Ukraine War Update - 8 May 2015

Friday, May 8, 2015  7:27 AM PDT

Two soldiers killed and 26 wounded in ATO area on Thursday

   (Censor.NET) --- A total of 26 wounded and two killed soldiers are reported in the ATO area over the past 24 hours.

   Representative of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine on ATO issues Colonel Andrii Lysenko told at a traditional briefing on Friday, Censor.NET reports.
   "As a result of provocations and hostilities two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 26 wounded in the ATO area over the past 24 hours," Lysenko said.
   According to him, the situation in the ATO area remains tense.

Friday, May 8, 2015  7:21 AM PDT

Two Donbas battalion fighters freed from terrorist captivity

   (Censor.NET) --- Adviser to the Minister of Defense Vasyl Budyk reported on release of two more soldiers from terrorist captivity. Their names are Artur Harmash and Valentyn Koval.

   He wrote it on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.

   Today, two Donbas battalion fighters, Artur Harmash (aka Shylo) and Valentyn Koval (aka Padre), were liberated as a result of direct negotiations conducted by the Department of Interaction at the Defense Ministry," Budyk said.

Friday, May 8, 2015  6:46 AM PDT

Expert: Israeli-made drone shot down over Donbas ‘points to Russian involvement in conflict’

   (UNIAN) ---  The Ukrainian military have shot down a drone in the area of ​​anti-terrorist operation implementation in the sector "B" west of Donetsk which experts say was originally supplied to Russia by Israel.

Part of the drone shot down by the Ukrainian military

 / Photo from 9tv.co.il

   According to Israeli Channel 9, the staff of the Air Intelligence of Ukraine unit identified company plates with inscriptions and the manufacturing index of Israel Aerospace Industries when examining the parts of the downed UAV, as reported by one of the unit commanders of Air Intelligence of Ukraine, Israeli Nathan Khazin, who has been launching Ukrainian drones in the ATO area since the summer of 2014.

   According to Khazin, this was not the first time that the Ukrainian military has shot down Israeli-made drones. Experts say that Russian drones are also equipped with cameras and inertial orientation systems produced in Israel.

Nathan Khazin with parts of the downed Israeli-built

Russian drone / Photo from 9tv.co.il

   The drones are launched by professional military men, rather than just "militants," Khazin said. He said it was unlikely that Israel would have sold its drones to the fighters of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic. Therefore, the fact that such vehicles are appearing over the Donbas is evidence of the direct military intervention of Russia in this conflict, he said.

   Khazin, who has served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), described the current situation as a strange one.

   "Israel, declaring neutrality in the conflict, refuses to sell drones and other military equipment to Ukraine, but has supplied the Russian Federation with its obsolete UAV technology. Moscow, in turn, has been supplying its Arab ‘friends’ with the most advanced Russian weapons," Khazin said.

Friday, May 8, 2015  4:51 AM PDT

Donbas separatists hide heavy weapons from OSCE in hangars in Donetsk

   (Zik) --- Donbas separatists and their Russian patrons do not cease to shell Ukraine army positions using heavy artillery and tanks, the weapons banned under the Minsk agreements, Rada lawmaker and CO of Dnipto-1 volunteer regiment Yury Bereza said on 112 Ukrayina TV late May7.

   “The separatists did not withdraw heavy artillery and tanks from the touchline as had been envisaged by the Minsk agreements. We have video footage showing that these weapons are hidden from OSCE in hangars situated at large Donetsk plants,” he said.

   The same is happening along the entire touchline from Avdiyivka to Mariupol.

   The enemy moves heavy artillery and missiles closer to the touchline for firing, and hide them away in hangars after firing, Bereza said.

Friday, May 8, 2015  2:40 AM PDT

One soldier killed and two wounded near Marinka town

   (Censor.NET) --- Soldiers of the 28th Guards Mechanised Brigade have joined a battle, which has lasted from 5 till 7 a.m. today.

