Section: War & conflict
Syria, Russia pound rebel-held Aleppo but advances halt – Reuters
Syrian`s military and Russian warplanes bombarded rebel-held districts of Aleppo on Saturday as Damascus`s allies said victory was near, but insurgents fought back and army advances halted after rapid gains during the week, according to Reuters. Russia, whose military intervention helped turn the war in President Bashar al-Assad`s favor, said the...
Russian troops attack Ukraine 31 times in last day
Combined Russian-separatist forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in eastern Ukraine 31 times in the past 24 hours, according to the press service of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Headquarters. View map in full size In the Luhansk sector, the enemy used 120mm and 82mm mortars on the villages of Troyitske and Novozvanivka. The occupiers...
OSCE to replace drones shot down over east Ukraine
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Friday launched a tender for long-range drones after losing eight such aircraft over eastern Ukraine since it began a monitoring mission there, according to Reuters. ”Many of our drones were electronically destroyed or shot down,” OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier told...
UN General Assembly adopts resolution demanding end to attacks in Syria
The 193-member UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution demanding an immediate end to attacks on civilians and all besieged areas in war-torn Syria, according to The New York Times. The non-binding resolution passed on Friday, December 9, by a vote of 122 to 13, with 36 abstentions, The New York Times wrote. The G.A. also expressed grave...
Human rights activists: 2,200 Ukraine prisoners moved from occupied Crimea to Russia
Crimean human rights activists claim at least 2,200 prisoners with Ukrainian citizenship have been relocated from occupied Crimea to Russia since the beginning of the occupation. ”According to expert of the Regional Centre for Human Rights, lawyer Roman Martynovskiy, only for the period of the occupation of Crimea at least 2,200 detained citizens...
Russia wants to use improving relations with Turkey for ”legalizing” Crimea annexation
Russia intends to use the improvement of relations with Turkey for ”legalizing” the annexation of Crimea among the Crimean Tatar population, according to the Information Resistance activist group. ”In particular, Russian State Duma MP, Deputy Head of the State Duma Committee on Nationalities Ruslan Balbek has told a number of confidants that one...
Russian militants attack Ukraine 15 times in last day, fire mortars on Pisky
Combined Russian-separatist forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in eastern Ukraine 15 times in the past 24 hours, according to the press service of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Headquarters. ”In the Donetsk sector, Russia`s hybrid military force fired 120mm mortars on our positions near the village of Pisky, as well as rocket-propelled...
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Klimkin, OSCE`s Zannier discuss strengthening of SMM security component in Donbas
In the framework of the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Meeting on Thursday, Dec. 8, in Hamburg, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier discussed the possibility of strengthening the security component of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, according to MFA Ukraine press service. A corresponding...
EU ready to sustain possible OSCE mission for Donbas election security – Mogherini
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini says that the EU is ready to increase its support for Minsk implementation and to sustain a possible OSCE mission to bolster the security of local elections in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. ”The European Union is ready to increase its support for the...
Rada votes for spending occupied areas` budgets on coal miners` wages
Ukraine`s Verkhovna Rada on Thursday passed a bill in first reading to boost budget support of state-owned coal mines in Ukraine in 2017 by UAH 1 billion ($US38.8 million), to UAH 1.25 billion ($48.5 million). Bill No. 4744 on amendments to the 2017 national budget was supported by 244 lawmakers with the required minimum being 226 votes. ”This...