Hundreds of Ukrainians have protested after President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had backed an agreement that would bring elections to territory controlled by Russian-backed separatists.

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Wednesday that makes it easier for those living in eastern Ukraine's separatist territories to access a Russian passport

Could ukrainization have prevented the current occupation of the East of Ukraine?

Former special representative of the Austrian OSCE chairperson-in-office for the Transnistrian settlement process about options for the peacekeeping mission in the Donbas, the motivation for friendship between Austrian and Russian politicians, and about ways in which the experience with the Transnistrian conflict can be useful for Ukraine

An update from the occupied parts of the Donbas: monuments to Russian volunteers, shutdown of mobile connection, new arrests of ministers

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is expanding its influence and propaganda in Donbas

Important aspects of the new Deoccupation Law

Who is fighting against Ukrainian military in Donbas

Trends in Donbas given the whirlwind of socio-economic changes and the background of permanent conflict on the front

What kind of model is needed for the de-occupation of ORDiLO?

How life has changed in three years in occupied and liberated Donbas

Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine spoke to The Ukrainian Week about current priorities and obstacles faced by the SMM in its work on the ground

The blockade of the occupied parts of the Donbas is a consequence of the irresponsible actions of the top leadership in Ukraine and their imitation war against Russia. The legal side of this confrontation could have a decisive impact

Head of the ICRC mission to Ukraine on how to look for the missing and how their families can deal with obstacles in the process

In the past two years, crime rates have grown in Ukraine. Factors contributing to the general criminalization of society include economic decline and war

The intensity of clashes in the ATO zone is increasing with each day of summer. The terrorists openly use heavy artillery

Elections in the occupied parts of Donbas will boost the strength of the Opposition Bloc in Ukrainian politics. Its strategic goal is to return Ukraine into Russia’s orbit

Prior to his appointment in Ukraine as Head of the UNHCR Sub-Office in Dnipropetrovsk, Geoff Wordley served in conflict-affected Rwanda, Kenya, Croatia, Kosovo, South Sudan, Sudan, and Iraq among others. He spent the past year in Eastern Ukraine, supervising support for IDPs in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Shortly before he left Ukraine in April, The Ukrainian Week spoke to Mr. Wordley about the impact of forced migration during conflicts on social and economic structures in the regions and countries where they occur, the role of UNHCR in the current crisis in Ukraine, and the problems to solve as priority issues in similar situations.

Election in the occupied Donbas is nothing more than a slogan used at the Minsk negotiations. There are no real tools available today to make it happen

In mid-week, Ukraine’s media was rocked by yet another scandal. Myrotvorets or Peacemaker, a site known for publishing information about those who have collaborated with terrorists, published a list of journalists who have been accredited by the “Donetsk People’s Republic”

After using leftist populist slogans to heat up the situation in the Donbas in the spring of 2014, Russia’s proxies have brought rapacious, feudal bolshevism to the region instead

Analysis of elections in Eastern Ukraine: old and new parties

The Donbas master's current clout in politics, economy and war

Director of UkrOboronProm, a state weaponry agency, offers an inside scoop on the weapons industry in Ukraine today

Key legal aspects of the emergency situation imposed in Eastern Ukraine

For four days, the Russian "brothers" made preparations to shoot down Ukrainian troops near Ilovaysk

Donetsk-born MP Yegor Firsov on his home region: In contrast to most regular citizens, who saw the riots from outside, I knew the process from inside. From the very first days, I clearly understood that there was a guided, controlled rebellion, in which everyone skilfully played the roles designated to them

Even progressive and pro-Ukrainian people from this region are often pessimistic about the Donbas and its population, saying that most locals are completely hopeless, it’s impossible to get through to their brains or souls, and it’s unrealistic to change the socio-political landscape of their territory; it’s like a black hole on the map of Ukraine, a kind of huge demographic and psychological well, the bottom of a mine, from which it is impossible to claw a way out to the surface.

