Russia Today(RT) man who promised not to return to Ukraine cheers for Russians with Soviet flag

Ukraine - Major News from Friday, August 22

- NATO officials accused Russia's military of a dangerous escalation by sending artillery units manned by Russian personnel into Ukraine, where they are firing on pro-Kyiv forces, "The New York Times" reported.

 

-- Dozens of trucks from a convoy of around 270 that Russia claims is carrying humanitarian aid ignored Ukrainian and Red Cross demands and entered eastern Ukraine after Moscow expressed impatience with "excuses." Pro-Russian separatists on Ukrainian territory cleared people and cars from the highway ahead of the Russian trucks, which some sources said numbered as many as 145. Ukrainian authorities said only 34 trucks had been inspected.

 

-- Kyiv described the move as an "invasion," and the convoy's actions were condemned by the European Union, United States, and NATO. Ukrainian Security Service chief Valentyn Nalivaychenko said Kyiv would not use force against the trucks in an effort to avoid "provocations."

 

-- Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly told Germany's Angela Merkel by telephone that further delay was "unacceptable." 

 

-- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he would ask Putin to withdraw pro-Moscow militants from Ukrainian territory. Poroshenko and Putin are both expected to attend a summit of the Russia-led customs union in Belarus next week, which will also be attended by senior EU officials.

 

-- The first trucks arrived in the separatist-held city of Luhansk, where residents have been without water or electricity for days.

 

-- Lithuania's foreign minister said an honorary consul in separatist-held Luhansk had been "kidnapped and brutally murdered by terrorists" there.

 

-- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said his ministry's website was under a denial-of-service attack and he blamed Russia.

 

-- A Ukrainian urban climber who calls himself "Mustang Wanted" confessed via Facebook to having painted the star of a spire high above Moscow in Ukrainian blue and yellow and raising the national flag in "a fit of sincere patriotic sentiment." He urged Russian authorities to release the four suspects in custody and suggested he would turn himself in if Russia freed Ukrainian army pilot Nadya Savchenko, who was abducted by separatists and smuggled into Russian custody, then accused of complicity in the killing of two Russian war correspondents.

 

-- Serbia announced that it would not subsidize extra exports to Russia but also would not curb that trade despite a request by the European Union that the aspiring member avoid compensating for the effects of Russia's ban on many foods from the West.

 

-- In a televised roundtable interview on Hromadske TV, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accuses Russia of plotting its invasion "since 2004," when the Orange Revolution broke out, and acknowledges that his country can't get by without Russian gas. 

 

-- The bodies and ashes of 20 Malaysians killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine in July have arrived in Kuala Lumpur.

 

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv

National Security and Defense Council: 34 trucks with Russian “humanitarian” aid crossed the Ukrainian border

Convoy of 34 KAMAZ trucks with Russian “humanitarian” aid has crossed the border into Ukraine. The vehicles have passed through “Izvaryne” border crossing point. Such statement was made by Col. Andriy Lysenko, Spokesman for the Information-analytical center of the National Security and Defense Council at a briefing in the Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “According to the latest information 90 more trucks started moving to the Ukrainian border, the Russian side didn’t let neither Ukrainian border guard officers nor representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross access the vehicles,” added Lysenko.

 

The convoy is moving not escorted by the Red Cross representatives, agreements between Ukraine and Russian Federation as to the customs clearance have been violated. “Ukraine suggested holding talks between representatives of Ukrainian and Russian HQs of the armed forces, however Russia did not agree to this proposal. It’s the Russian Federation that bears full responsibility over the convoy movement along the territory which is not controlled by Ukrainian forces,” underlined Colonel Lysenko.

Putin's media shows a military vehicle heading into #Ukraine, feed cuts after truck approaches.

 

 Putins Mouthpiece 'Russia Today' live feed at Ukraine Border which suddenly went off air when Russia Army trucks passed into Ukraine

 

 

Lithuania's honorary consul in Luhansk region killed by Russian Scum militants

Honorary Consul of Lithuania in Luhansk region Mykola Zelenec was kidnapped and killed by militants in the east of Ukraine, Foreign Minister of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius said.

