Here's an item from our news desk:
Putin To Attend Opening Of Bridge Linking Russia To Crimea
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend the opening ceremony on May 15 for one of his big prestige projects: a controversial bridge linking the annexed Crimean Peninsula to Russia.
The 19-kilometer bridge over the Kerch Strait had been scheduled to open in December 2018, but Russian authorities have announced that the span -- which Moscow calls the Crimean Bridge -- will open for road traffic on May 16.
Construction on the bridge from Russia's Krasnodar Krai to Crimea's eastern end started in 2016, two years after Russia seized control of Crimea from Ukraine following a military occupation and a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries.
Putin has said that the bridge will integrate Crimea into Russia's transport system and create opportunities for economic growth.
The $3.7 billion project includes construction of a two-lane railroad, which is still under construction, and a four-lane highway across the Kerch Strait.
Putin's government moved swiftly to seize Crimea in March 2014, after Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from power by months of street demonstrations and fled the country.
Russia sent troops without insignia to Crimea and orchestrated the takeover of government bodies, before holding the referendum on March 16, 2014.
With reporting by TASS and Interfax
And here's another item from our news desk:
Russian Duma Approves Anti-Sanctions Bill In First Reading
The Russian parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, has approved in its first reading a bill which provides for the jailing for up to four years of Russians who adhere to economic sanctions imposed by the United States.
The lawmakers approved the bill unanimously on May 15.
The bill, which needs two more votes in the Duma and one in the upper house, the Federation Council, before being signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, is seen as an effort to respond to U.S.-imposed asset freezes and financial restrictions on Russian officials, tycoons, and companies associated with Putin.
Those April 6 sanctions, the latest in a series imposed by the United States, European Union, and other countries since Russia seized Crimea and has been backing armed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014, were meant to punish Moscow for alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and other "malign activity around the globe."
The legislation would enable a court to impose a prison term of up to four years on any individual or representative of a legal entity in Russia who refuses to supply services or do business with a Russian citizen due to sanctions.
Offenders could also be fined up to 600,000 rubles ($9,710).
Under the bill, helping foreign governments impose sanctions on Russia by providing advice or information would also be a criminal offense, punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to 500,000 rubles ($8,090).
The second vote is scheduled for May 17.
With reporting by Meduza
Putin drives truck over bridge to Crimea:
By RFE/RL
Russian President Vladimir Putin has opened the country's newly built bridge to the annexed Crimean Peninsula, driving a truck across the controversial span.
Putin was shown live on state television at the wheel of a Kamaz truck in a convoy of vehicles that crossed the 19-kilometer-long bridge -- a symbol of Moscow's control over the Ukrainian peninsula -- on May 15.
After an excited reporter welcomed "our heroes" as the convoy arrived on the Crimean side, Putin hopped out of the cab in jeans and a jacket and praised builders for the "miracle" he said they had created.