Wednesday, May 6, 2015
8:46 AM PDT
This was said in
the OSCE report.
"As in
previous weeks, the average number of entries/exits increased at border
crossing points, as well as number of trucks that transport coal from Luhansk
region to the Russian
Federation . The majority of the vehicles
crossing the border have number plates issued in Luhansk region, including an
increasing number of articulated trucks and the long-distance coaches commuting
between Luhansk and cities in the Russian Federation, predominantly in the
Rostov region," the document said.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
8:06 AM PDT
President of
Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said this during a meeting with Moldovan Prime
Minister Chiril Gaburici, the press service of the Head of State reports.
"The President
of Ukraine stressed the importance of strong and politically stable Moldova for Ukraine and noted the interest in
coordinating actions on the European integration and the exchange of experience
on introduction of the visa-free regime," the statement said.
According to the
President, it is important to use benefits of the European integration and
reduce risks. "Coordination of actions and efficient mutual support are
important factors," the Head of State emphasized.
The President
assures that Ukraine
supports Moldova
and highly appreciates common projects on economic development, financial
stability and benefits of the European integration.
In turn, the
Moldovan Prime Minister expressed interest in Ukraine 's experience of reforms.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
6:27 AM PDT
Poroshenko urges
terrorists to withdraw equipment from buffer zone
(Censor.NET) --- President Poroshenko
demands that the terrorists fulfil the agreements and withdraw all the weaponry
in a matter of hours.
President Petro
Poroshenko has held a meeting with Ukrainian representatives in the working
subgroups of the Trilateral Contact Group on the peaceful settlement of the
situation in Donbas Volodymyr Horbulin, Yevhen Marchuk, Iryna Herashchenko and
Ihor Veremii, Censor.NET reports citing the press office of the president.
He said that the
Russian-backed militants return the weaponry , which had been earlier
withdrawn, to the buffer area on the eve of May 9 . "The explanation
doesn't withstand any criticism: they are allegedly preparing to the parade and
carry out military exercise. Agreements must be fulfilled and all the weaponry
must be withdrawn in a matter of hours," Petro Poroshenko noted.
"Any rotation,
format transformation or retreat from the Minsk
agreements is inadmissible," the president said.
"Neither Ukraine , nor our international partners accept
the revision of the Minsk
agreements. We persistently demand signatories to the Minsk
agreements, first of all Russia ,
to make every effort for the agreements to be fully implemented," the Head
of State emphasized.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
6:08 AM PDT
(UNIAN) --- According to numerous
reports by journalists operating in and around Mariupol , Russia
The Kremlin is believed by many to be readying
to push forward with an attempt to seize this strategic port city in
southeastern Ukraine ,
Ukraine Today reports.
No less than 44
violations of the Minsk ceasefire agreement
occurred overnight, killing at least one Ukrainian soldier early on Wednesday, Ukraine ’s
military has reported.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
6:03 AM PDT
(Censor.NET) --- Russian Ambassador to
the European Union Vladimir Chizhov appealed to the EU to postpone the signing
of the trade part of the Association Agreement with Ukraine until 2017.
He said this at a
public event in Brussels
Tuesday evening, Censor.NET reports citing Evropeiska Pravda.
According to
Chizhov, the idea was discussed at the expert level in April. The ambassador
has specified that Russia
advocates the idea that the current delay of the agreement entry into force
should be extended for another year, EUobserver writes.
As you know,
September 2014, Russia
disputed that the free-trade treaty implementation to be postponed until Jan.
1, 2016. The unilateral trade preferences regime will be valid for Ukraine during
this period (the Ukrainian goods are exported to the EU tax free while the
imports are subject to duties).
At the same time,
such a regime does not encourage Kiev
to introduce reforms, full implementation of which is required by the
free-trade treaty. That is why the experts strongly criticize the unilateral
regime.
Chizhov clarified that his initiative has
been rejected by the other parties. At the same time, he has not lost hope that
the EU will eventually return to this idea.
"I did not
have the impression that it was acclaimed enthusiastically by the Ukrainian
delegation and the one of the European Commission. This may be considered as an
indication of the fact that Ukraine
has fulfilled most of the objectives on its way to fulfill this part of the
Association Agreement. We will find out whether it has any bearing on reality
until the end of the year," the Russian diplomat added.
