The fighting around Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine has intensified in recent days, and, according to journalist Roman Bochkala, separatist groups are preparing a major assault on Ukrainian positions.

Bochkala noted on his Facebook page that members of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic have been using heavy artillery, weapons that are prohibited by the Minsk Agreements, to prepare for an offensive on Avdiivka.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces insist that they defend their positions using only …

A new project, Capital English, was launched to help police in Kiev learn English for free. The program was presented by the Mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko, together with the Deputy Chief of the National Police, Konstantin Bushuyev, and the head of the Kiev Police, Andrei Kryschenko, UNIAN reported.

"We have launched these courses; this is just one of the police reforms, it is one more step on the path to make our city a truly European one where services are available in many languages, …

Washington is not considering the possibility of exchanging sentenced Ukrainian Pilot, Nadiya Savchenko, for Russians convicted by the United States."We do not consider this possibility," the spokesman for the US Embassy in Moscow, Will Stevens, told RBC. The US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, in turn, has called reports of such talks "ridiculous," RIA Novosti reported. Earlier, Interfax, citing informed sources, reported that Moscow is negotiating the exchange of Savchenko for a group …

Last week, members of the People’s Council of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic voted to dismiss Chairman Aleksey Kariakin, who was also one of the leaders of the “Army of the South-East”, which was instrumental in seizing parts of the Luhansk region in the beginning of the war, Radio Svoboda reported. Kariakin’s removal is the latest in a series of forced resignations of commanders of so-called LPR forces, the majority of whom were involved in the early battles of the war.

Moreover, …

The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Nils Muižnieks, stated that Ukraine must minimize the isolation of the Donbas. "I know that it is difficult and all is in Ukraine’s hands but it is necessary to maintain contact with the people of that region and try to support them because it will benefit the interests of the future generation of Ukrainian people," Muižnieks said, as reported by zn.ua.

According to the Commissioner, since July of 2015, when he visited Donetsk, life …

The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, stated that international peacekeepers are needed to ensure security in the Donbas.

“We need international peacekeepers that will ensure the safety in the Donbas during the withdrawal and transfer of authority. Take your Plotnitsky and Zakharchenko back, take your paratroopers, who you brought here, and we will restore Ukrainian sovereignty,” he said while addressing residents of Mykolaivka in the Donetsk region.

Poroshenko noted that the main goal …

The Ministry of Defense of Russia plans to give medals to the participants of the military operation in Syria. To this end, the Defense Ministry has announced its plan to purchase more than 10,000 medals according to the procurement website of the Russian Federation. It is noted that the Ministry of Defense is willing to pay more than 2 million rubles ($29,000) for this order.

Russia has conducted airstrikes in Syria since the 30th of September, 2015.

As previously reported, Russian bombers …

According to a press release issued by the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, observers heard 139 undetermined explosions, 125 bursts of heavy machine gun fire, and 300 single shorts of small arms fire on Monday in the area between government-controlled Avdiivka and the town of Yasynuvata, which is controlled by members of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.

The SMM noted “consistent but intermittent exchange of fire between 10:14 and 15:18hrs and noted a spike between 12:15 …