UKRAINE: Several hundred Ukraine supporters gather in central Mariupol for a peaceful rally

Record ID: 214760

  • Title: UKRAINE: Several hundred Ukraine supporters gather in central Mariupol for a peaceful rally
  • Date: 13th September 2014
  • Summary: MARIUPOL, UKRAINE (SEPTEMBER 13, 2014) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WITH UKRAINIAN FLAGS AND BALLOONS RALLYING IN MARIUPOL GIRL WITH RED FLOWER IN HER HEAD PEOPLE HOLDING UKRAINIAN FLAGS, BANNERS READING IN RUSSIAN 'MARIUPOL'S DESTINY DEPENDS ON EACH OF US', 'I LOVE UKRAINE, I WAS BORN HERE' BANNER READING IN RUSSIAN 'MARIUPOL'S DESTINY DEPENDS ON EACH OF US' VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WITH U
  • Embargoed: 28th September 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Conflict,General
  • Reuters ID: LVACFNXV3CK0BAZAE5DZ4OJQWTGM
  • Story Text: Several hundred Ukraine supporters gathered in central Mariupol on Saturday (September 13) for a peaceful rally. Some were wearing traditional shirts and flowers in their hair.
    Ukraine's national flags were fluttering in the air, some were also wrapped around people's shoulders and some were spread on the ground and covered with anti-war slogans. Many of these logans called on Russia to 'wake up' and stop fighting.
    The ceasefire, part of a wider peace plan approved by envoys in Minsk on September 5, has largely held across eastern Ukraine but some areas, especially in the industrial hub of Donetsk and near the port city of Mariupol, have seen sporadic shelling and gunfire.
    On Saturday afternoon, a Reuters reporter heard heavy artillery fire in northern districts of Donetsk, the largest city of the region with a pre-war population of about one million. He saw plumes of black smoke above the airport, which is in government hands. The city is controlled by the rebels.
    Speaking at a conference in Kiev attended by Ukrainian and European lawmakers and business leaders on Saturday, Yatseniuk made clear he did not view the ceasefire as the start of a sustainable peace process because of Putin's ambitions.
    Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told a daily briefing that one soldier and 12 rebels had been killed in the past 24 hours, without specifying where they had died. That would bring the death toll among Ukrainian forces since the start of the ceasefire eight days ago to six.
    The rebels have not said how many of their men have died in the same period.
    Kiev and its Western backers accuse Moscow of sending troops and tanks into eastern Ukraine in support of pro-Russian separatists battling Ukrainian forces in a conflict that has killed more than 3,000 people. Russia denies the accusations.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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