Contents tagged with crimea

  • Germany views a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine as an unlikely scenario

    Germany believes a full-scale Russian offensive against Ukraine to be unlikely but it doesn’t exclude such a scenario, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, stated in an interview with Apostrophe.

    “Berlin doesn’t exclude that possibility but believes this scenario to be unlikely. If, God forbid, such an invasion occurs, I’m sure that Ukraine can expect serious strengthening of sanctions against the Kremlin. In addition, the provision of defensive weapons to us would become a …

  • Ukrainian Intelligence: Russia's Caucasus 2016 military exercise involves more troops than Moscow is claiming

    The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine claims that the scale of the Caucasus-2016 exercise is much bigger than reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

    "The real scale of the exercise is considerably bigger than the Russian Federation declares. Russia officially announced that 12 thousand soldiers, 90 tanks, 300 combat vehicles, up to 20 helicopters and up to 15 warships will participate in the exercise. However, today there are no international mechanisms …

  • State Department: The US will never recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea

    The United States will never recognize Crimea’s accession to Russia. This was declared by the USA State Department’s Coordinator for Sanctions Policy Daniel Fried in an interview with Delfi."We have never recognized the incorporation of the Baltic countries into the Soviet Union and I am proud of it. The United States is capable of incredibly long patience. In the case of the Crimea, I can confirm that the United States will never recognize the accession. In the Budapest Memorandum, Russia had …

  • Crimean authorities accuse Ukraine of terrorism for cutting the power supply

    The head of the State Committee of the Crimean government for International Relations and Deported Citizens, Zaur Smirnov, during a round table devoted to the Day of Solidarity in the fight against terrorism, said that stopping the supply of electricity from mainland Ukraine is considered "terrorism" on the Peninsula, as reported by the press service of the State Committee.

    "Today, a terrorist is not only a man with a gun in his hands. A terrorist is a person who has a powerful ideological …

  • Contractor says Kerch Strait Bridge will be completed on time despite US sanctions

    The owner of SGM (Stroygazmontazh, the largest construction company for gas pipelines and electrical power supply lines in Russia), Arkady Romanovitch Rotenberg, who acts as the General Contractor for the construction of the bridge from Kuban to the annexed Crimea, is sure that the U.S. imposed sanctions against the company, SGM-Bridge, will not affect the timing of the project, as stated on the TV channel "Russia 24."

    "We were ready for this, and initially suggested that this may happen. …

  • Russia's Caucasus 2016 military exercises begin

    Russia’s Caucasus 2016 military exercises have begun, involving the entire Southern Military District, the Crimea, and the Black Sea and Caspian fleets, Reuters reported. A total of 12,500 troops are expected to take part.

    Last week, Russia conducted a series of combat readiness checks in the lead up to the exercises.

    The Russian Defense Ministry said Caucasus 2016 is the last major military exercise of the year. It is scheduled to end on September 10th.

    An unspecified number of aircraft, …

  • Ukrainian border guards record presence of Russian FSB ship in the Black Sea

    On September 1st, a patrol aircraft of the Ukrainian State Border Service identified the Russian FSB Coast Guard patrol ship Izumrud in the Black Sea. The Russian ship was noted in Karkinitsky Bay about 10 miles from the southern part of Dzharylgach Island, as reported on September 2nd at a briefing by a representative of the State Border Guard service, Oleh Slobodian.

    “A tactical group comprising of the ship Podilia and motor boat Zlatokrai of the Maritime border guard went to this area …

  • Lavrov accuses the US of using the annexation of Crimea for its own political purposes

    Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, said that there are no legal reasons for the West’s non-recognition of the Crimea being part of Russia. This was reported by RIA Novosti.

    “There is no political will, but there is a political wish, to use this situation as part of a containment policy against Russia. This policy, led by the US, has been implemented for a long time, long before the Ukrainian issues,” Lavrov said.

    According to him, the West has not yet realized that …

  • Gazprom subsidiaries and contractors for Kerch Strait Bridge fall under US sanctions

    A press release by the US Treasury has stated that the US government has once again expanded the list of Russian individuals and legal entities to which unilateral US economic sanctions will apply. The list includes Gazprom-Media, which in turn includes NTV, NTV Plus, TNT, Pyatnitsa and Match TV, the Echo Moskvy radio station and Avtoradio.

    The main contractor for the construction of the Kerch Strait bridge, LLC SGM-Bridge, is also now included on the list. The company is a subsidiary of …

  • Russian MoD: Inspection of troops in Crimea is in its final stage

    Russia stated that  it is holding the final stage of the sudden readiness check of its troops in the Crimea and in the southern part of the country. According to the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry, the final stage of the readiness check took place on 30-31st of August.

    “Tactical and special-tactical drills, including live fire, training in troops’ practical actions, training on countering sabotage and reconnaissance groups, exercises on driving combat vehicles and tanks, weapons, …