Ukraine War Update - 29 July 2015

Wednesday, July 29, 2015  9:34 AM PDT

Poroshenko: Special regime in Donbas is possible only after control over territory is reset

   (Censor.NET) --- President Poroshenko says the special order of local self-government in the Donbas is possible only after Ukraine regains control over its territory.

   As reported by Censor.NET citing Ukrainska Pravda, he announced this at a solemn academy on the 110th anniversary of Metropolitan Sheptytskyi in Lviv. "The special order of local self-government is possible only after the Russian troops are withdrawn beyond the Ukrainian-Russian border," the president's Twitter reads.
   He reminded the Verkhovna Rada had passed the law on the special order of local self-government in separate regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions twice with full set of conditions necessary for the law to take effect being listed. They include withdrawal of arms and military, as well as regaining of Ukraine's control over its border.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015  9:09 AM PDT

Rebel troops commanded by 2,000 Russian officers, captured major admits

   (Zik) --- Russian army Major Andrei Starkov, captured last week in Donbas, said during his interrogation shown by SBU on Wednesday that the activities of rebel army units are supervised by 2,000 Russian officers attached to them, Ukrayinska Pravda reports July 29.

   SBU chief’s adviser, Yury Tandit, said Russia is sending officers to Donbas by first summoning them to Rostov and then moving to Ukraine.

   At the end of the video footage, the Russian officer admitted the rampant corruption of rebel army higher command. “If I had known about the true situation in Ukraine, I would have never come here,” he admitted. 

Wednesday, July 29, 2015  8:50 AM PDT

Savchenko to be tried tomorrow morning

   KIEV, July 29 (Ukrinform). --- The Donetsk city court (Rostov region, Russia) informed the lawyers of Ukrainian pilot and MP Nadiya Savchenko that preliminary hearings would start at 11:00, July 30.

   Savchenko's lawyer Mark Feygin has posted this information on Twitter.

   “I've received a call from the Donetsk city court. Preliminary hearings on Savchenko start at 11:00 tomorrow. Judge Stepanenko," Feygin wrote.

   As a reminder, the lawyers of Nadiya Savchenko have not communicated with her for two weeks and do not have the accurate data about her whereabouts.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015  8:35 AM PDT

Moscow orders proxies in Donbas to capture Ukrainian officers for swap – SBU

   (UNIAN) --- The Russian authorities ordered the leaders of DPR and LPR terrorist organizations to capture Ukrainian officers in order to swap them for Vladimir Starkov, officer of the Russian Armed Forces, detained by Ukrainian border guards in Donbas on July 25, according to the head of SBU.

   “According to reliable sources, after border guards detained the officer of Russia’s Armed Forces, Russian commanders have instructed the leaders of terrorist organizations, the so-called "DPR" and "LPR" to do everything possible to capture Ukrainian officers to further exchange them for Starkov," said Chairman of the State Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Grytsak during his joint press conference with Chairman of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Viktor Nazarenko today, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

   Also, according to the head of the SBU, attempts were made to bribe Ukrainian border guards so that they released Major Starkov immediately after his arrest, but the officers did not succumb to provocations.

   UNIAN earlier reported that the accounts of Starkov’s relatives on social networks have been “cleansed” by the Russian authorities following the officer’s arrest in Ukrainian Donbas.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015  8:11 AM PDT

Klimkin invites OSCE to observe local elections

   KIEV, July 29 (Ukrinform). --- Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin has invited the OSCE to observe the local elections in Ukraine scheduled for October 25.

   This was announced by spokesperson for the Ukraine's Foreign Ministry Mariana Betsa at the briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"July 23 this year, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin sent a letter to director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Michael Link, in which invited the ODIHR to observe the local elections in Ukraine scheduled for October 25 this year," Betsa said.

   According to her, the Minister noted the readiness of the Ukrainian side to apply all efforts to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in accordance with the national legislation and the internationally accepted standards for democratic elections.

   "The ODIHR plans to carry out an assessment mission to Ukraine on August 5-7 this year within the framework of preparations for election observing," Betsa said.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015  3:52 AM PDT

No one killed, two Ukrainian soldiers received injuries over past day, - ATO speaker

   (Censor.NET) --- Two Ukrainian servicemen were wounded in the course of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) on July 28.

   This was announced by the Presidential Administration speaker on ATO matters Oleksandr Motuzianyk at a briefing, Censor.NETreports.

   "Over the past day, no Ukrainian soldiers were killed in combat activities, two of our servicemen were wounded. It took place near Marinka," he said.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015  1:18 AM PDT

Ukraine needs just 1,240 Javelin missiles to deter further Russian aggression, Poroshenko says

   (Censor.NET) --- President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko says that 1,240 was the number of nuclear warheads Ukraine gave up under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, jointly signed by the U.S., Britain and Russia.

   He said this in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Censor.NET reports.
   "We're looking for just 1,240 Javelin missiles, and this is absolutely fair," he said when asked about the kind of weapons his armed forces would need to deter further aggression by Russia and its separatist proxies in eastern Ukraine.
   The number 1,240 has special significance for Mr. Poroshenko. He says that was the number of nuclear warheads Ukraine gave up under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, jointly signed by the U.S., Britain and Russia. "Ukraine voluntarily gave up its nuclear arsenal," Mr. Poroshenko says, "and in exchange for that the United States of America and Great Britain... promised to guarantee our sovereignty and territorial integrity."
   At the same time Poroshenko stressed: "We aren't demanding that British, American or French soldiers come here and fight for us. We're doing this ourselves, paying the most difficult price - the lives of my soldiers. We need just solidarity."
   The president said that the West would ultimately pay the price for appeasement and myopia. "If we do not stop the aggressor, that means global security doesn't exist. Anytime, any plane or submarine can make a missile attack, including against the U.S."
   That's a lesson the West should have learned from the July 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 tragedy, in which putative separatists armed by Moscow shot down a passenger jet en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam.
   Poroshenko also drew attention to the constant shelling by the terrorists. On Sunday there were 70 instances of shelling from separatist positions. The daily average during the past two months was 100. The numbers are lower compared with the height of the conflict, but the suffering "is still tremendous. Altogether the number of civilians and military personnel [dead] is now close to 9,000. Nobody can imagine that this can happen in the center of Europe in the 21st century."

Tuesday, July 28, 2015  21:47 PDT

Crimean Tatar Leaders Blocked From World Congress In Turkey

   KIEV(RFE/RL) --- Russian officials have blocked Crimean Tatar leaders from leaving Crimea on the eve of a major world congress scheduled in Ankara this weekend.

   The chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Crimean Tatar Assembly (Qurultay), Zair Smedlyaev, told RFE/RL that he and Nariman Celal, the first deputy of the Crimean Tatars' self-governing body, the Mejlis, were handed subpoenas by the Russian investigative committee's directorate in Crimea on July 28. 

   According to the subpoenas, Smedlyaev and Celal must report to the investigative committee on August 1 for questioning about clashes in February 2014 that pitted Crimean Tatars and pro-Ukrainian activists against pro-Russian activists near the regional parliament.

   The World Congress of Crimean Tatars is scheduled for August 1-2. Some 200 Crimean Tatar groups from several countries are expected to attend the gathering.

   Smedlyaev says the subpoenas were handed to prevent his and other Crimean Tatar leaders' participation at the international event in Turkey.