Friday 6 June 2014
Monday 2 June 2014
Thursday 22 May 2014
Ukraine Declares Donetsk, Luhansk Governments ‘Terrorist Organizations’
Prosecutor Office Says the Groups Are 'Subversive'
by Jason Ditz, May 16, 2014
The General Prosecutor Office of Ukraine’s interim government has issued a statement today declaring the interim governments of the breakaway eastern oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk to be “terrorist organizations” under Ukrainian law.
The office said that the listing means the beginning of criminal proceedings against the self-proclaimed People’s Republic governments for “subversive activity,” and that they will investigate regional officials for possible ties to the groups.
The People’s Republics were mostly a rhetorical thing before last weekend, when a hastily assembled referendum in Donetsk and Luhansk expressed broad local support for the groups, granting protest leaders a measure of legitimacy, albeit not one recognized by the interim government.
In many ways, this lack of recognition swings both ways, as many in the eastern protest movements don’t recognize the central government, itself formed out of violent protests earlier this year, as the legitimate governing body of Ukraine.
The interim government has long labeled the protesters against their new rule “terrorists,” but today’s declaration marks the first time that actually meant anything legally. The declaration does not appear to have any bearing on the ongoing military invasion of Donetsk and Luhansk, nor does the interim government have a practical way of imposing legal penalties on the People’s Republics right now anyhow, since they are in open rebellion against the military invasion.
Saturday 10 May 2014
This map shows how Russia’s military relies on Ukraine
May 9, or Victory Day, is a hugely important day for Russia's military. It marks the anniversary of the Soviet announcement in May 1945 that Nazi Germany had surrendered, and it is now celebrated with an enormous military parade in Moscow. The parade is an impressive show of strength: About 11,000 soldiers and more than 150 military vehicles gathered in Red Square on Friday.
In light of recent events, however, it's worth remembering how much that military relies on outside factors -- for example, a large number of factories and other resources in Ukraine's troubled southern and eastern regions.
Kateryna Choursina and James M. Gomez of Bloomberg Businessweek recently pointed out that more than 50 factories in Ukraine's southern and eastern regions provide significant amounts of important hardware for Russia's military, and that the Russian government's $15 billion agreement with former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (the agreement that eventually lead to his ousting) aimed to further intertwine the two country's defense industries.
The map below, compiled using information from the Royal United Services Institute, shows where some of the most important sites are for Russia, as well as the major sites of Ukraine's pro-Russian separatist movement. It shows not only how southeast Ukraine provides military hardware for Russia, but also controls oil and uranium, and even the food for the sailors in Sevastopol.
It's worth bearing this in mind when we consider the Russian military's buildup on the borders of Ukraine (whether or not they are gone). The troops don't just threaten Ukraine: They rely on it. too.
(Gene Thorp / The Washington Post)
Sunday 27 April 2014
Russia to call up UNSC meeting if Kiev continues military crackdown
If Kiev does not immediately stop military operations against popular protest, Russia will call for an urgent UNSC meeting and in the worst case scenario reserves the right to deploy armed forces to stop bloodshed, UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said.
If the violence in the southeast of Ukraine doesn't stop, Russia will call a special session of the UN Security Council, Churkin said in an interview to Rossiya 1 channel.
“If we will continue to see what we witnessed today, if the use of force against the protest movement in the east and south-east of Ukraine will continue, we will convene an emergency meeting of the Security Council,” he said, adding though that historically the UNSC was unable to reach a consensus on a number of issues.
Churkin reminded that Russia does not feel isolated at the UN on the Ukrainian crisis. “Even in the Ukrainian situation during a vote on the resolution in the General Assembly, nearly half of UN members refused to support this resolution.”
In a worst case scenario – if the violence in Ukraine continues – Russia reserved the right to deploy armed forces to stop the bloodshed, Churkin stated, adding that the main objective now is to de-escalate tensions.
“In the worst-case scenario we will remember the decision of the Federation Council,” Churkin said. “We have such a capacity in our hands, but of course we don’t want that.”
“I called the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and suggested to him to condemn, in a public statement which, I hope, he will make, the use of the armed forces against political opposition in the east of the country,” Churkin said. “We will look and see, whether Ban Ki-moon will be able to make such a statement.”
Churkin also said that it is vital for Kiev to start implementing last week's Geneva accord adding that Kiev did not make any real attempts to negotiate with the opposition in the east of the country. “There were plenty of opportunities” to deescalate the crisis, the diplomat emphasized.
“We are trying to help the authorities in Kiev to hear the demands of the people living in eastern regions of Ukraine,” Churkin said.
Churkin also warned that further escalation of the crisis in Ukraine could lead to a cooling of relations between Russia and the United States.
