Crisis in Oekraïne #62 Rusland is een tankstation.

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Tijdlijn van de ontwikkelingen in Oekraïne

- 21 november 2013
President Viktor Janoekovitsj maakt bekend dat de regering niet van plan is een samenwerkingsverdrag met de Europese Unie te tekenen, maar in plaats daarvan de banden met buurland Rusland wil aanhalen. Betogers gaan de straat op.

- 30 november
Beelden van betogers die tot bloedens toe zijn geslagen door agenten met gummiknuppels duiken overal op. Steeds meer mensen sluiten zich aan bij de betogers.

- 1 december
Een demonstratie op het Onafhankelijkheidsplein in Kiev trekt driehonderdduizend betogers. Het is de grootste demonstratie sinds de Oranjerevolutie in 2004. Activisten bezetten het gemeentehuis van de hoofdstad.

- 17 december
De Russische president Vladimir Poetin maakt bekend dat Moskou voor 15 miljard aan Oekraïense staatsobligaties koopt en de gasprijs verlaagt.

- Eind december
De protesten in Kiev blijven tienduizenden mensen trekken, maar de opkomst is een stuk lager dan begin december, toen honderdduizenden mensen zich aansloten bij de protestbeweging.

- 22 januari 2014
Drie betogers komen tijdens vechtpartijen met de politie om het leven. Demonstranten richtten barricades op.

- 28 januari
De Oekraïense premier Mykola Azarov maakt het aftreden van de regering bekend. Het besluit is bedoeld als een concessie aan de protestbeweging. Strenge wetten die de protestbeweging moest beperken in haar bewegingsvrijheid worden herroepen.

- 16 februari
Oppositieleden en demonstranten maken een einde aan de bezetting van het gemeentehuis in Kiev in ruil voor de vrijlating van alle 234 betogers die waren opgepakt en vastgezet.

- 18 februari
Betogers vallen linies van de politie aan en stichten brand bij het parlementsgebouw, nadat een grondwetshervorming die de macht van de president moet inperken, was blijven steken in het parlement. De oproerpolitie reageert met geweld in een poging de betogers te verdrijven van het Onafhankelijkheidsplein. Zeker 26 mensen komen om het leven en honderden raken gewond.

- 20 februari
Enkele uren na de afkondiging van een wapenstilstand breekt opnieuw geweld uit. Scherpschutters van de regering nemen betogers vanaf daken onder vuur. Van de 82 slachtoffers die in totaal omkomen vallen de meesten op deze dag.

- 21 februari
Protestleiders en president Janoekovitsj komen na bemiddeling van de Europese Unie overeen een nieuwe regering te vormen en vervroegde verkiezingen te houden. Het parlement perkt de rechten van de president in en zijn politieke rivaal, Joelia Timosjenko, wordt vrijgelaten uit de gevangenis. Ondanks de overeenkomst blijven de betogers op het Onafhankelijkheidsplein. Janoekovitsj ontvlucht Kiev.

- 22 februari
Het parlement stemt in met de afzetting van Janoekovitsj en besluit tot nieuwe verkiezingen. Timosjenko komt vrij en spreekt tienduizenden mensen op het Onafhankelijkheidsplein toe.

- 23 februari
Het parlement van Oekraïne draagt de bevoegdheden van de president over aan voorzitter van het parlement Oleksandr Toertsjinov, een bondgenoot van Timosjenko. De nieuwe autoriteiten vragen het Westen om leningen om een naderend bankroet te voorkomen. Pro-Russische betogers op de Krim gaan de straat op om te protesteren tegen de nieuwe regering. De Krim is een schiereiland in Oekraïne met een autonome status, waar de Russische Zwarte Zeevloot is gelegerd.

- 24 februari
De interim-regering in Kiev vaardigt een arrestatiebevel uit tegen Janoekovitsj. De Russische premier Dmitri Medvedev schildert de nieuwe leiders van het land af als mensen in bivakmutsen met kalasjnikovs.

- 26 februari
Leiders van de Oekraïense protestbeweging stellen voor om Arsenij Jatsenjoek aan te wijzen als premier. In Moskou geeft president Vladimir Poetin het leger opdracht tot paraatheidsoefeningen bij de grens met Oekraïne.

- 27 februari
Gemaskerde en gewapende lieden bezetten overheidsgebouwen op de Krim. De Oekraïense regering belooft met steun van het Westen een opsplitsing van Oekraïne te voorkomen. Janoekovitsj wijkt uit naar Rusland.

- 28 februari
Volgens de Oekraïense regering hebben Russische militairen positie gekozen op strategische plekken op de Krim. Het Oekraïense parlement neemt een resolutie aan waarin van Rusland wordt geëist dat maatregelen die in strijd zijn met de soevereiniteit en territoriale integriteit van Oekraïne worden teruggedraaid. Toertsjinov maakt bekend dat hij het leger in opperste staat van paraatheid heeft gebracht vanwege de mogelijke agressie.

