Anti-Terrorist Operation: Liveblog (July 7)

January 20 – No Ukrainian military have died in the ATO area in the last 24 hours, – informed NSDC spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

January 20 – Led by Russian army professional, Russian terrorists are being transferred from Luhansk oblast closer to Donetsk. Amid the aggravation in the conflict area in the Donbas, Russian military leaders are trying to organize cooperation between terrorist organizations of so called Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Also in Luhansk the militants are being replaced with proper Russian servicemen.

January 20 – Approximately 800 Russian servicemen have entered Ukraine on Monday, January 19th – they all are a part of two battalion task forces, – informed NSDC spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

January 20 – Five Russians were arrested on suspicion of terrorist attack in French city of Beziers. All of them are of Chechen origin.

January 20 – Achieving real results, not the fact that the meeting was held, is of interest to Ukraine when it comes down to the meeting of Heads of States, held in "Normandy format" (Ukraine, Russia, Germany, France), – said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin. Thus, the meeting in Astana hasn't taken place – Russia's approach is contentious. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is ready for the next meeting of foreign ministers in the "Normandy format" in Berlin, and hopes that it will be held on January 21st.

January 20 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasizes that the scheduled trilateral meeting of the contact group in Minsk was disrupted by the representatives of the so-called People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, – stated the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin (as a result of Putin's orders, no doubt).

January 20 – Ukraine plans to bring a case against Russia before international courts on violation of the Convention on the Financing of Terrorism, – said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin.

January 20 – A bridge was blown up under a freight train in Zaporizhia oblast. The train was destined for Volnovakha. 10 out of 30 cars fell off the rails. According to preliminary data, there have been no victims.

January 20 – Experts have placed Ukraine on the 21st step in the world rating of the most strong armies among 106 countries. This is provided by Global Firepower rating. In compiling the rating, experts took into account 50 elements. In this rating Russia holds a 2nd place, immediately behind U.S. Army which holds the 1st place. in the 3rd place is China, followed by India, Great Britain, France, Germany, Turkey, and South Korea. Ukraine is placed between Australia (20th place) and Iran (22nd place). As the experts of Global Firepower noted, the Ukrainian army still bears the marks of the soviet era, although in a modernized version.

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February 18 – Ukrainian troops left the city of Debaltseve as a result of massed intense fire by the Russian Army and pro-Russian terrorists – according to Minsk agreements Ukrainian military couldn't fire back in order not to break "Putin's ceasefire". "This morning Armed Forces of Ukraine together with the National Guards of Ukraine have completed a planned and organized withdrawal of forces from Debaltseve", – said the president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, who led the operation.

February 18 – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has spoken about the use of modern weapons by the militants of "People's Republic of Donetsk" and "People's Republic of Luhansk" against Ukrainian military near Debaltseve. He did not specify the kind of weapon.

February 18 – "I call on Russia to withdraw all its troops from the east of Ukraine, to cease all support of the separatists, follow Minsk agreements and pressure on the separatists to force them to comply with ceasefire", – said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

February 18 – 167 wounded were transported to Artemivsk from Debaltseve. It was impossible to pick up the bodies of many who were killed.

February 18 – The militants supported by Russia demonstrate a clear intention to expand their control over the region, recognizes PACE, – said the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Anne Brasseur.

February 18 – European Union should consider deploying a military mission to Donbas if Minsk agreements are not adhered to and the fighting continues, – said the representative of Ukraine to the EU Konstantin Eliseev in his comment to BBC Radio. "We must use all our efforts and capacities (not only Ukraine, but the US and the EU) to press Kremlin to stop military fighting. If this fails, we must talk about a plan "B". Perhaps, it is time for the EU to consider the possibility of a military intervention in Donbas".

February 18 – According to President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, in Debaltseve, the mission of Ukraine's Armed Forces was fully accomplished, despite the fact that the Ukrainian Army totally left the city. "This position and successes were very necessary in Minsk during the negotiations, and after Minsk. We could demonstrate to the whole world the real face of the bandits, separatists, supported by Russia, which took on the role of the guarantor and a direct participant of the Minsk negotiations," emphasized Poroshenko.

The head of the country clarified information about the encirclement of the Debaltseve fighters as well as about the massive deaths of Ukrainian soldiers. "We stated and proved that Debaltseve was under our controll, there was no encirclement. Our forces and divisions left in a planned organized fashion. They left with their full artillery, with tanks, with BNP, with SAU, with tractors, with automobile technology," stated Poroshenko. According to the President, those who left Debaltseve included the 128th Mountain Infantry Brigade, parts of the sub-divisions of the 30th Brigade, the 25th Battalion, the rest of the 40th Battalion, Special Forces, and the National Guard.

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March 11 – Russia continues to arm and train separatists in eastern Ukraine, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (reports Reuters), while answering questions about the information on Russian tanks arriving in Ukraine over the last few days.

March 11 – Leonid Kuzmin, the organizer of events commemorating the birthday of Taras Shevchenko in Simferopol on March 9, has been threatened with being fired if he doesn't resign "voluntarily". For those of you who are English-speaking and French-speaking – it's like firing someone for being Shakespeare's admirer.

March 11 – Security Service of Ukraine has said that Russian Major General Alexei Zavizion (aka Alagir) is the head of operations of the militants in Donbas. Although there are no Russian troops in Donbas, according to Putin.

March 11 – The US has introduced new sanctions against former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, his Deputy Serhiy Arbuzov, former minister Raisa Bogatyryova, some pro-Russian militants and their Russian supporters, – according to the website of the US Treasury.

March 11 – The threat to Russian oil industry as a result of sanctions and their implications for companies to attract funds are more serious than the risks associated with falling oil prices, – states the review by international rating agency Fitch Ratings "Russian Oil and Gas Under Sanctions: Technology, Funding More of a Threat Than Weak Oil".

March 11 – The US has decided to supply Ukraine with remotely piloted aircraft and armoured military vehicles Humvee, – informed US Vice President Joe Biden in his telephone conversation with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.

March 11 – Russian soldiers are participating in the war in Eastern Ukraine beginning with July 14, 2014.

This is stated in the report of the British Kingdom United Institute of Defense Research (https://www.rusi.org/)

According to the document, on that day six reconnaissance detachments, namely: 2nd Brigade of special forces, 10th Brigade of special forces, a group of the 45th Division of Guards special forces of the air assault troops, 173rd Separate Division of Guards Reconnaissance Company, the Reconnaissance Battalion of the 9th Infantry Brigade, the Reconnaissance Battalion of the 18th Infantry Brigade.

Since August 11th, according to the data of the Institute, in the war in Ukraine, there were already ten tactical groups which were fully involved: 17th Infantry Brigade; 18th Infantry Brigade; 21st Infantry Brigade; 33rd a (mountain) Infantry Brigade; 247th Guard Division Landing-Storming Regiment; 104th Guard Division Landing-Storming Regiment; 331st Guard Division of the air assault troops; 137th Guard Division of the air assault troops; 31st Guard Division Landing-Storming Regiment; 2nd Brigade of special forces.

The number of pro-Russian fighters, state the analysts, numbers a half of the number of resource of Russian regular army. The main strategic task of the Russian Army units in the the document is named the support of the self-pronounced "republics" in Eastern Ukraine. Also the researchers supposse that that Russia very soon will undertake a new a new attack on Ukrainian positions. The most probable direction is considered Mariupol.

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