By [email protected] (Тарас Возняк)
January 16th – 6 Ukrainian military were killed and 18 wounded in the ATO area in the past 24 hours – NSDC spokesman, Andriy Lysenko.
January 16th – The Ukrainian Parliament will attempt to abolish parliamentary and judicial immunity today – Parliament Chairman, Volodymyr Groysman.
January 16th – Ukraine has recovered UAH 3.7 billion (cash) from the vaults of the National Bank of Ukraine, seized during the annexation of Crimea – President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko.
January 16th – Global markets expect that Ukraine might default, but the government can still avoid such a scenario, stated American financier and philanthropist, George Soros, during a meeting with reporters in Kyiv. The West, both the EU and the US, do not fully understand how significant the possibility of a default really is, emphasized the financier.
January 16th – Former members of the Ukrainian parliament Mykola Levchenko and Vadim Kolesnichenko (Party of Regions) were declared wanted, on charges of calls for separatism and the break-up of Ukraine.
January 16th – An attack on Donetsk airport began at 8am. The fighting continued throughout the day; the militants used tear-gas. The situation is fairly complicated, but overall under control. The Ukrainian military are well supported by protective fire. If it weren’t for protective fire, the terrorists would have gained an upper hand long ago. Those who are currently defending the site of Donetsk airport are able to carry out their duty as a result of this powerful protective fire. The airport is the site of ferocious fighting. According to journalist Andriy Tsaplienko, the Ukrainian military blew-up Russian mercenaries (Chechens and also Kadyrov supporters) who made their way into the basement of the airport a few days ago.
January 16th – Russian terrorist fighters in the ATO zone are continuing to assemble heavy army supplies – NSDC spokesperson, Andriy Lysenko: “During the last few days we have observed the assemblage of fighters close to the demarcation of the border. In the city there is a whole row of tanks that have stretched out over approximately 3 km and moved in the direction of the positions of the Ukrainian sub-units”.
January 16th – US Ambassador, Geoffrey Pyatt, stated that the attacks on Donetsk Airport are a violation of the Minsk agreement.
January 16th – In the city of Kurakhiv in the Donetsk region, security forces detained a terrorist of the so-called ‘DNR’. Among the many crimes committed by this terrorist, whose surname is ‘Tserber’, is the murder of two peaceful citizens. As one of the DNR’s so-called ‘intelligence gatherers’, they actively terrified local residents, threatening them with physical harm. Threats were also accompanied by violence and they killed two peaceful citizens – a man and a woman, and stole their auto-mobile. While escaping the scene of the crime, the terrorists wounded a member of the street police of Ukraine.
January 16th – Türkiye expressed willingness that Ukraine should remain the transit country of Russian gas to the European Union. This was stated in Brussels by the Prime minister of Türkiye, Ahmet Davutoglu, in commenting on Russian plans to transport the gas through the territory of Türkiye into Europe. In 2014, the transport of Russian gas through Ukraine’s territory, compared to the previous year, decreased by 28%. Davutoglu also noted that Türkiye has good relations and a high level of cooperation with Ukraine, as well as with Russia. However, the relations with Kyiv are solely based on the principles of the territorial integrity of the country.
CEO of Ukraine’s state gas company (Naftogaz), Andriy Koboliev, called the statement of Gazprom regarding the ‘Turkish Stream’ a political bluff. Statements by Gazprom that the company is ready to curtail the relationship which has existed for many years with the EU, “lack any economic sense at all and are a political bluff,” stated Koboliev. The enterprise stated that Naftogaz is adhering to all agreements made in Brussels, which are geared towards preserving the stability of the delivery of Russian gas to EU countries.
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