The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine refused to recognize the self-proclaimed Donetsk [DPR] and Luhansk People's Republics [LPR] as "terrorist organizations" without collecting sufficient votes during the consideration of amendments to the bill on the reintegration of the Donbas, as NewsOne reports.

76 out of the 340 present in the hall deputies voted for the adoption of the amendments.

On January 16th, the Parliament of Ukraine discussed in the second reading a bill “On the peculiarities of state …

The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) special commission will consider allowing Russian athletes to use the flag and anthem of the Soviet Union, after the athletes were prohibited from using Russian national symbols at the upcoming 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games, R-Sport agency reports.

"All such issues are considered by the Working Group on Olympic athletes from Russia. The IOC will issue guidelines for implementation of the group's decisions in due time, as indicated in the statement …

The World Bank has decided that the draft bill on an Anticorruption Court submitted by President Petro Poroshenko does not conform to Ukraine’s international obligations.

Satu Kahkonen, the World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine sent a letter to the Verkhovna Rada and the Presidential administration in which she warned against the adoption of the President’s version of the Law on Anticorruption Court. A copy of the letter was published by Evropeiska Pravda.

The World …

The German press reached the conclusion that the Zirkon Russian missile system represents a real threat to different countries.

The German magazine Stern writes that the main weapon of the Russian fleet is the hypersonic Zircon 3M22 cruise missile. It flies six times faster the speed of sound and has a range of about 600 kilometers.

Experts also mentioned the modernization of the Russian cruisers Admiral Nakhimov and Pyotr Velikiy, which are planned to be equipped with modern S-500 air …

Russia has begun tactical drills using S-300 PM1 anti-air defense systems in the Rostov province, Southern Military District spokesperson Vadim Astafyev told Interfax.

“In Rostov province territory, tactical drills have begun with divisions of the anti-air missile forces of the 4th army of the air force and the anti-air defense of the Southern Military District. At the training alarm signal, the S-300 PM1 anti-air missile systems marched in a designated region, during which the soldiers …

US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch reported that the US government will provide Ukraine with weapons, including Javelin anti-tank systems, free of charge.

“Last year the [US Presidential] Administration decided to provide Ukraine with additional defensive capabilities. So far, there are no details on how this will be done. We, like Ukraine, have a certain procedure for implementing these decisions, we must inform Congress of how it will be done. And only once we go through this …

The US is planning to announce the new sanctions against Russia on January 29, the Russian state news agency TASS cites US Ambassador Jon Huntsman as saying.

According to Hunstman, a report will be prepared by that time within the framework of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

Huntsman told the news agency that the authors of the report have made an effort to take into account “how the new sanctions will reflect on Russia-US relations not only in the short term, but …

The Ukrainian scientific-production company, Radionix, and state-run Luch Design Bureau, both of which are part of the Oboronprom military industrial concern, have conducted test missile launches from the upgraded S-125M Pechora surface-to-air defense system, according to a Facebook statement published by Luch.

The tests were run with an upgraded 5V27D-М2 missile equipped with a dynamic radar self-guidance module. According to the statement, “on the first segment of the route after the launch …