Swedish defence minister visits Ukraine

March 5, 2018 (112UA) Swedish defense minister Peter Hultqvist comes to Ukraine with a working visit on Monday. The press service of Ukraine's defense ministry reported that in the morning of March 5. 

“As the Kingdom of Sweden's official delegation arrives in Kyiv, defense minister of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak will meet defense minister of Sweden Peter Hultqvist”, the message says. Previously, Sweden and Denmark agreed to step up their common efforts standing up against the Russian propaganda, expressing their concerns about Russia's actions in the hybrid war.

Self-proclaimed republics in Donbas pledge "absolute ceasefire" from March 5. Special representatives will monitor the execution of the order

March 4, 2018 (UNIAN) The two Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics in Donbas, Ukraine's east, claim they are ready to introduce an "absolute ceasefire" starting from 00:00 Kyiv time on March 5. The so-called military command of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR") says it is ready for an "absolute ceasefire." "The command of the Armed Forces of the Donetsk People's Republic supports the agreements reached at a meeting of the [Trilateral] Contact Group held in Minsk on the introduction of an 'absolute ceasefire' in the armed conflict zone from 00:00 Kyiv time on March 5. 

A respective order on the strictest observance of the truce was issued and sent out to all commanders and every serviceman," "Deputy commander" of the "DPR" operational command Eduard Basurin was quoted by the militant portal DAN as saying, the Ukrainian news outlet Ukrayinska Pravda reported. Special representatives of the "command of the DPR armed forces" will be sent on Sunday evening to all units located along the contact line. Their task will be to monitor the execution of this order. The other self-proclaimed Donbas republic, the "Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR'), said in turn it would support the introduction of the "absolute ceasefire" regime from March 5.

The full article is available on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/war/10030133-self-proclaimed-republics-in-donbas-pledge-absolute-ceasefire-from-march-5.html

Russia retaliates against Ukraine’s court win, shuts off natural gas supplies indefinitely

March 3, 2018 (KyivPost) In retaliation for coming up on the losing end of a Stockholm arbitration court ruling that will cost Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom $2.56 billion, the Kremlin indefinitely shut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine on March 1. Ukraine, consequently, faces shortages for the rest of the winter. But, eventually, all might work in Ukraine’s favor as energy experts expect the Russian energy monopoly to eventually pay its Ukrainian counterpart, Naftogaz. Moreover, Ukraine will try to win the public relations war by convincing the European Union that Gazprom is an unreliable partner, and that the EU should stop the Ukraine-bypass Nord Stream 2 pipeline under construction between Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea.

 The full article is available at

https://www.kyivpost.com/business/russia-retaliates-ukraines-court-win-shuts-off-natural-gas-supplies-indefinitely.html

Putin unveils new 'untrackable' super missile

March 1, 2018 (Euronews) The "new supersonic weapon" that can reach almost any point in the world, Russia President Vladimir Putin said in his annual address. Russia has developed missiles that no other country possesses, President Vladimir Putin has claimed in comments that could spark a new arms race with the US. They include a "new supersonic weapon" that can reach almost any point in the world and cannot be tracked by anti-missile systems, he said. The weapon was successfully tested in late 2017, he added. He later suggested Moscow only envisages using the missile in response to a nuclear attack, rather than being the aggressor.

"The response would be immediate," he said. Putin made the claim during his annual state of the nation address to Russian MPs in Moscow. It comes after the US was said to be developing smaller nuclear weapons in the belief they would be more of a deterrent than larger ones. Putin also claimed Russia was testing underwater drones that can carry nuclear warheads. This year is the first time the speech has been delivered in March, according to the Moscow Times. It is usually given in December. Russia will hold presidential elections on March 18 and Putin is the overwhelming favourite to win another term in office.

Pereshchepina Treasure was found in Poltava region 106 years ago

The Pereshchepina Treasure is a major deposit of Bulgarian, Sassanian, Sogdian, Turkic and Avarian objects from the period of the Migration Period. The deposit was discovered in 1912 in the village of Mala Pereshchepina (20 km from Poltava, Ukraine) by a boy shepherd who stumbled over a golden vessel and fell into what is sometimes believed to be the grave of Kubrat, the founder of Great Bulgaria and father of Asparuh, the founder of the First Bulgarian Empire. The hoard contains more than 800 pieces, now preserved in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.

There are 19 silver vessels and 16 gold vessels, including a striking rhyton and remains of another. The total weight of gold from the deposit exceeds 21 kilograms that of silver objects 50 kilograms. Among the most interesting finds is a necklace of gold Byzantine gold coins, dating from the reign of Emperor Maurice (582–602 AD) to that of Constans II (641–668 AD), precisely down to 646 AD. There is also a Sassanian dish bearing an image of Shapur the Great (309–379 AD), and a Byzantine dish with an inscription of the early 6th-century bishop of Tomis. Other finds must probably be dated to as late as the 670s.