US/NATO/EU and the desperate subversion of Ukraine

[John Dolva]

MOSCOW, July 02. /ITAR-TASS/. Basmanny district court of Moscow has arrested in absentia the Governor of east-central Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk Region Ihor Kolomoyskyi on Wednesday. The court has satisfied a request from detectives to this effect.

Russian law enforcement agencies accuse Kolomoyskyi of masterminding murders and use of banned ways and methods of warfare. He was put on international wanted list on June 21.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has filed similar criminal proceedings against parliament-appointed Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov. June 21, Kolomoyskyi and Avakov were put on international wanted list. It is expected that Moscow’s Basmanny district court will review the investigation’s petition on Avakov’s arrest in absentia.

Kolomoyskyi, according to open sources, is one of the richest Ukrainian citizens, founder of the Privat financial and industrial group. Upon the decision of the Verkhovna Rada Kolomoyskyi was appointed Governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. In this office, he declared an active fight against the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics and proposed to form at his expense military units for a raid against them.

An exploding Ukrainian artillery shell that hit the city of Severodonetsk has been caught on CCTV. The city is one of many attacked by Ukrainian troops in the latest offensive against southeast regions of the country.

Ukraine military resumes ‘active phase’ of operation against ant-govt forces

Kiev's bloody eastern Ukraine campaign LIVE UPDATES

The video, published Wednesday, shows a moment from the shelling that happened a day before. The shell hits right next to a one-story building, sending a blast-wave and a cloud of smoke and dust in all directions.

Severodonetsk is a city of 110,000 residents in the Lugansk Region. Troops loyal to Kiev started bombarding it with heavy weapons as part of a major offensive launched by President Petro Poroshenko at midnight on Monday.

Kiev has intensified its military crackdown on the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, where armed militias have risen up in the wake of the February armed coup in Kiev to oppose the new government. The two-month campaign led to hundreds of people, many of them civilians, being killed, and thousands fleeing the violence.

Russia is calling on Ukraine to renew the ceasefire it terminated and negotiate with the protesting regions to secure peaceful coexistence.

Still from a video uploaded on YouTube

Still from a video uploaded on YouTube

Still from a video uploaded on YouTube

Wednesday, July 2

10:35 GMT:

#UKRAINE:ATO forces waged artillery fire @ #Kramatorsk overnight. Several residential houses caught fire.3ppl from the same family killed.

— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) July 2, 2014

[John Dolva]

Wednesday, July 2

12:48 GMT:

Three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 10 other injured in fighting in the in the south-east, Andrey Lysenko, chairman of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, said.

According to Lysenko, Kiev troops and self-defense forces of the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk engaged in combat on 19 occasions during the last 24 hours.

Several militia groups were trying to break out of the encirclement near the town of Slavyansk in the Donetsk Region, he said.

During the night, a military installation near the village of Melovoye in Lugansk Region was also attacked by the self-defense forces, Lysenko added.

12:25 GMT:

The heads of three leading Russian TV stations have called on the authorities of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic to release the journalists from Ukraine’s Hromadske TV.

“Regardless of the position media professionals take in the Ukrainian conflict, they must be allowed to do their jobs unhindered,” they said in a joint statement.

Hromadske TV correspondent Anastasia Stanko and cameraman Ilya Beskorovainy were reported as detained by Lugansk militias on Tuesday. The militia fighters suspect them of gathering intelligence for the Ukrainian military. The detention was condemned by the OSCE.

Earlier, troops loyal to Kiev detained on separate occasions several Russian journalists and held them in custody for several days.

[Steven Gaal]

U ! U! USA !!!! (Gaal)

Foreigners to command Security Bureau of Ukraine

27.06.2014 | Source: Pravda.Ru

Hackers from Anonymous managed to intercept correspondence of the Security Bureau of Ukraine. It was revealed that SBU was hiring foreign specialists.

