Protests in Ukraine escalate

[Natalka]

Crimea cut off

Ukraine's state land transport safety inspectorate (USSTSI) announced it was suspending bus services to the Crimean peninsula because of an unspecified "aggravation of the situation" in the territory.

The Ukrainian government has repeatedly accused Russia of building up its forces in Crimea.

Other road transport including passenger cars and lorries is not affected, Reuters news agency reports.

On the railway network, freight services were suspended on Friday with passenger services due to be run down over the next three days.

Flights from Ukraine into Crimea were suspended during the stand-off in March which ended in annexation after a disputed referendum on joining Russia.
Crimea has no land corridor to Russia, and relies on a ferry in the Azov Sea and flights from Russia.
The peninsula is also heavily dependent on Ukraine economically, including for power and water supplies.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30606486


Visa, MasterCard stop supporting bank cards in Crimea


Dec 26 (Reuters) - The world's two largest credit and debit card companies, Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc , said on Friday they could no longer support bank cards being used in Crimea, following U.S. sanctions imposed earlier this month.

The United States last Friday prohibited U.S.-registered companies from investing in Crimea or providing services to firms operating there, among sanctions imposed over Russia's annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine.

Visa said in a statement that the sanctions meant it could not offer Visa-branded products and services to Crimea.

"We can no longer support card issuing and merchant/ATM acquiring services in Crimea," it said.

Competitor MasterCard also said that it had to suspend operations with bank cards in Crimea due to the sanctions.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0UA0XJ20141226

[Natalka]

Two dead after Ukraine rocked by series of blasts


Ukrainians were on high alert on Saturday after a series of explosions occurred in the south and west of the country, killing two people.

One person was killed in a blast overnight in the southern port city of Odessa, according to local police officials. Later, an explosion occurred in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, killing one man, authorities said.

Kherson police said the blast there occurred before noon, local time, on Saturday after a man wearing an explosive device entered the currency exchange and detonated it, killing himself. No one else was injured.

Meanwhile, in Lviv, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the home of the city’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, a prominent official whose party placed third in parliamentary elections in October, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, citing Svitlana Dobrovolska, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry's branch in Lviv region.

No one was injured in the Lviv attack, as Sadovyi was away on vacation.


Odessa



http://mashable.com/2014/12/27/ukrai...dqbTVqdzcxNiJ9

[Natalka]

Ukraine's @poroshenko meets 146 freed war prisoners at military airbase near Kyiv

[Natalka]

This man sure has a way with words, so inspiring!



President Petro Poroshenko's New Year address to the nation


Dear, beloved compatriots!

The year that passes was the hardest one for the past seven decades, since 1945. An aggressive enemy put our lives, territory, freedom and independence at risk. But whole nation, young and old, stood up to protect the motherland. We will certainly win this war for our native land, because for us it is fair. The truth is on our side! God is with us!

Before we fill up our glasses, a minute before the twelve strokes of the clock that will announce arrival of the new year, and before we sign "Ukraine has not yet died", altogether, accompanied by whole Ukraine, let's commemorate the warriors who gave away their lives for Ukraine, and those civilians who were killed by the aggressor.

I am grateful to everyone who contributed to protecting the country. I am proud that belong to such a great European nation as ours.

Last year's slogan was "United country" - Yedyna krayina in Ukrainian, Edinaya strana in Russian, Bir devlet in Crimean Tatar.

Hard challenges made us stronger. As people we became undivided, turning into a much stronger political Ukrainian nation.

The year of 2015 will not be easy. But I believe that it will become a part of the history as a year of deep reforms that will open a path to a membership in the European Union. This is our dream that we will bring into life together.

Today I also wish all of us long awaited, long lasting peace.

Let the prophesy of Taras Shevchenko come true: "And on a renewed earth will be no enemy, but a son, and a mother, and people!"

Happy New Year, dear compatriots!
Ян’и йилиниз хайирли олсун, азіз ватандашлар!
С Новым годом, дорогие соотечественники!
З Новим роком, дорогі співвітчизники!

Wish you peace, happiness and joy!
Happy New Year, Ukraine!

[Natalka]

Ukraine nationalists march in Kiev



KIEV: Thousands of Ukrainian nationalists held a torchlight procession across Kiev on Thursday (Jan 1) in honour of a 1940s anti-Soviet insurgent branded by Moscow as a Nazi collaborator whom Europe must reject.

The march on what would have been Stepan Bandera's 106th birthday moved along the same streets on which hundreds of thousands rallied for three months last winter before ousting a Moscow-backed president.