Permanent
Representative of Ukraine to
the EU Kostiantyn Yelisieiev earlier stated about Russia 's
constant attempts to postpone the introduction of a free trade treaty between Ukraine
and the EU. (blogger note: I guess he needs the
agreement postponed since its taking him longer to carve up the Ukraine
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
5:09 AM PDT
Five Ukrainian
soldiers killed, 12 wounded in past day: Kiev
Four of the
soldiers died when their armoured vehicle hit a landmine close to the frontline
town of Avdiivka ,
while the fifth was killed in a rebel ambush, Ukrainian spokesman Andriy
Lysenko said.
The latest
casualties come as Ukrainian and separatist representatives gear up to meet for
the first time since the two sides inked a shaky peace deal in February that
dampened much of the fighting but failed to halt clashes at key hotspots.
Negotiators from
the warring sides will meet with international mediators and officials from Russia -- which Kiev
accuses of masterminding the conflict -- in the Belarussian capital Minsk to discuss the
battered truce and a convoluted political roadmap for ending the conflict.
Both Kiev and the
insurgents accuse each other of continuing to violate the ceasefire deal
despite claims from both that they have withdrawn heavy weapons from the
frontline in accordance with the agreement.
The United Nations
says that over 6,100 people have died in more than a year of fighting that has
ravaged Ukraine 's eastern
industrial heartland and pitched Russia into a bitter standoff with
the West.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
2:10 AM PDT
Pisky village turned
into shambles: Kiev-1 battalion showed consequences of terrorist attacks.
(Censor.NET) ---
The defenders of Pisky village near Donetsk
have shared pictures of aftermath of another shelling committed by the Russian
terrorist forces.
Censor.NET reports
citing TSN.
They are shelled
from large caliber artillery and rocket one. The Ukrainian troops' position in
this village were fired at from mortars twice as well as attacked from
automatic grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, sniper rifles and small arms
in one day alone, May 5.
desert with abandoned bombed-out apartment
buildings and private houses.
|
The photos from one
of the trouble spots
in the ATO area were
published by the
Kiev-1 battalion.
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
12:14 AM PDT
As Ukraine
HOPTIVKA, Ukraine
(AP) — The flimsy, razor wire-topped fences popping up along bare expanses
of Ukraine 's
eastern frontier are the first line of defense against a much-feared Russian
invasion. Trenches fortified by timber have been hollowed out for soldiers to
take up positions. And bulky, metallic obstacles looped together with more
barbed wire are laid across the fields to halt advancing tanks and infantry.
A little more than
a year and-a-half ago, the very idea of creating such fortifications —
reminiscent of World War I trench warfare — would have struck many as perverse.
But the project was announced with fanfare in summer as fighting against
Moscow-backed separatists reached peak intensity. In December, Prime Minister
Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that the program, dubbed "Project Wall," would
cost almost $520 million and take four years to complete.
Now doubts are creeping in.
With much of
eastern Ukraine
in the hands of Russian-backed separatists, large swaths of the border remain
impossible to secure — meaning enemy troops can just sneak in through areas
under rebel control. And cash-strapped authorities have already had to revise
budgets downward, so there's little money for building defenses.
The project is for
now centered on the Kharkiv region, which lies north of the conflict zone and
shares a 315-kilometer border with Russia . To insulate that region
from any separatist offensive, another layer of protection is being built on
the frontier with areas under rebel control.
Views are mixed
among residents in the city of Kharkiv ,
the regional capital, about the wisdom of building defenses.
Some in the
economic powerhouse of 1.4 million people embrace the idea, and look with
distress to the fate that befell the neighboring, mainly Russian-speaking Donetsk and Luhansk
regions. More than 6,000 people have died to date as a result of fighting
between government and rebel forces.
"We need to
protect ourselves somehow," said Sergei Kotlyar, 46. "But, of course,
this won't give us 100 percent guarantees, even if it holds back the enemy for
a little time."
Others believe
investing in fences and trenches is a waste of money, noting that anti-tank
defenses will be of limited use against the rocket launchers widely deployed
over the course of the war.