   28th Guards Mechanised Brigade made a statement on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.
   The situation became tense near the town of Marinka. As a result, one serviceman was killed and two were wounded.
   "Today morning (05.08.2015) fighters of the 28th Guards Mechanised Brigade have joined a battle, which lasted from 5 till 7 a.m. The enemy fired with small arms and automatic grenade launchers. The attack has been repelled; this time there were no losses on our part.
   Yesterday night attacks of several terrorist sabotage and reconnaissance groups were repelled in the area. One of the strongholds of the 28th Guards Mechanised Brigade was shelled with an anti-tank missile system. As a result, one soldier was killed and two were wounded," the report reads.

Friday, May 8, 2015  2:03 AM PDT

Terrorists shelled Ukrainian troops 40 times over past 24 hours

   (Censor.NET) --- 40 cases of terrorists' shelling were reported in the ATO area over the past 24 hours, in particular with banned over 100mm heavy weapons.

   This was stated by Dmytro Tymchuk citing Information Resistance data on his Facebook page, Censor.NET reports.
   "In addition to the 'traditional' Donetsk and Mariupol bridgeheads terrorist hostilities intensified in the Artemivsk and Luhansk sectors. The illegal armed groups shelled the villages of Pisky, Opytne, Shyrokyne, Hranitne, Luhanske, Maiorske, Kurdiumivka, Zolote, Rozsadky, Lozove, Sokilnyky, Triokhizbenka, Stanytsia Luhanska, and Krymske, as well as Avdiivka and Svitlodarsk towns.
   In the Luhansk sector, the Russian militants fired from heavy machine guns, 120mm mortars and AGS-17 Plamya automatic grenade launchers. Their sabotage and reconnaissance groups also tried to get in the tactical rear of Ukrainian troops.
   Shelling Ukrainian forces' positions near Shyrokyne, the terrorists used 122-mm artillery and 120-mm mortars. Armoured vehicles (BMP-2 and BTR-80) were used as a part of several fire groups advancing to the front edge near the villages of Pisky and Opytne," Tymchuk wrote. 

Germany approves Puma IFV for full deployment

The Puma infantry fighting vehicle has been certified for full

deployment with the German Army. 

Photo courtesy of Rheinmetall 

Rheinmetall's Puma infantry fighting vehicle has won government approval for full deployment with the German Army.

   DUSSELDORF, Germany, May 7 (UPI) --- Rheinmetall's Puma infantry fighting vehicle has been approved for service by a German military procurement agency, clearing the path to its fielding.

   The certification was issued by the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support following months of field trials and technological reviews of the IFV.

   "Nothing now stands in the way of the Bundeswehr fielding the new IFV," Rheinmetall said. "The Puma will gradually supersede the Bundeswehr's Marder IFV, whose original version first entered service with German mechanized infantry units over 40 years ago."

   The Puma IFV, which can carry six soldiers in addition to its three crew members, is a tracked armored vehicle with a 30mm auto-cannon and machine guns. It has a top speed of nearly 44 mph and a range of 372 miles.

   Rheinmetall said the new certification means that personnel to be trained in the use of the Puma can begin with an initial seven vehicles, with more vehicles to come. Germany has ordered 350 Puma IFVs.

   A fielding organization will outfit the vehicles following their manufacture with special German Army equipment. Maintenance and technical and logistical support for the German Army vehicles will be conducted by Projektgesellschaft PSM GmbH, a joint venture company of Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. 

China's military build up aims to prevent repeat of WW2 disaster

People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers shout as 

they practise with knives during a training session 

on snow-covered ground at a military base in Heihe, 

Heilongjiang province March 18, 2015. 

REUTERS/China Daily/File

   BEIJING (Reuters) --- China is building a stronger military as insurance against the country suffering the kind of disaster that befell it during World War Two, the army's paper said on Friday as President Xi Jinping headed to Russia for war commemorations.

