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MOSCOW, March 26 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow is demanding Ukraine to refrain from irresponsible practices that are threatening the safety of civil aviation, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement published on Wednesday. Ukraine’s border control continues to deny Aeroflot crewmembers to leave their airplanes. “Such actions are not in line with international acts and conventions in following the demands for safe flights of international civilian aviation,” the statement reads.

‘Ukrainian’ drone downed above Moldova’s breakaway region A drone has been shot down over Transdniestr, Moldova’s breakaway region, the region’s security service has reported on its website. On March 23, the pilotless aircraft was photographing and videoing the republic. Transdniestr special services recovered the video record from the drone, the statement says. According to preliminary information, the unmanned aircraft was launched from Ukraine’s soil by a group of people allegedly linked to Ukraine’s security service, the Interior Ministry’s General Staff or supporters of ultra-nationalist movement Right Sector for an intelligence-gathering operation. Currently, Transdniestr’s security service is working on the identification...

<p>Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday installed Colonel General Myhaylo Koval as the country's new acting defense minister after approving the resignation of his predecessor, Ihor Tenyukh.</p> <p>Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov had nominated Koval, a 58-year-old military man who has commanded a parachute battalion and served as the deputy head of the State Border Service, after the Ukrainian Rada accepted the resignation of Tenyukh in a second vote on the matter, Interfax reported.</p>

Rallies have swept eastern Ukraine, with residents protesting against Kiev’s coup-imposed government and demanding a referendum to decide on the future of the region. Thousands took to the streets in Kharkov, Donetsk, Lugansk, and Odessa on Sunday. About 5,000 protesters gathered in the city of Kharkov on Sunday to rally in favor of federalizing the country and holding people’s referendums in eastern Ukraine. The demonstrators also demanded to make Russian the official language of the Kharkov region. Russian is the most common first language in the eastern regions. Furthermore, the residents of Kharkov proclaimed illegitimate the political part of the...

A US technology company which had 20 senior staff on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 had just launched a new electronic warfare gadget for military radar systems in the days before the Boeing 777 went missing. Freescale Semiconductor, which makes powerful microchips for industries including defence, released the powerful new products to the American market on March 3. Five days later, Flight MH370 flew from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people including 20 working for Freescale. Twelve were from Malaysia eight were Chinese nationals. Freescale’s spokesman Mitch Haws has said: “These were all people with a lot of experience...

WASHINGTON (VR) — Malaysian Airlines flight 370 was deliberately targeted for hijacking, according to Captain Field McConnell, a retired Delta Airlines pilot and a retired United States Air Force F4 and F16 fighter pilot. Capt. McConnell cites industrial espionage for a cutting edge military technology as the reason behind the airliner’s disappearance. “There were 20 Chinese software engineers in the aircraft, riding as passengers, and they were working for Freescale Technology in Austin, Texas, and they had the intellectual property of an open patent. In other word[s], a patent had been applied for, but yet --- not yet granted. And...

The State Duma has passed a motion suggesting that the US and EU extend the freshly introduced sanctions to all Russian MPs rather than a limited group of officials, defying western pressure just hours before Russia and Crimea signed a federation treaty. The motion was supported by a unanimous vote on Tuesday morning. It was prepared the day before by all four parliamentary parties after representatives of the United States and the European Union said they were slapping sanctions, such as visa bans and asset freezes, on a number of Russian officials who are seen as “key ideologists and architects”...

CHAMPAIGN — University of Illinois officials are looking into claims made by some Russian media outlets that a Crimea-related cyberattack originated from here. The Voice of Russia, a Russian government-run media outlet, claimed on Sunday that the hacking of websites related to the referendum held in Crimea on Sunday came from the U.S. (Snip) The Voice of Russia described Sunday’s hackings as the “denial-of-service” type of attacks. “Our IT safety experts managed to find out where those attacks came from. It is University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. The most powerful scanning of servers before the attack was carried out...

This was the flag of slave holding states in the United States that seceded in 1861, causing Civil War. Today the symbol is used by the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi groups, and other organizations who are hostile to African-Americans. For the last several decades, protests have continued, demanding that this flag not be displayed in public places. Many people were greatly disturbed to see that the Confederate Flag is now being displayed, not in the United States, but in Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. Larry Holmes, a civil rights activist in New York City, explained why the flag is...

The Tampa Bay Times newspaper will begin offering buyouts to current workers in advance of a round of layoffs, according to company memos posted online. This comes as the St. Petersburg-based newspaper faces increasing financial strain and works with business consultants to “improve the company’s financial results.” Employees will have between March 10 and 24 to consider the packages, which could include up to 13 weeks of severance, plus two extra weeks, according to a memo sent to employees by Human Resources Director Sebastian Dortch that was posted on the website of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, which owns...

