• OSCE mission threatened at gunpoint in eastern Ukraine

    The observers of the OSCE SMM reported that they were threatened by two armed supporters of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) near Lukove, 72 kilometers south of Donetsk according to their July 29th report.

    OSCE SMM members were stopped by two armed representatives of the DPR who blocked the road with a jeep and pointed weapons in their direction. They ordered SMM observers to leave this area, the report explained. The OSCE SMM representatives followed the order.

    The report …

  • NSA may be conducting cyber-attacks on Russian groups to determine if they were responsible for hacking DNC

    Computer experts from the US National Security Agency (NSA) may be conducting cyber-attacks on Russian hacker groups to determine if they are responsible for the hacking of the US Democratic National Committee (DNC). ABC News reported this information on Saturday, July 30, citing three former senior US intelligence employees.

    Robert Joyce, the head of the secret Tailored Access Operations, part of the NSA, told ABC News that the agency has sufficient technical capacity and the legal power to “ …

  • Supreme Allied Commander in Europe: The modernization of the Russian army cannot fail to impress

    U.S. General Curtis Scaparrotti, Chief of the Allied Forces of NATO in Europe, is impressed with the way Moscow has reformed its military doctrine in recent years, he said on Thursday, July 28, speaking at a security forum in the U.S. city of Aspen, Colorado.

    "It is obvious that they learn ... adapt their [military] doctrine ... which cannot fail to impress. They, certainly are modernizing; they reorganized their [armed] forces, by reducing their numbers, but at the same time making them more …

  • Journalists discover more evidence of rampant corruption by Ukraine's former prosecutor general Viktor Shokin

    The former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who was dismissed by the President in March, had a wealthy common-law wife and a child which were not listed in his declaration, as was reported in the TV investigative program Schemes.

    Journalists noted that "the investigation revealed that he has both a child and a common-law wife. It would be his private affair, if it weren’t for the fact that a number of luxury apartments including some estates abroad are in his common-law wife’s and …

  • Ukraine suspends trade activities of 243 Russian companies operating in the Donbas

    Two years after the beginning of Russia’s aggression in the Donbas, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has temporarily suspended the foreign trade activities of 243 Russian companies doing business in the territories which are beyond Kiev’s control.

    At the initiative of the SSU, the foreign trade activities of 243 Russian companies doing business with commercial entities in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions have been suspended, the SSU press center …

  • US diplomats: Despite statements to the contrary, Russia is not interested in peace in Ukraine

    U.S. Diplomats stress that Russia’s statements regarding their desire for peace in Ukraine differ from real events, as stated during by the U.S. Ambassador for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Daniel Baer, during a telephone conversation with European journalists as part of the Brussels Media Hub project.

    He stressed that the number of victims and attacks from the territory controlled by separatists has increased due to Russia’s actions. "The situation has escalated …

  • Russian weightlifting team will not be allowed to participate in Olympics

    The Russian weightlifting team was barred from participation in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced on their website on Friday, 29 July.

    The Executive Committee has carefully reviewed the decision regarding the participation of Russian weightlifters in the Rio Olympic Games, says the statement. In particular, it reviewed a report by an independent expert, Richard McLaren, who, at the request of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had …

  • Mikhail Babich to become the next Russian Ambassador to Ukraine

    The President of Russia can appoint a new ambassador to Ukraine only after Senate approval.

    The Presidential Envoy of the Volga Federal District, Mikhail Babich, is likely to become a new Russian Ambassador to Ukraine. His candidacy was supported by the Federation Council, RIA Novosti reported. According to Russian legislation, the President should consult with the members of the Federation Council and State Duma Deputies before appointing a new ambassador.

    After already having gone on leave, …

  • Human rights advocate: Crimeans will now be conscripted into the Russian army

    The inclusion of annexed Crimea into the Southern Federal District means that the peninsula has lost its special status, which, in particular, included provisions that excluded the enlistment of Crimeans into the Russian army. Now Crimeans will be drafted in the same way as citizens of the Russian Federation. This opinion was expressed by the coordinator of a Crimean human rights group, Olga Skrypnyk, Krym.Realii reported.

    Before Crimea was included in the Southern Federal District, there was …

  • Latvia detects Russian ship near its territorial waters

    Latvian Armed Forces detected a Russian military ship near the country’s borders on Friday.

    This was reported on Twitter by the National Armed Forces of Latvia.

    “On July 29 at a distance of 2.5 nautical miles from the border of Latvia, a Russian Steregushchy-class corvette Stoykiy was found,” the statement says.

    Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine and the aggravation of relations between the West and Russia, Russian warships and aircraft have been detected increasingly often near the …