Without “tourists” from Russia, the separatist movement in Kharkiv has quickly marginalised. If not for pro-Russian sympathies of the local authorities, it would hardly pose any threat at all

Donwplayed and obscured for half a century, the Donbas appears as Ukraine’s historical and natural terra incognita

How the war in Eastern Ukraine is affecting national economy

A convoy of Russian military vehicles enters Luhansk, reports Hromadske.tv journalist referring to the commanders of army units currently on the frontline

Rinat Akhmetov, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yanukovych continue to weave plots for Eastern Ukraine, making the rebels with black-and-orange ribbons think that they are dying for a New Russia, not for oligarchic interests

A convoy of APCs and army trucks has crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border at Izvaryne, the checkpoint captured by the separatists, the Anti-Terrorist Operation headquarters report

Volunteers who raise funds for the Ukrainian military share their motivations, worries and bank details for those who are willing to donate

Terrorists attack Ukrainian anti-terrorist operation forces with tanks, mines and anti-tank guided missiles near the villages of Marynivka, Tarany and Stepanivka in Donetsk Oblast, the National Guard’s press service reports

At night on July 16, the militants shelled anti-terrorist operation forces four times, reports Dmytro Tymchuk, coordinator of the Military and Political Research Center

The Obama Administration could impose sanctions unilaterally if the EU leaders decide otherwise at the meeting in Brussels on July 16

A cluster of the Russian military was detected near the village of Heivka, Stanychno-Luhansk County, Luhansk Oblast, 3 km from the Russian border on the Ukrainian territory, on July 12, National Security and Defence Council info-center spokesperson Andriy Lysenko reports

Nearly 20 tanks and AFVs crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border at night on July 20-11

If the “Donbas pacification plan” announced by Petro Poroshenko is to be implemented effectively, the region’s administrative map could be redrawn more sensibly

The Ukrainian Week talks to Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks about the flow of IDPs from Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, ways for the government to deal with the problem Ukraine has never faced before, and about the hard lesson on integration of minorities Russia’s neighbours had to learn

President Petro Poroshenko announces the end of ceasefire in the Donbas, he says after the meeting of the National Security and Defence Council, his press service reports

Ukrainian military have been fending off attacks of terrorists and awaiting the order for assault; the plan for it ready by now, Andriy Lysenko, press-secretary for the Council’s information center says

Terrorists are shooting at anti-terrorist operation troops near Sloviansk, Dmytro Tymchuk, coordinator of the InfoResist group, reports on his Facebook page

Ukraine’s Security Service, SBU, submits files against two foreigners and eight Ukrainians to court. Charges include spying, terrorist activity and mass disturbances, SBU press service reports

Andrey Illarionov, a former advisor to Vladimir Putin, talks to The Ukrainian Week about the prospects of Russian imperialism, the efficiency of Western diplomacy and the possible consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war

The developments in Ukraine change rapidly. Every time we think we can end something with a full stop, they prove that even a comma would be too soon

The Ukrainian Week talks to Wolfgang Ischinger, German diplomat who was the Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for National Dialogue Roundtables in Ukraine, on his work, European and Ukrainian co-existence with Russia, and security threats of the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia

Semen Semenchenko talks about voluntary special forces, the Chechen trail in Eastern Ukraine and inevitable terror

Two groups of OSCE observers kidnapped in Eastern Ukraine earlier are in Severodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, reports Andriy Purgin, a leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic terrorists

The armed conflict is in the process of being stopped in Eastern Ukraine, Acting Defense Minister Mykhailo Koval said as reported by the Ministry of Defense press-service

Ukrainian military continue to fight in Eastern Ukraine, particularly Krasnyi Lyman and Sloviansk, both in Donetsk Oblast, Vladyslav Selezniov, spokesman for the anti-terrorist operation, reports

Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov announces the closing of part of Ukraine’s eastern border, including in Central Luhansk and North Donetsk Oblasts

If Russian becomes the second state language or even acquires official status in part of Ukraine’s territory, this will aggravate the discrimination of the Ukrainian-speaking majority and will ease the Kremlin’s expansion

While new authorities are set to play by the old rules, the country is veering further out of control. All hopes are on the army

Nearly 20 terrorists were killed and 4 detained during the shooting between Ukrainian police and military and separatists, Arsen Avakov, Ukraine’s Interior Minister, wrote on his Facebook page. Ukrainian law enforcers have lost 1 man, 5 wounded

Russian military aggression has recently become a constant threat, while the Western powers are failing to fulfil the security guarantees they extended to Ukraine under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. The issue of nuclear or other similarly effective weapons with which to defend Ukraine’s borders is again high on the agenda

Eastern Ukraine is following in the footsteps of Western Ukraine, but with a considerable delay, natural and historical complications

How pro-Russian forces are trying to fill the emptiness created by the fall of Yanukovych