Moody's has downgraded the government of Russia's debt rating by one notch to Baa2 from Baa1 in a move that could speed up capital flight in a country already suffering from liquidity and investment crunch.

The countries - candidates for EU membership joined the sanctions against Russia previously adopted by Brussels.

There’ve been hawkish calls from some Western leaders, including a statement by the European Parliament, to disconnect Russia from the Swift transactions system over its alleged role in the Ukraine crisis.

The Western sanctions against Russia continue to be the talk of the town even despite de-escalation in the east of Ukraine after the signing of the ceasefire agreement.

Despite Moscow’s shrugging off Western sanctions as ‘foolishness’, there’s growing evidence that the restrictions imposed over Russia’s alleged role in the Ukraine crisis may be working, at least in terms of bad publicity.

The Wall Street Journal has come up with a wonderful piece on the Russia-Chinese relations, focusing on the nations’ leaders.

VTB Capital’s event, attended by the Russian president, has drawn hundreds of investors from around the world as Moscow scrambles to fights capital outflows amid several rounds of sanctions over its alleged role in the Ukraine crisis.

Russia-IC brings you press clippings on the new law fast-tracked by the Russian parliament that it says is needed to counter an information war waged against Russia. Bulwarks of press freedom now face closure, restructuring or sell-off to Russian owners.

The Russia parliament has passed in final reading a bill limiting foreign ownership in the country’s media in a move to bolster national security amid a raging propaganda war over the Ukraine crisis.

The government of Japan plans to wait and observe the actions of Moscow in relation to the Ukrainian crisis. The extension of sanctions, if it comes into force, will apply only to the ban on the issuance of visas and the freezing of assets of Russian officials.

Russia-IC has been reporting on the international media response to the events in Russia. Now we want to give you a sense of what the Russian press and TV stations tell the audiences here.

The EU has adopted new sectoral sanctions against Russia that will enter into force on 12 September. Alarmed by the gravity of the situation in Eastern Ukraine, the Council decided to step up the measures adopted on 31 July against Russia.

Russian hackers attack: JP Morgan, Nasdaq, Carrefour and millions of passwords. The Russian authorities suspect that they have been working jointly since DDoS-attacks on Estonia in 2007.

During the next few months the General Prosecutor's Office of Switzerland intends to bring an official accusation of corruption against the four people, possibly including two top managers of “Gazprom”.

Despite the frequent statements by European politicians concerning the need for reducing dependence on Russian gas, the chances of doing this in Europe are few, as the Fitch Ratings’ declares in its report “Living Without Russian Gas”.

The decree banning imports of certain kinds of agricultural products from the countries that joined the sanctions against Russia, has already entered into force. However, in accordance with the document, one-year ban on imports may be revised on the proposal of the government if the situation with the sanctions changes.

August is regarded as the disaster month in Russia, and if you look at the timeline starting from the 1998 financial crisis when the country defaulted on its debt, you’d know why.

The military exercises with the participation of the Pacific Fleet, Air Landing Troops and military aircrafts that started near the coast of the Kuril Islands on Tuesday caused a diplomatic row. Japan protested, considering large-scale military maneuvers in the area of the disputed territory to be unacceptable.

The EU countries still disagree on the need for stiffening sanctions against Russia, despite the pressure of a number of Western countries after the crash of the Malaysian airliner in Eastern Ukraine on July 17.

The USA sanctions against “Rosneft” may influence the plans for its privatization. This was reported by the Russian Minister of Economic Development Aleksei Ulyukayev. The issue of sanctions will be raised in the WTO.