Ukraine makes it's mark in Putin's Moscow

So activists in Moscow have put the Ukrainian flag up on one of its tallest skyscrapers

American Donbas Battalion member dies in fierce fighting near Donetsk

An American-Ukrainian known only as "Franko" died on Aug. 19 while fighting with the Donbas Battalion in an attempt to free the city of Ilovaisk in Donetsk Oblast from Russian mercenaries and Kremlin-backed guerrillas.

 

An American has reportedly become the first foreign casualty on the Ukrainian side of the military conflict against Russian mercenaries and Kremlin-backed forces in eastern Ukraine. 

 

Identified only under his nom de guerre of "Franko", he reportedly died from heavy artillery fire while trying to free the town of Ilovaisk in Donetsk Oblast on Aug. 19 while serving in the volunteer Donbas Battalion, Liviy Bereg photographer Maks Levin stated on Facebook, citing another photographer, Maks Dondiuk, who has embedded himself in various Ukrainian service units.

 

According to the photographer, the Donbas Battalion, had come under heavy fire by various barrages of GRAD, Fagot and other types of artillery, in addition to tank and sniper fire.

“There is no way for them to get out of Ilovask,” wrote Levin citing his colleague. He added that two other volunteer battalions, Azov and Dnipro, managed to leave the area earlier in the day.

 

Both photographers, Levin and Dondiuk, have been embedded with various Ukrainian units, including the Donbas Battalion. 

 

The facebook page of Donbass Battalion stated that four of its members died in the fighting, while the number of wounded is still being clarified. Among the wounded was battalion leader Semyon Semenchenko. He underwent surgery in a Dnipropetrovsk hospital and is expected to recover in two to three weeks, the statement said.

 

In a Vice News report in which he featured prominently, Franko said he was a private in a six-man squad within the battalion, while claiming to have “professional military experience.” His code name apparently was inspired by the famed Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko. In the video, he speaks with what sounds like an east coast American accent and appears to be aged in his 60s. He emphasized in the interview that he had taken on Ukrainian citizenship before joining the fight in the east. According to photographer Levin, Franko owned property in Ukraine and may have lived in the country.

 

He was a “cheerful diaspora (member)…who beautifully cursed in Ukrainian,” remarked Levin. He added that Franko wished to “enter Donetsk (as a liberator) and to return to Kyiv, sell his apartment in Lviv and settle somewhere in the calm Carpathian Mountains.”

The Donbas Battalion was formed early in June. At least 80 percent of its members are from eastern Ukraine. According to the Interior Ministry to which the irregular volunteer battalions are subordinated, 25 battalions are currently engaged in the war zone in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.

Franko told Vice News that he assumed Ukrainian citizenship before joining the Donbas Battalion to fight against the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine. (Maks Levin)

Franko RIP - American Volunteer - He Died for Ukrainian Freedom

 

Submariners World is sad to report "Franko," the American fighting for #Ukraine, is confirmed dead. He spoke to VICE news 2 week's ago.

 

 

NSDC: 15 bodies found after yesterday’s civilian shooting

Kyiv, August 19, 2014 – 15 bodies of the civilians who died when the mercenaries fired “Grad” systems and mine launchers at the refugee transport column were found by the end of last night, reported NSDC Information Center spokesman colonel Andriy Lysenko during a briefing at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “Yesterday, the terrorists opened fire near Khryashchuvate at a column of refugees who were leaving under white flags. As it turned out, the column was headed from Luhansk to Lutugyne, which is under Ukrainian control. Combat engineers and forensic experts are currently working at the scene,” added colonel Lysenko.

