Category: Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine — President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine reached an agreement with Russia on Wednesday for a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, the presidential office said in a brief announcement on its website. The Ukrainian announcement said the agreement had come during a telephone call with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. “The conversation resulted in an agreement on a lasting cease-fire in Donbass,” or eastern Ukraine, said the announcement, which consisted of three sentences. The two presidents agreed on the steps needed to establish peace, it said. No other details were given. But Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s press secretary, said Mr. Putin had not negotiated a cease-fire with Mr. Poroshenko because Russia was not a party to the conflict in Ukraine’s southeast. “Putin and Poroshenko did indeed discuss steps which could facilitate a cease-fire between the militias and the Ukrainian military,” Mr. Peskov was quoted as saying […]

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WASHINGTON — American and European officials are struggling to devise a response as Russia bears down on Ukraine, searching for new measures that will have more impact than the economic sanctions imposed so far, without risking major damage to their own industries or a military escalation that could spiral out of control. The officials are meeting this week to assemble a new package of sanctions targeting Russia’s banking, energy and defense sectors, but expressed skepticism that the measures would force Moscow to reverse course. President Obama faced rising calls from advisers and from Congress to move beyond economic actions to provide arms and more intelligence to Ukraine’s beleaguered military. The frustration at the inability to deter Moscow follows a shift on the battlefield, where Russian troops have turned the tide in favor of Ukrainian separatists. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who last week suggested “statehood” for parts of […]

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Ukraine warned of an escalating conflict in its easternmost regions as a rebel leader said talks this week may include negotiations for a truce. The country’s military will take on Russia’s “full-scale invasion,” Defense Minister Valeriy Geletey said on Facebook today, a shift away from the government’s earlier communication that focused on an offensive against insurgents. Ukraine “must urgently build up defenses against Russia,” which is seeking “to advance to other areas in Ukraine,” Geletey said. Ukraine and its allies in the U.S. and Europe are accusing Russia of dispatching troops and backing militias to open a new front in the conflict that the United Nations estimates has claimed 2,600 lives. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied involvement in the unrest. Talks today between representatives from Russia, Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the separatists will continue Sept. 5. “We can truly imagine some very dark […]

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Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested “statehood” for battle-torn southeastern Ukraine as further European Union sanctions loom. “We must immediately commence substantive talks and not only on technical issues, but also on the political organization of society and the statehood status of southeast Ukraine in order to serve the interests of people living there,” Putin said in a television interview broadast yesterday. Ukrainian troops killed about 100 pro-Russian rebels in the last 24 hours, Defense Ministry spokesman Leonid Matyukhin said in a video statement on Facebook today. Government troops are fighting for control of Luhansk airport and they were shelled three times from the Russian side of the border, according to the statement. Members of a so-called contact group that may include representatives from Russia, Ukraine, the rebels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe were expected to meet in the Belarus capital Minsk today in the latest […]

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Temperatures in Europe are forecast to be warmer than average this month after the coolest August in eight years, when Hurricane Bertha brought cold air. Five of seven meteorologists surveyed by Bloomberg predict above-normal temperatures for most of Europe. High pressure is forecast to build in the region’s west from early September, leading to warmer conditions, MetraWeather says. “September is always a tricky month as we transition from summer to fall, with a lot of pattern variability possible,” Mike Thomas, a meteorologist at Bethesda, Maryland-based Commodity Weather Group LLC, said by e-mail Aug. 28. “We generally favor a warm September.” September is the last month before the official start of the winter heating season, when demand for power and natural gas usually rises. Electricity consumption in Europe is set to decline 2.9 percent in 2014 because last winter was the region’s mildest in seven years and economies are in […]

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday suggested Moscow would stick to a tough approach at talks. Reuters MOSCOW—Russia signaled it would take a hard line during Ukraine talks Monday, calling on Kiev to agree to an immediate and unconditional cease-fire as President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine’s leaders of escalating the violence by refusing to negotiate in good faith. In Kiev, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Russia of undertaking "undisguised aggression" that has "fundamentally changed the situation in the zone of military action" in the east, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting pro-Russia separatists for five months. Kiev, backed by Western leaders, has accused Moscow of sending more than 1,000 troops into its territory in the last few weeks to support the separatists, a charge Moscow denies even as Ukraine has suffered a dramatic reversal on the battlefield in recent days. The rebel representative to Monday’s talks with Russia […]

