The Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia), Ivan Sukharev, stated in his interview with the Russian News Service that it was past time to bury Lenin.

Vladimir Ulyanov Lenin was the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union and one of the most significant and influential figures in history. He died on January 21st, 1924. On that day, the Soviet Government received hundreds of telegrams and letters with requests …

Nine towns in Crimea were left without electricity when a high voltage transmission line broke down. The Russian government press service reported that the Simferopol REN (Regional Electric Networks) suffered a damaged power line that generated 35 kW of electricity. The towns of Hvardiiske, Sofiyivka, Sovkhoznoye, Malenkoye, Zhuravlevka, Shirokoye, Divnoye, Storozhevoye and Kuprino were deprived of power as a result. Repair work is currently ongoing.

On December 30th, Ukrainian power supplies …

The head of Russian natural gas giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, recently reported to President Vladimir Putin that his company is able to harvest 617 billion cubic meters of gas annually, but last year it was able to sell only 444 billion, meaning the Public Joint Stock Company has a surplus of 173 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

While western sanctions against Russia do not specifically target hydrocarbons, the conflict in Ukraine has undoubtedly led many western countries to turn to …

Human rights activists claim that civilian victims of the Russian bombing campaign in Syria number in the hundreds in densely populated areas. This Saturday, a senior U.S. official reported that only one-third of Russian aviation air strikes are being aimed at the positions of the so-called Islamic State. The indiscriminate bombing forces civilians to flee, further exacerbating the crisis in Europe caused by the massive influx of refugees.

Among the 5,000 air strikes inflicted by the Russian …

After the attacks on women in Cologne on New Year's Eve, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which is led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, argued for stricter laws concerning refugees. At the meeting in Mainz the party leaders unanimously adopted a new stance. This was reported by N-TV on Saturday, January 9th.

If approved, the amendments would mean that refugees would lose the right to asylum if they were given suspended sentences. Earlier, the management of the CDU was planning to …

Andrei Lysenko, the spokesperson of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine on issues related to hostilities in the Donbas region, reported on January 9th that there were no losses or injuries among Ukrainian soldiers on the front line.

According to the report, in the Luhansk region the ceasefire continues to hold but in the Donetsk region near Svetlodarsk opposing forces fired repeatedly at Ukrainian forces simultaneously from several directions to the south from Luhanskoye. The Ukrainians …

A negative result on the referendum in the Netherlands regarding the Association Agreement with Ukraine could trigger a continental crisis, stated Jean Claude Juncker, President for the European Commission, in an interview with NRC Handelsblad on Saturday, January 9th.

“A ‘no’ answer in the Dutch non-binding vote may spark a continental crisis," he noted. "Let's not change the referendum into a vote about Europe," Juncker emphasized. "I sincerely hope that the Dutch won't vote no for reasons …

The EU Foreign Ministers will consider opening a visa-free regime for Ukrainians in March or June.  Olena Zerkal, the Ukrainian Minister for the European Foreign Affairs Council told TV Channel 5, that the process will depend on how quickly the necessary reforms can be implemented.

"It depends on how quickly we will be able to convince the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council that we have fulfilled all the requirements and are continuing to improve legislation,” she said.  

Ukraine has …