Ukraine War Update - 24 June 2015

Wednesday, June 24, 2015  13:59 PDT

SBU detained two men dressed in Tornado battalion uniforms who planned assassination of Luhansk region police chief - Moskal

   (Censor.NET) --- Chairman of the Luhansk military-civilian administration Hennadii Moskal stated that the Security Service of Ukraine has detained two persons dressed in the uniforms of the Interior Ministry’s Tornado squadron on suspicion of plotting the assassination of Chief of Regional Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Lysychansk (the Luhansk region) Anatolii Naumenko.

   Censor.NET reports citing the statement of the press service of Hennadii Moskal.

   "The Security Service and Interior Ministry officers detained two assassins in Lysychansk a few hours ago today (June 24). They were going to murder Chief of police of the Luhansk region Anatolii Naumenko. The detainees appeared to be the so-called volunteers of the Interior Ministry's Tornado squadron (they had appropriate chevrons but were not official members of the squadron)," the report reads.

   It was established that the suspects left the village of Pryvillia (the base of Tornado is situated there) June 22 and went through wood lines bypassing checkpoints to the city of Lysychansk where they checked into a mini-hotel.

   One of them was a 37-year-old sniper - the one who intended to commit a murder of Naumenko and the other one was a 58-year-old sniper's associate whose mission was to back up the main killer.

   Makarov pistols, which were in the books of the Tornado squadron, were seized from both of them during the arrest, as well as "Vepr" hunting rifle with a scope sight, two RGD-5 grenades and 47 rounds of ammunition of various calibers.

   During the interrogation, the "hitman" has confirmed that they were plotting an attempt upon Naumenko's life. They were aware of his place of work, residence, and main routes he used while the motive was the revenge for withdrawal of the Tornado squadron from the Luhansk region.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015  12:43 PDT

Battle is underway in Shyrokyne not far from Mariupol

   (Censor.NET) --- A clash is currently taking place in Shyrokyne village not far from Mariupol.

   Mariupol online news outlet 0629 informs citing press officer of the sector "M" Yaroslav Chepurnyi, Censor.NET reports.

   The Russian militants were the first who opened fire, he stressed. The servicemen are using small arms in response. The residents of Mariupol hear gunfire. The residents of the left bank of Mariupol observe smoke rising over Shyrokyne. The situation in Mariupol is stable.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015  11:21 AM PDT

Militants’ combat activity significantly reduced June 24, - ATO press-center

   (Censor.NET) --- The militants have significantly reduced their military activity along the demarcation line today, June24.

   Censor.NET informs citing situation report of the ATO press center.

   The report reads: "More than 10 cases of the cease-fire violation on the part of the illegal armed groups have been recorded totally.

   "The attacks on the Ukrainian troops' positions were committed from small arms mainly. In particular, the assaults were recorded near Shyrokyne as well as Opytne, Pisky, and Avdiivka near Donetsk.

   "Our defenders' positions on the outskirts of Sanzharivka near Artemivsk were fired at from automatic grenade launchers.

   "Our troops' positions near the village of Syze in the Luhansk region were shelled from 82-mm mortars and grenade launchers.

   "The tank shelled Marinka from the direction of the territories temporarily occupied by the militants under the control of the Russian authorities

   "Regardless of this relative calm there is information that the illegal armed groups use it to regroup and intensify hostilities at certain directions.

   "In particular, there has been an acute problem with the fuel availability at gas stations in occupied Donetsk in recent days. It is likely that it was diverted to the needs of the illegal armed groups.

   "The leaders of the pro-Russian gangs also carried out reconnaissance on the outskirts of the capital of the Donbas this morning. After that the residents of the occupied city informed about the evacuation of local residents from certain neighborhoods of Donetsk," the ATO press service stressed.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015  8:03 AM PDT

Army impounds 500 trucks in Kiev

   (Zik) --- The army has impounded 500 trucks to serve its needs from Kiev companies, organizations and institutions, Kiev’s military commissar Col. Volodymyr Kydon told journalists June 24.

   The recently changed legislation allows the army to temporarily mobilize vehicles, he said.

   The law allows mobilizing vehicles from businesses, organizations and institution. Privately owned vehicles can be impounded when the government imposes martial law in Ukraine, the colonel explained.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015  7:43 AM PDT

Canadian defense minister to visit Ukrainian leadership during visit to Ukraine

   (Interfax) --- Canadian National Defense Minister Jason Kenney is expected to visit Kiev on June 25-27, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry charge d'affaires Dmytro Kuleba said.

   "The Canadian minister will visit military facilities in the Lviv region, where Canadian instructors will conduct training of units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," Kuleba told a briefing on Wednesday.

   Kuleba said Kenney is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015  2:10 AM PDT

Truck with ammunition blows up in Poltava overnight

   (UNIAN) --- A military vehicle with a trailer of ammunition, including mines, caught fire at on a highway running through the Ukrainian town of Poltava on the night of June 24, local Web site Kolo reported on Wednesday.

   According to the eyewitnesses, the truck caught fire while it was moving.

   The soldiers in the truck noticed fire in time and tried to put it out. However, after a few minutes they called for firefighters. The ammunition in the trailer then began to explode, with people in the area starting to hear explosions at about 0100.

   A witnesses told an UNIAN correspondent that a column of military vehicles was driving on the highway after midnight, when the cabin of one of the trucks caught fire. As a result of the fire, the ammunition began to explode.

   According to the report, there were no casualties as a result of the accident.

   "The car was traveling from Kiev to the Donbas conflict zone. No casualties, explosive experts are working at the scene," said Yuriy Sulaiev, a representative of the Interior Ministry in Poltava region.

   The accident occurred at the place where there were no houses and a few hundred meters from fuel filling stations. The road was immediately closed off in order to prevent injuries.

   The official cause of the fire will be established by the law enforcement agencies.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015  1:08 AM PDT

Border guards repulsed five militants’ attacks at checkpoints in Donetsk region: one soldier wounded

   (Censor.NET) --- Over the past 24 hours the Border patrol repulsed five attacks of the militants.

   This is stated by the press service of the State Border Service of Ukraine, Censor.NET reports.

   "Over the past day the illegal armed groups continued to violate the cease-fire intensively shelling the positions of the Ukrainian military. Four times the illegal armed groups opened fire at Marinka checkpoint, where the border guards serve together with the Armed Forces. Russian mercenaries opened fire using machine guns, RPGs and sniper rifles. Ukrainian military opened fire and forced the enemy to retreat. As a result of the armed confrontations one Ukrainian soldier was wounded. In addition terrorists used rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns to fire at Zolote checkpoint of the Ukrainian military. The forces of the checkpoint repulsed the attack of the the militants. There were no casualties among the troops," the agency stated.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015  12:11 AM PDT

Lone Russian Lawmaker To Oppose Crimean Annexation Charged With Embezzlement

   (RFE/RL) --- Russian authorities have charged Ilya Ponomaryov, the lone State Duma representative to vote against the 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, with embezzlement.

   The Federal Investigative Committee said on June 24 that a state-funded technological foundation had paid Ponomaryov $750,000 for lectures, but he had delivered only brief comments.

   It also said it may put Ponomaryov on an international wanted list if he fails to turn up for the investigation.

   Ponomaryov, a member of the A Just Russia party, voted against the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 after Russia took control of the Black Sea peninsula.

   He is now in the United States after being stripped of his parliamentary immunity from prosecution in April.

   Ponomaryov denies wrongdoing and says the case against him is politically motivated.