Donetsk Lugansk News Nov 26 2018

Monday, November 26, 2018
(Special Report)

EVIDENCE: Kerch Incident Was Planned Provocation – Pretext for US Aid, Martial Law, War in Donbass / 21st Century Wire / November 26, 2018 / On Sunday, a major international incident took place at the Kerch Strait which connects Crimea with mainland Russia, when a Russian border patrol ship stopped three Ukrainian Navy vessels from passing through the narrow waterway. The Russian authorities have accused the Ukrainian ships of illegally entering its territorial waters without prior notice, and instead attempting to force their way through. According to reports, Russian officers repeatedly hailed the Ukrainian vessels but calls were ignored by the Ukrainian Navy. This prompted Russia to fire upon the boats, before eventually seizing all three Ukrainian vessels including two gunboats and one tug boat. It is believed that at least four Ukrainian sailors sustained injuries during the four-hour affair, but they have since been given medical care and have been declared ‘out of danger.’ However, based on all of the circumstantial evidence prior to, and after this event, and particularly those moves made by leaders in Kiev and Washington DC, this incident appears to have been a planned provocation specifically designed to escalate diplomatic and military hostilities internationally. The detailed summary and timeline provided below will clearly substantiate this conclusion. If this is indeed the case, then NATO and Kiev . . . READ MORE>>  [Extensive analysis at source]

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Petro Poroshenko (–The Duran)

Russia-Ukraine Black Sea Military Crisis: On The Brink Of War / SouthFront / November 26, 2018 / On November 25, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Border Service was forced to open fire on and damage Ukrainian warships, which were carrying out hostile actions and advancing in Russian territorial waters in the Black Sea off Crimea. After the short close-quarter firefight, two Ukrainian ships were taken towed and one ship escorted by Russian forces to the Russian port of Kerch. The Ukrainian side said that 6 service members had been injured in the incident. The Russian side says that 3 Ukrainian servicemen had been slightly injured. They received medical help and there is no threat to their lives. The data available from both sides, Ukrainian and Russian, demonstrates that the Ukrainian warships intentionally entered Russian territorial waters and were moving more deeply into them. Such a military action with the to be expected loud political coverage is not possible without a direct order from the . . . READ MORE>>

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DPR Parliament clarifies what martial law in Ukraine could mean / DAN (Donetsk News Agency) / November 26, 2018 / Declaration of Martial Law in Ukraine shall affect first and foremost its average citizens, some consequences might be felt by DPR residents, a DPR MP, head of parliamentary committee for security issues Alexander Kurenkov said. Ukraine’s President Petr Poroshenko proposed on Monday night that parliament declare martial law in the country following the provocation in the Black Sea staged by Kiev. On Sunday, two Ukrainian amoured artillery vessels and a tug boat illegally entered Russian territorial waters and began manoeuvring dangerously and ignoring instructions with the aim of stirring up tensions in a staged attempt to break-through into the Azov Sea through the Kerch Strait. Russian military was forced to attack and seize three navy ships to re-establish security at a busiest strait. “The limitations imposed by the martial law will affect residents of Kiev-controlled territories. Martial law allows for property expropriation, tightening censorship, uncompensated conscription to work for the state, cancellation of elections, etc. DPR and LPR residents will avoid the major blow, though incidents at checkpoints involving car seizure, blackmailing and extortion might multiply,” Kurenkov said. He said the number of shelling incidents might also increase. “Poroshenko’s presidency is at stake (as the [residential election is scheduled for March 2019), and he faces a lot of work to justify all the violence that shall befall people and the country after the martial law is declated.” Martial law is brought in all over the state or in designated areas in accordance with the bill “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law”. Martial law would provide military authorities and leadership with greater and unlimited power, while restricting civil liberties such as public gatherings, media freedoms and free movement.

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DPR People’s Militia says Ukraine builds up forces on the contact line / DAN / November 26, 2018 / Head of the DPR People’s Militia command press service Daniil Bezsonov has announced that Ukrainian army is building up forces along the contact line. “Ukrainian operational-tactical groups Vostok (East) and Sever (North) have been instructed to reinforce frontline defense by attracting forces guarding ammunition and property depots. We note reinforcement of Ukrainian units along the contact line. Besides, our intelligence reports that all Ukrainian army units were put on full combat alert this night.” Ukraine’s President Petr Poroshenko proposed on Monday night that parliament declare martial law in the country following the provocation in the Black Sea staged by Kiev. On Sunday, two Ukrainian armored artillery vessels and a tugboat illegally entered Russian territorial waters and began maneuvering dangerously and ignoring instructions with the aim of stirring up tensions in a staged attempt to break-through into the Azov Sea through the Kerch Strait. Russian military was forced to attack and seize three navy ships to re-establish security in the area. Pending parliamentary approval expected today at 5 p.m, (2 p.m. GMT) Ukraine is poised to introduce martial law for two months from Monday.

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Ukrainian sailors confirm that they deliberately entered Russian waters / The Saker / November 26, 2018 / Video (no subtiitles) at source. / VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Guy #1: I am Andrey Dratch. I am a crew member of the “Nikopol” ship of the Ukrainian Naval Forces. On 23 (November) I received a task to follow the route Odessa-Mariupol, through the Kerch Strait. Following the route to Mariupol through the Kerch Strait we entered the territorial waters of the Russian Federation, when the Coast Guard of the Russian Federation warned us that we were violating the legislation of the Russian Federation. We were repeatedly told to leave the territorial waters of the Russian Federation. While stopping for anchoring the Coast Guard warned us one more time that there is a need to leave the territorial waters of the Russian Federation and to exit to the 12-mile zone and to wait for further decisions concerning our passage through the Kerch Strait to the city of the Mariupol. Guy #2: I am Vladimir Vladimirovich Lesovoy, commander of military unit 1828. Since November 22, 2018 I have been in the structure of the group of ships of the Naval Forces of Ukraine, I lead the tug “Yana Kapa” and the boats “Nikopol” and “Berdyansk”. I made a passage through the Kerch Strait. After crossing the state borders of the Russian Federation I visually watched the ships of the Border Service of the FSB of the Russian Federation and I consciously ignored their requests to stop over the radio station. At the time of the passage small arms and machine guns with ammunition were onboard. I was aware that the actions of the Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait had a provocative character. I was following orders and planned to carry out the transfer of ships from the port of Odessa to the port of Mariupol. Guy #3: I am Sergey Andreevich Tsybizov. On Friday morning we left Odessa at 08:00 and headed to Berdyansk through the Kerch Strait. When we approached the Kerch Strait, we entered the waters of Russia, after which we were given the command to stop and wait for further orders. Before fire was opened, two green flares could be seen. We continued to move on “Nikopol” and then Russian ships contacted us. Our commander decided to stop the boat. We were taken off the boat and that’s all.

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CONFESSION: DETAINED UKRAINIAN SAILORS ADMIT PROVOCATION ORDER WAS GIVEN / By Joaquin Flores / Fort Russ / November 27, 2018 / RUSSIA – The detained Ukrainian sailors involved in the provocation at Kerch Strait, have apparently ‘confessed’ that they were given these orders from their commanding officer. According to news reports and the public interface of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), in a statement made on November 26th and in a related video, not yet translated into English, it was revealed that they had questioned Ukrainian servicemen who were detained following the maritime incident in the Kerch Strait. As all confessions made to hostile or interested parties, these should be taken with some degree of skepticism. Being compelled to make a confession, especially under conditions of duress, and in fact capture when involved nominally in a military action against a semi-hostile country, raises serious questions. That said, the FSB released video footage of the questioning session with the following detainees: 3rd Rank Captain Vladimir Lesovoy, commander of a support vessels division of the Ukrainian South naval base (army unit A-1728); Andrei Drach, according to Russian officials, officer of the 7th main military intelligence directorate of the Ukrainian Security Service who had been on board the Nikolpol boat; Sergei Tsybizov, a sailor from the Nikopol. The Ukrainian servicemen apparently confirmed that they are acting upon what, in the video, they describe as direct orders from their command prior to November 25th. If true, it would be further evidence that the November 25th maritime . . . READ MORE>>

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Tense standoff around Kerch Strait between Russia & Ukraine: How it developed / The Duran / November 26, 2018 / The waters near the Crimean peninsula were the site of a tense standoff between Russian and Ukrainian ships that involved a chase, some gunfire, and fighter jets, followed by strong statements from Moscow and Kiev. The Ukranian vessels were sailing between two Ukrainian ports: from Odessa in the Black Sea to Mariupol in the Azov Sea. The only waterway that connects these is the Kerch Strait between Crimea and mainland Russia. Kiev says it notified Moscow in advance that its navy ships would be sailing through the area. Moscow denies that it was given warning. While both Russia and Ukraine have freedom of navigation in the Kerch Strait under a 2003 treaty, there are detailed technical rules on how vessels should pass through the narrow, complex waterway. All traffic in the area is controlled by the Crimean sea port of Kerch, and every ship should contact the facility, report her route and destination, and receive permission to sail through the Strait. . . . READ MORE>>

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MARTIAL LAW TO TAKE EFFECT: POROSHENKO REACHES COMPROMISE WITH PARLIAMENT – ‘LIMITED’ FOR 30 DAYS, SELECT REGIONS / By Joaquin Flores / Fort Russ / November 27, 2018 / KIEV, Ukraine – President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, after being initially thwarted by a refusal to be heard by legislators, has finally succeeded in reaching a compromise with the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. Poroshenko had initially met with the National Security Council and had agreed with Turchynov to move forward with a 60 day Martial Law declaration, nation-wide. This 60 day imposition would have been able to be extended by approval of the National Security Council, not requiring an additional vote from the Rada. In doing so, Poroshenko may very well intend to use the powers of Martial Law to silence opponents, declare an internal conspiracy of Russia in Ukraine to ‘hack the elections’ – a trope borrowed from Clinton in the U.S, and have the the presidential elections in March 2019 in such a manner that power is usurped nonetheless. As FRN reported earlier, the Rada was so opposed to this proposal and in terms, that they refused to allow him to introduce it. He waited for a few hours to be allowed to speak, and then it was believed he left the Rada building. Rather, it appears he proceeded behind closed doors with key parliamentarians – leaders of the various party blocs – and arrived at a compromise ‘solution’. The new terms, which the Rada approved in a late session on the evening of the 26th, is a 30-day Martial Law imposition, with what proponents see as ‘critical constitutional guarantors’, and furthermore limited to certain regions of the country. The Rada has just approved the introduction of a 30-day Martial Law in certain regions of the country justified by the Ukrainian provocation in the Kerch Strait area. Before the vote, Poroshenko addressed the nation on national television, stating that there was an existential and imminent threat of a land operation against Ukraine from Russia. According to him, he has an intelligence document, which describes in detail all the plans of the “enemy”, allegedly located several dozen kilometers from the border and ready “for an immediate invasion of the territory of Ukraine.” Earlier, the president signed a decree that . . . READ MORE>>

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(–The Duran)

ISHCHENKO: Poroshenko’s Foolish Provocation at Kerch – Going Down the Tie-Eating Path / By Rostislav Ishchenko / Fort Russ / When last summer, two ships of the Ukrainian Navy passed through the Kerch Strait, Kiev tried to convince everyone that a “heroic breakthrough” had taken place. True, it quickly became clear that the “heroes”, in full compliance with Russian requirements and rules, notified in advance about the passage, requested permission and the pilot, and generally behaved extremely cautiously. Then the “victory” did not happen. But this does not mean that the idea was abandoned. And so, in November, the Ukrainian Navy did go for a real breakthrough.What is the idea behind the ​​Ukrainian provocations?First, Kiev wants to create a new precedent, without obtaining Russian permission for the passage of its warships through the Kerch Strait, which would confirm Ukraine’s existing rights to these waters and at the same time would confirm its claims to Crimea. After all, Ukraine can only have the right to free navigation in the strait if Crimea belongs to it. Secondly, Kiev means that Russia can counteract the passage of its ships. In this variant, armed conflict is desirable for it. In this case, Ukraine can appeal to the world community, pointing to the “aggression of Russia”, of which its ships and sailors became the “innocent victims”. Why does Kiev do this now? Ukraine needs internationalization of the conflict in the Sea of ​​Azov. It loses the standoff that began with the attack of the Ukrainian naval pirates on the Nord. At the same time, contrary to the hopes of Kiev, Russia acts strictly in the framework of international law. That is, in the current reality, neither the US nor the EU has a formal reason to intervene in the conflict. Don’t all their statements sound like warnings against further escalation? That is why Russia does not need further escalation, but Ukraine needs it. Kiev, which lost the Azov crisis, needs international mediation in order to squeeze concessions from Russia. Shooting, sunk ships, dead sailors – just what . . . READ MORE>>

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Statement by Russia on the military incident in Crimea / Voltairenet.org / November 26, 2018 / The Foreign Ministry hereby issues a strong protest against the gross violation of the rules of peaceful passage in the territorial waters of ​​the Russian Federation in the Black Sea by Ukrainian naval ships, that took place on November 25, 2018. Russia has lodged a demand for an urgent UN Security Council meeting to discuss the current situation. Russia has repeatedly warned the Kiev regime and its Western patrons about the danger of inflating artificial hysteria in connection with the Sea of ​​Azov and the Kerch Strait. Clearly, this is a well-thought-out provocation that took place in a predetermined place and form and is aimed at creating another hotbed of tension in that region and a pretext for stepping up sanctions against Russia. Clearly, all of this was also designed to distract attention from the domestic political problems that exist in Ukraine. This assumption is further corroborated by Kiev’s plans to impose martial law in the country, a move which is odious in the light of the upcoming presidential elections in the spring of 2019. We are also outraged by the Ukrainian radicals unleashing another attack on Russia’s diplomatic missions, and the damage it caused. We demand that Kiev bring those responsible to justice and ensure the unconditional inviolability of the Russian Embassy and Consulate Generals in Ukraine in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. We are hereby issuing a warning to Ukraine that Kiev’s policy, pursued in coordination with the United States and the EU, that seeks to provoke a conflict with Russia in the waters of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea is fraught with serious consequences. The Russian Federation will firmly curb any attempts to encroach on its sovereignty and security.

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Another Crimean War Looms as NATO Provocations Enter Russian Waters / By George Galloway / Information Clearing House / November 26, 2018 / A new Crimean War would be the last, but few amongst the general public realize that endless baiting of Russia, the cycle of war games, sanctions, and false accusations could well lead to all-out war between NATO and Russia. “Half a league, half a league, half a league onward, into the Valley of Death rode the six hundred,” – Alfred Lord Tennyson The last time Britain fought Russia, we were the most powerful empire in the history of the world and our adversary a ramshackle obscurantist autocracy. The British suffered over forty thousand dead and wounded. It was the first modern war – red in tooth and claw – predating the American Civil War, which is often awarded that dubious honor. The terrible suffering of the British (and French) soldiers, virtually none of whom even had the right to vote for the parliament which ruled “their” empire, began to be unpopular at home. Tennyson’s braggadocio ballad “The Charge of the Light Brigade” gave rise to the first whispers of doubt amongst British people generally as to whether our soldiers were lions led by donkeys, into one valley of death after another. Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die. The next Crimean War would be the … READ MORE>>

Donetsk Lugansk News Nov 4 2018

Sunday, November 4, 2018
(Special Commentary)

Editorial on Donbass Elections, Donetsk Leadership and Quemado Institute Future Coverage

By Karl Pomeroy, Quemado Institute Chief Editor

Quemado Institute
November 4, 2018

Late DPR President Alexander Zakharchenko

We were deeply disheartened by the death on August 31 of Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) President Alexander Zakharchenko. We have given little coverage to Novorossiya news since that time. Part of the problem is a dearth of on-site news reports due to internet censorship. But the main factor is, with the end of Zakharchenko’s outstanding leadership, there came over us a sense of futility.

The Donbass elections, scheduled for November 11, feature Denis Pushilin, Speaker of Donetsk People’s Council and Minsk representative, as the leading candidate for President. Sympathetic observers view Pushilin, who is running virtually unopposed, as the oligarch’s favored candidate. His leadership would no doubt result in a return to traditional oligarch rule, in opposition to the interests of the people.

Denis Pushilin (–Sputnik)

Zakharchenko, as a case in point, had nationalized Donetsk oligarch Rinat Akhmetov’s mine holdings. Upon the leader’s death however, after the DPR People’s Council appointed Pushilin as acting head of the Republic, Akhmetov’s mines were promptly returned to his possession. It should be noted that the DPR constitution specified the Deputy Speaker (Trapeznikov), not the Speaker (Pushilin), as next in line for presidency. The implication is that Zakharchenko, in the event of his passing, did not want Pushilin to succeed him. However, only a few days after his tragic assassination, the People’s Council overrode this law and appointed Pushilin as acting head.

Andre Purgin

Another alarming fact is that Andrey Purgin, a prominent Donetsk politician who supports the will of the people and is held in high regard by residents and outside observers alike, was denied candidacy for head of state due to a flawed signature on his application. Purgin might well have won the election, so this denial seemed like a move to ensure that Pushilin assumes power.

In all fairness. even Zakharchenko, as beloved and admired as he was, allowed his own administration to persecute and imprison Andrey Purgin. It is also true that some close Donbass watchers accuse Zakharchenko of catering to the oligarchs. Nothing is ever black or white. In this case, it’s a matter of degrees. Yet, should Pushilin win as expected next Sunday, it seems the DPR is in free fall. As a result, we will be giving little coverage to future events in the Donbass Republics.

Both the Quemado Institute and Novorossiya Daily Sun websites were founded for the purpose of promoting the cause of Novorossiya. In spite of the fact that we live thousands of miles away and have no relatives there nor any connections with anyone or anything Russian, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics shone like a light for us—a beacon of freedom from the heavy-handed rule of the globalist New World Order.

Though Donbass residents voted on May 11, 2014 for independence from Ukraine, several factors unfortunately undermined the sovereignty of their republics. First, Vladimir Putin betrayed these ethnic Russians by failing to recognize their independence, by crushing the Novorossiya dream, by strong-arming Zakharchenko and former LPR head Igor Plotnitsky into withdrawing troops from the contact line, thus leaving civilians undefended, and by catering to Kiev regime leader Petro Poroshenko.

Igor Strelkov, Valentina Kornienko

Second, the Minsk Agreements brought an end to the war for independence. Moscow then pressured Zakharchenko into imprisoning pro-Novorossiya journalists and politicians such as Valentina Kornienko and Andre Purgin. Third, the great Novorossiya Armed Forces commanders were assassinated one by one, first Bednov, then Dremov, Mozgovoy, Motorola and finally Givi. This was in addition to the cavalier and hostile policies wielded by the West and in particular by the US, whose brazen journalists condemned the DPR/LPR as terrrorists without evidence, whose politicians adopted this propaganda unquestioningly, and whose governments sent weapons and trainers to Kiev in order to kill Donbass civilians.

As long as Zakharchenko lived, there was hope these obstacles could be overcome. Now, it is uncertain whether any hope remains. And so, I feel as if I have to let Donbass go. It was a mission for me and for us. But now I have to let go and accept the fact that it is up to the people who live there. If they have the will, they can prevail.

A note on the Minsk Agreements: while many Donbass sympathizers saw these accords as betrayal, and while we understand their position. Quemado Institute nevertheless played an active role in encouraging the adoption of the Minsk peace accords. We took on this role because we put the lives of civilians above political goals. After all, the people of Donbass voted for independence, not for war. And they were being slaughtered mercilessly—often twenty a day or more—during the spring and summer of 2014. After the signing of the Minks accords, civilian casualties dropped to a fraction of that number.

Putin, Merkel, Hollande, Porshenko in Minsk, Belarus

I want to add that, despite her current unpopularity and her failure to protect Germany from destruction due to the migrant invasion, Angela Merkel was instrumental in implementing the Minsk Agreements. More than any other political figure, it was Merkel’s hard work and dedication that achieved the signing of the peace settlement. Other sponsors accomplished little in comparison. Francois Hollande acted as a mere observer, Petro Poroshenko as an obstructionist, while Vladimir Putin played both sides and offered little support for the cause of Donbass. We therefore give Angela Merkel credit for helping to save arguably thousands of lives of civilians in the DPR/LPR.

We also thank the many journalists who helped keep us abreast of events: Gleb Bazov (Slavyangrad), Janus Putkonen (DONi Press), The Saker, Pete John, @OceanEchoes, Enrico Ivanov, Graham Phillips, Texas Bentley, Red Star Over Donbass, Russia Insider, AJSB, Litle Spark, Marilyn Justice, Patric Lancaster, Fort Russ, Novorossia Today, and many more.

[For more Donetsk and Lugansk News, click Home Page and scroll down.]

Donetsk Lugansk News Aug 31-Sep 5 2018

Wednesesday September 5, 2018
(Brief Update)

DPR police publish photos of two persons wanted in connection with Zakharchenko murder / DAN (Donetsk News Agency / September 5, 2018 /  DONETSK: The Donetsk People’s Republic Interior Ministry put on the wanted list two persons who visited the Separ restaurant shortly before the August 31 explosion that killed DPR Head Alexander Zakharchenko. “There were visitors at the cafe on August 31, 2018,” the Ministry said. “We request them and the citizens who have information on the whereabouts of the wanted persons as well as on the incident to immediately report it to the nearest police station.” The Interior Ministry published the suspects’ photos. Contact phones: 062-301-89-26, 071-301-69-81 or 102. The police guarantee protection of the informer’s privacy. An explosion ripped through the Separ restaurant in the centre of the DPR capital at around 17:00 on August 31, killing the Republic’s Head Alexander Zakharchenko and his guard. Twelve people were wounded; five of them were hospitalised and outpatient treatment was provided to another seven.

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Kiev prepares 12,000 troops to attack DPR – Basurin / DAN / September 4, 2018 / DONETSK: Kiev massed up a 12,000-strong attack force on the Mariupol axis, Donetsk People’s Republic Operations Command deputy commander Eduard Basurin said on Tuesday citing intelligence reports. “The intelligence data received from sources at the Ukrainian army General Staff, the Joint Forces Operation headquarters and headquarters of formations in the conflict zone make it clear that the enemy has built up an attack force,” Basurin said. The Ukrainian formations’ manpower reaches over 12,000.” “If an offensive is launched, Ukrainian forces will begin artillery preparation using missile and cannon artillery. Next, 36th Brigade deployed at Kominternovo-Shirokino moves towards Novoazovsk, while 79th Brigade, positioned at Naberezhnoye-Zaichenko, attacks DPR positions on the Roza Luxembourg settlement axis.  Simultaneously, 128th Mountain Assault Brigade creates a diversion offensive in the Telmanovo area while covering the left flank of the attack formation. The purpose of the operation is to reach the border with Russia in five days. The Nazi regiment Azov and raid teams of 79th Air Assault Brigade then will start mopping up settlements across the seized territory. “We’re ready to meet the enemy both in the air and on the sea. We’ll defend our citizens. Our units are absolutely battle-ready. The enemy won’t pass,” Basurin said.

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Plans of the Ukrainian Army to invade Donbass after the assassination of Alexander Zakharchenko / DONi Press / September 5, 2018 / Based on intelligence received from sources from the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the headquarters of the occupying forces and the headquarters of the units in the conflict zone, it becomes clear that an offensive strike grouping of the enemy was formed in the Mariupol direction with the 36th Brigade of the Marine Corps, the 79th Airborne Assault Brigade, the 128th mountain-assault brigade and part of the units of the 56th motorized infantry brigade. Fire support is provided by the 406th separate artillery brigade, and a part of the units of the 55th artillery brigade, the 27th artillery brigade, the 32nd and 107th rocket artillery regiments. Also the regiment of the national guard Azov is concentrated in this direction. The total number of these units and military units exceeds 12 thousand people. According to preliminary data, the intention of the invaders is the following: on the “D” day (let’s call it like that), after the artillery preparation using rocket and cannon artillery, the 36th Brigade will begin the offensive following the Shirokino-Kominternovo line in the direction of Novoazovsk, and the 79th brigade will progress on the Naberezhnoe-Zaychenko line in direction of Rosa Luxembourg. Simultaneously, the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade will make a distracting offensive maneuver in the Telmanovo direction, and also provides cover for the left flank of the advancing grouping. The offensive operation and the access to the border with the Russian Federation, is planned by the invaders to be carried out in 5 days. After that, in the occupied territory, with the forces of the Nazi regiment “Azov” and also the raid detachments of the 79th Airborne Assault Brigade, it is planned to clean the settlements of undesirable “elements” and opponents of the Ukrainian occupation, or who they think are opponents. At the same time, the enemy understands that in carrying out such offensive actions, the number of victims will be counted in hundreds, if not thousands. Logistics is planned to be provided in big quantities. Thus, the medical support of the Armed Forces will be carried out by the forces of the 66th military mobile hospital deployed in the north-west of Mariupol, as well as by the personnel of the city’s medical institutions. In addition, 4 mobile mortuaries on the basis of cargo refrigerators were detached to the 66th VMG. We do not exclude that mobile crematoria, used by Ukraine to conceal its losses in 2014, will be delivered to Mariupol. Thus, to please its ambitions and PR before the elections of 2019, the Ukrainian military-political leadership is ready to take any adventures, despite the predicted huge number of losses both among its own and among the peaceful population. True, these “blood PR specialists” absolutely don’t think that all their attempts at a breakthrough will end at the stage of approaching the front lines of our units. In accordance with the reserve plan of the OPERATION OF THE UNITED ARMED FORCES headquarters, the beginning of the offensive can be carried out by airborne and sea-going airborne assault. This decision of the Ukrainian command is also unpromising. We are ready to meet the enemy on both direction: in the air and at the sea. I appeal to the population of Ukraine! The junta, who seized power in the country, again pushes your loved ones to slaughter! These inhuman people, who have been trying to seize the Donbass for four years at the expense of their soldiers, are not thinking about you or about their country, but are carrying out their curators’ plans. Trying to escalate the conflict by the military and political leadership of Ukraine is nothing else as another way the political elite to fill their pockets! And also, for the sake of their Western puppeteers, to make a final split between the fraternal Russian and Ukrainian peoples, the centuries that lived in peace on this land! We will protect our citizens! Our units are absolutely ready for the battle! The enemy will not pass! As Batya (Zakharchenko) said: “The price of what we are fighting for is much higher than the price of our life!” — Source : DPR Army Translation by DONi News

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US ‘ready’ to boost lethal arms supplies to Ukraine / NewsFront / September 1, 2018 / A US diplomat to Ukraine says Washington will provide Kiev with more lethal weapons to help build up its naval and air forces in the face of what they call Russian threat. US Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker told The Guardian that the administration of President Donald Trump was “absolutely” prepared to go further in supplying such weaponry to Ukraine. The West accuses Moscow of providing support for the pro-Russia forces fighting in eastern Ukraine, a charge Russia resolutely denies. “They [Ukrainians] are losing soldiers every week defending their own country,” said Volker. “And so in that context it’s natural for Ukraine to build up its military, engage in self-defense, and it’s natural to seek assistance and is natural that other countries should help them. And of course they need lethal assistance because they’re being shot at.” He said Kiev and Washington are engaged in negotiations “about naval capability because as you know their navy was basically taken by Russia.” “And so they need to rebuild a navy and they have very limited air capability as well. I think we’ll have to look at air defense,” he added. Earlier this year, Congress approved $250 million in military support to Ukraine in 2019. Congress had voted for such measure in the past, but was blocked by the Obama administration amid concerns about an escalation from Russia. The Trump administration lifted the Obama-era restraint last December and approved the shipment of lethal weaponry. Russia has warned at the time that the US was “crossing the line” by providing Ukraine with lethal weapons, saying Washington is practically pushing Kiev into “new bloodshed.” Moscow also warned Washington about the consequences of supplying arms to Ukraine, saying that the weapons would provoke “hotheads” among Ukrainian nationalists to seek to unleash new bloodshed in the country’s troubled east. The conflict broke out in Ukraine following the ouster of the pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014, and intensified after people in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea voted for reunification with the Russian Federation in a referendum in March 2014.

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Kurt Volker (–Strategic Culture Foundation)

Ambassador Kurt Volker: US to Drastically Expand Military Assistance to Ukraine / By Peter Korzun / Strategic Culture Foundation / September 4, 2018 / Washington is upping the ante in Ukraine. Kurt Volker, US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, said in an interview with the Guardian published on September 1 that “Washington is ready to expand arms supplies to Ukraine in order to build up the country’s naval and air defense forces in the face of continuing Russian support for eastern separatists.” According to him, the Trump administration was “absolutely” prepared to go further in supplying lethal weaponry to Ukrainian forces than the anti-tank missiles it delivered in April. “They need lethal assistance,” he emphasized. Mr. Volker explained that “[t]hey need to rebuild a navy and they have very limited air capability as well. I think we’ll have to look at air defense.” The diplomat believes Ukraine needs unmanned aerial vehicles, counter-battery radar systems, and anti-sniper systems. The issue of lethal arms purchases has been discussed at the highest level. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 allocated $250m in military assistance to Ukraine, including lethal arms. The US has delivered Javelin anti-tank missile systems to Kiev but this time the ambassador talked about an incomparably larger deal. Former President Barack Obama had been unconvinced that granting Ukraine lethal defensive weapons would be the right decision, in view of the widespread corruption there. This policy has changed under President Trump, who — among other things — approved deliveries of anti-tank missiles to Kiev last December. Ukraine has officially requested US air-defense systems. According to Valeriy Chaly, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, the Ukrainian military . . . READ MORE AT SCF>>

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SBU checking Joint Forces Operation headquarters after offensive plans leak – DPR intelligence / DAN / September 5, 2018 / DONETSK: The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has begun to check Joint Forces Operation headquarters officials for leaking the information on offensive preparations in the south of the Donetsk People’s Republic, DPR Operations Command spokesman Daniil Bezsonov said on Wednesday citing intelligence reports. “After our publication of the Ukrainian invaders’ Mariupol axis offensive plans, the SBU sent teams to Ukrainian army units in the JFO zone to identify and stop the information leakage channel,” Bezsonov said. “On (JFO commander Sergey) Nayev’s demand, SBU agents are checking JFO Headquarters staff for involvement in the leak.” All JFO headquarters officers will take a polygraph test. “The information on the situation and the occupation forces command’s plans is coming to our intelligence notwithstanding, and not only from the JFO zone,” the spokesman said. Reports on Tuesday said that Kiev had begun to prepare for an offensive on the southern axis in Donbass. September 14 was named as the tentative date of the attack.

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Address of Vladislav Surkov on the death of Alexander Zakharchenko
Donetsk News Agency – September 2, 2018
Alexander Vladimirovich, Sasha, Brother, We belong to the same faith, meaning we both do believe in eternal life. That is why I address you as though you are alive. On this hard day, I tell you the same thing I told you on your birthdays: you are a tough guy, a true hero, and being your friend is a great honor. You are always in a hurry, Sasha. From the head’s office to the frontline, from there, if not injured, to a meet miners, than farmers, than to open a school… Indeed, how can one not be in hurry when there are so many issues people wait only for you to settle. Therefore, you are in a hurry to pass away. You are in a hurry though the time is not yet ripe. Too early. However, if there is no other way, I tell you as always: take care, brother. Take care there, if it is impossible here.
— Slava (V.Surkov) September 2, 2018

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Donbass Heroes
Seeking the Truth on Twitter – September 5, 2018

Mozgovoy Givi Motorola
Dremov Zakharchenko Bednov
Mamai, Ishcenko

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Tuesday September 4, 2018
Special Report

“Pops” – The Story of Alexander Zakharchenko,
Leader of the Donetsk and Man of the People
Vesti News VIDEO – Published September 4, 2018

Click for video.
A documentary by Evgeny Poddubny
Who is Mr. Zakharchenko? Was he elected or appointed? How did he become the leader of the self-proclaimed republic?

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Ukrainian army units in southern Donbass on highest alert – DPR intelligence / DAN (Donetsk News Agency) / September 3, 2018 / A number of Ukrainian army units on the Mariupol axis have been put on highest alert, Donetsk People’s Republic Operations Command deputy commander Eduard Basurin said on Monday citing intelligence reports. “Our sources at 128th Mountain Infantry Brigade informed us that Brigade units were on red alert actively replenishing reserves and ammunition,” Basurin said. Reports on Sunday said that the Ukrainian army had launched preparations for an offensive against the DPR. The Republic’s intelligence recorded the deployment of a Ukrainian attack force on the Mariupol axis comprising 56th, 36th and 79th Brigades and Azov nationalistic units. The participation of 128th Brigade points at Ukrainian army reinforcement in southern Donbass. The data retrieved from downed Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the south provided additional evidence. Two UAVs had intact videos of Ukrainian hardware being unloaded at the railway terminals in Khlebodarovka and Zachatovka. “The photos clearly show unloaded armoured vehicles which our intelligence says belongs to 79th Air Assault Brigade and 56th Motorised Infantry Brigade,” Basurin said. In this situation, Ukrainian forces began to send SMS messages to DPR servicemen calling upon them to lay down arms and abandon their positions. “Of course, Ukrainian invaders’ attempts will be unavailing,” Basurin said. “Our units fully control the situation along the contact line.

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Denis Pushilin

‘Donbass will not leave this unanswered’: Denis Pushilin on DPR Head’s perishing / DPR People’s Council Official Website / September 3, 2018 / The assassination of the DPR Head, Alexander Zakharchenko, is a provocation aimed unequivocally at the disruption of the Minsk agreements. This was announced today by the Chairman of the DPR People’s Council, the Permanent Plenipotentiary Representative of the Donetsk People’s Republic at the talks of the Contact Group in Minsk, Denis Pushilin, on the air of the “Reaction” programme on the Russian NTV channel. He noted that the preparation for implementing the terrorist act was carried out by experienced specialists. “Right now, there is only an understanding that professionals worked, modern technical equipment with remote lead to the explosion was used. How this happened and how somebody let it happen is a difficult question. It is hard now to talk about complete security for basically anyone. The civil war has been going on for more than four years, and it is impossible to constantly be in a state of increased vigilance. And you cannot blame anyone in this case. Just want at some time to be an ordinary person. This is the tough situation which we live in,” Denis Pushilin said. According to the DPR envoy, one of the possible goals of the terrorist attack could be an attempt to thwart the Minsk negotiations aimed at a peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in the Donbass. “Now there are more questions on the negotiation process than answers. I absolutely agree that this (the assassination of the DPR Head – ed.) is a provocation, unambiguously aimed at disrupting the Minsk agreements. Who would benefit from it? It’s absolutely obvious for me if you look at how the Ukrainian party behaves at the talks. Ukraine can’t leave the Minsk process, they are unable to continue it too, they can’t fulfil it. What do they need? They need to arrange some serious provocation, which can disrupt the process, as if it were not through their fault,” Denis Pushilin expressed his opinion. The Speaker of the DPR Parliament stated that the actions of the organizers and perpetrators of the vile crime that led to the death of the Head of the Republic will not go unpunished. “Naturally, the Donbass will not leave it unanswered. Time will tell what will be the answer, and what methods will be used. Yesterday we only said goodbye to Alexander Vladimirovich. And now it’s too early to talk about a ready plan of action, it’s not there yet. What that happened on Friday was a big thunder-clap. But we can confidently say that the course chosen by Alexander Zakharchenko was correct,” Denis Pushilin stressed.

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Who was behind the assassination of Aleksandr Zakharchenko?
VIDEO by The Duran – September 2, 2018

Click for VIDEO
The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and International Affairs and Security Analyst, from Moscow, Mark Sleboda discuss the stunning assassination of Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, who was killed in an explosion that took place in a cafe in Central Donetsk city.

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Boris Gryzlov (–EADaily)

Russia to call for international probe into Zakharchenko’s murder at Contact Group meeting / TASS / September 4, 2018 / Russia will call for an international investigation into the murder of head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko at the upcoming meeting of the Contact Group in Minsk, Russia’s envoy to the Minsk talks Boris Gryzlov told reporters on Tuesday. “We will raise the issue of an international investigation into the murder of DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko at a Contact Group meeting tomorrow,” he said. “I believe that this investigation should be as open an impartial as possible involving all participants in the Minsk process.” Gryzlov recalled that the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements of February 12, 2015, signed by Alexander Zakharchenko was a document endorsed by the UN Security Council and received international recognition and legitimation. “I believe it is necessary to use the potential of the Contact Group, which regularly holds its meetings with the OSCE’s involvement, to organize this work (investigation – TASS). OSCE envoys are working in the Contact Group and its subgroups on a regular basis. The OSCE is also represented in the [Donbass] conflict zone,” the Russian envoy stressed. DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko was killed in an explosion in downtown Donetsk on August 31. He was 42 years old. The blast left two people dead and twelve injured, including DPR minister of taxes and duties, Alexander Timofeyev. The DPR law enforcement agencies have detained several suspects who confirmed Kiev’s involvement. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) earlier denied any role in the Donetsk blast. [Quemado Institute comments: Has Gryzlov confirmed his suggestion with Putin, or he speaking from political self-interest? If all Minsk participants became involved in the investigation, it would likely take months or years, with Russia or Donbass blamed in the end, as was true for the Dutch MH17 investigation.]

 

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Alexander Zakharchenko at the Battle of Debaltsevo, Feb. 2015.

Behind assassination of Donetsk leader Zakharchenko / By Greg Butterfield / Red Star Over Donbass / September 3, 2018 / Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the anti-fascist Donetsk People’s Republic, was assassinated on August 31, when an explosion ripped through the Separ restaurant in the capital city of Donetsk. Zakharchenko’s bodyguard, Vyacheslav Dotsenko, was also killed. Twelve other people were injured in the blast, four of them severely, including Finance Minister Alexander Timofeyev. Natalia Volkova, a youth activist, received third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body. (Donetsk News Agency, Sept. 1) Denis Levin, a communist worker from Ukraine living in political exile in Donetsk, told Workers World that the restaurant was often frequented by families and children. Twelve people were taken into custody on suspicion of participating in the planning and conduct of the bombing. According to DPR authorities, the terrorist act was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), through operatives trained by U.S. and NATO military and intelligence services. (Sputnik News, Aug. 31) Zakharchenko, a small businessman and the son of a coal miner, participated in the anti-fascist uprising and militia movement in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, following a right-wing coup in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, in early 2014. The coup was backed to the hilt by the United States, which actively collaborated with local oligarchs and neo-Nazis. In April 2014, with U.S.-NATO support, the Ukrainian regime opened up a brutal war against the people of Donbass. The war has so far cost more than 10,000 lives, according to the United Nations. That May, popular referenda established Donetsk and Lugansk as independent people’s republics. Zakharchenko became prime minister of the DPR in August 2014. As a respected milita fighter without strong political ties, he was seen as a compromise figure between the left-leaning and anti-establishment forces that led the Donbass uprising and the more conservative, pro-capitalist forces backed by the government of the Russian Federation. Donbass desperately needed the support of neighboring Russia, then and now, as it is cut off from food, medicine, equipment and other basic needs by a Western blockade. Zakharchenko was closely identified with the Minsk accords, a set of agreements he signed in early 2015 with the participation of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine, to end the war and bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict. However, the Western-backed government in Kiev, headed by President Petro Poroshenko, has never respected the accords. The Ukrainian side continues to shell residential areas along the line of conflict, including the outskirts of the Donetsk capital. Despite popular disenchantment with the Minsk accords and the difficulties caused by the blockade, Zakharchenko remained personally popular as a symbol of the united front against the Ukrainan regime. Zakharchenko usually wore his milita fatigues, emphasizing the state of siege of the republic, and was frequently seen at the front among the soldiers defending against the Ukrainan Armed Forces and neo-Nazi battalions. In February 2015, he was wounded in action during one of the last battles that successfully turned back a Ukrainain military offensive. He had a down-to-earth style modeled after one of his heroes, Fidel Castro, and frequently went among the residents of the republic to listen to their problems. He established an online video dialogue with residents of Ukraine and areas of Donbass under Ukrainain occupation. His style was credited with bringing a sense of daily normalcy back to the war-battered capital city. Zakharchenko’s assassination was condemend by the governments of the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arab Republic. (SANA, Sept. 1) Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his personal condolences to the people of Donetsk. (TASS, Aug. 31) On Sept. 2, tens of thousands of people came to the Donetsk Opera House, where Zakharchenko lay in state, to pay their final respects. Some 200,000 people lined the streets for his funeral procession. (Novorossia News, Sept. 2)

Why now? Other assassinations have been carried out by the SBU in Donetsk, notably of two popular militia commanders close to Zakharchenko, known by the their military call-signs, Givi and Motorola. There were also earlier attempts on Zakharchenko’s life, most involving car bombs and sniper attacks. However, the assassination of the prime minister through a terror attack on a civilian target in central Donetsk is at a whole other level. Such an act could not have been carried out by a politically, economically and militarily dependent regime like Ukraine’s without high-level U.S. approval. As if to underline the U.S. role in the murder, the following day Ukrainian President Poroshenko stood side by side with NATO head Jens Stoltenberg at the Washington funeral of war criminal Senator John McCain, who was part of the bipartisan bloc that helped bring the Ukrainian junta to power during the Obama administration. (Interfax-Ukraine, Sept. 3) McCain famously shared a platform with Ukrainain fascist Oleh Tyanybok in Kiev before the 2014 coup. So it’s important to ask: Why was Zakharchenko assassinated now, and in this way? Of course, an attack like this is meant to sow fear in the residents of Donbass and shake confidence in the government of the anti-fascist republic. In this respect it failed, as shown by the defiant mass outpouring for Zakharchenko’s funeral. But the attack must also be seen in an international context. Zakharchenko’s assassination came as the Syrian Army, with support from its Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah allies, moves to retake Idlib province, one of the last strongholds of the Western-backed contra armies in Syria. (See article by Karin Leukefeld in Junge Welt Aug. 30 / Workers.org Sept. 1) Just days before, the Russian military warned that U.S.-backed forces could stage another “false flag” chemical weapons attack in Idlib, of the sort used so frequently to justify prolonged Western intervention in Syria. Syria’s representative then presented evidence of such a plan to the United Nations. (FARS News Agency, Aug. 29) Was the assassination of Zakharchenko a warning to Moscow and its allies, an act of retaliation for their exposure of the planned U.S. provocation in Idlib? Throughout the long imperialist war to dismember Syria, Ukraine has frequently been used by the West as a looming threat against Damascus’ ally – the threat of a second front on Russia’s Western border that could flare up at any moment. It also comes amidst the deepening internal struggle inside the U.S. ruling class political establishment over which direction for the Pentagon war machine and CIA to take: further towards war with Russia, as advocated by Democratic Party and establishment Republican Party leaders, or towards other targets including Iran and China, as prefered by Trump. Anti-imperialists and anti-war activists must not disregard the assassination of the Donetsk leader as a local event of limited significance, but see it as a warning sign of the need to redouble efforts to reach out to poor and working people here, to counter the anti-Russia witch hunt, and mobilize to stop U.S. intervention everywhere! This is the best tribute we can pay to fallen anti-fascist Alexander Zakharchenko.

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Sunday September 2, 2018
Special Report

Alexander Zakharchenko, President, Donetsk People’s Republic

Alexander Zakharchenko a Unique Leader – Adam Garrie in Remembrance / Remembering Alexander Zakharchenko (1976-2018), / By Adam Garrie / Quemado Institute (from Eurasia Future) / September 2, 2018 / Alexander Zakharchenko was a unique leader by any standard but what made him stand apart from the others in the political leadership of Donbass was that he was able to think big even at a time when an enemy regime sought to put all of the Donbass people on their knees. In July of 2017 Alexander Zakharchenko invited reporters to a press conference where he proudly announced his plan to create a union of Malorossiya (Little Russia) which would be immediately comprised of the Novorossiya republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and would eventually grow to incorporate all other regions of the historic space of Malorossiya that are presently controlled by the Kiev regime. According to Zakharchenko’s plan, any regions joining Malorossiya would do so through a democratic referendum and there would be no discrimination based on what ethnicity or linguistic group one wanted to self-identify with. The Malorossiya declared by Zakharachenko sought the penultimate democratic preservation of historic Russian lands initially restored to Russia rule under the 1667 Treaty of Andrusovo as well as the lands of the Black Sea region and into the industrial heartlands of Donbass which Russia attained from the Ottoman Empire in the mid 17th century. In this sense, Zakharachenko’s Malorossiya restored historical continuity to regions criminally separated from the rest of Russia while allowing for a spirit of democracy and fraternal relations between regions with unique local characteristics to flourish. Such proposals were clearly beyond the scope . . . READ MORE AT QUEMADO INSTITUTE>>

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‘The city is orphaned’: 120,000 mourners bid farewell to assassinated Donbass leader in Donetsk / Sott.net / September 2, 2018 / At least 120,000 people have attended the funeral of Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, who was killed by an explosion in a cafe in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Friday. Zakharchenko’s remains were placed on display in the lobby of the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in the center of Donetsk. It is not far from Cafe Separ, where the leader of the self-proclaimed DPR was murdered. Over 120,000 people came to bid farewell to the assassinated leader, a spokesperson for the city council confirmed to reporters. People were seen carrying flowers for the farewell ceremony of the Donbass leader. “[We have] nothing but tears! We do not know what to say,” three women from Yasynovataya town in Donetsk region told RIA Novosti. “How could this [murder] ever happen?! In the center of the city where many mothers walk with children, where ordinary people walk!” another grieving woman exclaimed. Zakharchenko was married, and is survived by four sons. Moscow condemned the murder of 42-year-old Zakharchenko, adding that it could be detrimental to the whole peace process in Ukraine. “It is a blatant provocation aimed at undermining the implementation of the Minsk Agreement in eastern Ukraine,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday. Zakharchenko had headed the DPR since November 2014, when a crisis broke out in Ukraine following a coup d’etat that ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Donetsk province, along with neighboring Lugansk, engaged in open conflict with Kiev as they refused to accept the new government following the 2014 coup, establishing self-proclaimed republics. Zakharchenko had previously survived several assassination attempts. [More photos at source.]

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Zakharchenko is buried in the cemetery of “Donetskoye more”, Lenin district, Donetsk, where Arsen Pavlov (Motorola) and Mikhail Tolstikh (Givi) also rest in peace / Vzglyad.ru / September 2, 2018 / Autotranslation by Quemado Institute / The head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, who died on Friday as a result of the terrorist act in the cafe “Separ” in Donetsk, was buried in the cemetery “Donetskoye More” in the Leninsky district of the city. The comrades-in-arms of the leader of the Donbass, Arsen Pavlov (Motorola) and Mikhail Tolstykh (Givi), also rest there. The burial ritual was accompanied by artillery and weapons salute. The funeral ceremony, attended by about 200 people, lasted about an hour. Earlier on Sunday, a 200,000-strong column of people followed Zakharchenko’s coffin from the opera and ballet theater to the building of the administration of the head of the NDP. Throughout the procession, the citizens of the proclaimed republic applauded and chanted “Thank you.”

