[It is still not clear whether the alleged Russian "incursion" in east Ukraine is just a token action to shore up Putin's sagging credibility or the beginning of a full-scale military invasion. The situation, at any rate, calls for close monitoring and immediate UN intervention.]
I/III. http://www.therightperspective.org/2014/06/12/russian-tanks-enter-ukraine/ Russian Tanks Enter Ukraine <http://www.therightperspective.org/2014/06/12/russian-tanks-enter-ukraine/> Russian tanks reportedly entered eastern Ukraine Thursday, in what may be the start of a full-scale conflict between the two countries. Reports of radio chatter at 0700 GMT indicated Russian forces were mobilizing to launch into the Ukraine, reports*Ukraine Reporter* <https://twitter.com/StateOfUkraine/status/476990268193792000>. Later eyewitness updates saw T-72 Russian tanks entering Snizhne. The town is located in the Donetsk region, a hotbed for pro-Russian separatists. Locals of Snizhne who reported the incursion to police say the tank crews openly talked <https://twitter.com/StateOfUkraine/status/477059886505668608> about their Russian origin and that they had come to "liberate the Ukraine."Another report <https://twitter.com/StateOfUkraine/status/476993274662907904> included APCs and other military vehicles, including four mechanized mortars <https://twitter.com/BradCabana/status/477075900765597697>, are taking part in the invasion. Troops from Belarus <https://twitter.com/ReshetnikovM/status/477082647777529857> are also taking part. Another report of chatter <https://twitter.com/BradCabana/status/477077486199914496> indicates heavy fight is ongoing in Vilkhove, close to Luhansk. The Ukrainian airforce reports an intensive firefight <https://twitter.com/HUMANBEINGONE/status/477079001669074944> near Slavkurort. Russia's incursion into the Donetsk region comes after Wednesday's report <http://mashable.com/2014/06/12/ukraine-anti-terrorist-operation> from the Ukrainian Health Ministry that 270 have died since the start of "anti-terrorist" operations to take back eastern Ukraine started two months ago. The majority of those people, 225, were in the Donetsk region. The report did not say how many were soldiers or civilians. Newly-elected Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has opened up several corridors along the Ukraine-Russia border to allow foreign nationals a chance to leave the fighting unharmed. Also on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovadmitted to a relationship <http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russia-acknowledges-sending-aid-to-eastern-ukraine-separatist-leader-visits-moscow/2014/06/11/11dad9e3-2d08-4169-9aca-510c53bfca02_story.html> with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Leader of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin met with Russian nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky at his Russian office on Wednesday. He then attended a pro-separatist rally in Moscow intended as a fundraiser. He told reporters that he was prepared to negotiate with Ukraine's new president, Petro Poroshenko, but only if Russia mediates. And he said he would not be satisfied with an outcome that reunites eastern Ukraine with the rest of the nation. The Donetsk and Luhansk regions are reportedly forming a unified government <https://twitter.com/BradCabana/status/477076778515963906> and parliament, separate from the newly-elected Ukrainian government. Lavrov then said on Thursday <http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/ukraine-s-rebels-ready-for-ceasefire-1.1702657#.U5mxu5R_u-0> that the separatist forces were ready for a ceasefire, but that Kiev must "act first." Russia plans to introduce a resolution to the United Nations, demanding fulfillment of the proposals set by a "road map" to end the conflict, drawn by the OSCE. At 0900 GMT <http://censor.net.ua/photo_news/289559/litvina_v_otstavku_v_kieve_shturmuyut_zdanie_gospogranslujby_s_trebovaniem_zakryt_granitsu_s_rossieyi>, three dozen protesters stormed the Border Guard Administration building in Kiev, demanding that the head of Border Guard Service resign. The protesters were repelled with fire hoses. Protesters outside the Ukrainian Border on Thursday. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov confirmed at 1200 GMT that three T-72 Russian tanks had crossed the Ukrainian border. Two of the tanks were intercepted by Ukrainian Army (UA) troops; additional reporting said one of the Russian tanks was hit. One of the Russian tanks intercepted by Ukrainian Army forces in Snizhne Two videos showing one of the Russian tanks driving through the streets of Snizhne have been published to the Internet. A rebel spokesman told Russia's Ria-Novosti news agency that rebels were fighting a force of 40 Ukrainian tanks north of the city of Luhansk. The tanks had been stopped at the village of Makarovo, the spokesman said. II/III. