Rebels claim to capture key Ukraine rail hub of Debaltseve
Source: AP
LUHANSKE, Ukraine (AP) -- Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine claimed Tuesday to have taken the key transportation hub of Debaltseve as both parties faced a deadline to start pulling back heavy weapons from the front line.
Fierce fighting on Tuesday appeared to be focused on Debaltseve, a government-held town surrounded by rebel forces that both sides claim to be on their side of the cease-fire line. The issue was not resolved under a cease-fire agreement negotiated last week by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France.
Separatist leaders said in remarks carried by the rebel mouthpiece Donetsk News Agency on Tuesday afternoon that their forces have pushed the Ukrainian army out of Debaltseve, gaining control over most of the town.
Associated Press reporters saw artillery rounds fired Tuesday from Ukrainian government positions at rebel positions around Debaltseve. Sustained shelling was heard in the area all morning, some coming from Grad rocket launchers.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_UKRAINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-02-17-07-46-53
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bemildred
(90,061 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)Amid international tensions over Ukraine, Russian military companies have been denied participation in a British arms trade show in London later this year, according to a top executive at Russian state technology corporation Rostec.
Russia, a major international arms supplier, is a fixture on the global weapons expo circuit, and its defense firms had applied to participate at London's Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in September. But "our so-called English partners said 'we do not want to see you here,'" Rostec deputy CEO and head of foreign economic cooperation Dmitry Shugayev told radio station Ekho Moskvy, the TASS news agency reported.
Rostec is a key player in Russia's defense industry and controls numerous arms makers.
The DSEI exhibition is held bi-annually. It is primarily dedicated to land equipment, and features a conference on topical issues of modern defense and international security.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/britain-excludes-russia-from-london-arms-expo-rostec-manager/516050.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)The leaders of Russia, Germany and Ukraine have agreed on "concrete measures" to allow OSCE observers to monitor the shaky ceasefire in Ukraine, Berlin announced on Tuesday.
The measures were agreed during a late Monday phone call between Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and her Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko, the government spokesman said in a statement, without providing details of the agreed steps.
The agreement is aimed at allowing observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) "to monitor the situation on the ground" around the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve, the statement said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11417357/Russia-agrees-to-allow-monitors-to-observe-Ukraine-ceasefire.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Berlin/Kiev (dpa) - Fighting escalated in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, only hours after German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the implementation of a three-day old ceasefire with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko.
The Russia-backed separatists said they had taken large parts of Debaltseve, the streategic rail hub where thousands of Ukrainian government soldiers had been encircled for days.
The separatists control the train station and eastern parts of the city, the rebel-run Donetsk News Agency quoted militia leaders as saying. The report claimed that many Ukrainian soldiers were either killed or gave themselves up.
Ukraine's Security Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said that heavy battles were ongoing at the railway station and the city's outskirts. "Our soldiers are holding their positions," he said in Kiev.
http://www.dpa-international.com/news/international/ukraine-fighting-escalates-on-day-three-of-ceasefire-a-44201464.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine troops and pro-Russian rebels are engaged in combat inside the flashpoint town of Debaltseve, both sides said on Tuesday, in a significant blow to a fragile, three-day-old ceasefire in Ukraine's east.
It was the first time fighting has erupted on the streets of the town, which up to now had been the scene of artillery exchanges between thousands of government troops holed up inside and heavily armed rebels encircling it.
http://www.straitstimes.com/news/world/europe/story/combat-raging-inside-ukraine-flashpoint-town-debaltseve-20150217
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)
- You can tell that they're new to this whole ''ceasefire'' thing. The idea takes a little getting used to I suppose. I mean, we're no judge, right?
I just hope they have better luck with theirs, than we did......
We were always at war with Eastasia.......
bemildred
(90,061 posts)And stirring rhetoric.
Especially on guys who are so obviously well cared for.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Are Canadian troops still serving in Ukraine?
If so, they are now in direct violation of the Minsk II Agreement brokered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande and signed by the Ukrainian and Russian presidents on Feb. 11.
Either way, Canadians deserve to know whether our soldiers remain in Ukraine.
If they do remain, Defence Minister Jason Kenney has only one proper course of action, and that is to immediately pull them out in the cause of peace and respect for "the most basic humanitarian, legal and, indeed, moral norms of international conduct," as former external affairs minister John Baird put it in an only slightly different context not so long ago.
