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On Monday, A Е Purgin, First Deputy Chairman of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) Government, told Interfax that the siege of Donetsk and Lugansk declared by the junta as its next objective would drastically complicate the peace process in Novorossiya. He said, “There’s no doubt that the junta may [besiege Donetsk and Lugansk] and the opolchenie is certainly prepared for that. However, in actuality, this would bury every initiative for a peace settlement to the crisis put forward earlier. We remain hopeful of settling the crisis in a peaceful fashion. Indeed, a new round of consultations is possible if a third- or fourth-party initiates it. However, it’s hard to predict, under current circumstances, when we might hold it”.
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On Sunday night, Interfax reported, citing Lugansk People’s Republic (LNR) opolchenie sources that junta troops bombarded a church in Krasnodon near Lugansk. The church was a memorial to 80 miners killed by a methane explosion at a local mine in March 2000. An LNR source said that fighting in Krasnondon has gone on almost daily.
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On Monday, LNR Health Minister Viktor Avakian told Interfax, “We admitted some 80 persons with injuries of various degrees to Lugansk hospitals yesterday, including 56 civilians and 24 opolchenietsy. These are the minimum numbers; injured persons continue to be taken to hospital”.
7 July 2014
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On Monday, ITAR-TASS said that eyewitnesses told them that opolchenie in Lugansk seized one of the three Grad multiple rocket launcher systems used to pound the city, noting that these are early reports. The launcher was “only slightly damaged”; the opolchenietsy moved it into the city and painted over its junta markings. There’s been no comment from opolchenie HQ as of yet. Earlier reports said that heavy artillery fire once again rocked Lugansk on Monday afternoon, killing several people.
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On Monday evening, a man from Slavyansk said that junta terrorists posted outside Slavyansk are only letting residents into and out of the city, and they’re arresting suspected opolchenie sympathisers. He told Interfax that they only let those who have Slavyansk as their place of residence in their propiska to enter or leave, saying, “Checks are going on. They’re arresting people on suspicion of helping the opolchenie”. Although the main opolchenie forces left Slavyansk, there were still battles in various places on its outskirts on Monday. The source said, “There were exchanges of fire time and again at night and in the morning, and we could hear several explosions as well”. There was still no water or electricity in Slavyansk on Monday evening. Junta forces handed out some food aid on city streets.
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TsIA Novorossiya reported that LNR opolchenie seized the town of Popasnaya on the border with the DNR. Several hundred opolchenietsy arrived in the town overnight to Monday, but there were no junta forces there. Popasnaya is 30 kilometres from Artemovsk and 20 kilometres from Stakhanov, where a the LNR is setting up a “reserve staff” under LNR leader V D Bolotov. Popasnaya’s population is about 20,000 and it’s an important railway junction.
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Interfax reported that a miner fighting in the LNR opolchenie rushed under a tank with a bunch of grenades, saving his comrades. His fellow soldiers told reporters, “There was a fight near Izvarino yesterday; our friends from Krasnodon took part in the action. One of them got a leg wound, and his friend Alexander Skryabin died a hero, throwing himself with a bunch of grenades under a battle tank. Aleksandr was 54; he worked at the Talovskaya mine as a construction man”.
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The chief of staff of DNR opolchenie that defended Slavyansk told Interfax stated that they took all serviceable weapons out of the city. He dismissed allegations that the opolchenie in Slavyansk had modern combat arms at their disposal. “Out of our three Nona self-propelled guns, we captured one from the enemy and another is out-of-order. We also possessed ATGMs whose expiry date was in 2001. Only one out of our five infantry mortars is in operable condition. We also had anti-tank rifles from the VOV. It’s too soon to say how many opolchenietsy will defend Donetsk. All our guys will take the oath to the DNR Army commanded by I I Strelkov“.
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On Tuesday, the Troitsk branch of the SK RF told ITAR-TASS that Ukrainian fascist Right Sector supporter Mikhail Maslak from Troitsk in Chelyabinsk Oblast, who attacked a policeman with a bayonet and a machete was in custody and that the cops would formally charge him shortly, saying, “We opened a criminal case and we’re investigating the suspected attacker for use of violence against a policeman. We arrested Maslak when he tried to break into the Troitsk police building. A police officer on duty at the entrance in the building tried to stop the offender. However, the young man acted aggressively, threatening to inflict bodily wounds and kill the police officer and brandished his weapons”. Local media reported that Maslak was an active member of the Ukrainian ultranationalist movement Right Sector and had previous convictions.
