Tag Archives: Moscow

Iranian and Syrian Foreign Ministers on Monday condemned Israeli airstrikes near Damascus, labeling them as acts of aggression which proves that Israel is allied with extremist groups battling the Syrian regime. On Sunday, Israeli warplanes had bombed two areas, launching strikes near Damascus international airport and a town near the Syrian-Lebanese border. The Syrian government has said that the strikes …

On Thursday, US President Barack Obama said that the US will intensify its sanctions in energy, finance and defense sectors to punish Russia for its “illegal actions” in Ukraine, as the EU said that it could lift the new sanctions if the ceasefire in Ukraine continues. In his statement, Obama said that the move will worsen the Kremlin’s deepening economic …

CNN reporter Diana Magnay was re-assigned to Moscow from the Israel-Gaza conflict after she posted a tweet in which she referred to a group of Israelis who were cheering at missiles aimed at Gaza as “scum”. She had then deleted the post and has since not tweeted. On Thursday, several Israelis had appeared in the background of one of her …

On Monday, Refat Chubarov, a leader of the minority Muslim group the Crimean Tatars, said that the new Russian leadership had threatened to prosecute them “for extremism”. Chubarov, who leads the ethnic minority’s assembly, said that the Chief Regional Prosecutor on Sunday gave him an official warning to stop “extremist activities”. During the weekend, hundreds of pro-Ukraine Tatars clashed with …

The European Union and the United States on Monday placed fresh sanctions on Russia regarding its role in the Ukrainian crisis, with Russia vowing a “painful” response against the measures. The United States imposed the fresh set of sanctions on seven officials and 17 firms connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle as punishment for Russia’s failure to ease …

In the Ukrainian city Donetsk, the split between pro-Russians and nationalists exists on a religious level as well, with a sharp disconnect between churches seeking to Ukraine united and churches with ties to Moscow. Priest of the local Greek Catholic church 43-year-old Father Tikhon said “we should say thank you to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, who helped us to understand …