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Funeral of Fallen Hero In Donetsk / LiveLeak / September 2, 2018 / In the capital of the Donetsk People’s Republic 200 thousand turned out to honor the memory of their assassinated leader Alexander Zakharchenko. A column of people following the coffin in the morning stretched from the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theater to the building of the Administration of the Republick on Artem Street, where the late leader of the Donbass worked. Residents of the Republic throughout the procession applauded and chanted “Thank you.” The servicemen removed the coffin from the carriage and went to the cemetery “Donetsk Sea” in the Leninsky district of Donetsk, where the funeral will be held. He will be buried next to other fallen heroes Motorola and Givi. Zakharchenko was assassinated in a cowardly manner by the Amerikan supported neonazi forces of Kiev. Unable to make any progress in actual battles against the people of Donetsk the neonazi regime has turned to terrorism. Trained by the same Western troops that train the Al Qaeda terrorists in Syria.

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Zakcharchenko: Farewell to Head of DPR
VIDEO by Donbass Rose – September 2, 2018

Click for video.
Today Donetsk was saying farewell to assasinated head of Republic Alexander Zakcharchenko. He was murdered as the result of bomb explosion at a cafe. “He has been murdered by Western backed Nazi assasines. The day will come when we’ll be watching Poroshenko [President of Ukraine] funerals too!” – says Russell Bentley, American volunteer in Donetsh Republic. – In his short life Zakcharchenko changed history. He turned back the tide of fascism in Donbass, just like we did 75 years ago!”

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Speaker of the State Duma: Zakharchenko’s murder nullifies Minsk agreements / Ukraina.ru / September 2, 2018 / Autotranslation by Quemado Institute / The terrorist act that took the life of the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Alexander Zakharchenko, puts an end to the steps taken by Russia and the world community to resolve the conflict in Donbass This August 31, said the State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin. “This is lawlessness, which nullifies all those steps that have been undertaken by Russia and the world community for several years to end the war in the southeast of Ukraine,” Volodin quotes Interfax. According to him, “it would be correct for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to give its assessment of what happened and urged the Ukrainian authorities to be accountable for this crime” “All those involved in this terrorist act must be punished,” Volodin stressed. The State Duma speaker drew attention to the fact that “the Kyiv authorities, on the one hand, declare the need to implement the Minsk agreements and advocate a peaceful settlement of the situation in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic, and on the other hand, by terrorist methods, get rid of legally elected authorities in the Donbas.” Earlier it was reported that in the center of the capital of the Donetsk People’s Republic at about 17:30 near the residence of the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Alexander Zakharchenko an explosion occurred, which resulted in Alexander Zakharchenko’s death. There are also three other victims, one of whom is the head of the Ministry of Finance of the DNR, Alexander Timofeev. In the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic, terrorist attacks occurred repeatedly, the victims of which were militia commanders. In particular, the commander of the battalion “Sparta” Arseniy Pavlov (call sign “Motorola”) was killed in Donetsk on October 16 as a result of an explosion in the elevator of his house. In the DNR believe that this was a terrorist attack, prepared by Ukrainian special services. The authorities of the republic associate the death of the militiaman with the attempts of the Kiev authorities to divert attention from the failure by the Ukrainian side of the Minsk agreements. The commander of the “Somali” battalion, Mikhail Tolstykh, known by the Givi call sign, died early in the morning on February 8 in his office in Donetsk. As the main versions of the murder are considered a shot from the jet flamethrower “Bumblebee” and the laying of explosives. In the DNR they are sure that the Ukrainian special services are behind the crime, and also do not exclude the involvement of the adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Zoryan Shkiryak. The authorities of Ukraine in April 2014 launched a military operation against the LNR and the Donetsk People’s Republic, which declared independence after a coup in Ukraine in February 2014. According to the latest UN data, more than 10,000 people became victims of the conflict. Kiev and its western patrons regularly accuse Russia of interfering in the civil war in Donetsk and Lugansk regions. In turn, representatives of the Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that they are not a party to the intra-Ukrainian conflict in the Donbass and are in favor of its early peaceful settlement. The issue of settling the situation in the Donbass is discussed, in particular, during the meetings in Minsk of the contact group, which since September, 2014 has already adopted three documents regulating the steps to de-escalate the conflict. However, after the armistice agreements between the parties to the conflict, shootings continue.

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Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov (–Zubair Bairakov/TASS)

Chechen leader Kadyrov vows support to Donbass after DPR head’s death / TASS / September 1, 2018 / Alexander Zakharchenko, who had been Prime Minister of the DPR since 2014, died in an explosion in downtown Donetsk on Friday. / GROZNY / Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov vowed support and assistance to eastern Ukraine’s region of Donbass following the death of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic leader Alexander Zakharchenko. “On this difficult day for Donbass, I assure that we are ready to render all necessary assistance and support, we will not leave you face-to-face with your tragedy,” Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram page. The Chechen leader said that although he never met Zakharchenko in person, he talked to him by phone on many occasions. “He was a sincere and courageous person, devoted to his people,” Kadyrov said. He added that Western nations “absolutely don’t care that the Ukrainian government has harbored terrorists, bandits, gangsters, criminals, provided them with weapons, money and documents and gave them green light to carry out terror attacks and murders” in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.” Some of those nations, Kadyrov said, have become “home for hundreds of dangerous criminals, wanted in Russia on charges of grave crimes.” Alexander Zakharchenko, who had been Prime Minister of the DPR since 2014, died in an explosion in downtown Donetsk on Friday. He was 42 years old. The blast left two people dead and nine injured, including DPR minister of taxes and duties, Alexander Timofeyev, and the head of a local youth organization, Natalya Volkova. DPR law enforcement agencies have already detained several suspects in the blast, who confirmed the Kiev government’s involvement, the DPR interim head has said. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) earlier denied any role in the blast.

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UNINTENTIONAL COINCIDENCE? New Donbass leader vows to integrate with Russia / Fort Russ / September 2, 2018 / Authorities in the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk will continue to seek integration with Russia after the assassination of its president, the new leader of the region said on Saturday. “Our foreign policy remains unchanged, it is integration with the Russian Federation,” DPR interim leader Dmitry Trapeznikov said in a statement circulated by his press office. Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the independent region in what is internationally recognized as eastern Ukraine, was killed on Friday in an explosion in the center of Donetsk. Another 11 people were injured. The region’s finance minister, Alexander Timofeev, was taken to hospital in critical condition. Donetsk officials say they are treating the bombing as an act of terrorism. Trapeznikov said several suspects confessed that the attack was orchestrated by the Ukraine – which denies the prosecution. Russian President Vladimir Putin has referred to Zakharchenko’s death as a “vile murder” by those who prefer “the path of terror” than to find a peaceful solution to the four-year conflict in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, President of Ukraine, Pyotr Poroshenko, met in Washington with US Special Representative for Negotiations in Ukraine, Kurt Volker, and discussed the situation in Donbass and extended sanctions against Russia, the Ukranian president’s press service said. This Friday and Saturday Poroshenko visited the United States to bid farewell to US Senator John McCain. “The parties discussed the security situation in eastern Ukraine and coordinated additional measures for the evacuation of Donbass,” the statement said on the Poroshenko website. The Ukrainian leader also expressed his gratitude to the United States for continuing the policy of sanctions against Russia.

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[Enemy Report:] Ukraine crisis: Mass turnout for funeral of Donetsk rebel Zakharchenko / Dirrex (BBC) / September 2, 2018 / Tens of thousands of people have gathered in eastern Ukraine to mourn a Russian-backed separatist leader who was killed in a bomb attack on Friday.Alexander Zakharchenko, 42, died in the explosion at a cafe in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.He is the most senior Russian-backed fatality of the conflict so far.Russia’s foreign ministry said it suspected Ukraine of organising the latest killing, although the Ukrainian government has denied any involvement. Large crowds have waited in line to pay their respects to the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, who was killed along with his bodyguard in Friday’s attack. Twelve other people were injured.Zakharchenko had been wounded twice in combat, and survived a car bomb blast in August 2014. On Saturday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that international talks on Ukraine could no longer be considered following Zakharchenko’s death.The talks, involving leaders from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany, are known as the Normandy format. They were established to seek a settlement to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which began when rebels seized large swathes of territory in the region in an uprising in April 2014. Since then, thousands of people have died in fighting between the rebels and Ukrainian government forces.Moscow denies sending regular troops and heavy weapons to the separatists, but admits that Russian “volunteers” are helping the rebels. [Source: http://www.dirrex.com/world_news/Today_News/2-09-2018-ukraine-crisis–mass-turnout-for-funeral-of-donetsk-rebel-zakharchenko%5D

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American Internet resources block information related to the name Zakharchenko / Rusvesnu.ru / September 2, 2018 / Autotranslation by Quemado Institute / YouTube blocks direct stream video of the funeral of Zakharchenko in which more than 200,000 people have been present. / American video service YouTube blocks direct live video from the funeral of the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Disconnected broadcasting [includes] “Newsfront”, the television channel “Tsargrad” and the Donetsk “Oplot TV”. Also reported on the removal of the social network “Facebook” a large number of posts with the name of the deceased Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The reasons for such obvious manifestations of political censorship are not reported. We remind that “Facebook”, as “Google”, in 2006 having acquired video hosting “Yutube”, are American companies.

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On the contact line in the LNR, Ukrainian snipers and subversive groups / Novorossinform.org / September 2, 2018 / Edited autotranslation by Quemado Institute / On the contact line in the LNR [LPR] in the area of occupied Schyastya, snipers and reconnaissance and sabotage groups of Ukrainian militants became active. This was told by the official representative of the People’s Militia of the Luganst People’s Republic, Andrei Marochko, RIA Novosti reports. According to him, today the main task of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is to provoke the LNR for reciprocal actions during the truce. In this connection, the Ukrainian command continues to maintain a tense situation in the conflict zone and make false statements about shelling by the forces of Donbass. In parallel, APUs are strengthening their positions at the front line. Marochko noted that the press center of the “so-called EOS headquarters” recorded shooting, which in fact was not from the side of the LPR. In particular, the Ukrainian side accused the People’s Militia units of shelling the Crimean and Troitskoe settlements in the occupied part of the Republic. The Speaker of the People’s Militia did not rule out that the units of the two Brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fired upon their own positions. “I declare with full responsibility that the People’s Militia of LNR strictly adheres to the Minsk agreements and is ready for a peaceful resolution of the conflict,” Marachko stressed. Earlier it was reported that the command of the LNR does not exclude the aggravation of the situation on the contact line in connection with the planned transfer to the zone of the so-called “operation of the joint forces” of the Nazis subordinated to the former leader of the “Right Sector”, banned in Russia, Yaroshu. Yesterday in the Ministry of Defense, the People’s Democratic Republic of Ukraine announced that the Ukrainian command was preparing for an offensive after the assassination of Zakharchenko.

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The crucifixion was not the end, but the beginning.

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Saturday September 1, 2018
Special Report

Alexander Zakharchenko (–Fort Russ)

Zakharchenko assassination presents a new reality in the Donbass / By Tom Winter / Fort Russ / September 1, 2018 / Minsk Accords were already dead and this is the death certificate / From RuEconomics: The assassination of Zakharchenko creates a new reality in the Donbass: Yesterday in Donetsk, the head of the People’s Democratic Republic Alexander Zakharchenko perished as a result of the terrorist attack. The bomb explosion occurred in one of the restaurants in the city, where at that time the head of the People’s Republic was with a number of ministers and close associates. The murder of Zakharchenko is an international crime. The explosion took place in the SEPAR restaurant, where an explosive device with the equivalent of 800 grams of TNT was fixed in a lamp. Together with Zakharchenko 11 more people were injured, including the Deputy Chairman of the Government of the People’s Republic of Donetsk, and besides the leader of the People’s Republic, another person was killed, who is not yet named. In the DPR, a three-day mourning has been declared, and Dmitri Trapeznikov became the acting president. He previously served as deputy chairman of the government of the Donetsk People’s Republic. This happened in accordance with Article 62 of the DPR Constitution.

Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the murder of Zakharchenko is a terrorist act and an international crime, and also confirmed that Russia will not leave the people of Donbass in trouble. Today, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that this crime is a provocation and will lead to increased tension in the Donbass. In addition, Peskov expressed the thesis that this provocation does not contribute to the creation of conditions, at least for the sake of reaching prospects for the implementation of the Minsk agreements, and, therefore, it further and further puts the general state of affairs in the Donbass at a dead end.

Ukraine’s actions create a new reality. The editor-in-chief of the magazine National Defense, Igor Korochenko, in his conversation with the FBA “Economics Today” noted that this event once again shows the fact that the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic must take a course towards full-fledged state building. “I believe that these territories will never again be part of Ukraine, they are lost for Kiev, and the whole question is what will happen next. If Ukraine launches a large-scale military operation against the Donbass, or if Ukraine goes on to aggression against Russia — and today we can not rule out such a scenario, given the latest statements and sentiments in Kiev — then a fundamentally new reality will arise in this issue,” states Korotchenko. As the expert notes, this reality will be that Ukraine’s border will get to the Dnieper – everything west will remain Ukraine, and everything that is east, Novorossia or something else, depending on the development of the overall situation. “My personal position is that with regard to Ukraine we must behave harshly to the max, as this is a terrorist state led by illegitimate president Petro Poroshenko,” concludes Korotchenko.

Ukraine’s actions nullify the entire negotiating process. According to Igor Yurievich, we should behave in exactly the same way as the United States is conducting its policy today towards those countries, which they consider their adversaries, with all the ensuing consequences. “We must behave with Ukraine as hard as possible and do not need to be ashamed of anything. We must determine the rules of the game, as well as the final result of all such conflict situations,” Korochenko sums up.

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Friday August 31, 2018
Special Report

DPR Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko (–TASS)

There is every reason to believe Kiev regime behind Zakharchenko’s murder — diplomat / TASS / August 31, 2018 / The warmongers in Kiev are implementing the terrorist scenario instead of complying with the Minsk agreements, and there is every reason to believe that the Kiev regime is behind the assassination of head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS on Friday. “DPR head Zakharchenko has been killed in a terror attack in Donetsk. There is every reason to believe that the Kiev regime, which has used similar means to eliminate unwanted people who have dissenting views more than once, is behind his assassination,” she said. “Instead of complying with the Minsk agreements and searching for ways of resolving the internal conflict, the warmongers in Kiev are implementing the terrorist scenario exacerbating the complex situation in the region.” “The global community must demand, and, considering Ukraine’s puppet political system, control the impartial investigation into that crime committed in front of civilians’ eyes,” Zakharova stressed. Zakharchenko was killed in an explosion in Donetsk on Friday. The DPR head’s administration has confirmed his death.

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Head of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic killed in explosion / TASS / August 31, 2018 / Head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko was killed by an explosion in Donetsk on Friday. The administration of the head of the DPR has confirmed this information, the Donetsk News Agency reported on its website on Friday. “Unfortunately, DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko has been killed in a terror attack. Details are being clarified,” the news agency quotes a spokesman for the administration as saying. The explosion occurred in the Separ restaurant in the city center at about 17:30. According to the Donetsk News Agency, three more people were injured. Alexander Zakharchenko was born in Donetsk on June 26, 1976. He graduated from the Donetsk College of Industrial Automation with a degree in mining electromechanics. When protests in southeastern Ukraine erupted in the spring of 2014 in the wake of the regime change in the country, Zakharchenko joined the people’s militia. On April 16, he took part in storming the building of the Donetsk City Administration. On August 8, 2014, the DPR Supreme Council endorsed him as Chairman of the DPR Council of Ministers to replace Alexander Borodai. On November 2, 2014, Alexander Zakharchenko was elected head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic having secured 77.51% of the vote. He assumed office on November 4, 2014. His closest rival, Alexander Kofman, deputy chairman of the Novorossia parliament, garnered 10.03% of the vote.

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DPR President Alexander Zakharchenko (–rt.com)

Leader of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic killed in E. Ukraine blast / rt.com / August 31, 2018 / An explosion that rocked a cafe in central Donetsk city, in eastern Ukraine, has killed Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, and injured several other top officials. “The head of the DPR, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, has died as a result of a terrorist act,” a spokesperson of the self-proclaimed republic’s administration told journalists, revealing no details of the incident. “An improvised explosive device was planted inside the café … right near the entrance,” Aleksandr Kazakov, an advisor to the DPR leader, told RT, adding that the killers apparently knew that Zakharchenko would arrive at the café and were “waiting” for him. A state of emergency has been imposed, Kazakov said, adding that borders with both Ukraine and Russia were sealed as the security services are “actively searching for the potential perpetrators.” One of Zakharchenko’s deputies also sustained severe injuries in the blast while several bodyguards died in the incident, Kazakov said. He added that Zakharchenko died at the scene as well, contrary to the earlier reports suggesting he was injured and succumbed to his wounds in a hospital. The DPR security services detained the alleged perpetrators behind Zakharchenko’s murder later on Friday, a DPR spokesman confirmed, adding that their identities have been established. According to media reports, those detained were identified as “Ukrainian operatives and some of their accomplices.” Dmitry Trapeznikov, one of Zakharchenko’s deputies, has been appointed as the DPR’s acting leader, the head of the local legislature, Denis Pushilin, told reporters. Moscow condemned 42-year-old Zakharchenko’s murder, adding that it could be detrimental to the whole peace process in Ukraine. The death of the DPR leader could have a particularly negative impact on the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Russian Senate’s International Affairs Committee, said. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his “deep condolences” to the relatives and the loved ones of the DPR head, the Kremlin said in a statement. Putin called Zakharchenko “a real people’s leader,” and “a brave man.” He also said that this incident shows that “those, who chose the path of terror, violence and intimidation, do not want to seek a peaceful…solution…and engage in a real dialog with the people living in south-eastern [Ukraine].” There is “every reason to believe” that Zakharchenko’s murder was orchestrated by Kiev, which “has repeatedly resorted to such methods to get rid of dissidents and undesirables,” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said. “Instead of abiding by the Minsk Agreements and seeking ways to resolve the internal [Ukrainian] conflict, the Kiev warmongers opted for a terrorist scenario, thus exacerbating an already tense situation in the region,” she added. The Ukrainian security service, the SBU, has denied involvement in the killing of the DPR head. Zakharchenko headed the self-proclaimed republic since November 2014 when a crisis broke out in Ukraine following a coup d’état that ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The Eastern Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk engaged in open conflict with Kiev since they refused to accept the new government, following the 2014 coup, and established the self-proclaimed republics. He previously survived several assassination attempts.

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Eduard Basurin

US May Have Taken Part in Zakharchenko Assassination – DPR Official / Sputnik / August 31, 2018 / According to Deputy Defense Minister and defense spokesman of Donetsk People’s Republic Eduard Basurin, the US could have taken part in the assassination of the Donetsk People’s Republic head Zakharchenko. / According to Eduard Basurin, Zakharchenko’s murder took place “under the regulation by the United States.” The US was directly involved in it,” Basurin said. The commander of the Donetsk Operational Command stated, speaking on a Russian television channel, that the main goal of the perpetrators is to destabilize the self-proclaimed republic and the situation observed in the military zone. He even addressed the Ukrainian authorities and Petro Poroshenko in particular, saying they could do nothing about it. “That was a pre-planned murder, plotted by the Ukrainian special services and curated by the US. I’d like to tell Ukraine’s President Poroshenko and his bloodthirsty gang: the scenario that you plotted along with the murder will fail,” Basurin asserted. “We are standing on guard of our republic’s borders,” he stated, adding that the Donetsk authorities are in full control of the situation in the people’s republic after Zakharchenko’s assassination. “I stress one more time that we have sufficient means to resist Ukrainian aggression against people living in a free state — the DPR, and we will do everything to not let any more civilians die.” READ MORE: Life and Death of Assassinated DPR Head Alexander Zakharchenko

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Aleksandr Zakharchenko has been murdered today / The Saker / August 31, 2018 / It has now been confirmed that Aleksandr Zakharchenko has been murdered today. You can read some of the details in this RT article here: https://www.rt.com/news/437357-head-donbass-republic-killed/  This murder really breaks my heart, but also worries and sickens me. Just like the murders of Morotola or Givi, this murder proves that there is a major, massive, problem with the DNR/LNR security services. Whether this is pure incompetence or treason I don’t know, but what is sure is that while murders of charismatic leaders happen in all conflicts this is the exception, not the rule (how many leaders were killed during, say, the Bosnian civil war?). It *is* possible to protect commanders and officials (there are special forces and services which can do that very well). When it is the rule, then most certainly something is very wrong. Two years ago I wrote an article entitled “The Murder of Motorola – questions which must be answered” for which I was hysterically criticized by some ignorant amateurs, but the questions which I asked then remain unanswered today. Frankly, I very much doubt that they will be answered this time around either. In my 2016 I asked the question cui bono in reference to the murders of so many DNR/LNR leaders. Now I ask the same cui bono about the systematic denial that there is a major problem with the DNR/LRN security services. Two years after the murder of Motorola the Novorussians have clearly not solved their security problem. This is why I can only offer the same conclusion as I did two years ago: “Ideally, the Russians should send some smart and ruthless patriot, like General Shamanov, to go to Lugansk and Donesk and read the locals the riot act (Russians generals are very good at that kind of stuff) and if they offer any resistance, just toss them out of their office (Russian generals are also good at that kind of stuff).” By now pretty much all the key Novorussian leaders and heroes have been murdered and it is too late to do anything about this. But somebody will have to take their place and it is them that the Russians need to protect now. Living in deep denial, cheerleading and flag waving are all very good, but not when people get murdered as a result. “With the Saints give rest, O Christ, to the soul of Your servant Aleksandr where there is no pain, nor sorrow, nor suffering, but life everlasting.” — The Saker [Editor’s note: for those mourning the death of Zakharchenko, there is solace among the comments at The Saker.]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THE OPERATIONAL COMMAND OF THE DNR / Armiyadnr.su / August 31, 2018 / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / Today, the head of our Republic, the supreme commander-in-chief of the Hero of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Aleksandr Vladimirovich Zakharchenko, was killed by a treacherous blow, so typical for the Ukrainian terrorist regime. We lost today our commander, the hero of the defense of Donbass and a true patriot of our Republic! We mourn for loss. This terrorist act is aimed at destabilizing the situation in the Republic and carried out by special operations of Ukraine under the control of US special services. All units of the People’s Militia are transferred to the highest degree of combat readiness! The enemy does not have the opportunity to take advantage of the created situation and break our borders! The Ukrainian regime will bitterly pay for the sordid blow inflicted upon us! We call upon the entire world community to bring the criminal Ukrainian authorities to justice for the committed and resolute condemnation during the meeting of the UN General Assembly! We call on the citizens of our Republic to remain calm and not to panic. The situation in the Republic and on the contact line remains under the full control of our law enforcement agencies.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin (–Fort Russ)

Putin’s response to the assassination: Russia is with you / Fort Russ / August 31, 2018 / Alexander Vladimirovich “was a true people’s leader, a brave and resolute person, a patriot of Donbass / Fort Russ editor’s note: Several have been detained and it has been confirmed that the assassination of Alexandr Zakharchenko was an attack from Ukraine. FRN [Fort Russ News] itself is under attack, and when the staff can reach our site, we will be posting updates. / We read in Novorosinform: “Russia is with you”: Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the Donbass on the assassination of Alexander Zakharchenko, head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Kremlin official website reported. The President noted that Alexander Vladimirovich “was a true people’s leader, a brave and resolute person, a patriot of Donbass.” “The vile murder of Alexander Zakharchenko is another evidence: those who chose the path of terror, violence, intimidation, do not want to seek a peaceful, political solution to the conflict, do not want to conduct a real dialogue with the inhabitants of the southeast. And they make a dangerous bet on the destabilization of the situation, to put the people of Donbass on their knees. This is not going to work,” Putin said. “I hope that the organizers and executors of this crime will bear the punishment they deserve,” he added. “I want to once again express my condolences to the relatives and friends of Alexander Vladimirovich Zakharchenko, all residents of the Donbass. Russia will always be with you,” Vladimir Putin stated. Recall that today in the center of Donetsk near the cafe “Separ” an explosion occurred, as a result of which the head of the People’s Democratic Republic Alexander Zakharchenko perished. Later, law enforcers of the DNR detained suspects in the murder of Zakharchenko. Also, as a result of the explosion near the cafe “Separ”, the Minister of Income and Duties of the Donetsk People’s Republic Alexander Timofeev was wounded. The administration of the head of the Democratic People’s Republic of Ukraine called the explosion in Donetsk a terrorist act. The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Maria Zakharova said that the Ukrainian authorities are behind the murder of Zakharchenko.

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Acting DPR Head Dmitry Trapeznikov

DPR chooses a successor to Zakharchenko / UAWire / August 31, 2018 / Successor to Zakharchenko has been quickly chosen in Donetsk. Dmitry Trapeznikov, who until now has been deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the DPR became the head of the DPR, as announced at an emergency briefing in the press center of the Donetsk news agency. The Chairman of the National Council of DPR, Denis Pushilin presented Trapeznikov to journalists. Trapeznikov read a statement after Pushilin’s presentation. “The Territorial Defense command has made a decision. In connection with the tragic death of Alexander Zakharchenko, to nominate as an acting head of the DPR, Dmitry Viktorovich Trapeznikov,” said Trapeznikov himself. Trapeznikov was born on April 12, 1981 in Krasnodar. In 1982, he and his family moved to Donetsk. He has three university degrees in the fields of industrial and civil construction, economics and law. He worked as a manager of Donetsk soccer Club Shakhtar, held senior positions in large business enterprises in Donetsk. From 2010 to 2012, he worked as deputy head ofof the Petrovsky district of Donetsk. In September 2014, he was appointed “head of the provisional administration of the Telmanovsky district of Donetsk People’s Republic”. Subsequently headed “Management of foreign and internal policy of the administration of the DPR” and later took the post of “Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic”. The head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, was killed in an explosion in the restaurant “Separ” in the center of Donetsk.

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Alexander Zakharchenko

DPR Head Died From Wounds Received In Terrorist Attack In Donetsk. State Of Emergency Declared In DPR / Southfront / August 31, 2018 / Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko has died from wounds received in a terrorist attack in the DPR capital of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, according to reports in the Russian media. According to initial reports, the explosion, which took place in a restaurant, “Separatist”, on August 31 also injured at least 3 persons. The DPR Finance Minister was reportedly among them. Some sources say that Zakhachenko was not only one killed in the attack. However, no evidence have been provided so far. The situation is developing. Over the past few years, the DPR and its neighbor, the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), have been hit by a series of terrorist attacks and assasinations. Most of them have been reportedly carried out by Ukrainian intelligence and its agents. However, some sources say that at least a part of these incidents has been a result of the internal tensions within the DPR and the LPR. Local sources describe the work of the republic’s security forces as only “sub-optimal” to what is needed. It’s also important to note that Zakharchenko was one of the persons signing the Minsk II agreements in 2015, which declared a ceasefire between Ukraine and the DPR-LPR forces. Now, when Zakharchenko is dead, Kiev may use this as a justification to further ingore its responsibilities in the framework of the reached agreements. UPDATE 1: The Russian Foreign Ministry has commented on the situation describing it as a terrorist attack. It has added that the Ukrainian government “decided to start a massacre after failing to fulfill their promises on peace.” The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has said that it is not linked to the attack and has described it as a result of the internal tensions in the DPR. The DPR authorities say that Kiev is responsible for the assasination of Zakharchenko. UPDATE 2: Dmitry Trapeznikov became the acting head of the DPR. [Photo caption: Denis Pushilin, Dmitry Trapeznikov]

Tweet from Unknown Source [unconfirmed, reported here for the record]: Fire Tracker tweets September 1, 2018, 03:15 UTC: “Updated counter-IRA device signature used by SAS/SBS…..Details about the killing of #Zakharchenko. The explosive was hidden in a lightning fixture and was activated by cellphone (as I suspected). The explosive was about 800 grams. A rather well planned and executed hit.”

Donetsk Lugansk News Mar 8 2018

Editor’s note, August 31, 2018: We have not been updating this website, however for those who mourn the death of DPR President Alexander Zakharchenko, there is some consolation to be found in the comment section at The Saker.

Thursday March 8, 2018
(Brief Update)

AFU snipers trained by foreign instructors redeployed to Donetsk region / DONi News / March 7, 2018 / The group of Ukrainian snipers trained by British and American instructors arrived in the area near Donetsk western border to carry out assignments, reports the DPR Operational Command’s Vice-Commander, Eduard Basurin. “In the Krasnogorovka locality’s area arrival of three snipers couples from separate reconnaissance battalion, armed with sniper rifles, provided by the US, was detected,” said the Vice-Commander. It is planned that they will carry out assignments together with units of the special operations forces of Ukraine. It should be reminded that recently civilian citizens, particularly, public utilities’ employees, were repeatedly coming under Ukrainian gunmen’s fire. The latest sniper attacks were reported on March 5th – a few hours after the indefinite ceasefire came into effect in Donbass.

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Ukrainian forces shell DPR with two dozen rounds over past 24 hours – JCCC / DAN / March 8, 2018 / Ukrainian forces fired two dozen rounds of ammunition at Donetsk People’s Republic frontline areas over the past 24 hours, head of the DPR Mission to the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC) Ruslan Yakubov said on Thursday. “Overall, Ukrainian army units expended 20 rounds of ammunition,” Yakubov said. The Staromikhailovka village in western Donetsk and the Yasinovataya town came under fire, he added. Earlier, the DPR Operations Command reported two ceasefire violations by Ukrainian army units over the past 24 hours. A comprehensive, durable and indefinite ceasefire came into effect in Donbass on March 5. The truce was brokered by the Contact Group in Minsk on March 2.

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Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 03/08/2018 / DONi News / March 8, 2018 / After a brief relative calm, the Ukrainian occupation forces again violated the agreement, once again jeopardizing the establishment of peace in Donbass. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy fired four 120-mm mortar shells onto the areas of Staromikhailovka and Yasinovataya settlements, grenade launchers and small arms were also applied. Yesterday, the Ukrainian militants committed yet another act of aggression against civilian objects. A civilian truck belonging to the municipal enterprise “Donbass Water” transported property through the city of Yasinovataya towards the Donetsk Filtering Station. At 11:40 am the vehicle was targeted with small arms from the Ukrainian fighters’ positions. As a result of the bombardment, the truck’s body was damaged. Fortunately, the driver was not injured. As it has already happened more than once, the Ukrainian terrorists saw what they wanted to see, and instead of a civilian truck they again imagined a vehicle carrying ammunition. In total for the past day, there were registered two violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian occupants. *** As we have repeatedly noted, the anti-constitutional law “On the reintegration of Donbass” has completely untied hands of the Ukrainian militants. We constantly receive information from residents of the Kiev-occupied territories on crimes against civilians. Recently, their number has been only growing. In the villages of Bogdanovka, Krasnogorovka, Verkhneye Zaitsevo, Gladosovo and Travnevoye, the Ukrainian occupants actively dismantle the houses left by the residents and use stolen property to improve their living conditions in dugouts as firewood and building materials. *** And now let’s turn to a bright note. On behalf of the Command of the Armed Forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic, I want to congratulate all the women of Donbass on the International Women’s Day! In particular, the female military personnel, who had come to defend their land in trying times. Dear women! I wish you to smile more, always feel loved, happy, most valuable, and to inspire us to great deeds. And I wish to raise children under the peaceful skies! —Vice-Commander of the DPR People’s Militia, Colonel Eduard Basurin, official translation by DONi News Agency

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Trump’s Kurt Volker promotes ethnic cleansing of the Donbass / By Joaqin Flores / Fort Russ / March 8, 2018 / Special Representative of the US State Department on Ukraine Kurt Volker, made some comments that reflect the US’s overall propensity to ignore international treaties and international law, during a panel discussion at the Hudson Institute. In comments contrary to the letter and spirit of the Minsk II Agreement, he said that the DPR and the LPR should be eliminated. He based his lacking opinion, which exists outside of rational interpretation of contract law, in some thought that they not comply with the Constitution of Ukraine. Those familiar with the language of the Minsk Agreement know that it recognizes the DPR and LPR and in fact calls for constitutional changes, which to date has not been carried out by Ukraine. Ukraine lost the right to its present constitution and former territorial boundaries at the Battle of Debaltseve, waged between January 17th and Feburary 20th, 2015, and this was memorialized in the language of the Minsk II Agreement that also served as a cease-fire, which established the present line of contact. Shocking global audiences, Volker said: “The so-called Lugansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic are the entities created by Russia with the aim of generating in place of political reality in order to help disguise the role of the Russian Federation and to strengthen the ongoing conflict, and they must be eliminated,” “There is no place for them in the Ukrainian constitutional order. The Minsk agreements are aimed at restoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and these entities must disappear,” the US special envoy stressed. Volker proposes instead that a ‘UN peacekeeping force’ be established – naturally consisting of NATO and US forces. How exactly will this commandment that the DPR and LPR must suddenly ‘cease’ to exist, come about? This seems contrary to the fact that these governments already have a monopoly on the use of force, as established at the Battle of Debaltsevo. Of course the only answer is – to relaunch the war, full bore. As was the case last time, this saw the ethnic cleansing of the whole region, with countless scores, perhaps even hundreds of thousands killed, and over a million internally displaced, and a million more who fled to Russia. In terms of calculating the deceased, it is difficult to trust either US or Russian figures, as both sides had different reasons for wanting to downplay the cost of this conflict in terms of civilian lives. But the reality is: the Minsk Agreement specifically calls for . . . READ MORE>> [Substantial analysis at source]

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Kremlin: International missions in Donbass impossible without agreement with republics / TASS / March 6, 2018 / Russia’s position on deploying international missions in Eastern Ukraine remains unchanged, it is impossible without the consent of the republics of Donbass, according to Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Russia’s stance is absolutely unwavering and known. The main idea here is that it is impossible to make any decisions about the deployment of international missions without negotiations and without reaching an agreement or consensus with the representatives of the Donbass republics,” Peskov explained. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the end of February after talks with Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, that Russia is ready to work on a settlement in Ukraine, but steps are needed from all sides. In particular, he noted that “there are talks about putting all this territory under international control,” and Russia is not against it, “but it is necessary to negotiate with the unrecognized republics.” Putin recalled that during the discussion of the UN defense mission presence in the conflict zone in Ukraine, Russia supported the resolution, supporting the need to ensure the safety of OSCE observers on the contact line between Ukraine and the republics. Quemado Institute comments: That Putin supports “international missions” in Donbass is another example of his betrayal of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, of the militias that fought for freedom, and of the people who voted for independence. It is not enough for Putin to say the Republics must agree to an international mission. The Russian President should never advocate any kind of foreign involvement. As a matter of fact, Donbass is none of Putin’s business. For more on the Russian leader’s betrayal of the Donbass Republics, see https://quemadoinstitute.org/2017/09/06/putin-a-neocon-hawk-on-donbass-barely-better-than-john-mccain/ and
If Putin Died Tonight, Novorossiya Could Fight Again

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SPECIAL COMMENTARY: Russell Bentley’s letter to the American people / Sott.net (From Russel Bentley Blog) / March 5, 2018 / To My Family and Friends, and All Good People of the USA, You may not know it yet, but the world changed on March 1st, 2018, an old era was ended, and a new era begun. In very great part, the meaning of this new era is up to you. On that historic day, Vladimir Putin revealed to the world that the US military is now obsolete, and no longer capable of “projecting power”, committing war crimes, or intimidating and destroying smaller nations around the world. That day has ended forever, one way or another. The US military is still completely capable of the mission it needs and deserves to do, which is to defend the territory and people of the United States of America. You are safe. There is no threat. But the days of your government threatening and destroying other countries is over. I hope you understand this.

Putin’s revelation of Russia’s game-changing weapons, against which the US military is literally defenseless, is not a threat or a bluff. Only liars and fools speak of “Russian aggression”, and the stupidity of anyone who says or believes “Putin is bluffing” is beyond measure. Russia’s weapons are real, and the US military industrial complex (that Dwight Eisenhower warned about 57 years ago) has absolutely no defense against them. In spite of plundering and squandering literally trillions of dollars from the US treasury and the American People in the name of “defense”, they are defenseless. Russia’s new weapons present no threat to the American People, unless you allow the people who own and control your government to to start a world war and force the Russians to use them. But if you do allow that to happen, the American people will get exactly what the “good Germans” got in 1945. And you will deserve it, just as much as they did. For the exact same reasons.

Russia is not your enemy. We seek only cooperation for the mutual benefit of all Mankind. But since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, 28 years ago, the USA, NATO and the EU have sought to plunder and rule the world. They have been the enemies, the enslavers, the destroyers of the world. No reality based person can dispute that fact. There is no place that the US or NATO has gone into in the last 4 decades that is better off. Not one. In fact, there is no place that NATO or the US have intervened, (usually against international law) that hasn’t become a failed state, hell on Earth for the citizens, and a genuine danger to the surrounding regions and the world. It is the US government and NATO, and the people who own and control them, who are the threats and the enemies to the future of Humanity. But their days of disregarding international law and destroying weaker nations with impunity are now over, as of March 1st, 2018.

The good people of America now have a huge opportunity, and a huge challenge. Russia spends less than one tenth what the USA spends on military and defense, but their military and weapons are superior in every measurable way. The waste, corruption and abject venality of the US military industrial complex has wasted trillions on weapon systems that are now literally useless, and which have left the US military (and by extension the American people) defenseless before the power of Russia’s weapons, which are designed and produced to be effective rather than profitable. The opportunity is this – the USA can now reduce its military spending (the highest in the world) by 90% and still be safer than you are right now, spending almost a trillion dollars a year on useless weapons and a defenseless military. Safer, because as soon as the American People take control of their government enough to reduce your spending to ONLY as much as Russia spends, Russia will stop having reason to see the USA as an existential threat. The less you spend, the safer you will be. The more you spend, the more likely World War Three, which will see you as the instigators and the losers. This gives the USA, starting as soon as you want, an extra $800 billion, per year, to spend on things that have actual worth, things you really need. Health care, free college education, fixing the rotting economy and infrastructure that are daily becoming more of a threat to the American people than Russia has ever been.

Your challenge is that you must root out an entrenched and ruthless kleptocracy, built on deceit and oppression, and which is bent on war, and will stop at nothing to cling to its power. It is a huge task, an historic task, but in it lies your only hope. These parasites must be stopped, and if the American People are not up to the challenge, if they fail in their historic mission, they will leave it to the armies of the world, led by Russia, who will no longer tolerate those who want to rule the world. Your rulers are leading you to a war you cannot win, a war from which you, your families and your nation, and perhaps the world, will never recover. If the American People do not prevent their rulers from starting World War Three, there will be war. Peace and prosperity or death and desolation. These are your only choices, and now is the time to make your choice and act accordingly.

An annual windfall of $800 billion is yours for the taking, if you have the wisdom, courage and determination to take it back from the charlatans and scammers who have been robbing and wasting your trillions for years. Already these vermin claim the only possible solution is to give them even more money, as if those who fail when they out-spend their competitors ten to one might succeed by spending twenty to one. At some point, the host must rid itself of its parasites, or risk being bled dry.

When the American People stand up to their oppressors, rid themselves of their parasites, the people of Russia and of the world will stand with you, will applaud and support you. All good people in the world are on the same side. Those who oppress and exploit you do the same to us. Your enemies are our enemies, and ours are yours. Stand up, as we have, throw off your chains and illusions, see for yourself who your real enemies are, and together let’s defeat them, before they destroy the world and all that is good in it. Only you can stop them without a global war. If you don’t, there will be war, and we will stop them. But those who live in the USA will suffer the fate of those who start and lose a world war. It is not a fate to be desired.

America, that time has now come for you. The choice is stark and clear, and you must make it soon. Either bring your rulers to heel, stop the war they are bent on starting, and reap the benefits of stopping the most egregious and wasteful scam in history, or do nothing, allow your parasites to consume you, and let them lead you and your children and your nation to Armageddon and a fiery death in a war that you now know you can never win. The choice is yours. And so is the responsibility.

Russell “Texas” Bentley has resided in Donetsk since December 2014. From January to June 2015, he was a soldier in the Essence of Time combat unit of the Novorussian Armed Forces (NAF). He served at the Donetsk airport and Spartak as a rifleman and RPG gunner. “The war in Donbass is only one Front in a global war. Fascism has again raised its ugly head, and we are here to fight and defeat it. Truth is one of our most powerful weapons, and my job is to get the truth to the people of the Western world.”

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The Real News and Truth about Donetsk Peoples Republic, Lugansk Peoples Republic / Donbassinform.com / Truth about Ukraine facists murdering Donbass civilians news outlet / About us: Welcome. This web site has been opened to show the truth about the Repression of the Russian Speaking areas of Donetsk Peoples Republic and Lugansk Peoples Republic. Their was no Russian invasion. The Donbass people tired of 20 years repression by Kiev. How I know. I lived in Lugansk 11 years and saw it for myself. We dont want war, we want Peace and safety. I just ask you go through some of the videos and decide for yourself. Not Propaganda by controlled Western Media. I ask you watch at least 2 videos on the video page with open mind. One is the video by Russell “Texas” Bentley and then The Truth about Ukraine. As I just started this site tons more stuff to come. I am not a journalist or writer so there will be bad grammer etc. I will answer questions if sent to me. Thank You. Donbass International News Agency: The link to this very fine News Organization is working on . . . READ MORE>>

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Donetsk Lugansk News Dec 24 2017 – Special Christmas Edition

[For latest updates, check back here or see HOME PAGE.]

Sunday, December 24, 2017
Special Christmas Edition
(Full Report)

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Baleriya Arlentina on Twitter
December 23, 2017

“This is christmas tree in the central square of Donetsk (Lenin’s square).
It was finally decorated at December 22.”

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Donbass Leaders Visit Patriarch Kirill in Moscow

Viktor Medvedchuk, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, DPR Leader Alexander Zakharchenko, LPR Leader Leonid Pasechnik, Moscow, December 25, 2017 (–OrthoChristian.com)

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Click for VIDEO.

Donbass, December 24th, 2017 – VIDEO / Anna News / December 24, 2017 / The newscaster: Victoria Rakhmanina / In the morning the Armed Forces of Ukraine have opened mortar fire on the village Veseloe in the northern suburbs of Donetsk. In violation of the New Year armistice, Kiev forces shelled the positions of the People’s Militia near villages Frunze and Kalinovka. The fire was opened from mortars, antiaircraft guns, grenade launchers and small arms. The Ukrainian side, in spite of the agreements reached on the observance of the ceasefire regime, continues to strengthen the fire impact along the contact line. The Ukrainian fighters opened fire on the settlements Dokuchaevsk and Spartak from the infantry fighting vehicle, the representative of the command of the DPR said. Specialists from Germany and France are going to act as intermediaries for the return of Russian officers to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the ceasefire in Donbass, the representative of the German government, Georg Streiter said. Four civilians and one soldier were killed, 7 civilians and 4 soldiers were injured in the DPR for this week, a representative of the Ombudsman’s office of the DPR said. In order to Implement the decision of the Tripartite Contact Group in Minsk on a ceasefire from midnight on the 23rd of December, 2017, all divisions of the Donetsk People’s Republic have been informed of order of the head of the department of the Peoples’ Militia, “On observance of the ceasefire” during the “New Year” armistice”.

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Alexander Zakharchenko

Alexander Zakharchenko sets tasks before country’s cities and regions’ heads / DONi News / December 24, 2017 / The Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic held a working meeting with the heads of cities and districts on December 22. The meeting was devoted to the main results of field work in 2017. Alexander Zakharchenko also set tasks and determined the main directions of the municipal authorities’ work in the coming year. “The past year was not an easy one. To sum up, it should be noted that much has been accomplished. First of all, the main issues related to the improvement of cities have been solved. I believe that this work was carried out very good. A great many visitors coming to the DPR note the beauty of our cities, improvement of public services, the work of green buildings. However, there are moments that require more detailed work. Firstly, it is the organization of the work of public services. It is necessary to improve the efficiency of our utilities. Pay attention to the readiness of all bomb shelters. The war is ongoing, and we must be ready for anything. People should know . . . READ MORE>>

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DPR Head instructs mayors to check, prepare all bomb shelters in Republic / DONi Press / December 23, 2017 / Heads of cities and districts of the Donetsk People’s Republic in the near future should make an inventory of bomb shelters and provide them with everything necessary in case of shelling. This order was given today by the Head of the Republic Alexander Zakharchenko at a meeting with the heads of local administrations. “Each of you must take the bomb shelters that you have in the settlement under personal control. I am instructing that in the near future an inventory of all bomb shelters must be made. They must have round the clock free access and equipped with everything necessary so that people can sit there while shelling,” Zakharchenko said, addressing the heads of administrations. Notably, the meeting was attended by the heads of administrations of all cities and districts of the Donetsk People’s Republic.

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Click for VIDEO.

US-Backed Kiev Tanks Advance on Civilians in SE Ukraine (Donbass) – VIDEO / Marine1063 (YouTube) / Published December 23, 2017 / Yesterday morning (Dec 19, 2017) a large column of tanks moved to Donbass. According to witnesses, they stopped on the road and waited for an additional approach of the tanks. A witness said he managed to talk with drivers of tractors. They said that tanks were going to Donbass. At night, Ukrainian forces opened fire on the village Dolomitnoe in the north of Gorlovka from the Multiple launch rocket systems “Grad”, the deputy commander of the operational command of the DPR Eduard Basurin said. On the 19th of December, Kiev forces shelled Pervomaysk from artillery guns. As a result of the bombardment, the houses and infrastructure facilities were damaged. In violation of the Minsk agreements, the soldiers of the AFU placed self-propelled artillery guns near the contact line, 2 units in the settlement Katerinovka and 6 units in the village Krasny Pakhar, the official representative of the LPR Andrey Marochko reported. He said this weaponry is used to fire at the settlements of the Republic and positions of the People’s Militia during the night. As a result of artillery fire from the positions of the AFU, nearly 40 houses and infrastructure facilities in Stakhanov and Pervomaisk were damaged, 7394 subscribers remain without electricity. Representatives of the Special Monitoring Mission significantly reduced the number of patrols monitoring along the contact line, that does not allow to objectively assess compliance with the regime of ceasefire by the AFU,” Andrey Marochko reported. He said in today’s report there is no information about the destruction and casualties among the civilian population as a result of the shelling of the AFU in the settlements of the LPR.”

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Ukrainian military yet again violates ceasefire in the Donetsk Republic / By Paul Antonopoulos / Fort Russ / December 23, 2017 / DONETSK, Novorossia / The Donetsk People’s Republic’s (DPR) operations command staff said on Saturday that Ukrainian military units have broken the ceasefire and continue to shell populated areas of the republic. “In spite of the agreements on observing ceasefire, Ukrainian army units delivered fire from firearms and automatic grenade-launchers at the areas adjoining the town of Yasinovataya as of midnight,” the Donetsk News Agency quoted a spokesman for the staff. “The use of mortars of different calibers by the enemy was recorded in the area of the township of Golmosvsky near Gorlovka,” it said. At the beginning of the new academic year, the ceasefire was established in Donbass. This became known as the “the school truce.”