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On Tuesday, Interfax reported that the LNR official website said that the opolchenie conducted a successful operation near the junta-controlled Lugansk airport. The junta forces lost an Il-76 transport aircraft, seven APCs, a mortar crew, a SAM launcher, and five vehicles. The situation near Sverdlovsk is somewhat tense; junta forces are “heavily bombarding the city centre and junta soldiers are pillaging and drinking”.
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On Tuesday, at a press conference, V D Bolotov, the head of the LNR, said that the LNR would take part in peaceful negotiations with the junta only on its own terms. Delegates from the DNR and Russia would also have to be present at such negotiations. He said, “We’ve received proposals to hold negotiations. However, we won’t accept the same rules as we did before. We ceased fire unilaterally, thus letting junta forces redeploy. This time, if we negotiate, we’d organise them on our terms. A place for negotiation hasn’t been set yet. The LNR will let other participants choose a place for the upcoming talks”.
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On Tuesday, at a press conference, V D Bolotov, the head of the LNR, said that junta forces retreated before the opolchenie and fled Lugansk, saying, “The LNR armed forces forced the junta troops to retreat. The frontline moved in our favour. We remain in control of Izvarino and its border checkpoint. Our defences are stronger. Now, we have armoured vehicles and artillery at our disposal, including Grad launchers, howitzers, air defence systems, and mortars”.
8 July 2014
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A E Purgin, Deputy Chairman of the DNR Government, stated that a truce between junta forces and the DNR opolchenie is impossible, saying, “Firstly, there are hostages. Both sides act unceremoniously, about 400 opolchenietsy are missing. Another reason a truce is out of the question is that there aren’t any humanitarian corridors. For this alone, we must try P A Poroshenko in The Hague”. He believed that deploying an OSCE monitoring mission in Novorossiya would be a great victory, “The Ukraine is misinforming the world. For example, nobody knows that Kiev officially cut off drug supplies and that we must sometimes carry out operations on the wounded without painkillers. No one reports that trucks loaded with humanitarian aid are at the Russian border and the Ukraine doesn’t let them in. They’re silent about the junta force’s attempts to cut off water supply to two million people. It’s very hard to tell these things to the world when the world isn’t here”.
As to Dnepropetrovsk Oblast Governor I V Kolomoisky, who actively supports the so-called “National Guard” (sic) Euromaidantsy terrorists, Purgin said, “He’s a condemned man. His own Mossad will kill him. He’s a turncoat Jew who sides with Nazis. He orchestrates a Russian genocide here, and it’d be problematic to refer to the Holocaust later on. The junta thinks that it doesn’t need our people, so it bombs us and stops at nothing. One could talk about federalism three months ago, but now a compromise is impossible. The situation would just grow tougher day by day”.
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On Wednesday, SK RF spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax that Ukrainian female pilot Nadezhda Savchenko faces charges for her complicity in killing Russian journalists, saying, “Investigative agencies indicted Savchenko for complicity in killing VGTRK journalists near Lugansk”. Currently, Savchenko is a prisoner at a detention facility in Voronezh. Markin said, “We found that Savchenko crossed the Russian border without papers disguised as a refugee. We stopped her for identification during a check in a populated area. After that, we found that Savchenko was a suspect in a criminal inquiry into the killing of Russian reporters”. On Wednesday, Interfax reported that a spokesman for Ukrainian “President” P A Poroshenko said at a news conference in Kiev that Poroshenko instructed the Genprokuratura Ukrainy and the MID Ukrainy to look into Savchenko’s detention. Poroshenko aide Valery Chaly said that they were taking measures to secure Savchenko’s speedy release.
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I I Strelkov, head of the DNR opolchenie, said that the DNR would declare martial law in regions close to junta-held areas and install commandant’s offices in Donetsk and territories under opolchenie control. Strelkov said that the government decided to do this after DNR commanders held a conference on Tuesday, noting, “Today, we finally held a joint conference. We’ve agreed to create regional, city, and unified commandant’s offices when we declare martial law in the regions close to junta positions. We won’t declare martial law or a curfew in Donetsk so as not to create difficulties for local citizens”.
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On Wednesday, a spokesman for the LNR posted on its official website that junta forces are moving towards Lugansk, saying, “The enemy continues to move its equipment and personnel to the north, in particular, 150 armoured vehicles, including APCs, tanks, and self-propelled artillery, as well as six Grad rocket launchers, went through the town of Schastye towards Lugansk”.
