Contents tagged with Ukraine

  • French and German Foreign Ministers visit Kiev

    On the 22nd of February, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Germany and France, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Jean-Marc Ayrault, who arrived in Berlin on the same day, flew from the German capital for a two-day visit to Kiev. 

    They flew on board a German governmental plane immediately after a brief meeting and press conference in the departure lounge of the government terminal at the Tegel airport. The negotiating agenda was more than full.

    Firstly, the Special Representative of the OSCE in …

  • Russian Duma demands that Eurovision ban performance of song by representative of Ukraine

    The State Duma of the Russian Federation urges the leadership of Eurovision to prohibit Ukrainian singer Jamala from participating in their contest with a song about the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, Russian media reported.

    According to the Russian website Ekho Moskvii, the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Vadim Dengin, said that this song is being used to "offend Russia once again."

    The Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Refat Chubarov, …

  • Ukraine opens case against former Crimean Colonel who defected to Russia

    In Ukraine, the Military Prosecutor of the Central Region has started criminal proceedings against the former Deputy Head of the Crimean Territorial Command of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Colonel Stephen Gaydarzhiyskyi.  He is suspected of treason.

    According to the Press Service of the Military Supervisory Authority, the criminal case was opened on the 18th of February.  This was reported by the General Directorate of the Military Counterintelligence of the …

  • The documents of the National Security and Defense Council: Ukraine wasn’t able to protect even Kiev in spring 2014

    On the 28th of February 2014, the leaders of Ukraine attended an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) in order to determine how the country should react to Russia’s actions. The participants of the meeting concluded that Russia was ready for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2014. During that time, Russia was carrying out the occupation of Crimea with the use of Special Forces.

    Regarding the eastern border of Ukraine, 38,000 Russian servicemen with …

  • Crimean Tatars seek to save their mother tongue

    Every year, on the 21st of February, International Mother Language Day is celebrated worldwide. About a half of the 6,000 world languages are threatened with extinction. The Crimean Tatar language is the third most spoken language in Ukraine. However, despite this fact, according to the official data of UNESCO, the language is quickly dying, as reported by Radio Svoboda.

    Now, some media, universities and activists have taken on the challenge of bringing the language back to life. Newspapers …

  • Ukraine's 2016 Eurovision entry is dedicated to the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944

    The representative of Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest, Jamala, will perform her song entitled "1944" about the deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet regime during World War II. Viewers and judges voted for Jamala to perform the song.

    The song is sung in English with a refrain in the Crimean Tatar language. According to Jamala, whose real name is Susana Jamaladinova, the song was inspired by her great-grandmother's experiences during the deportation.

    "That terrible year changed …

  • Kiev Assures the EU that Ukraine will Allow the Transit of Russian Trucks

    According to a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the Ministry’s head, Andriy Pyvovarsky, has assured the EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Jan Tombiński, that Russian trucks will be allowed to pass through the country.

    As it was noted in the statement, during the meeting that was held on the 19th of February, Tombiński relayed the concerns expressed by the Western partners of Ukraine, as most of the products which are transported through Ukraine are …

  • Anti-Ukrainian Documentary Shown on Polish TV Channel

    On February 21st, Polish TV Channel TVN24 broadcasted the controversial documentary film The Masks of the Revolution during the program Eva Evart Advises. The director of the film is French journalist Paul Moreira. This documentary film depicts  the events in the Kiev Euromaidan movement as a riot started by radical nationalists. The film is full of allusions to the leading role of the US in the events in Kiev two years ago. It hints at the fact that the Russian annexation of Crimea was …

  • Saakashvili may resign as Governor of Odessa

    Mikhail Saakashvili may be dismissed from his post as the Governor of Ukraine's Odessa Oblast (region) at the beginning of March, as reported by hromadske.tv.  The possibility of his resignation was also made by the Acting Deputy, Alexander Borovik.

    “We are seriously concerned by the political crisis gaining momentum in the country.  We express our criticisms and ask difficult questions, even to the Prime Minister and to the President.  This could cause a severe reaction on their part,” …

  • Due to Trilateral Contact Group, POWs are no longer subject to torture in eastern Ukraine

    One of the results of the negotiations of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk was the cessation of the torture of the Ukrainian soldiers held in captivity in the Donbass region.  This was stated by the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine, Irina Herashchenko.

    Herashchenko said that these prisoners, who are held captive by members of the so-called People's Republics in the Donbas, have stopped being tortured.  According to her, this was due to the negotiations in Minsk.

    She said that the …