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Yasinovataya, Donetsk Oblast, March 6, 2017: House damaged in shelling by Ukrainian Government troops. (–Alexander Kravchenko/TASS)

Donetsk republic reports violations of truce by Ukrainian army hours after its declaration / TASS / December 23, 2017 / Pro-Kiev armed units have ignored the agreements on a New Year truce and have continued the shelling of populated localities in the self-proclaimed unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR], the republic’s operations command staff said on Saturday. “In spite of the agreements on observing ceasefire, Ukrainian army units delivered fire from firearms and automatic grenade-launchers at the areas adjoining the town of Yasinovataya as of midnight,” the Donetsk News Agency quoted a spokesman for the staff. “The use of mortars of different calibers by the enemy was recorded in the area of the township of Golmosvsky near Gorlovka,” it said. Ceasefire established for the beginning of a new academic year was formally in effect in Donbass as of August 25. It was broadly called ‘the school truce’. The arrangement helped reduce tensions along the Line of Contact at first but the intensity of shelling increased again afterwards. On December 20, members of the Ukraine contact group in charge of defusing the armed civil conflict in eastern Ukraine reached a yet another agreement on declaring ceasefire. The latter took effect at 00:00 hours East European Time on December 23.

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Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 12/24/2017 / DONi News / December 24, 2017 / Over the past 24 hours, in the Donetsk direction the enemy launched 10 mortar-shells of 82mm caliber and conducted fire at the areas of four localities with grenade launchers and small arms. As we can see, in the first 24 hours of the New Year ceasefire the Ukrainian side clearly showed that it hadn’t planned to comply with the ceasefire. At present, we are considering two versions explaining this behavior of our enemy: The first is that the platoon-company junior level commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who are on the front line, either are unable to control their units, or personally, persecuting their goals, give orders to use weapons in the direction of our Republic. And the second one is that those illegal armed groupings such as the Ukrainian Volunteer Army and Right Sector who are on the front line refused to comply with the orders of the “ATO” headquarters to comply with the ceasefire. Unfortunately, we have to state the fact that the officers of the Ukrainian side to the JCCC failed to fulfill their functional duties. Instead of objectively and impartially recording violations of the ceasefire by the AFU, these officials, not giving a damn about their conscience and officer’s honor, deny and turn . . . READ MORE>>

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Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 12/23/2017 / DONi News / December 23, 2017 / The situation in the Donetsk People’s Republic remains tense. In the Donetsk direction, eight artillery projectiles of 122-mm calibre, 140 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibres were launched by the enemy on ten localities and the surrounding areas; the enemy also resorted to guided anti-tank rockets, various grenade launchers and small arms. In the Gorlovka direction, the areas of two localities – Verkhnetoretskoye and Zaitsevo – were targeted from armoured personnel carriers, small arms, grenade launchers. In the Mariupol direction, AFU units targeted the settlements of Sosnovskoye and Leninskoye with 21 mortar shells of 120-mm calibre.

In total, before the start of the New Year’s truce, 23 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded. Taking advantage of the truce, the enemy continued carrying out measures to strengthen its units in the so-called ‘ATO’ zone. In particular, our reconnaissance noted the transfer to the responsibility zone of the 128 separate mountain infantry brigade of the three additional MRLS Grad units and up to 100 personnel from among the Ukrainian volunteer corps Right Sector. Also, a battalion of the 79 separate airborne assault brigade of the AFU arrived in the zone of responsibility of the 59 motorized brigade. After the start of the New Year armistice, the intensity of the shelling by the AFU units decreased. Without abandoning unsuccessful attempts to provoke us to reciprocal fire, the enemy fired at our positions, using mortars, small arms and automatic grenade launchers. I want to emphasize that all units of the People’s Militia have received the order on the inadmissibility of responding to this kind of provocation and unquestioningly follow the order of the Command. –Vice-Commander of the DPR People’s Militia, Colonel Eduard Basurin, official translation by DONi News Agency

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Alexander Zakharchenko hands posthumous award to relatives of deceased power engineer / DONi News / December 23, 2017 / On December 22, the Head of the Republic posthumously awarded Pavel Gritsienko, the head of the Yasinovataya power distribution zone, who died this year at the workplace, the Order of the Republic. The honourable state award was presented to the parents and the son of the deceased. The Order was awarded for special services to the Donetsk People’s Republic, the courage shown in the performance of official duties. “Keep this award with honour!” the Head of State appealed to Gritsienko junior. “Many thanks to the parents for such a son. This is a huge loss, and there are no words to calm down. But the man who gave his life in the service of duty is a real hero. The state is proud of such citizens as Pavel. Despite the fact that the job of a power engineer is one of the most peaceful professions, unfortunately, in our wartime they risk lives, too” the Head of the Republic Alexander Zakharchenko said to the relatives of Pavel Gritsienko. Pavel Gritsenko was killed on October 4 in a ruprure of the ammunition while inspecting the site of restoration works damaged during the attack on the power lines. Source: Official web-site of the DPR Head Alexander Zakharchenko; Official translation by DONi News Agency

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Maurice Schleepen on Twitter
December 23, 2017

“DPR/LPR intelligence: In late November early December Ukraine regime
transferred in the front-line direction about 430 armoured vehicles,
130 Rocket launchers & large armed formations. Also TOCHKA-U &
systems of Mass destruction DONCHAN moved closer to the gray zone. #Donbass.”

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Shelling in Donetsk has become routine: shattered windows, broken walls and roofs / Essence of Time / December 23, 2017 / The tension of the civil war in Donbass never de-escalates even for a day, despite the regularly announced ceasefires, a source in the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic told a correspondent of the Rossa Primavera Information Agency on 21 December. Daily summaries issued by the DPR’s mission to the Joint Control and Coordination Center for Ceasefire (JCCC) reporting up to 50 violations of the Minsk agreements committed by the Ukrainian side have long become routine. The Ukrainian side uses all available weapon types available to attack, from small arms to heavy artillery. The number of shells launched by the Ukrainian dogs of war against the residents of the Republic runs in the hundreds. In contrast to 2014, the frontline area receives the brunt of the shelling, while Grad MLRSs are used very rarely. Occasionally, Donetsk is also hit, mostly Kuybyshevsky district. The frontline towns and villages suffer badly; people have no electricity or gas for hours; more residential buildings are damaged every day: roofs are broken, windows are shattered, and walls are broken. Every day more civilians are wounded, often killed. From time to time, the Donetsk water filtration plant is damaged, which supplies water to Donetsk, Yasinovataya, and a number of settlements nearby, including Avdeevka, which is under Kiev’s control.

In late November, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Arsen Avakov, said that the Minsk agreements were dead; his assistant, Gerashchenko, went a step further. On the air of the Ukrainian Channel 5 he admitted that Kiev never intended to fulfil these agreements, and that Poroshenko, when he signed them, “simply deceived the Russian Federation”. Gerashchenko did not explain whether the Ukrainian President was doing this in collusion with the leaders of France and Germany. Noteworthy is also the strange relations between the Ukrainian side and the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine. Oftentimes, the Ukrainian military does not allow the Mission’s patrols to enter objects of interest, as it happened in the settlements of Gladosovo and Travnevoe, which militants from the Aidar battalion occupied in the early hours of November 22. The very fact of deploying armed forces to these settlements was a gross violation of the agreements, because they are located in the “gray” zone (the area that separates the warring parties which must be clear of any armed people). According to witness reports, these settlements are now close to a humanitarian crisis. Aidar blocked not only the SMM’s patrol but also the Red Cross with humanitarian aid. It is telling that both the Red Cross and the SMM demonstrated inappropriate patience, and they did not make noise over this fact.

OSCE patrols have demonstrated a surprising ability to ignore Ukrainian heavy weapons in places where they must not be located, and to remain unaware of the direction of fire when towns and villages are shelled. The Russian and DPR missions to the JCCC have repeatedly forced the OSCE patrol to rewrite the expert findings on episodes of shelling to make them consistent with the actual situation. Editorial comment by Essence of Time: People who have become accustomed to regular shelling often just ignore the sounds of shells exploding. A situation when explosions and shooting sound afar while old ladies keep tattling at their door next to playing kids, which seems absolutely bizarre to anyone living in Russia, has become common in Donbass.

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The Silent War in the Donbas:
Frontline Accounts of Volunteers Fighting in the Trenches
VIDEO by Vesti News
Published December 23, 2017

Click for video. (27 minutes)
A special report by Alexander Rogatkin:
“Donbas frontline chords.” A silent war in the south-west of Ukraine.

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Vladimir Klitschko (–AFP/ Timothy A Clary//Getty Images)

Klitschko comes to his senses – calls to end Donbass conflict / Fort Russ / December 24, 2017 / Former world boxing champion Vladimir Klitschko said he was confident that relations between Russia and Ukraine would soon improve. “I am convinced that the relations between our countries will soon improve, and after that many will ask themselves how it could have reached such a point that fraternal peoples were at war,” he said. The athlete explained that currently Ukraine is in the phase of formation, and expressed the hope that the economy will begin to grow. “We just need to stop shooting in the east. They say very correctly: A bad peace is better than a good war,” Klitschko added. Klitschko, in his political capacity as Mayor of Kiev, has in the past called Donbass residents “separatists” and urged for conflict in the region.

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Heather Nauert (–AP /Alex Brandon)

US takes decision to supply lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine / TASS / December 23, 2017 / At the time of reporting, TASS did not have an answer from the Pentagon to a question on what specifically the U.S. was going to supply to Ukraine from now on, / WASHINGTON / The U.S. Administration has taken a decision to supply advanced defensive systems to Ukraine as part of Washington’s efforts to build up the long-term defense capability of the Ukrainian government, the Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert said on Friday. “The United States has decided to provide Ukraine enhanced defensive capabilities as part of our effort to help Ukraine build its long-term defense capacity, to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to deter further aggression,” Nauert said. “U.S. assistance is entirely defensive in nature, and as we have always said, Ukraine is a sovereign country and has a right to defend itself,” she claimed. “The United States remains committed to the Minsk agreements as the way forward in eastern Ukraine.”

At the time of reporting, TASS did not have an answer from the Pentagon to a question on what specifically the U.S. was going to supply to Ukraine from now on. ABC News said previously President Trump was expected to endorse a plan envisioning supplies of antitank equipment worth $47 million to the Ukrainian authorities. The list of weapons to be consigned to Ukraine might include the Javelin antitank complexes. If Trump approves the plan, it will then be submitted to Congress that will have thirty days to review it. U.S. Congressmen and Senators, republicans and democrats likewise, have persistently voted in recent years for inclusion of articles on lethal military aid to Ukraine in the U.S. defense budgets. In the light of it, the lawmakers will most likely have no objections to Trump’s latest defense initiative regarding Ukraine. QI Editor’s Note: Amin Dada tweeted in response to this article: “Considering LNR-DPR shall recuperate most of the weapons, US furnishing could be seen as a good opportunity to run Novorossia to the Transcarpathians ;)”

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Sergei S. on Twitter
(In response to AP article on US weapons to Ukraine)
“Trump is just making a political move.
It’s part of his game with Democrats.
This will change nothing on the ground in Donbass.”

(US soldiers march along main Khreshchatyk Street during a military parade to celebrate Independence Day in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. –Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

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Malinka on Twitter
December 23, 2017
“US AtlanticCouncil useful idiots at BC, who spent 3 years & AC’s funds trying
to prove Donbass couldn’t recapture its weapons from Ukraine, now worried sick
that new US, Canada weapons could finish up in hands of LPR, DPR … and Russia!”

Click to enlarge.

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David Kaye (–Japan Times)

Media: UN official finds no freedom of speech in Ukraine / Essence of Time / December 23, 2017 / Kiev’s bans of television channels broadcasting in Russian violate the international human rights law on access to information, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye said in an interview on December 22, RIA Novosti reports. In particular, Kaye said that, generally speaking, this is of course a deprivation of freedom, because in terms of human rights law every person has the right to access any kind of ideas and information, either true or not. Giving an assessment to the situation with freedom of speech in Ukraine, he added that he was not familiar with the situation in Ukraine well enough to give a specific opinion; but generally, the authorities should not choose the path of banning or restricting media operations. Since 2014, over 70 Russian channels and about 600 Russian-made films and TV series were banned in Ukraine. In October 2017, the Verkhovnaya Rada of Ukraine (Ukrainian Parliament) passed a law that raised the quota of the Ukrainian language on TV. According to the law, at least 75% of TV broadcasting must be in Ukrainian. Editor’s note: See source for editorial comment.

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U.S. general to soldiers: War against Russia is coming / Essence of Time / December 23, 2017 / The United States Marine Corps general Robert Neller on December 23 told Norway-based U.S. marines about the upcoming war against Russia, RT reports. “I hope I’m wrong, but there’s a war coming. You’re in a fight here, an informational fight, a political fight, by your presence”, he said. Neller noted that in the nearest future Russia and the Pacific theater could become military conflict zones. The general also said that the number of marines stationed in Norway could be increased “to 3000 overnight”. Russia and China were named the two world powers that “challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity” in the new National Security Strategy that was published by Trump administration on December 18. The head of Pentagon Jim Mattis said that the power of the U.S. army enables American diplomats to always speak from a “position of strength”. These events are occurring against the backdrop of the increasing military presence of US and NATO troops in the immediate vicinity of Russia’s borders: in the Baltic states, in the Nordic countries, in Poland. Aside from that, US missile defense systems are deployed in Eastern Europe. Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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Protesters attend health care bill rally near Ukrainian Parliament, Kiev (–Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA)

A Tale of 2 Ukraines- Health Care in War-Torn Lugansk and Peaceful Kiev / By George Eliason / Washington’s Blog / December 21, 2017 / This is the story of two Ukraine’s, but it’s not the tired and typical before and after the coup tome. This is a side by side view of two Ukraine’s as they stand today in December 2017. Looking at it this way, you have to decide which Ukraine is the terrorist entity and which Ukraine works to save and better the lives of its people. You get to tell me which Ukraine would make a good partner for the US, Europe, Russia, and the rest of the world. Which Ukraine would you want for your neighbor or to come to that BBQ? For every story there has to be a backbone of facts it rides on, doesn’t there? And yet, despite a glut of facts, both you and the rest of the world are sometimes expected to ignore the grim realities and cozy up to the dysfunctional monsters of our time. And not just cuddle up but lean over and give em’ a big smooch too. Let’s look our Ukraine(s). One Ukraine is centered in Kiev. It has not been attacked by a foreign nation since WWII. It has received and squandered tens of billions of dollars in IMF loans and international support. More to the point, tens of billions in aid has been stolen and will never be repaid. The money will never be used for reforms or to rebuild the economy. Instead of starting the reforms that the aid was tied to, Poroshenko’s Ukraine has consistently and persistently lowered the standard of living for its own people. This Ukraine is a country that a failed state like Somalia can look down on today. This Ukraine led the world in some medical . . . READ MORE>>

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New Head of Board of Directors of Rosneft is former Chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schroeder / Fort Russ / December 24, 2017 / Former Chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schroeder told the Rheinische Post about his work at Rosneft, as well as his attitude towards Vladimir Putin. According to Schroeder, to chair the board of directors of a Russian oil firm is an “exciting task” and the money aspect here is not particularly important. “And what if I were on the board of directors of an American firm, not a Russian one – that criticism has some hypocrisy,” he said. Schroeder stressed that good relations with Rosneft and with Russia as a whole are in the interests of Europe, and Germany will eventually benefit from them. A journalist of Rheinische Post noted that Rosneft is under sanctions. Schroeder said in response that he was against them and that, in his opinion, they would eventually be lifted. The former chancellor also confirmed that he and Putin are friends. “Yes, we are, and will always be, I trust Vladimir Putin,” he said. Schroeder explained that the friendship implies the opportunity to share their opinions and express criticism, but only face to face. From the point of view of Schroeder, the rapprochement between Russia and Germany is impossible without Putin. “Managing Russia is not an easy task, rather you should proceed from the fact that after Putin – it will not be better.” One step to rapprochement could be the gradual lifting of sanctions” he explained. The fact that Schroeder will head the board of directors of Rosneft became known in September. The former Chancellor, in a conversation with journalists, stated that he was very pleased with this appointment.

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I Love Lugansk

December 25, 2017 – Luganskaya Novosti

Donetsk Lugansk News Nov 24-Dec 2 2017

[For latest updates, see HOME PAGE.]

Saturday, December 2, 2017
(Brief Update)

Basurin confirms ATO withdrawal from occupied villages / Translated by Tom Winter (Novorosinform) for Fort Russ / December 2, 2017 / The Ministry of Defense of the Donetsk Peoples Republic has confirmed the withdrawal of Ukrainian units from the occupied villages. The Donetsk Peoples Republic completely controls the situation on the DPR contact line. This was stated by the deputy commander of the operational command of the Republic Eduard Basurin. “Our intelligence fully controls the situation on the sectors of the contact line where the threat of provocative actions (the seizure of territories in the “gray” zone) is being kept up by the AFU. Any attempt by the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to reduce the inter-positional space will end with unjustified losses for their units” the report said. Earlier, the press center of the headquarters of the “ATO” reported that the militants of the Aidar battalion of the 54th Brigade of the Armed Forces were forced to retreat from previously occupied villages in the DPR. It is known that they suffered serious losses and eventually left their positions, which they previously occupied near Gorlovka. Recall, yesterday morning, the headquarters of “ATO” reported on the progress of their depth into the DNR: ATO forces improved their tactical position on the Donetsk direction. This is stated in the message of the press center of the headquarters of the ATO on their page in Facebook.

The other day the deputy commander of the operational command of the Democratic Donetsk Peoples Republic Eduard Basurin said that the Ukrainian armed forces are preparing to seize two more settlements – Viktorovka and Staromarevka in the south of the Republic. Basurin noted that according to DPR intelligence, local administrations there are already conducting polls of residents of these settlements for the identification of free houses for the possible quartering of Ukrainian servicemen. We remind that on the night of November 22, Ukrainian armed forces, in particular the Nazi battalion Aidar, captured the village of Gladosovo near Gorlovka.

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Ukrainian army partially leaves seized villages – DPR Command / DONi News / December 2, 2017 / Part of the units of the Ukrainian security forces left the previously occupied villages in the neutral zone near Gorlovka, Vice-Commander of the Operational Command of the Donetsk People’s Republic Eduard Badurin told journalists. Earlier, the DPR Command stated that the Ukrainian security forces, in violation of the Minsk agreements, occupied the settlements of Gladosovo and Travnevoye located in the neutral zone in the Gorlovsky district. The Ukrainian military confirmed this fact, assuring that they did not violate the Minsk agreements. “Our reconnaissance has fixed the withdrawal from the previously seized Gladosovo and Travnevoye of separate Aidar units to fill the irretrievable losses. Minor forces continue to terrorize civilians,” Basurin said. According to him, as a result of squabbles between Ukrainian security forces in the occupied villages, 12 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and five were wounded. “Also, the Ukrainian party actively continues to mine perimeters around occupied settlements, as a result of which a truck with AFU’s 128 brigade’s staff blew up yesterday on one of the mines. Three Ukrainian servicemen were killed from the explosion on the mine,” Basurin added.

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LPR Interior Minister: 2016 “Coup Attempt” In Republic Was Fabcricated / South Front / December 1, 2017 / The Minister of Internal Affairs of Luhansk People’s Republic Igor Kornet said that the 2016 attempted Luhansk coup was fabricated, and shed the light on the current situation in the Republic. The Minister commented on the situation in the Republic, by saying that the arrests of more than 50 people, including the Prosecutor General of LPR Vitaly Podobry, LPR’s military prosecutor Sergey Rakhno and their attendants on suspicion of collaborating with Ukraine, went “very well”. He said that the active phase of the operation was preceded by nearly year long counterterror operation dedicated to rooting out the Ukranian spy network in the republic. The operation led to “successful, bloodless” arrests, with the arrested testifying. Kornet promised to report on the results of the work in the following months.

Regarding the collaboration with Donetsk forces during the active phase of the operation, the minister said that the collaboration had started since the assassination of Oleg Anaschenko, Head of LPR People’s militia in February of 2017. After confirming that Donetsk military personnel and vehicles were helping with the operation, Kornet also revealed further plan to collaborate with Donetsk People’s Republic. Kornet called the 2016 attempted Luhansk coup “completely fabricated,” with the necessary criminal charges launched. He stressed that the “officials are as culpable as anyone,” with the law making no discrimination for social station. He assured that the criminal proceedings won’t turn into a “witch hunt,” with charges brought up only based on available evidence.

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Friday, December 1, 2017
(Brief Update)

Basurin: APU Has Begun Preparations for Seizure of Two Villages in Mariupol Direction / DNR-news.com / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 30, 2017 / The Ukrainian siloviki began preparations for the seizure of the villages of Viktorovka and Staromarevka in the Mariupol direction. This was announced today by the deputy commander of the operational command of the Donetsk People’s Republic Eduard Basurin, referring to the intelligence. “The headquarters of the 28th separate mechanized brigade, on the orders of OGS commander Donetsk, Vishnevsky, is working on the reduction of the inter-position space between the APU and units of the VSD in the vicinity of the villages of Viktorovka and Staromarevka by seizing these settlements in the gray zone,” said Basurin. He also called on the world community to pay attention to the aggressive actions of the APU [Ukrainian Armed Forces]: “We call on the international community to resolutely condemn the actions of the Ukrainian authorities, and the observers of the OSCE CMM – to pay close attention to these two sections of the area,” added the deputy commander. [Editor’s note: The above article was posted on Twitter by Nahia Sanzo (November 30, 3017 11:30 UTC) with the comment, “Basurin claims Ukraine’s getting ready to capture 2 more towns in the gray zone (Mariupol area). He calls on the international comunity to pay attention. Seriously, how do they not realize the ‘international comunity’ couldn’t care less about what UAF does?”  Further note: DONi News, in a similar report, adds the following: “We recall that since the adoption of the Package of Measures on implementation of the Minsk agreements (February 12, 2015), the Ukrainian Armed Forces regularly carry out seizures of the territory controlled by the DPR. Contrary to the peaceful plan, for almost three years after the enabling of the “Minsk-2″, the AFU took about ten settlements under their control. The last time the capture took place in the night of November 22, 2017, when the Ukrainian military occupied the villages of Gladosovo and Metallist (in Ukraine called Travnevoye) in the Gorlovka area. The Kiev forces immediately deployed to the village armament and began positions’ enhancing. At a meeting of the Contact Group on November 29, the issue of unauthorized seizure of territories by Kiev was raised. A proper international response has not yet followed.”]

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Donetsk Defense: Weekly Situation Report, 12/01/2017 / DONi News / December 1, 2017 / EXCERPTS: Last week, the preparation of weapons and military equipment for operation in winter conditions was completed in the formations and military units of the DPR Armed Forces, the qualitative preparation of the training and material base, as well as landfill equipment, was carried out. The units of the DPR Armed Forces are ready for a new academic year. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy fired 71 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibre on ten localities, as well as resorted to grenade launchers and small arms. In the Mariupol direction, the AFU attacked four localities, having launched 19 mortar rounds of 120-mm and 82-mm calibres on the settlements. In the Gorlovka direction, the enemy attacked three localities from grenade launchers and small arms. In total, over the past 24 hours, 29 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded. . . . This week the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Avakov made a statement that “Minsk agreements do not work, and it’s time to change them to others.” It’s strange that some Minister of the Interior starts to creep into the sphere of activity which he is not in charge of. It seems that with this statement Avakov makes it clear to the president of Ukraine that he intends to seize the initiative with the subsequent replacement of Poroshenko on the presidential chair. . . . Currently, in the villages of Gladosovo and Travnevoye, occupied by the AFU, the intensification of the humanitarian catastrophe is noted. Residents are deprived of the opportunity to import coal, fuel for generators, and food. All this time the villagers stay without electricity. At the same time, the power supply had been violated by Ukrainian punishers purposefully a few days before the occupation of the settlements. At present, the Ukrainian party does not make any efforts to restore the supply of electricity, despite the fact that we continue daily to declare our readiness to provide all necessary security guarantees for the restoration work. Simultaneously, to prevent the opening of facts of bullying of civilians and the deterioration of the humanitarian situation, the Ukrainian party is taking all measures to prohibit access to the settlements, occupied by the AFU, for international observers of the UN, OSCE, ICRC. Arguments for banning the entry of observers are threats to their lives through systematic shelling and mining the roads by Ukrainian law enforcers. The influx of Ukrainian media into the settlements in order to prepare fake stories aimed at justifying the criminal actions of the AFU is noted. Unfortunately, all the help remains only in the picture, outside of it there is only terror and the excesses of the punishers in relation to civilians! . . . READ FULL REPORT>>

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Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 11/30/2017 / DONi News / November 30, 2017 / The situation on the contact line remains unchanged. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy fired eight artillery ordnances of 122-mm calibre, 51 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibre on 16 localities, as well as resorted to grenade launchers and small arms. In the Mariupol direction, the AFU attacked the locality of Leninskoye, having launched 19 mortar rounds of 120-mm calibre on the settlement. In the Gorlovka direction, the enemy fired attacked three settlements with grenade launchers and small arms, having also launched 31 mortar rounds of 120-mm and 82-mm calibers. In total, over the past 24 hours, 20 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded.

Our reconnaissance has revealed the AFU’s preparing for a provocation, grossly violating the Minsk agreements. In particular, the headquarters of the 28 smb on the orders of Vishnevsky, the commander of the Donetsk task force, is working on the issue of reducing the inter-position space between the AFU and the units of the DPR Armed Forces in the vicinity of the settlements of Viktorovka and Staromariyevka by capturing these settlements in the “gray zone”. According to local residents of Staromariyevka, the Granitnoye Town Council (under the control of the AFU) is conducting a survey of residents to identify citizens loyal to the regime, as well as the establishment through them the availability of free houses for the possibility of resettlement of the AFU. We regard such actions in the vicinity of Staromariyevka as a distracting maneuver for an armed capture of peaceful civilians of Viktorovka village, which is located near the settlement of Petrovskoye. We call on the international community to resolutely condemn the Ukrainian authorities’ actions. And the observers of the OSCE SMM should pay close attention to these two sites, mostly to the area near Petrovskoye, where Viktorovka settlement is located. At present, the AFU punishers jeopardise the lives and health of civilians living in settlements in the “buffer zone”. The inaction . . . READ MORE>>

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DPR activists pass documents on almost 500 Ukrainian war crimes in Donbass to ICC / DAN-news.info / December 1, 2017 / DONETSK / The DPR public committee for registering Ukrainian authorities’ war crimes has passed evidence on 489 people killed and wounded as the result of Ukrainian army offensive in Donbass to the International Criminal Court in The Hague since mid-2015, said the committee’s member Elena Shishkina. “Since the start of our work, we have passed files on 489 casualties, including 352 adults and 137 minors,” she said. In November, the committee passed evidence on 33 cases, covering 21 deaths and 31 injured persons. The public committee on recording Kiev forces war crimes was launched in mid-2015. Criminal and law experts aim to gather data on the crimes the Ukrainian armed forces committed in Donbass. The Special Committee on Ukrainian crimes has also been launched under DPR Head Alexander Zakharchenko order.

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Everyone will be punished: Ukraine prepares special law for DPR, LPR people / DONi News / November 30, 2017 / Ukrainian deputies are drafting a bill “On Collaborators”, which provides for the persecution of residents of the DPR and the LPR for 25 years in the case of the capture of the Donbass by the army of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This was broadcast on the air of the Ukrainian radio by the lawyer, the head of the public organization “Space of Opportunities” Irina Loyuk. “The law is ready for today. What to do with those people, as Anton Gerashchenko (former Advisor to Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs – ed.) said, who did not commit very serious crimes and do not have blood on their hands? Just to forgive them for “promoting occupation” is impossible, because it leads to a sense of impunity. Therefore, using the experience of Western countries, using the recommendation of the PACE, we decided that the best way would be to introduce administrative restrictions,” Loyuk said. At the same time, the lawyer stressed that these restrictions would be directed to the rights to occupy certain public positions, participate in elections, to admit to state secrets. “We have a very large list of restrictions to those people who showed disloyalty towards Ukraine. Everyone will be punished, even public utilities’ providers,” Loyuk added. The law allegedly will concern people who held certain positions in state power bodies or organized events in support of the DPR and the LPR. [Editor’s Note: For more details, see StalkerZone.]

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Kurt Volker (–Strategic Culture Foundation)

US Envoy for Ukraine Is About to Fail in His Mission / By Alex Gorka / Strategic Culture Foundation / November 30, 2017 / “Kurt Volker is an experienced and tough-minded diplomat who knows how to combine principles and pragmatism into policy. He is widely respected across the political spectrum,” said Paul Saunders, the executive director of the Center for the National Interest and a former George W. Bush administration official, in his comments on Kurt Volker’s appointment as the Trump administration’s special envoy charged with ending the war in Ukraine. “The fact that they appointed [Volker] is a sign this administration is serious about Ukraine,” John Herbst, former US ambassador to Kiev, told Foreign Policy. “The United States remains fully committed to the objectives of the Minsk agreements, and I have complete confidence in Kurt to continue our efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine”, said State Secretary Rex Tillerson, emphasizing that the Minsk accords were the basis for the diplomatic endeavor. Indeed, the hopes were high. It was widely believed that a diplomat with experience as rich as Kurt Volker’s was the right man for the job. Five months has passed since his appointment in July. The negotiation process is stalled and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. His talks with Vladislav Surkov, an aide to . . . READ MORE>>

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Wednesday, November 29, 2017
(Brief Update)

Click for VIDEO.

WATCH: Ukrainian troops violate ceasefire, get stuck in new “cauldron” / Translated by Jaffe Arnold (RusVesna) for Fort Russ / November 29, 2017 / Golmovsky, Donetsk People’s Republic. The Ukrainian Armed Forces, having violated in the Minsk Agreements and seized the villages of Gladosovo and Metallist [earlier Travnevoe was reported as captured – J.A.] in the neutral zone in Donbass, have apparently celebrated too early. According to the war correspondent of the Ministry of Defense of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Mikhail Andronik, Ukrainian troops have effectively caught themselves in a new “cauldron” like back in Debaltsevo. “All the commanding heights are ours. All of the Ukrainian troops’ movements are clearly visible even to the naked eye. They’re trying to reinforce their positions, set up mortars, and deploy gun crews…The UAF is down in the valley. In the case of provocative fire from their side, it will be easy for us to destroy their positions,” DPR fighters told Andronik. The situation now unfolding at the demarcation line, according to DPR forces, is “painfully reminiscent” of the front in late 2014 and early 2015 when Ukrainian troops were routed in the “Debaltsevo cauldron.”

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Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 11/29/2017 / DONi News / November 29, 2017 / The situation on the contact line remains unchanged. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy attacked nine localities with different grenade launchers and small arms. In the Mariupol direction, the AFU attacked two localities, having launched 12 mortar rounds of 120-mm and 82-mm calibres on the settlements. In the Gorlovka direction, the enemy bombarded three localities with nine 82-mm calibre mortar shells, grenade launchers and small arms. As a result of the bombing, two houses Zaitsevo on the street of Artyomovskaya were damaged. At that, the attack was carried out by the punishers on the eve of the Minsk negotiations, which will certainly become an occasion for accusing the Ukrainian party of gross violation of the agreements. In fact, the specific units guilty of bombardment, set the whole of Ukraine up. In total, over the past 24 hours, 14 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded. As we said earlier, the bombardment of positions of the so-called “Georgian Legion” from among the 54 separate mechanized brigade in the area of these settlements, which resulted in injuring six Georgian mercenaries, was conducted by a brigade artillery team of the 128 separate mountain infantry brigade. According to the updated data of our reconnaissance, the firing from the positions of the 128th brigade pursued the following goals: reducing the number of Georgian mercenaries, as agents of Saakashvili’s influence, through their physical elimination; provoking Georgian mercenaries to fire on the . . . READ MORE>>

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Ukraine Prevents Inspection by International Organizations of Captured Villages / Novorossinform.org / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 29, 2017 / Ukraine disrupted the inspection of representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations and the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in the captured villages in the Donbas, the DNR office in the Joint Center for Monitoring and Coordination [JCCC] of the ceasefire regime said today. “The international organizations of the OSCE CMM, the ICRC and the United Nations have just left the village of Holmovskoye, controlled by the Dniester, without waiting for the security guarantees from the Ukrainian side to be approved by the SCCC to visit the inhabited settlements in the north of Gorlovka, aggressively captured by the nationalist division of the Aidar battalion,” the representative of the Donetks People’s Republic [DNR]. As reported by the agency, the observers were going to visit the villages for “monitoring the real situation and communicating with the residents.” According to the representative of the DNR, the first representatives of the Red Cross tried to travel, but they were stopped by Ukrainian security forces and returned “because they allegedly did not agree on their work in these settlements, as well as the mine danger on the approaches to settlements.” “At the same time, the ICRC received written guarantees of security from the Ukrainian side,” he said. Earlier it was reported that Ukrainian armed forces intend to arrange mass shooting of servicemen of the Armed Forces in the occupied villages of Gladosovo and Travnevoye. According to the intelligence of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the purpose of the bloody action is that mass casualties among the military will be the occasion for the removal of a number of high-ranking officials in the armed forces of Ukraine.

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Ukrainian forces fire 351 rounds at DPR over 24 hours – JCCC / DAN-news.info / November 29, 2017 / DONETSK / Ukrainian forces expended 351 rounds at DPR frontline areas over the past 24 hours, DPR representative at the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC) Ruslan Yakubov said on Wednesday. “The overall number of Ukrainian army rounds fired at the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past 24 hours amounted to 351,” Yakubov said. DPR townships on Gorlovka axis came under the most intense fire. The Joint Centre for Control and Coordination and DPR Operations Command use different methodologies to count the number of ammunition rounds used by the Ukrainian army. Whereas JCCC monitors the use of all types of ammunition, DPR Operations Command only records large calibre ammunition impacts. Earlier Operations Command reported that Kiev forces violated ceasefire 14 times in 24 hours, wounding a woman in Dokuchayevsk.

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Boris Gryzlov (–DONi News)

Russia says inadmissible to capture areas in Donbass ‘grey zone’ — envoy / TASS / November 29, 2017 / MINSK / It is inadmissible that the Ukrainian Armed Forces capture areas in so-called ‘grey zone’ along the contact line in Donbass, said Boris Gryzlov, the Russian Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative to the Contact Group seeking a peace solution to the conflict in east Ukraine. “The key issues of Contact Group’s meeting have been security measures and the ceasefire which the parties to the conflict have officially vowed to maintain,” Gryzlov said on Wednesday after a regular meeting of the Contact Group in Minsk, Belarus. “The Russian delegation has pointed out in a tough manner it is inadmissible that Ukraine’s Armed Forces are seizing areas and advancing to new positions in the ‘grey zone’ along the contact line as it runs counter to the ceasefire agreement,” he said.

Ukraine is still refusing to publish orders on punishment of ceasefire violators, which the sides has earlier agreed, he added. “Ukraine is refusing to publish the orders on punishment for the ceasefire breaches and on disciplinary measures for violations of the existing agreement,” he added. “It should be done to prevent incidents resulting in human deaths.” The self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk (DPR and LPR) published relevant issues over two months ago, Gryzlov said.

Creeping offensive: Under the Minsk Agreements signed by the Contact Group in February 2015, the parties were to withdraw heavy weapons in order to set up a 50-kilometer-wide security zone. In September 2015, the Contact Group adopted an additional document which stipulated establishing a 30-kilometer buffer zone (or grey zone). For the purpose, the parties had to pull light weapons 15 kilometers away from the line of disengagement. However, Kiev violated the Minsk Agreements launching a so-called creeping offensive aimed at seizing settlements located in the grey zone. According to the DPR and LPR, in 2015 and 2016 the Ukrainian military captured eight populated localities in the buffer zone. Now the Kiev authorities openly admit the ‘creeping de-occupation’ of Donbass.

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Mikhail Saakashvili, shown here with US Senator John McCain, May 2015 (–Rt.com)

Saakashvili states Poroshenko orders to arrest him / DONi News / November 29, 2017 / Ex-President of Georgia, former governor of the Odessa region of Ukraine Mikhail Saakashvili stated on Wednesday (November 29) that President of Ukraine Pyotr Poroshenko had given an order to the General Prosecutor’s Office and Security Service of the country to arrest him. On the eve, one tent burnt down in a tent camp organized by Saakashvili’s adherents near the building of Ukraine’s Vekhovna Rada in Kiev city center. As a result of the fire, nobody got injured. “Today, on Wednesday, I have got to know that President Poroshenko has completely crossed the red line and ordered to arrest me for a coup attempt in Ukraine and invented case from Odessa. He gave the order to Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko, Security Service of Ukraine,” said Saakashvili. He added that on the eve his driver had been severely beaten. According to him, law enforcement officials will attempt to arrest him in the nearest two-three days – before the organized march for Ukraine’s President Impeachment which is scheduled for December 3.

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Rex Tillerson (–AP/Evan Vucci)

Tillerson Puts Forward New Charges Against Russia / VzGlyad / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 29, 2017 / Washington will be able to begin the process of restoring relations with Moscow only if it takes steps to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine, said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. In addition, he made several new accusations against Moscow. “We hope that Russia will take steps to restore full sovereignty of Ukraine and territorial integrity and fully implement its obligations within the framework of Minsk, allowing us to then begin the process of restoring normal relations,” Tass reported. Tillerson said that the sanctions, which are related to the Minsk agreements, will continue until Russia begins to take action to “use them.” He said that Russia has violated the sovereignty of Europe’s largest country, and the US has been counteracting “this Russian aggression” since 2014 with the help of “sanctions policy”. Tillerson added that the United States intends to help “the success of an independent and whole Ukraine.” In this case, the future of Kiev, he argues, depends on the victory in the internal struggle and the implementation of reforms in various fields. He urged the Ukrainian authorities to eradicate corruption. The Secretary of State said that Moscow behaves aggressively towards its neighbors, at the same time, he is sure, “the West continues its attempts to build productive new relations with post-Soviet Russia.” At the same time, he called the possibility of building these relations “illusory.” He said that Washington was trying to “reset relations with Russia,” but it ended with “invasions” to Georgia and Ukraine. “Russia continues to be aggressive towards other neighbors in the region, interfering in the electoral process and promoting undemocratic ideals,” Tillerson said. Russia has repeatedly stated that it does not participate and is not a party to the conflict in the Donbass. At the same time, as Russian President Vladimir Putin noted, the Ukrainian authorities are doing everything to prevent the implementation of the Minsk agreements, but in the West either they do not notice it or do not want to notice it. Quemado Institute comments: Tillerson is turning out to be an neocon warhawk on Donbass—as irrational and misinformed as his predecessor John Kerry. President Trump should fire him. Trump’s own position is not yet clear, but should be clarified when he decides whether or not to send US lethal weapons to Ukraine.

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James Mattis

Kiev gives Washington list of necessary weapons / DONi News / November 29, 2017 / The Ukrainian party agreed on lists of weapons for deliveries from the US and expects an appropriate political solution. This was stated by the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko. “All the lists have been submitted from our side, everything has been agreed, we are only waiting for a political decision. Giving weapons will be a clear signal to all countries, including NATO members, that such deliveries can be made to Ukraine,” Muzhenko said. According to him, the Ukrainian party expected air defense systems, air reconnaissance and electronic warfare, as well as supplies of antitank weapons from the US. “As for the samples of weapons planned for delivery from the US, it is, in particular, air defense systems, especially air reconnaissance means, electronic warfare means, which are critical for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and our defense industry cannot yet provide them for us. We also need medical vehicles, especially armoured vehicles, but this is non-lethal technology, so the first batch of such cars has already arrived in Ukraine, they will soon be received by the troops. And, of course, anti-tank weapons also in the list, even though today the domestic industry provides us with weapons modeled on “Stugna” or “Korsar,” he added. On August 24 during a visit to Kiev, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said that in the United States were considering the issue of providing Ukraine with defensive lethal weapons.

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Yavlinsky Tells How He Will Deal with Donbass if He Becomes President of Russia / News-obovsem.ru / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 29, 2017 / The leader of the Yabloko party, Grigory Yavlinsky, in case of his victory in the presidential election, intends to forbid the position of LDNR on Russian television, which he called “lies and propaganda”. He stated this on the air of the Russian First Channel. “First of all, I will stop anti-Ukrainian propaganda, which turned into the propaganda of hatred and endless war. As soon as I declare that I intend to establish peace with Ukraine, everyone who wants to stay on television will guess that it’s better not to engage in lies and propaganda, “Yavlinsky said. In addition, in the event of a hypothetical victory, he will prohibit any LDPR assistance, including humanitarian assistance. “We need to make it absolutely clear that Russia stops supporting all separatist movements: military, diplomatic, material, financial, propaganda. Stop sending vacationers there. A step in this direction is already being discussed. This is the introduction of security forces and a real closing of the border between Ukraine and Russia, “Yavlinsky said. He believes that for a period of time the Donbass will be under the mandate of the UN security, after which it will become part of Ukraine. “International security forces are not always effective, but there is no other solution, because what happened there is a terrible crime. Tens of thousands of people died. As a result of all these military operations, the Boeing was shot down, “Yavlinsky said. [QI editor’s note: this article was posted on Twitter by Novorossiya supporter Vladimir Suchan.]

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Givi as I Knew Him
Historic VIDEO by Graham Phillips
February 21, 2017

Click for Video.
English subtitles, 35 minutes

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Monday, November 27, 2017
(Brief Update)

Igor Plotnitsky (–South Front)

Eastern Ukraine: LPR Internal Crisis Ends With Resignation Of Plotnitsky / South Front / November 27, 2017 / Last week’s takeover in the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) spawned a crisis, which largely seems to be over now. This takeover was long time in the making, since at least the fall of 2014. The leaders of the republic — Igor Plotnitsky, the Head of the Republic, and Gennadiy Tsipkalov, the Prime Minister — represented different power spheres in Luhansk, with the latter representing the military, and the former the administrative. Plotnitsky was unpopular with the military, which only escalated when he managed to fire Tsipkalov in late 2015, increasing military opposition and arrests.

The conflict, now rooted in a long-standing antagonism between Plotnitsky and Minister of Interior Affairs Igor Kornet, started to heat up in November. On November 9 the Minister of Interior Affairs was kicked out of his house by Plotnitsky, under suspicion that he had allegedly extorted it from an elderly woman. After the house was returned to its previous owner, it was discovered that Kornet bought the house in 2015 with the necessary documentation filled out in Kyiv, raising suspicion of collaboration. The house Kornet was kicked out of had belonged to the late Valeriy Bukayev, one of the most influential businessmen in the region. His ex-wife moved to Kiev, and her new partner enrolled in the Aidar battalion. According to the DPR officials, they’d been offering help to Ukrainian military. Plotnitsky, it turned out, returned the house to the enemy of the republic. A LPR military commander addressed Plotnitsky on YouTube. In the video, commander Alexander Gaidey (nom de guerre Rhim) expressed his concerns regarding high-ranking military personnel being sacked, and voiced his suspicions that Plotnitsky . . . READ MORE>>

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(Eng Subs) Interview Leonid Pasechnik New Lugansk LPR Head. by Andrey Rudenko. Ukraine War.
VIDEO by Patrick Lancaster
November 27, 2017

Click for video.
Andrey Rudenko has interviewed the New leader of the Ukraine break away state, Lugansk Peoples Republic, Leonid Pasechnik. This video is to help English speaking people understand the situation.

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Click to enlarge.

CONFIRMED: Ukraine invades 2 neutral villages, Donetsk promises retaliation / By Eduard Popov / Fort Russ / November 27, 2017 / Amidst the recent events in Lugansk which have culminated in a change of government, the Ukrainian side has taken advantage of the temporary, relative disorientation of Donbass to attempt offensive operations. Ukrainian troops have since confirmed that they’ve seized two villages over the past three days, Travnevoe and Gladosovo, which are located in the designated neutral or “gray” zone in Donbass. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission has not considered these advances and the capture of residential areas to be in violation of the Minsk Agreements.

Judging by the now public admissions of Ukrainian soldiers and militants from the Ukrainian Nazi battalions, a fairly large-scale offensive operation was being prepared while Lugansk was embroiled in its “coup.” The result of the intended Ukrainian operation was supposed to be the capture of considerably large areas currently controlled by the republics of Donbass. Like always, however, the Ukrainians wanted a lot, but only managed to acquire a little.

At any rate, this is a success for the Ukrainians, albeit a minor one compared to the original plans. As follows, Donetsk has since been compelled to respond. On November 27th, the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, promised a symmetric response to the Ukrainian armed forces’ capture of “gray zone” positions. Zakharchenko is quoted as stating: “Since the OSCE believes that Kiev’s actions do not violate the Minsk Agreements, but are a mere ‘improvement’ of the Ukrainian side’s positions, we too will in turn…begin to improve our positions.” How real is Zakharchenko’s . . . READ MORE>> [Substantial analysis at source.]

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ATO Prepares for Provocation: Ukrainian Drones Inspect “Gray Zone” / Kharkov News Agency / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 27, 2017 / The siloviki of the so-called antiterrorist operation activated their unmanned aerial vehicles in the area of captured villages of the “gray zone”. According to the representative of the operational command of the Donetsk People’s Republic Eduard Basurin, Ukrainian drones were recorded over Gorlovka and Dokuchaevsky. “Our intelligence received data on the use of unmanned vehicles by the units of the Armed Forces, for reconnaissance and correction of artillery and mortar fire in the areas of Dokuchaevsk and Gorlovka,” the commander said. Recall that the situation in the Gorlovka region has seriously worsened, after the Ukrainian siloviki unauthorizedly captured two villages in the so-called “gray zone”. The command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has already transferred equipment and armament there. In this regard, the Donetsk command does not exclude that in the near future the Ukrainian side will begin to destabilize the situation on this sector of the front.

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Military situation in Gorlovka Worsens / Nrt24.ru / November 27, 2017 / (Edited by QI) / Armed Forces of Ukraine, exactly brigade 128, has been carrying out shelling for several days. Kiev troops have been using heavy artillery, mortars, and grenade launchers. The hostility is targeted against both civilians and DPR positions. RAPIRA is being used, even though, in regard to the Minsk Agreements, it was supposed to be withdrawn, and now they use it directly on Gorlovka villages. As a result of the shelling, one populated house caugh fire in the village Golma. There was not ability to put out the fire because the Kiev side does not stop attacking. [See also: Zaitsevo Resident Loses Home Due to Ukrainian Shelling at Stalkerzone.]

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VIDEO by Press service of UNM DNR
November 21, 2017

Click for VIDEO.
Today, about 14.00 a group of civilian journalists, accompanied by a military correspondent of the press service of the Supreme Council of the Donetsk People’s Republic and an officer of the 3rd detachment of the VS of the Gorlovka People’s Democratic Party of Zheleznoye witnessed the shelling of the Dolomitnoye settlement by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

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Ukrainian Journalist Tells about Hostility of Residents of Villages Captured by APU / VzGlyad / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / The residents of the villages of Travnevoye and Gladosovo, which were previously in the “gray zone” [ie belonged to the DPR –QI editor], were hostile to the Ukrainian armed forces, Ukrainian journalist Andrei Tsaplienko said. “The village of Travnevoye and Gladosovo was returned to Ukraine. Two small pieces of Donbass earth are no longer a ‘gray zone’. The day before yesterday, rubles were here and militants lived,” he wrote last week in his Facebook. He said that this is the biggest success of the Armed Forces since the end of 2014. At the same time, according to the journalist, the villagers differ in their attitude to the Ukrainian siloviki. “Many had tears of gratitude in their eyes. And they said that finally Ukraine came. Some looked with undisguised hostility. This is how he, the Donbass, is different,” he wrote. Meanwhile, Ukrainian volunteer Yury Mysyagin stated that the villagers of the captured villages met the Ukrainian siloviki “as liberators”. Let’s remind, last week, taking advantage of the situation in the LNR, the Ukrainian security forces launched an offensive on the contact line. On Saturday, the Supreme Council of Ukraine confirmed that the villages of Travnevoye and Gladosovo were captured. At the same time, the Ukrainian security forces planned to seize the territory right up to Gorlovka, but the offensive failed. Quemado Institute comments: We doubt many residents of Travnevoye and Gladosovo had “tears of gratitude in their eyes.” It is tragic that the DPR militia refuses to defend the Grey Zones, which were originally DPR territory. This refusal to defend their own territory is likely due to political pressure from Russia, which seeks to appease the West by appearing to obey the Minsk Agreements. The Agreements however did not require the militia’s unilateral withdrawal.

