Contents tagged with Donbas

  • Russian military commander says Moscow seeks ‘control’ of southern Ukraine to make path to Moldova

    On Friday, Russian Major Gen Rustam Minnekayev said Moscow seeks to establish “complete control” over eastern and southern Ukraine, which would provide a land bridge from Russia to the annexed Crimea as well as the Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria, Russia’s TASS news agency reported.

    According to Minnekayev, Russia’s second stage of the “special military operation”, the Kremlin’s euphemism for the invasion of Ukraine, seeks to establish control of Ukraine’s Donbas region.

    Such a move, …

  • Ukrainian Intelligence: spokesman of DPR Defense Ministry has been detained by Russian security services

    The spokesman of the Defense Ministry of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Eduard Basurin, has been detained by Russian military.

    Russian security services began reprisals against commanders in the occupied Donbas because of unsuccessful "special military operation". Eduard Basurin is one of such high-ranking military officials who has been detained, reported the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

    "After speaking with FSB officers, Eduard Basurin was …

  • Ukrainian official says Kharkiv has been hit by 53 strikes in 24 hours

    The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has been hit with 53 artillery and rocket launches over the past 24 hours, according to the head of the Kharkiv regional administration, Oleg Sinegubov.  

    In a video post on Telegram, Sinegubov explained, "Our Armed Forces are constantly fighting to prevent the enemy from passing to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Russians continue to terrorize civilians. Unfortunately, during the past 24 hours, 22 civilians, including three children, were injured in the shelling …

  • Head of Donbas pseudo-republic wants to hold referendum on joining Russia

    A referendum on joining Russia may be held on the territory of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) soon, said the head of the LPR Leonid Pasechnik, writes the Luhansk Information Center.

    "I think that soon a referendum will be held on the territory of the republic, in which the people will exercise their absolute constitutional right and express their opinion on joining the Russian Federation. For some reason, I am sure that this is exactly how it will be," Pasechnik said.

    He …

  • Putin allows 'volunteers from Middle East' to join Russian troops in Ukraine

    Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to allow volunteers from the Middle East, primarily from Syria, to join Russian military operation in Ukraine, RIA Novosti reports citing Putin’s speech at a meeting of the Security Council.

    The proposal was initially made during the meeting by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. According to him, the Russian Defense Ministry receives many applications from people from different countries asking for a permission to participate in the so-called " …

  • Donbas militants ask Putin for military assistance

    The leaders of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin and  Leonid Pasechnik, appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request for military assistance.

    In the appeals dated February 22, Pushilin and Pasechnik complain about the "intensification of military aggression" by Ukraine, the "destruction of infrastructure" including schools and hospitals, and the death of civilians, including children.

    "The actions of the Kyiv regime show reluctance to stop the …

  • Ukraine rejects Putin's demands, calls up reservists

    The demands of Russian President Vladimir Putin to demilitarize Ukraine, recognize Russian sovereignty over the annexed Crimea and ensure that Ukraine will never be accepted into NATO are unrealistic, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

    The list of conditions voiced by Putin on February 22 after he recognized the independence of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, according to the Ukrainian Prime Minister, contradicts the choice of Ukrainian people.

    "For a sovereign …

  • Erdogan calls Russia’s recognition of Donbas breakaway regions unacceptable, promises response in Black Sea

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called unacceptable Russia's decision to recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR).

    "From the very beginning of the crisis, we sincerely sought to reduce tensions. In the statement of our Foreign Ministry on the latest events, it was indicated that Russia's decision to recognize the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk republics contradicts the Minsk agreements. It was stressed that this decision is a clear violation …

  • Putin sends Russian troops into Donbas

    Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Russian Defense Ministry to send Russian troops into the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's republics.

    According to the decree signed by Putin, the Ministry of Defense is instructed to "ensure the implementation of peacekeeping functions" in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics with the help of the armed forces of the Russian Federation. According to the decree, the decision was made following the appeals of DPR and LPR leaders, …

  • Russian Security Council asks Putin to give the West ‘one last chance’ before recognizing Donbas republics

    Russian politicians have called on President Vladimir Putin to "give the West one last chance" to force Kyiv to comply with the Minsk agreements.

    Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev urged Putin to tell his American counterpart Joe Biden that if the necessary measures are not taken, the recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics will follow.

    "We need that you [Putin] tell Biden: "If the massacre does not stop in 2-3 days, then the only solution is the …