UKRAINE-CRISIS/POROSHENKO Ukraine's Poroshenko says Maryinka under full army control, Russian national detained

Record ID: 150152

  • Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/POROSHENKO Ukraine's Poroshenko says Maryinka under full army control, Russian national detained
  • Date: 5th June 2015
  • Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (JUNE 5, 2015) (REUTERS) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT PETRO POROSHENO APPEARING ON STAGE PEOPLE IN EMBROIDERED SHIRTS (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, PETRO POROSHENKO, SAYING: "As a result of the clean up operation today I can inform you that Maryinka is completely cleaned off insurgents, 12 of them were captured, including one citizen of the Russian Fede
  • Embargoed: 20th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADZH1S2HOQ7CF2DD06ZJSR68BY
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The embattled town of Maryinka in eastern Ukraine is under full control of the Ukrainian army after a latest surge in fighting, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said at a news conference in Kiev on Friday (June 5).
    Poroshenko said Ukrainian forces had detained rebels in the town and one Russian citizen while carrying out a clearing operation.
    "As a result of the clean up operation today I can inform you that Maryinka is completely cleaned off insurgents, 12 of them were captured, including one citizen of the Russian Federation, they put up armed resistance to the Ukrainian armed forces," Poroshenko said.
    The Ukrainian army on Thursday (June 4) began preparations to evacuate local residents from Maryinka south-west of Donetsk, after Kiev accused pro-Russian separatists of launching a new offensive in that direction.
    Ukraine's president repeated a warning of a possible "full-scale invasion" by Russia all along their joint border.
    "Is Russian aggression possible or not? I can tell you that the amount of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border and the amount of troops on the occupied territories today is unprecedented. Since August last year there has never been this amount of troops deployed near our borders," Poroshenko said.
    The joint border between the two countries stretches for more than 2,200 kilometres (1,375 miles), most of it far from the area where there has been fighting.
    The Ukrainian president had earlier said 9,000 Russian servicemen were deployed on Ukrainian territory.
    Russia's defence ministry has denied Poroshenko's assertion that Russian servicemen were fighting on Ukrainian territory.
    Reuters journalists have reported a Russian military buildup on the frontier in recent weeks, with thousands of troops and heavy weapons.
    Poroshenko on Friday also expressed confidence that Western leaders participating in the upcoming G-7 summit in Germany would focus on ways to help Ukraine.
    "I am absolutely, 100% confident in a very strong position of our reliable strategic partner, the United States and the American President Barack Obama, absolutely the same way as all participants of G7 meeting."
    The G7 summit in Germany starting on Sunday (June 7) will discuss extending European Union sanctions on Russia, probably for six months, a senior EU official said on Friday.
    EU economic sanctions on Russia, imposed over the Ukraine conflict, are due to expire in July. EU leaders agreed in March that the sanctions would stay until the Minsk ceasefire agreement is fully implemented, effectively extending them to the end of the year, but a formal decision yet to be taken.
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