Protests in Ukraine escalate

[Natalka]

Powerful video and great song



Song is Iron Sky by Paolo Nutini

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/paolonutini/ironsky.html

[Natalka]

Nadia Choir from Boyarka (town outside Kyiv) came to Canadian Embassy with homemade goodies and slogans to sing traditional Ukrainian songs for Canadian assistance to Ukrainian military and chant Glory to Canada

[gryphon]

I will keep praying for the region

[Natalka]

Dec. 6 was Day of Armed Forces of Ukraine

Today President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko came to the military airport in Chuhuiv city in Kharkiv Region. About 100 units of armored vehicles of different type and aviation was presented for Ukrainian Army.

President personally inspected the vehicles and talked to the warriors. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak also accompanied the President.

All vehicles will be delivered to ATO zone to strengthen Ukrainian Army units fighting with pro-Russian terrorist who control some areas of Lugansk and Donetsk Regions.
















http://www.president.gov.ua/en/gallery/2369.html#39902

http://ukrainerightnow.com/today-ukr...4e-apc-photos/

[Natalka]

Wow, these are amazing vehicles -

Armoured Cougar ensures Ukrainian troops unscathed in Luhansk Oblast after being riddled 72 times by enemy fire



Newly delivered Ukrainian made armored KrAz Cougar after driving on an antitank mine, all soldiers are safe and sound.
Good job!

[Natalka]

Canada to offer Ukraine military aid outside of NATO

Canada is operating independently of NATO to provide additional military assistance that will help Ukraine defend itself from Russia.



Defence Minister Rob Nicholson was in Kiev Monday for Canada’s announcement, which will include sending Canadian soldiers to Ukraine to train that country’s military police. It could also include training in battlefield medicine and security measures.

The aid stops short of providing lethal equipment such as weapons – something Kiev has long sought from North Atlantic Treaty Organization members.

A group of Canadian military police arrived in Ukraine Monday evening to begin training. The military would not provide exact numbers but said the contingent amounts to less than 10.

The Canadian government and Ukraine issued a declaration of intent Monday in Kiev which is not a legally binding treaty under national or international law but nevertheless a commitment to expand Canada’s military cooperation with Kiev.

“Russia has flagrantly violated the territorial integrity of Ukraine and continues its efforts to intimidate and undermine the democratically elected government in Kiev,” the declaration reads.

“Canada and Ukraine are committed to continue working together to strengthen the capacity of the Ukrainian government and its security forces to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity and its people,” the agreement says.

“We declare our intent to continue working together to explore ways in which to build upon these gains, particularly as concerns defence capacity-building through the provision of general support training such as military police, medical and personal protective measures.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle21988518/

[Natalka]

(I just can't imagine this happening in any other country....)

A song to Ukrainian defenders sung by TV news presenters on 1+1 channel -
You simply come back ALIVE - English subtitles (I had to put my volume way up, too)

[Natalka]

Shaky ceasefire holds as talks expected - Dec. 9


Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine are observing a ceasefire after weeks of bitter fighting, officials say.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had earlier called for a "Day of Silence", to make a widely-violated ceasefire deal stick.

New talks between the rebels and the government could take place in Belarus in the coming days.

The warring sides signed a truce in Minsk in September, but more than 1,000 people have been killed in fighting since then, the UN says.
Some of the heaviest fighting has raged at Donetsk airport.

The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday a ceasefire had begun in "all the positions of the anti-terrorist operation forces", Interfax Ukraine news agency reported.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30384665


(HOWEVER....)

Viktor Myzhenko, chief of Ukraine's General Staff, said at a midday briefing that there had been two violations of the truce Tuesday morning around the town of Debaltseve, which has been scene of some of the heaviest shelling.

Myzhenko said the truce was open-ended and that no end date had been set.

