Contents tagged with Donbas

  • 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 …

  • Russia accuses Ukraine of using weapons of mass destruction in the Donbas, Kyiv denies accusation

    The Investigative Committee of Russia stated that it had received “irrefutable evidence that the Armed Forces of Ukraine used weapons of mass destruction” in the Donbas.

    “Within the framework of a criminal investigation of the developments in southeastern Ukraine, undeniable evidence has been received and procedurally documented that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have used weapons of mass destruction, namely “Tochka-U” tactical missile systems, against the civilian population during the armed …

  • Donbas blockade to be discussed at a popular assembly in the center of Kyiv

    The organizers of the ''Blockade of the Donbas' whose members are blocking the railroad in Luhansk region are initiating a "public discussion" of the situation at the Independence Square in Kyiv. This was reported on February 12 at the headquarters of the Blockade.

    According to the organizers, a “veche" or popular assembly should be held in the center of Kyiv on February 19 in response to the "intention of the authorities to hold a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council."

    The …

  • It would cost Ukraine $550 million to stop using coal from the Donbas

    Almost three weeks ago, Ukrainian veterans of military actions in eastern Ukraine blocked several railway stations in the Donbas, thus declaring an economic blockade with the uncontrolled Ukrainian regions in the Donetsk and Luhansk Republics. Authorities did not support this action, insisting in particular that without anthracite coal, Ukrainian thermal power stations (TPSs) will not be able to function for a long time (of the 24 million tons annually consumed by Ukrainian TPSes, 9 million …

  • The Kremlin says it does not know how 700 tanks appeared in the Donbas

    Russia does not supply tanks to the so-called DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) and LPR (Luhansk People's Republic), though the number of tanks there has reached 700 units, as stated by the Press Secretary for the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov, UNIAN reported.

    "To answer the question of how the tanks have gotten there, it seems you will have the same result whether you ask Moscow or Kyiv where the tanks are from. Here I have no information,” said Peskov. “I can tell you that, of course, …

  • The Kremlin says that the Donbas conflict would never be part of a Russian-U.S. agreement

    The Kremlin claims that the conflict in the Donbas cannot be the subject of an agreement between Russia and the United States.

    "It is unlikely that the internal Ukrainian conflict may become a negotiating point to any sort of agreement. This information by no means corresponds to reality," the Russian President's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

    Peskov was commenting on the information that the Kremlin was preparing a "big deal" with the new U.S. administration wherein the United States …

  • Ukrainian intelligence: Russian TV prepared anti-Ukrainian documentaries to influence opinion about the Donbas

    According to Ukrainian intelligence officers, Russia’s main propaganda TV channels prepared high-profile “documentaries” in the Donbas in order to slander the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the press service of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported.

    “Russian command has intensified its measures to create provocative materials aimed at defaming the ATO forces and accusing them of violating the Minsk Agreements,” the Main Directorate of Intelligence says. …

  • Pro-Ukrainian partisan group claims responsibility for recent assassination of LPR official

    A Ukrainian partisan group operating in the Donbas has claimed responsibility for the recent death of the head of the so-called People’s Militia of LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic), Oleg Anashchenko.

    In a short video posted on the Facebook page of the Donbas Liberation front on February 5, a masked man spoke in Russian referring to Anashchenko’s assassination.

    “We have warned you that if you don’t leave our land you will encounter death. The death will reach anyone who is waging this senseless …