Section: News & Summaries

      The historic Crimean wine auction

      The wines are ‘pearls that have endured heavy ordeals, including during the war’. ||| Moscow – Legendary Crimean winemaker Massandra, once a supplier to Russia’s Tsar Nicolas II, has provoked the ire of Kiev by putting 13 000 vintage bottles up for auction on December 29. Massandra described the wines, some dating back to...

      Russian soldiers of 9th motor-rifle regiment of first army corps of Russian Federation Armed Forces captured Kominternove
      Dec30

      Russian soldiers of 9th motor-rifle regiment of first army corps of Russian Federation Armed Forces captured Kominternove

      On December 22 the 9th motor-rifle regiment of the first army corps of the Russian Federation Armed Forces seized Kominternove located in the “grey zone” supported by armored vehicles and an 82-mm mortar unit. They took hold of the western outskirts and started installing engineering equipment and fortifications as well as started mining the...

      World’s rich get a bit poorer

      The world’s 400 wealthiest individuals shed $19 billion in 2015, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. ||| New York – The richest people on Earth became a bit poorer this year. The world’s 400 wealthiest individuals shed $19 billion in 2015, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Falling commodities prices and...

      AFP’s person of the year: Merkel

      AFP journalists have chosen German chancellor Angela Merkel as the most influential figure of 2015. ||| Berlin – AFP journalists have chosen Angela Merkel as the most influential figure of 2015 after the German chancellor stamped her mark on the European migrant and Greek financial crises.The vote by editorial staff from all services and...

      Russia, IS and the Future of NATO

      The years 2014-15 were a watershed for European security. The hope that NATO could enjoy a strategic pause and peace dividend after the end of its operation in Afghanistan has been dashed, as direct threats to the alliance have emerged at the Eastern and Southern flanks. Whether NATO manages to find an effective response to this situation will...

      Civil Service Reform May Revolutionize Ukraine
      Dec22

      Civil Service Reform May Revolutionize Ukraine

      It took a staggering sixteen months and it wasn’t easy. The old guard resisted it every step of the way. Ukraine’s parliament passed civil service reform, one of the highest priorities of the Euromaidan’s young reformers, on December 10.The Reanimation Package of Reforms (RPR), a civic group, described the development as...

      An Alliance Deterred
      Dec21

      An Alliance Deterred

      NATO leaders intended the Alliance’s Trident Juncture military exercises, in part, to send a message to Russia that they would not hesitate to defend allied territory. That intention was commendable. But one wonders how exercises in the western Mediterranean will deter Russian ambitions that lie 3,000 km away in Ukraine and on the borders...

      The Kremlin’s Dangerous New Threat in Ukraine
      Dec21

      The Kremlin’s Dangerous New Threat in Ukraine

      Fighting continues to gradually intensify in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin-backed militants are now using heavy weapons, including tanks, artillery, and ferocious Grad rocket systems, sporadically. Moscow’s rationale behind this latest escalation is to achieve a frozen conflict by gradually sabotaging the execution of the Minsk II ceasefire...

      OSCE: the situation becomes worse in Eastern Ukraine. The violence is spreading, separatists take positions in schools.
      Dec18

      OSCE: the situation becomes worse in Eastern Ukraine. The violence is spreading, separatists take positions in schools.

      The security situation in Donbas  has remained tense and unpredictable. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine noted indications that the violence was spreading. “On Saturday, for instance, in the space of 90 minutes we recorded 99 explosions in Novotroitske, and 32 explosions in Starohnativka. The day before in Pervomaisk in Luhansk...

      Putin, Trump sing each other’s praises

      President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump say they would welcome an improvement in relations between the US and Russia. ||| Washington – Russian President Vladimir Putin and US presidential candidate Donald Trump praised each other on Thursday, saying they would welcome an improvement in the now-icy relations between their two nations....