Ukraine news/Current

16 Apr. Prisoners exchange took place today. It is reported that eventually 10 people returned to DPR (and one declined) in exchange for 9 Ukrainians. 4 people were returned to LPR (3 more declined), in exchange for 11 Ukrainians. Further exchanges hoped for "after the quarantine." 15 Apr. Opolchenie: Throughout the day UAF conducts single, non-intensive shelling: Yasinovataya checkpoint, industrial zone, airport district, Spartak, Vasilyevka, Aleksandrovka, Staromikhailovka, mine settlement 6/7,Petrovskoe, Kominternovo (AGS, 82mm, 120 mm, small arms). Alexander Sidorenko is killed, 05/28/1998-15.04.2020

13 Apr. Second week of forest fires near Chernobyl: photos, aerials, video. Radiation measurement in Chernigov, some 70 km away, with wind blowing towards it, shows around 10 (and the range 7-14) microR/hour according to the video, which would be at the level of maximum acceptable radiation. Sucking in air by vacuum cleaner through a filter, to capture possible radioactive particles, shows about 11.6 microR/h, on the same video. Official measurements in the area are in the range 8-132 microR/h ( 100 nanoSv/h = 10 microR/h).

9 Apr. Opolchenie: at night and in the morning, Ukrainian forces shelled: Zhabichevo, Yasinovataya checkpoint (YaBP), Airport, Staromikhaylovka settlement (BMP-2, SPG, large caliber machine guns). In the afternoon, UAF fired on: north-west of Gorlovka, Shirokaya Balka, Michurino, 6/7, Staromikhaylovka. Damage to houses at addresses: Pervomaiskaya St., 50 (roof); Zhukovsky St., 41 (roof); Zhukovsky St., 42 (roof); Zhukovsky St., 43 (roof)), Gol'ma. (BMP, SPG, AGS, large caliber machine guns used). At the moment, the shelling of Gol'ma, YaBP, industrial zone continues. Fire intensity is low.

Miroslava Vorontsova is killed by Ukrainian fire in Shirokaya Balka while Ukrainian drone operated in the area; a young man Mikhail A. is wounded.

1 Apr. at about 7 pm Ukrainian forces fired on residential areas of the LPR. In Golubovskoye village, 4 Kochenkoko Street, Maria Volgina, 1940 DOB, was wounded and died the next day in the hospital of her wounds.

31 Mar. Ukrainian Rada adopted in the 2 reading a law allowing sale of land, insited upon by IMF. Factions of Zelensky, Poroshenko, Vakarchuk voted for the law, which is vigorously oppose by opposition as giving control to foreigners of Ukrainian most valuable asset; Ukrainian agricultural land is of prime quality but is considerably cheaper then in the West.

21 Mar. 15.10 A woman, 1976 DOB, is wounded by Ukrainian small arms fire in Trudovskaya minepit settlement  19:00 school n. 1 is damaged by Ukrainian RPG and AGS-17 fire; 19:25 a girl, 2020 DOB, is wounded by Ukrainian fire (while BMP-2, grenade launchers, and large caliber guns fire is reported). 28 OMBR is blamed for all 3 incidents.

14 Mar. Ukraine shelled Gorlovka; civilian couple, both 61, and their grandchild, 13, are wounded, houses are damaged 1, 2.

At 11:05 Ukrainian forces opened 82 mm mortars fire from the area of Slavnoe settlement towards Signalnoe settlement; as a result a civilian man received shrapnel wounds to the abdomen and was hospitalized in critical condition.

A man has died of his wounds in Dokuchaevsk central hospital

9 Mar. A civilian man is wounded by Ukrainian fire in Zaitsevo, near Gorlovka. He is hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the abdomen in critical condition. 8 Mar. Opolchenie: From about 20 hours and until now, Ukrainians are firing (BMP, mortars, grenade launchers): Spartak, airport, Volvo Center, Yasinovataya checkpoint.

