Russia masses more forces near Ukraine border

A new build-up is under way with Russia deploying air defence units inside Ukraine and massing more troops on the border, says US State Department

Pro-Russian separatist soldiers close off a road in Donetsk

Russia is carrying out a new military build-up in eastern Ukraine, massing troops on the border and deploying advanced air defences inside its neighbour, according to the US State Department.

More units are being deployed near Ukraine’s eastern frontier, giving Russia a stronger military presence than at any time since October.

Marie Harf, a State Department spokesman, accused Russia and its rebel allies in Ukraine of breaking the second Minsk ceasefire agreement signed in February.

More than 6,100 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since the onset of the war in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk last year.

The fighting has diminished since the last Minsk accord, but the situation appears to be escalating once again after a two-month lull.

“Combined Russian-separatist forces maintain a sizeable number of artillery pieces and multiple rocket launchers within areas prohibited under the Minsk accords,” said Ms Harf. “The Russian military has deployed additional air defence systems into eastern Ukraine and moved several of these nearer the front lines.”

This is Russia’s strongest deployment of air defence missiles in Ukraine for eight months. The main purpose of these units is to protect troops and tanks, suggesting that Russia is preparing for a renewed incursion into its neighbour.

Russian forces have also been training alongside their rebel allies inside Ukraine. These “complex” exercises have included the use of drones, amounting to an “unmistakable sign of Russia’s presence,” added the State Department.

One focus of the build-up appears to be the port of Mariupol, the second biggest city in Donetsk region with a population of 500,000. Mariupol was under separatist control until last August when it was retaken by Ukrainian forces.

The city lies on the E58 highway running between the Russian border and Crimea, the region which the Kremlin annexed last year. Capturing Mariupol would provide a platform for Russia to seize an overland link to Crimea.

Ukrainian sources claimed that rebel artillery and tanks fired at government forces in Shyrokyne, a village on the frontline near Mariupol, on Wednesday evening.

The US said Russian troops are also massing 300 miles further north in the border area opposite Kharkiv, a Ukrainian city which has remained under Kiev’s control throughout the crisis. The latest military movements suggest that Russia’s aim would be to threaten both Kharkiv and Mariupol simultaneously.

The Kremlin accuses America of breaking the Minsk agreement by sending hundreds of troops to western Ukraine to train the national army. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, has denied that any of his forces are inside Ukraine.

The pro-Russian separatists said on Thursday that four of their men had been wounded by Ukrainian shelling since Wednesday.

Alexander Zakharchenko, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, told journalists: “Ukraine is ready to attack - our intelligence shows this.”

Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s pro-Western president, wants European leaders to deploy peacekeeping troops to monitor the ceasefire. The EU, which signed an association agreement with Ukraine last June, will hold a summit with Mr Poroshenko in Kiev on Monday. This week, the EU announced a further loan of £180 million to Ukraine, bringing the total granted to £1.1 billion.

By David Blair, and Tom Parfitt

Російські бойовики розчарувалися в "ЛНР": місцеві називають їх окупантами

Російські бойовики розчарувалися у формуванні "ЛНР" через місцеве населення й керівництво. Про це розповів глава свердловського фонду ветеранів спецназу Володимир Єфімов, який відправив місяць тому 50 добровольців в Україну, повідомляє російське видання Екатеринбург онлайн.

"Це "країна", де немає людей. Де зріле населення виїхало, залишилися тільки жінки, старі й діти, що охороняють будинки. Усе тримається на козаках. Місцеві "ополченці" мутні й незрозумілі. Враження дуже тяжке", - сказав Єфімов. - "За київськими законами, ми - терористи. По мадридському суду теж терористи. За законом "Луганської республіки" особи, не включені до штату збройних сил, є також членами незаконних збройних формувань. А якщо взяти гроші в них за контрактом, як вони пропонують, то ми в Росії станемо найманцями".

"Вони явно тяжіють до України. Платять їм податки. А місцеве населення місцями називає нас окупантами", - обурився російський бойовик. - "У нас зникло бажання працювати в цій республіці, і ми перейшли в "ДНР". Там обстановка набагато краща, населення нас вітає".

