Donbass militia leader accuses Kiev of attempt on his life

DPR leader Zakharchenko says Ukraine’s Security Service is behind Thursday’s abortive attempt on his life, adding he plans to initiate a criminal case against President Poroshenko.

MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/. Prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko said on Friday Ukraine’s Security Service was behind Thursday’s abortive attempt on his life.

He said the attempt had been plotted by "Ukraine’s Security Service officers," the Donetsk News Agency quoted him as saying.

"I will ask the DPR ministry of state security and prosecutor general’s office to open a criminal case against Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. All who are responsible for unleashing a war in Donbass should get what they deserve," he said.

Zakharchenko also said he will initiate opening criminal cases against secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Alexander Turchinov and former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

 
Source: ITAR-TASS 30-04-2016

Moscow fears repetition of Odessa May 2, 2014 clashes - Dolgov

The tragedy at the Odessa House of Trade Unions occurred on May 2, 2014

MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/. Moscow has questions why the neo-Nazis of the Azov battalion have entered Odessa on the eve of the anniversary of the May 2 tragedy at the House of Trade Unions, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Konstantin Dolgov said on Thursday.

"The neo-Nazi battalion Azov has been moved into Odessa. It’s another provocation of the authorities on the eve of the tragic anniversary of May 2. Do they want to repeat the crime? Dolgov said. "All this is happening against the background of Kiev’s odious unwillingness to objectively investigate the Odessa massacre and punish the real perpetrators. And the West keeps silent as usual."

The tragedy at the Odessa House of Trade Unions occurred on May 2, 2014. A sign-up campaign in support of a referendum turned into clashes between nationalist activists of the Right Sector (an organization banned in Russia) and the Maidan self-defense groups on the one side and federalization supporters on the other side. The clashes resulted in the local House of Trade Unions being set on fire. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, some 250 people were injured in the tragedy while 48 lost their lives.

 
Source: ITAR-TASS 29-04-2016

French National Assembly Backs Resolution to Lift Anti-Russia Sanctions

French National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament, voted in favor of a resolution calling for lifting of anti-Russian sanctions, a Sputnik correspondent reported Thursday.

The resolution proposed by the opposition calls on the French government to protest extension of EU sanctions against Moscow.

A total of 101 lawmakers took part in the vote, with 55 voting in favor of the resolution. 

"It is a miracle and a great victory," Nicolas Dhuicq, a member of the French National Assembly's Defense Commission, told Sputnik.

Relations between Russia and the West deteriorated amid the 2014 crisis in Ukraine. The European Union, the United States and their allies have introduced several rounds of anti-Russian sanctions since the reunification of Crimea with Russia in 2014, accusing Moscow of meddling in the Ukrainian conflict, a claim Russian authorities have repeatedly denied.

Washington and Brussels imposed sanctions against Russian individuals and the Russian defense, energy and banking sectors in July 2014. Russia responded by introducing a year-long food embargo on imports from the United States, the European Union and other countries that targeted Russia, subsequently extending the current embargo until August 5, 2016.

The EU leaders summit is scheduled for June 28-29. Extending the EU economic sanctions against Russia, which are due to expire in July, is likely to be on the summit's agenda.

Source: Sputnik News 28-04-2016

Moscow sees only way to resolve Ukraine conflict in making Kiev implement Minsk-2

MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. The only way to resolve the conflict in Ukraine is to make Kiev fulfill its commitments in the framework of the Minsk Agreements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"It is necessary to eliminate the source of tension in international affairs - the crisis in Ukraine," Lavrov said at the 5th Moscow International Security Conference. "The only way is to make Kiev authorities fulfill its commitments in the framework of the Minsk Agreements," he added.

Source: ITAR-TASS 27-04-2016

Moscow Thwarts Right Sector's Attempt to Orchestrate Coup d'Etat in Russia

The Ukrainian extremist group attempted to instigate mass unrest in Russia which would lead to a coup d’état, according to the Russian prosecutor general.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Supporters of Ukraine’s Right Sector made attempts to organize mass chaos in order to instigate a coup d’état in Russia, according a report by Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika released Tuesday.

“Access to the pages of the social network VKontakte were blocked that were being used by the Ukrainian Right Sector nationalistic group to make attempts to organize mass unrest and unsanctioned public protests with the 

goal of instigating a coup d’état in the Russian Federation,” the report reads.

The nationalist group gained notoriety for numerous atrocities such as burning alive and finishing 48 people in Odessa. Its militants have participated in the Donbass conflict, attacked striking coal miners, detained probable witnesses of their crimes in a pit and threatened to undermine the Minsk agreements. The group was outlawed in Russia in January 2015.

Source: Sputnik News 26-04-2016