The test of the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle took place on 26 December, when it reached a speed of Mach 27 and successfully struck a target 6,000 kilometres away. The Zvezda TV channel, the official media outlet of the Russian Defence Ministry, has published a new video of the test launch of the hypersonic missile Avangard, depicting it from the launch command centre. [...]

Crimea dramatically broke off from Ukraine and rejoined Russia in March 2014 following a peninsula-wide referendum, a month after a Western-backed coup rocked Kiev and overthrew Ukraine's democratically elected government. [...]

On 31 December, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Paul Whelan, accusing him of espionage and launching a criminal case against him. US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said the US demands the immediate return of the detained Paul Whelan and seeks an explanation of why he was arrested. [...]

Businessmen from Saudi Arabia have expressed an interest in investing in Russia's Crimea, according to the region’s ministry of construction and architecture. "Representatives of the foreign [Saudi - Ed.] delegation expressed an interest in starting projects and setting up businesses in the republic," the ministry said, following a meeting with the Saudi businessmen. [...]

The country with the largest mineral reserves in the world, Russia, is the second top exporter of rare earth minerals. Its natural resources are estimated at tens of trillions of dollars. It has abundant supplies of oil, natural gas, timber and valuable minerals, such as copper, diamonds, lead, zinc, bauxite, nickel, tin, mercury, gold and silver. [...]

The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle flies 27 times faster than the speed of sound, making it impossible to intercept, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told Russia’s Zvezda television channel. Borisov spoke a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw what he described as the conclusive successful test of the Avangard and hailed it as a reliable guarantee of Russia’s security for de [...]

BEIJING (Sputnik) – Liberalization of the Chinese banking legislation provides Russian banks with an opportunity to receive full-fledged licenses for their work in China, Russia's Trade Representative in the Asian country, Sergey Iniushin, told Sputnik. [...]

The Bank of Russia has revoked licenses of five out on nine foreign exchange dealers operating in the country – Alpari Forex, Forex Club, Fix Trade, Trustforex, and Teletrade Group. The decision comes into force on January 27. [...]

Worried at Russia and China’s technological edge, the US aims to have a hypersonic weapon by 2025, the US Navy said in a report. A fortnight later, Vladimir Putin was watching the test launch of Russia’s newest hypersonic missile. [...]

While certain politicians are still having difficulties getting their walls built, Russia has announced it had finished a border barrier between Ukraine and Crimea. Construction took just over a year and less than $3 million. [...]

On 26 December, the Kremlin reported that the Russian Defence Ministry had test-launched the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, which flies 27 times faster than the speed of sound and which can carry megaton-class nuclear weapons. The US military has nothing to set against the new missile, the respected daily Die Welt stated. [...]

As Washington continues detentions of Russians across the world the plight of those, who have already fallen into the clutches of the US authorities, raises suspicion about the true colors of the US justice system. In mid-December, yet another Russian citizen was detained outside of Russia's borders – this time in Finland – at the request of the United States, marking the latest episode in wha [...]

Austria believes that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project will be successfully implemented, Russian Ambassador in Vienna Dmitry Lyubinsky told Sputnik. "Nord Stream 2 is, of course, the most promising initiative of our energy partnership with Austria… They believe here that this project will be successfully implemented," Lyubinsky said. [...]

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The Russian defense ministry has conducted the final successful test of the Avangard hypersonic glider before its entry into service, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced. The weapon will be deployed in 2019, he added. [...]

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says American nuclear missiles must not be stationed in Germany, or anywhere in Europe, in Washington's arms control debate with Moscow. "The deployment of new medium-range missiles would meet with widespread resistance in Germany," Maas said in an interview with German news agency dpa. [...]

Veteran Norwegian politician Carl Hagen argued that Russia giving up Crimea is not a possibility and urged his colleagues to embrace this political reality. Norwegian right-wing politician Carl Hagen, who founded the Progress Party and served as its leader for many years, created a stir earlier this month by recognising Crimea as Russian, and has now penned an opinion piece in the Aftenposte [...]

In 2018, Russia's relations with Western countries severely deteriorated against the backdrop of numerous scandals and sanctions. In an interview with Sputnik on the eve of 2019, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, spoke about whether we should wait for further alienation, about Moscow's possible response to Washington scrapping the INF Treaty, the price of a potential conflict between Russia [...]

SpaceX founder Elon Musk praised the Russian-built RD-180 rocket engine for looking awesome but said his bitter rivals Lockheed and Boeing ought to be ashamed of using it during their launches. The eccentric tech billionaire said a few nice words about the RD-180 on Twitter, while mocking his competitors at the same time. [...]

You will hear the following headlines in this Broadcast: -Moscow To Set Up Military Base In Caribbean -Kremlin chiefs call for Putin SHOWDOWN with Trump -Small ‘miscalculation’ over disputed islands could spark Major crisis -Russian nuclear-capable bombers fly over Caribbean Sea -North Korea condemns U.S. sanctions, warns denuclearization at risk -US to Resort to Use of Force if Iran Blocks St [...]

Russia enjoys a record-low number of inmates, thanks to “humanization” of the penal code, deputy chief of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) has said, adding that the number of jailed people is expected to shrink further. Over the past few years, the number of inmates in Russia has dropped by nearly 250,000, the FSIN deputy head, Valeriy Maksimenko, told journalists on Friday. [...]

Hungarian scholar George Szamuely tells Ann Garrison that he sees a 70 percent chance of combat between NATO and Russia following the incident in the Kerch Strait and that it is being fueled by Russia-gate. George Szamuely is a Hungarian-born scholar and Senior Research Fellow at London’s Global Policy Institute. He lives in New York City. [...]