- 1 maart
Russische militairen nemen de Krim over zonder een schot te lossen. Poetin krijgt van de Federatieraad toestemming om het leger in te zetten in Oekraïne. De regering in Kiev en haar westerse bondgenoten staan machteloos. De Amerikaanse president Barack Obama belt Poetin en eist dat hij zijn militairen terugtrekt.

- 2 maart
Oekraïne roept de hulp van de internationale gemeenschap in uit vrees voor een Russische invasie. Aanhangers van de regering en haar tegenstanders gaan in diverse steden in Oekraïne en in Moskou de straat op. Volgens de Verenigde Staten heeft Rusland meer dan zesduizend militairen naar de Krim gestuurd. De G7, de groep zeven rijkste landen op aarde, schorten voorbereidende gesprekken voor een G8-top in Rusland op.

- 3 maart
Pro-Russische militairen bezetten een veerbootterminal in Kersj, in het oosten van de Krim. De vrees dat Rusland voorbereidingen treft om meer militairen naar de Krim te sturen neemt toe.

- 6 maart
Zowel de Europese Unie als de Verenigde Staten besluiten om maatregelen te nemen tegen Rusland. Als de Russische regering besluit niet in gesprek te gaan over de crisis in Oekraïne volgen hardere sancties. De voormalige Oekraïense premier Joelia Timosjenko roept het westen op om snel in te grijpen en dat Rusland gebruikt maakt van de zwakte van het Westen.

- 7 maart
"Er komt geen oorlog met Oekraïne". Dat zegt de voorzitter van het hogerhuis van het parlement in Rusland, Valentina Matvijenko. Ze zegt zeker te weten dat er nooit een oorlog tussen de twee “broedernaties” zal komen.

- 8 maart
De Oekraïne benadrukt opnieuw dat het de Krim nooit zal opgeven.

- 10 maart
De regering in Kiev geeft aan dat het bespreekbaar is dat de Krim en het oosten van het land meer autonomie kunnen krijgen. De NAVO maakt bekend dat men meer vliegtuigen langs de grens met Oekraïne stationeert om de situatie te volgen. AWACS-vliegtuigen zullen oa vanuit Polen en Roemenië opereren. De EU gaat ondertussen verder met de voorbereiding van sancties tegen Rusland.

- 11 maart
Lavrov (Rusland) en Kerry (VS) bespreken opnieuw de Oekraïne. Tot een akkoord leidt dit niet maar er wordt afgesproken verder met elkaar te blijven praten. De Krim maakt bekend dat ze de oorlogsschepen van de Oekraïne in beslag wil nemen.

- 13 maart
Demonstranten uit het Pro-Russische kamp raken slaags met demonstranten die de Oekraïne steunen in Donetsk. Daarbij valt één dode. De Oekraïense interim-premier Arseni Jatsenjoek spreekt openlijk in de VN-veiligheidsraad en uit zijn bezorgdheid. Tevens benadrukt hij dat Oekraïne geen oorlog wil. Zijn Russische ambtsgenoot in de VN zegt hetzelfde. Rusland brengt inmiddels meer en meer troepen naar de grens met de Oekraïne. "Een grootschalige militaire oefening", aldus de Russen.

- 14 maart
Rusland maakt een nieuw dreigement aan de Oekraïne. De Russen zeggen dat het duidelijk is dat de regering in Kiev de situatie in het oosten van de Oekraïne niet in de hand heeft en dreigt met ingrijpen. In Londen praten de Russische minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, Sergei Lavrov, en zijn Amerikaanse tegenhanger John Kerry met elkaar. Het topoverleg levert niets op.

- 15 maart
Zoals verwacht blokkeert Rusland met een veto een stemming in de VN-veiligheidsraad waarbij de uitslag van het Krim-referendum ongeldig wordt verklaard. China onthield zich van stemming, alle overige leden stemden voor het voorstel. Zaterdag meldde de Oekraïense regering dat de Russen een dorp net buiten de Krim hebben ingenomen. In die plaats, Strilkove, staan een gasfabriek en een verdeelcentrum die de Krim van energie voorzien

- 16 maart
Het referendum op de Krim vindt plaats. 96,6 % van de kiezers zou voor afscheiding hebben gestemd. De opkomst zou rond de 83% hebben gelegen.

- 17 maart
De EU en VS stellen nieuwe sancties op tegen Rusland. Onder andere de tegoeden van individuen die betrokken waren bij de onrust op de Krim worden bevroren. De Oekraine noemt het referendum van zondag een farce en blijft bij hun standpunt de Krim niet op te willen geven. Rusland wil een steungroep Oekraïne oprichten om landsdelen meer autonomie toe te kennen. Oekraïense veiligheidstroepen hebben de bewaking van de gasleidingen elders in het land opgevoerd.

- 18 maart
De Russische president Poetin gaat akkoord met de conceptwet waarbij annexatie Krim door Rusland een feit zou zijn. In april zijn ze in staat om de 'roebel’ te herinvoeren. Japan maakt bekend ook sancties tegen Rusland in te stellen.

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John McCain: Russia is a ‘gas station’

Sen. John McCain lit into Russia and President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, describing Russia as “a gas station masquerading as a country” on the Senate floor.