The hackers gained access to the correspondence between SBU Headquarters and the head of the department in the Sumy region, Mr. Ivanchuk. It was said in the intercepted messages that the Security Bureau of Ukraine was supposed to accept "English-speaking specialists" and provide all sorts of assistance for them.

The message from June 7, 2014 contains a list of employees recommended for transfer to another area or dismissal, in connection with the "complicated political situation," Segodnya.Ua reports.

In addition, all employees of the SBU in the Sumy region were instructed to collected documents, translated into English. It was also recommended to strengthen the work of the department to teach basic European languages to employees.

The press service of the SBU in the Sumy declined to comment the news, citing the lack of evidence. At the same time, during another telephone conversation, it was acknowledged that some employees were indeed transferred to other regions, although it was a scheduled procedure.

According to Anonymous, gaining access to correspondence was made possible thanks to the low computer literacy of Sumy IT-specialists, who forwarded emails from a secure SBU mail account to free mail server online.ua. Experts on cyber security studied the intercepted correspondence and confirmed its authenticity.

Foreign, particularly English-speaking military instructors are quite common for the Ukrainian army. It is known, for example, that the storm of the city of Mariupol was supervised by English-speaking commanders.

Edited July 2, 2014 by Steven Gaal

[John Dolva]

Wednesday, July 2

22:12 GMT:

The Ukrainian forces destroyed an orphanage in Lugansk during the operation on Tuesday.

“The Ukrainian army destroyed an orphanage in Slavyansk...Glory to “heroes”?” Russia's ombudsman for children's rights, Pavel Astakhov informed via his Instagram

Footage from destruction, posted by LifeNews, shows the extent of the indiscriminate shelling by Ukrainian forces against the civilian population. Luckily, the orphans were evacuated on May 23.

The employees of the orphanage hid in the basement, as the bombardment of the neighborhood lasted about 6 hours.

20:08 GMT:

Ukrainian forces have reportedly intensified shelling of Lugansk and Kramatorsk. Ria Novosti’s correspondent on the ground reports that artillery fire started at around 9:30 pm local time in Lugansk. The shots appear to be coming from the direction of Metallist village, where Ukrainian troops are engaging the self-defense forces.

Meanwhile in Kramatork, Donetsk region, a source from the militia told Itar-Tass that cluster bombs were allegedly used in the shelling there, which also intensified Wednesday night.

“It is possible that they are using cluster ammunition. We hear massive explosions, followed by dozens of less powerful ones,” the source said.

16:43 GMT:

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is now personally responsible for all the victims of Kiev’s military campaign in the southeast of the country, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said.

“By breaking the truce [with self-defense forces in the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk] President Poroshenko has made a dramatic mistake. It’ll bring new victims. And for all of them, he’ll be personally responsible,” Medvedev wrote on his Facebook page.

15:53 GMT:

Almost 18,000 Ukrainian refugees are currently staying in temporary accommodation centers on Russian territory, Emergencies Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Drobyshevsky said.

“During the last 24 hours, two more temporary accommodation centers have been established, and they accepted 355 people,” Drobyshevsky told RIA-Novosti news agency.

According to the spokesman, there are currently 252 temporary accommodation centers for Ukrainian refugees in Russia, hosting a total of 17,828 people.

15:37 GMT:

Five people have died and eight others received injuries in a Ukrainian military airstrike against Staraya Kondrashovka northeast of the city of Lugansk.

Eyewitnesses told Itar-Tass news agency that a 200-meter street in the village was ravaged in the attack.

Many of the houses are destroyed to the ground, with some still being on fire, they added.

14:19 GMT:

At least 200 people have been killed and another 600 injured since the start of Kiev’s anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine, the country’s national security service said.

[John Dolva]

LUGANSK, July 03 /ITAR-TASS/. Militiamen of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in Ukraine’s embattled Southeast on Wednesday freed journalists working for the Ukrainian internet television channel Gromadske TV (Public Television), the LPR’s press service told Itar-Tass.

“We confirm that the Ukrainian journalists were released,” an LPR spokesman said.