As President Putin weighs using military forces in a Ukraine plunging deeper into political turmoil, Alexander Mercouris, international law expert, tells RT that the presence Russia’s forces could be a restraining factor for all the parties involved. RT: From the point of view of international law, from the point of view of that perspective, where does Russia’s approval for the use of armed force actually stand then? If it does indeed send forces to Ukraine?Alexander Mercouris: The Russian position is based on an agreement which was made between Mr. Yanukovich and the opposition leaders as they were on the 21st...

Simferopol, Ukraine (CNN) -- Russia's Parliament signed off Saturday on President Vladimir Putin's request to send military forces into Ukraine, raising the stakes in a quickly escalating game of brinksmanship between the two countries. Putin cited the "extraordinary situation in Ukraine" in his request, adding that the lives of Russian citizens and military personnel based in southern Crimea had been threatened, a claim Ukrainian officials have vehemently denied. The move prompted world diplomats to call for a de-escalation of tensions that have put the two countries on a possible path to war and roiled relations between Russia and the United...

In contemplating the outfall of the Ukraine situation, notwithstanding the merits of the contestants -- quite frankly I have not taken the time to sort it out -- given the postures of the two "leaders" of the US and Russia, especially given Soetero's preemptive capitulation, one thing has become crystal clear. Their President is a Putin. Our President is a putz.

In case violence spreads to Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, Russia has right to defend its interests - Putin to Obama Putin said to President Obama that in case if the violence in Ukraine and Crimea spreads, the Russian Federation reserves the right to protect its interests and the interests of the Russian-speaking citizens. In a statement posted online, the Kremlin said Obama had expressed concern about the possibility of Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin told US President Barack Obama by telephone that Moscow reserves the right to protect its interests and those of Russian speakers in...

Putin points out to criminal actions of ultranationalists in Ukraine in conversation with Obama - Kremlin In a conversation with US President Barack Obama on the situation in Ukraine, Russia's President Vladimir Putin drew attention to the criminal actions of the ultranationalists, who were actually encouraged by the incumbent authorities in Kiev, according to the Kremlin. Here is the full statement from Putin’s office on his call with Obama: In response to the concern shown by Obama about the plans for the possible use of Russia’s armed forces on the territory of Ukraine, Putin drew attention to the provocative, criminal...

Ukraine nationalist leader calls on 'most wanted' terrorist Umarov 'to act against Russia'. A leader of the Ukrainian radical group Pravy Sektor (Right Sector), Dmitry Yarosh, has called on Russia’s most wanted terrorist Doku Umarov to act against Russia in an address posted on Right Sector’s page in VKontakte social network. Voice of Russia, gazeta.ru, vk.com

The last time Oleg Tyagnibok was a member of Ukraine’s Parliament, his colleagues kicked him out over a fiery speech in which he described how Ukrainians, during World War II, bravely fought Muscovites, Germans, Jews “and other scum,” and then used slurs to refer to the “Jewish-Russian mafia, which rules in Ukraine.” Eight years later, Mr. Tyagnibok is preparing to return to Parliament, not as a lone member of a broader coalition, as he was when he was ejected, but as the leader of Svoboda, the ultranationalist, right-wing party that will control 38 of 450 seats, or about 8.5 percent...

<p>Thousands of pro-Russian demonstrators across eastern Ukraine and Crimea are protesting against the new government. Helga Zepp LaRouche is a German journalist and politician, founder of the Schiller Institute said in an interview with the VoR that the current Ukrainian authority is a result of the Nationalist intervention, and has no legitimacy.</p>

US President Barack Obama's warning that Russia would have to pay for a planned military intervention in Crimea is "a direct threat," a deputy head of Russia's upper house of parliament said on Saturday, saying Obama has "crossed the red line and insulted the Russian people." "Yesterday we heard from various media sources that the US president, Obama, had said Russia would pay dearly for its policy. We know that Maidan militants who were active in Kiev, and not only there, had been trained in Lithuania and Poland. Now they want to spread their influence with their activities to eastern...

If the most disturbing, if underreported, news from yesterday, was Obama's "modification" of NSA capabilities, which contrary to his earlier promises, was just granted even greater powers as phone recording will now be stored for even longer than previously, then this latest development from the Supreme Court - one which some could argue just voided the Fourth amendment - is even more shocking. RT reports that the US Supreme Court has ruled that police may search a home without obtaining a warrant despite the objection of one occupant if that occupant has been removed from the premises. With its 6...