Ukraine troops flee post in Luhansk after running out of ammunition
Source: Guardian
Ukrainian forces have abandoned a military outpost in the eastern city of Luhansk after running out of ammunition during a 10-hour battle with pro-Russia militants, its national guard has said.
Officials said six militants had been killed and three Ukrainian servicemen injured in fighting overnight.
Violence in eastern Ukraine has escalated following the 25 May presidential election won by billionaire confectionery magnate Petro Poroshenko, with rebels launching an attack on an airport and shooting down a government helicopter elsewhere.
Ukrainian troops on Tuesday launched an offensive against pro-Russia insurgents in Slavyansk.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/04/ukraine-troops-flee-luhansk-pro-russia-forces
Not enough ammunition for two civil wars ?
About a year ago, according to the Journals story, a former US defense department official named Joseph Schmitz approached the leader of the rebel Free Syrian Army. He offered to give them 70,000 assault rifles from Ukraine and 21 million rounds of ammunition, for which an unnamed Saudi prince would foot the bill. Given that the fighting force of the Syrian rebels is estimated at perhaps 100,000 strong, it would have been a substantial injection of firepowerthough it would not solve the air superiority problem. At the time, the US government was dithering over whether to provide much in the way of weapons at all, given the risks that they might reach anti-American groups or fail to change the dynamics of the conflict.
+
Schmitz, who had worked as the independent auditor for the US Defense Department, left that job in 2005 after coming under Congressional criticism for close relationships to contractors he supervised; no wrong-doing was ever identified. He became the the general counsel for Blackwater, the notorious US mercenary firm, before going into private practice as an attorney. Last year, the Journal reports, he somehow arose as the middleman between the unnamed Saudi benefactor, two unnamed US weapons brokers, and whoever owned those weapons and the capacity to transport them to Syria.
+
This all came to a halt, according to the Journal, when a US spy in Jordan apparently told one of Schmitzs partners that the US government didnt want any freelance arms dealing in Syria. This was before Schmitz had applied to the State Department for an official license to broker such weapons sales overseas, which he said he intended to do all along, though both arms trafficking experts and members of the Syrian opposition were skeptical of his approach. Soon, evidence that Syria had used chemical weapons against civilians in rebel-held areas loosened US restrictions. Now, the US is directly supplying training and an unknown amount of small arms and anti-tank weapons to select Syrian rebels across the border from Jordanbut still no anti-aircraft missiles.
http://qz.com/211603/how-ukrainian-arms-dealing-connects-to-syrias-bloody-civil-war/
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)(Reuters) - Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday he would announce a plan for the peaceful resolution of the conflict in the east of the country soon after his inauguration on Saturday.
"Very quickly after the presidential inauguration we are ready to present our plan for the peaceful solution of the situation in the east," he told reporters after meeting U.S. President Barack Obama in the Polish capital.
He gave no details of what that solution might involve. Previously Ukrainian officials have said they are willing to seek talks with pro-Russian separatist rebels in the east, but could not find suitable negotiating partners.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/06/04/uk-ukraine-crisis-poroshenko-resolution-idUKKBN0EF0UY20140604
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Or maybe he's not in charge yet. Who is in charge?
bemildred
(90,061 posts)And I don't know how much power he will have once he is installed in office either.
He sends ambiguous messages, but I sense frustration too. Just don't know what sort of frustration yet.
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)When will he be able to take control over military?
This is the problem, this is the reason why Yanukovich was so much against the return to the constitution of 2004. According to that constitution the president cant do anything without approval of the Parliament and the prime minister is a much more important figure. The president may ask the parliament to remove the prime minister but Poroshenko already said he would keep Arseny Yatsenyuk as the prime minister. First, Poroshenko doesnt have the power to stop the war. Second, I am afraid he is going the wrong way instead of speaking about a dialogue with the protesting movements in the East, he keeps saying the same thing that I heard from Georgians and from Moldovans 20 years ago: first we win, and then we negotiate with Russia that nothing like that would happen again.
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_05_26/US-and-EU-wanted-Poroshenko-to-become-Ukrainian-president-political-analyst-8402/
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Thanks for the info.
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)I'd like to see more substantiation. (Not that I doubt, but a link to VoR will produce the usual yang-yanging even if it's just a weather report.)
So could this be why the government of neoliberals + fascists called a presidential and not a parliamentary election?
