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

 

Ukraine army helicopter shot down near Sloviansk

May 29 (BBC News Ukraine) Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine have shot down a military helicopter near Sloviansk, killing 14 people, the country's outgoing president says. 

President Turchynov said the 14 dead included Maj Gen Serhiy Kulchytskiy, head of combat and special training for Ukraine's National Guard. It is one of the worst losses of life for government forces in the conflict. Last week at least 14 soldiers died in a rebel attack on an army checkpoint near Donetsk, some 130km (80 miles) from Sloviansk. Earlier this month, separatists shot down two army helicopters, also near Sloviansk, killing a pilot and another serviceman. Mr Poroshenko has called the separatists "terrorists" intent on maintaining a "bandit state". After Sunday's election he vowed to tackle them "in hours", not months.

Obituary: Major General Serhiy Kulchytsky

Major General Serhiy Kulchytsky, who led the combat training department in Ukraine's National Guard, was among more than a dozen people killed when pro-Russian separatists shot down a military helicopter near the eastern Ukrainian town of Sloviansk. The attack has been described as one of the worst setbacks for Ukraine's government forces since they began an offensive against the rebels in April. Gen Kulchytsky was appointed head of the military and special training directorate at Ukraine's National Guard after President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February 2014. He had been promoted to the rank of major-general by Mr Yanukovych six months earlier.

Born on 17 December 1963 in Weimar, in the former German Democratic Republic (DDR), General Kulchytsky had a military upbringing. His father served with the Soviet forces stationed in the region. He graduated from the Ussuriysk military college in the Soviet Far East in 1981 and went on to train at the Far Eastern Higher Military Command School in the city of Blagoveshchensk, attaining a distinction in 1985. His military career began with the role of marine platoon commander at the Soviet Northern Fleet in the northern Murmansk region.

After Ukraine became an independent state, Gen Kulchytsky moved to the west of the country and became deputy commander of a National Guard battalion in Ternopil in 1992. Moving up the ranks, he became the battalion's commander in 1994. And in 2010 he was appointed deputy commander of the Western Command of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's troops. Gen Kulchytsky was married with a son. He was travelling with soldiers to a base near Sloviansk when their helicopter was shot down.

Petro Poroshenko claims Ukraine presidency

May 26 (BBC News Ukraine) Ukrainian confectionery tycoon Petro Poroshenko has claimed outright victory in the country's presidential election. Mr Poroshenko, known as the "chocolate king", won more than 55% of the vote in the first round, exit polls suggest. Announcing he had won, the 48-year-old businessman promised to forge closer links with the EU and restore peace in restive eastern regions. 

Pro-Russian separatists severely disrupted voting there. Some 20 people have died in fighting in recent days. No polling stations were open in Donetsk city, and across the region only seven out of 12 district electoral commissions were operating. The separatists are in control of large areas of the Donestk and Luhansk regions. Four hours before polls closed, at 16:00 (13:00 GMT), unofficial estimates put the turnout nationwide at 45%.

  Vitaliy Klitschko (right) says he has been elected mayor of Kiev

Read more at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27569057