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Ukraine Intensifies Battle Against Pro-Russians

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian border security official said Monday that more than 400 Ukrainian soldiers have crossed into Russia, although both sides gave conflicting accounts as to why they did it.

The Russian official said the soldiers deserted the Kiev government and the Russian side opened a safe corridor. A Ukrainian military official, who did not give a number for the soldiers involved, were forced into Russian territory by rebel fire after running out of ammunition.

Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have been battling the Kiev government since April, a conflict that has claimed at least 1,129 civilian casualties, according to a U.N. estimate. Ukraine and Western countries have accused Russia of providing the rebels with equipment and expertise, a claim that the Russian government has repeatedly denied.

The West has also accused Russia of most likely providing the insurgents with surface-to-air missiles that may have been used to shoot down a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over rebel-held territory on July 17, killing all 298 people on board.

A Dutch plane carrying victims' remains from the disaster took off from Kharkiv on Monday. The plane was also carrying personal belongings of victims back to the Netherlands.

The Interfax news agency reported Monday that Russia's air force began military drills in central and western regions of the country, a move that could spark further fears that Moscow is ready to flex its military muscle in Ukraine.

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A pro-Russian separatist guards a checkpoint near the village of Rozsypne in the Donetsk region Augu …

The drills will start Monday and last through Friday, air force chief Igor Klimov was reported as saying, and will involve more than 100 fighter jets and helicopters.

Vasily Malayev, head of the Federal Security Service's border patrol in the Rostov region, said that 438 Ukrainian soldiers had crossed into Russian territory on Monday. He said the Russian side had allowed the soldiers to safely enter the country overnight.

Malayev later said that 180 of them requested to return to Ukraine and were being sent there in buses. He said the move was not an exchange, but did not give further details.

Russia's Defense Ministry couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

The Ukrainian military confirmed that part of a brigade had most likely crossed into Russian territory, although it disputed Russia's version of events and wouldn't say how many soldiers went over.

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Forensic experts look at a makeshift marker denoting evidence during recovery work at the site of th …

A spokesman for the Ukrainian military operation in the east, Oleksiy Dmitrashkovsky, said troops from the army's 72nd Brigade were penned into their position and came under a sustained barrage of fire from separatist forces. Rebel fighters used tanks, mortars, artillery and Grad missile launchers over four hours, Dmitrashkovsky said, and eventually the brigade was forced to divide up into two sections.

"One was meant to break out and join forces with a support unit. The other unit had the task of providing fire cover," Dmitrashkovsky said. "In doing that they fired their weapons until no ammunition remained, after which they abandoned their position and reached a place near a border crossing on Russian territory."

Dmitrashkovsky said it was too early to confirm how many soldiers had crossed into Russia.

"We do not have such information. The Russians are capable of claiming anything they want," he said.

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Yuras Karmanau contributed to this report from Donetsk, Ukraine.

What are 438 Ukraine soldiers doing in Russia?

Two differing accounts emerge after the Kiev-backed troops safely cross the border overnight.
Even the number disputed

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered his air force to assist Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in a counter-offensive against the Islamic State in the north.

The commander in chief of the armed forces has issued orders to the leadership of the air force and the army's aviation units to provide air support to Peshmerga forces," Iraqi army spokesman Qassem Atta said in a statement, the BBC reported.

ISIS seizes new towns and strategic assets

This escalation comes after ISIS made significant territorial gains over the weekend, breaking through a stalemate to overtake the towns of Zumar, Sinjar, and Wana in the triangular border corner between Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.

In response to the ISIS attacks, Syrian Kurds, who had previously been shunned by their Iraqi counterparts sent troops across the border to aid in the fighting on Sunday.

ISIS also seized control of the strategically important Mosul Dam, which provides electricity to Iraq's second-largest city and the surrounding areas. On Monday, Daniel Pipes, the President of the Mideast Forum told CNN that control of the dam gives the Islamic State the ability to flood major portions of the country.

If you control the Mosul Dam, you can threaten just about everybody."

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Reuters

A Kurdish-Shiite joint effort

The announcement by al-Maliki comes after requests from Kurdish officials for arms from Washington. American officials, eager to keep Iraq intact, has opted against sending weapons to the semi-autonomous Kurds thus far.