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)The first will be to put together a parliamentary majority capable of supporting his reform vision. This has become essential with parliament's powers once again increased under the restored 2004 constitution.
Poroshenko's preference would be to keep Arseny Yatsenyuk as prime minister, not least because of the credibility he has established with the IMF and Western governments, while broadening the government to include former Party of the Regions people from the east.
But, as leader of Yatsenyuk's Batkivshchyna party, Tymoshenko may have other ideas if she calculates that opposition would suit her personal interests better. It may take a painful split within the democratic bloc followed by a major realignment and new parliamentary elections in the autumn before Poroshenko gets the government he wants.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/23/business/ukraine-presidential-elections/
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)Poroshenko is not yet inaugurated. That doesn't necessarily mean the government changes. It would be up to him to call for a new prime minister, and apparently this isn't guaranteed (as I'm now learning due to the terms of the newly reinstutituted 2004 constitution).
Hard to say what he'd do, but as for the most democratically legitimated figure for the mement, let us hope he will dismiss the coup crew and offer peace, an end to the politics of ethnic division, a federalist solution, and immediate parliamentary elections for a new government that includes the East. (Maybe the billionaire chocolate oligarch will even open a serious debate about the trade agreements and the IMF-EU austerity plan. Why not dream, inaugurations are always about false hopes?)
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)Ukrainian President-Elect Petro Poroshenko has said that he is ready to sign the economic part of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union as soon as he is officially sworn in as president of Ukraine.
http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/poroshenko-is-going-to-sign-economic-deal-with-eu-immediately-after-inauguration-350651.html
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)Donetsk, Ukraine (CNN) -- Conflicting accounts emerged Wednesday from heightened fighting in eastern Ukraine, with a Ukrainian government official claiming forces loyal to Kiev had inflicted heavy losses on separatists and a pro-Russia official boasting that militants had downed government jets and helicopters.
A Ukrainian government spokesman claimed that more than 300 pro-Russia militants had been killed and at least 500 wounded during an ongoing Ukrainian military operation in the towns of Chervoniy Liman and Slovyansk.
The self-declared separatist mayor of Slovyansk, however, said only 10 separatist fighters had died and 12 were injured in the fighting.
CNN could not immediately confirm either report.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/04/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/
bemildred
(90,061 posts)MOSCOW, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Russia said Wednesday it was not mulling a proposal to have the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) impose a no-fly zone in eastern Ukraine.
"At the current stage, we are not considering such an initiative," deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov told reporters, adding western countries would not back the proposal.
Russia submitted a draft resolution on Ukraine to the UNSC Monday, proposing talks to end the violence and create humanitarian corridors in that country.
"Unfortunately, our western partners did not support the Russian initiative, as they consider that there are no humanitarian problems in eastern Ukraine," RIA Novosti news agency quoted Gatilov as saying.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-06/04/c_133383677.htm
bemildred
(90,061 posts)President Vladimir Putin offered the first face-to-face talks with Barack Obama since pro-Russian separatists unleashed an insurgency thats claimed almost 200 lives in Ukraine.
The Russian leader, who rejected accusations his military is present in Ukraine, said hes ready to meet Obama this week in France during 70th-anniversary commemorations of the allied landings in the north of the country in World War II. Meanwhile, Obama met Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko in Warsaw, where he pledged to step up non-lethal military aid.
Thats his choice -- Im ready for dialogue, Putin said, according to an excerpt of an interview with French radio Europe 1 and the TF1 television channel posted today on Europe 1s website. I hope this isnt a new phase of the Cold War.
The U.S. and the European Union are at odds with Russia over Ukraine, where the government is reinforcing the nations borders to stem an influx of fighters into its easternmost regions. Poroshenko, wholl be inaugurated on June 7, has said hell bolster a military operation to counter the separatist groups that control swathes of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-04/putin-offers-to-meet-obama-as-east-ukraine-battles-rage.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)The Ukrainian government said Wednesday it is developing a plan to impose martial law in eastern Ukraine, signaling its resolve to continue pushing with the fight against a pro-Russian separatist rebellion that has raged for weeks.
The move would allow the government to evacuate civilians from militant-controlled areas, freeing up Ukraine's armed forces to begin a full-scale military operation to regain control.
