Contents tagged with Donbas

  • Pentagon seeks to examine experiences of Ukrainian veterans to help train US soldiers

    The U.S. Army seeks to examine the experiences of Ukrainian veterans on the frontline in order to use it to train its soldiers, as reported by Golos Ameriki, based on the results of the first training rotation of Ukrainian servicemen.

    “We seek to examine information provided by ATO veterans concerning their military operations. We want to provide a report of our findings to the Armed Forces of Ukraine so they may better understand things Ukrainian soldiers have to deal with,” the article says. …

  • Ukrainian Intelligence Releases Data on Russian Military Losses in the Donbas Region

    According to Ukrainian intelligence, hundreds of Russian soldiers were killed in eastern Ukraine after the Minsk Agreements were signed. 

    According to the representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Vadim Skibitskiy, from January to September of 2015, 627 soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Army Corps of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were killed in eastern Ukraine. In addition, 2,155 soldiers were injured.

    Skibitskiy stated in an interview, " …

  • OSCE: 90% of violations occur on separatist-held territory in eastern Ukraine

    The Duputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, Alexander Hug, stated that, “More than ninety percent of the violations in the area of the ATO are carried out on the territories outside the control of the Ukrainian government” in an interview with the Ukrainian News.

    In particular, according to him, such violations often involve the restriction of access of the members of the mission to certain areas. He reminded the parties they must allow observers free …

  • The OSCE has Documented an Increase in Attacks in Eastern Ukraine

    On February 1st, the Special Mission of the OSCE recorded 337 explosions in the Donbas region and on February 2nd, almost five times more.

    The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the OSCE observed numerous violations of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine as stated in the observer’s report from February 2nd, published on the official website of the OSCE.

    In particular, the observers recorded 337 explosions on February 1st and 1,614 on February 2nd, including those fired from heavy weapons. "On …

  • Pro-Russian Separatists Acknowledge Debt Owed To Kiev

    Following the results of the negotiations of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, the self-proclaimed LPR (the Lugansk People`s Republic) and DPR (the Donetsk People`s Republic) have acknowledged debts to the Ukrainian budget and their repayment.  Agreements on the exchange of prisoners have not yet reached.

    The acknowledgements were reported by Daria Olifer, the Press-Secretary of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.  This became known after the meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group …

  • Ukrainian Foreign Ministry calls on OSCE to react to human rights violations in Crimea

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has called on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to react to human rights violations in Crimea and other regions of Ukraine which are beyond the control of the country.  This was stated by the Deputy Director of the Department of International Organizations of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Vasyl Pokotylo, at a round table dedicated to Germany’s presidency of the OSCE in 2016.Pokotylo continued, “We believe that the …

  • Ukraine Ministry of Defense: 300 people have died from swine flu in Donbas region

    On January 24th, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that approximately 300 people were killed by the H1N1 swine flu virus or acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI) in Donetsk. The occupation authorities of the Donbas region are unable to provide the local population with needed medical care, leading to an outbreak of the illnesses. The Chief Directorate of Intelligence noted that tensions in the Donbas conflict continue unabated.

    The Deputy Minister of Health Care of Ukraine, Igor …

  • Ukrainian Authorities: the Situation in the Donbas Region is Critical

    Pro-Russian separatists of the DPR and the LPR are trying to create a "political system that shows signs of a totalitarian regime" in the occupied territories, the head of the ATO of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vitaliy Malikov, said.Social and living conditions as well as economic and humanitarian situations in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions which are occupied by militants, can be described as critical, Malikov said in an interview with ZN.ua. According to him, the fuel and energy sector, …

  • Poroshenko: Constitutional Changes will exclude 'Special Status' for Regions

    Decentralization and constitutional changes will exclude the adoption of laws on “special status” for any of the regions as stated by the president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, at a meeting of the Association of Towns of Ukraine in Kiev.

    "Decentralization and constitutional change, on the contrary, discourages attempts to create laws granting "special status" for any city, region or territory," Poroshenko said.

    According to the President, the forces that are trying to stop the process of …

  • Shkiryak: Zakharchenko and Plotnitsky Ordered Each Other's Assassination

    The Ukrainian Advisor to the Minister of the Interior, Zorian Shkiryak wrote on his Facebook page that the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky, ordered the murder of each other.

    “It became known from the sources close to the leaders of the terrorists that the leader of Lugansk People’s Republic, Igor Plotnitsky ordered the murder of the leader of Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko. Zakharchenko, in …