Crisis in Ukraine: Daily Briefing – 27 June 2016, 7 PM Kyiv time

The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (RNBO) reported that yesterday towards Luhansk, Russian-terrorist forces shelled Ukrainian positions at Popasne with mortars. Towards Donetsk, Russian-terrorist forces carried out heavy mortar shelling of Ukrainian positions at Avdiyivka and other locations. Towards Mariupol, Russian-terrorist forces shelled Ukrainian positions along the entire Mariupol sector of the front with mortars. The heaviest shelling was near Maryinka and Dokuchayevsk. The RNBO reported that in the last 24 hours, one Ukrainian soldier was killed and four were wounded in action.

Exercise Rapid Trident ’16 officially began at the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre in Yavoriv, Ukraine today. “Rapid Trident 16’s primary focus is on defensive operations and validating training of units attending the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine program at the IPSC. The JMTG-U program consists of a 55-day long rotation that trains Ukraine soldiers in individual and collective tasks.” US Army Europe reported. The exercise includes nearly 2,000 personnel from Ukraine, the United States, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Great Britain, Moldova, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Turkey. “During the course of the two-week exercise the partner nations will conduct a brigade-level command post exercise integrated with both situational and field training exercises. All of this is aimed at enhancing joint combined interoperability among Ukraine, U.S. and allied and partner nations,” US Army Europe stated.

Today Ukraine’s President P. Poroshenko is on a working visit to EU institutions, taking part in “Ukraine-EU high-level political consultations. Consultations or the Ukraine-EU mini-summit will be dedicated to the discussion of the results of the UK referendum on the EU membership and their influence on the Ukraine-EU relations, ways to further mobilize EU’s support for the agenda of reforms in Ukraine, maximum use of DCFTA potential and introduction of the visa-free regime. The Head of State plans to use the negotiations in Brussels for the formation of consensus among the EU member-states on the prolongation of economic sanctions against Russia due to its aggression against Ukraine. The mini-summit will be attended by President of the European Council Donald Tusk, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini and leading commissioners,” President Poroshenko’s press service reported.

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) reported, “Oleksandr Kolchenko, the Ukrainian civic activist tried together with filmmaker Oleg Sentsov on involvement in a non-existent ‘terrorist plot’, has been refused a visit from the Ukrainian consul with the prison authorities claiming that Kolchenko is a Russian national.  Most ominously, he is being put under pressure to sign a Russian passport they have already prepared.  […] Information about the renewed attempts to foist Russian citizenship came from Tatyana and Nikolai Shchur, human rights activists in Chelyabinsk who have just visited Kolchenko in the prison colony.  […] Oleg Sentsov is being held in a prison in the Yakutia region which is even further east, and there is no information at present about whether he has been subjected to the same pressure. […]  Both men were handed Russian passports which they expressed protest over and refused to accept.  In January 2015 a Crimean court denied Kolchenko the right to retain Ukrainian citizenship. […]These attempts to force Ukrainian political prisoners to ‘become Russian’ in order to deny them their rights under Ukrainian and international law have been condemned by the international community, as have the trial itself and their monstrous sentences.   […] Sentsov was sentenced to 20 years, Kolchenko to 10.  Both men were recognized as political prisoners by the Memorial Human Rights Centre within days of the trial’s commencement.” The full report from KHPG is available athttp://khpg.org.ua/en/index.php?id=1466808540