Crisis in Oekraïne #95 nationalisme en zijn nadelen

quote:

Op dinsdag 20 mei 2014 22:51 schreef UpsideDown het volgende:

[..]

quote:

Op dinsdag 20 mei 2014 21:10 schreef UpsideDown het volgende:

[..]

quote:

De Denen hebben 40 jaar geleden besloten dat ze helemaal onafhankelijk willen zijn van energie uit het buitenland. Dat is ze gelukt, iedere Deen helpt eraan mee om het land de eigen broek te laten ophouden.

VIDEO

quote:

Ukraine Is Now Detaining Journalists Too

Phillips, a Ukraine-based schoolteacher who started documenting developments in the country during the Euromaidan protests, and later in Crimea, had last tweeted from Mariupol, where he was detained. While in the custody of Ukrainian forces he was however able to speak with RT.

'Kiev forces hold me after detention at Mariupol checkpoint'

quote:

Op woensdag 21 mei 2014 11:12 schreef meth1745 het volgende:

[..]

Europa betaalt 10.6$ per mmBtu, China betaalt 9$ voor gas uit Turkmenistan, Gazprom wil een prijs rond 10$ - 11$, China eerder 9$.

quote:

Op woensdag 21 mei 2014 11:38 schreef J.B. het volgende:

[..]

Maar die $5 a $6 zal ook gelden voor Rusland, dus dan ligt het nog altijd voor de hand om de Amerikanen te kiezen voor het leveren van LNG, daar doelde ik dus op

quote:

Op woensdag 21 mei 2014 11:36 schreef meth1745 het volgende:
neem aan dat je 7.6$ per mmBtu bedoelt?

quote:

Op woensdag 21 mei 2014 11:51 schreef J.B. het volgende:

[..]

Ik reageerde hierop:

[..]

quote:

Op woensdag 21 mei 2014 12:59 schreef HD9 het volgende:

[..]

en op oekraine ??

quote:

Ukrtransgas Company

Ukrtransgas Affiliated Company is a division of "Naftogas of Ukraine" National Company - the successor to the former "Ukrgazprom".

Ukrtransgas took over also some functions of the former "Ukrgaz" state-owned holding, once the operator of urban and rural low-pressure gas pipelines and the supplier of natural and liquefied gas to industrial sites.

Today Ukrtransgas' activities are:
- gas transmission and underground gas storage;
- supply of natural gas to domestic consumers;
- production and supply of liquefied and compressed gas to vehicles (NGV);
- construction of HP (high pressure) and LP (low pressure) pipelines;
- development of industrial sites and community facilities;
- export-import transactions (engineering services included);
- business development.

As a backbone of Ukrainian oil and gas industry, Ukrtransgas controls the 35,600-km gas pipeline system and 12 underground gas storage facilities. Almost 90 percent of Russian gas exports are transported through Ukraine.

quote:

Energy Delta Institute: Country gas profiles - Ukraine

Ukraine plays a crucial role as a transit country for Russian gas heading towards the EU. About 80-90% of Ukraine’s gas imports are re-exported. Naftohaz Ukrayiny established in 2002 together with Gazprom LLC International Consortium to manage and upgrade the Ukrainian gas infrastructure.

quote:

Ukraine, Gazprom and transit issues – Gas Factsheet

TRANSIT VIA UKRAINE

- Ukraine has signed a 10-year Europe-bound gas transit contract with Gazprom in 2009. Ukraine has taken responsibility to ensure safe and reliable transit of Russian gas under fair and transparent commercial conditions.

- Naftogaz Ukraine has been prepaid a total of $5.5bn to transit Russian gas until January 1, 2015.

- As of Q2, 2014 the tariff for transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian will increase by 10% in line with the 2009 contract which correlates transit charge with the current gas price for Ukraine.

- In 2013 Ukraine earned almost $3bn in transit payments from Gazprom.

quote:

Briton Graham Phillips held in Ukraine

A British national has been detained in Ukraine, the Foreign Office has confirmed.

Graham Phillips is a journalist working for Russian TV station Russia Today.

It is understood he was detained in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday and was taken to Kiev overnight by the Ukrainian National Guard.

The Foreign Office said: "We are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities and stand ready to provide consular assistance."

Обращение �хметова по�ле гудка

quote:

First of all, I wish to express my deep gratitude to everyone who took part in the Voice of Donbass action.