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DNIPROPETROVSK, Ukraine—With its forces falling back before onslaughts in eastern Ukraine, Kiev agreed to the release of Russian paratroopers captured inside its borders last week in return for 63 Ukrainians who had crossed into Russian territory to flee fighting. The exchanges appeared to be a modest sign of a willingness to talk on the eve of cease-fire talks in Minsk, Belarus, on Monday that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said could be decisive. Kiev has taken a hard line in previous talks as it sought to regain territory taken by Moscow-backed rebels. But after Russian troops openly intervened, reversing Kiev’s gains and leaving hundreds of its soldiers surrounded, Mr. Poroshenko may be preparing to make concessions. Moscow appeared to be hardening its demands and to be ready to press Kiev to accept outright secession of its two eastern provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk. In remarks broadcast on Russia’s state television, […]

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The EU is to decide on further energy and financial sanctions against Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis within a week, German chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday. "If nothing changes [in Ukraine] then these sanctions will be adopted," she told reporters after a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels. The move comes after reports of increased Russian military involvement in the conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine. Merkel said the European Commission already has a list of further possible measures ready for EU governments to consider and decide on "within a week." These further measures are in the areas where the EU has already adopted sanctions, "so financial sanctions are possible, but also other areas in the energy sector for example," she said. In late July the EU targeted Russia’s oil sector with economic sanctions banning any new contracts with Russia that […]

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KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday that Russian forces had entered his country and the military conflict was worsening after Russian-backed separatists swept into a key town in the east. Poroshenko said he was cancelling a visit to Turkey and conferring with defense chiefs because of the "rapidly deteriorating situation" in the eastern Donetsk region, "as Russian troops have actually been brought into Ukraine". A NATO military officer said: "We assess well over 1,000 Russian troops are now operating inside Ukraine… They are supporting separatists (and) fighting with them." Russia says it has no involvement in the conflict between pro-Moscow rebels and the Ukrainian military, in which more than 2,200 people have been killed since April. It denies sending in weapons or troops, despite the capture of 11 soldiers inside Ukraine this week who Moscow said had probably crossed the border by accident. Russia’s envoy […]

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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Russian forces had entered Ukraine and seized the coastal town of Novoazovsk, putting a diplomatic response to the crisis in doubt. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Ukraine on Thursday accused Russia of invading the country, dashing hopes of progress toward a diplomatic resolution and challenging the West to respond. A senior official of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said that more than 1,000 Russian troops were fighting alongside pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, by far the largest such force ever reported by the Western alliance. But he stopped short of calling it an invasion, saying it represented an "incursion" apparently aimed at preventing Kiev’s forces from defeating pro-Russian rebels, rather than a broader assault on Ukraine. Kiev said Russian forces have seized the coastal town of Novoazovsk and several villages near the border with Russia. Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko called an emergency meeting with his […]

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BRUSSELS—The European Union’s energy chief will be on a mission to broker a truce in the long-running natural-gas feud between Russia and Ukraine, and avert gas shortages in Europe this winter when he travels to Moscow Friday. After more than two months of gridlock, Günther Oettinger will discuss a possible interim deal with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak ahead of three-way talks as early as next week. The talks coincide with a sharp escalation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. On Thursday, Ukraine accused Russia of invading the country, saying Russian troops seized the coastal town of Novoazovsk and other villages along the border. During his visit, Mr. Oettinger will warn that the "worsening of the situation is counterproductive to a solution of the gas talks and could potentially harm long-term energy relations with the Russian Federation. These talks are of common interest for all sides, also for […]

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Hess To Form MLP For North Dakota Oil, Gas Transport Assets This opinion piece presents the opinions of the author. It does not necessarily reflect the views of Rigzone. U.S. oil production is surging, and it’s helping to cripple the Russian economy. It’s a win-win situation With 40 percent of the Russian economy hinging on oil and gas sales, America’s oil and gas boom is doing more to bring President Vladimir Putin to his knees than any of the sanctions being imposed by the U.S. and Europe. Competition in the form of increased U.S. energy exports is the last thing Putin wants to see, so that’s exactly what we should do. Russia is currently the third-largest oil producer and the top exporter of natural gas, and you better believe that Putin uses these advantages to push his agenda regionally and globally. Russia needs oil prices to stay above $110 […]

