Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Thursday 14 July. [Ukrainian sources]

THURSDAY

Please scroll down to view news items added during the day

News:
72 attacks by Putin's Russian forces on Ukraine yesterday.
A big jump from the 50 figure of yesterday.
Update - sadly one more soldier killed by Putin, and six injured. The madness that is Putin's ego, and his warped desire to create a Russian empire. Psycho.

Weather:
Hot. Again. Already 26 at 0930. Going to be around 30 in most places tomorrow.
The west has been a little cooler. 26 yesterday, I believe, in the Lviv, Rivne area.

Brexit aftermath:
@lauraschneider
German TV news presenters can't help laughing as they announce Boris Johnson as Britain's new Foreign Minister
@cardbildt [re Johnson]
I wish it was a joke, but I fear it isn't.

ATO: Militants have stepped up attacks, the Ukrainian Armed Forces control the situation
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/07/14/7114688/
For the past day 72 times militants have used weapons against Ukrainian forces.
The press center ATO headquarters on the page in Facebook.
The greatest number of attacks, namely 37, recorded in Mariupol direction.
"Forbidden Minsk II caliber 152 mm artillery used by the enemy of our soldiers in Mar'yintsi and 122 mm self-propelled installation - in Krasnohorivtsi. With 120 mm mortars hit by enemy Starohnativtsi, Bogdanovka, Novohryhorivtsi, water, Shyrokynomu, Mar'yintsi and Krasnohorivtsi" - said in a statement.
In Donetsk area recorded 30 cases of firing by militants. With 122 mm artillery fired questionnaire and they Sands. With 120 mm mortars, terrorists struck in Avdeevka and Zaitsev. Also, on strengthening the forces ATO in these settlements militants fired 82 mm mortars, grenade launchers of various systems and small arms.
In Luhansk militants fired 5 times Ukrainian position. In particular, they beat Novotoshkivtsi 82 ​​mm mortars and anti-aircraft installations, and near the villages of Lugansk - from grenade different systems.
"Despite the intensification of enemy units ATO Forces fully control the situation across the boundary line" - stressed the headquarters.
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Putin clearly pushing in the direction of Crimea. He wants to take Mariupol next.
The number of attacks has yo-yo'd upwards steadily, from around 20 a month ago, to 70 or 90 attacks this week.
And most of those have been in the Mariupol area - Putin's corridor to occupied Crimea.

Pro-Kremlin far-right Bulgarian Party used in latest Ukrainian "separatism fake"
http://www.unian.info/politics/1416058-pro-kremlin-far-right-bulgarian-party-used-in-latest-ukrainian-separatism-fake.html
The investigation by the Ukrainian activists at StopFake debunked yet another propaganda myth spun in several media outlets, this time about alleged pressure by the law enforcers on Bulgarian ethnic minority in Ukraine....

Poroshenko, Aliyev start talks in Baku, - press secretary Tseholko. PHOTO
http://en.censor.net.ua/photo_news/397320/poroshenko_aliyev_start_talks_in_baku_press_secretary_tseholko_photo
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko is holding meeting with his Azerbaijan counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Thursday, July 14, during his visit to Baku....
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Very brief report.

A British Foreign Secretary who excuses Russia’s invasion of Crimea?
14.07.16 | Halya Coynash
....On May 9 this year, during questions and answers after a speech on Europe, it transpired that for Johnson it was not Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea and its military aggression in Eastern Ukraine that had caused “real trouble”, but the EU’s actions.

“If you want an example of EU foreign policymaking on the hoof and the EU’s pretensions to running a defence policy that have caused real trouble, then look at what has happened in Ukraine, ” he told reporters....

Past gaffes from Britain’s new Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson
http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/past-gaffes-from-britains-new-foreign-secretary-boris-johnson/news-story/03a8656fbfbf06a221f97b4d4620404e
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Here's how he described probably the next President of the USA -
In 2007 he said of Hillary Clinton, possibly the next president of the US: “She’s got dyed blonde hair and pouty lips, and a steely blue stare, like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital.”

I'm speechless...

ATO headquarters' official announced losses for the day
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/07/14/7114725/
Thursday, July 14, 2016, 13:15

One day in the area of ​​anti-terrorist operation killed one soldier, 6 injured.
This at a traditional briefing on Thursday, spokesman of the Presidential Administration Alexander ATO on Motuzyanyk.
"For the past day because of fighting one Ukrainian soldier killed, 4 - were injured," - said the colonel.
According to him, in addition, another 2 wounded as a result of the military to undermine the stretch.
According to the "Ukrainian Truth" soldier killed in a mortar attack militants near Avdeevka.
Motuzyanyk also said that last night the enemy organized several flights of unmanned aerial vehicles. It was established that one of the drones took off from the Russian territory including the city of Taganrog.

