Ukrainian Army, Separatists Accuse Each Other Of Truce Violations
The Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine continue to accuse each other of violating a cease-fire agreement.
The army said in a statement on August 21 that the separatists had fired 71 times at various government-controlled areas near the front line over the past 24 hours.
According to the statement, posted on Facebook, the most intense shelling occurred in the village of Avdiyivka, which came under heavy artillery fire by the separatists during the night time.
During the day, the separatists shelled Avdiyivka from mortars and grenade launchers, the statement said.
Meanwhile, the separatists claimed that the Ukrainian military launched more than 180 shells on rebel-held areas in Donetsk overnight.
The separatists said the Ukrainian government forces targeted several separatist-controlled areas, including Yasinovataya, Dokuchayevsk, and Trudovskiye.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the situation in eastern Ukraine continues to deteriorate and accused “the enemy” of trying to undermine the Minsk peace process aimed at settling the conflict.
According to the United Nations, more than 9,500 people have been killed in the conflict since it began in April 2014.
Based on reporting by unian.net and TASS
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Another Ukraine-related item from our news desk:
Austrian High Court Rejects Ukrainian Firtash's Extradition Appeal
Austria's Constitutional Court has refused to consider an appeal by Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash in an attempt to fight his extradition to the United States, where he is wanted on corruption charges.
Firtash had petitioned the court to recognize the U.S.-Austrian extradition agreement as unconstitutional.
The court's rejection of his case, reported by Deutsche Welle on August 19, allows an appeal by the Vienna prosecutor's office of a court ruling prohibiting Firtash from being extradited to the United States to be considered.
U.S. officials are seeking Firtash's extradition in the case of some $18.5 million in bribes being paid for a permit to mine titanium in India.
Firtash, 51, is a co-owner along with Gazprom of RosUkrEnergo, a Swiss-registered company that exports natural gas from Turkmenistan to Eastern Europe.
He also controls a large part of the titanium business in Ukraine and is one of that country's richest men.
Austrian officials arrested Firtash at the request of U.S. law enforcement agencies in March 2014.
He was released from detention shortly afterwards when he posted bail of 125 million euros ($172 million), a record amount in Austria.
Firtash rejects the charges against him as "absurd and unfounded."
Based on reporting by Interfax-Ukraine, ibtimes.co.uk, and Deutsche Welle
Here's an item from our news desk:
Erdogan Tells Poroshenko Turkey Won't Recognize Crimea As Russian
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reassured his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko that Ankara will continue to recognize the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia, as Ukrainian territory.
The Ukrainian presidential press service said on August 20 that Erdogan told Poroshenko via telephone that Turkey has not changed its "unwavering position regarding its support of Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity in the country's internationally recognized borders."
Erdogan added that Ankara would not recognize "Crimea's occupation" and would continue to support "the Crimean Tatars in every possible way."
The Poroshenko-Erdogan conversation comes less than two weeks after an Erdogan visit to Russia restored Ankara's relations with the Kremlin that had reached a low point following last year's shooting down of a Russian warplane by Turkish fighter jets.
The two leaders also discussed bilateral energy-sector cooperation and the recent terrorist bomb attacks in eastern Turkey.