While most of their colleagues were at a party lunch, McCain and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) took a broadside to Putin and Russia, portraying the country’s government as little other than a petrochemical exporter.

“I have no illusions or worry about the long-term future of Russia. Russia is now a gas station masquerading as a country,” McCain said.

“They are an oil and gas company masquerading as a country,” agreed Graham.

But in addition to their zingers, the hawkish GOP stalwarts also raised grave concerns that Putin will be emboldened by the easy manner in which the Crimean Peninsula was seized by Russia. They worry that Moldova, or Eastern Ukraine could be next.

“The value system of Mr. Putin is that of a KGB colonel,” Graham said. “I understand where he is coming from because of his value system. I just don’t agree with it. But what we can’t do is let him affect those who are living around him who want to go a different path, because the day you begin to do that, it never works out well. In World War II, every time somebody gave Hitler a little of this and a little of that, eventually it never works out well.”

“Vladimir Putin’s forces are on the border of Eastern Ukraine right now, and they are poised to invade. They even have forces in Belarus and Vladimir Putin is figuring out the cost-benefit ratio to moving into Ukraine,” McCain added.

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Ukraine's combat dolphins fall into Russian hands after Crimea takeover

By Roland Oliphant in Simferopol

Russian forces have completed their takeover of the Ukrainian navy's assets in Crimea with the storming of the minesweeper Cherkessy.

The Ukrainian navy has been reduced to only 10 vessels, with the other 51 it held at the beginning of this month, including its only submarine, now flying the Russian flag.

But of all the Ukrainian military assets Russia has seized during the annexation, none is quite as unusual as the combat dolphin programme.

The Soviet Union began training dolphins and other marine mammals to locate mines, mark underwater obstacles and detect - and if necessary kill - enemy frogmen in the 1960s. The programme is shrouded in myth, but the dolphins are believed to have been trained to kill frogmen with special harpoons or knives fitted to their backs, or drag them to the surface to be captured.

They were also reported to be fitted with packets of explosives and trained to carry out suicide attacks against enemy vessels, using their natural sonar to distinguish Soviet submarines from potential targets.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine inherited the animals and the experts who trained them at Sevastopol.

With fewer geopolitical foes to worry about, the dolphins found a new role providing therapy swimming for disabled children.

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Ukraine relaunched the military programme in 2012 and the current generation of dolphins is already proficient at marking lost weapons and underwater obstacles with buoys. But last month, the defence ministry in Kiev announced plans to release the dolphins into the wild or rehouse them in civilian aquariums in a cost-cutting move.

Now the base is hoping for a new lease of life under a better funded Russian navy. "Our experts have developed new devices, which convert the detection of objects by the dolphins' underwater sonar to a signal on an operator's monitor," an employee told Russia's RIA Novosti news agency yesterday.

"But the Ukrainian navy lacked the funds for such know-how."

The programme has not always run smoothly, however. In March last year three dolphins reportedly "deserted" to look for mates.

The only other country to train military dolphins is the US, which runs a programme in California.

Much like Soviet-era military equipment, "graduates" of the academy are reportedly to be found in militaries around the world. In 2000, Boris Zhurid, a former submariner who ran the training programme in Sevastopol, sold 27 marine animals including walruses, sea lions and a Beluga whale to Iran, saying he had run out of food and medicine for them at the Black Sea base. It is unclear whether the animals are still in the service of the Iranian military.

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 08:38 schreef DustPuppy het volgende:

[..]

Ik mag aannemen dat we dan toch al wel in oorlog zijn.

De VN lijkt me nu een minder afwachtende houding aan te nemen dan de Volkerenbond van weleer.

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The real front in US-Russia 'Cold War'? Nuclear power
The new Cold War brewing between Russia and the U.S. has the potential to go nuclear—just not in the conventional sense.

In the wake of the Ukraine crisis, a debate has ensued about whether the U.S. can use natural gas to counter Russia's global ambitions. However, some experts say the real front in the global energy battle lies not in oil and gas, but in the arena of nuclear technology.

Moscow has quietly taken the lead in the $500 billion market for nuclear exports, building the lion's share of new facilities—and by extension earning influence and good will in key regions around the globe—as the U.S. sits on the sidelines.

Fueled in part by its bounty in natural gas and oil, Russia has transferred nuclear technology to a host of countries, including Hungary, Venezuela, Turkey and, most controversially, Iran. According to the World Nuclear Association, Moscow is building 37 percent of the new atomic facilities currently under construction worldwide, while nearly doubling its own domestic output by 2020.

"The Russians view nuclear as an excellent export product," said Barbara Judge, former chair of the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority, in an interview with CNBC. "They are using it as part of their plan to establish themselves as a geopolitical economic power."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101507755

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 09:23 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:
[..]
George Walden exposes deep roots of this mistrust in his superb little book "China: A Wolf in the World?". As a diplomat in Russia and then in China -- one of the tiny handful of Westerners in Beijing through the Cultural Revolution -- he saw first-hand how the Marxist brotherhood had come to loathe each other. Indeed, they came close to nuclear war. The CIA and State Department were dumbfounded by his accounts at a debriefing in Washington. They had no sources on the ground in Mao's era.

