Ukraine Crisis March 2014 - Week 3
Ukraine Crisis - 21 March 2014
Crimea and Sevastopol officially joined Russia as President Putin signed a final decree. The US and the EU moved forward with more sanctions, targeting Russian officials, businessmen and economic sectors. The actual transition of Crimea to existing under Russian laws and regulations may take until next year. Local rules in the new Russian region will be changed to adopt the ruble, social benefits, tax requirements and other Russian legislation.
The ongoing “rule of radicals, militants and bandits” may result in the collapse of the Ukrainian state, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev wrote in his Facebook page. The Russian premier wrote in his Facebook blog that the new authorities in Kiev “lack due legitimacy and, worse, are practically unable to leverage situation in the country. ... The power in the hands of various radicals, militants and bandits. They have the final say, and, most likely, they will continue having it after the May 25 [elections]. There’s no reason for them to share power with others. A government of this kind inevitably results in a collapse of a state,” he wrote.
Moscow will retain military ranks and academic levels for Ukrainian troops who choose to serve Russia, give preference to Ukrainian officials who want to keep their positions in Crimea, and expedite the issuance of Russian citizenship to all residents of Crimea who want it. Citizenship would be given automatically to all except those who explicitly opt out of it no later than one month’s time. The current interim authorities of Crimea will be replaced with new ones after elections, which will be held in September 2015.
It was reported over 70 Ukrainian military outfits stationed in Crimea, including 25 navy ships, had changed allegiances and raised the Russian flag. The self-defense forces of Crimea that played a key role in securing the peninsula ahead of its reunification with Russia will be regularized and enter into the ranks of the Russian military. “After Crimea and Sevastopol join Russia the self-defense forces of Crimea should be reformed and become part of [Russia’s] Southern Military District,” said Vladimir Komoyedov, the chairman of the defense committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament.
A gas discount that Russia gave to Ukraine for stationing its Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol will no longer be applied since Crimea is becoming a part of Russia, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said. "There is no longer such a thing as a gas discount for Ukraine for stationing the Black Sea Fleet. It can no longer be applied either de jure or de facto." If one returns to gas price formation under the 2009 agreement, the addendum to it on the fleet signed by Viktor Yanukovych will not be valid, he said. Yanukovych and then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the agreement that extended the Black Sea Fleet's presence in Crimea in return to a $100 gas discount under the 2009 accord in Kharkiv in 2010.
Ukraine and the EU signed an association agreement, signaling closer relations, following Crimea's decision to up with Russia. The agreement had previously been put on hold by the Yanukovich administration, but the process of bringing Ukraine closer to the EU now resumed. The EU promised to provide an additional one billion euros in “macro financial assistance” to Ukraine, said president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso after the the first session of the European Council meeting in Brussels. This will bring the total of overall support to 1.6 billion euros. Barroso also stated: “the autonomous trade measures we proposed to open unilaterally our market to Ukrainian products.” The EU approved annulling 98 percent of all custom duties paid by Ukrainian exporters. The decision was announced following the summit in Brussels. The new initiative might come into force as soon as May and will last until November 1 or until any other law is introduced.
Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, said that there was no need to artificially accelerate the process of accepting Ukraine into the European Union. Tusk acknowledged that the EU is now a lot more serious about treating Ukraine as a country with a European destination, but added that it’s still too early to talk about its actual membership in the block.
European Union leaders agreed to step up moves to cut energy dependency, notably on Russia, after events in Ukraine. EU Council president Herman Van Rompuy said the bloc's 28 leaders had agreed at a two-day summit to outline an energy security framework at their next top-level meeting in June. "Reducing our energy dependency, especially in relation to Russia, was a key topic" at the summit talks, Van Rompuy said at a news conference. "If we dont take action now, by 2035 we will be dependent for 80 percent of oil and gas," he said. Among measures to be taken will be the diversification of energy sources by promoting indigenous sources including renewables and nuclear energy and improving interconnections both across the bloc and with third countries.
