The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, stated that the Government of Ukraine expects to receive around $10 billion from international lenders in 2016, almost the same amount as this year. He said that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are among these international lenders.

Yatsenyuk stated at a press-conference on December 29th that Kiev succeeded in receiving the same funding from the international community in 2015. The Prime Minister also reported that the …

The German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, wrote on his Facebook page that Berlin favors the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements, the holding of local elections in the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine, and the release of all prisoners.

Steinmeir made it clear that the increase in the number of skirmishes in the Donbas region during the winter holidays is cause for concern. The Minister noted that he asked the Special Representative of the OSCE in Ukraine, …

Six regular Russian servicemen were killed and nine were wounded in skirmishes in the Donbas region on Tuesday, reported the the Press Service of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

"As a result of friendly fire, six soldiers of the 9th Separate Motorized Rifle Regiment were killed and nine wounded," the Press Service stated.

The Main Directorate of Intelligence also reported that the main focus of Russian troops in the ATO zone is to provide logistical …

Russian sociologist Valery Fedorov, head of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (RPORC), compared President Vladimir Putin with Archimedes and called the President’s high ratings an important social fact. Fedorov said that Putin’s position only gets stronger as global crises develop.

"We have more and more opponents around the world, oil is getting cheaper, the ruble is fading, but voters believe in the President, support him and think that he will lead us out of troubled times," said …

According to the US authorities, hundreds of civilians were killed as a result of Russian air attacks on civilian targets in Syria.

Washington has accused Moscow of targeting civilians in Syria, killing hundreds including members of rescue services, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Tuesday, December 29th in Washington.

According to Toner, Russian war planes attacked hospitals, schools and markets. In October and the first half of November, more than 130,000 Syrians were forced …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree dissolving Roscosmos, one of the most advanced space agencies in the world. Starting January 1st, 2016, a state-run corporation will replace the space program.

"You can compare it to the fall of the Roman Empire... The Russian space industry is collapsing," an analyst and science associate at the Russian Academy of Sciences told IBTimes UK.

A statement by Roscosmos hinted that the decision was made due to government cutbacks during the …

According to the US Office of Naval Intelligence’s expert on Russia, George Fedoroff, Russia will progress significantly on its way to the creation of a modern fleet over the next ten years. At the request of the Pentagon, George Fedoroff prepared a 68-page report describing the state of the modern Russian fleet. 

The Russian Navy consists of 186 combat submarines and ships, making it the third largest fleet in the world, the Naval Intelligence Officer wrote. Fedoroff notes that the Russian …

The adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Zoryan Shkiryak, declared on Ukrainian TV that Russian-backed separatists are preparing for another round of military action in the Donbas region as evidenced by their movement of military equipment to the boundary line.

According to him, militants are planning to launch attacks against Ukrainian forces during the New Year holidays.

“According to the latest operational information that we have received, armed provocations and attempts by …