[FoxTroop]

Pode ser só impressão minha mas noto uma certa evolução no equipamento das forças ucranianas.

Não nas forças regulares. A malta da Nazguard e dos batalhões de voluntários, que são politicamente alinhados, é que têm recebido bastante material e também treino. Existe um estado de conflito latente entre eles e as Forças Armadas. Dentro das FA, tirando uma ou outra unidade mais alinhada com o governo, o resto tem recusado combate directo com os separatistas e existem mesmo ocorrencias (embora na maioria por confirmar) de conflitos entre unidades ucranianas.

Quanto à situação, ver o que sai hoje. Pelo que tenho percebido, tirando o comandante rebelde em Slaviansk que se tem mostrado um tipo de competencia excepcional e brilhante capacidade, a maioria dos "lideres" rebeldes tem tido mais sorte que valor e capacidade nos combates travados. A maior das sortes tem sido a total falta de empenho das FA ucranianas em combater e o facto dos "comandantes" da Nazguard e dos batalhões voluntários conseguirem ser ainda mais incompetentes que eles.

[mafets]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10896895/Ukraine-crisis-two-dead-after-rebel-leaders-car-blown-up.html
O velho método de eliminar os cabecilhas. Kiev a trabalhar também na sombra.

Footage has emerged of the attack by pro-Russian gunmen on a Ukranian military transport plane, which killed all 49 people on board in the biggest single loss of life in the two-month insurgency

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10899773/The-moment-a-Ukrainian-aircraft-was-shot-down-by-separatists.html


Já tinham sido derrubados pelo menos dois Mi-24, um Mi-8 e um An-30. Com um Il-76 a juntar à contenda (pelo video parece ter sido derrubado por um Igla, segundo o lançamento, trajectória e impacto, um tipo de missil que tanto pode vir do stock ucraniano como russo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9K38_Igla) a juntar aos problemas existentes nas F.A. Ucranianas começa a ficar mais complicada a vida dos pilotos. com Kiev a não ter um domínio aéreo demolidor.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10899655/US-accuses-Russia-of-sending-rocket-launchers-to-Ukraine-rebels.html
 

The United States has "information that Russia has accumulated tanks of a type no longer used by Russian forces at a deployment site in southwest Russia, and some of these tanks recently departed," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said Friday.
"We are confident that these tanks came from Russia," she added, noting that no Ukrainian tank units have been operating in the area.
Earlier, she told reporters that a convoy of three T-64 tanks, several BM-21 or Grad multiple rocket launchers and other military vehicles had "crossed from Russia into Ukraine".
Internet videos had shown the same types of tanks moving through multiple cities in eastern Ukraine, including Snizhne, Torez and Makiyivka, Harf said.
The same types of rocket launcher was seen travelling through Lugansk.

Só vêm provar que tudo é possível nesta guerra. Independentemente de fazer sentido (as explicações Russas dos Guardas de Fronteira de que os veiculos atravessarm a fronteira e foram abandonados só rivaliza com a dos Separatistas que afirmar ser "inproprio perguntar onde arranjaram 3 mbt    ) são vários os T-64, Bv-21ou Grad que aparecem nas mãos dos Separatistas, existindo aqui uma clara certeza: Os T-64 não foram todos para a sucata como Moscovo afirmou e existindo equipamento usado por ambos os lados torna muito difícil com 100% de certeza afirmar de onde vêm (Os T-64 Ucranianos em operações tem sido vistos com uma faixa branca, assim como outro tipo de equipamento. Estes vistos a circular nas mãos de separatistas já não as têm).

Ukraine: government claims victory over pro-Russian separatists in key port city
Kremlin-backed rebels have been forced out of Mariupol by 'heroism' of Ukraine's troops, says president
Ukrainian policemen and municipal workers demolish a barricade and remove an APC of pro-Russia rebels that escaped from Mariupol, Donetsk region, Ukraine on 13 June 2014
Ukrainian policemen and municipal workers demolish a barricade and remove an APC of pro-Russia rebels that escaped from Mariupol Photo: VALENTINA SVISTUNOVA/EPA

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10898946/Ukraine-government-claims-victory-over-pro-Russian-separatists-in-key-port-city.html
Uma "vitória clara" com 100 militares (quantos seriam os separatistas?)e que resulta em um apc e um camião destruídos como únicas baixas do movimento Pró-Separatista, parece-me mais que estes se retiraram após os primeiros tiros. O magnata do Chocolate Mr Poroshenko, também começa em grande esta sua caminhada na política.

