Contents tagged with Donbas

  • Ukrainian forces advance deeper into the Donbas as the situation in Eastern Ukraine escalates

    On June 7-8 there was fierce fighting for the Zholobok settlement in the Luhansk region. Both the Ukrainian side and the separatists reported dozens of killed and injured.

    As early as June 2, one of the battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade suddenly moved forward into the gray zone from the Krymskoye settlement in the south towards the separatists’ position along the Bakhmut route. The Ukrainian military managed to advance half a kilometer directly …

  • President of Ukraine asks head of OSCE to deploy police mission in the Donbas

    During a meeting with Sebastian Kurz, acting chairman of the OSCE and Austrian Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign affairs, President Petro Poroshenko called for discussion to be initiated in Vienna regarding the deployment of an armed OSCE police mission to the Donbas, as reported on the president’s website.

    Special attention was given to the increase in incidences of OSCE observer intimidation by the pro-Russian separatists. The Ukrainian President pointed out that the …

  • The Ukrainian Army has retaken control of territory seized by separatists in 2015

    The Ukrainian Army advanced about a mile into the “gray zone” along the Bakhmut road in the Donbas. As a result, a strategically important road to Luhansk that was controlled by the separatist and the village of Zholobok fell into the range of fire of the Ukrainian artillery, as reported on the Ukrainian TV program TSN Tyzhden.

    According to the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the army’s advance cannot be considered an offensive. The retaken territory should be under Ukraine’s control …

  • Switzerland sends 600 tons of humanitarian aid to the Donbas

    The Swiss Embassy in Ukraine has sent 600 tons of humanitarian aid to the uncontrolled territory of the Donetsk region, as reported the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine on their website.

    “30 trucks from the Swiss Embassy went through Novotroitske checkpoint to the uncontrolled territory,” the message on the web site reads.

    According to the information of the border guards, the trucks transported humanitarian cargo for residents of Donetsk region with a total weight of about 600 tons. …

  • Ukraine begins broadcasting in separatist-controlled territory

    In the Donetsk region, from the city of Chasiv Yar, broadcasting of the First Channel of the Ukrainian Radio National Television Company (National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine) to the separatist-held territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions has begun on the frequency 873 kHz, as reported by the Press Service of the Donetsk Military Civil Administration.

    Pavlo Zhebrivskyi, the head of the Donetsk Regional State Aviation Administration, assured that the signal for the Ukrainian radio …

  • The war in the Donbas has deprived Ukraine of a fifth of its GDP

    The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in Sydney published the Global Peace Index 2017. According to it, Ukraine's economic losses from the conflict in the Donbas in 2016 amounted to 20.4% of the nation’s GDP. In other words, the economic cost of violence in the country is $66.7 billion according to the index of purchasing power.

    As follows from the rating, Iceland is recognized as the most peace-loving country. New Zealand is a close second while Portugal took third place. Austria is …

  • Ukrainian Politician: Ukrainian Armed Forces are gradually moving deeper into the Donbas

    The Ukrainian Armed Forces are gradually moving deeper into the uncontrolled territory of the Donbas, driving separatists out of the so-called “gray zone.”, as reported by the Deputy Minister for the Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, George Tuka, in an interview with the site 112 Ukraine TV channel.

    He stressed that the territories occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces belong to Ukraine in accordance with the Minsk agreements.

    “We talking are about the …

  • Montenegro joins EU imposing sanctions on those responsible for aggression against Ukraine

    Montenegrin authorities have banned 149 citizens of Russia and Ukraine from entering the country and possessing property because of their involvement in the annexation of the Crimea and the war in the Donbas, B92 news outlet reports.

    The list of citizens who are banned from entering Montenegro was formulated on the basis of the European Council’s ruling.

    “Montenegro is restricting the entry and management of property and assets of the people who bear responsibility for actively supporting the …

  • Kremlin: Russia ready for talks with U.S. about the Donbas

    Russia intends to step up the dialogue with the U.S. on the settlement of the situation in Donbas, as reported by the newspaper Izvestiya citing the by Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Ryabkov.

    According to him, Russia expects that soon the U.S. will appoint someone in the State Department to care for this matter. First, a successor to Victoria Nuland – who was involved in the Ukraine issue under Barack Obama – needs to be appointed. Only then will there be possible a substantive …

  • Macron warns Putin that sanctions will be tightened if the situation in the Donbas escalates

    French President Emmanuel Macron said that he is willing to tighten the sanctions against Russia if the situation in the Donbas escalates.

    He made a statement to this effect at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Versailles.

    “If needed, we will have to intensify the sanctions, but (only) if there is an escalation. But if there is a de-escalation, this won’t happen, and I want there to be a de-escalation,” Macron emphasized.

    He also added that a discussion of the …