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KIEV (Reuters) – Separatists backed by Russian soldiers have entered the town of Novoazovsk in southeastern Ukraine, a pro-government militia fighter said on Thursday. A military source said the separatist forces had also taken Savur-Mohyla, a hill east of Donetsk which gives strategic command over large areas of the territory. The sudden reverses for the Ukrainian military appeared to confirm the arrival of Russian forces to support the separatists, who have in recent weeks been under pressure from government forces in their strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk, the east’s two main cities. "There is military equipment in Novoazovsk which came across the border two days ago from Russia," the fighter, from the so-called Azov battalion which supports the Ukrainian army, told Reuters by telephone. "The equipment is carrying the flags of the DNR (Donetsk People’s Republic) rebels but they are regular Russian forces," the fighter who did not wish […]

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DONETSK, Ukraine — Determined to preserve the pro-Russian revolt in eastern Ukraine, Russia reinforced what Western and Ukrainian officials described as a stealth invasion on Wednesday, sending armored troops across the border as it expanded the conflict to a new section of Ukrainian territory. The latest incursion, which Ukraine’s military said included five armored personnel carriers, was at least the third movement of troops and weapons from Russia across the southeast part of the border this week, further blunting the momentum Ukrainian forces have made in weakening the insurgents in their redoubts of Donetsk and Luhansk farther north. Evidence of a possible turn was seen in the panicky retreat of Ukrainian soldiers on Tuesday from a force they said had come over the Russian border. Russia, which has denied it is helping the insurgents, did not acknowledge the military movements. But the Russians have signaled that they would not […]

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President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia held inconclusive talks late Tuesday with the president of Ukraine, extending a reluctant hand to a new leadership vilified in Russia’s state-run news media Continue Reading

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian government forces engaged with a separatist armored column near the southeastern town of Novoazovsk, about 10 km (6 miles) from the Russian border, Ukraine’s military information service said on Monday. Border guards halted the advance of the column about 5 km northeast of the town, which is on the Azov Sea, it said in a Facebook post. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Christian Lowe )

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MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has announced plans to send a second aid convoy to rebel-held eastern Ukraine, where months of fighting have left many residential buildings in ruins. Russia unilaterally sent about 200 tractor-trailers across the border on Friday, a move that Ukraine characterized as an invasion. By Saturday, all of the vehicles had returned to Russia after delivering the goods to the hard-hit rebel stronghold of Luhansk. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Russia had notified the Ukrainian government that it was preparing to send a second convoy along the same route in the coming days. Lavrov also said distribution in Luhansk of the food, water and other goods delivered by the first convoy began Monday with the participation of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

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Trucks carrying what Russia says is humanitarian aid reached the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk, after crossing the border in what the government in Kiev denounced as an “invasion.” Tension escalated as Oana Lungescu, a spokeswoman for NATO, said by e-mail that since the middle of this month the alliance had received “multiple reports” of direct involvement of Russian airborne, air defense and special operations forces in eastern Ukraine. Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, said that no Russian artillery or military forces are there. The U.S., European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization denounced the convoy’s entrance into Ukraine, with a Pentagon spokesman saying Russia continues to add troops near the border with Ukraine. The convoy is a “flagrant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty,” White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters at a briefing today. Related: Russia is invading under the cover […]

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Trucks carrying what Russia says is humanitarian aid reached the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk, after crossing the border in what the government in Kiev denounced as an “invasion.” Tension escalated as Oana Lungescu, a spokeswoman for NATO, said by e-mail that since the middle of this month the alliance had received “multiple reports” of direct involvement of Russian airborne, air defense and special operations forces in eastern Ukraine. Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, said that no Russian artillery or military forces are there. The U.S., European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization denounced the convoy’s entrance into Ukraine, with a Pentagon spokesman saying Russia continues to add troops near the border with Ukraine. The convoy is a “flagrant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty,” White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters at a briefing today. Related: Russia is invading under the cover […]

