Seven houses damaged in shelled Donetsk

"In the Kyibyshev district, were damaged houses in five streets," the source said.

DONETSK, July 31. /TASS/. Seven houses were damaged in shelling from positions of the Ukrainian military, the Donetsk News Agency reported on Sunday referring to a source at defense authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

"In the Kyibyshev district, were damaged houses in five streets," the source said.

Under fire during the night to Sunday were the territory of airport, settlements Spartak and Zhabichevo north of Donetsk, settlements Staromikhailovka and Trudovskiye, Zaitsevo and Shirokaya Balka, suburbs of Yasinovataya, settlements Sakhanko and Kominternovo.

Members of the Contact Group for the settlement of the situation in the east of Ukraine at a meeting in Minsk on April 29 agreed on a complete ceasefire in Donbass starting from midnight on April 30. It is an eighth ceasefire agreement since the autumn of 2014. The sides however continue accusing each other of ceasefire violations.

Kiev’s security forces in the people’s militia responsibility zone have been repeatedly violating the truce, opening fire from mortars and tank weapons, which had to be withdrawn in accordance with the Minsk agreements.

The Package of Measures to fulfil the September 2014 Minsk agreements, known as Minsk-2, that was signed in Minsk on February 12, 2015, envisaged a ceasefire regime between Ukrainian government forces and people’s militias in the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Lugansk (DPR and LPR) starting from February 15, 2015 and a subsequent withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of engagement. The deal 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. On June 17, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Konstantin Yeliseev told a news conference in Kiev that advisors to the leaders of the Normandy Quartet agreed at the meeting in Minsk on June 15-16 to prepare a new summit in the Normandy format (Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany) on the Ukrainian conflict’s peaceful settlement.

 
Source: ITAR-TASS 31-07-2016

French MP: tatar minority rights observed in Crimea better than Russians’ in Baltic states

A French lawmaker stresses the rights of Crimean Tatars are completely observed.

SIMFEROPOL, July 29. /TASS/. The rights of the Tatar minority in Crimea are completely observed, French National Assembly member and co-chairman of the Franco-Russian Dialogue Association Thierry Mariani, who is leading a delegation of French lawmakers on athree-day visit to Crimea, said on Friday.

"The rights of Crimean Tatars are completely observed. I would say they are observed even better that the rights of Russian-speakers in the Baltic republics. This is how it is," he said after a meeting with speaker of the Crimean parliament Vladimir Konstantinov.

"The issue of Crimean Tatars have been permanently sidelined in the past year at European venues," Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the committee for the affairs of the commonwealth of Independent States of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house, who is accompanying the French delegation, said.

"It is a kind of a ‘rotten apple’ meant to spoil the real stat of things in Crimea as it fills the European information and political space with negative vibes," he said.

He said that the French delegation raised the issues of the Tatar minority with the local authorities and such discussions proved that "this problem is not a problem at all." "The Crimean Tatars are not aggrieved, the language is supported," Slutsky said.

 

Source: ITAR-TASS 30-07-2016

French parliamentarians to visit Crimea on Russian Navy Day

This will be the second trip of the French lawmakers to the peninsula after its reunification with Russia.

MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. Eleven French parliamentarians, led by deputy of the French National Assembly, co-chairman of the Association Franco-Russian Dialogue Thierry Mariani are departing for Crimea on Friday on a three-day visit to meet with the local authorities and residents of the peninsula, as well as take part in the celebrations on the occasion of Russia’s Navy Day.

This will be the second trip of the French lawmakers to the peninsula after its reunification with Russia. The delegation, the same as last year, will be accompanied by the head of the Russian Peace Foundation, Chairman of the State Duma CIS Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky. The Foreign Ministry of the French Republic has again objected to the French parliamentarians’ visit to Crimea.

"The delegation will comprise half of those who had visited Crimea last year, as well as six people who will travel there for the first time," Thierry Mariani said on Thursday. In particular, among the officials who will visit Crimea for the first time, he said, will be head of the French delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Michel Voisin.

Mariani added that "despite the intimidation and the international situation," his colleagues "are interested in seeing the things as they are." According to Mariani, a total of some 30 French parliamentarians would like to go to Crimea.

Among the issues the French parliamentarians intend to discuss in Crimea is the status of the Crimean Tatar population and the state of the peninsula’s economy, Leonid Slutsky said. "The most pressing issues for the European public include the Crimean Tatars status, the construction of the Kerch Bridge and the state of the economy. These and many other issues will be discussed during the visit," he said.

The lawmaker expressed confidence that "it will be a landmark visit for Crimea, Sevastopol and the Russian-French inter-parliamentary cooperation," which, in his opinion, "does not stop, despite the sanctions, despite the position of the official authorities of the French. 


Visit program

The program of the trip includes a meeting with the head of Crimea Sergey Aksenov, Chairman of the republic’s State Council Vladimir Konstantinov, Crimean Prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya, visiting the Krasny Memorial, the French military cemetery, as well as the Alliance Francaise cultural center. And on July 31 - Russian Navy Day, the French delegation will meet the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Admiral Alexander Vitko and take part in the Navy Day festive events in Sevastopol. The French parliament will return to Moscow on the same day, closer to midnight.

