Military spokesman: 3 Ukraine soldiers killed in Donetsk
Ukrainian officials say three soldiers have been killed in clashes with pro-Russian militias in the country #39;s restive east. A Ukrainian military spokesman says the soldiers were killed in...
By: PressTV News Videos
Continued here:
Military spokesman: 3 Ukraine soldiers killed in Donetsk - Video
Ukraine deployed new military aircraft, heavy weapons and vehicles to bolster troops fighting separatists in the countrys east as it continues peace talks with rebels and Russias government.
The reinforcements, which included fighter jets, armored personnel carriers and artillery, follow a September truce in which the government paused an assault after rebels drove its forces back in what the country says was a counterattack spearheaded by Russian units.
Ukraine was able to restore its military preparedness during the cease-fire, Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said today in Kiev.
If heavy weapons moved to the front line it may conflict with the Sept. 5 cease-fire agreed in Minsk, which has been broken almost daily. Ukraine has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of supplying rebels with tanks, artillery and other materiel. Putin, who says he respects the insurgents ambitions, has denied involvement in the conflict, which has triggered the worst standoff between Russia and its Cold War foes in more than a quarter century.
The reinforcements include two MiG-29 and two Su-27 fighters, 42 armored personnel carriers, 18 self-propelled howitzers and other vehicles, Lysenko said.
A bus carrying Ukrainian troops crashed near the eastern city of Artemivsk in bad weather last night, killing 12 and injuring 21, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on its website.
The accident late yesterday, two days before Ukraine celebrates Orthodox Christmas, interrupted a period of relative calm in the conflict, in which more than 4,700 people have died.
While the daily number of deaths has declined since the belligerents renewed a truce agreement last month, Ukraine has still been rocked by economic turmoil, bomb blasts in cities outside the conflict area, and attacks by rebels that Ukraine says are provocations aimed at prompting retaliation from its troops. Lysenko said seven Ukrainian servicemen had been captured by rebels yesterday.
Ukraines hryvnia lost 0.8 percent against the dollar and the yield on its 2017 dollar bond rose two percentage points to a record 36.33 percent at 2:01 p.m. in Kiev to 15.94, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In Russia, the ruble tumbled more than 3 percent to 62.72 against the greenback, its weakest since Dec. 16.
The government in Kiev is in talks with the rebels to release more prisoners after they handed over more than 370 captives following Dec. 24 talks in Minsk, Belarus. Ukrainian and Russian diplomats also met in Berlin yesterday with their German and French counterparts to try to bolster the truce.
See the article here:
Ukraine Reinforces Front Lines as Peace Talks Creep Forward
KIEV, Ukraine, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- While peace talks continue, Ukraine has reinforced its front lines of combat with new aircraft, heavy weapons and other equipment.
The upgrade comes after a September truce in which Ukraine paused an advance on pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country. Moving military equipment would have violated a cease-fire announced Sept. 5, although the stoppage in combat has been broken regularly.
"Ukraine was able to restore its military preparedness during the cease-fire," said Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko Tuesday.
He listed Ukraine's new equipment, which include two MiG-29 and two Su-27 fighter planes, 42 armored personnel carriers and 48 self-propelled howitzers.
The announcement of the reinforcement came a day after a bus carrying Ukrainian troops crashed, killing 12 and injuring 21, the Interior Ministry said.
The bus struck a military truck in bad weather near the village of Mynkovka, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. The news agency Interfax-Ukraine said the Prosecutor General's Office is investigating the incident.
Related UPI Stories
2015 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.
Photos: The Year in Review
Notable deaths of 2014
View original post here:
Ukraine sends additional equipment to front lines
Video will begin in 5 seconds.
Royal accuser's credibility under fire
Hamas man sentenced to life for teen killings
Mexico's President meets with Obama
Suicide bomber attack in Istanbul
More than 100 hurt in Brazil train crash
The West offers Ukraine a multi-billion dollar lifeline in a show of support after Russia's annexation of Crimea.
The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution declaring Crimea's referendum on independence illegal - a move that United States and European diplomats hope will help deter Russia from seizing more of Ukraine.
The measure, sponsored by the new Ukrainian government and backed by the US and the European Union, won by a vote of 100 to 11. Fifty-eight nations abstained.
Go here to see the original:
Ukraine crisis: UN rebukes Russia over Ukraine as IMF pledges US$18B bailout
By Mamidipudi Soumithri
(Reuters) - Two British energy companies with operations in Ukraine said their sales and investments in the country would be hurt by the beleaguered nation's policies to address its energy shortfall.
JKX Oil & Gas Plc said it would suspend investments in Ukraine and that its sales would fall further, due to restrictions on selling gas to industrial clients and the continuation of high taxes on production.
Regal Petroleum Plc , which gets all its revenue from Ukraine, also blamed these regulation changes for its decision to review investments in the country.
Shares in JKX, which gets most of its gas from Ukraine, fell as much as 21 percent on Wednesday on the London Stock Exchange.
Russia's Gazprom OAO cut gas deliveries to Ukraine for six months last year before agreeing last month to resume supplies until the end of the first quarter. Separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine crippled coal supply, exacerbating its energy supply worries.
In mid-2014, the country imposed rules mandating gas output be supplied to the population rather than to industries and almost doubled its tax on gas production to 55 percent. The higher rate stays in effect this year as well.
Regal Petroleum, whose gas output accounts for 45 percent of total production, said on Wednesday it expects gas prices to be less than before the supply restrictions and that the higher tax would likely "continue for the foreseeable future".
"The situation cannot exist over a long time because otherwise Ukraine will find itself completely at the mercy of the Russian gas suppliers, and all Russia needs to do is turn the tap off to reduce Ukraine to a complete shivering wreck", a JKX spokesman said.
U.S. energy major Chevron Corp said last month it planned to withdraw from a $10 billion shale gas deal with Kiev.
See the rest here:
Two gas producers in Ukraine warn policy changes to hurt