Interpreter Staff

4 Ukrainian Soldiers Wounded; Russia-Backed Sniper Killed; Disengagement Completed in 2 Villages

October 8, 2016
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Ukrainian troops withdrawing from Bogdanovka (Bohdanivka) on the morning of October 7, 2016 with OSCE Special Monitoring Mission observers. Photo by UNIAN

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4 Ukrainian Soldiers Wounded; Russia-Backed Sniper Killed; Disengagement Completed in 2 Villages
2016-10-09 03:39:47

The ATO Facebook page was hacked several days ago and has not yet been restored. Hackers have posted a number of anti-Ukrainian memes saying “Ukraine No Longer Exists” and “Ukraine Not Found” 404 and various statements opposing the findings of the Dutch investigators on MH17.

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2016-10-09 01:59:01

Unian reported a briefing by Oleksandr Motuzyanik, press secretary for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, who reported that 4 Ukrainian soldiers were wounded and 2 suffered concussions, but all were in “satisfactory” condition. 
He also cited Ukrainian military intelligence that 3 Russia-backed fighters were wounded.
Russia-backed separatist forces attacked Ukrainian positions 38 times in the past 24 hours using 152-mm, 122-mm and 120-mm artillery, UATODAY.TV reported.
The Ukrainian military also reported that a Russia-backed sniper was killed today by soldiers from the 2nd battalion of the 54th brigade, Unian reported, citing a volunteer, Yuri Mysyagin who posted the news on his his Facebook page.

Mysygin said that this was the same brigade had destroyed a militant diversionary and reconnaissance group, and had some of their members taken captive.

As we reported, forces have been disengaging from the line of contact. Andriy Lysenko reported that disengagement of forces was successful in the Boganovka (Bohadanivka) and Petrovka (Petrivske) areas, UAToday.TV reported.
ATO forces withdrew one kilometer to the west and took new positions prepared earlier. The JCCC (Joint Center for Control and Coordination) and the OSCE SMM (Special Monitoring Mission) verified the withdrawal.
The withdrawals are the result of a September 21 framework agreement to remove forces and hardware from three sectors along the contact  line.

“When we began to work on these three sectors — it has been 3 months now, as the idea in fact emerged back in March — we began to work with the Russians, with all of them, and there was an interesting statistic, although there was shelling on Petrovskoye and Zolotoye, three sector, in that time we were working, there was not a single killed or wounded soldier. So there’s a sense to it, at least for that sake?”

He added that the disengagement may occur in Stanitsa Luganskaya if all the conditions are fulfilled. 
Heorgy Tuka, deputy minister on the temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons told Espreso TV today that at first the two sides looked at 12 such disengagement area but then this was whittled down to 7, and only 3 have been confirmed; a 4th is under consideraiton now. 

“Perhaps this number could increase. If the withdrawal is successful, we will free the line where troops can be a kilometer apart. But this is not the goal, only a firs step. In the end the president has repeatedly spoke of this, that the first step must be a total cease fire. That is unfortunate, when last year we had approximately 4 months of a significant ceasefire, where there were only small arms, and not daily.”

— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick