Daily Ukraine Crisis Updates – July 1, 2014
Internal Security News
- Ukrainian forces began military operations in the east of the country, marking a definite end to a tentative ceasefire that had been in place for 10 days.
- The operation resumed after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said early on July 1 that Ukraine would not renew a cease-fire with pro-Russian separatists, vowing instead to "attack and liberate our land."
- (Interfax Ukraine) Members of illegal armed groups in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions continued capturing and kidnapping people, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) reported.
- (Interfax Ukraine) One law enforcement officer was killed and two others were seriously injured during a storming of the regional police department building in Donetsk.
- (RIA Novosti) Ukrainian National Guard forces began to actively fight on the Russian-Ukrainian border in the Luhansk region, just a few hours after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko lifted the ceasefire.
- (Interfax Ukraine) The military operation’s spokesman said that from in a 24 hour period on June 30-July 1, one Ukrainian law enforcer died and 17 were injured.
- Ukrainian Hromadske TV journalist Anastasia Stanko and cameraman Ilya Bezkorovayniy were reportedly captured by separatists belonging to the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic.
- Two journalists from the Russian television channel Ren TV were injured by mortar fire in eastern Ukraine, a day after one of their colleagues was shot and killed there.
- Illegal armed units of the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic" said they will be prepared to discuss the possibility of laying down arms only after Ukrainian government forces leave the region.
- (Interfax Ukraine) The positions of illegal groups were targeted with airstrikes. “Self-defense activists” taking side of the Ukrainian army reported locations of illegal armed formations, said the operation’s spokesman." So, three people were taken yesterday and now talks are being held with a big group of self-defense activists," he said.
- Kramatorsk’s acting mayor Andrey Borsuk submitted his resignation to the city council. As reasons for the resignation, Borsuk cites the impossibility of managing a city undergoing economic collapse and blocked access to treasury funds.
Diplomacy News
- (RIA Novosti) The current global events clearly demonstrate that the unipolar model of the world has failed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
- The United States said that Russia hasn't taken the necessary steps so far to de-escalate the situation in the eastern part of Ukraine.
- Ukrainian President Poroshenko urged the EU to act more decisively in standing up to Russia while defending his decision to end a 10-day ceasefire.
- (RIA Novosti) Putin stated that the events in Ukraine provoked by the West are a concentrated political expression of deterrence toward Russia and an attempt to create a tense center on the Russian border.
- (RIA Novosti) The Russian Foreign Ministry alleged that external influence pushed Kyiv to decide against extending the ceasefire in southeast Ukraine.
- (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Poroshenko said Ukraine is ready to hold consultations with Russia and the EU on July 11 to discuss the implementation of the association agreement.
- (Interfax Ukraine) The Association Agreement signed between Ukraine and the EU will not affect Russian-Ukrainian trade, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule said.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would continue to defend the interests of ethnic Russians abroad after Kyiv renewed military operations against pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine.
- (RIA Novosti) A Kremlin spokesman said that Russia is not a party to the conflict in the east of Ukraine and its influence on self-defense forces should not be overestimated.
- (ITAR-TASS) Moscow urged the Ukrainian authorities to stop shelling their own cities and communities and to restore genuine, and not ostensible ceasefire to save people’s lives.
- (RIA Novosti) Moscow advocated an urgent meeting of the contact group on settling the crisis in Ukraine and said it would render any assistance necessary to the negotiation process.
- Putin said that he and European Union states had tried unsuccessfully to persuade Kyiv to extend a ceasefire in east Ukraine, and the Ukrainian president had veered off the road to peace.
- (ITAR-TASS) Russian President Putin said that Russia will not wind down its relations with the United States. "We do not intend to end our relations with the US, though it is true that our bilateral relations are not at the best stage now," he stated. "However, it is so not because of us, it is not Russia's fault."
- (ITAR-TASS) Putin alleged that Ukraine is actively targeting and eliminating Russian journalists in the country.
- (ITAR-TASS) Russian President Vladimir Putin said that there is no such thing as reverse traffic of gas from Western Europe to Ukraine, nor can such a possibility emerge in the future. Kyiv appears to have plotted some shady schemes with some of its partners, Putin claimed.
- (ITAR-TASS) Putin told a meeting of Russia’s ambassadors and permanent representatives that Russia could not afford to let NATO troops arrive in Sevastopol to radically change the balance of force in the Black Sea basin. He stated that Russia had no right to leave the people of Sevastopol and Crimea in the crisis situation.
- (ITAR-TASS) Putin said Russia is not interested in formats of international contacts where it has the role of an outside observer.
- (ITAR-TASS) The Eurasian Economic Union is open to CIS countries that have not joined it yet, Putin said.
- (ITAR-TASS) Russia’s ambassador to China stated that Russia appreciates China’s understanding on the Ukraine situation.
- The so-called Baku Group for Ukraine was set up at the 23rd session of the OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly, being held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Governance News
- (RIA Novosti) Ukraine’s political coalition called on President Petro Poroshenko to submit an act to the parliament to introduce martial law in the country’s east.
- (Interfax Ukraine) Six MPs left the faction of the Communist Party in Ukraine's parliament.
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