Ukraine has accused rebel forces of hiding behind civilians, which has slowed the government's advance. As the government has stepped up its fight in the past week, there have been increasing incidents of civilians being hurt.
"This is a real war, and what we are doing is upgrading the legal status to match the reality," said Victoria Siumar, deputy secretary of the council. "There is a decision to call things by their proper name."
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/ukraine-plans-martial-law-in-east-20140604-00331
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)You would think they would look at Syria or Libya and think better of it.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Fighters from Russia's Caucasus region have joined the separatists in eastern Ukraine, while Kiev has intensified its efforts to win back control of the region. Just 10 days after the presidential election there, the conflict is quickly turning into a war.
The man with the full, black beard looks satisfied, sitting on his wooden chair. He is wearing a white-striped baseball cap and his Kalashnikov sits on the table beside him. Fighters refer to him respectfully as "Komandir." His casual hand signals determine who is allowed into the headquarters of the regional administration of Donetsk and who is not. In response to questions, the Komandir answers in Russian, with a strong Caucasian accent.
Is he the boss here? "Yes, apparently." But he's not from here? "As you can see." Then, his mobile phone rings and he speaks in a Caucasian language. Is it Chechen? "Why do you want to know, my friend?"
After months of obfuscation, Russia's direct involvement in eastern Ukraine is becoming visible. And last week, it became clearer than ever that Russian and Chechen mercenaries are supporting the separatists in Donetsk, fighting side-by-side with Ukrainians against troops sent by Kiev. At first, the presence of Russian fighters was but a rumor, but then, last Thursday, a column of vehicles carrying 34 coffins draped with red cloth left Donetsk heading for the border. Two-thirds of the some 50 rebels who died in heavy fighting 10 days ago were Russian citizens.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/fighting-intensifies-in-eastern-ukraine-as-kiev-advances-a-973304.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Moscow (AFP) - Russia's gas giant Gazprom said Wednesday it was giving Ukraine an extra day to start paying for gas ahead of time or risk a cut in its supply.
"On the request of Ukrainian side, the deadline for regulating the problems on payments has been postponed to June 10 because June 9 is a public holiday in Ukraine," Gazprom said in a statement.
The announcement came after chief executive Alexei Miller held talks with the head of Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz, Andriy Kobolev, in Berlin.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/world/a/24151439/
bemildred
(90,061 posts)A pro-Russian group takes control of a Ukrainian post in Luhansk, Ukraine. The rebels collected large amounts of weapons and ammunition left behind by the Ukrainian troops.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/pro-russian-rebels-seize-ukrainian-military-compound-n122391
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by the continuing abduction of journalists in eastern Ukraine and Crimea and urges the Russian and Ukrainian authorities and all militias active in the region to respect and protect journalists regardless of the editorial policies of the media they work for.
Two journalists kidnapped and beaten in Crimea
Two journalists with the Centre for Investigative Reporting in the Crimean capital of Simferopol, reporter Sergei Mokrushin and producer Vladlen Melnikov, were arrested at around 8 p.m. on 2 June by members of a self-defence militia, who took them to their headquarters, beat them, and examined the contents of their mobile phones and social network accounts.
Mokrushin received repeated blows to the abdomen and lower back while Melnikovs head was smashed against a pane of glass. The journalists said two local politicians were present while they were being beaten. The mistreatment only stopped when policemen arrived and took them away to a police station.
http://en.rsf.org/ukraine-more-journalists-abducted-in-04-06-2014,46399.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)NEAR SLAVIANSK, Ukraine, June 4 (Reuters) - Ukrainian government forces battled separatists with artillery and automatic weapons on Wednesday as fighting raged for a second straight day in and around the eastern town of Slaviansk, forcing many frightened residents to flee.
The Kiev government, trying to break rebellions by pro-Russia militias which it fears could lead to dismemberment of the country, said more than 300 rebels had been killed in the past 24 hours in the "anti-terrorist operation" centred on the town, a strategically located separatist stronghold.
Rebels denied this and said losses by the Ukrainian side during a government offensive which began on Tuesday exceeded theirs.
