Ukraine
● President Poroshenko conducted consultations with parliament fractions leaders, that according to the legislation in place should precede the dismissal of Verkhovna Rada, where he pointed out that dismissal doesn’t mean termination of activities, as deputies have to adopt significant amount of laws, including, ratification of the association agreement with the EU, amendments to the 2014 budget, 2015 budget, and the elections law.
● Prime Minister Yatsenyuk gave an interview on to main Ukrainian TV channels, concerning key challenges Ukraine is facing, where he claimed that simple and clear to everyone Ukraine revival plan will be presented during next Government meeting on August 27. In his opinion, exchange rate of Ukrainian Hryvnya should be kept at the level of 12 UAH / 1$ in case the situation in the Country will stabilize. More than 3bln. $ have been reserved on NBU accounts for gas purchases in case compromise with Russia will be reached. But most probably this will not happen, as Russian mercenaries destroy coal mines in the east, that could make the situation in the energy sector even worse. While speaking about the coming elections, he’ve proposed to agree on the format of new coalition beforehand, listed key achievements of the Government in place, informed that the cabinet of ministers have completed the implementation of the agreement with the EU and parliament must ratify it until the end of the cadence.
● Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH) continued sharp decline, once again reaching new historical minimum. National Bank established the following exchange rate: 13.36 UAH / 1$ (-25 cop), 17.72 UAH / 1€ (-30 cop), 3.68 UAH / 10 RUR (-6 cop). Head of the National Bank of Ukraine Gontareva, on her Facebook page, informed on set of actions, targeting market players misbalancing the currency market.
War in Ukraine
● Russian «humanitarian convoy», consisting of 227 trucks, invaded Ukrainian territory without permission from Ukrainian state and without accompaniment from the side of international organizations, part of convoy have already reached Luhans’k. As the column moved through the territory controlled by terrorists, its route is impossible to be tracked. Column movement is being supported by Russian heavy armored vehicles, approached from Molodogvardiysk area, operated by Russian citizens – Russians and Chechens. At the same time, terrorists didn’t admit the Ukrainian humanitarian aid, accompanied by the International Red Cross.
● Deputy Head of the State Border Guards Shisholin informed, that around 100 km of the border are out of Ukrainian control and that weapons supply haven’t been the key objective of the «humanitarian convoy», as armed terrorists already being easily done through uncontrolled and non guarded border areas.
● Verkhovna Rada Commissioner on Human Rights Lutkovska, in the interview to the TV channel «Ukraine», stressed that civilians would better leave the conflict zone. Luhans’k and Donets’k are continuously shelled by mobile terrorists groups. 3 weeks have passed since water and electricity have been cut in Luhans’k, as well as garbage haven’t been cleaned, entry of the «humanitarian convoy» from Russia will not resolve the situation. Heavy fights are ongoing in Ilovays’k. Evidence of Russian militaries and armored vehicles being ubiquitously documented.
● Honored Consul of Lithuania Zelenec have been kidnapped and brutally killed in Luhansk.
International
● Urgent UN Security Council meeting took place to discuss illegal invasion of the trucks column to Ukrainian territory, where Russian representative to the UN Churkin claimed that Ukrainian side have been delaying the process of the customs clearance, despite the official agreement of access had been already received from Ukrainian side.
● NATO press secretary stressed that the alliance possess strong evidence of Russian military participation to the conflict in Donbass on the terrorists side and the invasion of the «humanitarian convoy» will lead to further escalation of the military confrontation. NATO Secretary General Rasmussen condemned Russian actions concerning the invasion of the «humanitarian convoy» in Ukraine without agreement from Ukrainian side and alignment from the International red Cross, as well as named these actions as violation of Ukrainian sovereignty by Russian Federation. Pentagon press secretary urged to move convoy back to Russia. Press team of the White House announced that President Obama and German Chancellor Merkel discussed Russian actions via teleconference and urged Russian troops and «humanitarian convoy» to leave Ukraine, as well as recognized the importance of closing the border with Russia. OSCE head, urged Russia and Ukraine to abstain from any actions, reinforcing further destabilization of the situation.
Trends
● Strong aggravation of the conflict in the eastern Ukraine should be expected in the nearest future, taking into account, that sanctions imposed on Russia by the West, haven’t produced any strong effect on the economy and aren’t seen by Putin as the limiting factor. Targeted destruction by Russian mercenaries of Donbass infrastructure, in particular of the energy sector, will lead to emergence of prerequisites of Ukrainian economic collapse, as heating season and society dissatisfaction are approaching.