Gromadske TV correspondent Anastasia Stanko and cameraman Ilya Beskorovainy were freed on an order from LPR head Valery Bolotov.

According to Bolotov, “these people, apart from their journalistic work, gathered information on movement of LPR armed forces units and information on the location of our roadblocks.” He said “convincing proof was available that the journalists were involved in espionage.”

KIEV, July 02 /ITAR-TASS/. Militiamen in Ukraine’s embattled eastern regions are currently holding 29 Ukrainian servicemen captive, Ukrainian parliament-appointed acting Defense Minister Mikhail Koval said Wednesday.

Militia fighters in Luhansk Region amid ceasefire in southeast of Ukraine

MOSCOW, July 02. /ITAR-TASS/. Both parties to the Ukrainian conflict violate human rights, but militiamen do not shell refugees and civilian facilities, Russian Foreign Ministry ombudsman for human rights, democracy and the rule of law Konstantin Dolgov said Wednesday.

“Of course all sides violate (human rights),” the diplomat said on the Rossiya 24 TV channel. “But you can’t compare. There’s no sight shooting on the part of militiamen at civilian facilities and refugees.”

KIEV, July 02. /ITAR-TASS/. A Sukhoi Su-25 (NATO reporting name Frogfoot) attack aircraft crashed when landing on Wednesday in the airport of the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported.

“During the landing approach, the pilot of the Su-25 plane felt changes in the aircraft’s controllability,” the report said. “The pilot tried to land the plane but had to eject.”

“There were no victims or damage to the airport,” the ministry said.

East Ukraine militia down fighter plane, helicopter gunship, 4 APCs

Other incidents

June 3, popular mayor of Sloviansk Vyacheslav Ponomaryov stated that people’s militia representatives shot down a Su-25 attack jet aircraft abnd a helicopter of Ukrainian Air Force.

June 14, militiamen of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic stated that they managed to down a Su-24 tactical bomber.

“Two Su-24 attacked the office of the Department of the Interior in Horlivka with cluster bombs. One of the jets was shot down with a MANPAD [man-portable air defense system],” a militia representative said. He added that the plane fell outside the town and the pilot managed to eject.

[John Dolva]

Russian Investigative Committee Says 2,700 Proven Victims in Ukrainian Events

02/07/2014

The Russian Investigative Committee has recognized 2,700 victims in criminal cases in the Ukrainian crisis, committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said Wednesday.

MOSCOW, July 2 (RIA Novosti) – Advisors from the United States are actively working in Ukraine and developing Kiev’s strategy, Russian Deputy Security Council Secretary Evgeny Lukyanov told RIA Novosti Wednesday.

“We could say without a doubt that we’re not just talking about American mercenaries, but also intensive activities on Ukrainian territory by the so-called advisors from Washington. I’m referring to US specialists in the reconnaissance field and law enforcement bodies,” Lukyanov said in an interview.

Drawing on his own sources, Lukyanov asserted, that the actions of such councilors are “not limited to advice as they develop strategic policy, and the country's leadership decisions strictly comply with it.”

On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry voiced a similar opinion, suggesting that “external influence” underlay Kiev’s decision to call off the ceasefire in the conflict-torn southeastern regions of Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly criticized its Western partners for their one-sided position on the Ukrainian crisis, urging the US and EU to take into account the interests of all parties involved, including citizens of the southeastern regions of Ukraine, instead of blindly supporting every move the Kiev authorities make.

Early on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced that the armed forces, national guard, border troops and security service are no longer restrained by the ceasefire regime, thus enforcing his decision against another extension of the ceasefire in east Ukraine.

Russia’s envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov called the refusal to extend the ceasefire a "negative sign," inconsistent with the logic of Poroshenko's 15-step peace plan.

[John Dolva]

Thursday, July 3

00:29 GMT:

Kramatorsk and Slavyansk are suffering a humanitarian catastrophe after the Ukrainian army destroyed the central water supply line to both cities, the commander of Slavyansk self-defense, Igor Strelkov, told LifeNews. Water supply is only available from a few wells in the cities.