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On Wednesday evening, clashes between junta forces and opolchenie took place near the junta-controlled Lugansk airport. Eyewitnesses told Interfax that they saw Grad rocket launchers used twice, but couldn’t say by which side. Eyewitnesses also said that shelling damaged a gas pipeline near the airport and that the airport’s maintenance hangars were burning. People saw two fighters flying over Lugansk towards the airport. They came under fire, but flew away unscathed. At the same time, social network users said that the attack on the airport continued throughout Wednesday. They said that two tanks and mortar launchers supported the attack this afternoon, and that people spotted Grad launchers later.
9 July 2014
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On Wednesday, Rostov Oblast Governor Vasili Golubyov said that thirteen shells fell in Rostov Oblast since the start of military operations in adjacent Novorossiya. He told journalists, “Both border guards and security officers sustained wounds”. Golubyov also thought that if junta forces try to seize Donetsk, this would lead to a guerrilla war and would end in a disaster, saying, “If Ukrainian politicians can see anything but their ambitions, they should make steps for peace talks. Seizing a megalopolis such as Donetsk would end in disaster”.
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Official Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MID) spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich told a briefing in Moscow that the junta hinders any investigation of the tragic events in Odessa and other cases of human rights violations in the Ukraine, saying, “We’re under the impression that the Ukrainian authorities are actually hindering the investigation”. He stated that no one’s carried out an open transparent investigation of the May events in Odessa and the events in Mariupol, noting, “Besides, there’s no news about any investigation of the airstrike on the Lugansk administration building, which led to catastrophic consequences”.
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On Thursday, official MID spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich explained to reporters that Ukrainian servicewoman Nadezhda Savchenko would stand trial in Russia because the cops arrested her in Russia. When asked why Russia should try her in the RF for crimes she’d committed in the Ukraine, he said, “Why on our territory? First of all, as we arrested her on Russian territory, it’d seem natural that we should apply Russian law in any subsequent investigation and indictment”.
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On Thursday, Russia Today reported that the MID expressed strong protest over junta forces firing on the Russian border checkpoint at Gukovo. The MID pointed up that when the junta forces fired at the checkpoint there were about 230 Ukrainian refugees there, noting, “Only by luck were there no casualties. The actions of the Ukrainian side are a flagrant violation of fundamental principles of international law. The Russian side issues the Ukrainian side a strong protest and demands that it stop attacks on Russian territory. In case of further repetition, all responsibility for the consequences would fall on the Kiev authorities”.
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On Thursday evening, an Interfax correspondent said that one could hear shots and explosions near the Donetsk airport, with a plume of smoke rising above the battle zone visible in the city centre; the fighting closed the approaches to the airport. Dmitri Gau, military advisor to the DNR Supreme Soviet told Interfax, “The opolchenie are attacking junta positions at the airport. In response, the junta forces continue to fire mortars at the adjoining areas. So far, we don’t know the losses amongst either the opolchenie or the junta forces”. The fighting has continued since 3 pm Moscow time. Previously, DNR Defence Minister I I Strelkov said that the opolchenie spetsnaz were attacking junta positions at the airport.
10 July 2014
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Chairman of the DNR Government A Yu Borodai said that the opolchenie is preparing to evacuate civilians from the Donetsk area. Hundreds of thousands of refugees may leave the city. According to Borodai, the evacuation will be voluntary and may begin in the coming days. Vesti FM reported that the junta boasted that they were going to encircle Donetsk and Lugansk. Previously, the city administration asked residents not to get too close to windows, not to go out on balconies, and not to leave their houses and apartments. Meanwhile, DNR Defence Minister I I Strelkov stated that the opolchenie attacked junta armed bands near the Donetsk airport. According to Interfax, people heard powerful explosions and sounds of gunfire coming from the Donetsk airport. In addition, people saw junta combat aircraft in the sky above the city.
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RIA-Novosti said, quoting Vasili Malayev, a spokesman for the Rostov Oblast FSB Border Control Department, that the Federal Customs Service reported that a Ukrainian shell exploded several metres from the Gukovo checkpoint on the Ukrainian border, damaging the checkpoint’s automobile terminal. Earlier, the authorities temporarily shut and evacuated staff from border checkpoints at Donetsk, Novoshakhtinsk, and Gukovo after gunfire came from the Ukrainian side of the border. Another Russian checkpoint, Kuibyshevo, virtually came to a standstill after the closing of the adjoining Marinovka checkpoint on the Ukrainian side. The report said, “A shell fired from the Ukrainian side of the border exploded metres away from the Gukovo checkpoint’s gateway, damaging the building of the terminal in which those travelling by automobile undergo customs formalities. No one was hurt. We’re evaluating the damage”.
