US/NATO/EU and the desperate subversion of Ukraine

[John Dolva]

Monday, May 26

07:58 GMT:

Ukrainian troops have resumed shelling of the village of Semyonovka, near the Donetsk Region town of Slavyansk, ITAR-TASS reports, citing a representative of the local self-defense forces.

07:37 GMT:

An overnight fighting on the outskirts of Slavyansk, Donetsk Region, has turned out to be a shoot-out between two units of the Ukrainian National Guard, a self-defense commander, Igor Strelkov writes in his blog.

“They’ve taken two check-points, having replaced those who had been there before them,” Strelkov said. “They started to search ground by shooting, not knowing where their neighbors were. The neighbors responded. One thing led to another. It’s unlikely they’ve killed anyone, but have spent a lot of ammunition.”

07:16 GMT:

Flights have been suspended at the international airport in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk following an overnight intervention by an armed group, Ukrainian media report, citing the airport’s press service.

“At 3am [00:00 GMT] several dozen armed representatives of the Donetsk People’s Republic entered the territory of the airport, demanding withdrawal of the Ukrainian troops guarding the airport,” said the head of the airport’s press service, Dmitry Kosinov. “There has been no shooting or military stand-off,” he added.

[John Dolva]

intensive gunfire has been heard in the vicinity of the Donetsk international airport, eastern Ukraine, and two fighter jets are flying over the facility, witnesses and self-defense forces said.

The airport has been closed “for security reasons”, and Reuters witnesses are seeing smoke billowing from the building.

#Aeropuerto #Donetsk se convierte en campo de #batalla. Tomado por #autodefensas y sobrevolado por #ejército #Kiev pic.twitter.com/slPMjYcPpv

— gonzalo wancha (@GonzaloWancha) May 26, 2014

Three helicopters were seen flying towards the airport, Russian news agencies said.

[John Dolva]

Intensive gunfire and blasts have been heard in the vicinity of Donetsk International Airport in eastern Ukraine, and two fighter jets are flying over the facility, witnesses and self-defense forces said.

The Ukrainian military are bombing the Donetsk airport, self-defense forces reported on Twitter. Earlier, at least three helicopters were seen flying towards the airport.

“The Ukrainian occupiers are conducting missile and bomb strikes on Donetsk International Airport. They are deploying military aircraft,” the message said.

"I have heard at least three blasts. Helicopters are circling over the city and military jets can be heard flying by," witnesses told local daily Ostrov.

#Aeropuerto#Donetsk se convierte en campo de #batalla. Tomado por #autodefensas y sobrevolado por #ejército#Kievpic.twitter.com/slPMjYcPpv

— gonzalo wancha (@GonzaloWancha) May 26, 2014

“The fighter jet is supposedly a Sukhoi Su-27,” a self-defense member told RT. “It’s flying at an altitude of 7-10 km, going up and down, circling. Its task is unclear."

“Helicopters land at the airport, then take off,” the witness said.

Mobile connection was also down at some point, the witness added, saying Kiev’s authorities also demanded civilians are evacuated from the airport terminal’s vicinity and the landing field.

The airport has been closed “for security reasons”, and Reuters witnesses are seeing smoke billowing from the building.

Early on Monday morning, forces belonging to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic came to the airport demanding that Ukrainian troops leave it. The self-defense troops said some 200 Kiev soldiers were guarding the inner perimeter of the hub. The airport was forced to suspend flights.

[John Dolva]

RT :

“Many voters of those regions were insulted and humiliated by the actions of illegitimate ‘authorities’ who came to power after an armed coup,” Yanukovich said in a statement published in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Monday. He called on Ukraine’s new president-elect to immediately “stop the bloody war against his own people.”

[John Dolva]

Monday, May 26

22:44 GMT:

Ukrainian military killed more than 100 self-defense fighters in eastern Ukrainian Donbass region as part of the anti-terrorist operations, LigaBusinessInform reported citing a military source. “Information for more than 100 is confirmed, it is hard to tell the exact number,” the source said, adding that there is no full-scale offensive at this time.

