The MEPU-16 naval drills, which are the main drills conducted by the Finnish Naval Forces in 2016, started on Wednesday in the Gulf of Finland and the Archipelago Sea, as reported by the Finnish Broadcasting Company. 2,700 people, including 900 professional soldiers, will take part in the naval drills.

The Commander of the Finnish Navy, Mika Niemi, stated that there are approximately 1,400 recruits and 400 reservists taking part in the exercises. In addition about 30 warships, including a Hä …

90% of the Russian documentation pertaining to the forensic examination of the bodies recovered from the Smolensk plan crash contains errors. This was announced during a press conference on Wednesday by the deputy prosecutor general of Poland, Marek Pasonek.

“Forensic medical experts who worked with the exhumations found errors in 90% of the Russian documents on forensic examination of the bodies,” Pasonek said.

He added that this was the reason why the prosecutors decided to conduct an …

Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, arrested three individuals who are accused of belonging to a group that had allegedly plotted to commit acts of sabotage on Russian military facilities in the Crimea, Interfax reported.

The FSB’s Public Relations Center accused the three individuals of workings for Ukrainian intelligence services.

“On November 9th, the FSB detained members of a terrorist group linked to the Main Directorate of Intelligence the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine who …

A U.S. Navy reconnaissance P-8A Poseidon aircraft monitored Russia’s flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea between Cyprus and Syria, Interfax reported, citing websites that track the movement of military aircraft.

The P-8A with tail number 158858 reportedly took off from the Sigonella airbase in Sicily and monitored the activities of the Russian flotilla, which is centered around Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov.

The reconnaissance aircraft circled around the flotilla at an …

Deputy Speaker of the US State Department Mark Toner said that the sanctions imposed by the United States on Russia for its violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine will remain in effect until the return of the Crimea, Ukrinform reports.

“Our attitude has been and will remain – within the present administration – unchanged. As for the sanctions regarding the Crimea – they will stay in effect until Russia takes its troops out of the Crimea and returns the peninsula to Ukraine,” Toner said. …

The minister of national defense for Poland, Antoni Macierewicz, announced the purchase of drones for operational forces and territorial defense troops, Polish Radio reported. According to Macierewicz, the troops will be equipped with both combat and surveillance drones.

“I intend to purchase as many as are needed for each type of unit. This weapon, speaking of drones, is massive. Its efficiency depends on the quantity. That is why we are talking about thousands of drones,” Macierewicz said. …

Three weeks ago, separatists kidnapped the Judge of the Luhansk Court of Appeals, Vitaliy Rudenko, who was coming to his father’s funeral in Krasnodon, a territory uncontrolled by Ukrainian authorities. The incident was disclosed by the chairman of the “Patriot” volunteer organization and member of the hostage exchange negotiating group, Oleg Kotenko, during his commentary on Hromadske Radio.

"The judge had an agreement with a man he knew from the LPR (Luhansk People's Republic) that he would …

In the occupied Luhansk region, near the Izvarino checkpoint, engineering barriers were installed and Russian Armed Forces were deployed along the Russian side of the border, as announced on Tuesday at a briefing by the press secretary of the Ministry of Defense on ATO issues, Colonel Olexandr Motuzyanyk, Ukrinform reports.

"Near the Izvarino border crossing, in the occupied territory, engineering obstacles are being built on the Russian side of the border. Also, along this stretch of the …