Contents tagged with Donbas

  • McCain claims Russia is testing Trump administration by escalating the situation in the Donbas

    According to Radio Liberty (RL), U.S. Senator John McCain has explained that the escalation of the situation in the Donbas is such that Russia is testing the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

    "The Russians are killing Ukrainians daily. They are killing them. I believe that the situation is going to get worse, because …. this is a time of testing for the Trump administration," said McCain during a panel speech on February 17 at the annual Munich Security Conference.

    Since the …

  • Family members of POWs are ready to join the blockade of the Donbas

    The family members of Ukrainian prisoners said in a video message that they are ready to join the blockade of the Donbas, according to a statement posted by the Chairman of the Ukrainian Association of Patriots (UKROP), Mykola Kolesnyk, on his Facebook page.

    “If needed, we will go to the blockade. If this will help to release our people or break the deadlock over this issue, then we fully support yo and we are grateful that you remember us,” one of the women stated, addressing the blockade …

  • Ukrainian authorities oppose blockade of the Donbas

    On the 16th of February a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) was urgently convened on account of the situation with the shipment of coal from the uncontrolled Donbas territories. At the end of January, war veterans in the Donbas blockaded several railway crossings in order to stop trade with separatists. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko thinks that the protesters are undermining the economy and interfering with the reintegration of the uncontrolled regions.

    “They …

  • Germany and Italy allocate nearly 4 million Euro to refugees from the Donbas

    Within the framework of the UN World Food Program (WFP), the German and Italian governments in 2017 will allocate nearly 4 million euros to displaced persons from the Donbas, as reported by the press service of the UN WFP delegation in Ukraine.

    “The World Food Program, the largest organization in the fight against hunger, during 2017 will continue the provision of food aid to 220,000 people who have been affected as a result of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine,” a statement said.

    Additionally, …

  • Ukraine bans the export of anthracite

    Ukraine has blocked the export of anthracite for as long as the state of emergency in the energy sector is in effect, according to Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.

    “Export is prohibited de-facto, de jure. During the time that the emergency measures are in effect, it cannot be exported,” he said during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.

    Answering a question by Minister of the Interior Arsen Avakov, Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Ihor Nasalyk said that only coking coal can be …

  • Bellingcat names retired Russian military intelligence officer involved in downing of MH-17

    On Wednesday, February 14, independent expert and journalist group Bellingcat released a new report about the investigation of the downing of the Malaysian Boeing aircraft, which had been operating Malaysian Airlines flight MH-17 in the airspace above the Donbas. The document establishes the identity of an individual officer, nicknamed ‘Gloomy’, who had apparently been involved in the carriage of ‘Buk’ anti-aircraft missile system that caused the Boeing to crash.

    The report’s authors noted …

  • Gazprom has increased gas supplies to the Donbas by 41%

    In 2016, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom supplied 2.39 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the Luhansk and Donetsk regions that are beyond Ukraine’s control. That is 40.6% or 69 million cubic meters more than in 2015, as indicated in Gazprom’s quarterly reports, LIGA.net reported. According to the document, gas supplies to Ukraine in 2016 amounted to 2.39 billion cubic meters.

    “At the same time, Naftogaz of Ukraine ceased the purchasing of gas from the Russian company in November 2015. …

  • EU representative: Russia carries full responsibility for the resolution of the crisis in the Donbas

    Russia is responsibile for the resolution of the crisis in the Donbas, Maltese Parliamentary Secretary for the EU Ian Borg said during a session of the European parliament.

    “Two years later we see that the Minsk agreement has not been fully implemented. We are seeing a large number of violations of the ceasefire regime, the use of heavy weapons, including artillery and tanks, and restrictions on the activities of the OSCE monitoring mission,” he said.

    “Russia bears full responsibility for the …

  • Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin joined the Donetsk People’s Republic

    Russian writer, Zakhar Prilepin, joined the Donetsk People’s Republic and is the Deputy Commander of one of the armed groups. Zakhar Prilepin stated in his commentary to Dozhd TV that his battalion was formed in the summer of 2016 and is currently stationed at the frontline. The Russian writer claims that he is waging war against the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

    “If you understand what you are asking, I, as Deputy Commander of the battalion, can’t refuse to participate in anything. The battalion …

  • A State of Emergency in the Energy Sector: Will Ukraine Have Electricity, Given the Coal Blockade in the Donbas?

    At a meeting of staff working on the energy crisis, the Ukrainian Minister of Energy, Ihor Nasalyk, announced that his agency, the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy and Coal Mining, has decided to introduce a decree for government consideration that declares the country’s power grid to be in an a state of emergency due to the anthracite coal deficit. The coal deficit has been caused by the commercial blockade of the uncontrolled territories (where anthracite is mined), which war veterans of the …