Crisis in Oekraïne #105 De bevrijding van Oost-Oekraine

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Ukraine poised to try to reclaim Donetsk, its military says

KIEV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian military is on the verge of launching an assault to take back the separatist bastion of Donetsk, a military spokesman said Saturday.

Government troops are currently battling rebels in the nearby town of Horlivka and have blocked all roads leading out of Donetsk to prevent the insurgents from replenishing supplies and fighters or escaping, said Andriy Lysenko of the Ukrainian Security and Defense Council. Once Horlivka is under Ukrainian control again, he said, the army will move to retake Donetsk, a city where pro-Russian separatists have held sway for months while declaring it the Donetsk People’s Republic. The Ukrainian military has ousted rebels from 10 surrounding villages and towns in the past week.

“The next one will be Donetsk,” he said. “The city will be liberated.”

[...]

http://m.washingtonpost.c(...)32bcfd6ed_story.html

twitter:

cnnbrk twitterde op zaterdag 26-07-2014 om 17:02:36 Ukrainian journalist Anton Skiba, who was detained by pro-Russia separatists while freelancing for CNN, is freed. http://t.co/io15kXzy3W reageer retweet

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Op zaterdag 26 juli 2014 17:19 schreef deelnemer het volgende:

[..]

Een plaats waar veel kan gebeuren. Weer een burgemeester is de klos.

twitter:

EuromaidanPR twitterde op zaterdag 26-07-2014 om 15:46:17 V. Protsenko, Mayor of #Debaltsevo, #Donetsk oblast,was kidnapped by #Chechen militants from his house -eizvestia.com | EMPR #Ukraine reageer retweet

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Ukraine launches offensive to retake Donetsk

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials said their forces advanced to the outskirts of a key town north of Donetsk on Saturday in hopes of retaking the stronghold held for months by pro-Russia rebels.

The move comes as Ukrainian forces appear to have gained some momentum recently by retaking control of territory from the rebels. But Russia also appears to becoming more involved in the fighting, with the U.S. and Ukraine accusing Moscow of moving heavily artillery across the border to the rebels.

Ukrainian national security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Ukrainian forces were outside Horlikva, just north of the regional center of Donetsk.

"The direct route is open for the forces of the anti-terrorist operation to the capital of the Donbass region — the city of Donetsk," Lysenko said.

Donetsk, a city of about 1 million people, is a major center of the separatist uprising that has battled Ukrainian government forces for five months.

An Associated Press reporter found the highway north of Donetsk blocked by rebels and heard the sound of artillery to the north. Explosions were heard in the direction of the town's airport, on the northwest edge of the city, an area frequently contested by Ukrainian forces and rebels. Black smoke rose from the direction of Yakovlikva, a northern suburb of Donetsk.

About 35 miles (60 kilometers) to the east, the site where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down was still eerily empty except for the parents of one of the 298 people killed in the July 17 accident. Nine days after the accident, a full-fledged investigation still hasn't started due to the security risks posed by the nearby fighting.

But Jerzy Dyczynski and Angela Rudhart-Dyczynski, parents of 25-year-old Fatima, crossed territory held by pro-Russian rebels to reach the wreckage-strewn fields outside the village of Hrabove to visit the place of their daughter's death.

Fatima "was for peace. She will be forever for peace," her father said.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials say the plane was shot down by a missile from rebel territory, most likely by mistake.

Two more cargo planes also flew 38 more coffins carrying victims to a forensic center in the Netherlands for identification and investigation.

The planes took off Saturday from Kharkiv, a government-controlled city where the bodies have been brought from the wreckage site in territory held by pro-Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainian government.

Officials said the flights took the last of the 227 coffins containing victims that have been brought to Kharkiv by refrigerated train. Officials say the exact number of people held in the coffins is still to be determined by forensic experts in the Netherlands, where Ukraine has agreed to send the bodies. International observers have said there are still remains at the wreckage site. Access has been limited due to rebel interference and security concerns.

The disaster sparked hopes in the West that Russia would scale back its involvement in the uprising in Ukraine's east, but nine days later the opposite seems to be the case.

Russia launched artillery attacks from its soil into Ukraine on Friday, while the United States said it has seen powerful rocket systems moving closer to the Ukraine border.

Those accusations sparked a strong denial from Moscow, which accuses the U.S. of a smear campaign.

The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the United States on Saturday of conducting "an unrelenting campaign of slander against Russia, ever more relying on open lies."

The ministry took particular issue with comments Friday by White House spokesman Josh Earnest, who said Washington regards Moscow as involved in the shooting down of the airliner because it allegedly has supplied missile systems to the rebels and trained them on how to use them.

The ministry complained that these contentions have not been backed up with public evidence and it sneered at Earnest for saying the allegations are backed up by claims on social media.

