Contents tagged with Donbas
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Zakharchenko: Ukrainian political parties will not participate in the primaries in the Donbas
According to the head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko, Ukrainian parties will not participate in early voting in the region.
“Under no circumstances will Ukrainian parties participate in the primaries in the DPR. I know that today’s reports on early public voting has caused excitement in the Ukrainian media and has resulted in a wave of false insinuations. It is untrue that we are supposedly waiting for Ukrainian parties to participate in our elections,” …
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Switzerland sends humanitarian aid to the Donbas
Two convoys with medicine and materials for water purification were delivered from Switzerland to the east of Ukraine, as announced by the Swiss government.
As the government explained, a train carrying supplies for water treatment went from Switzerland to Donetsk on Sunday morning.
"The goods are intended for water pumping stations in the Donbas region which provide drinking water to the population on both sides of the line of contact," the message states. In addition, medical supplies, in …
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Stratfor: Washington and Moscow may be making progress in talks over Ukraine
The United States is likely making slow headway in the negotiation process with Russia on the crisis in Ukraine but this week demonstrated significant progress. Voice of America reports that this statement was released by the American analytical center Stratfor in a new analysis named "Anticipation of progress in negotiations on Ukraine."
On May 18th, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland once again visited Moscow where she met with Russian Presidential Assistant Vladislav Surkov. This …
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Ukrainian politician: Peaceful de-occupation of the Donbas will take five years
The Deputy Minister for the Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine, George Tuka, said that Ukraine will have to wait five years for a peaceful end to the occupation of the Donbas. As he stated in an interview on Channel 5, an OSCE police mission should be put in place in the Donbas to ensure the return of the occupied territories.
"We are not talking about a three to five year war, rather a de-occupation time frame. One of the ways the President says we …
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German radio station: Prisoners are tortured in so-called DPR and LPR
Deutschlandfunk radio reported that, according to Ukrainian human rights groups, prisoners are being tortured in 79 prisons in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
The results of this investigation were published by the German public-law radio station Deutschlandfunk on the 18th of May. According to the radio station, human rights advocates are planning to transfer the collected materials to The Hague Tribunal for an investigation into possible war crimes.
The head of …
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Committee of Voters of Ukraine: It is impossible to hold elections in the Donbas
Elections in the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk will not happen for at least a few more years, as stated by the Chairman of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, Oleksiy Koshel.
According to him, some reasons for this are the ongoing conflict, an armed population and a lack of a voter registry. “Another issue is that there may be expatriates who might decide to come back. They also have the right to vote. These issues first need to be resolved. Also, more than a year is needed to …
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Ukraine calls for international investigation into crimes in the Donbas
At the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, the Ukrainian delegation to the UN made a statement calling for the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes in the East of Ukraine and bring to justice those responsible for mass killings.
Ukrinform quoted the statement of Ukrainian diplomats as saying “In light of the current difficult situation within and around Ukraine we fully recognize that there is an urgent need to ensure global jurisdiction, legitimacy and the International …
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Pororshenko: Ukraine has established the Donbas Reconstruction Fund
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated that a special fund for the restoration of the Donbas will be established in Ukraine and financed through budgetary funds and international assistance, his press service reported.
"Work is continuing on a special fund which will be directed for the restoration of the Donbas,” the President stated.
According to Poroshenko, the fund will be formed using the state budget of Ukraine and donor assistance of partner countries and international financial …
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Turkey supports creating OSCE police mission in the Donbas
During a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev, Turkish Minister of National Defense İsmet Yılmaz supported the idea of placing an armed OSCE police mission in the Donbas, Interfax-Ukraine reported.
"The president briefed [Yılmaz] on the situation in the Donbas. Ukraine remains committed to the implementation of the Minsk agreements, but draws attention to the need for a system for the de-escalation of the situation and the deployment of armed police mission under the …
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US demands that separatists allow OSCE access to weapons storage facilities
The US representative to the OSCE, Daniel Baer, called for the immediate withdrawal of heavy weapons from the territories controlled by separatists in eastern Ukraine.
At a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, the representative said that the OSCE observers reported no decrease in the arsenal of heavy weapons in Luhansk, "including tanks, howitzers, armored vehicles and anti-aircraft surface-to-air systems," Ukrinform reported.
According to the OSCE mission in eastern Ukraine, …