Deutschlandfunk radio reported that, according to Ukrainian human rights groups, prisoners are being tortured in 79 prisons in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

The results of this investigation were published by the German public-law radio station Deutschlandfunk on the 18th of May. According to the radio station, human rights advocates are planning to transfer the collected materials to The Hague Tribunal for an investigation into possible war crimes.

The head of …

The Prosecutor’s Office raises the question of his interrogation in Russia

As was stated by the chief of the head investigative department of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, Sergey Gorbatyuk, Russia has denied Ukraine’s request to extradite the former Ukrainian President, Victor Yanukovych, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

"About a month ago, we received notification of Russia’s refusal to extradite the former President," Gorbatyuk stated. In response, the Prosecutor’s Office raised the …

Polish radio reports that the Agency of Internal Security of Poland arrested Mateusz Piskorski, leader of the pro-Russian party, Zmiana. According to the media reports, the Special Services raided the party office and the premises of some of its leaders.The party itself also reported the raid through Facebook. "This morning the employees of the Internal Security Agency raided the premises of Zmiana`s party members, seizing hard drives, storage media and documents,” the message stated. Two …

During the 2014 annexation of Crimea, Russia deployed 9,000 soldiers to the peninsula. This was in addition to the 16,000 Russian soldiers that were already in Crimea at the time. This was reported by Russia's Permanent Representative to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, during an interview with Deutsche Welle.

Chizhov says that all Russian troops were in Crimea “legally and in accordance with formal agreements with Ukraine”.

“According to the 1997 bilateral agreement between Russia and Ukraine, the …

Ukraine and Turkey have signed an agreement on joint production of passenger and freight aircraft. According to Daily Sabah, they will be assembled in Antonov manufacturing plants.

The agreement was signed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Hennadiy Zubko and Minister of National Defense of Turkey İsmet Yılmaz during the Turkish Minister’s visit to Kiev at the end of last week. Zubko stated "I am sure that our work will bear fruit. We have prepared a 'road map' and we will adhere to it.” …

The White House has announced the official nomination of Marie Yovanovitch for the post of the United States Ambassador in Kiev, replacing Geoffrey R. Pyatt, who has been appointed as ambassador to Greece.  

Since 2012, Yovanovitch has held the position of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau for European and Asian Affairs. As Assistant Secretary she was responsible for bilateral relations with the countries of Scandinavia, the Baltic States and Central Europe. Previously, she …

Ukrainian company, Naftogaz, has refused to pay Gazprom for gas delivered to the separatist-controlled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk.

On the 18th of May, Naftogaz reported that the Russian gas company had demanded a payment of $670 million for gas supplied to the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) from February 2015 to April 2016.

The report also stated that Naftogaz had not purchased gas from Gazprom since November 2015. Before that, it had …

The Investigative Committee (IC) of the Russian Federation has refused to question the former Chief of the Internal Troops of the Russian MIA, Viktor Zolotov, in connection with Boris Nemtsov's murder. Nemtsov's daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova, has now appealed to the courts to question Zolotov. This was reported to RIA Novosti by Nemtsova’s lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov.

“In November, we filed a petition with the IC requesting that they interrogate Viktor Zolotov but they refused. We have familiarized …