MainNews -

Scoop of the day: Ukraine welcomes Donbas ceasefire commitment

Scoop of the day: Ukraine welcomes Donbas ceasefire commitment

Ceasefire

The Defence Ministry and the Armed Forces of Ukraine have welcomed an agreement to commit to the 22 July 2020 ceasefire in Donbas, which was reached by all parties to negotiations within the trilateral contact group today.

Border situation

The secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, has said that Russia has concentrated 122,000 troops in the 200-kilometre zone along the border with Ukraine and 143,500 in the 400-kilometre zone.

"If the situation on our eastern front is news to our Western partners, it is daily work for us. We understand what is happening there. We are clearly aware of the number of military personnel we have on the Russian side," he said.

Danilov said that the situation on the border with Russia, although turbulent, was under control.

Javelin exercise

The first live practice with the US-made Javelin anti-tank missile systems took place in Donetsk Region. The missile system is designed to destroy armoured vehicles and can destroy tanks at a distance of about 3 km.

According to the Dom TV channel, the Javelins were used for the first time in Donbas not in combat conditions, but at the training ground.

Ukraine dismisses Russia's allegations

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has denied Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu's statement that the USA had allegedly sent 120 mercenaries from private military companies to Donbas and imported an unknown chemical substance.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko said in a commentary: "We categorically reject the allegations against Ukraine that were voiced during a meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry board. The defence minister's statements about alleged chemicals, instructors from US private military companies, shelling of residential areas in Donbas are another examples of massive Russian disinformation. Russia continues to create information cover-ups for possible further provocations of its troops in Ukrainian territory."

G7 on failure to appoint SAPO head

G7 Ambassadors have said on Twitter they are "disappointed by the refusal of the Rada-appointed members of the Selection Committee for the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor to certify the winning candidate. This further delay is unjustified & contradicts Ukraine's commitments to appoint a permanent head".

The Ambassadors encourage the Selection Commission to reconvene as soon as possible to certify the process. "SAPO, like all independent anti-corruption institutions, needs strengthening to deliver the rule of law and effective fight against corruption," they added.

Gas transport

The gas transport system operators of Ukraine (GTSU) and Hungary (FGSZ) have signed an agreement on cooperation to introduce a guaranteed capacity for transport of natural gas from Hungary to Ukraine after 1 January 2022, Serhiy Makohon, head of the GTSU, said in an interview with Suspilne.

The agreement is aimed at expanding the range of sources of gas supplies and improving Ukraine's energy security accordingly. According to it, Ukraine increases the guaranteed capacity by almost 30% and secures access to new sources of natural gas, in particular a liquefied natural gas terminal on the island of Krk (Croatia).

The agreement will allow for the physical transport of up to 8m cu.m. of natural gas per day from Hungary to Ukraine. This means that in total Ukraine will be able to import up to 35m cu.m. from Europe per day.

Helicopters for border guards

The State Border Service of Ukraine has received three more new French helicopters in addition to the seven H125 Airbus helicopters it already has.

Decree

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree entitling the president, the prime minister and the head of the Foreign Ministry only to make official statements on international issues.

Media

Ukraine's only Crimean Tatar TV channel ATR has stopped broadcasting via satellite due to the debt to the satellite communications provider Spacecom which resulted from the channel's underfunding from the Ukrainian state budget.

For now, the channel remains available in cable networks and in smart TV applications such as MEGOGO, Divan TV, OLL TV and Lanet TV and on the ATR.ua website. The channel also continues broadcasting on YouTube.

Crime

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has exposed a man in Dnipro who declared himself the "president" and formed a "shadow government". He considered Ukraine's government offices illegitimate and insisted they should be replaced or toppled.

Read LB.ua news on social networks Facebook, Twitter and Telegram