LUHANSK. June 30 (Interfax) – The Ukrainian army has shelled the territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) twelve times in the past four days, using armaments and hardware prohibited by the Minsk agreements, deputy chief of staff of the LPR militia corps Col. Igor Yashchenko has said. “Violations of the Minsk agreements by the Ukrainian Armed Forces are […]
» Read more
LUHANSK. June 10 (Interfax) – A week after the authorities of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) complained to the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Ukraine has agreed to partially resume water supplies to the republic, says Alexander Drobot, head of the LPR Reconstruction Management Center (RMC). “The OSCE did not […]
» Read more
LUHANSK. June 2 (Interfax) – The intensity of Ukrainian strikes on the territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) has grown lately, according to Igor Yashchenko, deputy chief of staff of the LPR militia corps. “The Ukrainian army shelled LPR populated localities 29 times over the past week. We observed twelve attacks by mortars, 13 by grenade launchers, two […]
» Read more
(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 12, Issue 95 – Pavel Felgenhauer – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – April 21, 2015) Summer is the best time for major offensive military action in the Donbas region (Donetsk and Luhansk provinces) of eastern Ukraine. In the spring and autumn, long periods of bad weather turn unpaved roads and plains into a mud quagmire (Rasputitsa), […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – May 26, 2015) Standing in front of a small Moscow church last September, President Vladimir Putin told journalists that he had lit candles inside for people who had been injured or given up their lives defending Novorossia. The historical term, meaning “New Russia,” was first used by the president last April and […]
» Read more
The armed forces of the self-proclaimed “Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics” (“LNR” and “DNR”) have accumulated significant reserves of heavy weapons. According to deputy commander of the Anti-Terrorist Operation, Col. Valentyn Fedychev, as of 8 April 2015 Russia’s hybrid army in Donbas has 700 tanks, over 1 100 ACVs, 600 artillery systems, and 380 MRLS, as reported by news.liga.net
» Read more
Our comparative project funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation examines post-Maidan attitudes in Ukraine, as well as in Crimea now annexed to Russia, and in the Russian-supported de facto states of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria. In December 2014, we organized simultaneous public opinion surveys in these regions and surveyed …
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – May 19, 2015) Russia’s Defense Ministry has identified two fighters captured in Ukraine as former servicemen in the Russian military – a concession that echoes rights advocates’ claims that Moscow has been discharging its soldiers from the army before sending them to fight alongside separatists in the Donbass. The fighters, Alexander Alexandrov […]
» Read more
(Interfax – May 18, 2015) The Russian Defence Ministry has rejected Ukrainian allegations that two men who were reportedly captured during fighting in eastern Ukraine are serving members of the Russian armed forces, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 18 May. Ministry spokesman Maj-Gen Igor Konashenkov admitted that the two men, who were detained by the Security Service of […]
» Read more
(Interfax – May 11, 2015) The leadership of the [self-proclaimed] Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR] has admitted the possibility of assuming a broad autonomy status, but without any harm to the interests of the self-proclaimed republic. “We agree to the broadest autonomy without harm to our interests. If Kiev does not adhere to the Minsk agreements, the DPR will be forced […]
» Read more
Concern is rising over the situation in eastern Ukraine, with reports of increased shelling across the line of contact and rising casualties, as well as of Russia arming and organizing separatist forces while assembling regular army units along the Ukraine-Russia border. Tension is up, but the most likely prospect is continuation of a no war/no peace situation … a frozen […]
» Read more
More than two-thirds of 15,000-strong population have fled since Russian-backed insurgency began The eastern Ukrainian town of Shchastya is located some 20 km away from the separatists’ stronghold of Luhansk. The word Shchastya means happiness in Ukrainian. But life in this quiet town during the past year has been anything but happy. http://uatoday.tv/politics/residents-of-eastern-ukrainian-frontline-town-of-shchastya-living-in-fear-418269.html
» Read more
[“Fragile truce brings limited respite to war-weary people of eastern Ukraine: The population of eastern Ukraine faces a humanitarian crisis with an acute lack of basic amenities and mental health problems taking a heavy toll” – The Guardian – Clár Ní Chonghaile -March 25, 2015] The Guardian reports on the humanitarian impact of conflict in eastern Ukraine. Just over a month after […]
» Read more
(Interfax – Luhansk, Ukraine, March 13, 2015) The Contact Group on Ukraine will chiefly focus on the first tree points of the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements in reviewing compliance with the agreements during a planned videoconference, the chief negotiator of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic said. However, the group may also get down to […]
» Read more
NOVO-OGARYOVO. Feb 25 (Interfax) – The central government in Kyiv must ensure energy supplies to Donetsk and Luhansk under the Minsk agreements, which were reflected in a resolution of the United Nations Security Council and have now become an international legal document, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. “We mentioned the Minsk agreements which were not only signed in Minsk […]
» Read more
LUHANSK. Feb 18 (Interfax) – Ihor Plotnytsky, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk people’s republic (LPR), does not rule out that the republic could reintegrate with Ukraine after Kyiv carries out the reforms indicated in the Minsk agreements of February 12. “Will we be part of Ukraine? Everything depends on what kind of Ukraine it is going to be. If […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Feb 17 (Interfax) – The fighting zone in Debaltseve is closed, so all hostilities are taking place inside the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), LPR leader Igor Plotnitsky has said. “We have a continuous line. The Debaltseve ‘boiler’ is closed. It is Ukraine who cannot and does not want to recognize this. All hostilities taking […]
» Read more
