Russia demands EU's response to deaths of civilians in eastern Ukraine (LIVE BLOG)

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GLOBALPOST LIVE BLOG: UKRAINE UNREST

UPDATE: 7/7/14 4:05 PM ET

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UPDATE: 7/7/14 3:53 PM ET

More images showing the aftermath of the weekend attack in Slavyansk

Kyiv Post editor Christopher Miller shares the latest:

UPDATE: 7/7/14 2:04 PM ET

The town of Slavyansk, which was retaken by Ukrainian forces, in shambles

UPDATE: 7/7/14 12:38 PM ET

Retreating rebels dig in around Ukrainian coal hub

Agence France-Presse — Retreating pro-Russian insurgents dug in on Monday in Ukraine's sprawling industrial hub of Donetsk after government forces scored a string of morale-boosting victories in the bloody battle for the future of the ex-Soviet state. 

The eastern home of one million mostly Russian speakers has been flooded with convoys carrying hundreds of fighters and scores of anti-aircraft guns from five smaller surrounding cities where Ukrainian flags were flying for the first time in three months.

The rebels erected checkpoints along the main roads leading into Donetsk while the center of the riverbank city itself saw several restaurants and shops shutter their doors. And two rail bridges were blown up just north and east of the city — adding to another link damaged on Friday as part of a seeming campaign to help barricade Donetsk.

UPDATE: 7/7/14 11:22 AM ET

The emergence of an organized, battle-ready Ukrainian army 

The New York Times has an insightful story on the transformation of the Ukrainian armed force from "a ragtag lot of poorly equipped and understaffed military and police units" to an organized entity — which took control of key rebel-occupied cities in the eastern part of the country over the weekend.

The story outlines several reasons for the change, including a psychological shift among soldiers.

"They have overcome that psychological barrier in which the military were afraid to shoot living people," Mykola Sungurovskyi, the director of military programs at the Razumkov Center, was quoted as saying in the story. "They had this barrier after Maidan, after the death of that hundred — not simply to shoot living people, but their own people. After the forces were restructured a bit, and it became clear who were our people, who were foes, the operations became more effective."

This is an interesting development considering the dire state of Ukrainian forces just a few months ago. 

In March, GlobalPost's Senior Correspondent Paul Ames reported that Ukraine's army was "scrambling to pull together an instant army, drawing on whoever is available — students, computer geeks, restaurateurs, aging veterans."

Here's the full story: Ukraine cobbles together an army as fears of a Russian invasion grow

And remember this photo of pro-Russian rebels cruising down the street on a Ukrainian armored personnel carrier?


Some context from Reuters:

"Separatists flew the Russian flag on armored vehicles taken from the Ukrainian army on Wednesday, humiliating a Kyiv government operation to recapture eastern towns controlled by pro-Moscow partisans.

Six armored personnel carriers were driven into the rebel-held town of Slavyansk to waves and shouts of "Russia! Russia!"

It was not immediately clear whether they had been captured by rebels or handed over to them by Ukrainian deserters. Another 15 armored troop carriers full of paratroops were surrounded and halted by a pro-Russian crowd at a town near an airbase.

They were allowed to retreat only after the soldiers had handed over the firing pins from their rifles to a rebel commander. The military setback leaves Kyiv looking weak on the eve of a peace conference on Thursday, when its foreign minister will meet his Russian, US and European Union counterparts in Geneva."

UPDATE: 7/7/14 10:48 AM ET

Ukrainian forces are preparing for attack

"Despite their recent losses, the rebels still hold the regional capitals of Donetsk and Luhansk, where they have regrouped following a series of defeats elsewhere," the Kyiv Post reports. "Thousands have reportedly fled in recent days and weeks from Donetsk, a city with an official population of 1 million people, fearing its transformation into the next flashpoint in the three month-long military conflict."

Read the full story on the Kyiv Post

UPDATE: 7/7/14 10:03 AM ET

Here's what's happening near Donetsk 

The Associated Press reports:

"Three bridges on key roads leading into the Ukrainian city of Donetsk were blown up Monday — an apparent attempt to slow down any possible assault by government forces on the rebel-held stronghold. ... It was not exactly clear who blew up the highway and train bridges Monday, but their destruction would most benefit the rebels."

And more from Bloomberg:

“Government troops are blocking roads to Donetsk and Luhansk to prevent rebels’ reinforcement and weapons delivery,” a Defense Ministry spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, told reporters in Kyiv today. 

UPDATE: 7/7/14 9:35 AM ET

Stark scenes after weekend fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk

UPDATE: 7/7/14 9:08 AM ET

Russia accuses Ukraine of turning a 'deaf ear' to calls for saving lives

Reuters — Russia's Foreign Ministry called on Monday for an "adequate response" from the European Union to the deaths of civilians during heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine. 

"It makes no sense to again and again demand a halt to the shelling of civilian sites by Kyiv," the ministry said in a statement.

"Kyiv turns a deaf ear to calls to save people's lives."

"We hope in this regard for an adequate response by European Union member states to denounce the criminal policy of the Kyiv authorities," it said.

UPDATE: 7/7/14 8:35 AM ET

'Donetsk must not be bombed,' Ukrainian tycoon pleads

Reuters — Ukraine's richest man pleaded with the government on Monday not to bomb Donetsk, a city of a million people where hundreds of heavily armed pro-Russian rebels have vowed to make a stand after losing control of their bastion in the town of Slavyansk.

The Kyiv government has said it will act quickly to seize back more territory from rebels after re-taking Slavyansk in what President Petro Poroshenko called a turning point in the three-month conflict against pro-Russian fighters in the east.

Rebels retreating from Slavyansk, some driving armored vehicles flying Russian flags, poured into Donetsk, 110 km (65 miles) to the north over the weekend. About 1,000 of them held a bellicose rally in the central square on Sunday.

Ukrainian forces stand guard in the center of the Ukrainian city of Slavyansk on July 6, 2014.

Their commander, a Muscovite using the name Igor Strelkov, was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying his men would fight for the city, which was "much easier to defend than little Slavyansk." Businesses have closed down and thousands of residents are believed to have fled Donetsk.

The city is the headquarters for Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's wealthiest man by far, whose fortune, founded on coal and steel, is put at more than $11 billion by Forbes. He said government forces should show restraint in Donetsk and the surrounding Donbass region.

"Donetsk must not be bombed. Donbass must not be bombed. Cities, towns and infrastructure must not be destroyed," he told Ukraina television.

"We must avoid suffering and deaths of peaceful people."

The government said it had carried out an air strike against rebel fighters who had attacked the airport in Luhansk, another eastern city, on Sunday. It accused separatists in the area of opening fire in populated areas under the guise of being government forces.

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