Spot Report by OSCE Observer Mission: A twenty sixth Russian convoy of 51 vehicles crossed into Ukraine and returned back through the Donetsk Border Crossing Point
SUMMARY On 21 May 2015 at 07:10hrs (Moscow time), a Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 51 vehicles were checked by the Russian border guard and customs services. All the vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 15:00hrs on 21 May. *** DETAIL Leaving the Russian Federation On 21 May 2015...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 19:30 (Kyiv time), 20 May 2015
This report is for the media and the general public. The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security consideration*. The SMM observed continuing ceasefire violations at and around Donetsk airport. The SMM observed a...
Preface for Digital Eastern Europe
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Modest Hopes for Riga Summit, Outrage After Fatal Baku Fire
Plus, Ukraine might look to host missile-defense systems and Tajikistan and China sign an extradition treaty. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Why Mariupol Will Not be the Next Frontline
Analysts and journalists have begun to ask where the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine will go next now that the second ceasefire agreement has failed. Skirmishes on the frontline in Shyrokyne, less than ten miles from Mariupol’s city limits, have raised concerns that Mariupol will be the next target. Geographically and...
An EU Special Envoy for Ukraine?
As EU leaders gather for a summit in Riga to discuss the union’s Eastern neighborhood, they should consider appointing a special representative for Ukraine. …read more Source: Carnegie Endowment for International...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 19:30 (Kyiv time), 19 May 2015
This report is for the media and the general public. The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations *. In Minsk the Chief Monitor of the SMM chaired the Trilateral Contact Group’s Working Group on...
Moscow Patriarchate Rapidly Losing Out in Ukraine—and Beyond
The Moscow Patriarchate is rapidly losing influence in Ukraine and may be dissolving from below. These trends could open the way to the formation of a single autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church, independent of Moscow, and undermine the influence of Patriarch Kirill and his Church at home and abroad. More than half of all the parishes of the...
Russian Spetsnaz Personnel Detained in Ukraine
Ukrainian military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, told a press conference on May 17 that two Russian Spetsnaz (special forces) personnel were arrested by government forces 15 kilometers from Luhansk. The details surrounding the detentions are important to understand Russian actions in southeastern Ukraine. Since the outset of the conflict in Donbas...
Europe Needs to Help Ukraine Now!
Ukraine bleeds, but reforms impressively, while the West ignores it. The Minsk ceasefire agreement does not hold, though the intensity of the fighting has faded. In mid-March, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) doubled Ukraine’s international reserves, but the country’s finances remain fragile. Europe’s central banks should...