“If the Ukrainian crisis continues, the cooling of relations between Russia and the US will worsen, but we do not want it to,” Churkin said.
“The US is at a crossroads,” he said. “The US has already understood that they are unable to command the entire world, but they cannot translate it into another way of behavior. They feel uncomfortable when they see another pole of power,” such as Russia or China, Churkin added.
In the Ukrainian case, the UN envoy continued, “US wants not only to distance Ukraine from Russia, but also to “hang Ukraine on the EU.” The reason Churkin says is simple, Washington wants the EU become an “amorphous structure” that will “appear incapable of operating as a competitor of the USA on the world scene.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry in the meantime dismissed the whole protest movement in East Ukraine as “sponsored” and “controlled” putting all responsibility for the unfolding crisis on Russia.
On Thursday, five anti-government protesters were reportedly killed and one injured in the eastern Ukrainian town of Slavyansk after Kiev authorities sent tanks and armored vehicles against the local population.
Using military force against the civilian population is a serious crime which makes Kiev authorities a“junta”, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. In response to the escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced the beginning of extensive military exercises near the Ukrainian border.
In the meantime, NATO began military exercises in Poland on Wednesday, with more scheduled to take place in the Baltic states next week. The US also deployed the frigate USS Taylor to the Black Sea with French frigate Dupleix expected to join it on April 26-27, becoming the third NATO vessel deployed in the region.
Wednesday 16 April 2014
Crimea's parliament adopts pro-Russia constitution
Local deputies and politicians react after the constitution of Crimea was approved during a session of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea in Simferopol, April 11, 2014. Photo by Reuters
Crimean lawmakers adopted a new constitution on Friday, taking another step to cement the region's absorption into Russia despite strong objections from the Muslim Tatar minority.
Pro-Moscow legislators are eager to complete the Black Sea peninsula's integration into Russia and smooth over financial and legal difficulties that have left businesses in limbo since its break with Ukraine.
All 88 deputies present in the 100-seat legislature broke into applause and stood for the Russian national anthem after approving the constitution in the vote at a session ignored by dissenting lawmakers.
"Step by step we have led Crimeans to realise their dream of returning home to Russia," speaker Vladimir Konstantinov told the assembly of the region, which Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred from Russia to Ukraine in 1954.
It was the first assembly vote open to reporters since gunmen seized control of the building on February 27 and legislators elected a pro-Russian regional leader days after protesters in Ukraine's capital drove President Viktor Yanukovich from power.
In another step both legal and symbolic, a new version of the Russian Constitution, listing Crimea and its port city of Sevastopol, home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, as "subjects of the Russian Federation", was posted on an official state website on Friday.
President Vladimir Putin signed legislation annexing Crimea last month following a referendum held after Russia had established military control and dismissed as illegitimate by Ukraine and the West.
"Equal among equals"
Taking the floor to cheer the vote, Crimean lawmakers hailed the speed at which the territory is moving to integrate with Russia. The legislation stipulates that Crimea will be fully integrated into Russia by January 1, after a transition period.
But confusion has reigned as state institutions and businesses rush to conform to Russian law, with the Ukrainian state no longer in control and the banking system in disarray as Ukrainian and Western banks pull out of the region.
"In this short period we have taken the road from ... a disenfranchised region among disenfranchised regions to becoming a republic of the Russian Federation; that is, an equal among equals," Konstantinov said.
The comments were a nod to the situation in eastern Ukraine, where armed pro-Russian separatists have occupied two official buildings in the largely Russian-speaking cities of Donetsk and Luhansk and called for a referendum like that held in Crimea.
In a vote directly after adopting a new constitutions, Crimean lawmakers backed a declaration supporting those calls.
Kiev has rejected holding such votes in the east, saying the occupations and Moscow's calls for Ukraine to carry out constitutional reforms handing greater powers to its regions are part of a Russian-led plan to dismember the country.
Members of the 300,000-strong Muslim Tatar minority, who make up some 15 percent of Crimea's population and have opposed to Russia's takeover, Crimea protested their lack of inclusion in the drafting of the new constitution.
"The hastily compiled text of the draft constitution was given to deputies only hours before the vote," the Crimean Tatar assembly said in a statement, describing its adoption as "unacceptable."
Under Crimea's new constitution, the head of the region will be elected to a five-year term by parliament and the size of the assembly will be cut from 100 to 17 deputies. Konstantinov said he expects parliamentary elections in the autumn.
Sunday 6 April 2014
Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea apply for Russian citizenship by the thousands
© RIA Novosti
Most Ukrainian soldiers on service in Crimea voiced their wish to join the Russian Armed Forces and they were granted this opportunity, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Friday.
"As of today over 8,000 of these soldiers have submitted paperwork to get Russian passports. Around 3,000 of them have already been assigned duties. We now have to create conditions for their speedy adjustment to serving in the Russian army," Shoigu said at an off-schedule ministerial meeting.
