305TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF POLTAVA

On 27 June 1709 in spite of a difficult situation in Ukraine we have marked the 305th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava. This battle was a decisive battle of the Great Northern war and I make no doubt that this battle has predetermined the future of the Europe for many decades to come. A few pictures below were taken today near the Poltava Battle museum. The conference on history of the fortress of Poltava have taken place today in the museum.

 

Ukraine's stolen money

Public service financial monitoring has identified 42 non-resident companies registered in Cyprus, Panama, UK, Belize and the Seychelles, which are directly related to (outsted president of Ukraine) Viktor Yanukovych and his inner circle. From 2010 to 2013, these companies, through accounts opened in banks in one of the neighboring countries, listed $16 billion. SCFM blocked the accounts of 19 of these non-resident companies. The amount of blocked funds is $1,340,000,000. Substantial evidence exists that this money was stolen from Ukraine's coffers. Now the task of Ukraine's law enforcement and the judicial system is to officially return these funds to Ukraine.

Luhansk Militias Shot Down Ukrainian Army Plane – Ukraine's DefMin

June 15 (BBC News Ukraine) Ukraine’s Defence Ministry claims that the militias in Luhansk have shot down Ukraine’s IL-76 military aircraft. At least 49 people were on board, the CNN reports citing Ukraine’s military sources. An IL-76 plane which was carrying troops for the purpose of regular rotation was shot down when landing at Luhansk airport on the night from June 13 to 14. "In the night from June 13 to June 14 terrorists shot with anti-aircraft weapons and large caliber machine gun at a militaty transport IL-76 plane and shot it down as it was landing," said the Ukrainian Defense Ministry statement, published on its website. "There were troops, hardware, equipment and food on board the plane." The information has been neither confirmed nor denied yet in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.

The wreckage of the Ukrainian Il-76 jet brought down at Lugansk. Photograph: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images

New Russian anti-aircraft missile system 9K333 "Willow" has been tested on Ukrainian military cargo aircraft

AN-26 aircraft shot down by terrorists on June 6 near the city of Slavyansk was most probably hit by the new Russian portable anti-aircraft missile system 9K333 "Willow". This was reported by the "Information resistance" group coordinator Dmitry Tymchuk in "Facebook". Plane was hit at an altitude of 4.5 kilometers. Ukrainian specialists currently explore some found rocket fragments. This portable air defense missile system was declared operational only in the end of May 2014. Early June first samples were delivered only to the 98^th Airborn Division stationed in the Ivanovskaya oblast, and don't yet export to other countries.

Poroshenko, Ukraine's rescuer

June 8 (BBC News Ukraine). Chocolate mogul, government minister, opposition leader - Ukraine's new leader, Petro Poroshenko, has worked in a number of capacities, and has at one point or another been associated with a various political movements, including that of his deposed predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych. But the role he assumed on Saturday, when he took the oath of office for the presidency, is the most serious so far: rescuer of Ukraine. Mr Poroshenko has taken the reins of power at perhaps the most critical moment in Ukraine's 23-year post-independence history. Anti-government protests forced the previous President, Viktor Yanukovych, to flee the country in February. Then, Russia annexed Ukraine's southern region of Crimea. And now, pro-Moscow insurgents are waging a separatist struggle against government forces in the country's eastern regions. Besides this, he must steady a teetering economy and restore faith in the country's leadership, since many Ukrainians, especially in the east, view the government with suspicion, or outright hostility. And last, but definitely not least, Mr Poroshenko must somehow re-establish working relations with Russia - the country's giant neighbour with whom it shares deep cultural, historical, linguistic and economic ties. With all these considerable challenges in mind, Ukrainians from all regions, as well as a large international audience, listened with heightened attention to Mr Poroshenko's first presidential speech. There was much in it to please supporters of the February revolution and Ukrainian unity - as was demonstrated by the enthusiastic approval that greeted some of his statements. "Russia occupied Crimea, which was, is and will be Ukrainian," was one of his top applause lines. "This is what I told [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin yesterday in Normandy." And they welcomed his defiant words to the pro-Russian separatists, quoting the Gospel of Matthew - in a slightly different context - that "those who take the sword, shall perish by the sword". But ultimately, it is not Mr Poroshenko's supporters whom he must convince, but his opponents and those Ukrainians who may be sitting on the fence. While the separatists steadfastly reject Kiev reasserting its power in the country's east, there are large portions of the population there who might be persuaded to believe that Mr Poroshenko will in fact defend their interests. 

The first meeting between Mr Poroshenko and Mr Putin took place on the sidelines of the D-Day commemorations in France