Protests in Ukraine escalate

[Natalka]

Euromaidan PR ‏@EuromaidanPR 5m5 minutes ago

Shelling in #Horlovka

[Natalka]

(pic in previous post)

Coastguard boat blown up by militant IED

One of Ukraine’s coastguard boats was blown up on Sunday in the Azov Sea off Mariupol by an improvised explosive device made by Russian-backed militants, the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation reported

"According to the preliminary conclusions of experts, the cause of the accident was an improvised explosive device that was put to sea from the occupied territories," the report says.


According to experts, the improvised explosive device consisted of a wooden cross, foam elements and an object similar to a metal cylinder with a beacon.


"The border guards on board the boat thought that the unknown object was a beacon and tried to pull it towards the boat. At that moment the device blew up. As a result of the explosion, the boat was damaged and the persons on board received injuries of various degree of severity," the press center said.


As reported, a similar device recently washed ashore near the village of Vynohradne. A fisherman who found it and tried to take it apart was injured. Both explosive devices drifted from militant-controlled territories, probably from the village of Bezimiane, the press service said.

http://www.unian.info/war/1086541-at...itant-ied.html

[Natalka]

Ten Ukrainian soldiers wounded in Donbas conflict zone in last day

No Ukrainian soldiers were killed but ten were injured in the Donbas conflict zone over the last 24 hours, presidential administration spokesman for ATO issues Colonel Andriy Lysenko said at a briefing in Kyiv on Monday, according to an UNIAN correspondent.


"Over the last day, we haven’t lost any Ukrainian soldiers, but ten were injured as a result of military clashes," he said.
According to Lysenko, one Ukrainian border guard is missing as a result of an incident that took place on Sunday, when a Ukrainian coastguard boat was blown up in the Azov Sea off Mariupol by an improvised explosive device made by Russian-backed militants.

According to the State Border Service, seven soldiers were on board the boat. Six of them were hospitalized. Later, one of them died.

According to police of Mariupol, the man killed wasn’t a soldier. He was a 45-year-old local resident. The police are still searching for a seventh person who was on board the boat.

http://www.unian.info/war/1086709-te...-last-day.html

[Natalka]

#Ukraine military spokesman says 7 Ukrainian troops killed after their vehicle hit a mine near #Donetsk
9:42 AM - 8 Jun 2015

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10:13 (GMT)

There were reports this morning that Russian-backed forces had launched another assault on the Ukrainian-held Donetsk suburb of Marinka.
Yevgeniy Deidei, MP and coordinator of the Kyiv-1 Battalion, wrote on his Facebook page at 7:42 GMT that Russian-backed forces were attacking Marinka for second time in less than a week.


The Interpreter translates:
The militants are attacking Marinka again. Direct fire from tanks and mortars. A close-quarters battle is under way.

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@UaForces

Concerted actions by our units in Marinka have allowed us to rebuff the enemy. An enemy diversionary group was destroyed. One enemy tank was knocked out.

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Euromaidan PR ‏@EuromaidanPR 2h2 hours ago

Fighting near #Maryinka that started this am ended, enemy stepped back.

[Natalka]

#OSCE reports about 111 explosions in the #Donetsk airport area over the last weekend

[Natalka]

Euromaidan PR ‏@EuromaidanPR 10h10 hours ago

Ukrainian military vehicle hit an anti-tank mine near Krasnohorivka, #Donetsk region.

7 servicemen were killed

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[Natalka]

Huge fire at Glevakha outside #Kyiv at oil depot/refinery yesterday - some dead, many injured, some missing - no cause established yet - speculation of arson, Russians, or maybe something faulty...

[Natalka]

Euromaidan PR ‏@EuromaidanPR 8m8 minutes ago

#Ukraine army airfield is located 50m nearby fuel depot fire spot. Jets evacuation had started

[Natalka]

Via Euromaidanpr per Italia: Today in the piazza Cordusio in Milan the Ukrainian community protested against the visit of the Russian President Vladimir Putin on the occasion of The Expo 2015.


Approximately 100 people between the Ukrainians and Italians gathered to express their indignation towards the Russian President, calling the attention of citizens and tourists to what is really happening in Ukraine. The presence of Russian troops and the continued growth of victims, among them many children-these were the main points of the demonstration.