13:23
In Kiev "Azov" disrupted the press conference of Symonenko
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/07/14/7114727/
Thursday, July 14, 2016, 13:23

In Kiev, about 20 members of the organization "Civil Building" Azov "on Thursday disrupted a press conference of the former leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine Petro Symonenko.
According to "Interfax-Ukraine", members gathered in front of the news agency "HolosUA", which was scheduled at 12:00 press conference Symonenko, without impeding the free passage of citizens.
Agency staff called the police, but members of the "Civic Corps Azov" said the policeman, people were not committing illegal acts and no plans to arrest them.
At 12:40 agency staff announced that a press conference be canceled. After that, members of the "Civic Corps Azov" peacefully left the area before the news.
As is known, the news agency "HolosUA" is controlled Symonenko and regularly relays his message.



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Simonenko. Scumball supporter of former dictator Yanukovich. Multi-millionaire "communist", i.e. corrupt scumball. Really revolting human being.

EU to abolish visas for Georgian citizens in October, - Hahn
http://en.censor.net.ua/news/397337/eu_to_abolish_visas_for_georgian_citizens_in_october_hahn
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But nothing about Ukraine as of yet. November 01? January 01?

"[They were] cut into pieces and hidden in Kyiv," – MP Ariev shows weapons employed by former Berkut commandos against Euromaidan protesters. PHOTOS
http://en.censor.net.ua/photo_news/397352/it_was_cut_into_pieces_and_hidden_in_kyiv_mp_ariev_shows_weapons_employed_by_former_berkut_commandos
....In the meantime, it is clear that the case has moved on only after Lutsenko's appointment," the MP said. ...

New Generation of Digital Detectives Fight to Keep Russia Honest [Engl; El. Higgins]
http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/mh17-crash-two-years-later
....For example, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed it had satellite imagery showing the movement of Ukrainian Buk missile launchers; the Russians tried to claim that Ukraine had shot down the plane. Yet we clearly demonstrated that the images had been purposely misdated and altered.

When the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was challenged to present its evidence, they resorted to plagiarizing blog posts from a Russian blogger. All of this was discovered using verification techniques and digital forensic research. ...
those countries that continue to choose to lie to the public will face humiliation at the hands of a growing number of citizens with the tools they need to destroy those lies.

Eliot Higgins, a UkraineAlert contributor, is the founder of Bellingcat and a Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab.

Ukraine Upholds Gazprom’s $3Bln Fine
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/ukraine-upholds-gazproms-3bln-fine/575070.html
Ukraine’s highest economic court has dismissed Gazprom’s appeal against a $3.4 billion fine, the RBC newspaper reported Wednesday.
Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee (AMCU) fined the energy giant in January for “abuse of its dominant position in the country’s gas supply network.”...

Russian Officials Hopeful for Warmer Relations After Johnson Appointment
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russian-officials-hopeful-for-warmer-relations-after-johnson-appointment/575184.html
....President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Boris Johnson will likely be “more diplomatic” as the head of the British Foreign Office than his predecessors...
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"more diplomatic"??
The guy is a complete bumbling fruitcake - an embarrassment to any country in the world

Former RBC Editor Blames Kremlin For Dismissal
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/former-rbc-editor-blames-kremlin-for-dismissal/575050.html
....Badanin said that RBC's reporting on the Panama Papers — a leak which showed that cellist and childhood friend of Putin, Sergey Roldugin, was holding billions of dollars in offshore accounts — had provoked the the Russian government. Reports of the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine and the business affairs of Putin’s friends and family had also drawn official anger, he said.
Prokhorov’s holding company ONEXIM, was raided by police shortly after the RBC story on Roldugin, while the head of a ONEXIM utility company was arrested for fraud on June 22. Pro-Kremlin demonstrators also staged protests outside the newspaper’s offices, accusing them of spreading Western propaganda....
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Another independent Russian news outlet goes to the Kremlin side.
You simply can't report the truth in Russia; the Kremlin "journalists", RIA, Russiaprofile, the Shaun Walker types - they all know this, and write "accordingly". Putin rules.

Ryanair ‘to Launch Flights to Ukraine in 2017’
http://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2016/07/8/7114186/
....Romanovska explains that these are four companies that used to flight to Lviv but abandoned these routes – Czech Airlines, AirBaltic, Belavia and WizzAir. Ryanair will be a new entrant....
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Very much a "maybe", I would think.
But if they decide to go to Lviv, then they might consider Odesa, Vinnitsa, also. Basically cheap airports.
Borispol and Zhuliani - expensive, and getting busy. Zhitomir might be another option. Good road links to Kiev. 70 minutes. Not much more than Borispol!
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see also, from 16 May
Largest low-cost airline in Europe Ryanair looks to fly to Lviv
http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/economic/343528.html
...."I don’t think that we will discuss flights to Odesa. ...
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That implies that they would like Odesa, but probably know it would be very hard to reach an agreement.

