• A total of twenty-six Ukrainian soldiers have received the title of Hero of Ukraine for their actions in the Donbas

    Since the war began in the Donbas, a total of 26 Ukrainian soldiers have been awarded the title Hero of Ukraine, Ukrinform reported, citing the Chief of Communications and Media Management of the Ministry of Defense, Oksana Gavrilyuk.

    "More than 11 thousand soldiers are marked with state awards. Higher awards, the title of Hero of Ukraine, have been awarded to 26 soldiers,” Gavrilyuk said at a press conference in Kiev.

    There have been a total of 175,000 Ukrainian soldiers and servicemen who …

  • Naftogaz of Ukraine purchases gas from the EU at a lower price than from Russia

    Yuriy Vitrenko, the Director of Business Development at Naftogaz of Ukraine, reported on Facebook that the company is buying gas from the European Union at a lower price than from Russian gas giant Gazprom.

    “Now the price of European gas is already significantly lower than the $185 per thousand cubic meters charged by Gazprom,” he noted.

    The press-service of Naftogaz, a national joint-stock company of Ukraine, reported that the contract price announced by Gazprom for Ukraine for the third …

  • French Foreign Ministry says its position on the Crimea remains unchanged

    A representative from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Romain Nadal, stated that the official position of France on the Crimea remains unchanged – the accession of the peninsula was illegal. Nadal noted that attempts by the Russian authorities to legitimize the accession of the Crimea by electing representatives from the peninsula to the Russian State Duma will not change France’s position.

    “On the 16th of August, the president of the republic recalled the consistent position of France …

  • Kiev urges Ukrainian citizens not to participate in Russian elections in the Crimea

    Kiev officials urge Ukrainian citizens in the territory of the annexed Crimea to boycott the elections of deputies to the State Duma of Russia, according to a statement by the press-service of the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories.

    "We call on Ukrainian citizens who are in the territory ofthe  occupied Crimea not to participate in the elections to the State Duma of Russia. Such a procedure in the territory of the temporarily occupied peninsula is illegitimate and will not be …

  • Ukrainian Intelligence expects a surge in Russian troop levels along border

    The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine expects that Russia will transfer large numbers of their troops to the border they share with Ukraine. The Deputy Director of Intelligence, Vadim Skibitsky, said this while on air with the 112 Ukraine TV channel.

    The troops will be deployed as part of the test of combat readiness of the three military districts in Russia.

    “Today, according to the order of the President of the Russian Federation, a sudden inspection of …

  • Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Bureau to audit former Prosecutor General Viktor Shokhin

    The former Prosecutor General is being audited for undeclared income.

    The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) is verifying whether the former Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin has any undeclared income as stated in the response of the NABU to the appeal of National Deputy Mustafa Nayyem (member of the Petro Poroshenko "Solidarity" Bloc), Ukrayinska Pravda reports.

    Earlier, journalists from the television program Schemes (a Ukrainian investigative series) reported that Shokin has …

  • Putin announces that Russia will host its own Paralympic games

    Russia will hold its own competition for qualified Russian athletes in the Paralympics Games in Rio de Janeiro, as stated by Russian President, Vladimir Putin, on Thursday, August 25, 2016, TASS reported.

    According to him awards for participants in these games will be equivalent to those in the Paralympics.

    "I want to say to our Paralympic athletes: we, of course, will support you at these specially organized events, where you can show your skills and congratulate the winners the same as it …

  • Opposition candidate from Russia's PARNAS party says his main goal is Putin's impeachment

    A candidate to the State Duma of Russia from the opposition People’s Freedom Party (PARNAS), Viacheslav Maltsev, announced during a pre-election TV debate on channel “Russia 1” that Putin’s impeachment is his main political goal. “That’s why each vote for PARNAS is a vote against Putin,” Maltsev said on August 22nd.

    Representatives of the parties Just Russia, Party of Growth, The Civic Platform, Patriots of Russia, and Yabloko also took part in the televised debates. These are the first …

  • Poland holds emergency meeting as Russia tests combat readiness

    The unexpected start of the test of the Russian army’s combat readiness has alarmed the Defense Ministry of Poland. Radio Poland reports that the ministry has held an emergency meeting.

    It was reported that the heads of the Operational Command of the Armed Forces, the Military Counterintelligence Service and the Military Intelligence were urgently summoned on the orders of the Polish Defense Minister, Antoni Macierewicz.

    A Polish military attaché in Moscow was also summoned to the Russian …

  • Russia announces surprise inspection to determine combat readiness of armed forces

    According to Russian Defense Minister, Sergey Shoygu, a comprehensive inspection of the combat readiness of the country’s forces will be carried out.

    The plan to inspect was unexpectedly announced on the 25th of August and will be directed at the Southern, the Western and Central Military Districts and the Northern Fleet, as well as the High Command of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) and the Airborne Forces (VDV). This was reported by Shoygu.

    According to him, the first 24 hours will be …