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VIDEO by Novorossia TV world
July 31, 2017

Click for video. (In Russian)
Project Vladislav Brig: “On the protection of their native land: Detachment Gorlovka”
[Translation:] Gorlovka is located in the north of Donetsk, so it turned out that the largest number of Ukrainian formations accumulated under the city in the summer of 2014, and who, no matter how local the guys became to defend the city, and did not let the enemy pass. Each of them went to defend his family, his home, his homeland, everyone understood that to let the Nazis into Gorlovka, they would reach Donetsk, and establish their fascist regime. We tirelessly thank our defenders who gave us the Victory thanks to which we live on our land.

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Washington Determined about Russian Oeacekeepers in Donbass / <em>Vesti-ukr.com / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 27, 2017 / US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker opposed the inclusion of Russians in the UN Security Mission in the Donbass. This is reported by TASS with a link to The Washington Post. Volcker noted that Russians should not be allowed to participate in the UN mission in eastern Ukraine. The UN Security Mission should have freedom of movement throughout the Donbas, and the contingent of peace-keepers should have access to the Ukrainian-Russian border. He also said that he would continue negotiations on the settlement of the situation in the Donbass along with the Russian President’s aide Vladislav Surkov. Volcker is sure that the peacemaking plan gives hope for a return to Minsk-2. Surkov and Volcker met in Belgrade on November 13. Then the American side presented its proposals on the draft resolution of the UN Security Council regarding the deployment of the mission in the Donbass. Surkov said that of the 29 points Russia found acceptable three. Later it was decided that Kurt Volker and presidential aide Vladislav Surkov would meet again in December to discuss the UN mission in the Donbass.

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Media: Russians must not be included in the UN peacekeeping force in Donbass / Essence of Time / November 27, 2017 / The US administration’s position is to not include Russian citizens in the UN peacekeeping mission, in case such a mission will be deployed in eastern Ukraine The Washington Post’s online version stated on November 26, citing Kurt Volker, the US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, TASS reports. Previously, Volker expressed his opinion about the UN peacekeeping force. According to him, it should control the entire territory of southeast Ukraine, including the border with the Russian Federation, and not just the contact line of the opposing sides. The Washington Post’s article cites Volker’s radical words. According to him, a true U.N. peacekeeping force should be deployed in Donbass, which must have access to the Ukraine-Russia border and not have any Russian personnel in it. At the same time, the US Special Representative talks about the desire to continue negotiations with Russia regarding the Ukrainian crisis and hopes that the UN peacekeeping plan gives a better hope for a return to Minsk-2. On November 10, The Wall Street Journal stated that the US has the intention to invite Russia to deploy 20,000 international peacekeepers across the territory of Donbass. However, the peacekeepers should be placed under the auspices of the OSCE, and not the UN. The publication informed that negotiations between Washington and Moscow on this issue will begin in the near future. Kiev supported the idea of placing a large international contingent across the territory of Donbass. On November 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin, answering journalists’ questions, said that no official proposals from the US on this issue have been received yet. Editorial comments by Essence of Time: Deploying a large peacekeeping contingent across the entire territory of Donbass implies an immediate occupation of the rebelling republics, taking them under the control by the Ukrainian Bandera regime with the inevitable genocide of “Moskals and the Moskalized“. The absence of Russians in such a contingent will make it possible to achieve total and absolute control over this contingent by the West. –Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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Russian company Gloria Jeans suspected of Aiding Terrorism / Obshchaya Gazeta / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 27, 2017 / The Russian company Gloria Jeans was accused of financing terrorism because of the production of its goods in the territory of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic [LNR]. / The Russian company Gloria Jeans was accused of financing terrorism because of the production of its goods in the territory of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic. Employees of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted searches in Gloria Jeans stores as part of the investigation into the complicity of terrorism. Investigative activities were conducted in the shops of Kiev, Kharkiv, Odessa, Lviv, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye and Poltava regions. Now all the goods are seized, but the stores continue to work, Kommersant reports. According to the Ukrainian siloviki, clothes and shoes of the Russian brand are produced in the Lugansk region, and the company itself pays taxes to the budget of the LNR. The SBU also believes that Russia falsified the origin of clothing Gloria Jeans: things were made in the LNR, returned to Russia, and then again sent to Ukraine for sale.

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Sunday, November 26, 2017
(Brief update)

Kiev launches over 1,200 shells on DPR territory in 24 hours – JCCC / DONi News / November 26, 2017 / The Ukrainian army launched more than 1,200 shells on the front-line localities of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) over the past 24 hours, DPR Representative Office Head to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) Ruslan Yakubob states. “Altogether, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) launched 1,217 shells on the DPR territory in the last 24 hours,” pointed out Yakubov. The localities in the Donetsk direction underwent the most intensive shelling on the part of the enemy. Altogether, according to Yakubov, over the past 24 hours there were registered 50 ceasefire violations on the part of Ukrainian military. Quemado Institute comments: On Saturday November 25, a number of Twitter sources from inside or near Donetsk reported an escalation of Ukrainian fire not seen since last summer, including constant loud booms audible from the center of the city at an estimated distance of 4 km.

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Command of Donetsk People’s Republic Announce Seizure by Ukrainian Army of Another Grey Zone Village / TASS (in Russian) / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 25, 2017 / DONETSK / Ukrainian Security Vorces seized another settlement – the village of Travnevoye near Gorlovka, while occupying houses of civilians. This was announced on Saturday by the representative of the operational command of the proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Eduard Basurin. “In the direction of Gorlovka, 54 separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the support of the battalion of 24 separate assault battalion “Aidar” captured residents of two settlements in the “gray zone” – the villages of Gladosovo and Travnevoye,” he said. According to Basurin, a patrol of the OSCE observation mission will go to populated areas. Earlier in the DNR, it was also reported that the Kiev security forces installed mortars in the settlements and mined the neighborhood. In turn, the headquarters of the Kiev force operation confirmed that the MU took these settlements, but called it “a visit to help the civilian population and assess the current situation,” and also reported on the establishment of a humanitarian headquarters. The so-called gray zone divides the militias of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the Ukrainian army. Its borders are established by Minsk agreements and the introduction of troops of one or another party into the settlements in it is a violation of international agreements. Quemado Institute comments: We consider the latter statement by TASS to be false. Yes, the contact line is established de facto by the Minsk Agreements (although its geographic location is not specified). The Minsk Agreements also establish distances from the contact line to which various calibers of weapons must be withdrawn. The grey zone, however, is not mentioned in the Minsk Agreements. In fact, this zone was originally DPR/LPR territory. The Novorossiya Armed Forces withdrew unilaterally in the summer of 2015, apparently under orders from Moscow, we presume at the behest of Putin to appease the West. Note that the Minsk Agreements do not require troop withdrawal nor unilateral action of any kind. All requirements are mutual.

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Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 11/26/2017 / DONi News / November 26, 2017 / The situation on the contact line remains tense. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy fired 27 artillery projectiles of 122-mm calibre, 23 tanks rounds, one anti-tank guided missile, 192 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibres at 12 localities’ adjacent areas. Grenade launchers and small arms were also applied. In the Mariupol direction, the AFU units fired 60 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibres onto six localities’ areas. In the Gorlovka direction, the enemy launched 50 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibres onto four localities’ areas, at that engaging fire with grenade launchers and small arms. In total, over the past 24 hours, there were registered 50 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Our intelligence continues detecting the concentration of prohibited AFU weapons in the ‘ATO’ zone. In particular, in Volnovakha locality there was detected the arrival of a train with armoured vehicles and artillery systems, which will be meant for strengthening the AFU units in the Mariupol direction. The facts of offences and crimes committed by the AFU against civilians continue being noted. In particular, it has been established that militants of the 25th separate airborne brigade are settling in their buildings of civilian educational institutions in Avdeyevka locality against the will of the heads of the latter, to the detriment of the educational process of students and schoolchildren, which causes resentment among parents and teaching staff. And punitive squads of the 2nd battalion of the 30th separate mechanized brigade had captured a store in the east of Maryinka locality, which was eventually completely ransacked, and is now used by them as a place of residence of the AFU unit. In addition, our intelligence obtained the data of correspondence via Viber between Kalmazan, the reconnaissance chief of . . . READ MORE>>

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NATO Soldier Joins Donbass (Southern Ukraine)
VIDEO by Donbass Rose
November 25, 2017

Click for VIDEO
In March 2017 Pascal Hillebrand moved to DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic in SE Ukraine) with his girlfriend and two kids. Western taxpayers money is used to wage wars all over the world and he didn’t want to be part of it any longer. In the past, Pascal used to serve in the NATO army. However, after arriving in Donetsk he made a decision to join the DPR armed forces. In Donbass he was most impressed by the kindness of people. “They are all friendly and they are no terrorists!”, Pascal said.”

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Click for VIDEO.

Soldiers of Donetsk People’s Republic Penetrate into Occupied Village of Gladosovo (VIDEO) / Russkaya Vesna / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 26, 2017 / On November 25, the military correspondent of the press service of the Armed Forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR] managed to get into the area of Glushovo village, which was captured by the Ukrainian armed forces, and to photograph the actions of the Ukrainian military, who are bringing reinforcements and equipment to the settlement, and are actively building up new positions. The appearance of the enemy in the village has already led to a sharp activation of shelling from the Ukrainian side of nearby settlements – primarily the village of Golmovsky. At the same time, OSCE observers preferred to keep at a respectable distance from the line of demarcation and did not go beyond the center of the village of Golmovsky to fix the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces violating the Minsk agreements. The video was provided to the “Russkaya Vesna” by the press service of the VS of the DPR.

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Donbass militia eliminate Ukrainian reconnaissance group / Fort Russ / November 25, 2017 / A group of saboteurs wished to enter the territory of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) to conduct provocations, said Defense Ministry spokesman Andrei Marochko. On November 23, it became known that three personnel of the Ukrainian security forces were killed, two were wounded when an attempt of a reconnaissance group reached the position of the LPR army. The bodies of the dead were transferred to Ukrainian volunteers. During the transfer, it was found that the personnel were in fact reconnaissance and sabotage group, whose aim was to seize the positions of the LPR and penetrate into the interior personnel of the republic, Marochko explained.

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DPR: The Minsk process to continue despite Plotnitsky’s resignation / Essence of Time / November 25, 2017 / The change of the head of the Lugansk People’s Republic will not have a negative impact on efforts taken for the Minsk agreements execution to settle the conflict in Donbass, DPR People’s Council spokesman Denis Pushilin said in Minsk on November 24, Donetsk News Agency reported. “The Minsk process will be continued as before”, DPR spokesman ensured. “There are no negative preconditions after Igor Plotnitsky’s resignation from the post of the Head of the Republic, as he has now been appointed as the Lugansk People’s Republic’s authorized representative for fulfilling the Minsk agreements”, the official explained.

Earlier, Oleg Tyagnibok, the leader of Ukrainian ultra-nationalist Svoboda party, said that the Minsk agreements would become not legitimate in case of Plotnitsky’s resignation. In his opinion, as the ex-Head of the Republic was among the signers of the Minsk agreements, “the Minsk is already in fact illegitimate”.

On November 24, it was revealed that the head of the LPR Igor Plotnitsky has resigned due to his health condition. The security minister Leonid Pasechnik was appointed as the republic’s interim head. The resignation was preceded by a conflict between Igor Plotnitsky and the LPR minister of internal affairs Igor Kornet. The latter official claimed that his resignation was illegal and accused Plotnitsky’s closest circle in betraying the Republic’s interests. Experts say that the resignation of the head of the LPR could be connected with these events. –Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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Saturday, November 25, 2017
(Brief update)

DPR Head Zakharchenko congratulates Pasechnik on assuming LPR acting head position / Donetsk News Agency (DAN) / November 25, 2017 / DONETSK / The DPR Head Alexander Zakharchenko has congratulated the LPR acting Head Leonid Pasechnik on assumption of the office. “Leonid Ivanovich, I congratulate you on the assumption of the office of acting Head of the Lugansk People’s Republic! It is not an easy task in the circumstances of war and economic blockade, but I am sure you shall cope with it with honor. I am also sure that together we shall effectively withstand Kiev’s aggression and build peaceful life,” Zakharchenko said. Earlier on Friday Igor Plotnitskiy resigned from the position of the LPR Head for health reasons. The security minister of the LPR announced he was taking over power from Plotnitskiy until forthcoming elections. The ex-leader was appointed authorized representative of the LPR to implement the Minsk Agreements.

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People’s Council approves Leonid Pasechnik as Acting Head of LPR / DONi News / November 25, 2017 / The People’s Council approved Leonid Pasechnik as Acting Head of the LPR. “Pursuant to Article 62 Paragraph 7 Part 2, Article 70 of the Provisional Basic Law (Constitution) of the LPR, the People’s Council decides to recognize Pasechnik Leonid Ivanovich as the Acting Head of the LPR from November 25, 2017,” Chairman of the People’s Council Vladimir Degtyarenko said. Deputies adopted the decision unanimously. [QI Editor’s Note: For Oleg Tsarev’s opinion on the transition of power in Lugansk, see StalkerZone.]

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Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 11/25/2017 / DONi News / November 25, 2017 / The situation on the contact line remains tense. In the Donetsk direction, 36 artillery ammos of 122-mm calibre, 33 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibres were launched by the enemy on nine localities and the surrounding areas. In the Mariupol direction, AFU units targeted the settlements of Sosnovskoye and Leninskoye from grenade launchers and small arms. In the Gorlovka direction, the areas of four localities were targeted with IFV cannons, grenade launchers and small arms. In total, over the past 24 hours, 25 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded. As a result of targeted attacks by the armed forces of Ukraine on the residential areas of settlements Dokuchayevsk, Yasnoye and Golmovsky with help of prohibited weapons, the damage was inflicted to: – Residential house on the street of Teatralnaya, 10 in Dokuchayevsk (the glazing of the window frame is damaged); – Residential house on the street of Shchorsa, 27/2 in Yasnoye (glazing is damaged); – Residential house on the street Shchorsa, 31 in Yasnoye (the glazing of the balcony and the porch of the house are damaged.); – Residential house on the street of Shchorsa, 46 in Yasnoye (garage roof and car burned down); – Residential houses on the street of Zagorodnaya 6A and 12/2 in Golmovsky (glazing is damaged). These facts speak of a real genocide by the Ukrainian authorities of the Donbass population! After such shelling, no civilians will ever be happy with the occupation by Ukrainian troops, no matter how punishers want it when seizing settlements. One DPR Armed Forces’ serviceman died when defending the Republic. Yesterday, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Turchinov said that the Armed Forces would continue improving their positions and advancing to the territory of the People’s Republics, despite the Minsk agreements. It is these statements of Ukrainian politicians that provoke the incompetent command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to carry out insane acts, because of which the civilian population suffers, and Ukrainian servicemen die.

As we already know, in the Gorlovka direction, the 54th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with the support of notorious nationalists from the battalion of the 24 separate assault battalion “Aidar”, took hostage the inhabitants of two settlements in the “grey zone” – Gladosovo and Travnevoye. In addition, in the Lugansk direction, in the vicinity of Krymskoye settlement, AFU units made an unsuccessful attempt to throw two subversive terrorist groups on the position of the LPR Armed Forces’ units. As a result, 58 separate mechanised infantry brigade lost four people killed, two wounded and one captured. These actions are aimed solely at disrupting the Minsk accords. At that, the responsibility for the breakdown will lie on the head of the AFU General Staff Muzhenko and the commander of the so-called ‘ATO’ zone forces Zabrodsky, who personally led the failed operations. In the first – the torture of civilians in the villages of Gladosovo and Travnevoye, and in the second – the death of their fighters under Dzerzhinsky, which they didn’t care about at all. —Vice-Commander of the DPR People’s Militia, Colonel Eduard Basurin, official translation by DONi News Agency

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Lugansk People’s Republic resolves internal crisis with dignity and professionalism / By Adam Garrie / The Duran / November 24, 2017 / This week has been fraught with both real and fake news stories about an internal political crisis in the Lugansk People’s Republic in Donbass. The genesis of the conflict appears to be a dispute that Interior Minister Igor Kornet had with former Lugansk President Igor Plotnitsky. Kornet suggested that Plotnitsky was surrounded with various saboteurs and that such people needed to be removed for the good of Lugansk. At no time did Kornet publicly accuse Plotnitsky of any personal wrongdoing. However, Plotnitsky has been widely accused of being an uninspirational leader who is no longer up to the task of running a young republic besieged by the aggressive warfare of the fascist Kiev regime.

Social media had long been filled with rumours of Plotnitsky’s responsibility for the deaths of Lugansk commanders in the past, although these rumours have likely spread due to the fact that Plotnitsky was gradually becoming seen as in ineffective commander rather than a traitor. There has never been any substantial evidence showing that Plotnitsky ever conspired against his own officers. Lugansk Peoplpe’s Republic Security Minister Leonid Pasechnik has been appointed as interim President, until new elections are held. Pasechnik thanked his predecessor for his service and announced the appointment of Plotnitsky to a new role as Lugansk’s envoy for future discussions on the Minsk Accords which aim to bring a long-term ceasefire to the Donbass conflict. This move is clearly designed to demonstrate the internal stability of Lugansk, in so far as a man seen as not fit to be leader, will still have a respectable position within the government, albeit as an envoy whose role is largely honorific due to the stalemate in implementing the Minsk Agreements. The move also helps put to rest, the rumours from pro-Kiev regime social media that Plotnitsky has been killed or is being tortured. Clearly, neither of these assertions have any factual merit.

Pasechnik stated, “Igor Plotnitsky has made a great contribution to the peaceful settlement process. He is one of the Minsk accords signers. He has been appointed plenipotentiary of the Lugansk People’s Republic for execution of the Minsk accords”. While many of the finite details concerning what convinced Plotnitsky to finally relinquish power are yet to be fully known, it would appear that as was the case of the far more experienced Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, Plotnitsky realised that his former comrades wanted a changing of the guard and like all leaders who would rather leave with dignity than with a fight, he eventually acquiesced. Overall, the comparatively smooth transition from a leader whose . . . READ MORE>>

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ICRC Ukraine on Twitter
November 23, 2017

No fruit trees in this buffer-zone village in #Donbass since last winter.
People had to cut them to cope w/ temps like -25°C.
No gas/power &
mines make it dangerous to get wood from forests.
It took us 9 trips in 3 days to bring 3 tonnes of coal briquettes to these families.

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Friday, November 24, 2017
(Brief update)

Click for VIDEO: Statement by L.I. Pasechnik

Plotnitsky Resigns, Leonid Pasechnik Becomes Acting LPR Head (VIDEO) / Lugansk Information Center / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 24, 2017 / Statement by Pasechnik L.I.: Today, Igor Venediktovich Plotnitsky resigned for health reasons. Numerous military injuries and the consequences of concussion were caused, in accordance with his decision, I will assume the duties of the head of the Republic until the forthcoming elections. I am grateful to Igor Venediktovich for his decision and trust. Igor Venediktovich made a great contribution to the process of peaceful settlement. He is one of the signatories of the Minsk agreements, today he is appointed as an authorized representative of the Lugansk People’s Republic for the implementation of the Minsk agreements. I also declare my commitment to the Minsk Agreements. The Republic will consistently implement the commitments undertaken in accordance with these agreements. The Council of Ministers, the People’s Council of the LNR and other authorities continue to work in the regular mode. For my part, I want to assure the inhabitants of the LNR that I will do everything in my power to benefit the people of Lugansk region.

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Igor Plotnitsky (–TASS)

Lugansk People’s Republic head resigns / TASS / November 24, 2017 / Head of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky has resigned due to health problems, LPR State Security Minister Leonid Pasechnik said in a statement published on the Lugansk Media Center website on Friday. “Today, Igor Plotnitsky has resigned due to health problems, aggravated by numerous battle injuries and concussion consequences. In accordance with his decision, I come into office as the republic’s head until the coming election,” the statement says. Pasechnik thanked Plotnitsky for his decision and the credence given to him. “Igor Plotnitsky has made a great contribution to the peaceful settlement process. He is one of the Minsk accords signers. He has been appointed plenipotentiary of the Lugansk People’s Republic for execution of the Minsk accords,” he noted. Igor Plotnitsky has been appointed an envoy for the implementation of the Minsk agreements. “He is among the signatories to the Minsk agreements and was appointed today the Lugansk People’s Republic’s envoy for the implementation of the Minsk agreements,” the statement said. “I also state my adherence to the Minsk accords. The republic will be consistently executing the obligations taken under these agreements,” Pasechnik pointed out.

In his statement, he also stressed that “the Board of Ministers, the LPR People’s Council and other power structures continue operating on a routine basis.” “For my part, I want to assure the LPR residents that I will do everything possible for the Lugansk people’s welfare,” Pasechnik concluded. Leonid Pasechnik has been appointed acting head of the Lugansk People’s Republic until forthcoming elections. The People’s Council, or legislature, of the LPR has received Igor Plotnitsky’s letter of resignation as head of the republic and appointment of Leonid Pasechnik as acting head, the Council’s speaker, Vladimir Degtyarenko, said in a statement posted by LuganskInformCenter on Friday. “I have no doubts that the People’s Council will support the candidature of Leonid Pasechnik as acting head of the Lugansk People’s Republic. All necessary amendments will be done to the normative acts immediately,” the statement said. Igor Plotnitsky’s biography: Igor Plotnitsky was born on June 24, 1964, in the town of . . . READ MORE>>

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Leonid Pasechnyk (–Twitter.com)

[Enemy Report:] Coup-styled takeover shakes up Ukraine’s Russian-backed Lugansk enclave / Financial Times / November 24, 2017 / Igor Plotnitsky appears to have been fully deposed as leader of one of two Russian-backed separatist strongholds in Ukraine’s breakaway eastern Donbas region. That culminated a chaotic week in which armed militants backing rivals challenged Mr Plotnitsky’s authority by staging coup-styled takeovers of government buildings and media. Late on Friday Leonid Pasechnyk, security chief in the self-declared Lugansk People’s Republic, announced that he was taking over as acting head of the heavily-militarised region were separatist forces hours earlier killed five Ukrainian soldiers in daily clashes that have continued since 2014. Mr Pasechnyk’s claim in a Russian-language statement posted on a news site used by separatist leadership that Mr Plotnitsky had resigned due to “state of health” was not immediately confirmed. The surprise announcement came one day after video released purported to show Mr Plotnitsky arriving in a Moscow airport. His departure from Lugansk amid an attempted coup fuelled speculation that he had either fled or travelled to Moscow to hold backroom negotations about the crisis with Kremlin officials.

Russian officials have remained tight lipped on the tense standoff. It erupted after Mr Plotnitsky on Tuesday fired a rival, Igor Kornet, from his post as interior minister of the internationally-unrecognised separatist republic. Mr Kornet responded by launching investigations into Mr Plotnitsky’s inner circle as militants without insignia surrounded key government buildings in Lugansk, the provincial capital. Russian-backed separatist troops from the nearby self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic reportedly rolled in to Lugansk this week to intervene. The development sparked analysts and observers to predict that the standoff over leadership of Lugansk-based separatists was also rooted in plans to unite both Russian-backed enclaves into a single republic. Such an outcome threatens to complicate efforts to forge a lasting peace and settlement to the conflict through the so-called Minsk agreements which were brokered in 2015 by the leaders of France, Germany and Russia. In an apparent bid to dispel such concerns, Mr Pasechnyk in noting that his predecessor was a signatory to the peace accords, stressed “I also declare my commitment to the Minsk Agreements.” He added that Mr Plotnitsky would, going forward, serve as an envoy representing the region in the Minsk peace talks. [Source: ft.com/content/ada05b42-c085-3d74-8ca1-82b3afdb8a63]

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Plotnitsky Arrives in Moscow / By Zahor Prilepin / Vk.com / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 23, 2017 / Igor Plotnitsky flew to Moscow from Rostov on an ordinary flight. Here just arrived. Economy class, a quiet man without protection. Generally one. We met his eyes, he did not show anything. He does not look concerned. Almost peaceful. I got on the bus with everyone, got off the bus. In Sheremetyevo, two operatives waiting for him followed, young, merry, Moscow. That’s what history looks like everyday. Ordinary and unpretentious. With a small bag on his shoulder and jacket in the case. Everything for a new life. [Photo: still from video of Plotnitsky arriving at Moscow airport.]

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VIDEO: Plotnitsky Arrives at Moscow Airport
Thursday, November 23, 2017

Click for video.
Plotnitsky at 0:10

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Dmitry Peskov (–DONi News)

Kremlin assures Minsk deal will remain in force despite events in Lugansk republic / TASS / November 24, 2017 / MOSCOW / Moscow is committed to the Minsk peace deal on Ukraine despite the events in the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. “As for the Minsk agreements, the position, which has been stated many times by President (Vladimir) Putin, remains unchanged – there is no alternative to the Minsk agreements, and Russia is committed to the signature, which President Putin put on these agreements,” Peskov said, commenting on the alleged arrival of LPR’s head Igor Plotnitsky in Moscow and its possible impact on the Minsk deal fulfillment. Peskov stressed that Plotnitsky’s arrival in Moscow “is not a matter of the presidential administration.”

The Minsk agreements reached on February 12, 2015 by the Normandy Four (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine) leaders envisaged ceasefire and also laid out a roadmap for a lasting settlement in Ukraine, including local elections and constitutional reform to give more autonomy to the war-torn eastern regions. The Ukrainian forces and militias of the self-proclaimed republics have repeatedly accused each other of violating ceasefire and other points of the Minsk agreements.

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24 hours in Lugansk #2: Igor Kornet on the situation
VIDEO by Patrick Lancaster (English subtitles)

Click for video.
Lugansk LPR Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Kornet 11/22/2017 LUGANSK MILITARY “LOCKDOWN” DAY 3 What I know after spending 24 hours in Lugansk: 1. LPR head Igor Plotnitsky ordered dismissal of Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Kornet. 2. Kornet takes responsibility for the large deployment of soldiers to secure the city center. 3.Kornet says that Saboteur groups have infiltrated the LPR government and given false information to Plotnitsky so Igor Plotnitsky is not at fault 4. No blood was shed 5. The city is functioning well, people are on the streets and shops are open 6. Plotnitsky has left the LPR 7. Kornet says all Operations should be over by the end of week.

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Donetsk Defense: Weekly Situation Report, 11/24/2017 / DONi News / November 24, 2017 / EXCERPTS: Good afternoon! The situation on the contact line remains tense. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy fired one 152-mm artillery projectile, 66 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibres at nine localities’ adjacent areas. Grenade launchers and small arms were also applied. In the Mariupol direction, the AFU units fired 40 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibres onto four localities’ areas, at that engaging fire with grenade launchers and small arms. In the Gorlovka direction, the enemy shelled three localities’ areas with grenade launchers and small arms. In total, over the past 24 hours, there were registered 25 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. . . .

In particular, the Ukrainian side, in violation of the Minsk agreements, seized Gladosovo locality in the ‘grey zone.’ Punishers from the 54th separate mechanized brigade and the 24th Aidar battalion broke into the village on the night of November 22, 2017 and began to threaten local residents with weapons, demanding from them to remain silent. At that, they tortured some of the residents. At the moment, our intelligence is aware of the true purpose of this provocation. In particular, up to two platoons of Ukrainian servicemen planned to temporarily gain a foothold in the village, and then to fire at the localities under their control the next day. The use of mortars was to be recorded by the film crews of western and Ukrainian TV channels that had arrived in the given area in advance. Accusations of the DPR Armed Forces of violating the Minsk agreements were to follow.

We do not exclude either that this provocation could be connection with information on the arrival of three trucks with Ukrainian servicemen dressed in Russian uniform at the area of Svetlodarsk locality, received from residents of the territories occupied by the AFU. We assume that the Ukrainian punishers’ shelling their territories and the activities in the territory of Ukraine of Ukrainian saboteurs, disguised in the uniform of the Russian standard, may be links of one chain. Along with that, our reconnaissance continues detecting the concentration of . . . READ FULL REPORT>>

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Ten Ukrainian saboteurs uncovered within the ranks of Donbass officials / Fort Russ / November 23, 2017 / Employees of the Ministry of State Security of the Donetsk People’s Republic, in a joint operation with the special services of the LPR, have detained ten Ukrainian saboteurs.

“As a result of joint operations, more than ten people were detained who are suspected of cooperating with Ukrainian special services” it was stated. According to the ministry, the members of the criminal group acted under the control of the command of 3 separate regiments of special purpose of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

The main task of the saboteurs was to prepare and conduct a number of sabotage and terrorist acts, to destabilize the political situation in the people’s republics. With this purpose, the special services of Ukraine, from among the LPR officials, carried out purposeful work to discredit the activities of local law enforcement agencies.

On November 23, news appeared that the head of the LPR, Igor Plotnitsky, had left for Russia, and government buildings were surrounded by armed officers. In the Kremlin, the situation in Lugansk has not been commented yet.

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DNR Accuses Ukrainian Detainees in Lugansk of Preparing Assassination Attempts / Gazeta.ru / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 24, 2017 / Detained on the eve in Lugansk, the military intelligence agents of Ukraine are suspected of preparing assassination attempts against several first persons of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, RIA Novosti reports, citing the press service of the Ministry of State Security of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). “The MGB of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the MGB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LNR) conducted a joint special operation in the territory of the Lugansk Republic to detain a sabotage group that acted on the instructions of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which detained more than 10 people. This group operated on the territory of both republics and is suspected of preparing assassination attempts against a number of the first persons of the LNR and DNR,” the report said.

The department noted that “this is not the only sabotage group created by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine to conduct sabotage.” It is specified that part of this group was detained in Donetsk after an attempt to assassinate the vice premier of the DNR, Alexander Timofeev. “In this regard, it was decided to conduct a joint special operation to neutralize the second group of saboteurs operating on the territory of the republics,” explained the MGB DNR. Earlier, the Interior Minister of the self-proclaimed LNR, Igor Kornet, said that the special services neutralized in Lugansk a criminal group that operated under the control of Ukrainian intelligence.

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MGB of the DNR Prevents Attempt on Leadership of the Republic / Novorossiya Information Agency / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 24, 2017 / Agents of Ukrainian intelligence, who were detained in Lugansk on the eve of suspicion of preparing attacks on the leaders of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LNR), told reporters today in the MGB of the DNR. And on suspicion of cooperation with Ukrainian special services detained more than ten people. The operation was carried out jointly with the law enforcement officers of the LNR. Part of the group was detained in Donetsk after an attempt to assassinate the vice premier of the DNR, Alexander Timofeev. The department stressed that this group was not the only one that was overseen by Ukrainian military intelligence. “In this regard, it was decided to conduct a joint special operation to neutralize the second group of saboteurs operating on the territory of the republics,” the DNR Ministry of State Security said. The investigation continues, the security forces are looking for possible accomplices of saboteurs. Yesterday, the MGB of the DNR confirmed the liquidation of saboteurs in Lugansk. Earlier it was reported that on 22 November the LNR security forces neutralized Ukrainian saboteurs in Lugansk. The saboteurs prepared terrorist acts, planned to destabilize the political situation in the republics. Tasks for them came from the command of the third separate regiment of special forces of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

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“Return to Rhetoric of Novorossiya” – Bortnik Names Three Scenarios for Situation in LPR, Including “Most Dangerous” for Kiev / AntiMayden.info / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 23, 2017 / The development of the situation in Lugansk can occur in three scenarios, depending on the course chosen for Ukraine. This opinion was broadcast on the Ukrainian news channel NewsOne by the Kiev political scientist Ruslan Bortnik. Course in relation to Ukraine: According to Bortnik, the situation in the LPR [Lugansk People’s Republic] reflects the “confrontation of different groups of influence,” and this is not a confrontation for the sake of money or in favor of certain figures in the administration of the republic. “This is a confrontation over the course that will be chosen against Ukraine in the near future, perhaps it will be a course towards demilitarization and certain concessions within the framework of the Minsk agreements, perhaps it will be a course toward a violent resolution of the conflict and attempts to push Ukraine to agreements even more difficult for it,” said the Ukrainian expert. Bortnik does not believe that Plotnitsky can be removed, since his signature is under Minsk agreements, however, he does not exclude that the head of the LNR [LPR] would like to limit the power. According to him, the least profitable turn of events for Kiev would be the victory of “hawks”, calling for escalation on the line of demarcation. At the same time, the political scientist assumes that the parties are likely to agree. “The most likely scenario today is that at some point the sides of this confrontation will agree and conclude that there was nothing, especially since there are no human or material losses until that time.” The authority of Plotnitsky will be limited, and in politics will remain the same as it is,” Bortnik pointed out the first scenario.

The Party of Russia and the “party of war”: “A less likely scenario is if the political party of Russia wins, and provisionally speaking, this crisis in Lugansk will lead to Russia and certain regions of Donetsk and Lugansk regions making the first concessions within the framework of the Minsk agreements, and we will have a window for reintegration of Donbass,” said the political scientist, as the most desirable option for Kiev. “An even less likely scenario, but the most dangerous scenario is that the “war party” will win, there can be a unification of these territories into one under the leadership of the same Zakharchenko, for example, a return to the rhetoric of Novorossiya and attempts to create a military crisis, which modeled on Debaltsevo or the airport (Donetsk – the FBA) would push Ukraine to implement the Minsk agreements in an unprofitable interpretation or to new agreements that are even more unprofitable to date,” Bortnik said.

In his opinion, Kiev can not use the situation in any way, as its interference in the affairs of the LNR would only discredit the side with which it would be willing to agree. “Regarding our prospects in this situation, they are very limited,” Bortnik believes. Recall that earlier Ukrainian nationalists called on the president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko “not to miss the opportunity” in Lugansk, and the detached head of the Interior Ministry of the Lugansk People’s Republic, Igor Kornet said that in the republic saboteurs were caught who were connected with local officials.

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Igor Kornet

Lugansk Republic President flees to Moscow, Interior Minister now in charge / By Paul Robinson / RussiaFeed / November 24, 2017 / The political shenanigans in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in Eastern Ukraine took a new turn today when LPR President Igor Plotnitsky fled the republic and turned up in Moscow. Power in Lugansk now rests firmly in the hands of LPR Interior Minister Igor Kornet, who continues to insist that he doesn’t intend to overthrow Plotnitsky, merely rid the republic of traitors in the President’s entourage. Kornet’s forces have arrested a number of senior LPR officials, accusing them of working secretly for the Ukrainian government in Kiev and of preparing to betray the LPR to the Ukrainian Army. I don’t believe it. My impression is that in the LPR treason is what you accuse your opponents of when you want an excuse to get rid of them. Be that as it may, the events in the LPR put the Russian government in something of a pickle. As I mentioned in my previous post, Moscow isn’t in full control of events in Donbass. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have any say in what goes on, nor does it mean that it can just ignore what happens there. It seems to me that it has the following options: – Recognize that Plotnitsky is a busted flush, discard him, and back Kornet. So far, the Russian government is insisting that what happens in Lugansk is an internal matter for the LPR. Maintaining this line would in effect amount to endorsing Kornet’s coup. The question would then arise of how to find a new President and who it should be. – Try and work out some solution which returns Plotnitsky to Lugansk as President, but which in effect makes him little more . . . READ MORE>> Quemado Institute comments: It doesn’t appear that Plotnitsky “fled” to Moscow, but that he simply went there, judging by Prilepin’s description. Lugansk has been peaceful through this attempted coup, and there is no evidence Plotnitsky was threatened or in danger.

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Mikhail D. on Twitter
November 23, 2017

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“Here’s the map of the territory that was taken during the offensive of the
Ukrainian Army yesterday (nov.22) in the Svitlodarsk Bulge in #Donbas.”

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OSCE warns of a possible escalation of conflict in Donbass / Essence of Time / November 24, 2017 / The Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug warned the parties to the conflict of a possible escalation of the armed conflict in Donbass, Deutsche Welle reported on November 24. According to Alexander Hug, the escalation of the armed conflict is due to the cold weather that has come, because frozen ground unfortunately makes moving heavy weapons easier. He also lamented that in the recent weeks the ceasefire was violated increasingly often.

The situation in Donbass plunged into crisis in the past several days. According to a number of media outlets, a conflict happened between the Leader of the Republic Igor Plotnitsky and the fired Minister of Internal Affairs of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Igor Kornet. Reportedly, the building of the Prosecutor General’s Office was assaulted on November 22. The Ministry of State Security of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) reported a joint operation with the law enforcement officials of the LPR which neutralized a group of persons suspected of connections with Ukrainian intelligence. On November 23, some media reported that Igor Plotnitsky arrived to Moscow; however, this information has been neither confirmed nor denied officially. –-Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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Maurice Schleepen on Twitter
November 24, 2017 13:20 UTC

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“Over the past week Ukraine regime continues to transfer Heavy weapons
to the frontline regions of Donetsk, DPR territory. #Donbass.”

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Situation in Donbass to ‘explode’ if US sends offensive weapons to Kiev – Russian MP / DONi News (from Sputnik) / November 23, 2017 / Kiev has been seeking the supplies of US lethal weapons, but officially Washington officially only supplies Ukrainian authorities with uniforms, equipment, and training of the National Guard soldiers. The situation in Ukraine will sharply deteriorate if the United States chooses to deliver offensive weapons to Kiev, Vladimir Shamanov, head of the Russian lower house’s defense committee told Sputnik on Sunday. “These Klimkin’s ‘wishes’ sharply destabilize the more or less set state of affairs in the zone of the [Donbass] conflict, which can be controlled, at least to a certain extent, by the international organizations and local residents. The equipment which he listed is offensive, and, of course, this will affect negatively all the parties to the process, political, diplomatic, not even mentioning the military ones … This will not just complicate the situation [in Ukraine], this will explode the situation,” Shamanov said. If the United States does choose . . . READ MORE>>

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Donetsk Lugansk News Nov 4-23 2017

[See HOME PAGE for latest news updates.]

Thursday, November 23, 2017
(Brief update)

Lugansk: Igor Kornet is in charge / By Alexander Zhuchkovskiy (Ruskline.ru), translated by Tom Winter / Fort Russ / November 23, 2017 / According to the latest data, the situation is as follows. Kornet completely controls Lugansk, Plotnitsky is in the Russian Federation and is feverishly negotiating about his future in the LPR. His political destiny has not been finally resolved. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the MGB insists on the complete elimination of Plotnitsky, Moscow is inclined to leave him the nominal head of the republic until the next elections, with the actual absence of real power.

If this option is confirmed tomorrow, Plotnitsky will make a statement explaining what is happening about the work of Ukrainian agents in the higher echelons of power (ie, apparently confirm what Kornet said today). Otherwise, Plotnitsky will probably not return to the Lugansk Peoples Republic.

Moscow unequivocally sided with Kornet, and the DPR also supported him, sending significant help to Lugansk to prevent the revenge of Plotnitsky. Kornet received permission from the Russian Federation to clean up Plotnitsky’s people in all government bodies in the Lugansk People’s Republic. What can now be said unequivocally: Kornet won, Plotnitsky completely lost, Moscow’s trust and control over Lugansk. On the merger of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic, it is not yet a question. Quemado Institute update, November 24: In light of breaking news that Leonid Pacechnik is now acting head of the LPR, it is now unclear what Kornet’s role will be.

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Igor Plotnitsky (–02Varvara.wordpress)

Mass media: Head of LNR Plotnitsky left for Russia / VzGlyad / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 23, 2017 / An automobile cortege with the head of the LNR Igor Plotnitsky, the head of his administration Irina Teizman, the head of the GPTK LNR Anastasia Shurkaeva left Lugansk for Russia, the media reported. Government buildings in Lugansk cordoned off by armed people, among them, according to unconfirmed reports, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Luganks People’s Republic and the MGB of the Donetsk [misprint? – QI editor] People’s Republic, reports Novaya Gazeta. Earlier on Thursday, the head of the Interior Ministry of the Lugansk People’s Republic, Igor Cornet, issued another statement, saying that the special services of the Lugansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic defused a criminal group in Lugansk that operated under the control of Ukrainian intelligence. Earlier, Cornet announced the detention of Teizman and Shurkaeva. In Donetsk, they also announced the suppression of the activities of the main members of the criminal group. The special services of the DNR state that Ukrainian saboteurs tried to discredit the activities of law enforcement agencies and special services of the Donbass republics. Sources say that there is an attempt of coup d’état in LNR. On Monday, Plotnitsky dismissed Cornet, but the next day in the center of Lugansk appeared military equipment and armed people who obey the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On Wednesday in Lugansk, the building of the Prosecutor General’s Office was stormed. Quemado Institute comments: The claim that Plotnitsky has gone to Russia with Teizman and Shurkaeva has not been verified by trustworthy sources.

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Head of LNR Igor Plotnitsky left Lugansk for Russia / Novaya Gazeta / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 23, 2017 / An automobile cortege in which the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) Igor Plotnitsky, the head of his administration, Irina Teizman, the head of the State Television and Radio Company of the Lugansk People’s Republic Anastasia Shurkaeva and a number of other persons left the territory of Lugansk for Russia. Government buildings are still surrounded by armed people, among whom, presumably, the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Lugansk People’s Republic and the Ministry of State Security of the neighboring Donetsk People’s Republic. Recall that on the eve of the dismissed Minister of Internal Affairs of the LNR Igor Kornet refused to leave his post and published a video message in which he said that some high-ranking figures of the self-proclaimed republic, including Teizman and Shurkaev, are agents of the Ukrainian special services. In the evening on Tuesday a column of dozens of military vehicles from Donetsk entered into Lugansk. Subsequently, the MGB of the Donetsk People’s Republic officially recognized that it was conducting a joint special operation against the “Ukrainian saboteurs” with the SLM security officials. Note that Moscow has not officially commented on what is happening in Lugansk. Quemado Institute comments: The claim that Teizman and Shurkaeva, whom Kornet calls Ukrainian agents, left Lugansk with Plotnitsky has not been confirmed by trustworthy sources. At least one possibly reliable Twitter source Andrey Davydov has called these Russian media stories “fake news”. Pete John (see below) reports via Twitter that Ruskaya Vesna news agency sources say Plotnitsky was still in Lugansk at 13:00 UTC today.

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Pete John on Twitter
November 23, 2017 14:00 UTC

“This ‘Russian Spring’ [Russkaya Vesna news agency] was told by its own sources in the power structures of the Lugansk Republic: About an hour ago, Igor Plotnitsky left the administration building with protection. His motorcade moved east, where his house was. There were no obstacles to his departure.”

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Unexpected development of Lugansk political crisis: 3rd day report / DONi News / November 23, 2017 / The 3rd day of the Lugansk government crisis passes calmly in the streets of the LPR capital. The parties to the standoff have published new statements, but no settlement has yet been reached at the cabinet level. The Head of State, Igor Plotnitsky, is still in charge of the Republic and the previously dismissed Minister of the Interior seems to preserve control over the notable state security apparatus. New and rather unexpected information concerning the Ukrainian involvement in creating the standoff has appeared, shedding light on the complicated nature of the root of the crisis, which has unquestionably made it much harder to find a solution to the already developed volatile situation in the Republic. Thus, the evening of Wednesday, November 22, was abundant in statements by the parties to the political standoff in Lugansk. The Head of the LPR, Igor Plotnitsky, gave a press-conference, addressing residents of the Republic and those following the situation in the state from abroad, namely, the Russian Federation, with a call “not to believe whatever is published on the Internet,” despite the rumours spread by both internal and external enemies of the Republic. The Head of State promised that the situation would be settled soon, as power structures of the Republic were actively working on it. Later on the day, Igor Kornet also gave a press-conference, during which he answered questions of Russian and foreign journalists. According to him, at the moment, measures and search activities are being implemented in the LPR to eliminate the remains of a large sabotage and reconnaissance group that has infiltrated the territory of the Lugansk People’s Republic. “It is high time the operational development, conducted jointly with the State Security Ministry of the LPR, was completed,” he said, adding that in the course of this long-lasting development “there had been identified numerous agents of influence of the Ukrainian special services, who had penetrated deeply into the authorities of the Republic.” Kornet emphasised that “the rule of law had not been violated in the Lugansk People’s Republic,” as all the power-wielding structures of the Republic were working “jointly as a single force.” We can arrive at the conclusion that the nature of the government crisis comes more and more clear on the 3rd day of the political argument. The most important thing is to understand that the standoff in Lugansk is a highly internal affair, bearing signs of previous external impact, exerted by the common enemy of the state. We should not . . . READ MORE>> [Substantial article at source.] Quemado Institute comments: This DONi News report, unlike at least three reports we’ve seen in the Russian media, makes no mention of Plotnitsky having left for Russia today accompanied by presumed Ukrainian agents Shurkaev and Teizman.

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Conflicting Reports on Plotnitsky’s Whereabouts / Quemado Institute / November 23, 2017 / At least three Russian news agencies have reported today that LPR Head Igor Plotnitsky left in a motorcade for Russia with two presumed Ukrainian agents and former LPR officials Irina Teizman and Anastasia Shurkaeva (see two articles above). Other reports contradict this. DONi News makes no mention of Plotnitsky’s alleged flight to Russia (see article above), while Twitter source Andrey Davydov calls the Russian reports “fake news”. Pete John, a known reliable pro-Donbass Twitter source, seems to contradict himself on the matter of Plotnitsky’s whereabouts. On the one hand, John tweeted at about 16:00 UTC [edited]: “According to Major-General Igor Kornet, LNR, Lugansk was 2 weeks away from a major disaster because of treasonous actions of a certain group of High ranking officials, including Plotnitskiy, who’s accused of collusion and has run.” Along with this tweet, John posted the image shown here, which gives a story roughly the same as those in the Russian media. Contradicting this, Pete John said in another tweet at about 14:00 UTC today (see above) that sources at Ruskaya Vesna report Plotnitsky left the administration building and is now at his home in Lugansk.

