Contents tagged with Donbas

  • Media: At previous meeting with Surkov, Volker wanted to learn if Russia was ready to resolve the Donbas conflict

    On October 7, a meeting between the US Department of State's Special Representative for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, and Russian Presidential Aide Vladislav Surkov took place in Belgrade. However, the details of the meeting had remained unknown- until now.

    The publication LB.ua, citing sources in diplomatic circles, has reported that the meeting itself consisted of three elements. First, lunch; further, a tête-à-tête, which lasted more than an hour; and, finally, communication with members of their …

  • Media: Ahead of meeting with Putin’s aide Surkov US representative Volker will visit Ukraine on October 27

    US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker will visit Ukraine next Friday, on October 27, Zerkalo Nedeli (the Mirror Weekly) reported with reference to a source in the Ukrainian government.

    According to the source, Volker will meet with the Ukrainian authorities before meeting with Putin’s advisor, Vladislav Surkov. The date of Volker and Surkov’s meeting has not yet been determined.

    While in Ukraine, Volker intends to take stock of the current situation.

    Ukrainian Ambassador to the …

  • Russia blocks OSCE placement at border stretch not controlled by Ukraine

    Russia has refused the expansion of the OSCE mission along the entire stretch of the border belonging to the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces which are temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian Government, Interfax-Ukraine reports. In connection with this decision, the Ukrainian delegation to the OSCE made a statement expressing deep disappointment in Russia’s sole refusal to give consent.

    “Such actions by Russia are evidence of a deliberate unwillingness to facilitate the de- …

  • Biletsky: Azov Battalion was removed from the front line in eastern Ukraine at Putin’s request

    The order to withdraw Azov regiment from Shyrokyne was given at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as stated by the founder and former commander of the Azov regiment, People's Deputy Andriy Biletsky in an interview with Apostrophe. He believes that the decision to remove Azov from the front line was directed against him personally and against the soldiers and argued that "this is a classic meanness" by the Ukrainian authorities.

    "This was a decision directed both against me and …

  • The case of the detained Russian soldier Ageyev sent to Ukrainian court

    Investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine transferred evidence for the criminal proceedings against Russian serviceman, Viktor Ageyev, and two separatist soldiers of the LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic) to the court.

    "The investigation found that a Russian military serviceman joined the terrorist organization in March 2017, where he served as a machine gunner in a reconnaissance company. Two of his accomplices, residents of Alchevsk and Severodonetsk, were part of Dremov's gang and the …

  • Herashchenko to submit amendments to the bill on Reintegration of Donbas

    The First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Iryna Herashchenko, indicated that on October 17th she will propose amendments to the bill on the reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories of the Donbas.

    "What will I do? I will put forth amendments to the bill on reintegration, which my lawyers, together with public activists, worked on during the last week," she wrote on her Facebook page.

    On October 6th, the People's Deputy of Ukraine and head of the Mejlis of the …

  • Russian private military contractor who fought in eastern Ukraine killed in Syria

    Russian Roman Solnyshkov, known as Solntse (The Sun), who previously fought in the Donbas, was killed in Syria, where he went as a military contractor hired by the Wagner private military company.

    It is reported that previously Solnyshkov served in eastern Ukraine in separatist Sparta battalion under the command of Arsen Pavlov (aka Motorola).

    Twitter user, Necro Mancer, confirmed the death of Roman Solnyshkov.

    "Solnyshkov Roman Viktorovich, known as Solntse (The Sun), was killed in Syria in …

  • Kyiv investigating the supply of coal from separatist-held territories to Ukraine's state-run Centrenergo

    The Chervonozavodskiy District Court of Kharkiv granted the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office access to documents and contracts from the state-owned Centrenergo company regarding the import of Donbas contraband coal from Russia under the guise of South African coal, as reported by the news website Liga.net, citing the court's decisions on October 2nd – 5th.

    Criminal proceedings regarding the illegal coal operations began in April 2017 in accordance with the "Abuse of power or official …

  • Member of Russia’s Presidential Council for Human Rights admits that Russia has annexed the Donbas and is unwilling to withdraw its forces

    Ilya Shablinskiy, a member of Russia’s Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, admitted that Russia has effectively annexed and is controlling a part of the Donbas. Shablinsky made a statement to this effect in a broadcast of the “60 Minute” talk show on the Russian TV Channel “Russia 1”.

    “These territories are controlled by our [Russian] armed forces. The ruble circulates, the territory is controlled by the Russian Federation, the leaders of these republics implement our …

  • Kremlin: participants of Normandy talks will not change situation in Ukraine

    The Kremlin said that members of the Normandy format and the US cannot provide a change in the situation in eastern Ukraine, as stated on October 9th at a briefing held by the Press Secretary of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov.

    "Changes ‘on the ground’ cannot be achieved by the efforts of the countries participating in the Normandy process or other countries, in particular the United States," Peskov said.

    At the same time, the representative of the Kremlin said that the changes "on the …