WASHINGTON, Oct 26 - The White House on Thursday said Russia is executing soldiers who have failed to follow orders and threatening entire units with death if they retreat from Ukrainian artillery fire, The Associated Press reported.

KYIV, Oct 26 - NATO and Russia’s military alike staged planned annual nuclear exercises Wednesday as the Russian president repeated the unfounded claim that Ukraine plans to set off a radioactive “dirty bomb.” On the battlefront, Russian forces pounded more than 40 Ukrainian villages over the past day.

KYIV, Oct 26 – Ukraine is waiting for deliveries of Switchblade 600 drones from the United States, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said in an interview with Politico.

KYIV, Oct 25 – An interdepartmental working group on de-shadowing the economy points to the need to temporarily entrust responsibilities for combating the shadow market of oil and lubricants to law enforcement agencies in view of liquidation of the State Fiscal Service.

KYIV, Oct 26 – Ukraine’s armed forces on Tuesday for the first time deployed combat drone Bayraktar TB2 in an operation to destroy Russian-backed enemy artillery, the General Staff reported.

KYIV, Oct 26 - A recent reshuffle of responsibilities at Ukraine’s central bank threatened its independence and Kyiv’s $5 billion International Monetary Fund deal, two deputy governors of the bank warned on Monday, Reuters reported.

KYIV, Oct 25 – Naftogaz Ukrayiny asked Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman to discuss the issue of taking measures to protect the interests of the state as a transit country for natural gas to European countries at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC).

KYIV, Oct 24 - Almost a third of Ukrainians believe that the European Union can put more pressure on the Ukrainian authorities in the implementation of reforms, according to the results of a sociological survey conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) sponsored by the New Europe Center.

KYIV, Oct 26 – Ukraine's real GDP in 2017 would grow by 2.2%, according to the reviewed forecast published by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). Earlier the central bank expected that the Ukrainian economy would grow by 1.6% this year.

KYIV, Oct 26 - The National Bank of Ukraine on Thursday raised rates for the first time since March 2015 on a worsening inflation outlook and warned about the risks Kyiv faces if it does not comply with its International Monetary Fund aid program.