• US may extend sanctions against Russia

    The U.S. Congress approved the draft law that strengthens anti-Russian sanctions, as stated in the report published on the website of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.

    It was reported that the Committee endorsed the draft law on the support of stability and democracy in Ukraine that provides for deterrence of Russian aggression in Ukraine and assistance in holding democratic transformations. The draft law will be submitted for consideration of the House of …

  • US representative in the OSCE accused Russia of hypocrisy

    On Thursday, at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Geneva, the U.S. Representative to the OSCE, Ambassador Daniel Baer, referred to the Russian actions that instigate the continued conflict in eastern Ukraine in recent days as obstructionism, incitement and hypocrisy, Ukrinform reports.

    "Over the past week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have suffered the heaviest losses since the signing of the ceasefire agreement in September 2015," the representative of the United States said.

    He …

  • Russia to deploy new batch of S-400 anti-aircraft systems to the Crimea

    Next month, a new batch of Russian S-400 Triumpf anti-aircraft systems will be transferred to the Crimea, TASS reported.

    The 18th Air Defense Missile Regiment of the 31st Air Defense Division, already stationed on the annexed Peninsula, will receive the new systems which can engage targets at a distance of up to 400 km.

    "Upon completion of initial live-firing exercises on the ground of the Air Defense Research and Testing Center of the 4th State Central Combined Arms Practice Range in August 2 …

  • US Senate confirms Marie Yovanovitch as Ambassador to Ukraine

    The US Senate has approved the appoint of Marie Yovanovitch as the next Ambassador to Ukraine, Evropeyskaya Pravda reported, referencing New York Times journalist David M. Herszenhorn.

    Yovanovitch will replace Geoffrey Pyatt, who has been appointed the next US Ambassador to Greece.

    “Marie L. Yovanovitch confirmed by Senate as US ambassador to Ukraine replacing Geoff Pyatt at crucial juncture in country's history,” Herszenhorn wrote on Twitter.

    Since 2012, Yovanovitch has served as Principal …

  • American officials criticize Kerry’s plan for coordination with Russia

    American officials from the intelligence and defense sectors criticized US Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposal for coordination between the US and Russia in Syria, The New York Times reports.

    Even though Kerry believes in possible cooperation with Moscow, many representatives from American intelligence agencies and the Pentagon are suspicious of this plan.

    According to one of the officials, it remains unclear why Kerry is confident that Russia will support the White House’s goals in …

  • Media: Russia will develop a new ballistic missile

    Izvestia has reported that the Makeyev State Rocket Design Bureau (SRC) has received a government contract to develop a new ballistic missile. This missile will, most likely, be created for nuclear fifth generation Husky-class submarines.

    “At the moment, we are working on several contracts with the Ministry of Defense on the development of land and sea ballistic missiles. The new Sarmat heavy ballistic missile will update the armament of the land forces, and there is work being done on a …

  • German Cabinet adopts new defense strategy due to Russian foreign policy

    On July 13, 2016, the German Cabinet of Ministers approved a new white paper which outlined the country’s security and defense strategy, Deutsche Welle reports. This document, developed under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense, is of crucial importance for the future role of the Bundeswehr (the unified armed forces of Germany, their civil administration and procurement authorities).

    The new white paper takes into account changes in the security sector that have occurred since 2006, when …

  • The National Police of Ukraine suspects the authorities of Toretsk of being sympathetic to separatists

    The authorities of Toretsk (formerly known as Dzerzhinsk) are "preparing the area for the separatists” of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). The head of the National Police of the Donetsk Oblast, Vyacheslav Abroskin, made this statement on his Facebook page.

    "The local authorities of Toretsk are not acting fairly. They are attracting public veteran’s organizations and are encouraging them to demand the  withdrawal of the Ukrainian troops from the city. The city managers are …

  • Russia alarmed that NATO is helping to train Ukrainian soldiers

    Ukrainian soldiers who have been trained by foreign instructors are a concern for Russia. The country, while at a Russia-NATO Council meeting, declared that the Alliance’s aid to Ukraine is “helping revanchism”. According to RIA Novosti, this was stated by Russia's Permanent Representative to NATO, Alexander Grushko.

    “It has been pointed out that by providing political and military support to Kiev, NATO countries are actually playing along with the 'party of war' in Kiev. This results in the …

  • Railroads in the Donbas will be cleared for coal transportation

    In Minsk, it was agreed that railroads will be cleared for coal transportation to Ukrainian power stations

    At yesterday's meeting in Minsk, members of a subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group on economic issues agreed to start the process of clearing the rail networks through which coal is transported from the occupied territories to Ukrainian power stations, as Darya Olifer, the press secretary for Leonid Kuchma, wrote on her Facebook page. This is about clearance and reconstruction of …