Новости за 17.03.2017

Syria fired missiles at Israeli warplanes on a mission to destroy a weapons convoy destined for the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on March 17, Israeli officials said. Syria confirmed the rare military exchange between the two hostile neighbors that prompted Israel to deploy its missile defense system. Read more here.

The number of ceasefire violations in the combat zone in eastern Ukraine slightly decreased in the past week, OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said. “Last week there was a decrease in the number of ceasefire violations by some 15 percent compared to previous week,” he said in Kyiv on March […]

President Donald Trump reiterated his strong support for NATO on Friday and pressed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to meet NATO’s military spending target, in the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders. Read more here.

Naftogaz Ukrainy has dismissed Ihor Prokopiv from the post of president of PJSC Ukrtransgaz. “The Naftogaz board in agreement with the supervisory council voted for the dismissal of Ukrtransgaz President Ihor Prokopiv,” the state holding said on the evening of March 17. According to its data, Naftogaz is now seeking candidates and plans in the near […]

Russian State Secretary and Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met with French Ambassador to Russia Jean-Maurice Ripert to discuss the Ukrainian crisis and the situation in the post-Soviet world on March 17. “The main subject of the discussion was the exacerbation of the crisis in Ukraine, the latest contacts in the Normandy Format and the […]

Illegal armed formations opened fire 60 times targeting positions of Ukrainian troops on March 17, the press service of the Ukrainian Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) headquarters said. “Since the beginning of the day, the Russian terrorist troops have attacked Ukrainian army positions 60 times. Heavy weapons were used among other equipment,” it said on Facebook on […]

The European Union on March 17 condemned Russia’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea territory, calling Moscow’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula a “direct challenge to international security.” Read more here.

British high-end womenswear firm L.K. Bennett said it plans to open five stores in Russia, shrugging off the political and economic challenges of working in a country that’s been under Western sanctions for almost three years. Read more here.

  As many as 14,698 ceasefire violations have been recorded in the Donbas war zone by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (OSCE SMM), over the last week, the mission’s deputy chief Alexander Hug reported on March 17 during a press conference in Kyiv. “That is the number […]

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said that he will oppose all forces and persons who will try to organize public unrest and stir up anarchist moods in the state. “I warn those who go beyond these principles, the law and common sense, that I will oppose all those who will try to incite disorder […]

More than 500 police officers have signed a letter demanding that lawmaker Volodymyr Parasiuk be stripped of his parliamentary immunity from prosecution. Head of the National Police in Donetsk region Vyacheslav Abroskin said in a March 17 Facebook post that he will deliver the letter to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada […]

Donetsk – It was always an uncomfortable paradox for Ukraine’s warring sides: while Kyiv and Russian-backed separatists battled each other for nearly three years, trade kept flowing across the frontline. Read more here.

The Donetsk water filtration plant (WFP) has resumed operations and water supplies to Avdiyivka in Donetsk region, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Hennadiy Zubko. “Starting at 13:50 local time [on March 17] the WFP began supplying water to the city,” Zubko said on his Twitter page […]

Temporarily suspended Chairman of Ukraine’s State Fiscal Service (SFS) Roman Nasirov has not disclosed the origin of the bail earlier put by his wife to secure his release from custody, according to an UNIAN correspondent. Read more here.

From a balcony with a view to the Kremlin, Major Manhoff shot the only known independent footage of Stalin’s funeral. U.S. Army Major Martin Manhoff had been in Moscow for more than a year when on March 5, 1953, after several days of ominous reports in the Communist Party mouthpiece Pravda, it was announced that Josef […]

Heavy fighting continues in the eastern Ukrainian region of the Donbas, with clashes reported all along front line, Ukrainian Ministry of Defense spokesperson Andriy Lysenko said on March 17 at a briefing in Kyiv. In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian military positions were shelled at least 77 times, with heavy weapons being used by Russian-backed […]

Ukraine possesses a vast investment potential, and Middle East companies have already started to invest in the Ukrainian economy. Ukrainian exporters have much more to offer, and there is no lack of interest, yet there is a lack of information on the investment opportunities. This spring Ukrainian companies seeking to enter new markets will have […]

Russia accused Ukraine of “consciously” rejecting its own land and people by imposing a blockade of separatist-held territory in the country’s east. Read more here.

The European Parliament (EP) will vote on granting Ukraine a visa-free regime on April 6, according to the European Parliament’s website. Read more here.

Ukraine should have the right to arm itself again with nuclear weapons, according to a joint manifesto signed by three of the country’s nationalist parties on March 16 in Kyiv. The “National Manifesto” signed by Svoboda, Right Sector and National Corps – none of whom have any representation in parliament – calls for cooperation among […]