The inclusion of annexed Crimea into the Southern Federal District means that the peninsula has lost its special status, which, in particular, included provisions that excluded the enlistment of Crimeans into the Russian army. Now Crimeans will be drafted in the same way as citizens of the Russian Federation. This opinion was expressed by the coordinator of a Crimean human rights group, Olga Skrypnyk, Krym.Realii reported.

Before Crimea was included in the Southern Federal District, there was …

Latvian Armed Forces detected a Russian military ship near the country’s borders on Friday.

This was reported on Twitter by the National Armed Forces of Latvia.

“On July 29 at a distance of 2.5 nautical miles from the border of Latvia, a Russian Steregushchy-class corvette Stoykiy was found,” the statement says.

Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine and the aggravation of relations between the West and Russia, Russian warships and aircraft have been detected increasingly often near the …

Ukrainian soldiers of the 80th Airborne Assault Brigade will participate in NATO’s Flaming Thunder 2016 exercises in Lithuania, Evropeyskaya Pravda reported, citing the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

The annual Lithuanian-led live-fire exercise, which focuses on artillery and mortar fire training, will be held near Pabradė and will last from August 1st to 12th.

Military personnel from the US, Germany, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, and Portugal will also participate in the exercises.

“In two …

The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that it is not attempting to carry out an assault on Aleppo under the guise of a humanitarian operation, RBC reported.

Washington has suggested that Russia could be preparing an assault on Aleppo by creating three humanitarian passages for civilians wanting to flee rebel-held eastern districts of the city.

"It has the risk, if it is a ruse, of completely breaking apart the level of cooperation," US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters.

"On the …

Anton Herashchenko, a member of the “People’s Front” faction of parliament, wrote on his Facebook page that 50,000 Russians took part in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine. "These are not just speculations and assumptions but documentary evidence discovered by volunteers of the project 'Myrotvorets' [Peacemaker] in a mailbox belonging to Russian terrorist Maria Koleda. Koleda serves as a head of the terrorist press service of the terrorist organization, the Donetsk People’s Republic,” he …