• EU imposes new tariffs on steel imported from Russia and China

    Russian exporters of cold-rolled steel products will have to pay a 26.2% fee to the European Union (EU) countries.  The EU authorities imposed these anti-dumping duties for six months.  For Severstal, the largest steel company in Russia, and for Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK), the third largest steel company in Russia, the fee will be slightly less.

    The authorities of the EU have also imposed these provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of cold-rolled steel from China for six …

  • Activists block Russian trucks in four regions in Ukraine

    In the Volyn, Zakarpattya, Ivano-Frankovsk and Lvov regions, activists are blocking Russian trucks moving to and from the border. In the Zakarpattya region, activists, including members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, began the blockade yesterday evening. They are refusing Russian trucks moving towards the border at the border crossing checkpoint, Nijnie Vorota (the lower gate), about 100 kilometers from Uzhgorod. 

    In the Volyn region, the blockade began at 8 o’clock in the morning. "The …

  • G7 Ambassadors make statement in support of Ukrainian government's fight against corruption

    The G7 Ambassadors have issued a statement in support of the basic objectives and state policy principles set forth by the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers.

    The statement was posted on the website of the Japanese Embassy in Ukraine.

     “Ambassadors have welcomed the announcement made by the Cabinet of Ministers regarding the main objectives and principles of the state policy, particularly those concerning zero tolerance with regard to political interference and corruption,” the statement said. …

  • Ukraine submits official letter to UN concerning human rights violations of Crimean Tatars

    The delegation of Ukraine has sent an official letter to the President of the UN Security Council in which they expressed deep concern over the blatant illegal activities of the Russian occupation forces in Crimea against Crimean Tatars.  These activities resulted in mass illegal searches and the groundless detention of 13 Ukrainian citizens on the 11th and the 12th of February.  All of the detainees are Crimean Tatars.

    This was reported by the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. …

  • Court of So-Called Donetsk People's Republic Issues First Official Death Penalty

    The Court of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR)  has given out the first death penalty in the self-proclaimed republic. As reported by Interfax on Friday, February 12th, the ruling was made by Lyudmila Strateychuk, Judge of the Supreme Court of the so-called DPR and acting Chair of the Court Martial.

    She did not specify who was subjected to the exceptional penalty of capital punishment. “There are cases under consideration and they also may result in such a penalty. These are murder …

  • Poroshenko submits package of laws required to implement EU visa-free regime

    The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, has submitted a package of three laws to the Verkhovna Rada which are aimed at helping Ukraine comply with the requirements for the introduction of a visa-free regime with the European Union (EU).  This was reported by the presidential press service.

    According to the report, one of these laws was named "On amendments to the law 'On Prosecutor's Office' concerning ensuring transparency in the organization of work of the Specialized Anti-Corruption …

  • Ukrainian launch vehicle to be used for flights to the ISS

    American company Orbital ATK, the world leader in aerospace and defense industry, has signed an eight-year contract with NASA worth approximately 1.5 billion dollars to provide six commercial cargo flights to the International Space Station (ISS) by 2019.  The flights will use the Ukrainian launch vehicle (LV), Antares.  In the framework of the signed contract, Orbital ATK will use the modernized LV Antares for cargo flights to the ISS in addition to using the LV Atlas-5 of the American United …

  • Diplomat denies allegations that Russian ground forces are active in Syria

    A member of Russia’s Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, stated that no Russian ground forces are active in Syria. Kosachev told this to a Deutsche Welle reporter on Friday at the International Conference on Security Policy in Munich. The diplomat also rejected the possibility of a future Russian-led ground operation in the war-torn country.

    Kosachev specifically denied allegations of the presence of Russian soldiers and artillery units in the Syrian province of Latakia.

    Der Spiegel has …

  • Moldova Sentences Mercenaries who Fought on the Side of Pro-Russian Separatists in Eastern Ukraine

    At the beginning of the year ten mercenaries were arrested in Moldova who fought on the side of the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.  Two of them have already been sentenced to three years of imprisonment, as announced by the Acting Prosecutor General of Moldova, Igor Popa, Radio Liberty reported.

    Popa noted that the investigation against eight other suspects continues.  They are all between 26 and 32-years-old and all of them are Russian speaking natives from the south of …

  • US Senator: We have yet to see Russia's Real Commitment to the Minsk Agreements

    Ben Cardin, a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, expressed concern about the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, which are designed to reduce tensions in eastern Ukraine.  Completed a year ago, the Minsk Agreements represent a package of measures related to security and policy, agreed to by Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia, to resolve the conflict in the Donbas region.

    "Thursday was the first anniversary of the Minsk Agreements.  While all parties expressed the …