Russia has found an original way to provide electricity to the annexed peninsula using European technologies to circumvent the sanctions imposed by the European Union. As Reuters reported on 5 August, citing several sources, Russian companies have approved a plan to use turbines manufactured by Siemens Gas Turbine Technologies, LLC and a Russian company, Power Machines, which opened a plant in Saint-Petersburg last year, to construct power plants in the Crimea.

Siemens categorically denied its …

Several relatives of victims from the Boeing 777 crash filed lawsuits in the European Court on Human Rights (ECHR) against Ukraine for the crash of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over the Donbas on July 17, 2014, Kommersant reported. The lawsuit was filed by German citizens Elena Joppa and Tim Laushet, living in Australia, as well as Chris and Denise Kenke, relatives of passengers killed in the disaster. They hold Kiev partially responsible because the airspace over the territory where the …

Officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) detained a Russian citizen suspected of illegally transferring funds in the amount of 16 million dollars from Odessa to Russian accounts.

A statement posted on Saturday, August 6th, on the SSU website indicated that the as-yet unidentified Russian "created a mechanism of fake financial and business operations for the accumulation, transit and withdrawal of funds." The monthly turnover of the said fraud totaled more than $2 million. …

The Ukrainian representative to the security subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas, Yevhen Marchuk, stated on 112 Ukraine TV that the group’s decision on the withdrawal of forces of 1 km from the demarcation line on each side will be ready soon.

“The agreement is almost ready. It is the group’s decision concerning the withdrawal of forces from the front line per kilometer by both parties, i.e. a two-kilometer distance. We have agreed to repeat the discussion on Tuesday in order to …

The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported on August 6 that a military equipment convoy from the Russian Armed Forces – tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery mounts and trucks – was moving through the Ukrainian border in the areas of Kuibysheve(in the Rostov region) and Marinovka (in the Donetsk region). In addition, a supply of weapons, military equipment, ammunition, oil and lubricants from the Russian Federation was recorded.

In particular, 10 …

Ukrainian border guards again reported sightings of Russian helicopters flying over the territory of the Crimea, according to the service’s website.

"Guards from the Berdyansk detachment on the administrative border recorded a flight of Russian Mi-8 helicopters over the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Cooperative units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already been informed," the website noted.

The day before, at administrative border with the …

According to witnesses, the Russian military has been increasing its presence in several areas in the annexed Crimea over the previous day. According to eye witness accounts, military roadblocks reinforced with armed soldiers have been established in the Razdonletsky district.

The soldiers are stopping and inspecting the passing traffic. Similar roadblocks are reportedly set up in Chernomorsky district. When asked about the reasons for the road checks the soldiers state the “breach of the …

The Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia, Mykola Kulinich, noted that the Australian Ministry of Defense and the Antarctic Division are interested in the possibility of using Antonov transport aircraft.

After the debut of the An-225 Mriya strategic airlift cargo aircraft, Australia showed a keen interest in establishing ties with the Ukrainian State-Owned Enterprise Antonov. In an interview with Ukrinform news, Ambassador Kulinich said that "We have already proceeded to the first concrete steps …