Ukraine's army terminates blockade of eastern borders - Turchynov
20 June 2014, 12:41 -- Ukrainian military and border guards have completed the operation of blocking the country's eastern borders, according to Verkhovna Rada Speaker Alexander Turchynov. 'According to reports from the leadership of the Defense Ministry, with whom I've spoken this morning, our troops approached Izvarino, thus completing the operation of blocking the borders,' Turchynov said.
Spokesperson for Border Directorate of Russia's Federal Security Service in Belgorod and Voronezh regions Dmitry Zhukov reported that Ukrainian border guards unilaterally stopped letting Russian residents into the Ukrainian territory through the international checkpoint Shchepkino, Belgorod Region (Russia).
June 16, the Council for National Security and Defense instructed the country's government to carry out a unilateral demarcation of the Ukrainian-Russian border. The council's secretary Andrei Paruby said this after the session led by President Petr Poroshenko.
June 17, the Ukrainian parliament recommended the president to carry out the demarcation of the satet border with Russia on a unilateral basis and close checkpoints on it, adopting the regulation 'On measures for raising the level of protection of the state border'.
The Cabinet was also recommended to immediately suspend the operation of checkpoints and to enforce control on the border with Moldova 'in the areas neighboring to the Transdniestrian Republic'. In addition, the lawmakers decided to allocate extra funds to develop the infrastructure of the land border with Russia and increase the staff of the State Border Service.
On Thursday, June 19, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexander Lukashevich stated that Moscow hoped for Kiev's resignation from unilateral demarcation of the state border. 'This topic is actively covered in media; according to the established international practice, the demarcation of the state border is a mutual process between the neighboring states, and the unilateral demarcation cannot be legally binding for the other party,' he noted.
Lugansk airport comes under fire, militia's combat vehicles enter Lugansk – Kiev sources
Kiev's Information Resistance group coordinator, Dmitry Timchuk, has reported that local militia opened fire on the Lugansk airport, which is currently under the control of government forces. The shooting continued from 4:30 am to 4:40 am local time (5:30 am-5:40 am Moscow time), he said.
Ukrainian servicemen fired in response. None of them was killed or injured, Timchuk said.
According to Timchuk, a convoy of armored combat vehicles belonging to the militia has entered Lugansk.
'The convoy consists of two T-64 tanks and five armored personnel carriers,' he added.
Seven Ukrainian servicemen killed, 30 injured in Yampoil, Zakotnoe area
Fighting continues in the area of Yampol and Zakotnoe in the Donetsk region, army operation spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov said.
'Ukrainian servicemen lost seven men killed and 30 wounded,' Seleznyov wrote on Facebook on Friday.
About 300 militants fighting Ukrainian law enforcers were killed in fighting near Yampol and Zakotnoe over the past day, he claimed.
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