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The joint effort could signal a strengthening of ties between the Kurds and the Shiite-led government after years of tension. Last month, the Kurdish government broke off all ties with Baghdad after al-Maliki accused them of illegally harboring terrorists in Arbil, the capital city Kurdistan. Located in northern Iraq, Kurdistan became its own self-governing region in 2005 after which it began to clash with al-Maliki over territorial and financial disputes.

The Kurdish Peshmerga, who spent years fighting Saddam Hussein's Baathist army, have been more effective at combating the Islamic State than the less experienced and, by comparison, less committed Iraqi military. In recent weeks, the Peshmerga fighters managed to secure the oil rich province of Kirkuk after the Iraqi army ceded the region to ISIS and fled.

Despite their unity, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been stretched thin by the Islamic State's continuing and brutal onslaught, a senior Kurdish official told Reuters.

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The Islamic State [has] been intimidating people by carrying out beheadings," he said speaking to the news outlet under the condition of anonymity. "It is a very dangerous situation for the region," he added. "Something needs to be done soon."

This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/08/maliki-sends-iraqi-air-force-to-help-kurds-combat-isis/375534/

Surprise move by Iraq to combat militants

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dispatches the air force to assist the long-shunned Kurdish peshmerga.
Rebels seize Mosul Dam

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Residents say the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk is dying. The power grid was completely down Monday, the city government said, and fuel is running dry.

Store shelves are emptying fast, and those who haven't managed to flee must drink untreated tap water. With little medicine left, doctors are sending patients home.

As Ukrainian government forces slowly tighten their ring around the city — one of two major pro-Russian rebel strongholds — traveling in and out has become a perilous undertaking.

In an impassioned statement released over the weekend, mayor Sergei Kravchenko described a situation that is becoming more unsustainable by the day.

"As a result of the blockade and ceaseless rocket attacks, the city is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe," Kravchenko said. "Citizens are dying on the streets, in their courtyard and in their homes. Every new day brings only death and destruction."

Luhansk, a city of more than 400,000 people at peacetime, now has seen its population dwindle as citizens flee violence and deprivation. Located about an hour's drive from Russia, which Ukraine insists is supplying rebels with weapons and manpower, Luhansk is being fiercely fought over by all sides of the conflict.

Shelling is a daily occurrence and the targets apparently quite random. On Saturday, eight buildings were damaged by rockets. These included a school, a supermarket and several multistory apartment blocks, Luhansk city government said.

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A woman walks past a poster calling for military recruits to the separatist forces in the city of Do …

Last week, a crucial electrical transformer in Luhansk was hit by a shell, leading to an 80 percent drop in power supplies, according to a report issued Monday by an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe monitoring mission.

Rebels accuse the army of waging a vicious bombing campaign against the civilian population. Authorities deny they have used artillery against residential neighborhoods and in turn accuse rebels of shelling civilians as a way of discrediting the army. This claim is faithfully repeated by almost all Ukrainian media, although it has been questioned by Human Rights Watch and others.

With gas reserves all but exhausted, even those willing to brave a drive out of the city for supplies struggle to refill their cars.

A little is getting through all the same, mainly from Russia. Pro-rebel online television station Luhansk-24 on Sunday carried a report about a consignment of medicinal supplies reaching the city from the southern Russian city of Saratov.

This was a visible reminder that supply lines to Russia remain intact. With clashes taking place at several spots surrounding the city, however, maintaining a steady convoy of goods is complicated.

The fight for control over the frontier has been bitter.

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Ukrainian soldiers watch as municipal workers load a coffin holding a body of one of the Malaysian A …

Authorities concede that more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) of the Russian-Ukrainian border remains in rebel hands. The government says that Russia has been flagrantly smuggling large amounts of heavy weaponry and manpower to aid the separatist cause.

Sandwiched between the border and rebel fighters, government forces have succumbed to routine defeats and humiliations, even as they appear to slowly gain the upper hand in the fight to regain control of the last rebel strongholds.

On Monday, a Russian border security official said more than 400 Ukrainian soldiers crossed into Russia.

The Russian official said the soldiers deserted the Kiev government and that the Russian side had opened a safe corridor. A Ukrainian military official, who did not give a number for the soldiers involved, said the troops were forced into Russian territory by rebel fire after running out of ammunition.