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KIEV, Ukraine — Russia on Friday escalated tensions with Ukraine to the highest level since its stealthy invasion of Crimea in the spring, sending more than 200 trucks from a long-stalled aid convoy into rebel-held eastern Ukraine over the objections of Kiev and, NATO said, conducting military operations on Ukrainian territory. NATO officials said that the Russian military had moved artillery units inside Ukrainian territory in recent days and was using them to fire at Ukrainian forces. Russia has repeatedly denied sending troops or military hardware into Ukraine, just as it denied any link to the unidentified gunmen who paved the way for Moscow’s annexation of Crimea — until President Vladimir V. Putin stated in April that Russian troops were “of course” involved. There has been “a major escalation in Russian military involvement in eastern Ukraine since mid-August, including the use of Russian forces,” Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen […]

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Pro-Russian rebels killed at least 19 Ukrainian troops Thursday, a setback for Kiev’s military forces after they  made significant headway  in recent weeks against a dogged insurgency in the country’s restive east. Separately, Ukrainian border guards began inspecting a Russian truck convoy carrying aid earmarked for humanitarian relief in eastern Ukraine. The convoy has been  stranded at the border between the two countries  for more than a week. Ukrainian government officials said the troops died in intense battles in the strategically important town of Llovaisk, near the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, the BBC reported. Donetsk was the  site of heavy shelling that hit residential neighborhoods  on Wednesday. Rebel and government forces fought street battles there and in other towns across the east. The forces of the Western-backed government have been  steadily gaining the upper hand  over the separatists in eastern Ukraine and are tightening the noose around the main rebel bastions […]

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – About twenty trucks from a Russian aid convoy have crossed the Russia-Ukraine border and are heading in the direction of the Ukrainian city of Luhansk, a Reuters witness said. He added that the trucks were accompanied by a small number of pro-Russian rebels. The trucks were previously in the no-man’s land between the Russian and Ukrainian border posts, but have now moved past the Ukrainian border post. (Writing by Katya Golubkova)

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KIEV/DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) – Heavy shelling hit residential neighborhoods in Ukraine’s rebel stronghold of Donetsk and government forces fought street battles in other towns on Wednesday as they sought to crush a four-month-old separatist rebellion. The forces of the Western-backed Kiev government are steadily gaining the upper hand over the separatists in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine and are tightening the noose around the main rebel bastions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Reuters reporters in Donetsk said mortar bombs had struck Chelyuskintsev Street in the north of the city, a few km (miles) from the frontline of the conflict, shattering the windows of several five-floor apartment buildings and shearing off the branches of trees and downing power lines. The attack left large craters in the street and a meter-wide hole in the first floor of one of the apartment buildings. "The Ukrainian army or whoever they are – they’re bombing us again. […]

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Ukraine ’s armed forces said they continue to push back separatists in fighting in the country’s east, as the death toll from the conflict, already more than 2,000, mounted further. Ukraine’s National Guard captured the city of Ilovaysk, leading rebels to counter-attack with tanks and artillery, the force said today on its website. Nine Ukrainian servicemen died and 22 were wounded in the past 24 hours, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in Kiev. He later told reporters that government troops control a “significant” part of Luhansk, one of the main separatist strongholds. Thirty-four civilians were killed and 29 hurt in Donetsk, the other redoubt, in the past 24 hours, the regional administration said. “It’s a question of the next month for the rebels to either be defeated or for Russia to send in far larger forces to stop their defeat,” Joerg Forbrig, senior program officer for central and eastern […]

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Slovakia and Ukraine have laid the preliminary groundwork for a long future in the natural gas sector, the Slovakian minister of economy said from Kiev. The Ukrainian government this week said testing began to send 70 million cubic feet per day from Slovakia to Ukraine through the joint work of transit companies Uktransgaz and Eustream. Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan hosted Slovakian Minister of Economy Pavol Pavlis in Kiev to discuss the prospects of a new relationship in the natural gas sector . "Small reverse flow will become a basis for further collaboration between Slovakia and Ukraine," Pavlis said in a statement. Russian energy company Gazprom in June cut gas supplies to Ukraine because of lingering contractual disputes. Most of the Russian gas sent through Ukraine heads to European consumers and the Ukrainian energy minister said his country was still a reliable transit nation. "The Ukrainian side stands technologically […]