За його словами, вони працювали на блокпостах, патрулювали. У серйозні бої за місяць не потрапили.
"Клімат там жахливий – усі перехворіли грипом, ангіною, запаленням легенів", - поскаржився російський найманець.

Квитки додому групі Єфімова довелося брати за свій рахунок – спонсор відмовився купувати їх через те, що Єфімов оприлюднив його ім'я, а в чоловіка був бізнес за кордоном. Незважаючи на те, що відбулося, Єфімов повідомив, що планує готувати нову групу добровольців. У нього уже є 40 людей бажаючих, яких він буде відправляти в "ДНР" в місцеву гвардію.

Бойовики повернулися додому потягом Новоросійськ – Нижній Тагіл. У потязі їхали близько 180 найманців, частина з яких зійшла в Казані.

Карта АТО станом на 15 квітня

Ситуація на сході країни (карта АТО) станом на 12:00 15 квітня 2015 року за даними РНБО України.

З 18:00 до опівночі 14 квітня російсько-терористичні війська 23 рази порушили режим припинення вогню.

На Донеччині ворог 4 рази обстріляв опорні пункти українських військ з мінометів калібру 120 міліметрів та один раз із танку. Із автоматичних гранатометів і стрілецької зброї бандформування вели вогонь в районі Авдіївки та Опитного. Про це заявив сьогодні вранці речник АТО Cергій Даниленко.

В районі Маріуполя мінометного обстрілу зазнали позиції наших військ поблизу селища Чермалик. 6 разів злочинці відкрива ли вогонь зі стрілецької зброї по опорному пункту в районі Широкине. Звертаємо увагу, що обстріли розпочалися з 17:30, невдовзі після від’їзду з Широкиного представників інспекційної групи Спеціальної моніторингової місії ОБСЄ в Україні, які працювали там того дня.

На Луганщині близько 20:00 в районі населеного пункту Сокільники відбулося бойове зіткнення, в ході якого противник застосовував міномети, зенітні установки, автоматичні та протитанкові гранатомети. Українські військовослужбовці дали нападникам гідну відсіч. Також на Луганщині російсько-терористичні війська вели обстріли наших позицій зі стрілецької зброї неподалік Щастя та Орєхова.

З 08:00 до 20:00 українські підрозділи 22 рази зафіксували прольоти ворожих безпілотників. Один із них, що прямував на висоті більше 3000 метрів зі Старобільська в напрямку Лиману на Луганщині, було збито із зенітно-ракетного комплексу.

Обстрілів населених пунктів у зазначений період не відбулося.

Hopes for retrieval of final MH17 victims as Ukraine frontline moves in renewed fighting

Most serious upsurge of fighting in Ukraine conflict since ceasefire came into force in February could allow access to new search area for Dutch-led investigators

Wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 lies in a field in Petropavlivka, Ukraine

Dutch-led investigators hope to retrieve the remains of the final two victims of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 disaster, after the frontline finally moved away from a battlefield where part of the airliner crashed nine months ago.

The announcement comes amid the most serious upsurge of fighting in the Ukraine conflict since a shaky ceasefire came into force in February.

At least two Ukrainian servicemen were wounded and one killed in fighting in the past 24 hours, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.

Both sides have accused one another of stepping up attacks at key flash points in the past week.

The latest violence comes after an OSCE monitoring mission and several journalists were caught up in fighting in the frontline village of Shirokino on Tuesday.

A Russian journalist accompanying the mission was wounded, apparently after triggering a booby trap laid in the hotly contested town.

Andrey Lunev, a correspondent for the Russian Ministry of Defence's Zvezda television channel, was airlifted to Moscow with serious injuries, the channel said.

Shirokino is one of several flashpoints that have seen intense fighting despite a ceasefire negotiated in Minsk in February.

Meanwhile, 30 Dutch, Australian and Malaysian experts investigating the downing of MH17 are expected to head to a new search area near the village of Petropavlivka after recent changes to the front line.

The area, where investigators believe they will find the bodies of the only two victims still unaccounted for, was previously too dangerous to access, Theo ten Haaf, an air force commander in charge of security, told Reuters.

