Dmitry Tymchuk: Updates from the ceasefire zone, 9/12

March 3 – 3 Ukrainian military were killed and 9 wounded in the ATO area in the last 24 hours, – said NSDC spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

March 3 – National Regulatory Committee for Energy and Utilities has increased the minimum rate for natural gas used by general public for heating by 3.3 times.

March 3 – President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has urged the EU to refrain from premature optimism and continue to pressure the parties to Minsk agreements in order to implement the latter.

March 3 – Deputy General Prosecutor of Ukraine and Chief Military Prosecutor Anatoliy Matios has announced that 17 thousand deserters from the Armed Forces who evaded military service will be prosecuted.

March 3 – Oblasts of Ukraine where attempts to destabilize the situation are highly possible, remain under control of Security Service of Ukraine (SSU). Russian misinformers are spreading the rumours that Russian terrorist Girkin who started the occupation of Donbas, will soon reappear in Odesa.

March 3 – The price for 1 USD has dropped to 25 UAH.

March 3 – The EU and Russia have agreed to resume a trilateral dialogue on association agreement of Kyiv and Brussels; the date and place of the meeting will soon be agreed upon, – said the Minister for Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev after a meeting with European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström. I wonder if Ukrainian government officials know about this? Putin has proved his point – both the EU and Ukraine are waiting for his decision.

March 3 – Russia is seriously violating human rights in Crimea and is not adhering to the Minsk agreements which causes a difficult humanitarian situation in Eastern Ukraine. This was stated by the assistant of Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Serhiy Kyslytsia in his appearance at the United Nations 28th Session of the Council of Human Rights, informs U.N. news center. According to him, on the Crimean peninsula, there are arrests and persecution of Crimean Tatars going on. He claims that 10,000 Crimean Tatars were forced to leave Crimea and to escape to

Ukraine's mainland. Kyslytsia appealed to the U.N., and in particular, to the U.N.Council on Human Rights "not to permit Russia to trnsform Crimea into an isolated army camp, and its residents into prisoners."

March 2 – 1 Ukrainian military was killed and 4 injured in the ATO area during the last 24 hours, – informed NDSC spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

March 2 – In the last 24 hours Russian terrorists have fired at ATO position 32 times, – said Head of the Press Center of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vladyslav Seleznyov. ATO spokesman Anatoliy Stelmakh has also stated that the militants used artillery and mortars 14 times (the weapons that should have been withdrawn).

March 2 – President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has requested that the Parliament of Ukraine increases the number of servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to 250 thousand persons.

March 2 – There will be no court hearings regarding Ukrainian MP detained during the mourning rally in Moscow Oleksiy Goncharenko. Russia's Ministry of Interior has said that there will be no further actions regarding the MP.

March 2 – During the day, Russian troops showcase the withdrawal of their military equipment and at night they return it to previous positions. "Wherever you see militants withdrawing heavy equipment, they are only implementing relocation or plan attacks, or return the equipment to the same site at night", – said NDSC spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

March 2 – Ukrainian citizen Anna Durytska, who was with Boris Nemtsov when he died, is unable to leave Russia.

March 2 – German doctors examined Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko and have identified March 6-8th as a "point of no return", – informed her lawyer Mykola Polozov. What will follow is her death and Putin's congratulations on International Women's Day...

March 2 – Russian soldier Dorzhy Baltomunkuyev from the capital of Buriatiya in Siberia, Ulan Ude, related how Russia "masks" its soldiers as "civil guardsmen": "Here only those who had signed a contract with the Russian Army were sent; and I came to Rostov as a soldier for a limited time. However, being on a contract, I had wonderful results – whether on the rifle or physical ability. They took me into the army in Chyt; there in Chyt, I went through the preparation training and I decided to remain on contract with the army division Ulan-Ude," he related.

Right now Batomunkuyev lies, overall burned, after his tank was shot at by Ukrainian forces near Debaltseve in Lonhvynove village.

According to Batomunkuyev, Russia sends its soldiers from units together with weapons: "We painted the tanks still in Ulan-Ude. Right there, on the railroad depot. We painted over the numbers; some of the tanks had Guard insignia – it was also painted over. Chevrons and stripes -we took off in Ukraine, when we got to the poligon. All are taken off – purposefully to masquerade. We left the passport in the army unit, the army ticket in the poligon," he described.

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January 30 – Russian armor crewman who was arrested has said that he was recruited by Russian law enforcement agents. He also said that new military equipment is being transferred from Russia to Ukraine. Captured crewman's last name is Gadzhyjev (b.1973), he is a citizen of Russia, native and resident of the village Levokumske (Levokumskoe rayon, Stavropol krai, Russian Federation). As part of an illegal armed group and terrorist organization "People's Republic of Luhansk" he has participated in hostilities against Ukrainian military units.

January 30 – Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has stated that its officers have detained two journalists from the TV crew of Russian LifeNews Channel. The journalists could be deported as a result of their activities that allegedly harm national interests of Ukraine and are not connected to journalism.

January 30 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has issued a statement saying that official Kyiv and other members of the tripartite contact group are ready to meet in Minsk with only the signatories of Minsk protocol and memorandum – the leaders of separatist, – informed Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevgen Perebiynis.

January 30 – President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has issued a decree aiming to prevent a disruption of the next stage of national military conscription. Poroshenko has instructed the General Staff to fully staff recruitment offices with necessary personnel and increase the "effectiveness of command and control, primarily by involving reserve officers". MP representing "Narodnyi Front" ("Popular Front") Anton Gerashchenko and non-affiliated MP Boris Filatov have proposed that Ukrainian Parliament criminalizes "public calls to evade conscription".

January 30 – "Battle is currently underway in Vuhlehirsk. Russian military and pro-Russian militants continuously attack and shell strongpoints and checkpoints of ATO forces. To stop artillery shelling by the enemy, Ukrainian military are implementing counterbattery activities. The militants are constantly maneuvering, which makes it more complicated to destroy them", -stated Deputy Head of the Information and Analytical Center Volodymyr Polyovyi.

January 30 – During their meeting in Brussels on Thursday, Foreign ministers of the EU states have been presented with unequivocal evidence of Russia's participation in the conflict in Donbas – reported Polish media agency PAP: "Materials that were presented clearly demonstrate that Russia supports separatists' actions – there is a large group of Russian troops located near the border with Ukraine. According to data available, Russia equips and trains the separatists".

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