Protests in Ukraine escalate

[walkonby]

I heard Obama mention that the sanctions they placed on Russia were really helping. How long does it have to take to cripple them further to back off attacking Ukraine?

[Natalka]

Nothing and no one will undermine Ukraine's unity, Poroshenko says


This has been emphasized by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko in his congratulatory address to Ukrainians on the occasion of the Unity Day, posted on the Uriadovyi Kurier government's newspaper website.


"Nothing and no one will ever be able to undermine our unity. With unity in mind, with indivisible Ukraine in heart, we forever will be the united Ukrainian political nation, where all the ethnic groups feel comfortable," Poroshenko said.


"Nowadays, almost 100% of the citizens stand for the united country. The vast majority of Ukrainians see it as a unitary, not federal, state," Ukraine's president noted.


Poroshenko also reminded that during the last year, tens of thousands of soldiers, hundreds of thousands of volunteers, millions and millions of people rose up to defend the unity and territorial integrity. "Never before the Unity Day has been so significant, hard-won and well-deserved holiday, as it is today," the President concluded.







bridge in Kyiv


freedom square Kharkiv

Why a human chain?

The most significant and memorable action marking Ukraine's Day of Unity took place on 21 January 1990, when anticipating collapse of the USSR Ukrainian patriots united to build human chain between eastern and western Ukraine.

This chain became a symbol of united Ukraine. According to the different estimates, 1-3 million Ukrainians joined their hands that day to create a single chain unifying Donbas, Kyiv and Lviv.


Since then, human chains became traditional element of celebrating the Day of Unity all over Ukraine.


This year, the Day of Unity acquired new significance, since Ukraine sovereignty is endangered by Russian invasion. People all over Ukraine will take their hands and build human chains once more to show their unity in the face of Russia's aggression.

[Natalka]

Shells hit bus stop in Donetsk: many dead, dozens wounded


Thursday a shell or a mortar hit a trolleybus stop in the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, a Reuters witness said.

(the numbers of dead not yet confirmed, reports vary)

Windows of shops nearby had been blown out by the blast.








Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk blamed pro-Russian rebels for the deadly attack and said Russia should bear responsibility for the incident.
“Today Russian terrorists again committed a terrible act against humanity. Russia bears responsibility for this,” he said at a ceremony to mark Unity Day in Kiev.

-

A Ukrainian military spokesman meanwhile said that Kiev government forces had withdrawn from the new terminal at the main airport in Donetsk, a symbolic target where heavy fighting has been taking place for months.
Six Ukrainian servicemen had been killed in the past 24 hours in fighting there, Kiev officials said.
“Yesterday the decision was taken to leave the territory of the terminal for new positions,” Vladislav Seleznyov said. “Fierce fighting continues.”
“We continue to control the southern part of the airport ... we left the new terminal because it looks like a sieve and there’s simply nowhere to hide there,” he said.

[Natalka]

I heard Obama mention that the sanctions they placed on Russia were really helping. How long does it have to take to cripple them further to back off attacking Ukraine?

Actually, Canada's sanctions have done more - and other countries have put them on as well.
However, I just don't think any will be enough... the biggest problem with this all is that Ukraine was totally unprepared to be 'at war', just doesn't have the resources. No one is going to help arm them. They get help - but it's what is termed 'non-lethal', so stuff like warm clothes, binoculars, etc.

[Natalka]

First Victims Of Maidan Crackdown Remembered

A year after their deaths, Ukraine is paying tribute to the first victims of a government crackdown on the Euromaidan protests that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych.



Hundreds of people in the western city of Lviv honored the memory of Mikhail Zhyzneuski of Belarus and Serhiy Nihoyan, Ukrainian of Armenian origin, by praying at a church and placing flowers at the graves of others who were killed during the protests.

Zhyzneuski and Nihoyan were shot dead in central Kyiv on January 22, 2014.

A third protester, Roman Senyk, was severely wounded that day and died three days later.
As the number of protesters shot by snipers or killed in clashes with police grew, the victims became known as the "Heavenly Hundred."

No public commemorations were held for Zhyzneuski in Belarus, a Russian ally, and his mother said his grave had been vandalized

http://www.rferl.org/content/maidan-.../26807600.html

[Natalka]

Residential houses damaged after artillery shelling in Luhansk oblast



The press service of Luhansk Region Governor Hennadiy Moskal has accused militants forces of shelling towns of villages of the Luhansk region 44 times in the past 24 hours using different kinds of weapons.

[Natalka]

Unity Day in #Kyiv today! The left and right banks of #Dnipro river were united in live human chain



#Ukraine Unity Day in #Finland #ДеньСоборності #UnitedForUkraine

Embassy of Ukraine

[bluerose]

Happy Unity Day Ukraine,wonder how ordinary Russians feel about there country killing innocent people? is not there own country big enough?I am sadden my the thought that in the year 2015 people all over the world are being killed for nothing.

[Natalka]

bluerose, one of the biggest problems is that news in Russia is so heavily censored, or full of lies and propoganda.

[Natalka]

Minister of Foreign Affairs
John Baird


4 hrs ·



Russia has stepped up its supply of material support, including heavy weaponry, to its proxy fighters in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, while continuing to send its own armed forces across the Ukrainian border. Canada condemns these acts in no uncertain terms.


Today, at the World Economic Forum, I met with allies and partners in the region to discuss the situation. We will continue to work hand-in-hand to isolate Russia politically and economically if they choose to continue down this dangerous path.

[Natalka]

BREAKING NEWS -Reuters photographed DPR's Russian army MB-21 GRAD rocket launcher at the bus attack location in Donetsk Jan 22

[Natalka]

Emergency workers inspect a damaged bridge near Kuznetsovka village in Zaporizhzhya region January 21, 2015. An overnight blast destroyed the railway bridge, cutting a railway link between the city of Mariupol and Ukraine's west. Ukraine's state security service said suspects had been identified in relation to the blast, and were currently being searched for.



Ukrainian serviceman guarding location

[Natalka]

funeral ceremony for Georgian Tomaz Sukhiashvili, 35, a member of self-defense battalion Donbass, who was killed in the fighting in eastern Ukraine, at the Independence Square in central Kiev January 21, 2015.

[Natalka]

Bogdanna Nikonenko holds a portrait of her father Sergiy as she takes part in a funeral ceremony for the serviceman from the battalion Aydar, who was killed in the fighting in Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, at the Independence Square in central Kiev, January 20

[Natalka]

(argh!)

Prisoners of war (POWs) from the Ukrainian armed forces, are escorted by members of the armed forces of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, as they visit a public transport stop, where civilians were earlier killed, in Donetsk, January 22

They were forced to kneel down, and were mocked..