Contents tagged with crimea

  • China rejects transition to settlements in national currency with Russia

    The redirection of Russia’s economic policy to the East, announced after the annexation of Crimea and the sharp deterioration of relations with the West, has ended up as a wake-up call. 

    The attempt to get China involved in de-dollarization and to formalize the transition to reciprocal trade in national currencies has not been successful. 

    China refused to sign the intergovernmental agreement to settle in national currencies that was drafted in 2014 and already considered a “done deal” by …

  • Ukraine calls on international community to increase pressure on Russia after Kremlin sentences four Crimean Tatars

    In a statement published on the website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry after the decision of the North Caucasian District Military Court of the Russian Federation, which sentenced four Ukrainian citizens on charges of terrorism, Ukraine called on the international community to increase pressure on Russia “to stop the violation of human rights” in the Crimea and to release Ukrainian prisoners. 

     According to Russian court, Enver Mamutov was sentenced to 17 years, and Rustem Abiltarov, Remzi …

  • Governor of Sevastopol says he is against integration with the Crimea

    While responding to journalists’ questions whether the Crimea and Sevastopol can be integrated, the Russia appointed Governor of Sevastopol, Dmitry Ovsyannikov said that the question of integration with the Crimea is not “relevant” at the moment and that he is “against it”, as reported by TASS news agency.

    Ovsyannikov noted that he himself never saw any such proposal and that it was too early to talk about it. “You are asking my opinion, so I am against [integration],” he added.

    On November 9 …

  • OSCE Secretary General believes new aggravation between Russia and Ukraine is highly possible

    Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung reports that the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Thomas Greminger stated that Russia might continue providing military assistance to the territories of Donbas which are not under Ukraine’s control. 

    He believes that the aggravation is a real possibility in the annexed Crimea or on the line of demarcation with the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. 

    According to Greminger, the political will to reconcile the …

  • Three sailors from captured Ukrainian tugboat refuse to testify 

    Three Ukrainian sailors from the tugboat Yany Kapu who were captured by Russia on November 25 off the Kerch Strait have declared themselves prisoners of war and refused to testify, said Russian attorney Nikolai Polozov in a Facebook post. 

    According to him, the defense team of the imprisoned sailors has met with Yuriy Budzylo and Andriy Shevchenko, members of the Yany Kapu’s crew. The attorneys report that Shevchenko was in a good frame of mind, and did not have any health complaints. …

  • Russian Defense Ministry: Belbek Airport in Crimea ready to accept all types of aircraft 

    The new runway at the Belbek Airport in Crimea is ready to receive civilian and military planes, the Russian Defense Ministry reported, citing Viktor Sevostyanov, Commander of the 4th Army Air Force and Anti-Air Defense. 

    “The reconstruction of this airport has been effectively completed. Today we made the first technical route with two planes, and looked at the condition of the runway. There is still work to do, and the work is underway. But initially the conclusion is made that the airport …

  • UN General Assembly condemns violation of human rights in Crimea 

    On December 22, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the violation of human rights in the Crimea annexed by Russia. In particular, the General Assembly condemned the "illegal establishment of laws, jurisdiction and administration" in the region. The document submitted by Ukraine was backed by 67 countries, the permanent representative of Ukraine to the UN, Volodymyr Yelchenko wrote on his Twitter page. 27 states, including Russia, Belarus, China, India, Serbia, Syria, the Republic of …

  • Volker: Russia needs a pretext for aggression in Ukraine 

    Russia needs a pretext for aggression in Ukraine, US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker told TSN.Tyzhden in an interview. 

    According to Volker, the US used to think it was unlikely that Russia was set on aggression in Ukraine, but in the wake of the Kerch Strait incident, it will be necessary to reconsider the realistic probability that there may be new aggression from Russia. 

    “We must do everything we can to stop it from coming to this. We must do everything to prevent this …

  • Russia transferred more than a dozen fighter jets to annexed Crimea 

    Russia has sent over a dozen Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets to annexed Crimea to boost its air force on the peninsula, according to a witness, Reuters reported. 

    "More than a dozen SU-27 and SU-30 fighter jets which Russia is deploying to boost its air force, amid heightened tensions with Ukraine, arrived in the Crimea on Saturday,” the statement read. Reuters’s witness claimed to have seen the jets land at Belbek air base in the Crimea. 

    Meanwhile, the Russian news agency Interfax reported  …

  • The US condemns Russia's deployment of fighter jets to Crimea

    Russia is preparing for another provocation by deploying additional fighter jets to Crimea, stated by US Acting Deputy Chief of Mission to the OSCE Gregory Macris, Voice of America reports.

    “The United States is alarmed by reports that Russia is deploying additional fighter jets to Crimea, supposedly in preparation for another so-called “provocation” by Ukraine," Macris stated. He claimed that Russia’s disinformation campaign seeks to justify it's ongoing militarization of the Crimea. He added …