The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS) will intensify guarding the borders during the Zapad 2017 joint Russia-Belarus military exercise, as stated by Oleh Slobodyan, an assistant to the head of the SBGS.

According to Slobodyan, Russian troops began to arrive in Belarus before the beginning of the exercise. Therefore, "it is necessary to control the situation."

"We started command and staff exercises during which the border line was fortified in all directions without exception, …

The charity organization Rainbow Railroad helped 35 representatives of the LGBT community in Chechnya come to Canada, and 31 of them have received asylum, CBC News reported.

“We are working on a program with the Canadian government which will make it possible for persecuted LGBT Chechens to enter the country,” Rainbow Railroad executive director Kimahli Powell told CBC News in an interview.

According to him, the charity organization has already helped 140 members of the LGBT community from …

Russia is violating international maritime law by constructing the Kerch bridge in occupied Crimea, which will cause a reduction in trade between Ukraine and other countries.

Such an opinion was expressed by the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies (CACDS), Interfax-Ukraine reported.

As noted in the CACDS statement, contrary to the reassurance given by Russia’s political leadership, the construction of this facility will restrict the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea and …

The Zapad 2017 exercises have a broader context than it has been announced by Russia. They have the goal of preparing the Russian forces for offensive action, and are a threat both to NATO and to the states of the post-Soviet space, stated Viktor Muzhenko, Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as reported by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

“We are considering various scenarios of enemy action, including offensive action,” he noted.

According to …

In a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website on Sunday , Russia has accused the U.S. of seizing its Consulate-General in San Francisco and a trade mission in Washington.

 “On September 2, U.S. authorities seized buildings of the Russian Consulate-General in San Francisco and a trade mission in Washington, which are Russian property and have diplomatic immunity. Russian representatives were also denied access to the leased premises of a trade mission in New York,” the Russian …

NATO Agile Spirit 2017 multinational military exercises began in Georgia on September 3, reported News-Georgia news agency.

The Agile Spirit exercises have been held annually since 2011. They are one component in an effort to improve Georgia’s cooperation with the U.S. and NATO. The purpose of the exercises is to improve the interaction between the Georgian military and its counterparts from the United States and partner countries, as well as improve preparedness to respond to crises and …

Lithuania is extremely concerned about human rights violations in the annexed Crimea, including the rights of the Crimean Tatars, with whom Lithuania has close historical ties.

Ukrinform reports that Lithuanian Ambassador to Ukraine Marius Janukonis, who took part in the 4th Baltic-Black Sea Economic Forum as part of a delegation led by the Lithuanian Seimas Chairman Viktoras Pranckietis, spoke about this topic on September 1 at a briefing in Kherson.

"This is the first such visit at the …

Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin are not going to leave the "occupied territory" because he regards the war in the Donbas as a lever of pressure on Europe.

Secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov stated this at a meeting with the head of the World Congress of Ukrainians, Eugene Czolij, the press service of the National Security and Defense Council reported.

"Putin is not going to get out of the occupied territory, and for him, the war in the Donbas is …