putin continues his violations of international law with Russian excursions into Ukraine, again disguised as "humanitarian aid" convoys while pro-Russian Ukrainian rebels continue to violate the truce with attacks against Ukrainian government forces. The expanded sanctions against Russia and the rebels is good news, and more need to be imposed as long as they continue to violate the truce. If the Russian people have to suffer because of the actions of their government so be it. If they ever muster the courage to challenge their fascist dictator and stop his aggression against their sovereign neighbors then the sanctions can be lifted and the people of a united Ukraine and Russia can get on with living their lives in peace, which I believe the majority of both peoples want. From +NPR with a link to their coverage of the war in Ukraine and from +The Huffington Post .
Rocket fire tested — but didn't break — a week-old cease-fire
between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists Friday night. The deal has
brought the release of dozens of prisoners and cut the number of
casualties from fighting, even as both sides have reportedly violated
its rules in skirmishes.
Russia has sent a second convoy of trucks bearing what it says is humanitarian aid into Ukraine. Similar to an August operation, neither Ukraine nor the Red Cross reportedly received an early warning about the trucks, and the AP says they crossed the border without being inspected.
Ukrainian defense spokesman Andriy Lysenko called the convoy a "violation of the established procedure of border and customs clearance," according to Ukraine's Interfax agency. He also added, "Representatives of the Red Cross do not accompany the cargo, its contents are unknown."
The incident came as insurgents mounted a fresh attack near the airport in Donetsk, which is under the central government's control.
From Donetsk, NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports:
Ukraine's leader criticized Russia's President Vladimir Putin Saturday, calling him a threat to both Ukraine and Europe.
"Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said only membership of NATO would enable Ukraine to defend itself from external aggression," Reuters reports.
| By
PETER LEONARD and LAURA MILLS
LUHANSK, Ukraine (AP) — A convoy of more than 200 white
trucks crossed the Russian border to deliver humanitarian aid to a
battered Ukrainian city on Saturday, a move made without Kiev's consent
yet met with silence by Ukraine's top leaders.
"Early in the morning, we entered Ukraine to bring aid to Luhansk," said Yury Stepanov, a Russian who was overseeing the convoy. "We came in around 215 vehicles," he added, as workers unloaded boxes into a local warehouse.
The much-needed aid arrived as fighting flared again between pro-Russian rebels and government forces, further imperiling an already fragile cease-fire in the region.
On Saturday, Ukraine's military operation in the east said it had
repelled a rebel attack on the government-held airport of Donetsk, which
came under artillery fire from rebel positions late on Friday.
Ukrainian authorities also admitted for the first time since the
cease-fire started last week that they have inflicted casualties on the
rebel side.
Continuous rocket fire could be heard overnight in Donetsk. A statement on the city council website said that shells hit residential buildings near the airport, although no casualties were reported. A column of three Grad rocket launchers — all its rockets still in place — was seen moving freely through the rebel-held city on Saturday morning.
In the other regional capital of Luhansk, one of the worst-hit cities where tens of thousands have been without water, electricity, or phone connections for weeks, the streets were calm as Russian drivers unloaded aid packages into local warehouses.
Stepanov said the goods consisted mainly of foodstuffs — rice, sugar, and canned fish and beef — but also included medicine, technical equipment and clothes. The deliveries were in closed boxes, small enough to be easily carried by one person, but rice was seen spilling from a broken bag.
Inside the warehouse, an Associated Press journalist saw water bottles carrying the logo of Russia's LDPR party, led by virulent nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
While dozens of local workers unloaded boxes, several carloads of armed militiamen in camouflage arrived to inspect the scene.
Stepanov said his team was responsible only for delivery, and distribution will be handled by local authorities — which for now means the separatist leaders of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.
Gennady Tsepkalo, a senior separatist official, said retirees, hospital patients and schoolchildren would be priorities for aid. He said the food would not be used to feed rebel fighters.
"The militia will feed itself separately. This is for the residents of the Luhansk People's Republic," Tsepkalo said.