"The Kremlin is afraid of Bandera because he symbolises the very idea of a completely independent Ukraine," Lidia Ushiy said while holding up a portrait of the far-right icon at the head of the march.

Bandera is a mythical but immensely divisive figure in Ukraine whom some compare to Cuba's Che Guevara. His movement's slogan - "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!" - was also the catchphrase of last year's pro-European revolt.



http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...XwoOQ.facebook

[Natalka]

New Year celebration

Our Heroes serving in the ATO in Eastern Ukraine

[Natalka]

The 24th Mechanized Brigade returns home to Lviv


"My Dad is a Hero"

[Natalka]

It's crazy that this is still going on!



In 2014, First Lieutenant Nadiya Savchenko was captured by pro-Russian insurgents in Eastern Ukraine and later handed over to Russia. In early November 2014, while still being held as a prisoner in Russia, Savchenko became elected to the Ukrainian Parliament and resigned from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To this day, Savchenko remains a Prisoner of War in Russia. She has been on a hunger strike for 21 days.

http://khpg.org/index.php?id=1420415429

[Natalka]

An explosion in Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odessa



The latest in a series of explosion took place in Odesa, home to 1 million residents, on the night of Jan. 4. An explosion happened at a doorstep of the office of the local EuroMaidan coordination center, that has been lately engaged in raising donations for Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the east of the country.
No one was injured. Police classified the attack as an act of terrorism and started an investigation.

In the past five months, Odesa has seen at least seven blasts. Three of them happened in December and targeted pro-government and volunteer organizations helping army, and a store of patriotic souvenirs. Two explosions hit a railroad track and a bar, leaving three injured. Finally, on Jan. 3, an explosion took place at the Odesa-Peresyp railway station. The blast targeted freight tanks carrying petroleum products. Police qualified it as a terrorist attack.

A bomb that hit the EuroMaidan center on Jan. 4 has destroyed the main door of the center, damaged office blinds and shattered the windows in the apartment blocks nearby. Police says an unknown man threw a bomb at the doorstep around 10:45 p.m. local time.

Odesa is not the only city attacked by unknown bombers.
Earlier in December Ukraine’s Security Service detained a group that planned a number of terrorist attacks in Dnipropetrovsk. The saboteurs were led by local Communist party activists, who escaped to the territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's east.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukra...me-376754.html

[Natalka]

More shelling in eastern Ukraine as new round of peace talks begins in Berlin


A Ukrainian Army tank and APC hold a position on January 3, 2015 near the eastern Ukrainian village of Pisky, in the northeastern Donetsk region.

While a new round of the four-way talks on ceasefire agreement implementation in Ukraine is underway in Berlin, more shelling and military provocations on behalf of Kremlin-backed insurgents is observed in eastern part of the country.

“Aside from small arms, terrorists are using tanks and artillery,” Andriy Lysenko, spokesman of the anti-terrorist operation headquarters, said at a briefing on Jan. 5. “Ukrainian servicemen do not respond to provocations. But when there is a threat to their life, terrorists will get an adequate response.”
Ukrainian army experienced no losses within the last 24 hours and only one soldier was wounded, but the situation remains tense in the direction of eastern Ukrainian cities of Donetsk, Luhansk and Mariupol, Lysenko said.

On Jan.5 Ukrainian servicemen received new equipment. Several tanks and fighter jets, as well as grenade launchers, were delivered to the military base in Zhytomyr. President Petro Poroshenko who arrived to the base to witness the equipment transfer said that "the fighting capacity of Ukrainian forces is now restored."

"While active military actions are taking place on our territory, we have fully restored fighting capacity of military units. As of Sept. 5 we had only 20 percent of the required military hardware. Today the armymen are 100 percent equipped and are prepared to defend themselves," Poroshenko was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

Now the army is equipped with the systems of counter-battery and counter-mortar operations, as well as new sniper rifles.
"Ukrainian servicemen are well-trained today, and the effectiveness of their actions has seriously improved. This is how we are taking advantage of this so-called ceasefire," Poroshenko said.

He believes that diplomatic efforts will also help to restore peace in Ukraine.

"It will become the central topic of the Normandy format summit involving the leaders of Germany and France if we manage to agree a draft document. It will be the main topic of a Geneva format meeting involving the leaders of the European Union and the U.S. if we prove able to prepare it," he said.