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DONETSK, Ukraine — To outward appearances, Fyodor D. Berezin is the picture of a senior military commander. He wears camouflage, has bodyguards and confidently gives orders as the newly named deputy defense minister of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic. Yet, just four months ago he was an obscure author of 18 science fiction novels, one play and a dozen or so short stories. In an interview, Mr. Berezin said he was as surprised as anybody by his rapid promotion through the rebel ranks. “Reality became scarier than science fiction,” he said in an interview over iced tea at the Havana Banana bar, a favorite rebel haunt. “I live in my books now. I fell right into the middle of my books.” In the real war in eastern Ukraine, it is an inauspicious time to hold a high command in the separatist forces. Under relentless pounding by the Ukrainian military, […]

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Ukrainian soldiers walk in a trench as they guard their position in the Luhansk region on Monday. AFP/Getty Images Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Ukrainian counterpart next week for the first time in two months, officials in both countries said, intensifying a fresh diplomatic push that could force Ukraine’s government to choose between pressing ahead with its military campaign against pro-Russia separatists or making concessions to Russia to stop the bloodshed. Calls for a cease-fire are growing louder from both Moscow and Europe amid a deepening humanitarian crisis. But Ukrainian politicians and voters are deeply skeptical of agreeing to a truce now, since doing so could give separatists the chance to consolidate control over some territory and provide Russia with a long-term mechanism to influence events in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said the meeting in Minsk, Belarus, on Aug. 26 could lead toward a peace plan to end […]

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Ukrainian soldiers walk in a trench as they guard their position in the Luhansk region on Monday. AFP/Getty Images Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Ukrainian counterpart next week for the first time in two months, officials in both countries said, intensifying a fresh diplomatic push that could force Ukraine’s government to choose between pressing ahead with its military campaign against pro-Russia separatists or making concessions to Russia to stop the bloodshed. Calls for a cease-fire are growing louder from both Moscow and Europe amid a deepening humanitarian crisis. But Ukrainian politicians and voters are deeply skeptical of agreeing to a truce now, since doing so could give separatists the chance to consolidate control over some territory and provide Russia with a long-term mechanism to influence events in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said the meeting in Minsk, Belarus, on Aug. 26 could lead toward a peace plan to end […]

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| License Photo The Ukrainian government confirmed Monday testing was under way for the reversal of gas flows from Slovakia to Ukraine. Russian energy company Gazprom in June cut gas supplies to Ukraine because of lingering debt disputes. The Ukrainian government said testing began to send 70 million cubic feet per day from Slovakia to Ukraine through the joint work of transit companies Uktransgaz and Eustream. Commercial operations from the Slovakian transit system could start as early as Sept. 2. Uktransgaz Chairman Igor Prokopiv credited his company’s professionalism with keeping energy issues in Ukraine in check . "Ukrtransgaz will have a lot of strategic objectives ahead, but I am convinced … we will be able to comply with them," he said in a statement. German energy company RWE in April said it reversed the flow of natural gas from Poland to supply a Ukrainian market under the Kremlin’s influence. […]

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Ukrainian soldier with a Grad rocket launcher (18 August) Both sides in the conflict use Russian-made Grad rockets Continue reading the main story No-one survived an attack on a convoy of refugees in the Luhansk area of eastern Ukraine on Monday, a rebel source has told the BBC. Details of the attack are still unclear but a Ukrainian military spokesman has said 15 bodies have so far been recovered from the scene. Ukraine has accused pro-Russian rebels of attacking the convoy but they have denied involvement. Meanwhile, heavy fighting is reported in the centre of Luhansk itself. The government in Kiev said on Tuesday that street battles were taking place and an interior ministry aide told the Interfax Ukraine agency that the military was recapturing the city "block by block". The city centre was reported to have been shelled on Monday night. Tens of thousands of civilians have fled […]

