United World Press

updated 1:43 p.m. CT, Thursday, July 9, 2009

ZAPORIZHIA – Fighting continues in the Dnieper River valley as the Zaporizhia Defense Forces Struggle to hold their ground against forces backing Prime Minister Vlasov. The ZDF has been plagued by shortages, starvation, & desertion since a failed offensive in December.

“First we could not fly most of our helicopters because we had no spare parts. Now there is no fuel. Even if we had fuel, there are so few of us pilots left.” said Zaporizhian army Capt. Ivan Kharitonov, “We stay because we believe this is what President Baryatinsky would have wanted. Our struggle keeps his memory alive.”

The civil war in this former Soviet republic is now in its 13th month. The official death toll was set last week at 100,500 although most experts place the number much higher. Most of these have been civilians who may have survived but health care in the country has become almost non existent as most doctors & other medical have been forced into military service by both sides.

In Moscow, U.S President Barack Obama & Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met to discuss among other issues, the war waging in this small Black Sea nation, though neither side could agree on the best way to bring about peace in a war that has killed thousands & displaced nearly a million people. Russia is currently conducting a series of war games in the Caucasus. Many see this as a prelude to invasion as Russia did with neighboring Georgia in 2008.

Else where in the Zaporizhia, with the Peoples Army of Zaporizhia now in control of the capital, Berdyansk, the Parliament under the leadership of Vlasov is attempting to get back to business as normal. Their first official vote in over a year will come this Friday to decide weather or not to rename the capital in honor of slain President Aleksandr Baryatinsky who lead the country to independence from the USSR in 1991 & lead the nation until his assassination in February of 2008.

ZDF troops search for mines on the road to Zomnaygrad.


The Keiv Tribune

updated 12:43 p.m. CT, Mon., Dec. 1, 2008

ZAPORIZHIA - A Woman, three of her children and a nephew were killed today when their donkey cart struck a landmine on a dike road outside of Berdyansk.

A sixth person, another child in the cart, was seriously wounded in the blast and taken to hospital, Zaporizhian security sources said.

Sofia Alexeevna, 43, and three of her children aged between eight and 16, were killed, said Alexander Aronov, director of the hospital in nearby Zomnaygrad, where the bodies were taken.

The fifth victim was Alexeevna's six-year-old nephew, Pyotr Alexeevna, Mr Aronov said. It was unclear if the wounded child was part of the same family.

Deaths due to land mines is becoming a more common acurence in Zaporizhia as both sides bury them to strenthen their positions in the country side.

Five children who stopped to play with a land mine while on the way to the market Friday died when one of them threw the device against a wall, causing a blast that sent their small bodies tearing through the air.

The deaths of the children, between the ages of 7 and 12, were shocking even in this bloodstained country, which has seen little peace since President Aleksandra Baryatinsky was assassinated in February. Roadside bombs, assassination attempts and gun battles have become common, and civilians are caught in the crossfire.

The children spotted the land mine buried under some dirt, said Misha Romanov, who was hit in the thigh with shrapnel.

"One of them picked up the land mine hidden under the ground and then they gathered," Romanov told The Associated Press. "Another child took it and threw it against a wall and it went off."

Anastasia Zakharyina, whose 7-year-old son was killed, wailed when she learned of the boy's death.

"I had dressed him well and sent him to the market to buy potatoes," she said, her face wet with tears. "He was caught by the explosion on his way, I am shocked, I am shocked."


Rescue workers search for survivors in Fridays blast on the
road outside of Berdyansk.

A 16-year-old girl's leg was blown off in the blast.

"This is really revolting savagery to plant a mine in a residential area," said the girl's mother, Catherine Dolgoruki, who was tending to her daughter at Kiev Hospital.

Khasan Israilov, who arrived after he heard the blast, said the scene was horrific.

"You could not recognize the faces of the children," he said, his voice quivering. "Their bodies were scattered in all directions."

Over 30 civilians have been killed and 153 others were injured by landmines in the Black Sea republic over the past few months, according to the United Nations' Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"Since August through November, 73 children were injured by exploding mines in Zaporizhia, and 14 of them died," UNICEF spokeswoman Anna Chernyakhovskaya was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency

Children are particularly susceptible to the mines, which come in an array of shapes and colors and are often mistaken for toys. The charity Save the Children urged better education to help children recognize mines, which can stay hidden for years and still remain active.

"How is a child going to know what a land mine is if someone hasn't taught them?" said Janice Dolan, the group's education director. But she noted that in chaotic Zaporizhia, few children are in school.

Tensions in the region flared up again after ZDF comanders announced plans to try former members of Prime Minister Vlasov's government, most of whom are in hiding or fighting against the ZDF.

