18 September 2014
The Russian Armed Forces remain active despite the legislation approved by Ukraine’s parliament on Sept. 16 establishing self-governance in the occupied regions of Donbas and providing amnesty, reported Dmytro Tymchuk, the director of the Information Resistance web site. Russian army units have clustered near the Donetsk airport and are setting up anti-aircraft systems, which remains controlled by Ukrainian forces, he reported.
“At the same time, the transfer of several unmarked fighter jets to air fields on Russian territory near the border has been confirmed,” he said. “These vehicles are being prepared for transfer to Donetsk under the guise of the Novorossiya Air Force upon the displacement of Ukrainian subunits from the airport’s territory.”
Russian soldiers are also being dispatched to the region north of Mariupol, Tymchuk reported, a port city that lies on a key road to the Crimean peninsula. Fighters in the Luhansk region are preparing for renewed military activity, he reported, as units are being reformatted and new fighters, arms and fuel are being introduced. Local separatists are arming themselves with anti-aircraft weaponry.
Financing for the reconstruction of the occupied districts of the Donbas region will come from a special fund supported by Ukraine’s oligarchs and international donors, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sept. 17. He made the announcement a day after parliament approved legislation that created a line item in the state budget for financing the renewal of these territories. The state budget can provide such financing if the Ukrainian government renews control over these territories, enterprises start working and they start paying taxes. The Donbas war is costing the Ukrainian government UAH 80 mln (USD 6.25 mln) per day, Yatsenyuk estimated.
The Ukrainian government will only allocate funds for local elections in the occupied districts of the Donbas region if they’re held transparently and democratically based on international standards, Yatsenyuk told the meeting. They will need to include the participation of observers, involve a competitive campaign and ensure a free choice. “Any other conditions would not be voting, but the legalization of bandits, which we won’t allow” he said.
Zenon Zawada: As apparent, the president’s peace plan creating self-governance for the occupied Donbas territories will be difficult to implement. Time will tell whether it will fall apart altogether, but Poroshenko has earned the respect of Western leaders and a good portion of the Ukrainian public for at least making the effort for peace. We remain skeptical of a positive result and fortunately, the Ukrainian government does as well, as the prime minister has expressed no faith in the Russians.