• PACE rapporteurs: 'Extensive corruption' is Ukraine's main problem

    The winter session of the European Council’s Parliament Assembly (PACE) opened in Strasbourg on Monday, 23 January, where participants will discuss the report entitled, "The Functioning of Democratic Institutions in Ukraine." The report and relevant resolution will be presented by the representatives of the PACE Monitoring Committee on Ukraine: a Spanish Deputy from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), Jordi Xuclà, and the head of the European People’s Party in PACE, Axel …

  • Language scandal in Ukraine: Three draft laws that upset the public

    The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee for culture and morality, Ukrainian MP Mykola Knyazhytsky, wrote on his Facebook page that there are three patriotic draft laws concerning language policy in the country: draft law #5556 “On languages in Ukraine,” draft law #5669 “On functioning of Ukrainian language as the state language and procedure for the use of other languages in Ukraine” and draft law #5670 “On the state language of Ukraine.”

    Knyazhytsky promised that the specialized …

  • Dodon intends to ask NATO to confirm the Moldova's neutrality

    Moldova’s President, Igor Dodon, said that at the February meeting with NATO leadership in Brussels, he plans to offer an agreement on the recognition of the Republic's neutrality by the Alliance.

    "I intend to insist on the cancellation of the agreement on the opening of the NATO Liaison Office in Chisinau. Furthermore, in the Brussel meeting in February, I intend to offer an agreement on the recognition of Moldova's neutrality by the NATO," Dodon told RIA Novosti.

    He stressed that "he …

  • Russia will add newest S-500 missile systems to its air defense shield

    According to Russia’s Interfax news agency, the newest S-500 surface-to-air missile system will become a part of the Russian national air defense shield. This was stated by the Commander of the anti-missile contingent of the first Air Defense Army, Major-General Andrey Cheburin.

    “The work on the creation of the twenty first century unified national air-defense system is underway. This system will be reinforced with the long-range surface-to-air S-500 systems and mobile radar stations, “ …

  • Kyiv to supplement its claim against Russia at the International Court of Justice

    Ukraine intends to supplement its claim to the International Court of Justice with new facts regarding human rights violations by Russia, as was stated by Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Pavlo Klimkin, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

    "We will present these facts to Europe, but the important thing is that they will be used in Court as evidence. We are constructing a whole set of facts and we will be able to supplement it. We may bring new evidence prior to the hearings," Klimkin said.

    He added that, …

  • Ukrainian forces push ahead at Svitlodarsk Salient

    Several units of 54th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have moved forward in the direction of the town of Stakhanov and took over positions which were previously held by separatists. This was reported by the journalists of the Ukrainian TSN channel who visited the newly held Ukrainian positions. According to the Ukrainian soldiers, the positions were captured without any losses and almost without shooting.

    All the paths to the separatist bunker are covered with mines and booby traps. The …

  • Estonia will train cyber soldiers for NATO

    According to Russia's Izvestia newspaper, the Estonian Ministry of Defense announced plans to modernize Europe's largest cyber training ground which was established in 2011 to train personnel in combating cyber threats. The Defense Ministry of the Republic explained to Izvestia that the facility is being upgraded in the interests of NATO, of which the country has been a member since 2004. In turn, NATO indicated that the upgrade concerns only the expansion of cyber defense capabilities.

    The …

  • Dmitry Medvedev was re-elected as Chairman of the United Russia party

    The Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, was re-elected as Chairman of the United Russia party, as reported on the party’s Twitter account. The voting took place on January 22 at the party conference. Medvedev was nominated without opposition. The Prime Minister has been the Chairman of United Russia since May 2012.Speaking before voting, Medvedev stated that opposition parties could use regional elections scheduled for the 10th of September 2017 in order to effectively begin a …

  • Prosecutor General of Ukraine: The investigation into the case of Yanukovych will be completed in February

    The Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Yuriy Lutsenko, in an interview with 1 + 1 TV channel, said that the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (GPU) plans to conduct all the necessary final interviews and examinations in February. Once the pre-trial investigation in the case of the former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, is complete, the case will go to trial.

    "We do not plan to extend the terms of the pre-trial investigation, and that is why we will conduct all the final necessary …

  • Poroshenko criticizes the idea of abandoning the Donbas

    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko criticized the opinion of some politicians who are calling on him to abandon the Donbas, as he stated at an event commemorating Unity Day in the Taras Shevchenko National Museum.

    "It is regrettable to discuss this on Unity Day, but there are political forces which are in a subtle way, proposing that we abandon the Donbas... I want to ask these politicians a question: Gentlemen, did you unite these territories to discard them so easily," the President asked. …