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/djclimenhaga/2015/02/canadian-troops-ukraine-minsk-ii-agreement-says-they-need-to-be-?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rabble-news+%28rabble.ca+-+News+for+the+rest+of+us%29
bemildred
(90,061 posts)BUDAPEST, (Sputnik) – Ukraine made no progress toward settling its gas debt to Russia, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday.
The energy minister estimated Ukraine's debt to Russian energy giant Gazprom at $2.3 billion earlier this month.
"No progress has been made. As you know, Gazprom has sent a letter demanding repayment of the debt and it is still being considered by the Ukrainian side," Novak told journalists during his visit to Hungary.
Kiev's massive gas debt, exceeding $5 billion at the time, forced Moscow to suspend gas deliveries to Ukraine for nearly six months in 2014. Deliveries resumed on December 9 under the so-called winter package deal, mediated by the European Union and signed by Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz.
http://sputniknews.com/business/20150217/1018378633.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)MOSCOW, January 29 (Sputnik) – Ukraine’s Naftogaz has turned to an arbitration court in Stockholm to demand $6.2 billion from Russia’s gas giant Gazprom over a contract for transit gas between 2009 and 2019, Gazprom said in a report Thursday.
“The preliminary amount of their demands is $6.2 billion. Gazprom gave the arbitration court a response to its request on November 28, 2014. Arbitrators were appointed on December 11, 2014,” the report reads.
Naftogaz is seeking $3.2 billion in damages for the gas it allegedly has not received for transit from Gazprom, and another $3 billion in interests. Kiev is also demanding the transit tariffs on gas be changed in the contract that was signed in 2009.
Ukraine’s Naftogaz Says $1.65 Billion of Debt to Gazprom Covered
After an almost six-month break, Russia resumed gas deliveries to Ukraine last December, following a payment of $3.1 billion by Kiev for its large gas debt.
http://sputniknews.com/business/20150129/1017486832.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Feb 17 (Reuters) - Russia regards the breach of a covenant on Ukrainian Eurobonds purchased by Russia as "force majeure", Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said on Tuesday, Interfax news agency reported.
"Everyone walking on the Earth understands what force majeure is. The change in the rate of the hryvnia has entirely changed the model of calculation," he said, reiterating that Russia did not intend to demand early redemption of the bonds which mature in December 2015.
"Force majeure" is a phrase often used in contracts to describe situations which relieve parties of obligations because of unforeseen events such as wars and natural catastrophes.
Russia has previously said that it regards Ukraine in breach of the bond covenant because Ukraine's debt has risen above 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has said that despite this, Russia does not intend to exercise the right to early redemption.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/17/ukraine-crisis-russia-debt-idUSL5N0VR2Z420150217?rpc=401
bemildred
(90,061 posts)The day after a ceasefire for eastern Ukraine was agreed in the Belarusian capital, the Russian delegation at the UN Security Council proposed a draft resolution in support of the Minsk agreements.
The draft was worded in a depoliticized and compact manner. Starting with a confirmation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, it firmly states that there is no alternative to a peaceful political solution to the grave situation in the eastern regions of the country. Russia wants the Council to endorse the “package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements” adopted by the Contact Group and to welcome the declaration made by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France in support of that package. Finally, the draft calls on all parties to fully implement the agreements, including a comprehensive ceasefire.
I immediately wrote to UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond calling on the UK Government to support the draft and to consider the possibility to co-sponsor it. Unfortunately, the reaction of our British partners has so far been ambiguous. Consultations on the draft in New York are continuing, with some members trying to supplement it with elements that go significantly beyond what was agreed in Minsk.
We do not share the argument that the Security Council should wait until the truce in eastern Ukraine proves to be holding. The Russian idea is to have an early resolution as a powerful political message to the parties to the conflict, precisely to help the ceasefire become sustainable. We hope this logic will be understood by our partners and a resolution will be adopted soon.
http://rt.com/op-edge/233123-misnk-ukraine-agreements-un-resolution/
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Blogger and citizen journalist Eliot Higgins – aka Brown Moses – explains how he used open-source information to determine cross-border artillery attacks that appear to be being fired from Russian territory into Ukraine. His team used satellite imagery on Google Earth and crater analysis techniques
http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2015/feb/17/brown-moses-cross-border-artillery-analysis-video
bemildred
(90,061 posts)When Ukrainian forces came under withering attack in the east of the country last summer, soldiers were surprised as much as scared by the ferocity of the attack. The separatists they were up against had proven fierce and organised. But this was something else.
