Ukraine War Update - 8 July 2015

Wednesday, July 8, 2015  4:34 AM PDT

Ukraine lost two more soldiers

   KIEV, July 8 (Ukrinform). --- Two Ukrainian servicemen were killed, other ten were wounded in the area of the anti-terrorist operation in Donbas as a result of hostilities.

   Spokesman for the Presidential Administration on the anti-terrorist operation, Colonel Oleksandr Motuzianyk said this at a briefing in Kiev, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

   "Two Ukrainian servicemen were killed, other ten were wounded as a result of military clashes over past 24 hours,"he said.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015  3:09 AM PDT

One Ukrainian soldier killed, three wounded in conflict zone

   (uatoday) --- Militants continue attacking Ukrainian army 

   UNIAN: Russian-backed militants fired on Kamaz truck of the Ukrainian armed forces in the village of Lopaskyne in Luhansk region on July 7, killing one soldier and wounding another three, the press service of Governor of Luhansk Region Hennadiy Moskal said on Wednesday, July 8.

   Lopaskyne is located 15 km from the village of Triokhizbenka on the left bank of the Siverskiy Donets River, where the demarcation line lies. In this very area, alcohol and products are systematically smuggled from Ukrainian-controlled territory into the militant-occupied area.

   "Ukrainian military controlled the area along the Siverskiy Donets River, in order to prevent attempts to smuggle goods, and came under fire of assault rifles and grenade launchers. The attack came from the militant-occupied right bank of 20-meter-wide river. A 26-year-old soldier of the Ukrainian armed forces suffered severe wounds from shrapnel and bullets. Unfortunately, he died shortly after hospitalization. Another three Ukrainian soldiers with injuries of varying severity are being treated in hospital," the report reads.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015  2:47 AM PDT

Situation in Ukraine's eastern regions.

   KIEV, July 8 (Ukrinform). --- The situation in eastern Ukraine remains tense. Despite the declared ceasefire, Russian-backed terrorists continue to fire at Ukrainian army positions and settlements in Donbas.

   The map reflecting the situation in Donbas as of 12.00 on July 8 has been released by the information and analytical center of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015  12:59 AM PDT

Triokhizbenka shelled: one soldier killed, three taken to hospital, - Moskal

   (Censor.NET) --- On Tuesday, July 7, near the village of Lopaskine in the Novoaidarsk area the terrorists sprayed a military KamAZ truck with four Ukrainian soldiers.

   As reported by Censor.NET, this is announced by the head of the Luhansk region military civil administration Hennadii Moskal on his website.

   "The village is located 15 kilometers from Triokhizbenka on the left bank of the Siverskyi Donets river, with the front line running along its course. This area is occasionally used to smuggle alcohol, consumer products, etc. from the territory controlled by Ukraine to the occupied territory in the Luhansk region," the report reads.
   It is noted that Ukrainian soldiers controlled the area along the Siverskyi Donets river in order to prevent attempts of goods smuggling and were fired from machine guns and grenade launchers as a result.
   "The fire was delivered from the right (occupied) bank of the river, with its width here being just 20 meters. One of the servicemen (26 years old) received severe shrapnel and bullet wounds. Shortly after hospitalization, he unfortunately died. Three other soldiers with injuries of various degrees of severity are at hospital," the press service reports.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015  12:20 AM PDT

Situation in Donbas deteriorated: 40 firings over six hours, battle near Luhanske, - Headquarters

   (Censor.NET) --- The situation in the ATO area deteriorated on July 7.

   As reported by Censor.NET, this is announced the ATO press center Facebook page.

   "From 6 p.m. till midnight along the entire demarcation line the pro-Russian gangs shelled the Ukrainian army positions 40 times," the report reads.

   According to the headquarters, at 10 p.m. in the area of Luhanske the Ukrainian soldiers discovered a sabotage and reconnaissance group of militants: "With only small arms, our soldiers forced saboteurs to retreat."

   "Violating the Minsk agreements, the militants used 120-mm mortars to shell the ATO forces positions near Novohryhorivka in the Mariupol direction. The village of Pisky was shelled three times (at 8:46 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10:50 p.m.)," the headquarters reports.

