Protests in Ukraine escalate

[Natalka]

7 May 2014
Pro-Russians seize back Mariupol city hall


Pro-Russia activists took down the Ukrainian that had been briefly hoisted at Mariupol city hall

Pro-Russian separatists have seized back the city hall in the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol, hours after being ousted by security forces.


Government forces first raised the Ukraine on the building but later left - allowing the rebels who captured it last week to be back in control.


Kiev has sent in troops to try to take back official buildings occupied by pro-Russian rebels in recent weeks.


Earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said government troops had taken over Mariupol's city hall following a joint operation by ministry troops and the army.
Mr Avakov told the BBC the defence minister of the separatist "Donetsk People's Republic", Igor Kakidzyanov, was among a number of people detained.


Shortly after the Russian and Donetsk Peoples' Republic" s were hoisted over the city hall, the scene of tensions moved to the police station where the detainees were being held.


Heavily-armed police fired warning shots into the air as an angry crowd of friends and relatives gathered at the police gates concerned that the detainees would be moved to another province, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford reports from the scene.


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27305245

[Natalka]

Russia has pulled troops from Ukraine border, Putin says

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia has withdrawn its forces from its border with Ukraine, where NATO has said there were about 40,000 Russian troops in recent weeks, Interfax news agency reported.


“We’re always being told that our forces on the Ukrainian border are a concern. We have withdrawn them. Today they are not on the Ukrainian border, they are in places where they conduct their regular tasks on training grounds,” Putin was quoted as saying.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle18505621/

[Natalka]

Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Despite the appearance of “good faith” gestures, the content and rhetoric emanating from the Kremlin have nothing in common with any real attempts to seek a solution.
The discussion of a peaceful settlement of the situation in Ukraine without the participation of Ukraine is meaningless and unacceptable.
Instead of pronouncements, real actions are required.


Russia should, first of all, fulfill its Geneva obligations and distance itself from the terrorist activity in the east of Ukraine. It should publicly call on the separatist groups to lay down their arms and put an end to the destabilizing actions of subversive groups.
The withdrawal of Russian military troops from Ukrainian borders must have real confirmation.

It is time to put an end to false concepts. There is no civil war in Ukraine. The essence of the conflict consists in the aggression of the Russian Federation against our country, the occupation of Crimea, and the brazen interference in our internal affairs that is accompanied by support of terrorist actions against the citizens of Ukraine and the integrity of our country.

The absolute priority of the Government of Ukraine is a full-scale national dialogue with the participation of political parties, the representatives of the regions, and the public. For such a dialogue to take place, the necessary conditions for peace and security must be established. But dialogue is impossible and unthinkable with terrorists. The protection of human life and the defeat of terrorism, which undermines any possibility for dialogue, is the very purpose of the anti-terrorist operation taking place in certain areas in the east of our country. Therefore, joint international actions to contain and neutralize any sources of terrorism are a fundamentally critical step.

http://euromaidanpr.com/2014/05/08/u...ine/#more-8585

[Natalka]

[Natalka]

So many concerns about major problems tomorrow, May 9 - Victory Day commemorating the end of WWII.

http://euromaidanpr.com/2014/05/08/1...tions-in-kyiv/

Mykolayiv Security Service arrested two persons who were planning explosions on May 9 during the laying of wreaths, reports the press service of the SBU. The detained are two locals, aged 36 and 38 years, who are the leaders of the pro-Russian radical organization “Mykolayiv Resistance”.

Detainees were planning explosions on May 9 during the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and at the Memorial of the Glory of the Olshantsy Heroes. It has been established that the attackers organized and coordinated the activities of local pro-separatist radicals, as well as ensured their cooperation with the secret police in Russia.

[rock lobster]

The first casualty of war....the truth.

[Darth Penguin]

The first casualty of war....the truth.

Luke: Obi-Wan? Why didn't you tell me? You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father.
Obi-Wan: Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view.
Luke: "A certain point of view"?
Obi-Wan: Luke, you will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

yup...

[rock lobster]

So Putin's slow-motion invasion is justified from his point of view
and you might be lunch from Jeffrey Dahmer's point of view.

[Natalka]

Mariupol

The clashes between the Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian terrorists have been going on since today’s morning, May 09, 2014. The building of the local militia administration has been burnt completely. The terrorists have kidnapped the head of militia of Mariupol, Valeriy Androshchuk.

