7 Ukrainian troops killed; rebels drive tanks
Source: AP-EXCITE
By MARKO DOBRNJAKOVIC and NATALIYA VASILYEVA
YANAKIYEVE, Ukraine (AP) Seven Ukrainian troops were killed in overnight fighting in the restive east, an official said Friday, as clashes between government forces and pro-Russia rebels flared ahead of the publication of a presidential peace plan that includes a unilateral cease-fire.
Separatists who want to split from the government in Kiev were operating tanks in the region, a particular sore point for Ukraine, which accuses Russia of letting the vehicles and other heavy weaponry cross the border.
Vladislav Seleznev, spokesman for Ukrainian forces in the east, said in addition to the deaths, 30 troops were injured in fighting near the village of Yampil in the Donetsk region. He said 300 rebels were killed, but that could not be immediately verified.
An Associated Press reporter saw pro-Russia fighters moving in a column with two tanks and three armored personnel carriers near the town of Yanakiyeve in the direction of Horlivka in the separatist Donetsk region. The tanks flew small flags of a pro-Russia militia but otherwise had no markings. The fighters declined to say what they were doing, other than it was a "secret operation."
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140620/eu--ukraine-b6d491d3b6.html
Pro-russian troops ride on a tank on a road in the direction of Donetsk not far from Debaltseve, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Friday, June 20, 2014. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Turbineguy
(37,386 posts)All my friends know how to drive a tank.
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)newer tanks are just like a car. Older ones are just like construction equipment.
Igel
(35,383 posts)If you don't have a tank to carry them in?
Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)Russian media is claiming the tanks came from a Ukrainian military depot in Artemivsk. Except the Russians (not calling them separatists; the majority of people killed in the Donetsk airport fight were Russian, so I'm calling them what they in fact are) have tried multiple times to get into that depot and failed so far.
They really do have to work on transparency: making their lies less transparent.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Pro-Russian militias in Ukraine are vastly outmanned by the Ukrainian army, and theyve paid a steep price on the battlefield since the war began in February. But the militia groups recently scored something of a coup. They appear to have landed some tanks.
Theres just one problem with their prized new acquisition: they dont have anyone who knows how to operate them.
http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine-abroad/vocativ-someone-who-knows-how-to-operate-a-tank-wanted-in-east-ukraine-352774.html
We interviewed to be a tank driver for the separatists in Ukraine
As we wrote about earlier, separatists in Ukraine have finally gotten their hands on some tanks, but theres a hitch: they dont have anyone to operate them. To solve that problem, the Ukrainian militia groups have taken out an ad on several media sites requesting drivers, gunners and mechanics, and even listing a number to call for more details.
http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine-abroad/vocativ-we-interviewed-to-be-a-tank-driver-for-the-separatists-in-ukraine-352779.html
Aristus
(66,487 posts)"Gots ta pertect ourselves frum th'gubmint!"
bemildred
(90,061 posts)(Reuters) - Ukraine's defence chief said on Friday government forces had regained control of the border with Russia and could stop supplies being sent to arm pro-Russian separatists, but fighting raged for a second day.
A spokesman for government forces said about 300 separatists had been killed in fighting on Thursday in an eastern area about 100 km (60 miles) from the border where fighting continued on Friday. Ukrainian forces had lost seven servicemen.
The rebel casualties could not be verified independently.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko meanwhile prepared for a round of high diplomacy to sell a peace plan to allies and adversaries alike in a bid to end the rebel insurgency that threatens the unity of the country.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/06/20/ukraine-crisis-defence-idINKBN0EV1EU20140620?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=401
bemildred
(90,061 posts)(CNN) -- A cease-fire by Ukrainian forces who are fighting separatists in the east is in effect immediately, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced Friday. The cease-fire will remain in place until June 27, and the military will only respond if attacked. The cease-fire period is for separatists to lay down their weapons, or else be "destroyed," the President said.
(CNN) -- Ukrainian forces have completed an operation to close off the country's eastern border with Russia, the speaker of Ukraine's parliament told lawmakers on Friday.
Oleksandr Turchynov's announcement, citing Ukraine's Defense Ministry, came a day after NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO had seen a "new Russian military buildup" near the border with Ukraine.
This, Rasmussen said, involved "at least a few thousand more Russian troops deployed to the Ukrainian border, and we see troop maneuvers in the neighborhood of Ukraine."
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/20/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/