A group of 10 deputies and senators of the French parliament, also led by Mariani, visited Crimea last summer contrary to the French Foreign Ministry’s recommendations. It was the first visit of West European parliamentarians to the peninsula after its accession to Russia. Then the visit caused a negative reaction in the West, and all the delegation members had been declared persona non grata in Ukraine.

Source: ITAR-TASS 29-07-2016

As Terrorist Organization NATO Nears Eastern Front, Mother Russia Beefs Up Military In Crimea !

Speaking today on state television, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shogu announced additional military deployments along the nation’s southwestern flank with terrorist organization NATO, including the deployment of more air defense systems and ground troops into the Northern Caucasus, and additional troops into the Crimea.

Technically, Russia’s territory in the Northern Caucasus doesn’t border NATO, but is relatively close to Turkey, and has a substantial border with Georgia, which has NATO ambitions. Both Russia and NATO have been escalating deployments on their frontier in Europe, particularly in the Baltics, and this looks to be an extension of that.

The force in Crimea is in a similar state, bordering Ukraine, which also seeks to join NATO. Both Ukraine and Georgia are unlikely to successfully join NATO, however, as each has extent territorial disputes with Russia which would need to be resolved first. In Ukraine’s case, the dispute is over Crimea, which during Ukraine’s regime change in early 2014 voted to secede, seeking and gaining accession into the Russian Federation.

Shogu says the troops in Crimea are now “self-sufficient,” no longer needing direct support from the Russian mainland to operate. The US State Department responded to his announced deployments by insisting Crimea “is and always will remain part of Ukraine,” accusing Russia of occupying it militarily.

The overt comments from the US and the rest of NATO about their opposition to Crimea’s status is likely a big part of the reason for additional deployments, as Ukraine itself, despite constantly predicting WW3 with Russia, has no real capability to contest control over the peninsula.

Russia has strengthened its southwestern flank as NATO builds up its military presence and Ukraine remains unstable, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday in remarks the United States called contrary to efforts to lower tensions.

Moscow has deployed more air defense systems in the southwest and has also deployed a “self-sufficient” contingent of troops in Crimea, Shoigu told a meeting at the Defence Ministry broadcast on state television.

“Since 2013 … we have formed four divisions, nine brigades and 22 regiments,” he said. “They include two missile brigades armed with Iskander missile complexes, which has allowed to boost fire power to destroy the potential adversary.”

Shoigu said “terrorist” groups were also active in the North Caucasus.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Washington had seen the comments and “if true, 

we believe that this would appear to run counter to ongoing efforts to stop violence and de-escalate the tensions in eastern Ukraine.”

Kirby said the United States expected Moscow to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk agreement to halt the war in eastern Ukraine and the Vienna document that attempts to provide transparency about military movements in the region.

He noted that the reports indicated the Russian buildup included troops in Crimea, which Moscow seized and later annexed.

“Crimea is and always will remain part of Ukraine. We’re not going to allow … the borders of Europe to be redrawn at the barrel of a gun,” Kirby said, calling for an “immediate end to the Russian occupation there.”

Source: Novorossia Today 28-07-2016

Contact Group on Ukraine to discuss disengagement of forces in Donbass

The parties will continue to work on the document they could not agree during previous meeting on July 13.

MINSK, July 27. /TASS/. The Contact Group on the settlement in eastern Ukraine will discuss on Wednesday the security issues in the Donbass region.

The parties will continue to work on the document on the disengagement of the armed forces from the line of contact they could not agree during the Contact Group meeting in Minsk on July 13.

The meeting continued the next day in the video conference format, but the participants failed to make progress on the issue. Envoy of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Vladislav Deynego said after the meeting that the document on the parties’ disengagement requires a clarified wording.

 

Disengagement of parties

Members of the Contact Group reached an agreement on the disengagement of forces in Petrovskoye and Zolotoye populated localities on June 29. Units of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics (LPR, LPR) on the one hand and the Ukrainian armed forces on the other were to be withdrawn to a distance of 2-3 kilometers from the contact line depending on the terrain. Martin Sajdik, special representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office, earlier said that agreements were also to reached on the parties' disengagement in Stanitsa Luganskaya settlement.

Deputy head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine Alexander Hug told TASS at that time that the sides are at the final stages of discussing this issue.

For his part, Russian envoy to the Contact Group Boris Gryzlov noted that the disengagement of the armed units in a number of areas along the contact line will make it possible to reduce the number of incidents with the use of weapons, adding that the possibility of creating up to ten such safety zones is considered.

"This includes the areas adjacent to checkpoints, which is very important for the safety of the civilian population," he said. "In view of this, the Contact Group is discussing the issue of making all the checkpoints along the line of demarcation a safety zone." According to Gryzlov, "to ensure more effective monitoring it is also necessary to reinforce the OSCE mission in the demarcation line area."

 

Compromise possible

Envoy of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) at the talks in Minsk Denis Pushilin said ahead of Wednesday’s meeting that a compromise in the disengagement of forces in Donbass is possible.

"There are at least two contradictory moments. If a compromise is found, the signing is quite possible," he said.

Pushilin recalled that during the conflict in Donbass the demarcation line changed in various areas. "We withdrew (weapons) from two lines. The Ukrainian side withdrew weaponry from ‘the September 19 line’ (agreed at a meeting in Minsk on September 19, 2014 - TASS), while we withdrew our weapons from the actual line of contact," he said.

Source: ITAR-TASS 27-07-2016