Contents tagged with Donbas

  • US special representative for Ukraine Volker and Putin’s aide Surkov to meet in the end of August

    The meeting of US State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker and Russian Presidential Advisor Vladislav Surkov will take place in Moscow in the last two weeks of August, a diplomatic source told the Russian publication Izvestia.

    According to a source close to the Russian presidential administration, the parties will discuss matters relating to the resolution of the situation in Ukraine and the prevention of conflict escalation.

    “Moscow will present the facts which show …

  • DPR head Zakharchenko says there will be no 'Malorossiya'

    The so-called “leader” of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko stated that the public did not like the name “Malorossiya” (“Little Russia”), but the very idea of “re-establishment” of the country aroused great interest.

    “The very idea of re-establishment of the state, which is plunged into a deep economic and political crisis and not attempting to carry out radical reforms to federalize the country and find ways out of the collapse, received broad support,” said …

  • OSCE camera at Donetsk Filtration Station destroyed by shelling after one day of operation

    A video surveillance camera set up by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) at the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS) was shot at and destroyed.

    “The OSCE SMM camera at the DFS worked for only one day, and was shot from the south and south-west. The camera was destroyed,” said the OSCE SMM report on its microblog on Twitter on Wednesday, which included photos of the damaged camera.

    Alexander Hug, Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE SMM to Ukraine stated that before the camera was …

  • Ukrainian official: Russia continues pouring weapons and personnel to Donbas

    Russia sent 104 trains and 53 convoys of military and motor vehicles to Donbas since the beginning of 2017. This was stated in the materials published by Yevhen Marchuk, the representative of Ukraine in one of the subgroups in the Tripartite Contact Group for the Settlement of the Situation in the Donbas.

    "When I hear the Russian propagandists writhing in hysteria over the possible transfer of defensive weapons to Ukraine by the United States and how it is sung by some of our so-called " …

  • Ukrainian military command: 40,000 Russian soldiers and mercenaries are stationed in Donbas

    As many as 40,000 Russian military personnel and mercenaries recruited by them oppose the Ukrainian army in Eastern Ukraine, stated Viktor Muzhenko, Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in an interview with Liga.net.

    “The total number [of militants in the Donbas] which we identify at present is between 39 and 40 thousand. This is the total military group,” he said.

    Muzhenko clarified that these were regular Russian military personnel as well as …

  • Russia to allow indefinite stay for residents of separatist-held territories of Ukraine

    Russia has removed the restrictions on the length of time which citizens of the separatist-held territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces are permitted to spend in Russia, the press service of the Russian MP Konstantin Zatulin announced.

    Zatulin said that as a result of persistent requests, a special instruction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been distributed to the Russian migration authorities.

    “An additional instruction has been circulated not to extend migration records …

  • Germany’s Special Representative for Cooperation with Russia calls on Ukraine to focus on Donbas conflict

    Germany's Coordinator of German-Russian Intersocietal Cooperation, Gernot Erler, said that Ukraine should focus on resolving the conflict in the Donbas, and only then return to the issue of Crimea’s de-occupation, reports Deutschlandfunk.de. According to the German special envoy, such an approach coincides with the wishes of the European community. It considers the ending of the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine a matter of priority. The matter of the de-occupation of the Crimea is on the …

  • US special representative for Ukraine to visit Russia soon

    US special representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker will soon visit Russia and meet with Vladislav Surkov, advisor to the Russian president, as stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was in the Philippine capital of Manila on Sunday.

    “Rex Tillerson confirmed that such contact with our representative Vladislav Surkov has been planned and will take place soon,” RIA Novosti cites Lavrov as saying.

    Lavrov mentioned that Volker …

  • Kyiv to block broadcasting of pro-Russian channels in the Donbas

    Systems to block the broadcasting of pro-Russian TV channels and radio stations are to be set up along the demarcation line in the Donbas, NSDC (National Security and Defense Council) Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov said in Pokrovsk in the Donetsk province, 06239.com.ua reports.

    “In Pokrovsk the first trial installation of the complex counter-information system has been created, which will make it possible to completely block the pro-Russian TV and radio channels and at the same time to receive …

  • Kyiv: 18 people on Ukrainian prisoner-exchange list refuse to return to separatist republics

    18 people included in the lists for the exchange of prisoners are categorically against being transferred to a territory beyond Ukraine's control, as stated by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Valeriya Lutkovska, UNIAN reports.

    Lutkovska said that the exchange of prisoners within the framework of the Minsk process is now at the stage of clarifying the lists. She noted that 18 people who were included in the exchange lists "categorically refuse to be transferred to the …