U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed continued support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces as part of Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), reported the press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

It is noted that, on February 19, Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Taran held a telephone conversation with the U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

During the conversation, the parties confirmed the strategic nature of the bilateral relations between Ukraine and the United States …

Minister for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov said at a briefing for UN member states that almost 14,000 Ukrainians have been killed in the war in the Donbas.

"The war, to some extent, directly affected about 10 million Ukrainians, residents of these regions, as well as citizens of Ukraine, who have gone through conscription in the army, members of their families, etc.," he said.

“To date, 400,000 of our citizens have been affected by …

The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) has imposed sanctions against the Ukrainian politician, MP, leader of the political party “Opposition Platform for Life”, Viktor Medvedchuk.

Medvedchuk is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he refers to as "a personal friend"

Medvedchuk's wife Oksana Marchenko was also put on sanctions list. The list includes another Ukrainian citizen, five Russians and 19 companies. Secretary of the National Security Council Oleksiy …

The nuclear battlecruiser Admiral Lazarev will be sent for disposal, reports Interfax, citing materials of the Russian government’s procurement website.

The Admiral Lazarev battlecruiser, one of the four Kirov-class cruisers (Soviet designation Project 1144 Orlan), was launched when Brezhnev was in power. This is one of the heaviest and largest ships in the world.

The decision to dispose of the ship was made after assessing its technical condition, an industry source told Interfax.

"Its …

Estonian authorities expelled a Russian diplomat from the country, announced at a briefing the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

"The newly sworn-in Government of Estonia may have decided to show loyalty to Washington and Brussels in this way. The Russian Embassy diplomat in Tallinn was announced persona non grata without any justification. He was responsible for culture, education, that is, just those areas where cooperation still remains," she said.

"The Russian …

The U.S. imposed sanctions on 43 citizens of Belarus in response to the sentencing of two journalists of Belsat TV channel, as well as crackdown on peaceful protesters, pro-democracy activists, and journalists.

The names of those sanctioned have not been published, but it is specified that they are "high-ranking justice sector officials; law enforcement leaders and rank-and-file personnel who detained and abused peaceful demonstrators; judges and prosecutors involved in sentencing peaceful …

Israel could provoke a new round of tensions in the Middle East, said the Special Representative of the Russian President for Syria, Alexander Lavrentyev, commenting on Israel’s strikes on targets in Syria.

"These strikes must stop, they are counterproductive. We hope that the Israeli side will understand our concerns, including concerns about the possibility of escalation of violence in Syria," Lavrentyev said, as quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax.

"Sooner or later, the cup of …

The Russian Interior Ministry says that almost 640,000 residents of the uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions have received Russian passports, reports Intefax with reference to the head of the Russian Interior Ministry's department for the Rostov region.

"To date, there are 639,000 people," Agarkov said.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs said that in 2020, almost 410,000 Ukrainians received Russian citizenship. In four years, according to their data, almost 90 …