Russia And Ukraine

I'm probably goin to get back in the reserves soon, they are looking for flyers, even the ones that failed. I couldnt pass the tailspin recovery training and didn't really want to continue down the career field they put me in.

Of course. Long as you get acknowledged from time to time, that's all you need.

Ukraine vows to punish rebels who downed plane


A pro-Russian fighter guards the site of remnants of a downed Ukrainian army aircraft Il-76 at the airport near Luhansk, Ukraine on Saturday. Pro-Russian separatists shot down the military transport plane Saturday in the country’s restive east, killing all 49 service personnel on board, Ukrainian officials said.

NOVOHANNIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's new president declared Sunday a day of mourning and vowed to punish those responsible after pro-Russia separatists shot down a Ukrainian military transport plane, killing all 49 crew and troops aboard.

It was a bitter setback for the Ukrainian forces — the deadliest single incident yet in their escalating battle against an armed insurgency that the government, backed by the U.S., insists is supported by Russia.

he downing of the plane drew condemnation and concern from the White House, European leaders and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon. Analysts said it could bring a renewed emphasis on increasing sanctions against Russia.

"(This) will refocus attention on the fact that Russia does not seem to be doing very much to moderate the insurgency (or) the cross-border resupply of separatists," said Timothy Ash, an analyst at Standard Bank PLC. "I would expect the focus to return to sanctions next week."

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko spoke firmly to glum-faced security officials at a televised emergency meeting Saturday, scolding the head of the country's SBU security service for "omissions" in measures to protect military aircraft.

Poroshenko called for "a detailed analysis of the reasons" for the lapse and hinted that personnel changes were imminent. His office said he vowed to punish "those responsible for the tragedy in Luhansk."

In a conversation with French President Francois Hollande, Poroshenko expressed hope that the European Union would decide on further sanctions against Russia if what he called the illegal border crossings and the supply of weapons did not cease.

Nine crew and 40 troops were aboard the Il-76 troop transport when it went down early Saturday as it approached the airport at Luhansk, the Ukrainian prosecutor general's office said.

The plane's tail section and other pieces of scorched wreckage lay in a field near the village of Novohannivka, 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Luhansk. An Associated Press reporter saw a dozen or more armed separatists inspecting the crash site.

Defense Ministry spokesman Bohdan Senyk said the rebels used anti-aircraft guns and a heavy machine gun to down the plane, while the prosecutor general's office said rebels used an anti-aircraft missile.

Luhansk, a city near the border with Russia, is one of two eastern areas where separatists have seized government buildings and declared independence. Ukrainian forces still control the Luhansk airport.


A pro-Russian fighter carries parts of weapons from the site of remnants of a downed Ukrainian army aircraft Il-76 at the airport near Luhansk, Ukraine, June 14, 2014.

In other fighting, five border guards were killed and seven wounded Saturday in the southern port of Mariupol when their column of vehicles was ambushed, the guards service said.

The U.S. government reiterated its support for Poroshenko's government and rejected Russia's statements that it was not arming the rebels. The U.S. said Russia had sent tanks and rocket launchers to the rebels, making sure the unmarked tanks were of a type not currently being used by Russian forces.

"We condemn the shooting down of the Ukrainian military plane and continue to be deeply concerned about the situation in eastern Ukraine, including by the fact that militant and separatist groups have received heavy weapons from Russia, including tanks, which is a significant escalation," said White House spokeswoman Laura Lucas Magnuson.

Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel jointly called Russian President Vladimir Putin to express their "dismay" over the downing of the plane and said the incident makes clear how urgent a cease-fire is, German government spokesman Georg Streiter said.

Merkel stressed that, for a cease-fire to last, Russia must better control its border with Ukraine to stem the flow of weapons and fighters and the Russian government must also exert its influence on pro-Russia rebels.

The Kiev government has accused Russia of permitting three tanks to cross the border this week into eastern Ukraine, where they were used by rebels. Russia denies supplying the separatists and says Russians fighting in Ukraine are volunteers.

Moscow did not respond to the tank reports but instead accused the Ukrainian military of violating the border several times, including when an armored vehicle ventured about 150 meters (yards) Friday into Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry warned Saturday if the incursions continued it would "take all necessary measures to suppress them."

NATO, meanwhile, released images Saturday that it said showed recent Russian tank movements near the border. It said the tanks seen in eastern Ukraine "do not bear markings or camouflage paint like those used by the Ukrainian military." It said those tactics were used by the Russians who had seized Crimea in March.

Tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalated in February after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was driven from office by protesters who wanted closer ties with the European Union and an end to the country's endemic corruption. Russia then seized and annexed Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

The U.S. and Europe rejected the annexation and responded with financial sanctions targeting individuals. They have threatened to further extend the sanctions to the Russian economy.

In Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, the European Union's energy commissioner joined officials from Ukraine and Russia for talks late Saturday on the two nations' bitter natural gas dispute. Those participating included Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and the head of Ukraine's state gas company Naftogaz.

Russia says Ukraine owes billions in unpaid gas debts and has set a deadline of Monday before it will demand upfront payments for gas supplies. Ukraine disputes the debt amount and, with its economy in dire straits after the departure of Yanukovych, has little ability to repay. The two sides were also negotiating the price Ukraine will pay for future gas supplies.

Also in Kiev, about a hundred protesters hurled eggs and paint Saturday at the Russian Embassy and overturned several parked cars with diplomatic plates. One held a sign saying "Russia is a killer."

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Putin Pushes for Ukraine Compromise, Backs Cease-Fire

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly expressed support Sunday for Ukraine's declaration of a cease-fire in its battle against pro-Russian separatists and called on both sides to negotiate a compromise.

On a day when Russia and Ukraine commemorated the millions who died during World War II, Putin said such a compromise must guarantee the rights of the Russian-speaking residents of eastern Ukraine, who must feel like they are "an integral part" of their own country. Putin's statement appeared to signal that he sees their future in Ukraine.

Separatists in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions have declared independence and asked to join Russia. Moscow has rebuffed their appeals, but is seen by Ukraine and the West as actively supporting the insurgency. Putin's conciliatory words came as Russia began large-scale military exercises and after NATO accused Russia of moving troops back toward the Ukrainian border.

Putin discussed the cease-fire on Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, Merkel's office and the Kremlin said.

"After the Russian government too referred to the cease-fire in positive terms, the interlocutors emphasized the need for all sides to abide by it now and for a political dialogue to be put in motion," Merkel's office said in a statement. "Another topic of the conversation was the issue of securing the Ukrainian-Russian border."

In a statement issued by the Kremlin late Saturday, Putin welcomed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's decision to declare a cease-fire and called on "the opposing sides to halt any military activities and sit down at the negotiating table."

Putin's public comments Sunday, which followed ceremonies commemorating the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, were more specific.

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Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, center, poses with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, left, and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, right, during an EU Summit in Brussels, June 27.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Over Russia's objections, Ukraine's new president on Friday signed a free-trade deal binding his country more closely to Western Europe, sealing the very agreement that triggered the bloodshed and political convulsions of the past seven months.

Russia, meanwhile, fended off for the time being a new, more crippling round of Western sanctions over its intervention in Ukraine, where a fragile cease-fire between government forces and pro-Moscow separatists in the east expired Friday night but was extended by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for three more days.

"What a great day!" a beaming Poroshenko said in Brussels upon the signing of the economic agreement with the European Union. "Maybe the most important day for my country after independence."

Since it became independent in the 1991 Soviet collapse, Ukraine has been involved in a delicate balancing act between Russia and the West. The Kremlin wants to keep Ukraine, the birthplace of Russian statehood and Russian Orthodox Christianity, in its orbit.

In November, under pressure from Moscow, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanuknovych spiked the EU pact, triggering huge protests that drove him from power. Moscow responded by annexing the mainly Russian-speaking Crimean Peninsula in March, and pro-Russian separatists soon rose up in Ukraine's eastern provinces.

While Friday's signing marked a defeat for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has threatened to cancel trade preferences for Ukraine, the Kremlin made no immediate move to punish its neighbor or the two other former Soviet republics that joined the pact, Moldova and Georgia.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia will take the necessary measures to protect its markets only when the agreement takes effect. That will take a few months.

Meanwhile, EU leaders decided not to immediately impose new sanctions on Russia for the uprising. But they warned that punitive measures have been drawn up and could be levied immediately.

And they gave Russia and the rebels until Monday to take steps to ease the violence, including releasing all captives, retreating from border checkpoints, agreeing on a way to verify the cease-fire and launching "substantial negotiations" on Poroshenko's peace plan.

The weeklong cease-fire, which both sides have been accused of violating, expired at 10 p.m. local time (1900 GMT), but Poroshenko quickly declared its extension until 10 p.m. local time Monday.

Insurgent leader Alexander Borodai said earlier in the day that the rebels were ready to extend the cease-fire if Poroshenko does so and would also soon release the European observers they have been holding for weeks.

Poroshenko warned, however, that the government could terminate the cease-fire in areas where it has been violated by the rebels.

At the signing ceremony, Poroshenko reminded EU leaders of the bloodshed in his country.

Ukraine "paid the highest possible price to make her European dreams come true," he said, asking the EU to pledge that one day Ukraine can join the 28-nation bloc. Membership "would cost the European Union nothing," he said, "but would mean the world to my country."

In Kiev's Independence Square, the site of last winter's huge protests against Russian domination, balloons the color of the EU's blue flag were released over the crowd as a rock band pounded out the European Union's anthem, Beethoven's "Ode to Joy."