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The EU summit text last week was a call to arms. Officials have been ordered to draft plans within 90 days to break dependence on Gazprom. Even if this crisis blows over, Europe will take radical steps to find other sources of energy. Imports of Russian may be slashed by half within a decade

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Nor has he chosen a good moment for his gamble. Europe's gas tanks are unusually full. The price of oil is poised to fall -- ceteris paribus -- as Iraq's output reaches a 35-year high, the US adds a million barrels b/d a day this year from shale, and Libya cranks up exports again. The International Energy Agency says global supply jumped by 600,000 b/d last month. Deutsche Bank predicts a glut. So does China's Sinopec. Mr Putin needs prices near $110 to fund his budget. He may face $80 before long.

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Oil: Price above $100, traders shrug off jump in supplies

The price of oil rose above $100 a barrel Wednesday as the market looked beyond a large increase in oil supplies.

Benchmark U.S. crude for May delivery gained $1.07 to $100.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, a contract for international varieties of oil, added 4 cents to $107.03 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

A report from the Energy Department for the week ended March 21 showed crude oil supplies rose by 6.3 million barrels, more than double the gain of 2.6 million barrels expected by analysts, according to Platts. However, supplies at the oil hub in Cushing, Okla., where benchmark U.S. oil is priced, fell by 1.3 million barrels. And gasoline supplies dropped by 5.1 million barrels, a much bigger drop than analysts anticipated.

http://www.tulsaworld.com(...)88-0017a43b2370.html

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 10:09 schreef icecreamfarmer_NL het volgende:

[..]

Ik denk dat hij er niet ver vanaf zit.
De EU is al decennia bezig om minder afhankelijk van rusland te worden en het laatste decennium zijn er grote slagen gemaakt die alleen maar versneld zullen worden.

En zonder de gasinkomsten is het kremlin nergens.

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 10:58 schreef icecreamfarmer_NL het volgende:

[..]

Maar die prijs staat ook onder druk.

Overigens snap ik je opmerking over de goedkoopste optie niet.
Vooral de oost-europese staten worden uitgeknepen met hoge gasprijzen.
En gezien hun veiligheid willen ze daar graag vanaf.

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A sub-strategic role: The SDR also defined a sub-strategic role for the Trident nuclear deterrent alongside its principal strategic function. It stated:

The credibility of deterrence also depends upon retaining an option for a limited strike that would not automatically lead to a full scale nuclear exchange. Unlike Polaris and Chevaline, Trident must also be capable of performing this 'sub-strategic' role.

In comparison with a strategic strike, which would involve a full-scale attack against an adversary in which all or a significant part of the available Trident force would be launched, a sub-strategic strike would involve the launch of one or a limited number of missiles against an adversary as a means of conveying a political message, warning or demonstration of resolve. Commodore Hare told us that this sub-strategic role "offers the Government of the day an extra option in the escalatory process before it goes for an all-out strategic strike which would deliver unacceptable damage to a potential adversary". Although the Government has revealed little information about the precise number and yield of UK warheads, it is widely believed that Trident missiles intended for this sub-strategic role carry only a single warhead, potentially with a significantly reduced yield.
http://www.publications.p(...)dfence/986/98605.htm

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Angela Merkel miffed at Nuclear war game


The Hague: German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not enjoy what other leaders did at the ongoing nuclear security summit in The Netherlands — a ‘nuclear war game’.
The German chancellor grumbled at being asked to play games and take tests with the Prime Minister, US and Chinese presidents around a table with dozens of heads of state at a nuclear summit in The Hague, the report said.

The nuclear war game was a computer test based on the scenario that if an atomic bomb was to hit any of their metropolitan cities what steps would they take — would they inform the people or would they accede to the demands of the terrorist organisation?

US President Barack Obama helped make the game and the test was also aimed at being impulsive and without the aid of any advisers. In a competitive environment, with a ticking clock, the leaders had to make rapid choices before the results were presented to the group, anonymously stripped of their identities and followed by discussion.

http://www.deccanchronicl(...)fed-nuclear-war-game
_{(foto is toegevoegd)}

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Western governments see continuing Russian buildup on Ukraine border

(Reuters) - U.S. and European security agencies estimate Russia has deployed military and militia units totaling more than 30,000 people along its border with eastern Ukraine, according to U.S. and European sources familiar with official reporting.

The current estimates represent what officials on both sides of the Atlantic describe as a continuing influx of Russian forces along the Ukraine frontier, the sources said.

The 30,000 figure represents a significant increase from a figure of 20,000 Russian troops along the border that was widely reported in U.S. and European media last week.

But U.S. and European security sources noted that these estimates are imprecise. Some estimates put current troop levels as high as 35,000 while others still suggest a level of 25,000, the sources said.

However, the sources said that U.S. and European government experts believe that there has been, and continues to be, a steady and noticeable buildup in the total number of Russian forces along the Ukrainian border, though some military units have rotated in or out of the area.