22:20 GMT:

Watch the latest report by RT’s Maria Finoshina on the developments in southeastern Ukraine.

21:23 GMT:

A video posted on YouTube reportedly shows Ukrainian jets attacking the area around the Donetsk airport on Monday.

19:48 GMT:

Forces of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic are fighting Ukraine’s National Guards in Donetsk center, outside an army recruiting office, the self-defense forces said. The army office is controlled by the self-defense, and one of its posts is located nearby.

19:46 GMT:

Shooting is being reported in the city of Mariupol near the headquarters of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk, reports local news portal 0629, citing witnesses.

HQ representatives claim that Kiev forces started storming the building using gas. They added that there are civilians, including women, inside who were hiding from the shooting.

Reportedly, there are several dozen armed people wearing black masks in the city.

18:40 GMT:

Moscow has filed an urgent request with the OSCE, asking that the organization and its monitors working in Ukraine present a thorough report on the situation in Donetsk and explain what measures on de-escalation of the conflict are being taken in accordance with the OSCE roadmap.

“We await objective and thorough data from the OSCE representatives and demand the Kiev authorities to stop the military operation against their own people,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

18:30 GMT:

Fighting and air raids resumed in the city of Donetsk soon after torrential rain stopped and the visibility improved, according to reports coming from the scene. Ukrainian fighter jets are dropping decoy flares to shield the air assault against possible fire from the ground, and gunfire can be heard in Donetsk airport area, RIA Novosti reports.

18:27 GMT:

The Mayor of Donetsk called on residents not to leave their homes because of the aggravation of the situation in the city.

“The situation in Donetsk remains tense. Today there have been armed clashes between Ukraine’s artillery units and supporters of the People’s Republic of Donetsk,” Aleksandr Lukyanchenko said in a televised address, adding that there are victims among civilians.

The mayor urged Donetsk residents to keep calm and be organized since “there’s no information on plans” of the conflicting sides.

“Refrain from trips to the airport and railways station. Keep an eye on your children. Try not to leave your home if there is not real necessity,” the mayor, who has been in office since 2002 told the residents.

Donetsk airport has been shut down following fighting between Kiev forces and self-defense squads earlier on Monday.

18:02 GMT:

Intense fighting and artillery fire is reported from villages near Slavyansk, as in the city itself two apartment blocks were shelled by the Ukrainian troops. At least two Slavyansk residents, a man and a 60-year-old woman, were reportedly killed in the shelling.

According to the self-defense forces, the shelling was carried out from the top of Karachun hill near Slavyansk. It was not immediately clear, if the Ukrainian troops returned fire or started the aggression and if targeting the civilian areas was accidental.

14:25 GMT:

Reports of fighting outside the city airport have also emerged. RT’s sources in Donetsk said a private housing area was being shelled by mortar fire “for over an hour.” At the Donetsk central railway station a fire broke out and gunfire was heard, with one civilian reportedly killed.

An ANNA News reporter streaming a live broadcast from the airport area came under helicopter fire together with local and foreign journalists. According to the streamer, fortunately, only one female journalist suffered mild shock.

13:53 GMT:

Army helicopter just passed over us, fired towards airport and left. Black smoke is rising over the train station building #Donetsk

— Petr Shelomovskiy (@shelomovskiy) May 26, 2014

13:10 GMT:

Shooting and airstrikes resume at Donetsk International Airport in eastern Ukraine, as fighter jets resume strikes at the self-defense forces at the facility, witnesses report.

[John Dolva]

Fuerzas ucranianas renuevan ataques de aviación en Donetsk

Kiev, 26 may (PL) Unidades regulares ucranianas renovaron hoy intensos bombardeos en los alrededores del aeropuerto internacional de Donetsk, en el sureste del país, y el empleo de helicópteros de combate con el simbólo de la ONU.

• Lavrov ratifica disposición de Rusia al diálogo con Ucrania(RadioPL)
• Rebeldes ucranianos descartan visita de presidente electo
• Duma rusa espera diálogo constructivo con Ucrania, tras comicios

[John Dolva]

Tuesday, May 27

00:08 GMT:

Two self-defense fighters were reportedly executed for looting upon the order of the commander of the People's Republic of Donetsk self-defense forces, Igor Strelkov. This photo of the order supposedly signed by Strelkov has been circulating online. It cited a USSR decree from 1941, according to Life News.