At an army checkpoint on the edge of the town, the crash of heavy artillery shelling could be heard and a plume of black smoke rose above the outskirts. Sustained bursts of automatic gunfire rattled out from leafy areas in nearby fields.
http://www.trust.org/item/20140604140941-7i6jt/
bemildred
(90,061 posts)WARSAW (Reuters) - Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday he would try to secure support at meetings with world leaders in France this week for a plan to end violence in eastern Ukraine, and may discuss the question with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Unveiling the first details of his plan after discussing it with U.S. President Barack Obama on a visit to Poland, Poroshenko said it would involve de-centralisation of power to the region, local elections, and an amnesty offer.
Ukrainian leaders have mooted similar proposals in the past but they have been quickly discarded, and failed to stem clashes between pro-Russian separatists and government forces, which have been mounting this week.
---
"As things stand now, a meeting between me and Putin is not envisaged, but I do not rule out that it could take place in one format or another," Poroshenko told a news conference in Warsaw, where he earlier had talks with Obama.
https://in.news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-president-possible-ill-meet-putin-week-182432483.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)BRUSSELS, June 4 (KUNA) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday said in Brussels that "we are starting the G7 Summit this evening. The G7 has stuck together well in the past weeks regarding the issue which will be discussed today - Ukraine and Russia." Speaking to reporters ahead of the G7 dinner meeting, she said" we will discuss this topic and other foreign affairs issues today, and we will see, firstly, how we can now support Ukraine after its presidential election; secondly, how to continue the talks with Russia about the necessary actions to take; and thirdly, if all of this does not work out, to signal the possibility of further actions." Tomorrow the G7 will discuss the topics of world economy, climate and energy, she added.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2380935&Language=en
bemildred
(90,061 posts)PARIS: President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet Ukraine's president elect on the sidelines of the D-Day commemorations in France, the Russian leader said in an interview broadcast here on Wednesday.
Asked if he would meet and shake hands with Petro Poroshenko in Normandy on Friday if that could be organised by French President Francois Hollande, Putin replied: "I don't plan to avoid anyone."
Speaking to France's TF1 station at his dacha in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Putin added: "There will be other guests, and I'm not going to avoid any of them. I will talk with all of them."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2014/Jun-04/258901-putin-says-ready-to-meet-new-ukraine-president-in-france.ashx
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Luhansk, Ukraine: Pro-Russian insurgents dislodged government troops from three bases in eastern Ukraine, a new blow to beleaguered armed forces as its president-elect vowed new initiatives to help end the regional mutiny.
Billionaire candy magnate Petro Poroshenko, speaking in Warsaw, rejected the interim authorities' proposal to introduce a martial law in Ukraine's restive east. He said he would seek to pacify the regions with an offer of amnesty and a promise of early regional elections.
The move follows nearly two months of fighting in the region, where pro-Russia rebels have seized government buildings, declared two sprawling provinces independent and fought government forces.
Poroshenko's offer, expected to be detailed in his inaugural address on Saturday, came as the Ukrainian troops suffered a series of humiliating setbacks on Wednesday.
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/rebels-seize-three-government-bases-in-eastern-ukraine-536156?curl=1401907268
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)Royal Dutch Shell Plc has halted drilling for shale gas in eastern Ukraine to protect its personnel from clashes between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army.
Shell is taking a time-out on exploration work after drilling two wells since the Hague-based explorer signed a production-sharing agreement last year, Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in London.
Europes largest oil company has an exploration license for the 8,000-square-kilometer (3,100-square-mile) Yuzivska field in the eastern provinces where hundreds of people have died as armed separatists try to split from Ukraine and join Russia. The companys operations are more exposed that those of Chevron Corp, which is exploring the Oleska field in western Ukraine.
http://www.naturalgaseurope.com/shell-ukraine-shale-wells
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Amid rising death tolls in eastern Ukraine, the head of a pro-Russian rebel group expressed disappointment Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin hadn't sent in more troops.
"The only possible help for us would be if the Russian forces came," said Dmitry Boitsov of the Russian Orthodox Army from Slaviansk, Ukraine where fighting has been raging for two straight days.
"If he doesn't bring in forces, there will be people here who would want to destroy him, because he gave us false hope."
The Russian Orthodox Army is a newly formed militia group that is one of several armed rebel groups fighting in Ukraine's chaotic east. They are in dire need of help, Boitsov said.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/pro-russia-rebels-ukraine-say-putin-gave-us-false-hope-n122456
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Group of Seven leaders are poised to spare Russia further sanctions for now, giving the Kremlin another chance to cut off support to the pro-Moscow separatists seeking to break up Ukraine.
