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Ukraine suffered the most antivehicle mine (AVM) blasts and the highest number of casualties in 2016, ahead of both Syria and Afghanistan, according to new independent research.

Since 2014, the Black Sea nation has been at war with Russian-backed fighters who hold large swathes of Ukrainian land bordering Russia. Although direct conflict has reduced since the height of violence endured during the first two years of fighting, the two sides have set up trenches along the flatlands and continue to place landmines along a relatively constant frontline.

Over the last year 101 people were hurt in AVM-related incidents in Ukraine, 43 of whom were killed, according to research by the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

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According to the joint report, Ukraine accounted for 20 percent of all recorded incidents and 24 per cent of all AVM casualties in 2016. The former Soviet state topped the list for 2015 as well, however, since then the number of incidents on its territory has increased by 48 percent and the number of casualties is up by 4 percent.

No country was even close to Ukraines casualty rate with Mali (55) and Pakistan (52) second and third in the list. Syria (38) and Afghanistan (34) complete the top five. In Ukraine 43 percent of casualties were fatal; Syria was the only place with a higher fatality rate of 100 percent.

Although people continue to discover unexploded ammo from World War II in Ukraine, the report noted that the recorded incidents centered around war-struck Donetsk and Luhansk regionspredominantly along the line of contact between pro-government troops and Russian-backed forces.

The report also noted that AVM incidents have interrupted civilian transport and gas and water supplies.

The first American casualty of the Ukraine conflict, a U.S. paramedic who died in April, was the result of what appears to have been a roadside mine.

The medic, Joseph Stone, was in Ukraine as part of the Organization for Security for Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which helps organize the few mine clearance missions in the region. Several other monitoring mission officials were riding in the same vehicle as Stone, and the blast also injured a German and a Czech observer.

The OSCE has repeatedly complained that sides in the east Ukraine conflict have not stopped mining activities, despite pledging to do so according to a ceasefire, let alone beginning mass demining.

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Ukraine Ahead of Syria and Afghanistan by Anti-Vehicle Mine Deaths: Report - Newsweek

"My cats eyes were so wide, he was also very afraid," Diana tells us matter of factly. The 10-year-old is explaining what happened during a recent day of intense shelling in Avdiivka, her hometown on the frontline of east Ukraine's more than three-year-old conflict.

This is where you hear first-hand the violence that continues unabated, and see its impact, mostly out of the media spotlight.

Apartment blocks with the misfortune of facing the wrong direction now have gaping holes revealing what once were homes. Damaged school windows and signs directing children to safer areas. Numerous military checkpoints. Regular water and power cuts. The persistent sounds of conflict.

UNICEF/UN058434/Makhniboroda A woman walks past a heavily damaged apartment block in Avdiivka, Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine. The town has been severely affected by renewed heavy fighting around the area since January 2017.

For residents, this is everyday life. Some families living closest to the 'contact line' - separating Government and non-Government controlled areas - rarely seek safety in bomb shelters anymore. The normality of conflict is increasing people's thresholds and as a result, the physical and mental dangers they face.

Diana seems to epitomise this sentiment. In the tiny one-room apartment she shares with her mother, Diana describes in intricate detail how she forgot to take the keys with her when the fighting intensified. The painful decision to leave her cat behind in the apartment.

The psychological stress of living in constant fear and uncertainty is taking its toll, particularly for the 200,000 girls and boys like Diana who live around the 'contact line'.

The good news is that Diana and many of her peers continue to go to school. UNICEF is advising and training teachers and other school staff on how to better cope themselves and how to provide the necessary support for children dealing with the impact of conflict and displacement. The new skills help children now and will do so in the future.

Services on the brink

Driving from UNICEF Ukraine's field office in Kramatorsk, closest to Avdiivka, the trip south to the port city of Mariupol takes time. The winter ice has melted and with it cracked open the tarmac.

Passing the coal mines and heavy industry that mark east Ukraine's landscape reminds you of what's at stake. While children and families come under attack, so does critical infrastructure that provides essential services for people across the region and further afield.

Water pumping stations and electricity lines that cross the 'contact line' are frequently damaged by the fighting. When water is cut in one area, it reduces access in another, and alternative sources such as small reservoirs are used up.

UNICEF is providing emergency water transport, distribution, and treatment for water purification. Critical repairs and upgrades are also being carried out to improve an already fragile water network and provide more efficient and effective service for years to come.

When we finally reach Mariupol, it's nearly dark and most of the lights are off. Tonight, there is not enough electricity to power the whole town.

Surviving day by day

At daylight, we meet 35-year-old Andrii and his three children in a crammed apartment they share with another family. A coal miner from Horlivka, Andrii fled home with his children when their neighbour's house was hit by shelling. "It was impossible to stay there anymore," he explains. "Besides, there was no job."

