Oleh Akimov, deputy chairman of the public council under the self-declared Luhansk People's Republic, is calling on local residents to sign a petition addressed to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:
"[The aim of the appeal is] to call on Petro Poroshenko to start peace talks, to stop the mass slaughter of Ukrainian civilians by the Ukrainian army. Unfortunately, we gave up appealing to Petro Poroshenko directly, because we do not see any sense in doing that and we do not believe he will listen to us. That's why our last hope is to appeal to international organizations."
Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko has announced on the presidential website that the Ukrainian flag has been raised over Artemovsk and Druzhkovka in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey and Chief of General Staff Viktor Muzhenko reported to Poroshenko that Ukrainian troops had seized control of the two cities from pro-Russian militants.
The statement adds that Poroshenko ordered caution in removing mines from urban infrastructure, and to ensure adequate shipments of food and drinking water are delivered to local residents.
Freshly painted.
From our news desk:
A few thousand people have rallied in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk in support of pro-Russian separatists forced there by the advancing Ukrainian Army.
Pavel Gubarev, the self-styled governor of the self-declared "Donetsk People's Republic," told supporters in Donetsk's central square on July 6 that "we will begin a real partisan war around" the city of Donetsk.
Igor Girkin, aka Strelkov, told Russia's Life News that the separatists will "continue the combat operations [from Donetsk] and will try not to make the same mistakes we made in the past."
Girkin is known as the "defense minister" of the self-proclaimed people's republic and was based in the nearby city of Slovyansk until being flushed out along with hundreds of rebel fighters by Ukrainian military forces on July 5.
Fresh off its retaking of the large cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey said on July 6 that Ukrainian forces were also in control of Artyomovsk and Druzhkovka, previously held by the rebels.
Heletey, who assumed his post last week, was in Slovyansk shortly after the military regained control of it and was shown on television speaking with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
He said Poroshenko told him the government's priority was to rebuild damaged infrastructure in the region and to reconnect vital utilities.
Poroshenko has called the retaking of Slovyansk a "turning point" in Ukraine's battle against the rebels but said the army operation to "liberate the Donetsk and Luhansk regions will continue."
Meanwhile, Donetsk billionaire businessman Rinat Akhmetov said the Ukrainian military must not bomb the city of Donetsk, where most of the ousted fighters from Slovyansk are believed to have fled to.
He said the Donbas region must remain part of a "united Ukraine" but said Donetsk, nearby settlements, and the surrounding infrastructure "must not be destroyed" by the Ukrainian military in its fight against the separatists.
The self-declared chairman of the "Donetsk People's Republic," Denis Pushilin, said on July 6 from an undisclosed location in Russia that the "peacemaking activities of the Russian Federation would be more than to the point right now."
Pushilin, who one day earlier had criticized Russia for not coming to the separatists' aid, added in an interview with Russia's Dozhd TV that he had met with Russian ultranationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
He said Zhirinovsky was helping to secure "humanitarian aid" for the Donbas region.
Meanwhile, fresh fighting was reported on the outskirts of the city of Luhansk, capital of the Luhansk region. (AFP, Reuters, Interfax, and ITAR-TASS)
That ends our live-blogging for July 6, please check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
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