Outlining the military encounters with Ukrainian forces on Wednesday Strelkov said the village of Nikolayevka came under heavy fire.

Kiev's forces were supported by a “huge number of artillery, ammunition and tanks. They were targeting the militia, but also residential quarters and the water supply pipes,” adding that in Semyonovka, Grad rockets were used.

“We lost more than ten people. The militia managed to destroy a tank. I think in the next few days fighting in this direction will continue,” Strelkov said.

[John Dolva]

Shells devastate entire streets in eastern Ukrainian town (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Published time: July 02, 2014 19:55

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A local resident rescues a dog from a fire in a house destroyed in the Ukrainian armed forces' air attack on the village of Luganskaya. (RIA Novosti/Valeriy Melnikov)

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Eyewitnesses in the Cossack settlement of Luganskaya have accused government forces of carrying out two airstrikes on densely-populated residential areas. Kiev says the devastation is the result of shelling by secessionist forces.

“The first plane appeared at 11 am, and hit the center of the town – destroying the police building, damaging the courthouse, and razing two houses. We won’t know the death toll until the rubble is cleared,” said Vladimir Bilous, the head of the local administration.

Aleksandr shows what he says could be his mother's body.He later shows pieces of neighbors' bodies. #Ukraine#ATOpic.twitter.com/ReFiBnCk0S

— Maria Finoshina (@MFinoshina_RT) July 2, 2014

“At the site of the second strike the situation is even worse: 9 people have died, and 11 have been wounded. Among the victims is a five year-old girl, who with her father. The impact was so strong her legs were blown off. Once again, the exact number of the dead will only become clear later.”

GRAPHIC Locals:this is the body of a father of 5yo.Later at a local hospital we were told the boy died from injuries pic.twitter.com/IgmgcT0XdH

— Maria Finoshina (@MFinoshina_RT) July 2, 2014

Amateur footage from the site shows multiple impact craters, and buildings that lay in ruins. Some of the houses still appear to be on fire, with visibly upset residents consoling each other on the streets.

Luganskaya is home to about 15,000 people, and has not been directly involved in the fighting between government forces and the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Lugansk.

Kiev’s Anti-Terrorist Operation center, which resumed its onslaught on separatist positions earlier this week, has accused pro-Russian forces of unleashing the strikes from the ground to coincide with an aerial patrol.

Local residents escape from a fire in the house destroyed in the Ukrainian armed forces' air attack on the village of Luganskaya. (RIA Novosti/Valeriy Melnikov)

“Today terrorists have deviously fired at civilian areas near Luganskaya,” it said in an official statement on Facebook.

“At the same time, they have accused Ukrainian air forces of executing the attack. But Ukrainian planes were not operating in the area at the time. Only artillery shells were launched by government forces, but at 4 am, and in a direction away from the settlement.”

Local residents in the village of Luganskaya after the Ukrainian armed forces' air attack. (RIA Novosti/Valeriy Melnikov)

On Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities said that 279 people have died in the nearby Donetsk region since the start of fighting this spring – 160 of them civilians. Figures for Lugansk have not been revealed.

The body of a local resident killed in the Ukrainian armed forces' air attack on the village of Luganskaya. (RIA Novosti/Valeriy Melnikov)

The UN also reported last week that more than 110,000 refugees have moved to Russia, and more than 50,000 have been internally displaced as a result of the conflict.

WARNING: Graphic video

On Wednesday, Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France negotiated a new ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, though it is not clear whether separatists in eastern Ukraine will abide by it, or whether Ukrainian forces will stop the operation before they do. A previous ceasefire that ran out last week was marked by intermittent fighting.

A house destroyed in the Ukrainian armed forces' air attack on the village of Luganskaya. (RIA Novosti/Valeriy Melnikov)

[John Dolva]

Moscow, Jul 2 (Prensa Latina) The Foreign Ministry of Russia urged Ukrainian leaders to re-establish ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and stop attacking cities and towns.