Continua o "circo" Ucraniano. É só "palhaços" de ambos os lados. Quem vier atrás que feche a porta.

Saudações

[Edu]

Os CC são provenientes das FA Ucranianas e não existe a minima explicação lógica para que possam vir da Rússia como apoio militar aos separatistas. Sistemas AC e AA portateis acreditaria, agora CC....., para quê?

Também vejo bem é que os separatistas possam fazer com 3 CC num TO onde a superioridade aérea de Kiev é completa. Há falta de meios AA capazes de lidar com os Hind das FA ucranianas de modo a criar condições, mesmo que extremamente pontuais, onde os CC possam ser usados de forma ofensiva sem serem destruidos a seguir. Defensivamente são uns patos sentados e de pouco mais servem do que arma de propaganda para ambos os lados.

Quanto à fiabilidade e parcialidade das fontes de noticias.... creio sermos todos bem crescidos e já com tarimba suficiente nestas coisas.

Penso que não existe capacidade de afirmar categóricamente por ninguém aqui no forum a real proveniencia dos T-64. No entanto pessoalmente acredito que venham da Rússia pelos seguintes motivos:

 - Temos uma fronteira com a Rússia que já antes era bastante permeável e actualmente está controlada pelos rebeldes na sua maioria. Logo é facil a entrada de qualquer material pela mesma;

 - A Rússia apesar de actualmente não usar o T-64 tem centenas ou mesmo milhares em situação de reserva, com capacidade para rapidamente por algumas dezenas de unidades operacionais e as entregar aos separatistas;

 - A pintura dos T-64 é claramente diferente da dos tanques ucrânianos (mas bem, tudo pode ser pintado, de forma tão celere e no meio de um conflito é que não sei).

 - A Rússia quanto a mim não tem o interesse em invadir o leste da Ucrânia, se o tivesse já o teria feito como fez na Crimeia. O interesse da Rússia em manter o leste destabilizado como tem estado até agora. Estes tanques não servem para mais do que destabilizar ainda mais, nem que seja pela quantidade de meios e equipamentos mais pesados que obrigam utilizar ao exercito ucrâniano podendo assim ainda aumentar mais a enorme quantidade de danos colaterais já existentes;

 - A ucrânia não teve até agora problemas em admitir a captura de material do exercito pelos separatistas;

 - Segundo Kiev não existem bases naquela área com este tipo de tanque (não consigo confirmar a veracidade disto), a ser verdade os tanques teriam de ser capturados directamente a soldados que os usem. Não é propriamente facil capturar um blindado a não ser que os tripulantes o entreguem. Neste momento as varias fontes (pró-russas e pró-ocidentais) não relatam que continuem a existir forças ucrânianas a entregar livremente o seu material aos separatistas.

São estas e outras razões que me levam a acreditar que os tanques tenham mesmo proveniencia russa, mas como disse acima não há certezas, são as minhas crenças pessoais baseadas em factos.

Quando ao comandante de Slaviansk refere-se a quem, aos lideres ucrânianos originais ou às actuais forças russas/chechenas que expulsaram os ocupantes locais dos edificios governamentais e actualmente controlam tudo o que se passa? É que aparentemente o comando das operações militares mudou de mãos com a entrada do tal batalhão Vostok.

Como já disse atrás, quando em 50 mortos (no ataque ao aeroporto) mais de 30 são nacionais e residentes da Rússia penso que nos dá um sinal que os habitantes locais têm cada vez menos influência nos confrontos.

[HSMW]

[HSMW]

Combates no leste da Ucrânia a 13 de Junho.

[mafarrico]

Pode ser só impressão minha mas noto uma certa evolução no equipamento das forças ucranianas.

Não nas forças regulares. A malta da Nazguard e dos batalhões de voluntários, que são politicamente alinhados, é que têm recebido bastante material e também treino. Existe um estado de conflito latente entre eles e as Forças Armadas. Dentro das FA, tirando uma ou outra unidade mais alinhada com o governo, o resto tem recusado combate directo com os separatistas e existem mesmo ocorrencias (embora na maioria por confirmar) de conflitos entre unidades ucranianas.

