Новости за 05.10.2016

Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov has been formally inaugurated for another term as head of the volatile Russian region. Speaking at his inauguration ceremony in Grozny on October 5, Kadyrov promised to ensure steady economic growth, cut unemployment, and protect social stability. Read more here.

MOSCOW – The United States and Russia confirmed that disengagement of forces and hardware in the first areas of the contact line in Donbas is an important initial step, but far more work remains, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said. The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland and National […]

The United Nations Security Council reached a surprisingly swift consensus on Oct. 5 on its choice for the next secretary general of the United Nations: António Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal. Mr. Guterres, who ran the United Nations refugee agency for 10 years, had been the clear front-runner, and was apparently the choice of […]

TBILISI, Georgia – Tens of thousands of supporters of a leading opposition party rallied on Oct. 5 in the Georgian capital before the weekend’s parliamentary election. The United National Movement, led by former President Mikhail Saakashvili, has been in opposition since losing the 2012 parliamentary election to the Georgian Dream party founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, […]

The Ukrainian side at the meeting of the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group has asked representatives from the self-proclaimed Donbas republics to clarify their lists of prisoners of war (POW) for an all-for-all exchange. “Today, representatives of the separate districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions admitted that in the lists they had submitted […]

Russia said on October 5 it was suspending its nuclear and energy research agreement with the United States as a countermeasure against Washington for imposing sanctions on Russia over Ukraine. The government also said it was terminating for the same reasons an agreement between its nuclear corporation Rosatom and the U.S. Department of Energy on feasibility […]

The Administration of U.S. President Barack Obama in the next two weeks will try to persuade Ukraine to go for certain concessions in the conflict with Russia, the Ukrainian news portal LIGA.net reported citing its sources close to President Petro Poroshenko. The proponents of such compromises want the administration of the new U.S. president to […]

The framework agreement on the Donbas security areas will continue to be implemented at least until October 9, but on the condition that there is no more shelling, Darka Olifer, spokesperson for Ukraine’s representative to the Trilateral Contact Group, Leonid Kuchma, said. “The key issue on the current agenda of the Trilateral Contact Group is […]

Like much of the rest of the world, Svetlana Alexievich is watching the unfolding war in Syria with horror. “For an artist, this is an unbearable spectacle,” says Alexievich of Belarus, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 2015. Alexievich, 68, spoke with RFE/RL in the run-up to next week’s expected announcement of the 2016 […]

MINSK – The Contact Group on Ukraine will hold its next meeting in Minsk on October 26, Martin Sajdik, special representative of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, told reporters. October 26 is a national day in Austria, he added.

Tinder, one of the most popular dating apps in a world, has become very popular in Ukraine over the last year or so. The idea is simple: you see a person’s profile with photos, name (no surname though), age and Instagram profile (optional) and if you like him or her, you swipe right. If this […]

MOSCOW – A former senior official from breakaway eastern Ukraine said Russia directly finances pensions and public sector salaries in the two pro-Russian regions there. The assertion by former separatist minister Alexander Khodakovsky contradicts Moscow, which says it does not bankroll the separatist administration and, as a consequence, cannot influence the rebels to make peace […]

Ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder now chairs the Board of the new company Nord Stream 2, which is part of the Russian energy giant Gazprom, according to Tagesspiel. Former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder took over the chairmanship of the Board of the energy company Nord Stream 2, the one that works to expand the gas pipeline from Russia […]

Robbie Williams has come under fire from Russian media following the release of new single Party Like a Russian, which some have described as “racist”. The single, the first from new album Heavy Entertainment Show, features a sample from Prokofiev’s Dance Of The Knights, along with lyrics about an oligarch who “alleviates the cash from […]

Ukrainian MPs in a statement have called for the international community to consolidate efforts to help release illegally arrested Ukrainian journalists Roman Sushchenko and Mykola Semena. Some 245 MPs voted in favor of corresponding resolution, No.52/20, at a parliamentary sitting on October 5, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Read more here.

As diplomatic contact between the United States and Russia collapse in Syria, senior officials on both sides are gathering in Moscow for a meeting on the peace process in eastern Ukraine. The officials leading the talks are U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland, and Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov. […]

Donald Tusk spoke at the 75th anniversary commemorations of the Babyn Yar massacre in Ukraine last week (29 September). Kyiv’s intentions at the ceremony were clear: to strengthen ties with the West and draw parallels between today’s Russia and Nazi Germany. 75 years ago last week, the Nazis and their Ukrainian collaborators murdered 33,771 Jews […]

The 2016 Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded for the development of the world’s smallest machines. Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir Fraser Stoddart and Bernard Feringa will share the 8 million Swedish crown (£727,000) prize for the design and synthesis of machines on a molecular scale. They were named at a press conference in Sweden. Read more […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that “being powerful” is the key to Russia’s “statehood, independence and mere existence.” Addressing Russia’s new State Duma on its first official day of work, Putin said that the new parliament should continue to keep the country in a position of influence. Read more

The Kremlin says it is unhappy with frequent references to Russia and President Vladimir Putin in the U.S. presidential campaign. “To our regret, we know that the Russian card and mentioning our president have practically become an inseparable part of America’s election campaign,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on October 5. Read more

Ukraine has successfully test-fired its Sarmat anti-tank guided missile, officials announced this week. President Petro Poroshenko congratulated the state-owned Kiev Design Bureau for the milestone Sunday on his Facebook page. Read more

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers at a Wednesday meeting approved an action plan to combat corruption at the ministries. An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that the plan includes 90 measures, and the first report is to be issued on December 9, 2016. “I am pleased that today we are passing the draft resolution where we have […]

Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee has filed a lawsuit in Kyiv Economic Court seeking to enforce a fine of nearly UAH 86 billion (about $3.3 billion) the agency imposed on Gazprom, the Antimonopoly Committee has reported. It is also asking the court to order Gazprom to end legal violations stemming from abuse of its monopoly position on […]

Since a new government swept into power two years ago, Ukraine’s central bank has won accolades for a major overhaul of the country’s financial sector—with a big caveat. The National Bank has shut down 82 ailing banks and brought clearer accounting and better disclosure of bank ownership. Read more

Combined Russian-separatist forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in eastern Ukraine 68 times in the past 24 hours, including 36 barrages in the Luhansk sector, 19 in the Mariupol sector, and 13 in the Donetsk sector, according to the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) headquarters. In the Luhansk sector, the enemy resorted to armed […]