• Russia, France, Germany Discuss Ukrainian Crisis in Berlin

In a communique, the Ukrainian authorities are urged "if they are still able to assess reasonably the consequences of their inhuman policy, to give up attacks against peaceful cities and re-establish the ceasefire to save human lives."

The document published on the ministerial webside adds that "solving political problems in Ukraine by annihilating its own citizens is not in line with the standards of the civilized European society to which Kiev intends to belong."

The document denies the justification that this is "humanitarian" use of force, and denounced the high number of victims among civilian population and militiamen.

Meanwhile, the Director of the Social, Economic and Political Studies of Russia, Dmitry Badovski, joined those who are warning against an ethnic cleansing plan against the Russian-speaking people in southeastern Ukraine.

The strategy of authorities in Kiev is to expel its own people from the country, indirectly backed by the West, which refuses to acknowledge the flow of refugees, warned Badovski, who described the situation as extremely serious and tragic.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said at least 110,000 displaced have crossed the border towards Russia while another 54,000 fled their homes to other Ukrainian regions.

Kiev's Emergency Situation Service admitted to have relocated some 25,000 Russian-speaking evacuees from southeastern Ukraine due to the ethnic cleansing strategy launched by the Ukrainian government.

However, US State Department's spokesperson Marie Harf showed a double standard yesterday by questioning the UNHCR report's accuracy and insisting that those were Ukrainians "travelling to Russia to visit their relatives."

sgl/ef/rma/mgt/jpm Modificado el ( miércoles, 02 de julio de 2014 )

[John Dolva]

06:07 GMT:

Several shells fired from Ukrainian territory landed near the Russian border checkpoint at Novoshakhtinsk. They caused mild damage, but no injuries or deaths, spokesman for the Rostov Region’s border guard division of the Federal Security Service Vasily Malaev told ITAR-TASS.

The shells apparently went astray as the Ukrainian troops fired at the militia-controlled checkpoint of Dolzhansky on Thursday morning, which is located on the Ukrainian side of the border.

The Russian checkpoint temporarily suspended its regular operations after the incident.

[John Dolva]

Ukraine law enforcers resume shelling of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region

ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 03. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukrainian shells exploded again at Russian border checkpoint Novoshakhtinsk in the gunfire at border-crossing point Dolzhansky, chief press officer of Federal Security Service border department in southern Russia’s Rostov Region Vasily Malayev told ITAR-TASS on Thursday.

“Shells hit the territory of Russia and exploded, the infrastructure was damaged. The incident occurred at 5.30am Moscow time, no casualties were reported,” Malayev said.

Attack on Gukovo checkpoint in Rostov Region

Russia's Investigative Committee (IC) opened a criminal case over the June 28 shelling of residential houses in Ukraine and checkpoint Gukovo in southern Russia’s Rostov Region.

“The investigation department of the Russian Investigative Committee in the Southern Federal District has filed a criminal case against unidentified offenders for attempted murder and murder of two and more people by an armed group,” IC spokesman Vladimir Markin said.

“According to the investigation, on June 28, servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Ukraine, armed members of the National Guard of Ukraine and militants of the Right Sector were shooting explosive shells from the territory of Ukraine at localities of the Rostov region: Shakhty-24 settlement of the town of Gukovo, Vasetsky farm of the Krasnosulinsky district, as well as Gukovo customs checkpoint with an aim to intended homicide of people located there,” Markin noted.

Gallery

10 photo

End of ceasefire: air strikes in southeast Ukraine

After the incident, traces of impact in the form of a shell crater were discovered near the gates of household No.105 on Kolkhoznaya Street of the Vasetsky farm, where a family of three lives. At least 11 metallic pieces of the shell were found in the crater. The house’s wall was damaged in at least ten spots.

In addition, a household in Shakhty-24 settlement has been partly damaged. Furthermore, there are damages on the administrative facility of the Gukovo customs checkpoint and multiple fragmentation damages from the shell in the service room, according to the investigation representative.