The crowd of several hundred was far smaller than the hundreds of thousands who jammed the square at the height of the protests. Rain, people getting out of town ahead of a long holiday weekend, and the simmering conflict in the east worked to restrain the mood.

Protest veteran Oleg Mityukhin, 48, came wrapped in the Ukrainian flag.

"I think there will be less corruption, there will be better quality goods, and it will be a push forward for the development of Ukraine," he said.

The agreements signed Friday let businesses in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, trade freely in any of the EU's nations without tariffs or restrictions as long as their goods and practices meet EU standards. Likewise, goods and services from the EU will be sold more easily and cheaply in the three countries.

Amanda Paul, a policy analyst at the Brussels-based think tank European Policy Center, said Russia has levers to inflict serious economic pain on Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia through trade restrictions, cuts in energy supplies or the deportation of migrant workers from those countries.

European Commission experts estimate the deal will boost Ukraine's national income by 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion) a year.

The deal also demands that Ukraine adopt EU rules on government contracts, competition and copyrights — steps that could reduce corruption and make the country more attractive to investors.

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Ukraine troops abandon airport 'in face of Russian assault'


A man shoots at targets depicting a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a range in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, on Aug. 31, 2014.

Ukrainian forces were forced to retreat from Lugansk airport in the face of a Russian troop attack as Moscow soldiers moved into key eastern cities Monday, Kiev said, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin evoked "statehood" discussions for the conflict-torn east.

Putin accused Europe of ignoring the Ukrainian military's "direct targeting" of civilians in the conflict and said the offensive pushed by insurgents there were simply an attempt to expel Kiev's forces from residential areas.

He also urged the EU to show "common sense" after its threat to impose more sanctions on Moscow over the months-long crisis that has sank East-West relations to their lowest level since the Cold War.

The latest accusations of Russian troops partaking in the fighting that has pitted pro-Moscow rebels against Kiev's troops came as a "contact group" of Russian, Ukrainian and OSCE representatives was due to discuss the conflict during a meeting in Minsk.

Ukraine's defence minister said that Russian troops were moving in the main cities of Lugansk and Donetsk.

"The information that Russian troops are there has been confirmed," Valeriy Geletey told Ukraine's Inter channel late Sunday.

"We are fighting Russia and it is Russia which is deciding what will happen in the Donbass," he said referring to the informal name for Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

President Petro Poroshenko meanwhile told military cadets in Kiev on Monday that "the situation has aggravated in recent days - there is direct, overt aggression against Ukraine from the neighbouring state."

Kiev military spokesmen said that after an hours-long battle against a "reinforced tank battalion of the Russian armed forces," Ukrainian troops retreated from their positions south of rebel bastion Lugansk.

"Ukrainian soldiers received an order and made an organised retreat from the Lugansk airport and Georgiyivka village," security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said. "Judging by the precision of the strikes, professional artillery men of the Russian armed forces are the ones firing."

The retreat marked the latest setback for Ukrainian troops, which had been closing in on rebels in Donetsk and Lugansk until about a week ago, when the insurgents opened a new front in the south, with, according to Kiev and NATO, the help of regular Russian troops.

Since then, the rebels' lightning offensive has forced Ukrainian army units to abandon numerous positions in the south and east and geared up to defend the strategic port of Mariupol, which had been peaceful for months after government troops routed the rebels in May.

AFP correspondents said the presence of Ukrainian army in the region has visibly decreased in recent days, with another checkpoint in the western outskirts of the rebel hub Donetsk disappearing Monday.

- 'Immediate ceasefire' -

Kiev and the West have repeatedly accused Russia of direct involving in the pro-Moscow insurgency in eastern Ukraine, with NATO saying last week that Russia had more than 1,000 of its troops deployed in Ukraine and 20,000 massed on the border.

Russia has repeatedly denied the charges, with Sergei Lavrov saying on Monday in the latest rebuttal: "There will be no military intervention (in Ukraine), we are for an exclusively peaceful resolution of that most serious crisis, that tragedy."

Lavrov also called for an "immediate ceasefire" to be discussed by Russian, Ukrainian and OSCE representatives meeting in Minsk later on Monday.

"I am very much counting upon the negotiations set for today, to above all focus on agreeing an immediate and unconditional ceasefire," Lavrov said.

A day after the EU warned Moscow that it would slap it with fresh sanctions unless it reversed course in the crisis within a week, Putin said: "I hope that common sense will prevail" and urged the bloc to "work together normally" with Moscow.

The Russian ruble slid to a record low of 37.39 to the US dollar on the latest developments, though the Russian stock markets were broadly stable after opening Monday.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has killed over 2,600 people since mid-April, and shelling continued Monday in Lugansk region, residents said.

"The town is being erased off the face of the earth," said Yelena Proidak, the resident of Petrovske, a town between Donetsk and Lugansk.

"Several five-story buildings were destroyed over the weekend," she told AFP by phone. "There is no normal life here."

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