• At least 19 Ukrainian servicemen were killed last month in the Donbas

    At least 19 Ukrainian servicemen were killed, and 128 were injured in the month of March in the Donbas, as reported by the DPA agency on the 2nd of April. On March 31st alone, one serviceman was killed, and eight were injured as a result of hostilities in eastern Ukraine.

    Two Ukrainian soldiers die on March 20th, and another two were killed on March 25th. According to information that was released during the last month by the press center of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, not all losses were the …

  • The World Bank notes the first signs of the stabilization of the Ukrainian economy

    The World Bank has noted the first signs of the stabilization of the Ukrainian economy. As the World Bank Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, Qimiao Fan, stated on the 1st of April, the World Bank forecasts that the GDP of the country can grow by 1% in 2016 and 2% in 2017. In addition, the World Bank has estimated that inflation in the country will amount to 15% in 2016 and 11% in 2017.

    According to the representative of the World Bank, the reforms implemented by Kiev are …

  • Lawyer discloses details of mass arrest of 35 Crimean Tatars

    Crimean lawyer Emile Kurbedinov disclosed the details of the mass detention of 35 Crimean Tatars in the Crimean village Pioners'ke. According to him, the operation was carried out by masked gunmen who did not provide identification, Krym.Realii reported.

    The lawyer said that at about 10:30 pm on April 1st, armed men stormed the café Baghdad in the Crimean village.

    "All the visitors were put in a line facing the wall. The underage and individuals of Slavic appearance were almost immediately …

  • Erdoğan expresses support for Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

    During a telephone conversation with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his condolences over the deaths of soldiers who died fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Anadolu news agency reported, citing sources in the Turkish Presidential Administration. Aliyev's press service also stated that Erdoğan expressed support for Azerbaijan, RBC reported.

    "The Turkish President expressed support and solidarity in relation to the conflict between the …

  • Azerbaijani Ambassador in Russia: There is only a military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

    The Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia, Polad Bülbüloğlu, said that diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh proved to be ineffective, and the only solution is the "military way", Radio Svoboda reported.

    According to the diplomat who spoke on air on the "Govorit Moskva" radio station, 21 percent of Azerbaijani territory is occupied by Armenian Forces, so the heads of the two former Soviet republics can only start negotiations when the Armenian Armed Forces …

  • Media: Russian propagandist works for opponents of the Ukraine Association Agreement in the Netherlands

    The Russian propagandist, Sergey Markhel, is now working for the opponents of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in the Netherlands, as outlined in the article, "We Don’t Care about Ukraine: a Report on the Last Days of Campaigning in the Netherlands", published in Evropeyskaya Pravda. In the past, Markhel was often involved in organizing events for Russian Embassies in European Union countries.

    He is now involved in the campaign against the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement in the …

  • Kobyakov: Belarus is dissatisfied with the quality of Russian oil

    The quality of Russian oil supplied to Belarus has recently deteriorated, said Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov, in an interview with RIA Novosti. He noted that there is a constant discussion between Moscow and Minsk on issues related to the supply of raw materials. According to Kobyakov, both parties are generally on the same page, but disagreements do arise, Rosbalt reported.

    "For example, we would want for the oil that arrives in Belarus through the pipeline to be of higher quality, …

  • EU to provide Belarus with €29 million in assistance

    The Head of the EU Delegation in Minsk, Andrea Victorin, reported on March 31st that the European Union will provide 29 million euros of financial assistance to Belarus in 2016, twice as much as in 2015, as reported by Radio Polsha. “This money is being used for three main areas: the issue of migration, regional economic development and the issue of technical assistance,” the representative of the European Union said.Andrea Victorin also noted that the deicision signifies cooperation between …

  • Russia is no longer on the list of the EU's top three trading partners

    In 2015, the Russian share of the total trade volume of the EU shrank to 6%, putting it in fourth place. Deutsche Welle reported that Eurostat financial data show Switzerland climbing to third place while the US and China continue to hold the top two spots."Starting from 2013, Russia’s share of the total trade volume with the EU has dramatically decreased,” the Eurostat report stated, from 284.6 billion euros down to 210 billion in 2014. The report also detailed the US share in total trade at 18 …

  • Belarus hopes Russia will agree to simultaneously raise the retirement age in 2017

    As Belarusian Prime Minister Andriy Kobyakov stated in an interview with RIA Novosti, Russia and Belarus discussed the topic of raising the retirement age. “In Minsk, we hope that Moscow will make a decision on the simultaneous increase of the retirement age in Russia and Belarus in 2017,” he said. “However, there are no agreements on this joint action,” he added.

    "We expect that our partners will make the appropriate decisions. There was a discussion about this. However, there are no …