Quanto à situação, ver o que sai hoje. Pelo que tenho percebido, tirando o comandante rebelde em Slaviansk que se tem mostrado um tipo de competencia excepcional e brilhante capacidade, a maioria dos "lideres" rebeldes tem tido mais sorte que valor e capacidade nos combates travados. A maior das sortes tem sido a total falta de empenho das FA ucranianas em combater e o facto dos "comandantes" da Nazguard e dos batalhões voluntários conseguirem ser ainda mais incompetentes que eles.

Um bom tópico. Temos estado a falar do envolvimento russo no conflito ucraniano quando nos esquecemos de olhar para o lado. O empenhamento da NATO/ USA na Ucrania ainda vai dar muito que falar.

[mafarrico]

estranho como é que as autoridade de kiev não foram céleres a acusar os russos

Poroshenko's bodyguards find bomb near Presidential Administration

June 14, 2014, 4:38 p.m. | Ukraine — by Kyiv Post




Ukrainian State Guard servicemen found an explosive device overnight on June 13-14 near the Presidential Administration in the downtown Kyiv.

State Security Service's spokeswoman Maryna Ostapenko confirmed this information to the Kyiv Post. "The device is undergoing the expertise," she said.

It was installed near the gate where presidential cars go in, reports Reuters news agency referring to own security sources.

"It was a container with five grenades and a kilogram of metal nuts," said the Reuters' source, who declined to be identified. "It was a really powerful device."

Andriy Parubiy, Secretary of National Security and Defense, could not be reached by phone to provide a comment on the issue.

Tema, a Ukrainian news website, reported that the bomb was found on Luteranska Street, which is close to the Presidential Administration.

Around midnight on June 13 a woman who lives nearby told the presidential bodyguards that there are some unknown people in military uniform in her neighborhood on Luteranska. Officers followed her and saw a 30-year-old suspect who ran away down to Kreshchatyk as they tried to approach him. After investigating the place where he was running from, the bomb was found.

Moreover, border guards found a piece of paper on the fence nearby with a phrase "If you don't stop the war - the war will come to you" written on it.

Meanwhile, President Petro Poroshenko's official website has not published any information on the issue so far.

"The terrorists will get an adequate response," said Poroshenko in a June 14 statement commenting the tragic event of pro-Russian terrorists shooting down Ukrainian transportation plane with military servicemen on board near Luhansk which led to 49 dead on the Ukrainian side.

“All those involved in the cynical terrorist act of such a magnitude, will inevitably be punished. Ukraine needs peace,” said the head of state.

President also ordered to set up a National Security and Defense Council meeting.

Oleksiy Haran, political science professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, sees the possible act of terrorism as a measure of psychological pressure on Ukrainian authorities. "Right now not only military escalation happens, but also a psychological war," he says. "Maybe, this was not an attempt to assassinate the Ukrainian President, but to organize a demonstrative explosion as a part of psychological war."

Separatists may move on from the terrorist activity in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts to different regions of Ukraine which are currently separatism-free, Haran adds.

[mafarrico]

ate que enfim. milhoes e milhoes de divida ucraniana. santa paciencia russa. agora e que isto vai aquecer

http://rt.com/business/166104-gazprom-u ... as-prepay/

Gazprom puts Ukraine on gas prepayment plan after ‘chronic’ failure to pay debt

Published time: June 16, 2014 06:10
Edited time: June 16, 2014 09:15

After failing to pay its gas bill, Ukraine now has to pay in advance for any natural gas from Russia, Gazprom said on Monday. Both companies have filed lawsuits against each other at the Stockholm Arbitration Court

“This decision was taken due to systematic failure of Naftogaz Ukraine to pay. The debt of the company for Russian gas stands at $4.458 billion, including $1.451 billion for November and December 2013, and $3.007 billion for April-May 2014,” Gazprom said in a statement posted on their website.

Gazprom @GazpromNewsEN
Читать
Today #Gazprom switched Naftogaz of Ukraine to a gas prepayment scheme starting from 10:00 am in full compliance with the existing contract
7:24 утра - 16 июня 2014

“They’ve paid zero. Correspondingly we deliver zero,” Sergey Kupriyanov, a Gazprom spokesperson said in a press conference following the announcement.

Reuters reports that gas supplies to Ukraine were restricted off as soon as the deadline at 10:00am in Moscow passed.

Both companies have announced they are opening lawsuits with the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Arbitration.

Naftogaz, Ukraine’s oil and gas utility, is seeking a $6 billion sum for 'unfair' gas prices and asking the court to review prices that were agreed on in 2010 under then Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Gazprom announced wants to recover the $4.5 billion worth of debt and also seek compensation for Ukraine's failure to import the agreed upon amount of natural gas under their "take or pay" contract with Gazprom over the past two years. The penalty in accordance with the contract could be around $18 billion.

