Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Wednesday 03 August. [Ukrainian sources]

WEDNESDAY

Please scroll down to view news items added during the day

News:
71 attacks by Russian forces on Ukraine yesterday. 3 soldiers wounded.

Weather:
Cloudy but pleasant. Another day below 30C. Super.
About 22 at 10 am.

7:38
HQ: Militants fire using banned weapons
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/08/3/7116674/
Wednesday, August 3, 2016, 7:38

Over the past day in the area of ​​ATU 71 times militants opened fire on the positions of Ukrainian forces 26 times - in Mariupol, 30 - in Donetsk and 15 - in Lugansk areas.
The press center ATO Staff reports page on Facebook.
"Also, from 11 am to 20 pm lasted enemy mortar shelling of residential areas near the settlements of Donetsk" - said in a statement.
 At the direction of Donetsk area Krasnogorivka - Avdiyivka - Gorlovka terrorists used 120 and 82 mm mortars, grenade launchers, machine guns and large-caliber small arms...

U.S. crude remains below $40 as oversupply weighs
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKCN10E035
Oil prices remained weak on Wednesday, with U.S. crude below $40 per barrel and Brent under $42, as fuel oversupply and stuttering economic growth weighed on markets, although prices did receive some support from a weaker dollar.....
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The analysts disagree as always. But then some analysts will be paid to talk the price up, and others to talk it down.
Prices similar this morning. 40/ 42. Good for Ukraine. And the gas price.

Russian soldiers describe how their corps fight against Ukraine
http://begemot.media/news/russkie-soldaty-opisali-kak-ih-brigada-voyuet-s-ukrainoj-mnogo-vkusnyh-podrobnostej-dlya-gaagi/
..."Here we mow Ukrop and houses" - a few Russian soldiers have described in detail how they fight with Ukraine, shooting ATO troops....
Their service is called the 291 Artillery Brigade 58 Army of the North Caucasus Military District....
[with photo of gun] ...If that - they have not only the gun. From this thing killed 19 fighters Ukrainian Mechanized Brigade.....
...Of course, the guys come back a little to shoot at the Ukrainians, and return. Nothing special train. Average summer in the Russian army....
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N.B. Ukrop - theoretically derogatory term for Ukrainians. But now - becoming popular in Ukraine as a strong nationalistic term.
Many people now wear Ukrop t-shirts ))

French MPs paid from Russian coffers for Crimea propaganda trip?
http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1470149186
....French journalist Benoît Vitkine has reported that the trip to Crimea was totally funded by the so-called ‘Russian Peace Foundation’, headed by Leonid Slutsky, an MP from Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s party who is himself under EU sanctions. He accompanied both the visit by 10 French MPs last year (6 the same as this year), as well the one just ended.

The Foundation is supposedly a civic organization which presents itself as the successor to the Soviet Peace Council, a body with close KGB links. It claims that it does not receive state funding, but has not disclosed its sources of income. The last recorded amount was from 2005 and suspiciously large (20.5 million roubles).

It seems, therefore, highly likely that this supposed Peace Foundation is, in fact, receiving Russian state funding....

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For the original French article, I believe in Le monde, see yesterday's "News in brief".
Clearly the French scumball MPs are prostitutes. You can expect that they will get nice "expense" cheques from Putin in return for their support.
Pure scum.

Russia Today is not alternative news: it is propaganda / v/ Russian news may be biased – but so is much western media
http://littleatoms.com/russia-today-piers-robinson

... Others are keen to defend the likes of RT as an “alternative” news source. Step forward Dr Piers Robinson, soon to be “chair in politics, society and political journalism at the Department of Journalism Studies, University of Sheffield” (note, by the way, the difference between journalism and journalism studies. Journalism courses tend to be about how to practice the job, and are generally taught by people who have done it; journalism studies, communications and media studies courses teach people to complain about journalism, and are rarely taught by practitioners. Dr Robinson does not appear to have ever worked in media.*).

Writing in the Guardian, Dr Robinson takes it upon himself to defend Russian propaganda channels such as RT and Sputnik (which has just opened a new Scottish bureau).

