• Pro-Russian separatist added Russian soldier captured by Ukrainian Army in Donbas to prisoner-exchange list

    During a skype conference with the Minsk humanitarian subgroup, the DPR and LPR (officially - separate regions of Donetsk and Luhansk regions - ORDLO) demanded the release of the captured Russian military officer, Ageyev, as part of the prisoner exchange program. The DPR and LPR consider Ageyev to be a "soldier," as stated by the representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian subgroup of the Tripartite Contact Group, Iryna Herashchenko, on her Facebook page.

    "Ukraine's position here is …

  • Ukraine prepares lawsuit against Russia for murder of 17 year-old Ukrainian by separatist commander

    The Ukrainian government intends to file a lawsuit against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in connection with the murder of 17 year-old Stepan Chubenko, goalkeeper for the Avanhard Kramatorsk football club, in June 2014.

    A statement to this effect was made by Deputy Prosecutor General Yevgeny Enin on Facebook, in a comment regarding Russia’s release of Vadim Pogodin, one of the murderers and commander of the illegal armed group “Kerch”.

    “The Prosecutor General’s Office of …

  • Ukraine signs first contract to import coal from US

    On July 31, the state power generation company Centerenergo announced that it had made a contract to import American coal from the company Xcoal Energy and Resources.

    As reported on Centrenergo’s website, the contract was signed as early as July 14, in keeping with the agreements between the presidents of Ukraine and the US which were achieved during Petro Poroshenko’s visit to the US.

    According to the contract terms, Centrenergo is expecting to receive 700,000 tons of American coal by the …

  • Security Service of Ukraine reported that the separatists released two Ukrainian prisoners

    Vitaliy Rudenko, acting judge of the Luhansk Court of Appeals, was released from captivity by separatists, announced the press service of the Security Service of Ukrain. According to the SBU, Rudenko was returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory the day before with the assistance of the Patriot volunteer group.

    "For nine months he was illegally detained and subjected to torture by the LPR (Lunahsk People’s Republic) MGB. The leadership of the SBU informed the President of Ukraine about the …

  • Russia released the commander of the DPR suspected of murdering a 16-year-old Ukrainian

    Russian security forces released Vadim Pogodin, the former commander of the Kerch battalion of the DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic). He is suspected of murdering Stepan Chubenko, a 16-year-old resident of Kramatorsk, as well as of other murders and robberies in the Donbas.

    Pogodin was arrested on June 20 in Yalta at the request of the Ukrainian Interpol National Central Bureau. According to one of his supporters who writes on Facebook under the name of Ioann Semenov, Ukrainian law enforcement …