Russian Federation sends aid convoy to east Ukraine

Furthermore, 53,000 Russian troops would potentially be stationed on the Russian border.

The United States has described Savchenko as a “hostage” in Moscow’s scrap with Ukraine and called for her to be released, along with several other Ukrainians held in Russian Federation.

Poroshenko has said the list targeted people and companies connected to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the Russian-backed rebellion in eastern Ukraine, according to news reports.

The rebel Foreign Legion’s chief instructor, Sergei, emigrated from Ukraine to France and was trained by the French army before going back to Donetsk this year.

Talks to try and resolve the 18-month-old conflict between government forces and pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine will face their toughest challenge in October. “Of course, at the time, it’s very hard to say, ‘Well, are we sure these are Russian soldiers?’ Because you don’t have this body of evidence we now have”, Higgins said.

Donetsk was once the most populous city in eastern Ukraine but now it is a shadow of its former self. In respect to Russia, these include an increasingly bitter conflict over territorial claims in the Arctic and the hope that Canada can benefit, through increased energy exports, from the push to lessen Europe’s dependence on Russian oil and natural gas exports. Political and security conditions are supposed to be fulfilled by the end of 2015, such as the bilateral withdrawal of heavy weapons, the creation of a special status in Donbas, decentralization in Ukraine, border control, etc. None of these conditions will ever be ready, and by far, within 3 months.

NATO, for its part, has 13,000 ready-to-go troops and thousands more in reserve. Moscow keeps escalation dominance over Ukraine, keeping the front in a state of constant yet calibrated military tension and continuous violence.

“The new recruits don’t know much yet and we can’t provide really high-quality training, but they compensate through their extreme bravery in combat”.

The worldwide Monetary Fund urged all of Ukraine’s creditors on Tuesday to support a debt restructuring deal, saying it was critical that investors holding the country’s Eurobonds participate in an upcoming debt exchange.

In comments earlier this month, New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Thomas Mulcair reaffirmed his party’s support for the deployment of Canadian troops in western Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited here September 21, to commence a combined civil-emergency exercise highlighting the partnership between North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Ukraine.

Outside the court house a handful of Kremlin supporters demonstrated against Savchenko. Pro-Russian forces had encircled them, and an agreement was reportedly reached by both sides to allow the Ukrainians to evacuate from inside what became known as the “Ilovaisk Kettle”.

Vera Savchenko said, “We don’t believe in justice here, the law doesn’t work here, the West thinks that the court will work, but it does not”.