NATO Chief Marks Opening Of New Hubs In Eastern Allies
By RFE/RL
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has attended the inauguration of a military center in the Lithuanian capital which was established to respond to a perceived new security threat from Russia.
Stoltenberg joined Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite for the ceremony in Vilnius on September 3.
He described the new unit as a "big step forward toward greater solidarity, greater strength, and greater readiness."
The NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) is one of six small new headquarters that opened this month in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania.
The NFIUs "will ensure that, should our forces need to move, they can move quickly and effectively," Stoltenberg said. "And they help send a very clear message: No NATO Ally stands alone.”
The new units, to be manned by around 40 staff each, are to help on the ground with exercises and planning activities.
They are expected to be fully operational by July 2016.
Officials from the so-called Donetsk People's Republic have announced the introduction of ruble in the territory under their control. Before today, local citizens could use both Russian rubles and Ukrainian hryvnas. The exchange rate will remain floating. Officially today one Ukrainian hryvna equals 2.99 rubles. In the rest of Ukraine, one hryvna can buy about 3.2 rubles.
The new initiative has prompted vendors to recalculate prices. According to social media posts, some supermarkets are allocating prices according to a 1:3 ratio.
“They are recalculating prices on the street markets, too, but not everybody,” reads this tweet.
“Just now in Makiyivka supermarket: nobody is accepting hryvnas, prices in rubles are insane …” tweeted another user.
Ukraine's Security Service says it detained a “terrorist group that had planned attacks” in Kyiv. According to the statement, four suspects -- all members of a pro-Russian group -- were detained.
“The organizer of the group, born in Sakhalin Oblast (Russia), along with his accomplices from Kyiv and the region, had planned attacks in Kyiv,” reads the SBU statement.
The four men resisted detention and used a grenade in the incident. The police said one of the detainees was wounded in the leg during the confrontation.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
