• European Parliament sees no reason to lift sanctions on Russia following release of Savchenko

    The Member of the European Parliament for Alliance 90/The Greens, Rebecca Harms, stated in her interview with Deutsche Welle that the European Parliament sees no reason for lifting sanctions against the Russian Federation following the release of Ukrainian pilot, Nadiya Savchenko. According to Harms, the exchange of prisoners and hostages is only a part of Minsk Agreements and isn’t the most essential part.

    Harms noted that the restoration of Ukraine’s control over certain areas of Ukrainian- …

  • Court acknowledges lawsuit filed by relatives of MH17 victims against Russia

    The Secretariat of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) officially received a claim from the relatives of the deceased passengers of MH17 flight from Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand which was filed against Russia. UKRINFORM quoted this information from the Press Attaché of the ECHR, Nina Salomon.

    "We can confirm that a statement against Russia on the crash of MH17 flight was received by the Secretariat of the Court on May 9, 2016. There are 33 applicants who are relatives of the …

  • John Kerry welcomed the release of Nadiya Savchenko

    The United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, welcomed the release of the former Army pilot in the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Nadiya Savchenko, and her return from Russia to her homeland. In his statement, he called Savchenko’s release an important element of Russia’s implementation of the Minsk Agreements.

    Secretary Kerry called on Moscow to meet its other obligations to these agreements, namely the release of prisoners and hostages, withdrawal of troops and restoration of Ukraine’s control …

  • New evidence emerges in Nemtsov murder investigation

    Evidence in Boris Nemtsov’s murder indicate that those accused of the crime made phone contact three times before the murder, and destroyed their phones after it was committed.

    A source close to the case told Rosbalt that after studying mobile phone calls made in the area surrounding Nemtsov’s house, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (Sledcom) were able to identify the phone numbers used by the accused. Up until the 14th of February 2015, the suspects were using two SIM …

  • 137 print media entities are subject to de-communization in Ukraine

    The State Committee for Television and Radio-broadcasting of Ukraine (SCTRU) has demanded that 137 print media entities be renamed within de-communization process, the press service of SCTRU reported. These include 25 companies in Crimea and on the territory of the so-called DPR and LPR that are subject to de-communization.

    56 newspapers and magazines had not responded to the requests of the agencies of the Ministry of Justice on implementation of legal requirements. Four took measures for re- …

  • Putin noted the fragility of the ceasefire in the Donbas

    More and more cases of ceasefire violations have been noted, and the Kremlin says the frequent violations are a threat to the continued truce in eastern Ukraine, Radio Liberty reports.

    "The issue is very serious. More and more cases of violations are being noted. Unfortunately, this threatens the ceasefire. This truce is a cornerstone of the Minsk Agreements. And of course, this concern was expressed by Russian President Putin," the Press Secretary of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov, said. …

  • At NATO summit 'package of consistent support for Ukraine' will be adopted

    At the NATO summit in Warsaw, “a package of consistent support for Ukraine” will be adopted.

    According to a UNIAN correspondent, this was said by the Director of the NATO Liaison Office in Ukraine, Alexander Vinnikov. He said this while attending the third International Conference entitled ‘Management and the reform of the national security and intelligence services: the best international practice’ in Kiev.

    Vinnikov has said that NATO “has supported Ukraine more and more politically and  …

  • General Pavel: NATO will respond to future Russian aggression in Ukraine

    The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel, has said that if Russia takes any aggressive action against NATO members in the East, the Alliance will have to respond. Pavel was referencing Russia’s actions against Crimea and Ukraine.

    On the 24th of May, Pavel told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that the increase of the Alliance’s military forces on its eastern flank is in direct response to Russia’s military actions towards Georgia, Ukraine and Syria.

    General Pavel, who …

  • EU to allocate 20 million Euros for infrastructure projects in Ukraine

    The Head of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, Jan Tombiński, stated at a briefing on May 24th that the European Union will provide 20 million euros to Ukraine for the implementation of infrastructure projects, a correspondent of RBC-Ukraine reported.

    “Additional financial support in the amount of 20 million Euros will be possible,” Tombiński said. "As partners of Ukraine, we can provide assistance only to those who do something and help to wisely direct our assistance. The part of …

  • Russian Supreme Court signs bill making it illegal to dishonor the national anthem

    The Russian Supreme Court approved a bill criminalizing any dishonor of the national anthem. The document indicates that insulting the Russian anthem is equated to insulting the national coat of arms or the flag.  According to the bill, any violation is punishable by up to one year in prison. 

    “As specified in Article 9 of the Federal Constitutional Law ‘On the National Anthem of the Russian Federation’, it contains a direct stipulation for punishment in accordance with Russian legislation in …