In June 2013 Greece signed a deal to bring a pipeline from Azerbaijan’s gas fields into the European Union - providing a direct alternative to Russian imports. This is the first gas pipeline from the former Soviet Union that is not controlled by Russia. But the so-called Trans Adriatic Pipeline or TAP won’t come online until 2019.
France suspended military cooperation with Russia, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said during a trip to Baltic states designed to reassure them as tensions mount with Russia over its seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region. He said the suspension would concern joint military exercises, but said nothing about the fate of contracts to supply Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia. Le Drian had said such a decision would not be taken until October.
Germany has decided to suspend approval of all defense-related exports to Russia in light of the West's diplomatic showdown with Moscow over Ukraine, a spokesman for the economy ministry said. Earlier, the government ordered defense contractor Rheinmetall to halt delivery of combat simulation gear to Russia. The ministry spokesman said this was a "one-off" case, but that future deals would also be blocked. "The (Rheinmetall) case that you are talking about is a one-off case. Nevertheless, it is true that given the current situation in Russia, we are not approving any exports of defense goods to this country at the moment," the spokesman said.
Russian senators requested the United States to add them to their sanction lists. The statement to that effect branded the American move and a similar measure by the EU “an unprecedented move of political blackmail.” “We are ready for the entire corps of the Federation Council, all senators to joint that sanction list,” Speaker Valentina Matvienko said. She personally was already targeted by the US sanctions. The senators’ request followed a similar move by members of the lower parliamentary chamber. The statement also says that senators are baffled by the fact that Washington and Brussels treat an armed coup in Ukraine as a legitimate act of the people while consider a free referendum in Crimea illegal. “It’s time not for imposing sanctions, but to act urgently and offer targeted help to the Ukrainian people, so that Ukraine did not fall further into political and economic abyss, preserved as a civilized European nation” the senators said.
The death toll from the unrest in Ukraine that led to the ouster of the country’s president last month has risen to 103, the country’s Ministry of Health said. Previous casualty figures stood at 102 dead and 1,419 injured. The ministry said that 128 people injured in the conflict remained in treatment in city hospitals.
Ukraine Crisis - 20 March 2014
Andriy Parubiy - secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council - said Ukraine is planning to hold military maneuvers "with our allies," but did not elaborate. Other reports indicate that Ukraine would hold joint military exercises with the United States and Britain, the countries that signed the 1994 Budapest Memorandum that guaranteed Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Ukraine will play host, but the US military will call the shots, in an upcoming military exercise called Rapid Trident that will bring together some 1,300 international forces in Ukraine for a long-planned exercise. Although the United States canceled Atlas Vision 2014, which was scheduled to take place in July in the northeastern Russian city of Chelyabinsk, the Pentagon says it will go ahead with plans for a multinational military exercise this summer in Ukraine. Rapid Trident 2014 is designed to "promote regional stability and security, strengthen partnership capacity and foster trust while improving interoperability between the land forces of Ukraine, and NATO and partner nations," according to the US forces in Europe website.
Russia gave Ukraine a deadline of Friday 21 March 2014 to pull all of its military forces out of Crimea. Ukraine's border guards were already pulling back to the mainland. The commander of the country's navy was freed after being held by Russian forces and Crimean authorities at the navy's headquarters in Crimea.
Pro-Russian forces seized three Ukrainian warships in the strategic Black Sea peninsula of Crimea as Ukraine said its troops were being threatened in the breakaway region. Gunmen opened fire as the Ukrainian corvette, Khmelnitsky, was seized at the Crimean port of Sevastopol. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Another ship, the Lutsk, was surrounded by pro-Russian forces. Unknown armed men also stormed the Ternopil corvette, forcing Ukrainian servicemen to disembark the ship.
The Ukrainian military in Crimea have been actively taking the Russian side, the regional authorities said. "One can talk about thousands," Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov said. Three-quarters of the Ukrainian military who were stationed in Crimea are ready to go over to the Russian side, he said. The overwhelming majority of the military bases are already controlled by the Crimean self-defense forces, Aksyonov said. "Talks are now being held on all the bases. The coordinators are talking. Anyone ready to leave without a weapon will be allowed to do so," he said.
