• U.S. Treasury: ISIS Sells Most of Its Oil to the Assad Regime

    The "Islamic State" organization has received approximately half a billion dollars from the oil trade.  Most of this amount is directed to the Syrian authorities and some part goes to Kurdish areas and Turkey.

    According to the Treasury of the United States, about one third of the capital of the terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS) comes from trading black market oil.  The IS’s holdings are estimated at about $1.5 billion, said a senior official of the U.S. Treasurer on Thursday, …

  • Poroshenko Criticizes Results of Ukrainian Fight against Corruption

    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko delivered a warning against "calming" reports on the first stage of anti-corruption actions. He claimed that the results of current efforts to fight corruption were unsatisfactory and that more decisive steps would be required at the start of next year.

    "We have to prove that the system, carefully crafted during the entire year of 2015, finally works for Ukraine and is able to bring good results," Poroshenko said during the second meeting of the National …

  • Russian Poor Increased By Millions

    On Thursday, December 10th, Interfax reported on the findings of the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation (Rosstat). The data indicates that the number of poor in Russia from January to September 2015 increased by millions of people and reached 20.3 million.

    2.3 million Russians joined the poverty line this year.  The total poverty rate in the country amounted to 14.1%, an increase of almost 2% compared to the year 2014.  The largest number of poor in 2015 was in the …

  • Memory of Ukrainian Soldier Honored at U.S. Hockey Game

    At a hockey game in the United States people honored the memory of a Ukrainian-American soldier killed near Ilovaisk.

    During the hockey match in Newark between the New Jersey Devils and the Washington Capitals a photo of Mark Paslavskiy appeared on the scoreboard. The whole stadium lit up with the inscription “Heroes Among Us.” According to VIDIA, Paslavskiy was posthumously honored with the title of Hero of the Game.

    Paslavskiy, also known by the codename “Franko” was a former American Army …

  • Bordeaux City Hall Refused to Show Russian Propaganda Film about Crimea

    The Ukrainian Embassy in France reported that at least one Russian propaganda film won’t be seen by the French.

    In the French City of Bordeaux the film “Crimea - Path to the Motherland” was scheduled for screening in one of the city municipal halls on December 11th. Shot by TV channel “Russia-1”, the film tells about the annexation of Crimea by Russia and purports to justify the events that led to the war in Donbass.

    The Ukrainian Ambassador asked the mayor of Bordeaux to cancel the screening …

  • Polish apples and Turkish oranges: the Kremlin's response to Ankara

     

    The Kremlin has not yet decided what measures will be taken to punish Turkey for the downed Su-24.  For now, the Russian government had decided to strike Turkey financially.  Turkish imports were banned and a one-sided visa regime for Turkish citizens entering Russia was introduced.  In Turkey, the visa-free regime for Russian citizens was never cancelled.Putin, and more precisely the Russian government, is trying to kill two birds with one stone. In situations in which the Russian budget …

  • The Kremlin reacts to arrest of Russian citizens in Kyiv

    The Kremlin learned about the arrest of Russians from the media.

    Earlier, as a result of a special operation in Kyiv, one Russian citizen was killed and two others were arrested according to Ukraine's Security Service.

    The Kremlin has no information about the detention of Russian citizens during a special operation in Kiev. This was announced by Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary for the Russian President, reports TASS (Russian News Agency). 

    “No, we don't have all the information. All we know …

  • Russia Demands Ukraine to Return to Soviet Standards

    Russia suggested that Kiev should completely refuse to work with European standards in the framework of the tripartite negotiations on the EU-Ukraine free trade zone from 2016.

    According to Moscow, it is necessary to return to the old industry standards of the Ukrainian regulatory field, which are not compatible with European standards.  In those areas old technical standards have already been adopted.

    The Russian Federation has demanded that Kiev revert to all GOST (USSR State Standards) and …

  • Khodorkovsky: Revolution in Russia Is Inevitable

    Revolution in Russia is inevitable and necessary.  Former Yukos Oil Company CEO, Mikhail Khodorkovsky stated it unequivocally during an interview from London that was broadcast on the "Open Russia" website.

    “Russian society needs to admit that there was an anti-constitutional coup in the country, and that Parliament has adopted illegitimate, repressive laws,” Khodorkovsky said.  “In the absence of the institution of fair elections and other mechanisms of legitimate power change, the only …

  • Italy Delays Decision on EU Sanctions against Russia

    At a meeting of European Union ambassadors the Italian diplomats requested further discussion on anti-Russian sanctions.  The exact date for discussion has not been appointed.

    As Radio Poland reports, the Italian proposal was supported by several other countries and as a result the decision about the sanctions’ extension was postponed.  According to sources in diplomatic circles, the discussion may resume on December 10 or be postponed until the EU Summit, scheduled for December 17-18.  The …