Crisis in Oekraïne #95 nationalisme en zijn nadelen

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