An Adviser to the Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), Yuri Tandit, stated that illegally armed groups hold about 140 Ukrainian citizens as prisoners, and the SSU has found the exact location of 57 of them. “We know the exact location of 57 people. We have seen traces of others, there are almost 140 hostages in Ukraine. We hope that Russia, as a participant of the Minsk Agreements, will do everything in its power to accelerate the exchange of prisoners,” Yuri Tandit said.

Tandit …

According to a statement released by the Interfax news agency, Colonel General Igor Sergun, the director of GRU (Russia’s military intelligence agency) unexpectedly died on Sunday at the age of 58.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu did not specify the cause of death and offered no additional details.

Igor Sergun joined the Soviet military in 1973, in 1984 he joined military intelligence and became chief of the GRU in 2011.

Last year the US and European Union added Sergun to the sanction …

On Saturday, January 2nd, the center of Sevastopol and some other areas of the city experienced a blackout because of a power grid accident. Electricity was then supplied only on certain hours following a predetermined schedule. After the accident some of the residents started having problems with the water supply too.

A 600 mm high pressure pipe suddenly ruptured, cutting off the centralized water supply to about 10,000 people in the suburbs of Sevastopol, namely Inkerman City, GRES and Gorny …

According to Ukrainian News, Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said that Ukraine has no plans of allowing a US military base on its territory.

"We are not considering such a possibility. Ukrainian legislation doesn't allow such an occurrence. All we have is a close cooperation that allows us to learn from each other and share experiences," he said.

The Minister explained that the country has high hopes for establishing a Ukrainian-Polish-Lithuanian brigade. Conducting joint exercises as part …

Crimea continues to experience power shortages, which are especially pronounced at peak hours. The head of the Crimean Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, Sergey Shakhov, said that Crimea now needs up to 1350 megawatts, but the supply is still short. This was the reason why the planned blackouts were to take effect during peak hours.

"As of 6:00 PM on January 3rd, the total amount of power generated on the peninsula is 931 megawatts. Crimea itself generates 513 megawatts while the …

The General Intelligence Directorate reported that Ukraine has informed the representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine about the placement of prohibited weapons in the regions of three settlements: Lobachyov, Bezymyannoye and Jubileynoye.

“The situation in the ATO zone remains challenging. Pro-Russian militants shelled Ukrainian positions 20 times using small arms and grenade launchers,” the report said. Intelligence officers noted that they provided information about …

In an interview with the Ukrainian News, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be able to reform within five years in order to fully comply with NATO standards. According to Poltorak, it will take three years to reform the Ministry of Defense.

“How long will it take to reach the military standards and principles required to qualify for NATO membership? I believe that we can reform the Ministry of Defense in three years. We will need funding to …

Gangs suspected of being accomplices to the terrorist Evgeny Wagner were recently found in occupied territory in the region of Ozeryanovki near Horlivka. The ATO press-center reported this discovery, citing a source living in militant-controlled territory. Wagner is a Colonel in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, and has taken part in many conflicts since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Ukrainian military belives that groups are involved in the elimination of pro- …