Ukraine has resumed water supplies to the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) from the Western water treatment plant located in the Kiev-controlled territory, reported a spokesman of the Luganskvoda company on Sunday.
“Ukraine resumed water supplies to the republic from the Western water treatment plant in the evening on March 11,” he said, reports TASS.
Water supplies to the LPR from the Western water treatment plant were stopped overnight to March 11 without any notification. Ukraine said water supplies had been stopped due to an accident at the water mains but did not provide any documents proving that.
Kiev has cut off water supplies to the Lugansk People’s Republic, the Ministry of Communications of the LPR has reported.
Water supplies from the Western Filtration and Pumping Station were cut off at 3:00 A.M. Although Kiev has said such is the result of an industrial accident, the LPR says that no official documents confirming such have been provided.
The water station in question is on Ukrainian territory and supplies water to Pervomaysk, Stakhanov, Kirovsk, Bryanka, Alchevsk, Perevalsk, Krasny Luch, and Antratsit.
LPR authorities have warned that changes in water delivery schedules will be implemented in connection with this incident.
This is not the first time that Ukraine has used water as a weapon against the Donbass republics. Earlier this week, on March 6th, Ukraine cut off supplies from the Petrovsky Pumping Station which supplies water to Slavyanoserbsk and Lugansk.
According to the LPR’s Lugansk Water Corporation, the republic has reduced its dependency on water supplies from Ukraine to 15%, with approximately 84% of water demand covered by the republic itself. This does not mean, however, that civilians do not suffer when Kiev decides to cut off water and other necessities. Rather, this fits into the larger framework of Ukraine’s war of attrition or psychological warfare against the Donbass republics.
March 10, 2017 – Fort Russ News –
– TzVezda – Translated by James Harmon
Several hundred foreign fighters were deployed to the line of contact in the Donbass, reporters learned at a briefing with spokesman of the People’s Militia of independant Lugansk People’s Republic, Andrei Marochko.
“According to available information, in the settlements located near the line of contact, several hundred mercenaries from Canada, the Baltic states, Poland and Georgia, armed with small arms and light armored vehicles were deployed” – said the representative of the People’s Militia.
According to Marochko, in various localities, placement of field mercenaries in field camps, where foreign military instructors train soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They are armed with small arms, via NATO’s “unofficial” support.
Marochko said that mercenaries are preparing snipers whom are taught to perform conducting sweeps in urban environments, as well as training of subterfuge operation groups engaged in sabotage, which are planned to send later into the Donbass.
Today, March 10th, two significant announcement have come out of Lugansk pertaining to Ukrainian terrorist operations in general and the assassinations of commanders Anashchenko and Givi in particular.
Igor Kornet, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Lugansk People’s Republic, officially stated that the persons (no number is given) involved in the assassination of People’s Militia commander Oleg Anashchenko on February 4th have been arrested on the territory of the LPR. Kornet also confirmed that the suspects were servicemen of the Ukrainian army.
“All of them are servicemen of the special forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who were deployed to Lugansk as part of saboteur-terrorist groups to commit terrorist acts on the orders of the Security Service of Ukraine. They are now being interrogated,” Kornet announced.
The minister added that two weapons and ammunition caches, plus an explosive device, were uncovered by police during the investigation. Kornet stressed the significance of this discovery: “This stock and the type of weapons and equipment therein prove that the terrorist act committed by those now arrested is far from the only act of intimidation planned by Ukrainian special forces on the territory of the free republics.”
Kornet’s statement on the Anashchenko case was immediately followed by a press statement of the LPR’s Minister of State Security, Leonid Pasechnik. According to Pasechnik, the ministry has discovered a special department within the Security Service of Ukraine, headed by Colonel Anatoly Sandursky, codenamed “Hutor”, which directly engages in organizing sabotage and terrorist activities in the people’s republics and the Russian Federation.
