 90 other Russian cities to protest Vladimir Putin’s inauguration for a fourth presidential term. Within minutes of Navalny’s arrival at a protest in central...
US Bolsters Naval Presence in Atlantic in Response to Russia
The U.S. Navy is reinforcing its presence in the Atlantic Ocean with the resurrection of a naval command in response to increasing assertiveness by Russia’s military. The Pentagon announced Friday the Navy was re-establishing the 2nd Fleet, almost seven years after it was disbanded for cost-savings and organizational reasons. “This is...
Russian Asylum Applications In US Hit 24-Year Record
The number of asylum applications by Russian citizens in the United States hit a 24-year high in 2017, jumping nearly 40 percent from the previous year and continuing an upward march that began after Russian President Vladimir Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012. U.S. authorities received 2,664 new asylum applications from Russian nationals in...
Drop in Spending Could Affect Russian Military, Think Tank Says
Russian military spending fell by a fifth last year, its first decline in nearly two decades, with tighter purse strings likely to affect Moscow’s military activity ahead, a report by defense think tank SIPRI showed Wednesday. Russia has flexed its military muscles during the last few years with its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea...
Armenia Protest Leader Calls for General Strike
The leader of an Armenian protest movement that forced the country’s veteran leader to step down announced on Tuesday a nationwide campaign of civil disobedience after the ruling party thwarted his bid to take over as prime minister. Addressing tens of thousands of people gathered in a square in the Armenian capital, Nikol Pashinyan said...
New Dawn or Swan Song? Czech Communists Eye Slice of Power After Decades
When the United States, Britain and France bombed Syria earlier this month, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis showed support for his Western partners one day before rowing back the next. The military strike turned from “inevitable” to an act described as changing nothing after Babis was rebuked by the far-left Communist party, showing...
Poroshenko: Ukraine Receives US Javelin Systems
Ukraine has received the first U.S. Javelin missiles and launch units, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday. In March the U.S. State Department approved the possible sale of Javelin systems to Ukraine at an estimated cost of $47 million. “I can confirm that the long-awaited weapon arrived in the Ukrainian army”...
Russians Not Turning on Kremlin Even as Latest US Sanctions Bite
The latest U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia earlier this month targeting two dozen Kremlin insiders and oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin and their companies are proving more painful than had been expected, say analysts. But they’re doing nothing at this stage in turning ordinary Russians against the Kremlin or undermining the Russian...
UN Says Enormous Humanitarian Funding Restraints in Ukraine
Neal Walker, chief of the U.N. humanitarian mission to Ukraine, told VOA’s Ukrainian service that they were recording 40,000 cease-fire violations each month. …read more Source: Voice of...
