The parties of President Petro Poroshenko, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klichko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk have joined forces ahead of the local elections scheduled for October 25. This is in order to defeat the Opposition Bloc, which is associated with the government overthrown in February... MORE

German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and French President François Hollande, on August 24, in Berlin (“Normandy” format minus Russia), at Poroshenko’s urgent request. This unprecedented meeting followed systematic violations of the ceasefire and open sabotage of the international monitoring mission by... MORE

In late August, Russia hosted military exercises for elite forces assigned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Vzaimodeystviye (Collaboration) 2015 was staged near Pskov, in the Western Military District (MD), testing CSTO rapid reaction capabilities and unit interoperability. The scenario concentrated upon a crisis... MORE

Russia proposes to turn the Ukrainian stronghold Shyrokyne, key to defending the strategic Azov sea port city of Mariupol (Mariupil), into a “demilitarized zone” under joint or shared control by Ukraine, Russia and the “Donetsk people’s republic” (“DPR”), under the indispensable aegis of the Organization... MORE

The Contact Group on Ukraine (Minsk Group) has recently been debating a proposal to turn the Ukrainian stronghold Shyrokyne, key to defending the Azov Sea port city of Mariupol (Mariupil), into a “demilitarized zone.” The Contact Group—comprised of Russia, Ukraine, the Organization for Security and... MORE

Soon after the signing of the Minsk Two armistice (February 2015), the Minsk Contact Group began considering a further set of military disengagement measures in Ukraine’s east. The Minsk Contact Group—Russia, Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe OSCE), and the Donetsk and... MORE

On August 10, a battalion-sized strike force supported by artillery and armor of the Russian-led “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”) attempted to break through Ukrainian lines at Starohnativka, on the distant approaches to Mariupol from the north. This attack came promptly after Ukraine had declined to... MORE

It did not come as much of a surprise when the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, acknowledged that pro-Russian Chechens were involved in the conflict in Ukraine. This was something that everybody knew, but no Russian official had previously confirmed. In an interview with the... MORE

The speaker of the Duma (Russian lower house of parliament), Sergei Naryshkin, published an article in the government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta this week (August 9), making dark predictions about August and attacking the United States for being a global menace. The month of August, he... MORE

The issue of Ukraine’s prospective future membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) surfaced again recently with the publication of the latest public opinion poll, according to which, a historical high of almost 64 percent of Ukrainians supports joining the North Atlantic Alliance (UNIAN,... MORE