Critical Observer

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

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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. 
 
"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. 
 
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. 
 
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. 
 
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. 
 
Donbas expects Merkel, Hollande to persuade Poroshenko to return to peace dialogue 
OSCE to pass on information on destruction in Gorlovka to international organizations. 
 
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. 
 
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. 
 
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. 
 
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 ...

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Pakistan turning away from US, warming up to Moscow

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Latest geopolitical dynamics encouraged Moscow and Islamabad that stood in a tough opposition to each other in the 1980's over Afghanistan, "to mend fences", The Wall Street Journal said in an article published on Thursday. 
 
"On Thursday, Pakistan said it would buy four Russian Mi-35 attack helicopters for an undisclosed price, after a spate of high-level visits between the two countries," the newspaper said. 
It also recalled that Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed hope of establishing a multidimensional relationship with Russia, which would encompass defence, trade and the energy sector, while attending Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Ufa earlier this summer. 
 
"Pakistan has decided that although America will remain important, it must have other alternatives," said the diplomat, Zafar Hilaly. 
 
A pipeline carrying imported natural gas from Karachi to Lahore is asymbol of the rising new relationship between Pakistan and Russia, the article said.The pipeline will help Pakistan cope with the current energy shortages. 
 
The new pipeline is to be completed by 2018. It will be able to carry 2 billion cubic feet of gas a day. This is equivalent to about a half of Pakistan’s current gas production from its domestic fields. 
"The Russian pipeline would represent Moscow's first major project in Pakistan since the early 1970s, when the Soviet Union helped build a steel mill in Karachi during a brief warming of relations that followed the election of a left-leaning leader in Islamabad," the WSJ said.

Pakistan turning away from US, warming up to Moscow

Latest geopolitical dynamics encouraged Moscow and Islamabad that stood in a tough opposition to each other in the 1980's over Afghan...

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