I know that many more wanted to join but were intimidated by pistols and machine guns. Cars were smashed… In short, they acted as savages.

But I am deeply certain that you cannot feed people on guns nor can you ever build a strong economy without good jobs and salaries.

And in spite of everything, the voice of Donbass has sounded and will sound stronger!

Many ask what is next. Fight, fight and fight again for your happiness, your present and your future!

I believe that the Donetsk People’s Republic are deceiving the people of Donbass. They are imposters who have taken the entire Donbass hostage and are terrorising it.

Who are they? What are those people? Where did those “geniuses” come from? What were they yesterday? They have not created a single job.

I have served and will continue to serve the people of Donbass. The people of Donbass are in my heart forever!

But that bunch of imposters terrorising Donbass… I believe they will be kicked out of here very soon.

If some of you believe that they are leading us to success, this is a mistake. It is a huge mistake.

They are leading to collapse, poverty and hunger. Through their actions they are killing Donbass, not protecting it.

I wanted to tell my fellow countrymen again – I am always straight with you. Only time will show who was right and who was not; who said the truth, and who lied; who made a mistake and was under delusion.

We, the Donbass, and the Donetsk People's Republic have different roads to go!

Ukraine's richest man hits out at rebels

quote:

Australia on Wednesday announced further sanctions against allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin as it reaffirmed its "clear and unequivocal support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine".

The financial sanctions and travel bans were expanded to cover an additional 38 unnamed Russians and Ukrainians and 11 entities. A total of 50 people are now affected.

"I remain deeply concerned by the escalation of events in the east of Ukraine, which has resulted in tragic loss of life," Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement.

"Australia stands united with the Ukrainian people in this ordeal and calls on Russia again to change course. The deliberate destabilisation within Ukraine must stop."

quote:

Op woensdag 21 mei 2014 16:47 schreef meth1745 het volgende:

[..]

Beetje vreemd moment om over escalatie te spreken, de NY Times bvb meldde gisteren dat het kalmer lijkt te worden.

quote:

Putin finds Ukraine constitutional referendum before president polls more logical

Would it be easier to hold a referendum on main issues at first, a referendum on constitution, enact it and then on a basis of a new constitution already to elect president, parliament and form a government after that?

But current Ukrainian authorities have taken another decision with support of European countries and the United States.

quote:

Putin says will be hard to work with Ukraine's new leaders

It will be very hard for us to build relations with people who come to power against the backdrop of a continuing punitive operation in southern and southeastern Ukraine.

quote:

OSCE observers arrive in Ukraine to monitor May 25 election

The first group of around 900 election observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the OSCE, has arrived in Ukraine, ahead of the country’s presidential election on Sunday.

The observers arrived in Kiev on Tuesday, tasked with monitoring the May 25th vote. The OSCE plans to send observers to all of Ukraine’s regions, including the volatile east. Observers will be deployed in teams of two throughout the country, to monitor the opening of polling stations, voting, the counting of ballots, as well as the tabulation of results at all levels.

quote:

Duizenden agenten beschermen kiezers Oekraïne

Meer dan 55.000 agenten en 20.000 vrijwilligers moeten er zondag voor zorgen dat de stemgerechtigden zondag veilig hun stem kunnen uitbrengen bij de presidentsverkiezingen in Oekraïne. Dat meldden media in het Oost-Europese land vandaag. Alleen al in de hoofdstad Kiev zullen ongeveer 8300 agenten actief zijn.

'Wij willen een dreigende agressie van Rusland en aanvallen van separatisten onmogelijk maken', aldus een woordvoerder van de regering in Kiev. In het hele land zijn ongeveer 32.000 stembureaus. De Nationale Kiesraad erkende maandag dat in het oosten van het land veel mensen hun stem niet zullen kunnen uitbrengen. In de regio Donetsk heeft slechts een kwart van de kiescolleges een lijst van stemgerechtigden ingediend en in de regio Loehansk is dat slechts 16 procent. De pro-Russische separatisten zullen daar verhinderen dat mensen gaan stemmen.

quote:

Succes voor extreem-rechts in Oekraïne?

Hij is de favoriete kandidaat onder nationalistische Oekraïeners bij de presidentsverkiezingen van aanstaande zondag: Svoboda Leider Olek Tjagnibok. Ondanks zijn - volgens critici - anti-semitistische sympathieën.

quote:

Russian Says Military Moving Away From Ukraine

SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — Several trains carrying weapons and planeloads of troops have left regions near Ukraine as part of a massive military pullout, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday, even as fighting raged between pro-Russian insurgents and government forces in eastern Ukraine.