7 Mar. An article appeared alleging that a young couple of chess players found dead in Moscow in suspicious circumstances could be killed, with a link to Ukraine. Stanislav Bogdanovich was born in Odessa and played on the Russian team against Ukraine. His name is said to appear on the notorious "Mirotvorets" site 2 days prior to his death. He and his Russian girlfriend, also a chess player, were found dead with bags of "laughing gas" (nitrous oxide) over heads, and injection marks on bodies but no injectors or needles.

6 Mar. According to CNN, US plans to provide $125 mln in new military assistance to Ukraine, including armed Mark VI patrol boats (apparently to make sure that the warfare between close peoples is unabating).

28 Feb. Civilian, 1960 DOB, is wounded by Ukrainian fire near Yelenovka (said to be in provocation designed to draw return fire).

23 Feb. Ukraine once again shelled Gorlovka, on the once shared Red Army day, showing once again its newly acquired nasty nature; several homes are damaged - detailed by Prihodko (Eng.)

20 Feb. Ukrainian nationalist attack busses carrying Ukrainians evacuated from China because of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak‎ while they are transported to quarantine.

18 Feb. Sharp deterioration of security situation is reported in LPR, including Bahmut motorway. Opolchenie sources tell this has to do with Ukrainians earlier capturing areas in grey areas in violations of the agreements.

Several homes in Zaitsevo, near Gorlovka are damaged by Ukrainian shelling.

Putin signed a decree relieving Vladislav Surkov of his duties as presidential aide.
 * Interview with Surkov, afterwards (Commenting on the interview Peskov denies change of course on Ukraine; while Strelkov comments on 'leaving the boat').

16 Feb. Semyon Pegov with some predictions on future of Surkov (apparently implying that he will remain, in some capacity).

15 Feb. Civilian man, 1959 DOB, is wounded by Ukrainian sniper fire in Trudovskaya minepit settlement. There was a problem evacuating the wounded man, ceasefire (in 'ceasefire') had to be requested over 5 times. Eventually the man was evacuated in critical condition.

14 Feb. Zelenskii-Putin phone call (Kremlin), (Zelenskii).

11 Feb. Peskov said that Ukrainian policies will be led by Kozak, while there is no presidential decree on Surkov yet (1, 2).

Zelenskii relieved of his duties his chief of administration Andrey Bogdan and appointed another man Ermak; reasons are unclear, some theories why here and here.

7 Feb. Four LPR soldiers were killed and 4 wounded by Ukrainian 122-mm artillery strike near Zolotoe, LPR. (Vladlen Tatarskii comments).

Lukashenko and Putin meet in Sochi; Lukashenko comments about 'moment of truth'. Relations and oil/gas sales to Belarus' are on agenda. Meeting was quite positive, despite fears of otherwise, but on practical side, things remained largely unchanged.

President Trump fires Alexander Vindman, the Ukrainian mole deemed traitor embedded in the White House. (Noted, neither Vindman, nor Democratic or Republicans leadership or the establishment objected in principle to military aid to Ukraine, prolonging and feeding the conflict).

5 Feb. Ukraine shelled Gorlovka, homes and a school used as bomb shelter are damaged, 6/7 Mine-pit settlement lost power (Prihodko updates 1, 2, 3, 4).

3 Feb. Despite the agreements Ukraine shelled Staromikhailovka (western suburb of Donetsk), 2 houses are damaged.

1 Feb. After visiting Ukraine to offer US backing, Pompeo visits Belarus, offers US oil, etc, as if trying to insert himself in a gap developed due to some disagreements between Belarus in Russia (on Russian oil price, future of the union state, etc). Belarus and USA do not have respective ambassadors for 12 years, and the last visit of a secretary of state was 26 years ago.

30 Jan. One LPR soldier is killed and two civilians are wounded by Ukrainian shelling. Several homes and electric power lines are damaged.