“Noteworthy, Ukrainian servicemen, armed members of the National Guard of Ukraine and Right Sector militants did not consummate their intended actions aimed directly at committing a crime — murdering people in localities of the Rostov region and people being at the customs checkpoint because of circumstances beyond their control. Casualties were avoided only thanks to the fact that all the affected people managed to hide from the shooting in safe places,” Markin emphasized.

An investigation and operational team has been set up to look into the incident. A set of investigative and operational actions is underway in order to identify those, who were shooting, and those, who were giving them orders.

[John Dolva]

MOSCOW, July 02. /ITAR-TASS/. Renewal of the so-called anti-terrorist operation in Ukraine’s east on Tuesday night resulted from pressures by radical nationalists and the overseas “party of war” on President Petro Poroshenko. The Ukrainian leader has thus demonstrated his inability to make independent decisions, and Moscow will review its attitude to Poroshenko, say Russian politicians and experts polled by ITAR-TASS.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that until recently Poroshenko had no connection to the military orders, but now he took on the full responsibility - not only military but political as well. This is much more important, Putin believes.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wondered why at the last moment Kiev refused to announce the statement on the need to prolong truce, agreed on Sunday on the presidents’ instruction by the German, French, Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers — as if some external player had interfered from the outside.

Ukraine failed to announce the joint statement after Poroshenko’s phone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry, State Duma member Vyacheslav Nikonov told ITAR-TASS.

Along with the American factor, Poroshenko’s decision to resume military operations in the rebellious Donetsk and Luhansk regions with use of combat aircraft and heavy artillery was impacted by his milieu and militant groups.

“Before addressing the nation on lifting the ceasefire regime in the east Poroshenko held a Security Council meeting. The group is dominated by hard-liners who support a crackdown on resistance from the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics to Kiev's policies,” the expert said.

The Ukrainian president is being overtly blackmailed and prompted to continue the war by private armies recruited by Ukrainian oligarchs, Nikonov believes. “During a rally in the centre of Kiev, the militants of these armed groups threatened to lynch Poroshenko for pacifism and predicted he would suffer the plight of deposed Viktor Yanukovych,” he told ITAR-TASS.

“It is not to be discounted that Petro Poroshenko decided to resume military actions hoping there was a chance for a sweeping victory over the people's militia after a ten-day truce. If it is true, the president’s peace plan was a forgery from the very start and its sole purpose was to to save strength and defeat the opponents,” Nikonov believes. Moscow, he added, would anyway revise its attitude to Poroshenko who cannot be considered an independent political figure as “he does not stick to agreements and can change his mind within several hours”.

A deputy chairman of the Federation Council's committee on international affairs, Andrey Klimov, believes Poroshenko would hardly dare to issue the order but for pressures from radical members of the new ruling team.

“They came to power through a violent coup and now they feel scared about their own future and what may happen to them if the crackdown in the east fails. Poroshenko’s radical milieu wants to tie him hand and foot with common responsibility for bloodshed the way that is customary among gangsters,” Klimov told ITAR-TASS.

Poroshenko’s team, he added, included the hawks in Washington. “For them ‘the Ukrainian arc of instability’ (an allusion to the African and Arab 'arc of instability’) is a scenario aimed to distract the international community from the US failure in the Middle East, where jihadists have seized a third of Iraq and part of Syria and proclaimed an Islamic caliphate,” the expert said.

Meanwhile, nothing is at stake for the US when it instigates a continued military operation against the people's militia, he believes. “The US infiltrates military advisors and intelligence contractors into Ukraine so that they coordinate the army’s and militants’ actions. Those in Washington know that the heaviest burden from the current crisis in Ukraine will lie on the European Union and Russia. From the US establishment’s point of view, the worse for their rivals, the better for the US,” Klimov said.

