UN Records Highest Civilian Casualties In Eastern Ukraine In A Year
By RFE/RL
The United Nations says the number of civilian casualties in fighting in eastern Ukraine is back to last year's highs.
Fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 9,400 people since April 2014.
The UN Human Rights Office said on August 3 that it documented 69 civilian casualties in June, including 12 dead.
This is nearly double the figure for May 2016 and the highest figure since August 2015.
The figure rose further to 73 civilian casualties in July, including eight dead.
More than half of all the casualties recorded in the past two months were caused by shelling, according to the UN Human Rights Office.
"Civilians are once again having to flee to improvised bomb shelters in their basements, sometimes overnight, with increasing frequency,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said.
A cease-fire deal signed in Minsk in February 2015 was meant to halt the fighting, but many of its key points -- including the complete withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line -- have not been implemented.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
An excerpt:
The worst line in the Stephanopoulos interview isn’t the bit about Putin going into Russia. It’s the part where he echoes Russian propaganda about Crimea, saying that the Crimeans really wanted to be part of Russia and not Ukraine.
"The people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were," Trump said.
This is whitewashing of a blatantly illegal territory grab by Putin, one that almost no countries on Earth recognize. Indeed, it’s clear from the interview that Trump’s Russia policy is to replace Obama’s alleged "weakness" with a policy of cozying up to the Kremlin.
This ends our live blogging for August 2. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.