Articles :

A year ago, the Transnistrian authorities appealed to Russia to include the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (TMR) in the Russian Federation, “following Crimea’s example,” but the request was turned down by the Kremlin. Now the consequences of Russia's annextion of Crimea are rebounding on Tiraspol.

The Verkhovna Rada voted for the arrest and taking into custody of three judges, 18 former Ukrainian officials remain under EU sanctions, while sanctions were lifted on four officials, 34 miners died in the Zasyadko mine in Donetsk in militant-controlled territory, and the gold reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine decreased to $5.625 billion

The withdrawal of heavy weapons by all parties declared in the Minsk Agreement may be turned into a farce by the terrorist forces. However, in the meantime, Ukraine can get defensive weapons, and Russia in its turn may face new sanctions.

The murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov in Russia and the suicide of a former member of the Party of Regions Mikhail Chechetov in Ukraine indicate that the regimes built in the two neighboring countries devour not only their opponents, but also those of their supporters who happen to know too much.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stock on the global political market has fallen substantially. Before, he used to successfully sell Russia's predictability and its readiness to play by existing international rules. Now he hawks other wares.

Yet another ceasefire in the Donbas has proved to be a formality. In order to stop or freeze the conflict, Ukraine has decided to play its last trump card, and is now speaking of inviting in United Nations peacekeepers.

Russia’s near-term prospects of losing the war with the West that the Kremlin unleashed in Ukraine are prompting the closest allies of Russia (Belarus and Kazakhstan) to look for ways not to go down with the sinking giant.

While the Normandy Four leaders were looking for possible ways to stop Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and in fact the whole Europe, the key global player - the United States - presented its new security strategy.

The West has prepared new sanctions against Russia, the aggressor state. But their introduction was postponed at Ukraine’s request. Everyone is waiting for the outcome of the latest attempt to establish peace in the Donbas. And if Putin wrecks the negotiations, a new round of confrontation is inevitable.

Participants of the Munich Security Conference exchanged courtesies, the tone of which indicates the growing tension in international relations. Debaltseve remains under the control of Ukrainian forces.

The Verkhovna Rada declared Russia to be an aggressor state, based on the U.N. definition. Ukrainian parliament’s delegation to the PACE has received an “A” grade, while their Russian counterparts had to slam the door while leaving. The logic of Vladimir Putin’s actions leads to Russia’s isolation. 

Heavily armed separatists continue to storm Ukrainian positions. The Verkhovna Rada finally decided to demonstrate a principled stance. And the collapse of the dialogue in Minsk has a positive side.

UNIAN asked a group of psychiatrists and psychologists to diagnose serial fibber Vladimir Putin. The result - he’s a liar all right, but there’s method to his deceit.

Four days after the shelling of Mariupol by Russia-backed insurgents, Ukrainian MPs finally gathered to vote for something that obviously should have been decided on long ago.

What’s it like in Crimea now? There are no gunmen roaming the streets, locals are not deprived of utilities, and not all of them are “traitors” despite myths from the “mainland.” But the situation on the peninsula remains difficult.

Andrej Plenković, Head of the European Parliament’s delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee told UNIAN about priorities in cooperation with the Ukrainian government, and challenges for Ukraine in 2015.

For a week all of Ukraine has been anxiously awaiting new reports from the eastern front: the militants’ attacks on the Ukrainian forces are becoming more frequent day by day. UNIAN has asked experts to explain what Putin could be up to

Three stages of mobilization are planned to be held in Ukraine in 2015; about 20,000 people went on a march in Kyiv for solidarity against terrorism and in memory of the civilians killed near Volnovakha, and the country’s foreign exchange reserves decreased to $ 7.5 billion.

Just over a year ago, on January 16, the Verkhovna Rada of the previous convocation, in violation of all regulations - without discussion, by a show of hands – passed a number of bills dubbed as “dictatorship laws.” Some of today’s MPs justifiably call January 16 a “black day.”

On January 12, 2015 Interpol officially placed on the international wanted persons list Ukraine’s former president, Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia in February. But his extradition from Russia is not guaranteed.