• OSCE refuses to say if it will send observers to elections in Crimea

    The head of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Jan Petersen, has refused to answer the question of whether the observers will be sent to the occupied Crimea.

    As a UNIAN correspondent in Russia reported, at a press conference in Moscow, Petersen said, “We are currently working on where our observers will be sent, so at the moment I'm not going to answer this question... We can't say anything specific about where the observers will be sent," …

  • Lithuanian Foreign Minister: Sanctions against Russia should continue

    Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius believes that the West should continue sanctions against Russia. He detailed his opinion in his Twitter account, recalling the anniversary of the Russian-Georgian war.

    “Eight years ago, Russia's war in Georgia had to be a lesson to the world. Russia annexing Crimea showed it was not the case. Sanctions must continue,” Linkevičius posted.

    The Russo-Georgian war of 2008 was an armed conflict between Georgia on one side, and Russia with …

  • Lavrov: Russia would be open to holding 'Normandy Format' talks on sidelines of G20

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that Ukraine offered to hold a regular summit of the “Normandy Four” on the sidelines of the G20 summit, which will be held in Hangzhou, China, in early September.

    According to Lavrov, the “Normandy Four” should be responsible for implementing decisions agreed on within the framework of the Normandy format.

    “If our German and French partners, as well as the Chinese hosts, agree with Kiev’s proposal to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 …

  • The Netherlands and Germany to carry out anti-ballistic missile tests in Crete

    Germany and the Netherlands will conduct joint tests of air and missile defense systems with the use of Patriot missiles in October on the Greek island of Crete. These tests are aimed at developing a model for deployment of air and missile defense systems in Poland and the Baltic countries, German General Michael Gschossmann stated in his interview with Reuters.

    General Gschossmann, the Commander of ground-based units of Germany’s Air Force reported that joint operations should help NATO to …

  • Passengers at Kerch crossing complain of long lines and wait times

    Passengers complain that the waiting time in a queue on the Kerch ferry crossing takes up to 7-10 hours. People are actively discussing the collapse on the Kerch crossing in social media, posting photos of car queues on the ferry crossing. According to them, they have to wait for several hours in collector. Huge traffic jams were reported in front of collectors.

    “We drove a car into the first collector at 1:00 PM, waiting fifth in line. We were informed that it would take 1.5 to 2 hours to …

  • Ukrainian Intelligence: The military is aware of Russian troop movements and will respond to all threats

    Ukraine increased its threat level because of Russia’s actions in the occupied peninsula, but the general staff is ready to respond to potential threats, Vadym Skibitsky, a representative of the Main Intelligence Department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, told Ukrayinska Pravda.

    “The movement of troops and equipment appeared to be related to an upcoming major Russian military exercise called Kavkaz 2016, which will be carried out by Russia in the southern district and involves groups …

  • Human rights activists reported presence of men with rifles at checkpoints near Kerch crossing

    The activists of the Crimean Human Rights Group believe that armed checkpoints appeared on the road to Kerch crossing on the 8th of August. The employees of the Russian Main Directorate for Road Traffic Safety and OMON (Special Purpose Mobility Unit) were checking motorists, Krym.Realii reported. According to eyewitnesses, traffic inspectors would stop cars at random and check documents without explanation. Kerch residents said that a queue 5 kilometers long formed in front of the crossing. …

  • Ukrainian MFA: Russia attacked Ukraine because it was not punished for invasion of Georgia in 2008

    Upon the commemoration of the eighth anniversary of Russian aggression in Georgia, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that Ukraine was targeted by Russia because it has not received a firm and clear response from the international community following its aggression against Georgia. The lack of response led to the Russian occupation of a significant part of the sovereign country’s territory.  

    “Not having received a firm and clear response from the international community …

  • Ukraine has become a main source of weapons for arms traffickers

    Ukraine has become a source of contraband arms, which are then shipped to Western European countries. This was indicated in an investigation program of Sky News.

    The report states that while in Romania, journalists met one of the local groups engaged in arms smuggling.

    The British journalists reported that there were weapons available for purchase in the trunk of the smugglers’ car.  The smugglers said that they “could supply thousands of weapons and ammunition”.

    “We will bring as much …

  • Former Ukrainian Party of Regions MP arrested

    Former Party of Regions MP Volodymyr Medianyk was detained in connection with a case against Oleksandr Yefremov, the former party leader. On August 8th, the courts will consider his formal arrest, as requested by the Prosecutor General’s office.

    As the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Yuriy Lutsenko, posted on his Facebook page on Monday, the Pechersky district court of Kyiv will consider the request for his arrest. On the same day, the case on arrest of Yefremov will be considered at the Court …