   China's military buildup, which includes developing stealth fighters and anti-satellite missiles, has unnerved the region and Washington, especially since Xi took office in 2013 and started taking a tougher line on maritime territorial disputes.

   Sino-Japan relations have long been poisoned by what China sees as Japan's failure to atone for its occupation of parts of the country before and during the war, and it rarely misses an opportunity to remind its people and the world of this.

   The government has promised a series of high profile events to mark the end of the war, including a military parade in Beijing in September, and Xi will attend a similar parade in Moscow on Saturday, where Chinese troops are also marching.

   In a lengthy editorial in the official People's Liberation Army Daily, the publication said that one of the main reasons why China suffered the humiliation of Japan's invasion was that the country was weak and militarily backward at the time.

   "With a weak country the military will decline, and when that happens you'll get a thrashing," it wrote.

   "There is still a great lack of peace in the world today, and there has been no substantive change to the 'law of the jungle' in international competition."

   Some countries are still using "gangster logic" to threaten others with the use of force, it added, without naming any offenders.

   "This is what requires us to quicken our step in strengthening the military, on the basis of having a strong country," the paper said.

   "Otherwise, once a military falls behind, it will have a fatal impact upon the country's security."

   China will boost its military spending by 10.1 percent this year to 886.9 billion yuan ($142.86 billion), an increase which will outpace China's slowing, single-digit GDP growth, and builds on a nearly unbroken two-decade run of annual double-digit rises in the defense budget.

   China has repeatedly said the rise in the defense budget was needed to replace outmoded equipment, and that as the world's second-largest economy it has growing security needs.

   The paper repeated the standard line that China only wants peace and is a force for peace in the world, saying those who talk up the "China threat theory" have "ulterior motives".

Russia's newest tank stops during parade rehearsal.

Russian army officers discuss a situation with a crew member of the new Russian T-14 Armata tank at the Red Square during a preparation for general rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade which will take place at Moscow's Red Square on May 9 to celebrate 70 years after the victory in WWII, in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 7, 2015. One of the tanks moving on Red Square suddenly stopped while others drove away. The engine was still rumbling but it wouldn’t move. After an attempt to tow it away the T-14 rolled away about 15 minutes later.(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

   MOSCOW (AP) — A state-of-the-art Russian tank, which was shown to the public for the first time earlier this month, on Thursday ground to a halt during the final Victory Day rehearsal.

   The tank, T-14 Armata, is said to surpass all Western versions because of its remotely controlled cannon and the protection it offers to its crew. The T-14, which replaces the T-72 and T-90, is set to undergo trials next year.

   Weaponry was rolling across central Moscow Thursday morning in the dress rehearsal of the military parade on Red Square on May 9 as Russia commemorates the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

   One of the eight T-14s suddenly stopped while others drove on. The engine was still rumbling but it wouldn't move. After an attempt to tow it failed, the T-14 rolled away under its own steam about 15 minutes later.

   While the tank was stranded on the cobbled Red Square, the presenter commenting over the PA system said it was part of the training to "evacuate weaponry" and had been planned.

   The tank's producer insisted that the T-14 did not break down.

   Alexei Zharich, deputy general director of the Uralvagonzavod factory, said on Twitter that the military were responsible for the way the rehearsal was held but insisted that the tank "was functioning properly and left on its own power."

China warns Philippine military planes away from disputed sea area: Manila

   MANILA (Reuters) --- China has warned Philippine air force and navy planes at least six times to leave areas around the disputed South China Sea, the Philippine military commander responsible for the region told a Senate hearing on Thursday.

   While Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez gave no timeframe, a senior Philippine air force official told Reuters the warnings had come in the past three months.

China could be "testing the waters" to see if it can enforce an air exclusion zone above the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea, said the air force official, who declined to be identified.