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Ukrainian soldier with a Grad rocket launcher (18 August) Both sides in the conflict use Russian-made Grad rockets Continue reading the main story No-one survived an attack on a convoy of refugees in the Luhansk area of eastern Ukraine on Monday, a rebel source has told the BBC. Details of the attack are still unclear but a Ukrainian military spokesman has said 15 bodies have so far been recovered from the scene. Ukraine has accused pro-Russian rebels of attacking the convoy but they have denied involvement. Meanwhile, heavy fighting is reported in the centre of Luhansk itself. The government in Kiev said on Tuesday that street battles were taking place and an interior ministry aide told the Interfax Ukraine agency that the military was recapturing the city "block by block". The city centre was reported to have been shelled on Monday night. Tens of thousands of civilians have fled […]

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BERLIN (Reuters) – Russia on Monday said all objections to it sending a humanitarian convoy to Ukraine had been resolved but said no progress had been made in Berlin talks toward a ceasefire between government and rebel forces in the east of the country. Following the talks between Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said "finally, all questions have been resolved … related to the Russian initiative to send 300 trucks with humanitarian aid." "Everything has been agreed with Ukraine and the International Committee of the Red Cross," he said at a news conference in Berlin. Russia and Ukraine have been at loggerheads over a convoy of 280 Russian trucks carrying water, food and medicine. It has been parked for days in Russia near the border amid objections from Kiev, which believes the convoy could be a Trojan Horse for Russia to get […]

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Pro-Russian separatists carry an ammunition part in Donetsk The resignation of Igor Girkin, the Russian military mastermind behind the takeover of large parts of eastern Ukraine by rebel fighters, this week was the latest crack to appear at the top of the months-long rebellion that has become increasingly strained. His departure is the third high-profile change in the rebel hierarchy in the past week. Alexander Borodai, also a Muscovite, stepped down last week as prime minister of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic. With Mr Girkin, he was part of Russian-backed separatist forces in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria in the early 1990s. More On this story On this topic IN Europe The replacement of both with Ukrainians marks a transition in the leadership from highly trained Russian military officers to locally recruited warlords in an increasingly tense stand-off with Ukrainian forces . “It will be like Stalingrad,” an armed […]

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epaselect epa04351827 A picture made available 13 August 2014 shows the Russian convoy carrying humanitarian aid for residents in rebel eastern Ukrainian regions moving along a road in the city of Voronezh, about 530 km from Moscow, Russia, 12 August 2014. Ukraine said that any foreign humanitarian aid will have to be delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross, dealing a blow to a large Russian convoy en route to the country’s embattled east. The Ukrainian government fears the Russians could be supplying arms to separatists, under the guise of supplying 2,000 tons of food and medicine to civilians in the rebel-held areas. EPA/KIRILL USOLTSEV/MOE-ONLINE.RU The Russian convoy moves along a road in the city of Voronezh, about 530 km from Moscow on Tuesday. The convoy was still there on Wednesday. The road forks at the city, allowing two routes into Ukraine Kiev sent its own convoy […]

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KIEV/VORONEZH Russia (Reuters) – Ukraine denounced Russia’s dispatch of a humanitarian aid convoy now advancing towards the border as an act of unbounded cynicism serving pro-Russian separatists, and the UN said the death toll in fighting had doubled in the last two weeks to over 2,000. Kiev said the trucks would not be allowed to pass. "First they send tanks, Grad missiles and bandits who fire on Ukrainians and then they send water and salt," Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said at a government meeting on Wednesday. The comments reflected suspicions in Kiev and Western capitals that passage of the convoy onto Ukrainian soil could turn into a covert military action to help pro-Russian separatists now losing ground to government forces. The convoy of 280 heavy trucks rumbled out of Moscow region on Tuesday and traveled some 500 km (300 miles) to the southwestern Russian town of Voronezh. There it […]

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Ukraine opened the door to a compromise over humanitarian aid arriving on hundreds of trucks from Russia, saying it could accept the supplies if the Red Cross distributed them in the nation’s war-torn eastern regions. Ukraine also demanded that its own customs and border officers examine the shipments first near a checkpoint into the Luhansk region, where pro-Russian separatists have been battling government troops for months. Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, didn’t answer a call to her mobile phone seeking comment outside of office hours in Moscow. There were conflicting reports on the location of the truck convoy. “A decision was taken to accept aid for Luhansk to avoid a full-scale invasion from Russia ,” Svyatoslav Tsegolko, a spokesman for President Petro Poroshenko, told reporters yesterday in Kiev. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe would also be involved in checking the cargo that left Moscow […]

