• NATO urged Russia to withdraw its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent regions

    RIA Novosti reported that the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel urged Russia to "withdraw recognition" of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

    "We call on Russia to withdraw its recognition of independence of the two regions and to express respect for Georgian borders," InterpressNews news agency quotes him as saying after the meeting with Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria.

    Pavel also believes that Russia should be involved in safeguarding the security of the Black Sea. " …

  • Russian Foreign Ministry accuses US military in Baltic States of anti-Russian activity

    Maria Zakharova, the official spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, accused US troops stationed in the Baltic States of being actively involved in “provocative actions in Eastern Europe.”

    “It cannot be ignored that US troops that have recently arrived in Poland and the Baltic States have engaged in ‘historical activities’ with clear anti-Russian intentions,” said Zakharova, who was quoted on the website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    Zakharova pointed out to “a memorial …

  • Proposed U.S. military aid to Ukraine may be cut in half

    The United States House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations prepared a draft defense budget that promises to allocate $150 million to support the armed forces of Ukraine, according to a document posted on the House of Representatives website.

    The project proposal states that the money must be spent on training, equipment, lethal defensive weapons, logistics and intelligence. A separate paragraph makes clear that the funds allocated to Ukraine cannot be spent on the purchase or …

  • Ukraine is ready to sign a memorandum with the IMF paving the way for the fourth tranche

    On the evening of March 1st, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sent Ukraine the final version of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies under an Extended Fund Facility (EFF). Its signing will allow the Fund to consider the allocation of a fourth tranche to Ukraine amounting to $1 billion within the program as announced on Thursday, March 2nd, by the Chairwoman of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), Valeriya Hontareva, during a press conference in Kyiv. "On the part of the NBU, …

  • Bellingcat has found new data about the role of former Russian officer in the downing of MH17

    The international group of investigators from Bellingcat has released new data about the involvement of the former Russian officer, Sergey Dubinsky, also known as Khmuryi (Grumpy), in the use of a Russian Buk missile system in the occupied Donbas. In 2014, a Malaysian airliner was shot down from this Buk missile system and all 298 passengers on board were killed.Since the publication of their preliminary report last month, investigators have obtained new data that additionally confirms the …

  • The Kremlin confirms that Putin and Poroshenko conducted phone conversations

    According to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, have talked on the phone, but have not discussed the question of the a cease-fire in Avdiivka, as reported by Russia's TASS news agency.

    "It is a fact that the cease-fire in Avdiivka was not discussed. What took place was an exchange of views and expression of mutual concerns at the escalation of the tension, " said Peskov.

    Earlier on Thursday the media, citing …

  • Russia raises nearly 3,000 troops for snap readiness inspections in the Crimea and North Cacauses

    Nearly 3,000 servicemen in the Crimea and North Caucus were called up on Thursday snap combat readiness inspection, the press-service of the Southern Military District, Russia's TASS news agency reported.

    “Today in accordance with a decision by the Commander of Russia's Southern Military District Colonel-General Alexander Dvornikov for the purpose of a snap combat readiness inspection a number of units from Karachay-Cherkessia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and the Crimea were raised up on alert," the …

  • U.S. Representative to the OSCE: Russia has transferred heavy weapons to front line in the Donbas

    Russia and pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas have strengthened their position along the contact line, partially through the use of heavy weapons that had previously been kept in storage facilities.

    The Chargé d'Affaires at the US Mission to the OSCE, Kate Byrnes, announced the development on Thursday during a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, according to Ukrinform.

    "Russia regularly attempts to convince the Permanent Council that it bears no responsibility for the conflict …

  • Sweden revives conscription policy due to Russian threat

    The Swedish Government has decided to bring back its compulsory military draft, which was canceled in 2010. This was stated by the press-secretary of the country's Defense Ministry, Marinette Nyh Radebo, according to the BBC. One of the reasons for this decision is "Russian military activity."

    Starting on January 1, 2018, about four thousand young men and women will be called up for service. They will be chosen from a pool of thirteen thousand people born in 1999 who will then be offered …

  • Media: Deputy Head of 'People’s Militia' was killed during interrogation in the LPR

    Vitaliy Kiselev, former deputy head of the Luhansk People’s Militia, known by his call sign “the Communist”, one of the accused for the attempted coup in the so-called “republic”, was killed during interrogation, Gazeta.ru reports.

    The general public remembers Kiselev because of the old cap with a star which soviet officers wore during the Great Patriotic War. He was seen frequently in front of cameras with this headgear.

    The local prosecutor accused Kiselev and a number of other persons in …