Contents tagged with LPR

  • Kyiv extends Donbas 'special status' law

    On Thursday, December 12, Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, extended the law on special provisions for local governments in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions until December 31 next year.

    The bill was supported by 320 MPs.

    According to the document, the possibility of an introduction of a temporary special status of local governments in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, established by Article 1 of the current law, has been extended for a year. 

    The law …

  • OSCE: troops withdrawal in new areas in Donbas is discussed

    OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák said that as part of the work of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine negotiations are taking place on potential withdrawal of forces and equipment in new territories along the demarcation line in the Donbas, reports Novosti Donbasa news outlet.

    "Negotiations on withdrawal are ongoing  within the Trilateral Contact Group. We fully support this. I don't want to say what the result will be. But there is a positive trend," …

  • Russia to urge Ukraine to start direct negotiations with LPR and DPR at Normandy summit

    At the Normandy summit in Paris on December 9, Russia intends to urge Ukraine to begin direct dialog with the ringleaders of the Russia-backed separatist armed groups, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, which occupy parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

    “We heard from the previous administration in Ukraine, from the previous regime, statements that they will never negotiate directly with Donetsk and Luhansk, we …

  • Russia intends to discuss Donbas special status at next Normandy Four meeting

    During the upcoming Normandy Four Summit on December 9 in Paris, the special status of the territories controlled by the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics, with its inclusion in the Constitution of Ukraine, will be discussed, reports Kommersant, citing its source in Russian government. Other topics would involve security issues, amnesty, and elections.

    Security issues are related to the further withdrawal of forces and equipment in other areas of the demarcation line in the Donbas. …

  • Russia urges Ukraine to extend Donbas special status law

    The Russian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) has urged Kyiv to enter into direct negotiations with the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk Peoples Republics about enshrining the special status of the Donbas in Ukraine’s Constitution, said Russian representative to the TCG Boris Gryzlov, as cited by Interfax-Ukraine.

    The Russians are concerned that the Ukrainian law on the special status of the Donbas expires on December 31.

    “The Russian delegation urged Kyiv to ensure that this law …

  • Russia transfers special forces and ‘Cossacks’ to Donbas

    The Russian Armed Forces command has been transferring special forces and so-called “Cossack formations” to eastern Ukraine to rotate and reinforce the pro-Russian forces, said Ihor Lossovsky, Ukraine’s deputy envoy to international organizations in Vienna, during a session of the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation in Vienna on October 30, Ukrinform reports.

    “Through the stretches of the Russian-Ukrainian border not controlled by Ukraine, special forces divisions and so-called ‘Cossack …

  • Simultaneous withdrawal of forces started in Ukraine’s Luhansk region

    The process of bilateral withdrawal of forces began at 12:00 local time near the Zolote-4 settlement in stretch No. 2 in the Luhansk region, Ukraine’s Joint Forces Command announced on Facebook on Tuesday.

    “This was possible because the silence regime had been complied with for the last week,” the post states. The post emphasizes that the start of the disengagement has been confirmed by representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. However, “in no event will the government disregard …

  • Kyiv: Azov battalion removed weapons from troops withdrawal zone in Donbas

    Deputy Head of Ukrainian National Police Vadym Troyan said that after the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and conversation with the police, the fighters of Azov volunteer battalion in the Zolote of the Luhansk region of Ukraine withdrew the legal weapon. He also said that at the moments there is only a group of volunteers without weapons who stayed in the area of preparation for the withdrawal of troops in the Zone of Operation of the United Forces in the Zolote-4 and …

  • Kyiv denies resuming gas supply to LPR and DPR

    Naftogaz of Ukraine has refuted reports of it resuming the natural gas supply to the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

    “The news that we are going to supply gas to the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) is a fake. If we are ordered to supply gas to these Ukrainian territories before they are liberated and without the ability to collect money for this, we’ll tell you,” Naftogaz wrote on Facebook.

    At present, decree No. 867 …

  • Kyiv: Russia planning large-scale military aggression, Ukrainian Armed Forces prepare to defend

    Oleksiy Taran, Deputy Chief of Ukraine’s General Staff, told Tyzhden.ua in an interview that Russia is preparing for large-scale military aggression.

    “These plans are completely obvious. Accordingly, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are preparing to repel military aggression along Ukraine’s entire border,” Taran remarked.

    He said that this applies not only to the demarcation line, but also to other regions, including the border with Belarus and around Crimea and Bessarabia. The “prepared governing …