Section: War & conflict
Russian militants attack Ukraine 22 times in last day, twice at Svitlodarska Duha
Combined Russian-separatist forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in eastern Ukraine 22 times in the past 24 hours, including three times on the settlement, according to the press service of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO)...
8 Ukrainian troops were killed at Svitlodarsk Arc over 5 days – Lysenko
Eight Ukrainian soldiers were killed in action at Svitlodarsk Arc from December 18 to December 23, Col. Andriy Lysenko, speaker for the ATO at Ukraine`s Defense Ministry, said at a Friday briefing, an UNIAN correspondent reported. Col. Lysenko also said that over the past day, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed in action (KIA) and another three...
Putin`s aide preparing ”DPR-LPR”`s accession to Russia
Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov has pledged integration of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk ”People`s Republics” into the Russian Federation within 1.5 years, head of Information Resistance Group, military analyst and MP Dmytro Tymchuk wrote on Facebook. According to Tymchuk, ”DPR” representatives held a meeting with Surkov,...
Putin explains why he does not agree to prisoner exchange with Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has explained why the ”representatives of Donbas” are not satisfied with the negotiations with Ukraine on the exchange of prisoners, according to an UNIAN correspondent from Russia. ”Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has once expressed the idea of an ”all for all” exchange. I totally agree with that, but later...
Passengers seen leaving hijacked Libyan plane at Malta Airport
Passengers begin leaving hijacked Afriqiyah Airways A320 plane at Malta Airport, according to BBC News. Maltese authorities say there are women and children, the BBC reported on Twitter. Later, Prime Minister of Malta Joseph Muscat wrote on Twitter that all passengers and some crew members had been released. As UNIAN reported earlier, an...
”We do not feel guilty” – Putin comments on Crimea annexation, Donbas war
Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that Russia is not to blame for the war in Donbas and other tragedies that have taken place in Ukraine over the past three years. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, he said that Russia had not been the initiator of ”what has happened,” according to the Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper. ”We do not...
Libyan plane hijacked, lands in Malta
An Afriqiyah Airways A320 with around 120 people on board has just landed in Malta after it was hijacked, according to Times of Malta. The plane was on an internal flight from Sebha to Tripoli and diverted by a hijacker who claimed to have a hand grenade, Times of Malta reports. A total of 111 passengers and seven crew members are on board the...
U.S. State Department appeals to Russia about accords on ”ceasefire” in Eastern Ukraine
The U.S. State Department hopes that a long-term truce will be established in Donbas in connection with the intention of parties to armed conflict to observe the ”ceasefire” from midnight on December 24. ”The United States welcomes the trilateral contact group`s announcement of an agreement for a holiday ceasefire in eastern Ukraine – excuse me –...
Germany arrests two on terror charges – BBC
Two men have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning an attack on a shopping center in Oberhausen near the Dutch border, police say, according to BBC News. The brothers, aged 31 and 28 and born in Kosovo, were detained early on Friday in Duisburg, BBC News reports. Germany is on high alert after Monday`s attack in Berlin, which left 12...
OSCE reports 300% increase in use of banned weapon in Donbas last week
Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine Alexander Hug has reported about a 300% spike in the use of weapons banned under the Minsk peace agreements on Donbas. ”Last week the use of Minsk-proscribed weapons increased by approximately 300%,” he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday. He also reported...