ATO troops continue advancing and reinforcing their positions at the designated borderlines in the outskirts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Horlivka, Pervomaysk, and are concentrating their efforts to preserve their position on Savur-Mohyla. Terrorist counterattacks were successfully rebuked throughout the day. Positional combat for Yasynuvata and Zhdanivka in Donetsk oblast continues. “Ukrainian troops also blocked Ilovaysk and Alchevsk. As of 10 a.m., the National Guardsmen have already freed two-thirds of Ilovaysk and cut off supply routes for manpower and equipment to the Russian mercenaries. Two KamAZ trucks that were sent from Donetsk to aid the mercenaries in Ilovaysk were fired at, one of them was neutralized together with the terrorists, the other was forced to return back to Donetsk,” added the NSDC spokesman.

 

Russia continues to increase its military presence in Rostov oblast. Reserve servicemen summoned to the national assembly are being sent to the Ukrainian border. In particular, Russian armed forces near the Ukrainian border have increased in number on account of military tactical groups from Yekaterinburg, the tank department of the 35 individual motorized sniper brigade from Briansk oblast of the Russian Federation, the 74 individual motorized sniper brigade from Kemerovo oblast.

 

NATO General Secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Commander of the Army in Europe General Philip Breedlove condemned the support of terrorists and increase of Russian presence at the Ukrainian border. They noted the existence of indisputable evidence of Russia’s disruptive activity on Ukrainian territory. In this context they emphasized the necessity of continued presence of NATO troops in Eastern Europe. “Day after day, we see evidence of a disruptive Russian presence inside Ukraine, the massing of combat-ready troops around its borders and a cynical attempt to rebrand Russia as the provider of humanitarian aid,” says the statement.

 

The Ukrainian President ordered to conduct preparations to organize a humanitarian corridor for the Russian cargo through the state border. “As of 9 a.m., work to document the humanitarian cargo was not carried out in light of the fact that terrorist organizations “DNR” and “LNR” refused to provide security guarantees to the Red Cross representatives. A leading group of Red Cross Committee employees was sent to Luhansk in order to evaluate the situation and organize the delivery of the humanitarian cargo. Today a group of three people plans to arrive in Ukraine from Donetsk of Rostov oblast in Russia through the “Donetsk – Izvarino” checkpoint,” noted the NSDC spokesman.

 

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held consultations with German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. The President applauded the German government’s support of international dialogue during the four-party meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Ukraine, France and Russia.

 

 The heads of state agreed that the next step would be a meeting on the highest level. Head of the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry Pavlo Klimkin announced that Mrs. Merkel would arrive in Ukraine on August 23, on the eve of Independence Day.

Donetsk residents filled up a weapon emplacement dug up by Putin's Russian Terrorist's in civilian quarter

Opinion: Putin's white shield for terrorists in East Ukraine

On the night between 11 and 12 August, a convoy of 280 Kamaz trucks set out from Moscow to East Ukraine, loaded, according to the Moscow Oblast authorities, with humanitarian aid for civilian residents in the war zone. Even though the Russians immediately marked the convoy with the International Red Cross flags, the organization itself had no knowledge of it. It was not until 16 August that the Red Cross received the manifest of the shipment.

 

Over the four intervening days one thing became very clear: no one in the world believes anything that the Russians say any more. And losing trust is much easier than gaining it back. Even this apparently noble humanitarian mission served only to increase suspicions.

 

On 6 August, Russia suggested at the UN Security Council to send a shipment of humanitarian aid under the flag of the Red Cross. The Security Council voted down the proposal. As the British representative aptly put it, Russia cannot rescue the nation it itself pushed into the conflict. However, the convoy plan was silently moving forward.

Innocent-looking on the outside

 

On 14 August, a convoy of 262 Kamaz trucks appears somewhere east of Belgorod and arrives in Kamensk-Shakhtyorsk. Members of the press in Kamensk-Shakhtyorsk are offered to open any of the sealed trucks, interview the drivers and take photos. It is hot. The drivers, stripped to the waist, show off their untrained bodies. The reporters rule out the version that they might be disguised members of the Russian special forces, although one of the drivers does sport a paratrooper tattoo on his shoulder. There are two drivers per truck. If each were given a gun, that would make 520 armed men to reinforce the separatist ranks in Luhansk. Their age is suitable for military service.

