Donbass residents vote in the referendum on the status of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Donetsk People’s Republic has proclaimed itself a sovereign state and has asked Moscow to consider its accession into Russia, the Republic’s council said. “We, the people of Donetsk, based on results of the May 11 referendum and the declaration of sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s... 

Polling stations have closed in Ukraine’s self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk after a referendum on independence from the Kiev government. The turnout reached over 70 percent, according to organizers of the poll. The last polling stations in Lugansk and Donetsk regions wrapped up their work at 23:00 local time (20:00 GMT). There is no minimum voter turnout required for... 

A stunning memorandum originating from the Presidential Office relating to President Putin’s highly protected and secretive 4-day visit to the Valaam Monastery late last month has terrified the Kremlin today as it states that the massive nuclear war strike drills conducted this past week were “directly related” to a “vision” the President had in which he “saw” that Russia would soon... 

Russia has drafted a program for colonization of the moon, and plans to send the first expeditions to build a permanent lunar base in 2030, the Russian Izvestia daily said Thursday, citing an official document. “The moon is a space object for the future exploration by terrestrial civilization, and a geopolitical competition for the Moon’s natural resources may begin in the 21st century,” said... 

Washington has voiced support for the bloody crackdown on anti-coup activists in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, blaming Russia for inciting the violence there. In the meantime OSCE condemned the use of force by Kiev. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has condemned the actions of Ukrainian military in using force against pro-federalization activists and civilians in... 

A Russian-built Yakovlev Yak-130, a combat trainer jet. Russia plans to deliver the first batch of subsonic two-seat advanced Yakovlev Yak-130 jet trainer/light attack aircraft to Syria by the end of this year in a show of support for President Bashar Assad’s government. Citing an unnamed source close to Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport, Russian daily newspaper Kommersant, wrote on Monday... 

President Vladimir Putin has overseen military drills on countering nuclear strike. The planned drills come ahead of the May 9 celebrations dedicated to victory in World War II. “We are carrying out tests of the readiness of the Russian armed forces. It was announced last November. The exercises will involve all branches of the armed forces across the country,” Putin told reporters at... 

A foreboding “urgent action bulletin” released by the Federal Security Services (FSB) states that President Putin this morning declared that a “State of Red War” now exists and has ordered an “immediate deployment” of the much feared and highly secretive Spetsgruppa A (Alpha Group) forces into Ukraine to counter the estimated 2,000 Takfiri terrorist fighters being deployed from Syria into... 

NATO’s three-week ‘Spring Storm’ drills, involving a record-breaking number of 6,000 troops, have begun in Estonia. For the first time, a cyber security team from France is participating in the military exercises. “This year’s Spring Storm brings together a record number of allied troops – infantry from the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, soldiers from Latvia, soldiers from... 

Russia has filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the EU’s so-called ‘Third Energy Package,’ according to media reports. “This procedure is provided for in the rules of the Organization,” a source said, adding that “Russia sent a note to the EU Mission at the WTO and notified the WTO Secretariat thereof,” Itar-Tass news agency reported. A second news... 

If Putin needed a pretext to finally drive across the Ukraine border, he got it following first the death of nearly 40 pro-Russian protesters in Odessa during a confrontation between pro-Russia and pro-Kiev forces, and then, what appears to be a storming in progress right now by the Ukraine national guard of yet another separatist-controlled city in east Ukraine: Kramatorsk. According to RT, Ukraine’s... 

US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called on Russia to de-escalate immediately the crisis in Ukraine or face the consequences of devastating new sanctions. “If in fact we see the disruptions and the destabilization continuing so severely that it impedes elections on May 25, we will not have a choice but to move forward with additional… severe sanctions,”... 

Canadian Forces CF-18 fighter jets Six CF-18s and hundreds of Canadian Forces personnel left for Romania to help NATO forces in Eastern Europe amid uncertainty over the scope of the mission. It is the biggest deployment of military aircraft to Romania from another NATO member since the Ukraine crisis broke out. “There is a lot of uncertainty about what we’re going to be doing over there,”... 

The crew members of Expedition 40/41 pose in front of a Soyuz spacecraft simulator in Star City, Russia. A number of US senators express concern that the widening diplomatic rift between Washington and Moscow could derail the US space program or even cause Russia to abandon American astronauts in space. Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee told NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on Thursday... 

The Russian Ministry of Defense has ordered brigades of military medical teams to be urgently dispatched to the Ukrainian border, another sign that Moscow is preparing for war after tens of thousands of troops were sent to the border region for drills. According to a translated report by St. Petersburg’s Rustlegraph news agency: By order of the Ministry of Defense in the Military Medical Academy...