Crisis in Ukraine: Daily Briefing
30 September 2015, 8 PM Kyiv time
- Russian Invasion of Ukraine
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (RNBO) reported that yesterday towards Donetsk, Russian-terrorist forces fired on Ukrainian positions near Lozove village with a high-caliber machine gun. North of occupied Horlivka, Ukrainian forces repelled an attack by Russian-terrorist forces near Zaytseve. Near Mayorsk, Russian-terrorist forces fired on Ukrainian positions with small-arms. Northwest of occupied Donetsk, Russian-terrorist forces fired on Ukrainian positions at Krasnohorivka with small arms and mortars. There was no combat on the Luhansk or Mariupol sectors of the front. The RNBO reported that in the last 24 hours, no Ukrainian soldiers were killed or wounded in action. One Ukrainian soldier was wounded during a de-mining operation near Artemivsk.
- US President authorizes $20 million in counter-artillery radar for Ukraine
On 29 September, US President B. Obama delegated authority to the Secretary of State to “direct the drawdown of up to $20 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense and military education and training to provide assistance for the Government of Ukraine.” US Ambassador to Ukraine G. Pyatt stated that the authorized $20 million will be used to provide Ukraine with Q36 counter-artillery radars.
- Report from Russia’s illegal trial of Nadiya Savchenko
The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group KHPG filed a report on yesterday’s hearing in Russia’s illegal trial of Ukrainian pilot and MP Nadiya Savchenko. Savchenko was serving in eastern Ukraine, when abducted by Kremlin-backed terrorists in June 2014 and taken to Russia, where she has been illegally detained and imprisoned since that time. Savchenko gave testimony at the hearing yesterday, describing her capture and forcible transport to Russia. KHPG stated,”She describes how she was taken in different cars, with her eyes bound across the border. Even the first two men with machine guns whom she was handed to did not understand a word of Ukrainian. They took her through a forest area to a car with a driver and two armed men who took her around 3 and a half hours. She was finally placed in another car, and allowed to see. She saw Russian number plates and asked if she’d been taken to Russia. Yes, they said, ‘we’re carrying a gift to the Ataman’. She was taken to Voronezh, to the Investigative Committee and then to the Euro Hotel. All of this clashes completely with the tale presented by the investigators, according to which Savchenko ‘was released’ by the militants and then ‘illegally crossed the border into Russia’, where she effectively awaited arrest. […] On June 30 she was informed that she was a suspect, and then a court remanded her in custody, the judge ‘averting his eyes’ as he did so.” KHPG’s full report on the hearing is available at http://khpg.org.ua/en/index.php?id=1443558682
- Representatives of Ukraine, OSCE, Russia reach agreement on withdrawal of heavy weapons
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that on 29 September representatives of Ukraine, Europe and Russia “reached a long-awaited agreement on the withdrawal of tanks and other weapons from the frontline in eastern Ukraine. […] Martin Sajdik, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s representative at the talks, said the agreement will start in two days and take 39 days to carry out. It covers ‘the withdrawal of tanks, mortars and artillery of less than 100 millimeter caliber to a distance of 15 kilometers,’ he said. […]The OSCE will monitor the withdrawal of the weapons”
- Ukrainian President meets with US Vice President
On 29 September, Ukraine’s President P. Poroshenko met with US Vice President J. Biden. The White House stated that “the two leaders discussed the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the need for Russia to press the separatists it backs to cancel sham elections in the separatist-controlled parts of the Donbas, which, if held, would be in direct contravention of the Minsk Implementation Plan. The Vice President welcomed the recently concluded agreement on further demilitarization along the line of contact, but expressed concern over the failure by the separatists to grant full access to OSCE monitors and Russia’s continued deployment of troops and weapons inside Ukraine.”
- Ukraine’s President statement at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly
Speaking at the UN General Assembly on 29 September, Ukrainian President P. Poroshenko stated, “Regrettably, I am also speaking on behalf of the UN Member State, which is now suffering from a brutal violation of the fundamental norms and principles of the UN Charter. […] This time, the aggressor is Russia – neighboring country, former strategic partner that legally pledged to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of Ukraine. This country used to be a guarantor of Ukraine’s security under the Budapest Memorandum, whereby security guarantees were provided to my country in exchange for a voluntary renunciation of the world’s third (largest) nuclear arsenal. Moreover, this state is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, which is entrusted by the UN Charter with maintaining international peace and security. […]Despite the fact that until now Russia refuses to officially admit its direct military invasion, today there is no doubt that this is an aggressive war against my country. […] I would like to stress: it is neither a civil war not an internal conflict. Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia in the Crimea and Donbas region constitute approximately 44 thousand square kilometers. Millions of Ukrainians have found themselves under occupation. The goal of this war is to force the Ukrainian people to give up its sovereign choice to build a free, democratic, prosperous European state. […] For over 24 years that have passed since the questionable procedure of transfer of the permanent Security Council membership of the former Soviet Union to the Russian Federation, it is not the only ‘hybrid’ war that Russia has unleashed. In fact, in order to preserve its influence in neighboring countries, Russia for decades has deliberately created around itself the belt of instability. These are: Nagorno Karabakh, Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Crimea and Donbas. All of these are protracted conflicts, which are supported by, or directly related to Russia. But the Kremlin goes further. These days the Russian ‘men in green’ tread on Syrian land. […] 70 years ago the creators of the UN Charter have envisaged the mechanism of the UN Security Council sanctions to be one of the restraining tools applied in response to the breaches of peace and acts of aggression. However, they couldn’t even imagine that this tool will be needed against the Aggressor State that is a Permanent member of the UN Security Council. Since the beginning of the aggression, Russia used its veto right twice, while the UN Security Council was considering questions related to Ukraine. […] Abuse of the veto right, its usage as a ‘license to kill’ is unacceptable. […]Ukraine stands for the gradual limitation of the veto right with its further cancellation. […] Freedom, peace, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity – Ukraine doesn’t demand more. However, it will not settle for less.” Poroshenko’s full statement is available at: http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/vistup-prezidenta-ukrayini-na-zagalnih-debatah-70-yi-sesiyi-36057