00:00 GMT:

Ukrainian military opened fire at an ambulance transporting two injured from the Donetsk airport early on Tuesday morning, deputy of Donbass’ self-defense forces, Sergey Tsypakov, told RIA Novosti. The doctors inside the ambulance were unharmed. The two wounded remain in the ambulance and it is not possible to evacuate them at this point, he added.

Monday, May 26

23:34 GMT:

Ukraine’s special forces units ‘Ukraine’ and ‘Azov’ killed five and detained three self-defense fighters in Mariupol, said Oleg Lyashko, the presidential candidate, who came in third in the Ukrainian elections, according to preliminary results. Earlier, self-defense fighters said that Kiev’s forces began attacking their base in Mariupol, adding that they were shot at from 12 different sniper locations.

23:31 GMT:

Ninety percent of the people who are part of the self-defense forces are locals, who are not being paid to fight, commander of the People's Republic of Donetsk self-defense forces, Igor Strelkov, told Komsomolskaya Pravda. He added that somewhere between 40-50 new people from Donetsk and Lugansk regions join in on a daily basis, but admitted that not everyone stays. Strelkov dismissed reports that Chechen fighters joined in the ranks and noted that only a few are switching sides from Ukrainian military to self-defense forces.

[John Dolva]

00:38 GMT:

Mobilization of all medical personnel has been announced in Donetsk, according to the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk (DNR). "Attention: Emergency mobilization of the entire medical staff at hospitals of Vishnevsky, Kalinin and regional trauma units," DNR’s statement said. "Doctors, volunteers, donors are urgently needed," it added.

[John Dolva]

03:34 GMT:

Ukrainian professional troops are being substituted for more radical elements from the National Guard, the commander of the People's Republic of Donetsk self-defense forces, Igor Strelkov, told Komsomolskaya Pravda in an interview. The radical elements being introduced include members of the Right Sector and Maidan activists, who view the local population as enemies, Strelkov added.

Strelkov noted that he connects the deaths of international journalists near Slavyansk to those radical elements.

[John Dolva]

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Kiev vows to resume military op in Eastern Ukraine LIVE UPDATES

Published time: April 15, 2014 14:19
Edited time: May 25, 2014 21:03

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Donbass people's volunteer corps members have established control over Donetsk International Airport. (AFP Photo/Alexander Khudoteply)

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Kiev has pledged to continue what it calls an “anti-terrorist” operation in eastern Ukraine after the presidential election. Unrest in the region has already resulted in dozens of deaths as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk regions proclaiming independence.

Tuesday, May 27

06:38 GMT:

Fire broke out at the “Druzhba” sport’s palace in Donetsk early on Tuesday morning at around 5 am local time. Three hours later firefighters managed to extinguish the flames, which spread over a territory of 300 square meters, according to the press service of the Ukrainian Emergencies agency. It is yet to be determined what caused the fire. No one was hurt in the incident.

06:05 GMT:

The people’s governor of Donestk Region, Pavel Gubarev, voiced two conditions for possible talks with the likely Ukrainian President-elect Pyotr Poroshenko, RIA Novosti reports.

“There are two fundamental issues which they have to accept. First – independence of the people’s republics of Donbass. Second – withdrawal (from the Donetsk People’s Republic) of all occupying Ukrainian troops,” Gubarev said at a press conference late on Monday.

05:32 GMT:

Four people died in a howitzer attack on Slavyansk in the Donetsk region, according to the commander of the People's Republic of Donetsk self-defense forces, Igor Strelkov. He said the Ukrainian army resumed shelling of the town on Monday evening.

“The adversary goes on with fire adjustment,” Strelkov told RIA Novosti on Tuesday. “Closer to the night they were shooting straight in the direction of the town. According to preliminary data, four civilians died, several were wounded. The target was the residential district of Artyom. We have almost no military facilities there and it’s clearly visible for those on Karachun [a mountain near Slavyansk], from where the howitzers and mortars are firing.”

