At least 30 dead and 90 injured as rebels shell Mariupol in Ukraine

#mariupol #donetsk #Ukraine #crimea #minskagreement Pro-Russian rebels attacked the city of Mariupol in Ukraine with grad rockets – the attacks were in residential areas and left at least 30 dead with another more than 90 injured.
The attack happened on the day when the leader of the pro-Russian group had announced an assault on the city – this was in spite of previous denials about involvement of the rebels. It seems both the rebels and Russian television has claimed that the Ukrainians had shelled their own territory by mistake. But, observers who had visited the scene, were of the opinion that the missiles had been launched from rebel territory.
Incidentally, both the warring factions own and use Grad missiles – these can fire a salvo of up to 40 rockets across a wide area and are notoriously imprecise. As per information of the UN, the number of casualties in the conflict till now is more than 5,000 people dead, more than 10,000 have been injured and about a million have been displaced from their homes since the violence began in east Ukraine began last spring following the annexation of Crimea by Russia.
A ceasefire had been agreed upon in Minsk last September but it has had no effect – in fact, from incidents that have taken place over the past fortnight the situation has threatened to return to full-scale war.
Mariupol is under control of Ukraine forces and, seizing it would provide the rebels in Donetsk with an easy access to the sea and, also, pave the way for a potential land route between Russia and annexed Crimea.

Ukraine trying to regain control of Donetsk Airport from pro-Russian rebels

#donetskairport #prorussianrebels #ukraine Reports indicate that the Ukrainian government troops are still trying to regain control of Donetsk airport from the pro-Russian rebels. The rebel military command has claimed that its forces had halted a government offensive at a key bridge between the airport and the city. It was the Putylivskiy Bridge which was, ultimately, destroyed in the fighting.
It seems the Donetsk Airport in eastern Ukraine is in ruins after months of intense clashes and both the Kiev government and Russia have been hurling accusations at each other of ignoring appeals for a ceasefire.
Latest information appears to be that Ukraine military spokesman Andriy Lysenko has indicated that they have succeeded in almost completely cleansing the territory of the airport. This would mean that the recent rebel gains there had been reversed. However, there is no independent verification available about the claims.
In fact, rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko has refuted the claims of Ukraine government and remarked that ‘… attempts by (the) Ukrainian army to take the airport and get revenge for the defeat of last year... have failed.’
Deaths due to the violence has been put at eight plus another 33 wounded - this has been confirmed by a senior rebel officer in Donetsk. Here again there is confusion because Ukrainian defense officials have said that three soldiers had been killed and 66 wounded in the past 24 hours. Against this, the rebels had earlier claimed that as many as 200 Ukrainian troops were killed or wounded and dozens of Ukrainian armored vehicles destroyed.
Ukrainian military has accused Russia of boosting the rebel firepower and encouraging violence. So far, nearly 4,800 people have been killed subsequently to the rebels taking control of a large areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine last April.

Ukraine peace talks in Minsk called off

#Ukraine #PeaceTalks #Minsk #crimea It has been reported that a key round of peace talks between the government of Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels which was supposed to be held in Mink has been called off for reasons that have not been disclosed. This has been disclosed by an official of Belarus – no immediate reason was given by the Belarusian foreign ministry.
The talks had tried to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine that erupted with the annexation of Crimea by Russia and has left 4,700 dead. A ceasefire and framework peace deal had been announced in Minsk in September but neither of these has been properly observed.
These latest talks included Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and there had been expectations that issues that would be addressed would be the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line, the exchange of prisoners and ending Ukraine's economic blockade of rebel-held areas.
A total of 4707 persons have been killed in the conflict that started in eastern Ukraine in April, and, out of that number 1357 have died since the 5 September ceasefire was agreed. It may be recalled that pro-Russian separatists had taken over the two eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk after Moscow annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March. This action has not been recognized by either Ukraine or its allies.