Complaining about recent reports on RT’s role in Russian propaganda, Robinson declares: “Whatever the accuracy, or lack thereof, of RT and whatever its actual impact on western audiences, one of the problems with these kinds of arguments is that they fall straight into the trap of presenting media that are aligned with official adversaries as inherently propagandistic and deceitful, while the output of ‘our’ media is presumed to be objective and truthful.”

Danger, Piers Robinson. “Whatever the accuracy or lack thereof” is a pretty startling way to start here. ....

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Stalinist Seamus Milne's Guardian. Shaun Walker, mega "DNR guys" resident Moscow scumball also writes for the Guardian.
Robinson's article in the Guardian -

Russian news may be biased – but so is much western media
Piers Robinson
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/02/russian-propaganda-western-media-manipulation
===
The headline says it all.
By using a comparison it implies that western and Russian press are similar in their bias. Pure garbage.
How stupid are people at the "University of Sheffield"??

Piers Robinson - idiot and scumball. Russian payroll? If not, he soon will be.
Looking at this idiot's twitter postings, serious supporter of Corbyn and the ultra-left.
He was at the U of Manchester - lecturer - I presume he knows Seamus Milne. ... say no more.

Piers Robinson
‏@PiersRobinson1
2015
Now the truth emerges: how the US fuelled the rise of Isis in Syria and Iraq | Seumas Milne

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/03/us-isis-syria-iraq?CMP=share_btn_tw

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My guess appears to be correct. Robinson tweeting links to Milne articles.
For more on fruitcake Stalinist Milne see our
"Journalists reporting on Ukraine - the good, the bad and the ugly." Sticky
http://ukraine-english-news.forumotion.com/t1118-journalists-reporting-on-ukraine-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly

Guardian spins for Russian and Iranian state media
http://order-order.com/people/piers-robinson/
The Guardian has published an article by a left-wing university crank spinning for Russian and Iranian state media and praising a far-left conspiracy theory site. Piers Robinson writes:
“one can gain useful insights and information from a variety of news sources – including those that are derided as “propaganda” outlets: Russia Today, ...
Media Lens is an extremely eccentric hard-left site which reckons Seumas Milne is a sellout and has been accused of denying the Srebrenica genocide. What an odd thing for the Guardian to publish…
UPDATE: Judging by his Twitter account Piers Robinson is also a big fan of the Corbynista conspiracy site The Canary. ...

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Robinson's Guardian article has itself become news at Russian RT -

Russian embassy responds angrily to Times’ criticism of RT
https://www.rt.com/uk/354374-russian-embassy-propaganda-times/
[Please note - this is a Russian source! ]

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wow - just found Robinson's Guardian article already translated into Russian, on a Russian website - they love him!

Возможно, российские СМИ пристрастны, но многие западные — тоже
http://inosmi.ru/politic/20160803/237424792.html

Say no more - Piers Robinson - another of Putin's "useful idiots".

AP: yesterday in Donbass no dead, but three soldiers wounded
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/08/3/7116707/
Wednesday, August 3, 2016, 12:57

Over the past day in the area of ​​ATO because of the fighting, three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded, one concussion, nobody killed there.
This Wednesday spokesman of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine for ATO Andrei Lysenko.
"As a result of the fighting in the ranks no dead Ukrainian troops there. Three soldiers were wounded and one concussion," - he said.
When asked Lysenko liability of that one soldier "was injured in Stanitsa Lugansk, another - in the Crimea - one in Mar'yantsi. And our guy got a concussion in Krasnohorivtsi during a mortar attack."

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Be wary of online translations at times - the heading today gives

АП: За добу на Донбасі поранено 3 військових, загиблих немає
AP: One day in the Donbass wounded 3 soldiers killed there
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The war injured - and dead - I went to a hospital yesterday evening. I passed the military graveyard. More dead.
It puts a lie to scumballs like Seamus Milne and this Robinson idiot from Sheffield.
"journalists" and "academics" who distort the truth have blood on their hands.
What also disgusts me are the other journalists who support these idiots.

Piers Gregory Robinson - bio on Putin's "useful idiot"

Quite difficult to find anything about him. All his bios at the universities are the same, and don't even give information where he got his "degrees" from.
Actually he trained to be a teacher, but, one assumes didn't like schools. Posh accent. What did he do at the age of 18 - 23?! Goof around?

