DPR envoy doubts date of Donbass local elections can be named soon

It is possible to coordinate with Kiev the issue of holding elections in Donbass but too early to speak of dates.

MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. Coordination of local elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics (DPR and LPR) with Kiev is possible but it is premature to name any concrete dates for now, DPR’s envoy to the Contact Group Denis Pushilin said on Tuesday.

"There is theoretically a chance to coordinate with Kiev the issue of holding elections in Donbass but we cannot yet talk about any dates," Donetsk News Agency quoted Pushilin as saying. "Ukraine’s position is manifested in dragging the process, and this is openly admitted by Ayvazovskaya (Ukraine’s expert in the Contact Group’s political subgroup Olga Ayvazovskaya)," he added.

Pushilin stressed that DPR is not interested in "elections for the sake of elections." Voting in Donbass should adhere to the Package of measures on the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, he noted. "We now have a task set by the head of the republic to hold primaries, it will be a kind of training. If you compare with military events, we did not have any time for drills - the war started right away. In the political sphere, we have time to hold such drills," he concluded.

DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko said earlier that primaries will be held in all districts of Donetsk in September-October 2016. If they prove to be successful, primaries will also be organized in other cities and towns. The DPR head also noted that local elections may take place at the end of 2016 or the first half of 2017.

 
Source: ITAR-TASS 31-05-2016

Donbass militia source says Ukraine's forces shelling causes fire at DPR plant

The source says storage tanks near a stone dust plant caught fire as a result of the night shelling of a village near Donetsk.

MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces’ shelling attack has caused a fire at a plant in Dokuchayevsk, located 20 km south of Donetsk, a source in law enforcement agencies of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) told the Donetsk News Agency on Monday.

"Storage tanks in the territory of a stone dust plant caught fire as a result of the night shelling of Dokuchayevsk," the source said, without specifying information about possible casualties.

The DPR Defense Ministry reported earlier that the Ukrainian security forces opened fire on Dokuchayevsk on the night to May 30 using heavy artillery. In addition, 230 shells were fired from mortars by the Ukrainian side overnight on the DPR areas are adjacent to the contact line.

"A total of 126 mortar shells of 82-mm caliber and 104 mortar shells of 120-mm caliber were fired from the Ukrainian forces’ positions in the period from 18:30 to midnight. The shelling attack of the Ukrainian battalions was aimed at the Spartak, Veseloye, Kominternovo, Kulikovo, Oktyabr, Yasmoye, Zaitsevo, Sakhanka, Dokuchayevsk, Yasinovataya localities, as well as the environs of the airport and Gagarin mine outside Gorlovka", the source said.

Members of the Contact Group on settling the situation in east Ukraine agreed on observing Easter ceasefire starting from April 30. However, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics (DPR and LPR) and Kiev forces continue accusing each other of violating the ceasefire regime in Donbass.

 
Source: ITAR-TASS 30-05-2016

Ukrainian army shells Donetsk Republic with over 200 mines over night

A source in the DPR Defense Ministry said that "the Ukrainian side shelled the airport, the villages of Spartak, Zhabichevo and Vesyoloye, the Yasinovataya checkpoint and Dokuchayevsk"

MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. The pro-Kiev forces have shelled the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) with over 200 mines in the past twenty-four hours, a source in the DPR Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

From Saturday evening to the early hours of Sunday, "the Ukrainian side shelled the airport, the villages of Spartak, Zhabichevo and Vesyoloye, the Yasinovataya checkpoint and Dokuchayevsk. Overall, 140 mines of the 120 mm caliber and 64 mines of the 82 mm caliber were launched from the enemy positions," the Donetsk News Agency quoted the source as saying.

The Ukrainian military also used tank guns for shelling, the source said.

The participants in the Contact Group on the political settlement in east Ukraine agreed at their meeting in Minsk on April 29 on a new ceasefire regime starting from midnight on April 30. However, the conflicting sides continue accusing each other of truce breaches.

Source: ITAR-TASS 29-05-2016

Putin says Russia will indulge in no discussion on ceding Crimea back to Ukraine

It was a historic decision of people living in Crimea," Russian President said.

ATHENS, May 27. /TASS/. Russia will indulge in no discussion with anyone on ceding Crimea back to Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

"As for Crimea, we think this issue closed once and for all. It was a historic decision of people living in Crimea," he said at a news conference after his talks with the Greek leaders.

"Russia will indulge in no discussions with anyone on that matter," Putin stressed. "So, let us stop raising this matter over and over again."

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deals March 18, 2014.

For incorporation of Crimea after the coup, Russia came under sanctions on the part of the United States and many European countries.

 

Source: ITAR-TASS 28-05-2016

OSCE observers arrive in Yasinovataya where Kiev forces reportedly attacked DPR

The group will examine the area and record the consequences of the ceasefire regime violation.

MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. A group of observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine and Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) of the ceasefire regime in Ukraine’s south-eastern Donbass region have arrived to conduct an inspection at the site where the Ukrainian security forces on Thursday reportedly made an attempt to break through the positions of the units of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the Donetsk News Agency reported on Friday.

"The JCCC delegation is headed by Major General Igor Mishutkin, and the OSCE group - by Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission Alexander Hug. The observers are accompanied by representatives of the DPR Defense Ministry", the report says.

The group will examine the area and record the consequences of the ceasefire regime violation.

On Thursday, DPR defense spokesman Eduard Basurin said that the Ukraine forces made an attempt at about noon on May 26 to outflank the DPR positions in the area of the Yasinovataya checkpoint (on the Donetsk-Gorlovka highway) and approach the Yasinovataya fork from the other side. The attack was repelled. As a result of the armed clash, six Ukrainian military and two DPR soldiers were killed.

According to Basurin, as a result of another criminal order of the Ukrainian military-political leadership, the 58th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the DPR positions in the area of the Avdeyevka industrial zone. Six killed military servicemen and about 10 wounded are upon the conscience of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ command, he said on Thursday.

DPR sources reported earlier that the Ukrainian forces again opened fire overnight on the territory of the republic, including from mortars. The northern suburb of Donetsk and the Yasinovataya checkpoint on the Donetsk-Gorlovka highway came under fire.

 
Source: ITAR-TASS 27-05-2016