Ukraine

What is happening in and around Ukraine is “unacceptable, the Chairperson-in-Office for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday.

The commander of NATO forces in Europe, US General Curtis Scaparrotti, has said he wants to bolster Ukraine's defences against Russia's "increasingly aggressive" posture in the east of the country and the Black Sea.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on the UN secretary-general to draw up options for a peacekeeping mission in eastern Ukraine, saying such a mission could be a "decisive factor" in ending the conflict there.

Last week, the European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) organised a round-table in the south Ukrainian city of Odesa in order to assist police to detect and react to violations taking place during the ongoing presidential election campaign in the country.

“More than 3,300 civilians have been killed, and up to 9,000 injured since the conflict began in 2014,” Ursula Mueller, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told Council Members, adding that 1.5 million have been internally displaced.

President Petro Poroshenko is seeking a second five-year term and has vowed to press for European Union and NATO membership for the country. Recent polls indicate former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be Poroshenko's closest rivals in the March 31 election.

Almost five years of conflict has affected 5.2 million Ukrainians. Despite growing needs, the conflict in eastern Ukraine continues to be a forgotten crisis. Today, humanitarian actors launched the 2019 Ukraine Humanitarian Response Plan requesting US$ 162 million to reach 3.5 million people in need. "The international community must wake up and see that despite diplomatic efforts and numerous ceasefire agreements, the conflict in eastern Ukraine is still very much ongoing. …," said Christopher Mehley, country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Ukraine.

[…] Participants on the training course will learn more about Ukrainian electoral legislation and potential violations that might occur during the ongoing 90-day electoral campaign, as well as on election day itself.

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has officially announced she will run for president, with polls showing her as the front-runner in the March presidential election.

A surveillance drone operated by monitors for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in eastern Ukraine has been shot down near the government-controlled village of Popasna in the Luhansk region. … The SMM has lost several surveillance drones in recent months.