15:24
26.5.2014
15:27
26.5.2014
15:27
26.5.2014
15:29
26.5.2014
15:39
26.5.2014
15:43
26.5.2014
RT has video of the fighting around Donetsk airport.
16:29
26.5.2014
Here's a rundown of what front-runner Petro Poroshenko said today at a news conference in Kyiv:
On the antiterrorist operation:
"I support its continuation but I demand to change its format. It should be shorter in time and more effective. Units [of the security forces] should be better equipped and should have the best arms and the best ammunition. A Ukrainian soldier will never be naked, barefoot and hungry any more. And then, we'll see, and very soon, a sharp rise in effectiveness of the antiterrorist operation. The antiterrorist operation cannot, and will not, last for two or three months. It should and will last hours."
On Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yetsenyuk:
"According to the constitution of Ukraine, the presidential elections do not require the resignation of the prime minister. I think the way Arseniy Petrovych does his job as a prime minister is rather successful at this stage. I think the cooperation, first of all in economic matters, with the head of Ukrainian government Arseniy Yatsenyuk can be very effective. I hope for that, and so I have no plans to change the leadership of the government."
On armed pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine and an amnesty:
"They are just murderers; they are just bandits; they are just killers; they are terrorists. That's the case. If you expect that I will find the support of these people -- no way, no chance. In no civilized country of the world anybody negotiates with terrorists. We are a civilized country and we will fight for the trust of the people of Donbas. We will propose amnesty for those who can accept disarmament and [who have] not been directly involved in killings of people."
On dialogue with Donbas:
"The dialogue we will launch with all residents of Donbas will be effective. There are things we can offer them, from security guarantees, protection of their personal rights, up to the right to use Russian language without limitations, including on an official level."
On relations with Russia:
"Russia is our biggest neighbor and because stopping the war and bringing peace to all Ukraine -- bringing stability in the eastern part of Ukraine -- would be impossible without the participation of Russia, most probably the meeting with Russian leadership will take place in the first half of June."
On Russia's annexation of Crimea:
"There is no international basis for the annexation of Crimea. You must understand that with the annexation of Crimea the entire postwar system of global security has been destroyed."
On the antiterrorist operation:
"I support its continuation but I demand to change its format. It should be shorter in time and more effective. Units [of the security forces] should be better equipped and should have the best arms and the best ammunition. A Ukrainian soldier will never be naked, barefoot and hungry any more. And then, we'll see, and very soon, a sharp rise in effectiveness of the antiterrorist operation. The antiterrorist operation cannot, and will not, last for two or three months. It should and will last hours."
On Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yetsenyuk:
"According to the constitution of Ukraine, the presidential elections do not require the resignation of the prime minister. I think the way Arseniy Petrovych does his job as a prime minister is rather successful at this stage. I think the cooperation, first of all in economic matters, with the head of Ukrainian government Arseniy Yatsenyuk can be very effective. I hope for that, and so I have no plans to change the leadership of the government."
On armed pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine and an amnesty:
"They are just murderers; they are just bandits; they are just killers; they are terrorists. That's the case. If you expect that I will find the support of these people -- no way, no chance. In no civilized country of the world anybody negotiates with terrorists. We are a civilized country and we will fight for the trust of the people of Donbas. We will propose amnesty for those who can accept disarmament and [who have] not been directly involved in killings of people."
On dialogue with Donbas:
"The dialogue we will launch with all residents of Donbas will be effective. There are things we can offer them, from security guarantees, protection of their personal rights, up to the right to use Russian language without limitations, including on an official level."
On relations with Russia:
"Russia is our biggest neighbor and because stopping the war and bringing peace to all Ukraine -- bringing stability in the eastern part of Ukraine -- would be impossible without the participation of Russia, most probably the meeting with Russian leadership will take place in the first half of June."
On Russia's annexation of Crimea:
"There is no international basis for the annexation of Crimea. You must understand that with the annexation of Crimea the entire postwar system of global security has been destroyed."
16:30
26.5.2014
An update from our news desk on the fighting in Donetsk:
At least two Ukrainian helicopter gunships mounted a heavy attack on May 26 on the rebel-held international airport terminal at Donetsk, firing rockets and cannon as militants shot at them from the ground.
Western journalists on the ground reported the Mi-24 helicopters strike the building of "Sergei Prokofiev International Airport" and also hit targets near the runway, sending up a new plume of heavy, black smoke.
Earlier on May 26, Vladislav Seleznyov, a spokesman for Kyiv's anti-terrorist operation, said the military launched an air strike on gunmen occupying the airport after an ultimatum to them to leave expired.
The aiport shut down May 26 after armed men demanded that soldiers guarding the perimeter of the airport be withdrawn.
The development comes after the leader of the separatist, self-styled Donetsk People's Republic declared martial law in Ukraine's Donetsk region on May 26.
Western journalists on the ground reported the Mi-24 helicopters strike the building of "Sergei Prokofiev International Airport" and also hit targets near the runway, sending up a new plume of heavy, black smoke.
Earlier on May 26, Vladislav Seleznyov, a spokesman for Kyiv's anti-terrorist operation, said the military launched an air strike on gunmen occupying the airport after an ultimatum to them to leave expired.
The aiport shut down May 26 after armed men demanded that soldiers guarding the perimeter of the airport be withdrawn.
The development comes after the leader of the separatist, self-styled Donetsk People's Republic declared martial law in Ukraine's Donetsk region on May 26.
16:31
26.5.2014
16:42
26.5.2014