The ministry said four trainloads of weapons and 15 Il-76 heavy-lift transport planes left the Belgorod, Bryansk and Rostov regions on Wednesday. The ministry added that the troops are to reach their permanent bases before June 1.

NATO, which estimates that Russia has 40,000 troops along the border with Ukraine, repeated Tuesday that it hadn't yet seen any signs of a Russian withdrawal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin scoffed at NATO's skepticism, saying Wednesday that the pullout involving large numbers of troops would take time and "those who aren't seeing it should look better." He said the pullout will be clearly visible in satellite images.

[...]

In the village of Semenovka on the outskirts of Slovyansk, artillery shelling that appeared to come from government positions badly damaged several houses Thursday.

Zinaida Patskan, 80, had the roof of her house torn by an explosion, which also shattered one of the walls. "Why they are hitting us?" she said, bursting into tears. "We are peaceful people!"
Patskan, who wasn't hurt, said she was hiding under a kitchen table with her cat, Timofey, when the shelling came.

About a hundred Semenovka residents later vented their anger against the central government, demanding that the Ukrainian forces cease their offensive and withdraw from the region. Speakers at the rally also called for boycotting the presidential vote.

БОЙ за блокпо�т в Семёновке!Снар�ды разрывают�� в ДОМ�Х мирных жителей!�ово�ти,Семёновка,Слав�н�к!

quote:

Elf doden bij militair checkpoint Oekraïne

Bij een controlepost van het Oekraïense leger zijn elf mensen gedood. Dat hebben verslaggevers van persbureau AP vanochtend gemeld. Ooggetuigen zeggen dat pro-Russische separatisten het checkpoint hebben aangevallen.

Bij het checkpoint, dat ligt in het stadje Blahodatne in de oostelijke regio Donetsk, zou vanochtend vroeg hevig zijn gevochten. De ooggetuigen zagen bij de controlepost drie geblakerde Oekraïense pantserwagens en verschillende andere uitgebrande legervoertuigen staan. Vermoedelijk zijn de doden Oekraïense militairen. Er zouden ook ongeveer dertig soldaten gewond zijn geraakt.

quote:

Many soldiers die in Donetsk attack

Ukraine's government has confirmed a deadly attack on troops in the eastern region of Donetsk, with reports saying at least 11 soldiers died.

Heavily armed "terrorists" attacked a checkpoint in the Volnovakha area, killing or wounding a number of soldiers, the defence ministry said.

Associated Press journalists counted 11 bodies at the scene while a Russian website said 15 soldiers had died.

Коломой�кий разгромил �вою нацгвардию , �овотроицк Благодатное Донецка� обла�ть 22 05 2014

quote:

Op donderdag 22 mei 2014 12:24 schreef firefly3 het volgende:
Is het russisch leger al weg? Poetin zou twee weken geleden al terugtrekken.

quote:

Donetsk sees deadliest attack on troops

A dawn attack on a checkpoint in eastern Ukraine has left at least 14 soldiers dead, in the worst loss of life for government forces to date.

Heavily armed militants attacked the checkpoint in the Volnovakha area, in one of four attacks reported overnight in eastern Ukraine.

It is unclear who attacked the checkpoint, with one Ukrainian officer telling the BBC it was not separatists.

[...]

Photographs taken by an Associated Press news agency crew show bodies lying in a field or inside a car outside the village of Blahodatne, which is near the town of Volnovakha.

Three charred armoured infantry vehicles, their turrets blown away by powerful explosions, and several burned lorries could also be seen.

quote:

World Bank provides $1.5 bn for 3 projects in Ukraine

The World Bank on Thursday approved nearly $1.5 billion in financing for three projects in Ukraine to help the embattled country undertake critical reforms and build infrastructure. The new projects are funded as part of a $27 billion aid package promised by the international community to Ukraine as it struggles with deep economic and political crises.

Roughly half of the World Bank's new financing announced Thursday -- $750 million -- is to support "high-priority" reform measures, including efforts to fight corruption in the public sector and the reform of "inefficient and inequitable utility subsidies" while protecting the poor, the Bank said. The Washington-based institution also will provide $382 million to support improvements in heating energy efficiency and $350 million to fund upgrades of water and solid waste services.

quote:

Pro-Ukraine forces clash with separatists near Donetsk

(Reuters) - Armed pro-Russian separatists ambushed a convoy of Ukrainian self-defense fighters near Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk on Friday, two days before a presidential election, and some soldiers have been wounded, military sources said.

