Donbas

Militants in Donbas are practicing marine landing operations in Mariupol direction, according to Vadym Skybytskyi, a representative of Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, Radio Svoboda reports.

The Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak dismissed the volunteer and photographer Dmytro Muravskyi who used to chair the coordination center in the Department of Communications and Press of the Ministry and was the Minister’s adviser.

Ukrainians marked the second anniversary of the ‘Ilovaisk tragedy’ on Sofiyska Ploshcha in Kyiv, the event was attended by over a hundred mothers and widows of the killed servicemen, volunteer fighters, and activists.

The ORDLO militants confirmed that they continue detaining 42 hostages in Donetsk and five in Luhansk.

Pro-Russian militants in the occupied parts of Donbas have thousands of heavy weapons more than in 2014, the Office of Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euroatlantic Integration, reports.

Six miners were hospitalized after an explosion at Pokrovske mine in Donetsk oblast, the press service of the National Police in Donetsk oblast reports.

The Normandy format of talks on the Donbas conflict will be revived soon, President Poroshenko highlighted during a meeting with Ukrainian diplomats on August 24.

On August 21, illegal military formations from the non-government controlled areas of Donetsk oblast shelled Solodke village of Marinka district of Donetsk oblast for 15 minutes from 122mm artillery.

Aerial reconnaissance experts from the ‘Sisters of Victory’ foundation will use drones to drop flyers for Ukrainian Independence Day in the occupied cities, 5 Kanal reports.

Militants from the so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ (‘DNR’) shot at the monitoring group from the Ukrainian side of the Joint Center on Control and Coordination (JCCC).

Since the start of hostilities in Donbas, 50 children died and 140 were wounded in government-controlled territories.

Head of the self-proclaimed ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ Igor Plotnitsky said that he was ready to discuss a POW exchange with Batkivshchyna MP and former prisoner Nadiya Savchenko, “if Kyiv authorizes her to do so,” RIA Novosti reports.

Another militant has been released from criminal responsibility as part of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) ‘Your Loved Ones Are Waiting’ program, the Service’s press service reports.

Martial law and next wave of mobilization may be announced in case of serious escalation of hostilities, President Poroshenko said on August 18 when meeting soldiers. Ukrainian troops are ready to repel possible Russian provocations, he asserted.

Volodymyr Fomichev, an employee of civic organization Centre.UA, who was captured by militants of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), was jailed for two years, Hromadske informs on Thursday, August 18.

Officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) arrested a militant of the ‘Vostok’ terrorist group of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, the SBU press service reported on August 16.

Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk claimed that the launch of the e-declaration system without a certificate of information protection compliance can jeopardize Ukraine’s relations with international partners.

The so-called “people’s republics” of occupied rayons of Donetska and Luhanska Oblasts (ORDO and ORLO), which are backed by the Russian government, are planning large scale provocations throughout entire line of contact in the ATO zone

Ukrzaliznytsia reported that its train was shelled by militants on August 8 at Skotuvata station in Donetska Oblast.

A statement purportedly from separatist leader of the so-called ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ (LNR) Igor Plotnitsky claiming he is back to work and blaming his assassination attempt on ‘the enemies of Donbas,’ has been published.

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake affected the south of Donetsk Oblast on the morning of August 7, the European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) is cited by Interfax-Ukraine.

The Russian military command in the occupied Donbas came up with the idea to sign service ‘contracts’ with the militants.

A military equipment convoy of the Russian Armed Forces – including tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery cannons and trucks – is moving through the uncontrolled Russia-Ukraine border.

The Ukrainian side is not involved in the assassination attempt against Igor Plotnitsky.

Ukraine has accused the so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ of creating camps for training children to handle weapons and gather intelligence data.

Ukraine can’t fully eschew coal from the occupied territories in the short run, Energy Minister Ihor Nasalyk said at a press conference on Thursday, August 4.

The Ukrainian side is constantly raising the issue of violation of the ceasefire and calls on Russia to adhere to the Minsk Agreements during the meetings of the Trilateral contact group, the press secretary of the former president Leonid Kuchma Darka Olifer says.

Members of pro-Kremlin radical movements NLM and SERB attacked the participants of an anti-war meeting against Putin’s policy towards Ukraine.

On Sunday Russian invaders attacked Ukrainian forces in Donbas for 58 times. In Mariupol direction 35 artillery attacks occurred. In Novohryhorivka the enemy attacked with 122-mm self-propelled guns, in Talakivka, Vodyane and Starohnativka the enemy attacked with 120 and 82-mm mortars. In Avdiivka Ukrainian fighters engaged enemy saboteur group, the enemy retreated.

Ukrainian citizens captured by militants in Donbas have been transferred to a pre-trial detention center. They are threatened with 30-year imprisonment.