Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SUPERPOWERS
NATO says Russian forces 'still inside Ukraine'
by Staff Writers
Vilnius (AFP) Sept 20, 2014


Ukraine munitions factory hit after new peace plan adopted
Donetsk, Ukraine (AFP) Sept 20, 2014 - Explosions ripped through a munitions factory in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian rebels on Saturday after it came under artillery fire, local officials and AFP journalists said.

The factory was hit just hours after Kiev and separatist leaders reached a new peace plan aimed at shoring up a two-week old ceasefire.

No casualties were reported in the blasts at the state-owned Soviet-era plant, which is located near Donetsk airport, a key battleground in the five-month conflict in the east.

Donetsk city hall denied reports on social media that radiation had increased after the explosions, which sent clouds of white smoke into the sky.

"I was sleeping in my apartment. When the first two explosions went off I woke up, I could feel the wave of the impact, the vibrations in my body," said Bogdan, a 15-year-old schoolboy living nearby.

"I saw two big mushroom clouds and then 10 seconds later I heard a third huge explosion, so there were three in total, and I could see huge flames."

AFP journalists also heard intense fire around the airport on Saturday afternoon but the source was not known.

Under the terms of the Minsk Memorandum signed in the Belarussian capital early Saturday, fighters on both sides and heavy weapons are supposed to be pulled back from a newly created buffer zone.

Ukroboronprom delivers Soviet-era BTR-70s to Ukrainian troops
Kiev, Ukraine (UPI) Sep 19, 2014 - Ukraine's state-owned Ukroboronprom has delivered 10 repaired and updated BTR-70 armored personnel carriers to the country's State Guard Service.

The defense company said the vehicles, with enhanced armor protection, were delivered earlier this month together with an armored medical vehicle. An additional BTR-70s are to be delivered "in the nearest future."

Ukraine, formerly part of the now-defunct Soviet Union, is battling pro-Russian separatist forces supported by Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimea region. The move by Russia, its apparent material support for the pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists in Eastern Ukraine, and saber rattling have set off alarm bells within NATO, who fear direct, large-scale Russian military intervention in support of the rebels.

"From our side, we express our sincere gratitude from the whole Guard Service of Ukraine," Anatoliy Sirko, a lieutenant colonel of the Guard Service's Kherson border regiment.

Lt. Col. Sirko, the person who accepted BTR-70s, said Ukrainian troops operating the vehicles received special training to do so at a Ukroboronprom plant and are "already formed and sent to protect state boundaries."

BTR-70s were developed in the 1960s in the Soviet Union and adopted by Moscow's Warsaw Pact allies.

NATO's top military commander on Saturday said Russian forces were still operating in Ukraine and that a ceasefire was not working, but he expressed hope a new peace plan could bring progress.

"As to Russian forces on the ground, yes, they are still inside Ukraine," US General Philip Breedlove told reporters in Lithuania, without providing precise numbers.

He said a two-week-old ceasefire was "still there in name, but what is happening on the ground is quite a different story. We hope that this will change."

"The fluidity of movement of Russian forces and Russian-backed forces back and forth across that border makes it almost impossible to understand the numbers," he said in Lithuania's capital Vilnius, where NATO military chiefs met this weekend to focus on the alliance's eastern flank and ties with Russia.

Breedlove said the number of Russian troops inside Ukraine had "come down significantly" from what he termed the "height" of Russian movement into Ukraine "over a week ago".

But he insisted "they haven't returned home and are still available to bring their military force to bear on Ukraine should it be desired."

"And then of course we have seen Russian forces reposition inside the country to bring great pressure on Mariupol in the south.

"So the short answer is yes, there are still Russians inside of Ukraine enabling the Russian-backed forces there."

But he was hopeful about a nine-point peace plan agreed in marathon overnight talks in the Belarussian capital Minsk, which calls on Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian militias to pull back their troops from a demilitarised zone in eastern Ukraine.

"We heard today of some possible new agreements... and it is our sincere hope and desire that... the two combatants can come to agreement to again get to a ceasefire situation," he said.