Luhansk shows deep scars of an unsuccessful, weeks-long shelling campaign by government troops. The government had regained growing swathes of territory from the separatists over several weeks, but a major rebel counteroffensive beginning in late August halted and reversed that trend.
Luhansk itself was at one point almost totally surrounded by government troops. Those forces have since abandoned many of their former positions.
As the Russian trucks drove back along the border toward Ukraine, rebel fighters along the road punched the air and waved in greeting.
At the border point of Izvarine, a line of cars that stretched for several kilometers was filled with refugees who had fled to Russia but briefly returned during the cease-fire to grab all the household items they could.
An August agreement between Russia, Ukraine, and the international Red Cross allowed Moscow to bring aid to the region, as long as all vehicles were inspected by Ukrainian border guards and escorted by the ICRC. After two weeks of waiting at the border for all sides to agree, Russia sent the cargo across the border without Kiev's consent.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's observer mission to the Russian-Ukrainian border said Saturday that 220 trucks cross into Ukraine, none of which were inspected by the Ukrainian side or accompanied by the ICRC.
"We were not officially notified of an agreement between Moscow and Kiev to ship the cargo," Galina Balzamova, a representative of the ICRC's Moscow office, said Saturday.
The Russian emergency ministry, which coordinated previous humanitarian aid deliveries to Ukraine, could not be reached for comment.
Col. Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, told journalists Saturday that Russia's move into Ukrainian territory was "illegal."
But the silence of Ukraine's top leaders marked a dramatic shift in Kiev. In August, when Russia sent a convoy of trucks over the border without waiting for Kiev's approval or oversight from the ICRC, Ukrainian officials quickly condemned what they called an invasion of Ukraine. On Saturday, no top Ukrainian leader mentioned Russia's latest delivery at all.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has been at pains to prove that the cease-fire has yielded improvements on the ground in east Ukraine. On Friday, he lauded the agreement, which has been riddled by violations since it was imposed last week, as a "fragile but efficient peace process." Allowing more humanitarian aid into the region was one component of the 12-point deal.
___
Mills reported from Kiev, Ukraine. Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed reporting.
A convoy of Russian trucks crosses the Ukrainian border at
the Donetsk-Izvarino custom control checkpoint as Ukrainian refugees
look on, Saturday. Russia says the trucks are carrying aid; Ukrainian
officials say they don't know what's inside.
SERGEI VENYAVSKY/AFP/Getty Images
Russia has sent a second convoy of trucks bearing what it says is humanitarian aid into Ukraine. Similar to an August operation, neither Ukraine nor the Red Cross reportedly received an early warning about the trucks, and the AP says they crossed the border without being inspected.
Ukrainian defense spokesman Andriy Lysenko called the convoy a "violation of the established procedure of border and customs clearance," according to Ukraine's Interfax agency. He also added, "Representatives of the Red Cross do not accompany the cargo, its contents are unknown."
The incident came as insurgents mounted a fresh attack near the airport in Donetsk, which is under the central government's control.
From Donetsk, NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports:
Negotiations for a more permanent peace are continuing. And on Friday, the EU announced it had reached a compromise deal over its plan to expand a trade partnership with Ukraine that has alarmed Russian leaders. The new agreement postpones the full trade pact's implementation until 2016, Ukraine's Kyiv Post reports."Volleys of GRAD rockets rang out in the night Friday to Saturday in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk, underscoring the difficulties of enforcing the ceasefire a week after it was signed. Later, separatist military trucks were seen driving through the town carrying the rocket launchers.
"Still, 67 prisoners were released in an exchange between the Ukrainian army and the separatists on Friday, proving that other points of the ceasefire agreement are being adhered to.
"Despite the progress, the U.S. and European Union hit Russia with tough new sanctions this week in a coordinated response to what they said was Moscow's 'unacceptable behavior' in Ukraine. Russia is accused of supporting the separatists with arms and fighters."
Ukraine's leader criticized Russia's President Vladimir Putin Saturday, calling him a threat to both Ukraine and Europe.
"Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said only membership of NATO would enable Ukraine to defend itself from external aggression," Reuters reports.
Another Russian Convoy Enters Ukraine Amid Renewed Fighting
| By
PETER LEONARD and LAURA MILLS
Posted:
Updated:
"Early in the morning, we entered Ukraine to bring aid to Luhansk," said Yury Stepanov, a Russian who was overseeing the convoy. "We came in around 215 vehicles," he added, as workers unloaded boxes into a local warehouse.
The much-needed aid arrived as fighting flared again between pro-Russian rebels and government forces, further imperiling an already fragile cease-fire in the region.
Continuous rocket fire could be heard overnight in Donetsk. A statement on the city council website said that shells hit residential buildings near the airport, although no casualties were reported. A column of three Grad rocket launchers — all its rockets still in place — was seen moving freely through the rebel-held city on Saturday morning.
In the other regional capital of Luhansk, one of the worst-hit cities where tens of thousands have been without water, electricity, or phone connections for weeks, the streets were calm as Russian drivers unloaded aid packages into local warehouses.
Stepanov said the goods consisted mainly of foodstuffs — rice, sugar, and canned fish and beef — but also included medicine, technical equipment and clothes. The deliveries were in closed boxes, small enough to be easily carried by one person, but rice was seen spilling from a broken bag.
Inside the warehouse, an Associated Press journalist saw water bottles carrying the logo of Russia's LDPR party, led by virulent nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
While dozens of local workers unloaded boxes, several carloads of armed militiamen in camouflage arrived to inspect the scene.
Stepanov said his team was responsible only for delivery, and distribution will be handled by local authorities — which for now means the separatist leaders of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.
Gennady Tsepkalo, a senior separatist official, said retirees, hospital patients and schoolchildren would be priorities for aid. He said the food would not be used to feed rebel fighters.
"The militia will feed itself separately. This is for the residents of the Luhansk People's Republic," Tsepkalo said.
Luhansk shows deep scars of an unsuccessful, weeks-long shelling campaign by government troops. The government had regained growing swathes of territory from the separatists over several weeks, but a major rebel counteroffensive beginning in late August halted and reversed that trend.
Luhansk itself was at one point almost totally surrounded by government troops. Those forces have since abandoned many of their former positions.
As the Russian trucks drove back along the border toward Ukraine, rebel fighters along the road punched the air and waved in greeting.
At the border point of Izvarine, a line of cars that stretched for several kilometers was filled with refugees who had fled to Russia but briefly returned during the cease-fire to grab all the household items they could.
An August agreement between Russia, Ukraine, and the international Red Cross allowed Moscow to bring aid to the region, as long as all vehicles were inspected by Ukrainian border guards and escorted by the ICRC. After two weeks of waiting at the border for all sides to agree, Russia sent the cargo across the border without Kiev's consent.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's observer mission to the Russian-Ukrainian border said Saturday that 220 trucks cross into Ukraine, none of which were inspected by the Ukrainian side or accompanied by the ICRC.
"We were not officially notified of an agreement between Moscow and Kiev to ship the cargo," Galina Balzamova, a representative of the ICRC's Moscow office, said Saturday.
The Russian emergency ministry, which coordinated previous humanitarian aid deliveries to Ukraine, could not be reached for comment.
Col. Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, told journalists Saturday that Russia's move into Ukrainian territory was "illegal."
But the silence of Ukraine's top leaders marked a dramatic shift in Kiev. In August, when Russia sent a convoy of trucks over the border without waiting for Kiev's approval or oversight from the ICRC, Ukrainian officials quickly condemned what they called an invasion of Ukraine. On Saturday, no top Ukrainian leader mentioned Russia's latest delivery at all.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has been at pains to prove that the cease-fire has yielded improvements on the ground in east Ukraine. On Friday, he lauded the agreement, which has been riddled by violations since it was imposed last week, as a "fragile but efficient peace process." Allowing more humanitarian aid into the region was one component of the 12-point deal.
___
Mills reported from Kiev, Ukraine. Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed reporting.
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