"In other words, the Washington regime is basing its contentions on anti-Russian speculation gathered from the Internet that does not correspond to reality," it said.

Russia also lashed out at the latest round of Ukraine-related sanctions imposed by the European Union, saying they endanger the fight against international terrorism.

The EU sanctions, announced on Friday, impose travel bans and asset freezes on 15 people, including the head of Russia's Federal Security Service and the head of the agency's department overseeing international operations and intelligence. Four members of Russia's national security council are also on the list.

The Foreign Ministry said the sanctions show the EU is taking "a complete turn away from joint work with Russia on international and regional security, including the fight against the spread of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism (and) organized crime."

"We are sure the decisions will be greeted enthusiastically by international terrorists," the ministry said.

http://bigstory.ap.org/ar(...)s-ukraine-crash-site

twitter:

BBCWillVernon twitterde op zaterdag 26-07-2014 om 18:00:10 #Ukraine military: sections of border with #Russia are still not under government control at Dyakovo, Marinovka, Uspenka. reageer retweet

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Under Military Plan, U.S. Could Help Ukraine Target Rebels’ Missiles

The Pentagon and American intelligence agencies are developing plans that would enable the Obama administration to provide specific locations of surface-to-air missiles controlled by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine so the Ukrainian government could target them for destruction, American officials said.

But the proposal has not yet been debated in the White House, a senior administration official said. It is unclear whether President Obama, who has already approved limited intelligence sharing with Ukraine, will agree to give more precise information about potential military targets, a step that would involve the United States more deeply in the conflict.

Already, the question of what kind of intelligence support to give the Ukrainian government has become part of a larger debate within the administration about how directly to confront President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and how big a role Washington should take in trying to stop Russia’s rapid delivery of powerful weapons to eastern Ukraine.

At the core of the debate, said several officials — who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the policy deliberations are still in progress — is whether the American goal should be simply to shore up a Ukrainian government reeling from the separatist attacks, or to send a stern message to Mr. Putin by aggressively helping Ukraine target the missiles Russia has provided. Those missiles have taken down at least five aircraft in the past 10 days, including Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

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http://mobile.nytimes.com(...).html?referrer=&_r=0

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The commander of the batallion "Donbass", Semen Semenchenko, claimed that Ukrainian troops reached Pervomaisk, where they were confronted by around 1,000 militiamen from Stakhanov and Alchevsk.[589]

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Oekraïense soldaten gevangen in de ring in de buurt van de grens met de Russische Federatie en vraag om hulp

Sinds gisteren zijn ze voortdurend gebombardeerd vanuit de "Grad" en mortieren

In de "Today" genoemd zone van ATO en gemeld dat op de grens met de Russische Federatie, in het dorp Deakovo, nabij de stad Antraciet Luhansk regio, ongeveer honderd strijders en militaire bewakers 79 luchtmobiele brigade gisteren voortdurend onder vuur.

Volgens de 21-jarige soldaat, een inwoner van Lviv regio, die anoniem wenst te worden genoemd, de tweede dag de jongens zijn vergrendeld aan drie kanten door de terroristen, en achter - de Russische kant. Manier terug te trekken uit de soldaten geen kracht om te beschermen op het einde.

Daarnaast is een van de lokale bevolking, die wilde persoonlijk de Oekraïense leger te melden, zei dat "na het bombardement ze gaan in het offensief 5-7000 separatistische terroristen uit de Russische Federatie, met als doel volledige vernietiging." Zoals, die niet vernietigen van de bommen - zal eindigen met de hulp van de Strelets wapens.

Militaire, zoals gerapporteerd door de grenswachter, schieten van "Grad", mortieren en artillerie "MSTA-S".

Als gevolg van de brand aanval gisteren doodde twee Oekraïense leger, en vandaag de dag vele gewonden.

Recall moeders en echtgenotes van de militaire 79 luchtmobiele brigade vandaag blokkeerde de brug in Nikolaev . Zij nodig hebben om de belofte van de president om een corridor voor de militaire en brengen hen uit het milieu terroristen vervullen.

https://translate.google.(...)omoshchi-539926.html

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Rusland stuurt luchtvaartdeskundigen

Rusland stuurt vier luchtvaartdeskundigen naar Oost-Oekraïne om het internationale onderzoeksteam te ondersteunen bij het onderzoek naar de oorzaak van de vliegramp.

Rusland zegt dat de experts veel ervaring hebben en onder andere onderzoek hebben gedaan naar de crash van een Russisch passagiersvliegtuig dat in 2001 in de Zwarte Zee terechtkwam, meldt het ANP. Alle inzittenden kwamen daarbij om. Dat toestel was geraakt door een verdwaalde raket van het Oekraïense leger.

http://www.powned.tv/nieu(...)luchtvaartdesku.html