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27815441 12 June 2014 Last updated at 18:38 - Print <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27815441?print=true> - acebook <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27815441#> - Twitter <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27815441#> Ukraine says 'Russian tank incursion' unacceptable Fighting has been raging in the east between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian rebels Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has told President Vladimir Putin that reports of Russian tanks moving into Ukrainian territory are unacceptable. Ukraine's interior minister said earlier that three tanks had entered rebel areas of the east, and fighting was under way. Arsen Avakov said that the tanks entered Ukraine along with other armour through a border checkpoint controlled by rebels in the Luhansk region. Russia denied the report. It said it was "another fake piece of information". Moscow has accused President Poroshenko of not delivering on his earlier pledge to stop fighting in the east. It wants an investigation into allegations that Ukrainian forces used banned incendiary bombs against civilians. Rebel fighters could be seen in Snizhne on Thursday "The lack of any progress whatsoever in efforts to stop the violence and halt military operations... is causing increasing concern," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. He said that reports in the Russian media that incendiary bombs were being used was another "cause for special concern". The bombs are designed to trigger major firestorms and were often used during the Vietnam War before they were banned by the United Nations. Ukraine has denied using the weapons. It has accused Russia of allowing the rebels to deploy three Soviet-era T-72 tanks across the border into the east of the country. Ukraine's presidency said in a statement <http://www.president.gov.ua/news/30511.html> that Mr Poroshenko, who was elected last month, had a "substantial" conversation by telephone with Mr Putin on Kiev's plan of bringing peace to the east. 'Destroyed' Mr Avakov said the tanks had crossed the border from Russia along with armoured personnel carriers and artillery pieces in the Dyakove area of Luhansk region, before moving into the neighbouring Donetsk region. Two headed towards the town of Horlivka and were attacked by government forces, he added. Unverified video has been posted on YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaVdQiSvADo> of a battle tank rolling down a street said to be in Snizhne. The footage was shot from a flat overlooking the street. A second clip <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOML8S2BYg8&feature=youtu.be>, also said to have been recorded in Snizhne, shows a similar tank passing a roundabout. There was no confirmation about the tanks from the insurgents. Pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared independence after holding referendums last month which were deemed illegal by the government in Kiev. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of supporting and arming the rebels - a claim denied by Moscow. The rebellion began amid the turmoil which followed February's ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych, whose last-minute decision not to sign a landmark treaty with the European Union in November sparked mass street protests in Kiev. III. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/12/us-ukraine-crisis-russia-un-idUSKBN0EN16S20140612 Russia to submit draft U.N. resolution on Ukraine MOSCOW Thu Jun 12, 2014 12:58pm EDT 1 OF 2. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) shows the way to his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski as they attend a news conference after their meeting his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in St. Petersburg, June 10, 2014. CREDIT: REUTERS/ALEXANDER DEMIANCHUK (Reuters) - Russia plans to submit a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council to put pressure on Ukraine to implement a "road map" to peace, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on Thursday. The road map was drawn up by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in May to give impetus to a deal reached in Geneva by the European Union, Russia, Ukraine and the United States to try to end the crisis in Ukraine. Lavrov accused Kiev of not abiding by the Geneva agreement or the road map and blamed it for the failure to end violence in east Ukraine, where the Ukrainian army is battling pro-Russian separatists who control several towns and cities. Russia has already submitted several draft resolutions on Ukraine to the Security Council which have been rejected. "We have assigned our (U.N.) envoy in New York, Vitaly Churkin, to submit a draft resolution to the Security Council on the situation in Ukraine," the state-run Itar-Tass news agency quoted Lavrov as saying. "That is because the lack of any progress in the efforts to end the violence ... is causing growing concern," he said. Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russia of fuelling the uprising in east Ukraine, but Moscow denies this. The separatist rebels have called on Russia to send in peacekeepers but Lavrov said their deployment was not warranted by the situation. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Editing by Timothy Heritage) -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
