• Russia’s leaders could face charges in MH17 murder case

    Charges could be brought against high-ranking Russian officials and military officers in the MH17 murder case, said Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, as cited by Interfax-Ukraine.

    “We will start with the soldiers and end with the generals and politicians,” he remarked.

    Lutsenko noted that, at a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) press conference in the Netherlands, relatives of the victims had asked whether it would be possible to press charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin. …

  • US prison administration allows Kremlin agent Butina to teach in prisons

    The Russian citizen Maria Butina, who is serving prison time in the US, has started teaching four subjects to prisoners with permission from the prison administration in Tallahassee, Florida, reported the Russian newspaper Izvestia, citing her father, Valery Butin.

    “Maria is now actively involved in teaching, which helps her to cope with the difficult life situation. She is teaching four subjects to other women who are serving jail time with her. Importantly, it is not just her own initiative – …

  • Russia decides to classify information on companies in Crimea

    The Russian government decreed that access to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE) can be restricted if the company is registered in Crimea or Sevastopol.

    Access to data from the USRLE can also be restricted if it contains information on companies’ branches or offices in the said regions.

    The information will also be treated as classified if the legal entity is under foreign sanctions or is related to the state defense order.

    Lawyers interviewed by BFM radio station observed …

  • Kyiv: Russia deployed 82000 troops along Ukrainian border in Donbas and Crimea

    The Chief of the Verification Department of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Andriy Gudz, at a briefing in Kyiv, said that "the total number of troops that Russia holds along the state border of Ukraine in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is about 82 thousand soldiers." He noted that these are combat-ready troops.

    According to Gudz, at the moment there are more than 25 battalion tactical groups along the state border of Ukraine in the …

  • Ukrainian President Zelensky: I'll tell Putin that Crimea and Donbas are Ukraine

    In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that he will start a conversation at a possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin with the issue of the Donbas and Crimea.

    "Let's start with the fact that the Donbas and the Crimea are Ukraine," Zelensky said.

    He expressed hope that Crimea will return to Ukraine as soon as possible.

    "I love Crimea so much. I've been there many, many times. This is a unique place in Ukraine with its nature …

  • Merkel: Russia could rejoin PACE under certain conditions

    The Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) could be reinstated under certain conditions, said German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, as cited by Interfax-Ukraine.

    “With respect to Russia’s reinstatement into the Council of Europe, we have had different ideas. We have had to weigh up two things. Firstly, [Russia’s] violation of international law against Ukraine. This is a problem which cannot be ignored by the international community. But for Russia …

  • Pentagon decides to allocate additional $250 million to Ukraine for defense

    The US Department of Defense announced that it will allocate an additional $250 million to Ukraine in the framework of cooperation between the countries in the field of defense, according to a statement on the Pentagon website.

    "This security cooperation is made possible by Ukraine’s continued progress on the adoption of key defense institutional reforms to align Ukraine’s national security architecture with Euro-Atlantic principles," reads the statement of the Defense Department of the USA. …

  • Dutch TV channel names possible suspects in MH17 airline crash

    Dutch TV channel NPO 2 named the alleged suspects in the case of the Boeing 777 that was shot in the sky over the Donbas in 2014. An official investigation has not named any suspects yet. However, earlier all these names were mentioned in the reports of the investigative journalists of a Bellingcat group and the investigation of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

    The story about the alleged suspects was released on the eve of the publication of the report of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT). At …

  • Russia claims it prevented US cyber attacks on its infrastructure

    Russia has identified and suppressed US attempts to commit cyber attacks on infrastructure management systems, Russian news agencies RIA Novosti and TASS reported, citing an unnamed security source.

    A few days ago, the New York Times, citing unnamed government sources, reported that the United States had introduced potentially malicious computer code into the Russian power supply system in order to deploy its cyber-tools.

    According to the newspaper, President Donald Trump had no knowledge of …

  • Russian banks blacklisted by China

    Russian officials’ hopes of redirecting the country’s economic policy toward the East and overcoming Western sanctions with China’s help continue to be dashed against a harsh reality, finanz.ru reports.

    Although it has been nearly five years since the US and EU first imposed sanctions on Russia, Moscow has not yet managed to reach a trade and settlement agreement with Beijing.

    Chinese banks are still delaying payments in connection with US sanctions, said Boris Titov, Russia’s Presidential …