Contents tagged with War in Ukraine

  • Herashchenko: 140 Ukrainians Held by Donbas Militants

    Militants of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) are holding 140 Ukrainian prisoners, many of whom are sick or wounded. This information was posted on the Facebook of the Commissioner of the President for the Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Iryna Herashchenko.

    "We presented the full information on all our efforts to release the hostages—according to SBU the number is 140 Ukrainians—among whom are many people …

  • Pro-Russian Separatists Occupy Village near Mariupol

    Last week, leaders in the Defense Ministry of Ukraine were informed that Russian scouts had appeared in the village of Kominternovo near Mariupol.  As of today, Russian infantry have occupied the village.

    When journalists commented on the presence of Russian scouts in the village last week, leaders of the Ukrainian Armed Forces dismissed the reports, with one Ukrainian general saying "You guys are confused, this is our position."  

    According to media reports, on the morning of December 22nd, …

  • Ukrainian Sappers Destroy 100 Mines near Mariupol

    The press center of the ATO reports that mine disarming operations by Ukrainian forces have continued a few kilometers away from the conflict in the Mariupol region.

    "In the direction of Mariupol, it has been relatively quiet for the last two days. This makes it possible for the Ukrainian military to actively dispose of mines. Recently, explosions were constantly heard in the vicinity. Taking advantage of a partial cessation of hostilities in the area, the Ukrainian military have begun to …

  • Russia calls Connecting EU Sanctions to Situation in Donbas Groundless

    The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that connecting the EU sanctions to the regulation of the conflict in the Donbass is “groundless.”

    "The fact that the EU binds their sanctions to the settlement of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine is artificial and groundless. This conflict was started not by Russia, but by the current Ukrainian government," the Ministry said.

    "The lack of logic in the behavior of the European Union is obvious. It's trying to 'punish' Russia for something that it has no …

  • Yatsenyuk explains the moratorium on "Yanukovych's debt"

    The Prime Minister of Ukraine has cited ‘political bribery’ as the rationale for the suspension of payments on the Ukrainian debt to Russia in the amount of $3.5 billion. This was stated during his "10 minutes with the Prime Minister about unity" speech on the 5th channel, as reported by the Ukrainian news agency UKRINFORM.

    "This debt was nothing more than a political bribe by Moscow to its puppet who ruled Ukraine.  This bribe was to ensure that Ukraine would not have a visa-free regime or …

  • John Kerry: Solving the Ukrainian problem is our main task

    “The United States and Russia can work together,” said U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry.  The main focus of American-Russian cooperation is the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis.

    "In September (during a speech by the U.S. President, Barack Obama, at the UN General Assembly) the main issue was the Ukrainian crisis, but since then we have made considerable progress.  I am now in Moscow, proving that, despite differences, Russia and the United States are able to and want to work together. We …

  • Russian Duma Speaker: Sanctions against Russia are humiliating and illogical for the EU

    According to Sergei Naryshkin, the Russian Duma Speaker, the sanctions against Russia have been entered into without the consent of the people of the EU.  The sanctions against Russia are humiliating and illogical for the EU, said Naryshkin, in an article he wrote for the newspaper Izvestia, released on Monday.

    "Brussels’ approach to modern Russia is a strategic miscalculation.  Talking to us in the language of illegal sanctions is illogical and obviously embarrassing for European diplomacy," …

  • Militants continue aggressive shelling of ATO forces in eastern Ukraine

    Illegally armed pro-Russian rebels continue trying to provoke Ukrainian Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) forces, according to the operation's press center.

    "Since the beginning of the day nearly 35 cases of ceasefire violations by the Russian-terrorist gangs have been reported," according to a post by the official press center on Facebook on Sunday.

    The press center sayid that the majority of the attacks have occurred around the Donetsk airport where small arms and grenade launchers of various …

  • Russian sanctions extended

    BRUSSELS – The European Union on Monday extended its economic sanctions against Russia for six months, after the Kremlin had failed to fully respect a peace agreement in east Ukraine.

    The sanctions target Russia's financial, energy and defense sectors as well as some dual-use goods.

    Despite a cease-fire declared in February, Ukraine says it still has not regained complete control over its border with Russia and that Russian-backed rebels are not respecting the cease-fire conditions.

    The …

  • Peskov denies reports of military interference

    Russia didn't send military experts to Ukraine, said the President's Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov. He claims that the Russian presence in the southeast of Ukraine consisted entirely of volunteers. According to Interfax, those were his comments on the words of Vladimir Putin during his end-of-the-year press conference on December 17th. Putin said that the Russian citizens fighting alongside the separatists in eastern Ukraine were there as volunteers, though he also admitted to the presence of …