US President Barack Obama announced a series of expanded sanctions against Russia over its annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Obama said the U.S. will impose more sanctions on Russian government officials, including individuals tied to Russia's Crimea efforts, and Bank Rossiya, which handles financial transactions for many in the Russian leadership elite.
Almost immediately after Obama’s announcement, Russia retaliated with its own sanctions, warning the West it would hit back over “every hostile thrust.” The sanctions, according to a Foreign Ministry statement, appear to be travel restrictions imposed on senior U.S. officials and lawmakers. Among those barred from Russia are Deputy National Security Adviser Benjamin Rhodes, senators John McCain, Daniel Coats, Mary Landrieu, Robert Menendez and Harry Reid, as well as House Speaker John Boehner, the Foreign Ministry said.
Reacting to the sanctions, Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement: "[Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin's military invasion and annexation of Crimea is brutal, totally unacceptable, and sadly returns us to a period of Cold War aggression and hostility. It doesn't have to be this way, but if standing up for the Ukrainian people, their freedom, their hard earned democracy, and sovereignty means I'm sanctioned by Putin, so be it."
Moscow will reply proportionately and adequately to Kiev’s attempts to seize Russian property in Ukraine and abroad, the Foreign Ministry said. "The minister of justice of Ukraine has threatened to compensate Ukraine for the damage from some nationalisation of Ukrainian property in Crimea at the expense of the property of the Russian Federation, including the property of Gazprom. We will regard any encroachments by the Ukrainian authorities upon Russian property, including abroad, as a gross violation of international law and the principle of state sovereignty. Naturally, we will reserve the right to take adequate and proportionate countermeasures," the ministry said.
At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, US Ambassador Samantha Power took another verbal shot. "The Representative of the Russian Federation began his intervention extolling the so-called referendum as embodying democratic procedures, and having been conducted without outside interference. Russia is known for its literary greatness – and what you just heard from the Russian Ambassador showed more imagination than Tolstoy or Chekhov. Russia has decided, it seems, to rewrite its borders, but it cannot rewrite the facts."
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to destabilize Ukraine's presidential election in May and has been preparing for possible military action in eastern Ukraine, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said. Yatsenyuk said Putin wants to extend his hold on Ukraine outside the Crimean peninsula into other areas where the majority of the country's Russian speakers live. “We have clear proof and evidence [that] Russian agencies hired a number of so-called protesters - or actually gangsters - with the task to trigger another cycle of violence in southern and eastern Ukraine,” he said. Such moves would be part of a plan by Putin, he said, to spark “provocations... and send his military to defend the Russian-speaking minority there.”
Making Ukraine a federal state is the only way to stabilize situation in the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said 20 March 2014. “We want to understand, who exactly will represent legitimate authorities in Kiev. In this regard we have a proposal: first of all, a constitutional reform should be held, so that interests of all Ukrainian citizens and regions are respected. This is the only basis for forming legitimate authorities, legislative and executive, central and regional,” Lavrov told members of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament. “And we are convinced that the situation in the country can be stabilized only through making Ukraine a federal state,” he continued.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has lowered its outlook on Russia's ratings to negative from stable, citing “heightened geopolitical risk and the prospect of US and EU economic sanctions.” S&P affirmed “'BBB/A-2' foreign currency and 'BBB+/A-2' local currency long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings on Russia,” the company said in a statement. "The outlook revision reflects our view of the material and unanticipated economic and financial consequences that EU and US sanctions could have on Russia's creditworthiness following Russia's incorporation of Crimea, which the international community currently considers legally to be a part of Ukraine," S&P said.
Brussels is giving Ukraine unfettered access to the 28-nation bloc's 500 million consumers even before a proposed bilateral free-trade accord comes into force later this year to cement Kyiv's historic shift away from Russia. The deal was approved by the European Parliament's International Trade Committee. The full European Parliament is due to sign off on the EU's unilateral measures in mid-April.
