Ukraine War Update - 7 June 2015

Sunday, June 7, 2015  8:27 AM PDT

Ukraine frontline troops dig down with pig named Putin

   Pisky (Ukraine) (AFP) --- This frontline Ukrainian village lacks gas, power and water.

   Yet with barely a house left standing, Pisky remains a daily target of shelling, despite the latest truce with pro-Russian rebels, and Kiev's troops are digging down to survive.

   Before the separatist conflict erupted in the east of the ex-Soviet country 14 months ago, Pisky was home to 2,000 people, many of whom worked in the coal mining centre of Donetsk just three kilometres (two miles) away.

   But with Donetsk becoming the rebels' de facto capital last summer, Pisky became a strategic flashpoint that changed hands on repeated occasions.

   It was an important supply centre for troops trying to control Donetsk's international airport, and became a prized outpost once the militants finally seized the hub in January.

   Pisky's residents fled for safety, with only a handful of elderly people still somehow managing to survive amid the mangled metal and piles of rubble today.

   Their new neighbours are Ukrainian soldiers, who spend much of their time underground. The troops like to remain inside a network of trenches facing southeast toward Donetsk, the well-armed rebels just 300 metres (yards) away.

   "Man is an animal who can get used to living in conditions like this," said one soldier nicknamed Uncle Vova, short for Volodymyr.

- Watching Batman on TV -

   Now 46, Uncle Vova lives with a dozen other soldiers in a two-storey house just behind the trenches.

   They say the house was built by a businessman as his summer retreat. It was abandoned when the first booms of warfare echoed over Ukraine's once-thriving rust belt.

   Traces of its original use as a summer residence are still evident. There is a small gym and a second outdoor kitchen in the garden. The soldiers spend their time in the basement, where they sleep, eat and while away the time.

   The television still works, using a generator, as does an ancient video player. Tapes of Batman and Moby Dick are scattered nearby.

   The soldiers say they prefer watching films to the news on TV.

   That is hardly surprising, since the channels aired locally are only Russian or the one run by the rebels' self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.

   Troops take turns cooking on a gas cylinder. And to make life even remotely resemble the one before daily bloodshed, they have started gardening and planting vegetables. In a central courtyard, a small farmyard is sprouting up.

   "I've got five chickens, a rooster and a turkey," said an officer who goes by the call sign Farmer.

   "There's even a small pig named Putin," he added, referring to the Russian president that most in Pisky blame for starting the war.

   "We used to have Yanukovych, but we killed him and ate him on Victory Day," he said, invoking the name of the Kremlin-backed Ukrainian president ousted in the weeks preceding the fighting.

- Walls pierced with bullets -

   To wash, they have set up a small wooden outdoor hut that they prefer not to use more than once a week. The shower drains precious water, which they get through irregular deliveries in plastic bottles.

   But one man, 75-year-old Vasyl Bobyl, refuses to spend his nights sheltering underground like the other dozen or so residents still clinging on in the village.

   "I'm not afraid," said Bobyl, a toothless man who has lived in Pisky for six decades.

   "Those who can still walk have left, the others have stayed," said Bobyl, who walks with a limp. His daughter, for example, has fled for Odessa, a southern port controlled by Kiev and a fairly safe distance away from the front.

   A poster of a religious icon is pinned on one of the walls inside Bobyl's residence. "That's my armour," he said with seeming irony.

   "You see, all the other walls have been pierced with bullets or shrapnel. But this one is intact."

Sunday, June 7, 2015  7:46 AM PDT

Ukrainian coastguard motor boat explodes at sea near Mariupol on Sunday

   (UNIAN) --- While leaving the berth of the Mariupol Maritime Border Guard detachment at the Sea of Azov, a UMC-1000 motor boat exploded at 1420 Kyiv time on Sunday, according to the State Border Service of Ukraine.

   The cause of the blast has not yet been determined, as well as the exact number of the wounded.

   "There were seven crewmen aboard the vessel. It is known at the moment that two State Border Service servicemen have been wounded in the blast. Information about the health of the remaining men is being verified," the State Border Service wrote on its website.

   The vessel has been considerably damaged, it added.

   Emergency rescue teams and investigators are currently on the scene at sea near the Ukrainian-controlled city of Mariupol.

Sunday, June 7, 2015  7:30 AM PDT

Ukraine dominates agenda during first day of G7 summit

   (Ukraine Today) --- World leaders condemn Russian aggression

   Leaders from the Group of Seven nations started their two-day meeting in the Bavarian Alps on Sunday, with the unremitting Russian aggression against Ukraine topping the agenda.

   Other issues on the agenda for host Angela Merkel include global health issues, from Ebola to antibiotics and tropical diseases.

   Continued Russian aggression against Ukraine on the first day of the summit has played prominent role at the meeting at Schloss Elmau, a luxury hotel perched among the picturesque mountains of southern Germany near the Austrian border.

