In the area of the Joint Forces Operation on December 18, the armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire 4 times, - the JFO headquarters reported. The enemy fired at our units from grenade launchers of various systems, heavy machine guns and other small arms. One member of the Joint Forces was injured as a result of the enemy shelling.
The so-called "People's Council of the LNR" adopted a "law" that establishes "borders" of the "LNR" on borders of the Luhansk oblast as at the beginning of conflict in the Donbass in 2014, separatist media wrote. "We will have the border of the former Luhansk oblast – not the one that we now have in connection with the martial law, but the border with which we all went to the referendum", – "chairman" of the "council" Denis Miroshnichenko stated.
A peaceful resident of Marinka died as a result of shelling by the militants on December 18, - the press center of the Joint Forces reported. The civilian was injured on December 18 at about 12:00 as a result of fire from small arms of the armed forces of the Russian Federation. Soldiers from the Joint Forces quickly organized the evacuation of the wounded from under the dense enemy fire in the fire area, but the man could not be saved, he died on the way to the hospital.
Hiding in the occupied territory of Donbass, former air defense commander of the so-called "DPR" Volodymyr Tsemakh, who is suspected of involvement in the crash of Malaysian Boeing in the Donbass in 2014, filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against intelligence officers of Ukraine and the Netherlands. In his complaint, Tsemakh draws attention to the circumstances of his "abduction" and says that he was allegedly "given psychotropic agents" during his detention in a pre-trial detention center in Kyiv.
Leader of the so-called "DNR" Denis Pushilin stated that he would raise the salaries of teachers and doctors by 26% from January 1, 2020. This was reported by separatist media. According to Pushilin, the "expansion of the economic sector" continues in the "republic", so he is ready to increase salaries and pensions. According to the so-called "republican employment center", today the salaries of doctors and teachers are $80-95 maximum. Thus, state employees in the occupied Donbass will (at best) receive $120 per month after raising the salary. Earlier, the leader of the "DNR" forbade "civil servants" to go on vacation without his personal permission.
The cult of personality of Joseph Stalin is being revived in the "DNR", releasing a postage stamp with a portrait of the tyrant - initiator of mass repressions in the USSR and Holodomor in Ukraine. This was reported by separatist media. It was noted that the so-called "Donbass Post state-owned enterprise issued a stamp and an envelope, dedicated to the birthday of "the outstanding revolutionary and political figure Joseph Stalin".
Occupation authorities of Donbass, which have brought three large enterprises to a disastrous state, want to receive "compensation" from Ukraine in the amount of $5.76 billion. This was reported by separatist media. This refers to the Artemvuhillia coal mining state-owned enterprise, Donetsk Power Plant (Donetsk oblast) and OJSC Luhanskteplovoz (Luhansk oblast). Having seized these enterprises, the occupation authorities could not maintain the technological process and ensure their usual financing. As a result, the occupiers admit that Artemvuhillia was liquidated, and about 6.4 thousand of its workers were left without work. The staff was halved at two other specified enterprises. However, the so-called "leadership of the republics" is trying to shift responsibility for its own mismanagement to Ukraine.
The so-called "supreme court" of the "LNR" sentenced "Latvian intelligence agent" to 10.5 years in prison for "espionage". This was stated in a message on the website of the so-called "LNR Ministry of State Security". It was reported that the "officers of the Ministry of State Security" identified "a foreign intelligence agent, citizen of Latvia, Valentis Veselovs (Valentin Veselov)". "It was established that he was recruited in 2004 on the basis of material interest by the special services of the Republic of Latvia with the alias "Elf", - the message of the Ministry of State Security said. The main, detained by the Ministry of State Security's militants, allegedly "collected and transmitted military information", which "Latvian intelligence was going to use to the detriment of security of the Luhansk People's Republic".