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On Friday, Olga Chigrina, an LNR spokesman, said, “Our men shot down an enemy fighter-bomber near Perevalsk. Two independent sources confirmed the incident”. It’s the second junta warplane shot down by the opolchenie since the beginning of July.
11 July 2014
Voice of Russia World Service
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_07/Donetsk-Lugansk-siege-by-Kiev-troops-to-destroy-peace-process-in-Ukraines-southeast-DRP-8273/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_07/Ukrainian-troops-bomb-church-near-Lugansk-0342/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_07/At-least-80-including-56-civilians-injured-in-Lugansk-on-July-6-9522/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_08/Lugansk-self-defense-forces-take-control-of-Grad-multiple-launch-rocket-system-7966/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_08/Government-security-forces-outside-Slavyansk-arrest-suspected-militia-helpers-8575/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_08/Self-defense-forces-of-Lugansk-Republic-take-town-on-border-with-Donetsk-region-3618/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_08/LPR-self-defense-forces-fighter-brews-up-tank-at-expense-of-his-life-5763/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_08/Self-defense-forces-take-all-serviceable-weapons-out-of-Slavyansk-0509/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_08/Supporter-of-Ukraines-Right-Sector-attacking-police-with-machete-in-Russias-Chelyabinsk-detained-3489/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_08/Self-defense-forces-destroy-military-jet-seven-armored-vehicles-of-Ukrainian-army-in-Lugansk-airport-0529/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_08/Lugansk-Peoples-Republic-ready-to-hold-peaceful-negotiations-with-Kiev-4161/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_08/Ukrainian-army-forced-back-from-Lugansk-LPR-head-1755/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_09/Truce-between-self-defense-forces-Ukrainian-govt-is-impossible-DPRs-Vice-PM-1710/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_09/Ukrainian-female-pilot-indicted-for-complicity-in-Russian-reporters-murder-Investigative-Committee-9238/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_09/Donetsk-Peoples-Republic-to-declare-martial-law-0571/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_09/150-heavy-vehicles-of-Ukrainian-army-moving-towards-Lugansk-LPR-spokesperson-3951/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_09/Fighting-between-Ukrainian-army-self-defense-forces-under-way-near-Lugansk-airport-9845/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_10/Rostov-region-hit-by-13-shell-explosions-since-beginning-of-military-operation-in-Ukraine-4428/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_10/Kiev-hinders-investigation-of-tragedy-of-May-2-in-Odessa-Russian-Foreign-Ministry-4938/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_10/Ukrainian-female-pilot-Savchenko-to-face-trial-in-Russia-Foreign-Ministry-6421/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_10/274496675/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_10/Hostility-continues-near-Donetsk-airport-4618/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_11/Militia-prepares-for-partial-evacuation-of-Donetsk-1750/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_11/Ukrainian-shell-damages-automobile-terminal-at-Russias-Gukovo-checkpoint-6872/
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_11/LPR-says-Ukrainian-attack-plane-shot-down-in-Lugansk-region-9310/
Voices from Russia 
Ukie Military Source Suggests MH17 Shootdown Might be Due to “Systems Mix-Up” by Junta Unit
Tags: BM-21 Grad, Donetsk, Donetsk People's Republic, Grad, Human Rights Watch, Kramatorsk, Novorossiya, political commentary, politics, Rostov Oblast, Russia, Russian, Slavyansk, Ukraine
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An anonymous Ukrainian military source told us that a systems mix-up during a junta air defence units’ rocket launch exercise could be the cause of the Malaysia Airlines crash in Novorossiya, saying, “On 17 July, the commanding officer of 156 Anti-Aircraft Regiment received orders to conduct a training exercise of a unit stationed near Donetsk, which involved deploying troops and carrying out routine tracking and simulate destroying targets with the Buk-M1 SAM. It was to involve no actual launches”. Two Sukhoi Su-25s on a reconnaissance mission took part in the exercise. At some point, it’s likely that the flight paths of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 and one of the Su-25s overlapped. Despite flying at different levels, they became a single blip on the missile system radar. Of the two, the system automatically chose the larger target. The reason for the actual missile launch remains unknown and is still under investigation, as there hasn’t been launch exercises with Buk SAMs since 2001, when the Ukrainian military accidentally shot down a Russian Tu-154 airliner en route from Novosibirsk to Tel Aviv.