Former Ukrainian ambassador to the United States Oleg Shamshur said his government is pressing the US for three things, foremost of which is stronger sanctions targeting the Russian economy. "Make it really painful for the ruling regime in Russia," Shamshur urged. "Secondly, it would be pressing for the military technical preparation because our army is in pretty bad shape. And, thirdly, we would be looking for enhanced cooperation, first of all, to prop up the Ukrainian economy."
Crimean police were reported to have said they had nabbed the sniper that gunned down yesterday two people in the republic's capital city of Simferopol. This is according to the Vesti FM radio station. The marksman is a 17-year-old Ukrainian from the country’s western region of Lvov and said to be member of the nationalist Right Sector. Two people died in the shooting that Crimean police called a possible provocation. The sniper reportedly took position in a building under construction and fired in two direction, targeting a Simferopol military base, as well as a group of Crimean self-defense troops nearby.
But Crimean prosecutors denied that they had identified the culprits of the shooting that left two dead and two wounded. “We do not have anyone in custody. Following the attack, we detained two 17-year-olds but further inquiries determined that they had nothing to do with it,” said Natalya Boyarintseva, the press secretary of the Crimean prosecutor’s office. Boyarintseva confirmed that the police believe that more than one person was behind the attack.
The US State Department official spokesperson Jen Psaki tweeted on the day of the shooting: "Stop the shooting in #Simferopol. Clear that #Russia shot first, and now must show restraint." and "#Putin congratulates #Ukraine soldiers for not firing their arms, and then allows one to be shot."
Ukraine Crisis - 19 March 2014
Ukraine announced that plans had been drawn up plans to evacuate all of its military personnel from the Crimean peninsula, thereby effectively surrendering military control of the territory to Russia and pro-Russian militiamen. Ukrainian officials also announced their resignation from the one-year rotating chairmanship of the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and that they would also withdraw the country from the organization.
Meanwhile, Ukraine announced that it would soon introduce a visa regime for Russians wanting to enter Ukraine. The move matched Russia's decision to begin issuing Russian to residents of Crimea, declaring them to now be Russian citizens.
Pro-Russian forces took control of Ukraine's navy headquarters in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, a day after Russia signed a treaty with local authorities to make Crimea part of Russia. Anti-Ukrainian protesters who rallied outside the Ukrainian naval headquarters in the Russian-majority port city of Sevastopol in Crimea razed the fence and broke into the military compound. Witnesses said at least 200 unarmed members of so-called self-defense forces entered the base Wednesday and raised the Russian flag. Ukrainian troops stationed at the base were alerted to the attack and attempted to block the crowd of enraged civilians but were overrun. Ukrainian service members did not resist the takeover, and were seen leaving the facility. Russian news agencies quoted sources in the Sevastopol prosecutor's office as saying the commander of Ukraine's navy, Serhiy Haiduk, had been "temporarily detained" after leaving the navy headquarters. Later, reports said a second naval base had been seized by pro-Russian forces.
Additional reports surfaced later that the Ukrainian navy base at Novo-Ozerne, in western Crimea, had also been taken over, with Ukrainian servicemen also leaving the base. No reports of violence were reported during either takeover.
Acting Ukrainian President Aleksandr Turchinov gave Crimean authorities until 7 p.m. GMT to release commander of the Ukrainian navy, Admiral Sergey Gaiduk, and other Ukrainian personnel who were detained after being evicted from a base in Sevastopol earlier on Wednesday. “Unless Admiral Gaiduk and all the other hostages - both military and civilian - are released, the authorities will carry out an adequate response... of a technical and technological nature," said Turchinov on the official government website. The politician went on to say that Russian military officials “have cynically refused to negotiate, saying the detention was the responsibility of the self-proclaimed government of Crimea”.
The new authorities in Kiev decided to quit the CIS, the organization of former Soviet Republics, the security chief said. Ukraine was also ready to impose a visa regime with Russia and is to ask the UN to turn Crimea into a demilitarized zone. Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy said Kiev was developing a plan for withdrawing its soldiers and their families from Crimea. "We are developing a plan that would enable us not only to withdraw servicemen, but also members of their families in Crimea, so that they could be quickly and efficiently moved to mainland Ukraine".
Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov urged the Ukrainian military in the republic to swear allegiance to the people of Crimea, or lay down their arms and leave. “I appeal to all soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces based on the peninsula – in order to avoid bloodshed and further deterioration of the situation – don’t give in to provocations, make an unambiguous choice and swear allegiance to the people of Crimea,” Aksyonov said. The PM added that “free exit from the Crimean territory” will be guaranteed to those servicemen and their families, who decide to remain in the Ukrainian army.
US Vice President Joe Biden told Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves that the United States may rotate its forces into the region to conduct ground and naval exercises and training missions. Washington also has added more fighter jets to help patrol airspace over the Baltics.
Members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) failed again on Wednesday to agree on sending monitors to Ukraine, raising doubts about whether a deal was possible at all. Some diplomats accredited to the Vienna-based security watchdog spoke of the difficulty posed by Russia's effective veto of action by the 57-member group, which has a principle of consensus. Ukraine’s government and Western countries want OSCE monitors deployed in Ukraine but talks on Wednesday at OSCE headquarters broke up again without a deal. “This is the third time that a text has been presented to which only one state objects - and that is the Russian Federation,” US Ambassador Daniel Baer told reporters.
Ukraine’s General Prosecution office promised to launch an impartial investigation of violent actions by deputies from the nationalist Freedom (Svoboda) Party. Ukraine's nationalist Svoboda Party ("Freedom") came under a barrage of criticism from the country's community and politicians who were outraged by the televised thrashing that the party’s members gave to the chief of Ukraine’s state-run NTU television company Alexander Panteleymonov. The NTU head was forced to resign under threats of violence. According to the footage, one of the attackers was Ukrainian MP Igor Miroshnichenko, who repeatedly pushed and humiliated the CEO. The deputy denied beating Panteleymonov, saying he only wanted to tell the man his opinion of him.
The footage posted on the web shows a group of people from the nationalist Svoboda party pushing Panteleymonov and yelling at him: "Write your resignation! Sit down! I told you, sit down! ... You are feasting in my Ukraine!...Here is a paper, pen, write the resignation now quickly, you animal...You Muscovite (a derogatory word for Russian) garbage!" one of the attackers can be seen shouting in the chairman’s face. The intimidated CEO replied by saying he’s a Ukrainian, to which they responded with more abuse: "You are Ukrainian? You are sh*t! You campaigned for Moscow, you lied to Ukrainians for our money!"
Ukraine Crisis - 18 March 2014
Two people – a self-defense member and a Ukrainian soldier – were killed and two others wounded after snipers opened fire in two directions from a partially inhabited building near a military research center in Simferopol. One sniper was detained, another is on the run.
Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov told Russia’s Channel One that this attack is reminiscent of the Maidan sniper shootings. “At the moment two people are dead as a result of a provocation, a sabotage. The situation allows me to conclude that the same techniques that were used at Maidan are being used now because most likely one assaulter fired at both sides – one Ukrainian serviceman and one man from self-defense forces of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea were killed.” The scene of the shooting was a small Ukrainian military topography research center, and the majority of the staff who work there are women. The center’s area is rather small, and servicemen had only six machine guns and three Makarov guns to provide security. The center reportedly decided to join up with Crimea and Russia and was preparing paperwork to go over.
After reports that a Ukrainian soldier wounded during a raid on his army base in Simferopol died of his injuries, Ukraine's prime minister said March 18, 2014 the conflict in Crimea has entered a military phase. He accused Russia of commiting a "war crime" by firing on Ukrainian servicemen. "The conflict is moving from a political one to a military one because of Russian soldiers," Arseny Yatsenyuk said at a meeting at Ukraine's defense ministry. "Today, Russian soldiers began shooting at Ukrainian servicemen and this is a war crime without any expiry under a statute of limitations." Yatsenyuk said there is "convincing evidence" Russian special services are organizing unrest in the eastern part of the country. "There are saboteurs who have been arrested," Yatsenyuk said. "There is no place in Ukraine for these warmongers."
