• Poland says that President Kaczynski’s plane started to disintegrate while still in the air

    The subcommission for the investigation of the Smolensk air crash at the Ministry of Defense of Poland believes that Lech Kaczynski's plane began to disintegrate while it was still in the air.

    “The plane began to disintegrate in the air and began to lose pieces, which fell to the ground, even before it hit the birch tree. The birch tree did not play a role in the outcome of the disaster in any way,” the head of the subcommittee, Vaclav Berczyński, said while on air with TVP Info television …

  • Denmark seeks to block Nord Stream-2 pipeline

    Denmark’s government proposed to amend legislation to enable it to ban the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline construction project, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine with reference to Euronews.

    Currently, this type of project can be stopped for environmental reasons. The government of Denmark proposes to allow authorities to also impose a ban based on national security and foreign policy priorities.

    As stated by the country’s Ministry of Energy, the pipeline issue should also be deliberated by the …

  • Poroshenko wants to confiscate coal imported to Ukraine from the separatist Republics

    President Petro Poroshenko will submit a request the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to confiscate coal mined in the territories of LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic) and DPR (Donetsk People’s  Republic), which would be sold in Ukraine under the guise of Russian origin.

    This was stated by Irina Lutsenko, the President’s spokeswoman in the Verkhovna Rada, reports UNIAN.

    "The president has said that the next issue he will be weighing at the National Security and Defense Council is …

  • Media: The U.S. is certain that Russia knew of Syrian army's chemical weapon attack

    U.S. authorities are confident that Russia was aware of the Syrian army’s plans to carry out a chemical attack in the village of Khan Shaykhun in the province of Idlib, as reported by the Associated Press (AP), citing an undisclosed American official.

    According to him, the Pentagon is confident that the appearance of a Russian drone in the area of the hospital where the chemical attack victims had been taken may serve as a proof of their knowledge. A few hours after the drone had left the …

  • Russia intends to abolish charter flights to Turkey

    Russian airlines have received a telegram from Rosaviatsia (Russian Federal Air Travel Agency) warning of a possible suspension of charter flights to Turkey's airports.

    This was reported by the newspaper Kommersant, with reference to a source in a tour operator company.

    According to the source, the relevant decision may have been made in relation to the difficult domestic political situation in Turkey.  A source in Rosaviatsia also confirmed this information to the publication.At the same …

  • Another Russian contract serviceman killed in Syria

    On April 9, a Russian contract serviceman, Igor Zavidny, was killed in Syria, according to RBC news agency.

    “They came under mortar fire, and two men died. By pure chance, his partner refused to go and another man from a different military unit went,” said his twin brother Evgeny Zavidny. He didn’t specify the name of the other soldier.

    According to his brother, Igor Zavidny had a three-year contract and had fought in Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia.

    Earlier on Monday, a friend, Irina …

  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: Ukraine's Naftogaz failed to reform

    The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development or EBRD announced the failure of the reform of Naftogaz of Ukraine.

    Last week, four out of five members of the Naftogaz Supervisory Board, Marcus Richards, Charles Proctor, Paul Warwick and Yulia Kovaliv announced that they may leave the company due to the government's failure to implement the company's corporate governance plan.

    This was reported by Evropeyskaya Pravda online newspaper with reference to a letter from EBRD President Suma …

  • Russia's Ministry of Defense reports deaths of two Russian soldiers in Syria

    Two Russian contract soldiers died in Syria as a result of a mortar attack by the militants and the third was seriously wounded, as reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense at a press briefing, Russia’s TASS news agency reports.

    The Ministry stated that the Russian soldiers were working with a Syrian Armed forces' unit as firearms instructors together with a Russian officer who was working as a military advisor.

    The Russian Ministry of Defense added that the third person is in a serious …

  • Kremlin denies the joint statement of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah threatening US

    Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary to the Russian President, said that the Kremlin knows nothing about the statement of the joint command center of Russia, Iran and Shiite militia groups supporting Bashar al-Assad’s regime and about readiness to use force against “any aggressor”, Nastoyashchee Vremya reports.

    Yesterday this statement was spread by Reuters, citing a statement published on Ilam al Harbi (War Media) news outlet.

    “The aggression shown by America against Syria crossed red lines. From …

  • Head of the National Bank of Ukraine hands in resignation, reveals how much insolvent banks owe the country

    On April 10, the head of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Valeria Hontareva handed in her resignation. She spoke about this during an unscheduled press conference.

    “After nearly three years of being the head of the NBU, I have decided to leave this position. I gave the president official notice of resignation at my own wish as of April 10 this year,” she said. She added that according to tradition, she is giving notice of this staff change in the NBU one month in advance. Thus Hontareva will …