U.S. and European security sources said that the Russian force deployed along the Ukraine border includes regular military including infantry and armored units and some air support.

Also deployed are militia or special forces units comprised of Russian fighters, wearing uniforms lacking insignia or other identifying markings, similar to the first Russian forces to move into Crimea during Russia's recent military takeover there.

U.S. officials said that what Russian President Vladimir Putin actually plans to do with his forces deployed on the Ukraine border is unknown. Some officials say intelligence information available to policymakers regarding what Putin is thinking, and what he is saying to his advisors and military commanders, is fragmentary to non-existent.

But the portents are potentially ominous. "No one's ruling out the possibility of additional Russian military aggression," one U.S. official said.

U.S. President Barack Obama was non-committal when asked about the 30,000 Russian troops estimate at a news conference in The Hague on Tuesday.

"With respect to the Russian troops that are along the border of Ukraine at the moment, right now they are on Russian soil. And if they stay on Russian soil, we oppose what appears to be an effort of intimidation, but Russia has a right, legally, to have its troops on its own soil. I don't think it's a done deal. And I think that Russia's still making a series of calculations," Obama said.

http://www.reuters.com/ar(...)dUSBREA2P22120140326

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Poll: Ukraine Crisis Hurts Obama Approval Ratings
_{WASHINGTON March 26, 2014 (AP)
By CONNIE CASS and JENNIFER AGIESTA Associated Press}

Foreign policy used to stand out as a not-so-bleak spot in the public's waning assessment of Barack Obama. Not anymore. He's getting low marks for handling Russia's swoop into Ukraine, and more Americans than ever disapprove of the way Obama is doing his job, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.

Despite the poor performance reviews, Obama's primary tactic so far — imposing economic sanctions on key Russians — has strong backing.

Close to 9 out of 10 Americans support sanctions as a response to Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, the poll indicates. About half of that group says the U.S. sanctions so far are about right, while the other half wants to see them strengthened, the AP-GfK poll found.

Most Democrats say the sanctions were OK, while a majority of Republicans find them too weak.

"We're supposed to be a country that helps smaller countries in need," said Christopher Ashby, 29, a Republican in Albemarle, N.C., who wants a more powerful response. "Ukraine at this time is definitely in need."

Ashby, a stay-at-home dad caring for three young daughters, said, "When I look at Obama, I see my 5-year-old daughter looking at something that just happened and saying, 'What do I do?'"

Overall disapproval of the job Obama is doing ticked up to 59 percent — a record high for his presidency — in the poll released Wednesday. That's still well below the 72 percent disapproval rate that former President George W. Bush recorded in the AP-GfK poll in October 2008. Still, Obama's 41 percent approval rating is a sobering number for fellow Democrats running in this fall's House and Senate elections.
http://abcnews.go.com/Pol(...)-obama-home-23069843

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Ukraine agrees to 50% gas price hike amid IMF talks

Ukraine's interim government says it will raise gas prices for domestic consumers by 50% in an effort to secure an International Monetary Fund (IMF) aid package.

An official at Ukraine's Naftogaz state energy company said the price rise would take effect on 1 May, and further rises would be scheduled until 2018.
Ukrainians are accustomed to buying gas at heavily subsidised rates. But the IMF has made subsidy reform a condition of its deal.

Ukraine currently buys more than half of its natural gas from Russia's Gazprom, and then sells it on to consumers at below market prices.
Yury Kolbushkin, budget and planning director at Naftogaz, told reporters that gas prices for district heating companies would also rise by 40% from 1 July.

IMF negotiators are still in Kiev to negotiate a package of measures worth billions of dollars to help Ukraine's interim government plug its budget deficit and meet foreign loan repayments.

Deal expected
The IMF is also asking Ukraine to crack down on corruption and end central bank support for the Ukrainian currency.

On Tuesday, Ukraine's finance minister Olexander Shlapak said the country was seeking $15-20bn (£9-12bn) from the IMF. The Financial Times has reported that a rescue package worth about $15bn is close to being agreed, and could be announced as early as Thursday.

An agreement with the IMF is necessary to unlock further financial support from the EU and US.
Financial help is urgently required as Ukraine has been forced to plunder its foreign currency reserves, and the economy is expected to contract by 3% this year, according to the country's finance ministry.

In the US, arguments in Congress over reforms to the IMF have held up plans to offer Ukraine $1bn in loan guarantees.
The EU says its financial support, potentially worth 1.6bn euros (£1.3bn) is contingent on the IMF deal being agreed.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26758788

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Crimean chief prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya ‘wanted’ by Ukraine's security service


Ukrainian national security service has put Crimea’s chief prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya on its wanted list. She is charged of taking actions aimed at the violent overthrow of constitutional order and takeover of government power.

Poklonskaya took the office as Crimea defied the coup-imposed government in Kiev and sought independence from Ukraine. After the peninsula joined the Russian Federation, she was appointed as Crimea's acting chief prosecutor by Russia’s General Prosecutor Yury Chaika.

The Ukrainian National Service for Security and Defense accuse her of violating article 109 of the Criminal Code, which deals with overthrow of the government.

