Ukraine news/Archive/2019-10

31 Oct. A DPR soldier is killed by Ukrainian shelling of Lozovoe settlement

29 Oct. Pilot separation of forces has started in Zolotoe, expected to take 3 days.

Zelenskii commented on 3 stages of ending the conflict, stopping the 'hot' phase, reconcilliation, reintegration (but none of the above on the ground, at this point).

Apparent PR efforts in Russia to discredit Strelkov is observed.

28 Oct. It is said that after Zelenskii visit to nationalist volunteers and rather intense and much discussed conversations with some of them by the camp fire, volunteers removed their weapons from Zolotoe settlement, a place of pilot disengagement of forces. Zelenskii has stated that otherwise they will 'go in', that is remove weapons by force. Zelenskii also tried to lead discussion to the conclusiong that negotiation with Putin is needed, and that Ukrainian-imposed blockade, as well as the war itself, is harmful to Ukrainian economy. Local residents were present (older age women), saying that they live in a war zone for 5 years and all they want at this point is peace. Nationalists were arguing for a strong hand approach, at best. (A version of video here)

18 Oct. Some change of rhetoric is observed in Ukraine reporting. DPR report on yet another Ukrainian shelling of the usual hot-spots (Gorlovka, villages near Mariupol, and elsewhere) is commented as 'actions of Ukrainian occupiers will not be left unpunished', followed by a more customary appeal to international observers to take appropriate measures. An op-ed by a journalist Eva Lysovskaya is published by Rusvesna, saying (quite obviously, but rarely made explicit) that Russia's patience is not unlimited and that Abkhazia- style scenario, with the official recognition and Russian peacekeepers ensuring order is possible to. This is not coming from an official source, but could be indicative. Similarly on Ukrainian side there are statements of the sort that they are making 'the last' earnest attempt to follow Minsk -- after threats from Ukrainian nationalists following acceptance of the "Steinmeier formula", backtracking on separation of forces, and no end in shelling, resulting in destruction and casualties.

Blogger Donetskii: "Cunning plan of Zelensky", for a counterpoint, and in response to a telegram post.

16 Oct. Ukraine shelled Gorlovka yet again. Mayor of Gorlovka Prikhodko: T. Golovina, a 61-year old woman, got skin-deep wounds.

11 Oct. Ukrainegate is driving the United States to a state of a permanent coup and possibly into civil war.

Former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch deposition confirms an approach based on US self-interests, not on stopping killings and war crimes, promoting peace, or well-being of the Ukrainian people. It stresses Ukrainian "inviolate borders" but does not extend "the right to determine their own destiny" to people of Donbass and other pro-Russia regions; such right appears limited to those who supported Euromaidan in 2014. The conflict in Donbass is portrayed as "Russian expansionism", which is convenient but does not accurately reflect the overall situation. It is quite clear that Yovanovitch was not pushing for expressed by Trump wish that Russia and Ukraine get together and solve their problems. The departure of this Russian-speaking yet anti-Russian lady is not much regretted here (maybe the next appointee will do more, or at least not less, for peace). As for American-leveled displeasures, see here (this mentions an unconfirmed claim by Lev Parnas of her taped conversation with disparaging comments on Trump, Guliani's comment on her 'being in the pocket of Soros', and other such stuff which does not matter much here).

Lev Parnas and Igor Furman, Soviet-born US citizens and "Guliani's fixers on Ukraine", has been arrested on campaign finance violations charges, and it is said that Guliani himself is under a criminal investigation. Guliani responded to CNN here.

10 Oct. A civilian man, 64 yrs old, is seriously wounded by Ukrainian mortar shelling in Zaitsevo settlement (Prihodko 1, 2; Rusvesna).

4 Oct. DPR ombudsman: in the past week, 3 DPR soldiers were killed, 4 people (1 soldier and 3 civilian men) were wounded. DPR PMH: in the past week, 17 residential homes were damaged or destroyed.

1 Oct. It is reported that Ukraine finally agreed to the "Steinmeier formula", which it opposed for a long time. The formula is yet to be implemented in the law on the special status for Donbass