Ukraine War Update - 29 April 2015

Wednesday, April 29, 2015  8:44 AM PDT

Poroshenko: There is information that illegal armed groups in the East are planning offensive in late May

   (Censor.NET) --- President Petro Poroshenko has held a meeting with Heads of District State Administration. The Head of State has called the increase of the efficiency of the Armed Forces the top priority for the government.

   According to the president, there have been numerous attempts to destabilize Ukraine from both outside and inside the country recently.

   At such time, it is especially important to have a strong power, the president noted.

   The president stated that there is an information that the illegal armed groups in the East are planning an offensive in the second half of May. Censor.NET reports citing the press service of the head of state.

   "The country is able to defend itself. The fourth wave of mobilization demonstrates the highest morale and the best level of preparation. I was convinced of that during the first powerful military exercise of brigade level in the last twenty years. The military exercise involved all our paratroopers' brigades that already operate in an environment maximally close to the battlefield," the head of state noted.

   Poroshenko noted that he is generally content with the results of the fourth wave of mobilization. In certain districts, the level of mobilization even exceeded 100%. "Truly powerful interaction between the local government and population has been demonstrated in these districts," the head of state emphasized.

The president called mobilization the most important task for DSA Heads. "On April 27, the fifth wave of mobilization started. Each DSA head will be personally responsible for its successful holding," Poroshenko said.

   The head of state set a task to accelerate and ensure strict adherence to the schedule in the issue of building fortifications. "Today, it has become a nationwide issue," the president noted.

   As for the internal threats, the Security Service informed the president on the detainment of 18 persons in Odesa region that were planning acts of sabotage in Odesa at the beginning of May. "We will not allow to destabilize the situation. We have already learned how to counter such attempts," Poroshenko said.

   The president informed that 18,500 law enforcemet employees and 1,200 guardsmen will be involved in the protection of civil order during May holidays. It will be the first time of volunteers' participation in this process. According to the president, May holidays will be a test for compliance with the current requirements for our special services and law enforcement agencies.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015  7:50 AM PDT

US police to train Ukrainian colleagues

   (Zik) --- As part of the cooperation project, police officers from California will run a 4-week training course for their Ukrainian colleagues, TCH reports Apr. 29.

   The training will be done in Kiev by four US cops. They will train our policemen how to patrol the streets, carry out initial forensic examination, how to pull up vehicles, put hand-cuffs and defend against attacks.   

   Ukraine has begun its reform of the police force, with 11,000 candidates, about 30% of them women, having registered for the force. The candidates will be carefully screened, including a polygraph check.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015  6:13 AM PDT

Shyrokyne quiet for first time in days – Kiev

   (Interfax) --- All was quiet near the Ukrainian army positions in the Shyrokyne area in the Donetsk region on Tuesday, Ukrainian Presidential Administration spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk said.

   "We did not observe a single attack on our positions in the Shyrokyne area yesterday. In spite of the Minsk agreements, the militants had been bombarding the town daily and purposefully destroying its infrastructure and residential buildings recently," he said at a press briefing in Kiev on Wednesday.

   Shyrokyne's streets are stuffed with explosive devices, rounds and pull-action mines, Motuzianyk said.

   "The village still has a population of approximately 40, mostly, senior citizens who are unable to leave their homes," he said.

   OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said on April 24 that Ukrainian and Russian representatives to the Joint Control and Coordination Center had agreed on the need to demilitarize Shyrokyne.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015  6:06 AM PDT

Terrorist mop up operation is underway in Odesa: 12 people arrested - SBU

   (Censor.NET) --- In Odesa, the Security Service has detained 12 people suspected of separatism.

   SBU press secretary Olena Hitlianska said at a briefing, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrainski Novyny.

   "The operation to mop up the city from the terrorists is underway in Odesa... 12 people have been detained in the last couple of hours," she said.

   The detainees are suspected of active separatist activities.

   Printed anti-Ukrainian propaganda materials were confiscated from them.

   Earlier, the SBU said that the pro-Russian forces intend to destabilize the situation in Odesa and create the "Odesa People's Republic" on May 2.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015  3:50 AM PDT

No death casualties, three soldiers wounded over past day - ATO speaker

   (Censor.NET) --- Three Ukrainian soldiers were injured in the ATO area on April 28.

   Administration of the President of Ukraine representative on ATO matters Colonel Oleksandr Motuzianyk announced today at the traditional daily briefing, Censor.NET reports.

   "Yesterday's battles inflicted no losses to the Ukrainian servicemen, three soldiers were injured," he said.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015  3:12 AM PDT

Int’l New York Times: Ukraine separatists rewrite history of 1930s famine

The Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine are not only attacking Ukrainian government forces, they also have found time to rewrite Ukrainian history to suit Moscow’s version. The new line is that the Holodomor was a universal problem and Stalin was blameless. However, even some of the pro-Moscow rebels are having trouble swallowing that line.

   DONETSK, Ukraine — Yevdokiya was still a young girl, her nephew recalled, when the neighbours invited her over for a social occasion of some sort. This was during the great famine of 1933, he said, and her family became alarmed when she failed to return.

   She never did come home, said the nephew, Aleksandr S. Khodakovsky, now a senior official in the Russian-backed separatist government of the Donetsk People’s Republic. To their horror, her parents discovered that she had been cannibalized by the desperate neighbours, not an uncommon occurrence in a famine that killed 3.3 million people, by most estimates.

   Traditionally, Ukrainian historians have characterized the famine as a genocide, the direct result of Stalin’s forced collectivization and the Soviet government’s requisitioning of grain for export abroad, leaving Ukraine short — and its borders sealed shut. Since Ukraine gained independence, that is what its students have been taught.

   But that is not what students in southeastern Ukraine are learning this year. Instead, under orders from the newly installed separatist governments, they are getting the sanitized Russian version, in which the famine was an unavoidable tragedy that befell the entire Soviet Union.

   Even Mr. Khodakovsky, whose aunt’s remains were later found in a well, has trouble accepting that line in its entirety. “It was terrible,” he said of the famine, and not at all unavoidable. Rather, he said, it was the result of Stalinist policies, particularly the sale of grain to finance industrialization.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015  1:30 AM PDT

Russia moves infantry and tank units to Donbas

   (Zik) --- An infantry and a tank units have been moved from Russia to Amvrosiyivka and Starobesheve in Donbas, Ukraine military expert Dmytro Tymchuk writes in Facebook Apr. 29.

   The units consist of 16 APCs, 8 tanks, 6 trucks and smaller vehicles.

   The units’ column was escorted by 2 AA Strela-10M missile systems, Tymchuk reported. 

   Near Novoazovsk, the Russian/rebel troops numbering 350-400 soldiers have been moved closer to the frontline.

   The group includes 6 tanks, 14 APCs, 30 trucks and smaller vehicles, Dmytro Tymchuk reported.