Crimea - Page 7

Putin’s return leaves more questions than answers for Russia; The talking points of the Russian and Chinese internet trolls; Oil prices continue to crash

(Reuters) – Russia has the right to deploy nuclear arms in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine last year, a Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday, adding he knew of no plans to do so.

Vladimir Putin brags about how he lied about Russia’s invasion of Crimea; Europe to Greece: Stop wasting time and get serious about reforms

For the first time in the year since the conquest, Russian President Vladimir Putin explained in the documentary “Homeward Bound” the exact plan he concocted to capture Crimea out of Ukrainian possession. He also went into detail regarding how Russian soldiers prepared to rescue ousted pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Asked while providing congressional testimony whether Russia had lied to the public and the United States regarding whether its troops were present in Eastern Ukraine, Secretary of State John Kerry answered for the first time in the affirmative, implying that he had previously believed Moscow even though journalists provided evidence of Russians on the ground in almost every month of 2014.

Anthem health insurance data breach puts millions of children at risk; Putin gloats over humiliating Russian victory over Ukraine; China, Russia, Syria: The ‘Salami Slicing Strategy’

Taliban claims responsibility for bombing in Lahore, Pakistan; Russians ignore Ukraine ‘ceasefire’ as 5,000 Ukrainian troops are trapped; New Zealand debating military help for Iraq against ISIS

On February 4, Norwegian’s Police Security Service (PST) confirmed that Chinese and Russian spies were “actively spying within Norwegian borders.”

ISIS-linked terrorists kill dozens in Egypt’s northern Sinai; Russia looks to Greece as an ally against EU sanctions; Greece forces compromise in planned new EU sanctions against Russia

Russian officials raided ATR, an independent Tatar Crimean television station on January 26. The deputy director said the men took equipment and tapes, which basically shut down all operations. Russians have consistently targeted the Tatar minority since Moscow annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014.

Measles outbreak being blamed on the ‘anti-vaccine movement’; Russians re-invade Ukraine, targeting Mariupol port city; Yemen appears to be further destabilizing after president Hadi’s resignation; U.S. policy in Yemen affected by Houthi takeover

Yevgeny Savostyanov, head of Russia’s Coordination Council on Intellectual Property Protection, quit after he witnessed a major crackdown on cultural “matters of public interest” within Russia. He criticized Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky in an open letter before he left.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a treaty with South Ossetia, a breakaway region of Georgia, that will effectively annex the region to Russia early next week. The Treaty of Alliance and Integration allows Moscow to control its foreign policy, border, and security.

Russia is on a long-term holiday that started two weeks ago and ends on Monday, January 12. At that time, the banks and the stock exchange will reopen, and it’s feared that both the ruble and the Moscow stock exchange will fall sharply.

The Russians have a few nicknames for America and her citizens. America is referred as “Pindostan” and the citizens are called “pindoses.”

Ukraine cut power and cancelled trains to Crimea as Visa and Mastercard announced the company will not process business cards due to sanctions from the West.

ISIS urged Muslims in Western countries to kill “in any manner” those involved in a coalition fighting ISIS, singling out the French.