Головна сторінка
/
Новини
/

Russian armies remain in Ukraine’s Donbas region as violence escalates

Russian armies remain in Ukraine’s Donbas region as violence escalates

1 October 2014

Russian armies remain on Ukrainian territory, said on Sept. 30 Lt. Col. Jay Janzen, a NATO commander, as reported by Agence France Presse. “Hundreds of Russian soldiers, including special forces, remain on Ukraine’s territory,” he said, adding that a reduction of armies since last week hasn’t been observed. In addition, about 20,000 soldiers remain positioned near the Ukrainian border. Janzen’s statement was a day after Russian Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov said Russian Armed Forces aren’t participated in the armed conflict in Ukraine.

 

Russian-terrorist forces continued their attacks on the Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk airport on Sept. 30, said Vladislav Seleznev, a spokesman for the anti-terrorist operation (ATO). The terrorists have been encircling the airport in tanks and shooting, he told the Ukrayinska Pravda news site. Shooting from Grad rapid-fire systems and explosions continued throughout the day and into the night, the ATO press center reported, targeting both the Donetsk airport and Ukrainian army positions throughout the Donbas region, resulting in at least two civilian casualties. One of them was a DTEK employee repairing an electrical line in a village in the Donetsk region, the company reported. Ukrainian positions were shot at more than 30 times on through Sept. 30 and the early morning of Oct. 1, reported Dmytro Tymchuk of the Information Resistance website.

 

The shooting of residential neighborhoods by Russian-terrorist forces in the Donbas region has increased, said on Sept. 30 Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council. Several building in the city of Donetsk were shot up using Grad rapid-fire systems, including the building where Lysenko said he himself grew up. Meanwhile, Tiulpan howitzers were used to shoot up the residential areas of Debaltseve, Lysenko reported. Three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in the day’s attack on the Donetsk airport.

 

Terrorists have been forcing the residents of the Luhansk region to sell their automobiles, real estate and transfer property, Lysenko reported on Sept. 30. The owner of a Toyota dealership in the city of Luhansk was held in captivity until he agreed to transfer his assets to the terrorists. Residents of the town of Luhutyno were ordered to sell their apartments for between USD 100 and USD 1,000, being warned that they would be confiscated regardless. Lysenko said on national television on Sept. 30 that he doubts a fourth wave of military mobilization will be necessary.

 

The Russian government has no interest in resolving the conflict and fulfilling any of the 12 points of the Sept. 5 Minsk ceasefire protocol, said on Sept. 30 Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on Sept. 30 it won’t fulfill the Russian Foreign Ministry’s request of issuing a document confirming the postponement of the Ukraine-EU free trade zone taking effect. “There’s no necessity of Ukraine making some document,” said Yevhen Perebiynis, the director of the department of information policy, as reported by zn.ua. “That’s the prerogative of the EU – to determine the period of temporary application.”

 

The U.S. government is deeply concerned by the intensifying violence in eastern Ukraine, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a Sept. 30 press briefing. The U.S. government calls on Russian and the Russian-backed separatist to immediately end their attacks and withdraw all military forces and equipment from inside Ukraine. “Since the ceasefire was signed on Sept. 5, attacks on Ukrainian positions and towns, including around the Donetsk airport and the village of Popasna in Luhansk, have killed and wounded scores of Ukrainian armed forces and civilians and destroyed critical infrastructure,” she said. “Ukraine continues to fulfill its ceasefire commitments and pursue a peaceful resolution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Now is the time for Russian authorities and the separatists they back to immediately implement their obligations under the Minsk agreement they signed.”

 

Negotiating and monitoring groups will begin their work on Oct. 1 in the Donbas conflict region, Lysenko reported on Sept. 30. They will consist of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, as well as representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). “These groups will conduct monitoring by patrolling the dividing line between the terrorists and the Ukrainian army,” he said. All ceasefire violations will be reported to the OSCE headquarters and the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Russia. The National Security and Defense Council anticipates that the terrorists will stop shooting and begin to remove its hardware to a 15-km distance from the front line, Lysenko said.

 

Zenon Zawada: Western authorities have now confirmed that not only is the ceasefire a failure, but the violence is re-escalating. There’s no end in sight to this conflict, particularly with the Russian government dissatisfied with the Association Agreement and stalling the natural gas talks.

Останні новини

News

23

02/2022

Separatists may claim entire territories of two Ukrainian regions

Russia has recognized “all fundamental documents” of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR...

News

23

02/2022

U.K. to provide USD 500 mln loan guarantee for Ukraine as IMF mission starts

The British government is going to provide up to USD 500 mln in loan guarantees...

News

23

02/2022

MinFin bond auction receipts jump to UAH 3.5 bln

Ukraine’s Finance Ministry raised UAH 3.3 bln and EUR 7.2 mln (the total equivalent of...