Unknown UAVs flew over the prohibited area of Utö (island in Sweden) where the BALTOPS NATO military exercises were being held with Sweden and Finland. The incident took place in June; however, it was kept secret, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter reports.

Part of the exercise was held from June 10-13 on the island of Utö. There, marines from Sweden and Finland were practicing with colleagues from the U.S.A., Great Britain and Germany. Flights were prohibited during the exercises.

"We have …

According to the Russian Slon.ru news portal, the Ukrainian economy has been showing stronger growth than that of Russia, according to the official statistics of the two countries. In the fourth quarter of 2015, Ukraine’s GDP did not fall as steeply as Russia’s, and, in the first quarter of 2016, even rose slightly in contrast to the fall of the Russian index. This year, the Russian economy will shrink by 0.2%, the Ministry of Economic Development believes. The World Bank is more pessimistic …

Moscow calls on Helsinki not to give into the temptation of joining NATO’s actions directed against Russia.

The statement was made by the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, in response to a question asking what countermeasures Russia would take if Finland joins NATO, as reported by the Russian news agency TASS.

“This is a pure military and technical question. It is obvious that if an organization which considers you an enemy is approaching your borders, you have …

American Army officials have been in the process of obtaining formal permission to use Czech airspace for the flights of Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft. This was reported by Radio Prague.

According to Radio Prague, this information was confirmed by the Czech Ministry of Defense while the representative of the US Embassy refused to comment.

Currently the unmanned aircraft of this type are stationed at the Sigonella naval air station in Sicily. The air station is used for the …

The representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian sub-group in the Minsk negotiations and Vice-speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Iryna Herashchenko, said that Ukraine once again appealed to Russia to provide information on children illegally taken from the territory of Ukraine.

"We also expressed deep concern that international humanitarian organizations, including UNICEF, were not allowed access to children and special children's institutions in the occupied territories. We are ready to evacuate …

The former President of Poland, Lech Wałęsa, urged the North Atlantic Alliance to show their determination and fire warning shots at Russian planes which provoke NATO warships.

In an interview with Radio Svoboda, he commented on the incident with the simulated attack on the USS Destroyer Donald Cook. "We should remain resolute and not tolerate such behavior. Otherwise, they’ll win. If I were the commander of this ship, I would order to shoot them. Not to destroy them, but to drive them off,” …

The Minister for Social Policy of Ukraine, Andriy Reva, commented on the statement of Denis Pushilin, the a representative of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, concerning the opening of pension payment branches in the territories that are not under Ukraine’s control.

“Where are the guarantees that the citizens will receive these pensions? I don’t believe Pushilin or any of these bandits,” Reva stated on Ukrainian Hromadske.TV. The Minister added that Ukraine does not recognize the …

Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, Volodymyr Horbulin, told Ukrainian ZN.UA news portal that the Donbas is at risk of a sudden outbreak of large-scale hostilities. As Advisor to the President, he maintains that the current popular perception of calm presents a significant danger in itself.“In fact, the only thing we have observed is a paradigm shift in this long-term conflict,” Horbulin said. “Moreover, this raises a worrying feeling that this is the calm before the storm, …