Poklonskaya became somewhat of an internet sensation due you relative youth, attractive appearance and emotional media conferences. A number of anime-style drawings of the official are currency circulation on the web, with many supporters calling her ‘kawaii prosecutor’ after the Japanese term for cuteness.

The now-wanted in Ukraine officer of the law is somewhat irritated with her web popularity, she told the media, because it undermines the serious nature of her job.

Last week the Ukrainian security service said it was investigating 22 alleged cases under Article 109. Seven of the alleged ‘separatists’, as Kiev calls them, are under arrest. Among those charged are several leaders of protests in eastern Ukraine, which defied the new authorities.
http://rt.com/news/prosecutor-poklonskaya-wanted-crimea-349/

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Workers fear for the future in Ukraine's industrial east

Standing outside Donetsk's coal mine, Igor Yefremov mused over the future of Ukraine's heavy industry. "If we join the European Union our mines and factories will shut down," he said. "Already the orders from Russia are drying up. Russia doesn't want us because of the chaos in Kiev."

Yefremov was waiting to meet his brother-in-law, who was working on the early shift at the city centre mine. Above ground, the scene was tranquil. Off-duty workers sat on benches in a small, sunny rose garden, dwarfed by two giant pit frames.

It has been a tumultuous month for Ukraine. There has been a revolution in Kiev, the abrupt exit of the country's pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, and military occupation. Russia has seized Crimea, denounced the country's new interim government as "fascist" and launched an all-out information war to justify Crimea's annexation.

The uprising against Yanukovych started last November when he dropped plans to sign an association agreement with the EU, and instead announced a $15bn bailout from Moscow. Last week, Ukraine's new interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, signed the original agreement in Brussels. In theory, at least, this puts Ukraine on a path towards European integration.

But in the heavily industrialised Donbass area of eastern Ukraine, many are wondering what this geopolitical tug of war might mean for them. The Donets basin – the political home of Yanukovych and his Party of Regions – hosts numerous Soviet-era factories: machine-building works, steel and chemical plants, mines, and medium-sized businesses that make fridges.

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Economists say that Kiev's move towards the EU will have positive and negative consequences. The EU last week abolished import tariffs for Ukrainian goods, previously at 14%. This will help Ukraine's agricultural sector, they suggest – principally businesses that export milk, cheese and sunflower oil. The EU says the deal will help trade between Moscow and Kiev.

http://www.theguardian.co(...)-industrialised-east

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Clegg 'shocked' by Farage's stance on Ukraine

Nick Clegg has gone on the attack following his EU debate with Nigel Farage, accusing the UKIP leader of "siding with Putin" on Ukraine.

At the end of their hour-long clash, Mr Farage said the EU had "blood on its hands" for encouraging revolution.
Clegg 'shocked' by Farage's stance on Ukraine
Mr Clegg, speaking on his weekly LBC radio show, said he was "shocked" by the UKIP leader's comments, which he would raise at the pair's next debate.

A YouGov poll for The Sun suggested Mr Farage had won by 57% to 36%.

Mr Farage will get a chance to react to the debate on Friday, when he takes part in an LBC phone-in - and the pair will stage another debate on whether Britain should stay in the EU on 2 April, which will be shown on BBC Two.

Most newspapers declared the UKIP leader the winner of the first round, taking their cue from the YouGov poll:
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http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-26761258

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Nationalists Keep Ukraine on Edge as Stability Is Elusive
By Aliaksandr Kudrytski and Jake Rudnitsky Mar 27, 2014 11:38 AM GMT+0100
http://www.bloomberg.com/(...)s-start-to-fray.html

Beneath the scorched, black facade of the Trade Union building in Kiev’s central square, armed nationalists who stoked the deadly overthrow of Ukraine’s previous rulers are undermining their successors.

A month after the uprising, militants in camouflage gear and flak jackets line up empty glass bottles ready to be turned into Molotov cocktails, defying demands to abandon their arms. Some of the protesters who fought riot police for regime change are now turning on the new administration. One of their commanders was killed in a firefight with police this week.

“The people who’re still here helped install the new authorities but now they want to slip out of our control,” said Vyacheslav, 40, a Pravyi Sektor activist in sand-colored U.S. military fatigues. He declined to give his last name because of the tensions. “We’ll stay to keep them in check.”

As Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk races to stave off bankruptcy and grapples with Russia’s takeover of Crimea, his interim cabinet is battling unrest among former allies within the country’s borders. Nationalist groups risk damaging security, discrediting the government and handing Russia a pretext to push its forces further into Ukraine, which President Vladimir Putin says is in the grip of fascists.

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“Muzychko’s death was a signal to other ultra-right wing groups,” Makarkin said. “Europe and the U.S. have told the authorities in no uncertain terms that the government needs to deal with this issue.”

Russia, which says it had to annex Crimea to protect its kin from a backlash, has pounced on the unrest. Incidents in eastern Ukraine, where Russian is widely spoken, have sparked concern Putin will give the green light for thousands of troops on his neighbor’s border to advance.