People react as a man attempts to revive another, wounded as a result of fighting between anti-government forces and Ukrainian troops in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk on May 26, 2014. (AFP Photo / Viktor Drachev)

[John Dolva]

Around 30 self-defense fighters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk may have been killed after Ukrainian troops stepped up their offensive in the region. Some of the casualties are a result of an attack on a truck carrying wounded rebels.

Follow RT's LIVE UPDATES on Eastern Ukraine

A self-defense fighter in Donetsk told Reuters about 30 to 35 of his comrades had been killed in nearly 24 hours of fighting with Ukrainian forces.

Earlier, the people’s governor of the Donetsk Region, Pavel Gubarev, wrote on Facebook, that 35 self-defense fighters were killed and 15 injured.

An overnight attack by Ukrainian troops on a truck carrying wounded rebels reportedly accounts for a portion of the casualties.

Обстрелянный ночью камаз сторонников ДНР #Донецк Подтверждают 30 погибших pic.twitter.com/32TG6Iq7Ao

— Ольга Ившина (@oivshina) May 27, 2014

Footage by LifeNews shows a truck full of dead bodies. Representatives of the self-defense squads say they cannot yet give the names of those killed; the process of identification has only just began.

“They were wounded. The car was driving them from a battlefield,” a masked representative of the self-defense forces in Donetsk told LifeNews. “First snipers shot the driver, then they fired point-blank at the rest from a shoulder-launcher. The survivors were then gunned down by Right Sector militants - no one in the truck survived.”

Reuters reported two wrecked and blood-covered Kamaz trucks in Donetsk – one of them on the airport road.

Also overnight, self-defense forces reported that Ukrainian military opened fire at an ambulance transporting two injured from the Donetsk airport. The doctors inside the ambulance were unharmed, deputy of Donbass’ self-defense forces, Sergey Tsypakov, told RIA Novosti. The two wounded remain in the ambulance and it is not possible to evacuate them at this point, he added.

This comes as the Ukrainian military is broadening its offensive against anti-Kiev forces in the southeast of the country.

The fighting in Donetsk continued throughout the night around the airport.

Image from facebook.com/vitaliy.umanets

Early on Monday morning, forces belonging to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic came to the airport demanding that Ukrainian troops leave.

In response, Ukrainian fighter jets and helicopters were unleashed at the armed self-defense occupying the airport.

A video posted on YouTube reportedly shows Ukrainian jets attacking the area around the airport on Monday:

Airstrikes started after the self-defense forces failed to comply with the ultimatum put forward by Kiev's troops, that is to surrender by 1pm local time, Vladislav Seleznyov, the head of the counter-terror operation said on his Facebook page.

Donetsk self-defense forces claimed on Twitter to have regained control over the airport after the Ukrainian troops launched its military operation.

The State Aviation Service halted air traffic through the airport till 9.00am local time Tuesday.

Loud explosions and gunfire were reported from Donetsk throughout the day, with Ukrainian army aircraft occasionally circling around the airport.

Reports of fighting outside the city airport also emerged. RT’s sources in Donetsk said a private housing area was being shelled by mortar fire “for over an hour.”

Also on Monday, at least three civilians were reportedly killed and several wounded when the Ukrainian military launched a mortar attack on the town of Slavyansk in eastern Ukraine.

The clashes in Donetsk began just a few hours after the early results of the elections were announced.

Ukrainian confectionary tycoon Pyotr Poroshenko is winning the presidential election in the first round of voting, having secured more than 50 percent of votes.

[John Dolva]

09:47 GMT:

“Presidential election in Ukraine has taken place and Russia respects the results of the expression of the will of the Ukrainian citizens”, Russia’s FM Sergey Lavrov announced at a press conference with his Turkish counterpart in Moscow. The “primary task and challenge for Kiev” is stopping bloodshed in the east and south of Ukraine, Lavrov said.

“We’re very much concerned that not only the election took place against the background of unceasing military action, but that immediately after the end of the election the so-called “counter-terrorist” operation has been intensified,” the minister said, stressing that there are victims on both sides and that journalists in the conflict zone are subject to attacks despite calls from international organizations.

