Fighting is continuing to rage in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk as the military dismissed calls for a ceasefire by pro-Russian rebels.
At least one person was killed and 10 injured as government shelling continued throughout Sunday in the rebel-held city, despite an appeal by a rebel leader for a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds.
According to reporters, more than 10 residential buildings, as well as a hospital and a shop, were heavily damaged by overnight shelling.
At least 25 loud explosions occured in as many minutes around noon on Sunday.
Ukraine's military spokesman told the Reuters news agency a cessation of fighting would only occur if the rebels raised "white flags" and surrendered.
On Saturday, rebel leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko called for a ceasefire to avert a "humanitarian catastrophe," but his request was met warily by both the Ukrainian government in Kiev and the West.
The calls for a ceasefire have been seen as a way of pressuring Ukraine to allow in a Russian aid mission. The West says that could be used as a pretext to bring Russian soldiers into Ukraine.
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko and Western leaders have repeatedly accused Moscow of providing arms and expertise to the rebels, something Russia denies.
Fighting in Donetsk has forced at least 300,000 of the city's one million residents to flee.
- "This is a real war! It's impossible to live in this city, I've been sleeping in the basement for the past week," Inna Drobyshevskaya, a 48-year-old lawyer said.
- "We don't want Novorossiya for this price," she said, referring to a term used by rebels to describe the parts of eastern Ukraine seeking independence from the government in Kiev.
Russia releases Ukrainians
Russia has released another five Ukrainian soldiers who crossed into the country last week and handed them over to Ukraine.
Moscow claimed they had surrendered and were switching sides, but Kiev said they were forced to withdraw over the border after running out of ammunition in battles with the separatists.
- "At 1.40 am, Russia handed over to Ukrainian border guards five troops ... who had been illegally detained on the territory of the Russian Federation," the council's spokesman Andriy Lysenko said.
- Russian investigators had originally accused the soldiers of using heavy weapons indiscriminately, wounding or killing at least 10 civilians and destroying 20 homes in the region near the eastern Ukrainian rebel-held city of Lugansk.
War crimes charges would have carried penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/08/fighting-rages-donetsk-despite-truce-call-2014810111528678584.html
10/8/14
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Ukraine says no cease-fire until separatists surrender. ("If white flags come up and they lay down their arms").......
ReplyDeleteA Ukrainian military spokesman on Sunday dismissed a call for a cease-fire by a separatist leader, saying this could only take place once rebels had shown "white flags" and surrendered.
Meanwhile the separatists stepped back from their earlier talk of a possible cease-fire and said the Ukrainian army first had to end military action.
Government forces on Sunday tightened the circle around the rebels' main redoubt, the big industrial city of Donetsk. Residents there reported heavy shelling from early in the morning.
A senior leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic had said on Saturday that the rebels were ready for a truce with government forces to allow humanitarian aid to be brought in.
Replying to a journalist's question on Sunday, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said: "If there is this initiative, it should be carried out by practical means and not by words - by raising white flags and by putting down guns."
"We have not seen these practical steps yet," he said........................http://www.ellanodikis.net/2014/08/ukraine-says-no-cease-fire-until.html
La question de l'acheminement de l'aide humanitaire à l'Est de l'Ukraine est contrôlée par le président russe Vladimir Poutine, a déclaré le ministre russe des Affaires étrangères Sergueï Lavrov....
ReplyDeleteSelon Lavrov, la Russie est en train de négocier avec l'Ukraine, le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge et les Nations Unies la livraison urgente de l'aide humanitaire à l'Est de l'Ukraine.
Samedi, le président d'Ukraine Piotr Porochenko a indiqué lors d’une conversation téléphonique avec la chancelière Angela Merkel qu'il envisageait la possibilité d'envoyer de l'aide humanitaire à l'Est du pays. Entre-temps, Kiev a rejeté l'idée concernant la livraison des frets humanitaires vers l’Ukraine orientale par un convoi russe sous contrôle international.
Lire la suite: http://french.ruvr.ru/news/2014_08_10/La-Russie-est-en-train-de-negocier-l-aide-au-Donbass-avec-lUkraine-la-Croix-Rouge-et-lONU-9323/
10/8/14
Il ministro degli Affari Interni dell'Ucraina Arsen Avakov ha fornito i dati aggiornati del dicastero riguardo le perdite durante l'operazione militare nella Donbass. I dati sono riportati nel sito web ufficiale del ministero degli Interni....
ReplyDeleteSecondo i dati ufficiali di Kiev, fino alla mattina del 9 agosto si contano 46 vittime (25 combattenti della Guardia Nazionale e 21 uomini delle forze speciali del ministero degli Interni). I feriti sono 225 (152 combattenti della Guardia Nazionale e 73 uomini delle forze speciali del ministero degli Interni).
Per saperne di più: http://italian.ruvr.ru/news/2014_08_10/Il-ministero-degli-Interni-dellUcraina-rivela-le-perdite-nel-Donbass-7552/
10/8/14