During a visit to the Aerotekhnika-MLT Company to examine the production and modernization of air defense systems, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, spoke about ceasefire violations and the Minsk Agreements.

The news agency Ukrinform reported Turchynov as saying "Russia has completely disrupted the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. Of course, the Minsk process is not halted. It will continue next year and, hopefully, more effectively …

From August 6th to December 28th, the Russian government destroyed 1,762 tons of goods as part of the government's counter-sanctions in response to those imposed by the European Union and the US. The Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) reported to the news agency Interfax that 1,647 tons were for crop production and 115 tons were for livestock breeding.

Since August 6th there may have been as much as 2,500 tons of smuggled goods destroyed including …

The press service of the Prosecutor’s Office reported that the Prosecutor General’s Office is investigating 30 criminal cases of abduction in occupied Crimea. The Prosecutor’s Office stated that the People’s Deputy of Ukraine, Mustafa Dzhemilev, has processed evidence relating to the abduction of 30 Crimean Tatars in Crimea.

“Currently, measures are being taken to locate the almost 30 missing citizens of Ukraine and bring the perpetrators to justice. The pre-trial investigation of these cases …

The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, stated that the Government of Ukraine expects to receive around $10 billion from international lenders in 2016, almost the same amount as this year. He said that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are among these international lenders.

Yatsenyuk stated at a press-conference on December 29th that Kiev succeeded in receiving the same funding from the international community in 2015. The Prime Minister also reported that the …

The German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, wrote on his Facebook page that Berlin favors the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements, the holding of local elections in the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine, and the release of all prisoners.

Steinmeir made it clear that the increase in the number of skirmishes in the Donbas region during the winter holidays is cause for concern. The Minister noted that he asked the Special Representative of the OSCE in Ukraine, …

Six regular Russian servicemen were killed and nine were wounded in skirmishes in the Donbas region on Tuesday, reported the the Press Service of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

"As a result of friendly fire, six soldiers of the 9th Separate Motorized Rifle Regiment were killed and nine wounded," the Press Service stated.

The Main Directorate of Intelligence also reported that the main focus of Russian troops in the ATO zone is to provide logistical …

Russian sociologist Valery Fedorov, head of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (RPORC), compared President Vladimir Putin with Archimedes and called the President’s high ratings an important social fact. Fedorov said that Putin’s position only gets stronger as global crises develop.

"We have more and more opponents around the world, oil is getting cheaper, the ruble is fading, but voters believe in the President, support him and think that he will lead us out of troubled times," said …

According to the US authorities, hundreds of civilians were killed as a result of Russian air attacks on civilian targets in Syria.

Washington has accused Moscow of targeting civilians in Syria, killing hundreds including members of rescue services, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Tuesday, December 29th in Washington.

According to Toner, Russian war planes attacked hospitals, schools and markets. In October and the first half of November, more than 130,000 Syrians were forced …