The main news of the Donbas: US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt visited Kramatorsk; Demilitarization of Shyrokyne continues

According to Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, the number of civilians and militaries perished in the conflict in the Donbas is approaching 9 thousand. According to the UNO data, it is about 7 thousand.

In Kramatorsk, Pavlo Zhebrivskiy, Chairman of Donetsk Regional Military and Civil Administration addressed Geoffrey Pyatt, US Ambassador to Ukraine, asking him to give weaponry to the Ukrainian Army in the Donbas. Geoffrey Pyatt, US Ambassador to Ukraine supports the idea of creating logistics centers along the demarcation line with occupied territories of the Donbas. He also thinks the local election in Slovyansk and Kramatorsk should be held.

Donetsk region Governor Pavlo Zhebrivskiy appointed a new deputy and promises to visit Mariupol once a month.

According to Zhebrivskiy, there is no plan and money to repair the roads between Svyatohirsk – Mariupol. “The Donetsk regional highway department does not have a road restoration plan. We are trying to get the money from the Cabinet of Ministers. We offer to spend on road repair 3 billion out of 6.5 which are given to the part of the Donetsk region not controlled by Ukraine”, said he.

Today we have enough force to protect Shyrokyne and not allow militants to seize it again in spite of the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, as Pavlo Zhebrivskiy, Chairman of Donetsk Regional Military and Civil Administration claimed at the meeting with the city activists in Mariupol today.

“The decision was made to demilitarize and to withdraw heavy weaponry, including tanks”, said he. According to him, it will take 15 minutes to return the weaponry to the heights which should be held.

The Governor says that the weaponry is withdrawn by separatists too, which is monitored by the Joint Center for Control and Coordination.

There is again a protest against setting up one more Ukrainian Armed Forces checkpoint in Avdiivka. The first one was held on July 28.

A woman is to be on trial for arson which led to an 8-year-old child’s death in Dobropillya (the Donetsk region). She faces from 3 to 10 years’ imprisonment.

The arrears in wages in the Donetsk regions reached 422.6 mln. UAH (without the ATO zone) by July 1, 2015.

Two civilians and a Ukrainian Army serviceman were killed as a result of Dzerzhynsk shelling. Three residential houses and a car shop were destroyed. The shelling was qualified as a terrorist attack by Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

A civilian was injured as a result of shelling Maryinka. A man was wounded in the chest by pieces of a shell. He was taken to Kurakhove hospital.

Local self-government leaders together with some city mayors (including Yuriy Khotlubey, Mayor of Mariupol) call on all experienced deputies of local councils, heads of villages and towns to form a new political force. Mariupol Mayor said in his commentary to the “News of Donbas” that he had not made a decision if to join the new political group or not.

7 police officers are to be on trial for collaboration with militants. During the period of June-July 2014 when administrative buildings in cities and towns were being seized by the militants seven police officers neglected their duties of protecting law and order and stayed in Donetsk. Then they joined the militants’ forces and became members of one of their armed units, the so-called “Police of the DPR Ministry of Internal Affairs”.

Internal Internet on the basis of the “Kyivstar” network was launched on the occupied territory of the Donetsk region. The net is available for subscribers in occupied Donetsk, Makiivka, Torez, Snizhne, Shakhtarsk and, partially, Horlivka.

Vladislav Surkov, personal adviser of Vladimir Putin, congratulated Aleksandr Zakharchenko, “DPR” leader, and his wife on the birth of their son on July 30.

53,7 thousand people from the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions have addressed the State Employment Service since the annexation of the Crimea and beginning of the Anti-Terrorist Operation in the Donbas. The State Employment Service has helped only 13 thousand internally displaced persons to find jobs.