Is Kiev Wildly Understating Combat Deaths?

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by Charles Bausman for Russia Insider

In the past two weeks persistent rumors that Kiev has been hiding thousands of killed and wounded Ukrainian servicemen and ‘volunteers battalion’ casualties have forced their way into the Ukrainian press.

The most vocal allegations of a cover-up of Ukrainian combat deaths comes not from Russian media or the leaders of the ‘separatist’ Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, but from right wing MP and Radical Party leader Oleh Lyashko, and from the commander of Kiev’s ‘Donbas Battalion’ Semyon Semchenko.  

South Korean Prime Minister Claims North Korea's Nuclear Reactor Up and Running

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North Korea's nuclear reactor is thought to likely to be up and running according to a South Korean Foreign Minister, who has dismissed a US think tank's report suggesting that the Yongbyon reactor was shut down by Pyongyang.
"Many believe it is still in operation. On whether the Yongbyon nuclear reactor has been shut down, and on the reasons for the shutdown if it is true, I do not necessarily have the same views as the report," said Yun Byung-se, the Foreign Minister of South Korea, as cited by Yonhap.

Ukraine Will Not Have Enough Stored Gas to Sustain Winter: Gazprom

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Ukraine will not be able to fill its underground gas storage facilities with 18-20 billion cubic meters of natural gas necessary to sustain winter and ensure uninterrupted transit, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said Tuesday.
"As to the time left until the start of [the winter] consumption period, Ukraine will certainly not be able to fill in time its underground storage facilities with at least 18 billion [cubic meters], or better - 20 billion," Miller told reporters.
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Catalans Vow to Hand Over to Madrid Boxes Full of Pro-Vote Demands

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The Catalan government vowed on Tuesday to send four boxes full of pro-vote demands from some 900 municipalities across the independence-minded Spanish region of Catalonia to the central government and the top court, the regional government's spokesman Francesc Homs said.
As many as 920 out of 947 municipalities in this northeastern region submitted their requests. Homs said the sheer volume of demands would be enough for the government in Madrid and the Spanish Constitutional Court to see "with their own eyes" that Catalonia's desire to vote in the independence referendum should be taken seriously.
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