28 Jan. It is said that negotiations involving generals from Iraq, USA, Britain, Czechia and Ukrainian representatives took place in Kiev on 12-14 Jan. (soon after the Ukrainian plane shoot-down) on possible participation of a Ukrainian contingent in NATO  operations in Iraq/Middle East 1, 2.

24 Jan. Heavy shelling resumes in Donbass, including Donetsk suburbs, 208 mortar shells, 167 grenades, 300 BMP gun shells fired in the past week (1, 2, 3).

DPR ombudsman: One DPR soldier is killed and 2 wounded in the past week.

Peskov "did not confirm" rumors of Surkov resignation or of change of policies with respect to Ukraine. Those opinions were expressed by well-connected political scientist Alexey Chesnakov, quoting Surkov himself. In a similar vein is Ishchenko article -Minsk agreements are said to be dead.

23 Jan. Zelenskii, as the Poles, is a no-show in Israel on a made-up excuse, leaving it to Russia's Putin to mark 75's of Auschwitz.

22 Jan, DPR soldier is killed by Ukrainian fire on Dolomitnoe, northern Gorlovka. DPR says he is killed by sniper fire by arriving special operations sniper group armed with Barrett M82 12.7 mm sniper guns; calls one more time for OSCE to ensure that ceasefire is observed and violators punished.

It is said that Putin and Zelenskii may meet in Israel.

21 Jan. Impeachment trial of President Trump starts at the US Senate.

20 Jan. Aleksei "Green", deputy commander of "Piatnashka" Spetsnaz regiment of interior troops of DPR Ministry of Internal Affairs, and opolchenie member from the beginning, is killed in Donetsk. Blogger Donetsky comments and a linked video with Alexei's interview made in 2018 (he is deputy commander of "Piatnashka" battalion of the same regiment back then. "Piatnshka" commander "Abkhaz" recently led protest in Abkhazia which ended after Surkov's visit and Abkhazia leader Raul Khajimba resigning).



11 Jan. Iran acknowledged shooting down Ukrainian Boeing "due to human error". Ali Hajizadeh EngRus: air defense unit lost communication with higher command when it discovered a target 19 km away; it had only 10 s. to make a decision, and they made a bad one  (as translated). This all but excludes Tor-M1 missile engine on at impact (=impossible with description taken literally) and suggests that the NYT video is fake or misrepresented (missile with engine off will not be seen), or that details of Iranian version are not accurate.

Iranian-version map with partial Eng. explanation is at around 0:40 here, in RFE/RL article describing follow-up protests in Iran. Full video here, with details a bit confusing in Eng translation, but apparently launch is 12 km away horizontally (not 19 km, in print in the same source), on approaching courses. This makes things trickier, but still Tor M1 engine would be off, with a narrow margin. And doubtful somebody would be there to videorecord.

Ukraine published photos and claims that the lower part of the pilots' cabin was hit by a missile; SNBO head Danilov says it was discovered before the Iranian announcement and before Western countries started to publicize (the missile version), but was kept quiet to continue the investigation. It is also said that no distress communication calls were received (consistent with the cabin hit).

AP: New questions rise

10 Jan. Fars News made a preannouncement.

Ukr FM Pristaiko at his 30 min long fast-fire Ukr/Eng press conference gives no hints about the crash causes; confirms that intelligence info is received but provides no details.

Zelenskii conversed with Pompeo.

Zelenskii: The missile version is not ruled out, but it has not been confirmed yet. Iran: plane was on fire for 1.5 minutes. We estimate that it makes it on fire well before NYT video BC geolocation. However the 1.5 minutes claim was made before black boxes were analyzed, on unclear and unconfirmed basis.

