• OSCE: Separatists prevent proper monitoring near Yasynuvata

    The Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE, Alexander Hug, stated at his briefing in Kyiv that the OSCE is unable to properly monitor the situation near Yasynuvata.

    "Our access to Yasynuvata fully depends on the DPR [the so-called Donetsk People's Republic]. Almost every day of the week our monitoring mission has to be followed by their [DPR] representatives. This is the only way we could do monitoring in the area of Yasynuvata" he stated.

    According to Hug, there are multiple restrictions …

  • Member of the Russian Night Wolves motorcycle club expelled from Latvia

    State Border Guard representative Yevgeniya Pozniak told Latvia’s main information agency LETA that the State Border Guard deported Igor Lakatos to Russia. Lakatos is a representative of the Russian motorcycle club "Night Wolves" and is on the list of undesirable persons in Latvia. Richard Kozlovskis, the Minister of Internal Affairs, had blacklisted Lakatos on the basis of security services reports.

    The Night Wolves were responsible for organizing last year’s race from Moscow to Berlin in …

  • Poll: Nearly 80% of Russians live paycheck to paycheck

    About 80% of Russians, in one way or another, face a shortage of money before each payday. Nearly half (41%) of those surveyed by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) complain of a "frequent" shortage of finance.

    19% of the respondents have no problems with their pay. 39% face a similar problem but rarely so. Three-quarters of employed Russians are dissatisfied with their salaries. Only 23% of Russians believe that they have a sufficient monthly income. In contrast, 70% of Russian citizens were …

  • Ukrainian Foreign Ministry condemns attacks against OSCE monitors

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine demands that Russia stop provocations against the Special Monitoring Mission of the OSCE and ensure safe and unhindered access to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

    "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemns the shelling of a car of the Special Monitoring Mission, which was carried out by militants on April 7, 2016, near Snizhne. We believe this was another daring attempt to intimidate the observers of the OSCE SMM. We emphasize that …

  • Polish media: Russia replaced the bodies of the victims of the Smolensk plane crash

    Five months after the disaster near Smolensk, the former Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, has been notified that the Russians put a different body in the coffin of the exiled President, Ryszard Kaczorowski, as reported by Gazeta Polska.

    "On the 24th of September, 2010 the leaders of the Polish government received information that would become the turning point in the investigation of the Smolensk catastrophe," the edition writes.

    It is reported that the then Ambassador to Moscow, Jerzy Bahr, told …

  • Strelkov: Russian media is silent about the losses near Yasynuvata and Avdiivka

    The former military chief of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic Igor Girkin (aka Igor Strelkov), said that Russian military losses in the Donbas far exceed those of the Ukrainian military, and can only be compared to the casualties experienced last year during the battles of Debaltseve and Chernukhino, Tekhno SOTNYA reported.

    On his LiveJournal page, Strelkov posted a comment in which he explained his resentment towards the Russian media, stating that it does not publicize information …

  • Geoffrey Pyatt: The US is disappointed with the results of the Ukraine-EU referendum

    Geoffrey Pyatt, the US Ambassador to Ukraine, expressed his country’s disappointment with the results of the consultative referendum on the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine held in the Netherlands. "Of course, we are disappointed with the result. But we respect democratic practices of the Netherlands,” Pyatt told journalists on Friday in Kiev.

    According to him, the US continues to consider that the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU is "a good thing for Ukraine …

  • Russian Justice Ministry begins preparing documents for the transfer of Sentsov

    According to RIA Novosti, the Russian Ministry of Justice requested that the Federal Service on the Execution of Penalties prepare the documents for the transfer of four convicted persons to Ukraine, including noted Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov.

    On April 7th, the Russian Department of Justice received a request from Ukraine for the transfer of Sentsov and three others into Ukraine’s custody. Sentsov is in a quarantine cell of the Correctional Colony Number 1 in Yakutsk, Russia. He was …

  • Crimean Prosecutor's Office reported on the destruction of two tons of sanctioned food

    In Crimea, nearly two tons of fruit and vegetables were destroyed. The food was found by the security forces of the Simferopol wholesale market "Crimean Privoz". This was reported by the press service of the Prosecutor's Office of the Peninsula, controlled by Moscow.

    "Banned food was found at the market being sold, which, according to the relevant decrees of the President of the Russian Federation, is prohibited for import, because it originates from countries of Europe and Turkey. Overall, …

  • Revenues from Russian oil export decreased by nearly half

    Russian oil export revenues for January and February 2016 are 41% lower than the same period in the last year, a difference of 8.84 billion dollars, RIA Novosti reported, citing data from the Federal Customs Service.

    It is reported that in real terms, the Russian Federation increased its oil exports by 40.184 million tons; a 2.5% increase for foreign countries in comparison with the same period in 2015. In financial terms, revenues accounted for 8.266 billion dollars, which is 41.6% lower than …