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Wednesday, November 22, 2017
(Full Report)

Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 11/22/2017 / DONi News / November 22, 2017 / The situation on the contact line remains tense. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy fired 57 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibre on eight localities, as well as resorted to grenade launchers and small arms. In the Mariupol direction, the AFU attacked Leninskoye locality, having launched five mortar rounds of 120-mm calibre on the settlement, as well as resorted to various grenade launchers and small arms. In the Gorlovka direction, the enemy fired five mortar shells of 82-mm calibre at the locality of Dolomotnoye, as well as applied grenade launchers and small arms. In total, over the past 24 hours, 23 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded. As a result of the shelling by Ukrainian punishers of Dokuchayevsk, female civilian Goncharenko Tatyana Vladimirovna, born in 1965, received a fragmentation wound of the thorax at the address: Lenina Street, 26/20, apt. 4. Besides, according to updated data, 17 housing constructions sustained damage because of the shelling of the AFU. We’re receiving alarming messages from residents living in the territory temporarily occupied by the AFU. Yesterday, according to their data, three trucks were seen moving with the personnel, dressed in a military uniform of the Russian model, from Artyomovsk area in the area of Svetlodarsk. In addition, according to our reconnaissance, in the area of Svetlodarsk, the film crews of Western and Ukrainian television channels have now arrived to prepare the staged video material. Directions for ensuring the work of foreign journalists are given directly by the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In this connection, we do not exclude the provocations of the Ukrainian siloviki on the contact line, which have the goal of preparing fabricated evidence of the presence of Russian troops in the Donbass, and use their fakes to justify aggression against the republics. We appeal to the OSCE Mission with a request to help prevent illegal actions by the Ukrainian forces, destabilizing the situation in the area. Also, we continue recording the massing of prohibited weapons of the AFU near the contact line. In particular, our reconnaissance marks the move to the area of Krasnogorovka village (north of Avdeyevka) of the 1 howitzer battalion of the 55th separate artillery brigade. We have identified the location of six units of large calibre artillery hidden in the private sector of the village and agricultural buildings, located near, eight kilometers from the contact line. According to information from sources in the 25 separate airborne brigade, the units of the 1st howitzer battalion are being prepared to be used in the interests of the criminal command of the airborne brigade. —Vice-Commander of the DPR People’s Militia, Colonel Eduard Basurin, official translation by DONi News Agency Quemado Institute comments: Yesterday and today, enemy Twitter sources have been falsely reporting an invasion of Russian military convoys and tanks into Lugansk. Even Statfor (a US quasi-think tank) has alleged today that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko “is monitoring Luhansk region after Russian tanks move in, Kyiv Post reported Nov. 22.” These fake allegations may be in response to, or in collusion with, the staged operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which is apparently setting up manufactured evidence of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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APU Militants Seize Village Near Gorlovka / Novorossiya Information Agency / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 22, 2017 / According to the press service of the Armed Forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic, on the night of November 22, Ukrainian armed forces [APU or UAF], in particular the Nazi battalion Aidar, captured the village of Gladosovo near Gorlovka. This was reported by the correspondent of IA “Novorossiya”, referring to the press service of the Supreme Soviet of the Donetsk People’s Republic. “Tonight, on Gorlovskoe direction, there was an outrageous case of bullying by units of 54 ombre and 24 battalions “Aidar” over residents of the village of Gladosovo, located near the settlement Zaitsevo. The abductors broke into the village under cover of night and blocked each house, banning local residents from leaving their homes under the threat of using weapons. From the residents of the village receive alarming calls for help and reporting on the facts of outrage from the nationalistically-minded units of the Armed Forces,” the report said. The defense department noted that the punitive units in the residential areas of the settlement had placed mortar guns to fire near the lying settlements of the Republic. And they are also engaged in mining the approaches to the village. The fact of the military presence in the territory of Gladosovo was confirmed, including by the Ukrainian “volunteer”, an accomplice of militants Mysiagin on his Facebook page. “We regard these actions by Ukrainian law enforcers as the taking of civilians by terrorists, this is a gross violation of the Minsk accords, although the Deputy Head of the OSCE in Ukraine, Alexander Hug, is on a visit to the Dniester region,” said the press service of the Armed Forces DNR. Earlier it was reported that in the DNR they do not agree with the report of the OSCE mission on firing the filtering station. Recall also that the Ukrainian militants fired 65 minutes on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic for the past day. Meanwhile, OSCE observers fixed a column of military equipment, which was first seen near Debaltsevo, then, according to the OSCE, it is likely that the same column was heading towards Lugansk.

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Ukrainian Armed Forces Occupy Village of Gladosovo / By Colonel Cassad / Cassad LiveJournal / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 22, 2017 / On the situation with the capture of the village of Gladosovo. 1. In the afternoon, reports began to come that the APU had advanced on the Svetlodar arc. Volodyar Mysyagin said that the APU took “several villages” in the Svetlodar arc. Later, information about the loss of one settlement appeared in the public places of the supporting DNR. The command of ATU the fact of advancement of the 54th ombre and occupation of the villages denied. 2. Here it is worth noting the delirium of the allegations that “using the disorder in the LNR, SBU dealt a blow.” The region under consideration is in the zone of responsibility of the 1st Army Corps of the DNR, which practically does not depend on whether Cornet rules Lugansk or Plotnitsky. So the reasons are likely to be different. If nothing has changed there, then parts of the 3rd brigade of the army of the DNR and BTRO were observed in this direction. However, this does not negate the obvious intentions of the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to take advantage of the chaos in Lugansk in order to find weaknesses in the construction of army corps in the rear of which a mess is created. 3. By the evening, the DMDD confirmed that the village of Gladosovo, which was occupied by Aidar and the 54th ombre, was lost, after which they brought a standard bodyguard about the fact that “the junta violates the Minsk agreements” and that the punishers mock the local population, at that time as the Donbass came “the Hug itself.” Never such was not and here again. It’s time to understand that Hug will not protect the peaceful inhabitants of the Donbass. Minsk will not protect them either. Only the armed strength of the army corps can protect them. In addition, from the Ukrainian side there are statements that the village of Gravyonoe is also occupied (it was marked on maps as controversial, located in the gray areas), but this is not confirmed by the DNR yet. 4. The village itself, judging by the description of the events on both sides, appeared to be in the gray zone and was occupied by the APU without any significant battles, in any case, the parties on this issue are not particularly affected, which indicates rather that no serious defense of the village was not in principle and it actually was in the gray zone. There is a high probability that the situation with the settlement of Novoluganskoye (which is located on the same section of the front) is repeated, and the occupation of which was once served as an unprecedented overhaul https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/3146470.html and where the 54th OMR was also noted. 5. The intensification of hostilities in this direction has been noted for several days: 6. In addition, the DMDD said that on the highway Artemovsk-Svetlodorsk, 3 trucks with personnel dressed in a Russian military uniform were seen and warned of a possible provocation with disguise. 7. Since this is not a DFS, the APU will try not to leave the village, moving the front closer to Zaitsevo and Golmanovsky, and also increasing the pressure on the Dolomite. The classic struggle for neutrality and pressure on the front of the DNR, which will continue until the Supreme Armed Forces receive enough fire resistance to stop these attempts. There is nothing new in this, but the command of the 1st AK will have to decide – either to reconcile with the loss of neutrals in this direction, or to tighten the reserves to Golmanovsky and proceed to extrude the 54th ombre from occupied areas. [Two videos available at source.]

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Pete John on Twitter
November 22, 2017
“URGENT MESSAGE FROM THE COMMAND VS #DNI:
We regard these actions Ukrainian security officials as terrorists having captured civilians.”

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Click for VIDEO.

Ukrainian Army Advances into DPR / Pete John on Twitter / November 22, 2017 / According to reliable Donbass expert Pete John, the Ukrainian Armed Forces (APU) and Aidar Battalion have advanced on the Donetsk People’s Republic in the area of Gorlovka. Pete John tweets at about 14:30 UTC: “#Ukrainians took advantage of the chaos in Lugansk and went on the offensive. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (APU) launched an offensive in the area of Svetlodarsk on the contact line with the Lugansk People’s Republic (LNR). / #Donetsk, Volvo Center and Airport-YABP: battles, mortars and artillery work! Gorlovka: APU attacked position of militia and seized village of Metallist near Gorlovka. APU and Aidar advance from yesterday, actively occupy the gray zone near Gorlovka and Svetlodarsk.” Pete John tweets again at about 15:00 UTC: “The situation in the #Donbass: VSUshniki arbitrarily occupied the Mettalist and went on the offensive near Svetlodarsk. The battalion commander asked Zakharchenko take control via YouTube: http://youtu.be/ZikEbPaB7PU.”

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Ukrainians took advantage of the chaos in Lugansk and went on the offensive / Lenta.ru / Autotranslation by Quemado Institute / November 22, 2017 / The Armed Forces of Ukraine (APU) launched an offensive in the Svetlodarsk region on the line of contact with the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LCN). On Wednesday, November 22, on his Facebook page, [enemy] Ukrainian volunteer Yury Mysyagin wrote. “As a result of the sudden military actions of our units, several villages were liberated, and several strategic heights were also taken under our control. As a result of this operation, we have new positions a few square kilometers in size, on which we have already successfully consolidated,” Mysyagin said. He added that the operation involved servicemen of the 54th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces and the Aidar assault battalion. There is no evidence or refutation of this information from the LCN. / On the afternoon of November 22, it was reported that the building of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Lugansk People’s Republic had been seized by unknown security officials. The head of the republic, Igor Plotnitsky, accused the former interior minister Igor Cornet of attempting a coup. Armed people without identification signs captured the center of Lugansk in the afternoon of November 21. They blocked the entrances and exits from the administrative buildings. It was noted that unknown persons also occupied the building of the Concern for Radio Broadcasting, Radio Communication and Television in Lugansk.

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(–Yakovenko Vyacheslav/Rossa Primavera News Agency)

Lugansk Prosecutor General’s Office assaulted / By Bill Oliver / Essence of Time / November 22, 2017 17:00 UTC / DONETSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC / The building of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) was assaulted at 11:50 (local time), a source reported on November 22, Delovoy Portal DNR Live reports. Reportedly, the building was assaulted by 200 people. As a result of the action, the Acting Prosecutor General of the Republic Vitaly Podobry and the Military Department Director Sergey Rakhno were escorted out of the building. A conflict in the Lugansk People’s Republic began after the Republic’s Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Kornet was dismissed, and unidentified armed people encircled the center of Lugansk. Essence of Time Editorial comment: The political crisis in the LPR plays in the Ukrainian junta’s favor. The conflict between Kornet and Plotnitsky can result in the dismissal of one of the signatories to the Minsk agreements from governing the Republic. This can become an excuse for the Ukrainian junta to question the Minsk agreements. Intriguingly, the President of Russia said that he would not allow the Minsk agreements to be broken down, thus taking personal responsibility for the resolution thereunder. An increased activity around this conflict on the part of oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, who bought the Ukraine’s national debt and who is thus interested that Ukraine can pay it, suggests that another attempt to give up Donbass and carry out a coup d’etat in Russia may be prepared. —Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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Enrico Ivanov on Twitter
November 22, 2017 20:30 UTC

“Igor Aleksandrovich Kornet is de facto the new leader of #Lugansk People’s Republic, Plotnitsky remains in charge because there’s his signature on the Minsk agreements.”

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Click for VIDEO.

Lugansk standoff continue: Report on the situation 2nd day / DONi News / November 22, 2017 / The second day of the crisis in the Lugansk People’s Republic started and continued in a relatively calm atmosphere on Wednesday, November 22. The standoff between the Head of the Republic and the ex-Minister of the Interior will have been lasting two days and nights already. As reported earlier, the first evening and night were calm in the LPR capital, Lugansk. [link] The forces supporting the conflicting sides [link] have preserved heavy presence in the city streets, but no signs of confrontation have been witnessed. Today, on November 22 morning, the Head of the LPR Igor Plotnitsky published a video statement in which he confirmed that Igor Kornet had been dismissed from the position of the Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic. Some news resources have started spreading stovepiping saying that the previous statement by Plotnitsky had been written not by the Head of the Republic, but his Administration due to his leave for the Russian Federation. Despite all the rumours, on Wednesday it became clear that the situation was still under control of the government, and the Head of State was at place, giving instructions on further settlement. November 22 began with expecting official statements from both parties to the conflict, as well as those from abroad, like Russia and the Donetsk People’s Republic. Only lots of rumours have been spread recently, for instance, those concerning the involvement in the developments of the third parties, namely, the Kremlin authorities and the DPR Head, Alexander Zakharchenko. The known fact is that neither of these accusations, claims, libelling have any official grounds. We are still waiting for further statements by the dismissed LPR Interior Minister Igor Kornet, official commentaries on the part of the Donetsk People’s Republic, as well as from the Russian Federation. Armed Forces will have been present in the Lugansk capital for the second night. The people of the Donbass, as well as local media, are expecting . . . READ MORE>>

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“Large-scale Plot of Ukrainian Special Services Unveiled” – MGB of Donetsk People’s Republic Issues Statement on Situation in Lugansk / Ruskaya Vesna / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 22, 2017 / The MGB of the Donetsk People’s Republic issued a statement on the situation in the fraternal Republic. As a result of joint counter-intelligence and anti-diversion measures, the Ministry of State Security of the Lugansk People’s Republic and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Lugansk People’s Republic prevented the activities of the main members of the criminal group operating under the control of the command of the 3 separate regiment of the special purpose GUR of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. The main task of the group was the preparation and conduct of a number of sabotage and terrorist acts in the territory of the Lugansk People’s Republic to destabilize the political situation in the People’s Republics. For this purpose, in order to achieve a more effective result, the special services of Ukraine from among the LNR officials carried out purposeful work to discredit the activities of law enforcement agencies and special services of the People’s Republics. There was foreseen a massive dissemination of directed tendentious disinformation, compromising the activities of the top leadership of the law enforcement bloc of the People’s Republics to paralyze their activities and evacuate the failed agents. Currently, operational-search measures are being carried out to document the criminal activities of detainees, as well as to identify their accomplices, with the aim of detaining them and prosecuting them in criminal procedure.

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OSCE SMM – Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine / OSCE Facebook / November 22, 2017 14:30 UTC / The #OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) continues to note the presence of military-type vehicles and unidentified armed men – many of them with white arm-bands and covered faces – in the centre of #Luhansk city. The SMM observed overall calm situation in the city. While conducting a patrol, however, the SMM was denied access by unidentified armed men to the intersection of Lermontova and Radianska streets. The OSCE SMM Principal Deputy Chief Monitor arrived in Luhansk to join his colleagues in monitoring the situation. Established facts will be included in our daily reports available in three languages on the OSCE website >> http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/reports.

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Igor Plotnitsky

Igor Plotnitsky Meets with Journalists / Glava-LNR.su / Autotranslated by Quemado Institute / November 22, 2017 / Today, the Head of the Luhansk People’s Republic Igor Plotnitsky met with journalists, during which representatives of foreign media were able to ask questions concerning the situation in the capital of the republic. “As in any legal and civilized country, the decision of the court is final in the republic,” the head of the republic addressed the journalists. “Igor Cornet was removed from his post, but the small man was amazed with big ambitions. For some reason he decided that the court’s decision was not a decree for him. “To date, we see a situation that is not developing very well for him, we are very closely following it. Any power that does not have the platform of the law is called lawlessness. In the near future in this case will be put a point. All power structures are engaged in this,” said Igor Plotnitsky. Also, the Head of the Luhansk People’s Republic noted that the range of insinuations went beyond the case connected with Igor Cornet. “The theme is being discussed that, as Cornet says, everyone became ‘dill’. The team of people that everyone saw for three years, was engaged in the restoration of the Luhansk People’s Republic. Everything that is created is created not without the help of these people. This situation is trying to build up like a snowball, and you see that in this snowball they try to throw dirt more and more so that no one can tell where is white and where is black. The people of Luhansk and the leadership of the republic have always adhered to the line of return to the Russian Federation, for us lawlessness is unacceptable, and the rule of law is the norm,” the head of the republic said. In addition, Igor Plotnitsky appealed to all residents of the Luhansk People’s Republic. “Once again I want to appeal to the residents of the Luhansk People’s Republic, and to those who follow the events on the territory of Russia. Do not believe everything published on the Internet. I regret that for today LNR became a platform for insinuations, but, on the other hand, means somewhere we seriously advanced if we are so wanted to make enemies. I think that both the People’s Council and the Council of Ministers have already proved by their deeds that our way has been determined, it has been repeatedly voiced. We go only to Russia.” Addressing the inhabitants of the republic, Igor Plotnitsky also stressed that he did not leave the territory of the republic. “I did not go anywhere and in the near future I do not plan. Every inhabitant of the Lugansk People’s Republic, who at least once came across me at the checkpoint, knows that I, like any other citizen, stand in line and cross the border like everyone else, that’s why everyone sees when I leave and when I come.” Also, the head of the Lugansk People’s Republic, Igor Plotnitsky, told journalists whether the events taking place today in the republic are an attempt at a coup d’état. “Yes, we say so. And what forces are involved in this, we will continue to look and understand. How else can you call the situation when a person is suspended by the court from his position, but at the same time he tries to conduct some sort of operations by force. This is an attempt to seize power. But it did not work for anyone and will not work out now.”

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Igor Kornet (–LPR Defence Ministry)

Press Conference of the Minister of the Interior of the Lugansk People’s Republic IA Kornet / Ministry of Interior, Lugansk People’s Republic / Autotranslation by Quemado Institute / November 22, 2017 / Question: Please, tell us the whole essence of what is happening in Lugansk now. Answer: In Lugansk at the moment, measures are being taken to eliminate the remains of a large sabotage and reconnaissance group that has come to our territory. Unfortunately, it did not work out with one blow. Now there are search activities to eliminate the remnants of this group. It was also time for the completion of the operational development, which for a long time, which was conducted jointly with the Ministry of State Security of the People’s Republic of Germany. In the course of this long development, numerous agents of influence of the Ukrainian special services were revealed, which penetrated deeply into the authorities of our Republic. At the moment, in this situation, our friendly people, our friendly law enforcement bodies of the Donetsk People’s Republic helps us. Question: The situation is ambiguous for people, as from the side of the Head of the Republic or people who are presenting to them, there is strange information that is somewhat contrary to your words. Answer: I have previously indicated that the agents of influence penetrated deeply into the authorities of the People’s Republic of France and for a long time provided the Head of the LC with distorted information about what was happening. Question: Is there any surname? Answer: I mentioned earlier the names, many of the defendants have already been detained, investigative measures are being conducted by our investigators and investigators of the Ministry of State Security. Now investigative measures are underway to question the defendants or representatives of the so-called “fifth column”. Question: Can you give more details about the detention? Because different information goes. Who is specifically detained? Answer: I will not specifically explain the names of the detainees, because the events are still going on. And for the successful conduct of these events, I will leave it so far in secret. Question: How many people are detained? Answer: I think, closer to the top ten. Question: For what period this special operation can stretch? Answer: I think we will conclude by the end of the week. But I want to note that, in principle, the rule of law in the Luhansk People’s Republic is not violated. All bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs work in the regular mode, there are no bursts of crime, I emphasize, there are no outbursts of crime. Even more: in connection with carrying out such a major operation, there is somewhere a failure in crime. She overtook the criminals with fear. Question: Today, the head of the LNR, Igor Plotnitsky, under the cameras said that he perceives what is happening in the city as an attempt at a coup d’état. Answer: I’m sure it was a record, which was again thrown out by some people. Question: How many MIA personnel follow your instructions? Answer: Almost 100% were there, and remain under control. Unfortunately, there were some individuals who showed cowardice, somewhere did not understand the situation. And somewhere they came under the influence of Ukrainian special services. Question: What are the relations with other power structures of the Republic? Is there a danger of armed confrontation? Answer: No, in no case, the law-enforcement system of the LNR – there is a single fist, which operates according to the developed plan.

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Pete John on Twitter
November 22, 2017 15:30 UTC
#Donetsk People’s Republic – A message from DNR 24:

Click to enlarge.
Pete John Twitter Update
November 22, 2017 18:00 UTC
“22.11.17. Message from the militia A. Zhuchkovsky. #Plotnitsky as of 20:00 is not blocked in the administration building or elsewhere, he freely moves, but has no control over the power structures.”

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Igor Plotnitsky (–Sergey Bobkov, Twitter)

Is This a Coup to Overthrow Plotnitsky? / By Quemado Institute / November 22, 2017 / Twitter sources are speculating that the events in Lugansk yesterday indicate a coup against Lugansk People’s Republic leader Igor Plotnitsky. Some quote rumors that he has fled to Russia, others express hope he will be removed from office. Prominent pro-Donbass Twitter source @OceanEchoes reports in several tweets between 15:00 – 19:000 UTC today: “Plotnitsky only survived last year’s coup attempt because Zakharachenko sent Motorola in with his battalion. Now again it is Zakharchenko propping up Plotnitsky. / PLOTNITSKY IS NOTHING LESS THAN A GANGSTER. HE IS A GREEDY, CORRUPT, THIEVING, LYING, MURDERING TRAITOR WHO HUNG ON TO POWER IN 2016 BY VIOLENCE. HIS TIME HAS COME. I HOPE HE FALLS. / Murdered with others on the road between Pervomaisk and Stakhanov, Pavel Dremov, hero of Novorossiya, Cossack, colleague of Evgeny Ishchenko, anti-Plotnitsky, anti-Minsk, pro-Novorossiya. He had just got married. He knew the truth about Plotnitsky. / Alexei Mozgovoi. Murdered for opposing Plotnitsky. He died with his friends. One, Anna, was 7 months pregnant. NOONE has forgotten what the fat bastard oligarch filth in Lugansk did. We REMEMBER. His time has come.  / Murdered by Plotnitsky’s thugs after calling him and Zakharchenko traitors on tv. Evegeny Ishchenko, Mayor of Pervomaisk, memory eternal. / Alexander Bednov, Batman, one of the greatest military leaders of Novorossiya. Murdered with others in Lugansk Gangster’s Republic. Plotnitsky, your time has come. You will pay. / Batman, Alexander Bednov, was more than just a soldier. He was a politician and humanitarian. He knew about Plotnitsky’s crimes.” Recall that many pro-Donbass observers believe Igor Plotnitsky was responsible for the assassinations of Novorossiya heroes Commander Alexey Mozgovoy, Pavel Dremov, Evgeny Ishchenko and Commander Alexander Bednov. Meanwhile in several tweets at about 18:00 UTC today, Twitter source Sergey Bobkov has this to say about Plotnitsky and the ongoing coup attempt: “Lugansk: reports indicate that Kornet controls virtually 100% of LPR security services, Plotnitsky is a lame duck at best, now in Russia seeking last ounces of legitimacy. It was also confirmed that Donetsk republican guard is backing Kornet as well. / UPDATE: Plotnitksy was seeking support in Russia  but didn’t get any, now back in Lugansk, trying to figure out what to do next. All security services are pro-Kornet, so all he can do now is host irrelevant media briefings. Plotnitsky is NOT under arrest. / Plotnitsky has a negative reputation. In my personal opinion he is just a low IQ bum, but extremely well connected. I can’t say anything about him being corrupt or his ties to SBU — both are obviously possible. His only redeeming quality is that he did a lot for LPR. / Kremlin did not formally announce who they are backing. So the de-facto bloodless overthrowing of Plotnitsky is successful and complete, but everybody is looking at Moscow to seal the deal. We’ll know more by end of this week. FSB  vs GRU at play here.” Note the enemy is also claiming this is an FSB vs. GRU power struggle, so Bobkov’s latter statement may be false rumor or speculation. It is unclear how much involvement Moscow has in this attempted coup. Maybe none (see TASS articles below). Bobkov continues at 19:00 UTC with: “Lugansk: Plotnitsky’s personal guard detachment is nowhere to be found. They are not stationed at their usual location, and do not respond to radio call signs. If this is not a sign of complete victory of Kornet, I don’t know what is.” Expert source Gracchus Babeuf adds via Twitter at about 18:10 UTC: “Plotnitskiy wasn’t detained at the border, but he didn’t get what he was after in Russia. He returned to Lugansk to try & settle matters by himself, however none of the republic’s power structures supports him any longer.” At the end of the day, British Journalist and local Donbass reporter Graham Phillips sums up the coup attempt in a tweet at 19:30 UTC: “Over in #Lugansk the day ends with both Kornet – challenger, to say – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXNL5fXDaSU … – and Plotnitsky, incumbent, giving rival press conferences – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz9cR1f4PlI … – both claiming to be in control and that they will ‘resolve situation soon’.” Ominously, at about 19:00 UTC, Novorossiya supporter and Plotnitsky critic Vladimir Suchan tweets the unthinkable: “An explosion in Lugansk reported as Plotnitsky is believed to have been removed. ” Reliable Twitter source Maurice Schleepen confirms the explosion: “Breaking At 21:20 in Luganst LPR territory an explosion was audible, Military officers and local residents reported.” And with all the speculation, several Twitter sources are expressing hope the DPR and LPR will join as a single country. Pete John tweets at 19:00 UTC: “Zatulin: The merger of the People’s Republic of Donetsk and the People’s Republic of Lugansk as a result of current events is quite possible Many people are very surprised that LC and DNR exist separately. / LETS HOPE THEY UNITE. Will the intra-elite conflict in the LNR lead to the unification of Novorossia?” [Photos: Alexey Mozgovoy, middle; Pavel Dremov, bottom]

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Kremlin refutes media rumors of Moscow allegedly ‘backing’ political forces in Lugansk / TASS / November 22, 2017 / MOSCOW / A Kremlin official dismissed as totally untrue media reports, citing officials close to Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov, about the Kremlin’s alleged “support of certain political forces” in the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine. “No source from Vladislav Surkov’s circle could say such a thing, because the events in Lugansk are a domestic matter of the LPR, and no one from Lugansk has ever sought support from the Kremlin,” said Mikhail Arutyunov, the head of the presidential administration’s department on social and economic cooperation with states members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia. Tuesday’s report by RBC cited a source close to Surkov as saying that Moscow allegedly supported the LPR interior minister in his standoff with the republic’s chief. [Photo: Vladimir Gerdo/TASS]

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Vladimir Putin (–Alexei Druzhinin/Russian Presid’l Press)

Putin’s sway on Donbass overestimated — Kremlin / TASS / November 16, 2017 / MOSCOW / Russian President Vladimir Putin does have certain influence on the leaders of the self-proclaimed republics in Donbass, but it is not infinite, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media about Wednesday’s telephone conversation the Russian leader held with the heads of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics. Asked if the president by doing so might have violated the principle Russia was not a party to the conflict in Ukraine, Peskov replied: “By no means.” “We have no leverage to put pressure on these unrecognized republics. We have no opportunity to give instructions to anyone there, because these republics live their own lives. But the president has never made a secret of his ability to address them with calls and to cause certain influence – not infinite, of course. Only to a certain extent,” Peskov said. Putin used that influence in response to a call from Ukraine’s special representative for humanitarian affairs Viktor Medvedchuk for promoting an exchange of prisoners of war and the approval of that idea by Patriarch Kirill, of Moscow and All Russia. Peskov confirmed that in the telephone conversations with the Donetsk and Lugansk leaders Putin mentioned an idea of a large-scale exchange of persons held prisoner on both sides “to meet with the understanding of both parties, on the condition though, that the details are still to be agreed with the Ukrainian side.” “Putin did not hear a refusal,” Peskov said, adding that the hope was expressed for coordinating the details of such an exchange with Kiev. Asked by a Ukrainian journalist why the report about that conversation, published on the Kremlin’s website, did not contain the adjective “unrecognized” in relation to the two republics in question, Peskov said, “These republics are called that way [Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic -TASS] and their names on the Kremlin’s website have remained unchanged all the way.”

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Tuesday, November 21, 2017
(Brief Update)

Lugansk today (–DONi News)

Events in Lugansk Still Unclear / Quemado Institute / November 21, 2017 / Enemy sources report an “invasion” of the Lugansk People’s Republic by either “Russian” forces or units from the neighboring Donetsk People’s Republic. Others quote rumors of a coup against LPR President Igor Plotnitsky. What has actually occurred is still unclear. British journalist and Donbass expert Graham Phillips tweeted at 16:30 UTC today: “The day ends in #Lugansk with an unclear picture as to what has happened there, and who’s in control now, with multiple different, often contradictory reports, including as to the whereabouts of Plotnitsky himself. We wait for the morning for events to be clearer. / What we know for sure from Lugansk—armed men and military vehicles present in the city today. There is a conflict between Plotnitsky and MIA head Kornet. Who is backing whom, who is in control of LPR just now, where Plotnitsky is—all unclear and contested matters.” [Reports will be added below as information comes in.]

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Click for VIDEO.

Standoff in LPR: Report on the situation in Lugansk / DONi News / November 21, 2017 / The volatile situation in Lugansk gave rise to rumours in the city about a military coup and the displacement of the current authorities of the Lugansk People’s Republic on Tuesday. The situation has been tense in the city-centre since the morning. The streets are flooded with armed men in military uniform with no insignia, and white bandages on their sleeves. There are also employees in the LPR Interior Ministry uniform – the OMON “Berkut” soldiers, BPS, SOBR. In the centre of the city there are several armoured personnel carriers, special buses and special transport of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The military ask civilians to refrain from passing through the cordoned off territories. Several governmental, educational, and office buildings have been emptied today. In addition, in the city there has been blocked Kotsyubinsky Street, as well as the streets adjacent to the Teatralnaya Square and the park of Heroes of the Great Patriotic War, where the administration of the Head of the Republic Igor Plotnitsky is located. Earlier today, the Centre for Public Relations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs explained this situation in the city as the conduct of planned exercises. At the same time, it became known that an anonymous person had reported on phone on an explosive device planted in the administration of the LPR Head, after which the building was checked, and all employees were evacuated. At the same time, the local TV channel GTRK Lugansk 24 informs that the streets were cordoned off at the order of the LPR Interior and personally by Igor Cornet, who had been dismissed from the post of the Interior Minister of the Republic on Monday, November 20. Standoff between power-wielding officials: Referring to different media sources, on the one hand, the views of the LPR Administration and the Head of the Republic are promoted, and, on the other hand, an overview on the position of the Interior Ministry as a whole is given. The situation has been difficult to summarize in a clear manner. On Tuesday afternoon, the Interior Ministry gave to the public a statement by the department’s former head Igor Kornet, saying that some agreement has been finally reached and standoff settled. In this statement, Kornet confirmed having returned to his position as a Minister of the Interior of the Lugansk People’s Republic. At the same time, he specified who was to blame for the misinformation, which had led to the current developments in the country, pointing to the individuals who had been involved in creating tense moods in the society by different tools, including the State TV and Radio Company which has recently started spreading shadowy rumours allegedly related to the activities of the Ministry and its Chief. Later on the day, the Head of the LPR, Igor Plotnitsky, presented his view of the situation, debunking the theses stated in Kornet’s address to the public, at that refusing the accusations put against several top officials. According to Plotnitsky . . . READ MORE>> [Substantial article at source. / Photo: Igor Plotnitsky (–DONi News)]

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LPR head Igor Plotnitsky, Interior Minister Igor Kornet

Ukrainian agents, corruption haunt situation in Lugansk – Popov / By Eduard Popov / Fort Russ / Translated by Jafe Arnold /
November 21, 2017 / Breaking news has been coming in from the capital of the Lugansk People’s Republic. Since this morning, the center of Lugansk has been swarmed by armed men in uniforms without insignia, and the administration building of the LPR has been blocked off. This operation, as it turns out, is connected to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Igor Kornet, who was supposedly dismissed on November 20th on the order of the head of the LPR, Igor Plotnitsky. Today, however, Kornet announced that he had in fact not left his pot and, moreover, that he had ordered the arrest of a number of senior officials. According to Kornet, last night he presented LPR head Igor Plotnitsky with materials exposing the involvement of a number of senior officials in “criminal activities detrimental to the republic and the people of the Lugansk region,” after which he ordered the arrests of the General Director of GTRK (State Television and Radio Company), Anastasia Shurkaeva, the head of Plotnitsky’s administration, Irina Teytsman, as well as the chief of government security under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Evgeniy Selivertsov. The arrested persons, according to Kornet, were working on Ukrainian instructions, the aim of this group and other Ukrainian agents of influence being eliminating power rivals and purging the republic’s leadership of those in favor of a decisive and uncompromising fight against Nazi Ukraine. Earlier today, I asked my contacts . . . READ MORE>> [Substantial commentary at source.]

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OSCE Reports on Lugansk / OSCE Facebook / November 21, 2017 / Today in Luhansk city the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission observed the presence of military-type vehicles and armed men in the area around the building previously housing the Department of the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine in Luhansk region. Also, an SMM patrol observed convoy of vehicles consisting of at least six military style trucks, two APCs, a mounted ZU-23 and over 20 civilian cars without registration plates with at least 50 armed men on the road near Debaltseve (Donetsk region). A similar convoy, likely the same was observed later by a different SMM patrol in Vesela Tarasivka (15km west of Luhansk) moving in the direction of Luhansk city. The SMM will continue monitoring the situation. Relevant observations will be included in our daily reports available in three languages on the OSCE website. [See also http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/reports%5D

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DPR Army Retakes Grey Zone Territory / Quemado Institute / November 21, 2017 / Donbass expert and reliable Twitter source Enrico Ivanov tweeted today at 17:30 UTC: “#DNR army carried out a military operation east of Mariupol, 200 m of territory in the gray zone have been retaken,” with a link to the following report: Army of Donetsk People’s Republic Launches Offensive in Mariupol Direction / TopNewsRussia.ru / Translated by Quemado Institute / November 21, 2017 / The army of the Donetsk People’s Republic managed to advance and occupy a height of great strategic importance. This is stated in her blog by military correspondent Marina Kharkova, reports the correspondent of “Political Navigator”. In particular, the military commissar notes the fact of the advancement of the army of the Donetks People’s Republic in the Mariupol direction. “Our people advanced 180m ahead on the Donetsk front line,” she writes. This information was confirmed by another military procurator Alexander Sladkov: “But this is good. But! Again digging, digging … A little forward, and again digging, digging …” Military journalists explain that such a seemingly small success is of great importance. “Some people think that 200 meters ahead is not important. But I insist, it’s important. First, this is our land. Secondly, the hermitage – and our “skyscraper”. Third, we shoot down the targeted targets. Fourthly, this is more optimistic than standing still. There are fifth and sixth, but these considerations, like the place, are premature to mention,” Kharkova wrote. Quemado Institute comments: The real significance of this military action is that the DPR army is finally fighting again, rather than passively permitting the Ukrainian Armed Forces to shell civilians on the contact line.

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In Lugansk came a large column of military equipment (VIDEO) / Ruskaya Vesna / Autotranslation by Quemado Institute / November 21, 2017 / Local residents filmed a video and published footage of the entrance to Lugansk of a large column of military equipment. According to eyewitnesses, the equipment moved along the New overpass in the 1st Microdistrict of the capital of the LNR. [Click image for video.]

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BREAKING: MVD LPR about the situation in the Republic and “statements by Plotnitsky” / Ruskaya Vesna / Autotranslation by Quemado Institute / November 21, 2017 / As previously reported by the RV, on the site of the head of the Lugansk People’s Republic Igor Plotnitsky today appeared a statement about the situation in the Republic, contrary to the information stated in the official statement of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Igor Cornet. A letter from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Lugansk People’s Republic to the journalists of the republican and foreign media has just been sent to the editorial office of the “Russian Spring” [Ruskaya Vesna]. “Today, the republican and foreign media received an e-mail letter with Igor Plotnitsky’s alleged statement about the current situation in Lugansk. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Lugansk People’s Republic warns: this “statement” is not true. It was distributed by representatives of the destructive forces involved in the work on Ukrainian special services and oligarchic clans. These people, using their high official position, have access to a number of information resources through which allegedly false messages are sent on behalf of the Head of the LC [LPR]. In this case, I.V. Plotnitsky did not give them such powers and has nothing to do with these “statements.” We emphasize: these people are trying with all their might now to turn the situation in their favor and to step back from responsibility, covering themselves with the name of the Head. We remind you that at the disposal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Lugansk People’s Republic and the MGB of the Lugansk People’s Republic, there are sufficient evidence against these persons. Assessing which, the Head of the Republic IV. Plotnitsky gave the sanction for the detention and a comprehensive investigation of the activities of these individuals. And this will be done.”

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Lugansk Gambit / Novaya Gazeta / Autotranslation by Quemado Institute / November 21, 2017 / [Quemado Institute editor: the following report just came in. We are presenting the unedited Google autotranslation. Little in the report makes sense to us. We are seeking clarification.] / The head of the Interior Ministry of the self-proclaimed republic refused to resign, armed people appeared on the streets in formation. / In the morning on Tuesday in the center of Lugansk appeared groups of unknown people in military uniform from the “DNR” [Donetsk Peoples Republic or DPR]. They were armed with small arms and mortars. Igor Plotnitsky, the head of the self-proclaimed “Lugansk People’s Republic” (“LNR”), who was in the morning in the workplace, ordered them to liberate the city, but they ignored the order. The military blocked access to administrative buildings, employees of the government and the People’s Council were dismissed to their homes. According to Novaya Gazeta sources, three military “Ural” with soldiers from the Republican State Guard Service arrived in Luhansk from Donetsk, which reports to the head of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DNR”) Alexander Zakharchenko, updated 21:00L In Lugansk from the side of the “DNR” a column of several dozen “Ural” with the military just entered. Sources of “Novaya” confirm that the three “Ural” that appeared in the first half of the day are special forces “Vityaz” from “DNR”. Earlier, on November 20, the head of the LNR, Igor Plotnitsky, dismissed the head of the Interior Ministry of the self-proclaimed republic of Igor Cornet. This is the result of a protracted conflict, during which, for example, Cornet was accused at the meeting of the People’s Council of illegally living in a private house, despite numerous complaints from the owner. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, however, did not recognize his resignation, as was reported on Tuesday in a video message. According to Cornet, the MVD found in the leadership of the “LNR” cell “Ukrainian saboteurs”, and at the highest level. Among its participants were the director of the State Television and Radio Company “LNR” Anastasia Shurkaeva, the head of the administration of the head of the “LNR” Irina Teizman and the head of the government security service of the Ministry of Interior of the “LNR” Yevgeny Seliverstov. “The specified persons for a long time before the head of the” LNR “purposefully brought inaccurate information about the alleged involvement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in unlawful activities”, – said Cornet. He actually stated that he had been the victim of the spies on the part of Ukrainian spies. The head of the self-proclaimed republic, Igor Plotnitsky, in turn, posted an appeal on his website, according to which “the situation is a continuation of personnel changes in the lawful removal of the Minister of Internal Affairs from his post. The events of today have proved once again that the decision was made right.” According to Novaya Gazeta sources, the power units of the LNR, in particular the Ministry of State Security (MGB), the people’s militia and the military commandant’s office are not involved in the conflict between Plotnitsky and Cornet. An arrest of Anastasia Shurkaeva, director of the State Television and Radio Company “LNR”, has not been confirmed. But the GTRK itself stopped broadcasting. At the time of the signing of the Novaya Gazeta, it became known that some of the veterans of the military operations of 2014-2015, previously dismissed from the republic’s law enforcement agencies, are ready to support the actions of the Cornet. However, information about armed clashes has not yet been received.

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DONi News video channel banned from YouTube – DONiTV Announcement / DONi News / November 20, 2017 / The YouTube channel of the DONi Donbass News Agency has been closed allegedly due to ‘violations of many or serious types of spam, fraudulent activity, and misleading content or other YouTube practices.’ This is what they call truth now. The pictures of destroyed Donbass and voices of unfortunate residents make the West be afraid of its propaganda being further debunked. Now they call the truthful and objective coverage of the developments in the region ‘fraudulent activity.’ An Overton Window seems to have long been opened in the Western media, as they feel free to slander one of the only sources struggling for the truth to win. DONi News Facebook page was banned first, to say nothing of regular banning of its Chief Editor’s page, and now it is that censorship has reached YouTube channel with its hundreds of video’s and thousands of subscribers. “I have never heard of any official state channel closed before by the YouTube administration. But when our Facebook page was banned from the platform, what I know, it was also the first case of the kind,” the Chief Editor of the DONi Donbass News Agency and Press Centre, Janus Putkonen, comments on the actions of the YouTube officials. While bloody Ukrainian punishers boast of murdering Donbass civilians and marauding empty homes, we, DONi News Agency, have to face more and more unfair obstacles on our way to show the world the true side of the so-called ‘anti-terrorist operation’ which, in fact, is intended to exterminate the population of the region in favour of the greedy clique ruling the miserable state of Ukraine. Is this justice as the West sees it? “This is just disgusting Western censorship,” Putkonen says. The more truth is attempted, the more it springs up! No censorship will ever manage to stomp all the seedlings into the ground. And time will come for the West to admit its failure.

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Putin, Trump Discuss World Crises / Embassy of Russia on Facebook / November 21, 2017 / Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Donald Trump of the US, who had arranged a telephone conversation, discussed the pressing aspects of the Syrian problem with accounts of the completing military operation against terrorists in Syria, the Kremlin press service said. “Putin stressed readiness to facilitate a durable political settlement process in Syria on the basis of the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2254 in the spirit of agreements reached in the Astana format and provisions of the Joint Statement the two Presidents endorsed on November 11 at the APEC summit in Vietnam,” the report said. “The sides stated among other things that the statement had produced an encouraging reaction in the Middle East,” it said. The interlocutors also mentioned the importance of maintaining Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. This should be done in the groundwork of principles to be mapped out in the course of pan-Syrian negotiations and Russia’s initiative for convening the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi later this year targets exactly this objective, it said. The presidents also discussed the situation around North Korea, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Iran’s nuclear program, the Kremlin press service reports. The sides “also exchanged opinions on the situation on the Korean peninsula, stressing the expedience of search for the settlement of the problem through negotiations, diplomatically,” the press service said in a report. “Speaking of a crisis situation in the southeast of Ukraine, the Russian president drew attention to the absence of a real alternative to unconditional compliance with the Minsk accords of February 12, 2015,” the report said. “The leaders touched upon the situation in Afghanistan, which raises concerns in view of growing terrorist and drug threats. They also discussed the situation around Iran’s nuclear program,” the report said. It said the Russian side emphasized commitment “to a full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – a major factor in ensuring regional stability and settlement of the problem of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction”.

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WATCH: Americans make secret trip to Donbass frontline / Fort Russ / November 20, 2017 / A delegation of the US military spent several days at the forefront of the Ukrainian army to find out whether they need to allocate lethal weapons. Together with military attache Thomas Wofford, there were two more Americans with big stars on their shoulder straps. “Russian mercenaries were about 150 meters away. American colonels saw the militants with their very eyes. Their report can play a key role in the decision of the United States to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons. It seems that the American leadership is changing its passive attitude toward the war in the Donbass” it was stated. It is noted that the visit of Americans to the front line significantly raised the fighting spirit of the ATO fighters. Below is a Ukrainian television segment on the occurrence. [See VIDEO at source.]

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Quemado Institute message: We apologize for not updating more often. Censorship of the internet is making it hard to find news on Donbass.

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November 12, 2017
(Full Report)

Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 11/12/2017 / DONi News / November 12, 2017 / The situation on the contact line remains tense. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy used various mortars, various grenade launchers, and small arms. 190 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibres were launched on 13 localities and the surrounding areas. In the Mariupol direction, the enem applied 152-mm artillery against the locality of Kominternovo, having launched six ordnances. Besides, the areas of four localities were targeted with 96 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibres. In the Gorlovka direction, the enemy attacke the localities of Zaitsevo and Dolomitnoye from different grenade launchers and small arms. In total, over the past 24 hours 43 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded. The enemy does not stop the terror of civilians, continuing to shell settlements of our Republic. Feeling imaginary impunity, lieutenant colonel E. Mamedov (commander of the 4th division of the 40th separate airborne brigade) yesterday gave another criminal order to open fire from 152-mm artillery systems at residential areas of Kominternovo locality. At 16.40 Ukrainian punishes fired six artillery shells at Kominternovo. Fortunately, the victims were avoided among the population. It is important to note that the AFU’s artillery fire is adjusted using unmanned aerial vehicles. One of these was shot down by our servicemen yesterday in the vicinity of Peski settlement during mortar shelling from the positions of the 57 separate mechanised brigade at 16 o’clock with 82-mm mortars. It is noteworthy that immediately after the destruction of the UAV the bombardment ceased. I present to your attention the remains of an unmanned aerial vehicle, with the help of which the units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted fire adjustment during the shelling of the DPR territory. We recall that the use of unmanned vehicles is prohibited by the Minsk agreements. But the Ukrainian party has long forgotten about their existence, which once again confirms the lack of interest in ending this fratricidal war. In addition, our reconnaissance marks the arrival at the Mariupol direction of the 501 separate marine corps battalion of the 36 separate marine brigade, presumably for the rotation of units of the 1st separate marine battalion. The 501 battalion, being in the so-called ‘ATO’ zone the previous time, showed itself in not the best light in terms of compliance with the Minsk agreements, as well as the commission of war crimes against civilians. At that, citizens of not only our Republic, but also of territories controlled by Ukraine suffered from these disaster-riflemen. One can at least recall the rape and murder of two girls in Pavlopol and the looting of liquor stores and stalls near Mariupol in the spring of this year, which were done by servicemen of the 501 battalion. Thus, the arrival of another batch of mental ‘warriors’ will only exacerbate an already difficult situation near the contact line in the Mariupol direction. —Vice-Commander of the DPR People’s Militia, Colonel Eduard Basurin, official translation by DONi News Agency

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Click for VIDEO.

Donbass, November 12th, 2017 (VIDEO) / Anna News / November 12, 2017 / The newscaster: Victoria Rakhmanina. / The observation post of the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the ceasefire came into the zone of shelling by Ukrainian forces in the village Bezymennoe in the south of the DPR. The head of the representation of the Republic in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination Ruslan Yakubov reported. Representatives of the Centre were forced to descend into the bomb shelter,” he said. Yakubov noted that the Russian side, several times contacted the Ukrainian representatives with a request to introduce a “ceasefire regime”, but the shelling continued. Kiev disrupted the work of the OSCE on web camera maintenance in Shirokino. The observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission and the Joint Center for Control and Coordination could not go to Kominternovo or Sakhanka, because the Ukrainian Army opened fire on Kominternovo from mortars.” A civilian was blown up on an explosive device in the village Alexandrovka in the west of Donetsk. He had a leg injury. However, there was no possibility to evacuate the man immediately, because the Ukrainian forces opened sniper fire on the village. The United Nations experts believe that military actions in Donbass can lead to a chemical disaster in Ukraine. If the water supply infrastructure is damaged. Experts recalled that such facilities contain chlorine and other dangerous chemicals. The soldiers of the DPR shot down the Ukrainian air drone that was used to adjust the mortar fire near the village Peski in the northwestern outskirts of Donetsk, Eduard Basurin reported. The Armed Forces of Ukraine violated the ceasefire 43 times; it was reported in the operational command of the DPR. 19 settlements of the Republic were under the fire. They used artillery, mortars, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, grenade launchers and small arms. During the past day, Kiev forces shelled the positions of the People’s Militia of the LPR 11 times. Villages Frunze, Kalinovo, Logvinovo, Kalinovka, Dolgoe, Zhelobok, Sokolniki and the town Pervomaysk were subjected to fire. They used mortars, infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers and small arms.

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Click for VIDEO.

