© Sputnik / Viktor AntonyukFile photo: A LPR fighter distributes humanitarian aid to local residents in Kupyansk, near Balakleya, in Kharkov region
The office of the prosecutor general of Ukraine charged Stolbovoy, alleging that he "chose to side with the enemy" when the Russian military took control of Balakleya on March 28. He agreed to continue as mayor under the "occupation regime" and accepted humanitarian aid from Russian troops, the prosecutors said.
At a town council meeting that day, the mayor championed "loyalty to both the occupation troops and the Russian Federation in general," the prosecutor said. Later he "convened a meeting of local citizens and told them the Russian military would be distributing humanitarian aid and also that negotiations were underway with the occupiers" to re-establish public utilities in the city.
Balakleya is a town of some 25,000 residents in the Izyum county, about 90km southeast of Kharkov. It came under the control of Russian troops in late March.
During the recent fighting near the town, Russian troops reportedly captured the 65th Arsenal of the Ukrainian military - the largest ammunition depot in all of Ukraine, designed to store at least 150,000 tons of supplies. Much of it was left behind intact, several Russian media correspondents reported on Friday.
Russia attacked its neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine's failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow's eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.
Reader Comments
The desperate "what" could take many forms, but poisoning the waters of humanitarian aid is damned Evil.
Why do they feel the need to copy and paste this paragraph into every story? Oh I see, propaganda.
Unprovoked. Yeah keep beating that dead horse 🙄 And bombing the two republics for the past 8 years obviously shows your not trying to take them back. Course it does. 🤦🏻♂️
Some kind of religious indoctrination, I'd say - both.
Sputnik also has a standard end paragraph but at least they mention Article 51 and Russia coming to the assistance of DPR & LPR
Maybe their articles are not allowed to be published in the West without them
All sides know very well how to steer their population.
And haven't we learned lately (in the last two years) how easilyy about two third of the population is led on a merry chase ?
It will be refreshing to sit back and watch the BBC supporting racism between the odd game of tennis
Wimbledon banning players means ill be boycotting it this year. I like Wimbledon too. Shame.
'If they find us here, we'll be punished': RT report on 'secret schools' for girls in Afghanistan
"There is an underground project in Kabul called 'Course in memoir writing for wounded girls.' Would you be interested to see it?" I was asked last week. These days, education for girls is...While *elensky is busy with his propaganda tour through Western parliaments, the Russians create facts on the ground.
The Ukraine is a dead man walking.
I’m not one for morbid ness but I’d tune into watch the Ugaynian get his comeuppance.