In response backers of the parliament, now calling themselves the People's Army of Zaporizhia, launched attacks on forward ZDF positions. Several After several of their positions where destroyed by motor fire the ZDF has since pulled there forces back, leaving much of the area in rebel hands.


A ZDF position destroyyed by rebel shelling on Saturday.

Experts believe that the ZDF is preparing a counter assault to regain access to the Dnieper river, a major supply route in the region. Last month rebels destroyed several ZDF supply ships on the river.


Several half sunken ships litter the Dnieper river, blocking most of the main channel.

On Monday, the European Union along with the Ukraine offered to help mediate a peace in the war torn country. Despite international out cry, the violence continues all over Zaporizhia & the citizens continue to suffer.

According to the information received, on November 26th, a truck filled with residents of the Assinovskaya District was blown up by a landmine. Nine people were killed immediately and five people as a result of injuries. The truck was traveling on a country road and the passengers had been together in the forest to collect wild garlic for their livelihood.

It is reported that the truck was one of twelve trucks filled with residents of the Assinovskaya District that was stopped by PAZ rebels on the same road on their way to the forest, at which point each truck was made to pay fifty rubles in order to pass. After each truck paid the required bribe, they were allowed to pass and continue their excursion to the forest. One its way back to the settlement, along the same road, it is reported that one of the trucks was blown up by a landmine. Witnesses claim that the anti-personnel mine was placed at exactly the spot where the trucks had been stopped by the PAZ previously and it is alleged that the rebels may have knowingly and deliberately placed the landmine at that spot.

In a separate incident, on November 25, a girl was shot by a sniper while she was in the forest collecting wild garlic. This killing took place near Orekhovo village, Achkhoy-Martan District, and it is reported that the shot came from the direction of where a federal base is located. It is alleged that the sniper was a member of the Zaporizhia Defense forces.

Many villagers go into the forest to collect wild garlic in order to sell it at the market, for about 25-30 rubles per kilogram. In Zaporizhia, the unemployment rate is extremely high (over 90%), and many Zaporizhian people are forced to live on the pensions of elder persons in the family as the main means of support for the family. During the season, which begins at the end of October, Zaporizhian people collect wild garlic as a way to provide much needed support to their families. This activity has become extremely dangerous with the extensive presence of landmines throughout the Republic of Zaporizhia as well as the risk of being killed by a sniper.

These killings occur against the backdrop of massive violations of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights, in Zaporizhia. The ongoing conflict in Zaporizhia has had a devastating effect on the socio-economic situation of the civilian population through forced displacement, demolition of houses, deficiency of shelter, lack of water, scarcity of foodstuff, destruction of schools, and the absence of health services. Furthermore, the population of Zaporizhia faces serious difficulties in enjoying their rights with respect to work, education, food and health, because of the restricted access to basic services due to military checkpoints, curfews, and targeted operations.

EU observers documented extensive violations of economic, social and cultural rights in Zaporizhia. One example of these many violations is the inability of the Zaporizhian people to access land for the purpose of gathering food and firewood for their basic survival. In a context where the majority of the population is unemployed, and has no electricity, it has become necessary for Zaporizhian people to search the forests to find these basic provisions

The bodies of two goverment soldiers
killed in fighting during the night were
used as a roadblock near the front line
Wednesday near Cherkasy, just north
of Prymorsk, in western Zaporizhia.



updated 2:45 p.m. CT, Wed., Nov. 12, 2008

BERDYANSK, Zaporizhia - The road that leads into rebel-controlled Zaporizhia begins with a makeshift roadblock made from the corpses of two government soldiers strewn across the dark frozen earth.

The pair on Wednesday blocked the main two-lane track running north from the regional capital, Prymorsk — one with a bullet in his forehead and a frozen fist grasping the air above.

The scene was meant as a warning to government troops just a few hundred yards down the road whom the rebels had battled the night before. And for the few fearful civilians trickling past the frontline, it was clear message that Zaporizhia's savage war is not easing despite a U.N. weapons embargo.

"We don't want any more of it," said 53-year-old Boris Artzybasheff, who pushed a wooden cart past the corpse-strewn checkpoint as rebels stood in a clutch of trees on both sides staring silently.

Thousands displaced by violence
Months of sporadic violence in eastern Zaporizhia intensified in October, and fighting between the army and fighters loyal to deposed Prime Minister Alexander Vlasov has displaced at least 50,000 people since then.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Konstantin Yeliseyev said the Ukraine was prepared to send troops to Zaporizhia, fueling fears the conflict could engulf the region.