According to Pasechnik, Givi’s assassins were servicemen of the 8th special forces regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces under the command of Colonel Oleg Nechaev and the 8th regiment’s intelligence chief, Major Pavel Balov, codenamed “Kedr,” who is stationed in the city of Khmelnitsky in Ukraine. This specific unit is part of the larger terrorist operations division under investigation by Lugansk’s security forces.
“These people bear direct responsibility for this crime [the assassination of Givi] and other crimes committed in the LPR, DPR, and Russian Federation, for example in Crimea,” the LPR’s security minister emphasized.
Pasechnik added that at the present moment a detachment of the above-mentioned regiment numbering 120-150 troops is located in Starobelsk not far from Lugansk. The unit has been estimated to be divided into four saboteur-reconnaissance groups numbering 12 to 17 men each.
Vladimir Putin signed Executive Order On Recognition in the Russian Federation of Documents and Vehicle Registration Plates Issued to Ukrainian Citizens and Stateless Persons Permanently Residing in Certain Districts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk Regions.
Being guided by universally recognised principles and standards of the international humanitarian law and in order to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals, the President has resolved that temporarily, during the political settlement period of the crisis in certain districts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions pursuant to the Minsk Agreements, personal identification documents, education and (or) qualification certificates, birth certificates, marriage, divorce, name change and death certificates, vehicle registration certificates, and vehicle registration plates issued by the corresponding authorities (organisations), valid in the specified district, will be recognised in the Russian Federation as valid for Ukrainian citizens and stateless persons permanently residing in those areas.
Pursuant to the Executive Order, Ukrainian citizens and stateless persons permanently residing in certain districts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions can enter and leave the Russian Federation without applying for visas upon showing identification documents (birth certificates for children under the age of 16), issued by the corresponding authorities which are valid in the said districts.
The Government of the Russian Federation has been instructed to take the necessary measures to implement this Executive Order.
The Executive Order will come into effect upon its signing.
In violation of the Minsk Agreements, Kiev’s military has deployed a column of armored vehicles, including tanks and Grad and Hurricane volley fire rocket systems, from Izyum in the Kharkov region to the so-called Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone.
According to the official speaker of the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic, Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Morochko: “The Ukrainian military continues to violate the Minsk Agreement provisions on placing military vehicles close to the contact line, and continues to build up their unit capacity in the ATO zone.”
Marochko told journalists at a press briefing: “According to our information, yesterday a large convoy of military vehicles of the armed forces of Ukraine was moved from Izyum in the Kharkov region to the so-called ATO zone. Specifically: tanks, self-propelled artillery, Grad and Hurricane volley fire rocket systems, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers loaded with servicemen, and ammunition.”
“In the town of Slavyansk,” the lieutenant colonel reported, “the convoy was divided. One portion of military vehicles was sent in the direction of Avdeevka, and the other in the direction of Mironovsky. UAF servicemen are concentrating their forces for possible offensive operations in the Avdeevka and Debaltsevo area.”
In addition, Marochko stated: “The movement of the Ukrainian armed forces’ vehicles in the direction of the contact line during night and the seizure of a farm in the village of Vidrodzhenny have been noted.”
On the morning of February 4th, Colonel Oleg Anashchenko, the head of the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic, was killed when his car was blown-up by a controlled landmine in Lugansk.
The explosion took place at 7:50 A.M. on one of Lugansk’s central streets. The government of the Lugansk People’s Republic has qualified the incident as a terrorist attack by Ukrainian special forces. The interior ministry is still further investigating the tragedy. The Special Monitoring Mission of the OSCE has reported that the explosive device in question amounted to upwards of 5 kg of TNT equivalent.
The day before his assassination, Anashchenko had held a press briefing in which he revealed the latest reports on Ukrainian war crimes in Donbass.
Andrey Marochko, the official spokesperson of the LPR’s People’s Militia, commented on the situation: “Despite this, Kiev’s punitive forces will not succeed in breaking the morale of the soldiers of the People’s Militia. We will find the masterminds and perpetrators of this heinous act and they will be deservedly punished,” he is quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.
The General Prosecutor of the republic has officially opened a criminal case against Ukraine for “committing a terrorist act” in the form of “detonating an explosion to intimidate the population, destabilize the activities of authorities, and intentionally inflict death upon a human being.”
