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US/NATO/EU and the desperate subversion of Ukraine


Steven Gaal

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Tuesday, June 24

00:51 GMT:

Rescue services have opened another refugee camp in southern Russia, a local administration representative told RIA Novosti. The camp is located in the village of Kushchevskaya in the north of Krasnodar Krai. The village is on the border with Rostov region, which is taking in the majority of refugees from eastern Ukraine.

00:24 GMT:

One woman was killed and another injured when the Ukrainian army shelled the town of Privolnoe, located in the north of Lugansk region, RIA Novosti quoted a spokesperson of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Lugansk as saying. Also, the assault damaged a coal mine, flooding the premises and disrupting work there. All the people were evacuated from the affected area.

Monday, June 23
23:18 GMT:

Gunfire has been heard on the outskirts of Slavyansk, a representative of the self-defense forces told Itar-Tass. It is still not clear which side was firing. Itar-Tass also reported that at around 3 p.m. local time on Monday the Ukrainian army used artillery fire on the nearby village of Semenovka, injuring several self-defense members.

21:37 GMT:

Ukrainian army is shelling the town of Privolnoe, located in the north of Lugansk region, RIA Novosti quoted a spokesperson of self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Lugansk as saying. So far the bombing has lasted for about an hour, according to the source. There is no information on the injured yet, but there are reports of damage to buildings.

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UNITED NATIONS, June 24 /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine’s incumbent authorities quite frequently distort the UN position and twist it a way beneficial for themselves, Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin said Monday answering a question from Itar-Tass.

He believes that this was precisely what happened to Kiev’s interpretation of the Secretary General’s reaction to the ‘peace settlement plan’ for Eastern Ukraine proposed by President Petro Poroshenko.

A statement released by the Ukrainian President’s press service last Saturday said the Ban Ki-moon had expressed his support for the presidential initiative and had singled out the importance of an element like a 10-kilometer-wide buffer zone along the border with Russia.

Unfortunately, the Kiev authorities have a habit of twisting the world community’s position in a manner that suits their objectives, Churkin said.

“I’ll be really stunned if I get a confirmation that the Secretary General did mention that buffer zone,” he said.

He recalled an occasion several months ago when the Kiev officialdom distorted the words of the UN special coordinator, Robert Serry.

“That’s why the powers that be in Kiev abide by a vicious practice of rectifying the UN position in a manner suiting themselves the most.

Stephane Dujarric, the official spokesperson for the Secretary General, refrained from comments about the official statement published by the Ukrainian presidential administration.

Instead of this, he called on everyone to stick to the description of the Secretary General’s words as unveiled by the Office of the Spokesperson.

An official release for the media issued several hours after revelations on the part of the Ukrainian side indicated simply that Ban Ki-moon had praised Petro Poroshenko’s peace plan.

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Tuesday, June 24

06:40 GMT:

Two sections of railroad track have been blown up in Lugansk Region, eastern Ukraine, reports local TSN news. The first explosions happened between Kondrashevskaya-Novaya and Ogorodny Stations, while the second was at Krasnozerovka-Ogorodny. There are no reports as to the extent of the damage.

On Monday, the railroad tracks in Donetsk Region were blown up as a freight train belonging to Russian Railways was passing by. Fourteen freight cars were derailed in what railroad staff believe was an planned detonation.

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MOSCOW, June 23. /ITAR-TASS/. The Ukrainian president's plan for peace in east Ukraine’s Donbass region last Friday resembles an ultimatum to the militia of the unrecognized Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, experts polled by ITAR-TASS say, noting that the plan lacks the key element - a format for ceasefire talks.

The Russian president rules it important that “dialogue between all warring parties would be launched on the basis of a ceasefire in Ukraine so that people living in south-eastern Ukraine certainly felt that they make an integral part of that country.” Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin said combat action has not stopped.

“The ceasefire plan promised by the Ukrainian president is already not fulfilled, though the Ukrainian army is not taking intensive offensive action,” president of the Institute of National Strategy Mikhail Remizov, also a member of the Russian governmental Military and Industrial Commission, told ITAR-TASS.

“It is not ruled out that Petro Poroshenko had taken a pause in conducting special operations in east Ukraine to redeploy current military forces and bring in additional strength. It is quite probable that Poroshenko’s so-called peace plan is a political umbrella, metaphorically speaking for ‘weapons recharge’,” the expert believes.