Eventually found this
Piers Gregory Robinson
http://prabook.com/web/person-view.html?profileId=534537

Piers Gregory Robinson, British communications educator. Postgraduate Certificate in Education University Cardiff, 1996.
Robinson, Piers Gregory was born on September 11, 1970 in London. Son of Barry Kenneth and Sheila Robinson.
Degree, University Essex, 1995. Master of Science in International Relations, University Bristol, 1997. Doctor of Philosophy, University Bristol, 2000.
Lecturer political communication University Liverpool, England, 1999—2005, research fellow, 2005—2008. Senior lecturer University Manchester, England, 2005.
Postgraduate Certificate in Education University Cardiff, 1996.
Life partner Stefanie Haueis. Politics & Communication Studies, U of Liverpool, 2004 - i.e. - he married one of his students.
Also mentions Arkansas, United States ?!

Khakamada has offered Moscow to Kyiv paid compensation for the annexation of Crimea

Russian opposition social and political activist Irina Khakamada announced the need for Russia to pay compensation for the occupation of Ukraine in Crimea. She told in an interview to the Russian newspaper " Novaya Gazeta".

According to her, Ukraine is to hold a referendum in the Crimea, even without representatives of the OSCE and Russian soldiers, leading to more military tensions between Kyiv and Moscow.

"Well, how much can you fight? Harm and Ukraine, and Russia. All require the world. So I think it's better and easier, we pay tribute Ukraine", - said Khakamada.

She did not name specific dimensions indemnity, only noting that Russia may write off all the debts Ukraine and "add".

Also Khakamada told an interesting way to Russia where the money for the ransom Ukraine in the Crimea.

"In Russia, such a level of corruption if they (corrupt - ed.) Want, and if they still swing - then skynutsya and all in all enough!" - She said.

ukr.segodnya.ua In Ukrainian/український

So they want to make a deal of basically paying Ukraine for Crimea. Wishful thinking!

For one, Ukraine's debt is at this time in the international courts, so the debt might just be wiped out.

Another! Ukraine isn't going to selloff Crimea, as it belongs to them. If an offer is being made, then that's an indication that they're hurting monetarily with the cost they've acquired with regards to Crimea's upkeep. IMO, that's the only main reason they want to make a deal. Plus! Maybe the western pressure they're also having to deal with, which has cost them dearly. But, they better think twice, as Ukraine's not going to give it up.

Russian, heading to Ukraine to take part in armed conflict as a part of illegal armed formations detained today members of the State Border Service in the Luhansk region

At the time of passport control public bus passengers "Voronezh - Artemivs'k" and the inspection unit Luhansk border guards found that in our country one of the foreigners entering to reach Donetsk and join the ranks of militants, reports the press service of the State Border Service .

During further filtration steps, it was found that 53-year-old Russian citizen on the eve of closed through the checkpoint "Izvaryne" visited the city of Lugansk, which appealed to the military, called "FSC", asking to fight with militants. The man said that he was invited to serve in tank units, to which he refused, and later decided to turn to the military "NPT" for the contract.

Border guards have caused law enforcement officers conducted investigations.



glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український

He noted that this is his personal opinion.

Advisor to Interior Minister Shkiriak Zorian expressed his personal opinion about who killed journalist Pavel Sheremet. According to the conviction of this writing Russian special services. He said the TV channel "112 Ukraine".

"I would not like to make predictions now, from my side it is not entirely correct, but I can not express my personal view. I have repeatedly emphasized this, I for its part believes that the crime was ordered outside that Most likely it carried the Russian special services, it is their writing, "- said Shkiriak.

According to his conviction, and cynicism, which was committed disruption, and the consequences of social and political situations arguing for this version.

"Personally, I doubt there" - summed up adviser to Interior Minister.

glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український

Kistion said that the Cabinet decision in March to repair roads has been allocated 6.5 billion hryvnia.

Ukraine has already mastered 60% of the money for road repairs that Cabinet has allocated in March. The broadcast of the public said Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Kistion.
He said that the Cabinet decision in March to repair roads has been allocated 6.5 billion hryvnia.

"In a decision that was taken in March (allocation of 6.5 billion USD for road repairs - Ed.) Work performed by more than 60%", - said Kistion.