9 Jan. NY Times publishes a video claiming missile hitting Ukrainian Boeing. Initial poster first said he did not have metadata, then said NY Times published video. It is not clear how the video was verified. Video, actually, may be genuine, but what does it show? It could be the plane climbing up with lights on, or having engine fire (appearing as "a missile"), and then the engine exploding, blowing a burning and visible piece back (uncertain; can't exclude either this or a missile climbing; we do not have a good scale useful to infer velocities. Roughly 11 s. for the sound to arrive, the distance to the explosion is roughly 3.8 km straight. There is residential area with look-alike houses and camera could be on either SW or NE side from the path. Video can be mirrored easily. Also the plane could be returning back to the airport while it's path on Flightradar an extrapolation. So either above is not excluded). It remains unexplained why the video author was recording on his cell phone at about 6am local, apparently expressing no emotions and then apparently abruptly stopping the recording.

Another video emerged, shot as the very first one from a car/dashboard camera. It appears to give backing to the burning engine version.

8 Jan. Ukrainian Boeing 737-8KV (Flightradar; delivered 19 Jul 2016) crashed in Tehran, said to be because of engine fire, killing all on board, including 11 Ukrainians. Putin sends condolences to Zelenskii. Pompeo sends a Twitter. Videos. Crash visualization. (Noted, engine on fire, Boeing 737, Rwanda Air, the same day).

BBC starts to peddle MH17. Pictures noted & media reported engine overheating reports quoting Western intelligence. Newsweek has proverbial unnamed officials backing missile theory. CBS News quoting US intelligence said a satellite detected infrared "blips" of two missile launches (BBC), followed by another blip of an explosion (that is more serious; but did it?). Trump got "suspicions".

4 Jan. Strelkov publishes a list of 13 soldiers killed defending DPR, 1 Dec.'19 to 1 Jan.'20.

3 Jan. Denisultanov is interviewed, quoted telling a different version of a shootout (see 1 Jun 2017) involving Okueva and Osmanov in which Denisultanov received multiple gunshot wounds. Promises more details including something to do with Nemtsov in another interview.

1 Jan. 2020 A video showing 268 soldiers killed defending L/DPR in 2019. DPR ombdudsman data, see 27 Dec. Cassad's count here. Ukrainian losses in six years may be over 40,000.

Highlights from the past
30 Apr. U.S. Confirms Delivery Of Javelin Antitank Missiles To Ukraine

Poroshenko announced end of ATO and start of 'joint operation of armed forces', which is aimed at 'defending territorial integrity' and will only end 'when the last piece of Ukrainian land is liberated, including Crimea', which is somehow supposed to happen by 'political-diplomatic means'.

Videos

 * Family of 7 home hit by shelling in Donetsk, published 11 May 2017
 * DPR Sakhanka: life goes on under shelling, 11 Oct. 2016
 * 'Suburbia of life', about the effect of the war on life in small villages and towns. Shelling, destruction, economic hardship. Slow running, in Russian. Sept. 29, 2016.

More videos on talk page

Photos

 * Recent history in a nutshell in those photos to the right:


 * Aftermaths of Ukrainian shelling of the village Zheltoe (Yellow), LPR, 29 Nov. 2016 lug-info.

OSCE

 * SMM Ukraine

Official Ukrainian sources

 * ATO press releases and maps, Ukraine Crisis Media Center(google search; sample schedule search).
 * At about 30 April 2018, replaced by Ukrainian 'joint forces operation' (Facebook).
 * Official website of Ukrainian president
 * National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine
 * Verhovna Rada

Ukrainian media

 * Newsone.ua
 * Strana.ua
 * 112.ua
 * TSN
 * inter.ua
 * kyivpost.com
 * dumskaya.net (Odessa, pro goverment)

DPR and LPR

 * DPR: DAN news (Eng).; DPR MOD, Russ.; DPR ombudsman, Russ.
 * DPR MoD
 * LPR: lug-info (Eng).
 * Donbass international news agency, DoNi news (Eng.)

Agreements

 * 22.7.15 Under-100 mm weapons withdrawal was agreed Poroshenko statement: ' I hope it will be the real beginning of the ceasefire'.
 * 12.2.15 Two documents were agreed: on measures on implementing Minsk protocol (English language PDF here).