Kyiv, September 4, 2014 – “Within the last 24 hours, ATO forces conducted several successful operations which resulted in the destruction of over 120 terrorists and Russian servicemen that got lost. According to official data as of September 4, 837 Ukrainian servicemen died and 3044 were wounded”, reported NSDC Information Center spokesman Colonel Andriy Lysenko during a press briefing at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
The situation in the antiterrorist operation zone remains threatening. The activation of Russian troops and bandits on territories that constitute a priority for the Russian side within the northern districts of Luhansk oblast and the southern districts of Donetsk oblast remains highly probable. The aim of these actions is to broaden the territory under control of Russian terrorists (SBU information).
The Ukrainian servicemen are regrouping and are ready to rebuke aggression. Our positions are still being sired out. Through the last 24 hours the Ukrainian armed forces engaged in combat with Russian departments and terrorists near 16 localities 22 times: in Donetsk oblast: Tonenke, Krasnohorivka, Debaltseva, Maryinka, Verkhnyotoretske, Nikitino, Dmytrivka; in Luhansk oblast: Vesela Hora, Horodyshche, Kamyanka, Zolote, Pobeda, Valuyske, Poltyna, Fashchivka, Krasnotalivka.
The Russians fired at the Krasna Talivka checkpoint (Luhansk oblast). Fire was opened from the village of Prohnoy in Rostov oblast in the Russian Federation. After the first artillery shooting at 10 p.m. a Russian drone investigated the district and entered Ukrainian territory at a depth of 3 kilometer. After this, fire continued. Taking into account the fact that it is not the first artillery shooting at this checkpoint which is officially out of service at the moment, it seems that the Russian side decided to destroy it completely.
The Russians are thus trying to shift the border service away from the border in the area, however Border Service continue to control and defend it (Border Service information).
The OSCE confirmed that Ukrainian territory landed under Russian fire. “Throughout the past week artillery explosions and fire were heard only in the western and northern directions. The observers also documented light and heavy-caliber fire from the eastern and southeastern districts bordering with Ukraine for the first time,” says the OSCE report.
Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko stands for the fastest beginning of a real peace process in Ukrainian Donbas possible. The head of state hopes that the ceasefire proposals are executed by all sides.
In particular, according to President Poroshenko, the action plan should contain mutual obligations regarding the bilateral ceasefire, its monitoring and verification on part of the OSCE, the removal of all foreign troops from Ukrainian territory, the establishment of a border buffer zone, the freeing of all hostages and citizens of Ukraine that are being held illegally by terrorists on Russian territory.
President Poroshenko is counting on the joint action plan to become a basis for trilateral contact group consultations on September 5 in Minsk.
The NATO summit started in the city of Newport in Northern Wales today. It is planned that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will make a speech at the assembly of the heads of states and governments of the NATO country members and participate in the session of the Ukraine-NATO committee.
The President will begin his participation in the Summit with a meeting with the British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mateo Renzi and French President Francois Hollande.
He also plans to hold bilateral meetings with French President Francois Holland, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowsky, Turkish President Rejep Erdogan, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Canadian President Steven Harder, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and NATO General Secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
U.S. President Barack Obama emphasized that political conflict regulation is possible if Russia stops supporting the separatists.
French decided against supplying Russia with the built-to-order Mistral ship. “The French government cannot supply the first of the two Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia because of Moscow’s recent actions in Ukraine,” noted the French President. “The President decided that despite the perspective ceasefire…, the conditions of supplying the first carrier were not met,” noted the French President’s press service.
The Parliament of Georgia today unanimously (81 ‘ayes’) passed a resolution regarding the situation in Ukraine by supporting the territorial integrity of our state and accusing Russia of “open military aggression”.
Representative of the German Chancellor Stefan Zeibert stated that Berlin sees no reason to stop its course regarding the provision of new EU sanctions against Russia.
The head of the Chancellory of the Slovakian President Jan Šot stated that Slovakia as a NATO member is ready to support measures of member states to provide Ukraine with support to solve the crisis in Donbas.
