The OSCE’s latest report, dated last night, May 3, at 19:30 Kiev time, foreshadows many of the events we are reporting today — significant escalation of fighting near both Donetsk and Shirokino (Shyrokyne). The report is excerpted below. Here is their summary:
As we have been reporting, various leaders of the Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk have continuously expressed doubts about whether peace talks will net any results. Part of the reason — they don’t want to hold elections according to Ukrainian law (a key part of the Minsk agreement) and they do not want to withdraw their […]
The last 24 hours have seen the most intense shelling since the conclusion of the Minsk agreement in February, the Ukrainian military has claimed. Certainly, since Saturday night, there has been a dramatic escalation in the number of artillery bombardments in the Donetsk area. Both sides are trading blame and it has been reported that […]
The shelling that hit Kievsky District in Donetsk is “as intense as it was before the February ceasefire,” citizens report, according to the city news page 062.ua.
Ukrainian blogger Alex Rychkoff reports that the memorial rally on Kulikovo Pole, outside the Trade Union building in Odessa, has now largely dispersed.
Censor.NET reports that the press office of the governor of the Lugansk region, Hennadiy Moskal, announced at 15:20 (12:20 GMT) that Russian-backed fighters were attacking Ukrainian defensive positions in Krymskoye, on the southern banks of the Seversky Donets river.
One year after violent clashes in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa that left 48 people dead, two rallies are being held to commemorate the tragic events.
A large military convoy has been filmed in Lugansk, described as “reinforcements” and described as having originated in Russia. The convoy has tanks, howitzers, surface-to-air missile launchers and other vehicles.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has spoken to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk today. Here is the White House readout of that conversation:
Lugansk News Today has published the transcript of a Ukrainian interrogation of a Russian soldier captured in Donetsk Region by the Ukrainian armed forces who fought on the side of the Russian-backed militants. He said that he observed paratroopers from Pskov attack Ukrainian positions in August 2014, and also participated in this attack.