Now a group of British investigative journalists using digital detection techniques, satellite imagery and social media has provided near conclusive proof that the shelling came from across the border in Russia.
The work by the Bellingcat investigative journalism group highlights a murky aspect of the war in Ukraine, which continues to sputter despite last week’s attempt in Minsk to draw up a ceasefire, with reports of heavy fighting around the railway hub of Debaltseve on Tuesday.
Russia has long been accused of funnelling soldiers, munitions and military vehicles into eastern Ukraine to help separatists take on the Ukrainian army. But until now, little has been written about Russian military units shelling across the border into Ukraine.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/17/russia-shelled-ukrainians-from-within-its-own-territory-says-study
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)His speculation is suspect.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have said they will begin withdrawing heavy weaponry from the sections of the front line where the ceasefire holds.
Rebel military spokesman Eduard Basurin was quoted as saying they will take the “initiative” and pull back on some parts of the front line.
This does not appear to include the railway hub of Debaltseve, the epicentre of fighting in recent days.
Russian-backed separatists said earlier today that they had gained control of Debaltseve.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/russian-backed-rebels-to-withdraw-heavy-weapons-662603.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)VIENNA—Europe must tell Ukraine it will never join its military alliance, a political union isn’t guaranteed, and the country must not rely on it for bailouts, said Siegfried Wolf, an Austrian ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The European Union’s inability to develop a coherent Ukraine-Russia policy independent of U.S. interests has contributed to instability and raised business risks, Wolf said Tuesday in a telephone interview with Bloomberg News. Wolf told an audience late Monday at Vienna’s University of Economics and Business that Europe must get out from under America’s yoke, the APA news service reported.
“It’s unfair to give the Ukrainian people hope for things which cannot happen,” said Wolf, who added that he’s met Putin multiple times. “As long as we don’t give them a clear message, they won’t start on their own badly needed reforms.”
The comments by Wolf, who is the supervisory board chairman of Austria’s state-asset agency OeIAG, underscores the depth of disagreement within Europe over its policies toward Russia and Ukraine. With a tenuous ceasefire in place between the central government and separatists in Ukraine’s eastern provinces, European leaders are trying to figure out how to permanently end fighting that has left more than 5,600 dead.
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/02/17/europe-must-tell-ukraine-it-will-never-join-its-military-alliance-russian-ally-says.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)LUHANSKE, Ukraine (AP) -- Several Ukrainian government soldiers have been ambushed and taken prisoners in Debaltseve, the defense ministry said Tuesday, but denied rebel claims that they have seized control of the key transportation hub.
The ministry said street fighting continued in Debaltseve, which has been the epicenter of fighting in the past two weeks. It did not say how many soldiers had been seized in the ambush.
The Ukrainian presidential office earlier Tuesday called on the European Union and NATO to condemn the Russia-backed rebels for violating the cease-fire brokered by European leaders last week.
Russian news agencies quoted Valery Chaly, chief of the Ukrainian presidential administration, as saying that Kiev wants the EU and NATO to "resolutely condemn" the separatists for violating the deals.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_UKRAINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-02-17-09-37-56
bemildred
(90,061 posts)DONETSK (Sputnik) – More than 120 Ukrainian military personnel have surrendered to Donetsk forces near the town of Debaltsevo where heavy fighting continues, a source in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic’s Defense Ministry told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
“Urban warfare in Debaltsevo is continuing. Several groups totaling around 120 servicemen surrendered, after finding our units had taken part of the city,” the source said.
A Kiev military spokesman said earlier on Tuesday that the information was unconfirmed.
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150217/1018370923.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)By Nikolaus von Twickel, dpa
Berlin/Kiev (dpa) - The Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine said Tuesday that they had taken a strategic rail hub from government forces, dashing hopes that last week's ceasefire agreement will be implemented soon.
The separatists control 80 per cent of Debaltseve - a strategic rail hub held by the government inside rebel-controlled territory - militia leader Eduard Basurin told Russia's Interfax news agency.