"They (the separatists) are using automatic weapons, snipers and grenade launchers against the battalion," Semen Semenchenko, the commander of a pro-Ukrainian militia group called the Donbass region battalion, said on his Facebook page.

Yuri Bereza, the commander of pro-Ukrainian self-defence forces in a nearby region who had headed to the scene, told Reuters by telephone: "The fighting is still going on, we are evacuating the wounded." He gave no figure for the wounded.

quote:

Julia Loffe (twitter)

Five killed in Karlovka: three separatist fighters, one guy with a swastika looks like a volunteer(?), and a civilian.

quote:

Slightly more than 19% of Ukraine's 35.5 million voters live in the three regions affected by pro-Russian unrest: Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk. In Crimea (1.8m voters or 5.1%) there is no voting at all following its annexation by Russia. In Donetsk region (3.3m voters or 9.3%), half of the district electoral commissions are either under rebel control or vulnerable to attack during the election, electoral officials say. In Luhansk (1.8m or 5%), it is a similar picture for two thirds of the commissions.

quote:

Is the election going ahead?

The Ukrainian government is sparing no effort to enable the election to take place. It has admitted, however, that it may not be possible to hold the poll in territories controlled by pro-Russian groups in the east. The latter have vowed to thwart the vote, and there have been reports of election officials being intimidated and electoral commission offices being taken over by pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine.

In Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in March, there will be no voting.

There is no minimum turnout requirement. If none of the candidates wins more than 50% of the vote, a run-off between the two top contenders will be held on 15 June.

quote:

Why does the vote matter?

However, presidential powers were significantly reduced after Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine. The next president will be able to nominate foreign and defence ministers as well as the country's top prosecutor and the head of the security service, for parliamentary approval. The rest of the cabinet will be appointed by MPs.

The president can no longer dismiss the cabinet, but retains the power to dissolve parliament

quote:

Who are the main contenders?

Billionaire Petro Poroshenko is the clear frontrunner, with former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko trailing behind.

Mr Poroshenko is a confectionery tycoon known as the "chocolate king". He also owns the popular news channel 5 Kanal TV. He has been endorsed by prominent politician Yuriy Lutsenko, a former interior minister, as well as by boxing champion-turned-politician Vitaliy Klitschko.

Mr Poroshenko's election manifesto promises to devolve more authority to the regions in an apparent attempt to calm tensions in the east. At the same time, it vows to preserve Ukraine as a unitary state.

Former Prime Minister Mrs Tymoshenko, a polarising but charismatic figure, is a fierce critic of former President Viktor Yanukovych. She was jailed during his time in office, in a move widely condemned as politically motivated, but released after he was ousted.

In her campaign, Mrs Tymoshenko has called Russian President Vladimir Putin Ukraine's "enemy number one". She promises to reduce Ukraine's dependence on its "hostile" neighbour, particularly in the energy sector.

quote:

The ruling party under Viktor Yanukovych, the Party of Regions, nominated former Kharkiv mayor and governor Mykhaylo Dobkin as its candidate, but MP Serhiy Tyhypko, who was recently expelled from the party, is also running.

quote:

Speech by Ukraine's interim president Oleksandr Turchynov

On Sunday, May 25, we are having the presidential election.

For the last 3 months our enemies have been doing all they could to destabilize the situation in the country and disrupt the voting process. But the Ukrainians proved to be stronger and wiser than that.

The authoritites have been taking all possible steps to prevent the election from being disrupted, for the campaigning to be fair and transparent without the use of administrative resource and pressure on the voters, to secure a chance for all Ukrainians to elect a descent president.

Today we are building a new European country, its foundation was laid by the millions of Ukrainians who proved that they were able to protect their choice and their country. We'll never again let our liberty and independence to be taken from us or that our Ukraine is turned into a part of a post-Soviet empire.

We are creating efficient troops now, we have begun reforming our police system and the judicial branch of power, and we are laying the first stones of the new economic model of our country.

Having elected the president in the May 25 election, we'll finish forming a legitimate and responsible government in Ukraine. We'll finish cementing the foundation of our country.

