Daily Ukraine Crisis Updates – May 15, 2014

EWI offers a daily situation report on Ukraine.

(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Turchynov said that anti-terrorist operations in the country's eastern regions will end when militants give up their arms.
Ukrainian forces destroyed two pro-Russian rebel bases near Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in northern Donetsk without the loss of civilian or military lives.
Pro-Russian militants issued a second ultimatum for Ukrainian forces to either withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk, or to switch allegiance to a self-proclaimed republic that calls for secession.
Moscow announced that it would conduct military exercises near Ukraine's border during the May 25 election.

The Supreme Council of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" (DPR) approved alleged Russian intelligence officer Igor Strelkov as Defense Minister and head of the DPR Security Council.

(ITAR-TASS) UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic began a five-day visit to Ukraine, during which he will visit Kiev, Donetsk and Odessa, and present a report on the country’s human rights situation.
(ITAR-TASS) The OSCE announced that it will increase the number of observers to 300, with a further increase to 500 after one month.
(ITAR-TASS) The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) announced that it will send 42 observers to the May 25 presidential elections .
(RIA Novosti) An OSCE report has ignored self-determination referendums held by Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich.

(RIA NOVOSTI) Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said that Kiev authorities have not initiated Ukraine’s process of constitutional dialogue with participation of all the country's regions.

(Interfax Ukraine) Ukraine expressed anxiety over planned Russian military maneuvers in the run-up to its presidential election, and demanded that Moscow pull its troops deeper into Russian territory.
(Interfax Ukraine) Russian President Putin informed multiple EU states that Moscow will switch to solely prepaid gas supplies if Ukraine does not pay its bills.
(ITAR-TASS) Putin said that Russia hopes for greater EU action on the issue of Ukraine's gas debt.
A top Ukrainian diplomat said that Russia must take concrete steps, including withdrawing its troops from Ukraine's borders, before Kiev would sign up to a draft "road map" to lessen tensions.
The U.S. government released new satellite pictures that is says show Russian forces were near the Ukrainian border in recent days, contradicting Russian assertions that they had been withdrawn.
The head of the Russian State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Ties with Compatriots, said he had not ruled out a resumption of inter-parliamentary ties between Russia and Ukraine after the latter holds an election on May 25.
An independent polling agency concluded that Russian President Putin’s domestic popularity has risen sharply, and that he is firmly on course to win a new term in 2018, should he decide to run.

The Party of Regions and Communist parliamentarians decided not to attend the evening session of the Verkhovna Rada to protest the ongoing southeast security operation.

Ukrainian presidential candidate, leader of the Batkivschyna Party, and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko suggested holding a referendum on the day of the presidential election that will include governance issues, foreign policy and NATO relations.

(ITAR-TASS) The head of the Kiev City State Administration stated that central budget funds will only last six months, partially due to corruption and bribery.
The Justice Ministry press service announced creation of a special department to reimburse people for illegally removed assets and losses from Russia’s Crimea annexation

Annie Cowan