Intense shelling continued right up until the eve of the cut-off period for hostilities, causing at least four deaths and injuries to 10 people. Local authorities said 20 residential buildings were damaged in rebel-controlled Donetsk.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov struck a conciliatory note Tuesday, suggesting that Moscow could support the return of separatist areas into Ukraine's fold. Lavrov told state news agency RIA-Novosti that rebels were ready "to restore a common economic, humanitarian and political space" with Ukraine.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...-east-27464144

[Natalka]

New Jersey Devils hockey team celebrate Ukrainian Heritage Night and honour Capt. Paslawsky, who lost his life in the ATO in Ukraine

The New Jersey Devils celebrated Ukrainian Heritage Night during the team’s December 6 game against the Washington Capitals at Prudential Center. With one of the largest Ukrainian communities in the country right in Newark, the Devils honored the people of the Eastern European country with a special performance of the national anthem by professional opera singer Stefan Szkafarowsky and recognized the life of former U.S. Army Rangers Captain Mark Paslawsky, who was honored posthumously as the Hero of the Game.

During the second period of the game, the Devils posthumously honored Captain Mark Paslawsky, a 1981 United States Military Academy at West Point graduate. In 1992, Capt. Paslawsky moved to Ukraine, the birthplace of his parents, and was killed in action this past August while fighting with the Donbas Battalion in the Ukrainian National Guard near the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk. Capt. Paslawsky’s brother Nestor was in attendance to accept the award on his behalf.


Capt. Paslawsky grew up in Newark’s populous Ukrainian neighborhood, participating in traditions and activities in the community. After 11 years of service to the U.S. Army, including time in the Army Rangers, and only a few years after Ukrainian independence and the fall of the Soviet Union, Capt. Paslawsky’s interest in the country’s culture and people led him to make the move to his family’s homeland.


Despite his distance from the Garden State after, Nestor said his brother continued to keep track of the Devils and the NHL. “He was a big hockey fan, and a fan of all things New Jersey.”

http://devils.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=742833



On Tuesday, August 20, a US army veteran named Mark Paslawsky was killed during a battle in Ilovyask, near Donetsk

[Natalka]

Ukraine's mail service post issued the envelope series "Glory to the Heroes!" with portraits of ATO heroes

[Natalka]

Ukraine regains control over Crimea border in Kherson region


Ukraine has reclaimed land seized by Russian troops near Crimea earlier this year following negotations between Kyiv and Moscow.

Territory near the Sea of Azov, including the road to the Crimean peninsula, was handed back to Ukraine this week. Following the move, Ukraine also regained two gas distribution stations in Kherson region.
The chairman of the Ukrainian Border Guard Service said President Poroshenko made no consessions whilst holding negotiations.

Viktor Nazarenko, Chairman of Ukrainian Border Guard Service: "We fulfilled this commission by taking a number of measures, led personally by the President of Ukraine. It included the terms of reference of The State Border Guard Service".

Ukrainian border guards will now strengthen their positions in mainland Ukraine to stop Russian soldiers and weapons flowing from Crimea to militants in east Ukraine.


http://uatoday.tv/politics/ukraine-r...er-396669.html

[Natalka]

14.12.2014 Warsaw - March of Freedom

[Natalka]

A book saved a soldier's life...
Hats off to the German classics! Goethe rules!

[Natalka]

UN: Number of killed in Donbas conflict exceeds 4,700

15.12.2014

According to an UNIAN correspondent, the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was given to journalists before a briefing held by the UN’s Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Šimonović.


"According to the latest data of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the World Health Organization, from mid-April to December 12, 2014,at least 4,707 people have been killed and 10,322 wounded in the conflict-affected areas of eastern Ukraine," the report reads.


The reports says that since the declaration of a ceasefire on September 5, at least 1,357 people were reported to have been killed as of December 12.

[Natalka]

Insurgents again attack Donetsk airport and other Ukrainian positions

There have been seven attacks on Ukrainian army positions by Russian-backed insurgents using mortars and small arms in the last day, the press center of Ukraine’s Anti-Terrorist Operation headquarters reported on Monday on its Facebook page.


It is also reported that the international Donetsk airport has been attacked by Russian-backed insurgents three times, from the old terminal and from an Orthodox monastery.


"The Ukrainian armed forces, in their turn, using the ceasefire have carried out counter sabotage activities, and operations to fight banditry on the territories freed from the occupiers," the report reads.