I call on every one of you to come to the polling station and give your vote to a candidate that you trust.

I believe that together we can turn Ukraine into a democratic legal country, where it will be safe to live and raise children, where the government will be accountable to the nation, and the country will be working for its citizens.

Let's not forget: the future of Ukraine depends on the civil duty of every one of us!

God bless Ukraine and God bless you and your families.

quote:

Ukraine's two top presidential hopefuls

Profile: Petro Poroshenko

Ukraine's seventh richest man and a major supporter of protests in Kiev's Maidan square seeks the country's presidency.

Profile: Yulia Tymoshenko

Former prime minister, once called Gas Princess. seeks presidential powers after three years of imprisonment.

quote:

Ukraine: Only 6,000 Crimeans registered to vote

Since the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March, the right and mechanism for Crimeans holding Ukrainian passports to vote in Ukrainian elections are governed primarily by the law on occupied territories, which Ukraine adopted in April. The law requires Ukrainian citizens to register in person at any polling station on the mainland no later than five days before the election. People have to return again to vote on Election Day.

According to the Central Election Commission, 6,000 Crimean voters – of a potential 1.8 million – have registered to vote on the mainland. Most of them are people who have already resettled there, said Andrei Krisko, head of the Ukrainian Committee of Voters’ Crimean branch. He expects less than a 1,000 to travel from Crimea on the day to vote because of the complicated process and long distance.

quote:

Ukraine: Poroshenko goes for first-round win on May 25

If the polls and the candidate’s confidence in the public mood are right, Petro Poroshenko may get elected in a landslide, skipping the need for a second-round runoff.

But he will have to get more than 50 percent of the vote on May 25 on a ballot crowded with 21 names, none of whom are given much of a chance in this truncated campaign triggered by the Feb. 22 overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych.

The average of four publicly released polls over the last 30 days shows Petro Poroshenko winning 48 percent to 13 percent over Yulia Tymoshenko. However when one suspicious poll from an obscure polling firm known as Sociopolis is removed from the mix, Poroshenko wins 52 percent to 11 percent.

quote:

RT reporters barred from entering Ukraine

Cameraman Alexander Serichenko and his assistant Andrei Peleshok were denied entry when they arrived at the airport of Odessa. Without explanations, border guards forced the reporters to buy tickets back to Moscow at their own expense.

quote:

Putin says Ukraine in 'full-scale civil war'

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has said that the crisis in Ukraine has evolved into a full-scale civil war, blaming the US for backing the overthrow of former President Viktor Yanukovich.

Putin's comments came on Friday, just two days before Ukrainian presidential elections undermined by a surge in attacks by pro-Russian separatists in the country's eastern regions.

"The Ukrainian crisis arose because Yanukovich postponed the association agreement with the European Union. This was followed by a coup backed by our American friends and as a result there is chaos and full-scale civil war," he told an economic forum in Russia's Saint Petersburg.

Ukraine's Chocolate King and Gas Princess contend for presidency

quote:

"Maidan" to Ukraine's next president - we will be watching you

As Ukrainians prepare for Sunday's presidential election, the message from Kiev's main square is clear - the new leader will be closely watched and the people could rise up again if they feel cheated.

Three months after Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich fled the capital in the face of a street uprising, Independence Square, or the "Maidan", still looks like a war zone, bedecked with barbed wire and barricades, covered with tents and patrolled by khaki-clad "defenders" in no hurry to pack up.

"I have been here since December. We will stay here until after the presidential election but the new president and authorities must fulfil our demands for genuine democracy and an end to corruption," said Ivan Stratyenko, 40, one of the "sotniki" or commanders of the Maidan.

"The revolution is not finished. Yanukovich has gone but the system that nourished him and allowed him to plunder the country is still in place," said Stratyenko, a former musician from the city of Lviv in the nationalist-minded west of Ukraine.

quote:

Op vrijdag 23 mei 2014 20:09 schreef UpsideDown het volgende:
Update bij het vorige bericht:

[..]

quote:

Armed clashes in east as Ukraine counts down to election

"A small unit was on the road doing reconnaissance and it ran into a roadblock where there were many more separatists than us. They opened sniper fire, they had armored personnel carriers and machineguns," said Semen Semenchenko, commander of the pro-Ukrainian militia force.

But the separatists said the pro-Ukrainian force, backed by members of Ukraine's ultra-nationalist First Sector, opened fire first.

