Donetsk region militia says it is ready for a ceasefire to stop the humanitarian catastrophe deteriorating, the self-proclaimed Republic's prime minister said. “We hope that the international community will influence the bloodthirsty Kiev government,” Aleksandr Zakharchenko said as cited by RIA Novosti. [...]

438 soldiers and officers of the Ukrainian armed forces have crossed into Russia, escaping the intense fighting. RT asked them why they did this and what's next for them. After almost four months of operation in the country’s east, soldiers say that “no one wants to fight.” [...]

In less than a year, Ukraine has been plunged into a vortex of violence that doesn't appear to have any end in sight. The vicious circle that started with Molotov cocktails thrown at riot police has now gone to ballistic missiles launched at cities. RT traces the bloody path that led a once peaceful country into civil war. [...]

"The hospital became a nightmare," said a patient who survived after a major medical institution in Donetsk was shelled by Ukrainian troops in a series of attacks on residential neighborhoods that resulted in four casualties throughout the city. “This is absurd,” 37-year old Dmitry Kozhur told AP correspondent on the ground. “We came here to keep living, but now we are risking death.” [...]

The command in Kiev has blatantly abandoned a group of more than 400 soldiers encircled by the self-defense forces, the senior Ukrainian officer who requested sanctuary in Russia with his men has revealed. Lack of ammunition, food, fuel and clear orders from the command on how to act in the condition of encirclement has made the Ukrainian troops cross the border, Major Vitaly Dubinyak, a battal [...]

Kiev keeps deploying missile launchers, including SS-21 (Scarab) and multiple rocket systems Uragan and Smerch in Donetsk as it "wants to continue the war" in eastern Ukraine, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The Ukrainian army continues deploy Tochka U [which NATO refers to as SS-21 or Scarab], Smerch [the BM-30 Tornado] and Uragan [the BM-27] missile complexes to Donetsk. [...]

More than 400 Ukrainian troops have been allowed to cross into Russia after requesting sanctuary. It's the largest, but not the first, case of desertion into Russia by Ukrainian soldiers involved in Kiev's military crackdown in the east of the country. [...]

Russian border checkpoint at the Gukovo crossing was shelled from the Ukrainian side twice on Sunday. OSCE observers and journalists were working at the checkpoint when it was attacked. The first shell exploded at Gukovo at around 13:55 Moscow time (0955 GMT), Russian border guard spokesman Vasily Malaev told Itar-Tass news agency. [...]

An old Soviet Tu-143 reconnaissance drone allegedly deployed by the Ukrainian army has crashed near Donetsk, with local militia - obviously not aware of what that monstrosity was - claiming in the video to have downed Kiev's weapon of mass destruction. The YouTube video of the downed drone claims the archaic unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was shot down “at approximatly 13:30 local time near Sh [...]

NATO has confirmed that Ukrainian forces have started using powerful ballistic missiles against militants in the east of the country. Kiev previously denied the fact, revealed to DW television by NATO sources in Brussels. The use of missiles starting this week was first broken by CNN’s Barbara Starr on Wednesday, who cited “three sources” in the Pentagon who said that evidence had been ob [...]

Two days of shelling in Gorlovka, in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine, have resulted in 31 civilians being killed there, local authorities say. Ukrainian troops and anti-government forces are blaming each other for the bloodshed. The town of Gorlovka witnessed more shelling Tuesday morning, RIA Novosti news agency reported. [...]

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said Kiev is finally ready for a cease-fire at the MH17 crash site after Russia's numerous calls. Kiev continued its military offensive even after the UNSC urged a halt to fighting in the area last week. Poroshenko announced a unilateral cease-fire in a 20 km radius of the crash site of the MH17 flight in a telephone conversation with the PMs of Netherlands [...]

The shooting down of MH17 in Ukraine's civil war is a terrible event. However, the American media and government grossly misrepresent the USA's role in creating the current situation, and coverage of Ukraine does credit to "Alice in Wonderland". Reporting is dominated by the usual suspects from the Brookings Institution, etc. spouting jingoistic nonsense. [...]

At least 13 civilians and likely dozens more have been killed by continuing artillery barrages, as government troops close in on militia positions around the city of Gorlovka in eastern Ukraine. A 1-year old - killed next to her parents - and a 5-year old are among the dead, according to information published by the Donetsk regional administration. Several local journalists on the ground have r [...]

More than 40 Ukrainian soldiers have abandoned their military posts and crossed into Russian territory, stating that they refuse to fight against their own people, a Russian Federal Security Service spokesperson said. At least 41 Ukrainian soldiers have made it to Russian territory after asking self-defense forces for help, the spokesperson from the Federal Security Service’s Rostov region bo [...]

The current conflict in Ukraine provides a plethora of examples of the power of doublethink in shaping narratives in order to justify any actions, beliefs, and statements that are either untrue or so grossly distorted as to be entirely unbelievable. The novelist George Orwell coined the term doublethink in his classic dystopian novel 1984. He defined doublethink as “The power of holding two c [...]

Ukrainian troops fired internationally banned phosphorus bombs at Donetsk and Mandrykino in eastern Ukraine overnight, the Donetsk People’s Republic has said. “Ukraine’s Army uses phosphorus munitions during the shelling of Donetsk, Mandrykino on July 26, 2014,” the DNR said in its Twitter microblog Saturday. A YouTube video confirms the claims. A representative of Russia’s General [...]

The Ukrainian army is using indiscriminate Grad missiles to attack densely populated areas in Donetsk, which violates international humanitarian law, Human Rights Watch alleged. It also blamed militia for taking cover in those areas. [...]

On Thursday, when a Malaysian Airlines plane was apparently shot down over Ukraine, a Ukrainian Buk anti-aircraft missile battery was operational in the region, the Russian Defense Ministry said, contradicting Kiev's statements. The battery was deployed at a site from which it could have fired a missile at the airliner, the ministry said in a statement. It said radiation from the battery’s radar [...]

Amid scenes of destruction and death caused by Ukrainian airstrike on residential buildings in the city of Snezhnoe in the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic, a 7-year-old child has been miraculously saved from beneath a multi-ton pile of debris. [...]

Kiev's Air Force fired three missiles to destroy a multifamily apartment building in the city of Snezhnoe, eastern Donetsk Region. At least four civilians have been pronounced dead as rescue teams continue to clear out debris of the collapsed building. [...]

An artillery shell from Ukraine has hit a private house in the Rostov region of Russia, killing a citizen and leaving two more injured. The Russian Foreign Ministry promises heavy consequences. Reportedly up to six mortar shells exploded on Sunday in the small Russian town of Donetsk, which has the same name as the Ukrainian city and is situated right on the Ukrainian border. [...]