UNICEF/UN058266/Kozalov Andrii leaves his apartment block in Mariupol for the local playground with two of his, and one of his relatives, children. The 35-year old fled with his children from their hometown of Horlivka when a shell destroyed the neighbor's house. While Mariupol provides some relative safety and the children are at school, the job concerns have followed. Andrii found work at a local coal plant but struggles to make ends meet. "The salary is very low. It's very hard to support my family," he says.

The conflict in the east has reduced the purchasing power of families, many of whom have lost incomes, property, and land. "We are sitting on a powder keg. I have two kids whom I have to put on their feet," Andrii says with a sense of desperation.

Return to Hranitne

The next day we drive out of town to Hranitne, a small village that literally sits between the two sides in the conflict. I was here with a UNICEF Ukraine team 18-months ago and spent time with now 17-year-old Dasha and her mother. We've come back to see how they are.

UNICEF/UN058458/Kozalov 17-year old Dasha studies hard at home in Hranitne, a village on the 'contact line' in east Ukraine's conflict. With her final school year exams approaching, she is determined to do well and to get a place in University.

The house and environment look very much the same, though the sand bags protecting the kitchen windows have been removed. I ask why and Dasha explains that one of them was leaking so they were removed.

The cellar is still ready to function as a bomb shelter. In the dark, cold and damp room Dasha reflects, "when you are sitting here, you don't know if you are ever going to get out." It's the stress of conflict. Children and young people across the area live with day in and out. But there is also extraordinary resilience and Dasha is focused on her final school year exams. "I want a good education and to get into college because I want a good future for my family and for myself," she says.

As we leave Hranitne the sound of shelling can be heard again. I think of the sandbags and wish they were back in place.

Among the havoc and uncertainty that the conflict breeds, there is hope. Diana and her peers are determined to continue their education and play a role in building a more stable future. Andrii is focussed on doing whatever he can so his children, "... live happy and prosper in life." Dasha is studying hard to realise her dream of going to University.

But what happens next is never certain. As Andrii says, "The future? Well, that's an enigma. You can't predict it."

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Life On The Edge In Eastern Ukraine - HuffPost UK

Steven Seagal, the American actor best known for his role in '90s action movies such as Hard to Kill and Under Siege, has been blacklisted from the Ukraine as a national security threat.

Seagal is banned from entering the countryfor five years on grounds he has "committed socially dangerous actions ... that contradict the interests of maintaining Ukraine's security," according to a Ukrainian security service letterpublished by the news site Apostropheand reported by the Guardian.

The 65-year-old actor has for years cultivated a friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, bonding over their love of martial arts and shared macho images.

Though the Ukrainian security letter does not outline specific statements that got the actor banned, Seagal once participated in a pro-Putin motorcycle rally in Crimea, a disputed peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown in a revolution.

In an interview then, Seagal defended Russia's annexation of Crimea, saying that Putin's desire to protect the Russian-speaking people of Crimea, his assets, and the Russian Black Sea military base in Sevastopol is very reasonable, the Moscow Times reported.

Seagal's Crimea comments made him persona non grata in another country, Estonia, where organizers of a 2014 music festival there canceled his set after backlash from the Estonian public.

We hope that Estonian public will primarily view Seagal as an actor and musician, said Raul Ukareda, program director for the festival, according to the Hollywood Reporter. But, as it turned out, everyone sees him only as a politician and Putin loyalist.

During the Obama administration, Seagal often praised the Kremlin while criticizing U.S. foreign policy. In a 2013 interview with the Russian news channel RT, Seagal called Putin one of the greatest world leaders, if not the greatest world leader alive today.

The feeling seemed mutual. Putin would later propose that Seagal become an honorary Russian envoy to the United States.

In November, Putin granted Russian citizenship to Seagal, presenting him with a Russian passport in a formal ceremony.

It was an ending fit for Hollywood, The Washington Post's Andrew Roth reported then, one that consummated an odd-couple bromance that has blossomed despite years of dark relations between the two men's respective countries.

Seagal, who openly supported Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential race, has appeared in numerous direct-to-video films since breaking out as an action star in the 1990s. He also starred in his own reality show on the Reelz Network, Steven Seagal: Lawman, in which showed him teamingup with law enforcement organizations in Louisiana and Arizona.