“In Russian political circles, Poroshenko’s peace plan is called an ultimatum to militia in Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” Remizov noted. “Declaring the settlement plan, the Ukrainian president is simultaneously negotiating with Washington and Brussels on imposing more sanctions against Russia. The leaders of the United States, Germany and France already stated at consultations that if Poroshenko’s peace plan failed, Russia would be blamed for this, and a new spiral of sanctions would be introduced. So, the Ukrainian president seems to acknowledge in advance that his plan is not attainable,” the expert added.

“Poroshenko’s deliberately unattainable quasi-plan was put forward to accuse Russia of foiling it,” Colonel General Valery Manilov, former first deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, told ITAR-TASS.

“Two compulsory conditions are needed to stop the military conflict in east Ukraine. The first condition is to pull back and withdraw government troops from Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The second is equal rights of negotiators in talks for establishing peace,” the military analyst noted.

“In fact, Ukrainian authorities are keeping in mind an alternative plan B, which envisages forcible imposition of a regime suitable for Kiev and its overseas patrons in Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” Manilov said, adding that “the West will turn a blind eye to fulfilment of plan B because American companies are cherishing plans to launch shale gas development in Donetsk and Luhansk regions to deliver it to Europe, ousting Russian gas from it (the European market).”

“Poroshenko’s so-called peace plan is speculation to obtain victory over Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in political ways, if not in military terms. The plan lacks the main condition for attaining peace - the option of talks. East Ukraine’s militia is being forced to surrender positions as an ultimatum that is unacceptable for them,” Director of the Center of Military and Political Research at Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO) Alexei Podberezkin told ITAR-TASS.

“If the militia does not agree on political capitulation, Kiev will deliver a massive strike on their positions with use of assault aviation, heavy artillery and multiple fire launch systems,” the expert believes.

“A team oriented at American values came to power in Kiev with its policy firmly dependent on Washington’s dictat. US interests envisage that Ukraine should become a conflict zone with Russia. But those regions that name themselves “Novorossia” will not accept the US system of values either in economic or socio-cultural aspects. Therefore, the domestic conflict in Ukraine will continue,” the expert added.

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Ukraine military forces shoot at south-east settlement, woman killed in shootout
June 24, 13:38 UTC+4
As a result of the shootout, an electric power substation was destroyed, thus halting underground waters pumping from a neighboring coalmine
1047223.jpg
Militia members in east Ukraine’s Luhansk Region© ITAR-TASS/Stanislav Krasilnikov

LUHANSK, June 24. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukrainian military forces shot at the settlement of Privolye near the city of Lisichansk in east Ukraine’s Luhansk Region overnight to Tuesday. A woman was killed in the shootout.

An electric power substation was destroyed that resulted in a halt to underground waters pumping from a neighboring coalmine that was consequently flooded. Coalminers managed to get out from the mine before the flood.

However, the situation in Luhansk remains relatively calm. The roar of an airplane, flying at high altitude over the city, was heard on Tuesday morning. “The warplane was on a reconnaissance flight,” the press service of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic . The city was not put on air alert.

Consultations to fulfil a peaceful plan in east Ukraine were held in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Monday evening. For their part, militia in southeast Ukraine pledged to stop fire until June 27, Prime Minister of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Alexander Borodai said. “In response to Kiev’s ceasefire, we are committed to stop fire and not to wage combat actions. The deadline of effective ceasefire is June 27,” he noted, adding that movement of troops in Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics still continues.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s decree on unilateral ceasefire in east Ukraine came into effect at 11pm Moscow time on June 20. It was stated the ceasefire would last until June 27, but “If Ukrainian military forces or civilians come under an armed attack, military formations will return fire."

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KIEV, June 24. /ITAR-TASS/. A bridge of Ukraine’s Dnieper Railroad in the Zaporizhia region has been blown up overnight. The press service of the Ukrainian Railroad said no one was injured in the explosion.

The details of the incident that occurred near the settlement of Novokarlivka are being specified. Law enforcers say that unknown persons blasted the supporting structure of the railroad bridge.

Officers from the Interior Ministry, security services, explosive experts and investigators are currently working at the scene.

This is the second incident over the last 24 hours. Earlier, two explosions were reported on railroad tracks in the Luhansk region. No one was injured in the incidents.

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07:49 GMT:

A bridge in the Ukrainian town of Novokarlovka, Zaporozhie Region, has been blown up, reported Ukraine Railways. According to the data obtained from the law enforcement agencies, unidentified people detonated the pylons.

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Tuesday, June 24

23:15 GMT:

The US and the UK have warned of further sanctions against Russia unless Moscow takes concrete steps to stop the flow of weapons into Ukraine. The statements were made during a telephone call between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron, according to the PM's spokeswoman.

