• Filaret: Ukrainian President Poroshenko convinced Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to grant Ukrainian Church autocephaly 

    At the “Return to the faith of the fathers” forum in Lviv, Kyiv Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko) explained how President Petro Poroshenko played an important role in obtaining autocephaly (independence) for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. 

    “Our enemy knows well that, if there is no firm spiritual foundation, if we build our country on the sand, then this house will not stand long. And we must build on a firm foundation. And that is why, at the very start, Moscow, when it was unable to break me, …

  • Netanyahu: Israel prepared to act in Syria after US withdrawal 

    If needed, Israel is prepared to expand the scope of its military operations in Syria following the withdrawal of US troops, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as reported by the Jerusalem Post. 

    According to Netanyahu, Israel’s policy is intended to weaken Iran’s influence on its neighbor, Syria. “The decision to remove the 2,000 American soldiers from Syria will not change our consistent policy: we will continue to oppose Iran’s attempts to establish military bases in Syria, and …

  • Russian Defense Ministry: Belbek Airport in Crimea ready to accept all types of aircraft 

    The new runway at the Belbek Airport in Crimea is ready to receive civilian and military planes, the Russian Defense Ministry reported, citing Viktor Sevostyanov, Commander of the 4th Army Air Force and Anti-Air Defense. 

    “The reconstruction of this airport has been effectively completed. Today we made the first technical route with two planes, and looked at the condition of the runway. There is still work to do, and the work is underway. But initially the conclusion is made that the airport …

  • UN General Assembly condemns violation of human rights in Crimea 

    On December 22, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the violation of human rights in the Crimea annexed by Russia. In particular, the General Assembly condemned the "illegal establishment of laws, jurisdiction and administration" in the region. The document submitted by Ukraine was backed by 67 countries, the permanent representative of Ukraine to the UN, Volodymyr Yelchenko wrote on his Twitter page. 27 states, including Russia, Belarus, China, India, Serbia, Syria, the Republic of …

  • Volker: Russia needs a pretext for aggression in Ukraine 

    Russia needs a pretext for aggression in Ukraine, US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker told TSN.Tyzhden in an interview. 

    According to Volker, the US used to think it was unlikely that Russia was set on aggression in Ukraine, but in the wake of the Kerch Strait incident, it will be necessary to reconsider the realistic probability that there may be new aggression from Russia. 

    “We must do everything we can to stop it from coming to this. We must do everything to prevent this …