The former speaker of the parliament of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Andrei Purgin, reported in VKontakte social network that he was denied a DPR passport.

“My saga with a passport is over. I have been denied the right to life, the basic human right. Simply and casually, I was deprived of all documents ... By the way, my wife was denied a passport too, and she pays taxes,” wrote Purgin. The ex-speaker of the DPR parliament published an official document dated July 4, 201 …

Ukraine offers Russia to exchange Alexander Korinkov, Sergei Glondar and Bogdan Pantyushenko, Ukrainian prisoners of war, for three Russians convicted of crimes in the Donbas, stated Iryna Heraschenko, Ukraine’s representative in the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk.

Special forces soldiers Korenkov and Glondar were captured by pro-Russian militants in February 2015, when the detachment was leaving Debaltseve. Tank operator Patyushenko was captured in January 2015 near the Donetsk airport.

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The Venezuelan government under Maduro is preparing to transfer 20 tons of gold – roughly 20% of the Central Bank’s reserves – to Russia, said José Guerra, a member of the country’s National Assembly and a retired economist for the Central Bank.

Guerra claims to have received the information from a Central Bank official with whom he still has contact. An aircraft from Moscow has supposedly arrived to collect the gold.

“We demand that the Central Bank give us information about what is going on, …

During a plenary session of Russia’s Federation Council on Wednesday, Rauf Arashukov, the youngest senator in Russian history, was arrested on charges of organizing contract killings and other serious crimes.

Law enforcement blocked the entrance to the hall and made the press leave, after which Prosecutor General Yury Chaika and Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, entered the hall and read out the order to remove Arashukov’s parliamentary immunity.

Arashukov attempted to …

American Intelligence believes that a large-scale attack by Russia against Ukraine in 2019 is "operationally possible but not likely,” stated Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats during a hearing at the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Voice of America reported. 

"We assess that a major offensive by either Ukraine or Russian proxy forces is operationally feasible but unlikely in 2019,” Coats stated. US intelligence services foresee increased tensions in the Black Sea and …

The Supreme Court of Ukraine allowed seizing shares of Russian financial institutions as compensation for the annexation of the Crimea, the press service of the Court reported. 

In July last year, eighteen legal entities and one individual applied to the Kyiv Court of Appeals with the request to recognize and to grant permission for the implementation of the decision made by the International Court of Arbitration at the Hague. 

According to the application, debtor banks hold some property in …

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that if the South Kuril Islands are handed over to Japan, the creation of US military bases on those islands will be possible only after Tokyo gives its consent, RIA Novosti reported, citing Kyodo News Agency.

The United States has the right to establish military bases in Japan. However, in the case of the Kuril Islands, the deployment location must be coordinated with the Japanese government, Abe stated. 

Meanwhile, Abe gave no answer to journalists’ …

On Tuesday, Ukraine signed a contract with France for a line of credit to complete the project of providing water in Mariupol. 

The loan in the amount of 64 million euros is allocated for 30 years with a 10-year grace period. The Ukrainian government’s press service indicated that the rate would be 0.08% per annum. 

The water that is supplied to apartments in Mariupol comes from the Northern Donetsk river, which crosses the line of demarcation several times. Due to the conflict in the Donetsk …