• Russian and Ukrainian aircraft help fight forest fires in Israel

    Both Russia and Ukraine have sent aircraft to Israel to help fight forest fires in Haifa.

    According to the Ukrainian State Service for Emergency Situations, two An-32P BFNC firefighting aircraft are active in putting out the forest fires that are raging near Haifa.

    The Russian Emergencies Ministry stated that Be-200 firefighting aircraft are also actively putting out the forest fires in Israel.

    Both Russia and Ukraine aircraft are often involved in fighting fires abroad, including in …

  • Turkish Deputy PM: Ankara condemns the annexation of Crimea despite normalization of relations with Russia

    Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said that, no matter how relations between Turkey and Russia may normalize, Ankara condemns the annexation of the Crimea.He said this at a press conference with journalists in London, Anadolu reports.

    According to him, the Crimea and Crimean Tatar issues are important for Turkey, which is closely monitoring the situation on the peninsula.

    “We declare at all levels that from the very beginning we have condemned Russia’s position regarding the …

  • Ukrainian official: The return of Crimea is impossible within the next five years

    Deputy Minister for the Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Heorhiy Tuka does not believe that Russia will return the Crimean peninsula in the coming years.

    “I find it impossible [that Russia will] return the Crimea in the next 3-5 years. Let me explain why. My personal view is that Crimea [will be returned] to Ukraine when the economic forces begin moving again in Russia. Now it may seem nonsense and a fantasy, but you can watch the news from the mid 90s, how the …

  • Ukraine has not used Russian gas in a year

    As of Friday, November 25th, it has been one year since Ukraine last imported gas from Russia, as reported by the press service of Naftogaz Ukraine.

    "It’s a landmark date for an independent Ukraine, as three years ago gas was the main symbol of political and economic dependence of our country on our northern neighbor. This dependence was ensured through high volumes of gas deliveries and prices for Russian gas that forced Ukraine to make political and economic concessions," the company stated. …

  • Ukraine may sue the EU over OPAL pipeline decision

    Ukraine agreed with the European Union to hold additional consultations to consider granting permission to Gazprom to increase gas volume through the OPAL pipeline bypassing Ukraine. If negotiations at a political level do not yield results, Naftogaz may file a claim against the European Commission, as the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, Kostiantyn Yelisieiev, stated during a recent briefing.

    "We raised the issue related to the Nord Stream pipeline, particularly to the recent …