Wednesday results in the occupied territories of Donbas. The highlights
In the area of the Joint Forces Operation on July 14, 10 violations of the ceasefire by the Russian occupiers were recorded. The enemy fired at the Ukrainian positions twice from 120-caliber mortars, heavy machine guns and small arms not far from the village of Luhanske. The enemy opened fire from automatic easel grenade launchers and small arms near Pisky. The Russian occupiers used 122 mm artillery and 120 caliber mortars in the direction of Novohryhorivka. The armed formations of the Russian Federation were firing from 82 caliber mortars near Svitlodarsk. The enemy fired at our positions with 120 and 82 caliber mortars near Vodiane located close to Donetsk. The enemy troops used 120 caliber mortars near Krasnohorivka. The occupiers fired from large-caliber machine guns in the area of the settlement of Novooleksandrivka. The enemy fired at Ukrainian positions from hand-held anti-tank and under-barrel grenade launchers not far from Starohnativka. Two servicemen were injured as a result of the shelling. The condition of one of the wounded is satisfactory, the other is in critical condition. Our defenders returned fire to the shelling of the Russian occupation forces.
Creator of the terrorist Vostok Battalion Alexander Khodakovsky had once again admitted that it was the invasion of the regular Russian army in 2014 that saved the "DNR/LNR" from complete defeat. He wrote this on his pages in social networks. On this basis, in his opinion, Russia has the full moral right to govern the "republics" of Donbas at its own discretion. "People who are far from the center of decision-making have little understanding of the real state of affairs, therefore, when you say that Russia, in fact, saved us, being under the influence of circumstances - they do not really believe", - he was indignant. "But this is so, therefore Russia has many rights in relation to us. It can appoint us a prime minister and deputy prime ministers to control its money, it can appoint us a chairman of the People's Council, who voted against us in the Rada, when we were already at war - it can do a lot of things, because it saved it, when a couple of weeks more, and we would have been dead meat", - he confirmed the Kremlin's right to external control of the occupied Donbas.
Leader of the "DNR" Denis Pushilin agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who stated the expediency of returning Ukraine to the borders of 1922, that is, at the time of its entry into the USSR. He told this in an interview with one of the separatist media. "The revision of the borders of Ukraine is a topical issue, and we are extremely glad that this issue is being raised - so far in such a discussion, in the form of a signal… In fact, we believe that this (the return of Ukraine to the borders of 1922 - OstroV) would be fair", - Pushilin commented on the pseudoscientific article of the President of the Russian Federation about the alleged unity of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples. In the opinion of the "head" who does not know the history well, such a revision of the borders would mean the recognition of the historical belonging of Donbas to Russia. In fact, at the time of joining the USSR, the Ukrainian SSR legally included not only the entire Ukrainian Donbas, but also part of the modern Rostov oblast of the Russian Federation, including Taganrog. Thus, the implementation of the imperial statements of the president of the aggressor country would in fact mean the unconditional withdrawal of the Russian occupation troops from CADLO and the transfer of part of the Rostov oblast - eastern Donbas - under the jurisdiction of Ukraine.
Being in occupied Donetsk, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross mission (ICRC) in Ukraine Florence Gillette called to grant access to the COVID-19 vaccine for the residents of CADLO and not to politicize the process. This was reported in the separatist segment of social networks. At the same time, this information was absent in the separatist media themselves. It was reported that "issues with the humanitarian situation were discussed", especially in the front-line areas. The Russian media also have information that Gillette has called for access to the coronavirus vaccine for the residents of CADLO. In addition, her words about the deterioration of situation in the occupied Donbas were quoted. "Observing the situation that developed last year, when the situation calmed down after the armistice, this year situation has deteriorated much", - she stated.
In occupied Donetsk, the "DNR" occupiers has been holding a woman with severe spine problems, 43-year-old dermatologist at the Makiivska dermatovenerologic dispensary Natalia Statsenko, hostage for two years, accusing her of "espionage". This was reported by the Media Initiative for Human Rights on Facebook. The woman was to have an operation, but it did not take place - Statsenko was detained by representatives of the so-called "DNR Ministry of State Security" on July 10, 2019. Unidentified people in civilian clothes came to her home with attesting witnesses, they did not show any documents, did not introduce themselves and conducted a search. They seized equipment and telephones. Natalia was arrested. These people called two days later and reported that Natalia was "suspected of pro-Ukrainian activities". "Criminal case" was opened under the article "espionage" after the so-called "administrative arrest".
Honored Artist of Ukraine, lead singer of the Donetsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Solovyanenko Evheniy Privalov died in occupied Donetsk at the age of 46. This was reported by the press service of the theatre. The cause of death was not named.
Another 132 residents who became infected with COVID-19 were identified in CADO over the past day. This was reported on July 14 by the fake "DNR Ministry of Health". In addition, 10 more patients died over the day. In total, 44 947 "covid" patients were registered in the occupied Donetsk region. 2945 patients are undergoing treatment (inpatient and outpatient), 3405 people died. The occupiers also identified 87 cases of "usual" pneumonia over the day. Of these, hospitalization was required in 67 cases. In total, 1160 patients with pneumonia are undergoing treatment, of which 568 are on oxygen support (+16 over the day).
"Official" registration of self-employed residents may be introduced in the occupied territory of Donetsk oblast. The proposal "On a self-employment tax" came from the so-called "youth parliament of the DNR", separatist media wrote. It was proposed to extend the "Institute of Self-Employment" to the following types of activity: provision of cosmetology services at home, provision of photo and video services, dwelling services on a per day and hour basis, as well as provision of tutoring services. Residents immediately reacted to the initiative in local pubs: "We also need to tax those who go to work", "Banana Republic - flourishes at the expense of poor people!", "The DNR - degradation, necessity, ruin", "It is also necessary to introduce a tax on precipitation, as in Cipollino".
Residents of occupied Khartsyzsk and the village of Hirne belonging to it were left without a centralized water supply due to an accident at the water conduit. This was reported by the so-called "Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities of the DNR". Viktoria Zhukova, who calls herself the "mayor" of Khartsyzsk, also reported that almost 26 thousand subscribers were left without water. In addition, ruptures are being eliminated at the water conduits in occupied Horlivka and Amvrosiivka.
In occupied Makiivka, a 27-year-old resident of the Kirovskyi district, being in a state of strong alcohol intoxication, threw a grenade in the direction of a residential building, as a result of which two people sustained multiple fragmentation damages. This was reported by the fake "DNR MIA". The malefactor was detained, and "during the inspection of his home, an F-1 grenade with a fuse for it was found and seized". The defendant explained that he found the dangerous item in 2015 and kept it "as a keepsake".