Contents tagged with Ukraine

  • Kyiv announced its plans to abandon Russian software

    Deputies from the Kyiv City Council supported a resolution to prohibit the use of Russian software, as indicated on the Council’s website.

    According to official information, the draft is aimed at providing cybersecurity measures. The City Council stated that the document specifies banning telecommunications equipment and software that Russian companies have developed and produced.

    The message also stated that the ban will extend to executive and local self-government authorities, as well as …

  • Ukraine to block access to Russian media and social networks

    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree on new sanctions against Russia. The sanctions involve, in particular, blocking of Russian social networks such as VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. In addition, the access to all services of Russian media giant Yandex will be blocked.  The text of the decree was published on the web site of the Ukrainian president.

    Access to the social networks will be blocked following the restriction previously imposed on Russian Mail.ru group. Under the …

  • Groysman discussed the Israeli Knesset’s recognition of the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people

    During his visit to Israel, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman met with the Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein and discussed the issue of Israel's recognition of the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people.

    Groysman wrote the following on Facebook on Monday evening.

    "I informed the Knesset Speaker that mourning events dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor tragedy will be held in Ukraine in 2017-2018. For Ukraine, understanding of Israel in this issue is …

  • Poroshenko is ready to propose changes to Ukraine's constitution concerning Crimean Tatar autonomy

    The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, is ready to propose changes to the Constitution of Ukraine that concern granting the Crimean Tatars autonomy in the Crimea.

    "I am ready to introduce several amendments to the Constitution, including those regarding the issue of Crimean Tatar autonomy. The format of this autonomy will be proposed to me by the Constitutional Commission, with the participation of representatives of the Crimean Tatar people," Petro Poroshenko said at a press conference …

  • US drone conducts reconnaissance over the Donbas

    On Sunday, May 14, the US Air Force RQ-4A Global Hawk, a strategic unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV made a 10-hour reconnaissance flight along the line of demarcation in the Donbas, as evidenced by the data of Western websites monitoring the movement of military aircraft.

    According to their information, a heavy US drone with call sign UAVGH000, which departed from US Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily, cruised for a day along the line of demarcation from north to south, collecting …

  • Foreign Minister of Ukraine: The U.S. is ready to exert pressure on Russia to settle the situation in the Donbas

    After a meeting with US President Donald Tramp on May 10, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Pavlo Klimkin, said that "there are very interesting ideas" but first they must be coordinated with all partners.

    Klimkin argues that regarding the process of settling the situation in the Donbas, the United States is ready to exert pressure on Russia. "One of the main political signals is a real desire to join the pressure on Russia. There are very interesting ideas, but I can only speak …

  • Poroshenko describes his last conversation with Putin

    Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko said that he spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the arrest of Roman Sushchenko. The Ukrinform journalist is accused of espionage by the Russian authorities.

    “My last phone call with Putin had to do with Ukrainian citizens who are being held in Russian prisons. In particular, we spoke about the release of Roman Sushchenko… As a result of these negotiations, it was arranged for Roman’s family to meet with him in the prison,” …

  • Ukraine investigating more than 60 cases of human rights violations in the Crimea

    The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea located in Kyiv has initiated more than 60 criminal cases of human rights violations in the annexed Crimea, in which the injured parties are more than 150 citizens.

    Prosecutor Hyunduz Mamedov of the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea (ARC) reported this in a broadcast on radio Krym.realii.

    “We are not leaving these facts unattended. The Prosecutor General’s Office of the ARC is currently carrying out the procedural …

  • S&P: Ukraine to pay $20 billion of state debt by 2020

    According to the assessment of experts from Standar & Poor’s, Ukraine must pay $20 billion of state debt by 2020.

    The agency notes that the large payments of the principal debt and interest on it in 2017-2020, amounting to more than $20 billion (nearly 21% of the GDP in 2017) is the primary negative rating factor for Ukraine.

    “We expect Ukraine to completely fulfill its short-term obligations regarding sovereign debt in 2017 ($2.7 billion) and in 2018 ($3.9 billion), taking into account the …

  • Germany: military parades in separatist republics violated the Minsk agreements

    Germany said that military parades in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) violated the Minsk agreements and represented a threat to the population of the region, Ukrinform news agency reports.

    The military parades were held in Donetsk and Luhansk on May 9. In the DPR, from 50 to 80 units of military equipment were involved while in the LPR more than 60 units of military equipment and weapons and 1,200 soldiers took part in the parade.

    The German government …