Maidan Community Sector, Lviv: Dear friends!
December 15 – Ceasefire in eastern Ukraine is not working, that is why the EU should continue to pressure Russia, – said Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius.
December 15 – Today at Moscow City Court, Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko who was kidnapped by the Russians, has announced that she is on hunger strike because she wasn’t allowed a visit from a doctor (otolaryngologist).
December 15 – In Ukrainian city of Horlivka, part of which is controlled by Russian terrorists, local residents rallied at the building of the Kalinin city district administration – food riots are starting.
December 15 – Security service of Ukraine (SSU) has stopped the supply of explosives needed to commit sabotage within ATO area and elsewhere in Ukraine – explosives were being delivered to militant leaders of so called People’s Republic of Donetsk. SSU officers have detained a truck with 41 tons of substance used to manufacture explosives in Zaporizhia oblast.
December 15 – Crimea has become a part of the Russian Federation, which, under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, possesses nuclear weapons, – said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Thus Moscow has stated that has every right to locate nuclear weapons in the Crimea
December 15 – Militants of self-proclaimed “People’s Republic of Donetsk” have expressed willingness to use military means to extend their authority throughout all of Donetsk region – statement to this effect was made by the so called “Secretary of the Security Council of People’s Republic of Donetsk” Oleksandr Khodakovskyi. In addition, he mentioned a gradual introduction of a death penalty in the “republic”.
December 15 – Ukraine will not apply for NATO membership in the near future, although Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk is ready for full Alliance membership for Ukraine as soon as possible.
December 15 – The EU Council has in principle approved the proposal by EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Federica Mogherini on imposing additional restrictive measures by the EU in response to the illegal annexation of the Crimea and Sevastopol. Technical discussions on this proposal continue.
December 15 – Monday, December 15th is a “black Monday” for the Russian ruble – the currency lost 8% of its value. Before December 15th, only hryvnia devaluated at a quicker pace; since the beginning of this year Russian currency lost (compared to dollar) almost 40% of its value, whereas Ukrainian currency lost 46%. Maximum dollar value during trading on the Moscow stock exchange on Monday was 63.4 rubles, euro – 78.8 rubles.
December 15 – National Aviation Service of Ukraine continued to not permit flights in the airports of Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia until Tuesday morning, December 16th. Denys Antoniuk, Director of the National Aviation Services, stated this on Ukrainian BBC. On Monday morning in Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk International Airports, almost all flights were cancelled.
The only flight not cancelled was “Kyiv-Kharkiv” which was to take place on Tuesday evening. The following two flights from Moscow were cancelled as were Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia until December 16th.
December 15 – Ukraine asked NATO additional assistance ito improve the standards of the army and the National Guard. During the press conference summarizing the meetings with the General Secretary of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk underscored that Ukrainian government values greatly the support from the side of NATO and countries-members of NATO in preserving the territorrial integrity and independence of Ukraine: “We value the efforts in forming four trust funds for Ukraine in order to improve the condition of the Ukrainian amy and to support the veterans of the anti-terrorist operations and those who participate in ATO.” Yatseniuk turned to Stoltenberg with a request for additional assistance for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Department of Internal Security in order to improve the position of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Guard of Ukraine” in “forming a new protective and national security strategy for Ukraine.
Bidita Debnath
Ukraine Ill-Prepared for Trauma of War
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