   Recent satellite images show China has made rapid progress in reclaiming land around seven reefs it occupies in the Spratlys, including building what appears to be an airstrip on one of the artificial islands.

   That has alarmed some countries in Southeast Asia and drawn criticism from Washington.

   "As we were conducting routine maritime air patrols and flying in international airspace, our air force aircraft were challenged over the radio," Lopez, commander of the Philippine Western Command, told senators, adding the planes ignored the warnings.

   "The Chinese said our planes were in their military security area."

   China deploys coastguard and naval vessels in the Spratlys, but rarely planes because of the distance from mainland China.

   China drew condemnation from Japan and the United States when it imposed an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), in which aircraft are supposed to identify themselves to Chinese authorities, above the East China Sea in late 2013.

   Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China had every right to set up ADIZs if it so wished, but that the situation in the South China Sea was stable at present and that China and Southeast Asian countries want peace there.

   "Under these conditions, I think that individuals hyping up an ADIZ, that China possibly wants to set one up in the South China Sea, this obviously has ulterior motives," she said.

   Last month, a Chinese warship challenged a Philippine maritime patrol plane near Subi Reef, asking the low-flying aircraft to leave China's territory, said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc.

   The U.S. military commander for Asia, Admiral Samuel Locklear, said last month that China could eventually deploy radar and missile systems on its outposts that could be used to enforce an exclusion zone should it move to declare one.

   Beijing claims most of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims.

   China has denied accusations its actions are provocative. It recently accused the Philippines, Vietnam and others of carrying out illegal building work in the South China Sea.

   Lopez said China had expanded the seven reefs it occupies from a few thousand square meters to up to 11 hectares (27 acres) in artificial islands, including two areas close to the Philippine-held Thitu island, also known as Pagasa, and Second Thomas Shoal.

   The United States and other countries would be welcome to use civilian facilities China is building in the Spratlys for search and rescue and weather forecasting "when conditions are right", China's navy chief told a senior U.S. officer recently.

Ukraine War Update - 7 May 2015

Thursday, May 7, 2015  7:40 AM PDT

Belarus offers to do all under its control for peace in Ukraine

   (Interfax) --- "Belarus has already done quite a lot to have peace restored in Ukraine, and we stand ready to even more - anything that is needed to stop this war. If we Slavs don't patch it up by ourselves, if we don't decide by ourselves what we should do, no one will help us," Belarusian state news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying.

   Lukashenko said the Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians had been brought together by a millennium of shared history. "Tragic events experienced by our brothers are our own pain," he said.

   "Seventy years after World War II, there are flames of conflict in Europe again. But what is especially horrible, something that could never have entered the minds of the victors or the minds of the millions of people who were killed, tortured to death in fascist jails, or burned in concentration camps, is that we their descendants would fire at each other, that one would rise against one's brother and try to kill him. But it has happened - moreover, it has happened on land soaked with the blood of victors. It is terrible for those who fell and for those who are alive! It is a horrific pain for the living veterans," Lukashenko said.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  7:24 AM PDT

Militants attack Ukrainian positions in Donetsk region

   (UNIAN) --- According to the Ukrainian military, government-controlled positions in the Donbas were attacked by Russia-backed militants eleven times overnight. 

   The village of Pisky in the Donetsk region and the town of Schastya in Luhansk region suffered heavy shelling from large mortars and grenade launchers, Ukraine Today reports.

   Ukrainian troops also detected enemy drones flying in the direction of Kramatorsk.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  7:18 AM PDT

UT Exclusive: Inside the Ukrainian warship that evaded Russian capture

   (UNIAN) --- Ukraine Today visited a naval base in Odesa to find out how the crew of the Ukrainian warship Pruluky managed to avoid being captured by Russian forces during Crimea’s illegal annexation.

   The ship is one of the only two vessels that successfully left the waters around the peninsula at the time, Ukraine Today reports.

