• Ukrainian Interior Minister: Veterans and volunteers are in Zolote legally

    At the start of the “RE: Think. Invest in Ukraine” forum in Mariupol on Tuesday, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that the veterans and volunteers in Zolote have not done anything illegal, reports LB.ua news outlet .

    “They are citizens of Ukraine who have decided to be there, and they are there, without breaking any laws at this moment in time. There are no conflicts, as far as I know. I spoke about it this morning,” said Avakov.

    He also said that he is wary of provocation, but “ …

  • Russia offers to share Nord Stream 2 gas transit profit with Europe

    At the recent trilateral talks on gas transit through Ukraine, the Russian delegation brought up the topic of authorization for the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev wrote in a Facebook post.

    “This issue was brought up in a bilateral format, where the Ukrainian party was not present. However, as sources from the European Commission told me, there was one interesting point among Gazprom’s arguments: Our project is not only purely commercial, it is …

  • Norway: Russia has begun large-scale maneuvers in North Atlantic

    Russia has started maneuvers in the North Atlantic involving nuclear submarines, reported the Norwegian government-owned broadcasting company NRK, citing Norwegian military intelligence sources. According to the sources, this is the largest military exercise in the North Atlantic since the end of the Cold War.

    The intelligence sources cited by NRK report that 10 Russian submarines that were previously stationed at the Kola Peninsula have been involved in the exercise. Of the submarines, eight …

  • Kremlin: withdrawal of Kurdish troops in Syria completed ahead of schedule

    Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said during a meeting with his Armenian counterpart David Tonoyan that the withdrawal of armed Kurdish units from the security zone on the Syrian-Turkish border has been completed ahead of time, reports TASS. According to Shoygu, both Syrian border guards and Russian military police entered these territories.

    On October 22, at the meeting in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed to resolve the military …

  • Ukrainian President announces launch of Donbas reconstruction Fund with support of World Bank

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine, with the support of the World Bank, is launching an International Partnership Support Fund for the reconstruction and future reintegration of the Donbas.

    Zelensky spoke about the Donbas International Partnership Support Fund  at the first investment forum on the restoration of the Donbas in Mariupol, where 12 memorandums were signed, and hundreds of prospective projects were presented to investors.

    "Together with the World Bank, …

  • Simultaneous withdrawal of forces started in Ukraine’s Luhansk region

    The process of bilateral withdrawal of forces began at 12:00 local time near the Zolote-4 settlement in stretch No. 2 in the Luhansk region, Ukraine’s Joint Forces Command announced on Facebook on Tuesday.

    “This was possible because the silence regime had been complied with for the last week,” the post states. The post emphasizes that the start of the disengagement has been confirmed by representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. However, “in no event will the government disregard …

  • Media: Russian military officers not allowed to resign

    Russia’s military leadership uses various pretexts to deny soldiers the right to resign, forcing them to remain in service, reported Novaya Gazeta on Monday, October 28.

    The Russian newspaper spoke to several lieutenants who are currently being forced to continue their service. One of them was Viktor Dey, a graduate of the Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Troops. After completing his studies, the lieutenant was dispatched to the Yuryansky division in Russia’s Kirov …

  • Ukrainian Naftogaz prepares new lawsuit against Gazprom

    Executive Officer of the Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz Yuriy Vitrenko reported on his Facebook page that Naftogaz has started preparing a new lawsuit against Russian gas giant Gazprom.

    Vitrenko made this comment after the negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and the European Commission in Brussels on the future of the Russian gas transit through Ukrainian territory.

    "No agreements were made. But I did not waste time because I worked on the claims against Gazprom in the new arbitration …

  • Russian spies caught in Poland and Bulgaria

    Polish and Bulgarian secret services have exposed Russian spies. The Polish Internal Security Agency detained a Polish citizen, who is suspected of working for the Russian intelligence agencies and possession of illegal weapons.

    According to Polskie Radio, Peter S. was detained on October 24 in Warsaw, and he has been sentenced for three months. During the detention, local security forces conducted searches and found illegal weapons, ammunition, hard drives, and documents. It is noted that …

  • Pentagon promises to defend Syrian oil fields by force if necessary

    The US will defend Syria’s oil fields and use force if someone tries to capture them, said US Defense Secretary Mark Esper at a press conference broadcast by C-Span TV network.

    “The US will maintain control over the oil fields in north-eastern Syria. When [Islamic State ringleader] al-Baghdadi was alive, these fields were a source of financing for IS which supported its operation,” Esper observed. He said that the US will “respond seriously to any forces that threaten them”.

    The defense …