“Putin’s speech to the Russian diplomats on Tuesday was the first mention of Poroshenko’s personal responsibility for the bloodshed in Ukraine,” a deputy director of the National Institute for Modern Ideology Development, Igor Shatrov, told the ITAR-TASS Political Analysis Centre. “This means that those holding further talks with the government in Kiev will keep in mind the back thought this government's nature is criminal.

[John Dolva]

‘Thanks, Ukraine Air Force’: Bombarded villagers accuse Kiev of killing civilians

Published time: July 03, 2014 08:51

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A local resident at the scene of the village of Kondrashovka, destroyed by Kiev troops (Still from RT video)

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The village of Kondrashovka in eastern Ukraine lies devastated after shelling by Kiev troops which killed seven people. Bodies torn to pieces are strewn across the settlement and those who survived are asking: why did Kiev kill their families?

Shells devastate entire streets in eastern Ukrainian town (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

At least five artillery shells were dropped, destroying an entire street in the peaceful community in Lugansk Region, located just 25km from the city of Lugansk.

Dramatic footage from RT shows the ravaged village, including a local resident’s backyard which was literally transformed into a grave.

“They killed my mother, and my father is injured. I took him to hospital,” Aleksandr Mironenko, the Kondrashovka backyard’s owner, told RT’s Marina Finoshina.

'I have no money 2 bury my wife!Why she was killed?' We found Aleksandr's father at local hospital. #Ukraine#ATOpic.twitter.com/gqU1kEgNvg

— Maria Finoshina (@MFinoshina_RT) July 2, 2014

Aleksandr was desperately going around the place, showing pieces of human flesh scattered all across the property.

“Come here - can you see this? It's a human body which has been torn to pieces. Let's go and film some more, I'll show you. Bodies everywhere, obviously all of them are terrorists!” he said sarcastically through tears.

Just next door, Kondrashovka residents are telling a tragic story of their friend, who lost his 5-year-old son.

“He celebrated his son’s fifth birthday yesterday, and today, the boy's leg was cut off – I don’t know if he's alive or not,” said Sergey, a neighbor.

“No, no, he died, said another man.

“He died? Yes. Then he died,” adds Sergey.

The streets of Kondrashovka devastated by Kiev troops (Still from RT video)

Few of the village residents were left unharmed by the shelling. One of ‘the lucky ones,’ Andrey, said his family was not home when the shelling started. However, his property was badly damaged. He showed RT the holes from the shells in the fence.

“What do I think? ‘Thank you, Ukrainian Air Force’,” he said, adding that his family would have died had they been there when the attack hit.

Stunned residents ask why the government is targeting their peaceful village. Kiev troops claimed they were killing ‘terrorists’, although here that term would include women, children and the elderly.

“Why? There was nobody here – only peaceful civilians, poor people who worked from dawn till dusk,” says a local woman.

“We are peaceful. We don’t mind Poroshenko being in office,” says Irina Stasyuk, a local resident, “But don’t kill us. There are 12 people here.”

Jet pilot targeted self-defense position 3km from the village,bt made a mistake-Yury,veteran pilot #ATO #Ukrainepic.twitter.com/9aJqSWoUZY

— Maria Finoshina (@MFinoshina_RT) July 2, 2014

Yury, a veteran military pilot, had his own opinion on why the troops targeted the village. He said the aircraft targeted a self-defense base, but either missed or intentionally fired on civilian dwellings.

“The first time the aircraft pilot got it right – there is a self-defense base 3km from here. He hit it,” said Yury. “But the second time, he pulled the trigger a few seconds late - either by mistake, or he received an order to target this village. I don’t know.”

The streets of Kondrashovka devastated by Kiev troops (Still from RT video)

In the meantime, pro-Kiev Azov Battalion deputy commander admitted that the bombardment of Kondrashovka might have been the result of “pilot error.”

“I think there was both pilot error and shelling from outside,” Igor Mosyichuk told Ukraine’s 112 Channel, adding that Kondrashovka turned out to be “between a rock and a hard place” – people’s self-defense forces and Kiev troops.