It is understood to still be heavily mined.

Malaysian airlines flight 17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpa when it was destroyed over eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 people on board, including 10 Britons.

It was the worst single loss of civilian life in the conflict to date, and Dutch investigators say they are looking at it as a potential war crime.

Western governments believe the airliner was shot down by separatists who thought they were targeting a Ukrainian military aircraft. Separatist leaders and Russian officials have vigorously denied that suggestion, saying it was shot down by a Ukrainian jet.

The conflict in east Ukraine erupted on year ago this week, when a group of gunmen led by Igor Strelkov, a former Russian intelligence colonel, seized the police station, secret service building, and town hall in Slavyansk on April 12.

Supported by irregular civilian volunteers, Mr Strelkov's men deposed the mayor, barricaded the roads into town, and declared allegiance to the Donetsk People's Republic, at that time a haphazard and chaotic pro-Russian movement occupying the regional administration headquarters in Donetsk, the regional capital 60 miles away.

Building seizures in several more towns in the following days led to open warfare between pro-Russian and Ukrainian forces that has killed at least 6,108 people displaced 1.2 million more, according to United Nations estimates.

The conflict has caused the deepest crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. Western governments accuse Moscow of sustaining the separatists with supplies of weapons, ammunition, and troops.

Foreign ministers from the G7 said on Wednesday that sanctions against Russia would remain in place until the Minsk truce is respected.

"Sanctions are not an end in themselves; their duration should be clearly linked to Russia's complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine's sovereignty," the ministers said in a joint declaration after a summit in the German city of Luebeck.

The ministers also called on Russia to halt the "trans-border support of separatist fighters."

By Roland Oliphant

У Держдумі заговорили про введення російських миротворців на Донбас

Сьогодні, 10 квітня, депутат від ЛДПР Роман Худяков запропонував Держдумі РФ звернутися до міністра оборони Сергія Шойгу з проханням ввести російських миротворців на Донбас.

"ДНР" і "ЛНР" вже просили Росію про допомогу. Пропоную Держдумі звернутися до міністра оборони розглянути можливість запровадження на Донбас російських миротворців для того, щоб стежити за дотриманням режиму припинення вогню. Ми повинні захищати наш братній народ і, найголовніше, свої кордони", - каже депутат.

Russian troops practise quelling Ukrainian-style revolution

Stones and bottles lobbed at interior ministry forces to mimic clashes in Kiev

The training mimicked the clashes in Kiev's Maidan Square in 2014

Russian interior ministry troops are being pelted with stones and bottles during exercises to practise putting down a Ukrainian-style revolution.

The training is designed to mimic clashes between protesters and police on Kiev's Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, in late 2013 and early 2014, which led to the ousting of Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's president.

Vasily Panchenkov, a spokesman for the ministry, told reporters on Thursday that the drills were "based on events that took place in the recent past in a neighbouring country".

"All attributes of those events, right up to burning tyres and the throwing of stones and bottles at the servicemen," were being employed to ensure authenticity, he added.

Russia has responded to street protests against the rule of Vladimir Putin, the president, with police crackdowns and prosecutions of demonstrators in recent years.

Mr Putin believes that Mr Yanukovych was forced out in an unconstitutional coup backed by the West and wants to avoid a repeat in the Kremlin.

An organisation of vigilantes calling itself Anti-Maidan and apparently enjoying state approval was established in January in order to contain dissent against the Russian government.

Interior ministry forces are used for crowd control but also take part in armed conflicts, such as fighting separatists and Islamists in the North Caucasus.

During the eight-day drills, named Zaslon 2015 and taking place in six regions including Crimea, the troops are practising use of water cannons and tear gas.

Also on Thursday, the defence ministry said that 30 fighter jets were taking part in exercises in the eastern Primorsky region.

Meanwhile, 400 troops used armoured personnel carriers and grenade launchers during an exercise in Trans-Dniester, a Russian-controlled breakaway territory of Moldova.

Russia has conducted numerous military drills in recent months amid tension with Western states and Nato over the Ukraine crisis

By Tom Parfitt