As competition for the Arctic mineral wealth heats up and NATO continues to build up its military presence near Russia’s western borders, the Northern Fleet is becoming key to ensuring the country’s national security and economic interests. [...]

The US launched a military strike on a Syrian government airbase in response to a chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians. CNN's Athena Jones details the events leading up to the decision. Trump "No living being should suffer from such a nightmare." - I don't get it - he's speaking about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, right? Evidence Debunks OPCW Claim on Syrian 'Chemic [...]

On Wednesday, EU authorities signed a document on amending the legislation of the EU to grant a visa-free regime to Ukrainians, according to a live broadcast from Strasbourg. In an interview with Radio Sputnik, Russian expert Evgeny Ben commented on the issue, saying that the move may lead to an uncontrolled influx of Ukrainian migrants to the EU. [...]

The Austrian parliament has passed a bill that will outlaw the wearing of the burqa, the all face-covering veil worn by some women who follow the Islamic faith. The ban is part of a wider controversial law on migrants in the country. [...]

At this stage, you have to ask, is there anything Russian left for Ukraine to ban? Since 2014, they’ve blacklisted movies, flights, TV stations, cultural figures and even a disabled Eurovision entrant. Now, it’s social networks, search engines, and anti-virus software. Sure it’s a country where many want to re-align westwards after centuries of Moscow influence, but the methods are becomi [...]

The Russian Investigative Committee has launched criminal cases against Ukrainian servicemen and officials responsible for indiscriminate use of artillery in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic that resulted in civilian casualties. [...]

Norway’s largest trade union body has voted in favor of economic, cultural, and academic boycott of Israel over its treatment of Palestinians. In response, Tel Aviv said that the union “placed itself shoulder to shoulder with the worst enemies of Israel.” [...]

An Austrian tank platoon came in first in this year’s NATO tank competition, co-hosted by the US and Germany. Newcomer Ukraine finished second to last, beating out Poland. The annual Strong Europe Tank Challenge at the US Army’s Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany this week featured teams from NATO members Germany, France, Poland, and the US, as well as non-members Austria and Ukraine, in [...]

Women from Eastern Europe are being smuggled into Scotland for sexual exploitation and sham marriages at the hands of human traffickers, according to a new documentary. Undercover BBC journalist Sam Poling traveled to Slovakia to expose how Eastern European criminal gangs are trafficking young women to Scotland for them to marry third-country nationals, mainly Pakistanis, seeking UK residency. [...]

Putin Laughs at NATO Bobbleheads Video Felix mendez He is right. Those NATO knuckleheads dont know the first thing about real war as all they have done in their existence is to bomb, threat and murder poor peasants in Third World countries. At the first shot fired in a real war they will be all scampering away, running back home calling their moms, EL Donald the first. Putin Laughs at NATO [...]

Despite the fact that a number of European governments have taken steps to thwart American NGOs ostensibly promoting ‘democracy and globalization’ while targeting countries for regime change, the US is unlikely to stop ‘exporting democracy’ around the world. [...]

As Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen prepare to face off in the runoff on May 7, Western mainstream media have started vigorously blaming Russia of attempting to orchestrate a cyberattack on Macron's campaign. Pierre Curien, an expert on cybersecurity explained to Sputnik France why these flimsy claims fall apart at the slightest scrutiny. [...]

The S-500 Prometey isn't merely a next-generation Russian missile system; it can be seen as as a whole set of measures to turn the Russian air defense system into a single information space, according to the Russian news network Zvezda. The Russian news network Zvezda described the S-500 Prometey as a whole set of measures aimed at turning the Russian air defense system into a single inform [...]

No preparations are being made for a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, the Kremlin spokesman said, commenting on media reports that the Russian and US presidents would meet in May. “This isn’t the case,” Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said when addressed on the issue by journalists on Thursday. [...]

The president of Austria has raised quite a few eyebrows after stating that there may come a day when all women are asked to wear headscarves out of solidarity, citing discrimination faced by Muslims in the country. [...]

US president Donald Trump is not a truly independent political leader but merely a puppet of US corporations, military and intelligence, and who serves their interests, Syrian President Bashar Assad has told the Latin American TeleSUR TV network. [...]

In the end, there was hardly a reset; rather a sort of tentative pause on Cold War 2.0. Interminable days of sound and fury were trudging along when President Trump finally decided NATO is "no longer obsolete"; still, he wants to "get along" with Russia. Just ahead of meeting US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Moscow, President Vladimir Putin had stressed on Russian TV that trust (betwe [...]

Russia’s brazen confidence in its victory in propping up Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s once-failing regime grows day by day, as evidenced by Moscow’s latest oil deals with the Syrian government. Sputnik news reports that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin visited Damascus in November to get the ball rolling on the fossil fuel deals. [...]

When deciding to suspend supply of electricity to the Lugansk People's Republic, Kiev seems to have failed to heed Russia's readiness to lend its shoulder to the de-electrified region, Ukrainian politician and rights activist Vladimir Oleynik told Sputnik. In an interview with Sputnik, Ukrainian politician and rights activist Vladimir Oleynik commented on Kiev's recent decision to suspend el [...]

The collapse of Russo-American collaboration over flight safety in Syria turned out to be a painful experience for the US, Russian academic Nikita Danyuk suggested in an interview with Radio Sputnik, adding that it is unlikely that Washington will continue to infringe on the Syrian state. [...]

The UK, which recently said it could launch a preemptive nuclear strike “in the most extreme circumstances,” runs the risk of being “wiped off the face of the Earth,” the deputy head of a Russian upper house committee said. [...]

Theresa May would fire Britain’s nuclear weapons as a ‘first strike’ if necessary, the Defence Secretary has said. Michael Fallon said the Prime Minister was prepared to launch Trident in “the most extreme circumstances”, even if Britain itself was not under nuclear attack. The statement came as the Conservatives continued to exploit Labour divisions on the retention of the Trident deter [...]