Critical Observer

War Criminal Petro Poroshenko says future in Ukraine conflict on 'brittle ice'

<div class="story-body" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #404040; font-family: Helmet, Freesans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div class="story-body__inner" property="articleBody" style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 53.765625px 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/6B53/production/_85157472_028687752-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="President Petro Poroshenko greets people after military parade (24 August)" border="0" class="js-image-replace" datasrc="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/6B53/production/_85157472_028687752-1.jpg" height="549" src="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/6B53/production/_85157472_028687752-1.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; color: #bdbdbd; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 616.203125px;" width="976" /></a><div class="story-body__introduction" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 28px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
President Petro Poroshenko has marked Ukraine's independence day, warning of the need to act carefully in the next year in the face of "Russian aggression".</div>
<div style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 23px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ukraine was walking on "brittle ice" and the smallest false step could be fatal, he said.</div>
<div style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Violence in the two eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk has escalated.</div>
<div style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Russia has denied helping rebels in the east, despite a large body of evidence indicating its involvement.</div>
<div style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
President Poroshenko told Ukrainians that the threat of full-scale invasion remained, asserting that some 50,000 Russian troops were massed on Ukraine's eastern borders with a further 9,000 inside the self-declared rebel republics themselves.</div>
<div style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.0425em; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0.4rem 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<figure class="media-landscape full-width has-caption" style="background-color: #111111; border: 0px; clear: both; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 24px -24.640625px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Ukrainian soldiers in Independence Square, Kiev (24 August)" class="js-image-replace" datasrc="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/117B/production/_85157440_028687845-1.jpg" height="549" src="http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/117B/production/_85157440_028687845-1.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; color: #bdbdbd; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 616.203125px;" width="976" /></figure><figure class="media-landscape full-width has-caption" style="background-color: #111111; border: 0px; clear: both; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 24px -24.640625px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><figcaption class="media-caption" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="media-caption__text" style="border: 0px; color: #ececec; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.23077; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">More than 2,000 Ukrainian servicemen marched in the centre of Kiev</span></figcaption></figure><figure class="media-landscape full-width no-caption" style="border: 0px; clear: both; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 24px -24.640625px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="map" class="js-image-replace" datasrc="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/83397000/png/_83397029_ukraine_rebel_held_areas_03_06_624map_v2.png" height="446" src="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/83397000/png/_83397029_ukraine_rebel_held_areas_03_06_624map_v2.png" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; color: inherit; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 616.203125px;" width="624" /></figure><br />
<div style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Russia has insisted that any of its servicemen in the region are there on a voluntary basis.</div>
<div style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Donetsk rebel spokesman Eduard Basurin said Mr Poroshenko's figures were nonsense, apparently given to put pressure on European leaders ahead of a meeting in Berlin later between the Ukrainian leader, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande of France.</div>
<div style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea last year weeks before the conflict began in Luhansk and Donetsk.</div>
<div style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A ceasefire signed in February is at risk of unravelling because of the recent flare-up in fighting near the Ukrainian port city Mariupol and the rebel-held town of Horlivka.</div>
<div style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Mr Basurin accused Ukraine of moving heavy weapons to the front line and of violating the ceasefire 21 times in one day.</div>
<div style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Almost 7,000 people have died and more than 17,000 have been wounded since the fighting began, according to UN officials.</div>
<div style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Mr Poroshenko said some 2,100 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="share share--lightweight  show ghost-column" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #404040; font-family: Helmet, Freesans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin: 32px 53.765625px 0px auto; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="share-tools" style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a></div>

War Criminal Petro Poroshenko says future in Ukraine conflict on 'brittle ice'

President Petro Poroshenko has marked Ukraine's independence day, warning of the need to act carefully in the next year in the face o...

Read Article »