Gunther Oettinger, who has been the main broker between the three-way talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the EU, has urged Russia to ‘reconsider’ its decision to place Ukraine on a prepayment gas plan.

"Further invitations for trilateral talks in June are foreseen," EU energy minister Gunther Oettinger said at a news conference in Vienna.

Oettinger has been the main broker of the three-way talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the EU, all of which have ended in deadlock.

Yury Prodan, Ukraine's energy minister, has stressed that taking the case to Stockholm is the only way to settle the matter.

Kiev was also late in payments in the winters of 2006 and 2009. Both periods lasted about three weeks, during which Kiev attempted to siphon off supplies for themselves, which left millions of European homes without heat.

“Volumes of gas for European customers will be fully met in compliance with their contracts. Naftogaz must ensure transportation to the delivery points," Kupriyanov said.

Further actions will be taken after Gazprom head meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin today, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told reporters at the World Petroleum Congress, being held in Moscow June 15-19.

Russia’s energy minister Aleksander Novak and Gazprom head Aleksey Miller will hold a press conference later this afternoon.

Ukraine has accumulated a multi-billion dollar debt for natural gas supplied by Russia and is unwilling to pay. It calls the 10-year gas contract that former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko signed with Russia back in 2009 unacceptable and demands that Russia lower the price.



The sudden halt shot up natural gas prices in Europe, a trend many analysts will repeat itself this time around.

Moscow was willing to offer a discount and even recalculate the debt Ukraine has accumulated since April to account for it, but Kiev rejected the offer, saying it was not good enough. Gazprom considers Ukraine’s position a form of blackmail.

After negotiations on Sunday, Gazprom announced that their final pricing offer was $385 per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas, which Ukraine still rejected.

Price disputes between the two neighbors intensified after a government coup followed by violence in Ukraine, when the price of gas exports from Moscow to Kiev shot up from $268.50 to $485.00.

Europe imports a third of its natural gas from Russia, and nearly half of that is delivered via Ukraine. In 2012, over 84 billion cubic meters of gas traveled from Russia to Europe through Ukraine.



Under the current contract, Ukraine is required to import 40 billion cubic meters of gas. Ukraine’s energy minister said on Friday that Ukraine has more than 15 billion cubic meters of Russian gas in storage.

[mafarrico]

[mafarrico]

http://rt.com/news/166496-journalist-di ... -shooting/

2 Russian journalists killed in Ukraine military shelling

Published time: June 17, 2014 11:29
Edited time: June 17, 2014 12:36

Two journalists for Russian TV channel Rossiya have died from wounds sustained during a Ukrainian military shelling attack near Lugansk, eastern Ukraine. Reporter Igor Kornelyuk passed away on the operating table, a doctor at the hospital confirmed to RT.

Moment Ukraine army shell hits Russian TV crew caught on tape (VIDEO)

The doctor told RT that "sadly, he has passed away."

Just minutes ago Kornelyuk, a reporter for the Russian channel Rossiya, was in critical condition and had been receiving phone calls from Moscow. The attending doctor, however, had been answering his calls.

The second alleged victim is sound engineer Anton Voloshin. He reportedly died immediately at the scene.

The Rossiya channel crew consisted of three people with only one of them, Viktor Denisov, the cameraman, surviving the Ukrainian military shelling.

Denisov told LifeNews how he managed to get out of harm’s way during the attack that claimed his colleague’s life.

The cameraman said he was standing 100 meters from the spot where the mortar exploded.

“I must say I was really lucky, I’d walked toward our cars, about 100 meters away, and that’s when the shelling started. My colleagues were supposed to have been out of the range of fire, but for some reason one of the shells flew straight into them,” Denisov said.

When the attack began, Denisov ran toward the fleeing residents, who stood nearby. They managed to escape together.

Speaking to Vesti, Denisov recounted the events that transpired in the initial minutes of the shelling.

He recalled getting closer to shoot some footage, but was told not to go further. As soon as soldier motioned with his hand for everyone to get down, Denisov heard the pop next to the defense forces.

“This is when I ran over to our guys and to the soldiers that had been wounded in the explosion, all the while trying to get some footage and help to get the fleeing people to safety. We walked for a kilometer,” he said. “Walking in the open was dangerous. The sound of exploding mines could be heard the entire time. We had shrapnel fly in our direction.”