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On Thursday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said, “The use of unguided rockets in populated areas violates international humanitarian law and the laws of war, and may amount to war crimes”. According to HRW, unguided Grad rockets fired by junta forces killed at least 16 civilians and injured many more in attacks on 12-21 July. HRW accused both junta forces and opolchenie of using Grads and condemned those actions. Ole Solvang, senior emergencies researcher at HRW, said, “Grad rockets are notoriously imprecise weapons, one shouldn’t use it in populated areas. If [the opolchenie and junta forces] are serious about limiting harm to civilians, they should both immediately stop using these weapons in populated areas”. Dominik Stillhart, Director of Operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross, also called on the both sides to avoid dragging civilians into the conflict, saying, “Fighting in [Novorossiya] continues to take its toll on civilians, and we urge all sides to comply with international humanitarian law, otherwise known as the law of armed conflict. These rules and principles apply to all parties, and impose restrictions on the means and methods of warfare that they may use”.
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On Friday, Major General Viktor Poznikhir the Deputy Head of Operations of the General Staff, said on Rossiya-24 TV, “Today, we have reliable confirmation that the Ukrainian forces used phosphorus munitions in cities and populated areas. We know this due to characteristic signs given off by phosphorus munitions. They have a high-speed descent, as opposed to star shells that shoot out bright burning elements over a large area, they look like raining sparks, creating large fires in their impact areas, and they burn at very high temperatures. The Ukrainian forces used phosphorus munitions at least six times. The Minoborony carefully studied existing information on numerous cases of phosphorous and cluster bombs used by the Ukrainian forces against civilians”. He went on to say that the Minoborony is aware that junta forces used phosphorus munitions on the following occasions:
Nikolai Efimenko, Chief Surgeon of the Russian Armed Forces, said that using phosphorous munitions might produce irreversible consequences on people and might have a negative impact on environment. Phosphorous poisoning can cause serious illnesses, and even lead to death.
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On Friday, SK RF spokesman Vladimir Markin said that SK RF investigators came under aimed mortar fire from the Ukrainian side of the border. The team arrived at Primiussky in Rostov Oblast to investigate previous shelling of Russian territory from the Ukraine. Markin said, “Apparently, only the poor training of Ukrainian soldiers and timely evacuation of investigators under cover of armoured vehicles prevented the shooters from realising their goal. They fired 47 mortar rounds, most likely 82-mm calibre, at the team. Another barrage of 32 mortar rounds hit the same area later”.
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On Friday, Vasili Malaev, spokesman for the Federal Border Guard Service, told us that junta forces shelled Rostov Oblast, saying, “The shelling damaged six houses, with one house almost completely destroyed. There were no casualties”.
25 July 2014
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On Saturday, Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) sources posted on Twitter, “DNR army units fought their way to the Russian border, taking control of the Marinovka crossing point”. On Friday, witnesses heard intense and shelling in that area. Several shells exploded near a Russian border point… landing in fields and by the road linking the customs post with Primiussky.
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An MVDU source confirmed for us the murder of O M Babaev, Mayor of Kremenchug (Poltava Oblast). Earlier that day, the newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda, citing an informed source, reported the mayor’s murder. Our source said, “Someone killed the Mayor of Kremenchug today at about 10.00 local time (00.00 PDT. 03.00 EDT. 08.00 BST. 11.00 MSK. 17.00 AEST). He suffered a gunshot wound to the chest on Sumskaya Street, near his home. An investigative group is at the crime scene; we’ve opened a case under the Article ‘Premeditated Murder’. It’s too early to speak about scenarios and motives for the crime”.
Editor:
No one knows who did this. Was the Right Sector? Was it Kolomoisky’s thugs or was it Clan Balogh? Was it a hit by Novorossiyan spetsnaz? Was it a local rival using the present crisis as a cover? We don’t know… it’s best not to speculate until we have some intel, and there isn’t any, now.
BMD
26 July 2014
Rossiya Segodnya
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140725/191242509/Ukrainian-Air-Defense-Exercises-Might-be-Behind-Malaysian.html
http://en.ria.ru/society/20140725/191248452/Use-of-Grad-Rockets-in-Ukraine-May-Constitute-War-Crime–Human.html
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140725/191264009/Ukrainian-Army-Used-Phosphorus-Bombs-on-Civilians—Russian.html
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140725/191278046/Russian-Investigators-Come-Under-Targeted-Fire-from-Ukraine.html
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140725/191279021/Ukrainian-Shells-Damage-Six-Houses-in-Russias-Rostov-Region.html
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140726/191308283/Independence-Supporters-Capture-Checkpoint-near.html
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140726/191310626/Ukraines-City-Mayor-Killed-outside-House–Interior-Ministry.html