Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Sunday 28 August. [Ukrainian sources]

SUNDAY

Please scroll down to view news items added during the day

News:
Russia has deployed 41,600 soldiers along Ukrainian border. One militant killed, four more wounded in ATO zone yesterday. Police Suspect Suicide In Death Of Kyiv-Based Russian Journalist. Death At Hands Of Police Sparks Public Anger, Reform Pledge In South Ukraine. Russian occupiers attack Ukraine 59 times, wide use of banned arms reported.

Weather:
Kyiv, Ukraine
31c / 88f Hi | RealFeel® 33c / 92f Precipitation 0%
Very warm with plenty of sunshine; a nice end to the weekend

Russian occupation forces opened fire on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbas 59 times on Saturday, which included the wide use of banned weapons, according to the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) headquarters.

"Twenty-six cases of violations of the truce were recorded in the Donetsk sector. The enemy used mortars, including the 120 mm caliber shells proscribed in the Minsk agreements, as well as grenade launchers of various systems, heavy machine-guns and small arms to shell strongholds in the town of Avdiyivka and the villages of Pisky [near the demolished Donetsk airport], Myronivsky, and Mayorsk. They used 82mm mortars and grenade launchers in the town of Svitlodarsk, and automatic heavy rocket launchers and anti-tank grenade launchers in Verkhniotoretske and Luhanske," the ATO HQ posted on Facebook. The heaviest fire in the afternoon was reported in the village of Zaitseve, close to the militant-controlled town of Horlivka. The enemy lobbed some 100 shells whose caliber is 120mm into the village, simultaneously using other types of weapons. Further, Zaitseve and Mayorsk were attacked by infantry fighting vehicles. The occupiers used heavy artillery against Ukrainian positions twice, having fired thirty-five 122mm projectiles while shelling the villages of Pisky and Luhanske," the ATO HQ said.............

unian.info

Ukraine's interior minister has vowed there won't be any "whitewash" as authorities investigate the death this week of a 31-year-old man at the hands of a half-dozen policemen with the man's family looking on.

The minister, Arsen Avakov, made the pledge via Facebook after angry residents tried to overturn a police vehicle transporting police officers who were detained over Aleksandr Tsukerman's death in the village of Krivoye Ozero in the southern Mykolaiv Province.

With several of the officers already facing charges, Avakov also promised to “disband the district police department and replace its entire staff.” He said anyone who committed criminal activities would face trial.

Shouting "Murderers!" and spitting, punching, and demanding justice, hundreds of people had converged on the district prosecutor’s office, where the six officers were being transferred to a detention facility.

Some of the officers in custody were said to have been injured in the attack, despite Ukrainian security forces' efforts to contain the mob...................

Access complete text of the editorial:  rferl.org

About 41,600 Russian troops were deployed to the border with Ukraine.
Censor.NET reports citing Main Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Defense.

Russia has deployed 14 battalion tactical groups, eight company tactical groups and two infantry brigades (about 41,600 soldiers) along the state border with Ukraine in the occupied Donbas and Crimea.

They have four Tochka-U tactical missile complexes, 298 tanks, 1566 armored combat vehicles, 363 artillery systems, 169 Grad rocket systems in the service.

Moreover, there are about 468 military aircrafts and 303 helicopters of the Russian Federation Armed Forces concentrated along the Russian-Ukrainian border in the framework of "Caucasus-2016" strategic military exercises.

Ukraine's Defense Intelligence reported last week about the deployment of Russian anti-aircraft missile battalion in the occupied territory of the Donbas. The battalion is comprised of 168 people, 21 pieces of equipment and 30 vehicles.

Pentagon representative Michelle Baldanza said that the U.S. is well aware Russia used military exercise to hide redeployment of weapons on Ukraine's territory.

ua.censor.net.ua In Ukrainian/український

The pro-Russian militants suffered more losses in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) area on Aug.27, 2016. One militant was killed and four more were injured.

Censor.NET reports citing Main Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Defense.

