Thursday, March 12, 2015
8:00 AM PDT
OSCE: Heavy weapons
and small arms still used
Deputy chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission
to Ukraine Alexander Hug has announced this at a briefing in Kiev on Thursday,
an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"Despite the overall decrease in the number of serious
violations of the ceasefire, heavy weapons and small arms are still used in and
around the Donetsk
airport, as well as in the south - in and around village Shyrokyne, to the east
of Mariupol," Hug said.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
7:24 AM PDT
Militants carry out
49 attacks using artillery and mortars
KIEV, March 12 (Ukrinform). --- Over the
past day, Russian-backed militants have fired at the positions of ATO forces 49
times, including shelling with artillery six times and 17 times with mortars.
Acting Spokesperson
for the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Vladyslav Selezniov said
this at a briefing in Kiev on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.
"During the
day, 49 attacks on the positions of ATO forces were observed. Militants used
artillery six times and 17 times they used mortars," Selezniov said.
He said that in the
direction of Luhansk there were observed shelling near the settlements of
Sokolnyky and Novotoshkivske three times and military clash near the settlement
of Dovge.
The tensest
situation was observed in the Donetsk
direction, where militants violated the ceasefire 26 times. Gunmen fired at the
Ukrainian positions located in the settlements of Avdiyivka, Opytne, Vodiane,
Pisky, and near the Dutov mine, he said.
In the Artemivsk
direction there were 11 attacks on the positions of ATO forces located near the
settlements of Komyshevaha, Luhanske and Lozove.
In the Mariupol
direction militants carried out shelling eight times. The settlement of
Shyrokyne, where the ATO forces continue to deter aggression, remains the
hottest spot.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
6:36 AM PDT
No casualties
reported in Donbas in past 24 hours
KIEV, March 12 (Ukrinform). --- Over the
past day no Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and none have been injured in
the area of the anti-terrorist operation in Donbas .
Spokesman for the
anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine Andriy Lysenko said this at a
briefing in Kiev on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.
"During the
last day no Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and no have been injured as a
result of military clashes," Lysenko said.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
6:36 AM PDT
Visegrad Group,
Nordic-Baltic Eight to discuss Ukraine
KIEV, March 12 (Ukrinform). --- The
foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group and the Nordic-Baltic Eight are to hold
a meeting on topical issues in Slovakia .
Ukraine 's foreign minister
Pavlo Klimkin has also been invited to the meeting, an Ukrinform correspondent
has learnt from the Foreign Ministry of the Slovak Republic
"The third
annual meeting in the format of foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4)
and the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) will be held in the region of the High Tatras
on March 12-13. The event is organized within the framework of the Slovak
presidency of the Visegrad Group," the Slovak Foreign Ministry informs.
The ministers will
discuss topical foreign and security policy issues, including energy security.
The priority issues will be the situation in Ukraine ,
relations with Russia ,
preparations for the summit of "Eastern Partnership" in Riga on May 21-22.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
2:38 AM PDT
Terrorists shelled
Ukrainian army positions with artillery which was to be withdrawn – ATO speaker
(Censor.NET) --- The terrorists use
artillery, which, according to assurances of the militants’ leaders has been
withdrawn from the demarcation line.
Instead of
withdrawing heavy weapons from the line of demarcation, the terrorists are
actively employing it. There were more attacks last night compared to previous
ones - 28 in total, including artillery shelling.
This was announced
at a briefing of the ATO HQ representative Anatolii Stelmakh, Censor.NET
reports citing Channel 5.
"The Donetsk direction remains
the hottest spot. Here the bandits used 152-mm artillery systems to attack
Avdiivka. The artillery also shelled the villages of Pisky and Vodiane. Small
arms were used [by the militants] to attack Shyrokyne at the Mariupol
direction, and a sniper was sweeping our positions until 8 p.m., March 11. The
ATO forces open fire only in response [to the attacks] and continue equipping
defensive positions," Stelmakh said.
"This is
further evidence that the statement of the militant leaders that the gang
formations withdrew all the heavy weapons in accordance with the Minsk agreements is not
true. Mortar and grenade launchers were also used to shell Pisky, Avdiivka,
Opytne, and Vodiane," Stelmakh concluded.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
1:48 AM PDT
Another explosion
occured in Odesa near Samopomich party office.
(Censor.NET) --- An explosion occurred
in the Admiral business center in Odesa at around 12:40 a.m.
This is stated by
the press service of the Odesa region police, Censor.NET reports citing Liga.
An explosive device
was mounted at the front door of the Samopomich political party's office. The
blast had damaged the office and windows of the adjacent premises of the
business center. No casualties were reported.
A police
investigative team is working at the scene.
 |
 |
Thursday, March 12, 2015
1:13 AM PDT
Number of terrorist
forces reaches 33,000 people with about 80% being Russian mercenaries - Tymchuk
(Censor.NET) --- The number of
Russian-terrorist forces in the Donbas reaches
about 30,000-33,000 people.
This is stated by
Dmytro Tymchuk citing Information Resistance data on his Facebook page,
Censor.NET reports.
"Almost two
army corps of Russian-terrorist troops (about 30,000-33,000 people) are
currently deployed under a single centralized command of the DPR and LPR. Of
these, only 15-20% are Ukrainian citizens, and the rest are Russian
mercenaries," he wrote.
