Protests in Ukraine escalate

[Natalka]

Mon Apr 7, 2014 8:36am EDT

(Reuters) - Pro-Moscow protesters occupying a government building in eastern Ukraine declared the creation of a separatist republic on Monday, in a move Kiev described as part of a plan to justify a Russian invasion to dismember the country.


Kiev said the seizures of state buildings in three cities in eastern Ukraine's mainly Russian speaking industrial heartland were a replay of events in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow annexed after its troops occupied it last month.


"An anti-Ukrainian plan is being put into operation ... under which foreign troops will cross the border and seize the territory of the country," Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk told a cabinet meeting in Kiev. "We will not allow this."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...A360TI20140407

Prime Minister Yatsenyuk has declared that the government has a plan for addressing the situation in Eastern Ukraine. Interior Minister Avakov is going to Kharkiv, and First Deputy Prime Minister Yarema is going to Donetsk.

The Ukrainian is flying again over the Regional Administration building in Kharkiv, but Euromaidan and anti-Maidan activists are holding opposing rallies there.

In Donetsk, the pro-Russian activists who seized the Regional Administration building last night have dissolved the local government, formed a self-proclaimed People's Council, declared Donetsk an independent republic, and announced the intention to join Russia.

[Natalka]

RIP - Ukrainian Armed Forces Major Stanislav Karachevsky (born 1981) was shot down from a submachine gun in Novofedorovka city in Crimea at the hands of occupying Russian Armed Forces in Crimea.

The murder took place April 6 at 11:40 p.m. in the dormitory, where Ukrainian military personnel of Saky airbase lived.

[Natalka]

Yesterday rally in Izmail (south-west of Ukraine)




Lots of pics here (they won't copy)

http://www.izmacity.com/novosti/sobi...rovyj--ukrainy

[gryphon]

So Russia is actively trying to annex all of Ukraine now? Why is no one stopping Putin?

[Natalka]

gryphon, he's sure trying to go after more of the Eastern part, that's for sure.

As for the second question, well, that's a loaded one. I've done tons of reading since this all began, and a most common answer is 'why should they?'... unfortunately.

But other countries are waiting, because they fear they are on the list after Ukraine - Belarus, Lithuania...

[Natalka]

Pro-Russian protesters gathered on Tuesday in front of the administrative building in Donetsk

DONETSK, Ukraine — As the government in Kiev moved to reassert control over pro-Russian protesters across eastern Ukraine, the United States and NATO issued stern warnings to Moscow about further intervention in the country’s affairs, amid continuing fears of an eventual Russian incursion.


Secretary of State John Kerry accused the Kremlin of fomenting the unrest, calling the protests the work of saboteurs whose machinations were as “ham-handed as they are transparent.” Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he added that “what we see from Russia is an illegal and illegitimate effort to destabilize a sovereign state and create a contrived crisis with paid operatives across an international boundary.”

The secretary general of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said Russia would be making a “historic mistake” by going into Ukraine, and he urged the Kremlin to “step back.” At a news conference in Paris, he said any such actions “would have grave consequences for our relationship with Russia and would further isolate Russia internationally.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/wo...ref=world&_r=0

[Natalka]

Tue April 8, 2014

Kiev (CNN) -- Russia warned Tuesday that any use of force in Ukraine's eastern region could lead to civil war, as Kiev seeks to regain control after pro-Moscow uprisings in three cities.


Pro-Russian protesters seized government buildings in the cities of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv on Sunday. Rebels occupying Donetsk's regional government building Monday declared a "people's republic" and called for a referendum on secession from Ukraine to be held by May 11.

Police detained about 70 people in Kharkiv in an "anti-terrorist" operation that cleared the building in Kharkiv, an Interior Ministry spokeswoman said.


Special forces police from outside of the city carried out the operation, in which all those arrested were armed with knives or batons, spokeswoman Natalia Stativko said.
Those arrested have been taken to police detention centers in the cities of Poltava and Zaporijya and face charges relating to separatism, violence and taking part in mass protests, she said.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the city center had been closed to the public and urged people to remain calm. No guns were fired, he said.
Turchynov blamed "separatist groups coordinated by Russian special services" for the revolts, which he said echoed events leading to the Russian annexation of Crimea three weeks ago.

