Contents tagged with Donbas

  • Ukrainian Intelligence: The number of prisoners of war held by Ukraine is much lower than separatists claim

    The Advisor to the Head of Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), Yuri Tandit, stated on the 112 Ukraine TV Channel that more than 300 people from the list received from separatists have never been in Ukraine. According to him, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) stated that Ukraine holds 602 prisoners. “We don’t understand where these figures came from,” Tandit said.

    Tandit clarified that Ukrainian officials received data on 1102 prisoners in Minsk in 2015. SSU analyzed this information. “I took …

  • Ukrainian Intelligence: Russia continues to send weapons and soldiers to the Donbas

    Russia continues to supply its troops in the Donbas with personnel and weapons, according to a report released by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

    According to the report, on the 24th of July, four trucks carrying 110 personnel and three guns were identified coming from Russia en route to Sverdlovsk in the Luhansk region.

    Ukraine has contacted representatives of the Special Monitoring Mission of the OSCE and reported on the presence of tanks, …

  • OSCE mini drone comes under fire in LPR-controlled area

    A mini unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) belonging to the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission came under fire near Kalynove, an area controlled by the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic, according to a report released by the OSCE.

    “The SMM heard four shots which it assessed as being fired from an assault rifle targeting the UAV. At the time of the incident, the UAV was flying 800 meters south-west of the launch site. The shots were fired from a location assessed as less than one kilometer west of …

  • Ukraine calls on the West to increase pressure on Russia to implement the Minsk Agreements

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is deeply concerned about the severe deterioration of the security situation in eastern Ukraine.

    “We appeal to our international partners to strengthen political and diplomatic pressure on the Kremlin to stop the dangerous escalation of tension in the Donbas,” reported the statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    The statement noted that Ukraine strictly adheres to its commitments; will continue to do everything possible to ensure that people …

  • Zakharchenko is ready to meet with Savchenko

    One of the separatist leaders in the Donbas, Alexander Zakharchenko, declared that he is ready to meet with the Batkivshchyna party deputy in the Verkhovna Rada, Nadiya Savchenko. This was reported in the separatists’ official statement on Monday, July 25, 2016.

    “A meeting is possible. However, first I need to understand what we would discuss. This neutral meeting [could be a PR strategy by] Savchenko. I'm willing to hear suggestions for the agenda. If Savchenko offers to discuss specific and …

  • Herashchenko: Separatists threaten Ukrainian detainees with up to 30 years imprisonment

    Pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region transferred the Ukrainian hostages to jail and threatened them with up to 30 years of imprisonment, as written on Facebook by the President's Humanitarian Envoy at the Minsk peace talks regarding the War in Donbas, Iryna Herashchenko.

    "The prisoners are still in jail, even in the worst conditions, because they were transferred to a pre-trial detention center and threatened with up to a 30-year imprisonment," Herashchenko said.

    "In April, when the …

  • So-called Luhansk People's Republic postpones local elections

    The head of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), Igor Plotnitsky, has announced the decision to postpone the local elections in the occupied territories of the Luhansk region. The elections were to be held on July 24 and have been postponed to November 6, reports the Luhansk separatist websites.

    The date of the local elections has been repeatedly postponed by the Luhansk and Donetsk separatists.

    Recently, a representative of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Denis …

  • Ukrainian Defense Minister: Tensions continue to rise in the Donbas

    Ukraine has noticed an upward trend in tensions in the military-controlled region of Donbas, where “weapons, ammunition and military equipment are being supplied daily”. Interfax-Ukraine reported that this was said by Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, Stepan Poltorak, in his speech at the opening of the active phase of the Ukrainian-American exercises in Odessa.

    “These exercises are being held at a time when the situation in eastern Ukraine is deteriorating. However, they are an important …

  • Three Ukrainian border guards in the Donbas suffer retina burns after being shot with laser weapons

    Three Ukrainian border guards at the Marinka checkpoint have suffered retina burns of varying severity while conducting terrain surveillance using optical equipment. The Ukrainian State Border Service suspects that prohibited special purpose laser weapons were used against them.

    "The nature of the burns and preliminary medical diagnosis leads to the conclusion that it's possible that the enemy used high-power light emitters, which could be the so called ‘dazzling lasers,’" the State Border …

  • So-called Luhansk People's Republic to organize tours to the war zone

    Luhansk authorities plan to develop tourist routes in the hostile areas in the Donbas. This was said by the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic’s (LPR) Head of the Department of Tourism of the Ministry of Family, Youth, Sports and Tourism, Svetlana Didkovskaya.

    “We have students who write a large number of scientific papers every year. We want to develop and offer tours titled ‘'Places of military glory of LPR',” Didkovskaya said at a briefing.

    According to her, the development of the tours …