To help bolster Ukraine, the International Monetary Fund reached a staff-level agreement with the government that unlocks $27 billion in international support over the next two years, the lender said in an e-mailed statement today. If approved by the IMF’s board in Washington, it would be the country’s third bailout since 2008.

Ukraine’s new rulers have added fuel to Russia’s narrative, naming four members of the nationalist Svoboda party to the government. Svoboda, labeled racist and anti-Semitic by the European Union parliament in 2012, an accusation it denies, got posts including deputy premier and prosecutor general.

Fighting Enemies

The party’s lawmakers have also caused a storm outside the corridors of power. Ihor Miroshnychenko, who had to apologize in 2012 for an anti-Semitic slur toward Ukrainian-born actress Mila Kunis, was filmed physically intimidating the head of state-run UT1 television. He accused the executive of pro-Russian coverage and made him sign a resignation letter.

While Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok said afterward that the authorities must use legal means to fight Ukraine’s “enemies,” Russian state TV channels such as English-language RT pounced on the video to back up the Kremlin’s claims of extremism.

A Kiev court on March 25 ordered providers to stop carrying three Russian state channels as of today, according to a statement from Volia, a Ukrainian cable operator. Volia added TV Rain, an independent Russian channel that has been dropped by major cable companies at home amid a crackdown on the opposition.

Arresting “Goons”

“Moscow is continuing to gather multiple cases of gross violations of the rights of the Russian-speaking population and other ethnic groups in Ukraine by homegrown ultra-nationalists and neo-Nazis,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said March 26.

The government, which has seen the hryvnia drop 20 percent since Yanukovych was deposed, has begun to fight back. Prosecutors opened a criminal case into the UT1 attack, while Interior Minister Avakov pledged to arrest “goons” who dress in protest-movement outfits after a “huge number” of disturbances.

“Let’s distinguish between the real self-defense force that did and still does exist and those thugs who disguise themselves in the same clothes,” Avakov said. “Everyone who’s covering themselves and acting under the guise of self-defense, carrying weapons or shields, is a criminal.”

More than 3,000 guns and 30,000 bullets were surrendered to authorities during the amnesty, the Interior Ministry said March 24 on the government website.

Kalashnikovs, Handguns

The government is also proposing militants join a newly created National Guard in which 4,000 enlisted on the first day. Many of those who’ve remained stationed in the tent camp at Independence Square, or Maidan, have refused because the new force reports to the police rather than the army, which remained neutral as Yanukovych fled to Russia.

Aside a rickety wooden table that doubles as a recruiting post, Pravyi Sektor nationalists lure passers-by to join their militia instead of the National Guard, which is seeking volunteers nearby. The bulk of the uniformed paramilitaries -- who show off weapons including a hunting rifle, a handgun and a Kalashnikov -- scoffed at the idea of uniting protesters with the police with whom they so recently locked horns.

“What we see here is Maidan syndrome,” said Oleksandr Suprunyuk, a 51-year-old construction-company owner who’s also a member of the 38th division of the protesters’ defense force. “Many of these people lost their friends here and they’re still full of hatred. Time must pass to heal this.”

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"Russia produced approximately 510 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas in 2011, and approximately 60% of it was sold on the domestic Russian market. Russia has one of the highest domestic consumption rates per capita of natural gas - understandably so, since Russia is one of the world's coldest countries, and heating and electricity use is high. Russian industry also depends heavily on natural gas.

Russia uses a four-tier pricing system for natural gas: two tiers for domestic prices, one for the former Soviet states and one for its European customers. Russia has long capped domestic natural gas prices, a practise left over from the Soviet era. Currently, Russia charges between $75 and $97 per thousand cubic metres (tcm) on the domestic market, with households and municipal entities, such as schools and hospitals, paying the lower price and industrial entities paying more. Most of the former Soviet states pay in the mid-$200s and Europe pays $350 to $450 per tcm.

Russia's natural gas firms - primarily Gazprom - are suffering financially because of measures that let domestic users pay a fraction of the price Russia's foreign customers pay. In the past decade, the Kremlin has permitted Gazprom to increase its price by 14 to 25% a year. This gradual increase has prevented a massive backlash from natural gas consumers in Russia because it has been accompanied by improving economic standards in the country. However, Gazprom says this increase is insufficient.

Gazprom has continued to stay afloat and remain strong because of its sales abroad, where its revenue is approximately $279 per tcm (double the cost of production).
http://www.euractiv.com/e(...)emma-analysis-512092

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United Nations General Assembly Vote Isolates Russia

UNITED NATIONS — In the first barometer of global condemnation of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Ukraine and its Western backers persuaded a large majority of countries in the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday to dismiss the annexation as illegal, even as Russia sought to rally world support for the idea of self-determination.

The resolution, proposed by Ukraine and backed by the United States and the European Union, represented the latest effort to isolate President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia over the annexation, which followed a March 16 referendum in the peninsula that has been internationally regarded as Ukrainian territory.

The resolution garnered 100 votes in favor, 11 votes against, with 58 abstentions. The two-page text does not identify Russia by name, but describes the referendum as “having no validity” and calls on countries not to recognize the redrawing of Ukraine’s borders.