I think our biggest problem is the open border, Seagal told ABC15 News in a 2014 interview about the Arizona season of the show. I think this is a tremendous oversight by our current administration. As Ronald Reagan once said, if we don't have security on our borders, we don't have a country.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko welcomes American actor Steven Seagal to his residence in Minsk and feeds him homegrown vegetables. (Reuters)

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Excerpt from:
Amid Putin 'bromance,' Steven Seagal banned from Ukraine as national security threat - Washington Post

Steven Seagal is a threat to national security: Ukraine New York Post Seagal, 65, known for movies such as Under Siege and Hard to Kill, has been deemed a threat by the Ukranian security service, the agency said in a letter to the Web site Apostrophe. The service's press secretary later confirmed the ban. The agency ...

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Steven Seagal is a threat to national security: Ukraine - New York Post

(Kyiv) A military tribunal in the separatist-held area of Ukraines Donetsk region convicted a professor with pro-Ukrainian views on trumped-up charges of illegal weapons possession on May 3, 2017, Human Rights Watch said today. The court sentenced the academic, Ihor Kozlovsky, to 32 months in prison. The de facto authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic (DNR) should immediately annul the sentence and free Kozlovsky.

Kozlovskys treatment from detention through trial has been a huge affront to the rule of law, and his conviction and sentence should be immediately annulled, said Tanya Cooper, Ukraine researcher at Human Rights Watch. Kozlovsky has been behind bars for nearly 15 months for no other reason than his political views, and he should be immediately released.

Kozlovsky, 63, spent a month incommunicado following his arbitrary detention on January 27, 2016. Before his arrest he taught anthropology and humanities at Donetsk University. He was known for his pro-Ukrainian views and for his active participation in an ecumenical prayer marathon in Donetsk for a united Ukraine in 2014. At the time of his detention, he was working on an article about the impact of the armed conflict on religious communities in separatist-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, focusing on the persecution and exodus of minority groups.

Kozlovskys wife, Valentina, told Human Rights Watch, that she was away in Kyiv when her husband was detained, and that their son, Svyatoslav, who was born in 1979 and who has Down syndrome, paralysis, and other disabilities, was alone in the apartment and unable to move. After representatives of the local authorities State Security Ministry (MGB) took Kozlovsky away, they forcibly entered and searched the family apartment. They seized all electronic devices in the apartment, some valuables, and many documents, including Svyatoslavs passport and medical documents.

Valentina Kozlovsky said she found out later from authorities that Kozlovsky was taken to an MGB detention facility, where he was held for a month incommunicado, without any contact with his family or a lawyer. On February 26, 2016, he was transferred to a pretrial prison in Donetsk, SIZO 5, where he remains. No family member has been able to see him since he was detained. He was allowed, however, to see a lawyer.

Kozlovskys other son, Aleksandr, told Human Rights Watch that on May 3, a military tribunal in Donetsk found his father guilty of possessing two grenades that had been allegedly found in his apartment during the search. Aleksandr Kozlovsky said that staff of an international organization were able to attend some of the hearings. He said that Kozlovskys lawyer cannot appeal the sentence because rulings by military tribunals in the separatist region are not subject to appeal. Apart from the bogus evidence underlying the conviction, Aleksandr Kozlovsky said, the judge also refused to consider his fathers age or the fact that he supported and provided care to a son with Down syndrome as mitigating circumstances when determining the sentence.

In the absence of a functional criminal justice system in the region, Kozlovsky stood little chance of getting a fair trial, Cooper said.

The conflict between the Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine led to the complete collapse of law and order in the areas controlled by the separatists. Since 2014 separatist forces have attacked, beaten, and threatened anyone they suspected of supporting the Ukrainian government, including journalists, local officials, and political and religious activists.

Human Rights Watch documented the arbitrary, incommunicado detention of nine civilians, including Ihor Kozlovsky, by Russia-backed separatists in a 2016 report. The civilians were held for weeks or months without charge and, in most cases, subjected to ill-treatment. Human Rights Watch found that the regions security officials operate without adherence to the rule of law, and are not subject to checks and balances. The MGB is the most feared organization in the separatist-controlled territory a black hole, as one man described it. Anyone the agents detain is fully at their mercy, and the victims relatives have no one to turn to.

International human rights law severely restricts trials of civilians before military courts. The UN Human Rights Committee, the international expert body that monitors compliance with the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), has said that [t]rials of civilians by military or special courts should be exceptional, i.e. limited to cases where the State party can show that resorting to such trials is necessary and justified by objective and serious reasons and where the regular civilian courts are unable to undertake the trials. The ICCPR also guarantees all criminal defendants a right to appeal: Everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his conviction and sentence being reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.

Detaining Kozlovsky and prosecuting him before a military court is another egregious example of disregard by the DNRs de facto authorities for the rule of law, Cooper said. The entire case against him is a travesty, designed to deny him the possibility to effectively defend himself and to punish him for his peaceful opposition to separatists actions.

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Ukraine: Prison Sentence for Academic in Separatist Region - Human Rights Watch