 

The trucks indeed contained drinking water and grain. What's surprising, though, is that the trucks are half-empty. Several explanations are offered: the vehicles are too new and cannot carry the full load; in an alternative explanation, if one truck breaks down, its cargo can be loaded to another one.

 

The more observant reporters note that the trucks, no licence plates on them, are painted white only on the outside, while the inside is of the shades more becoming to military equipment. Why, they wonder, doesn't Russia use the assets of the Ministry of Emergency Situations which has experience of work under similar circumstances and, in fact, owns equipment just for such purposes.

 

It turns out that the drivers are not even professionals in long-distance deliveries, but rather a group assembled from different places. All have licences to drive trucks, though. There is no data about their military training. In all, they appear a rather taciturn bunch and when they do speak, some inconsistencies come up. One says he is a volunteer, while another blurts he's been generously paid. A third one says he responded to an ad two months ago. Therefore the operation must have been in preparation for some time now.

 

Why, then, does the mission not include the Ministry of Emergency Situations? And why did it not have proper papers necessary to pass the customs, something that the senders of the aid must have definitely known. Spokespeople of the Ministry claim that, when they receive a humanitarian aid proposal, they carry out a detailed research and, within a week, draft a list of items the recipients are in most urgent need of. In this case, it is unclear who put together the shipment and how adequate it is to meet those needs.

 

 

Military backing disguised as humanitarian aid

 

While everyone's wondering what this odd humanitarian mission is all about, a reporter from The Guardian spots a convoy of 23 armoured military vehicles illegally crossing the Ukrainian border from Russia. Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian minister of the interior, says the humanitarian convoy is just a "PR game" meant to cover up a dispatch of military assistance to the terrorists.

 

Even if Ukrainian officials did not have special equipment to properly screen the convoy, smugglers could share their tricks of the trade: how much stuff could be hidden under double floorings and walls. Ammunition, automatic weapons and mine-throwers add considerable weight to the shipment, hence the half-loaded trucks.

 

However, I have another theory about why the trucks are empty. There are other ways to transport weapons, after all. In a press conference a few days ago, the new "prime minister" of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic Alexander Zakharchenko boasted about 1,200 fighters who had come after a four-month training camp in Russia, bringing along 150 units of equipment, including 30 tanks.

To my mind, the trucks were sent half-empty for the simple reason that there must be as many of them as possible. The goal of the operation is to take the white Red Cross-marked trucks, rather than what's inside them, into the terrorist-controlled territory of Ukraine.

 

On 16 August, Ukraine, having received the shipment manifest, officially recognized it as humanitarian aid from the Red Cross. After inspection, the white Kamaz trucks will also be recognized as part of a humanitarian mission. The situation in Donbas is complicated, therefore who knows when the trucks will make their way back to Russia. There can be million excuses for delays - and Russian soldiers are good at coming up with them.

 

In early summer 1968, joint military manoeuvres of five Warsaw Pact states took place in Czechoslovakia. When they concluded, soldiers of three of the countries left, while the USSR convoy unexpectedly broke down on the way between Prague and Bratislava. The soldiers set up a camp and started "repair works". These lasted well into August, when the crackdown of the Prague Spring began. The "broken down" Soviet column headed straight for Prague.

 

So the trucks with the Red Cross aid can very easily break down in the terrorist-held territory, someone can mine them or even blow up the roads. Once they're stuck in Ukraine, god forbid someone should open fire at them - after all, they are sent by the Red Cross on a noble mission. Judging by reactions to Israel's actions in Gaza, the international community shows particular indignation when UN objects get hit. 262 trucks under the Red Cross flag are something even more impressive than a UN school in Gaza. The Ukrainian forces will not be able to fire a single shot.

So many white trucks can be dispersed across towns and villages, dispatched to wherever the Ukrainian forces are planning an offensive. To stir up the global indignation, one could even be blown up and the blame put on Kiev.

 

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

 

The vehicles could provide an indispensable shield for the terrorists. They could use the white Kamaz trucks to fire missiles or throw mines, to safely transport fighters. They could be used to encourage the terrorists, motivate them to go on with fighting, promising that, in case things go wrong, they will be safely taken to Russia whereupon they will be showered with generous honours and rewards. Militant islamists believe in virgins who await them after they die as martyrs, while the pro-Russians prefer to collect their dues in this life.