Border control official Vasily Malayev later said 180 of the soldiers were being returned to Ukraine at their own request.

One of the soldiers, medic Anton Shingera, said he was uncertain how Ukraine would treat them upon their return, but "no matter what, the main thing is that I am alive." Other soldiers, who declined to give their names, said they had fled because they had run out of ammunition.

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A man walks past a pro-Russian rebels army's agitation poster, left, in the city of Donetsk, eas …

Ukraine's government accuses the separatists of entrapping the civilian population in besieged cities like Luhansk and has pushed for the creation of humanitarian corridors.

Their priority appears to persuade as many people to evacuate cities in advance of attempting full incursions.

"We urge the peaceful population to abandon territory seized by terrorists," Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the government's military operation in the east, said Monday.

Those choosing to stay behind and assist people in need are facing a desperate plight.

"Doctors can do nothing but cry. Every day, wounded people come in and we can't help them. We lack even basic medicines," said Fyodor Solyanik, a doctor in the Luhansk regional hospital.

Speaking briefly over a crackling landline connection, Solyanik said patients who were due for long-planned operations are being sent home.

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A man walks past a statue of Soviet Union founder Vladimir Lenin in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukr …

"This is a nightmare situation," he said. "It's not just medicine we don't have. We don't even have food and water."

With prices for basic staples rising fast, the elderly deprived of their now-suspended pension payments are hit especially hard.

Local authorities are inundated with pleas for help that they are helpless to address. In just one day last week, a recently created crisis center received 1,800 appeals for assistance.

According to official figures, around 100 people have been killed since fighting began in Luhansk. With public services in total disarray, the reliability of such figures is questionable.

While the local government that existed before the current conflict began is attempting to provide basic services, real authority lies with the gunmen leading the separatist government that dubs itself the Luhansk People's Republic

Yelena Gaida, 46, is one of the many thousands who have managed to get out of Luhansk.

Speaking in Donetsk, another rebel-controlled city 90 miles (150 kilometers) west of Luhansk, Gaida said she is abandoning her three-room apartment and plans to head for Russia

"Almost half the city has fled already," Gaida said. "Every day they bomb, shoot and kill."

Gaida was dismissive of the separatist cause.

"Yes, we have our Luhansk People's Republic. But life there is impossible," Gaida said. "Who needs it anymore?"

________________

Laura Mills in Moscow and Alexander Zemlianichenko in Gukovo, Russia, contributed to this report.

Ukrainian city nears 'humanitarian catastrophe'

As government forces tighten their blockade of one rebel-held city, power is out and people are drinking untreated tap water.
Mayor's plea

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Hamas on Monday accepted an Egyptian cease-fire proposal meant to halt a monthlong war, signaling an end to the bloodiest round of fighting between the bitter enemies could finally be approaching.

The sides said a preliminary 72-hour truce was to begin at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) Tuesday. Egypt was then set to host indirect talks to work out a long-term truce over the next three days.

A delegation of Palestinian officials from various factions, including Hamas, has been negotiating with Egypt in recent days. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the group had accepted the plan.

"It's clear now that the interest of all parties is to have a cease-fire," said Bassam Salhi, a member of the Palestinian delegation. "It's going to be tough negotiations because Israel has demands too."

The war broke out on July 8 when Israel launched an air campaign in response to heavy rocket fire out of Hamas-controlled Gaza. Israel expanded the operation by sending in ground forces on July 17 in what it described as a mission to destroy a network of tunnels used by Hamas militants to stage attacks. The army said it is close to destroying the last of the tunnels.

Several previous cease-fires have collapsed, including a similar plan for a 72-hour truce that broke down last Friday in heavy fighting. Both sides blamed each other.

An Israeli official said Israel would respect the cease-fire, but that it was watching the negotiations "with a certain amount of skepticism" given the previous failures.

He spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement by the Israeli government.

Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel and Hamas said they have agreed a new 72-hour truce starting on Tuesday, after increasingly vocal world demands for a ceasefire in the bloody Gaza conflict.

The breakthrough came during talks in Cairo on Monday, only days after a similar three-day truce collapsed in a deadly wave of violence within hours of starting on Friday.