Turchynov reiterated Tuesday he would treat Russian separatists who have seized buildings in the east of the country as "terrorists" who will be prosecuted with the full force of the law.

Russia, which has tens of thousands of troops near the Ukrainian border, said Monday that it was "watching closely" what was unfolding and told Ukraine to stop blaming it for Ukrainian problems.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/08/world/...kraine-crisis/

[Darth Penguin]

So Russia is actively trying to annex all of Ukraine now? Why is no one stopping Putin?

gryphon, he's sure trying to go after more of the Eastern part, that's for sure.

As for the second question, well, that's a loaded one. I've done tons of reading since this all began, and a most common answer is 'why should they?'... unfortunately.

But other countries are waiting, because they fear they are on the list after Ukraine - Belarus, Lithuania...

I think it's more of a question of WHO can stop him.

President Obama faces the same dilemna as he did over Sryia...if he wants the USA to fight, the Republicans will call him a war-monger and refuse to support him. If he doesn't try to defend, the Republicans get to call him weak. Negoitions and sanctions are the best we can currently expect..

NATO...well, Ukraine isn't a member so again thier options are limited to sanctions and negotitons.

EU...see NATO

UN...well Russia is a member of the Security Council so can veto any decisions there...

Unless we want to enter the realms of fantasy...I'm busy with my new Death Star, I can't see any other country apart from China who has the either a potential will orman-power to fight Russia in the Ukraine.

Of course, that can change in a minutes notice should one or more of my scenarios be altered...

[Natalka]

Diplomatic ping-pong between Canada and Russia

Apr. 08 2014

Ottawa has ordered the departure of a Russian diplomat to “send a message” to Moscow as relations between the two countries increasingly fray over Vladimir Putin’s efforts to destabilize Ukraine, sources say.
The tensions that led to Canada’s asking Russian military attaché Lieutenant-Colonel Yury Bezler to leave within two weeks stem from a standoff between Ottawa and Moscow over recognizing diplomats.


Sources say Canada’s move is in response to the Russian government’s recent decision to remove a Canadian diplomat from his post in Russia.
And the trigger for this ongoing back-and-forth conflict was an attempt by Russia to add diplomats to its Canadian mission that Ottawa strongly suspected would not be employed as envoys.

(there's much more to this, see link)


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle17872764/

[Natalka]

Wed April 9, 2014

Kiev (CNN) -- Ukrainian acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Wednesday that the separatist protests in Ukraine's eastern region would be resolved within 48 hours -- either through negotiations or the use of force.

The 48-hour deadline set by Avakov to end the crisis may escalate the tensions in Ukraine's eastern region.


"There are two opposite ways for resolving this conflict -- a political dialogue and the heavy-handed approach. We are ready for both," he said, according to official news agency Ukrinform.


On Tuesday, Moscow warned that any use of force to crack down on protests in the region, which borders Russia, could lead to civil war and called for "the immediate cessation of any military preparations."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/09/world/...kraine-crisis/

[Natalka]

a moment of aw...

[Natalka]

Nice when life can go on as 'normal' for some...

from the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

"Army garrison in Ochakiv (southern Ukraine) recently saw four weddings of servicemen who were relocated from Crimea.

Marriage registrations and wedding receptions were organised with support from the Mykolayiv Regional Administration and the local City Council. As of today, there are already six newly formed families in Mykolayiv region which were formed by the servicemen came from Crimea.

We are glad that the servicemen who have seen a lot of adversities found strength to lead a normal life. We wish harmony and love to all newly married."

[Natalka]

Progress on that beautiful patriotic painting on a building at Andriyivskyy Descent in Kyiv:

[Natalka]

10 Apr 2014

Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov says militants will not be prosecuted if they lay down their arms as a deadline to end occupations in eastern Ukraine - or face use of force - approaches

The olive branch offer came as the clock ticked down to a Friday morning deadline for the separatists to walk out of the state security building in the eastern city of Lugansk and the seat of government in nearby Donetsk or face the possible use of force.



The armed assailants want the heavily Russified east of the culturally splintered ex-Soviet nation to hold referendums on joining Russia, similar to the one that led to Moscow's annexation of Crimea last month.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...buildings.html

[Natalka]

Today, Odesa celebrates the 70th anniversary of the liberation from the Nazi occupation. Students of the National Mechnikov University in Odesa held this beautiful patriotic flashmob: