Blasts heard, smoke seen near eastern Ukraine port: Reuters witness

[Bosonic]

Source: Reuters

MARIUPOL Ukraine (Reuters) - A Reuters witness heard about a dozen blasts and saw plumes of black smoke rising a few km (miles) to the east of the port of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine on Thursday.

Earlier, a military source said Ukraine's army was on a state of heightened alert near Mariupol, a strategic port city on the Azov Sea that guards the way towards Russian-annexed Crimea.

A Ukrainian soldier told Reuters he had seen pro-Russian separatists advancing on the city with tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery. His comments could not be independently confirmed.

"Our plan is to stay here (in an eastern district of Mariupol) and not to budge an inch," said the soldier, who was from Ukraine's Azov battalion.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/blasts-heard-smoke-seen-near-eastern-ukraine-port-131719096.html

[CanonRay]

1. So much for the big cease fire

Putin won't stop until he has everything he wants.

[mazzarro]

2. It takes parties on both sides to agree to a cease fire - that is obvious

It seemed that Ukraine's PM rejected the cease fire arrangement negotiated by his President, then no cease fire. If that is the case, one has to wonder how this is going to work out. I am presuming that the PM controls the army (armed groups) in Ukraine. So the President will have to negotiate that issue with the PM after negotiating with Russia/Separatists.

[candelista]

3. Why are these stories always sourced as "according to..."?

Aren't there any reporters who have the nerve to report from Ukraine themselves?

[Dems to Win]

4. Ukraine's Azov battalion, flying Hitler's SS Flag

If I were in eastern Ukraine, I'd be fighting them, too.

Ukraine crisis: the neo-Nazi brigade fighting pro-Russian separatists
Kiev throws paramilitaries – some openly neo-Nazi - into the front of the battle with rebels

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11025137/Ukraine-crisis-the-neo-Nazi-brigade-fighting-pro-Russian-separatists.html