Switzerland grants $200 million loan to the National Bank of Ukraine

The National Bank of Ukraine signed a loan agreement with the Swiss National Bank. In an official statement, the National Bank of Ukraine said, “The agreement finalizes the agreement made between the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, and the President of Switzerland, Johann Schneider-Ammann, on an increase of humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine from Switzerland.”

According to the report, the purpose of the loan agreement between the National Banks of Switzerland and Ukraine …


In a framework of the program 'Come Home', more than 50 separatists returned to Ukrainian-held territory from DPR and LPR

More than 50 people who were members of separatist groups returned to Ukraine from the so-called DPR and LPR as a result of the Security Service of Ukraine’s (SSU) program ‘Come Home’.

"This program is becoming more successful. Today we can say that more than 50 separatists have returned to Ukrainian territory under the program,” the Chief of Staff of the Head of the SSU, Olexandr Tkachuk, said at a briefing in Kiev on Monday.

He said that these people went through "a very difficult path of …


Ukraine officially dismisses 197 Crimean judges

The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada has officially dismissed 197 judges of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

According to the Chairman on Legal Policy and Justice, Ruslan Knyazevich, Parliament approved the decision to dismiss the Crimean judges “who switched sides and violated their oath to the Ukrainian State.”

Similarly, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) recently disclosed the names of 1,391 of its former employees who defected following the Ukrainian Revolution in …


Stratfor: Reintegration of the Donbas could drag on for a decade

Lauren Goodrich, a senior analyst with the American company, Stratfor, and a specialist on Eurasia and the Soviet Union, stated in an interview with Apostrophe that the reintegration process for the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions could last for many years ahead. According to her, the cessation of hostilities can’t be expected in the near future.

“I don’t believe that we can expect the cessation of ceasefire violations in the near future because it looks like the …


OSCE monitors threatened by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine

Members of the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine were threatened by pro-Russian separatists on two separate occasions, as stated in a press release issued by the SMM.

According to the report, while in the city of Donetsk in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), an armed separatist approached members of the OSCE mission, “claiming that he had seen SMM vehicles near a Ukrainian Armed Forces excavator and said he would open fire at the monitors if this were to happen again.” …