The leader of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, ordered the cameras to be disabled

According to a report by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission for the 20th of May, OSCE monitoring equipment was turned off in the Donetsk region.

"Armed DPR members stopped work on the SMM’s remote monitoring equipment at the Donetsk airport, … SMM found out that they had disconnected the power supply to the SMM equipment in Donetsk city, claiming they had an order to do so by Mr. Alexander Zakharchenko," the …

Two convoys with medicine and materials for water purification were delivered from Switzerland to the east of Ukraine, as announced by the Swiss government.

As the government explained, a train carrying supplies for water treatment went from Switzerland to Donetsk on Sunday morning.

"The goods are intended for water pumping stations in the Donbas region which provide drinking water to the population on both sides of the line of contact," the message states. In addition, medical supplies, in …

The largest EU states have agreed that sanctions against Russia should be extended.

This was said by the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Witold Waszczykowski, before the start of the European Council meeting in Brussels.

“It seems that the sanctions will continue,” he said.

According to Waszczykowski, the leaders of the largest EU states agreed on this at an informal meeting held in Hannover two weeks ago. The sanctions will be extended as Russia has failed to comply with the Minsk …

The Baltic countries will host the large-scale NATO exercise Saber Strike 2016 in June, Evropeyskaya Pravda reported. 10,000 soldiers from 13 member states and partner countries will participate in the exercise.

“The exercises are aimed at improving interaction between member countries in the conduct of a wide range of military operations,” the Estonian Ministry of Defense stated, as cited by Postimees.

As stated on the US Army-Europe’s website, “Saber Strike 16 features allied and partner- …

The Riga District Prosecutor's Office has indicted one person who is accused of organizing tourist trips to Crimea as reported by the Latvian news portal, Delfi, citing the press center of the Prosecutor General of Latvia.

As it was previously reported in late April of this year, the Security Police (SP) of Latvia appealed to the Prosecutor of the Riga Judicial District to prosecute a person who organized a tourist trip to Crimea. The criminal process was initiated based on the violation of …

The Ukrainian Navy plans to dramatically upgrade its fleet by 2020 by building an additional 30 warships and boats, Rosbalt reported with reference to the Ministry of Defense.

"Ukraine's Armed Forces are taking measures to strengthen the Navy and its combat capabilities. Currently… units of the Navy are involved in the fighting in the conflict zone of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and therefore are ready to repel armed aggression from the sea. Fleet capacities are being expanded,” the …

Even though the Russian Minister of Agriculture, Alexander Tkachyov, is on the EU sanctions list, French authorities have issued him an entry visa. The press service of the Ministry reported this on the 23rd of May.

Tkachyov was placed on the list in mid-2014 in connection with Russia’s annexation of Crimea. At that time, he was the governor of the Krasnodar Krai.

French authorities have not yet given a reason as to why they issued a visa to Tkachyov.

Tkachyov headed the Russian delegation …

Negotiations between the Normandy Four leaders were held via telephone

The Press Secretary of the President of Ukraine, Svyatoslav Tsegolko, posted on Twitter that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko conducted a telephone call with the members of the Normandy Four leaders during which they discussed their support for the deployment of an OSCE Police mission in the Donbas.

Poroshenko also called on the Russian Federation to release all Ukrainian prisoners including Savchenko, Afanasiev and …