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260 foreign merchant vessels have entered Crimean ports since the peninsula's annexation
From 18 March 2014 to 15 August 2016, 260 merchant vessels flying the flags of 32 countries entered ports of the occupied Crimea - Yevpatoria, Sevastopol, Yalta, Feodosia, and Kerch – violating bans and sanctions, as demonstrated by the monitoring of information portal BSNews, which uses AIS (automatic identification system) vessel tracking systems.
Vessels which provide passenger and cargo services in and out of ports on the Crimean peninsula and also special vessels taking part in the …
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First Ukrainian President: The US pressured Ukraine to get rid of nuclear weapons
Ukraine did not rush to abandon nuclear weapons because it's not easy to do, but the Americans put pressure on the government to do so, according to the online-magazine Slon, citing the first President of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk.
According to Kravchuk, at the time the Ukrainian government wanted the Americans to pay for the renunciation of nuclear weapons.
“We demanded compensation from the United States and generally from the West. They were constantly, frankly speaking, pressing us and …
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Leader of Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria calls for joining Russian Federation
The President of the internationally unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic (PMR), Yevgeny Shevchuk, issued a decree on prepararion to join Russia. The document was published on the website of the Pridnestrovian leader.
The decree calls for the implementation of the outcomes of the republican referendum which took place on 17 September 2006. The regulatory act is necessary for the fulfillment of “the will of the people of Transnistria to join the Russian Federation.”
Shevchuk indicated …
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Ukrainian Foreign Ministry protests Shoygu's visit to Crimea
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed outrage to Russia because of Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu’s visit to the Crimea. According to Interfax-Ukraine, this was reported by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mariana Betsa.
“Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry is expressing a protest in connection with the presence of the Russian Minister of Defense on the sovereign territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, which includes the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and …
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Two US reconnaissance aircraft approached the Crimea
On September 9, two patrol aircraft from the US Navy P-8A Poseidon approached the coast of the Crimea three hours apart from each other. This was reported by Interfax, referring to websites that track the movement of military aircraft.
They took off on Friday from the Italian airbase Sigonella, and the last of the planes is currently performing the task over the Black Sea near the Russian borders and the Crimea.
Poseidon’s route runs through Greek and Bulgarian airspace to the area west of …