Crimea

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will travel to Ukraine in August on behalf of President Joe Biden.

Ukrainian First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova on Wednesday claimed the Russian military is deploying nuclear weapons and their related infrastructure to the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

Russian government spox said if warnings about entering disputed waters are ignored their weapons will be “right on target” in future.

A Russian warship and jet interceptor fired warning shots across the path of a British warship on Wednesday afternoon, it is claimed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday that Russia will “knock the teeth out” of everyone who tries to take a “bite” out of his country’s vast territory.

The Russian defense ministry announced Friday it has begun withdrawing troops and equipment from Crimea, having completed a “snap inspection” and supposedly innocuous military drills.

Russia is conducting military drills in annexed Crimea this week, Russia’s Black Sea naval fleet announced in a press release Thursday.

President Joe Biden told reporters Thursday he is “prepared to take further actions” against Russia if it “continues to interfere with our democracy,” on the same day Turkish government reports claimed Biden had canceled a scheduled U.S. warship mission apparently meant to deter menacing Russian behavior in the Black Sea.

Russia’s recent military buildup in Crimea may worsen a pre-existing water shortage in the region, Ukrainian government minister Ihor Yaremenko said Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to his nation’s embattled Donbass region, where Russia-backed separatists have waged a years-long war to break from Kyiv, on Thursday following the death of a 23-year-old Ukrainian soldier.

A spokesperson for the presidency of Ukraine claimed Sunday that Kyiv had received the support of “over a dozen” countries in launching a plan to liberate Crimea, a Ukrainian region invaded and colonized by Russia in 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual marathon year-end press conference Thursday, fielding questions for just over four and a half hours.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday approved construction of a naval logistics hub on the Red Sea coast of Sudan with the capacity to harbor nuclear vessels, Reuters reports.

Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, allegedly acted as the “personal attorney” for Ye Jianming, the chair of a major Chinese energy firm, in a deal to buy a 14% stake in a Russian state oil company facing U.S. sanctions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the U.N.’s inaction over Russia’s occupation of Crimea in a virtual speech on Wednesday at the U.N.’s 75th annual General Assembly.

The Russian Navy will soon be equipped with hypersonic nuclear strike weapons and underwater nuclear drones as part of an ongoing rebuild of the country’s maritime forces, President Vladimir Putin promised Sunday.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin lamented during his annual end-of-year press conference Thursday that communist mass murderer Vladimir Lenin had made the “strange” decision in the establishment of the Soviet Union to place “Russian” territories within the Ukrainian socialist republic.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pronounced himself unsatisfied with his first in-person meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday, telling reporters that “very little” was accomplished in multilateral talks on Russia’s invasion and colonization of eastern Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met in Paris on Monday in an attempt to restart stalled peace talks on the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatist forces have been waging a deadly insurgency for the past five years.

The primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine said on Tuesday that Russian forces occupying the Crimean peninsula are planning to demolish an Orthodox Church temple in the town of Yevpatoria.

Ukrainian law enforcement agencies revealed on Wednesday the discovery of a people-smuggling network ferrying illegal migrants from Turkey to European Union countries such as Italy and Greece.

The Pentagon said a temporary delay in $250 million of military aid to Ukraine did not negatively affect U.S. national security.

The G7 nations have not reached a consensus about whether or not to invite Russia to next year’s summit meeting, according to a statement on Monday by French President Emmanuel Macron, host of this year’s event.

Russian archaeologists have unearthed an ancient Christian church in southwest Crimea dating from the Byzantine era, a find that sheds light on notions of cities from that period.

Trump defended the idea of including Russia in the G-7 summit of world leaders. “It should be the G-8 because the things we talk about have to do with Russia,” Trump said.

Erdogan said Wednesday Turkey considered the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea “illegal” and Ankara would strive to help “our kinsmen” there.

More people in Russia have positive feelings about the Soviet Union than their current President Vladimir Putin, according to a recent survey from the non-governmental polling organization Levada Center.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a remarkably difficult time during the 2019 edition of Direct Line, a Russian radio and television program that invites viewers to call in with questions for the chief executive.

The Pentagon announced Tuesday plans to provide $250 million to Ukraine for training, equipment, and advisory efforts, to enhance the country’s military.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Russian media on Thursday that former Secretary of State John Kerry approved of Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula, believing the residents were overwhelmingly in favor of “reuniting” with Russia. According to Lavrov, Kerry’s main criticism of Russia’s actions was to suggest holding another referendum to reinforce the legitimacy of annexation.