At least one civilian has been killed and few residential buildings have been destroyed after Kiev forces’ shelling hit residential area in Donetsk. The main attack centered on northern Donetsk, where the previously contested airport is located, but many of shells landed on a residential area.
Ukraine’s detention of two “Russian troops” is nothing but a show, Russia’s Defense Ministry said, adding that neither was serving in the Russian Armed Forces at the time of their arrest. It called on Kiev to stop the alleged torture of the men. Following Kiev’s claim that a pair of Russian soldiers had been captured in eastern Ukraine, the ministry said in a statement that its own investigation had revealed that both individuals hold Russian citizenship and had received military training, but neither was serving in the army. Kiev must put an end to its tactic of torturing detainees in order to force confessions, the ministry said. It also passed on a request made by the Veterans Association of Special Forces, urging Kiev “to stop SBU’s abuse of the wounded to get a favorable testimony.”
Western specialists have started leaving Ukraine’s government. The Ukrainska Pravda news website reported on Monday that Estonian Jaanika Merilo had suspended cooperation with the country’s Economy Ministry, led by Aivaras Abromavicius. Merilo, who was appointed adviser to Abromavicius in January, left her post in April, the site said. Last week, the Economy Ministry announced termination of ties with economic analyst Sasha Borovik, who was nominated for the position of the first deputy minister in February. It also became known last week that US Senator John McCain rejected the offer to join Ukraine’s International Advisory Council on Reforms, headed by Georgia’s former President Mikheil Saakashvili. Thus, Georgian eater of ties is the all foreign intellectual help which Kiev government has got.
Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev has revoked a decree that allowed delivery of NATO military equipment to Afghanistan through Russian territory. According to the official document, signed by Medvedev and published on Monday, all previous decisions on NATO cargo transit to Afghanistan have now been revoked. This includes an act allowing delivery of military hardware and equipment via rail, motor vehicles, or through Russian airspace. We remember, despite official end of military operation in Afghan, some 13,000 US-led coalition troops will remain in Afghanistan until the end of 2016 to oversee local forces and provide training on counter-terror operations.