The protest was joined by a Ukrainian football club that happened to be on your in Milan. The children told about growing up with the harsh reality of war in their country.

[Natalka]

Interesting 'promo' from the Ukrainian Armed Forces

[Natalka]

Greetings from Ukraine's highest mountain. Ukrainians from Kharkiv and Zakarpatska Oblast have made this huge trident on top of Ukraine’s highest mountain Hoverla.

[Natalka]

Head of the UGCC wrote a letter to Pope

UGCC Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) wrote a letter to Pope Francis on the eve of his meeting with President Vladimir Putin. Head of the UGCC said that the Ukrainian Church will closely follow this meeting with great interest and pray for the Pope.

"I claim that now no one, no diplomacy, no system of international security and none of the great men of this world is capable to stop the war in Ukraine. In the letter I asked the Holy Father to become the voice of Ukrainian people,his children, faithful Catholics Ukraine that are suffering,so that the Pope, as our father, defended his children,” the Patriarch said.

Much may depend on this meeting, he said.
“We believe that the Holy Father as the Vicar of Jesus Christ on Earth can do that none of the great men of this world could do up to this point. We believe that the Pope intercede for us,” said the Patriarch.

The First Hierarch is sure that Francis Pope and Vatican diplomacy is well familiar with what is happening in Ukraine. He recalls that recently the Ukrainian bishops made the Ad Limina visit and could personally tell the pontiff about the “pain, blood and tears that overflow the Ukrainian land.”

"Pope Francis said then: “I am always at your service.” I think that this meeting will show the Pope’s stance concerning Ukraine and can work towards the reign of peace on our land,” the Patriarch said.




http://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news..._policy/60229/

[Natalka]

Francis meets a tardy Putin


The Russian president arrived one hour late to his meeting with the Pope and the two spoke for 50 minutes. Discussions between the two leaders were “dedicated principally to the conflict in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East”

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday, in a visit being scrutinized for meaning and significance as Russia continues taking unilateral military action in Ukraine.

The Vatican statement, issued by Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, said that on the issue of Ukraine Francis “affirmed that there needs to be commitment to a sincere and great effort to realize peace.”

“The importance of reconstructing a climate of dialogue was agreed upon and [also] that all the parties may be committed to carrying out the Minsk accords,” the statement continues.

“Also essential is the commitment to engage the grave humanitarian situation, guaranteeing access to humanitarian agents and with the contribution of all the parties for a progressive relaxation of tensions,” it states.

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en...n-putin-41691/

[Natalka]

UKRAINIANS in Rome "MET" PUTIN

In Piazza Vittorio Emanuelê, in the central part of the city gathered Ukrainians from Rome and the surrounding area, to "celebrate" the arrival of Putin to the Italian capital.

In their speeches in Italian, the activists talked about the criminal actions of the regime of Putin in Ukraine, about the facts of the presence of the Russian military in the Donbas and financing terrorists in Russia and Ukraine.

In the communication "with reports of Putin's desire to discuss with the Pope the situation with the UGCC, the rally expressed support for our Church.

[Natalka]

President congratulated the staff of Kyiv Military Hospital

President Petro Poroshenko took part in the ceremony on the occasion of the 260^th anniversary of the Main Military Clinical Hospital. The Head of State informed on conferring the status of “National” to the given institution and called the level of medical services in it a “medicine of the XXI century”.

The President congratulated militaries and medical workers of the oldest public medical institution of Ukraine. According to the President, the given hospital healed wounded in the war of 1812 called by Russian historians “patriotic war”. “Now, we are facing the first, and I hope the last, Patriotic war, where Ukraine and Ukrainian people defend their independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, freedom, democracy and existence,” Petro Poroshenko said.

The Head of State noted that doctors of military hospital had helped 5,500 Ukrainian servicemen. “It is you who’ve performed thousands of complicated operations. It is you who’ve saved hundreds of Ukrainian heroes,” the President emphasized.

Over 100 workers of the medical institution performed their duties in the ATO area and saved hundreds of lives in the field. Medics of the hospital provide professional assistance to their colleagues in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk military hospitals, district hospitals of Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

The President handed state awards to 10 workers of Kyiv military hospital and 6 servicemen that are currently undergoing treatment in the given facility. Petro Poroshenko thanked the wounded servicemen for their courage and heroism.



http://www.president.gov.ua/en//news/33037.html