Kyiv: Ukrainian army has taken control of nearly all gray zone in the Donbas

Yuriy Biryukov, advisor to the President of Ukraine said on the talk show “Situation” on Pryamyi TV that the Ukrainian Army has taken control of almost all of the gray zone, the territory which separates them from the pro-Russian militants, in the Donbas.   “Considering what we had in May 2014, two thirds of the territory [of the Donbas] was liberated. Almost all the gray zone was liberated and brought under Ukraine’s control,” Biryukov stated.   Occasionally, Ukrainian military in the Donbas …


Latvia detects Russian reconnaissance ship in its territorial waters

The Latvian National Armed Forces reported on Twitter that a Russian reconnaissance ship was spotted in the exclusive economic zone of Latvia. “On December 25, we found the Russian reconnaissance ship named Yuri Ivanov in the exclusive economic zone of Latvia at six nautical miles from the border.”

Russian warships and aircraft have been increasingly seen and recorded close to the air and sea borders of the Baltic States since the start of the conflict in Ukraine and the aggravation of …


Putin: new hypersonic nuclear missile makes an excellent New Year’s gift for Russia

The Russian Defense Ministry conducted test launches of an Avangard hypersonic glider missile. 

The missile, the fruit of a 20 trillion ruble ($290 billion) state arms program, passed the testing “completely successfully”, Putin said after the Strategic Missile Troops drill at the Kura Test Range. 

“All the tactical and technical data has been confirmed,” Interfax cites the Russian president as saying. “The Avangard system is invulnerable to the current and future anti-air and anti-missile …


Ukraine extends entry ban for Russian men 

The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) extended the entry ban imposed on Russian men aged from 16 to 60, despite the end of the martial law, said First Deputy Interior Minister Serhiy Yarovyi, the press service of the ministry reported.

"Taking into consideration the difficult situation with security, all bodies of the Interior Ministry continue functioning in emergency mode. Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council has decided to extend the State Border Guard …


Two Russian billionaires decline invitation to meet with Putin 

Two Russian billionaires were unable to go to the Kremlin to take part in President Vladimir Putin’s annual meeting with the country’s top businessmen. 

Petr Aven, head of Alfa-Bank’s board of directors with an estimated $5.1 billion according to Forbes, and Yandex co-owner and CEO Arkady Volozh ($1.5 billion) declined to attend the meeting which took place on Wednesday, December 26. 

“I’m just not in Moscow, I am very far from Moscow. There is no special reason,” Aven told TASS. 

A source …