The Rossiya crew had been taken to the scene of the shelling by taxi.

They were escorted by the self-defense forces in a village near Lugansk and headed toward a local checkpoint.

Their position was then shelled and the self-defense forces told the crew to head for safety.

A taxi driver, who was giving a ride to the three journalists, told the channel LifeNews that a shell landed right at the spot where they were standing.

“Three journalists and 10-15 militias came under fire. We were standing at a traffic police post at the entrance of the town of Metallist. Journalists got out of the car to observe the fighting and shoot video of the smoke. Literally a minute later, several shells hit them right at the spot where they were standing,” the taxi driver said.

A local resident who witnessed the shelling also said that a mine had apparently detonated right next to a group of journalists, of which the Rossiya crew was a part.

“Our hospital is receiving many wounded as the shelling continues,” a local doctor told RT over the phone.

[mafarrico]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-1 ... qus_thread

Putin Talks Peace With Ukraine’s Leader After Gas Pipeline Blaze

By Volodymyr Verbyany, Elena Mazneva and Anastasia Ustinova Jun 18, 2014 2:18 AM GMT+0100

The Russian and Ukrainian presidents discussed a possible cease-fire for southeastern Ukraine hours after a pipeline fire blamed by the government in Kiev on sabotage threatened natural gas flows to Europe.

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine talked last night about bilateral relations between the countries and about the death of Russian journalists working in Ukraine, according to a Kremlin statement.

“The issue of possible cease-fire in the area of a military operation in Ukraine’s southeast has been touched upon,” the Kremlin said after the leaders’ phone call.

Putin and Poroshenko spoke a day after Russia cut gas supplies to the Ukraine over unpaid bills and demanded advance payments from its former Soviet Union ally. The gas dispute has stoked tensions between the two governments as Ukraine battles pro-Russian insurgents in its eastern region.

Ukraine’s Interior Ministry blamed “terrorism” as the likely cause of the fire at the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod link in the central part of the country. It was the second pipeline fire in six weeks.

“Local residents reported hearing two strong claps that may indicate deliberate explosions,” Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in the statement, blaming Russia for trying to discredit Ukraine as a reliable “partner in the gas sphere.”

The blaze was detected at about 2:20 p.m. local time, with flames shooting as high as 100 meters (330 feet), and emergency workers extinguished the blaze about two hours later, according to state pipeline operator UkrTransGas. Flows to Europe weren’t affected. About 20 kilometers of the pipeline were sealed off, with shipments redirected to a parallel section.

Increased Security

Ukrainian officials said they will boost security along the entire network to guard against any future attacks. The Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod system has a capacity to carry about 28 billion cubic meters of gas a year, while Ukraine can send as much as 142 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually to central and western Europe.

“It is a very alarming situation and a very strange coincidence,” Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev said on his Facebook page. “We will do everything possible” to boost security across the system, he said.

The Interior Ministry foiled two attempted attacks on pipelines before Ukraine’s May 25 presidential election, according to Avakov. Those attacks were designed to “discredit” Ukraine as a reliable transit corridor and “promote” Gazprom’s South Stream project to export gas through the Black Sea to Bulgaria and beyond, circumventing Ukraine, Avakov said.

Journalists’ Deaths

Amid the dispute over gas, Russia condemned Ukraine over the death of a state-television reporter killed by mortar fire in the violence-torn east area of the country, adding to tension between the two neighbors.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said there are people who are “guilty” for the death yesterday near Luhansk of Igor Kornelyuk, a correspondent for Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. Sound producer Anton Voloshin was found dead later, the Interfax news service reported, citing separatist forces.

“Those who call themselves the authorities in neighboring Ukraine answer for the situation there and it’s in their power to halt the bloodshed,” Medvedev said on his Facebook account.

During his call last night with Poroshenko, Putin expressed concern over the journalists’ deaths and called on the Ukrainian government to guarantee the safety of members of the media working in the region.

Investigation Ordered

Poroshenko has ordered law enforcement officials to investigate the deaths. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has tried to broker a peace plan, had also called for a probe of the incident.

The deaths came three days after an attack by protesters on the Russian embassy in Kiev following the shooting down of a Ukrainian military plane by the rebels, which killed all 49 people on board.

