16 June 2014
Pro-Russian fighters shot down a Ukrainian military transport plane on June 14, killing all 49 soldiers on board. Most of them were from the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia Oblasts, reported the 1+1 television network. The plane was hit as it was landing in the Luhansk airport, carrying food and equipment. Valerii Bolotov, the self-declared leader of the Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR), said his fighters shot down the plane, claiming they were defending against a provocation.
More than 300 rioters, including football fanatics, attacked the Russian Embassy in Kyiv following news of the attack, throwing dug-up cobblestones and smoke bombs. They covered the embassy’s wall was in eggs and green antiseptic. At least three cars parked nearby were overturned, while several were wrecked by the rioters, many of whom were waving nationalist flags and wearing masks. The Russian government demanded compensation for the attack from the Ukrainian government.
EuroMaidan activist Volodymyr Martsyshevskyi was kidnapped from the Maidan press center in Kyiv and beaten to death, reported on June 15 kamenjari-info.org. In Luhansk, EuroMaidan activist Oleksandr Reshetniak died on June 15 after being tortured for two days and shot in his spine in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) headquarters in Luhansk that is controlled by the LNR fighters. He spent three days in a hospital before his death. Reshetniak was kidnapped on June 10.
Zenon Zawada: At the start of the week, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was aiming to achieve a cease-fire by the week’s end. Not only has he failed to even approach that goal, but the Ukrainian military suffered its worst casualties since the Donbas war began in April. It wasn’t the first unrealistic statement made by Poroshenko, who said famously that the anti-terrorist operation should be conducted within hours, instead of two or three months.
This week will be crucial for Poroshenko in demonstrating to the Ukrainian people that he’s capable of providing leadership and launching an effective military campaign. Ukrainians are already becoming impatient as a few dozen citizens staged a June 15 protest at the Presidential Administration. If little progress is made against the separatist fighters this week, Poroshenko will deepen his growing reputation for making bold statements without any actions to back them. Meanwhile, the curve of public dissatisfaction is very steep and Poroshenko could become unpopular very quickly, hurting the poll ratings that he has demonstrated so much concern for when hiring his Administration staff.