Contents tagged with Donbas

  • Security Service of Ukraine: 144 Ukrainians are held captive by the separatists

    As of September 2, there are 144 Ukrainians being held captive by the separatists in the Donbas, as stated by the adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), Yuri Tandit on 112 Ukraine TV.

    "In recent days, unfortunately, the number has increased slightly because ordinary civilians were detained, who had no weapons and were not near the line of demarcation, and were not participants of the ATO [Anti-Terrorist Operation]. They have been accused of espionage and other crimes that …

  • Turchynov: Russia remains in Donbas to put pressure on Europe

    Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin are not going to leave the "occupied territory" because he regards the war in the Donbas as a lever of pressure on Europe.

    Secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov stated this at a meeting with the head of the World Congress of Ukrainians, Eugene Czolij, the press service of the National Security and Defense Council reported.

    "Putin is not going to get out of the occupied territory, and for him, the war in the Donbas is …

  • Shelling continues in Donbas

    On the third of September three incidents of shelling at Ukrainian soldiers by pro-Russian separatist militants took place in the Eastern Region of Ukraine, according to the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO).

    At approximately 6:00 am almost twenty 120-millimeter rockets were launched at the Ukrainian positions near Hnutove and Talakivka (the Region of Donetsk).

    In total 17 separate incidents of shelling at the Ukrainian side from rocket launchers and large caliber machine …

  • Ukraine considering several options for introduction of peacekeepers in Donbas

    Kyiv is considering three options for the introduction of a UN peacekeeping mission in the Donbas, as stated by Arthur Gerasimov, chairman of the faction Bloc of Petro Poroshenko (BPP), in a radio broadcast on Era.

    “The discussion currently includes several options [for the introduction of the peacekeeping mission]. For example, the first is the format proposed by the President of Ukraine, voiced during a session of the General Assembly. Also under discussion is the format for introducing …

  • Official from the separatist DPR accused Russia of betrayal

    In his Facebook post, the former leader of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Roman Lyagin said that Russia had betrayed the separatists in the Donbas.  

    "I am the organizer of the referendum and responsible for the failure of the Ukrainian elections in 2014. I did what I did according to my beliefs, sincerely and with full dedication! Because I believed in Russia, which will not leave us. But it [Russia] left us to the mercy of fate! …

  • Media: More than 36,000 Russian mercenaries stationed in the Donbas

    There are constantly 36,000 Russian mercenaries in the Donbas on a rotational basis, with weapons and equipment. Of them, 2900 are regular soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces (RAF),Ukrayinska Pravda reported with reference to the Crisis Media Center.

    As of July 2017, in Eastern Ukraine there were soldiers of the 331st Guards Airborne Regiment, the 20th Motor Rifle Brigade (Volgograd), and the 7th Air Assault Brigade from Novorossiysk in Krasnodar Krai.

    Lyubov Tsybulskaya, advisor to General …

  • Ukraine expels Spanish journalists, Spain voices protest

    Journalist organizations in Spain are outraged by the deportation of Spanish journalists from Ukraine who reported on the conflict in the Donbas, reports El Mundo.

    Antonio Pampliega and Manuel Angel Sastre were deported from the country on Friday after being detained at the airport in Kyiv for almost 20 hours.

    In 2015, Spanish journalists were added to the list of people who are a threat to the national security of Ukraine, which is why they were banned from entering Ukraine for a period of …

  • Kyiv: Bill on reintegration of Donbas is almost ready, Russia is called ‘country-aggressor’

    The bill on the reintegration of the Donbass is 99.9% ready for submission to the Ukrainian parliament, said Iryna Lutsenko, the representative of the President of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada, Channel 5 reports.

    "The bill on the reintegration of the Donbas, that is, the law on state policy and the direction of state policy on the return and restoration of the Donbas, is completed," Lutsenko stressed. She clarified that "this project, in fact, is 99.9% complete. It was reviewed. Consultations …

  • Ukraine accuses pro-Russian separatists of deliberately burning agricultural lands

    Under high fire risk conditions, militants in the Donbas are deliberately firing flares, aiming directly at fields and settlements and creating fires, said Yevhen Marchuk, Ukraine’s representative in the Security subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group. “Temperatures in the Donbas are high now in the literal and the figurative sense. There is a lot of deadwood there, not to mention the fields with ripe grain. When the wind is in our direction, the separatists shoot flares, but not in the air …

  • Poroshenko to residents of Donetsk: We are fighting hard for your return to Ukraine

    President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko congratulated citizens of Donetsk on City Day and assured that the struggle for the return of Donetsk to Ukraine continues.

    "Ukrainian Donetsk celebrates its birthday today. Happy City Day, dear people of Donetsk! We remember you and are fighting hard for your return to Ukraine. I am sure that the Ukrainian anthem will again sound in our Donetsk!” Poroshenko wrote on his Twitter account on Sunday.

    He also published a video from the Donbas Arena stadium ( …