Klimkin: There has been no progress in freeing Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia and Crimea

At a joint briefing with the Foreign Ministers of France and Germany in Kiev on Tuesday, February 23rd, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin spoke of the lack of progress in the liberation of Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia and Crimea.

"We are pleased that a few days ago we managed to exchange hostages and that our men have already been in Kiev for the past few days - this is very good news. However, we haven’t seen any positive changes and don't have any progress with …


According to Gallup poll, 15% of Americans think Russia is the US's 'main enemy'

According to a Gallup poll, North Korea has topped the list of countries that US citizens have called their main enemy, accounting for 16% of the votes cast by American participants.  Russia took second place on this list.  

The reason for North Korea taking the top spot is the Pyongyang's statements about the testing of a hydrogen bomb, and the launch of a ballistic rocket with a satellite.

According to the results, 15% of the respondents thought that Russia was the country’s main enemy.  …


Ukrainian Intelligence suggests Putin may attend Russian military exercise in Crimea

According to a representative of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit the Crimea to attend the Caucasus 2016 military exercise, as reported by Glavnoe.

The SBU’s representative said that Putin may even participate in certain activities during the military drills.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu is also expected to travel to the occupied Peninsula for Caucasus 2016.

As stated by Shoygu last month, “allow me to focus on preparations for the …


EU court considers claim filed by Rosneft against British authorities

On Tuesday, February 23rd, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg began to consider a claim by Rosneft against the British authorities. The Russian state company claims that London has interpreted the EU sanctions too broadly, as reported by Deutsche Welle.

The Court of Justice will consider the legality of the sanctions imposed against Russia in 2014. The Court will clarify the meaning of certain concepts contained in the EU sanctions regulations. According to Rosneft,  the United …


Amnesty International: Freedom of press in Russia is 'severely restricted'

The freedom of the Russian media “was severely restricted” in 2015, according to an Amnesty International human rights report entitled “Human Rights in the Contemporary World”.  The Russian presentation of the report was held in Moscow in the Rosbalt Media Center.

According to Sergey Nikitin, the Director of the organization in Russia, the number of independent media sources in Russia “can probably be counted on one hand”.

“With regard to the freedom of the media, it is no secret that it has …