A member of Russia’s Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, stated that no Russian ground forces are active in Syria. Kosachev told this to a Deutsche Welle reporter on Friday at the International Conference on Security Policy in Munich. The diplomat also rejected the possibility of a future Russian-led ground operation in the war-torn country.

Kosachev specifically denied allegations of the presence of Russian soldiers and artillery units in the Syrian province of Latakia.

Der Spiegel has …

At the beginning of the year ten mercenaries were arrested in Moldova who fought on the side of the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.  Two of them have already been sentenced to three years of imprisonment, as announced by the Acting Prosecutor General of Moldova, Igor Popa, Radio Liberty reported.

Popa noted that the investigation against eight other suspects continues.  They are all between 26 and 32-years-old and all of them are Russian speaking natives from the south of …

Ben Cardin, a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, expressed concern about the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, which are designed to reduce tensions in eastern Ukraine.  Completed a year ago, the Minsk Agreements represent a package of measures related to security and policy, agreed to by Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia, to resolve the conflict in the Donbas region.

"Thursday was the first anniversary of the Minsk Agreements.  While all parties expressed the …

The Tver Court of Moscow refused to accept the claim of the founder of the Fight against Corruption Fund, Alexei Navalny, against Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Friday, February 12th, the decision of Judge Tatyana Molitvinaya appeared on the court's web site. It says that in accordance with the Constitution, "the Russian president has immunity."

As the judge indicated, in the scope of administrative legal proceedings, no requirements can be made of the head of the State "because it would …

Ukraine may tighten its visa regulations for Israeli citizens due to an uncoordinated visit to occupied Crimea by the current Knesset member from the Shas party, who is also Israel’s former Minister of Religious Affairs, Ya'akov Margi.  The visit occurred on the 10th of February with the head of the occupation authority of the peninsula, Sergey Aksenov.

This was reported by the Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel, Gennady Nadolenko, in his comments to the Forum Daily news site, according to …

The Cabinet of Ministers intends to transfer the customs administration of Volyn, Lviv, Chernivtsi and Transcarpathia to specialized foreign companies, as announced by the Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

"We want to attract companies that have experience in the fight against corruption at customs, which can absolutely change the customs service system and bring a new management system.  The new system should provide for the simplification of obtaining customs …

On February 10th, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held a meeting with civil society representatives.  Ukrainian political technologist, Taras Berezovets, disclosed some details of this meeting on his Facebook page.

“Yesterday at the President’s Administration, I had a private meeting with Petro Poroshenko and other civil society representatives.  Poroshenko asked not to quote him. Two film crews were also asked to leave the hall.  I wrote a couple of pages of his quotations, some of which …

A new contingent of Russian troops arrived in Crimea earlier this week to participate in military exercises, as stated by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu. The move comes after a surprise inspection of Russia’s Southern Military District on February 8th.

The exercise includes the units of the Southern Military District as well as airborne troops, transport aircraft, and air defense systems. A total of 8,500 servicemen, 900 pieces of military hardware, 50 ships, and 200 aircraft are …