According to the report, one militant was killed and four more wounded on Aug.27. The victims belonged to the "11th separate motorized rifle regiment (Makiivka)" and the "9th separate assault motorized rifle regiment of marines (Novoazovsk)", as well as to the 100th separate motorized rifle brigade (Donetsk) of the "1st Army Corps (Donetsk)" of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Moreover, about 19 bodies of dead servicemen of the Russian Federation Armed Forces were transported in a refrigerator to Russia via Diakove village in the Luhansk region on Aug. 26-27.

ua.censor.net.ua In Ukrainian/український

A Ukrainian teenager whose mother was murdered is due to find out if she will be deported back to Ukraine.

Iryna Mynich, 15, has been fighting to be allowed to stay in the UK since her mother's death four years ago.

She's currently living in Cornwall with couple Terry and Heather Voysey who she was staying with when she heard her mother had been shot in Ukraine in 2012.

So far her appeals to be granted "leave to remain" in the UK have been unsuccessful with officials saying she should return to live with her grandmother..........

uatoday.tv

Crimean Tatar Mejlis urges UN, EU, Council of Europe, OSCE, NATO and other international organizations to strengthen sanctions and other restrictions on the Russian Federation

Crimean Tatar Mejlis urged international organizations to strengthen sanctions against Russia to fully restore the integrity of Ukraine. It said in a statement the organization which published on its Facebook page MP Refat Chubarov.

"Crimean Tatar Mejlis urges UN, EU, Council of Europe, OSCE, NATO and other international organizations to strengthen sanctions and other restrictions on the Russian Federation and their safety until the full restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, "- said in a statement" about the threat to life Ilmi Umerov, Akhtem Chyyhoza and other political prisoners in Russia occupied Crimea.".

It is noted that the prosecution Ilmi Umerov is part of a systematic persecution and targeted repression carried out by Russian invaders against the Crimean Tatar people.

Also, the statement noted that the Majlis of Crimean Tatar people comes from the fact that the responsibility for the life and freedom of political prisoners in occupied Crimea, rights and freedoms of its residents rely not only on the state of Ukraine, but also the governments and parliaments of the countries - members of international organizations to ensure the global peace and security of human civilization.

"The only condition that ensures human rights and freedoms, the rights of the Crimean Tatar people - the indigenous people of Crimea, Crimea is de-occupation and restore the sovereignty of Ukraine on the peninsula", - said in a statement.

glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український

For years, Serhiy Leshchenko, a top Ukrainian anti-corruption campaigner, worked to expose kleptocracy under former president Viktor Yanukovich. Now, he is focusing on a new perceived pro-Russian threat to Ukraine: US presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The prospect of Mr Trump, who has praised Ukraine’s arch-enemy Vladimir Putin, becoming leader of the country’s biggest ally has spurred not just Mr Leshchenko but Kiev’s wider political leadership to do something they would never have attempted before: intervene, however indirectly, in a US election.

Mr Leshchenko and Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau published a secret ledger this month that authorities claim show millions of dollars of off-the-book cash payments to Paul Manafort, Mr Trump’s campaign director, while he was advising Mr Yanukovich’s Regions party from 2005.

Mr Manafort, who vigorously denies wrongdoing, subsequently resigned from his campaign role. But Mr Leshchenko and other political actors in Kiev say they will continue their efforts to prevent a candidate — who recently suggested Russia might keep Crimea, which it annexed two years ago — from reaching the summit of American political power............................

Access complete text of the editorial:  ft.com

Lawyer prepares for talks with the Russian FSB for release from psychiatric hospital Umerov

Russian lawyer Deputy Chairman of Mejlis Ilmi Umerov Mark Feigin August 28 came to Crimea. He wrote on his page on Facebook.

He said that preparing for negotiations with the Russian FSB Umerov the release of the psychiatric hospital where he is now forced forensic psychiatric examination.

"So, I came to the Crimea and tomorrow will try, along with his colleagues on defense Umerov pull it out of the mental hospital," - said Feigin.

As reported, the EU called for the immediate release Umerov.

Recall also that the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch called on the Russian authorities to immediately release from a psychiatric clinic deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars Umerov.

glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український