• US promises to support decision to give Ukrainian church autocephaly

    The US will support the decision to grant the Ukrainian church autocephaly, said US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback at a meeting in Kyiv with Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy.

    “At the stage of deciding whether to grant the Ukrainian Orthodox Church a Tomos of autocephaly, we will not interfere. But when such a decision has been made, we will support it,” the diplomat promised.

    Andriy Parubiy pointed out that the matter of creating an independent …

  • UN: Since 2015 12,000 Crimeans have been conscripted to the Russian army

    Since 2015, Russia has called into its Armed Forces approximately 12 thousand people, living in the annexed Crimea, said the Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine Fiona Frazer while presenting the second report of the Mission on the human rights situation in the Crimea.

    According to Frazer, Russia also prosecutes Crimeans who do not want to serve in the Russian army. As stated in the report, the draft campaign is becoming more aggressive: in 2015, 500 men were called up, …

  • USA imposes sanctions against Russian company for illegal transfer of funds to North Korea

    On September 13th, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against two companies registered in Russia and China using North Korean capital. Both companies are engaged in the field of information technology.

    According to US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Chinese company China Silver Star, established by a North Korean citizen, Jong Song Hwa and its Russia-based sister company Volasys Silver Star, registered in Vladivostok, were engaged in the  transfer” of “illicit revenue to …

  • Gazprom loses appeal in court case with Ukraine's Naftogaz

    The Svea Court of Appeal has re-authorized the seizure of Gazprom’s assets in order to collect $2.6 billion in favor of Naftogaz Ukraine.

    On Thursday, the Swedish court removed the temporary suspension of the fine enforcement measures, which had been introduced in June at Gazprom’s request, Reuters reports.

    The Russian gas company asked to have the original ruling of the Stockholm Arbitration Institute revoked on the basis of external interference in the process. Citing a “world renowned …

  • Czech authorities do not see reasons to lift sanctions from Russia

    The authorities of Czech Republic are convinced that there is not yet a reason to lift anti-Russian sanctions of the EU. The Czech leadership came to this conclusion during consultations regarding the implementation of the course of foreign policy of the country, held on Wednesday, in the presidential residence, reports Ceske Noviny.

    During a meeting held at the Prague Castle, all politicians agreed that the reasons, on which anti-Russian sanctions were introduced, still exist. In a joint …