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Ukraine Church Scandal: Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate accepts Crimea annexation
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has accepted the annexation of Ukraine #39;s Crimean peninsula by Russia, - that #39;s according to a document signed by the head of the Church....

By: UKRAINE TODAY

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Ukraine Church Scandal: Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate accepts Crimea annexation - Video

201415 Russian military intervention in Ukraine Part of the Ukrainian crisis and the War in Donbass Pink in the Donbass area represents areas currently held by the DPR/LPR insurgents (cities in red). Crimea, which is under Russian control, is also shown in pink. Yellow represents areas under the control of Ukrainian government (cities in blue). (Image date is 11 September 2014.) Date 26 February[2][3] 2014 ongoing (1year, 1week and 2days) Location Status Territorial changes Belligerents

Russia In Crimea: Republic of Crimea In Donbass: Federal State of Novorossiya

Russian Armed Forces:[27][28]

GRU:

Armed Forces of Ukraine:

Internal Affairs Ministry:

Security Service

In late February 2014, Russia began to send troops and military equipment into Ukraine following the February 2014 Ukrainian revolution and Euromaidan movement.[60][61][62][63] Starting with the 2014 Crimean crisis, soldiers of ambiguous affiliation began to take control of strategic positions and infrastructure within the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, which Russia then annexed.[64][65] Putin initially denied Russian troops interfered but then admitted in April that Russian troops had been active in Crimea and said this had laid the ground for the Crimean status referendum.[9][65][66][67]

After the annexation of Crimea, demonstrations by pro-Russian groups in the Donbass area of Ukraine escalated into an armed conflict between the separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics and the Ukrainian government. In August, Russian military vehicles crossed the border in several locations of Donetsk Oblast, massing over 40,000 army units near the Ukrainian border.[68][69][70][71] Russia denied it sent military personnel and equipment leading Western and Ukrainian military officials to term Russia's involvement a 'stealth invasion'.[72][73][74] The incursion by the Russian military was seen as responsible for the defeat of Ukrainian forces in early September.[75][76]

In November 2014 the Ukrainian military reported intensive movement of troops and equipment from Russia into the separatist controlled parts of eastern Ukraine.[77] The Associated Press reported 80 unmarked military vehicles on the move in rebel-controlled areas.[78] An OSCE Special Monitoring Mission observed convoys of heavy weapons and tanks in DPR-controlled territory without insignia.[79] According to an independent assessment provided to The Daily Beast, there were as many as 7,000 Russian troops inside Ukraine in early November 2014, with between 40,000 and 50,000 at the countrys eastern border.[80] OSCE monitors further observed vehicles apparently used to transport soldiers' dead bodies crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border on Ukraine on 11 November 2014.[81]

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201415 Russian military intervention in Ukraine ...

As the supposed cease-fire in Ukraine fails to end the bloodshed in the east of the country, fresh data on Tuesday showed the extent of the pain being felt within the country's economy.

The country - ravaged by conflict between government troops and pro-Russian separatists posted a fall in gross domestic product (GDP) of 15.2 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine on Tuesday morning. The figures also showed a 3.8 percent fall from the previous quarter amid the political upheaval in Kiev.

The data were the worst for several years and are significantly down from the 5.3 percent contraction (year-on-year) recorded in the third quarter. They also come alongside some dismal trade balance data, which highlighted weak domestic demand in the country.

Timothy Ash, head of emerging markets at Standard Bank, said the figures were a sad indictment of the international community.

"Despite all the rhetoric that they would not allow Ukraine to fail, they failed to support Ukraine in its hour of need," he said in a note on Tuesday.

"Western credit disbursements were a fraction of what was promised, but at the same time the Ukrainians were advised to pay external debt payments in full, and to clear gas debts to Russia."

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Ukraine GDP tanks 15% as fighting drags on

LUHANSKE, Ukraine A cease-fire that went into effect Sunday in eastern Ukraine appeared largely to be holding, officials said, except for around the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve.

Heavy fog shrouding sodden fields muffled the sound of artillery, but regular shelling could still be heard Sunday from Luhanske, a town about 9 miles to the northwest. Associated Press journalists were blocked from moving closer by Ukrainian troops, who said it was not safe to travel ahead.

The cease-fire has kindled slender hopes of reprieve from the conflict between the government troops and Russian-backed separatists that has claimed more than 5,300 lives since it began in April.

Attention will be focused in the coming days on Debaltseve, where Ukrainian forces have for weeks been fending off severe onslaughts from the rebels. The town is a railway link between the main separatist-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.

This latest cessation of hostilities was agreed after a marathon session of diplomacy last week that brought together the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France for talks in the capital of Belarus, Minsk.

Under the deal hammered out at those negotiations, the progress of the cease-fire is to be monitored by observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin complained Sunday that rebels had barred OSCE monitors from reaching Debaltseve to report on developments there.

"It quite clearly shows who is in breach of the Minsk agreement," Klimkin said.

The press office for government military operations in the east said in a statement that Sunday was characterized by a relative degree of calm.

"There has unfortunately not been a total cessation of fire, however," the statement said.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian army general staff, Vladislav Seleznyov, said during a morning briefing that shelling was noted 10 times, with all but one incident occurring in the Debaltseve area. Another military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, said Sunday that nine Ukrainian troops had died over the previous day's unrest.

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Ukraine cease-fire largely holding, except around strategic railway hub

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko said Friday that a ceasefire due to go into effect over the weekend between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine is in "big danger."

Fighting continued ahead of the cessation of the bitter 10-month-long conflict that has killed more than 5,000 people and strained East-West relations.

The peace plan hammered out Thursday during marathon four-way talks in Minsk, Belarus, had raised hopes of an end to the fighting.

But Poroshenko said that after the agreement reached by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, the offensive against Ukrainian troops by pro-Russian separatists had intensified.

"This is not just an attack on Ukrainian civilians, this is an attack of the Minsk results," he said in Kiev, adding the peace plan is in "big danger."

The ceasefire agreement comes with many questions over how it will be implemented and whether it will stick.

The first test will be whether the guns fall silent when the ceasefire comes into force at midnight local time Saturday to Sunday.

Both sides are expected to start pulling back their heavy weapons from the front lines as of Monday, creating a buffer zone at least 50 kilometers (31 miles) wide.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which already has a monitoring mission in Ukraine, has been given the challenging task of overseeing the process.

"We need to have an effective ceasefire," said OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, at a media briefing. "So I'm already concerned that we are seeing this morning a continuation of hostilities."

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Ukraine President: Ceasefire in 'big danger'