Russian state television reported that more than 70 Ukrainian servicemen had given themselves up and showed footage of captured soldiers carrying dead comrades on makeshift stretchers.
An unidentified separatist commander claimed earlier that up to 300 Ukrainian soldiers had been taken prisoner.
http://www.dpa-international.com/news/international/separatists-claim-to-have-taken-key-city-from-ukraine-a-44201464.html
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)By Valentyn BADRAK, director of the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies
17 February, 2015 - 10:45
“If Vladimir Putin will continue to fight a 3rd generation war, limited to ground combat, Ukraine will be able to contain it on our own, even under conditions of a very powerful artillery support from Russia. However, it has become possible after the Minsk II accords that Putin will resort to more serious weapons, like aircraft of the 4++ generation and helicopters of the 4+ generation. In this case, the Ukrainian military will have little to oppose the invasion with, especially so because night combat is still a challenge for it.
American experts who visit Ukraine complain that our government is asking for American support, but acts in a linear mode itself, only slowly reacting to changes in the situation. For instance, we could have purchased thermal imagers in other countries, including Singapore, or established a joint production facility with a European country. Besides, a massive modernization of our Mi-24 helicopters has not started yet that would enable them to fly night missions and fire missiles developed in Kyiv. Ukraine being slow to make decisions and implement them is very annoying for its Western allies. They repeat these reproachful words: “You are asking for help, but are slow to help yourselves.” Perhaps the Ukrainian government is permanently short of time needed to address challenges in these sectors. We would say then that if the government is preparing diplomatic measures and combinations, it should not leave military leverage out of the picture. It is recognized that there is no purely military solution to this conflict, but it seems that the war cannot be stopped without one as well. Therefore, we need a combination of actions, including diplomacy, new sanctions, and improvement of the military situation of the Ukrainian government. This was one of the main challenges in Minsk, for European leaders’ actions have proven that Europe finds it very difficult to agree on further sanctions against Russia, as they hit most European countries hard too. It must be understood and it should strengthen our commitment to the military sphere.
After the Minsk II, the Western rhetoric about Putin has become stronger. However, there is a long way from rhetoric to actions. I predict that Europe will strengthen and unite its efforts, because both it and Putin are moving in that direction. Still, the breakthrough will happen only when the US will provide weapons as the first power to do so. Timing is a problem. Of course, we will get lethal weapons one day, systems that do direct damage to the enemy. I fear, however, that this can happen too late, when the country will be already exhausted. Therefore, we must combine increased diplomatic activity and a demonstration that the government is actively strengthening the nation’s defense. A key point is the problem of protecting military personnel. One cannot rely exclusively on patriotism and the duty to defend the country. We must make a systematic effort to create a new army, where personnel will be protected, and excessive losses that occurred prior to the Minsk negotiations will stop. These losses exhaust the people’s morale and serve as a psychological weapon for Putin against Ukraine. To overcome this, we need to enhance the protection of personnel, allowing the top command to show that it values its soldiers. We had a lot of cases that indicated the top command’s disregard for human life.”
http://www.day.kiev.ua/en/article/day-after-day/why-ukrainian-government-failing-win-any-victories
Man from Pickens
(1,713 posts)The Ukrainian forces are fighting on hostile ground.
The Ukrainian forces are largely made up of conscripts drafted at gunpoint who are given little training, which makes them ineffective in combat.
The Ukrainian forces are in the attacker's role, which is much more difficult than defending territory.
The Novorussians ("NAF"
are fighting for their own homes and families.
The territory is familiar to NAF but not to the Kiev forces shipped in from the west.
The legitimacy of the Kiev regime is dubious - at best; they don't even have the support of their own population.
Add it all up and you've got a strategic and morale gap the size of a skyscraper; ironically, the most motivated group on the Kiev side is their bloodthirsty Neo-Nazi faction, but this is definitely not the face Kiev wants the world to see.
My prediction, based on assessment of the situation to date, is that NAF continues to advance from here until Dnipropetrovsk, at which point shit gets real.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)assuming the Ukraine military ceases fire too. At least for the moment.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he hopes Ukrainian government won't stop Ukrainians surrounded in Debaltseve from giving up their weapons, and that Moscow-backed rebels will give them safe passage out.