Putin’s “Threats” to the Baltics: a Myth to Promote NATO Unity
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2016/07/13/putin-threats-baltics-myth-promote-nato-unity.html

....And what about Ukraine? The limited moves Russia has taken there have been in direct response of the U.S.-led effort to incorporate Ukraine into NATO, most notably in backing the pro-NATO (and neo-fascist) forces who pulled off the coup of February 22, 2014.  Any support Russia has offered to ethnic Russians in the Donbass opposed to the ultranationalist (and dysfunctional) new regime in Kiev hardly constitute an “invasion.”....

Gary Leupp is Professor of History at Tufts University, and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Religion

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A "professor of History"..... one weeps for American education.
The whole article is completely off the wall. But consider - this idiot is supposedly educating the youth of America. Frightening.
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More on this prathead -

http://ase.tufts.edu/history/faculty/leupp.asp
Ph.D. University of Michigan
M.A. University of Hawaii
B.A. University of Hawaii
... Yes - Hawaii.

His speciality area -
"Male Homosexuality in Early Modern Japan: An Overview of the Scholarship," in Michael O'Rourke and Katherine O'Donnell, eds., Queer Masculinities: 1550-1800 (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2006)

Writing about the Baltics and Ukraine?
He'd be better off trying his luck at Brain Surgery.

American "professor" of history Leupp turns out to be a Putin butt-kisser
[see one post up for further reference on this.]

Random Thoughts on My Ukrainian Heritage
by GARY LEUPP
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/07/23/random-thoughts-on-my-ukrainian-heritage/

[extracts...]

....(I thought about this family link when reading about the incident on May 2 in Odessa, in which 39 “pro-Russian separatists” were incinerated in the House of Trade Unions by neo-fascists or beaten to death as they sought escape. ..
The key principle of self-censorship in the mainstream media involving Ukraine is: Don’t mention the neo-fascist role! Or if you mention “fascism,” depict it as Russian exaggeration and PROPAGANDA!).....
would be sickened about the putsch in Kiev in February and the assault it represents on ethnic minorities in Ukraine (a country that did not exist until the Bolshevik Revolution)....

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How somebody with such complete ignorance and bias - as this "Professor Leupp" (reminds me of Professor Yanukovich ) - can be allowed to teach in a supposedly "civilized" country is beyond me.

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Found this also

Ukraine: The Sovereignty Argument, and the Real Problem of Fascism
http://divergences2.divergences.be/spip.php?article871
....One (anarchist) protestor in Maidan Square told Salon that 30% of the demonstrators were “fascists.” ...
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I was in Ukraine. I know many who stood on Maidan, dentists, shoe repairers, decorators... but no fascists.
But in Leupp we are dealing with a serious mental delusion.
The real reason for his delusion has yet to become clear to me, but... there is a screw seriously loose somewhere in his head...

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more

Ukraine- History Professor Lays Bare the $5bn US-led Coup
https://step-back.org/ukraine-history-professor-lays-bare-the-5bn-us-led-coup/

Looks like he's a Stalinist-Maoist nutter - and - as with Seumas Milne, Putin represents the trendy worker's Stalinist utopia today, despite being the real dictator.

https://louisproyect.org/2014/03/19/good-journalism-a-note-to-professor-gary-leupp/
After all, you don’t get to be a perfesser at Tufts unless you are really good. In fact we have plenty of respect for intelleckshuals. I worked at Columbia University as a programmer for 21 years and got to meet one or two.

What we have problems with is not the books and articles on Japanese sexual practices but the sheer idiocy of his Maoism. I had no idea when I started reading his crappy crypto-Stalinist articles that they were inspired by Maoism. It all makes sense now. Maoism is the vulgar Marxism of those who read the Red Book and then feel equipped to pontificate about matters that they know little about. In a way it is really fascinating how someone who gets to be tenured at Tufts can be such a simpleton when it comes to Soviet history, imperialism, socialist revolution, etc. The article on the Shining Path he wrote for MR really cracks me up, in fact. As it turns out I happened to have become friendly enemies with the late Adolfo Olaechea once upon a time. He was probably the leading spokesman for Sendero outside of Peru and someone I helped to defend after he was facing trial in Peru for terrorism. For those who are interested in what a serious approach to the Shining Path looks like as compared to Leupp’s simple-minded cheer-leading, have a look at this:

In Perm, Northern Russia, officers at the local army conscription center handed out military decorations to the so-called volunteers who, Putin says, went to fight in Donbas on their own will, Ukraine army officer Kyrylo Danylchenko writes in Facebook July 14.