Tymchuk also noted
that the leadership of the terrorist organizations continues to mobilize:
"So-called mobilization lists of employees are being compiled at the
enterprises and mines in the occupied territories, under the pretext of
preparation for the 'offensive Ukrainian troops.' "
"After a
series of conflicts and substantial losses in personnel as a result of
"cleansing", leaders of the so-called "Cossacks" forces in
the occupied territory of the Luhansk region agreed to the LPR leaders' terms
regarding the command of this terrorist organization. It was decided that
"Cossack" formations will join the "LPR armed forces" as a
separate military branch," he added.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
16:42 PDT
News Analysis: The
Plot To Seize Crimea
(RFE/RL) --- In early 2014, the world
was caught off guard by one event after another in a crisis that culminated
with Russia 's annexation of
the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula
of Crimea
On March 13, just
eight days before the annexation, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a
meeting in Moscow that "we cannot ignore
the situation evolving around Ukraine ,
Crimea ."
"I want to
emphasize that this crisis is not of our making," Putin said.
"Nevertheless, one way or another we are being dragged into it." A
bit earlier, on March 4, Putin told journalists that the idea of annexing Crimea "is not being considered."
But a year later,
new revelations, including disclosures from Putin himself, are reshaping this
part of the Kremlin's Crimea narrative and
other key aspects as well.
A new documentary
that is to be aired by Russian state television in the coming days is being
teased with clips of Putin claiming he made the decision to annex Crimea in the early morning hours of February 23.
"When we were
parting, I told all my colleagues, 'we are forced to begin the work to bring Crimea
back into Russia ,'"
a confident-looking Putin says in the promotional clip.
Saying "begin
the work," Putin seems to be implying that no preparation had been made
for this contingency. However, other evidence suggests that detailed plans had
been drawn up and that Putin's order to "begin the work" more likely
meant to start the process of implementing those plans.
Russian security
analyst Andrei Soldatov told The Moscow Times in March 2014: "The Kremlin
always has several plans on various issues that may not be in use for years.
But then when some trigger appears, Putin asks to put one of the plans into
action. So the Crimea operation may have been
prepared long ago, but the decision on it was made very quickly."
The medals that the
Russian military awarded to service personnel -- which Putin initially denied
were involved in the Crimea annexation at all -- says the operation "for
the return of Crimea " began on February
20, 2014. Putin advisor Vladislav Surkov was in Crimea
the week of February 14, and the first pro-Russian demonstrations on the
peninsula materialized on February 21.
Reviving The Russian
Empire
In addition to the
documentary, the liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta has published a strategy memo
on Ukraine
that was purportedly drafted under the auspices of Russian oligarch Konstantin
Malofeyev and discussed in the Kremlin in February 2014, before Ukrainian
President Viktor Yanukovych fled from Kiev. The newspaper vouches for the
document's authenticity, although Malofeyev denies any connection and has
threatened to sue.
Also, in January,
Russian researcher Aleksandr Sytin published an insider account of the workings
of the Russian Institute for Strategic Research (RISI), an influential
presidential think tank that provides strategy memos to the Kremlin.
Sytin argues that,
since 2009, RISI has become increasingly interested in the revival of the
Russian empire and bolstering the role of the Russian Orthodox Church.
According to Sytin, RISI joined forces with Malofeyev and other oligarchs in
November 2013 to appeal to Putin to adopt a constitutional amendment on the
status of Orthodoxy.
RISI's leadership
discounted the independence of all the former Soviet states and argued that
their sovereignty "does not deserve serious attention."
"The
overwhelming majority of Ukrainians remember our common history and the Great
Patriotic War, and dream of the rebirth of a common Imperial/Soviet state
structure," ran RISI's analytical take, according to Sytin. He says the
think tank was arguing throughout 2013 that Western security agencies were
undermining Russian interests in Ukraine
and that it was essential to bring Crimea into the Russian Federation .
The purported
Malofeyev strategy document also indicates that Russia
was developing plans for pursuing economic and geopolitical goals in Ukraine . The
document advocates the incorporation into Russia of Crimea and large parts of
eastern Ukraine ,
particularly Kharkiv Oblast. It argues that if Russia
loses control over the natural-gas transport network in Ukraine , it
would bring "enormous harm to the economy of our country."
"Russia's
participation in the highly likely disintegration of the Ukrainian state will
not only give new impetus to the Kremlin's integration projects but will also
enable our country to preserve, as mentioned earlier, control over the
gas-transport system of Ukraine," the paper states. "At the same
time, it will fundamentally change the geopolitical layout of central and
eastern Europe, returning to Russia
one of its main roles."
Fomenting Tensions
The document also
cites the need to maintain the integrity of Russia 's
military-industrial complex, some of which is located in eastern Ukraine ,
in order to "accelerate rearmament." It also cites the desirability
of reducing Russia 's
dependence on Central Asia migrant workers by replacing them with Slavs from Ukraine as a reason to incorporate eastern Ukraine and Crimea into Russia .
The authors of the
document do not bring forward the need to protect ethnic Russians as a motive
for aggression in Ukraine .
Instead, it advocates fomenting tensions and creating pro-Russian groups and
demonstrations complaining of persecution. Such movements should organize
referendums to "give this process 'political legitimacy' and 'moral
justification,'" the document says.
Political analyst
Andrei Piontkovsky says Putin's decision to annex Crimea was part of a larger
strategy in response to the political crisis in Ukraine .
"[Putin's]
goal was to block the European vector of Ukrainian development,"
Piontkovsky told Voice of America on March 10. "He thought he achieved the
goal by bullying and bribing Yanukovych in November 2013…. But everything
changed with the anticriminal Maidan revolution, which culminated with the events
of February 20-23. Then he understood that it was necessary to destroy the
Ukrainian state."
"That is, the
goal of annexing Crimea was not an end in itself," Piontkovsky adds,
"but the most effective tool for weakening and, in the long run,
destroying the Ukrainian state."
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