 

The terrorists in East Ukraine have employed the tactic of shielding themselves with civilian residents on a number of occasions. In Slovyansk, they would set up their firing points in residential buildings, their first rocket aimed at a civilian aircraft was launched from the roof of a student dormitory, while the Buk system that downed the MH17 flight was hidden in the middle of a village.

A plethora of suspicion surrounding the convoy somewhat distracts one's attention from its true goal, but they way events have developed gives one the impression that Russians are desperate to deliver their trucks to the territory. Hence the refusal to cooperate with the Ministry of Emergency Situations, since it could have provided alternative means of transport; hence the refusal to drive via Kharkiv and reload the shipment onto Ukrainian trucks; hence the attention-grabbing commotion over the military equipment accompanying the convoy, so that everyone misses the true goal of the operation, which is to hand over the white shield to the terrorists. Russians made everyone wonder what's inside the trucks and forget about the trucks themselves.

 

The distraction provided by changing routes, delaying the shipment manifest, and other seeming problems is a perfect cover for the true goal of the mission. On 12 August, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov personally announced that the Ukrainians had finally realized that reloading the shipment would only add to the cost of the mission and therefore had agreed not to do it.

 

If Ukraine agrees to let the trucks in, the shield they will provide - in addition to 2,000 tons of food, tents and sleeping bags - will allow the terrorists to go on until the parliamentary elections in autumn.

While the president was elected by the entire nation and therefore low turnout in Dombas made little impact on the legitimacy of the overall results, the elected MPs represent specific regions. Should the terrorists manage to hold on until autumn, they will be able to disrupt the elections and achieve that certain places in east Ukraine fail to elect representatives to national parliament. Unrepresented, therefore not entirely part of Ukraine. And that is very much in line with what the Kremlin wants - confusion and uncertainty in Donbas.

 

Poland says to speed up attack helicopter purchase due to Ukraine crisis

Poland will move the purchase of 30 attack helicopters forward by two years as part of a review of its army modernisation programme triggered by the crisis in Ukraine, Polish deputy defence minister Czeslaw Mroczek said.

 

Mroczek told Reuters that the first stage of the procurement process, originally scheduled for 2016, had already started and confirmed that 10 companies have submitted their offers but declined to name them.

 

“The events in Ukraine are having a clear negative impact on regional and international security and have made us … realise there was a need for updating our technical modernisation plans,” Mroczek said in an interview last week.

 

“As a result of the review, the plans have been updated byspeeding up the programmes which increase our military’s attack force, as well as its deterrence potential,” he said.

 

Polish military experts have suggested Boeing’s AH-64 Apache, AgustaWestland’s AW-129 Mangusta and Eurocopter’s EC-Tiger as potential candidates.

 

“We will try to have the helicopters ready for combat in 2019 or 2020,” Mroczek said. They will replace the worn-out Soviet-era Mi-24s currently used by the Polish army.

 

Poland, the biggest of the former Communist states to joinNATO after the end of the Cold War, has been a leading voice in calling for sanctions on Russia after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimea and for NATO to shift troops and equipment eastwards to reassure members close to Russia as fighting with rebels in eastern Ukraine continues.

 

Last week, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told Reuters that NATO members were “quite close” to reaching consensus on increasing the alliance’s presence in eastern Europe.

 

Poland is already in the process of purchasing 70 multi-purpose helicopters, with Airbus Helicopters, Sikorsky Aircraft and AgustaWestland competing for the tender. Sikorsky and AgustaWestland already own factories in Poland.

 

Mroczek said that following “the Ukrainian review”, Poland will also speed up the purchases of a second naval strike missile system, a long-range missile launcher and air-to-surface JASSM missiles for its fleet of 48 F-16 fighter jets.

 

The country is now also looking to buy long-range unmanned attack aircrafts, also known as drones.