Breaking News, November 11th, 2017 (VIDEO) / Anna News / November 11, 2017 / During the past day the AFU shelled the positions of the People’s Militia of the LPR eight times. Kalinovo, Logvinovo, Kalinovka, and Kalinovo-Borshchevatoy were under enemy’s fire. In the DPR the AFU violated the ceasefire 57 times. 20 settlements of the Republic also got under fire. During the shelling artillery, mortars of various caliber, anti-tank guided missiles, APCs and IFVs, grenade launchers and small arms were used. The sources of the “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” grouping report on the suicide bomber attack in Latakia in the Jabl area near the highway Khmeimim-Bustan al-Basha. Driving a mined car, the militant attacked a column of Russian troops. Sources of Russian-speaking militants report several deaths of Russian and Syrian servicemen. However, the representative of the Russian airbase Khmeimim denied these reports, saying that there were no attacks on Russian military in Latakia province in Syria. In the village of Shalasi (Dagestan), a gas explosion occurred in a private house. Four people were injured, including a child. Earlier it was reported that in the morning there was a gas explosion in Makhachkala in a public bathhouse. Today a large-scale joint exercises of the South Korean Navy and the US Navy began off the coast of the Korean peninsula,. Three Korean destroyers and four escort ships will take part in them. The exercises will last until November 14. They will involve three aircraft carrier strike groups of the US Navy, including the US nuclear-powered aircraft carriers Ronald Reagan, Nimitz and Theodore Roosevelt, as well as about 20 cruisers and destroyers and several nuclear submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles. The security forces detained 24 members of the mafia clan Santapaola-Ercolano in Sicily. One of the detainees is probably Antonio Tomasello, the henchman of the head of the clan. Seven detainees have already been charged with illegal possession of weapons and racketeering. Arrested mafiosi acted on the territory of the city of Catania. The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Klimkin said that Ukraine has agreed with the United States on the main provisions of the draft joint resolution on the introduction of peacekeepers in the Donbass. According to Klimkin, Germany, France and Great Britain also participated in developing the text of the resolution. He again stressed that there should not be Russians in the peacekeeping forces and that peacekeepers should take control of the Russian-Ukrainian border. Quemado Institute comments: If peacekeepers took control of the Russian-Ukrainian border, it would only prove to the West that no Russian troops or weapons are coming across into Donbass, and that Russia is therefore not involved in the conflict.

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Ukrainian Army destroys several houses and infrastructure buildings in two days / Essence of Time / November 12, 2017 / The representative of Donetsk People’s Republic Operations Command stated that over the past day the territory of DPR was shelled a few dozen times from the Ukrainian side by artillery, Donetsk News Agency reports on November 12.19 towns and villages of DPR situated at the front line were shelled by heavy artillery. The damage caused to residential houses and infrastructure is being estimated. No casualties have been reported so far. According to the statement of the Operations Command “Over the past day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have violated the ceasefire 43 times. They fired 152 mm caliber artillery, mortars of various calibers, weapons of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers and small arms”. The Ukrainian side keeps shelling DRP territory with heavy artillery and large-caliber armaments, violating international agreements. From November 9 to November 10 alone two houses in the village of Kominternovo were damaged and five villages of the Novoazovsky district of DPR lost power supply due to the shelling. As a result of the shelling of the Donetsk Filtration Plant the backup chlorine supply line was damaged on November 5. —Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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Ukrainian military apply drones to adjust artillery fire – Basurin / DONi News / November 12, 2017 / Eduard Basurin, DPR Operational Command, Vice-Commander stated at the briefing on November 12 that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) applied drones to adjust artillery fire. “One of such drones was shot down by our servicemen in the vicinity of the locality of Peski yesterday at 4pm during mortar-shelling from the positions of the 57th separate infantry brigade with the use of 82mm mortars. It’s noteworthy that straight after destroying the drone, the shelling was over. It should be noted that drone-use is prohibited by the Minsk agreements. But the Ukrainian side forgot about their existence a long time ago by this, it confirms the absence of its interest in stopping the war,” highlighted Eduard Basurin.

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Marko Enqvist on Twitter
November 12, 2017, 21:20 UTC
Sitrep: War Continues in Donbass Today

Click to enlarge.
“Life in the #Donetsk region today.
Shooting and fighting. Life in the war.
Do not forget, there is war in Ukraine!
Information via @loogunda—thanks!”

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LPR Head: Ukraine cannot afford peacekeepers in Donbass / DONi News / November 12, 2017 / The Head of the Lugansk People’s Republic, Igor Plotnitsky, said that Ukraine would not be able financially ensure the presence of peacekeepers in Donbass. “I know only a few countries, including China, which, to date, if such a permit is given, can financially ensure the stay of such a mission in the territory. The mission involves a lot of things – it’s not just people who come, but also accommodation, food; this is also the cultural programme, and the whole spectrum, it’s not so simple as it seems, that they came here, stood up shoulder to shoulder – no, this process is a little bit different,” Plotnitsky said. The Head of the LPR stressed that the deployment of any peacekeeping mission requires the consent of both parties to the conflict. “We are one of such parties, therefore, without our consent, without our permission to date, no mission will be able to come here, and even more so, this is a very costly activity,” Plotnitsky added.

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Pavel Klimkin (center) (–Kyiv Post)

Ukraine, US agree on main theses of peacekeepers’ deployment in Donbass / DONi News / November 12, 2017 / Ukraine agreed with the United States on the main parameters of the joint draft resolution on the peacekeeping mission in Donbass. The head of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pavel Klimkin said on Friday. “I talked with the US Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker a few hours ago, we agreed on the basic parameters of our position, the text of the resolution, our draft is actually ready. I mean ours, because this is the USA, Germany, France, Great Britain and us that work on it with very clear logic,” the minister said. He also reiterated his thesis that there should not be Russians in the peacekeeping forces and that peacekeepers should take control over the Russian-Ukrainian border. On Thursday, the web version of The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington intended to soon offer Russia a plan to deploy in Donbass a contingent of international peacekeepers of 20,000 people. As noted by the publication, American and other Western diplomats believe that this mission can operate under the auspices of the OSCE, and not the UN. On September 5, the Russian Mission to the United Nations, on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, sent a draft resolution to the Secretary General and the Chairman of the Security Council of the International Organization on the deployment of a UN mission at the contact line in Donbass to ensure the safety of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission staff. Putin stressed that the deployment of the UN contingent was possible only after the withdrawal of weapons and with the consent of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. Immediately afterwards, Kiev stated that the format of the mission in Donbass proposed by the president of the Russian Federation did not suit Ukraine, which insisted on placing “peacekeeping forces” on the Russian-Ukrainian border. Quemado Institute comments: The sources of this report are Pavel Klimkin and The Wall Street Journal. Neither can be trusted to tell the truth. Note that peacekeeping forces are a violation of the Minsk Agreements. The DPR/LPR have a right to refuse. For further analysis of the US “suggestion”, see StalkerZone.

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Vladimir Putin (–DONi News)

Putin says unaware of US suggestions on peacekeepers in Donbass / TASS / November 11, 2017 / The Wall Street Journal wrote on Thursday the U.S. was about to offer to Russia a plan of deploying in eastern Ukraine of an international contingent of 20,000 peacekeepers. / DA NANG Vietnam / The Russian side has not received suggestions from the U.S. about deployment in Donbass of the international contingent of 20,000 peacekeepers, President Vladimir Putin told a news conference at the APEC summit in response to a request to comment on an article in The Wall Street Journal. “I have not heard anything about it, I know nothing about it, thus it is impossible to comment,” he said, adding in practical life “suggestions are one thing, but as a suggestion appears on paper it may become different.” “Here is nothing to comment, as it does not exist,” Putin said. “If any suggestions appear – we shall see.” The Wall Street Journal wrote the U.S. was about to offer to Russia a plan of deploying in eastern Ukraine of an international contingent of 20,000 peacekeepers. The mission could be under OSCE, not UN, the newspaper wrote. Quemado Institute comments: As we noted under the post above, the Wall Street Journal report might be fake news.

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White House official rejects reports on weapons supplies to Kiev / TASS / November 10, 2017 / Earlier US media reported that Washington decided to supply weapons to Ukraine. / WASHINGTON / A White House official strongly rejected an earlier US media report that Washington has made a decision to start supplying Ukraine with weapons. The high-ranking official, accompanying US President Donald Trump during his Asian tour, told TASS the report was absolutely untrue. Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing a number of unnamed US officials, that the White House agreed in principle to deliver lethal weapons to Ukraine, including the FGM-148 Javelin man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missiles.

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Click for VIDEO.

WATCH: Who prevented Putin/Trump meeting in Vietnam? (VIDEO) / By Inessa Sinchougova / Fort Russ / November 12, 2017 / At the 2017 APEC Summit, held between 10 – 11 November in Vietnam, a bilateral meeting between Presidents Putin and Trump was supposed to take place. Russia’s Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov, stated that “while both sides were trying to organise the meeting, the United States offered a time and place that only suited them.” “The only time proposed was that which suited the Americans, and they offered only one place – a room that was rented by the Americans,” he said. Peskov reiterated that the last meeting of the Presidents, at the G20 in Hamburg, was held on American diplomatic territory, and, by diplomatic protocol, this time the meeting was supposed to take place on Russian diplomatic territory. “The Americans showed no flexibility, and unfortunately no other alternative offers were provided, so the meeting could not take place,” Putin’s press secretary added. Nevertheless, the leaders of the two countries had a number of informal talks on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and whoever was responsible for the non-meeting, “would be punished” – Putin said in jest. Donald Trump similarly voiced a positive association with Russia, albeit he said that he trusted American intelligence services in the investigation of “Russian interference” in the presidential elections in the United States. This differs from what he said earlier – when asked by journalists if he believes the Russian president, Trump replied: “Every time we see each other, he says, “I didn’t do it. “And I believe that, I really believe that if he tells me this, then he hasn’t. I think he’s very offended by this, if you want to know the truth.” It must be remembered that the concept of the “deep state” is very real in the US – and Trump has to play to both sides, that is the intelligence community, and the American public. Reading between the lines, he at least made it clear that no “17 agencies” existed that manufactured “the Russian dossier”, that the US mainstream media propagated wildly. Quemado Institute comments: Trump practices praising people as one of his positive thinking principles. His praise of US intelligence does not mean he believes what they may be saying about Russian interference in US elections. Trump should be judged by the ultimate and final results of his actions.

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Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at APEC summit in Da Nang, Vietnam November 10, 2017. (–Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via Reuters)

‘Putin Is Very Important’: Russia, US Presidents Meet at APEC Summit in Vietnam / By Alex Gorka / Strategic Culture Foundation / November 12, 2017 / Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump agreed a joint statement on Syria on November 10 that said they saw no military solution to the conflict and a political one was needed to handle the crisis. The leaders informally met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese resort of Danang. The statement on Syria had been coordinated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. There is a wide range of issues to discuss but the parties concentrated on the burning problem of crucial importance where progress can be achieved to serve the interests of both. With Islamic State driven out from the territories it held, greater attention is turning to the prospects of peaceful settlement. The parties agreed to continue joint efforts to fight Islamic State and confirmed their commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. They will “maintain open military channels of communication” to ensure the safety of forces on both sides. True, the jihadist group has been pushed out of its main strongholds in Syria in recent months by a combination of offensives involving the Syrian army and the US-backed Kurds-dominated coalition. It has just lost Abu Kamal – its last stronghold in Syria. Great progress has been achieved recently but the end of the war is still far away, actually, much farther than it seems. The conflict is smouldering but it can flare up any time. The Syrian government forces have regained control over wide swaths of Syria in large part thanks to the Russian Aerospace Forces. But more than 40 percent of the country remains outside of the regime’s control, including the areas where most of its oil fields are located. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have no wish to leave the land they have captured from Islamic State, including the Arab-populated city of Raqqa. The areas outside of President Assad’s control include big chunks of northern Syria, as well as Deir al-Zour province in the east and Daraa in the south. Clashes continue to spark across the country. A political process has not yet started. The international community is divided on the . . . READ MORE>>

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Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, APEC conference, Da Nang, Vietnam, November 10, 2017 (–NY Daily News)

Statement by the Presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States of America / President of Russia Official Website / November 11, 2017 / President Trump and President Putin today, meeting on the margins of the APEC conference in Danang, Vietnam, confirmed their determination to defeat ISIS in Syria. They expressed their satisfaction with successful US-Russia enhanced de-confliction efforts between US and Russian military professionals that have dramatically accelerated ISIS’s losses on the battlefield in recent months. The Presidents agreed to maintain open military channels of communication between military professionals to help ensure the safety of both US and Russian forces and de-confliction of partnered forces engaged in the fight against ISIS. They confirmed these efforts will be continued until the final defeat of ISIS is achieved. The Presidents agreed that there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria. They confirmed that the ultimate political solution to the conflict must be forged through the Geneva process pursuant to UNSCR 2254. They also took note of President Assad’s recent commitment to the Geneva process and constitutional reform and elections as called for under UNSCR 2254. The two Presidents affirmed that these steps must include full implementation of UNSCR 2254, including constitutional reform and free and fair elections under UN supervision, held to the highest international standards of transparency, with all Syrians, including members of the diaspora, eligible to participate. The Presidents affirmed their commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, unity, independence, territorial integrity, and non-sectarian character, as defined in UNSCR 2254, and urged all Syrian parties to participate actively in the Geneva political process and to support efforts to ensure its success. Finally President Trump and President Putin confirmed the importance of de-escalation areas as an interim step to reduce violence in Syria, enforce ceasefire agreements, facilitate unhindered humanitarian access, and set the conditions for the ultimate political solution to the conflict. They reviewed progress on the ceasefire in southwest Syria that was finalized the last time the two Presidents met in Hamburg, Germany on July 7, 2017. The two presidents, today, welcomed the Memorandum of Principles concluded in Amman, Jordan, on November 8, 2017, between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America. This Memorandum reinforces the success of the ceasefire initiative, to include the reduction, and ultimate elimination of foreign forces and foreign fighters from the area to ensure a more sustainable peace. Monitoring this ceasefire arrangement will continue to take place through the Amman Monitoring Center, with participation by expert teams from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Russian Federation, and the United States. The two Presidents discussed the ongoing need to reduce human suffering in Syria and called on all UN member states to increase their contributions to address these humanitarian needs over the coming months. —Vietnam, Danang, November 10, 2017

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[Enemy Report:] U.S. multinational inspection team to visit Ukraine on Nov 13 / Interfax-Ukraine / November 12, 2017 / The U.S. multinational inspection team, which will also include representatives of Canada and Denmark, will visit Ukraine on November 13 to monitor the military and political situation in the country’s central and south-eastern regions, the press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has reported. “The U.S. multinational inspection team, which will also include representatives of Denmark and Canada, arrives in Ukraine on November 13 to monitor the military and political situation in the central and south-eastern regions of our country,” the report says. The inspection team is expected to visit military units and subdivisions in the area of the anti-terrorist operation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In addition, the U.S. side included the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in the inspection area. “Such events are important in the context of spreading reliable and unbiased information about the situation in Ukraine to the OSCE participating states, which will contribute to the efforts of the international community aimed at resolving the conflict,” the ministry said. The ministry also noted that in accordance with the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, this week Ukraine was visited by an inspection team from Germany, which also included representatives of France and Norway. On November 6-10, foreign inspectors visited a military unit in Chernihiv region. [Source: en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/460979.html]

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Vladimir Putin listening (–Russia Direct)

Vitali Kadenski Tweets Practical Advice to Putin / Introduction by Quemado Institute / November 12, 2017 / Twitter source Vitali Kadenski has tweeted some good advice to Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging Moscow to finally take charge of the Donbass crisis. Vitali’s six strategic points are, “Russia should: 1. Recognize Donetsk Govt as Ukrainian Govt in exile, since Donbass was the only entity to resist 2014 Obama + Nuland Coup d’etat in #Kiev. 2. Cut all ties & conversations with Kiev as useless and below dignity. Close Russian border with regions currently controlled by junta. 3. Expel all (several thousands) Ukrainian guest workers to eat salo and enjoy freedom and democracy at home away from horrors of ‘country-aggressor dictatorship regime’. If back at home these people could be treated as traitors, grand asylum. 4. Offer Donbass to move REGULAR #Russian troops in to protect their population & close the many questions pertaining thereto for good. 5. Recommend Donbass to stay open for other regions to join. 6. Close @RF_OSCE & leave this Fashington vassals club alone. Contain NATO by nukes threat, and let them marinate in their own juice.”

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The Netherlands Classifies Mystery of Malaysian Airlines MH17 Crash over Donbass, What Do the Have to Hide? / By Dmitri Sudakov (Pravda Report) / Global Research / November 6, 2017 / The Ministry of Security and Justice of the Netherlands will not expose a number of documents related to the crash of Flight MH17 of Malaysia Airlines over the Donbass in 2014. According to the Broadcasting Corporation of the Netherlands (HTK), the decision was made by the Supreme Court of the country. According to the court, “the right of the government to secrecy of its activities, the unity of state policy and sensitivity of the question outweigh the importance of disclosure.” Thus, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands has revoked a decision of a lower court that earlier ruled that the information about the air crash should be exposed to the general public. Shortly after the air crash over the Donbass, the Broadcasting Corporation of the Netherlands, RTL TV channel and Volksrant newspaper requested relevant information from the government to restore the sequence of actions of the authorities that followed the tragedy that occurred on July 17, 2014. The request from the media outlets was based on the law on freedom of access to information. The Ministry of Security and Justice of the Netherlands published several hundreds of documents in February and April 2015, but most of information in them was retouched so much it was difficult to understand what the documents were saying. It soon became clear that a whole package of documents on the subject had never been declassified. The department said, however, that exposing the data may complicate the relationship with other countries and international organisations. A court subsequently confirmed the right of the media to receive information. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court sided with the government and ministers. HTK, RTL and Volksrant currently consider prospects to appeal the decision of the Supreme Court. On July 17, 2014, Boeing 777 of Malaysia Airlines bound from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in the east of the Donetsk region., killing all 298 on board, including 196 Dutch nationals. The original source of this article is Pravda Report – Copyright © Dmitriy Sudakov, Pravda Report, 2017

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‘Friends of Crimea’ – International Forum, Conference in Crimea – a few words / By Graham Phillips / The Truth Speaker / November 8, 2017 / It’s not often that I go to forums, conferences, etc, however I made an exception for the recent ‘Friends of Crimea’ forum in Yalta, about Crimea in the international context, held on 6th and 7th November here. I went simply as an invited guest, taking a few photos along the way (here), listening all day to the speeches, discussions, plenaries, and more. I can only impart positive take-aways from the event, which attracted 90 guests, from 30 countries. Albeit there were no official, as in government-sent delegations, there were plenty of politicians, political figures, journalists, businessmen and in general, interesting people. Looking through the sheaf of business cards I collected at the event, there are those from Serbia, Sweden, India, and more. Actually there were two other guests from the UK too. The day itself . . . READ MORE>>

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Donetsk Ballet celebrates 20 years of Nutcracker in Philadelphia, Dec 16-17 / The Dance Journal / October 22, 2017 / Celebrating over 20 years of collaboration, International Ballet Exchange presents the Donestk Ballet in performances at Plymouth/Whitemarsh High School on December 16th and 17th. Since 1989, the Donetsk Ballet has toured the world: Italy, Spain, Norway, France, China, Japan, and cities throughout the United States. In 1991 the company spent nearly one year in Philadelphia while their theater in Donetsk was being renovated. While here, the Soviet Union fell apart, leaving them not only without their theater but without a country. Since that time, the company has reinvented itself and their theater has been beautifully renovated. Their Principal dancer, Vadim Pisarev, was promoted to Artistic Director and a ballet school was created in his name. Having established strong ties with IBE’s Executive Director, their relationship lead them to an annual invitation to perform and teach in Philadelphia, bringing their exceptional skills to our community. Performing Peter Tchaikovsky’s famous, fairy-tale ballet, The Nutcracker, the talent of the dancers mingles . . . READ MORE>> [Ticket information at source]

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Saturday November 4, 2017
(Brief Update)

Putin and Trump to meet in Vietnam / Fort Russ / November 4, 2017 / DAMASCUS, Syria / Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that the Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump will soon hold a meeting in Vietnam where they will discuss several important issues, the settlement of the Syrian crisis including. During a press conference on Saturday, Peskov said that arrangements are being made to prepare a meeting between the two leaders, where particular attention will be paid to the settlement of the Syrian crisis. The meeting will take place in scope of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, which will be held between November 10th and 11th in Vietnam. Peskov pointed out to plenty of the topics to be discussed, stressing they are in the interest of both, Kremlin and the White House. He noted that the settlement of the Syrian crisis has recently seen lots of positive developments, adding that the whole thing now requires more joint efforts and coordination between different sides in order to take it to a whole new level so that the crisis itself would be over much sooner.

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Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 11/04/2017 / DONi News / November 4, 2017 / The situation on the contact line has sharply aggravated over the past 24 hours. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy used artillery, tanks, mortars, infantry fighting vehicles, various grenade launchers, and small arms. Ten artillery shells of 152-mm calibre, 14 of 122-mm calibre , 55 tank shells, 239 mortar shells of 120-mm and 180 of 82-mm calibre were launched on 14 localities and the surrounding areas. In the Mariupol direction, the enemy launched 17 mortar shells of 120-mm and 82-mm calibres, as well as resorted to grenade launchers and small arms, on three localities’ surrounding areas. In the Gorlovka direction, the enemy attacked the locality Zaitsevo from various grenade launchers and small arms. Over the past 24 hours, 52 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded. Yesterday at 23:20, as a result of shelling from the positions of the 92 separate mechanised brigade of AFU of Trudovskiye settlement, a peaceful resident Lyapko Irina Gennadievna, born in 1986, received a bullet wound to her left foot. Destruction was sustained by the house at Andrusov Street, 14. In Zaitsevo locality, the overlap of a two-story building at Torgovy Lane, 3 was damaged. At 12:50 on November 3, as a result of shelling from the AGS-17 by the 25 separate airborne brigade of the AFU, the roofing and glazing of a house-building at the address: Krytaya Balka locality, Shirokaya St., 69, were damaged. In the course of the purposeful fire of punishers with the use of grenade launchers on the Donetsk filtering station, a filter building was damaged. The past day showed how Ukrainian artillerymen ‘celebrate’ their professional holiday – with the terror against peaceful citizens of our Republic. Such an increase in the number of attacks we attribute primarily to the uncontrollability of these drunken units, as well as to Poroshenko’s statement about the possible return of artillery to the contact line, which actually served as a signal to the Ukrainian security forces to commit crimes against the people of Donbass. At the same time, alcoholism among servicemen has reached such an extent that the command, entering into an agreement with the local administration, prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages after 18.00. But this does not stop the ‘pseudo-liberators’! As an example, the robbed ATB store in the locality of Kurakhovo, where drunken Ukrainian soldiers broke the window, took out four boxes of vodka and snack, and continued to celebrate the holiday near the crime scene. At the same time, local law enforcement agencies were inactive, as war criminals were armed with assault rifles. The commanders, if they do not get drunk with the fighters, do not take any action against it, because the concept of one-man management in this semi-drunken crowd, who calls themselves ‘defenders of Ukraine,’ is completely absent! That why everyone fire on when and where they want: our side, Right Sector people – they do not care! Peaceful citizens of our Republic and territories temporarily occupied by the AFU suffer from these calamity-warriors who have stained their souls with the blood of children. —Vice-Commander of the DPR People’s Militia, Colonel Eduard Basurin, official translation by DONi News Agency

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Alexander Zakharchenko (–DONi News)

Zakharchenko: National Unity Day becomes holiday in DPR / DONi News / November 4, 2017 / The DPR Head Alexander Zakharchenko congratulated Russian people with the National Unity Day and called the Republic a forward stronghold of the Russian World that protects culture and traditions. “This holiday is devoted to the most important period of Russian history. The deed of the citizens-in-arms under the command of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky became one of the basics of Russian nationhood. That event determined formation of the Russian World, for which we are fighting nowadays. The Donetsk People’s Republic, just like Russian citizens-in-arms 405 years ago, is the forward stronghold of the Russian World, which protects our values, culture, traditions, language and faith,” says the text of the DPR Head’s congratulation. The DPR Head also added that the National Unity Day is not only Russian holiday, but also a holiday for the DPR citizens, who “Rose up against the Nazi threat and successfully resisted it”. Zakharchenko also thanked fraternal people for their support and help. “The DPR people and I are very grateful to you for your support and help in our fight. May prosperity and peace be enthroned in your families. Together we are unstoppable,” claimed Zakharchenko.

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Ambassador Martin Sajdik, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and the Trilateral Contact Group, addressing OSCE Permanent Council, Vienna, 28 July 2016. (–OSCE/Micky Kroell)

Press Statement by Special Representative of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Sajdik following shelling of the Donetsk Water Filtration Station / OSCE Official Website / November 4, 2017 / KYIV / The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, issued today the following statement: “Together with Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, Ambassador Toni Frisch and Per Fischer, Co-ordinators of the TCG sub-groups on security, humanitarian and economic issues, I firmly reiterate our condemnation of all violations to the cessation of fire in Eastern Ukraine. Such violations, made in denial of the conflict sides’ recent recommitment to ceasefire, pose permanent direct threat to the local population. Furthermore, the shelling of certain civilian infrastructure can also trigger major environmental damage with incalculable consequences, in a region already heavily impaired by more than three years of armed conflict. With this in mind, we strongly condemn the shelling of the Donetsk Water Filtration Station that took place during the night to 4 November. We stress that a direct or near hit of only one of the 900 kg bottles of highly toxic chlorine gas stored at the Filtration Station for water treatment could kill people within a 200 m radius, including the staff of the facility, and seriously disrupt the supply of water to almost 350,000 people on both the sides of the line of contact. We call on the sides to the conflict to fully realise these risks and avoid civilian infrastructure. We urge them to give instructions to that effect to their combatants on the ground, to make these instructions public pending the creation of technical safety zones around civilian infrastructure, and to finalise without delay their ongoing TCG discussions on the creation of such safety zones.” Quemado Institute Opinion: It is overwhelmingly probable that the filtration plant was shelled by the Ukrainian army, which continues daily to attack the region, rather than by the DPR militia, which has no motive whatsoever to bomb its own territory. The OSCE has been biased in favor of the Kiev regime since the start of the conflict, as became evident through a private email between Quemado Institute and Dieder Burkhalter, then head of the OSCE, in July 2014 (click here for information on this email). Unless Sajdik directs blame to the guilty party, none of the violations will be corrected.

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OSCE observers near Shirokino

[Enemy Report:] Two settlements in Donbas excluded from “gray zone” under new decree / QHA Crimean News Agency / November 4, 2017 / KYIV (QHA) / President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed Decree No. 351/2017 on the establishment of military civil administration in the villages of Shirokino and Berdyanskoye in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region. The corresponding document is published on the official website of the head of state on October 3. “In pursuance of the Law of Ukraine “On Civil-Military Administrations”, I resolve to form civil-military administration of villages of Shirokino and Berdyanskoye of Volnovakhsky district of Donetsk region. In accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Civil-Military Administrations”, Head of the Anti-Terrorist Center under the Security Service of Ukraine, the Chairman of the Donetsk Regional State Administration is to implement measures related to the creation of the military civil administration specified in Article 1 of this decree,” the document says. The decree enters into force from the date of its publication. Since 2016 the militants have made several attempts to occupy the “gray zone” near Shirokino. Earlier, QHA reported that militants of the so-called “DPR” do not allow the OSCE SMM patrols to the occupied areas of the Donetsk region east of Shirokino near the uncontrolled section of the Ukrainian-Russian border. — Source: Ukrinform [Source: qha.com.ua/en/politics/two-settlements-in-donbas-excluded-from-quot-gray-zone-quot-under-new-decree/141995/] Quemado Institute comments: All areas of the Grey Zone originally belonged to the Donetsk or Lugansk People’s Republics. In July 2015, Kremlin aide Vladislav Surkov used political pressure, if not physical threats, to convince DPR President Alexander Zakharchenko to withdraw Novorossiya Armed Forces troops from this 3 kilometer-wide zone along the contact line. It seems Putin ordered the withdrawal to appease the West and appear to be abiding by the Minsk Agrements, even though the Agreements do not require troop withdrawal. Zakharchenko’s assent was essentially a surrender. That Kiev would eventually seize these forsaken towns was inevitable. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces continue to shell residents of the abandoned zone, while the DPR military is not allowed to defend them.

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Lugansk envoy says Russia’s initiative on peacekeepers is ‘only realistic’ / TASS / November 4, 2017 / MOSCOW / Russia’s initiative on deploying the United Nations mission to Donbass is the only possible way to ensure security of monitors of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the region, the envoy of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic to the Contact Group’s political subgroup told TASS. US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker told reporters on Friday that the UN peacekeepers should control the entire territory of Donbass and not only the line of contact as proposed by Moscow. “Russia’s proposal is the only really existing option for the UN mission in Donbass and the rest is just some comments or statements, which do not have a form of an official document and in fact, there is nothing to consider rather than the Russian proposal,” Rodion Miroshnik said. Volker views the conflict in Donbass “from very pro-Ukrainian positions, but with such stances hardly any agreement can be reached,” the envoy said, noting that the US diplomat needs to “understand the aspirations of Donbass citizens.” “Not viewing the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics as a party to the conflict is disastrous for any agreements! They won’t possibly be implemented,” he stressed. “We consider the UN mission as an additional opportunity to ensure effective and independent monitoring of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, which is a mechanism of ensuring the agreements reached in security area, but without discussing and coordinating the terms of the mission with the representatives of the republics it will hardly be fulfilled,” he said. “Both parties to the conflict should agree with carrying out the mission, and that’s Kiev and the Donbass republics. Russia’s proposal is the most adequate and realistic one. All parties will have to take a closer look at it,” Miroshnik stressed. On September 5, by the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s UN mission sent a draft resolution to international organization on deploying the UN mission along the Donbass contact line to provide safety for the OSCE SMM members. Putin stressed that the mission’s deployment would be only possible in case of agreement of the self-proclaimed Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics and withdrawal of weapons by the conflicting parties under the Minsk accords. Kiev stated that Ukraine does not favor the format of the peacekeeping mission in Donbass proposed by the Russian president and insists that the UN contingent should be deployed along the Russian-Ukrainian border first. Quemado Institute Opinion: Russia’s initiative on UN peacekeepers is actually totally unrealistic. Putin’s alleged motive is to “protect” OSCE observers. Yet this is disingenuous, if not a deliberate lie on his part. Only one OSCE observer has ever been killed in Donbass. This was in April 2017, when American medic George Bishop’s vehicle hit a Ukrainian saboteur’s landmine on a remote dirt road just inside the Lugansk People’s Republic. No UN peacekeeper could have prevented Bishop’s death. Worse still, Russia’s proposal to place lightly armed UN troops along the contact line is potentially cruel to the mainly elderly people who still live there. The Western-biased “peacekeepers” would no doubt act in support of the Ukrainian military, which continues to shell these undefended Donbass civilians. Putin’s proposal is a betrayal of the Donetsk and Lugansk Republics. See Putin Betrays Donbass, Seeks UN Peacekeepers in Ukraine (September 7, 2017).

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Kurt Volker (–YouTube)

US not to link settlement of situation in Donbas with Crimea / QHA Crimean News Agency / November 4, 2017 / MOSCOW (QHA) / The United States of America will not link the settlement of the situation in the Donbas with the occupied Crimea, although they do not recognize this annexation, according to the statement of the US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker made at a briefing in Russia. “If we have a chance to make progress on one of the conflict areas – East of Ukraine.. then we should make progress, not fluctuate because of the Crimea. But it doesn’t change our approach to the Crimea,” he stated. He went on saying that the US is not going to recognize the occupation of the peninsula. Volker noted that the US is willing to mitigate the application of sanctions against Russia in the event of a settlement in the east of Ukraine. He said that Moscow does not insist on the formation of a possible UN peacekeeping mission from the Russians only, and that the world community will not allow the dragging out the conflict in the Donbas for several decades. “I do not think that someone wants the same solution as in Cyprus. I do not know for how many years peacekeepers have been in Cyprus. And I do not think that Ukraine wants it. It certainly wants to restore sovereignty and territorial integrity and as a result it has a great incentive to implement the Minsk agreements,” he said. Reportedly, Kurt Volker and Russian Presidential Aide Vladislav Surkov will hold regular talks on the situation in the Donbas on November 13 in the Serbian capital. The meeting will focus on the principles of a possible future agreement on the deployment of peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone. —Source: TASS Quemado Institute comments: We don’t trust Vladislav Surkov, who, in spite of being Putin’s aide, has betrayed Donbass on several occasions using strong-arm politics. Volker is also wrong in saying Kiev “has a great incentive to implement the Minsk Agreements.” This is Western propaganda. Actually, the Kiev regime wants to prolong the war and has no wish to extend autonomy to the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. If Poroshenko’s regime had any incentive to implement the Minsk Agreements, they would have done so during the last two years and 8 months.

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Look into the eyes of Donbass. If you can / By Irina Lashkivich / NRT24.ru / It was not easy work. Many kilometers passed on food in the shelled territory are behind. There are such zones in the DPR that are constantly shelled. Idea of the project was born long time ago in 2014 when the entire territory of Donbass was shelled, mortars fell everywhere. Ukrainian press reported about fairytales n presence of Russian army, and in fact peaceful district were shelled. I have never seen Russian army in Donbass, however I met many children who became adults in one moment. These children look at you at the photos. Each children was asked to look into the eyes of people who target them. You see not simple portraits of children, these glances are sentences, and screams. Children had very serious attitude to this request, they believed that they would be able to influence upon those who target them every day. We man blond-haired girl in the village Severniy, she listened to me so attentively. -Will you be able to look into the eyes who shell us? Asked I. The girl thought a bit and answered. –Wait a minute, I will revise everything….She kept silence for a while and sais: I am ready, where to look at? You seen damaged by fragments home of the girl, destroyed garage. She revised night shelling, when her mother screamed and pushed children to the corridor, when mortars whistled, how neighbors screamed, and someone of them got wounded. This project is a pain that will not leave us till the end of our days, it is my small contribution to the history. I remember one very horrible day when I filmed torn to peaces children in the village Severniy. They played football when mortars started falling from Kiev-controlled Peski. There were no military in the village, it was average day in the Donetsk region. We did not knw that moment that many more such shelling would happen….

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MH17 wreckage reassembled (–New Eastern Outlook)

Trump and MH17: Just One Step Too Far? The Propaganda Campaign against Russia [Report from January] / By Christopher Black (New Eastern Outlook) / Reposted at Global Research / January 11, 2017 / The propaganda campaign by the NATO war alliance against Russia has several components. The newest elements are the surreal allegations being made by the Obama regime, suffering a fit of apoplexy over the victory of Donald Trump in the American elections, that Russia interfered in the elections, that President-elect Trump is a Russian agent, and that Russia is conducting a war against American “democracy.” The other components are that Russia invaded Ukraine and Crimea, massacres civilians in Syria, threatens hybrid war operations in the Baltic, threatens the German elections, threatens European “democracy” in general and is about to invade Europe. Each component is as egregious and absurd as the rest but one of the most vicious of these absurdities is the campaign directed against Russia concerning the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over east Ukraine on 17 July, 2014. The Americans were quick to blame the Donbass republic forces and Russia for the downing of the airliner, claiming, without any evidence, that the plane was shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft missile launcher from an area controlled by Donbass forces. Ignored was the fact that the Donbass had no such air defence system operational in that area and neither did Russia but the Kiev forces did. Also ignored was the eyewitness evidence of civilians on the ground who observed at least one Kiev Sukhoi 25 fighter jet ascend and approach the civilian airliner and that, immediately afterwards, the plane crashed. There were reports as well that a Spanish air traffic controller in Kiev, known as Carlos [see link below], sent out messages on Twitter contemporaneous with the shoot down, using the Twitter address @Spainbuca, that he observed this on his radar and overheard the pilot’s conversations with Kiev air traffic control confirming that the Ukraine jet shot down the plane. There are later reports that a Ukrainian pilot admitted he flew the plane that shot it down. Both these men have since disappeared from view. Remarkably, the investigating body has never followed up these important facts. . . . READ MORE>> [Editor’s Note: For transcript of Carlos @Spainbuca’s twitter feed,click here.]

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Donetsk Lugansk News Sep 26-Oct 8 2017

[For latest news, click HOME PAGE.]

Sunday October 8, 2017
(Full Report)

Shelling of Gorlovka by Ukrainian security forces leaves three children orphaned / Vzglyad / Translated by Quemado Institute / October 8, 2017 / Ukrainian security forces shelled Zaitsevo village on Sunday, causing the death of a 47-year-old man who was raising three young children, reports the head of the city’s administration Ivan Prikhodko. “Today Ukrainian security forces shelled the village of Zaitsevo. As a result of the bombing, a 47-year-old man died on Karbyshev Street,” the Donetsk News Agency reported. He added that the deceased alone brought up the three young children. Also, according to Prikhodko, five houses were damaged by the shelling. [Image: A park near Gorlovka –Google Maps]

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Click for VIDEO.

Donbass October 8, 2017 (VIDEO) / Anna News / The newscaster: Victoria Rakhmanina / The Armed Forces of Ukraine use air drones to prompt soldiers of the LPR People’s Militia to shoot back in Stanitsa Luganskaya. The Ukrainian side does it to disrupt withdrawal weaponry in this area, Andrey Marochko reported. The Ukrainian Army shelled 15 localities in the Donetsk People’s Republic. They used tanks, mortars, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, grenade launchers and small arms. More than 500 residence buildings and social facilities in the Kirovsky district of Donetsk were rebuilt after the fighting, the head of the district Yury Budrin reported. 900 foreign mercenaries fight in Donbass with the Ukrainian Army. And the reconnaissance of the DPR reports 129 trainers from the USA, Canada, Turkey and Britain arrived in Donbass, Eduard Basurin reported. Kiev fighters shelled the positions of the LPR People’s Militia 14 times. They opened fire on the localities Slavyanoserbsk, Frunze, Kalinovo, Zheltoe, Dolgoe, Krasny Liman, Kalinovka and the area of the monument Prince Igor. They used mortars, infantry fighting vehicles, antiaircraft guns, grenade launchers and small arms; it has been reported by the Ministry of Defense.

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Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 10/08/2017 / DONi News / October 8, 2017 / Over the past 24 hours, 31 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy applied tanks, mortars, weapons of infantry fighting vehicles, various types of grenade launchers and small arms. Ten tank rounds, seven mortar shells of 120-mm and 59 of 82-mm calibre were launched onto 11 localities’ adjacent areas. In the Mariupol direction, the enemy launched 17 mortar shells of 82-mm calibre. Along with that various types of grenade launchers and small arms were applied when engaging fire on the surrounding areas of Leninskoye and Kominternovo localities. In the Gorlovka direction, the enemy engaged fire at the adjacent areas of Zaitsevo and Izotov mine localities with the application of various types of grenade launchers and small arms. The command of the 28th separate mechanized . . . READ MORE>>

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Click for VIDEO

Heart-cry letter from Kominternovo (VIDEO) / By Donbass Rose / October 8, 2017 / “We are still alive and there is no way that we’ll leave from here!” Winter is coming, while Ukraine turned off gas supply and there are no furnaces or any alternative heating in most of the houses. Those very few lucky ones who have furnaces at home, got no money to buy coal. Chopping wood isn’t an option either as the outskirts of the village are under the Ukrainian snipers fire. There is no single house that wouldn’t be wrecked by shelling and mines and incendiary munitions keep on falling on residential areas. Instead of glass, there is plastic and plywood in the window frames. Imagine what will happen when temperature will drop to below zero! Despite everything, around 150 people remain in the settlement, most of them are elderly and handicapped who have nowhere to go. Desperate residents of Kominternovo have written an open letter. There isn’t much hope that their heart-cry will be heard in Ukraine, but maybe at at least the local authorities will pay attention to people in distress and help them to survive another winter…

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Kiev redeploys sniper teams led by NATO instructors to Dokuchayevsk / DONi News / October 8, 2017 / The DPR reconnaissance has detected the redeployment of six AFU sniper teams to the area of ​​the frontline Dokuchayevsk, southwards from from Donetsk, under the guidance of NATO instructors, reported the Vice-Commander of the DPR Operational Command, Eduard Basurin. “According to our reconnaissance, six sniper teams from the 28th separate mechanized brigade arrived in the area of Dokuchayevsk locality to carry out tasks under the guidance of NATO instructors,” he said. Basurin added that The command of the 28th separate mechanized brigade continues holding the training and combat activities under the guidance of US instructors at the Velikoanadolsky training ground near Volnovaha for the preparation of sniper pairs. The latter will be subsequently redeployed for conducting provocative shelling of the Republic’s populated areas. Shortly before, on August 29, it was reported that groups of Ukrainian snipers, trained under foreign instructors, stepped up their activities outside Yasinovataya and Gorlovka.

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SBU officer takes DPR side, intends to divulge secret documents / DONi News / October 8, 2017 / The acting high-ranking security official of Ukraine, Lieutenant-Colonel Roman Labusov, defected to the side of the Donetsk People’s Republic. He has stated this today at a press conference in Donetsk. Labusov was born in Donetsk, he worked at the SBU Directorate in the Donetsk region. Since 2014 he served in Mariupol. “I am a Lieutenant Colonel of the SBU, I was in charge of the encryption and documentary connection department. I have gone over to this side in order to expose the criminal activities of the ruling elite of Ukraine,” he said. Along with that, Lieutenant-Colonel Roman Labusov plans to make . . . READ MORE>>

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DPR Foreign Ministry: Kiev must withdraw mercenaries and enact Donbass special status / Dan-news-info / October 6, 2017 / Ukrainian authorities should withdraw its mercenaries and illegal armed groups from Donbass and provide special status for the region, said DPR acting Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova. On Friday, October 6, Ukrainian parliament has adopted the law on “establishing conditions for peace settlement of the situation in separate regions of Donetsk and Lugansk regions”, which prolongs Donbass special status for one more year. Nevertheless, Rada said the withdrawal of all ‘unlawful armed groups and hardware, fighters and mercenaries’ from Donbass was a condition to enacting the law on the region’s status. “The amendment included in the law links to the same preconditions introduced earlier on the withdrawal of foreign mercenaries from the conflict zone,” her statement sent to DAN reads. “At the same time Ukraine itself cannot fulfill the condition of withdrawal foreign mercenaries and illegal armed groups, represented by nationalistic volunteer battalions of Ukraine, which have to be pulled out.” Nikonorova said the new law has become another imitation of implementing the Minsk Agreements as the special status, adopted in 2014, has never been enacted. “At the times when Donbass urgently needs a long-term political solution, Ukraine comes up with a sham, does not even come closer to real steps.

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[Unfriendly Report:] Ukrainian Parliament Approves Minsk Legislation, Angers Moscow / By L. Todd Wood / Tsarizm.com / October 8, 2017 / Opposition Members Storm Platform: This week the Ukrainian parliament finally approved a bill called for in the Minsk agreements of 2015 dealing with the status of the territories controlled by pro-Russian rebels in East Ukraine. The passage of the measure did not come easily as it was hotly debated and delayed for months. The agreements involved world powers France and Germany. “The bills submitted by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko have drawn fierce criticism from some lawmakers. Opponents of the bills argued that they don’t assert Ukraine’s control of the eastern territories strongly enough and swarmed the speaker’s platform Thursday, causing the session to be adjourned,” wrote Associated Press. Moscow was not happy with the language included in the bill. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared that calling Russia an ‘aggressor’ in the language is unacceptable. “As far as we understand, according to the information we have on the bill at the moment, it is rather declarative. It contains a paragraph, in which Russia is called an aggressor. Also, there is no mention whatsoever of the Minsk agreements there. From the purely legal point of view, this wording cannot be acceptable for us either de jure or de facto,” reported Russian state news agency TASS. He continued, “from the legal point of view, this, of course, contradicts both the letter and the spirit of the Minsk agreements, since there is no such definition in the Minsk agreements…Russia is a signatory, namely, a guarantor of the Minsk agreements…the Ukrainian president who also inked the agreement in Minsk thereby indicated his agreement with it.” “This bill is purely declarative. There is another bill there, which is in line with the extension of the special status for the Donbass region, which is important…this is an important bill, since the expiration of the validity of the previous special status law was, of course, a source of concern for everyone.” New Minsk Agreement Falls Apart Already In Donbass: “Russia continues to be committed to the Minsk agreements considering them the basis for attempting to make progress in the settlement in the future, which has no alternative,” wrote TASS. [Source: tsarizm.com/news/2017/10/08/17851/] Quemado Institute comments: According to the Minsk Package of Measures, any Ukrainian bill on Donbass special status must be approved by the original representatives to Minsk, DPR/LPR Heads of State Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky.

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Click for VIDEO.

Grand Night Wolves Motor Season closure celebrated in Lugansk [Photos, Video] / DONi News / October 8, 2017 / More than 400 motorcyclists drove through Lugansk on the day of the closure of the Motor-season-2017 in the Republic on Saturday, October 7. Exactly at 14.23, a column of 400 motorcyclists set off from the already established traditional point at the overpass near the railway station, where the Night Wolves had erected the Victory Star monument. The residents and guests of the city gathered to greet the motorcyclists. The president of the nightclub Night Wolves. Donbass, Vitaly Kishkinov, known among motorcyclists as the “Prosecutor”, called symbolic the fact that the closure of the season coincided with the birthday of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the third anniversary of the establishment of the LPR People’s Militia. “I want to congratulate President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, who is celebrating a jubilee today, to wish him health, strength and the same vigour – we all see that, in fact, this man, together with . . . READ MORE>> [Photos and video at source]

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Donbass, School 60, Lugansk: Graduation Ceremony: Best 60 Minutes
VIDEO By Graham Phillips – August 10, 2017

Click for VIDEO
Elegant Images of Ceremony in Lugansk

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2 000 BUSHES OF ROSES ARE PLANTED IN DONETSK
October 8, 2017 – Nrt24.ru

More than 2 thousand bushes of roses have been planed in the DPR’s capital in time of regular urban cleaning of the city. It was reported by the press-service f the City Council. In four districts as Kalinin, Kuybishev, Lenin and Proletarskiy were planted roses. Moreover, city dwellers cleaned roads and pavements. [More photos at source.]

