Contents tagged with Russia

  • US Expands Sanctions against Russia

    The US expanded sanctions against Russia in connection with recent events in eastern Ukraine. This was stated on the website of the US Treasury. Sanctions were imposed against individuals (including Ukranian citizens) and institutions alike.

    The sanctions list includes the ministers that worked with former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, former Science and Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnik and Russian politician Vitaliy Zakharchenko. Sanctions were also imposed on Vladislav Dinega, …

  • Pro-Russian Separatists Occupy Village near Mariupol

    Last week, leaders in the Defense Ministry of Ukraine were informed that Russian scouts had appeared in the village of Kominternovo near Mariupol.  As of today, Russian infantry have occupied the village.

    When journalists commented on the presence of Russian scouts in the village last week, leaders of the Ukrainian Armed Forces dismissed the reports, with one Ukrainian general saying "You guys are confused, this is our position."  

    According to media reports, on the morning of December 22nd, …

  • Duma Deputy Proposes New Counter-Sanctions against US

    In response to U.S. sanctions against Russia, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Mikhail Emelyanov, proposed imposing sanctions against Coca-Cola, as well as Visa and MasterCard payment systems.

    “We conduct business with some American companies that will be susceptible to these sanctions.  This applies primarily to the audit companies, financial companies and, of course, Coca-Cola," the Russian Deputy said.

    Emelyanov …

  • Trilateral Contact Group Calls to Enact Ceasefire Starting Wednesday

    The Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine (TCG) called for the parties in the conflict in the Donbass region to agree to a ceasefire beginning on December 23rd.  The last meeting of the year between Ukraine, Russia and OSCE ended on Tuesday in Minsk.

    According to Daria Olifer, Press Secretary for former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, "There is an agreement on a full and unconditional silence starting at midnight on December 23, 2015. This initiative is needed primarily for the civilians in …

  • Ukrainian Sappers Destroy 100 Mines near Mariupol

    The press center of the ATO reports that mine disarming operations by Ukrainian forces have continued a few kilometers away from the conflict in the Mariupol region.

    "In the direction of Mariupol, it has been relatively quiet for the last two days. This makes it possible for the Ukrainian military to actively dispose of mines. Recently, explosions were constantly heard in the vicinity. Taking advantage of a partial cessation of hostilities in the area, the Ukrainian military have begun to …

  • Russia Sends Attack Helicopters to Its Airbase in Armenia

    Russia's Erebuni Airbase, located in Armenia, has received a new batch of helicopters. This was reported in a Southern Military District press release that was received by Lenta.ru.

    "Six units of modern combat Mi-24P and Mi-8Mt transport helicopters that belong to the aviation army were transported from a military airport in the Krasnodar region," stated the press release. The flights will begin in the first quarter of 2016.

    Russian reinforcements in Armenia are due to the aggravation of the …

  • Russia calls Connecting EU Sanctions to Situation in Donbas Groundless

    The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that connecting the EU sanctions to the regulation of the conflict in the Donbass is “groundless.”

    "The fact that the EU binds their sanctions to the settlement of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine is artificial and groundless. This conflict was started not by Russia, but by the current Ukrainian government," the Ministry said.

    "The lack of logic in the behavior of the European Union is obvious. It's trying to 'punish' Russia for something that it has no …

  • Turkish Foreign Ministry Accuses Russia of Killing 600 Civilians in Syria

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu, stated that on December 20th 200 civilians were killed during Russian airstrikes in the Syrian province of Idlib.  The Ministry has accused the Russian Federation of the murder of more than 600 Syrian citizens as a result of these air strikes, as reported by the Turkish Press Agency Anadolu. Cavusoglu also noted that 90% of the areas bombed by Russian aircraft are held by the Syrian opposition and include residential neighborhoods. …

  • Russian FSB Tortured Crimean Tatar

    In the occupied city of Dzhankoy, the Federal Security Bureau of the Russian Federation illegally detained and tortured a Crimean Tatar, trying to persuade him to cooperate. The Commissioner for the President of Ukraine for the Affairs of Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Dzhemilev, wrote about this incident on his Facebook page.

    "On December 16, 2015 a resident of Dzhankoy, Enver Crosh, born in 1991, was illegally taken to the district police station of Dzhankoy and then transferred to the FSB in the …

  • EEU Countries do not Support Cutting Economic Ties with Ukraine

    The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) composed of Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia do not support Russia abandoning the free trade zone with Ukraine, which operates within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as reported by Viktor Khristenko, the Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Union, after the meeting of the Presidents of the EEU member states in Moscow.

    "Within the next six months the legal mechanisms that allow national governments to …