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A convoy Russia says is loaded with humanitarian assistance for rebel-held areas of Ukraine headed for the border, as the government in Kiev set conditions for letting the aid in and the Red Cross demanded more details. Russia’s government said 280 trucks with 2,000 metric tons of donated food, medicine and water left Moscow yesterday and would proceed into Ukraine under the auspices of the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross. Viktor Shcherbanyuk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Red Cross in Kiev, said today there were was no agreeement for the convoy’s entry either with his organization or with the ICRC. The convoy was on its way to the Russian city of Belgorod about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, RIA Novosti said today. Related: Russia Stocks Fluctuate as Aid Convoy Rekindles Ukraine Tensions Ukraine expressed fears the convoy is carrying military equipment to […]

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A convoy of 280 trucks near Moscow left for Ukraine on an international humanitarian relief mission on Tuesday morning. Ukrainian and Western leaders have expressed concerns that Russia could use an aid mission as cover for sending troops into rebel-held territory. (Photo: AP) MOSCOW—Russia sent a convoy of 280 trucks carrying what it said was humanitarian aid for war-torn cities in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, setting off diplomatic tension over efforts to ease civilian suffering there. Ukrainian officials said that they had been notified by Moscow of the column and that it was expected to cross the border at a post near Kharkiv, under the control of Ukrainian authorities and the International Red Cross. But Kiev said the cargo would have to be transferred from the Russian trucks to Red Cross vehicles at the border, warning that any unilateral attempt to deliver aid would be viewed as an act […]

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Ukrainian forces on Monday zeroed in on rebel strongholds as the government welcomed an international humanitarian relief mission into the rebellious east involving Russia, the United States and the European Union. The mission will be conducted under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The organization said in a statement it is ready to facilitate the operation with the involvement of all sides concerned following a Russian initiative to provide humanitarian assistance to people in eastern Ukraine. It wasn’t clear when the deliveries would start. "The practical details of this operation need to be clarified before this initiative can move forward," said Laurent Corbaz, the ICRC’s head of operations for Europe and Central Asia. Moscow had long urged Kiev to allow the aid delivery, but Ukraine and the West previously had opposed the move, fearing that it could serve as a pretext for […]

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President Vladimir Putin said on Monday Russia is sending an aid convoy to eastern Ukraine despite urgent Western warnings against using humanitarian help as a pretext for an invasion. With Ukraine reporting Russia has massed 45,000 troops on its border, NATO said there was a "high probability" that Moscow could intervene militarily in the country’s east, where Kiev’s forces are closing in on pro-Russian separatists. Western countries believe that Putin – who has whipped up the passions of Russians with a nationalist campaign in state-controlled media since annexing Crimea from Ukraine in March – could now send his forces into the east to head off a humiliating rebel defeat. Thousands of people are believed to be short of water, electricity and medical aid due to the fighting, but U.S. President Barack Obama told his Ukrainian counterpart that any Russian intervention without Kiev’s consent would be unacceptable […]

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President Vladimir Putin said on Monday Russia is sending an aid convoy to eastern Ukraine despite urgent Western warnings against using humanitarian help as a pretext for an invasion. With Ukraine reporting Russia has massed 45,000 troops on its border, NATO said there was a "high probability" that Moscow could intervene militarily in the country’s east, where Kiev’s forces are closing in on pro-Russian separatists. Western countries believe that Putin – who has whipped up the passions of Russians with a nationalist campaign in state-controlled media since annexing Crimea from Ukraine in March – could now send his forces into the east to head off a humiliating rebel defeat. Thousands of people are believed to be short of water, electricity and medical aid due to the fighting, but U.S. President Barack Obama told his Ukrainian counterpart that any Russian intervention without Kiev’s consent would be unacceptable […]

