• Separatist leader threatens to attack Kiev

    The leader of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, threatened to attack Kiev, as reported by the separatist Donetsk News Agency website.

    Zakharchenko asserts that at the forefront of the Donbas, Ukraine has divisions that allow it to "start the offensive." He was not able to give the approximate dates when Ukraine "will start the offensive," but stated that the separatists "are ready for this and have been waiting for it for several months already."

    "The military …

  • 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 …

  • Russia's Rostec is willing to use pension funds to implement new anti-terror law

    State Corporation Rostec proposed to implement the Yarovaya package, related to the digital storage of Russian data, at the expense of the Russian Pension Fund. Russian telecommunication operators would see a return on their invested funds in five years.

    The Minister of Industry and Trade suggested to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in response to his order, that he entrust the implementation of the law regarding the storage of Russian telephone conversations and emails to the National …

  • Klimkin: Autonomy in the Donbas could lead to Russia's goal of federalization of Ukraine

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is convinced that granting autonomy to the Donbas may lead to the federalization of Ukraine and to its weakening and separation, and that “this is what Russia strives for.”

    Providing autonomy to the part of the Donbas uncontrolled by Kiev is unacceptable for Ukraine because the Russian protectorate over this territory will be legitimized as a result, Pavlo Klimkin stated on Thursday, September 1 in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

    “If we grant …

  • Polish Defense Minister accuses Russia of planning plane crash near Smolensk that killed President Kaczynski

    Previously unknown materials related to the crash near Smolensk in 2010, which killed 96 people including Polish President Lech Kaczyński, will soon be unveiled in Poland.

    This was stated by the Minister of Defense of Poland, Antoni Macierewicz, Radio Poland reports.

    According to the minister, these materials include new recordings of conversations from the crew of the crashed Tu-154. In particular, he said, evidence will be presented that will prove that “the purpose of the actions of …

  • Merkel and Hollande to discuss war in Ukraine at G20 conference

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande plan to discuss the peace process in eastern Ukraine at the forthcoming G20 conference in China, Deutsche Welle reported.

    Merkel stated that the EU is not seeing nearly enough progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements, and she wants to raise the subject at the meeting of the twenty largest economies in the world.

    "Germany and France agree on this, and we will work together to promote this topic,” the German …

  • Ukraine's Prosecutor General tells of massive sell-off of military hardware between 2005 and 2014

    During the period from 2005 to 2014, Ukraine sold more than 830 tanks, 710 combat vehicles and 200 aircraft, as stated by Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security and Defense on Friday. Lutsenko was presenting his report on the results of an investigation into Russia’s actions in eastern Ukraine.

    According to him, such a large-scale sell-off served as one of the factors for Russia’s aggression.

    "After the collapse of the …

  • Time Magazine: Despite being on EU sanctions list, Putin's aide visited Greece

    Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov visited Mount Athos in Greece despite being on the EU sanctions list, Time magazine reported, referencing several different sources.

    In May, Surkov reportedly accompanied Russian President Vladimir Putin and several prominent Russian politicians and priests to Mount Athos, a place of pilgrimage for Orthodox Christians.

    When asked to comment on the allegations, the Kremlin responded that the information “does not correspond to reality.”

    Surkov was …

  • French consulting group: Russia's income disparity is the largest in the world among major economies

    In Russia, almost two-thirds of the country’s wealth is in the hands of millionaires. This makes its economy the "most unfair" of all major world economies, according to experts at the French multinational management consulting corporation, Capgemini.

    The most unequal distribution of wealth of all the world's major economies is in Russia. This conclusion was reached in the World Wealth Report by the consulting company Capgemini, published on Wednesday, August 31, 2016. In the report, the …

  • Experts: Russia's combat readiness check was intended for western audiences

    The sudden check of the troops’ combat readiness, which was held in the south of Russia and in the Crimea, was mainly intended for Western partners, and Kremlin wants to force Ukraine to settle the conflict in the Donbas on Russia’s terms, according to the deputy director on international issues at the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies (CACDS), Mykhailo Samus, Krym.Realii reported.

    “This is [meant to be] pressure on the West with an aim to force Ukraine via Western partners …