Ukraine War Update - 10 April 2015

Friday, April 10, 2015  6:10 AM PDT

Poroshenko says Ukraine should rebuild its navy

   (UNIAN) --- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko believes Ukraine has to rebuild its naval forces, Presidential Press Secretary Sviatoslav Tseholko wrote on Twitter on Friday.

   "Poroshenko: we must create naval forces just as we have created our army from scratch," Tseholko tweeted.

   According to Tseholko, Poroshenko also said that the construction of new ships was a priority for the Ukrainian Navy.

   "Speaking in Odesa, the President said that our fleet should be modern and compatible with the ships of NATO countries. Our priority is the construction of new ships in Ukraine," he said.

   Ukraine lost the bulk of its navy in March 2014, when Russia invaded and annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, where Ukraine’s navy was based. A total of 51 vessels were confiscated by Russia, and most of the 12,000 Ukrainian naval personnel defected to the Russian side.

   Ukraine now has a naval force of 11 vessels, including one modern frigate and four corvettes.

Friday, April 10, 2015  4:45 AM PDT

Russia TV channel has evidence of shootings of Ukraine POWs by rebels

   (Zik) --- “Dozhd” (Rain), Russia’s only opposition TV channel, says it has evidence of murders of Ukraine POWs by Donbas rebels, its journalist Timur Olevsky said Apr. 9.

   The channel has two video segments indicating that rebels were shooting Ukraine POWs.

   One of the segments shows rebels threatening 30th Brigade Ukrainian POWs with murder. The POWs were alive at the time but later their bodies were taken by volunteers from the morgue.

   “Dozhd” TV appealed to Ukraine servicemen and officials to provide additional information on the murders of POWs.

Recently, one of the rebels commanders, aka Motorola, admitted on TV that he had shot 15 Ukrainian army POWs, TCH reported. 

Friday, April 10, 2015  4:32 AM PDT

Many rebels willing to surrender and flee to Ukraine-held part of Donbas

   (Zik) --- Two rebels from Luhansk who defected from their unit and surrendered to Ukraine servicemen say there are many militants willing to follow suit, SBU says Apr. 10.

   Both rebels surrendered to Ukrainian servicemen at a road checkpoint near Zolote, Luhansk oblast.

   They both have a criminal past, SBU says, with one of them having served an 11-year sentence for premeditated murder.

   He took a Russian army training course in Jejsk where Russian officers taught him how to operate the Strela-10M AA missile.

   The defectors told about humiliation and beatings by their leaders.

   Those rebels who voluntarily surrender and have not committed crimes while in the rebel units can be amnestied, SBU reminds.

Friday, April 10, 2015  4:11 AM PDT

Ukrainian border guards to allow crossing of residents living close to border during Easter holidays

   (Interfax) --- Ukrainian border guards said they will enable people living in areas close to the border to cross the border comfortably in the period of the Easter holidays.

   "To fulfill an order issued by the president of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service has taken measures to enable residents of areas close to the Ukrainian-Russian border to comfortably cross the border during holidays and remembrance days," the State Border Guard Service press service has reported.

   "Citizens who live within the limits of village councils located near the Ukrainian-Russian section of the border and go in road vehicles will be using international and interstate checkpoints, and local checkpoints and checkpoints located in individual places will be open to people who go on foot and at daytime on April 11-19, 2015," the report says.

   The report say that, in accordance with this decision, Russian citizens who live in areas close to the border will be allowed to cross the border using local checkpoints on the Ukrainian border on foreign travel and internal passports.

Friday, April 10, 2015  3:58 AM PDT

No one killed over the past day, two soldiers wounded - NSDC

   (Censor.NET) --- Two Ukrainian soldiers received wounds in the course of the anti-terrorist operation on April 9.

   This was announced by the ATO speaker Andrii Lysenko, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrainski Novyny.
   According to him, the soldiers suffered from a trip wire explosion in the cities of Svitlodarsk and Avdiivka, the Donetsk region.
   Lysenko stressed that the volume of shelling of the ATO positions has increased.
   On April 9, the terrorists have fired at the Ukrainians soldiers with mortars for 15 times, with artillery for three times, and with tanks for three times.

   The most active shelling is conducted near the cities and villages of Avdiivka, Opytne, Pisky, and Vodiane, the Donetsk region.

Friday, April 10, 2015  3:51 AM PDT

Tablets for artillerists from Canadian Diaspora

   (UTR.TV) --- Sumy volunteers presented fire adjustment devices to servicemen of the 27thRocket Artillery Regiment from Canadian Diaspora. 

   Ten tablets with topo maps and satellite imagery installed help to localize the enemy in a rapid and correct manner. The soldiers also got ‘La Crosse’ weather station. This station is rather small and light, provides 24-hour forecast.

Thursday, April 9, 2015  23:18 PDT

Rebels shell Ukraine army positions 20 times

   (Zik) --- Apr. 9, from 18.00 through 24.00, Donbas rebels attacked Ukrainian servicemen 20 times, the army spokesman writes in Facebook.

   Most intense attacks happened near Avdijivka, Pisky, Opytne, Shyrokine in  violation of the Minsk agreements, the rebels and their Russian patrons used 120-mm mortars twelve times.

   Near Avdijivka, the enemy opened fire from 122-mm artillery guns.

   Tanks were used by the enemy to fire in Avdijivka and Pavlopol areas.

   The enemy considerably intensified air reconnaissance, with drones spotted near Shchastya, Bohdanivske, Shyrokine, Mariupol, Starobilsk, Lysychensk and Teple, the army spokesman says. 

Thursday, April 9, 2015  22:09 PDT

More Than 40 Suspected 'Saboteurs' Detained In Odessa

   (RFE/RL) --- Ukrainian authorities say they have detained more than 40 alleged members of a terror group in the Black Sea port city of Odessa.

   A spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), Olena Hitlyanska, wrote on Facebook on April 10 that the suspects had planned a series of terrorist acts in the city during celebrations marking the Orthodox Easter on April 12.

   "A large number of weapons and explosives" were confiscated from the suspects, Hitlyanska wrote.

   She added that searches were continuing.

   Last week, the SBU said it detained three people suspected of involvement in a series of bombings in Odessa, some of them targeting organizations with ties to soldiers fighting against Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.

   Ukrainian authorities blamed those blasts on Russia and the rebels who hold parts of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.