State Council of Crimea

Up to 20 people, including eight Turks, were presumed dead off Russian-annexed Crimea after a fire engulfed two fuel ships, authorities have said.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Bulgaria condemned the illegal visit of several Bulgarian politicians and journalists to the occupied Crimea to attend a Week of Bulgarian Culture held on September 7-11.

This was stated in a statement by the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Bulgaria, published on its Facebook page.

VIENNA, June 4. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would not cede Crimea to Ukraine under any circumstances. At the same time, he said in an interview with Austria's ORF broadcasting corporation in the run-up to his visit to Austria.

The leader of the French far right-wing party National Front (FN) Marine Le Pen stated to the Russian newspaper Izvestiya that she will recognise the Crimea as part of Russia if elected president of France.

The speaker of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, Deputy Prime Minister Georghy Muradov, Economy Minister Valentin Demidov and representatives from the Crimean culture, education and tourism sector took part in a debate on Friday in the Russian House in Belgrade as part of a visit aimed at boosting economic ties with Serbia.