• Ukrainian Minister: Ukraine can stop buying coal from the separatist republics

     Ukraine can do without the coal that it buys from the uncontrolled territories of the LPR and DPR, as stated by the Infrastructure Minister, Volodymyr Omelyan, during an informal meeting with bloggers and experts, as reported by the Chetverta Vlada news agency.

    At the same time, the Minister stressed that the purchase of coal from the separatist-held territories is a political decision that will be taken by the country's leadership.

    "There is a political decision that we buy coal from those …

  • Turchynov: Russia is preparing to escalate hostilities in the Donbas

    Russia has stepped up the movement of troops and arms into the Donbas, which indicates its readiness to further escalate hostilities, as stated by the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov.

    According to him, military equipment, weapons, ammunition, outfits, fuel, and lubricants are being delivered "in an organized and systematic way, almost daily," both by road and by rail.

    Over the last three days, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, MT-LBs, …

  • Russian newspaper has estimated the cost of the aircraft carrier campaign in Syria to be $170 million

    The trip of the Admiral Kuznetsov Russian aircraft carrier and a group of ships led by her to join the Russian Air Force in Syria cost Russia at least 7.5 billion rubles, as was reported by RBC.

    "The use in the military operation in Syria of a naval group led by the heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser Admiral Flota Sovetskovo Soyuza Kuznetsov cost Russia between 7.5 billion ($126.7 million) and 10 billion rubles ($168.9 million),” the message says.

    The estimated expenditures of the …

  • Putin signs law decriminalizing domestic violence in Russia

    On Tuesday, 7 February, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, signed a law that decriminalizes domestic violence. The Federal law "on amendments to Article 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation" excludes criminal responsibility for "beatings or other violent acts causing physical pain, but without causing damage to health against family members," the website of the Administration of the Russian President says. Beatings of persons (spouses, parents, children, …

  • Poland to send a note to Russia requesting explanation for its refusal to provide debris of Tu-154

    The Polish Foreign Ministry asked the Russian Federation which investigative actions over the past year have led to Russia’s refusal to return the debris of flight Tu-154 that crashed in 2010 near Smolensk, as was stated by Polish Foreign Minister, Witold Waszczykowski, on the air of the radio RMF FM, according to the statement by the Polish Foreign Ministry.  

    According to him, over the last year, the Polish Government has tried to get the debris from the aircraft from Russia by "normal and …

  • A US drone conducted a reconnaissance mission over the Donbas

    On Tuesday, February 7th, a strategic unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the U.S. Air Force RQ-4A Global Hawk with the call sign UAVGH000 conducted another reconnaissance flight along the demarcation line in the Donbas, as stated by Western websites that track the movement of military aircraft.

    According to their data, the drone was flying from the north to the south along the boundery line of Ukraine with the so-called DPR and LPR, but without crossing it. The reconnaissance vehicle was flying …

  • Putin announced a surprise inspection of the Russian Air Force

    The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, ordered a sudden inspection of the Russian Aerospace Forces which began on Tuesday, February 7th. This was announced by the Russian Defense Minister General, Sergey Shoygu.

    "Today, in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to assess the readiness of the military command bodies and of the armed forces to carry out combat training tasks, snap inspections of the Aerospace Forces have begun," Shoygu said.

    According …

  • Kyiv demands that German ambassador retract his statements regarding elections in the Donbas

    There was a negative reaction in Ukraine to the opinion which German Ambassador to Ukraine Ernst Reichel expressed in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, saying that elections could take place in the parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts not controlled by Ukraine even with the Russian army present there. This coincided with the reception at the embassy in celebration of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Germany and Ukraine. During the reception, with journalists present, the …

  • Groshi TV program reveals that Putin’s oligarch friend earns millions in Kyiv and supplies bullets to separatists

    Russian businessmen continue to make millions off of Ukrainians in Kyiv. Afterwards, they invest this money in the war in the Donbas, according to an investigation by Groshi (“Money”) TV program of 1+1 TV Channel. Russian oligarch Igor Rotenberg purchased 46% of the shares of Tula Arms Plant, one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the Russian Federation. Separatists of the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics use Tula Arms munitions to wage war in Donbas.

    Rotenberg profits from one of …

  • Separatist field commander ‘Givi’ assassinated in Donetsk

    According to the Ministry of Defense of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, field commander and leader of the Somalia battalion, Mikhail Tolstykh, known by the call sign ‘Givi,’ was killed by an explosion in his office on Wednesday morning. There were reportedly two other people in his office at the time of explosion, both of whom were killed. Subsequently, reports emerged that RPO-A Shmel flamethrower was used in the killing.

    The Ministry of Defense of the so-called DPR accused Ukraine …