Ukraine peace deal in jeopardy again with fresh bombings and 11 dead

#artemivsk #kramatorsk #ukraine #smerch #minsk Consequent to fresh bombings, Petro Poroshenko, the president of Ukraine has warned that such bombings in the east of the country is likely to put the impending ceasefire in danger as reported in news.sky.com dated 14 February 2015.
As per reports, at least 11 people have been killed and dozens wounded in the last 24 hours and the ceasefire agreed upon in Minsk on Thursday would take effect at 10pm UK time.
It seems a shell landed in a school yard in the eastern Ukrainian town of Artemivsk which is under control of the government forces on Friday – it resulted in the death of one child and two adults. In Kramatorsk, the Russian multiple rocket launch system Grad, or Smerch, has killed three civilians.
Moreover, Ukraine and Russian-backed rebels continued to fight across the eastern part of the country in spite of the new peace deal that was brokered by Germany and France in Minsk.
Information released by a Ukrainian military spokesman is that 11 soldiers had been killed and 40 wounded in the past 24 hours.

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Topless Femen protesters take to the streets as Putin and Porosheko meet in Milan

Topless Femen agitators have taken to the streets to protest the meeting of Putin and Poroshenko in Milan. It is a two-woman demonstration against Vladimir Putin theguardian.com - the two protesters stood in front of Milan’s cathedral and poured buckets of red wine over their bare tops – the red wine was symbolic of the blood of Ukrainian people.
The message on the chest of one woman was “Stop ignoring Ukrainian bloodshed” and her companion made direct reference to the two-day summit of more than 50 European and Asian leaders. The message on her chest was: “ASEM allies of Putin.”
President Vladimir Putin of Russia and the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, are scheduled to meet at a breakfast on Friday morning. The Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, will also host David Cameron, Angela Merkel, François Hollande and the top officials of the EU.
There are possibilities of Putin and Poroshenko meeting face-to-face in a separate bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit. It seems Poroshenko has reportedly said that the whole world had “high expectations” of his talks with Putin.

Russia threatens to stop flights over its airspace if stupid sanctions are imposed

A shaky ceasefire is in place in Ukraine while the EU is mulling over imposition of more tough sanctions on Russia news.sky.com.
And, Russia has warned that it will retaliate against the West by stopping flights over Russian airspace if tougher sanctions are imposed over the conflict in Ukraine.
Dmitry Medvedev has put the blame on countries backing Ukraine for damaging the Russian economy with "stupid" sanctions and has hinted that Moscow could retaliate The Russian prime minister has remarked that Russia may have been too patient in responding to sanctions imposed so far by the United States and European Union over the Kremlin's role in Ukraine - and has issued a stern warning that the mistake would not be repeated.
His worry are the energy sector, or the financial sector.
He has cautioned that in case western airlines are not permitted to fly over Russian airspace, they would have to take a detour and that could hurt the airlines, many of the struggling airlines could be driven into bankruptcy and that is not the way to go.
The new package of EU-agreed sanctions would hit oil and gas giants Rosneft and Gazprom, and is due to come into force on Monday but could be suspended in case Russia is seen to be working towards a resolution of the Ukraine conflict. David Cameron has revealed that he had agreed with Petro Poroshenko and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the US that it was necessary to have a "proper peace plan" that respects Ukraine's territorial integrity.
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Russia’s double game – artillery attack on Mariupol even as ceasefire is on
NATO pushing Russia to the brink with new sanctions
Ukraine and Iraq high on agenda of NATO talks
EU pushing Russia into a corner on Ukraine issue with threats of more sanctions
Pro-Russian activists force Ukraine troops to abandon Luhansk airport
Setback for Ukraine as pro-Russia separatists take over coastal town of Novoazovsk
Poroshenko cancels visit to Turkey because of Russian troop deployments in Ukraine
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NATO pushing Russia to the brink with new sanctions

Despite mounting pressure on Russia to bring normalcy to the disturbed regions in east Ukraine, and the adamant attitude of Russia, NATO is formulating tough new measures that would be designed to halt Russian aggression in Ukraine news.sky.com. These would be unveiled on the second and final day of a NATO summit in Wales.
It is expected that both the United States and European Union would join hands and come together to announce a new round of coordinated economic sanctions against Russia. This has been reported by US and British government sources.
The proposed sanctions would include restrictions on some of the country's all important energy firms apart from travel restrictions.
Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit, the Deputy White House national security adviser Ben Rhodes has indicated that the key point is that Russia must continue to face costs for its own escalation. Or, in short, if Russia escalates, the others would also escalate their pressure.
The conflict in Ukraine is set to top the agenda for the second day of the NATO summit, with western leaders accusing Russia of sending thousands of troops into the east of the country.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has cautioned that Russia's incursion into Ukraine poses the most serious security threat to Europe since the Cold War – of course, Moscow has consistently denied about any direct military involvement in Ukraine.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama and other senior NATO leaders have already met Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko who has announced plans to order a ceasefire. His condition is that a peace plan should be agreed upon during separate talks in Minsk which would be attended by representatives from Ukraine, Russia and pro-Russian rebel forces.,br> Incidentally, Russian President Vladimir Putin has also expressed hopes that a truce will come into force later, two days after he unveiled his own seven-point peace plan.
Some more similar reports ...
UN report reveals that over 3000 killed in Ukraine violence
Russia’s double game – artillery attack on Mariupol even as ceasefire is on
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Pro-Russian activists force Ukraine troops to abandon Luhansk airport
Setback for Ukraine as pro-Russia separatists take over coastal town of Novoazovsk
Poroshenko cancels visit to Turkey because of Russian troop deployments in Ukraine
10 Russian soldiers caught in Donetsk - Russia says: they must have crossed the border by mistake
Russia hoodwinks Ukraine – sends military equipment in guise of humanitarian aid