Locals, who mostly stayed indoors once the shooting began in the early morning, had contrasting views of who was to blame.

quote:

Twintig separatisten omgekomen bij gevechten in Oost-Oekraïne

Zo'n vijfhonderd pro-Russische separatisten zijn in het oosten van Oekraïne slaags geraakt met militairen. Dat zegt de interim-regering in Kiev. Twintig pro-Russische strijders zouden zijn omgekomen.

De verklaring van de regering is als volgt: vijfhonderd separatisten vielen regeringstroepen aan in Oost-Oekraïne. Het konvooi werd aangevallen buiten de oostelijke stad Rubizhne. Eén soldaat kwam eerder vandaag om, bij gevechten in hetzelfde gebied.

[...]

Er komen intussen berichten binnen over meer doden dan de regering vermeldt. AP-journalisten zagen vandaag drie doden. Volgens een rebellenleider zijn er nog eens zestien mensen omgekomen: tien soldaten, vier rebellen en twee burgers. Gisteren werden zestien soldaten gedood bij een checkpoint.

quote:

Ukraine checkpoint ambush leaves eight dead

Karlivka, Ukraine - Eight people have been killed in an attack by pro-Kiev fighters on a fortified checkpoint manned by pro-Moscow rebels in the east of Ukraine.

The attack, launched early on Friday in Karlivka, destroyed one building and left four members of the pro-Russian Vostok Battalion, three fighters from the pro-Ukraine Donbass Battalion, and one civilian dead.

Bullet casings and blood trails were visible on the road when Al Jazeera reached the scene of the attack. Two of the dead Donbass Battalion fighters still lay where they fell, one in a car park near a cafe and another in an outbuilding.

"The attack began around 5:30 this morning," said Sergei, a villager who lives across the street from the checkpoint, which protected a small bridge over a reservoir. "They came in from the south along that small road," he said.

The skirmish in the village, 30km northwest of Donetsk, came a day after a surprise attack on a Ukrainian army checkpoint near the village of Volnovakha, to the south of Donetsk, that left an estimated 16 soldiers dead and an undetermined number of separatist fighters.

Karlovka. Aftermath of fatal gun battle. 23.05.2014 (Donetsk oblast)

SPOILER

Om spoilers te kunnen lezen moet je zijn ingelogd. Je moet je daarvoor eerst gratis Registreren. Ook kun je spoilers niet lezen als je een ban hebt.

SPOILER

Om spoilers te kunnen lezen moet je zijn ingelogd. Je moet je daarvoor eerst gratis Registreren. Ook kun je spoilers niet lezen als je een ban hebt.

SPOILER

Om spoilers te kunnen lezen moet je zijn ingelogd. Je moet je daarvoor eerst gratis Registreren. Ook kun je spoilers niet lezen als je een ban hebt.

quote:

Amid final preparations for Ukraine's presidential elections, some voters in the east of the country say they will not recognise the vote. They have destroyed ballot boxes, claiming that eastern regions are no longer part of Ukraine after declaration of independence so it should not be part of the election.

Tensions high on eve of Ukraine's vote

quote:

In Ukraine heartland, politics second to money


Rinat Akhmetov, an industrialist whose companies employ 300,000 people, and who may be the single most powerful man in this part of the country, focuses on one topic: money.

It's also the main concern of most of the men he employs — and that sentiment may turn into a force of unity as Ukraine votes in presidential elections on Sunday.

The miners and steelworkers of eastern Ukraine have a long history of involvement in politics, including a series of strikes that helped hasten the fall of the Soviet Union, and widely remembered marches in the late 1990s.

This time their focus is economic: Fearful of losing their jobs, most industrial workers in this industrial region have steered well clear of politics, limiting support for the separatist movement.

A little over a week ago, workers from Akhmetov's steel factories, working with police, took government buildings away from pro-Moscow insurgents in Mariupol, an industrial port city on the Azov Sea, dealing a serious blow to the anti-Kiev forces that want to merge this part of Ukraine with Russia. Every day, workers at his factories are called together for pro-unity rallies.

Plenty of Akhmetov's employees disagree with his politics. Many are sympathetic to Russian nationalism, and feel little loyalty to the government in Kiev. At Akhmetov's factories in eastern Ukraine, where many people trace their roots to Russia, the Russian language is heard far more often than Ukrainian. At the factory rallies, few workers pay close attention, and calls for applause bring little but weak ripples of clapping.

