The Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and People’s Deputy of Ukraine, Refat Chubarov, called on the European Union to strengthen sanctions against Russia, including the imposition of a temporary embargo on oil and also to disconnect Moscow from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) as he stated on the Hromadske.tv TV Channel.

“Against the background of increased oppression against Crimean Tatars, our task is to ensure that the international …

Moscow authorities have removed the makeshift memorial to Russian oppositionist Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead near the Kremlin in 2015, Radio Liberty reports.

As was reported, on the evening of May 8th on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, two activists who were on duty near the memorial were detained. The activists were released in the morning on May 9th.

Employees of the state company Gormost removed the flowers and portraits of Nemetsov from the bridge.  Russian authorities have not …

The US Deputy Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has said that the US will not lift the sanctions against Russia until Moscow has fulfilled all of their commitments under the Minsk Agreements. Ukrinform reported that Blinken made these statements during a meeting with the Romanian media in Bucharest.

“We stand by our previous decision that sanctions imposed against Russia by the US and the European Union will only be lifted once Moscow fulfills all of their commitments under the Minsk …

The US State Department has declined to comment on the possible appointment of Marie Yovanovitch as the new Ambassador to Ukraine. The media had previously reported that Washington intends to transfer the current ambassador, Geoffrey Pyatt, to Greece.

Ukrinform reported that the Director of the Press Office for the Department of State, Elizabeth Trudeau, refrained from commenting during a briefing in Washington on the 9th of May.

“I have no announcements on any appointments,” Trudeau said. …

Pro-Kremlin journalist Graham Phillips confirmed on his Twitter feed that he was detained by the Kerch police. "Quick comment - yes, I was briefly detained in Kerch, because my drone was flying," he wrote.

Phillips clarified that he was arrested only for 15 minutes and was treated well.

On May 8th, the Kerch website ''Argumenty Nedeli” reported that Phillips was arrested during a torchlight procession dedicated to Victory Day. According to the newspaper, the reason for the detention was that …

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is open to sending armed personnel to eastern Ukraine if this proposal is agreed to by all parties. This was declared by the Secretary General of the OSCE, Lamberto Zannier.

The organization is currently supervising a fragile ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and rebels in Donbas.

Comments made by Zannier reflect the extent of the danger that the current unarmed observers are exposed to while monitoring the ceasefire. He says …

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine stated that the presence of heavy weaponry in Luhansk and Donetsk during Victory Day parades is a violation of the Minsk Agreements, as reported on Facebook page of the Special Monitoring Mission.

“The SMM was entrusted with the task of monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire and other provisions of the Minsk Agreements, including the withdrawal of weapons. In this case, the presence of heavy weaponry in Luhansk and Donetsk during the …

On Saturday, border guard officers in Druskininkai (Lithuania) denied entry to three Russian bikers, Delfi.lt reported. According to the edition, they didn’t have documents justifying their purpose or the conditions of their intended stay in the Schengen country. As it turned out later, these Russian citizens attempted to make their way from Belarus to Poland. However, Polish border guard officers have denied entry to them as well.

This was the third time in a week that Lithuanian border …