Contents tagged with Donbas

  • Italian court sentences three mercenaries who fought in Donbas

    A court in Genoa, Italy, has given prison sentences to three mercenaries who fought against Ukraine in the Donbas, the local news outlet La Stampa reports.

    Antonio Cataldo (35, from Nola, Naples) was given 2 years 8 months; Olsi Krutani (39, an Albanian who relocated to Milan a long time ago) was also given 2 years 8 months; and Vladimir Verbitchii (26, a Moldovan who has lived in Parma for many years) was given 1 year 4 months in prison.

    The three were found guilty of unsanctioned …

  • Ukrainian President Zelensky names steps to achieve peace in Donbas

    At a joint briefing after a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Toronto on July 2, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that peace in the Donbas is possible through political and diplomatic means, reports RBC-Ukraine.

    According to Zelensky, the first issue that he discussed with Trudeau was the peace in Ukraine.

    "I am sure that we will achieve real progress only through political and diplomatic means. So in the end, we will force Russia to stop the escalation, to …

  • LPR withdraws troops from Stanytsia Luhanska in Donbas

    Ukraine’s representative to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Leonid Kuchma said that the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) will soon confirm whether the Ukrainian military and the militants of the Russia-backed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) have withdrawn from the Stanytsia Luhanska region.

    “According to our provisional information, the troops from the Russian side have been withdrawn. However, the OSCE SMM needs to confirm this fact,” he said.

    Negotiations to separate the …

  • Russia exporting Donbas coal to 19 countries

    Coal mined in the Donbas, the separatist-controlled region of eastern Ukraine, is being exported by Russia to 19 countries, LIGA.net reports, citing an investigation by a major Ukrainian energy company, whose name is not mentioned.

    The study notes that the primary consumers of Donbas anthracite are Europe and Turkey. In previous studies, only Poland and Turkey were mentioned.

    Between March 2017 and December 2018, Turkey bought more than 3 million tons of anthracite that had been mined in the …

  • Council of Europe threatens to reject Russian passports issued in Donbas

    The Council of Europe (COE) is prepared to consider rejecting Russian passports issued to Donbas residents in breach of the Minsk Agreements. The COE has also called on Moscow to unconditionally release the Ukrainian sailors captured near the Kerch Strait and to grant all vessels safe passage into the Sea of Azov.

    Russian passports issued to inhabitants of the Donbas may not be recognized by the EU, Russia’s Federal News Agency reports, citing a statement by the COE.

    “The Council of Europe …

  • President Zelensky calls for end war in Ukraine

    In the message of the Ukrainian President Zelensky that was published on his website on the Day of Memory and Sorrow, Zelsnsky said that Ukrainians need to remember the feat of their ancestors who defended the country, as well as to make every effort to prevent the war from becoming a routine for future generations.

    The Ukrainian President reminded that early in the morning on June 22, 1941, Kyiv was bombed. "The Second World War broke into our homes and covered the entire territory of Ukraine. …

  • Ukraine's Defense Minister refuses to stop returning fire in Donbas

    Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will continue to return fire in the Donbas, reports UNIAN news agency.

    "We used to respond to the enemy's fire, we are doing it now, and we will continue to respond," he said.

    According to Poltorak, the Ukrainian Army will continue to adhere to the Minsk agreements but has the right to "adequately respond" if the positions or lives of its military are under threat. "We won't surrender a  single piece of our land …

  • Ukrainian President Zelensky: Restoration of Donbas will cost more than $11 billion

    At a meeting with the representatives of Ukrainian large business, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the economic recovery of the Donbas will cost more than 300 billion Ukrainian hryvnias ($11.4 billion), reports Interfax-Ukraine.

    The President stressed that the authorities will not wait for the end of the military conflict but will start working on the territories controlled by Kyiv. Zelensky also invited businesspeople to join the restoration of the region.

    Earlier, the …

  • Kyiv: Russia deployed 82000 troops along Ukrainian border in Donbas and Crimea

    The Chief of the Verification Department of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Andriy Gudz, at a briefing in Kyiv, said that "the total number of troops that Russia holds along the state border of Ukraine in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is about 82 thousand soldiers." He noted that these are combat-ready troops.

    According to Gudz, at the moment there are more than 25 battalion tactical groups along the state border of Ukraine in the …

  • Ukrainian President Zelensky: I'll tell Putin that Crimea and Donbas are Ukraine

    In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that he will start a conversation at a possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin with the issue of the Donbas and Crimea.

    "Let's start with the fact that the Donbas and the Crimea are Ukraine," Zelensky said.

    He expressed hope that Crimea will return to Ukraine as soon as possible.

    "I love Crimea so much. I've been there many, many times. This is a unique place in Ukraine with its nature …