Sunday, June 7, 2015  7:15 AM PDT

EU to discuss tougher sanctions on Russia

   (Censor.NET) --- The only possible discussion about sanctions towards Russia over Ukraine can be about strengthening them, European Council President Donald Tusk said ahead of a summit of Group of Seven (G7) leaders on Sunday.

   Censor.NET reports citing UNIAN.
   EU economic sanctions on Russia, imposed over the Ukraine conflict, are due to expire in July. EU leaders agreed in March that the sanctions would stay until the Minsk ceasefire agreement is fully implemented, effectively extending them to the end of the year, but a formal decision has yet to be taken.
   "My intention is that today we reconfirm G7 unity on the sanctions policy. So let me state clearly given the current situation, if any one wants to start a discussion about changing the sanctions regime, it could only be about strengthening it," Tusk said.
   Also Tusk said that "all (present at G7) would like to see Russia. But the G7 - is a community of values, which is why Russia is not here today. And it will not be invited until aggression against Ukraine and other countries will last".

Sunday, June 7, 2015  4:43 AM PDT

Eight Ukrainian soldiers injured, no one killed

   (Censor.NET) --- There are no losses among Ukrainian soldier in the ATO zone on June 6.

   Eight Ukrainian soldiers were injured. Speaker of the Presidential Administration in the ATO matters, Colonel Oleksandr Motuzianyk informed, Censor.NET reports citing Rbk-Ukraina.

   "Over the last 24 hours, eight Ukrainian soldiers were injured, no one was killed," Motuzianyk said.

Sunday, June 7, 2015  4:23 AM PDT

Marinka recovers after terrorists' attack. PHOTOS

   (Censor.NET) --- The ATO press center published photos of the village of Marinka after the terrorists’ attacks.

   The picture story was published on the ATO press center' Facebook page, Censor.NET reports.

   "Ukrainian soldiers have conducted a mop-up operation in Marinka, searching after Russian militants. Local residents are recovering after terrorist attack on June 3, when the village was shelled with artillery and Grad rocket systems," the statement reads.

Sunday, June 7, 2015  2:49 AM PDT

Two Ukrainian soldiers wounded near Stanytsia Luhanska – Moskal

   (Censor.NET) --- Yesterday, after midnight, the militants shelled the Army’s positions near Valuiske village with automatic grenade launchers and anti-aircraft guns. The terrorists have opened fire from the right bank of the Siverskyi Donets River, controlled by the ‘LPR’.

   Censor.NET reports citing head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration Hennadii Moskal official website.

   According to him, two Ukrainian soldiers were injured by shrapnel; there is no threat to their lives at the moment.

Sunday, June 7, 2015  2:03 AM PDT

Shyrokyne was fired from mortars and howitzers

   (Censor.NET) --- Last night passed relatively calm in the ATO zone.

   However, the militants fired at the Army's positions from banned weapon for about 30 times. Censor.NET reports citing the ATO press center.

   Pisky village was shelled with 120-mm mortars, while Vodiane with 122-mm howitzers. Ukrainian soldiers at Novolaspa were fired from tanks and IFV's.
   The terrorists provoked the ATO forces, firing from small arms in Marinka village. The village of Sokilnyky became the hottest spot in the L sector.

   In the Artemivsk sector, Kirove village was several times fired from grenade launchers, 82-mm mortars and heavy machine guns. The village of Leninske was shelled with banned mortars.

   Shyrokyne village was fired from 120-mm mortars and howitzers in the morning.

   20 terrorists' drones were spotted in the Luhansk and Donesk regions over the last 24 hours.

Sunday, June 7, 2015  12:58 AM PDT

111 explosions registered at Donetsk central railway station - OSCE

   (Censor.NET) --- The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) observed ongoing ceasefire violations at and around Donetsk airport.

   Censor.NET reports citing Ukrainska pravda.
   On the morning of June 5, the SMM observed a total of 88 explosions, most of which were part of an exchange of fire between 'DPR'-controlled Spartak village and government-controlled positions in Vodiane and Opytne villages. The SMM assessed that the weapons being fired were artillery over 100mm.
   While at the Donetsk central railway station observation point on the afternoon of June 5, the SMM heard a total of 111 explosions, anti-aircraft and small arms.

Saturday, June 6, 2015  23:12 PDT

Rebels wanted to repeat Marjinka scenario in Artemivsk

   (Zik) --- The enemy, the separatists led by their Russian patrons, started the attack deep into the night of June 6, TCH reported.

   The attack was preceded by intense shoot-out among the rebel groups in Horlivka. Apparently, the Russian commanders tried to bring the quarreling rebel groups into line.

   Then the heavy shelling of Ukraine army positions started. The enemy used especially deadly artillery – 152 self-propelled guns and Grad missile systems.

   That the attack had been planned in advance, is proven by earlier reports that the rebels ordered local hospitals to cut the number of patients and be ready for a big influx of the wounded on June 6 and 7.

   The enemy was confronted in this area by the 17th battalion troops.

   The actions of its servicemen were very effective.  No support from Ukraine army heavy artillery was needed, and the attack was repulsed using large-caliber machine guns, grenade throwers and anti-tank missiles, the army spokesman said.