Ukraine War Update - 7 May 2015

Thursday, May 7, 2015  7:40 AM PDT

Belarus offers to do all under its control for peace in Ukraine

   (Interfax) --- "Belarus has already done quite a lot to have peace restored in Ukraine, and we stand ready to even more - anything that is needed to stop this war. If we Slavs don't patch it up by ourselves, if we don't decide by ourselves what we should do, no one will help us," Belarusian state news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying.

   Lukashenko said the Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians had been brought together by a millennium of shared history. "Tragic events experienced by our brothers are our own pain," he said.

   "Seventy years after World War II, there are flames of conflict in Europe again. But what is especially horrible, something that could never have entered the minds of the victors or the minds of the millions of people who were killed, tortured to death in fascist jails, or burned in concentration camps, is that we their descendants would fire at each other, that one would rise against one's brother and try to kill him. But it has happened - moreover, it has happened on land soaked with the blood of victors. It is terrible for those who fell and for those who are alive! It is a horrific pain for the living veterans," Lukashenko said.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  7:24 AM PDT

Militants attack Ukrainian positions in Donetsk region

   (UNIAN) --- According to the Ukrainian military, government-controlled positions in the Donbas were attacked by Russia-backed militants eleven times overnight. 

   The village of Pisky in the Donetsk region and the town of Schastya in Luhansk region suffered heavy shelling from large mortars and grenade launchers, Ukraine Today reports.

   Ukrainian troops also detected enemy drones flying in the direction of Kramatorsk.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  7:18 AM PDT

UT Exclusive: Inside the Ukrainian warship that evaded Russian capture

   (UNIAN) --- Ukraine Today visited a naval base in Odesa to find out how the crew of the Ukrainian warship Pruluky managed to avoid being captured by Russian forces during Crimea’s illegal annexation.

   The ship is one of the only two vessels that successfully left the waters around the peninsula at the time, Ukraine Today reports.

   Amid immense psychological pressure exerted by the Russian navy, who tried to push Ukrainian naval officers toward treason and switching sides, 3rd rank captain Pavlo Rud, the ship’s commander, did not think for a second which side he wanted to be on, and remained faithful to his oath to the Ukrainian people.

   However, he was only one of the few officers remaining faithful to Ukraine in late February, 2014 while many higher naval commanders pledged loyalty to Russia as it occupied Crimea, blocking local military bases and demobilizing warships.

   The Russians used their military advantage to take over warships along with their crews. Having rejected the offer to defect, Rud brought his ship to Odesa, which the Russians allowed . 

   Today, the captain retains his firm stance, being ready to defend his country both on land and on sea.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  6:54 AM PDT

OSCE observers have no access to checkpoints on border with Russia

   KIEV, May 7 (Ukrinform). --- The OSCE observers do not have permanent access to the border between Ukraine and Russia in the ATO area.

   Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug said this at a briefing in Kiev on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

   "Before we had had not regular access to some international checkpoints on the border, but over the past 10 days the situation radically changed, in particular, on the border in Luhansk region. In Donetsk region the access to the border is still possible, in particular, on the Russian-Ukrainian official checkpoint in the area of Novoazovsk," he stressed.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  5:55 AM PDT

OSCE observers recorded shelling from Grads in Donbas for the first time since Minsk II – Hug

   (Censor.NET) --- Observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) have registered the usage of 'Grad' multiple rocket launchers in Donbas for the first time since the second Minsk agreements were made in February.

   Deputy Chief Monitor of the mission Alexander Hug said at a briefing in Kiev Thursday, Censor.NET reports citing Interfax-Ukraine.

   "SMM registers a couple of hundreds of shellings every day. Particularly, on May 2, fire from 'Grads' was heard in Donetsk. It caused casualties among civilians. OSCE notes that it was the first time they heard 'Grads' fire since the adoption of the latest Minsk agreements in the middle of February," he said.

   "In fact, the mission observes heavy weaponry in the confrontation region every day," Hug said.

   Hug also said that the town of Hranitne controlled by Ukrainian troops was shelled from 'Grads' at the end of April.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  3:51 AM PDT

Three Ukrainian servicemen injured, no soldiers killed yesterday - Presidential Administration

   (Censor.NET) --- Any Ukrainian military was killed in the area of counter-terrorism operation over the last 24 hours.