   Pro-Russian gangs also delivered fire from small arms and 82-mm mortars at the ATO forces positions near Shchastia, Troitske, Avdiivka, Novhorodske, Marinka, Luhanske, Lozove, Kirove, Svitlodarske, Maiorsk.

   At 6 a.m., July 8, the illegal armed units fired small arms at our positions near the villages of Stanytsia Luhanska, Opytne, Marinka, Pisky.

   The situation in the ATO area is under control of the Ukrainian military.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015  23:40 AM PDT

About 9,000 Russian soldiers remain in Donbas occupied territory, - Headquarters

   (Censor.NET) --- About 9,000 servicemen of the regular Russian army remain in the Donbas temporary occupied territory.

   As reported by Censor.NET, this was announced by the head of the Ukrainian armed forces headquarters press service Vladyslav Selezniov on July 7, on the air of 5 Channel.
   "According to our information, about 9,000 servicemen of the regular Russian army remain in the Donbas' temporary occupied territory," he said.
   Moreover, according to Selezniov, about 30,000 of the so-called "militants" remain on the territory temporarily controlled by the "DPR" and "LPR": "These are mercenaries, pro-Russian activists and local outcasts, who, bearing arms, make havoc and deal destruction on the occupied territories."
   He also said that about 45,000 Russian troops were located near the Ukrainian border.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015  10:43 AM PDT

Russia cuts off power supplies to Ukraine rebels: Kiev.

   Kiev (AFP) --- Kiev said Tuesday that Russia had cut off electricity to Ukraine's rebel-run regions in what appears to be another sign that Moscow is losing interest in plans to splinter its neighbour.

   Russian President Vladimir Putin has gone through an extended spell without peppering his speeches with mentions of a "New Russia" (Novorossiya) made up of Ukrainian lands that were once under tsarist control.

   The veteran Kremlin leader had fervently promoted the project while the separatists were gaining ground along Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland toward the end of last year.

   But Ukrainian insurgents who claimed to be in charge of re-creating a part of the old Russian empire have in recent weeks complained of a sudden lack of interest from the Kremlin and a dire shortage of funds.

   Ukraine's Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said Tuesday that energy-rich Russia had recently also stopped supplying electricity to the militia-run regions of Lugansk and Donetsk because bills were not being paid.

   "We held fairly productive negotiations with the Russians," Interfax-Ukraine quoted Demchyshyn as telling an energy ministry meeting.

   "We have been able to switch off four lines that ran from Russia to territories outside our control."

   The energy minister said the cables supplied an allowance of $15 million (14 million euros) of power a month.

   "That money was not being paid," Demchyshyn said.

   There was no immediate response to his comments from either Moscow or the rebels themselves.

- Chronic shortages -

   Their 15-month revolt against Kiev's new pro-Western position saw the rebels carve out a region about the size of Wales that is home to 3.5 million people and shares a 500-kilometre (300-mile) border with Russia.

   But much of the region remains a ghost of its proud image as the economic driving engine of the former Soviet Union's second-largest state.

   Most of the coalmines and steel mills have been either shuttered or cannot operate because of chronic shortages of electricity.

   Kiev policy hawks such as Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk have also pushed through a raft of measures designed to erect a punitive "economic blockade" of rebel-run territory.

   Yatsenyuk ordered Ukraine's power suppliers to halt all deliveries to the separatists on May 1.

   Natural gas flows from the rest of Ukraine to the east have also been significantly lowered.

   Russia had earlier promised to make up for the shortage by building extensions and branches to existing gas pipelines.

   It remains unclear where those plans stand today. Kiev officials believe the fighters may be smuggling in small supplies of gas through hastily-erected -- and considerably smaller -- pipes that cross parts of the Ukrainian-Russian border under their control

   Demchyshyn's comments came ahead of a new round of negotiations Tuesday in the Belarussian capital Minsk aimed at ending a conflict that has claimed more than 6,500 lives. Efforts to stop the fighting seem locked in stalemate.

   The EU-mediated meeting will see Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's personal envoy speak to the Moscow-appointed negotiator in the presence of separatist representatives who are not formally part of the talks.