Contents tagged with Donbas

  • Russia closes border with DPR

    Russian authorities temporarily closed entry for residents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), reported the news agency TASS with reference to the border control department of Russian Federal Security Service's Border Directorate for the Rostov region.

    "For this category of citizens, entry to the Russian Federation is temporarily restricted," the department said.

    The Russian Federal Security Service also confirmed that the entry of foreign nationals to Russia is restricted. …

  • MH17 crash trial: Russia was planning to send three Buk missile systems to Donbas but only one made it

    Russia sent two Buk anti-aircraft missile systems to the territory of Ukraine and planned to send a third one, Ukrinform reported, citing Eliot Higgins, founder of the international investigative group Bellingcat.

    "The first Buk arrived a few days before MH17 was shot down, but it broke down and had to be sent back to Russia. Then Russia tried to send two more on the night of July 17, but only one missile systems crossed the border, because there were not enough trucks to transport the other …

  • Lawyer of families of MH17 crash victims: Permission to send Buk missile system from Russia to Ukraine was given by Putin

    The Buk surface-to-air missile system from which the Malaysian Boeing 777 flight MH17 was shot down could not have been removed from Russia without the permission of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the lawyer of relatives of the MH17 crash victims, Jerry Skinner, in a comment to Deutsche Welle.

    In his opinion, during the court hearings in the Netherlands, the public will hear the names of advisers close to Putin, and probably, the Russian president himself will be mentioned.

    "I don't …

  • MH17 crash trial: Russia intimidates witnesses in attempt to disrupt court hearing in the Hague

    Russia is trying to find and intimidate witnesses in the case of the crash of Malaysian Boeing in the Donbas, the hearings of which began in The Hague, reports Novaya Gazeta with reference to a statement by Dutch State Prosecutor Thijs Berger.

    "The use of special services to try to reveal the identity of witnesses is a real scenario. Their agents have the ability to intercept messages and track people's movements," Berger said, adding that there were attempts by "GRU agents" to hack into the …

  • Militants attack Ukrainian positions in Donbas

    On Tuesday, March 10, pro-Russian militants attacked positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donetsk direction, reports the press service of the Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation.

    According to the Ukrainian military, militants shelled positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces with prohibited 120 mm mortars, grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns and small arms.

    In addition, a Ukrainian military truck, Gaz-66, was shot at with an anti-tank missile system. Several Ukrainian …

  • MH17 defendants face life in prison

    The maximum penalty for the defendants in the case of the crash of Malaysian Boeing MH17 in the Donbass in July 2014 is life imprisonment, said the representative of the Dutch prosecutor's office, Digna van Butzelar, as quoted by UNN news agency.

    The four suspects are charged with two counts: the downing of flight MH17, which resulted in the deaths of all persons on board (Article 168 of the Netherlands Criminal Code), and the murder of 298 people on board flight MH17 (Article 289 of the …

  • MH17 trial: Two Buk missile systems were sent from Russia to Ukraine

    During the first court hearing in the Netherlands in the case of the MH17 air crash in the Donbas, the prosecution stated that at least two Buk anti-aircraft missile systems were sent to Ukraine from Russia in 2014, but one of them broke down on the way, BBC Russian Service reports.

    In 2018, analysts from the Bellingcat investigative group stated that the delivery of the Buk, which was used to shoot down the Malaysian Boeing, was overseen by Oleg Ivannikov, an officer of the Russian GRU (The …

  • Kyiv: Russia to deport a coronavirus patient with Russian passport to DPR

    A man who recently arrived in the Russian city of Novosakhtinsk from China with symptoms of coronavirus, will be soon deported to the territory of Donbas, which is not under Ukraine’s control, reports the command center of the Ukrainian Joint Forces operation, citing intelligence data.

    It is reported that the infected person is a resident of the separatist-held territories of Donbas, who recently received a Russian passport. After the man was diagnosed with symptoms of coronavirus, the Russian …

  • Ukrainian President threatens to abandon Donbas negotiations with Russia

    Ukraine may refuse to hold negotiations with Russia on the Donbas, if there is no progress made this year, stated the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with The Guardian.

    "Time is running out. The authorities can spend a year trying to reach an agreement. Then it should be implemented," said Zelensky, noting that it is impossible to wait any longer. The President of Ukraine said that after the first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he set a deadline to …

  • Ukrainian Armed Forces receive new batch of modernized T-72 tanks

    Kyiv armor plant has delivered six upgraded T-72 tanks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

    The company's specialists modified the equipment to improve its technical parameters and combat characteristics, reported the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

    The plant improved optical instruments, gun stabilization system, and the steering system. With this batch of tanks, the Kyiv plant completed the implementation of the contract with the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. All tanks will be handed over to units of …