• Syrian Opposition: Russia is not interested in a political solution to the conflict in Syria

    In the wake of the UN Special Envoy for Syria’s announcement  that Syrian peace talks in Geneva would be delayed until February 25th, Syrian opposition leader Bassma Kodmani blamed Russian aggression for the postponement. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Kodmani told correspondent Naomi Conrad that it is clear that Russia is not interested in a political solution to the conflict that has ravaged Syria for nearly 5 years.

    “Were the Russians preparing all along to discredit the US in this …

  • 11 Ukrainian soldiers wounded as violence continues to escalate in the Donbas

    On Friday, 11 Ukrainian servicemen were injured in the Donbas region.

    According to Ukrainian Independent Information Agency correspondents, the spokesman of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, Andrei Lysenko, reported the injuries during a press conference

    "On the last day of the operation, eleven soldiers were injured," Lysenko said.

    According to him, the situation on the front lines continues to deteriorate. 84 ceasefire violations by pro-Russian separatists were recorded on Friday, …

  • Ukrainian border guard allows 11 trucks carrying humanitarian aid access to Donetsk

    Eleven trucks carrying humanitarian aid for residents in Donetsk, which is currently under control of pro-Russian separatists, have crossed through a Ukrainian checkpoint in the Donetsk region, as reported by Radio Svoboda.

    “Eleven trucks with humanitarian assistance for the residents of Donetsk have crossed the Novotroitsk checkpoint. Trucks were loaded with more than 200 tons of food products from the International Committee of the Red Cross,” the statement said. As previously reported by …

  • Two Ukrainian political prisoners held in Russia transferred from Rostov Detention Center

    Ukrainian film director, Oleg Sentsov, and anti-fascist Ukrainian activist, Olexandr Kolchenko, were transferred from the Rostov Detention Center on the 4th of February. According to available information, Sentsov is in Samara now awaiting transfer to the Irkutsk region, where he will serve his sentence. Kolchenko is in Voronezh awaiting transfer to the Chelyabinsk region.

    Kolchenko’s lawyer, Svetlana Sidorkina, reported that she expects confirmation of the transfer from the Federal Service of …

  • Pentagon seeks to examine experiences of Ukrainian veterans to help train US soldiers

    The U.S. Army seeks to examine the experiences of Ukrainian veterans on the frontline in order to use it to train its soldiers, as reported by Golos Ameriki, based on the results of the first training rotation of Ukrainian servicemen.

    “We seek to examine information provided by ATO veterans concerning their military operations. We want to provide a report of our findings to the Armed Forces of Ukraine so they may better understand things Ukrainian soldiers have to deal with,” the article says. …

  • Ukrainian border guards stationed near Crimea accused of corruption scheme

    The ban on the supply of Ukrainian goods to Crimea has resulted in corruption schemes along the administrative border with the peninsula.  This was reported to Krim.Realii by the head of a human rights group, Olga Skrypnyk.  This ban was imposed by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1035 which details “restrictions of some goods and services in the annexed Crimea and out of the annexed Crimea.”

    According to Skrypnyk, the scheme entails the use of illicit means to collect …

  • Kasparov: Opposition candidates should not run in Crimean elections

    Russian oppositionist Garry Kasparov declared that candidates of opposition parties should not run in Duma elections in Crimea. He wrote about it on his Facebook page.

    "The participation of opposition parties from the annexed territory in the elections looks bad from both political and moral points of view.  Whatever the 'oppositionists' say in their defense, they wittingly or unwittingly help Putin to give a veneer of legitimacy to the criminal seizure of the territory of a neighboring state", …

  • Several EU countries accused of continuing arms deals with Russia despite sanctions

    According to Mikhail Samus, an expert at the Ukrainian Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies (CACDS), several European countries continue to have active arms deals with Russia despite the EU’s sanctions banning such activities.

    In an interview with Krym.Realii, Samus claimed that Italy, despite the direct prohibition of the supply of arms and military equipment to Russia, continues to supply Iveco LMV “Lynx” light armored vehicles to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

    "The …

  • Stockholm court to consider Ukrainian bank's claim against Russia for lost assets in Crimea

    The Stockholm Arbitration Court has taken a claims complaint made by the largest bank in Ukraine, PivatBank, under consideration.  The bank claims to have lost assets worth nearly 1 billion dollars caused by the annexation of Crimea.  This was reported by the Chairman of PrivatBank, Dmitry Dubilet.“We have gone through all of the procedures and the Stockholm Arbitration Court has taken our complaint under consideration.  The entire amount in our complaint is 1 billion dollars.  This amount …

  • Russian imports of passenger cars fell by half in 2015

    Imports of trucks from foreign countries has decreased by 65.9% to 20,100 units while truck imports from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries have decreased by 9.3% to 2,400 units.

    Imports of passenger cars to Russia from non-CIS countries has decreased in 2015 by 49.9% to 336,400 units.  These imports from CIS countries have decreased by 58.6% to 13,500 units.  This data was published on the website of the Federal Customs Service (FCS) of Russia on the 5th of February. …