"They noted that while President Putin had called on the separatists to accept the ceasefire, we had yet to see concrete action from Russia to halt the flow of weapons across the Ukrainian border and to stop Russian training of separatist groups.

20:35 GMT:

The temporary ceasefire in Ukraine should be replaced by a long-term renunciation of violence [? fascists renouncing violence. what an interesting concept.] , Swiss President and OSCE chairperson Didier Burkhalter said after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Itar-Tass reported.

Burkhalter added that the three-party contact group will be traveling to eastern Ukraine again on Wednesday.

18:00 GMT:

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has officially voted for unification with the Lugansk People’s Republic during a session of its supreme assembly.

The leaders of the two adjacent territories agreed to form the Federal State of Novorossiya a month ago, after staging a referendum in which the majority voted to secede from Kiev.

17:30 GMT:

Russia has implied that Kiev deliberately targeted two Russian journalists, who were killed in eastern Ukraine last week.

“There needs to be a thorough investigation of this crime; there is too much evidence that this was a premeditated attack,” said Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin during a Security Council session on Ukraine in New York.

Russian state television reporter Igor Kornelyuk and sound engineer Anton Voloshin died after being hit by a shell near Slavyansk on June 17.

17:30 GMT:

Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin has expressed “outrage” over Kiev’s stance on the growing number of refugees, who are crossing the border into Russia to avoid the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

“The lack of co-operation from the Ukrainian foreign ministry in this area is outrageous. We are advocating the removal of obstacles that are preventing the delivering of humanitarian aid, and the provision of corridors that would allow civilians to leave the areas of conflict,” said Churkin during a Security Council meeting on Ukraine.

The Russian diplomat said that more than 450 thousand Ukrainian residents have arrived in Russia’s border region of Rostov.

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RT :

Nine people are feared dead after self-defense forces in the Donetsk region shot down a Ukrainian army helicopter, which was used for transporting military cargo, a Kiev spokesman said.

The Mi-8 helicopter was downed “at about 5 pm local time at Karachun Mountain near Slavyansk by a rocket fired from a portable air defense system,” eastern Ukraine military operation spokesman, Vladislav Seleznyov, wrote on his Facebook page.

“There were nine people aboard the helicopter. According to preliminary information, all those aboard died in the crash,” he said, adding that the helicopter was returning to a Ukrainian checkpoint after a cargo delivery mission.

The self-defense troops, who fired the missile, escaped to the nearby village of Bylbasovka, Seleznyov wrote.

The Ukraine’s National Guard fighters told the Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper that the Mi-8 helicopter was downed during takeoff from Karachun Mountain (a strategic high point near Slavyansk where the Ukrainian army’s artillery is deployed).

I saw a column of black smoke west of Ukrainian base at Karachun outside #Slavyansk, likely the Mi-8 helicopter rebels reportedly shot down

— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) June 24, 2014

The place where the shot came from has been established, with troops currently being deployed there, the source in the National Guard added.

The Ukrainian forces continued shelling the village of Semyonovka on the outskirts of Slavyansk on Tuesday night and during the day, the self-defense forces of the People’s Republic of Donetsk told ITAR-TASS news agency earlier.

The heavy artillery fire has prevented the self-defense forces from recovering the bodies of two of its troops killed the previous day, they said.

“There’s no living thing left in the village. Everything is devastated, including factories and railway crossings,” the self-defense forces stressed. “The houses are abandoned. Nobody is harvesting crops from their gardens.”

Meanwhile, the town of Slavyansk remains without a water supply, with the majority of shops and pharmacies staying closed.

Also on Tuesday, a crew from Russia’s Channel One was caught in the shelling outside Slavyansk; the journalists luckily avoided injury.

Also, fighting is currently underway in the suburbs of the city of Donetsk, said Aleksandr Boroday, prime minister of the People's Republic of Donetsk.

“Artillery and armored vehicles are being used,” he told RIA-Novosti news agency, adding people have already been killed and injured in the fighting.

Putin: I've just received report there's fighting unfolding right now near #Slavyanskhttp://t.co/lQYGVy0y3Xpic.twitter.com/FtOAzwBWeW

— RT (@RT_com) June 24, 2014

President Vladimir Putin has expressed concern over the resumption of hostilities in Slavyansk and urged Kiev to strive to bring about an end to the bloodshed in southeastern Ukraine.

“Unfortunately, now I have relevant information that in one of the most troubled areas – near the city of Slavyansk – the fighting is currently underway; [Kiev's] paratroopers have landed there and there are already victims. It’s sad,” Putin said during a press-conference in Vienna, Austria.