   Amid immense psychological pressure exerted by the Russian navy, who tried to push Ukrainian naval officers toward treason and switching sides, 3rd rank captain Pavlo Rud, the ship’s commander, did not think for a second which side he wanted to be on, and remained faithful to his oath to the Ukrainian people.

   However, he was only one of the few officers remaining faithful to Ukraine in late February, 2014 while many higher naval commanders pledged loyalty to Russia as it occupied Crimea, blocking local military bases and demobilizing warships.

   The Russians used their military advantage to take over warships along with their crews. Having rejected the offer to defect, Rud brought his ship to Odesa, which the Russians allowed . 

   Today, the captain retains his firm stance, being ready to defend his country both on land and on sea.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  6:54 AM PDT

OSCE observers have no access to checkpoints on border with Russia

   KIEV, May 7 (Ukrinform). --- The OSCE observers do not have permanent access to the border between Ukraine and Russia in the ATO area.

   Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug said this at a briefing in Kiev on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

   "Before we had had not regular access to some international checkpoints on the border, but over the past 10 days the situation radically changed, in particular, on the border in Luhansk region. In Donetsk region the access to the border is still possible, in particular, on the Russian-Ukrainian official checkpoint in the area of Novoazovsk," he stressed.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  5:55 AM PDT

OSCE observers recorded shelling from Grads in Donbas for the first time since Minsk II – Hug

   (Censor.NET) --- Observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) have registered the usage of 'Grad' multiple rocket launchers in Donbas for the first time since the second Minsk agreements were made in February.

   Deputy Chief Monitor of the mission Alexander Hug said at a briefing in Kiev Thursday, Censor.NET reports citing Interfax-Ukraine.

   "SMM registers a couple of hundreds of shellings every day. Particularly, on May 2, fire from 'Grads' was heard in Donetsk. It caused casualties among civilians. OSCE notes that it was the first time they heard 'Grads' fire since the adoption of the latest Minsk agreements in the middle of February," he said.

   "In fact, the mission observes heavy weaponry in the confrontation region every day," Hug said.

   Hug also said that the town of Hranitne controlled by Ukrainian troops was shelled from 'Grads' at the end of April.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  3:51 AM PDT

Three Ukrainian servicemen injured, no soldiers killed yesterday - Presidential Administration

   (Censor.NET) --- Any Ukrainian military was killed in the area of counter-terrorism operation over the last 24 hours.

   Representative of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine on ATO issues Colonel Andrii Lysenko told at a traditional briefing on Thursday, Censor.NET reports.

   "We haven't lost any soldier during the past day, three servicemen have been wounded," he said.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  2:38 AM PDT

"DPR" terrorists’ "special operation" to capture “Cossacks” underway in Donetsk: there are casualties – Interior Ministry

   (Censor.NET) --- The "DPR" terrorists engaged in skirmish with the “Cossacks”.

   Donetsk region police head Viacheslav Abroskin wrote on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.

   "The new occupation of the "Oplot" gang of the so-called "DPR" is playing cops and robbers. The local bandits continue the war against the Russian "Cossacks". All "detachments" received the order to disarm the Cossacks, apprehend them and put to remand prisons. The alert has been issued in the city (Donetsk - Ed.) since yesterday. The Praga (hotel in Donetsk - Ed.), where the Cossacks had barricaded themselves, was stormed. The "DPR military" have suffered losses already. Several streets, including Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and Panfilov Avenues were partially blocked. A tank and several self-propelled guns were spotted on the streets leading to the Praga hotel. The sniper positions were equipped on the roofs of nearby houses (118 Panfilov Avenue)," he wrote.

   "The militants strongly recommend the residents to reduce the movement throughout the city because of the "security operation to capture the Cossacks" while it is obligatory to have the ID travelling through the city. According to the latest information, the Cossacks have rigged the Praga hotel with explosives while the local thugs are looking for their leader nicknamed 'Batia'," Abroskin added.