A handful do support the separatists. But the Ukrainian economy is a disaster, well-paying factory and mining jobs are hard to find, and few want to risk losing them.

If Ukraine's cities can look well-off at first glance, much of that is an economic veneer, fed in part by the ubiquitous government corruption that has enriched a generation of top bureaucrats and their business allies. Very often, it's just a quick drive to the crumbling houses, rusted factories and Soviet-style apartment blocks that are home to most people in this country.

quote:

Walesa Says Ukraine's Maidan Gave Russia Pretext To Intervene

Former Polish President Lech Walesa has criticized leaders of Ukraine's pro-European Maidan protest movement for failing to negotiate with the former government, thus giving Russia a pretext for intervention.

Speaking to RFE/RL on May 23, Walesa said the Maidan protestors "chose the wrong method for their fight."

"They should have engaged in negotiations and pushed for early elections but [instead] there was no dialogue with the legal authorities," he said.

But the former leader of the Solidarity freedom movement said Europe should never accept Russia's intervention in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea.

"We cannot accept what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has done or continues to do," he said.

quote:

Ukraine Faces Struggle to Gain Control of Militias, Including Those on Its Side



KARLOVKA, Ukraine — In a secluded wood in eastern Ukraine, a group of 120 men who call themselves the Donbass Battalion had commandeered a children’s summer camp to prepare for war.

The goal was to transform a motley collection of machinists, stockbrokers and students into armed fighters who could go toe-to-toe with the anti-Kiev militants that have swept through Ukraine’s east over the past two months

[...]

The origins of the clash were in dispute.

Before the shooting had stopped, Semyon Semenchenko, the battalion’s leader, claimed that his fighters had been ambushed near a rebel checkpoint in Karlovka, a village about 45 minutes’ drive from Donetsk. Locals and pro-Russian fighters, however, said that Mr. Semenchenko had led an assault on the checkpoint and found himself surrounded when enemy reinforcements arrived.

[...]

quote:

Ukrainian Donbas Battalion ambushed in Donetsk Oblast village; at least five killed

Outnumbered six-to-one, at least one Ukrainian Donbas Volunteer Battalion member was killed and 20 were wounded in an ambush by 150-200 pro-Russian separatists in the village of Karlivka, 35 kilometers northwest of Donetsk, the quasi-military units press center said.

An unspecified number were captured, the press center added. Reporting from Karlivka, Agence France-Presse stated that at least four separatists were also killed in the same confrontation.

[...]

Meanwhile, the press service of the Right Sector says that four soldiers of the Donbas battalion were captured, or killed. About two thirds of the group around twenty men were wounded. There were no losses among the Right Sector fighters, but two soldiers received light injuries, Interfax Ukraine reported

quote:

Op zaterdag 24 mei 2014 01:44 schreef Zith het volgende:

[..]

twitter:

pravolivo twitterde op vrijdag 23-05-2014 om 16:47:31 All hostages from battalion Donbas captured by Bezler's fighters tday near #Karlivka r dead - chief comdr Semenchenko http://t.co/EaJN95ZyZX reageer retweet

quote:

http://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2014/05/23/7026275/

De bataljonscommandant weigert de dood van zijn mannen, die gevangen werden genomen bevestigen, totdat hij hun lichamen ziet

quote:

Op zaterdag 24 mei 2014 10:50 schreef deelnemer het volgende:
Al Jazeera Ukraine liveblog

[..]

quote:

Pro-Russian rebels have prevented at least half of the election districts in the embattled east of the country to prepare for Sunday's presidential election, a Ukrainian official says.

Volodymyr Hrinyak, chief of the public security department at the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, said on Saturday that 17 out of 34 district election commissions in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are not operating because their offices have either been seized or blocked by armed men. Hrinyak's update was reported by the Interfax news agency.

quote:

Op zaterdag 24 mei 2014 13:39 schreef vigen98 het volgende:
Oekraïense helikopters vallen eigen troepen/checkpoint aan!