Asked about Poland’s mid-range missile defence system, Mroczek confirmed the tender will be completed next year. In June, Poland shortlisted U.S. firm Raytheon and a consortium of France’s Thales and European group MBDA as potential suppliers of the system.

 

Mroczek said the role of Polish industry in the contract would be an important factor in choosing the supplier.

 

“Polish industry’s participation, that is, how big a part of the (production of) system will be left to Polish companies, will be an important consideration,” said Mroczek.

 

The companies participating in the final stage of the procurement have said the participation of Polish companies would account for a large portion of the contract.

 

Mroczek said that the modernisation programme represented “a great opportunity and vast amounts of money, which can transform Polish military technology science, and, above all, the Polish industry.”

 

Poland’s Finance Ministry estimates that the country will spend around 130 billion zlotys between 2013 and 2022 on modernising its armed forces. The country already spends 1.95 percent of its GDP on the army, one of the highest rates of military spending in the world.

F-15s, troops from 493rd deploy to Bulgaria

Troops and fighter aircraft from the 493rd Fighter Squadron have been sent to Bulgaria as tensions in Eastern Europe continue to run high.

 

A dozen F-15s and approximately 180 personnel from the 493rd, based at RAF Lakenheath, England, have deployed to Graf Ignatievo Air Base to participate in a two-week bilateral training exercise with the Bulgarian air force, Pentagon spokesmen Col. Steve Warren told reporters Monday.

 

The exercise began Monday and will continue through Sept. 1.

 

The purpose of the deployment is to “conduct training and focus on maintain joint readiness while building interoperability,” Warren said.

 

The move comes at a time when America’s Eastern European partners and allies are concerned about Russian military intervention in Ukraine. There are fears that Moscow might try to destabilize other countries in the region.

 

“This is a reflection of our steadfast commitment to enhancing regional security,” Warren said about the exercise.

 

Last week the Pentagon announced that approximately 600 soldiers from the Army’s 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, will deploy to Poland and the Baltic states in October for a three-month series of land warfare training exercises.

 

The First Cavalry will bring M-1 Abrams tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carrier for the exercises, according to the Defense Department

NSDC: Terrorists fired at a column of civilians from Luhansk

Terrorists opened fire using a “Grad” system at a transport column of Luhansk civilians. “The terrorists committed a bloody crime at 9:40 this morning. Near Luhansk, on the road between Khryashchuvate and Novosvitlivka, the mercenaries used “Grad” systems and mine-launchers imported from Russia to shoot at a column of civilians attempting to leave the combat zone. Many people died, including women and children. The number of casualties is currently being determined,” stated NSDC Information Center spokesman colonel Andriy Lysenko during a briefing at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center.

 

Active combat to free Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as battles near Zhdanivka, Makiyivka, Khartsyzsk, Debaltsevo, Starobesheve, continue. Ukrainian Armed Forces are working to neutralize the mercenaries in Yasynuvate. Horlivka, Mala Ivanivka, Andrianivka and Alchevsk are completely blocked. The Russian mercenaries are fleeing these cities. “ATO bases near Novokaterynivka were fired at tonight using 9P 140 “Uragan” setups. This is the first time weapons of such power were used,” added Andriy Lysenko.

 

Colonel Andriy Lysenko showed a video with more proof of Russian aggression at the briefing. “This footage was taken near the town of Snizhne. It shows servicemen standing around armored equipment units. One of the machines is a modified Russian BTR 80A. The machine has a distinctive feature – the 2A72 canon produced in Tula, which only the Russian army has at its disposal. The terrorists keep repeating “this is war,” “Allah Akbar” and “Insh’Allah.” One of the videos also clearly shows a ZAZ Daewoo vehicle with a Luhansk license plate – BB 3624 CO,” noted colonel Andriy Lysenko.

