In response to the tightening of US sanctions as well as the US’s expected allocation of lethal weapons to Ukraine, Russia is planning a number of military and organizational events which will improve its abilities to escalate combat action in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, LB.ua reports, citing a high-ranking source in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

“We are noting that alongside the increase in intensity of combat and, correspondingly, shipments of ammunition and weapons …

The Kremlin admits that Russian volunteers may be fighting in Syria, but says that, even so, official data of the Russian Ministry of Defense should be consulted for the number of casualties among Russian soldiers there, reports the Russian media.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated this in regards to Reuters, which alleged that the number of Russians that have been killed in Syria is higher than was officially stated.

According to him, the Russian volunteers who may be in Syria have …

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called President Donald Trump’s signing of sanctions against Russia an “all-out trade war.” 

“First of all, any hope of improving our relations with the new U.S. administration is at an end. Secondly, an all-out trade war has been declared on Russia. Thirdly, the Trump administration has demonstrated complete impotence, in the most humiliating manner, in transferring executive powers to Congress. This changes the alignment of power in U.S. political …

The Moldovan government adopted a ruling to declare Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin a persona non grata.

As reported by the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MFAEI), according to the adopted ruling, the Russian deputy prime minister is banned from entering Moldova and from transit through its territory.“Russian ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Chișinău Farit Mukhametshin was invited to the MFAEI in connection with the recent …

The Presidential Administration refused to disclose information about the retention or revocation of Ukrainian citizenship of former government officials, including Natalia Jaresko, Alexander Kvitashvili, Khatia Dekanoidze, Eka Zguladze, David Sakvarelidze, and Aivaras Abromavičius, as stated in the reply of the Presidential Administration to a request by Ukrainski Novyny.The answer states that this information is confidential and "concerns the rights and legally protected interests of other …

The head of the separatist, self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko, said during the broadcast of Donetsk Format TV program, that he plans to introduce the death penalty for corrupt officials.

"I have been thinking about it and I'm going to do it in the near future. I will toughen laws that deal with corruption and the punishment will be very serious. We will issue an order imposing the death penalty if necessary. More precisely this will be the highest measure …

The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement appealing to the Prosecutor General's Office in case of media reports about possible violations by some Lithuanian enterprises of the sanctions against Russia.

"Lithuania consistently fulfills its obligations in accordance with EU Council Regulation No. 692/2014 from June 23, 2014 in implementing the restrictions that should be applied to the importation of goods of Crimean or Sevastopol origin into the European Union in response …

The prosecutor's office of the German city of Karlsruhe began an investigation against a former member of the Bundestag, Jörg Tauss, who visited the annexed Crimea, as reported by the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin.

“It's not worth it to go to the Crimea and it is criminal to organize group trips there. German ex-MP Tauss learned that to his cost,” wrote the Minister in his Twitter. He believes this is “an important precedent for the legal proceedings by the …