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EU pays for prisons? Refugees to be stranded in Ukraine / DONi News / October 8, 2017 / Does the EU finance the construction of deportation camps in Ukraine? According to media reports, Brussels will transfer millions of euros to Kiev for the reception of rejected asylum seekers. Refugees detained at the EU’s external borders are reported to be incarcerated in Ukraine for up to 12 months – in special prisons co-financed by the EU. According to the reports of the ARD and Spiegel, they are to face ill-treatment there. Another prison of the kind is to be shortly opened for migrants in the Ukrainian Martynivske. According to the report, the European Union has invested several dozen million in the construction and renovation of such prisons in recent years. Hundreds of refugees, many of them from Afghanistan or . . . READ MORE>>

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Crimea IT Guys versus Sanctions – Exclusive Reportage!
VIDEO by Graham Phillips – October 8, 2017

Click for VIDEO
Graham Phillips in Crimea

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Saturday October 7, 2017
(Brief Update)

Click for VIDEO. Documentary film by News Front military correspondent Nikita Vozmitel, August 23, 2017

Bakhmutka burning: Special report from the land in which ‘there is no war’ (VIDEO) / Translated by Greg Butterfield for Red Star Over Donbass / October 6, 2017 / People who care about the fate of Donbass often ask the question: why is there no war in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR)? Why do they [the Ukrainian Armed Forces] attack the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), while Lugansk lives in silence? We want to show you the northern lines of defense in Lugansk, so that you can see with your own eyes the situation that is emerging on the contact line. Few people know that the escalation which began early in the summer is still gaining momentum. The fighting in the area of Bakhmuta does not cease. Zholobok, Donetsk, Frunze, Golubovka and many other towns of the LPR are under fire. Civilians are suffering. Fires, burnt houses, wounded people, fighting, exacerbation on the front line. Additional commentary on the video by Ghost Brigade Commander Alexey Markov: This is a short video report from the position of the Ghost Brigade about the “truce” and the war, which is not official. Two days later, Ukrainian troops shelled the village of Donetsk, burned down four houses and wounded two local residents. We have a strict ban on the use of weapons: “Do not succumb to provocations, do not open return fire, comply with the Minsk agreements.” As if agreements with fascists are worth something…

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Americans launch investigation into Poroshenko’s large-scale fraud / DONi News / October 7, 2017 / The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, which is considered to operate under the control of the US Embassy, launched an investigation into the large-scale land frauds of Pyotr Poroshenko near Kiev, Vitaly Kupriy said on the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada. The deputy said had obtained a sanction from the judge to initiate an investigation, because he proved that Poroshenko’s manipulations were similar to what a Kharkov politician Mikhail Dobkin was accused of. “The judge of the Solomensky Court of Kiev made a decision, which obliged the detectives of the NABU to launch an investigation against Pyotr Alexeyevich Poroshenko. I will remind you of the so-called schemes, by which he fraudulently seized land in Tsarskoye Selo in the city of Kiev, introducing the top management of Roshen Corporation into the housing construction cooperative. These are the events which took place a decade ago, but it is very interesting that the investigation will be held now. But how have I come up with and justified the adoption of this decision? I showed the judge the idea of the Prosecutor General to remove immunity and bring to criminal responsibility, to arrest Mikhail Dobkin. This is a 100% similar performance, which worked, and the judge is now compelled to investigate the case of Poroshenko as well,” Kupry said. Let us recall that in Koncha Zaspa, in the village of Kozin, there is located the palace of the incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko. His rival, Yuliya Timoshenko, also owns a house in Koncha Zaspa. Earlier, a ‘volunteer’ Maidan supporter Yury Kasyanov published a photo of the interior of the chapel, built on the territory adjacent to the palace of Pyutr Poroshenko near Kiev. One of the frescoes on the wall of the chapel depicts Poroshenko himself and his family members. The publication by Kasyanov caused a storm of emotions in the Ukrainian segment of social networks. Supporters of the Maidan have long threatened a new revolution, after which the palace of Poroshenko would repeat the fate of Mezhyhirya, the residence of Viktor Yanukovich near Kiev.

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Head of Norway’s Delegation on Crimea: ‘Nice Place Where People Live in Peace’ / Sputnik / October 6, 2017 / While European countries are keeping sanctions against Russia amid its reunification with Crimea, more and more EU residents are eager to come to the peninsula and see the local situation with their own eyes. People in Norway were very positive about seeing Crimea, and “this is how our diverse team was formed,” the head of the Norwegian delegation that is currently paying a weeklong visit to Crimea, Hendrick Weber, told Radio Sputnik. The delegation includes representatives of different professions and backgrounds, whose main goal is to show their compatriots that Crimea is “a nice place, that people are living in peace and that there is no war here,” Weber said. “Some people are doctors from the health sector, some others are businessmen and one woman was working in the national library in Oslo,” he continued. This is not the first . . . READ MORE>>

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Monday October 2, 2017
(Full Report)

Eduard Basurin (–DONi News)

Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 10/02/2017 / DONi News / October 2, 2017 / Over the past 24 hours there were registered 35 ceasefire violations on the part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy applied tanks, mortars, IFVs, various kinds of grenade launchers and small arms. 26 tank-shots were made, 30 mortar-shells of 120mm caliber, 45 mortar-shells of 82mm caliber were launched on nine localities: KRUTAYA BALKA, YASINOVATAYA, YAKOVLEVKA, VASILYEVKA, SPARTAK, DOKUCHAYEVSK, YASNOYE, the airport area and the Petrovsky district of Donetsk city. As a result of shelling the Petrovsky district of Donetsk City there were damaged three house-buildings at the addresses: Mark Ozernoy Street , 29 and 31; Levanevskogod Street, 67. In the Mariupol direction, the enemy launched 37 mortar-shells of 120mm and 82mm caliber on the areas of the localities of LENINSKOYE, OKTYABR, BEZYMENNOYE and KOMINTERNOVO. The areas of the localities of SOSNOVSKOYE and ZAICHENKO underwent shelling with IFVs, various kinds of grenade launchers and small arms. In the Gorlovka direction, the areas of the localities of SHIROKAYA BALKA and ZAITSEVO underwent shelling with grenade launchers of various types and small arms. As a result, a house-building at the address: Yakuba Kolasa Street, 27 was damaged. According to our intelligence, the Armed Forces of Ukraine keep strengthening their positions and concentrating armored vehicles near Mariupol. 4 tanks T-64BV and 5 IVFs were redeployed to the area. Besides, AFU servicemen keep uncontrolledly mining territories near the localities of Pavlopol and Pishchevick with the use of homemade explosive devices without writing mine-filed maps. All this carries a threat both to civilians and military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Among the AFU servicemen, there was detected dissatisfaction growth of the military personnel with the criminal politics of Kiev towards the Donbass people. Thus, according to the information of our sources, the serviceman of the 36th separate brigade of the naval infantry, sailor Stankevich refused to open fire at the locality of Kominternovo due to this he was rudely bitten by his commander, ensign Tkachuk. As a result of such an educational discussion, Sailor Stankevich was hospitalized with concussion of brain and a lot of fractured ribs. Besides, to elude opening a criminal case on the fact of infliction of grave bodily injuries, the incident was classified as receiving injury due to carelessness when implementing fatigue-duty. —Vice-Commander of the DPR People’s Militia, Colonel Eduard Basurin, official translation by DONi News Agency

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Network of secret service agents neutralised in Donetsk / Translated by Inessa Sinchougova for Fort Russ / October 2 , 2017 / In the course of search operations conducted by the Ministry of State Security of the People’s Republic of Donetsk, a network of agents was identified, the members of which were assigned by the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. “On September 23, 2017 in Donetsk an attempt was made to assassinate one of the high-ranking officials of the Donetsk People’s Republic. As a result, the Ministry of State Security of the Donetsk People’s Republic identified and neutralized an agent network, whose members, on the instructions of the Security Service and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, carried out a series of resonant crimes, including terrorist acts in the territory of the People’s Republic of Donetsks and the People’s Republic of Lugansk. In addition, the operational staff revealed a system of caches, secret apartments, communication channels and the transfer of special resources designed to commit sabotage and terrorist acts, as well as the ways of illegal penetration and reconnaissance groups into the territory of the self proclaimed republics. All agents are in custody.

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OceanEchoes on Twitter
October 2, 2017
“You lot that are carrying a torch for the Catalans, remember also that Crimeans and Donbass people voted to leave the Ukraine and that NONE of your darling western media luvvie trash supported that. The YES vote in Crimea was about the same % as in Catalunya.”

“Donbass defenders: ordinary people, volunteers, not Russian troops. I am saying this for the benefit of those who have been lied to all these years by the media.”

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Catalonia Referendum, and the Donbass Referendum Double-Standard – VIDEOS / By Graham Phillips / The TruthSpeaker / October 2, 2017 / Catalonia has declared a ‘yes’ vote for independence, with just over 90% of the total of 2,262,424 votes in favour of seceding from Spain. With Catalonia now close to declaring independence, we now wait to see if the world will accept. However, this isn’t the only referendum on self-determination in recent times to gain over a 90% vote in favour. On May 11th, 2014, a referendum was held across Donbass, to break away from a Ukraine which had in February 2014, installed an unelected, far-right government, and in April 2014, sent in military force to Donbass to crush those who protested. [See Video at source.] Actually, this is just one video from Mariupol, May 9th 2014, when Ukrainian forces went into Mariupol, and opened fire on those celebrating Victory Day. More about that later, for now, a look at the referendum itself, in which tens of thousands of people queued for hours to cast their vote, voting 90%, as in Catalonia, to be part of the Donetsk People’s Republic. I’ve had to blur the videos, because no one listened to these people, and Ukrainian forces captured the city soon after. What happened after? The west simply dismissed the referendum. Ukrainian forces seized Mariupol, and other towns and cities in Donbass. And those they didn’t seize, they’ve been shelling for over 3 years, with mass loss of life. Here, Lugansk, August 2014, after Ukrainian shelling: [See video at source.] Here, Donetsk, January 2015 after Ukrainian shelling: [See video at source.] Sadly, there are many, many of these videos. Thousands killed in Donbass, and it goes on to this day. Meanwhile, Europe hasn’t just stayed quiet on this, but actively supported it. Here’s wishing Catalonia all the very best with their independence result. We all know, that whatever happens, what happened in Donbass will never happen there. So why did it happen in Donbass? [Additional videos at source>>.]

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BoycottNFLAbeLincoln on Twitter
October 2, 2017

“In 2014 the Kiev junta sent tanks to suppress an independence movement in Donbass; unlike Catalonia the Western Media was silent.”

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More shells blast  in Vinnytsia than Donbass (–Ifnews24)

[Enemy Report:] Ukraine loses more ammo in latest arms depot blast than used over 3 years of war in Donbas / Unian / October 2, 2017 / According to preliminary estimates, some 32,000 tonnes of artillery shells worth $800 million have been destroyed in chain explosions and fire at Ukraine’s major munitions depot deep in the country’s rear, outside the village of Kalynivka in Vinnytsia region. The latest incident was the fourth one in a series of similar ones across the country, TSN Tyzhden weekly news digest reported. The Arsenal in Kalynivka is one of the many depots that the Soviet army left behind when, in the late 1980s, troops withdrew rapidly from Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland. The huge army’s ammunition was stocked in temporary depots, often in locations not designed to become storage for explosives. Unofficial sources claim that nearly 150 storage sites were spread across 600 hectares of forest area. Some 200,000 tonnes of shells, mines and rockets were stored there. After the tragedy in Balakliya, Kalynivka was an obvious target for the next sabotage act. Four times, the inspections arrived at the site but said not much could be done to prevent the possible disaster, according to TSN Tyzhden. Almost every site was just a dump of rusty munitions. Most of the 150 such sites not had no roof, they even had no ramparts, which would protect the area from the scattering of shells from neighboring storage facilities. Over the past 30 years, wooden boxes with munitions stood there in the open air, exposed to snow and rain, gradually rotting. All these millions of artillery shells were guarded only by 63 people, of which some are pensioners. Some calming media reports claim that this time catastrophic consequences were avoided as the fire did not reach the sites where super-powerful and highly-demanded missiles were stored for Uragan MLR systems. However, in order to realize the scope of damage, it is worth to remember that in just several days of fire in the munitions depot near Kalynivka some 32,000 tonnes of ammo was destroyed while the Ukrainian forces have used 24,000 tonnes of munitions over the past three years of the Anti-Terrorist Operation in Donbas. [Source: unian.info/society/2164639-ukraine-loses-more-ammo-in-latest-arms-depot-blast-than-used-over-3-years-of-war-in-donbas.html]

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Detonation in Vinnitsa ammunition warehouses continues / DONi News / October 2, 2017 / Separate ammunition detonation is still observed in the Vinnitsa ammunition warehouses, the midair is still closed in the radius of 12 kilometers, reports the Ukrainian State Service on Emergency Situations. On September 26th in ammunition warehouses in Kalinovka locality, Vinnitsa region, the ammunition detonation took place and the warehouses were caught on fire. Over 30 thousand people were evacuated from the locality of Kalinovka and nearby villages, 2 people were wounded. Mass media claimed that among the ammunition, stored in the warehouses, there were missiles for MRLS “Smerch”, “Uragan” and “Grad”. In the evening on September 27th the fire was localized, many ammunition units were saved. According to the local authorities’ data, all the evacuated people returned home already. “As on 07:00 am on October 2nd, no open fire areas were detected, however, separate ammunition detonation still can be observed,” says the text of the Ukrainian State Service on Emergency Situations’ statement. According to the service’s data, 12,6 thousand hectares were examined on explosive objects presence; the consideration of the citizens’ applications concerning the suspicious objects is ongoing. In total, since the demining works’ beginning, specialists had received 313 applications, 309 of which were checked, 547 explosive objects were detected and neutralized. According to the Ukrainian State Service on Emergency Situations, on September 28th the traffic on the motorway and railways had been renewed, the electricity supply was restored in all the localities. Reportedly, the gas line repair in ongoing (gas supply to 96% of consumers had been restored). However, the midair in the radius of 12 kilometers from Kalinovka locality remains closed.

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Kiev’s rejection of Donbass special status law puts paid to UN mission – Pushkov / DONi News / October 2, 2017 / Kiev’s refusal to extend the law on the special status of Donbass will automatically undermine the further discussion of the issue of sending a UN mission to the region, stated Alexei Pushkov, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security. “The rejection of this law destroys the basis for discussing the issue of the UN mission in the Donbass,” he said at a meeting of the Committee for Public Support of Donbass. “The idea of ​​a UN mission is directly related to the implementation of the Minsk agreements, presupposes the extension of the Minsk agreements and can be actualized on the basis of the Minsk agreements only.” Pushkov recalled that it was in this vein that the issue had been discussed between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “They proceeded precisely from the fact that the Minsk Agreements were in force,” the senator said, “if the Kiev de facto discards the agreements [as a result of the refusal to extend the law on a special status – ed.], Kiev also de facto discards sending the UN mission to Donbass.” Pushkov expressed confidence that the Kiev authorities, nevertheless, did not . . . READ MORE>>

 

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Special Representative to Contact Group on Ukraine Azamat Kulmukhametov’s answer to a media question / Mid.ru / October 2, 2017 / Question: Irina Gerashchenko, First Deputy Chairperson of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada and one of the Ukrainian representatives in the Contact Group, said in an interview with TSN. Tizhden that the number of Russians, Belarusians and Serbs in the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission had significantly increased during the last year. This is why the mission does not allegedly notice shootings from Donetsk and Lugansk. Can you comment on this? Azamat Kulmukhametov: These allegations have nothing in common with reality. The number of Russian observers in the SMM has decreased from 39 to 35. The number of Belarusians and Serbs is almost the same. A year ago there were seven Belarusians, now there are eight. The number of Serbs has decreased from nine to eight observers. However, American and European citizens prevail in SMM leadership, and Ukraine considers them friends. There are 59 Americans, 45 Brits and 339 EU citizens working in the mission. There are 373 Ukrainians working as support staff. The SMM has 1087 employees in total, including 610 international observers. All the statistics are published on the internet. With such a staffing imbalance, if there is anything the SMM “doesn’t notice,” it is probably Ukraine’s infringements of the Minsk Agreements, definitely not militia “shootings.” We see Ms Gerashchenko’s statement as more Kiev propaganda, aimed to impede a peaceful settlement in Donbass.

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Dmitry Peskov (–Mikhail Metzel/TASS)

Kremlin points to Kiev’s stance as cause for delay in deal on UN peacekeepers in Donbass / TASS / October 2, 2017 / MOSCOW / Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Kiev’s stance is the reason for a delay in finding a solution to the issue of the UN forces in the Donbass region. “In Kiev,” he told reporters when asked about the reason for the delay. On September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin came up with an initiative to deploy an international mission along the line of engagement in Donbass to ensure safety of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. He stressed though that the deployment of a UN force could only be possible after weapons withdrawal from the area and upon agreement with the self-proclaimed Donbass republics. Later on, the president said that the UN force could be deployed not only along the contact line but to other locations where the OSCE monitors were working. However, Kiev insists UN forces be deployed, first and foremost, along Ukraine’s border with Russia.

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Russian envoy to OSCE says AFU involved in SMM observer’s death in Donbass / DONi News / October 2, 2017 / There are no grounds to doubting the involvement of saboteurs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) in the death [on April 23, 2017] of the observer of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Donbas, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the OSCE, Alexander Lukashevich, stated in Vienna. The text of his speech was published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday. “A report prepared for the International Humanitarian Fact Finding Commission on the tragic case of an SMM armoured vehicle being hit by an explosion indicated that the mine was unlikely to have been placed by the self-defence forces,” he said. “Officials from the certain districts in the Lugansk Region did not know that there were two other unexploded mines on that road. The self-defence forces provided constructive assistance to the Independent Forensic Investigation (IFI) team, unlike the Ukrainian forces.” According to the diplomat, to this day, “Kiev has not provided the full video of the explosion that was taken from government-controlled territory.” “The camera provided a good approximation, and it was turned manually to follow the movement of the SMM patrol,” he said. “There are no reasonable grounds to doubt the involvement of Ukrainian subversives in this explosion,” Lukashevich stressed. “We hope that those guilty will be brought to account.” The Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation also drew attention to the fact that Ukrainian snipers had enhanced activity on the contact line and subversive groups regularly entered the areas controlled by the self-defence forces. On April 23, when two teams of the SMM OSCE followed the Slavyanoserbsk-Sokolniki route, a car of the observers was drove on an anti-tank mine in the vicinity of Prishib village of the LPR’s Slavyanoserbsky district, which resulted in the death of one mission’s representative, a US citizen, another two – natives of the Czech Republic and Germany – were injured.

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Poroshenko to submit bill on Donbass reintegration to parliament this week / DONi News / October 2, 2017 / President of Ukraine Pyotr Poroshenko will present a bill on reintegration of Donbass to the Verkhovna Rada this week, the presidential representative in the Ukrainian parliament Irina Lutsenko said on Monday. “This week, the law on the strategy for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the liberation of Donbass will be registered,” Lutsenko said during the meeting of the Conciliation Board of parliamentary factions. In turn, the first deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada, the representative of Kiev to the humanitarian subgroup on Donbass, Irina Gerashchenko, said that after the document is submitted to the parliament, the text of the document will be discussed within the informal “Minsk parliamentary platform.” “And, of course, the bill will pass the necessary procedure for consideration, except for a wide inter-factional discussion within the framework of the Minsk platform – in the profile committee and then in the session hall,” Gerashchenko wrote on her Facebook page on Monday. The text of the bill on the Donbass reintegration has not yet been made public, it is being developed by the administration of the President of Ukraine. Earlier, the representative of the Ukrainian president in the Verkhovna Rada, Irina Lutsenko, said that Russia would be called in the bill “an aggressor country”.

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Well-known Russian film director Vladimir Bortko is filming a movie about Donbass / Nrt24.ru / October 2, 2017 / Famous Russian film director, deputy o the State Duma o Russian Federation Vladimir Bortko is filming a movie abut events of 2014 in Donbass. It was reported by his assistant Tatiyana Ponomarenko on September 30. ‘Vladimir Bortko is filming a movie on novel on Alexandr Prohanov ‘Murder of Cities’. This film is about us, about our struggle. Film about Donbass was forbidden 4 times. However, real people, patriots who are authorities, they understand importance of this movie. If to talk about the genre, it is absolutely new film, reaction in the wake of events. This film is necessary, it will not let to people to forget about Donbass’, said she. We do not have such right to forget about Russian people who are here. Culture is soft power. And we will win. Actors Vladimir Menshov and Alexey Chadov are invited for the main roles. Decorations of the Saur-Mogila have been already prepared.

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Saakashvili in Odessa promises to go to Kiev and clean house / Translated by Tom Winter for Fort Russ / September 30, 2017 / In Odessa, an open meeting of Saakashvili’s “New Forces Movement” has concluded. In his speech, the politician proposed to go to Kiev on October 17 to remove the bandit leadership. “Cut off the head of the octopus,” said the ex-head of the Odessa Regional State Administration. The meeting took place at the monument to Duke de Richelieu [first mayor of Odessa — tr]. Saakashvili promised that he would build a new Odessa. He also once again called the city council, headed by Mayor Gennady Trukhanov, goons* and bandits. A total of 500 people came to the meeting. Opponents of Saakashvili tried to disrupt it, but the police did not allow them to break through to the supporters of the politician. On September 20, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Lutsenko said that Saakashvili must pay a fine for illegally crossing the state border of Ukraine. Recall that on September 25 Saakashvili announced his intention to “remove” all members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine during the meetings scheduled for October 17 in the Ukrainian capital.

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Russia Reacts to Kiev’s Lawsuit Over Kerch Bridge Construction / Sputnik / September 30, 2017 / The Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment calls Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko claims about Russia causing “environmental damage” by constricting Kerch bridge false. Poroshenko used it as a reason to sue Moscow over building the bridge to Crimea. SIMFEROPOL (Sputnik) / The Ukrainian authorities’ lawsuits against Russia over the construction a bridge between Crimea and Russia’s Krasnodar will not be able to hinder the historic construction works, Deputy Vice Prime Minister Dmitry Polonsky said Saturday. On Friday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gave instructions to sue Russia for causing “environmental damage” as a result of building the bridge to Crimea. “No lawsuits, no claims, especially from this failed state, are able to stop this historical process,” Polonsky said. According to Polonsky, the current authorities of Ukraine are capable of only giving orders. He noted that the Russian citizens and the country’s visitors would enjoy riding through the bridge. “The perspectives of this lost cause would not be assessed, I only know that the preparations and possible review of this document will have the pre-action nature and the decision could be predicted even now. But the point is that no matter which actions they would take, the Crimean bridge will be built and will finally connect the Crimean peninsula with Russia’s mainland,” the deputy prime minister said. Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi slammed Poroshensko’s decision to file a lawsuit over alleged environmental damage. “We are carrying out permanent monitoring during the construction works, and we know that the impact on the ecosystems is minimal,” Donskoi said. Following the reunification of Crimea with Russia in 2014, the issue of transport communications with the peninsula has emerged. The 12-mile-long bridge will connect Crimea with the Krasnodar Territory. Car traffic via the bridge is expected to start in December 2018. Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly opposed the Russian infrastructure project citing ecological concerns and alleged transformation of the Azov Sea into the Black Sea Gulf.

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The Ukraine Problem: International versus Universal Law / By Phil Butler / New Eastern Outlook / September 30, 2017 / he European Union and the United States of America have gone to extreme lengths to punish Russia for what many experts claim was a breach of international law. When the Crimea peninsula rejoined Russia in March of 2014, the globalists used a foregone conclusion to great effect. Today, the most liberal interpreters of the situation misinform society by taking advantage of people’s limited knowledge of legal precepts. I was reading (with some amazement) earlier today a story in The International Policy Digest entitled; “What Would Kant Tell Putin?”, in which author Sargis Karavardanyan set out to add further enmity to the already oozing sore of international policy against Russia. The would be data scientist who’s a PhD candidate PhD Student and Graduate Teaching Assistant at UC Irvine School of Social Sciences creates an imaginary moment in Kant’s hometown of Kalingrad where the meets up with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a café. Before I delve into Karavardanyan’s manipulation of Kantian ideas, it’s important to frame where UC Irvine is on the globalist-liberalist scale. I suppose we need to also mention that the chair of the political science department, Jeffrey Kopstein, who’s another crusader for amplifying the flight of European and Russian Jews. As anybody who’s been a student knows, there’s no influence like that of a teacher with his pencil poised over your gradebook, and Kopstein’s seemly vendetta against Russia is case I must point to. Taking the gloves off, if Karavardanyan . . . READ MORE>>

 

Leaked memo proves George Soros ruled Ukraine in 2014, minutes from “Breakfast with US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt” / By Alex Christoferou / The Duran / August 20, 2017 / We noted in a previous post how important Ukraine was to George Soros, with documents from DC Leaks that show Soros, and his Open Society NGO, scouring the Greek media and political landscape to push the benefits of his Ukraine coup upon a Russian leaning Greek society. Now more documents, in the massive 2,500 leaked tranche, show the immense power and control Soros had over Ukraine immediately following the illegal Maidan government overthrow. Soros and his NGO executives held detailed and extensive meetings with just about every actor involved in the Maidan coup…from US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt, to Ukraine’s Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Health, and Education. The only person missing was Victoria Nuland, though we are sure those meeting minutes are waiting to see the light of day. Plans to subvert and undermine Russian influence and cultural ties to Ukraine are a central focus of every conversation. US hard power, and EU soft power, is central towards bringing Ukraine into the neo-liberal model that Soros champions, while bringing Russia to its economic knees. Soros NGO, International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) plays a key role in the formation of the “New Ukraine”…the term Soros frequently uses when referring to his Ukraine project. In a document titled, “Breakfast with US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt”, George Soros, (aka GS), discusses Ukraine’s future with: Geoffrey Pyatt (US Ambassador to Ukraine); David Meale (Economic Counsellor to the Ambassador); Lenny Benardo (OSF); Yevhen Bystrytsky (Executive Director, IRF); Oleksandr Sushko (Board Chair, IRF); Ivan Krastev (Chariman, Centre for Liberal Studies); Sabine Freizer (OSF); Deff Barton (Director, USAID, Ukraine) The meeting took place on March 31, 2014, just a few months after . . . READ MORE>>

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Tuesday September 26, 2017
(Brief Update)

Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 09/26/2017 / DONi News / September 26, 2017 / Over the past 24 hours, 35 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy used mortars, infantry fighting vehicles, various grenade launchers, and small arms. 21 mortar shells of 120-mm calibre and 30 of 82-mm were launched on eight localities: Krutaya Balka, Yasinovataya, Mineralnoye, Yakovlevka, Vasiliyevka, Spartak, Dokuchayevsk and the Petrovsky district of Donetsk. As a result of shellings, three house building in the locality of Dokuchayevsk at the addresses Krepkogo St., 2, Nezavisimosti St., 16, and Tsentralnaya St., 23. In the Mariupol direction, the enemy fired four mortar rounds of 82-mm calibre at the locality of Leninskoye, engaged fire from various grenade launchers and small arms on the villages of Sosnovoye, Sakhanka, Dzerzhynskoye, Oktyabr and Kominternovo. In the Golovka direction, the enemy attacked Gorlovka locality’s outskirts in the area of the Mayorsk checkpoint from grenade launchers. According to our sources, servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who arrived from the zone of so-called ‘ATO’ experience serious problems with the moral and psychological condition, which is confirmed by systematic incidents involving the use of weapons and ammunition. So, on Friday, September 22, in the Malinovsky district of Odessa, a drunken ‘veteran’ of the so-called ‘ATO’ zone threw a grenade in the window of a private house, by a lucky chance no one was hurt. On September 23, in Kiev, a soldier died as a result of an explosion of a grenade brought from the ‘ATO’ zone, three more people were injured. On September 24, in the stairwell of a multi-storey building in Kharkov on the street of Mokhnachinskaya, a 23-year-old serviceman who arrived the day before from the so-called ‘ATO’ zone blew up a grenade, committing suicide. All these cases are once again confirmed by the data voiced by the military psychiatrist of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Colonel Druz, that 93% of the participants in the Donbass hostilities from the Ukrainian side “are a potential threat to society and need treatment.” For that he paid with his post. Soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces present a real danger not only to themselves, but also to the public on both sides of the contact line. Every day they bombard our republic, and after returning home, they continue to see “enemies” in their cities and destroy “them” along with themselves. —Head of the DPR Armed Forces press-service Daniil Bezsonov, official translation by DONi News Agency

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Ukrainian punishers don’t give us a break (VIDEO)
By Donbass Rose – September 23, 2017

Click for video.
Head of Aleksandrovka administration describes current situation as follows: “It’s tense, as usual. Ukrainian military don’t give us a break. Shooting is almost daily. We hear rifles and machine guns all the time. Mostly the Western part of the settlement is suffering, where woman, children and elderly live.” There is a collection of ammunition gathered in Konstantin’s office; a small part of what Ukrainian punishers are shelling the residential areas with. There are anti-tank missiles, GRADs and even Uragan shells among them! Resident of Aleksandrovka is also telling that she constantly hear the roar of armored vehicles from the side of Mariinka. Apparently, tanks were never withdrawn by the Ukrainian side.

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LPR People’s Militia to ensure people’s safety if Schastye crossing point is opened / Lugansk Media Center / September 26, 2017 / LPR People’s Militia is ready to ensure people’s safety if the crossing point is opened on the contact line in Schastye area, LPR People’s Militia spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andrey Marochko told a news briefing at Lugansk Media Centre. LPR representative in the working group on humanitarian issues Olga Koptseva said that LPR had offered Ukraine to open a crossing point in Schastye area. LPR envoy to Minsk talks, the Republic’s acting Foreign Minister Vladislav Deinego said OSCE coordinators had praised the proposal. “LPR People’s Militia carried out engineer terrain intelligence a year ago, the road towards the Schastye bridge had been fully cleared of mines, unexploded ordnance and the concrete blocks restricting traffic,” Marochko said. “De-mining and cleaning involved OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine which ensured control by patrolling both sides. The road was repeatedly used for handing over the bodies of dead Ukrainian servicemen and payments for the water supplied from Ukraine. The bridge controlled by Ukraine remains a problem as it flatly refused to demine it which the Special Monitoring Mission noted in its reports,” the spokesman added. “If a decision is made to open a crossing point in the area, we are always ready to ensure security there,” he said. “The situation has been relatively calm on this axis in the past two weeks; no strikes by Ukrainian forces have been recorded. No shelling has been recorded in daytime over the past six months apparently due to the operation of OSCE SMM patrols on this stretch as they daily monitor Ukrainian army units from Oboznoye settlement,” Marochko said. Currently there is only one official checkpoint at the line of contact in LPR area of responsibility in Donbass and it is accessible via the bridge in vicinity of Stanitsa Luganskaya. Only pedestrian traffic here is possible thanks to temporary conduit, as the bridge was blown up by Ukrainian forces. LPR has been continuously proposing to rebuild it.

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“America won in my country, I don’t want it to defeat yours” – Donbass volunteer / Fort Russ (Vesti) / Translated by Inessa Sinchougova / September 24, 2017 / The Donbass is going through yet another ceasefire, the fifth since the beginning of the year. The truce is broken daily. Over the past week alone, the Ukrainian national security forces have fired almost 700 mines and shells around the Donetsk People’s Republic, and the regime of silence has been violated more than 200 times. Houses are still being destroyed, civilians are being killed and injured. And the solution of the conflict is not yet visible. Ukrainian troops have resumed shelling of Donetsk. Over the past week, four civilians were wounded. Ambulance crews tend to the wounded, putting themselves under fire. Despite the truce, there are losses among the military. Recently, the only Afghani militia man in Dontesk, Pashtun Abdullah was gravely wounded – losing both legs. He is visited daily by colleagues, and friends from Russia come to visit. Surprisingly, in his room there is always laughter, talk and no gloom. A sargeant who carried Abdullah to the hospital when his legs were torn off, said: “He is a real soldier, a real fighter. This is the first person who, when we arrived in 2014, took us aside and said: “You are not fighting against Ukraine – America has won in my own country, and I do not want America to defeat your country.”

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Houses restoration in Nikishino locality reaches its final stage / DONi News / September 26, 2017 / The DPR government restored 105 residential houses, damaged due to the severe fights of 2014-2015, in the locality of Nikishino near Debaltsevo, the rest 248 houses are beyond repair, reports the local administration head, Natalia Belyaeva. “Presently, 105 houses of 353 were restored. All the other houses are beyond repair, they are to be dismantled and rebuild,” said Belyaeva. According to her, the projects on kindergarten, school and local hospital’s buildings restoration are to be approved in the nearest future. It should be reminded that in 2014 the frontline was crossing the locality of Nikishino, Ukrainian gunmen had their base there; they occupied the houses and settled armored vehicles in the locality. Severe fights for NIkishino were ongoing several months, as a result, 6 local citizens perished. The locality was liberated by the DPR soldiers only in September 2015 at the beginning of the Debaltsevo operation. During the conflict, the population of Nikishino decreased almost threefold.

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Theresa May: UK, Canada to train Ukrainian soldiers jointly from 2018 / DONi News / September 23, 2017 / British and Canadian military instructors will begin joint training of Ukrainian servicemen from next year. This was reported by British Prime Minister Teresa May at a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa, where she was on an official visit. “We will strengthen our military cooperation in Eastern Europe,” she said, “We have reached an agreement on taking concrete steps in this direction through joint training of servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the beginning of next year.” May added that this would be the first mission of the British military, which they will hold with colleagues from another country on Ukraine’s territory. The prime minister specified that Western instructors, in particular, would train Ukrainian snipers.

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Click to enlarge.
Alexey Mozgovoy – Hero of Novorossiya

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Donetsk Lugansk News Sep 3-21 2017

[For latest updates, click HOME PAGE.]

Thursday September 21, 2017
(Brief Update)

Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 09/21/2017 / DONi News / September 21, 2017 / Over the past 24 hours, 34 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy used mortars, infantry fighting vehicles, weapons of armored personnel carriers, various grenade launchers, and small arms. Eight mortar shells of 120-mm calibre and 32 of 82-mm were launched on ten localities and the surrounding areas. In the Mariupol direction, the enemy fired ten mortar rounds of 120-mm calibre at the locality of Sosnovskoye, engaged fire from various grenade launchers and small arms on the villages of Leninskoye, Oktyabr and Kominternovo. We continue recording the enemy’s strengthening of the forces grouping on the front line in the conditions of the ceasefire regime. According to our reconnaissance, from the locality of Stary Krym in the direction of the Primorskoe locality, there was noted the transfer of up to two tank platoons from the composition of the 59 separate mechanised infantry brigade. Last night, a targeted shelling of the AFU 3rd mechanized battalion’s positions of the 72 separate mechanized brigade in the vicinity of the Avdeyevka settlement was carried out from the Right Sector’s position with the aim of provoking the opening of fire at the peaceful areas of our republic. As a result of the shelling, one soldier of the AFU was killed, three were injured. Brigade units were brought to full combat readiness. We have no doubt that this fact will be presented by the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as another ‘aggression’ by the DPR Armed Forces. The intentions of the Ukrainian leadership to liquidate the bandit formations of the nationalists, who are disregarding the law enforcement agencies, as always, were empty promises. We repeatedly drew attention to the presence on the advanced enemy positions of Right Sector fighters, aimed at implementing plans for destabilising the situation in Donbass. From the inhabitants of the territory under Ukraine’s control, we learned about another division of the so-called Ukrainian volunteer army “Arrata”, which includes mechanized platoons, mortar squads and more than three hundred people of personnel. Despite all prohibitions, they continue to fire at the territory of the republic in the Mariupol direction, as well as rob and terrorize the population. —Vice-Commander of the DPR People’s Militia, Colonel Eduard Basurin, official translation by DONi News Agency

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“It was wonderful to have President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine with us in New York City today.” (–Donald Trump, Twitter)

Trump, Poroshenko Discuss Ukranian Crisis, UN Peacekeepers Deployment to Donbass / Sputnik / September 21, 2017 / US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss peacekeeping mission to Donbass, the United States supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine. / UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) / Ukraine is making progress in expanding business opportunities despite the ongoing conflict in the country, US President Donald Trump said prior to the meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday. “Ukraine is coming along pretty well,” Trump stated. “Companies are going very strongly right now into the Ukraine, they see a tremendous potential there.” Poroshenko expressed gratitude to Trump and praised the countries’ cooperation in military and economic sectors. The Ukrainian president stated that during the meeting with US President Donald Trump expressed support for Kiev’s proposal to deploy UN peacekeepers in eastern Ukraine as well as reforms carried out by Kiev authorities. “It is important that the United States fully supported Ukraine, my proposals, which were voiced in 2015 about the deployment of peacekeepers in the east of Ukraine…with a UN mandate,” Poroshenko said after the meeting, as quoted by Ukrainian television. Poroshenko also said it was important to hear the full support of the reforms that were taking place in Ukraine and a positive assessment of the results that Ukraine had achieved through these reforms. “We agreed that our cooperation in supporting reforms will continue” the Ukrainian president stressed. The two presidents also discussed bilateral cooperation in the field of security. “The vision of a new level of Ukrainian-US cooperation in the field of security is very important. We thoroughly discussed all ways of expanding this cooperation, from the partnership with the West Point Military Academy that we visited several days ago to the cooperation with the US Defense Department and other institutions,” Poroshenko said. The Ukrainian leader also expressed his satisfaction with the current level of bilateral cooperation. However, Poroshenko refused to answer a question whether he called on Trump to provide Ukraine military aid. In their meeting at the UN General Assembly, Trump and Poroshenko were expected to discuss the possibility of the United States supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine, as well as the issue of sending a peacekeeping mission to Donbass, according to Ukrainian lawmaker Irina Lutsenko.

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Calling Russia ‘Aggressor’ Hardly Leaves Room for Compromise – Kremlin / Sputnik / September 21, 2017 / Ukrainian draft resolution on peacekeeping in Donbass for the UNSC includes the wording “Russia’s role as an aggressor”. The Kremlin commented on the issue. / MOSCOW (Sputnik) / The Ukrainian side’s definition of Russia as an “aggressor country” contradicts the real state of affairs in the southeast of Ukraine, where Russia is not a party to the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday. “Given the position that Russia allegedly is an aggressor, of course, there is hardly room for maneuver. Because this position is absolutely contrary to the real state of affairs,” Peskov told reporters. “Russia is not a party to this conflict, it is, jointly with other well-known countries, a guarantor of the implementation of the basic documents, on which the whole settlement process is based and will be based in the future, the Minsk agreements,” he said when asked to comment on media reports about the wordings allegedly contained in the Ukrainian draft UN resolution. Peskov added that the diplomats were working on the reports and referred correspondents to the Foreign Ministry for further comments on the issue. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urged the United Nations to deploy a peacekeeping mission to Donbass as soon as possible after a proper technical assessment. According to reports, Kiev has already submitted its draft resolution on peacekeeping in Donbass for the UNSC’s consideration. The draft allegedly contains a proposal to include the wording “operation to enforce peace,” that proves “Russia’s role as an aggressor.” Moscow has repeatedly refuted the allegations, stressing that it was not a party to the conflict in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass. On September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he supported the idea of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine in order to ensure the security of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission in the area. Poroshenko called Russia’s proposal to deploy UN peacekeepers strange, but expressed readiness to discuss the deployment of such a mission in the region with the UN Security Council, and without Russia’s participation in it. He stressed that Kiev would not coordinate the parameters of work of UN peacekeepers in Donbass with local militias.

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Maria Zakharova (–Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS)

Russia ready to discuss alternative resolutions on UN mission to Donbass / TASS / September 21, 2017 / Russia is pondering further steps in case the U.S. begins supplies of lethal weapons to Ukraine. / UNITED NATIONS, September 21. /TASS/. Russia is ready to discuss alternative projects concerning the deployment of a UN security mission to Donbass, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. “There is a draft resolution, we are working in accordance with it,” she said. “If there are any alternative ideas and projects, we are ready to discuss them,” Zakharova added. At the same time, the diplomat pointed out that the Russian-drafted resolution was already on the table. “Everything else is a matter of agreements and compromises,” she said. Russia is pondering further steps in case the U.S. begins supplies of lethal weapons to Ukraine, she went on. “Surely we are pondering them,” she siad when the anchor asked her is Moscow was considering a further course of anctions if the U.S. started pouring lethal weaponry into Donbass. At the end of August, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said at a news conference he addressed together with Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko that the U.S. would expand cooperation with Ukraine in the military sphere and therefore it would consider possible supplies of lethal weapons. He said he would inform the Ukrainian leadership on the details of recommendations to the U.S. Administration. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier the possible supplies of lethal weapons would not change the situation in eastern Ukraine, which is plagued by an armed civil conflict, but would propel the number of victims there.

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Natalya Nikonorova (–DONi Press)

Kiev’s Unilateral Actions Regarding Peacekeepers in Donbass Threaten Peace – DPR / Sputnik / September 21, 2017 / The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic think that the unilateral actions of the Ukranian President on deployment of UN peacekeepers to the region might affect the implementation of peace agreements. DONETSK (Sputnik) / Deploying a peacekeeping mission in Donbass should be coordinated with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), while Kiev’s unilateral actions could have a negative impact on the implementation of agreements on the conflict’s settlement, the acting foreign minister of the DPR, Natalya Nikonorova, told Sputnik on Thursday. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urged the United Nations to deploy a peacekeeping mission in Donbass as soon as possible after a proper technical assessment. According to media reports, Kiev has already submitted its draft resolution on a peacekeeping in Donbas for the UNSC consideration. “The statement by Petro Poroshenko about the need to deploy a technical mission to Donbass is another manifestation of the careless attitude of the Ukrainian authorities to the peace process, as the negotiation process has not even been started with the representatives of the republics on this issue yet… Unilateral actions can only negatively influence the possibility of implementing the peace agreements,” Nikonorova said. According to the DPR’s acting foreign minister, despite the assurances by the Ukrainian authorities about the readiness to compromise, Kiev representatives are departing from the implementation of the Minsk agreements, and “are increasingly inclined to taking various steps without considering the interests of the population of DPR and LPR.” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stressed several times that Kiev would not coordinate the parameters of work of UN peacekeepers in Donbass with local militias. “The principle of coordination of the positions of the parties is a fundamental measure… As the basis for this implementation [of Minsk agreements] is the adoption of all terms, modalities and mechanisms by the two conflicting parties – Kiev and Donbass,” Nikonorova said. Nikonorova added that the functions of assessment and monitoring of the situation in Donbass have been laid on the OSCE mission, and by requiring a UN peacekeeping mission Poroshenko urged for duplicating of existing bodies. On September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he supported the idea of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine in order to ensure the security of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Donbass. Poroshenko called Russia’s proposal to deploy UN peacekeepers strange, but expressed readiness to discuss the deployment of such a mission in the region with the UN Security Council, and without Russia’s participation in it.

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Denis Pushilin

Poroshenko plans to mop up DPR, LPR territories by UN peace-keepers – Pushilin / DONi News / September 21, 2017 / President of Ukraine Pyotr Poroshenko insists on deploying UNO peacekeepers to Donbass aimed at mopping up the territories of the People’s Republics, DPR Delegation Head at the Minsk talks, People’s Council Chairman Denis Pushilin states this commenting on Ukrainian Leader speech at the UNO on September 20. “President who refused UNO contingent on the eve and who was called on helping the conflict political settlement has suddenly turned out to be “President of the World”. Now, he insists on introduction of peacekeepers to the Donbass territory to restore “justice and sovereignty of Ukraine”, but in fact, to mop up the territories of the Republic by “blue helmets”,” Pushilin expresses his opinion. He added that on the back of incessant aggression of the AFU in the region, Poroshenko’s words about victims among civilians sounded especially cynical. “Unfortunately, Ukrainian authorities’ position does not cause either doubts or astonishments. None of contingents can replace the political settlement by itself and that’s why we put hopes on the world’s community and remain loyal to peaceful development of events,” summed up DPR Parliament Speaker.

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Densi Pushilin

Rejecting UN peacekeepers, West advocates continuation of Donbass war / Fort Russ / September 19, 2017 / The refusal of Ukraine and the US to work on the text of the resolution on the UN mission in Donbass, proposed by Russia, demonstrates the true intentions of the Kiev authorities and its American partners. This was stated today by the head of the delegation of the DPR at the peace talks in Minsk, the chairman of the People’s Council of the Republic, Denis Pushilin. The initiative of Russia, which is aimed at a ceasefire in the Donbass and the implementation of the set of measures for a Peace Settlement, was “unacceptable” for the current Ukrainian government and its partners. “They are only interested in the armed version of the return of the Donbass under Ukraine’s control. Such a new “Croatian scenario” with the introduction of peacekeepers to the entire territory of the Donbass, controlled by the Republics, and a military solution to the conflict by someone else’s hands. Ukraine has already demonstrated incompetence and demonstratively sabotages the fulfillment of its obligations.” – explained Pushilin. He added that Kiev and Washington actually acted “for the continuation of the shelling, for the continuation of the Civil War.”

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A UN Force For Ukraine: Beware the Trojan Horse / By Christopher Black / New Eastern Outlook / September 21, 2017 / Russia has proposed that a UN “peacekeeping” force be placed in Ukraine to protect Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) representatives, who are supposed to be monitoring adherence to the Minsk agreements. But already the problems with the idea have become obvious with the United States and the Kiev regime reacting to the proposal with statements that they want to use the force to “restore Ukrainian sovereignty” and its “territorial integrity.” The objective of the NATO alliance is clear, to use the force as a device to crush the Donbass republics. Russia sees it as a way advance the Minsk agreements, to stop the harassing criticism of the NATO powers that the Russians and Donbass impede the work of the OSCE observers and perhaps to have some control over the OSCE to make sure it is neutral and objective in its mission. For in fact the OSCE is seen by many in the Donbass Republics as a group of spies for the west, not to be trusted. The Russians seem to think a UN force could be created that would actually be neutral between all the parties to the hostilities, give some assurance to the Donbass and create another layer or buffer between the Kiev forces besieging the Donbass and the Donbass forces resisting that siege. A logical idea it would seem if one were not aware of how UN “peacekeeping” missions actually work. The trouble with it is that unless such a force is officered by Russians, or nations allied with Russia, no UN force could be trusted. History shows that UN peacekeeping missions can turn into “regime change” missions, as happened in Rwanda and Yugoslavia. I will focus on the Rwandan war and the role of the UN there since that is better known to me through the war crimes trials at the Rwanda War Crimes Tribunal. During those trials a lot of the evidence of the real role . . . READ MORE>>

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Sunday September 10, 2017
(Brief Update)

Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 09/10/2017 / DONi News / September 10, 2017 / Good afternoon. Today, first of all, I want to congratulate the DPR tank crew on the professional holiday. Tank troops are the iron fist of our army, the protection and support of the young Republic. With all my heart, I wish you success in your hard work on defending the borders of the Republic. Over the past 24 hours, 25 violations of the ceasefire regime by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded. In the Donetsk direction, the enemy used artillery, mortars, infantry fighting vehicles, weapons of armored personnel carriers and small arms. One artillery shell of 122-mm calibre, 32 mortar shells of 82-mm and 120-mm calibres were launched on eight localities and the surrounding areas, including with active use of grenade launchers and small arms. As a result of the shelling, two houses at the address Shchors Street, 46, 33/17 were damaged in the locality of Yasnoye. In the Mariupol direction, the enemy fired seven mortar rounds of 82-mm calibre at the village of Kominternovo; also the enemy fired from small arms at the settlement of Sosnovskoye. In the Gorlovka direction, the enemy attacked Zaitsevo locality with small arms. Once again, the Ukrainian media spread a message that did not correspond to the reality, presenting a failed provocation at the Mayorsk checkpoint as an alleged attack by our units. The Ukrainian command is deploying to the so-called ‘ATO’ zone additional forces of the Air Force. Four Mi-8 combat transport helicopters and an An-30 reconnaissance aircraft arrived at the Kramatorsk airfield. I want to warn Ukrainian pilots and their commanders from provocative flights near the demarcation line and urge them to strictly observe the Minsk agreements. The fights of 2014, during which most of AFU planes and helicopters were destroyed, did not teach the Kiev leadership anything. They again try to intimidate the defenders and civilians of Donbass with the imaginary power of their aviation. The loud case of Deputy Commander of the Ground Forces General Nikitenko, who was not afraid to publicly express the opinion of the general mass of Ukrainian servicemen, led to mass checks in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In the units and parts of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Security Service conducts checks that include surveys and questionnaires to identify officers whose opinions are in conflict with Kiev’s political course. Servicemen that cause suspicion are withdrawn to the rear or dismissed from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And repressions have already been applied to a number of officers from the 59th motorized infantry brigade, the 72 and 92 mechanized brigades, condemning the punitive operation against the inhabitants of Donbass and the deterioration of relations between Ukraine and Russia. This shows that the Ukrainian leadership is afraid of pressure from its own security forces and is afraid of disobedience on their part. –-Vice-Commander of the DPR People’s Militia, Colonel Eduard Basurin official translation by DONi News Agency

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Valentina Lisitsa, Donbass, September 2017

Some 7,000 citizens attend Valentina Lisitsa’s piano concert in Donetsk [Pics] / DONi News / September 10, 2017 / The concert “Symphony of Fire” by the famous pianist from the USA Valentina Lisitsa and the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Donetsk State Academic Philharmonic Society was held yesterday in the centre of Donetsk. The event, timed to coincide with the 74th anniversary of the Liberation Day of Donbass, brought together about seven thousand inhabitants of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Ukraine-controlled territory of Donbass, and Russia. Deputy Chairman of the DPR People’s Council, Olga Makeyeva, Defense Minister Vladimir Kononov, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Natalia Nikonorova, Acting Minister of Culture Mikhail Zheltyakov, Director General of the Moscow Philharmonic Alexander Paretsky, as well as representatives of other ministries and departments were among the audience. “Regarding the art sphere, Valentina Lisitsa’s visit is very important for the Republic. Most importantly, by this concert we commemorate our grandfathers and great-grandfathers who defended Donbass and support those defending our homeland now,” Paretsky said. The pianist performed solo four compositions: Piano sonata No. 14 by Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto, Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto and Georgy Sviridov’s “Time, Forward!” The performance of the latter was followed by a ten-minute fire show. In the course of the concert, Acting Head of the Republic’s Ministry of Culture thanked Lisitss for her visit to the DPR and her art, and presented flowers to the pianist. “My impressions are incredible, impossible to convey. So many people, and all listened to wonderful music soul to soul. It is a double pleasure that this concert has coincided with such a wonderful holiday. I am in a spiritual uplift,” Lisitsa said in an interview. The concert lasted about an hour and a half. Upon completion, the audience thanked the musicians with a storm of applause, and Lisitsa was presented with flowers. The event culminated with colourful fireworks. “I really liked the concert. I came and waited for a miracle to happen, and it did happen – I enjoyed the performance, and classical music will keep playing in my heart for a long time,” Svetlana Zhalkina, a Donetsk citizen, shared her impressions. Let us recall that the American pianist of Ukrainian origin Valentina Lisitsa first performed in the DPR capital on June 22, 2015. She played then a concert-requiem dedicated to the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow. In the spring of 2016, she took part in the Prokofiev Spring Festival. On September 11 and 12, 2017, Lisitsa will give concerts with the orchestra of the Donetsk Philharmonic in Gorlovka and Yasinovataya.