Ukraine’s acting foreign minister, Andriy Deshchytsia, called Russia’s actions “a direct violation of the United Nations Charter.”

Russia said Crimea should not have been part of Ukraine anyway and appealed to another element in United Nations principles: the right of Crimeans to self-determination.

That assertion was disputed by Samantha Power, the United States ambassador, in the debate that preceded the vote. Coercion cannot be the means to self-determination, she argued. “The chaos that would ensue is not a world that any of us can afford,” she said.

The most poignant argument came from Costa Rica. Small states have only the power of international law “to defend our sovereignty,” its ambassador, Eduardo Ulibarri, said. The resolution proposed by Ukraine, he said, would help to reaffirm that power.

The resolution was regarded as an important pressure point on Russia by the United States and European Union, which had been lobbying intensely for its passage. “This is critical for the U.S.-Europe strategy to isolate Putin and condemn him internationally for Russia’s violation of the U.N. Charter in invading Crimea,” said Nicholas R. Burns, a former American diplomat in the Bush administration.

Although the resolution has no enforcement power, it is symbolically significant in the history of General Assembly votes. The United States has rarely corralled a majority of General Assembly members, especially after the American-led invasion of Iraq more than a decade ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/20(...)-on-Crimea.html?_r=0

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Ukraine leader Turchynov seeks approval for joint Nato exercises

Ukraine's leader sought parliamentary approval yesterday for military exercises with Nato partners that would put American troops in direct proximity to Russian forces in the annexed Crimea peninsula.

Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov's request came as the chief of Russia's general staff announced in Moscow that his forces were now in full control of all of Ukraine's 193 military bases in the Black Sea region before its seizure by Kremlin forces at the start of the month.

Turchynov said Ukraine wanted to conduct two sets of military exercises with the United States this summer - Rapid Trident and Sea Breeze - that have prompted disquiet in Russia in previous years.

Ukraine is planning two additional manoeuvres with Nato member Poland as well as joint ground operations with Moldova and Romania.

The Sea Breeze exercises have especially irritated Moscow because they had on occasion been staged in Crimea - the home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

Those manoeuvres have in more recent years been moved to the Black Sea port of Odessa where Ukraine also has a naval base.

An explanatory note accompanying Turchynov's request to parliament said the naval section of Sea Breeze would this time be conducted over a 25-day span between July and October out of two Odessa ports and "along the waters of the Black Sea".
http://www.scmp.com/news/(...)joint-nato-exercises

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 20:03 schreef theNull het volgende:

twitter:

EuromaidanPR twitterde op donderdag 27-03-2014 om 19:58:58 Live stream from the rally of the Right Sector activists near the #Ukrainian Parliament now http://t.co/EzX1SSgik9 | PR News reageer retweet

quote:

Beneath the scorched, black facade of the Trade Union building in Kiev’s central square, armed nationalists who stoked the deadly overthrow of Ukraine’s previous rulers are undermining their successors.

A month after the uprising, militants in camouflage gear and flak jackets line up empty glass bottles ready to be turned into Molotov cocktails, defying demands to abandon their arms. Some of the protesters who fought riot police for regime change are now turning on the new administration. One of their commanders was killed in a firefight with police this week.

“The people who’re still here helped install the new authorities but now they want to slip out of our control,” said Vyacheslav, 40, a Pravyi Sektor activist in sand-colored U.S. military fatigues. He declined to give his last name because of the tensions. “We’ll stay to keep them in check.

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 20:11 schreef TLC het volgende:
A new classified intelligence assessment concludes it is more likely than previously thought that Russian forces will enter eastern Ukraine, CNN has learned.

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 20:28 schreef theNull het volgende:

twitter:

EuromaidanPR twitterde op donderdag 27-03-2014 om 20:25:40 FALSE All #Russian Media reports that the Verkhovna Rada of #Ukraine are captured by the Right Sector. Live: http://t.co/EzX1SSgik9 |PR reageer retweet

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In Kiev, the activists of the "right sector" blocked the building of the Verkhovna Rada and demanded the resignation of the acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov , which , in their opinion , ordered the destruction of Alexander Muzychko movement coordinator . They also urged the tribunal to give former acting Defense Minister Igor Tenyukh for inefficient Command, in the Crimea. Several thousand radicals and their supporters chanting " Revolution! " And plan to storm the parliament. On this evening, March 27 writes "Ukrainian Truth" .

Gathered in front of several thousand people. Militants besieged Radu tires, smashed glass on the front door. When the protesters came Verkhovna Rada Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov , they booed him with cries of "Shame! ".

By vsedeniyam "Vesti ", one of the organizers of the rally became a member of the political council of the "right sector " Oleg Odnorozhenko he called to occupy parliament as MPs take " anti-national " laws . On the morning of Friday , March 28 , the extremists are going to be on duty to the Parliament , and at noon to report on what is happening on Independence Square .

Currently, to the parliament building shrink column "right sector," come and civilians it is reported that some protesters are armed .

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 20:31 schreef Woestijnvos het volgende:
Gebeurd nog maar weinig.