Ukraine's Defense Ministry told its soldiers in Crimea that they may use their weapons to protect and save their fellow troops. Until now, forces deployed on the Black Sea peninsula had been told to avoid using arms against attack. A defence ministry order issued after the incident said: "Ukrainian troops in Crimea have been allowed to use weapons to defend and protect the lives of Ukrainian servicemen."
Sergey Aksenov, the Prime-Minister and commander of the armed forces of Crimea, ordered the Ukrainian forces remaining on the peninsula to hand in their resignation and be absorbed into the Crimean armed forces. Ukraine’s marine guards began leaving the peninsula, according to the Ukrainian Border Ministry, Itar-Tass reports. The ministry said the guards will join up with units that have already been moved out of the region.
Ukraine's new pro-Western leadership is not seeking membership in NATO, Yatsenyuk said in comments intended to reassure Russia and Ukraine's large number of Russian-speakers. "Strictly with a view to maintaining Ukraine's unity, the question of joining NATO is not on the agenda,'' Yatsenyuk, who normally speaks in Ukrainian, said in a 10-minute televised appeal delivered in Russian. "The country will be defended by a strong, modern Ukrainian army." Yatsenyuk also said decentralisation of power was a key plank of government policy, adding Kyiv's efforts to integrate with Europe would take into account the interests of Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking industrial east.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Crimean leaders signed a treaty Tuesday to make the Black Sea peninsula part of Russia. The Kremlin said on its website that Crimea "shall be deemed accepted in the Russian Federation from the date of signing the treaty." The treaty was signed shortly after Putin told Russia's parliament in a televised address that Crimea has always been an "inalienable" part of Russia, and a day after he signed a decree recognizing the peninsula as "a sovereign and independent country." Putin said Moscow has no designs on other parts of the former Soviet republic.
Some of the seven Russian officials sanctioned by US President Barack Obama were surprised at how weak the measures were and they laughed about them. One official, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, used his Twiiter account to jokingly address the American leader as "Comrade Obama." Some of the Russians said they have no assets in U.S. financial institutions and no intention of traveling to the U.S., negating the impact of a visa ban.
Vladislav Surkov, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin and one of those sanctioned by the US, said he considered being sanctioned an honor, and in fact he had no property or bank accounts in the United States. He also said said the only things that he is interested in the United States were works by poet Allen Ginsberg, artist Jackson Pollock and rap musician Tupac Shakur, and he did't need a visa to enjoy those.
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon accused Washington of "demonstrating weakness" in the Ukraine crisis in comments published by Haaretz newspaper. "If your image is feebleness, it doesn't pay in the world... I hope the United States comes to its senses. If it doesn't, it will challenge the world order and the United States is the one that will suffer."
Dozens of volunteers from the Donbas Region in eastern Ukraine have been setting up checkpoints to prevent Ukrainian military personnel from reaching the Russian border. The unarmed activists are being coordinated by a local group called People’s Militia of Donbas and there are currently over 20 posts that have been set up on various roads in the region. The purpose of the posts is to prevent the Ukrainian military equipment from reaching the eastern border with Russia, averting further escalation of the conflict. Kiev-appointed head of Ukraine’s Donetsk regional administration Sergey Taruta and his brother used their own finances to dig a trench along the border with Russia to reportedly prevent a possible Russian military assault.
Up to 20 warships and auxiliary vessels of the Ukrainian navy could become part of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet following the reunification of Crimea with Russia, a senior Russian lawmaker said 18 March 2014 after Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Crimea signed a treaty reunifying Crimea and the city of Sevastopol with Russia. The Russian parliament is expected to ratify the treaty imminently.
According to Adm. (Ret.) Vladimir Komoyedov, chair of the State Duma Committee on Defense, the Ukrainian navy comprises some 40 ships, 20 of which are currently docked at naval bases in Crimea at Sevastopol and Donuzlav Bay. “We can now assume that the ships that remain in Crimea will initially become part of the Crimean self-defense forces and will later join Russia’s Black Sea Fleet,” Komoyedov told RIA Novosti. The Ukrainian ships that could be taken over by Russia include two corvettes, a command ship, several missile boats, minesweepers and the only Ukrainian submarine – the Foxtrot-class Zaporizhia diesel-electric boat, the admiral said. The Russian navy will also gain a developed naval infrastructure on the Crimean peninsula, including the Belbek naval airbase and a network of coastal fortifications, Komoyedov said.