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The Red Cross said it’s working on getting aid to rebel-held areas of east Ukraine, where government forces have encircled major cities, as the U.S. warned Russia not to use the mission to send in troops. The situation in the city of Luhansk and other areas “is critical — thousands of people are reported to be without access to water, electricity and medical aid,” Laurent Corbaz, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross ’s operations for Europe, said in an e-mailed statement today. Still, “the practical details of this operation need to be clarified before this initiative can move forward.” The ICRC met with Ukrainian and the Russian authorities and passed on documents specifying the manner in which such an operation could take place, the Geneva-based organization said. One requirement is that all sides must guarantee the security of Red Cross staff and vehicles for the […]

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Russian state media reports Monday sources inside the European Union say they expect to hold another round of gas talks with Russia and Ukraine in September. "A meeting on energy issues is being prepared, in particular on gas," a source in the European Union was quoted as telling Russia’s state-controlled RIA Novosti . "I hope that the trilateral ministerial format will resume in September." Last week, citing a source in the Russian Energy Ministry, RIA reported talks between Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and European Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger were scheduled for the end of August . European leaders are trying to diversify a natural gas sector that depends heavily on Russia. Most of the gas Russia sends to Europe runs through a Soviet-era pipeline network in Ukraine and ongoing crises there add a layer of risk to the European energy sector. No venue was announced […]

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Ukraine’s military demanded that pro-Russian rebels surrender and dismissed their offer of a cease-fire as lawmakers prepared to consider sanctions that may curb Russian shipments of natural gas to Europe . “If there’s an initiative, it should be implemented by practical means, not only with words — by raising white flags and putting down weapons,” Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the country’s military, told reporters yesterday in Kiev. “In that case, no one will shoot at them.” Ukraine is trying to dislodge thousands of separatists from its easternmost regions, where its U.S and European allies say President Vladimir Putin has been stoking deadly unrest for months. Russia , which denies involvement, wants its neighbor’s military campaign to end and is offering assistance to tackle what it describes as a worsening humanitarian disaster. As ties between the former Soviet allies sour further, lawmakers in Kiev will vote tomorrow on a […]

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A woman holds a newborn baby inside a bomb shelter in a maternity hospital during shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels were vowing to make a final stand. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Intensifying gunfire and explosions rocked Donetsk again Sunday as Ukrainian forces fought to complete the encirclement of pro-Russia insurgents in their largest remaining stronghold. Amid warnings by the rebels of civilian suffering, Russia said it was in talks with Kiev and international agencies about delivering humanitarian relief to the rebel-held cities. Overnight, troops advanced to "tighten the ring" around Donetsk, destroying "a large quantity of armor" and killing many insurgents, the Ukrainian command said. The Donetsk city council said that during a "massive bombardment from heavy weapons," shells hit an outpatient clinic, a private house and other civilian infrastructure, injuring one woman. The separatists said they are turning Donetsk into a military camp and described conditions […]

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A woman holds a newborn baby inside a bomb shelter in a maternity hospital during shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels were vowing to make a final stand. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Intensifying gunfire and explosions rocked Donetsk again Sunday as Ukrainian forces fought to complete the encirclement of pro-Russia insurgents in their largest remaining stronghold. Amid warnings by the rebels of civilian suffering, Russia said it was in talks with Kiev and international agencies about delivering humanitarian relief to the rebel-held cities. Overnight, troops advanced to "tighten the ring" around Donetsk, destroying "a large quantity of armor" and killing many insurgents, the Ukrainian command said. The Donetsk city council said that during a "massive bombardment from heavy weapons," shells hit an outpatient clinic, a private house and other civilian infrastructure, injuring one woman. The separatists said they are turning Donetsk into a military camp and described conditions […]

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Gennady Timchenko is grounded. Ever since the Russian billionaire and friend of Vladimir Putin was hit by US sanctions back in March, his private jet has been stuck on the tarmac: Gulfstream will not service it or provide spare parts. In an interview with the ITAR-TASS news agency this week, Mr Timchenko admitted that the US penalties had caused him “certain difficulties” – but these were “trifles” compared with the task of safeguarding Russia’s national interests. More On this topic IN Oil & Gas Mr Timchenko is one of the most high-profile targets of a sanctions campaign aimed at Russia’s most strategic industry – oil and gas. Last month the US Treasury in effect barred Rosneft and Novatek , in which Mr Timchenko has a 23 per cent stake, from long-term US capital markets. Yet such sanctions could turn out to be as trifling as Mr Timchenko’s little local […]

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