Contents tagged with Donetsk

  • Poroshenko claims his ratings are rising ahead of second round of Ukrainian presidential election

    Poroshenko took part in the live broadcast on 112 Ukraine TV channel during which the audience was shown the results of a public opinion poll. According to the results, on April 12-13, the current president lagged behind Volodymyr Zelensky by 27% of the votes, and then two days later this difference was reduced to 23% of the votes. Based on this, Poroshenko said that he has a chance to win the second round.

    “Seeing these figures, one can say that my support among citizens is growing, and the …

  • Head of DPR representative office in France arrested

    Hubert Fayard, head of an organization that purports to be the official representation of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in Marseilles, has been arrested, RIA Novosti reports, citing its own source.

    “He lost his job some time ago and found himself in tight financial circumstances. At the same time, he met a woman, a Ukrainian. I can’t say what their relations were, I wasn’t there. But essentially, she offered to lend him a certain amount of money,” the source explained.

    The morning after …

  • OSCE coordinator visits six Ukrainian POWs in Donbas

    Toni Frisch, OSCE coordinator of the Trilateral Contact Group’s humanitarian subgroup, recently visited six Ukrainian prisoners in Donetsk, announced Iryna Herashchenko, Ukraine’s envoy to the subgroup, on Facebook.

    “Recently ambassador Toni Frisch, OSCE coordinator in the humanitarian subgroup, visited occupied Donetsk, where, according to our preliminary information, he met with four hostages – soldiers whom the militants have not released for more than four years, despite all our efforts. …

  • Ukrainian Security Service detains former DPR militant after he decides to relocate to Ukraine

    Ukrainian law enforcement authorities detained a militant from the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in Kharkiv, the press center of the Ukrainian Security Service reported.

    The SBU operatives found out that a former resident of the separatist-held Horlivka in Donetsk joined the military of the DPR in February 2015 was known under the nomme de guerre, Kub. As a member of the so-called military intelligence of Novorossiya [ new Russia], he took an active part in the military actions …

  • EU ready to allocate funds to Ukraine for improvement of transport connection with Mariupol

    The European Union is ready to finance the improvement of the transport connection between Mariupol and the rest of Ukraine, reported the press service of the the Ministry of Infrastructure after the meeting between Ukraine's infrastructure minister Volodymyr Omelyan and EU Ambassador Hugues Mingarelli.

    Mingarelli said that Brussels is ready to support the projects for the improvement of the Zaporizhia-Mariupol railway link and the construction of the Mariupol-Mykolaiv freeway.

    Kyiv and the …

  • Ukrainian Prosecutor insists on 14 years imprisonment for Brazilian citizen suspected of fighting on DPR side

    The press service of the Kyiv Prosecutor Office announced that the prosecutor requested to sentence the Brazilian citizen Rafael Lusvarghi to 14 years in prison on charges of participating in the battles in the Donbas together with the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) militants.

    On March 19, the Pavlohrad district court in the Dnipropetrovsk region held another hearing in the Lusvarghi case. He is charged with participating in terrorist organizations and non-statutory armed groups.

    During the …

  • Ukrainian Security Service uncovers Russian intelligence group in Donbas

    The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced that it has uncovered a Russian military intelligence group code-named “Sapphire” operating in Luhansk.

    Information about the Sapphire group was disclosed by SBU head of military counterintelligence Serhiy Levchenko during a press briefing. The SBU believes that the intelligence group was established by Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU).

    According to Levchenko, the Sapphire group was involved in preparing and carrying out anti- …

  • Financial problems force former DPR commander Girkin to sell gold medal for Crimean operation

    Igor “Strelkov” Girkin, the former ringleader of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) militants, will be auctioning the gold medal he was awarded for his role in the occupation of Crimea.

    According to Novaya Gazeta, the auction will be held on 13 April on a Russian website. Girkin hopes to fetch at least 1 million rubles ($15,000) for his 79 gram, 18 karat medal.

    “Yes, it is my medal, a non-state [medal]. It was awarded to me by [Konstantin] Malofeev in the spring of 2014, before the start of …

  • Kyiv denies Austrian pro-Russian journalist entry to Ukraine

    The Head of Ukrainian Bureau of the Austrian television channel ORF, Christian Vershutsu has been banned from entering Ukraine.  According to the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU)The reason is the threat he poses to national security.

    “The head of the Ukrainian bureau of the Austrian television channel ORF, Christian Vershutsu, was banned from entering Ukraine for one year. This is reported by my sources in the Ukrainian Security Service,” the first deputy head of the Rada Committee on Freedom …

  • Orthodox Church of Ukraine fears for property and priests in Donetsk

    The Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, the primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine or OCU is concerned about the total prohibition of OCU community activities and the deportation of priests from the territory of the Donetsk region that is not controlled by Ukraine. 

    “From March 1, 2019, there will be a threat of total prohibition of activities of the communities and clergy of our Church, full confiscation of communities' property and deportation from the territory controlled by …