• Ukrainian Foreign Minister: EU will increase pressure on Russia next year

    Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said in an interview with Voice of America to expect an increase in international pressure on Russia in the form of expanded sanctions and increased security assistance to Ukraine next year.

    "The EU is beginning to understand that other steps are needed, because Russia is waging war not only against Ukraine, but against the institutions of the European Union. Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Germany are increasingly saying that such a …

  • Media: social media posts supporting Putin were made from accounts of deceased persons

    The identity of some accounts on VKontakte, the popular online Russian social media site, that posted messages in support of Vladimir Putin with the hashtag #PutinKrut [PutinTough] had been stolen, a press service of the company told Novaya Gazeta newspaper, on Sunday, December 17th.

    The social media site’s representatives stressed that VKontakte immediately blocked the hacked accounts. “We continue to improve our tools to prevent account hacking and the straightforward blocking of the …

  • Media: Russia to begin reorganizing army in Far East

    The Russian Ministry of Defense intends to combine the naval aircraft and the anti-air defense forces of the Pacific Ocean Fleet as part of a powerful army with its headquarters in Kamchatka, Izvestia reports, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense.

    The Defense Ministry announced that the formation of the air force and anti-air defense would begin in 2018. It will include aviation units, surface-to-air missiles and radio-technical troops. The division’s zone of responsibility will include the …

  • Russia refuses to extradite to Ukraine former Berkut police member accused of killing Maidan protesters

    The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine received an official refusal from Russia to extradite the former deputy commander of the Berkut company, Dmytro Sadovnik, who was involved in crimes committed during the Euromaidan (Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity), as stated by the head of the special investigative department of the Prosecutor General's Office, Serhiy Horbatyuk, in a commentary to Krym.Realii.

    "The Russian Federation has responded that he is a citizen [of Russia], he was granted …

  • Russia and Belarus to increase expenditure on joint military facilities

    The Union State of Russia and Belarus plans to spend nearly 500 million rubles ($8.53 million USD) on military, border and information security, RBC news agency report citing the Union State Parliamentary Assembly press liaison, Andrei Shakhorsky. The relevant new programs are included in the Union State’s budget for 2018, which was adopted by the Union State Parliamentary Assembly on December 16.

    The session with parliamentarians of both countries was chaired by State Duma spokesperson …