UKRAINE Turchynov comes under fire on way to Donetsk airport

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Turchynov came under fire on the way to Donetsk airport on Wednesday, according to the sources of the Ukrainian online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda in the National Security and Defense Council.

UNIAN

According to the source, the Ukrainian KrAZ Cougar armored car that was taking Turchynov to the airport came under heavy shelling near the village of Opytne.

"A wheel came off the car, we had to change it under fire," the source said.

According to the information, Turchynov was not injured.
Read more on UNIAN:http://www.unian.info/society/1034873-turchynov-comes-under-fire-on-way-to-donetsk-airport.html

Poroshenko: Seven percent of Ukrainian territory occupied

Seven percent of Ukraine’s territory has now been seized by Russian-backed militants, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday

REUTERS

"Today, Ukraine is facing the most difficult times in its history,” Poroshenko said.

“Ukraine is facing aggression. This aggression came not only after the annexation of the Crimea. We are facing aggression because 7% of our territory is also occupied," he said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Russia annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in March after invading the peninsula with its troops, and then began to destabilize the situation in the Donbas. Later, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics were created, with the direct participation of Russian special forces and the support of Russian army in the Donbas, according to Ukraine.

According to a growing body of evidence, Russia also supplies weapons to the insurgents of the DPR and LPR and sends its mercenaries and regular troops to Donbas.
Read more on UNIAN:http://www.unian.info/society/1034848-poroshenko-seven-percent-of-ukrainian-territory-occupied.html

Poroshenko hopes for new cooperation program with IMF in late January

Ukraine and its key creditor, the International Monetary Fund, could agree on a program of cooperation and announce it by the end of January after an IMF mission finishes its work in Kyiv, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday.

REUTERS

"I hope that on January 29 we will have a powerful new program with the IMF. Our ambitious reform program is ready for this event," Poroshenko said during his speech at a session entitled “The Future of Ukraine” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"We need a financial cushion, and it will be provided by the partners from the IMF, and other partners,” he said.

“These [partners] are from the United States and Canada. We also have signals from the Swiss government. These are demonstrative forms of solidarity with us, and we thank you for this."

As reported earlier, Poroshenko said that Ukraine and the IMF had prepared a memorandum on the new program of cooperation that involves an enhanced package of reforms and an extended package of lending to the economy.

Ukraine and the IMF are currently implementing a two-year cooperation program of lending to the economy of Ukraine, which is to run until 2016 and which has total funding of $17 billion, $4.6 billion of which Ukraine received in 2014.
Read more on UNIAN:http://www.unian.info/economics/1034846-poroshenko-hopes-for-new-cooperation-program-with-imf-in-late-january.html

US-Ukrainian military exercises to be held in spring

U.S.-Ukrainian military exercises will be held in spring, the commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, Lieutenant General Frederick Ben Hodges said during a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

Photo from news.ibox.bg

U.S. general said that the Ukrainian servicemen will be trained in how to defend against Russian artillery, giving life-saving medical aid to wounded soldiers, and setting up communication systems.
Read more on UNIAN:http://www.unian.info/society/1034839-us-ukrainian-military-exercises-to-be-held-in-spring.html