The separatists seem to lose the battle to Donetsk. Ukrainian troops were ready for the “liberation of Donetsk” by its own account. The city was completely sealed off from Luhansk.
Donetsk is completely encircled by the Ukrainian army. Now the military is by its own account shortly before the capture of the rebel stronghold in eastern Ukraine. The troops had gained ground and driven a wedge between the separatist fighters, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Monday in Kiev. Donetsk is now cut off from Luhansk at the border with Russia and completely cordoned off.
“The troops of the anti-terror deployment ready for the last step in liberation of Donetsk ago,” Lysenko said the news agency Reuters. “We are working to free the two cities, but it is better to first get rid Donetsk -., It is important”
The separatists have been fighting for months for a spin-off of the industrial region of Ukraine. In the fighting with the government forces they have been forced back into the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Ukraine Conflict:Rejected ceasefire
One proposed by the separatists ceasefire had rejected the government in Kiev on Sunday. For this, the rebels would first lay down their weapons, an army spokesman said. Instead, the Ukrainian army moved their siege ring around Donetsk close. With massive artillery fire, the military tried to cut off a strategically important supply route of the rebels to the Russian border.
The number of victims in the use increase, the infrastructure is destroyed. Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke of a dire humanitarian situation in the separatist strongholds. However, if Russia wants to send relief goods as intended in the conflict area, this should be done only with the explicit consent of the Ukraine, said the SPD politician.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow speak with Ukraine and the International Red Cross on the supply of drugs as in the crisis-ridden neighbor. The leadership in Kiev and the West suspect Moscow of wanting to deploy under the guise of humanitarian aid soldiers in support of the rebels. The Ukraine has been warning for months before the alleged invasion plans of Russia.
Ukraine Conflict:”The front leads directly through the debris field”
U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that “any Russian intervention, even to alleged humanitarian purpose”, would result in additional consequences. This was announced by the White House in Washington after a phone call the two leaders at the weekend. Merkel also spoke with the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. This favors a possible involvement of the International Red Cross and the Federal Government.
Because of the struggles rests also work at the crash site of the Malaysian MH17 aircraft. “The front leads directly through the debris field, the situation is like quicksand -., The situation is changing by the hour,” said the deputy head of the OSCE deployment, Alexander Hug. However, the observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would quickly return to the scene of the accident.
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