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According to the Shelter Cluster, over 17,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed during the conflict in eastern Ukraine. With no immediate end in sight, the conflict continues to exacerbate the daily lives of thousands of people who have lost their homes and lands. The Government should undertake concrete commitments to provide appropriate remedies for the loss of rights, value, use, and/or access to housing, land and property.

Legislation overview

Currently, there are no adequate mechanisms to address the losses for the housing, land and property damaged or destroyed as a consequence of the hostilities in Ukraine's East.

Ukrainian legislation provides for criminal and civil remedies for breach of inter alia, rights to property, privacy and family life or home, against the perpetrators and wrongdoers, including criminal complaint to law enforcement agencies (police, prosecutors, security services, etc.), complaints to heads of state bodies/superior authority for wrongful acts/omissions of state authorities and civil suit for compensation of damages. Article 19 of the Law of Ukraine On Combatting Terrorism provides for compensation for damages caused by terrorist act from the State budget, in accordance with the law, with subsequent reimbursement claim by the State from the offender. No such law has yet been adopted.

According to the Action plan for organisation of restoration of damaged (destroyed) social and transport infrastructure, housing and life support systems in Donetsk and Luhansk regions,Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Social Policy, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Finance were entrusted to develop procedure for assessment and compensation for damages to victims of antiterrorist operation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Government is yet to take steps in this direction.

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Briefing Note: People in eastern Ukraine: without housing and compensation [EN/UK] - ReliefWeb

Ukraine says that one of its soldiers was killed and nine others injured in fighting with Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country.

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council said on July 30 that the bulk of the casualties over the previous 24 hours were sustained in the front-line town of Krasnohorivka due to shelling from separatist forces.

The shelling there left one soldier dead and eight others wounded, the council said in a statement. Another Ukrainian soldier was wounded during an attack on government positions in the town of Shirokino, it added.

Hostilities between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists persist in eastern Ukraine despite an internationally backed 2015 cease-fire deal aimed at resolving the conflict, which has killed more than 10,000 since April 2014.

Kyiv, the United States, the EU, and NATO accuse Moscow of supporting the separatists with weapons and personnel, an allegation Moscow rejects despite substantial evidence of such backing.

Ukraine and the separatists frequently trade accusations of cease-fire violations.

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Ukraine Says One Soldier Killed, Nine Injured In Fighting With Russia-Backed Separatists - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

Some 2,800 troops from host Georgia, the United States, and six other countries have begun a major military exercise in the South Caucasus nation.

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and other leaders on July 30 said they see the event as a substantial step toward their goal of one day joining NATO.

"These exercises will help Georgia to get closer to NATO standards and to strengthen stability in the whole region," Kvirikashvili said at the opening ceremonies at the Vaziani military base near the capital, Tbilisi.

Georgia's defense minister, Levan Izoria, called the scale of exercises "unprecedented" and said they "make clear the support for Georgia by the NATO member states, especially the U.S."

U.S. officials in the past have spoken favorably toward Georgian hopes of eventually joining NATO, a move Russia vehemently opposes.

At a 2008 summit in Bucharest, NATO leaders made a formal pledge that Georgia "will become a NATO member," but alliance leaders have moved warily toward that goal in the face of Moscows opposition.

About 1,600 U.S. troops and 800 Georgian soldiers are taking part in the two-week exercises, dubbed Noble Partner.

Troops from Britain, Germany, Turkey, Ukraine, Slovenia, and Armenia are also participating, with the United States deploying a mechanized company, including several Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and M1A2 Abrams battle tanks.

It is the third time the exercises have been held in Georgia, a country that has seen much-larger rival Russian encroach on its territory since its independence from the Soviet Union.

The Kremlin recognized Georgia's breakaway areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries after fighting a five-day war against Tbilisi in 2008, and Russia maintains thousands of troops in the two regions.

In previous years, Moscow warned that the drills could destabilize the region, a notion that Georgia and the United States have dismissed.

"This exercise is not directed against any country. It's about to help Georgia to grow its capacity to interoperate in international operations," U.S. Ambassador Ian Kelly told Reuters news agency, citing missions such as the current one in Afghanistan.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to visit Georgia on July 31 after a stop in Estonia to meet with Baltic leaders also concerned about Russias intensions in their region. He will meet with U.S. troops on August 1.

During his stop in Tallinn, Pence said, "Our message to the Baltic states -- my message when we visit Georgia and Montenegro -- will be the same: To our allies here in Eastern Europe, we are with you, we stand with you on behalf of freedoms."

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US, UK, Ukraine, Others Begin Massive Military Drills In Georgia - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

Graffiti targeting the World Zionist Organization (WZO) in north-Western Ukraine.. (photo credit:VLADIMIR MOZICHENKO)

Vandals in northwestern Ukraine sprayed Nazi symbols and other antisemitic graffiti that targeted the World Zionist Organization, the organization learned on Sunday.

According to the WZO, local residents visiting a monument for victims of the Holocaust discovered the graffiti near the site, located in the village of Pyatydni in Volyn Oblast. In 1942, the Nazis killed 20,000 Jews near the village, shooting them execution-style on the edge of giant pits into which the bodies fell.

A local Jewish activist affiliated with the WZO who is engaged in work to fight antisemitism reported the incident.

An equals sign with the initials WZO painted on one side and a Star of David and a swastika on the other were found on the ground in front of the steps leading to the monument.

We get multiple reports of antisemitic incidents on a daily basis, but this one particularly caught our eye because it was specifically against the WZO, the acting chairman of the organization, Yaakov Hagoel, told The Jerusalem Post Sunday.

Vladimir Muzichenko, who visited the site to commemorate the victims, also reported antisemitic graffiti at several other locations in the area and instances of grave-robbing.

Other graffiti found at a bus stop included scrawlings of the WZO initials, the word Judenreich (sic), the names of Ukrainian parliamentary parties and the Star of David.

Antisemitism continues to raise its head and harm memorial sites for the victims of the Holocaust, Hagoel said. This time, the threat was directed at the World Zionist Organization, the organization that Herzl founded 120 years ago, and I strongly condemn the escalation of threats and antisemitic incidents in the Ukraine. We will not stand idly by and ignore direct threats to the World Zionist Organization, and we will not remain silent in the face of antisemitic and anti-Zionist events taking place around the world.

According to Ukrainian community leader Eduard Dolinsky, vandalism of Holocaust mass graves, monuments and Jewish cemeteries occurs on a daily basis across the country, but no such case has ever been investigated nor has anyone ever been caught.

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Antisemitic graffiti targets WZO in Ukraine - The Jerusalem Post

BBC News

Georgia ex-leader Saakashvili plans defiant return to Ukraine BBC News The former Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, says he will go back to Ukraine to mobilise his supporters there, in defiance of Kiev's decision to strip him of Ukrainian citizenship. Mr Saakashvili moved to Ukraine in 2013 and served as governor ... Ukraine strips Saakashvili of his only citizenshipAljazeera.com Democracy, rule of law thrown under bus by Ukraine dictator PoroshenkoHuffPost Ukraine's President Sidelines Opponent by Stripping His CitizenshipNew York Times RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty -FRANCE 24 all 133 news articles »

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Georgia ex-leader Saakashvili plans defiant return to Ukraine - BBC News