Six killed in clashes in eastern Ukraine

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Source: al Jazeera/agencies

Four Ukrainian soldiers and two civilians have been killed in an upsurge in mortar and rocket attacks launched just days ahead of planned international talks on the crisis.

Local authorities in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk said two civilians were killed and seven injured in clashes on Friday around the industrial city's disputed airport.

The air hub - once the busiest and most modern in the largely Russian-speaking east of Ukraine - has been held by a skeleton force of government soldiers since late May.

Almost daily attacks on the airport by pro-Russian fighters have resulted in heavy civilian casualties caused by intense rocket fire from both sides going astray.

Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2015/2015/01/six-killed-clashes-eastern-ukraine-201519124611777172.html

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1. how many more must die for this "New Russia" expansion of Putin's

Putin needs more war to keep his approval ratings up. Every battle report in the controlled Russian press = more praise and worship of Dear Leader

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2. Quite a few yet, would be my guess. nt

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3. There are fairly frequently deaths.

Sometimes civilians, sometimes soldiers.

Most don't get reported.

Today's "big news" was http://www.0629.com.ua/news/707291: From a Mariupol "city site". It says that the partisan "brigade" "Shadows" (Teni) in the Novoazovsk region east of Mariupuol blew up a car bomb at one of the "occupiers'" blockposts. 40 killed, including some Kadyrovtsy (Chechens).

Whether the death toll is correct or not, if it happened it's a bad escalation. Pro-Ukraine offices and organizations in Odessa have been blown up by suspected DNR-LNR "partisans."

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4. I read about them every day.

It may not be that easy to get everybody to stop fighting, and I'm not sure if anybody is in a position to make them if they don't want to. You would think the logistics supply chains on both sides could shut them down eventually, but bombing things doesn't require a lot of investment or fancy weapons.

You would also think it was a bad time of year for that sort of thing, war, but I suppose the freeze can have its advantages.

I consider all such numbers as having been spun up or down, if not invented outright. Doesn't really matter the source, though some are more naive about it.

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5. Ukraine: Separatists Intensify Attacks on Army Posts

At least six Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in more than two days of fighting as separatists intensified shelling of government positions ahead of peace talks expected in the coming week, Ukrainian military officials said Friday. The press office for military operations in eastern Ukraine said army outposts had been hit 50 times by small-arms fire, mortar shells and rockets over the past day. Separatists accused the Ukrainian Army of carrying out dozens of rocket attacks on Thursday and Friday. The intensification in hostilities comes one month after a renewed truce led to a marked lull in the fighting that originally broke out in the spring. Leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France are expected to meet Thursday in Kazakhstan to consider solutions to the conflict.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/world/europe/ukraine-separatists-intensify-attacks-on-army-posts.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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6. Russia says Ukraine has violated loan terms: agencies

(Reuters) - Ukraine has violated the terms of a $3 billion Russian loan but Moscow has not yet decided whether to demand early repayment, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was quoted on Saturday as saying.

Russia lent the money in December 2013 by buying Ukrainian Eurobonds, two months before Ukraine's then-president, the pro-Moscow Viktor Yanukovich, fled the country amid mass protests against his rule.

The terms of the loan deal included a condition that Ukraine's total state debt should not exceed 60 percent of its annual gross domestic product (GDP).

Last month, rating agency Moody's estimated that Ukraine's debt amounted to 72 percent of GDP in 2014 and would rise to 83 percent in 2015. It also said "the risk of default is rising".

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/10/us-ukraine-crisis-russia-debt-idUSKBN0KJ06M20150110?rpc=401

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7. Klimkin: Foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France to meet in Berlin

The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France in a phone conversation on Friday made a decision to meet in person in Berlin, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said.

"I hung up after talking to my colleagues from Germany, France and Russia. The only achievement is that we have agreed to meet in person in Berlin. We continue working," he said on Twitter.

Klimkin said later: "Normandy will come to Berlin again. We will meet there with the ministers on Jan. 12."

A source in the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry told Interfax-Ukraine that the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France may also meet in Astana next week. "If the foreign ministers reach certain agreements in Berlin on Jan. 12, everything is possible," the source said.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/klimkin-foreign-ministers-of-ukraine-russia-germany-and-france-to-meet-in-berlin-377053.html

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8. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry: Moscow requested Berlin's official position on statements made by Yatsen

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis has commented on Moscow's request for Berlin's official position on statements made by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk regarding "the Soviet invasion of Germany and Ukraine."

"We were surprised to learn about the intention by the Russian Foreign Ministry to receive a response to an interview by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in the German Foreign Office," he wrote on his page on Facebook late on Jan. 9.

According to Perebyinis, "in such a case Russia should ask the opinion of many other European countries, to which the Soviet Union, after World War II, exported the totalitarian regime and suppressed any attempt of democratic changes."

He said that Russia, through its interpretations of Yatsenyuk's statements, only confirms "that the fact of the physical and ideological Soviet occupation of countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including East Germany, for modern Russia is the same normal phenomenon as the current occupation of Crimea and Donbas."

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ukrainian-foreign-ministry-moscow-requested-berlins-official-position-on-statements-made-by-yatsenyuk-377060.html

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9. German govt refuses to comment on Ukrainian PM’s assertions about WW II history

ERLIN, January 9. /TASS/. German government has refused to comment on Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk's allegations regarding the “assault of Soviet troops on Ukraine and Germany” in 1941.

“The federal government does not comment on the statements made by Prime Minister Yatsenyuk,” a spokesman for the cabinet of ministers said.

Along with it, he recalled that Berlin “does not call into question in any way Germany’s responsibility for the deaths of Soviet citizens during World War II.”

On Thursday, Yatsenyuk made a bizarre claim in an interview with the German TV channel ARD, saying the USSR attacked Ukraine and Germany in 1941.

http://itar-tass.com/en/world/770579

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10. . nt