09:42 GMT:

Russia insists on the immediate halt to regular army unit operations against the civilian population of Ukraine and end of all acts of violence in the country, demanded Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

08:53 GMT:

Government troops will go on with the military operation until not a single self-defense fighter “is left on the territory of Ukraine,” said Vice Premier Vitaly Yarema, as cited by RIA Novosti.

Yarema said the military operation was suspended on May 25, the day the presidential election was held in Ukraine.

“It has now been resumed, we saw the results yesterday,” Yarema said, without specifying how long the operation might take.

08:31 GMT:

People in Donetsk are afraid that new attacks of the Ukrainian army will take place.

— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 27, 2014

[John Dolva]

12:53 GMT:

#Donetsk city #morgue,still recieving dead bodies,in uniform&civilians,w/clashes b/ween #Ukraine army & anti-govt on pic.twitter.com/h00ZP52cvW

— Maria Finoshina (@MFinoshina_RT) May 27, 2014

12:36 GMT:

NATO will hold more drills in Poland and the Baltic states, increase air patrols over the area, as well as build up its military presence in the Baltic and Black Seas in response to Russia’s “illegal” activities in Ukraine, the alliance’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Echo Moskvy radio station.

He said the decision was made after some NATO member-states voiced security concerns over the events in Ukraine.

Some of these measures, Rasmussen said, are purely defensive, aimed at assuring the alliance members that the organization is set to protect them in case someone decides to launch an attack against them.

12:27 GMT:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the visit of Ukraine's likely president-elect, Petro Poroshenko, to Russia has yet to be scheduled by Moscow.

“The issue of Poroshenko’s visit to Russia has not been considered, or discussed through any channels including diplomatic ones,” he said after the meeting of the joint strategic planning group.

12:25 GMT:

#Lavrov: Ending the use of the army and ending violence on all sides will be a test of the Kiev government’s strength pic.twitter.com/cx2LanA5ct

— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) May 27, 2014

12:05 GMT:

Ukrainian journalists, detained by Lugansk self-defense forces in Schastye settlement on Monday, were spying for Kiev, said Vasiliy Nikitin, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic. He added that the journalists – Vyacheslav Bondarenko and Maksim Osovsky reporting for the local Obzor website – will be freed soon.

“We looked through their technical equipment and saw that they have non-journalistic footage. There were photos of the check points from two sides, changing of the guards, plans of the check points,” he told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

Nikitin noted that the detained confessed they were “collecting information under Kiev’s direction.” The prime minister of the self-proclaimed republic elaborated that the detained are being treated well and fed three times a day.

11:52 GMT:

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian PM Matteo Renzi have exchanged condolences over the deaths of Italian photojournalist, Andrea Rocchelli, and his Russian interpreter, Andrey Mironov, says a statement issued by the Kremlin’s press-service.

It also says the two leaders shared their views on the current crisis in Ukraine.

President Putin once again urged “immediate termination of military punitive operation in the south-eastern regions [of Ukraine] and launching peaceful dialogue between Kiev and the regions.”

[John Dolva]

Tuesday, May 27

21:09 GMT:

The UN Security Council will hold a meeting to discuss the situation in Ukraine on Wednesday, RIA Novosti quoted a source as saying. The meeting will take place at 3 p.m. local time in New York.

20:32 GMT:

Leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic have introduced a curfew in Donetsk from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time, according to the republic’s press service.

The curfew was announced in connection with the situation in the city and Ukraine’s military offensives. Public transport has been halted and radio announcements were made stating that it is dangerous to go out unless it is absolutely necessary.

17:37 GMT:

The European Union plans to sign the EU association agreement with Ukraine during its summit in Brussels which will take place on June 27, said Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė, as quoted by RIA Novosti.

17:24 GMT:

The OSCE observers were taken captive by unidentified men while they were returning from Lugansk to Donetsk, said Andrey Kelin, permanent representative of the organization in Russia. He added that they were taken at an unidentified checkpoint which was not present when the observers were originally heading to Lugansk.

