; Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has previously cut off natural gas to Ukraine as a bargaining chip; Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has gone to great lengths to hide evidence of its military support, including deploying mobile crematoriums to dispose of the bodies of servicemembers and classifying the deaths of its servicemembers during peacetime a state secret; Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation is directly arming, training, supplying, and commanding separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, and Russian military personnel maintain a regular presence inside the territory of Ukraine; Whereas Russia vetoed United Nations Security Council Resolution 2015/562, which would have established an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17; Whereas OSCE vehicles have been attacked in an attempt to intimidate Special Monitoring Mission (SSM) personnel, with the deputy head of mission Alexander Hug noting the attacks seemed to be aimed at stopping the OSCE from reporting what is going on [in Donetsk] ; Whereas Ukraine’s National Security Council outlined a new military doctrine in September 2015 that declared Ukraine’s intention to achieve the criteria for joining NATO; Whereas Ukrainian leaders, including President Petro Poroshenko, have stated the Government of Ukraine’s desire to pursue closer cooperation with NATO with the goal of potentially joining NATO in the future, with Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy stating in June 2016 that he is convinced that for Ukraine, at the time of Russian aggression, NATO membership is the strategic direction of our development ; Whereas the United Nations has reported that, since the beginning of the conflict, almost 10,000 people have been killed, including more than 2,000 civilians