Gas blast in Zasyadko coal mine in Ukraine kills 33

#Ukraine #Zasyadko #Donetsk A suspected gas blast at the Zasyadko mine in a rebel-held region of eastern Ukraine has led to the death of 33 people with another 30 trapped in the mine as revealed by an official of the eels and reported in bbc.com dated 4 March 2015.
There were 230 people in the shaft when the accident happened and 157 of them had been brought out leaving 73 unaccounted for before reports of the deaths came out.
This mine is believed to be one of Ukraine's biggest coal producers.
At least 14 miners were also reported to have been injured in the worst mine disaster of Ukraine in nearly eight years ago when 101 were killed.
There are apprehensions that the rebels may not have the resources necessary to deal with disasters of this nature.
Donetsk had witnessed heavy fighting between the pro-Russian separatist rebels and government troops during the winter but as indicated by an official of the mine union to a Ukrainian TV channel, there had been no fighting in the area in recent days.
It may be noted that even while Ukraine's economy has significantly shrunk since the conflict began in April, many of the coal mines continue to operate in the conflict zone. Before the conflict began, accidents were common in the mines. Safety standards in the mines are poor.
Another interesting blog - Citizen Journalist

Another interesting blog - Ramblings

Things are still not hunky-dory in Ukraine despite ceasefire

#UkraineCeasefire #Russia #Gazprom #Donetsk #Luhansk Reports indicate that three Ukraine soldiers have been killed and seven others wounded in isolated pockets of violence in the east of the country in spite of a ceasefire with pro-Russian rebels being in place as per agreement arrived in Belarus a fortnight back. Russia has also threatened about cutting off gas supply. This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 27 February 2015.
Of course, both the sides namely the Ukrainian troops and the pro-Russian separatists were seen withdrawing heavy weapons from the front line. Heavy equipment like rocket launchers were removed from the rebel stronghold of Donetsk whilst Ukrainian forces withdrew several anti-tank guns from the front line near the town of Artemivsk.
The withdrawal process is being monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and, in the opinion of its officials, Ukraine appears to be at the crossroad between war and peace.
It may be recalled that fighting began in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions in April, soon after Russia had annexed Crimea and, till now, it has claimed some 5,800 lives apart from forcing more than 1.2 million people to flee their homes.
Russia is employing arm twisting tactics over gas supply to Ukraine - Kiev has already made a £10m prepayment for gas this week. However, Russia's state-run supplier Gazprom has informed that it would only pay for another day at the current rate. If that actually happens, Ukraine could be cut off and would have to find an alternative.
Cutting off gas supply by Russia to Ukraine s not new – it has done that three times in the past decade. Nearly one third of the European Union's natural gas is sourced from Russia, and 15% of it flows through Ukraine.

Another interesting blog - Citizen Journalist

Another interesting blog - Ramblings

Russian company offers guided tank-tours to war ravaged Donetsk and Luhansk

#russianholiday #tanktour #donetsk #luhansk #ukraine In a major shift in policy, a Russian holiday company is offering guided tours to Donetsk and Luhansk to see the war ravaged countryside with its damaged battle tanks as reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 14 February 2015.
The tours include tank-transport and personal bodyguards and the holiday company appears to be testing the boundaries of tolerance quite literally with such guided tours of war-torn eastern Ukraine.
The four-day tour would come to about £1,300 to £2,000 per person and the company would make available bodyguards from a security firm – each of the tanks will hold between five and seven people.
Apparently, even as a fierce and bloody battle continues between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces, the holiday company based in Moscow and known as Megapolis Kurort feels that the scenario has tremendous potentials and want to exploit it.
Incidentally, the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are on the itinerary of the company and both are strongholds of the pro-Russian rebels and had witnessed large scale violence.

Another interesting blog - Citizen Journalist

Another interesting blog - Ramblings