The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed their objection to the visit of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu to the Crimea as it was not officialy approved by Ukraine, according to a statement issued by the Ministry.

The Foreign Ministry indicated that on July 22nd Shoygu was "in the sovereign territory of Ukraine and within its internationally recognized borders, which includes the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol."

The Ministry believes that not getting appoval …

The Donbas elections should be held when the human rights issues are resolved and not just when the technical and political aspects are organized, as stated by the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonović, said during an interview with Novoye Vremya.

“If you want to hold free and fair elections, you must ensure that there is freedom of expression and media, as well as freedom of assembly and association. This is not happening now,” Šimonović said.

He also stressed the …

Gas production by the Russian Federation in the exclusive marine zone of Ukraine in the Black Sea will be the subject of lawsuits, according to the Ukrainian Minister of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Vadym Chernysh, UNIAN informs.

On the 20th of July, a meeting of government officials, chaired by the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Stepan Kubiv, was held, in which almost all Ministries that deal with "de-occupation of Crimea" presented their …

In a letter to the President of the United Nations Security Council, Koro Bessho, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, addressed the UN, demanding that they “influence Kiev to prevent the disastrous development of events,” referring to the situation in Ukraine.

Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN has traditionally accused Ukraine of violating the Minsk agreements and spoke about the alleged impending military operations by the Ukrainian Armed Forces …

The US demands Assad’s resignation before unification in the fight against terrorism; Russia would hold free elections after unification.

As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reported, providing new details about the talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, the US is again demanding the resignation of President of Syria Bashar al-Assad, Interfax reports.

“John Kerry recently came. They [the USA] say that we can unite in the struggle against terrorism, but first we have to agree that …

The use of long-range Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to correct artillery fire is one of the reasons why Ukrainian losses are increasing in the Donbas.

The Ukrainian special representative in one of the subgroups of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, former Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and former Defense Minister of Ukraine, Yevhen Marchuk, said this on channel 112, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

“They have already begun to use long-range UAVs, which correct even …

The Latvian Armed Forces once again observed a Russian naval frigate off the coast of Latvia, Evropeyskaya Pravda reported.

The ship was the Admiral Essen of the Admiral Grigorovich class- the latest class of frigates ordered by the Russian Navy.

“In the exclusive economic zone at a distance of 7 nautical miles from the border of Latvia on July 23, the Russian frigate ‘Admiral Essen’ of the ‘Admiral Grigorovich’ class was spotted,” the Latvian Armed Forces wrote on Twitter.

Relations between …

As officially reported by the staff of the United States 6th Fleet, the US guided missile destroyer USS Ross has entered the Black Sea to join the international naval exercises known as “Sea Breeze – 2016,” Ukrinform reports.

“Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) transited the Bosphorus Strait July 22, en route to the Black Sea to take part in Sea Breeze 2016,” an official statement said.

The USS Ross will be participating in the 15th iteration of Sea Breeze, an …