Politics of Crimea

Russian state agents have committed serious abuses, including torture, in Crimea, the U.N. said Sept. 25, warning that the rights situation in the annexed peninsula had "significantly deteriorated" under Moscow's occupation.

The European Union plans to extend the sanctions against Russia imposed in connection with the occupation of the Crimea and the intervention in the Donbass for another 6 months.

This was announced by the European Commission, quoted by the France Press Agency. The decision is expected to be formally taken on September 14 at the meeting of the EU Home Affairs Council.

In the Kerchen Strait began a massive operation on the assembly of the railway arch of the Crimean Bridge, BNT reported. It weighs 6,000 tons.

Russia took its first steps on Friday to retaliate against proposed American sanctions for Moscow’s suspected meddling in the 2016 election, seizing two American diplomatic properties and ordering the United States Embassy to reduce staff by September.

The Ukrainian embassy in Belgrade sent an open letter to Kusturica on Tuesday, warning that anyone who breaches the country's Law on Temporarily Occupied Territories by visiting Russian-annexed Crimea will be prosecuted.

"One of the punishments for a breach of the law is a ban on entering Ukrainian territory for a five-year period," the embassy said in the letter.

The well-known Serbian director Emir Kusturica arrived today on the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia from Ukraine, to give a concert with his group "Smoking forbidden".They will play together in Yalta.

"I know there are wonderful landscapes and pretty girls in Yalta," he told journalists on his arrival at the regional capital, Simferopol, quoted by RIA Novosti.

Germany's Siemens tried to distance itself from a Crimean sanctions scandal on July 21, halting deliveries of power equipment to Russian state-controlled customers and reviewing supply deals.

President Emmanuel Macron said Monday France refuses to recognise Russia's "annexation" of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, AFP reported.
Speaking after talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Paris, Macron said: "France is committed to Ukraine's sovereignty with its recognised borders."/FOCUS News Agency/

Germany's Foreign Ministry says envoys from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France will meet this week in Berlin to try and push forward the implementation of a peace deal for eastern Ukraine, Voice of America reported.

A Russian ship sank on its way to Turkey in the Black Sea on April 19, as five people have been rescued and seven are missing, Doğan News Agency has reported.

"On April 19, the Heroes of Arsenal ship sank in the Black Sea," the Crimea department of the Russian Emergencies Ministry said in a statement.

According to Crimean rescuers, the vessel had 12 crew members on board.