The United States welcomed the ceasefire, adding that the onus was on the Palestinian militia to maintain the truce.

"This is a real opportunity. We strongly support the initiative," Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken told CNN.

Images of the bloodshed -- which has cost more than 1,800 Palestinian lives, and 64 Israeli soldiers in and near Gaza as well as three civilians in Israel -- have sent tensions in the region soaring, earning the Jewish state strong criticism.

"How many more deaths will it take to stop what must be called the carnage in Gaza?" French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius asked, as Britain said it was reviewing licences to sell arms to Israel.

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A Palestinian man reacts after the body of his mother was removed from under the rubble of their hou …

Israel and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, separately confirmed to AFP they would abide by the new 72-hour ceasefire.

"Israel will be honouring the ceasefire from tomorrow (Tuesday) at 8:00am (0500 GMT)," an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity.

"Hamas informed Cairo a few minutes ago of their approval of the truce for 72 hours from tomorrow," a spokesman for the group, Sami Abu Zuhri, said.

And Ziad al-Nakhale, deputy leader of the Islamic Jihad, said in a statement: "The ceasefire is arriving in the coming hours."

A Palestinian delegation, including representatives of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Authority, was already in Cairo for talks on the terms of an agreement between Israel and Gaza, set to take place during the three-day truce.

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Palestinians remove a blood-stained piece of rubble from a house hit by an Israeli airstrike in the …

The Israeli official confirmed that a delegation would be arriving in Egypt to participate in the talks, as per the terms of the ceasefire, without providing further details.

The official also said Hamas was to blame for weeks of continued bloodshed after refusing an identical Egyptian proposal which Israel had accepted.

"It was Hamas that rejected it, it is Hamas that is responsible for the violence we've seen over the past three weeks," he said.

Senior Hamas member Ezzat al-Rishq, who is part of the movement's delegation to Egypt, stressed the agreement was based on the “Palestinian demands.”

“After the 72-hour period ends and if there is no agreement reached, we will have to make a decision on whether to extend the ceasefire or not,” he told AFP.

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Israeli policemen stand next to an overturned bus in Jerusalem on August 4, 2014 after a Palestinian …

- 'We'll stay in Gaza' -

The ceasefire came after Israeli forces had largely observed a unilateral seven-hour pause in their offensive on Monday.

Hamas did not observe the truce and fired 42 rockets and mortar shells over the border during the pause, 24 of which hit Israel and another one which was shot down, the army said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated following the end of the unilateral lull there would be no end to the Gaza military operation without first ensuring "quiet and security" in Israel "for a prolonged period."

The Israeli military later said it still has many missions to carry out in Gaza despite destroying all of the known tunnels militants use to attack its territory.

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Israeli police and onlookers stand next to an overturned bus (R) in Jerusalem on August 4, 2014 afte …

"We will not leave; we will stay in the Gaza Strip. There are many more missions to complete," army spokesman Moti Almoz said on television.

Israel launched the military operation against rocket-firing militants in Gaza on July 8, and nine days later it sent ground troops into the enclave to destroy the network of sophisticated tunnels.

- Truce deal follows pressure -

The truce announcement came after international outrage grew over an Israeli strike near a UN school on Sunday that killed 10 people, in the third such strike in 10 days.

With UN figures indicating most of the 1,867 people killed in Gaza so far were civilians, the world has stepped up its demands for an end to the bloodshed.

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A Palestinian child, wounded in an Israeli air strike at the Shati refugee camp, lies on a stretcher …

In Paris, France's top diplomat, an increasingly vocal critic of the war, demanded the world impose a political solution to end "the carnage".

His remarks came a day after the UN denounced a fresh strike on one of its schools which was sheltering 3,000 refugees as "a moral outrage and a criminal act", and the United States said it was "appalled".

Israel said it had targeted three militants near the school and added it was investigating the strike.

Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov also added his voice to growing calls for an agreement to end the violence, his ministry said Monday.

In Jerusalem, one Israeli was killed and five hurt when a Palestinian rammed an earthmover into a bus, turning it over before the driver was shot dead by police, according to Israeli officials, describing it as a "terrorist attack".

Shortly afterwards, an Israeli soldier was shot and seriously wounded near a bus stop not far from the site of the earlier attack, with police combing the area for his attacker.