The Russian defense minister also stated that the Ukrainian soldiers could easily leave Crimea to return to Ukraine.
The majority of Ukrainian soldiers willing to continue serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine have left Crimea leaving behind some 400 people responsible for combat equipment withdrawal, said Vitaliy Yarema, Ukraine's first deputy prime minister of the interim government in Kiev, as he spoke to the press on Friday.
He didn't give a specific deadline for the complete removal of troops and machinery out of Crimea.
"I cannot say for sure, as it depends on a number of factors such as the pace and transport availability and the functioning of the railroad as well. But as of today there is nothing to hinder the process," he added.
The autonomous republic of Crimea held a referendum on March 16 to decide on the status of the autonomy. The official result of the referendum was a 97 percent vote "in favor" of integrating the region into the Russian Federation with an overwhelming voter turnout of 83 percent.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed the federal law ratifying the agreement between the autonomous republic of Crimea and the Russian Federation to join Russia on March 21. Although widely denounced by the West, Russia welcomed the results of the referendum, proclaiming it fully legitimate in accordance with the international law.
Read more:
4,000 protest in Barcelona against EU austerity measures
© AFP/Quique Garcia
Anti-riot police corner off demonstrators during clashes at the end of a march dubbed "Disobedience 2014" in Barcelona on March 29, 2014.
Anti-riot police corner off demonstrators during clashes at the end of a march dubbed "Disobedience 2014" in Barcelona on March 29, 2014.
Thousands gathered in the center of Barcelona in an event the organizers dubbed "Disobedience 2014" in protest of government austerity measures. The protesters marched under a large banner saying: "Disobedience 2014. They can't control us if we disobey. Let's stop [Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon's] laws!"
The demonstration turned violent when the police moved in to try and stop protesters from reaching Barcelona's Cataluna Square. Activists tussled with police, while others smashed the windows of banks and financial institutions and set fire to bins.
The idea behind the demonstration is to protest austerity and cuts through "acts of mass civil disobedience," one of the organizers told Spanish newspaper La Nacion.
"Through disobedience we will rebel against a system that is dragging us into an abyss and replace it with one that respects people," said Luis Lopez who was holding a flag representing a Spanish anarchist group.
© AFP/Quique Garcia
Demonstrators hold bottles at the end of a march dubbed "Disobedience 2014" in Barcelona on March 29, 2014 in protest against public safety law, reform of the Penal Code, changes to the Law on Abortion, the trial of protesters who surrounded the Parliament of Catalonia in 2011 as well as what they deem general cuts to freedoms and rights.
Demonstrators hold bottles at the end of a march dubbed "Disobedience 2014" in Barcelona on March 29, 2014 in protest against public safety law, reform of the Penal Code, changes to the Law on Abortion, the trial of protesters who surrounded the Parliament of Catalonia in 2011 as well as what they deem general cuts to freedoms and rights.
Spain's capital city also witnessed protests this weekend, with around 100 people gathering in the center of Madrid calling for the disbandment of the monarchy. Police dispersed activists who had gathered in Neptune Square under the banner, "Checkmate to the King!"
During the dispersal of the protests, one of RT video agency Ruptly's cameramen was attacked and injured by policemen. Journalist Mario Munera said officers pushed him to the ground and beat him with batons. Following the demonstration, he had to seek medical attention in a nearby hospital. One person was arrested in the protest and eight were reportedly injured.
[See video coverage here]
The Spanish police said that both of the protests were illegal as their organizers did not inform the authorities of their itineraries.
© AFP/Quique Garcia
Anti-riot police corner clash with demonstrators at the end of a march dubbed "Disobedience 2014" in Barcelona on March 29, 2014.
Anti-riot police corner clash with demonstrators at the end of a march dubbed "Disobedience 2014" in Barcelona on March 29, 2014.
The organizers of the event told RT that the Spanish government is trying to push Spain back into the Franco era with reactionary reforms.
"What the government wants is to go back to the Franco years and keep the working class from demonstrating in the streets and saying what our main problems are. We won't allow that to happen and they know it," Pepe Caballero, one of the march's organizers, told RT, adding that the protest movement will change Spain from the "bottom to the top."
Wednesday 19 March 2014
Thursday 13 March 2014
Wednesday 12 March 2014
Monday 10 March 2014
Friday 7 March 2014
Thursday 6 March 2014
Wednesday 5 March 2014
Tuesday 4 March 2014
Monday 3 March 2014
Saturday 1 March 2014
Friday 28 February 2014
Thursday 27 February 2014
Wednesday 26 February 2014
Tuesday 25 February 2014
Monday 24 February 2014
Sunday 23 February 2014
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