23 civilians killed by Ukrainian forces by shelling in Donbas last week

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhllm9A5YWN0LQ6DuJmKj1N8PlMtn4vbhUWvC09773ezyUpn1lgYOgiRxitsVUmZGEkcXbrH6jR3xrtu_W45-3r-d_WOGF3hSMltsc52ODBWISWxKPVjmkK4bvfPXKiQMW0IJ1w6FhzUNM/s1600/00000.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhllm9A5YWN0LQ6DuJmKj1N8PlMtn4vbhUWvC09773ezyUpn1lgYOgiRxitsVUmZGEkcXbrH6jR3xrtu_W45-3r-d_WOGF3hSMltsc52ODBWISWxKPVjmkK4bvfPXKiQMW0IJ1w6FhzUNM/s640/00000.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Twenty-three civilians were killed in shellings by Ukrainian forces from August 15 to 21, and 32 more people were injured, the office of the human rights ombudsperson of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said on Monday.<br />
<br />
"On August 15-21, as a result of military actions, 23 people died, among them four women and 19 men. Thirty-two people were hospitalized with injuries of varying severity, among them 24 men and eight women," Donetsk News Agency quoted the office as saying.<br />
<br />
The human rights ombudsperson stressed that among the places subjected to most massive shellings are the town of Gorlovka, settlements of the Telmanovsky district, as well as Donetsk’s Kuybyshevsky, Petrovsky and Kirovsky districts.<br />
<br />
From August 10 to 16, 17 people were killed in shellings by Ukrainian forces, and 45 more were injured, DPR defense ministry spokesman Eduard Basurin said.<br />
<br />
Earlier in August, DPR office of human rights ombudsperson said that almost 1,300 people have been killed in shellings by Ukraine forces in DPR since the beginning of 2015.<br />
<br />
Donbas expects Merkel, Hollande to persuade Poroshenko to return to peace dialogue<br />
OSCE to pass on information on destruction in Gorlovka to international organizations.<br />
<br />
Ceasefire is envisaged by the Minsk agreements on the settlements of the situation in Ukraine. The Minsk accords were signed on February 12, after negotiations in the so-called "Normandy format" in the Belarusian capital Minsk, bringing together Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.<br />
<br />
The Minsk accords also envisage weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local elections in Donbas, constitutional reform in Ukraine and establishing working sub-groups on security, political, economy and humanitarian components of the Minsk accords.<br />
<br />
The Ukrainian forces and the self-defense forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics have repeatedly accused each other of violating ceasefire and other points of the Minsk agreements.<br />
<br />
By TASS News Agency

23 civilians killed by Ukrainian forces by shelling in Donbas last week

Twenty-three civilians were killed in shellings by Ukrainian forces from August 15 to 21, and 32 more people were injured, the office of ...

Read Article »

Full Scale Military Operation by Kiev Forces against Donbass

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdAgqq6aRYAWkkstbPxpVhPFNl8FaDrsDpvI-kLWshVjOp6IV1GXiaRq8kChXaLX-VGYl9LQrQkr5lRPJfyyuDsiuy_I0PrzzC344GqJuKHY8Xj6LCW6ZwKrdcUUd1fC76hTiIL6-VmyA/s1600/120514dhs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdAgqq6aRYAWkkstbPxpVhPFNl8FaDrsDpvI-kLWshVjOp6IV1GXiaRq8kChXaLX-VGYl9LQrQkr5lRPJfyyuDsiuy_I0PrzzC344GqJuKHY8Xj6LCW6ZwKrdcUUd1fC76hTiIL6-VmyA/s640/120514dhs.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #362f2d; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #362f2d; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">DPR Intelligence has released a plan of Kiev to break the Minsk agreements and start a full-scale military operation in Donbass. After artillery preparation fire against positions of the DPR Armed Forces, Kiev military will start an offensive from the Mariupol and Debaltsevo sectors in the direction of the Uspenka settlement to take control of the border with Russia and prevent locals’ from fleeing to Russia. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;">At the very same moment, Kiev forces will advance in the direction of Ilovaisk to encircle Donetsk from the South and North. </span>In the Lugansk direction, pro-Kiev militants are planning to exercise separate military actions against LPR Armed Forces. The aims are to move to block the border with Russia and exclude capacity of LPR military to provide support in the DPR battle ground. Kiev strategists hope to defeat the defenders of Donbass and to destroy people’s republics on account of these actions.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #362f2d; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
On August 20, 3 Kiev cutting edges of military power were formed and established at the contact line. There are 5 separate mechanized brigades, 2 separate batte tank brigades, 1 artillery brigade and 1 group of military rocket launchers systems in the Mariupol sector. The cutting edge includes over 22 000 of the military personnel, more than 130 battle tanks, 560 APCs, 55 MLRS units, 200 artillery guns and mortars, 720 armor-defeating weapons.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #362f2d; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">
Full Article: <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/all-out-war-on-russias-doorstep-full-scale-military-operation-by-kiev-forces-against-donbass/5470873">http://www.globalresearch.ca/all-out-war-on-russias-doorstep-full-scale-military-operation-by-kiev-forces-against-donbass/5470873</a></div>

Full Scale Military Operation by Kiev Forces against Donbass

DPR Intelligence has released a plan of Kiev to break the Minsk agreements and start a full-scale military operation in Donbass. Aft...

Read Article »