Ukraine War Update - 24 March 2015

Tuesday, March 24, 2015  9:37 AM PDT

   "We are shelled from grenade launchers and 120-millimeter mortars but we have nothing to answer with - the artillery was withdrawn" - Ukrainian soldiers in Pisky.

   (Censor.NET) --- The terrorists’ artillery was committing strikes on Pisky village during all night and morning. The Ukrainian soldiers are taking council between strikes on how to give a rebuff to the enemy and what weapons to use.

   The servicemen's choice is very limited - they have pulled their guns and mortars back behind the demarcation line, Censor.NET reports.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015  9:22 AM PDT

Terrorists opened fire at air defense military installation 200 km away from demarcation line. Saboteurs infiltrated through Russian border – Head of Luhansk region

   (Censor.NET) --- Chairman of the Luhansk regional civil-military administration Hennadii Moskal reports shelling of air defense military installation in the village of Milove (Luhansk region) by saboteurs. The village is located 200 km from the demarcation line, but on the border with the Russian Federation, and the fact of a subversive group’s penetration across the border indicates the lack of control at the border, despite the fact that it has been a year since the beginning of Russia’s aggression and the government spent hundreds of millions to strengthen the border.

   This is stated on Moskal's official website, Censor.NET reports.

   "Today (March 24) at 3:30 a.m. in Milove (district center in the part of the Luhansk region controlled by Ukraine), unidentified persons opened fire at a Ukrainian air defense military installation. The shot was conducted using hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher at an army truck, which had broken down air defense equipment in it. The blast of the anti-tank grenade caused significant damage to the vehicle," the statement said.

   "Milove is located in the north of the Luhansk region about 200 kilometers from the demarcation line," the head of the Luhansk regional c-m administration stated, "There has not been any fighting here, but the district center is located practically at the border with Russia. Clearly, the reconnaissance and sabotage group penetrated Milove from there to destroy our military equipment. There are no wounded or killed as a result of the sabotage."

Tuesday, March 24, 2015  7:53 AM PDT

Rumble between militants in Donetsk resulted in two dead bodies and three burnt cars.

   (Censor.NET) --- Heavy fire took place in the center of Donetsk on Illich Avenue today around 2 a.m.

   Local residents informed in social networks, Censor.NET reports citing 62.ua.

"There are two burnt cars and one more shot on Illich Avenue. The 'Panorama' cafe was a bit damaged," Donetsk residents told about the consequences of the skirmish.

   They suggest that there were internal squabbles between drunken militants.

   "The Chechens were said to be kicked out of 'Banany', and they went to the 'Panorama', started shooting. Two people died for sure and three cars were burned," Donetsk residents wrote.

   The movement of public transport near the scene was restricted in the morning.
   There is currently no information about the victims.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015  7:52 AM PDT

Austrian foreign minister to visit Kiev

   (Interfax) --- Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz will visit Kiev on March 25-26, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis said.

   The Austrian minister is due to meet with the country's leaders and hold talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Pavlo Klimkin, Perebyinis said at a briefing on Tuesday.

   He is also expected to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine and Austria's role as Kiev's European partner in the process of resolving the situation in Donbas, the spokesman said.

   This is the not the first meeting between Ukrainian leaders and the Austrian foreign minister, so Ukraine hopes all possible issues will be resolved, "not least because Austria is an important EU member and an influential country," Perebyinis said.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015  7:49 AM PDT

One Dead After Military Helicopter Crashes Near Kiev

   (RFE/RL) --- One person was reported killed and two others injured when a Ukrainian military helicopter crashed in the Kiev region on March 24.

   The Kiev regional prosecutor's office said a lieutenant was killed and two other officers, a major and a captain, were injured when the MI-24 helicopter crashed near the village of Vinnytski Stavy in the Vasylkiv district.

   The helicopter belonged to a military unit in Ukraine's western Lviv region.

   It is unclear what the crew's mission was in Kiev.

   The military helicopter's crash occurred amid a standoff between President Petro Poroshenko and the governor of the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, Ihor Kolomoyskiy, over a leadership change at the Ukrnafta oil company.

   Poroshenko said on March 23 that Ukrainian governors will not be allowed to have their own private armies after media reports said armed men who occupied the Ukrnafta building in Kiev were linked to Kolomoyskiy.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015  7:42 AM PDT

Juncker, Mogherini to visit Ukraine on March 30

   (Interfax) --- A high-level delegation of the European Union is expected to arrive in Kiev at the end of March, said Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis.

   "European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will pay a visit to Ukraine on March 30," Perebyinis said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

   The talks will embrace all aspects of Ukraine-EU relations, he said.

   Perebyinis also said that Ukraine plans to initiate a discussion of ways to restore Ukraine's security, stability and territorial integrity.

   The agenda also includes the discussion of compliance with the Minsk accords, and deployment of an international operation in Ukraine to maintain peace and security, the Ukrainian diplomat said.