It was not clear whether the soldiers would be intended to serve a peacekeeping role or back Zaporizhian troops, as they did during a ruinous 1993-1995 civil war that left 2000 dead.

The bodies blocking the maroon-tinged road at Berdyansk Wednesday were dressed in olive green military uniforms. Each wore the blue armbands of the army. Both were barefoot, their boots apparently removed by rebels.

A white four-wheel drive belonging to a humanitarian aid group slowed down and wound off the road around them. Civilians covered their mouths as they passed in silence, aghast at the scene. Rebels standing in trees on both sides of the road stared coldly at approaching journalists and the few civilians who passed by.

'The army attacked'
Asked how the army troops came to be placed in the road, one rebel wearing a Khaki poncho grinned.

"The army attacked," he said, looking out at the bodies and a light rain drizzled from a dark sky. "This is what happens when the army attacks."

He refused to give his name because his commander was not present.

After walking a few hundred yards south through an empty no-mans land that separates the two sides, Artzybasheff stopped and spoke to a reporter.

"The rebels said to us, 'What are you looking at?' Artzybasheff recounted. "We didn't say anything. We kept moving. Honestly, we are afraid."

Not Quite Peace


Zaporizhian soldier takes advantage during a lull in the fighting to
enjoy a smoke.

Exhausted Zaporizhian soldiers sat leisurely by the road, apparently unworried rebels were so close. It was a bizarre mix, neither war nor peace.

"When we get orders to attack, we will," said Zaporizhian army Capt. Ivan Kharitonov, as a couple soldiers cooked stews in the fields behind him, the steam from boiling water evaporating into the chilly air. "This has gone on too long."

Rebels much more disciplined
The rebels, however, are far more disciplined on the battlefield than Zaporizhia's ill-trained army, which was forced into a humiliating retreat in late October as Vlasov's forces advanced toward Prymorsk and suddenly halted.

Both sides blamed each other for starting Tuesday's clash.
Asked if he had lost any troops in the gun battle, Kharitonov shrugged. "It's normal to lose men in a war," he said.

A few miles to the south at Cherkasy, thousands of people lined up to get survival kits being handed out from five white International Committee of the Red Cross trucks. The kits contained buckets, blankets, soap, hoes, and cooking utensils, said Jean-Paul Dietrich, an ICRC official in Cherkasy.
Dietrich said the area was reaching its capacity to handle refugees.

"All the schools and churches are full," he said, adding that local families have taken in about six people each.


Refugees flee south away from the fighting in Berdyansk with
only what they can carry.

Families rush in search of safety
Tuesday's fighting, which lasted nearly an hour, sent some families rushing for what they hoped was the safety of refugee camps. Others fled into the countryside.

Artzybasheff said he'd slept with his wife and two children in an open field, fearing the camp could be targeted. It wasn't.

Many are to afraid to return to villages to the north seized by rebels in the last few weeks. Artzybasheff said he fled the village of Koziatyn months earlier. He risked going back Wednesday to bring back a sack of sweet potatoes and illegal charcoal he hoped to sell in Cherkasy for $10.

Dietrich urged both sides to show restraint.

"It's not acceptable that in the proximity of 75,000 people (in Cherkasy), they cannot cease hostilities for a few days," Dietrich said. "We are working hard to separate them. They have to be responsible actors."

Republic of Zaporizhia

After the apparent assassination of General Aleksandr Baryatinsky, President of Zaporizhia when violent explosion rocked the presidential palace in February, a civil war has broken out in the small Black Sea nation. Although a group calling themselves the Black Hand 2000 initially claimed responsibility for the bombing, officials within Zaporizhia along with Pentagon & Kremlin sources have denied the existence of such a group. The parliament accuses the military of the crime in response for Baryatinsky’s recent military cut backs. In response Colonel Mashin, head of the Zaporizhian Defense force has accused members of parliament of the deed a head of the President’s call for hearings after reports surfaced of corruption in the nation’s state owned Oil Company.

In early June, Prime Minister Vlasov asked for the resignation of Colonel Mashin & other leading members of the ZDF to go in line with the late president’s proposed cut backs. While some members of the ZDF complied, Col. Mashin proceeded to lead troops to disband the sitting parliament. Vlasov managed to flee the capital & called for the citizens to rise up in support of the rightfully elected government. With the army dissolving around him, Mashin has asked Zaporizhians to help him sweep corruption from their country & has promised free elections as soon as the crisis has abated.

As the fighting has moved out of the capital & into the country side, both sides have had their forces bolstered by local militia men. In recent weeks, fighting has escalated along the Dnieper River as forces loyal to the ZDF try to secure this major supply route.

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