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VIDEO – Donetsk Fire symphony – Pianist Valentina Lisitsa
September 10, 2017 – Video by Donbass Rose

Click for video.

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Sick of Fake News, Brave French Woman Heads to Donbass in Search for Truth / Sputnik / September 10, 2017 / Christelle Neant, a Frenchwoman who got sick of the ‘pro-Kiev propaganda’ she found in French media about the conflict in eastern Ukraine, decided to travel to the war-torn region to find out what was really going on. She spoke to Sputnik about what she discovered. Tired of watching mainstream media coverage on the ‘slow-burning’ civil war in the Donbass, Neant traveled to Donetsk in March 2016, and ended up staying ever since. She got a job at DONi News, the Donetsk People’s Republic’s official international news agency. The portal serves as a source of information and contact center for journalists and foreign visitors looking to find out about the real situation from on the ground in the region. Speaking to Sputnik France, Neant shared her impressions about the people she’s met, and the conflict which presently seems to have no end in sight. “I did this to refute what’s written by most media outlets, particularly French ones. They publish a lot of nonsense and plain lies about this conflict. My goal is to show the reality on the ground,” she said, explaining her decision to work for DONi. Neant is also a contributor for the French anti-mainstream news resource AgoraVox. Neant said that she wanted to listen to and give voice to the region’s residents, “whom the regime in Kiev calls terrorists simply because they refused to recognize the Maidan coup d’état.” Commenting on the conflict in the region, the journalist said that notwithstanding the Minsk agreements, “the Ukrainian army and especially the ultranationalist battalions (if not to say neo-Nazis) do not observe the cease-fire regime.” This was the case in spite of rigorous efforts by the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics to observe the ceasefire, she added. “DPR and LPR command severely punishes any unjustified violations of the ceasefire regime, because authorities in both republics support a peaceful resolution to the conflict, and soldiers strictly abide by the ceasefire,” Neant said. The journalist stressed that from on the ground in Donetsk, it’s obvious that Kiev is deliberately trying to delay or even sabotage the Minsk contact group’s meetings through “intensified bombing by the Ukrainian army on the eve or even the day of the meetings, after which they can complain that the ceasefire is not being observed.” Furthermore, Neant believes that all the recent initiatives by the Ukrainian side confirm that Kiev now hopes to break with the Minsk agreements “and to reestablish control over the Donbass through the use of force,” even though local civilians unanimously favor a peaceful settlement. . . . READ MORE>>

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Russia’s UN Peacekeeper Plan Anticipates US-Backed Kiev Offensive / By Finian Cunningham / Strategic Culture Foundation / September 10, 2017 / Russia’s proposed deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in eastern Ukraine makes sense in the light of recent reports that the US is stepping up its supply of lethal weaponry to the Kiev regime. The war is set to explode. It is therefore prudent to deploy international monitors to try to restrain the violence, or at least offset the undoubted propaganda war which will ensue. The move to involve the UN is also a damning reflection of how ineffective the already-in-place monitors from the OSCE have been. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has stationed hundreds of international members in eastern Ukraine since March 2014, yet the OSCE has done little to restrain the offensive actions by the Kiev-controlled Ukrainian Armed Forces against the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. The lack of restraint stems from the OSCE being evidently biased towards the Kiev regime and its reluctance to issue public criticism of Kiev’s daily violations of the Minsk Accord. In other words, despite claims of impartiality, the OSCE serves as a propaganda tool for the US-backed regime. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that increased American military support to the Kiev regime will result in an escalation of violence. When US defense secretary James Mattis was in Kiev last month, he said Washington was «considering» sending lethal weapons to the regime’s forces. As part of the public relations exercise, Mattis called the weapons «defensive» lethal weapons. Those «defensive» arms include Javelin anti-tank missiles. Reliable reports say that lethal US weaponry has already begun arriving, including grenade launchers and the high-powered Barrett M-82 sniper rifles with a range of 1.8 kilometers. According to sources in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the American military supplies are being delivered through private US firms, which obscures Washington’s official involvement. Over the past week, DPR military chief Eduard Basurin has cited as many as 200 violations of the ceasefire supposedly in place under the 2015 Minsk Accord. Those violations were carried with heavy artillery and mortars, hitting 25 locations in the Donetsk province. The DPR also claims that Kiev forces are moving up heavy weapons, including Howitzers, to the Contact Line, in another breach of Minsk. Meanwhile, a check on the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission’s latest reporting on the ground indicates «fewer ceasefire violations». Typical of the OSCE reporting, those violations that are noted are worded in vague fashion in such a way that it is not clear which party is committing the attacks. The OSCE reports cite explosions and artillery fire, but rarely assign blame or details that might allow readers to ascertain who is firing at who. The lack of details strongly suggests a deliberate effort by the OSCE authorities to obfuscate. Yet, it claims to be a frontline source for journalists to file reports on what is happening in Ukraine. No wonder Western media in particular are so vacant about the conflict, if this is their source. Given the Pentagon’s move to openly step up lethal weapons to the Kiev regime, the implications for worsening violence in eastern Ukraine are ominous. Kiev’s forces, which include Neo-Nazi battalions, have been waging an «Anti-Terror Operation» (ATO) on the ethnic Russian population of Donetsk and Luhansk since April 2014. Up to 10,000 have died in the conflict. The ATO was originally launched at the same time that then CIA chief John Brennan visited the Kiev regime – two months after the CIA backed the coup that brought the regime to power. The violence has continued despite the signing by Kiev and the separatists of the two-year-old Minsk Accord – brokered by Russia, France and Germany. The Kiev regime headed up by President Petro Poroshenko claims that the separatists are «terrorists» supported by Russian «aggression». The separatists view the Kiev regime as . . . READ MORE>> Quemado Institute comments: Finian Cunningham is certainly right to sympathize with the DPR/LPR militias’ independence fight. But Cunningham misses the point about UN Peacekeepers, who could well be more biased than the OSCE and even escalate the war. See: Putin Betrays Donbass, Seeks UN Peacekeepers in Ukraine (Quemado Institute, September 6, 2017)

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Mexican Standoff [in Ukraine] Goes Nuclear / by Frank Lee / Off-Guardian / september 10, 2017 / part from the criminally insane, (John McCain, Lindsey Graham et al.) nobody wants war, particularly nuclear war. Unfortunately, however, war happens, sometimes by accident sometimes by design. The present standoff between the US/NATO and Russia and China is a case in point. The United States’ ever-present hegemonic ambitions are hardly secret and have been displayed in their most virulent and openly aggressive forms since the collapse of the USSR. This latter event was a key moment in the present historical conjuncture. During the 1990s, Russia was prostrate and the US/NATO juggernaut was able to take full advantage of the situation. The war against what used to be called the Third World had always been a feature of US foreign policy; however, now with the disappearance of the one geopolitical bloc which could hold the US in check, the US imperial leviathan was able to extend its aggression to both Russia and more lately China. Ex-Soviet satellites, and even ex-Soviet republics in Europe were sucked into the voracious maw of NATO, which was to double in size and expand right up to Russia’s western frontier. In passing, we may note that the collapse of communism also had the effect of an abject surrender of the centre-left/social democratic currents in Europe, and their conversion to both neoliberalism and neoconservatism. NATO membership meant that the US effectively controlled Europe’s foreign policy, and this policy fait accompli was ratified in the Lisbon Treaty — which meant that Europe’s defence and security policy was outsourced to a non-member of the EU, i.e. the United States, who control NATO. In short, the EU became a civilian wing of NATO. These events were, of course, a naked provocation as was the dismemberment of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The continued policy of provocation became the order of the day. In 2008 NATO announced boldly that Georgia and Ukraine “will become members of NATO.” Thereupon Georgia’s comical President Mikheil Saakasvili bombarded Tskhinvali, capital of the self-declared Republic of South Ossetia that had resisted integration into the current Republic of Georgia since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. In this instance Russia defended South Ossetia, invading Georgia. It then recognized the independence, both of South Ossetia and of the Republic of Abkhazia, from Georgia. (This may be a tit-for-tat response to the U.S.’s decision to recognize Kosovo’s independence from Serbia six months earlier.) Then in 2014 came the ultimate provocation: the American backed coup in Ukraine which resulted in the ongoing and open-ended Ukrainian imbroglio 2014-2017. This resulted, inter alia, in the referendum and defection of the Crimea to the . . . READ MORE>> [Substantial analysis at source.]

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Vladislav Surkov (–UaWire)

Putin’s aide Surkov turns down US request to relocate Donbas talks from Minsk to Belgrade / UaWire / September 10, 2017 / On August 21, during a meeting in Minsk with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide, Vladislav Surkov, US Special Representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker suggested that Moscow consider relocating negotiations on the Donbas from Minsk to Belgrade, Novosti Donbassa (News of Donbass) news website reported, citing its own source. Surkov refused, said the website’s source. It is noted that the potential relocation of the negotiations to another city would be connected to the increase in cases of the persecution of Ukrainian citizens on the territory of Belarus. For example, during the night of February 1 in Minsk, policemen detained a journalist from Novosti Donbassa (News of Donbass), Vitaliy Sizov. The Belarusian authorities recommended that the journalist leave Minsk, explaining that he was included in Russian “black lists”. Then, on February 11, police in Minsk detained Ukrainian writer Serhiy Zhadan. On August 28, it became known that a 19-year-old Ukrainian, Pavlo Gryb, had also disappeared in Belarus. It later became known that officers from the Russian FSB took Gryb to Krasnodar. In late August, US State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker said that the Kremlin’s decision to “freeze” the situation in the Donbas and live under sanctions is fundamentally wrong. [Source: uawire.org/surkov-turns-down-us-request-to-relocate-donbas-talks-from-minsk-to-belgrade]

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Vladimir Putin (–AP/Ivan Sekretarev)

[Enemy Commentary:] Russia’s plan to manipulate UN Peacekeeping forces in Donbas / Baltic Post / September 10, 2017 / On 5 September, during a press conference at the BRICS (Russia, China, Brazil, India and South Africa) summit in China, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would propose a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in Donbas. A relevant document was submitted on the same day. Moscow’s initiative, however, does have a few conditions. The peacekeeping forces would offer protection to the OSCE mission in Donbas and be deployed only on the demarcation line between the Ukrainian forces and the forces of the separatists backed by Russia. Furthermore, their deployment would take place after both parties to the conflict have withdrawn heavy matériel. President Putin also emphasised that the deployment of the UN peacekeeping forces should be agreed during direct negotiations with separatist leaders and must be approved by the UN Security Council. The Ukrainian side has been probing the possibility of the deployment of UN forces in Donbas as an alternative to the Minsk Accord since 2015. However, it was only on 3 February 2017 that the draft proposal for deployment of an armed UN peacekeeping mission was presented in the speech of Kostiantyn Yeliseyev, deputy head of the administration of President Petro Poroshenko. Officially, Kyiv announced it during a telephone conversation of the participants of the so-called Normandy Format (France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia) during a summit of its heads of state on 24 July this year. According to President Poroshenko, the need to deploy UN peacekeeping forces and to vest them with the UN Security Council’s mandate is an effect of “Russia’s categorical unwillingness to achieve peace in Donbas.” On 22 August, the Ukrainian president stated that he intended to present a detailed plan for the deployment of the mission in Donbas during the next session of the UN General Assembly (12–25 September). Before that, Ukraine also suggested that an armed OSCE mission be deployed in the region. Commentary: The Russian proposal is above all of a tactical character because Moscow’s primary goal is to torpedo Kyiv’s initiative concerning the deployment of peacekeeping forces in the occupied part of Donbas and at the same time to put the blame on Ukraine and the USA for the expected failure of the Russian proposal. The Kremlin’s initiative can also be linked with the recently observed hardening of the US stance on the conflict, particularly including with the announcement that arms supplies to Ukraine are possible. Signs of this include President Putin’s ambiguous statement in which he warned that US weapons supplies to Ukraine might lead to the conflict spilling over onto the territory of Ukraine and to “the separatists sending weapons to other conflict areas critical for those who pose problems to them.” President Putin’s statement, which was in essence blackmail addressed to the USA, may suggest that Russian weapons will be supplied to other areas where US forces are engaged. Moscow in fact is not interested in the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in Donbas. Their presence would not be beneficial to the Kremlin as it would potentially restrict Russia’s full freedom of action in the conflict area, which includes periodically escalating the conflict in order to apply pressure on Kyiv. However, Moscow is trying to simulate efforts to end the conflict, thus manifesting its constructive stance on the Ukrainian conflict to the West. This is partly effective, one proof of which is the statement of the German minister of foreign affairs, Sigmar Gabriel, who called the draft resolution “a change in Russia’s previous policy that we cannot waste.”President Putin’s words have met with a negative reaction in Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that Russia, being the aggressor country, cannot be a participant of the peacekeeping mission under the aegis of the UN and that its deployment does not require consent from the self-proclaimed ‘republics’ in Donbas. Iryna Herashchenko, deputy speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) and Ukraine’s representative in the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, rejected Putin’s initiative, viewing it as an attempt to distort the idea of the deployment of the UN peacekeeping forces in the conflict area in Donbas announced in Kyiv. The conditions of deployment of the peacekeeping forces put forward by the Kremlin are unfavourable to Ukraine, because this would mean recognising the separatists as a subject of international negotiations, while the UN mission would only extend to the contact line that would maintain the situation of the lack of international supervision on the Ukrainian-Russian border in Donbas (currently controlled by Russian services and separatist forces). Not all the details of the Ukrainian initiative concerning the UN peacekeeping mission are known at present. It envisages the deployment of peacekeeping forces across the entire territory that is outside the central government’s control between the demarcation line and the Ukrainian-Russian border. Peacekeeping forces would monitor the security situation and the demilitarisation process in the region. In Kyiv’s intention, the deployment of the international mission will contribute to freezing the conflict. The Ukrainian ideas of deploying an armed UN or OSCE armed mission which have appeared since 2015 have never been officially presented in the form of an open concept nor have they been ever presented in the form of a coherent concept or put forward as a resolution on the UN forum. Most likely, Kyiv was probing these issues via diplomatic channels but they did not receive support from France and Germany and were in fact sabotaged by Russia (despite the suggestions that it might support them which Russia made from time to time). The Ukrainian proposal of deploying peacekeeping forces fits in with the context of Kyiv’s other actions concerning Donbas. Since spring, the government has been preparing an act under which Russia will be recognised as an aggressor and the territories of Donbas which are currently outside the central government control will be recognised as temporarily occupied territories. The act is also expected to vest the president with the right to announce martial law and to use armed forces in Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts. The final wording of the act has not been agreed as yet; the government is planning to put the document to a vote in parliament already this year. Quemado Institute comment (posted and awaiting moderation at source): There are elements of truth to your commentary. Clearly Putin’s move is for political show, to appease the West. So in a sense, it is true that “Moscow in fact is not interested in the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in Donbas.” But you are wrong when you say, “Their presence would not be beneficial to the Kremlin as it would potentially restrict Russia’s full freedom of action in the conflict area, which includes periodically escalating the conflict in order to apply pressure on Kyiv.” If you are being sincere in saying this and actually misunderstand the real situation, let me inform you that Russia is not taking any “action in the conflict area” other than sending humanitarian aid and offering occasional political advice, usually with regard to the Minsk Agreements (eg through the JCCC). And so “Russia’s full freedom of action” can’t logically be restricted. The burden of proof is on you to give any ground-based evidence of official Russian military presence in Donbass. There is no Russian military presence, I can assure you, as many foreign journalists present in non-Kiev controlled Donbass have reported. Nor is Russia “periodically escalating the conflict.” Since they have no troops in Donbass, they would have no means of escalating. Recall that the “separatists” are the people that live in Donbass and grew up there. They are culturally and genetically Russian, but they are not Russian citizens. Let’s be factual, shall we? About Russia having no real interest in peacekeepers, let’s hope not. The Minsk Agreements forbid foreign peacekeepers. [Source: thebalticpost.com/2017/09/10/russias-plan-to-manipulate-un-peacekeeping-forces-in-donbas/comment-page-1/#comment-32944]

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Friday September 8, 2017
(Brief Update)

Click to enlarge.

US Military Bio-labs in Ukraine, Production of Bio-weapons and “Disease Causing Agents” / By Goran Lompar / Global Research / August 24, 2017 / Ukraine turned into the proving ground for the new generation of US biological weapons, European mass media report. In 2015, American alternative media outlet InfoWars accused the Pentagon of developing new types of biological weapons in secret military laboratories in Ukraine. The facilities were constructed under the terms of the bilateral agreement signed between the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the Department of Defense in 2012. Today thirteen American military bio-labs operate in Ukraine, The International Mass Media Agency reports. They employ only American specialists being entirely funded from the budget of the Department of Defense. Local authorities have pledged not to interfere in their work. These military labs are reported to be mainly involved in the study and production of disease-causing agents of smallpox, anthrax and botulism. The facilities are located in the following Ukrainian cities: Odessa, Vinnytsia, Uzhgorod, Lviv (three), Kharkiv, Kyiv (four), Kherson, Ternopil. The network of military bio-labs in Eastern Europe gives the hawks the opportunity to avoid the Geneva Convention of 1972 on the prohibition of development, production and stockpiling of . . . READ MORE>>

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VIDEO – Pianist Valentina Lisitsa Comes to Saur Mogila,
Donetsk People’s Republic, Novorossiya
September 8, 2017 – Interview by Donbass Rose

Click for Video.

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URGENT: SouthFront’s Work Is Fully Blocked On Youtube (UPDATED) / SouthFront.org / September 8, 2017 / UPDATE [8.09.2017 23:42 CEST]: Dear friends, few moments ago Youtube removed one of the two “Community Guidelines strikes” from SouthFront’s channel and restored our video “Syrian War Report – September 8, 2017: US-led Coalition Rescues ISIS Commanders From Deir Ezzor?”. This means that SouthFront is now able again to upload new videos to our Youtube channel. However, the Community Guidelines strike that was added to the channel on September 6 remained. (You can find more about it in the text below). The remaining strike directly impacts SouthFront’s ability to provide exclusive content. We cannot more host live streams because our Youtube channel has a Community Guidelines strike. Furthermore, it’s clear that a threat that SouthFront’s YouTube channel might be closed down or once again frozen (as a result of false flagging by the project’s ill-wishers or by ‘mistake’ of the Youtube system) remains while the channel still has one Community Guidelines strike. . . . READ MORE>>

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Tuesday September 5, 2017
(Brief Update)

“Fed up with the mainstream press, this Frenchwoman went to Donbass to see for herself” / Fort Russ / Translated from Sputnik France by Tom Winter / September 5, 2017 / “It is not up to Russia instead of the people of Donbass to decide whether or not to return to the fold of Ukraine:” in search of truth, Christelle Néant left for the Donbass to open the eyes of the French people accustomed to consuming “pro-Kiev propaganda.” Living in Donetsk, she breaks the silence on Sputnik’s microphone. Blindly believe in mainstream press articles? Or go to an unknown destination to discover the truth and share it with others? The French journalist working for the official international agency of the Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR), DONi, Christelle Néant chose the second option and remains proud of her decision. “To counter what is found in most major media, especially the French media that tell a lot of nonsense and untruths about this conflict. My goal is to show the reality on the ground,” she told Sputnik about her mission in the Donbass. Thus, Mme Néant set out on the goal of giving a hearing to the civilians of Donbass, “who are characterized as terrorists by the Kiev regime simply because they rejected the Maidan coup.” On the ground since 2016, Christelle Néant observes that, Minsk accords notwithstanding, “the Ukrainian army, and even the ultra-nationalist (not to say neo-Nazi) battalions, do not respect the ceasefire” despite efforts by the People’s Republic of Donetsk (DPR) and the People’s Republic of Lugansk (LPR). “In the armies of the NPR and the LPR, unjustified violations of the ceasefire regime are severely punished by the command because the authorities of both republics support the process of peaceful resolution of the conflict, and therefore the soldiers respect the ceasefire strictly,” she said. In addition, Kiev is constantly seeking to . . . READ MORE>>

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VIDEO In Memory of Children Killed in SE Ukraine (Donbass)
Published June 2, 2017 – Patrick Lancaster

Click for video. (English subtitles)
“Residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republic’s gathered on Thursday evening in the capital’s to take part in the “Angels” action in memory of the deceased young residents of Donbass during the military aggression by Ukrainian forces. On the International Children’s Day, the participants of the event recall the innocently gone, and in a sign of sorrow they launch lanterns into the sky.” —DONi News

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Vladimir Putin. To what degree has this cowardly man surrendered to the pressure of the Western deep state?

Russia sends resolution to the UN on peacekeeping force in Donbass / Fort Russ / Translated by Tom Winter / September 5, 2017 / The resolution on the deployment of peacekeepers in the Donbass will be considered in the UN Security Council. Russia has sent a resolution to the UN Security Council on the deployment of peacekeepers in the Donbass. It has became known that Russia sent to the UN Security Council a draft resolution on the deployment of peacekeepers in the Donbass. Information on this was reported by Russia’s permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzia. We note that the Russian leader Vladimir Putin earlier called for submitting the relevant document to the UN Security Council. Also, the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, has already expressed his willingness to discuss the idea of deploying peacekeepers. We note that the German Foreign Ministry has called this initiative of Putin “a chance for peace.” In particular, the head of the German Foreign Ministry, Sigmar Gabriel, said that the introduction of a peacekeeping mission is a chance that must be taken, for peace, requiring a policy of detente. Quemado Institute comments: The introduction of peacekeepers that Putin allegedly advocates is not in keeping with the Minsk Agreements. It seems hard to believe Zakharchenko would consider such peacekeepers. If unarmed, what would their function be over and above that of the OSCE and JCCC? If armed, their presence would constitute a total violation of Minsk. Again, Putin seems to appease the West at the expense of the DPR/LPR. When will Putin the Betrayer realize the West cannot be appeased?

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Boris Gryzlov – Betrayer of Donbass (Photo: –EADaily)

Russia’s chief negotiator says UN presence in Donbass may put end to armed conflict / TASS / September 5, 2017 / Possible deployment of UN peacekeepers at the contact line in Donbass can help put an end to the armed phase of the conflict but will not remove political settlement from the agenda, Russia’s chief negotiator at the Minsk peace talks, Boris Gryzlov, said on Tuesday. “Security issues are inextricably linked with issues of political settlement of the conflict in Donbass,” he said. “These issues have always been and will be among priorities of the Contact Group [on the settlement in Donbass]. A number of conditions have already been created for possible deployment of a UN contingent tasked to ensure security of the OSCE mission. Some territories have been cleared of mines, heavy weapons have been withdrawn from a number of sections. The first ten days of the so-called back-to-school ceasefire have demonstrated that the number of shelling episodes can be reduced to minimum and the level of security of civilians can be improved provided the parties have good will for that.” “Deployment of peacekeepers along the line of engagement is quite possible with Kiev’s good will and it can help put an end to the armed phase of the conflict, [emphasis added] ” he said. “But security of peacekeepers must also be ensured by means of disengagement of forces and complete withdrawal of heavy weapons. So far, we see that Kiev is reluctant to disengage forces and weapons at various sections, for instance, near Stanitsa Luganskaya.” “Nevertheless the mere presence of a UN mission will not remove political settlement of the conflict from the agenda,” Gryzlov stressed. “Problems of Donbass’ special status, amnesty and elections must be resolved in line with the Minsk agreements.” Earlier on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia plans to submit to the United Nations Security Council a resolution on the deployment of UN peacekeepers along the line of engagement in Donbass to ensure safety of the OSCE mission. He stressed however that deployment of UN peacekeepers could only be possible after weapons withdrawal from the area and upon agreement with the self-proclaimed Donbass republics. Quemado Institute comments: With Kiev’s good will? Put an end to the armed phase of the conflict? What insanity is Gryzlov purporting! Kiev has no good will, as this betrayer surely knows. Boris Gryzlov is a liar and a puppet of the Western deep state.

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Konstantin Kosachev, Liar, betrayer of Donbass, puppet of the Western deep state (Photo: –rt.com)

Russian senator says deploying peacekeepers to Donbass plugs all loopholes for Kiev / TASS / September 5, 2017 / Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to deploy UN peacekeepers along the Donbass line of contact in order to ensure the OSCE mission’s security will help achieve several tasks at a time, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Committee for Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev said on Tuesday. According to him, first of all, the initiative will deprive the Ukrainian authorities of an opportunity to cite an alleged Russian aggression. The conditions outlined by the Russian president, which include narrowing the peacekeepers mandate to the protection of the OSCE mission, their deployment only to the line of contact and the withdrawal of troops and weapons based on a decision reached with the self-proclaimed Donbass republics, will leave no loopholes for Kiev, Kosachev wrote on Facebook. “Judging by the panic response from Kiev, they have realized this already,” Kosachev said. “The response that Ukraine’s representative to the Contact Group on Donbass Irina Gerashchenko gave, shows Ukraine’s true intentions: it does not want peacekeepers, it wants some police units from the West to be deployed to the entire territory of the DPR and LPR under a UN mandate,” Kosachev said. The Russian senator added that Kiev was actually inclined to consider the Russian border as the “line of contact.” In Kosachev’s view, Putin’s initiative will help achieve several tasks at a time. “It refutes the allegations put forward by Ukraine and the West, claiming that Russia is unwilling to fulfill the important security provision before implementing other provisions of the Minsk Agreements. This is a realistic idea, and so it poses a threat to Kiev, since it may help calm down the situation along the line of contact and deprive the Ukrainian authorities of an opportunity to cite an alleged Russian aggression.” Besides, in Kosachev’s words, if the plan is implemented, “all the talk about supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine will become useless.” On Tuesday, while addressing his final press conference at the BRICS summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would submit a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council, stipulating the deployment of UN peacekeepers to Donbass in order to ensure the OSCE mission members’ security. Putin pointed out that the deployment of the UN forces would become possible only after the weapons withdrawal process completed and the issue was agreed on with the self-proclaimed Donbass republics. Quemado Institute comments: Kosachev says, “the initiative will deprive the Ukrainian authorities of an opportunity to cite an alleged Russian aggression.” Nonsense. Why would the UN expose the lies about Russian aggression when the OSCE has been silent on the topic? Is the UN more unbiased than the OSCE? Of course not, and this liar knows it. Note that Kosachev also blurts, “It [Putin’s peacekeeper proposal] refutes the allegations put forward by Ukraine and the West.” This statement is an explicit admission that Putin’s main motive is to appease the West. Why would Putin and his Kremlin flunkies betray the DPR/LPR just to refute the false allegations of Ukraine and the West, unless they are puppets of the Western deep state? Moreover, if these peacekeepers are there to protect the OSCE, who will protect the peacekeepers? Unless they are armed. In which case UN forces would be joining the Ukrainian Army in the war against Donbass, with Putin’s permission.

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“UN peacekeepers would be protecting these Ukrainian murderers.” –Quemado Institute (Photo: –Ria Novosti)

Ukraine May Propose Own Resolution on Peacekeepers at Donbass / Sputnik / September 6, 2017 / Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations claims that Ukraine may introduce its own draft resolution on peacekeepers in the Donbass region. KIEV (Sputnik) / Ukraine may introduce its own draft resolution on peacekeepers in the Donbass region, if needed, otherwise the parties will be working on the basis of the Russian draft provided that it will be altered in accordance with Kiev’s position, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Volodymyr Yelchenko said on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia said that Russia has sent the UN Security Council president a draft resolution on the UN mission in Ukraine, adding that Moscow intends to call consultations at the expert level and at the level of the UN ambassadors. “We already have everything, [Ukraine’s resolution] has been drafted and distributed among partners. I think, we will wait for a bit and, if needed, compose and release our own alternative [draft] within one or two days. Another option is to work on the basis of the Russian draft, which does not mean that everything in it should remain the way [Russia] put it,” Yelchenko said told the 112 Ukraina channel. Kiev insists that the mission’s mandate should be broader than proposed by Russia, and the peacekeepers must be deployed as far as the Donbass area adjacent to the Ukrainian-Russian border. Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his support to the idea of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, stressing that the mission should only ensure the security of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) staff, with the peacekeepers deployed on the disengagement line. According to the president, the issue should be decided upon after disengagement, pullout of hardware, and with direct contact with representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Kiev was ready to work out the issues of deploying peacekeepers to Donbass, with the Ukrainian mission in New York having been instructed to hold consultations with delegations in the UN Security Council. However, the ministry stressed that Ukraine would not accept the presence of Russians in the peacekeeping mission, as well as talks on the issue with Donbass representatives.

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Pete John on Twitter
September 5, 2017 23:00 UTC

“There will be no UN peacekeepers in #Donbass, only Russian peacekeepers
which citizens will gladly welcome to LDNR.”

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[Unfriendly Report:] Russia’s Peacekeeping Proposal in Ukraine Rings Hollow / Stratfor WorldView / September 5, 2017 / For nearly three years, Kiev has been trying to get U.N. peacekeepers sent to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, but now the suggestion is coming from Moscow. During a Sept. 5 press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed that the U.N. Security Council deploy peacekeepers to the front lines of the conflict, which would “benefit the resolution of problems in southeast Ukraine.” The timing of the statement indicates that Russia could file a resolution during the upcoming U.N. General Assembly session, which begins Sept. 12. But the proposal should be seen more as an attempt to ease pressure from the West — and particularly Washington — than a sincere commitment to ending the conflict. Ukraine, for its part, already suspects that Moscow is more interested in gaining leverage with the West than reaching a settlement in Donbas — especially since Putin’s proposal is much more limited than any Kiev has put forth. It would not grant the United Nations access to Donbas proper or the separatist territories’ border with Russia, limiting the ability to monitor or disrupt the flow of weapons and personnel. Ukraine’s deputy head of parliament, Iryna Gerashchenko, said that, “In the best traditions of hybrid war, Putin is turning everything upside down by trying to distort the idea of Ukrainian leadership regarding peacekeepers in the Donbas.” But many Western countries will be taking Putin’s proposal seriously, and Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has taken steps to try to shape any peacekeeping missions, stipulating that they not include Russian military personnel or require permission from the separatist territories, which Kiev does not recognize. Already, Germany — a key mediator who has called on Russia and Ukraine to do more to resolve the conflict — has expressed approval for Putin’s proposed plan. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that, “By proposing to deploy peacekeepers to Ukraine, Russia has changed its policy towards Ukraine. We should not miss this moment.” He went further, suggesting that, “If things work out well with the blue helmets, this would be the first step for removing sanctions against Russia.” However, it’s the U.S. reaction that Russia is watching closest for. Despite President Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric about forging closer ties with Russia, Washington has maintained a fairly hawkish position on Moscow than the Europeans, particularly where the Ukraine conflict is concerned. Washington has continued to call on Moscow to abide by the Minsk protocols, and it’s maintained support for Kiev in political and security matters. More recently, the passing of a Congress-led sanctions bill against Moscow illustrated the institutional constraints that the U.S. president faces when it comes to Russia. Regardless of Trump’s desires, the United States and Russia are increasingly at odds. In the past few months, Moscow and Washington have engaged in a series of tit-for-tat moves like diplomat expulsions and compound seizures, with Russia warning that it would respond in an “asymmetric” fashion. Meanwhile, U.S. officials have floated the possibility of sending lethal weapons to Ukraine, which would escalate the conflict but could also serve as a deterrent for Russia. When Putin weighed in on the lethal weapons issue on Sept. 5, however, he said that the move could not only lead to more casualties, but also spur weapons deployments to “other conflict zones where it will be painful” for those who give the separatists “trouble.” So within this context, Putin’s peacekeeping proposal can be seen as an effort to convince the United States and the West that Russia is committed to limiting violence in the Ukraine conflict. Though it continues to play a spoiler role in Washington’s North Korea and Syria agendas, Moscow wants to prove its ability to make considered, constructive decisions. That image may make some of Ukraine’s Western backers, such as Germany, more likely to embrace the Kremlin’s efforts. And by indicating a desire for de-escalation, Russia could have more breathing room in its talks with the United States. As Russia’s March 2018 presidential election approaches, Putin is unlikely to grant any major concessions that could damage his popularity among his people. And the limited scope of Russia’s peacekeeping proposal almost guarantees that there will be little strategic change to the Ukraine conflict in the near term. But more than anything, Putin’s proposal is intended to splinter Western countries’ unified position on Russia and give Moscow more room to maneuver in its relationships. During the upcoming U.N. General Assembly session, it will be key to see just how successful those efforts will be, and just how much Western pressure Russia can ease. [Source: worldview.stratfor.com/article/russias-peacekeeping-proposal-ukraine-rings-hollow]

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Sunday September 3, 2017
(Brief Update)

Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 09/03/2017 / DONi News / September 3, 2017 / Since the beginning of the academic ceasefire not having come into force, there is a threatening tendency to increase the number of ceasefire violations by the Ukrainian side. Over the past 24 hours, altogether, there were registered 29 ceasefire violations on the part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). In the Donetsk direction, the enemy applied tanks, mortars, IFVs, armored vehicles and small arms. One tank-shell, 18 mortar-shells of 120mm caliber and seven mortar-shells of 82mm caliber were launched on the territories of ten localities and their nearby areas. In the Mariupol and Gorlovka directions, the enemy launched five mortar-shells of 82mm caliber on one locality and shelled four localities more with grenade launchers and small arms. The falsity of “ATO” headquarters statements about strict control over compliance with the ceasefire was reaffirmed by the commanders of the 72nd separate mechanized brigade and the 57th separate motorized infantry brigade, war criminals SOKOLOV and KRASILNIKOV. Over the past day, the greatest number of shellings unfortunately having become traditional was detected in their areas of responsibility. This is YASINOVATNAYA, YAKOVLEVKA, CIRCULAR BULK, VASILYEVKA, SPARTAK, ZHABICHEVO, as well as the territory of Donetsk airport. In confirmation of the words of the leadership of the Ukrainian side in the JCCC, I would like to see the measures taken by it to stop the fire from units subordinate to these commanders. As of today, as a result of the Ukrainian military leadership’s inaction, we are witnessing a gradual increase in the AFU activity in these areas. As it happened more than once, this will lead to the resumption of massive shelling by the enemy with the use of heavy weapons along the entire line of contact. Moreover, in confirmation of the above, today from 4 to 8 am the Ukrainian military conducted systematic bombardment of KOMINTERNOVO and BEZYMENNOY settlements in the south of the Republic. At the same time, the enemy used artillery of 152-mm caliber, tanks, mortars of 120mm and 82 mm caliber, IFVs, as well as grenade launchers and heavy machine guns. An observation post of the JCCC in the settlement of Bezymennoye came under fire on the part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine again. Representatives at the Joint Center from the Russian and Ukrainian sides for their own security had to descend into the shelter twice. They also felt the Ukrainian regime of “non-cease-fire”. Our control groups confirmed, together with the JCCC, the maintenance of the “silence” regime by the units of the People’s Militia, despite the continuing provocations of the enemy. —Vice-Commander of the DPR People’s Militia, Colonel Eduard Basurin official translation by DONi News Agency

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Ukrainian snipers intensify their activities on the contact line / DONi News / September 3, 2017 / On the contact line in Donbass, sniper groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) intensified their activities, an official representative of the LPR People’s Militia Andrei Marochko states this at a briefing. “On the back of a decrease in the number of bombardments, the number of provocations remains unchanged, and in several districts the enemy has stepped up the activities of snipers,” said Marochko. He added that the Ukrainian military provoked the LPR units to violate the ceasefire in the Stanitsa Luganskaya area, where according to the Minsk agreements, disengagement of forces and facilities of the parties to the conflict has been planned. “The LPR People’s Militia is ready to peacefully resolve the conflict in Donbass. We do not react to provocations of the Ukrainian side and strictly observe the Minsk agreements, that is confirmed in the OSCE SMM reports,” added the LPR Official representative.

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Click to enlarge.

Essence of Time unit in Donbass report. September 3 / Essence of Time / September 3, 2017 / As of 10 PM, combat was underway in the north of Gorlovka. The Ukrainian had been using tanks and mortars in the area of Zaytsevo and the “Mayorsk” checkpoint. On the Mariupol direction, the Ukrainian side heavily shelled the village of Bezymennoye. The observation post of the Joint Centre for Ceasefire Control and Coordination came under fire. There is no information on the victims among civilians. During September 2, the Ukrainian army violated the ceasefire 29 times. The enemy shelled 10 towns and villages of the Donetsk People’s Republic.

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Merkel, Putin, Berlin, October 2016 (–Daily Express)

Merkel: Europe should do everything possible to improve security dialogue with Russia / TASS / September 2, 2017 / BERLIN / European countries should undertake efforts to bring to normal the dialogue with the Russian Federation on security issues, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement published on the government’s website on Saturday. “The security architecture in Europe may be structured only with Russia,” the chancellor said. “In the sphere of security in Europe, we should do everything to improve our contacts.” This dialogue should be developed, she said, also depending on fulfilment of the Minsk agreements on settlement of the situation in Ukraine. “If this is possible, we would have an initial point to have a bigger and more intensive dialogue,” she added. At the same time, the German leader pointed to the necessary observing of international agreements on disarmament. “All agreements on disarmament, including those between the U.S. and Russia, should be observed, or new problems may be possible,” she said.

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Over one hundred schools in DPR couldn’t open on September 1 / Essence of Time / September 3, 2017 / Over one hundred schools couldn’t open in the Donetsk People’s Republic on Knowledge Day on September 1, said Larisa Poliakova, Minister of Education and Science of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Donetsk News Agency reports. “Today, 111 schools could not open due to their proximity to the demarcation line or because they have not been restored”, Larisa Poliakova said. According to the Minister, all students from these schools were reassigned to other schools and went to study. More than 500 schools opened for 142 thousand students in the Donetsk People’s Republic on September 1. A ceasefire agreement that was unofficially called “school truce” entered into force from 00.00 on August 25. The agreement was reached by the participants of the tripartite contact group during the meeting in Minsk on August 23 and was timed to coincide with the start of studies at schools. The Normandy Quartet leaders supported the reached agreement. However, Kiev once again violated the agreement just several hours after it was enacted. –Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency

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DPR Head opens new Republican university – Donbass Agricultural Academy / DONi News / Translated from Alexander Zakharchenko Official Website / September 3, 2017 / The Donbass Agrarian Academy, the first higher educational agricultural institution in the region, opened its doors for the first students in Makeyevka on September 1. The DonAgrA was founded on the initiative of the Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic with a view to provide agro-industrial enterprises with highly qualified specialists. Alexander Zakharchenko, Deputy Chairman of the Ministers’ Council Dmitry Trapeznikov, Minister of Education and Science Larisa Polyakova, heads of departments and representatives of the Makeyevka city administration visited the Academy on the Day of the First Bell. At the moment, the Academy is at the first stage of its development: two campuses with laboratory rooms and classrooms have been made ready. Computers and modern specialized literature have been purchased for the university by the order of the Head of State. Plans call for the development and expansion of the academy, the launch of a full cycle of agricultural specialists’ training from school up to the Master’s. One of the main principles of the Academy’s work will be full-fledged cooperation with specialized research institutes on the one hand and agricultural enterprises on the other. To date, the university has accepted about 400 students who would be trained in several specialties: Gardening, Agronomy, Agrochemistry and Agropsychology, Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnology. Local scientists and specialists from the near abroad will be involved in teaching at the university. The Head of the Republic noted that the Academy’s opening had . . . READ MORE>>

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The Plot to Scapegoat Russia / By Hugo Turner / Anti-Imperialist U / July 22, 2017 / We live in dangerous times. A panic has gripped the American media over Russia. Anyone daring to question the anti-Russian hysteria is risking their careers and reputation. Thus Daniel Kovalik is a heroic man simply for writing his book “The Plot to Scapegoat Russia.” However the media seem oblivious of the dangerous situation they are creating by pushing the US towards a war with Russia which has the potential to end life on the planet with a push of a button. Kovalik is best known for his work on the dirty war in Colombia has described the insanity of that war in which the US has armed and trained drug dealing death squads (and their sponsors in Colombia’s corrupt drug dealing political and military elite) all in the name of fighting drugs.Needless to say this policy has predictably resulted in a massive 300% increase in the amount of Cocaine arriving in the US from Colombia while also causing untold misery to the people of Colombia where 100,000 have been killed and 9 million refugees have been created as part of a massive land theft. Naturally this “Plan Colombia” has been hailed as a massive success in America. Kovalik’s book is full of stories like this from america’s recent history. Chances are you will be extremely shocked to discover what he reveals. His book is about far more then Russia. He writes in the hopes of reminding us what many seem to forget. The American empire is far more dangerous to the world then Russia. Kovalik’s book is also a personal account of his own political awakening. Like many americans he was raised on a steady diet of cold war mythology. The belief that America is a “global force for good” is drummed into it’s citizens heads not only by the propaganda that masquerades as news and history but also in the entertainment we consume the movies, tv, books. Equally the idea that Russians are the villains has become an article of faith in much of the world after 100 years of cold war propaganda which began in 1917 with the original “red scare”. Of course Russophobia began centuries before that justified on racist (they were asiatic), and religious grounds (Both Protestants and Catholics hated the Orthodox church) and motivated by Russia and Britain’s imperial rivalry. The point is after centuries of demonization it is easy for westerners to see Russians as inherently evil and bent on world domination. An objective view of 20th/21st century history shows that they were mostly . . . READ MORE>>

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U.S. orders closure of Russian Consulate in San Francisco / NewColdWar.org (from rt.com) / September 2, 2017 / The Russian Consulate in San Francisco, as well as two annex buildings in Washington and New York, will have to close by September 2, the U.S. State Department announced in response to Moscow ordering the U.S. to reduce its diplomatic personnel in Russia. “We are requiring the Russian Government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and a consular annex in New York City,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Thursday, August 31. Stating that the measure comes “in the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians,” the U.S. State Department said that now both countries will have three consulates each. [The United States has three consular offices in Russia: in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok. Russia now has three consular offices in the U.S.: in Seattle, Houston and New York.] The decision was made by President Donald Trump personally, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters in Washington on Thursday afternoon. “We want to halt the downward spiral and we want to move forward towards better relations, we look for opportunities to do that, but we also want to have equity in the decisions… We’re also going to make sure that we make decisions that are best for our country,” Sanders told reporters. Russia will still have more diplomatic and consular annexes than the U.S., a senior administration official told reporters earlier in a telephone briefing. The closures will not lead to Russian diplomats being . . . READ MORE>>

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Make no mistake, the latest US thuggery is a sign of weakness, not strength / By The Saker / TheSaker.is / September 3, 2017 / For a while already the Russian diplomats have been openly saying that their American counterparts are недоговороспособны or “non-agreement capable”. This all began under Obama, when Kerry flew to meet with Lavrov and declared ‘A’, then flew back to Washington, DC and declared ‘B’. Then there were the cases in Syria when the US agreed to a deal only to break that very same deal in less than 24 hours. That’s when the Russians openly began to say that their US colleagues are rank amateurs who lack even the basic professionalism to get anything done. Now the US has slipped even lower: the Russians speak of US “hellish buffoonery” and “stupid thuggery”. Wow! For the normally hyper-diplomatic Russians, this kind of language is absolutely unheard of, this has never ever happened before. You could say that the Russians are naive, but they believe that their diplomats should always be, well, diplomatic, and that public expressions of disgust is just not something a diplomat does. Even more telling is rather than call the Americans “evil” or “devious”, they openly express their total contempt for them, calling them stupid, incompetent, uneducated and their actions unlawful (read Maria Zakharova’s statement to that effect on Facebook). So let me explain what is happening here how the Russians interpreted the latest US thuggery concerning the Russian Consulate in San Francisco and the Russian diplomatic annexes in Washington and New York. First, the Russians fully expected the Americans to retaliate after the Russian expulsion of US diplomatic personnel in Russia. That, by itself, is not the problem. The Russians understand that Trump is a cornered and weak President, that he has to show how “tough” he is. Sure, they smile, but they think that this is ‘fair game’. The Russians also know that, as a country, the USA cannot accept the biggest reduction in US diplomatic personnel in history without reacting. Again, they don’t necessarily like it, but they think that this is ‘fair game’. You know what really triggered the Russians off? The fact that the Americans gave them only 2 days to vacate the premises they would seize and that they organized some kind of bizarre search operation. Let me immediately explain that this is not a case of . . . READ MORE>>

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