Ukraine and Iraq high on agenda of NATO talks

As expected, Ukraine and Iraq would be high on the agenda of the NATO two-day biennial summit being held in the Celtic Manor Resort in Wales and being attended by world leaders news.sky.com.
A total of 28 heads of NATO states will be joined by a further 27 leaders from partner countries and heads of world bodies that would include the UN, EU, IMF and World Bank.
It is expected that there would be nearly 10,000 delegates and advisers, and 1,500 journalists and this would thus be the largest international gathering of its kind to be staged in the UK.
There will be heavy security of 9,000 police officers and a fence, 12 miles long and 9ft high will make up a ring of steel that will include road closures and checkpoints to prevent any terrorist attack.
The hot topics for discussions would be on how to respond to Russian aggression of Ukraine and the threat posed to the global community by the Islamic State (IS).
As British Prime Minister David Cameron has remarked - "It's hard to think of a NATO summit coming at a more important time for our alliance.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has added that ‘in today's world we are, so to speak, surrounded by an arc of crisis. To the east, to the southeast, to the south - and at this summit we will address the whole range of security challenges and improve NATO’s ability to act swiftly if needed."
Incidentally, the brutal and gruesome murder of US journalist Steven Sotloff by IS fighters, will not change the official summit agenda but is expected to ensure intense and urgent talks on the sidelines.
The 28 NATO leaders have also agreed to meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to hear what support his country wants – this is seen as a symbolic sign of solidarity which Kremlin should take note of.
In view of the fact that NATO is under pressure to harden its response to Russian incursions into Ukraine plans have reportedly drawn up for the creation of a new Rapid Reaction Force – it is expected to have 4,000 troops, on notice to deploy within 48 hours. The logistic and planning teams will be stationed in Poland and the Baltic States along with key equipment to hasten deployment.
Some more similar reports ...
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Setback for Ukraine as pro-Russia separatists take over coastal town of Novoazovsk
Poroshenko cancels visit to Turkey because of Russian troop deployments in Ukraine
10 Russian soldiers caught in Donetsk - Russia says: they must have crossed the border by mistake
Russia hoodwinks Ukraine – sends military equipment in guise of humanitarian aid

Poroshenko cancels visit to Turkey because of Russian troop deployments in Ukraine

Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko has cancelled a visit to Turkey because of "Russian troop deployments" in the country's east. Reports indicate that in the latest offensive, pro-Russian rebels have opened a new front in the south by seizing the coastal town of Novoazovsk bbc.com. NATO says that it has detected a significant increase of Russian arms being supplied to the rebels over the past two weeks whereas Russia has been continuously denying that its forces have crossed Ukraine's border.
As a result, the United Nations Security Council is planning to hold an emergency meeting in New York on Thursday at 18:00 GMT to discuss the crisis.
NATO Brigadier General Niko Tak has admitted that there had been a "significant escalation in the level and sophistication of Russia's military interference in Ukraine" over the past two weeks.
It seems NATO has detected large quantities of advanced weapons, including air defense systems, artillery, tanks, and armored personnel carriers that have been transferred to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. Obviously, Russia is reinforcing and resupplying separatist forces in a blatant attempt to change the momentum of the fighting, which is currently favoring the Ukrainian military.
More than 1,000 Russian troops are reportedly operating inside Ukraine, both supporting the separatists and fighting on their side and, so far, at least 2,119 people have been killed in the four months of fighting.
Some more similar reports ...
UN report reveals that over 3000 killed in Ukraine violence
NATO pushing Russia to the brink with new sanctions
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Setback for Ukraine as pro-Russia separatists take over coastal town of Novoazovsk
10 Russian soldiers caught in Donetsk - Russia says: they must have crossed the border by mistake
Russia hoodwinks Ukraine – sends military equipment in guise of humanitarian aid

Violence in Ukraine has left 2119 dead (including 20 children) since April 2014

The figures of casualties in east Ukraine and released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs as on 15 August 2014 and reported in bbc.com are frightening. At least 2,119 have died since mid-April, including at least 20 children, 5,043 people have been wounded in east Ukraine as of 13 August, on an average there are 60 casualties per day. So far, 55,800 people have been internally displaced and 188,000 have fled to Russia. Out of them, 22,000 have fled Donetsk and Luhansk in a five-day period last week. Ukrainian military officials have revealed that at least 17 civilians were killed when a convoy of refugees came under mortar and rocket fire south-east of Luhansk. It may be noted that the trouble erupted in east Ukraine when Russia annexed Crimea and pro-Russian activists took over important cities in east Ukraine like Donetsk, Luhsansk etcetera. Heavy fighting has been reported from the rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine, with street clashes in the center of the key city of Luhansk. There have also been shelling near the rebel headquarters in Donetsk. An aide to Ukraine's interior ministry, Anton Gerashenko, has informed that 14 Russian TV channels had been banned from cable networks in Ukraine because these channels, like Russia Today and Life News had been broadcasting propaganda of war and violence. It is understood that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be meeting Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko next week in view of the increase in the number of civilian casualties. The pro-Russian separatists in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk had declared independence from Kiev and proclaimed their own people's republics after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March.