Ukraine is represented today in Berlin by Oleksiy Makeyev, head of department for politics and communications of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Together with representatives from foreign ministries of Russia, France and Germany he is expected to negotiate implementation of the ceasefire agreement and Ukraine summit in Astana on Jan. 15.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukra...in-376737.html

[Natalka]

Army receives big supply of military equipment


Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, speaker of the parliament Volodymyr Hroisman arrive at the ceremonial handing over the military equipment to the Ukrainian forces near the city of Zhytomyr, some 140 kilometers from Kyiv, on Jan. 5.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko handed more than 150 pieces of military equipment and weapons manufactured or repaired by Ukrainian military industry to the army.







http://www.kyivpost.com/multimedia/p...nt-376747.html

[Natalka]

So awesome that Canada won gold and, more importantly, they won over Russia!

Russian hockey team greeted by anti-Putin protesters




Paul Grod, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, leads a protest outside the World Junior Hockey Championship in Toronto Monday night against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Protesters braved Monday’s deep freeze to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine outside the Air Canada Centre where the Russian team battled Canada for the World Junior Hockey Championship title.

Despite temperatures hovering below -20C with wind chill, two dozen Ukrainian Canadians hoisted protest signs and shouted “Go Canada Go! Putin Hands Off Ukraine!” before the game started at 8 p.m.

“It is a rally to show support for Team Canada. We are very proud Canadians. We feel it is very important to make sure Team Canada feels our full support,” said Paul Grod, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, which only began organizing the rally on Monday morning.

“However, it is also very important for the rest of the world to hear about the fact that (Russian President) Vladimir Putin has invaded Ukraine and has illegally annexed Crimea, and he has continued to fund an organized war in Ukraine, where thousands of Ukrainians have died as a result.”

“We are trying to send a message to the Russian Team and the people in Russia that they are being fed a bunch of lies by their president who controls the media there,” said Grod, standing in front of protesters waving both the Canadian and Ukrainian flags.

“It is important for the people in Russia to know that they deserve better, they deserve human rights and they deserve the rights to have democracy.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015...rotesters.html

[Natalka]

Below, is a Christmas message from Father Andriy Zelinskyy, who is serving as a chaplain in the war zone in Ukraine.




MY HOLEY BETHLEHEM

My Bethlehem this year is pierced with holes, in its entirety cross-stitched with holes from automatic and machine-gun bursts, fragments of mines and grenades, and Grads. Wherever you look -- everywhere -- there are holes: in the facades of buildings, in fences, windows and rooftops. Trees and cars are pierced with holes. This year, my Bethlehem is a world of holes, located somewhere on the limits of human judgment and human madness, on the verge between the real and imaginary, dotted with uncollected sunflower seeds from last year...

Today in the sands near Donetsk, there is no hint of safety, no refuge from the cruelty.

Wherever you step -- everywhere -- is perforated with a shot reality, a landscape of destruction... This "holey' world looks so senseless!...
God came into the world, wounded by evil, to heal the holes of the human heart, to warm it with His love, to light it with hope. He came, small and weak, poor and homeless. But, He did come! And He came forever! This is the essence of each Bethlehem -- God is with us! Hope is always the call, the challenge, and every challenge needs a brave heart, for faith to become a reality. Hope needs a brave heart, to become love, become one with love, capable of being victorious ...

Even in a "holey" shot-through reality, hope may dwell. Through the holes, even those of bullets, you can always see the sky. It depends in which direction you look ...

Merry Christmas to you, all my people !!!

(and he posted over 20 pics, most representing the 'holey' he spoke of...)

[Natalka]

In Lviv, Ukraine they have modernized the traditional Ukrainian Nativity crib "Vertep". A military Cyborg was added to guard and protect baby Jesus from Putin the 21-st Century Herod.

[Natalka]

President's Christmas greetings to Ukrainian nation



Fellow Ukrainians!
I heartily congratulate you on Christmas!

More than 2000 years ago, Savior came to our world. He assumed the sins of people and gave us hope for salvation. Our country has belonged to Christian European civilization for more than 1000 years already, but today it is being reborn again. Our plans to change the life of all Ukrainians for the better will come true only if we honor God and do not violate His sacred commandments. Our faith must be strong and steadfast. Then, it will be rewarded.

Christmas has always been a great and important holiday for all of us, especially for the defenders of the Homeland, the defenders of Ukraine. Jesus said: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends". So let us pray for our warriors and may God save their lives. The deep essence of today's holiday is faith, hope, love and peace. For when angels proclaimed the birth of the Savior, they said: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace".

Dear Ukrainians!
I am glad that Ukraine has preserved its wonderful national traditions - Nativity scenes and carols. I hope there will be a tasty kutia in every home today. May the long-awaited God's peace come to Ukraine. May God bless every Ukrainian family and every Ukrainian.

Let us greet each other this day with the words that have been repeated by Ukrainians for centuries:

"Christ is born! Glorify Him!"


http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/32023.html