Speaking at a PACE session, Verkhovna Rada MP and former prisoner Nadiya Savchenko stated that she was recently in separatist-held territory and met with the people who had held her captive for two years.

“For those who want to understand and know what is happening in the Donbas, in the occupied territory where I was held pretty recently, I met with people who quite recently held me captive—these people realized what Russia is and what they’re dealing with,” she said.

According to Savchenko, …

In Italy the Chamber of Deputies rejected five draft resolutions calling for the lifting of sanctions against the Russian Federation, as indicated by the Ukrainian Ambassador to Italy, Yevhen Perelygin, on his Facebook page.

"In anticipation of the positive results from the PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) session in Strasbourg, there is good news from Rome. According to a report by Matteo Renzi regarding the participation of Italy in the meeting of the EU Council, the …

The authorities of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) reported the arrival of the first group of foreign tourists to the unrecognized republic. The separatists’ media reported that eight representatives from Italy came to the LPR. It was noted that the tourists arrived with the support of colleagues from Finland. The chairman of the LPR Trade Unions Federation, Oleg Akimov, reported that a sightseeing trip around Luhansk and visit of the mine in Yubileyne settlement were organized …

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet in Switzerland on Saturday in order to discuss Syria despite high tensions between Moscow and Washington, Reuters reported.

Russian and U.S. attempts at a coordinated peace effort in Syria came to an abrupt halt after the Syrian government launched a renewed offensive on the war-torn city of Aleppo last month, aided by Russian bombers. A Russian and U.S. backed ceasefire deal, which lasted barely a week, …

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania summoned the Russian ambassador to Lithuania, Alexander Udaltsov, and handed him a note of protest regarding regular provocations of the Russian navy in the Baltic Sea. That is how Lithuania called on Russia to adhere to the norms of international law and principles of good-neighborliness, and intended to ensure that similar incidents don’t occur in the future, Delfi reported.

The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry reiterated its concerns about the …

Small missile ships of the Russian Navy will be equipped with the close-in weapon system (CIWS) "Pantsir-SM", which will provide the highest level of vessel security, Izvestia newspaper reported.

Russia's new Buyan-M small missile ships will be armed with these missile systems.

Compared to their land-based "Pantsir-S1" counterparts, the naval air defense missile system has double the capability of detecting and destroying targets, able to detect all air and water activity at a distance up to 7 …

The presidential administration has advised Russian officials, up to the highest levels, to bring their children who are studying abroad back home. This was reported by Znak.com news portal citing five sources who are directly affected by this request.

This recommendation concerns employees of the presidential administration, regional administrations, deputies of all levels, as well as employees of state corporations.

The website added that the children are required to return even if they …

The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Volodymyr Groysman, stated that the doubling of Ukraine's economic growth rate can happen in a year contingent on industrial development and economic transition, UNIAN reported.

“We have great opportunities. We achieved 3% growth but that can be doubled. We can give an impetus to the development of production in order to cease to be the raw type of economy that we are today,” Groysman said. Earlier, the Prime Minister announced the creation of the National …