Ukraine War News Updates -- February 28, 2017

BBC: Ukraine blockade tensions rise in rebel-held east

Ukrainian war veterans and their supporters say they will step up a trade blockade of rebel-held regions of industrial eastern Ukraine.

For a month about 100 activists have blocked railway lines to stop Ukraine trading with pro-Russian rebels.

The Donetsk region is a key supplier of coal to Ukrainian power stations and heavy industry.

The "blockade headquarters" made the new threat on Facebook, and halted talks with Ukraine's prime minister.

The Ukrainian government has warned that the blockade could lead to power cuts in Ukraine. Steel plants in the east have already been forced to suspend production.

The blockade was imposed to stop Ukraine's so-called "trade in blood" with the rebel-held areas.

Read more .....

Ukraine War News Updates -- February 28, 2017

Gunmen in east Ukraine 'occupy Donetsk stadium' amid standoff over coal blockade -- The Telegraph
Russia-backed rebels issue ultimatum to Ukraine -- Al Jazeera
Ukraine's Unwillingness to Lift Donbass Transport Blockade 'Puzzling' - Kremlin -- Sputnik
Russia Calls on Ukraine to Stop Donbass Blockade -- Sputnik
In Ukraine, blockade threatens to force issue at heart of civil war -- Fred Weir, CSM
OSCE monitors warn risk is high for new Donbass flare-up -- DW
Ukraine puts its most advanced weapons on show at IDEX-2017 -- Kyiv Post
Kremlin-backed separatists in Ukraine to use Russian rouble as official currency -- The Independent
Battered eastern Ukraine seems headed into protracted on-and-off war -- CBC
Kiev Letter: ‘Ukraine’s Joan of Arc’ divides nation -- Irish Times
Russia’s Calculus in Ukraine Is a Mix of Strategic Patience and Grim Resignation -- Matthew Rojansky, WPR