Anashchenko’s murder was regretted by Igor Plotnitsky, the leader of the Lugansk People’s Republic, who praised the assassinated commander: “Oleg Vladimirovich Anashchenko can confidently be called a modern hero of the rebirth of the Russian World. Since the very first days of the war, we’ve fought shoulder to shoulder for our freedom and independence, defending every inch of our native land. Our first military achievements and victories were linked to this man.”
February 5th has been declared a day of mourning in Lugansk in honor of the fallen commander.
The assassination of Anashchenko comes on the heels of the massive escalation of fighting in Donbass across nearly the entire front since January 28th.
The people’s republics of Donbass have recorded thousands of artillery bombardments on a daily basis and repeatedly stated that the latest flare up in violence is the result of offensive operations and provocations by the Ukrainian Army.
By Eduard Popov for Fort Russ – translated by J. Arnoldski –
In addition to regularly shelling the territories of the Donbass republics and firing missiles over the airspace of Russian Crimea, Kiev has also not forgotten to use energy weapons. While Russia is helping the residents of the Ukrainian city of Genichesk (Kherson region) to survive the harsh winter by supplying them with free gas, Ukraine is using any and every opportunity to implement policies of socio-economic genocide against the people of Donbass.
Today, I received fresh information from the front of the “energy war” being waged by Kiev against the Lugansk People’s Republic. This information is courtesy of Cossack Media Group from the city of Stakhanov in the LPR. The LPR’s authorized representative to the Minsk talks, Vladislav Deynego has reported that Ukraine has cut off Lugansk’s water supply from the Petrov reservoir. However, he assured that this has not harmed anyone in the LPR. In response to Ukraine’s disconnection of the water supply, a new water supply schedule has been introduced in Lugansk.
At the same time, the first deputy director of the Lugansk Water Company, Igor Ometov, has reported that the water shutdown has absolutely not affected any other districts of the Lugansk People’s Republic, which will continue to receive water according to the normal schedule.
But that’s not all. In December 2016, Ukraine plans to turn off not only water, but also electricity to the LPR. This has been announced by the director of the Lugansk Energy Association, Vladimir Gritsai, live on Hromadske Public Radio.
Earlier, the head of the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Alexander Hug, stated that 600,000 people in the LPR could be left without heating and electricity for Christmas. According to representatives of the Cossack Media Group whom I asked for clarification, Lugansk had actually signed a formal contract with Ukrainian energy providers and regularly pays them for their services. During this upcoming harsh winter (such are the forecasts), the deprivation of such a huge population of light and heating is a form of genocide.
I believe that the Donbass republics are obliged to submit a complaint on such behavior at the next meeting of the Minsk group or call an emergency meeting insofar as Ukraine, with these and other actions, is grossly violating the spirit and letters of the Minsk Agreements. Paragraph eight of the agreements concerns the need to “fully restore socio-economic ties, including social transfers such as pensions and other payments (receipts and income, the timely payment of all utility bills, the renewal of taxation within the legal framework of Ukraine).”
The republics of Donbass are honoring and fulfilling their part of the obligations and are paying Ukrainian power companies for their services. Yet now Ukraine has refused to provide even those services that have been already paid for.
Ukraine’s actions are no surprise. The only surprise is the actions of the leaders of the Donetsk republics, especially LPR head Igor Plotnitsky. In October of last year, the Minister of Fuel, Energy, and Coal Industry of the LPR, Dmitry Lyamin, was arrested for ordering enormous volumes of coal produced in the republic to go to Ukraine. This helped Ukrainian energy stations keep running thanks to acutely scarce Donbass coal. As a result, Ukraine was saved from energy collapse last winter. This problematic situation was compounded by the fact that the LPR received no money or tax revenues from the coal supply. Lyamin’s arrest was made in the absence of Plotnitsky and aroused his anger. The next day, Lyamin was released from custody on the personal order of Plotnitsky…
The UAF command is continuing to redeploy heavy equipment and militants to the frontline.