"Who is it
going to stop?" said 22-year old Kharkiv resident Anatasia Duda. "A
country like Russia
definitely has the means to deal with slabs of metal. And what's the use of
that wall when the border with Donetsk
isn't even under control?"
In earlier times,
lines separating the republics of the Soviet Union
were viewed as little more than a formality, so families and communities
straddled inconspicuously across borders. On paper, that changed with the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
But scant security
along the 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) demarcation between Russia and Ukraine has for two decades ensured
a smuggler's dream. Farmers and their livestock blithely crisscrossed in areas
where it has never quite been entirely clear which country one was in.
Separatist fighters
in the Donetsk
and Luhansk regions have exploited the porous borders, moving about with ease. Ukraine accuses Russia of pouring its own army's
equipment and manpower across the border to assist rebel offensives. Moscow dismisses all
satellite imagery and anecdotal evidence underpinning those claims.
Ukrainian border
guards fought bitterly to keep the frontier sealed against overwhelming odds.
"We know from
the experience of fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that fire comes
from the neighboring state (of Russia) without them having to cross the
border," said Oleksandr Kruk, head of the Kharkiv regional division of the
border service.
On top of creating
physical barriers, Ukraine
is also fortifying obstacles of red tape to deter the numerous Russian citizens
known to have voluntarily joined forces with local separatists.
Rules for crossing
official frontier points have been stiffened. In Hoptivka, people stand
impatiently in crowded and slow-moving lines to get into Russia for work
or to visit relatives.
Russian citizens can only enter Ukraine on
their international travel passports, whereas they could formerly sail through
with their national ID cards. Closer checks by border guards have also slowed
things down.
Fifty kilometers
(30 miles) of fences have already gone up, but not without complications. The
exact coordinates for the location of the fence are hard to fix since the
process of demarcating borders after the collapse of the Soviet
Union was never properly completed.
Rather than wait
around for a labouriously negotiated agreement, Ukraine 's security leadership last
June unilaterally marked out what it sees as the country's eastern limits.
Although it is
illegal to own property within 50 meters (yards) of the border, people near the
new fences have been granted control over the land all the same, said Kharkiv
regional government Igor Raynin.
"We are not
prepared to tell people that this was not done properly and to confiscate land
through the courts," Raynin said.
The fortifications under
construction go further back than the immediate line with Russia itself.
Trenches, shelters and parking areas for armoured vehicles have been built
along highways running southward from Russia past Kharkiv, a hive of
Soviet-built industry.
With the government
forced to cut costs across the board as the economy struggles under the weight
of war, the budget for the project has been reduced twofold.
But Raynin insists
the project is still sound.
"This has been
done in such a way that the quality of the wall will not suffer
adversely," he said.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
12:09 AM PDT
Separatists
concentrate 3,000 troops near Mariupol – Tymchuk
(Zik) --- The Russia/rebel command has
strengthened its flank formations with respect to the Ukrainian army in the
area of Svitlodarsk-Artemivsk, military expert Dmytro Tymchuk reports May 6.
Over May 5, the
enemy has moved infantry, tanks and artillery to the area
Two military
convoys passed via Makiyivka toward Yenakieve and Horlivka, the first including
16 APCs and the other including 7 tanks, 2 APCs and several trucks, Dmytro
Tymchuk reported.
The enemy is, in
fact, creating a powerful offensive concentration with several scores of armour
and 3,000 troops spearheaded against Mariupol, the expert said.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015 10:47
AM PDT
Israel cancels sale
of drones to Ukraine after telephone call by Putin to Benjamin Netanyahu
(Zik) --- Israel
government didn’t give a go-ahead to the sale of drones to Ukraine following a buzz to
Netanyahu from the Russian president, Bloomberg reports May 5, citing a highly
placed Israeli official.
In October 2014,
Ukraine Foreign Minister Klimkin visited Israel
and declared that Ukraine is
interested in purchasing drones to monitor the ceasefire in Donbas .
Earlier, calling
the sale unproductive, Putin said Israel
could sell the drones to Ukraine
in response to Russia
selling C-300 missiles to Iran . (blogger note: I guess it shows Netanyahu’s backbone to
so easily be intimidated by Putin).
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