According to Ukrainian Presidential Advisor, Yurii Biriukov, 14 of the 73 freed prisoners of war were suspected of being deserters as indicated on Facebook. The soldiers suspected of desertion will not be able to access financial compensation until a court hands down a verdict.

This came after veterans of the antiterrorist operation [the armed conflict between government troops and Russian-backed separatist forces in Donbas] became frustrated when recognizing deserters among the soldiers who …

The United States is ready to partially lift sanctions against Russia after full implementation of the Minsk agreements in the Donbas,stated US special representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker in an interview with Echo of Moscow.

"It's very simple, very, very simple. Secretary of State Tillerson, Pentagon chief James Mattis, [and] the US president have spoken about this: we want to see the restoration of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, [and] security and protection for all …

Russia and Turkey have signed an agreement on payment terms for the S-400 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, reported Hurriyet, citing the head of the Turkish Defense Ministry, Nurettin Canikli.

The publication did not disclose the details of the signed agreement. However, the head of Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, said earlier that Ankara would pay 45% of the transaction amount as an advance, while the other 55% would be allocated by Russia as a loan. The total value of the deal is $2.5 billion. …

William Browder, head of British investment fund Hermitage Capital, has been sentenced to nine years in prison in absentia by Russia for deliberate bankruptcy, reported Interfax, citing the decision of the Tver Moskovdsky District court.

The Court decided to charge Browder and his partner Ivan Cherkasov, who is also a defendant in the case, for more than 4 billion rubles ($70 million USD) in damages to the aggrieved parties.

Browder's defense indicated that Browder intends to appeal the …

“The Polish position regarding the relocation of refugees remains unchanged. Only Poland decides whether it is able to accept refugees or not,” stated the Polish government spokeswoman Joanna Kopcińska. “Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will continue the policy of supporting the needy in their home countries,” she added.

"It is Poland who decides whether it is able to accept refugees or not. It is our sovereign decision, which lies in the hands of Poles, not officials who have little in …

On December 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin ratified an agreement to expand the Russian Naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus, as reported on Russia’s government website.

The agreement is valid for 49 years and will be automatically extended for successive 25-year periods unless one of the parties informs the other party about its intention to terminate it no less than one year before the expiration of a period.

The base in Tartus is being transferred to Russia at no cost. The Russians …

As of December 1st, according to the Krymstat (the territorial body of the Federal State Statistics Service for the Republic of Crimea) the wage arrears in 12 Crimean enterprises amounted to 26.7 million rubles ($451,880 USD) for 524 employees, as announced by the Vice Prime Minister of the Russian government of the Crimea, Alla Pashkunova, at the final meeting of the Committee on the Repayment of Arrears in   Wages.

"Compared to November 1st, arrears decreased by more than 41% - by 18.8 …

The head of the DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic), Alexander Zakharchenko, said that he does not like the state of industry in the separatist-controlled territory of the Donetsk region.

"Any enterprise - machine building, machine tool construction - assumes a certificate. These are documents that are recognized throughout the world. Unfortunately, at the moment we do not have this. The development of our industry is hampered not only by a lack of finance - we don’t have that either. But …