Dramatic footage: Insider video shows Ukraine helicopters firing at own troops

quote:

Op vrijdag 23 mei 2014 20:58 schreef deelnemer het volgende:
Voor aanslag op de grenspost gisteren in Blahodatne / Volnovakha liep het dodental op van 8 naar 16. Maar Kyivpost sprak vanmorgen 2 doden, en later van 18 doden. De BBC en RT komen met strijdige verklaringen over de toedracht. Er zijn beelden vanaf de weg enerzijds, en beelden vanuit een huis en de omliggende weilanden anderzijds. Het is mij niet duidelijk of dat hetzelfde voorval is (vergelijk videos in de posten 135 & 141).

quote:

'Zelfverklaarde republieken Oekraïne fuseren'

DONETSK - De Oost-Oekraïense Volksrepubliek Donetsk en Volksrepubliek Loehansk hebben zich samengevoegd in de nieuwe staat Novorossia. Dat meldde persbureau URA-Inform zaterdag.

De zelfbenoemde volksvertegenwoordigers van de Oost-Oekraïense regio's en Odessa hebben de fusie zaterdag vastgelegd in een hotel in Donetsk. Het tekenen van het document vond plaats achter gesloten deuren. Alleen het Russische tv-kanaal Rossia24 mocht aanwezig zijn.

'Volksgouverneur' Pavel Goebarev van de overkoepelende regio had eerder deze maand al een balletje opgeworpen. De staat Novorossia (Nieuw Rusland) zou zich kunnen aansluiten bij de Russische douane-unie en militaire samenwerking zoeken met Rusland en andere voormalige Sovjetstaten.

De staat is vernoemd naar het gebied in het huidige Oekraïne dat in de 18e eeuw door het Russische Rijk op de Ottomanen werd veroverd.

quote:

Police help Kremlin-backed insurgents in Luhansk Oblast's Lysychansk

Days after fierce fighting took place on the outskirts of Lysychansk on May 22 between Russian-backed insurgents and Ukrainian army, residents of this Luhansk Oblast city still live in shock and fear. Many cafes and shops remain closed, people try to stay inside their homes and taxi drivers refuse to travel from Lysychansk to several districts in northern Luhansk Oblast, which is controlled by the Ukrainian authorities.

While Vladislav Seleznev, a spokesman for Ukraine's anti-terrorist operation against the insurgents, said that two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and seven wounded during the fight on May 22, the insurgents claim that dozens of Ukrainian soldiers were killed, while estimating their losses at seven dead.

Now all the ways in and out of city are blocked by checkpoints, controlled by men armed with Kalashnikovs, launchers, pistols, knives and other weapon, who call themselves members of Army of Southeast. They used to be regular people working mostly at the local mines or plants. But the bitter conflict orchestrated by the Kremlin, and fueled by Russian propaganda, has transformed them into fighters full of hate. The local police officers stand at checkpoints along with insurgents saying “the police are with the people.”

quote:

Lyashko's Thugs Open Fire in Torez City Hall

TOREZ, Ukraine -- Paramilitaries from a group organized by presidential candidate Oleh Lyashko stormed a local government building in a sleepy eastern Ukrainian mining city and killed a pro-Russian separatist while maiming another in a gangland-style shooting on May 23.

The surprise attack by the Lyashko-backed militia came around 3 p.m., when five armed men stormed the Torez City Hall in Donetsk Oblast. The gunmen immediately headed towards an office on the first floor, where they opened fire on the two men. Both were active supporters of the Kremlin-backed, breakaway Donetsk People's Republic.

Lyashko's Thugs Open Fire in Torez City Hall. 23.05.2014 (Donetsk oblast) - No Audio

quote:

24 May - Armed clashes between pro-Russia gunmen of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been going on near the village of Semyonovka outside Slavyansk for three hours on Saturday, TASS reports.

Slavyansk Village Semenovka Artillery 23 05 2014

quote:

Op zondag 25 mei 2014 08:13 schreef SadPanda het volgende:
10 useful facts about Ukrainian presidential poll
http://rt.com/news/161276-ukraine-election-useful-facts/

quote:

Ukrainians vote in presidential elections

The violence in the east, particularly Donetsk and Luhansk, has seriously disrupted preparations for the polls.

Seven out of 12 district election commissions have opened across the region of Donetsk, and none in the cities of Donetsk or Horlivka, the BBC has learned.

Two district commissions are open in Luhansk.

quote:

Al Jazeera Ukraine Liveblog

Latest electoral commission figures from the east:

Donetsk: out of 22 districts 7 are open and able to function

453 polling stations are open out of total of 2430

Luhansk: only two out of 12 districts are open

284 polling stations open out of 1270

Analysis: Election crucial for Ukraine's future