• Ukrainian President signs the law on Anti-Corruption Court

    President Petro Poroshenko announced via Twitter that he signed the Anti-Corruption Court Law, which was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, on June 7.  

    “Today, on this historic day—the anniversary of the visa-free regime—I sign the law ‘Law on the High Anti-Corruption Court’,” Poroshenko wrote. “It’s a key milestone of completion of creating an independent anti-corruption infrastructure in our country!”

    Establishment of the anti-corruption court is a key requirement of the western creditors. The …

  • Russian social networks VKontakte and Odnoklassniki in Ukraine’s top 10 most visited sites

    In May, the five most visited domains in Ukraine were Google, Youtube, Facebook, VKontakte and Ukr.Net.

    The daily average and monthly coverage of the Ukrainian audience for VKontakte were 18% and 35% respectively of those included in the poll.

    The Russian social network VKontakte, banned by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), has remained in fourth place, and the other Russian social network Odnoklassniki remains in the top ten most visited sites. These were the results of a …

  • Lawyer: Russia illegally detains 4 Ukrainian sailors in the Crimea

    Russian security officials have not brought any charges against sailors from the Ukrainian vessel YMK-0041, which was detained near the annexed Crimea. The Ukrainians are thus being held illegally, stated the lawyer Edem Semedlyaev, Radio Liberty reports.

    "Four sailors, with the exception of the captain, are at the border agency in the city of Balaklava. They have not been charged with anything; their status as of today is unknown. They are not permitted to see lawyers. They are being held …

  • Ukrainian official: Crimea drying out completely

    Crimea, which used to live off water from mainland Ukraine, is completely drying out, Deputy Minister for the Occupied Territories Yuriy Hrymchak said in a comment for Obozrevatel news outlet.

    “We monitor using satellites that photograph Crimean territory. Today, more than 70% of the previously normal vegetation is drying up. Put in understandable language, steppe Crimea, which lived off water which came from Ukraine, is drying up completely, it’s true,” Hrymchak said.

    When asked whether …

  • Ukraine and Moldova pledge further military cooperation

    During a meeting in Odessa, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak and Minister of Defense of Moldova Eugen Sturza agreed on further cooperation of the two countries in the area of defense, as reported on the website of the Ministry of Defense.

    “First of all, it involves conducting joint exercises both bilaterally and in cooperation with NATO and individual allies, developing cooperation at the headquarters level for the types of armed forces of the two powers, joint actions in the …