Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a law which obligates the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP) to indicate in its name that it belongs to Russia, the presidential press service reports.

“People have a constitutional right to the free choice of religion. The mentioned changes to the law create better conditions to realize such a right for everyone who will decide which orthodox jurisdiction they belong to: whether the autocephalous Orthodox Church of …

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Bartosz Cichocki is to become his country’s new ambassador to Ukraine, Polish President Andrej Duda announced, as cited by Wpolityce. 

“The proposal is for Cichocki, who is deputy minister of foreign affairs, to take this post, so that this is effectively a reinforcement of this political representation, and also, of course, a reinforcement of relations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Duda explained. 

He noted that presidential elections are approaching …

Russia is preparing for another provocation by deploying additional fighter jets to Crimea, stated by US Acting Deputy Chief of Mission to the OSCE Gregory Macris, Voice of America reports.

“The United States is alarmed by reports that Russia is deploying additional fighter jets to Crimea, supposedly in preparation for another so-called “provocation” by Ukraine," Macris stated. He claimed that Russia’s disinformation campaign seeks to justify it's ongoing militarization of the Crimea. He added …

On December 14, President of France Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel updated the EU council on the current state of implementation of the Minsk agreements, to which the sanctions are linked. Due to the lack of progress, the European Council made a political proposal to extend the economic sanctions.

Restrictions concern the financial, energy and defense sectors, as well as dual-use goods. These measures were initially introduced on July 31, 2014 for one year in response to …

On Friday, December 21st, Krym.Realii reported that Italian company Bertolaso confirmed the delivery of industrial equipment for the new plant of the agricultural company Zolotaya Balka in the annexed Crimea.

A representative for the commercial department of Bertaloso, Luca Karassi said that two months ago the company delivered a machine to wash, fill, and seal bottles, which was intended for a plant in Sevastopol.

“The contract was signed with Russia, the agricultural company Zolotaya Balka- …

After a meeting with British Secretary of State for Defense Gavin Williamson, in Odessa on Friday, December 21st, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Stepan Poltorak stated that in January, a group of servicemen from the British Navy will arrive in Ukraine to determine the necessary assistance to the Ukrainian military.

“Already in January, a group of British naval forces will arrive in Ukraine to organize interaction, plan joint exercises, as well as determine the necessary material and …

Russia expelled the press attache at the Swedish embassy after Stockholm refused to issue visas to two Russian diplomats, reported Expressen, as well as the Russian media.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry confirmed the information about the expulsion of the Swedish employee in the embassy in Moscow. The Swedish Ministry regrets the decision of Russia.

The Department of Information and Press of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to comment on the matter.

The position of press attache …

“In response to Russia’s dangerous escalation and unjustified November 25 attack on three Ukrainian naval vessels near the Kerch Strait, the Department of State, subject to Congressional approval, will provide an additional $10 million in Foreign Military Financing to further build Ukraine’s naval capabilities,” the State Department said in a press release. In addition, Robert Palladino, Deputy Head of the State Department's press service, repeated the statement on his official Twitter page. At …