 “The big question is what the conscription center officers have to do with the volunteers, and where they got the lists for decorations from,” the Ukrainian officer asks.

The photos posted by Kyrylo Danylchenko show Russian officers wearing Donbas self-proclaimed republics’ uniforms receiving medals from Perm army conscription center officers.

zik.ua

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has transferred 18 criminal cases to court.


Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office Nazar Kholodnytskyi said on air of 5 Channel, Censor.NET reports.

"18 cases have been already taken to court," he said.

"Of those, if we are talking about big names, Pasishnyk's case is worth mentioning, who is the first person in the history of Ukraine accused of illegal interference in the work of a statesman. Although it is not a serious crime, but he is the first one.

"There are cases against judges charged with bribery. One of them is convicted in absentia as he is hiding, while his apartments have been attached and accounts in Spain frozen. We received this information just yesterday. This is judge Buran's case who was nabbed red-handed and who opened fire on NABU's employees," Kholodnytskyi said.

He added that some more cases "will be taken to court very soon."

ua.censor.net.ua In Ukrainian/український

Russian occupants held a military training for children in Sevastopol, where they could "get acquainted with the work of bailiffs, learn to render first aid, and take part in hostage release and bomb defusing games."

Censor.NET reports referring to Krym.Realii.

See more: "I'll personally come after you and hang you upside down on Prymorskyi Boulevard," - Kharkiv judge and ATO veteran Mamalui replied to letter of Sevastopol judge-traitor. DOCUMENT (in Ukrainian)

"We live in a time when our country is faced with unfriendly challenges coming from different parts of the world. You are the young generation of Russians, the foundation and the future of the defense capability of our country, and you must be prepared to repel any challenges already tomorrow. Today, you will participate in a simulated military operation, let the best of you win!" deputy chief of Sevastopol youth and sports department Sergey Reznichenko said.

As reported, the young participants were taught to treat wounds, rig up a splint, and deal with bleeding. Playing a laser tag game provoked the brightest emotions among the trainees.

One of the photos, published by the occupation "government" of Sevastopol, shows an armed man giving weapons to a child.




ua.censor.net.ua In Ukrainian/український

More than 100 people were injured.

The death toll in the terrorist attack in Nice exceeded 80 people, reported Broadcasting Company RTBF.

"According to preliminary data, the death toll - more than 80 people, more than 100 people were injured," - specified in the message.

During the celebration of Bastille Day in Nice on the Promenade des Anglais truck at a speed of 60-70 km / h hit a committed crowd. The city event called terrorist attack. The truck driver was eliminated by the police.









glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Thursday, July 14, approved a comprehensive legislation to address the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, strengthening sanctions against Russia, according to the committee’s press service.

According to Eliot L. Engel, the bill’s author, the legislation “underscores America’s support for Ukraine’s right to defend itself. Parts of Ukraine, as we know, are illegally occupied. So our aim with this bill is rooted in America’s non-recognition policies during the fifty-year Soviet occupation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania,” according to the report. The bill links any sanctions relief to Russia fulfilling its obligations under the Minsk Agreement as well as making Crimea-related sanctions permanent so long as the Russian occupation there continues. It also tightens sanctions enforcement with a new anti-evasion framework and requires regular reports on banks illegally controlling Ukrainian assets—particularly Russian banks in Crimea.............

unian.ua In Ukrainian/український

He stressed that such a number of victims caused joint use of the Russian-separatist forces more heavy weapons, including mortars, artillery and multiple launch rocket systems "Grad".

US Representative to the OSCE Ambassador Daniel Bayer called the actions of the Russian Federation for blowing the last days of the conflict in eastern Ukraine obstructionism, provocation and hypocrisy.

An appropriate statement was made ​​by US diplomat on Thursday at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Geneva, reports Ukrinform.

"Last week armed forces of Ukraine took the biggest victims of the signing of the ceasefire agreement in September 2015", - said the representative of the United States.

He stressed that such a number of victims caused joint use of the Russian-separatist forces more heavy weapons, including mortars, artillery and multiple launch rocket systems "Grad".

"Obstructionism and deliberately making Russia confusion doubt on its commitment to a peaceful settlement of the conflict. At our previous meeting of the Permanent Council, where Ukraine, EU, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States stressed the need for mutual troop withdrawal, Russia reiterated its inflammatory rhetoric and hypocritical "- said Bayer.

In this regard, he called on Russia to withdraw and follow its obligations to restore the cease-fire in eastern Ukraine.

"Russia and the separatists, whom it supports, must take immediate concrete steps to reduce tensions and withdrawal of troops along the line of contact", - said the US representative to the OSCE.

glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український