• OSCE Secretary General believes new aggravation between Russia and Ukraine is highly possible

    Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung reports that the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Thomas Greminger stated that Russia might continue providing military assistance to the territories of Donbas which are not under Ukraine’s control. 

    He believes that the aggravation is a real possibility in the annexed Crimea or on the line of demarcation with the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. 

    According to Greminger, the political will to reconcile the …

  • President of Belarus Lukashenko no longer calls Russia a brother state 

    During a meeting on the current state of cooperation with Russia, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that he will not call Russia a brother state, because relations between the countries have started to be perceived differently. 

    “I no longer talk about a brother state, because, as I am informed, this is not perceived in Russia. Apparently new people have come, to whom this concept is unacceptable. So, we will be partners,” Lukashenko said, as cited by the official Belarusian …

  • Three sailors from captured Ukrainian tugboat refuse to testify 

    Three Ukrainian sailors from the tugboat Yany Kapu who were captured by Russia on November 25 off the Kerch Strait have declared themselves prisoners of war and refused to testify, said Russian attorney Nikolai Polozov in a Facebook post. 

    According to him, the defense team of the imprisoned sailors has met with Yuriy Budzylo and Andriy Shevchenko, members of the Yany Kapu’s crew. The attorneys report that Shevchenko was in a good frame of mind, and did not have any health complaints. …

  • President Poroshenko signs bill giving OUN and UPA fighters status of combatants for independence of Ukraine

    On Saturday, December 22, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed Bill 8519 "On the status of war veterans and guarantees of their social protection" which aims at strengthening the social status of participants in the war for the independence of Ukraine, as reported on the Verkhovna Rada’s website. 

    The bill would provide the status of combatant to persons who took part in all forms of armed military activities for the independence of Ukraine in the 20th century, including the Ukrainian …

  • Ukrainian politician suggests sending British warship through the Kerch Strait to see Russia’s reaction

    Speaking on the Ukrainian Pryamyi TV Channel, Yuriy Hrymchak, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, suggested that Britain should send the British ship HMS Echo, which recently visited in Odessa, to the Kerch Strait together with the Ukrainian vessels. 

    While speaking about the attack of Russians on the Ukrainian ships, Hrymchak said that the British ship should try to go through the Kerch Strait. 

    “When people say that Russia will allow the British ship to pass, …