He added that in June The Cabinet has allocated additional funds to repair roads, but they have not been used.

"According to the decision, which was taken in June, the funds are not used, because you have to pass tendering" - said Deputy Prime Minister.

glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український

Make sure the money goes to the repairs and not into a local's pocket. THAT MUST stop.

Marchuk posted a link to the site and screenshot News, which reported that the army "DNR" enhanced with new equipment and crews.

The representative of Ukraine in the Trilateral contact group to resolve the situation in the Donbass Yevhen Marchuk Wednesday in Minsk at the meeting of Working Group on Security raised the issue of Russia's participation in the military conflict in the Donbas and published the relevant evidence.

This Marchuk said on Facebook.

"Today was very difficult negotiations in Minsk. Later will tell more. The Russian side, as always, categorically denies its involvement in the war and even deny the evidence of their presence in the temporarily occupied territories of Donbass. In this regard, today's meeting of the working group on security, conducted by the head of the OSCE Mission to Ukraine Mr. Apakan, I read the information on the official website of the so-called "DNR" - wrote Marchuk.

Marchuk posted a link to the site and screenshot News, which reported that the army "DNR" enhanced with new equipment and crews "thanks to the support of the Russian Federation."

On the reaction of the working group on security Marchuk promised to tell later.

glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український

Ukraine requires that the formula was modified in the contract was changed transit rate and in principle have changed the contract.

Ukraine currently has filed a lawsuit requirement of "Gazprom" in the Stockholm arbitration in the amount of 26.6 billion dollars.
The broadcast of the public said Yuri Vitrenko, Director of Business Development "Naftogaz Ukraine".

"We put forward a claim in the amount of 26.6 billion dollars. This so-called retroactive compensation, that is what we overpaid in previous years and that received less for transit in previous years. But we also demand that has been modified formula in the contract was changed transit rate and in principle have changed the conditions of contracts and it will give an additional effect from the time of the expected decision - the first half of 2017, next year the time of completion of the contract - a 2019 . Additional economic impact will be more than 20 billion dollars. That will aggregate approximately $ 50 billion economic impact to Ukraine through the Stockholm arbitration, "- said Vitrenko.

He also spoke about the progress in the present.

"We are moving, progress until we satisfy. Hearings begin in September. From our side we have provided all the necessary legal evidence, expert opinions. We believe we are very well prepared. Judging by the actions of the Russian side, we see that they feel insecure. Statements by the Russian side, and Mr. Putin and Mr. Miller, now maybe some transit volumes will be via Ukraine, it is purely a legal trick that they use in the Stockholm arbitration that was counter them against the use of accelerated depreciation on our part, "- Vitrenko said.

glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український

The court noted that the decision IWF is "the effective and proportionate."

Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected an appeal Weightlifting Federation of the decision of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) for the removal of Russian weightlifters Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

So on August 3 court upheld the ban for all 8 Russian weightlifters by the International Weightlifting Federation introduced on 29 July.

The court noted that the decision IWF is "the effective and proportionate."

July 29 International Weightlifting Federation announced that the Federation decided to ban the Russian weightlifting nominate athletes and technical staff for this year's Summer Olympics in Brazil Rio de Janeiro. The reason was doping statistics on the Russian heavyweights.

IWF Executive Board said that the Weightlifting Federation of Russia and Russian weightlifters "spoiled the reputation of the entire weightlifting as a sport."

Russia exhibited at the Olympic Games eight heavyweights. They - or Champions Championship of Europe and the world or Olympic Games.

Earlier, the International Olympic Committee said that Russian athletes may be allowed to present the Olympic Games only by individual decisions of their international federations of sports if they meet a number of conditions on the "purity" of doping.

The reason for such harsh steps against Russian athletes have a broad national program in Russia that included the use of doping by athletes and hide it. The first reports about it appeared in late 2014, autumn 2015 they gained wider acknowledgment and July 18 World Anti-Doping Agency published a report prepared by an independent expert, which proved the existence of the program. Now, this report should be expanded to give a final conclusion on the amount of "state doping" in Russia, and the results of this enhanced IOC report did not rule out new sanctions against Russia.

glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український