Poroshenko discussed his proposal for a cease-fire with German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday, his office said in a statement. The proposal envisions the creation of a 10-kilometer buffer zone on the Ukrainian border with Russia, the withdrawal of insurgent groups, the return to Ukraine’s government of seized buildings and the decentralization of power.

Russia has as many as 38,000 soldiers on Ukraine’s borders and continues to supply arms and personnel to rebel forces in the eastern part of the country, Ukraine’s National Security Council chief, Andriy Parubiy, said June 16.

There are about 16,000 troops on Ukraine’s eastern frontier and another 22,000 in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in March, Parubiy said.

The number of militants in Luhansk and the neighboring Donetsk region is about 15,000 to 20,000, half of whom are from Russia, including special forces, Parubiy said.

Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry in Moscow, declined to comment on Parubiy’s assertions.

[mafarrico]

um exemplo dos crimes de kiev

[mafets]

http://www.dn.pt/inicio/globo/interior.aspx?content_id=3977551&seccao=Europa&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

Os Presidentes da Ucrânia, Petró Poroshenko, e da Rússia, Vladimir Putin, mantiveram uma conversa telefónica em que abordaram medidas de um possível cessar-fogo nas regiões do sudeste ucraniano, revelou o porta-voz do chefe de Estado da Ucrânia, Sviatoslav Tsegolko.

Saudações

[mafarrico]

falamos aqui a poucos dias de fontes crediveis , da manipulacao de opiniao e o mafets vai-me buscar o DN ? um jornal super prostituido intelectualmente.

sobre a cobertura que tem feito sobre a crise ucraniana muito haveria para dizer. parece que chegaram ao ponto de ter a ousadia de nao noticiar o historico acordo energetico russia-china  . ista da para acreditar? alem de que na maior parte dos casos as suas noticias sao meras traducoes de agencias noticiosas e a linha noticiosa que seguem e mesma dos msm ocidentais- encobrem os crimes das potencias ocidentias e aproveitam qualquer coisa para atacar e denegrir a russia ( e falsamente frequentemente, diga-se).

consta que esta a haver uma limpeza para rua de jornalistas do DN. os angolanos que levem o barco ao fundo

mas aproveito para falar consigo Mafets e perguntar-lhe o que tem a dizer sobre o envolvimento da nato/usa na operacao anti-terrorista de kiev. gostava de ouvir a sua opiniao na materia  

[mafarrico]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/world ... raine.html

U.N. Report Details Casualties in Eastern Ukraine

By NICK CUMMING-BRUCEJUNE 18, 2014

GENEVA — Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have fled their homes amid rising violence, insecurity and crime in areas of eastern Ukraine that are under the control of pro-Russian armed groups, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

A total of 356 people were known to have been killed since mid-April, Gianni Magazzeni, a senior United Nations human rights official, told reporters in Geneva as he presented the latest in a series of monthly reports by the United Nations’ team of 34 monitors in Ukraine.

Fighting between the Ukrainian Army and armed groups in the eastern areas of Donetsk and Luhansk has increased in regularity and intensity as the government in Kiev seeks to assert its authority and has led to a growing number of civilian casualties, the United Nations reported, noting that separatist groups had acknowledged that their ranks include fighters from Chechnya and the Caucasus.

The dead included 257 civilians and 86 Ukrainian military personnel, including the 49 who were killed last week when separatists shot down a military transport plane with a shoulder-launched missile as it approached Luhansk airport, Mr. Magazzeni said. The report did not offer additional detail about the remaining 13 deaths.

“We are talking of a reign of fear, if not of terror” in the pockets of territory around Donetsk and Luhansk controlled by armed separatists and now experiencing a state of total lawlessness, Mr. Magazzeni said, citing cases of people shot at checkpoints for no reason and members of armed groups who were summarily shot because they no longer wanted to fight.

“The escalation in criminal activity resulting in human rights abuses is no longer limited to targeting journalists, elected representatives, local politicians, civil servants and civil society activists,” the report stated. “Abductions, detentions, acts of ill-treatment and torture, and killings by armed groups are now affecting the broader population of the two eastern regions.”

The United Nations refugee agency has reported that more than 34,000 Ukrainians have been displaced. Most were from Crimea, where people who speak Ukrainian or do not want to change their nationality to Russian face discrimination and intimidation, Mr. Magazzeni said.

“They are mostly concerned about security: people report staying in cellars to keep away from the fighting, facing harassment at checkpoints and fearing the increasingly common abductions, threats and extortion,” the monitors reported.