KYIV. Jan 23 (Interfax) – Head of the Luhansk region state administration Hennadiy Moskal has asked the so-called “guerrillas” who blew up a coal train at the Krasna Mohyla station not to stage acts of sabotage on the Kyiv-controlled part of the Luhansk region. “A lion’s share of electric power for populated localities on our territory is generated by the […]
» Read more
KYIV. Jan 21 (Interfax) – Ukrainian servicemen are in control of the 29th roadblock but the 31st roadblock has had to be abandoned because of a high risk to personnel. Both roadblocks are located in the area of Krymske in the Luhansk region, not far from the Bakhmutka road. “We have had to retreat from the 31st roadblock for saving […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Jan 8 (Interfax) – The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry’s humanitarian convoy has crossed into Ukraine and headed for Donetsk and Luhansk, deputy head of the ministry’s National Crisis Management Center Oleg Voronov said. “Customs of the Matveyev Kurgan and Donetsk checkpoints in the Rostov region have cleared the humanitarian cargo. More than 60 trucks are moving towards Donetsk and […]
» Read more
(RFE/RL – January 2, 2015) Thousands have fled eastern Ukraine since the conflict erupted in April. Some have since returned. Other people chose to stay and tough it out. From teachers to pensioners to families with children, residents of rebel-held towns are struggling to get on with their lives amid the chaos and uncertainty. RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service continues to publish […]
» Read more
KYIV. Dec 4 (Interfax) – Kyiv-controlled areas of the Luhansk region have been shelled 55 times in the past 24 hours, the press service of Luhansk region state administration head Hennadiy Moskal said on Thursday. “The towns of Stanitsa Luhanska, Shchastya, Trekhizbenka, Chornukhyne, Zolote and Olkhove have been shelled. No local civilians were killed or wounded,” the press service reports. […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – November 21, 2014) Russian national Igor Strelkov, a former commander of pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine, has claimed “personal responsibility” for unleashing the conflict across the border, in which 4,300 people have been killed since April. “I was the one who pulled the firing trigger of this war,” Strelkov said in an […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, November 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s official stance on the recent elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics (DRP, LPR) in eastern Ukraine expressed by the country’s Foreign Ministry as “respecting” them does not mean Moscow “recognizes” them, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said Friday. “Russia’s official position on the results of the elections is expressed compactly, […]
» Read more
LUHANSK, November 2 (RIA Novosti) – Voter turnout in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine is about 38 percent as of 5 p.m. local time (14:00 GMT),Luhansk election commission chief Sergei Kozyakov told journalists Sunday. “As of 5 p.m. local time [14:00 GMT] the turnout totaled 129,395 voters, i.e. 37.83 percent of the total,” Kozyakov said at […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov has inked a law on special status of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and sent it to President Petro Poroshenko for signing, the Verkhovna Rada said on its website on Tuesday. The parliament approved the law introducing self-administration in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions on […]
» Read more
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Concorde Capital – October 8, 2014) More than 49% of the residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (collectively known as Donbas) want to remain in the Ukrainian state, compared to 42% who are opposed, according to a poll released on Oct. 7 that was conducted by the Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Fund and the […]
» Read more
LUHANSK, October 7 (RIA Novosti) – The Ukrainian president’s initiative to change administrative borders of the Luhansk region, which declared itself an independent state in May, is baseless, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) said Tuesday. “Poroshenko may dream of anything he wants,” LPR chief Igor Plotnitsky said. On October 6 Petro Poroshenko made a proposal to […]
» Read more
(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 11, Issue 167 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Vladimir Socor – September 23, 2014) Utter confusion surrounds Ukraine’s just-adopted law on the “special procedure of local self-administration in individual districts in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.” Pursuant to the September 5 ceasefire protocol, President Petro Poroshenko initiated this law, his administration drafted it, and the parliament adopted it on […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – September 5, 2014) Minsk, 5 September: In addition to the OSCE, the leaders of Ukraine and Russia, who initiated the peace process, are the guarantors of the Minsk accords, the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Luhansk republic, Igor Plotnitskiy [Ihor Plotnytskyy], has said. As part of the Friday [5 September] meeting in Minsk of the trilateral contact […]
» Read more
KYIV. Sept 6 (Interfax) – For the first time in the past few months Luhansk was quiet overnight, with no shooting, but the city is still without electricity, water and communications, the city council said on Saturday. “According to residents, as of September 6, the night was quiet for the first time in the past few months, and there was […]
» Read more
(Interfax – August 22, 2014) Russia’s Ukraine-bound humanitarian aid convoy is starting to move in the direction of the city of Lugansk, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website. “Continuing to put forth new artificial demands and excuses has already become derisive. It is impossible to put up with this mayhem, blatant lies and this unwillingness […]
» Read more
KYIV. Aug 6 (Interfax) – The situation in Luhansk remained critical as of the morning of August 6 as the city remained without power, water supply and landline and mobile communications, the press service for the Luhansk city council has reported. According to the press service, shooting continued in the city in the early hours of Wednesday. The majority of […]
» Read more
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, July 29, 2014) As the Ukrainian military closes in on Moscow-backed forces in southeastern Ukraine, Russian commentators are scrambling to explain why the Russian-speaking population in that region have not flocked to the banners of the secessionists in Donetsk and Luhansk. Not surprisingly, these commentators have not focused on the facts that […]
» Read more