Even after the attack, the rest of the village is not safe, as during the interviews the cannonade can be distinctly heard.

The village of Kondrashovka destroyed by Kiev troops (Still from RT video)

RT crew visited the local hospital where there was no water and electricity since the local power station was hit in another air raid.

“We received 13 people – four of them are already dead, including a five-year-old, a boy,” Maksim Pavlov from the central hospital told RT.

Among the injured is Ivan Mironenko, a father of Aleksandr, a local resident who earlier spoke to RT.

After Ivan lost his wife in the attack, he doesn’t want to live anymore, saying he sees no point.

“Why was she killed? Why not me? Why is God punishing me like this?” exclaims Ivan, sobbing.

The regions of eastern Ukraine have been continuously targeted by Kiev troops in recent months. On Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities said that 279 people have died in the nearby Donetsk Region since the start of fighting this spring – 160 of them civilians. Figures for Lugansk Region have not been revealed.

Fearing a deepening of the crisis, scores of refugees have left the country. The number of Ukrainian refugees in Russia has reached 110,000 people, the UN’s refugee department stated on June 27.

More destroyed houses - more destroyed lives - more questions. And no answers. #Ukraine#Lugansk#Kondrashovka#ATOpic.twitter.com/5myb4EtTTM

— Maria Finoshina (@MFinoshina_RT) July 2, 2014

[John Dolva]

ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 03. /ITAR-TASS/. A bus terminal and a customs house were damaged by Ukrainian shells fired at Russian border checkpoint Novoshakhtinsk, chief press officer of the southern customs department Rayan Farukshin told ITAR-TASS.

“Two facilities of customs infrastructure were damaged, including the bus terminal building where bus passengers are passing border controls and a terminal where cargo vehicles pass customs clearance operations,” he said. He added that bomb disposal technicians were searching through the buildings for dud ammunition.

Ukrainian shells exploded at Russian border checkpoint Novoshakhtinsk in the gunfire at border-crossing point Dolzhansky. “Shells hit the territory of Russia and exploded, the infrastructure was damaged. The incident occurred at around 5.30am Moscow time, no casualties were reported,” chief press officer of Federal Security Service border department in southern Russia’s Rostov-on-Don Region Vasily Malayev said. In his words, the border checkpoint was suspended.

On Wednesday, July 2, border and customs checkpoint Veselo-Voznesenka in the Rostov Region was closed for security reasons and its personnel was evacuated over the gunfire in Ukraine overnight to Thursday.

On June 28, a shell hit two-way road checkpoint Gukovo in the Rostov Region from Ukraine. All personnel was evacuated.

Apart from road checkpoint Gukovo two shells exploded in the settlement of Vasetsky in Krasny Sulin district and another shell detonated in the settlement of Shakhta-24 on the outskirts of the town of Gukovo.

[John Dolva]

11:17 GMT:

Two Donetsk Railroad employees and a child were killed on Wednesday in the airstrikes launched by Kiev forces near Kondrashevskaya-Novayа station, Donetsk Region, report the officials from the railroad. The officials added that the bombs hit a residential area.

11:08 GMT:

A humanitarian corridor will be created in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, the chairman of the joint parliamentary assembly of these republics, Oleg Tsarev, announced.

“We will surely create humanitarian corridors – in the opposite case, people will die of hunger. We won’t allow it to happen,” Tsarev told the media.

He also claimed that he has no information about the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine, which includes representatives of Kiev, the southeast of the country and the OSCE. Earlier, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that negotiations would take place by July 5.

10:26 GMT:

Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has ratified the choice of President Petro Poroshenko for the new defense minister.

Valery Geletey became head of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on Thursday. Two hundred and sixty members of the Rada voted in favor of Geletey. The 46-year-old colonel-general earlier served as the head of security at the presidential and parliamentary administration.

Poroshenko also appointed General Viktor Muzhenko as a new head of General Staff. His predecessor, Mikhail Kutsyi, earlier received severe injuries and brain concussion in the ongoing military action and is currently in hospital.