Read more: Putin: Weeklong cease-fire in Ukraine should be extended, accompanied by talks

The fighting in the Donetsk region is continuing despite the seven-day ceasefire announced by Ukraine’s new president, Petro Poroshenko, on June 20, which was agreed to by the self-defense forces on Monday.

Putin stressed that "the declarations should be backed by real actions, otherwise none of the problems will be solved.”

“Simply declaring a ceasefire isn’t enough,” the Russian president said, calling on the sides to begin “substantive negotiations” on the matter as soon as possible.

“Seven days of ceasefire is insufficient,” he added.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has not excluded the possibility of a premature cancellation of the ceasefire in the country's southeast, the president's press service said.

During a meeting with the heads of the country’s security agencies, he touched upon the issue of the downed helicopter, saying that the self-defense forces have no respect for the truce.

According to the president, Kiev's forces have come under fire 35 times since he announced his peace plan last week.

Poroshenko gave the security agencies “an order to open fire without hesitation” on the self-defense forces," the president’s press service said.

But the authorities of the People's Republic of Donetsk said the “so-called ceasefire,” which Porosheko now wants to cancel, “was never in place.”

“The Ukrainian security forces began shelling Semyonovka and Slavyansk in the morning,” Miroslav Rudenko, one of the Donbas self-defense leaders, told Interfax news agency, adding that the artillery fire was less intense than in previous days, but still steady.

“It was only a declaration [of truce]. On the ground, hostilities didn’t stop even for an hour,” he added.

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MOSCOW, June 24 (RIA Novosti) — The European Union Council’s report on Ukraine contains opinions that are biased, politically motivated and far from reality, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

“Once again, we have to state that Brussels' assessment of the events in Ukraine is biased, politically motivated and far from reality,” the ministry said.

“The EU partners continue their persistent attempts to put the crisis in Ukraine into the narrow framework of a picture that certain capitals to the west of Kiev are laboriously trying to paint. What other explanation can be given [to the fact that] the EU council’s ‘conclusions' fail to mention that dozens of children were killed during the ‘anti-terror operation,’ that thousands of refugees flock to the Russian Federation from Ukraine and that the Ukrainian military violated the Russian state border on numerous occasions?” the statement reads, all the while expressing outrage that Brussels also failed to mention the outrageous attempt to storm the Russian Embassy in Kiev.

According to the ministry, EU continues to label the population of Ukraine’s southeast as “pro-Russia separatists,” turning a blind eye on the real reasons for the Russian troops to be present along the Russian-Ukrainian border, persistently voiced by Moscow.

The ministry called on the EU to “revise its approaches” if their intentions to play an important and positive role in resolving the Ukrainian crisis are genuine.

On June 23, EU Foreign Affairs Council met in Luxembourg to discuss the proposal of Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko for a peace plan. Following the talks the council circulated its conclusions on Ukraine in a document published online. The statement focuses on Kiev’s losses in course of its military operation launched in mid-April, drawing the curtain on the rest of the damage incurred throughout the special operation.

The European Council’s report comes shortly after a similar document from the UN on the situation in Ukraine was presented by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights last week.

Moscow immediately condemned the report for its “double standards,” as it did not contain an objective assessment of the criminal activities conducted by Kiev which is carrying out a punitive operation against the peaceful population and ignores the death of civilians resulting from the violent crackdown.

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MOSCOW, June 24 (RIA Novosti) – The latest actions of the European Union cast doubt on the strategic nature of its relations with Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

“The 20th anniversary of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement comes at an uneasy stage in relations between Russia and the European Union, whose actions bring about doubt in the strategic character of our partnership,” said the ministerial statement, marking the 20th anniversary since the signing of a basic partnership agreement between Russia and the European Union.

The Foreign Ministry expressed its utmost regret at EU’s refusal to continue work on a new basic agreement with Russia, designed to replace the current document, “in spite of the strategic interests of the peoples of Europe.”

The Foreign Ministry stressed that the Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation is “a beacon” for the relations between Russia and the European Union, “including in the context of resolving the crisis in Ukraine.”

Moscow’s relations with the EU soured as geopolitical tensions in Ukraine boiled over. From then on Europe has already imposed two packages of targeted sanctions against dozens of Russian officials and companies in response to the country’s reunification with Crimea and Moscow’s stand on the current situation in Ukraine. The EU claims to have developed a three-stage sanctions process, whereby the third stage, not yet reached, would imply broad economic sanctions against the entire Russian economy.