   Another issue on the agenda is preparations for a conference for supporting reforms in Ukraine, to be held in Kiev in April, he said.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015  6:41 AM PDT

Situation in Ukraine's eastern regions.

   KIEV, March 24 (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 March 24 has been released by the information and analytical center of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015  6:32 AM PDT

National Guard plans to draft about 7,500 people in April-May - Deputy commander

   (Censor.NET) --- Over the next two months the National Guard of Ukraine plans to draft about 7,500 people.

   This was stated by deputy commander of the National Guard Yaroslav Spodar at a briefing in Kiev, Censor.NET reports citing UNIAN.

   "Indeed, the share of contract servicemen in the National Guard currently constitutes about 50%," he said.

   "Today, we insist that military conscription existed in the National Guard. Accordingly, a decision on conscription has been made, only with different age of recruits - currently 20-27 years old," Spodar said.

   He also said that the National Guard plans to draft about 7,500 people in April-May.

   "During this time we will dismiss the soldiers who have already served 1.5-2 years," the deputy commander said.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015  5:59 AM PDT

Coast in Mariupol sector being defended strongly – Ukraine military

   (Interfax) --- Spokesman for the military operation in Donbas Andriy Lysenko said Ukrainian servicemen monitor the Sea of Azov near Mariupol to spot enemy contingents, noticing none so far.

   "We have achieved [these] results due to monitoring with the use of air defense mans and water surface surveillance equipment, which indicate that enemy contingents are concentrated on the land, but there are none at sea," he said at a press briefing in Kiev on Tuesday.

   He also said that, "special artillery units have been put in charge of defending the coast," should the militia attempt to cross into Ukrainian territory from the sea.

   "They monitor the situation within a radius of several dozen kilometers and are strong enough to halt and disable the enemy at sea derailing its approach maneuver," Lysenko said.

   In addition to this, engineering units are holding training exercises on land. Individual areas have been mined to obstruct the enemy's landing operations, he said.

   Drones are also being used in the to monitoring.

   The entire amount of information gathered arrives at the Mariupol defense staff and in Sector M responsible for defending this area, Lysenko said.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015  2:50 AM PDT

State Duma wants to reinstate Putin’s right to send troops to Ukraine: U.S. wants to prevent Russia from "developing into a new superpower"

   (Censor.NET) --- On March 23 the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly voted to adopt a resolution calling on President Barack Obama to immediately provide Ukraine with lethal defensive weapons. First Deputy Chairman of the “Fair Russia” party Mikhail Emelyanov says that if Obama approves H.Res.162, the Russian parliament shall return the right to send troops into the territory of Ukraine to President Vladimir Putin.

   It is reported by Censor.NET citing Liga.

   "We believe that our parliament should not ignore this statement (by the U.S. Congress - ed.). If the United States actually commences supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine, we should not hesitate to begin supporting the "militia", including by [the supply of] arms and reinstating the president's right to send troops into the territory of Ukraine," Kremlin's RIA Novosti news agency cites the lawmaker.

   According to the representative of the Putin's regime, the Russian Federation cannot "allow turning Ukraine into an international militant honed against Russia," calling the decisions of the U.S. congressmen on arming Ukraine 'provocative'.

   "The United States is trying to arm Ukraine at all costs ... to prevent Russia from developing into a new superpower," Emelyanov said.

   In February, Mikhail Emelyanov called to place "Ukrainian government in exile" in the Donbas, repeating the 'wishes' of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, who also argued for such a scenario.

   On March 1, 2014 the Russian Federation Council considered the appeal of Vladimir Putin on the use of Russian troops in the territory of Ukraine, which was supported by the senators. On June 25, the decree was revoked.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015  1:51 AM PDT

Over 6,000 people killed during the war in Donbas - UN report

   (Censor.NET) --- The number of victims of the war in the Eastern Ukraine has exceeded 6,000 people.

   According to Censor.NET, this is stated in the report of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), released yesterday.

   "Full data on the victims of the recent escalation of hostilities (from mid-January to mid-February, 2015 - ed.) has not been received yet. In total, since the beginning of the conflict in mid-April 2014 and to March 19, 2015, the deaths of 6,072 people had been documented with 15,345 wounded," the OCHA report notes.

   A week ago, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported 5,934 dead and 15,300 wounded.

   The OCHA stressed that the casualty data provided by the UN mission on monitoring the human rights situation in Ukraine and the World Health Organization (WHO) is modest. The statistics are based on information provided by the Ukrainian authorities and medical institutions of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

   "United Nations mission on human rights in Ukraine and the World Health Organization admit that the actual death toll is much higher," the report reads.

   On March 6, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Yurii Serheiev said that since the beginning of the anti-terrorist operation in April 2014, 1,541 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 6,226 were wounded.