The Reuters news agency report that Mr Putin made the remarks on his current trip to Hungary.
http://www.itv.com/news/update/2015-02-17/putin-pro-russian-rebels-will-offer-ukraine-forces-safe-passage/
Igel
(37,535 posts)they shelled them as they evacuated, including the medical convoy.
Quite a number of wounded and injuried were killed as they were removed from around Ilovaisk.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)(Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it was not in the interests of Ukraine or the world to get into a proxy war with Russia over eastern Ukraine, a comment suggesting Washington is hesitant to arm Ukrainian forces.
"Our belief here in the administration, and I would be surprised if others disagree, is that getting into a proxy war with Russia is not anything that's in the interest of Ukraine or in the interest of the international community," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. "And certainly, as we weigh options, we weigh that as one of the factors."
Pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government forces fought street-to-street in a strategic town in eastern Ukraine and refused to withdraw their heavy guns, all but scuppering hopes a European-brokered ceasefire deal would end months of conflict.
Two days after a truce went into effect, the agreement reached last week in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, was unraveling rapidly.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/02/17/ukraine-crisis-usa-idINKBN0LL1Y720150217?rpc=401
bemildred
(90,061 posts)UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a Russian-drafted resolution that endorses the new cease-fire agreement on Ukraine, stresses the country's independence and calls on all parties involved to fully carry it out, even as the deal threatened to crumble.
An expected vote over the weekend was delayed when other council members pressed Russia to add language about Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, the passenger jet that was shot down last year over rebel-held eastern Ukraine. Council members said they wanted to make sure the 298 victims were not forgotten.
The resolution now reaffirms last year's council resolution that calls for an independent investigation into the crash and for those responsible to be held accountable.
And notably, the word "independence" was added to the resolution when referring to the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," something that Western diplomats have insisted that any U.N. resolution reaffirm. However, Lithuanian Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaite pointed out that the word "unity" had been dropped.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_UNITED_NATIONS_UKRAINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-02-17-15-36-22
bemildred
(90,061 posts)MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is suggesting that the United States is already delivering weapons to Ukraine.
At a news conference Tuesday in Budapest with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Putin was asked how he assessed the possible consequences if the United States decides to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine in its fight against Russian-backed separatists.
He answered that "according to our information, these weapons are already being delivered."
He said the new weapons for Ukraine could increase the number of victims but "the result will be the same as it is today. This is unavoidable."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_RUSSIA_UKRAINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-02-17-15-05-46
Blue_Tires
(57,596 posts)at this rate, soon there won't be a Ukraine left to send arms to
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)You deny all agency to anybody in the Donbass. There's a lot of people there very unhappy with Kiev and what went down there a year ago. And they get unhappier every time Kiev drops an artillery shell on them.
muriel_volestrangler
(106,212 posts)and Putin didn't give a shit about the ceasefire either; when his proxies in Ukraine have won their objective, suddenly he says "oh, they'll give them safe passage and only then will there be a ceasefire in that town".
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(106,212 posts)Guns fell abruptly silent at midnight across much of eastern Ukraine in line with the ceasefire agreement, reached after a week of diplomacy led by France and Germany.
But pro-Russian rebels announced they would not observe the truce at Debaltseve, where Ukrainian army forces were encircled and Kiev military said rebel attacks on the town steadily increased from mid-afternoon on Sunday.
"Of course we can open fire (on Debaltseve). It is our territory," senior rebel commander Eduard Basurin told Reuters. "The territory is internal: ours. And internal is internal. But along the line of confrontation there is no shooting."
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/02/15/uk-ukraine-crisis-idUKKBN0LH14J20150215
They had no intention of obeying a ceasefire, if it didn't suit them.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)I figured this was one of them, because it was clear they were less than committed to ending the shooting yet, both sides. All the peace-loving was coming from the foreign bigshots.
Debaltseve in particular. As Muriel says above, the Donetsk people had no intention of leaving that there, and Kiev no intention of giving it up.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Photographer Max Avdeev embeds with the rebel fighters known as the First Slavyansk Brigade in Logvinove, Ukraine, to capture the horrific sights of conflict for BuzzFeed News. Warning: Several of the images in this gallery are NSFW and extremely graphic.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/avdeev/horrific-images-capture-the-sheer-brutality-of-ukraine-war
Adrahil
(13,340 posts)Bullshit ceasefire is bullshit.