According to Russian presidential aide Sergei Glazyev, imposing the full-scale economic sanctions, will cause Europe damage of around one trillion euro, with Germany and Baltic countries suffering the most.

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MOSCOW, June 24 (RIA Novosti) – Representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) denied Tuesday Kiev’s allegations suggesting independence supporters violated the ceasefire and accused instead the Ukrainian special forces of continuing fighting.

“On Monday, mortar attacks launched by the forces backed by the Kiev junta were taking place in Slaviansk throughout the day. Systematic, though not mass fighting still continued. It would be wrong to say that the attacks were carried out by our forces,” according to Miroslav Rudenko, a co-chairman of the republic’s government, who is also a deputy commander of its self-defense forces.

Rudenko told RIA Novosti that self-defense forces were only acting in response to the attacks on the Ukrainian side.

“If you are subject to attacks, you are forced to respond,” the Donetsk official stressed.

The authorities in Kiev in their turn blame independence supporters for shelling military checkpoints in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Last Friday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered a unilateral ceasefire between independence supporters and the government forces conducting a special military operation in the country’s east until June 27.

On Monday, Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Alexander Boroday announced that the self-defense forces would comply with the conditions of the ceasefire.

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YOSHKAR-OLA, June 24 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday said the responsibility for events in Ukraine lies on the former and current leaders of the country.

“Both the former and current leaders of the government are responsible for what is occurring today in Ukraine,” Medvedev said during a meeting with United Russia party members in Central Russia.

“And to a large degree, those who stoked the events in Kiev and aided in the government overthrow that happened at the beginning of the year are responsible,” Medvedev said.

According to Medvedev, stabilization of the situation in Ukraine depends on willingness of the current authorities to negotiate with representatives of the country’s eastern regions.

“We all want the situation in Ukraine to calm down and resume its natural course. So that the people who make decisions in Ukraine, namely the President, the parliament and the government, can hear those who have slightly different opinions on the events,” Medvedev stressed.

“Only in this case it will be possible to de-escalate tensions and ensure peace,” the prime minister stressed, adding that both those who live in the east and citizens of other regions suffer under the current circumstances.

The overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych in February and a subsequent regime change in Ukraine triggered a chain of protests in the country that later evolved into armed clashes between the government-backed forces and independence supporters.

Following weeks of running battles Petro Poroshenko who won the May 25 snap presidential election ordered last week a unilateral ceasefire until June 27.

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Boroday, announced that self-defense forces would comply with the conditions of the ceasefire.

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UN Worried About Ukrainian Crisis pdf_button.png printButton.png emailButton.png

onu.jpgUnited Nations, Jun 24 (Prensa Latina) The United Nations said today that the situation remains worrying in southeastern Ukraine, despite recent steps to put an end to the crisis triggered by the coup d'' Etat of radical sectors backed by the West.

"There are encouraging signs towards an easing of tension, judging from political and diplomatic actions emerging," said UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, Taye-Brook Zerihoun, in the Security Council.

The diplomat cited the peace plan promoted by Ukrainian President Piotr Poroshenko, the ceasefire announced until June 27 and the rapprochement with pro-Russian rebels, who rejected the coup and resisted the putschists' offensive.

Zerihoun highlighted Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to request the Senate the anniulment of the use of the Armed Forces in the territory of the neighbor country. Requested to protect Russian compatriots threatened by extremist sectors that favored the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovich last February and took part in represssion in southeastern Ukraine.

They are important steps, but UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon remains very worried about events in the field, warned Zerihoun before the 15-member Security Council, where Russia and the West (the United States and the European Union) have very different views about the crisis.

Accordfing to press reports, the bombings at rebels in Donetsk continue in spite of the governbment truce.

Donetsk is the worst-hit target of attacks by Ukrainian troops.

According to Zerihoun, the international community must back finding a peaceful, longstanding way out to the crisis.

Meanwhile, within the Security Council, Russia and the West showed again their differences in regard to this issue.

Moscow condemned the coup that toppled Yanukovich and the use of force by the putschists while Washington and Brussels backed the change of regime and remained silent about the offensive against rebel areas in southeastern Ukraine.

Today the United States accused Russia again of stirring up violence by giving weapons to the pro-Russian militias, and threatened Moscow with further consequences, meaning more sanctions.

sgl/ef/rma/mgt/wmr Modificado el ( martes, 24 de junio de 2014 )

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Wednesday, June 25

09:31 GMT:

#ATO resumed yesterday in #Semyonovka, near #Slavyansk.Smoke & cloud of dust seen above the village - SelfDefence representative says.

— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) June 25, 2014
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