• Czech troops to strengthen NATO’s eastern borders

    The Czech Republic plans to send 100 soldiers to NATO’s eastern flank to support the alliance's borders with Russia. This was announced on Sunday, February 21st, by Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky, as reported by Reuters.

    "We are talking about a company of soldiers, about nearly a hundred people who would join the contingent of the Alliance," Stropnicky said on Czech television, adding that the troops will arrive in Poland and the Baltic states later this year.

    On February 10th, the …

  • Kiev Assures the EU that Ukraine will Allow the Transit of Russian Trucks

    According to a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the Ministry’s head, Andriy Pyvovarsky, has assured the EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Jan Tombiński, that Russian trucks will be allowed to pass through the country.

    As it was noted in the statement, during the meeting that was held on the 19th of February, Tombiński relayed the concerns expressed by the Western partners of Ukraine, as most of the products which are transported through Ukraine are …

  • Iran to supply Georgia with gas

    Georgia has high hopes for closer economic cooperation with Iran after international sanctions were lifted. Recently, Tbilisi abolished the visa regime with Iran, hoping to increase the flow of tourists from the south. Up until September 2014, tourists from Iran were bringing approximately 100 million dollars a year into Georgia.

    Soon Georgia will also import Iranian gas, and a preliminary agreement was reached during a visit to Tehran with the Georgian Energy Minister, Kakha Kaladze.

    Iran …

  • Anti-Ukrainian Documentary Shown on Polish TV Channel

    On February 21st, Polish TV Channel TVN24 broadcasted the controversial documentary film The Masks of the Revolution during the program Eva Evart Advises. The director of the film is French journalist Paul Moreira. This documentary film depicts  the events in the Kiev Euromaidan movement as a riot started by radical nationalists. The film is full of allusions to the leading role of the US in the events in Kiev two years ago. It hints at the fact that the Russian annexation of Crimea was …

  • Saakashvili may resign as Governor of Odessa

    Mikhail Saakashvili may be dismissed from his post as the Governor of Ukraine's Odessa Oblast (region) at the beginning of March, as reported by hromadske.tv.  The possibility of his resignation was also made by the Acting Deputy, Alexander Borovik.

    “We are seriously concerned by the political crisis gaining momentum in the country.  We express our criticisms and ask difficult questions, even to the Prime Minister and to the President.  This could cause a severe reaction on their part,” …

  • Journalist and political analyst Andrei Piontkovsky flees Russia

    Journalist, scholar and political analyst Andrei Piontkovsky has fled Russia, fearing possible criminal prosecution. The Russian Prosecutor's Office claims it has found signs of extremism in his article for Ekho Moskvii, his lawyer, Mark Feygin, said.

    Earlier ,on February 19th, it became known that the Prosecutor General's Office found signs of extremism in Piontkovsky's article, "The bomb, ready to explode." In this article, which was published on the 23rd of January, the author addressed the …

  • Crimea issues high alert due to scarcity of water

    A high-alert warning was issued due to the threat of water scarcity in the east of Crimea, according to a decree of the Head of Crimea, Sergey Aksenov.  

    “The alert was issued in the Republic of Crimea and detailed the increased readiness of the governing bodies and forces of the territorial subsystem in the prevention and liquidation of emergency situations.  This is due to the threat of natural disasters which require a response on a regional level,” this was stated in Aksenov’s order.

    The …

  • Due to Trilateral Contact Group, POWs are no longer subject to torture in eastern Ukraine

    One of the results of the negotiations of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk was the cessation of the torture of the Ukrainian soldiers held in captivity in the Donbass region.  This was stated by the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine, Irina Herashchenko.

    Herashchenko said that these prisoners, who are held captive by members of the so-called People's Republics in the Donbas, have stopped being tortured.  According to her, this was due to the negotiations in Minsk.

    She said that the …

  • Center for refugee children in Moscow labelled a ‘foreign agent’; evicted from premises

    Authorities in Moscow have evicted the Center for Adaption and Training of Refugee Children after its managing committee was deemed to be a “foreign agent”, as reported by Radio Svoboda.

    The Center is a project of the non-governmental organization Civil Assistance Committee. When the center’s director, Olga Nikolaenko, arrived at work on Thursday, she found that employees of the city’s property department were barring the center’s workers from entering the building.

    “The front door to the …

  • Economist explains IMF credit policy in regard to Ukraine

    There will be a continued depreciation of the national currency in Ukraine, and the exchange rate may reach 30-35 UAH to the US dollar, as stated by economist, Elena Slezko, in her commentary for GolosUA.  She also stated that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) plays a considerable role in this situation.

    “Everything depends on the government’s actions and how long the IMF will delay the next tranche as we are very dependent on that money,” she noted.  “All developing economies use a number …