Protests in Ukraine escalate

[DaveP]

I just don't know what to say...

Me either. If I was the praying sort, I'd pray for peace. But all I can do is hope for peace. The people of the Ukraine have suffered enough in the last century.

[Natalka]

(Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich accused pro-European opposition leaders on Wednesday of trying to seize power by force after at least 26 people died in the worst violence since the former Soviet republic gained independence.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman insisted the Kremlin was sticking to a policy of not intervening in Ukraine, although his point man has called for action to crush the protests. The Kremlin said Putin and Yanukovich spoke by telephone overnight, calling the events an attempted coup.




http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...A1G0OU20140219

[Natalka]

Police launched a raid on Independence Square at 8 p.m. on Feb. 18 but settled into a standoff by Feb. 19 with protesters. The Feb. 18-19 clashes killed at least 25 persons, including seven police officers, and injured more than 1,000 people.

Police did not succeed in dismantling the EuroMaidan protests overnight, nor didt they apparently try to do so in the early morning hours. By daybreak, amid the smoldering ruins of fires, demonstrators remained in a standoff on Independence Square with police.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv...es-337098.html

In an address to the nation early Feb. 19, an embattled and defiant President Viktor Yanukovych blamed opposition leaders for the latest violence around the country, urging them to "distance themselves from radical forces."
"They crossed the limits when they called people to arms. And it is a blatant violation of the law. I have some advisors who try to persuade me to the use of force. But I always thought the use of force as a wrong approach," he said.
Yanukovych continued: “Therefore, I once again urge the leaders of the opposition, who argue that they too seek a peaceful settlement immediately disassociate themselves from the radical forces that provoke bloodshed and clashes with law enforcement.”


http://www.kyivpost.com/content/poli...ce-337087.html

[Natalka]

Maidan now

[Natalka]

The European Union appears poised to impose sanctions as it called an extraordinary meeting of the 28-nation bloc's foreign ministers for Thursday.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called for "targeted measures against those responsible for violence and use of excessive force can be agreed ... as a matter of urgency."


"It is the political leadership of the country that has a responsibility to ensure the necessary protection of fundamental rights and freedoms," said Barroso, who heads the EU's executive arm. "It was with shock and utter dismay that we have been watching developments over the last 24 hours in Ukraine."

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/ukraine-hea...071431798.html

[Darth Penguin]

Ukraine president sacks army chief

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has sacked the head of the armed forces, Col Gen Volodymyr Zamana, according to the president's website.
The move comes after the most intense violence in the country's three-month crisis, turning Kiev into a battle zone.
Earlier the state security service announced it was launching a nationwide "anti-terrorist" campaign, to deal with a growing "extremist threat".
There was a suggestion the armed forces could be deployed for the first time.

[Natalka]

(reported but not confirmed) Ukraine's Yanukovich says he and opposition have agreed to a "truce": Presidential website

Drat, the site is just in Ukr., will have to wait for more info in English.

[Natalka]

Church with wounded and injured

[Natalka]

Ukrainian Olympic alpine skier Bohdana Matsotska and her father posted a message on Facebook stating that they no longer will represent their nation’s team in the Sochi Winter Games over the bloody events on EuroMaidan and blamed President Viktor Yanukovych for bloodshed.


Oleg Matsotskyy of Kosiv, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Bogdana Matsotska’s father and trainer, said the two are “extremely angry at President Viktor Yanukovych’s latest actions who instead of resolving the conflict through negotiations (which we had hoped he would when we left for Sochi), has drenched the last hopes of the nation in blood.


“In solidarity with the fighters on the barricades of the Maidan, and as a protest against the criminal actions made towards the protesters, the irresponsibility of the president and his lackey government, we refuse further performance at the Olympic Games in Sochi 2014.”

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/spor...an-337181.html

[Sharpie]

This is just crazy!

[Natalka]

I have to stop watching for now, I have been monitoring three live feeds, twitter, and other news sites which live update.
Their tenacity and faith overwhelms me. Just now, there were at least a half dozen priests leading a service, then hearing those gathered all sing beautiful hymns and songs of national pride - it is amazing to see, with fires and threats all around them...

[Natalka]

Truce is in force, hoping the night is as uneventful... as possible.

This just posted on Euromaidan twitter feed



So very true.

[Natalka]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After a night of violent confrontations between protesters and police and the deaths of more than two dozen people, Pope Francis and Ukrainian church leaders called Feb. 19 for an end to all violence and a serious commitment to dialogue for the good of Ukraine.


“With a troubled heart I am following what is happening in Kiev,” Pope Francis said at the end of his weekly general audience.


“I assure the Ukrainian people of my closeness and I pray for the victims of the violence, for their families and for the injured,” he said.


“I call on all sides to stop every violent action and seek agreement and peace,” he added.


In Kiev, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, major archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, stressed “that those holding power bear full responsibility for what is happening in our country.”


“In the name of God, we condemn violence, ruthlessness and the ignoring of human rights and the will of the nation,” he said Feb. 19 as the United Nations and Western governments demanded an urgent resumption of government-opposition talks.


“I state with great sorrow that calls by the churches to stop the shedding of blood and seek a peaceful settlement of this conflict have not been heard,” the archbishop said, adding that he had asked Catholics to fast and pray for peace and asked Catholic churches to ring their bells in rejection of “fratricidal evil.”

http://www.catholicsun.org/2014/02/1...ce-in-ukraine/

[Natalka]

Oh, goodness - 21 more killed overnight into Thursday, raising the death toll since Tuesday to at least 43.

And, this on a day which was declared a day of mourning there...



http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...A1G0OU20140220

[Anna Michele]

This is terrible
Whats even worse is some of the responses to the facebook postings ive read. These people hav no idea and the comments (lack of support/understanding ) is unsettling.

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