Thursday, May 7, 2015  1:23 AM PDT

UPA and Red Army veterans shake hands in Kiev

   (Zik) --- A historic event took place in Kiev on May 6 when veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and Soviet Army shook hands on one of the capital’s squaresdepo.ua reported May 7.

   In WWII, UPA fought for independence both against the Soviet and German troops.

   The handshake was a planned event proposed by the veterans.

   The event was called the Reconciliation Day by some visitors in social networks.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015  20:20 PDT

Detained Crimean Tatar Assemblyman Launches Hunger Strike

   SIMFEROPOL, Russian Occupied Crimea(RFE/RL) -- A high-ranking member of the Crimean Tatar assembly has begun a hunger strike at the facility where he awaits trial for allegedly organizing "mass disorder" ahead of Russia's annexation of Crimea.

   Ahtem Ciygoz began his protest on May 6 after being placed in solitary confinement this week at the Simferopol facility, assembly first deputy chairman Nariman Celal told RFE/RL.
   It it not known why Ciygoz was sent to solitary confinement.
   Ciygoz is a deputy chairman of the assembly, or Mejlis. He was arrested in late January by Russian authorities for his alleged role in clashes with pro-Russian demonstrators in February 2014, a month prior to Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
   He was charged with organizing deadly mass disorder in relation to the clashes, which took place outside the regional parliament building in the Crimean capital, Simferopol. 

   Ciygoz was placed in pretrial detention and that detention was subsequently extended until May 19.
   Armed men in unmarked uniforms seized the parliament building on February 27, 2014, the day after the clashes in which two died. Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula after a March 16 referendum that was dismissed by Kiev and the West as illegitimate.
   Since January, several Crimean Tatar activists have been arrested for their roles in the clashes.
   Eskender Bariyev of the Committee to Protect Crimean Tatars' Rights wrote on Facebook that activist Mustafa Degermenci was taken away on May 7 by a group of armed men in the village of Hrushivka.
   According to Bariyev, Degermenci's parents were told that their son might be charged with taking part in the clashes outside the Crimean parliament.
   In April, Crimea's Russian authorities arrested Eskender Nebiyev, a cameraman for a Crimean Tatar television channel that was shut down on April 1. Nebiyev was also arrested over the clashes outside parliament.
   In March, Crimean Tatar activist Talyat Yunusov was arrested and charged with assaulting a man during the clashes.
   Activists Iskender Kantemirov and Ali Asanov were earlier arrested in connection with the clashes.
   Activists say Crimean Tatars have faced discrimination, pressure, and abuse for their opposition to the annexation.

Raytheon's SM-6 missile in full-rate production

 Raytheon's SM-6 air defense missile, deployed by the Navy since late last year, has entered full-rate production status.

   TUCSON, May 6 (UPI) --- Raytheon reports that its supersonic Standard Missile-6 system deployed on U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers has advanced to full-rate production status.

   The ramp up from low-rate production means an increase in the number of missiles produced and more opportunities for lowering unit costs, it said.

   "SM-6 is proven against a broad range of advanced threats, which makes it very valuable to combatant commanders who need and want that flexibility," said Mike Campisi, Standard Missile-6 senior program director. "Full-rate production allows us to significantly ramp up production and deliver to the U.S. Navy the quantities it needs to further increase operational effectiveness."

   Earlier this year the Navy announced an expansion in the use of the air defense missile -- from five ships to 35 ships. Initially, the SM-6 was only configured for use by ships using an Aegis radar combat weapons system known as baseline nine. It is now being integrated with software and electronics used in earlier Aegis Combat Weapon System baselines.

   The Navy deployed the SM-6 in December of last year and Raytheon has so far produced more than 180 of the weapons for the service.

   The SM-6 is for defense against manned and unmanned aircraft and land-attack and anti-ship cruise missiles. It uses active and semi-active guidance modes and advanced fuzing technologies.