The worlds leading industrial democracies will urge Russia to accelerate the withdrawal of its troops from Ukraines border and warn that we stand ready to intensify targeted sanctions in the absence of a peaceful settlement, according to a draft text obtained by Bloomberg News before a two-day G-7 meeting in Brussels.
Russias seizure of Crimea and menace to eastern Ukraine led the U.S. and European Union to impose asset freezes and travel bans on 98 people and 20 companies, while stopping short of broader curbs on investment and trade that might damage western economies as well.
Debate over further penalties is seething in the 28-nation EU, which relies on Russia for 30 percent of its natural gas supply. Germany has faced down business leaders over sanctions and gas customers such as Slovakia have opposed a tougher line, while France has gone ahead with the sale of two Mistral helicopter carriers to the Russian navy.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-04/g-7-to-keep-next-russia-sanctions-on-hold-urge-dialogue.html
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)US weapons brokers and ability to transport the weapons to Syria.
I thought Americans were banned from selling crap to Syria? Why did our DOD look the other way? Who caused the weapon shortage in Ukraine?
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)Ukraine's military problems
...
Congress approved funding for weapons deliveries to the Syrian rebels in classified sections of defense appropriations legislation, two sources familiar with the matter said. It was not clear when the funding was approved, but unclassified defense funding passed Congress in late December.
Some additional budget tweaks may be necessary to ensure that all the approved funding is fully available for disbursement during the current fiscal year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/27/us-usa-syria-rebels-idUSBREA0Q1S320140127
..
The woeful state of Ukraines military can be blamed on corruption, Kievs shaky commitment to national defense and a policy of selling the best weapons to gain cold hard cash, analysts say.
The shortfall is surprising given that Ukraines large defense industrial complex produces tanks, anti-armor weapons, radars and spare parts.
Theyve been doing it to themselves, said Olga Oliker, a national security policy analyst at the Rand Corp. Its a corrupt, broken system. And theyre not putting money or resources into it. Things have been getting siphoned off.
Kiev has raised defense spending from $1.45 billion in 2009 to $1.9 billion last year, according to Janes Defense Weekly. Some of the money apparently is being diverted: On the list of military needs are essentials such as blankets and food.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/23/sold-out-ukraines-leadership-swapped-best-military/#
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Russia. Reports at that time was the abandoned palace and mansions had huge stockpiles of cash and extremely expensive items left behind.
Isn't Russia the one who always sold major military items to Syria? Perhaps Putin had a few Ukraine buddies with connections and they sold off Ukraine's military supplies too.
It is a mess. I hope Ukraine can move away from the corruption. Their country would have a much better future as a full member of the EU.
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)cables
...
In February 2006 state prosecutors opened a criminal case against Turchynov and his SBU deputy Andriy Kozhemyakin for destroying a file about FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive, organized crime boss Semyon Mogilevich, from the SBU archive. The case was dismissed four months later.[28] WikiLeaks documents mention Turchynov, then head of Ukraine's SBU, as having destroyed documents implicating Yulia Tymoshenko's alleged connections to Mogilevich.[29]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleksandr_Turchynov
During this period he was a deputy of the Our Ukraine political party and chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine. Sheila Guoltni, US deputy Ambassador to Ukraine, told the US Department of State on May 26, 2006 that the image of Poroshenko was discredited by "credible accusations of corruption." Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko accused Poroshenko, an ally of Viktor Yushchenko during the Ukraine's Orange Revolution, of lobbying for his own interests. Thus, Poroshenko was ousted as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine because of a conflict with Timoshenko and the Verkhovna Rada.
In the dispatch of February 16, 2006, John Herbst, US Ambassador to Ukraine, called Poroshenko "an oligarch, who had disgraced himself." On June 21, 2006, the next US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor characterized him as "unpopular politician, who had been supported by the party members due to his business activity." One month later, Taylor wrote that the Our Ukraine political party had followed the advice of "Poroshenko, who personifies all the weaknesses of the party", instead of nominating a young and perspective deputy for the elections.
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_05_29/US-diplomats-call-newly-elected-Ukrainian-President-Poroshenko-disgraceful-oligarch-WikiLeaks-0773/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/05/29/the-not-very-nice-things-u-s-officials-used-to-say-about-ukraines-new-president/