Donbas

According to the Russian president, in order to achieve an effective ceasefire in Donbas, Ukraine needs to decentralize its regions and pass the Law on the Special Status of Donbas, as well as grant amnesty to militants.

The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov said that militants in Donbas intensified their shelling of Ukrainian positions as prohibited by the Minsk Agreements.

On May 16, 2016 militants who are temporarily controlling certain rayons of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts conducted 18 attacks on Ukrainian forces.

In Debaltseve, a city in the part of Donetsk Oblast which is currently not controlled by the Ukrainian government, a shooting occurred between the two Russian servicemen who wanted to ran away for home and a unit of the Russian National Guard that arrived to arrest them.