Pro-Russian snipers killed the commander of Dnipropetrovsk brigade of territorial protection, Serhiy Demydenko. When he was already killed, the terrorists cut his ears and put out his eyes.

The commander of the military unit of National Guard, Serhiy Savynskiy was severely injured.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Internal Affiars, Arsen Avakov, reports that up to 20 terrorists were annihilated. Four terrorists were taken captive.

[Natalka]

Putin arrives in Crimea for Victory Day events as deadly Ukraine clashes erupt

Sevastopol, Crimea (CNN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Crimea on Friday to take part in Victory Day celebrations in Sevastopol, in what is his first visit to the disputed territory since Russia annexed it from Ukraine.


The President arrived in the port of Sevastopol by sea, in an event televised by Russian state TV, and watched while flanked by senior officers as Russian warships took part in a naval display in the Black Sea.


The military parades, held each year to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany, come amid soaring tensions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are planning a weekend referendum on autonomy.


At least three people have been killed and 25 injured in clashes between separatists and Ukrainian government forces in the flashpoint southeastern city of Mariupol, the Donetsk regional health department said Friday.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov put the toll higher in a post on his official Facebook page, saying about 20 militants had been killed and four captured, while one member of the armed forces was dead and five injured.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, flanked by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Federal Security Service Chief Alexander Bortnikov, right, arrives at a Victory Day celebration after inspecting battleships in Sevastopol.


http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/09/world/...kraine-crisis/

[Natalka]

Nato's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Mr Putin's visit to Crimea was "inappropriate", adding: "We consider the Russian annexation of Crimea to be illegal, illegitimate and we don't recognise it."


US National Security Council spokesperson Laura Magnuson said: "We do not accept Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. Such a visit will only serve to fuel tensions."


Ukraine's interim authorities held subdued memorials to mark the Soviet victory.
A brief veterans' ceremony was held in Kiev's main park, in front of PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk and several former presidents.


The authorities feared pro-Russian activists would try to stoke violence if there were any higher profile celebrations.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27344029

[Natalka]

In #Donetsk, Russian terrorists have raided the city's Ukrainian Red Cross Society office. The gunmen took 7 hostages as well as medical supplies.

Three volunteers of the Red Cross are from Kyiv, three more are the residents of Donetsk. The seventh volunteer is French. All of them came to Donetsk office of the organisation to deliver the medicines. The terrorists brought the volunteers to Donetsk Local State Administration.

[Natalka]

Serhiy Demydenko (at right in pic), chief commander of battalion of territorial protection of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and Oleh Eismant, a soldier of the battalion, fell in Mariupol on May 9, 2014. They volunteered for fighting for Ukraine against terrorists in Donetsk Oblast.



A conscript soldier fell today, May 9, 2014 during the Anti-Terrorist Operation in Mariupol (Donetsk Oblast). Bogdan Shlemkevych came from Biloberizka village (Ivano-Frankivska Oblast). He was only 21 years old.

[Natalka]

OTTAWA, May 8 - The Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) met with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper today to discuss the crisis in Ukraine.

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv is in Canada for a ten-day visitation of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy (Diocese) of Toronto.

Source: Ukrainian Canadian Congress

[Natalka]

Terrorists Brutally Gun Down Married Couple, Priest in Eastern Ukraine



It has been determined that, on May 9, terrorists have brutally gunned down husband and wife couple who were traveling in two separate vehicles. The victims were local private entrepreneurs. Their bodies with numerous gunshot wounds were located by law enforcement officers on a roadway near the town of Sverdlovsk

Additionally, the couple’s child, with a gunshot wound to the head, was located in one of the vehicles; she is currently at an intensive care unit of a local hospital




Father Pavlo

Prosecutor General’s Office reported that, on Thursday, May 8, terrorists who were “coordinated by an external aggressor” gunned down a 44-year-old local Orthodox priest at an exit checkpoint in the town of Druzhkivka, Donetsk oblast.

“Savages have fired 8 bullets from an automatic weapon into the reverend”, noted the agency.

Journalist Sergiy Garmash tweeted that the priest lived near the separatists’ checkpoint and came out of his house in an attempt to talk some sense into them.

http://euromaidanpr.com/2014/05/09/t...stern-ukraine/