Russia & CIS

More than 1,800 training flights will reportedly be made by pilots of an aviation regiment of the Su-25SM attack aircraft stationed in Russia's Southern Military District before the end of this year.

The public inquiry into the death by radiation poisoning of Russian ex-intelligence services officer Alexander Litvinenko is to take video testimony from Dmitri Kovtun, one of two men he met in a sushi bar in London just hours before being taken ill.

Russia opened its 'military supermarket' in the Moscow region on Tuesday, with representatives from over 70 countries expected to shop for arms and equipment.

Venezuelan military experts have been invited to monitor a Russian artillery military exercise in Siberia, which will involve over 300 servicemen and over 150 missile artillery units, including military and special hardware.

A report in the Sunday Times, alleging British operatives were put at risk from information obtained from Edward Snowden's cache of leaked documents, is being torn to pieces as the worst kind of journalism in the service of government fear-mongering.

Russia is ready to take part in the construction of the third unit of Finland’s Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant, the Russian presidential press service said Monday.

More than 400 Chechen volunteers left Russia to join the fighting in Syria on the side of the Islamic State since the beginning of the war in that region. The fate of most of them for the moment is unknown.

Russian Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Denis Khramov said that Russia plans to submit an application to the United Nations this summer on expanding its Arctic shelf border.

According to Central Bank’s head, bank forecasts unemployment in the country to grow from the current 5.6 percent to 6.5 percent by the end of 2015.

The regulator said it would continue to lower key rates in pace with the slowing of inflation rates in the country.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said that Russian energy giant is capable of increasing gas extractions to fully meet the peak demands of both Russian and foreign consumers.

Russia has developed super-high-frequency gun capable of deactivating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and the warheads of precision weapons at an impact range of ten kilometers which ensures 360 degrees of perimeter defense.

The chip, developed by the Russian firm Mikron, could be ready for use in credit or debit cards as early as autumn 2015.

According to Defense Ministry’s press service, Russia will hold all-army championships in tank biathlon military games and "Suvorov's onslaught" infantry combat vehicle (BMP) races.

Russia’s latest aircraft will be demonstrated during a large-scale aviation show that will take place on Wednesday, June 17 in the town of Kubinka, Moscow Region as a part of the Army-2015 expo, Russian Defense Ministry said Monday.

During the tests near Moscow, a wide range of exercises are planned, including motorcades, remote-controlled tests, driving along a designated route, and driving solely based on the data from the onboard cameras and GPS/GLONASS equipment.

Dagestani preacher Abu Khalid Nadir swore an oath to the Islamic State, thereby creating a new threat to stability in the North Caucasus region. The emergence of such an organization was beneficial to Sunni monarchies of the Gulf. Paradoxically, but it was profitable to Israel. The Islamic State was financed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the USA.

German automaker Mercedes-Benz indefinitely suspended the construction of the car plant in Russia due to sanctions, the Head of the Corporation of the Vladimir region development Sergey Borodin told TASS Wednesday.

“If until now there has been no progress in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the closure of the office will not bring any major changes”

Taner Yildiz has made a statement.