 

Border servicemen have also documented airspace violations at the border. As such, at 10 p.m. yesterday, the Naval Security Service near Mariupol detected and shot down one Russian unmanned aircraft. Another battalion tactical group from Yekaterinburg arrived at the Ukrainian state border from Russia. Vehicles carrying a big number of containers for BUK missile-launch complexes have been seen at the border on the Russian side. Approximately 30 “Grad” systems were detected near the locality of Gukovo in Rostov oblast across from Sverdlovsk and Chervonopartyzansk in Luhansk oblast. “A Polish journalist managed to document the movement of Russian equipment towards the Ukrainian border,” added the NSDC spokesman.

 

As of 11 a.m., in light of the fact that the issue of security guarantees for the humanitarian cargo on part of the terrorists organizations for Red Cross representatives remains unsolved, the cargo did not undergo border documentation procedures. Detailed inspection of the contents of the Russian humanitarian convoy has not begun. OSCE experts plan to examine the cargo on August 18 or 19. “Yesterday the border servicemen prevented an attempt to import part of the cargo to Ukrainian territory. 16 white tent KAMAZ vehicles, 1 fuel vehicle and 1 bus from the so-called humanitarian convoy arrived at the “Donetsk” border checkpoint on Russian territory at 12:15. They were parked at the lot near the checkpoint. Russian border servicemen watched as a group of mercenaries on 8 cars and 3 buses approached the Ukrainian representatives from the Ukrainian side. The Ukrainian border servicemen took up defense positions. After talking with the Russian border workers, the terrorists retreated back inside Ukrainian territory,” explained colonel Lysenko.

 

OSCE representative Paul Picard stated that the organization may possibly inspect 30 vehicles from the Russian humanitarian convoy on August 18-19. After the inspection, the cargo will be handed over to be escorted by Red Cross representatives.

 

US Senators from both parties showed solidarity in their support for Kyiv in its fight against the terrorists. Senators John McCain and John Donnelly addressed US President Barack Obama with a petition to provide Ukraine with defense weaponry, in particular anti-tank weapons, and increase exchange of intelligence information.

ESCALATION! 16.06 CET 18.08.14

Russian volunteer fighters in Ukraine replaced by professional battle-hardened soldiers! Weapons supply increased dramatically!

The Security Service of Ukraine Neutralized a Terrorist Group Managed by Russian Security Services 17.08.14

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) exposed and neutralized a terrorist group managed by security services of the Russian Federation. This was reported to President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko by the head of the Security Service Valentyn Nalyvaichenko.

 

The SBU detained six members of a terrorist group suspected of arranging the explosion on the night of August 3 in the territory of Kharkiv Tank Repair Plant. They were detained in the Dnipropetrovsk region during the attempt to destroy one of the administrative facilities at the recreation center where policemen were temporarily residing.

 

The SBU officers seized lots of weapons, including submachine guns, grenade launchers and explosives, as well as storage with videos files of the committed crimes which were used as reports to Russian security services.

 

In the course of the investigation it was established that the members of the groups who had connections with employees of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation developed plans of terrorist attacks upon strategically important objects of the Kharkiv region and recruited new members into their group.

 

The Security Services of Ukraine initiated pre-trial investigation.

Ukrainian Servicemen Caught GRU Employees Red-Handed

Last night in the area of Debaltseve Ukrainian servicemen captured three Russian professional soldiers, employees of the Main Intelligence Directorate (aka GRU) of the General Staff of the Russian Federation from St. Petersburg. It should be noted that this is by far not the first time when Russian professionals are caught red-handed.

Ukraine says its troops make breakthrough in rebel stronghold

Ukrainian forces have raised their national flag over a police station in the city of Luhansk which was for months under rebel control, Kiev said on Sunday, in what could be a breakthrough in Ukraine's efforts to crush pro-Moscow separatists.

 

Ukrainian officials allege though that the rebels are fighting a desperate rearguard action to hold on to Luhansk -- which is their supply route into neighboring Russia -- and say the flow of weapons and fighters from Russia has accelerated.

 

The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia were preparing to meet for talks on the conflict in Berlin on Sunday, though it seemed likely that the diplomacy could be overshadowed by fast-moving developments on the battlefield.

 

Russia denies helping the rebels and accuses Kiev, backed by the West, of triggering a humanitarian crisis through indiscriminate use of force against Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine who reject the Ukrainian government's rule.