   Representative of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine on ATO issues Colonel Andrii Lysenko told at a traditional briefing on Thursday, Censor.NET reports.

   "We haven't lost any soldier during the past day, three servicemen have been wounded," he said.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  2:38 AM PDT

"DPR" terrorists’ "special operation" to capture “Cossacks” underway in Donetsk: there are casualties – Interior Ministry

   (Censor.NET) --- The "DPR" terrorists engaged in skirmish with the “Cossacks”.

   Donetsk region police head Viacheslav Abroskin wrote on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.

   "The new occupation of the "Oplot" gang of the so-called "DPR" is playing cops and robbers. The local bandits continue the war against the Russian "Cossacks". All "detachments" received the order to disarm the Cossacks, apprehend them and put to remand prisons. The alert has been issued in the city (Donetsk - Ed.) since yesterday. The Praga (hotel in Donetsk - Ed.), where the Cossacks had barricaded themselves, was stormed. The "DPR military" have suffered losses already. Several streets, including Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and Panfilov Avenues were partially blocked. A tank and several self-propelled guns were spotted on the streets leading to the Praga hotel. The sniper positions were equipped on the roofs of nearby houses (118 Panfilov Avenue)," he wrote.

   "The militants strongly recommend the residents to reduce the movement throughout the city because of the "security operation to capture the Cossacks" while it is obligatory to have the ID travelling through the city. According to the latest information, the Cossacks have rigged the Praga hotel with explosives while the local thugs are looking for their leader nicknamed 'Batia'," Abroskin added.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  1:23 AM PDT

UPA and Red Army veterans shake hands in Kiev

   (Zik) --- A historic event took place in Kiev on May 6 when veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and Soviet Army shook hands on one of the capital’s squaresdepo.ua reported May 7.

   In WWII, UPA fought for independence both against the Soviet and German troops.

   The handshake was a planned event proposed by the veterans.

   The event was called the Reconciliation Day by some visitors in social networks.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015  20:20 PDT

Detained Crimean Tatar Assemblyman Launches Hunger Strike

   SIMFEROPOL, Russian Occupied Crimea(RFE/RL) -- A high-ranking member of the Crimean Tatar assembly has begun a hunger strike at the facility where he awaits trial for allegedly organizing "mass disorder" ahead of Russia's annexation of Crimea.

   Ahtem Ciygoz began his protest on May 6 after being placed in solitary confinement this week at the Simferopol facility, assembly first deputy chairman Nariman Celal told RFE/RL.
   It it not known why Ciygoz was sent to solitary confinement.
   Ciygoz is a deputy chairman of the assembly, or Mejlis. He was arrested in late January by Russian authorities for his alleged role in clashes with pro-Russian demonstrators in February 2014, a month prior to Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
   He was charged with organizing deadly mass disorder in relation to the clashes, which took place outside the regional parliament building in the Crimean capital, Simferopol. 

   Ciygoz was placed in pretrial detention and that detention was subsequently extended until May 19.
   Armed men in unmarked uniforms seized the parliament building on February 27, 2014, the day after the clashes in which two died. Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula after a March 16 referendum that was dismissed by Kiev and the West as illegitimate.
   Since January, several Crimean Tatar activists have been arrested for their roles in the clashes.
   Eskender Bariyev of the Committee to Protect Crimean Tatars' Rights wrote on Facebook that activist Mustafa Degermenci was taken away on May 7 by a group of armed men in the village of Hrushivka.
   According to Bariyev, Degermenci's parents were told that their son might be charged with taking part in the clashes outside the Crimean parliament.
   In April, Crimea's Russian authorities arrested Eskender Nebiyev, a cameraman for a Crimean Tatar television channel that was shut down on April 1. Nebiyev was also arrested over the clashes outside parliament.
   In March, Crimean Tatar activist Talyat Yunusov was arrested and charged with assaulting a man during the clashes.
   Activists Iskender Kantemirov and Ali Asanov were earlier arrested in connection with the clashes.
   Activists say Crimean Tatars have faced discrimination, pressure, and abuse for their opposition to the annexation.