Kyiv, 28 January 2015 – Over the last few days, militants continued their attempts to storm Ukrainian position . “Weapons, ammunition, fuel and lubricants keep arriving from the territory of the Russian Federation as well as another so-called “humanitarian” convoy that has started in the direction of Donbas point to the possibility of yet another escalation of the armed conflict,” said Colonel Andriy Lysenko, ATO spokesman at a briefing at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center. Inall directions at the ATO zone, militants fired at ATO forces positions using artillery, mortars, grenade launchers, tanks and “Grad” multiple rocket launchers.
In the last day. 3 Ukrainian servicemen were killed, and an additional 15 were wounded. Resulting from militants’ shelling, gas pipelines have been damaged in Popasna, the villages of Nyzhnia Olkhova and Olkhivsky Dachi (Stanytsia-Luhanska district). In a part of the Shchastia locality (Novoaydarivsky district) power, heat and gas supply remain cut. At the Luhansk power plant 1st and 2nd collectors, the gas pipeline as well as the pump room have been damaged. “Militants fired with BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers at the railway station in Debaltseve. Due to militants’ attempts to seize the city it has no water, power and heat supply for the sixth day. Yesterday militants also shelled the hospital in Svitlodarsk of Donetsk region. A nurse was killed,” noted Colonel Lysenko.
After the tragedy of 24 January 80 persons remain in Mariupol hospitals, including 7 children with traumas and injuries of various severity.
Yesterday, on 27 January, the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine adopted the resolution as to the “Address of the Parliament of Ukraine to the United Nations, European Parliament, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, NATO Parliamentary Assembly, GUAM Parliamentary Assembly and national parliaments to recognize the Russian Federation as an aggressor state”. In particular the resolution says: “We herewith call on the international community to recognize the fact of aggression against Ukraine, occupation of its territory as well as to reinforce the claims to return to the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine, having prevented a dangerous precedent – a blatant violation of the international security order and system formed after the World War II.”
Yesterday humanitarian cargo from some European Union states, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Finland and the Czech Republic was delivered to Dnipropetrovsk by 3 planes. The humanitarian aid for Ukraine was personally accompanied by Christos Stylianides, the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management. The humanitarian cargo includes tents, folding beds, sleeping bags, power generators, power heaters, mobile air conditioners, folding chairs, tables, hospital beds (366 units in total). The cargo is destined for the people from Luhansk and Donetsk regions as well as for the territorial units of the National Emergency Service.
6 trucks with humanitarian cargo arrived at the border crossing point “Uzhgorod”. They were carrying medicine, bandaging materials, military boots, hygiene items and gear to the weight of over 36 tons. The cargo was sent from Slovakia for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and for border guards.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, with a majority of votes, adopted the resolution that emphasizes as unacceptable the financing of armed groups in Ukraine. The resolution’s text contains a call for the Russian Federation to refrain from destabilizing Ukraine, and financing and militarily supporting illegal armed groups, and to use its influence on them to make them fully respect and implement the Minsk agreements. The call to Russia to immediately “release Nadiya Savchenko and other illegally detained Ukrainian citizens” has been included into the resolution. The resolution also condemns sending the so-called “humanitarian” convoys from Russia to Donbas.
The White House says that US President Barack Obama and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on the need to hold Russia accountable for its support to the militants and failure to fulfill its commitments under a peace agreement.
Victoria Nuland, the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State, condemned Russian media’s lines on the crisis in Ukraine. According to her, Russia needs to be asked why the so-called state-owned Russian media “spew lies about who’s responsible for the violence”. Mrs. Nuland also noted that in case Russia does not stop financing violence and does return the control over the whole of the Ukraine state border to Kyiv, the Obama Administration will review its policy regarding the provision of weapons to Ukraine.