Under the freshly agreed Minsk pact, forces from both sides are required to retreat 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) from current frontlines within 24 hours of the signing of the accord and allow monitors from the OSCE pan-European security organisation into the area to make sure the truce holds.

Territory under rebel control would be left open to their administration under a temporary self-rule plan adopted by lawmakers in Kiev on Tuesday.

The pact -- also signed by Moscow's ambassador to Kiev and the self-proclaimed "prime ministers" of the rebel-run regions of Donetsk and Lugansk -- aims to shore up a ceasefire deal signed on September 5.

- Afghan deal -

Breedlove also said NATO was eyeing the rapid conclusion of security agreements with Afghanistan for its post-2014 mission in the country once a unity government is formed there.

"We are hoping for very fast signatures," he said, adding that the rival candidates both endorsed crucial security pacts that will allow NATO troops to stay in Afghanistan after the end of this year.

The result of Afghanistan's disputed election is due to be declared on Sunday.

The stalemate between presidential candidates Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah since the June 14 vote has plunged Afghanistan into a political crisis as US-led NATO troops end their 13-year war against the Taliban.

NATO's combat mission will end in December, with a follow-on force of about 12,000 troops likely to stay into 2015 on training and support duties.

The talks in Lithuania focusing on defending NATO's eastern flank and relations with Russia come just two weeks after the alliance announced a new rapid reaction force at a key summit in Wales.

Lithuania said the new measures will also include regional "command and control" centres in the Baltic states and Poland.

These countries, formerly behind the Iron Curtain, are concerned about Russia's territorial ambitions in view of the Crimea annexation and the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

.


Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SUPERPOWERS
Twin crises could shape Obama's twilight years in office
Tampa (AFP) Sept 18, 2014
With voters souring on his statesmanship as never before, President Barack Obama has a sudden chance to use two sudden world crises to recast his final two years in office. Obama is making a show of assuming command of the confrontation with the Islamic State group and the right against Ebola, both of which will shape final judgments of his White House years. Both dramas highlight the vi ... read more


SUPERPOWERS
Year's final supermoon is a Harvest Moon

China Aims for the Moon, Plans to Bring Back Lunar Soil

Electric Sparks May Alter Evolution of Lunar Soil

China to test recoverable moon orbiter

SUPERPOWERS
NASA Mars Spacecraft Ready for Sept. 21 Orbit Insertion

India A New Contender in Asian Space Race or Technological Breakthrough

MAVEN on course for Mars Arrival Sept 21

NASA spacecraft to begin orbiting Mars within days

SUPERPOWERS
NASA Chooses American Companies to Transport US Astronauts to ISS

Space: China's final tourism frontier

NASA's Orion Spacecraft Nears Completion, Ready for Fueling

The long descent

SUPERPOWERS
Astronauts eye China's future space station

China eyes working with other nations as station plans develop

China completes construction of advanced space launch facility

China to launch second space lab in 2016: official

SUPERPOWERS
Boeing, SpaceX to send astronauts to space station

SpaceX To Deliver Science Experiments To ISS For Ames

CASIS Research Set for Launch Aboard SpaceX Mission to ISS

4th SpaceX Cargo Mission to ISS Dragon Scheduled for Sep 20

SUPERPOWERS
France raises heat on decision for next Ariane rocket

Elon Musk gets fresh challenge with space contract

Proton Launches May Compete on Price With US Falcons

NASA's Wind-Watching ISS-RapidScat Ready for Launch

SUPERPOWERS
Chandra Finds Planet That Makes Star Act Deceptively Old

Solar System Simulation Reveals Planetary Mystery

'Hot Jupiters' provoke their own host suns to wobble

First evidence for water ice clouds found outside solar system

SUPERPOWERS
Larry Ellison releases helm of mighty Oracle ship

Mussel-inspired MIT glue may have naval, medical applications

'Priceless' 600-tonne jade deposit found in China

NASA Awards Cross-track Infrared Sounder For JPS System-2 Bird




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.