The detained OSCE observers must be freed, he said, adding that one “cannot take the observers captives.” Kelin noted that there are no Russians among the OSCE's team.

The four missing OSCE observers, including a Dane, are believed to have been detained by self-defense forces, said Danish Minister of Trade and Development Mogens Jensen.

"I can confirm that a Danish person deployed as a part of OSCE's [monitoring mission] according to our knowledge was detained by the armed separatists in Ukraine along with three other observers yesterday," he said.

Municipal workers take a photo at an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) car near the seized office of the SBU state security service in Lugansk, eastern Ukraine April 25, 2014 (Reuters / Vasily Fedosenko)

17:00 GMT:

The Ukraine army and self-defense forces in Donetsk have agreed to a temporary truce, according to the city’s mayor, Aleksandr Lukyanchenko, as quoted by local news website Novosti Donbassa. The decision was reached via the initiative of both sides, he added. Commenting on the overnight fighting, he said that damaged municipal objects have already been restored.

15:29 GMT:

Three Ukrainian troops were killed and nine more injured after unidentified attackers opened fire on two check points near the city of Slavyansk and the Dorbopolsk district in the Donetsk region, the General Prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday. An investigation was launched into acts of terrorism.

The National Guard also reported that three of its fighters were killed and 31 more injured during a military operation that took place in the Donbass region from May 5 to May 24, said its press service as cited by Interfax-Ukraine.

14:59 GMT:

A Twitter campaign against the Ukrainian military operation in Donetsk has been launched under the hashtag #SaveDonbassPeople. Hundreds of Twitter posts with tagged selfies together with a combination of photos showing civilians killed in eastern Ukraine have appeared since early Tuesday.

#SaveDonbassPeople - Фото pic.twitter.com/LEhliVSbvR

— Антимайдан (@anti_maydan) May 27, 2014

Stop genocide in South-East Ukraine! I have family there and Ukrainian army kills civilians! #savedonbasspeople pic.twitter.com/tSnS4Y8v92

— Lilith Moon (@lilithedarkmoon) May 27, 2014

#SaveDonbassPeople pic.twitter.com/ggPzIGbQLo

— Патриот (@NOVORUSSIA2015) May 27, 2014

There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people -Howard Zinn #SaveDonbassPeople #Donestsk pic.twitter.com/fjQJtK7a3i

— rui borges (@homo_viator) May 27, 2014

13:52 GMT:

Ukraine's president-elect, billionaire Petro Poroshenko, has promised to use full force until all separatists have been destroyed. He has now vowed to strengthen the military crackdown, making it faster and more efficient. Political scientist Mateusz Piskorski from the European Center of Geopolitical Analysis joins RT to discuss this issue.

13:01 GMT:

Ukraine is considering its withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Deputy Foreign Minister Daniil Lubkovsky has said, as cited by RIA Novosti. The CIS, he added, appeared to be an inefficient and incapable organization, which failed to come up with a position on the Ukrainian crisis.

However, the CIS executive committee’s representative told the agency that they have not yet received any documents regarding Ukraine’s withdrawal from the organization.

The CIS unites nine former soviet republics, with Turkmenistan being a tenth, associative member.

13:00 GMT:

Kiev govt gives ultimatum to Donetsk: either you surrender or we use our special weapons.

— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 27, 2014

12:59 GMT:

Workers at several mines in Donetsk have gone on strike, protesting the military operation being carried out by government troops against anti-Kiev forces.

"Miners from the Skochinskogo, Abakumova, Chelyuskintsev, Trudovskaya mines have not been working today,” strikers, who’ve come for negotiations with the leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, told RIA Novosti. “People have been standing by the entrances, not wanting to go underground, they are having rallies demanding to suspend the military actions.”

All of the mines that went on strike are located near places where fighting between Ukrainian troops and self-defense forces took place.

[John Dolva]

Putin Calls For Immediate End to Violence in Southeast Ukraine

Kiev, May 27 (Prensa Latina) Russian president Vladimir Putin called for an immediate end to the large-scale military operation against the people in southeast Ukraine, official media reported.