Lugansk People’s Republic intelligence has reported the concentration of shock troops of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the frontline in the Stanitsa-Lugansk district. This was reported to a correspondent of Novorossiya Information Agency today at a briefing in Lugansk by the LPR People’s Militia’s official spokesperson, Major Andrey Marochko.
Marochko reported: “A strike force of the UAF has been concentrated in the residential area of Krasny Oktyabr composed of the 15th motorized infantry brigade which accounts for around 3,500 soldiers and more than 200 armored vehicles.”
“It has also been established that in the zone of responsibility of the UAF’s 93rd brigade in the Orekhovo district, an unidentified unit of the Ukrainian National Guard has arrived whose composition includes a tactical company armed with two 2B9 Vasilek mortars of 82 mm calibre and AGS-17 automatic grenade launchers,” Marochko added.
Later, Marochko added that “according to intelligence data obtained from agent sources, in the residential area of Nizhny Minchenko of the Stanitsa-Lugansk district, an APC has arrived accompanied by a missile launcher, presumably a BUK anti-aircraft missile complex.”
“In addition, in the residential area of Nizhneteploe, the ‘Night Shades’ nationalist volunteer battalion has arrived. The troops of this unit are positioning themselves as a separate reconnaissance battalion. The distinctive sign on the uniform of these fighters is a bat. According to our data, they could be reorganized as part of the Volyn-2 Ukrainian territorial defense battalion,” the LPR’s defense ministry’s spokesperson added.
August 10th, 2016 – Fort Russ News –
– translated by Tatzhit – Vladimir Putin: “This is very disturbing. Our security services have prevented penetration of sabotage-reconnaissance group of the Ukraine Ministry of Defense into Crimea. Of course, such actions mean that continuing talks in Normandy format is pointless, especially when it comes to the next meeting in China.
Because, apparently, the people who [violently] seized power in Kiev and continue to usurp it, don’t want negotiations. [snip] Now, instead of looking for ways to settle the conflict peacefully, they decided to try terrorism.
In this regard, I can’t avoid mentioning that we view the recent assassination attempt targeting the head of the Lugansk People’s Republic as an [act of terror], same as the current attempt to sneak saboteurs into the territory of Crimea.
I want to point out, I think the media reported it already, that the Russian side took losses. Two soldiers were killed. We certainly won’t excuse such things.
But I would like to also address our American, European partners. I think that by now it is obvious for all involved that the current Kiev authorities are not looking to solve problems through negotiation. Now they escalate to acts of terror. That is very concerning.
At first glance, what we just saw in Crimea seems to be a stupid and criminal act. It’s stupid, because it is impossible to regain the trust of Crimean population that way. And it’s criminal, because people have died.
But I think that the underlying situation is even more alarming. Because there is nothing to be gained from such attacks, except to distract their own people from the ruined Ukrainian economy, from the plight of many ordinary Ukrainians – that is the only reason.
Trying to provoke violence and conflict can only serve to divert public attention from those who seized power in Kiev, and still continue to usurp it and continue to rob their own people. [They’re playing dangerous games] in order to stay in power as long as possible, and loot as much as they possibly can.
But [both] their attempts failed, because their [cronies] turned out to be too incompetent. Of course, we will do everything we can to ensure the safety of infrastructure and citizens, take extra security measures. And I mean serious additional measures. Both technical, and otherwise.
But the most important thing is that those [Western governments] who support the current Kiev authorities must decide – what do they want? Do they want their proxies to continue attempting to provoke us? Or do they still want a real peace agreement? And if they still actually want it, I really hope that they finally take some real steps to provide necessary pressure on the current government in Kiev.”
Picture: Captured saboteur equipment. Note plastic explosives, military MON mine, assortment of detonators, MSP noiseless pistol. Such a collection is generally unobtainable by common extremists, or even rank-and-file soldiers. === Separate thanks to blogger hippy-end for transcribing the speech in Russian.http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/08/unforgiving-rhetoric-vladimir-putin.html
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