 

Andriy Lysenko, a Ukrainian military spokesman, said government forces fought separatists in a neighborhood of Luhansk city on Saturday and took control of the Zhovtneviy neighborhood police station.

 

"They raised the state flag over it," Lysenko told a news briefing.

 

Separatist officials in Luhansk could not be reached by telephone, and a separatist spokeswoman in Donetsk, the other rebel strong-hold in eastern Ukraine, said she did not know what had happened in Luhansk.

 

If confirmed, the taking of the police station is significant because the city of Luhansk has for several months been a rebel redoubt where Kiev's writ has not run.

 

Ukrainian troops have been closing in on the city from the outskirts, but had not previously been able to get forces inside the city limits. The separatists still control sections of the border linking Luhansk region to Russia.

 

The four-month-old conflict in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east has reached a critical phase, with Kiev and Western governments watching nervously to see if Russia will intervene in support of the increasingly besieged rebels.

 

The rebels have responded to the reverses with defiant rhetoric, and the fighting continues.

 

Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday that the separatists shot down a Ukrainian warplane. The pilot ejected and was located and recovered after a search, a military spokesman, Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky, told Reuters.

 

On Saturday, Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said rebels were in the process of receiving some 150 armored vehicles, including 30 tanks, and 1,200 fighters trained in Russia. He said they planned to launch a major counter-offensive.

"They are joining at the most crucial moment," he said in a video recorded on Friday.

 

The assertion that the fighters were trained in Russia is awkward for Moscow, which has repeatedly denied allegations from Kiev and its Western allies that it is providing material support to separatist fighters.

CRITICAL PHASE

 

In a sign of concern at the latest rebel comments, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko agreed in a phone call on Saturday that deliveries of weapons to separatists in Ukraine must stop and a ceasefire must be achieved, a German government spokesman said.

 

The Ukraine crisis has dragged relations between Russia and the West to their lowest point since the Cold War and set off a round of trade restrictions that are hurting struggling economies in both Russia and Europe.

 

Adding to the tensions, Russia and Ukraine have been at loggerheads for days over a convoy of 280 Russian trucks carrying water, food and medicine.

 

It was despatched by Moscow bound for eastern Ukraine but has been parked up for several days in Russia near the border.

 

Kiev has said the convoy could be a Trojan Horse for Russia to get weapons to the rebels, a notion that Moscow has dismissed as absurd. It said the aid is desperately needed by civilians left without water and power and under constant bombardment from the Ukrainian advance.

 

After days of wrangling between Kiev and Moscow, there were signs of movement on Sunday.

 

Sixteen trucks separated from the main convoy and drove into a Russian bus depot near a border crossing into Ukraine, a Reuters cameraman said from the scene.

 

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in Geneva that Russian and Ukrainian border guards and customs officials had agreed that the cargo could be inspected.

REBEL ROUT?

 

Ukrainian officials have painted a picture of a separatist force that is on the run and starting to panic - though rebel fighters Reuters reporters have spoken to in Donetsk say they are determined to stand firm.

 

The Ukrainian National Guard said its forces had seized a rebel field commander from Luhansk region as well as 13 others suspected of “terrorist activity”.

 

“The terrorists are putting on ordinary clothes, taking only their passport with them and are trying to pass themselves off as ordinary peaceful citizens on public transport to try to get through the Ukrainian checkpoints,” the National Guard said.

 

In the past week, three senior rebel leaders have been removed from their posts, pointing to mounting disagreement over how to turn the tide of the fighting back in their favor.

The fighting has taken a heavy human toll.

 

The United Nations said this month that an estimated 2,086 people, including civilians and combatants, had been killed in the conflict. That figure nearly doubled since the end of July, when Ukrainian forces stepped up their offensive and fighting started in urban areas.

 

In Donetsk which like Luhansk is now ringed by Kiev's forces, artillery fire has struck apartment buildings, killing and wounding residents, according to Reuters reporters. Officials in Kiev deny they are firing heavy weapons at residential areas.