US, EU 'pyromaniacs' surprised at fire they started in Ukraine. -French geopolitical analyst

The United States and European Union should have anticipated the consequences of their dubious decision to throw support behind the Ukrainian regime change, a French geopolitical analyst has told Russian media.
“What we are witnessing now is the easily predictable aftermath of the US and EU’s irresponsible decision to back the overthrow of a legally-elected Ukrainian president at the time when Russia was busy with the Sochi Olympic Games,” Emerique Chopard said in an interview with Interfax.

Ukrainian Olympians mourn for Kiev riot victims

SOCHI, February 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine's Olympic athletes in Sochi have expressed condolences to families of those killed during armed confrontations in Kiev where on Tuesday, 24 died in clashes between protesters and police in the Ukrainian capital.
“We are shocked by the events that occurred yesterday in Kiev. We are thinking about our families and loved ones back home in Ukraine, and we are doing our best to honour them on the fields of play here in Sochi,” the athletes said on Ukraine’s national Olympic committee website on Wednesday.

Putin thanks Turkey for aid in preparing Olympic Games. -“These are common Olympic Games,” the Russian president added

SOCHI, February 07. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has thanked Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for Turkish construction companies’ aid to preparing for the Olympic Games.

“We’re grateful to Turkish constructors for them to work at the facilities in Sochi,” Putin said opening a meeting with Turkish prime minister on Friday.

Olympic Truce Wall opened in Sochi

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Vice-Premier of the Russian government Dmitry Kozak have opened the Olympic Truce Wall at the Coastal Olympic village in Sochi.

"I address all the members of the delegations: welcome to this ceremony, and you will see how sport breaks down all walls. People of different nationalities and religions live here together in harmony, and all this is thanks to the Olympic Games. They show us that the whole world can live in peace and be friends despite all differences," Bach said.

UN General Assembly president calls for ‘Olympic Truce’ for 2014 Sochi Games

UNITED NATIONS, January 30, (ITAR-TASS). UN General Assembly President John Ashe has called on United Nations member states to observe the tradition of the Olympic truce ahead of the Winter Olympic Games Russia will host next month in its Black Sea resort of Sochi, the UN reported on its website.
“As President of the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session, I solemnly appeal to all Member States to demonstrate their commitment to the Olympic Truce for the 2014 Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Ashe said while reading his Solemn Appeal at the UN Headquarters in New York on Wednesday.

FBI chief: Russia devoting ‘enormous resources and effort’ to make Olympics secure

FBI director James Comey has said that securing any Olympics is an ‘enormous task’, but there’s a substantial effort on the part of the Russian authorities to make the Sochi Games secure. He added the FBI will be cooperating.
“Securing any Olympics is an enormous task. I think it’s particularly challenging in Sochi because of its proximity to areas of unrest and sources of a terrorist threat,” Comey said. Russian authorities are devoting “enormous resources and effort” to securing the games, he added, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.

US issues travel alert for Sochi Olympics as FBI to send security help

The US State Department has issued a travel alert for Americans planning on traveling to Russia to attend the winter Olympic Games in Sochi, warning them to stay clear of transportation hubs and other crowded areas, in part because of recent terrorism.
The State Department alert, issued Friday, comes one day after FBI director James Comey announced that the bureau will send dozens of agents to Moscow and Sochi, where they will rendezvous with their counterparts in the Russian intelligence service to coordinate and boost security efforts.

Deadly blast hits Russian train station. -At least 15 dead and dozens injured after female suicide bomber sets off explosives in southern city of Volgograd.-2 video

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A female suicide bomber has set off a blast in a train station in the southern Russian city of Volgograd killing at least 15 people and injuring at least 34, news reports and officials said.
Regional Interior Ministry spokeswoman Svetlana Smolyaninova told the ITAR-TASS news agency on Sunday that the blast occurred inside the city's main train station at around 12:45pm (08;45 GMT).

Olympic Torch Makes Its First Space Walk. (2 video)

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Two Russian cosmonauts conducted a ceremonial handoff of the Olympic torch at the start of a planned six-hour spacewalk to perform maintenance on the International Space Station. For obvious safety reasons, the flame was not lit. (Nov. 9/2013)

The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch relay made history today: After riding from Earth to the International Space Station , two Russian astronauts took it with them on a space walk, marking an Olympic first.