The German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has said that elections in the occupied Donbas region will be held within the next months.  However, the Ukrainian representative to the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, Roman Bezsmertnyi, has urged Europe to think primarily about the safety of the people in the region,  and not about elections.

“Until now, only the processes of the elections have been discussed in Minsk and not the electoral law.  These elections are out of the question …

As expected, on the 2nd of March, the EU will continue sanctions against the former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, and 15 members of his inner circle. These sanctions were to end on the 6th of March. "Radio Freedom", with reference to sources in the EU, reports.

It is noted that the sanctions will be extended for another year.

It is also expected that the former Minister of Health, Raisa Bogatyreva, will not be on the list of sanctions.  Sanctions were imposed two years ago due to …

The total claim amount made against Gazprom by Naftogaz has reached 8.2 billion dollars.  This claim is in regard to a contract between these two companies for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine.

The head of Naftogaz, Andrew Kobolyev, reported this during a conference in Kiev.

“The total amount of claims made against Gazprom has reached an amount of 8.2 billion dollars,” Kobolyev said.

According to him, this amount had accumulated during the duration of the contract, which began in 20 …

During Russia's annexation of the Crimea in 2014, the Ambassadors of several Western countries called on the Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People to avoid provoking the Russian military, as stated by Refat Chubarov, the Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People on the program "Svoboda Slova" (Freedom of speech) on the channel ICTV.

"All day long I was in touch with the ambassadors from the EU countries and the U.S.A. They all had the same request: do not provoke the …

Column of Russian tanks, circa 2014

A column of Russian military vehicles entered separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine, as reported on Tuesday by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

“On the 29th of February, a column of military vehicles came from the Russian Federation into Ukraine through the Novoazovsk checkpoint, which is not controlled by Ukraine.  The column included six armored combat vehicles, four ammunition trucks and two mobile …

In case of war almost half of the Russian-speaking citizens of the country are ready to defend Estonia, as suggested by a survey conducted by the Turu-Uuringute AS, commissioned by the Institute for Social Studies in January 2016, according to the err.ee publication.

Of those surveyed, 71% of Estonian-speakers and 45% of the Russian-speakers in the country feel they have the skills and are ready to defend Estonia.  Furthermore, 90% of Estonian-speakers and 69% of Russian-speakers would agree …

The Russian Ministry of Defense indicated that new surveillance equipment has been deployed to the Syrian airbase, Hmeymin. According to the press service of the Agency, three complexes with unmanned drones and two radar stations for the detection of small targets were sent to Syria in the past three days.

“In the past three days, the Russian Ministry of Defense deployed an additional three modern complexes with unmanned drones, two radar stations for the detection of small targets, which …

The OSCE Mission continues to record a significant deterioration of the security situation in the Donbas, partially as a result of the use of artillery and mortars as stated in the report of the OSCE Mission for the 29th of February, published on the 2nd of March 2016. In particular, the representatives of the OSCE Mission noted 95 explosions from the west of the observers’ location on the 28th of February during their stay in the center of Donetsk; the next day, 174 explosions were recorded. …