US military aircraft spotted near Russian airbase in Syria

An American reconnaissance plane was spotted near the Russian airbase Khmeimim in Syria and naval logistics base in Tartus, Interfax reports, citing the data of Western aviation resources.

The US RC-135 surveillance aircraft was flying over the international waters of the Eastern Mediterranean along the Syrian coast for over two hours at a distance of about 60 km from Russian bases and an altitude of 9,600 meters.

On January 4, an American P-8A Poseidon patrol plane also carried out a …


The Pope expresses concern about the conflict in the Donbas

On Monday, January 7, Pope Francis expressed his concern about the conflict in the east of Ukraine during the New Year's reception of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. He also added that in the conflict that has been going on for five years, “new alarming events in the Black Sea” recently occurred. However, he did not mention Russia.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church urged adherence to a “peaceful resolution of the conflict” and called for respect for international law, …


World Anti-Doping Agency will make another attempt to obtain doping tests from Russian laboratory

On January 9, experts of the World Anti-Doping Agency or WADA will arrive in Russia again on January 9 to obtain data from the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, the WADA website reported on January 7.

A three-person expert team will attempt to access and extract data from the Laboratory Information Management System and the underlying analytical data generated by the former Moscow Laboratory.

The Statement of the WADA stresses that "Access to and subsequent authentication and analysis of the …


Ukraine files application to the European Court of Human Rights regarding capture and detention of Ukrainian sailors by Russia

The Deputy Minister of Justice and Commissioner for European Court of Human Rights Affairs, Ivan Lishchyna stated that Ukraine asked the European Court of Human Rights to recognize Russia’s violation of the rights of the 24 Ukrainian sailors held captive in Russia.

“The Government of Ukraine has fulfilled the court’s instructions and filed a full-fledged application for case №55855/18 on January 7th, 2019. The government demands that the court recognize the violation by the Russian Federation …


Ukrainian President: We will not let Russia run the show in Sea of Azov

Russia will not decide how the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait are to be used, because Ukraine will not allow this, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told CNN Turk in an interview.

According to the president’s press service, he clarified that all available legal mechanisms would be used to ensure this.

“We will never recognize the occupation of the Sea of Azov, which Russia is trying to do now. We will never recognize the occupation of the Kerch Strait. And we insist on international law, …