Kazakhstan, which itself has a sizable population of Russians, issued a statement backing the referendum in Russian-occupied Crimea as a "free expression" of the peninsula's population and says it is "sympathetic" to Moscow's response. Argentine leader Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner condemned the Western policy on situation in Crimea. "Many of the major powers, which have secured the Falklands’ people right to self-determination, do not want to do the same in relation to the Crimea now. How can you call yourselves guarantors of world stability, if you do not apply the same standards for everyone? It looks like the Crimeans cannot express their will, but the residents of the Falklands can. There is zero logic in that," she said.
Russia remains a G8 member, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said. He confirmed that France had no plans to cancel its contract with Russia for the supply of the Mistral class ships. On March 17 French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that Paris might cancel the contract to supply the ships to Russia the event that it continued its policy towards Ukraine. "What we mean is only the suspension of the contract and nothing else. We are determined to do whatever is possible to prevent this from happening. However, the suspension of this contract remains a possibility," Nadal told a briefing.
NATO is reassessing its relationship with Russia, the Alliance’s Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. He noted in particular that Russia would not take part in a maritime escort mission to help protect the American vessel that will carry out the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons. Rasmussen said Ukraine and NATO had confirmed their intention to expand military cooperation and develop Ukrainian military capabilities.
Ukraine Crisis - 17 March 2014
The Crimean parliament declared the region’s independence from Ukraine 17 March 2014 and formally applied to become part of Russia after a referendum Sunday showed overwhelming support for Moscow. With all ballots counted, 96.7 percent of voters in the southern Ukrainian region had backed reunification with Russia after 60 years as part of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to recognize Ukraine's breakaway region of Crimea as an independent state. Russia also recognized Sevastopol, a Crimean port that houses the Russian Black Sea fleet base, a city with a "special autonomous status" within the Republic of Crimea.
President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on key individuals Washington deems responsible for a Moscow-backed referendum in Ukraine's Crimea aimed at putting the region under Russia's control. Speaking at the White House, Obama announced that he ordered sanctions against 11 Russian and Ukrainian officials, including two top advisers to Russia's President Vladimir Putin, in addition to ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. All were subject to asset freezes.
European Union foreign ministers agreed to impose sanctions including travel bans and asset freezes on 21 officals from Russia and Ukraine. In a related move, the EU began discussing the need to reduce its reliance on Russian energy. After a meeting lasting around three hours, the EU's 28 foreign ministers reached agreement on the list of those to be sanctioned for their part in Russia's seizure of Crimea and Sunday's referendum to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. the European Union sanctions will last for six months. Were Russia to support or provoke separatist tendencies in eastern Ukraine, where many ethnic Russians also live, as it had done in Crimea, the EU would implement its third level of sanctions. Those would include economic sanctions and trade restrictions on Russian businesses.
EU foreign ministers said they looked forward to the signing of the political provisions of the so-called association agreement that Ukraine had negotiated with the 28-nation EU, on 21 March 2014. The signing of a more far-reaching trade accord could come later. "The Council of Europe welcomes the European Commission's proposal for temporarily removing customs duties on Ukrainian exports to the EU and looks forward to its swift adoption,” the Council of Europe said in a statement approved at a Council of Europe meeting on foreign affairs in Brussels.
“It furthermore looks forward to the signing of political provisions of the Association Agreement on 21 March in Brussels and confirms its commitment to proceed with the signature and conclusion of the remaining parts of the Agreement which together with the political provisions constitute a single instrument," the paper went on to say.
Russia's lower house of parliament will pass legislation allowing Ukraine's Crimea region to join Russia “in the very near future”. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he will respect the will of the people in Crimea, ignoring Western leaders who say the referendum was illegal because Russian forces have seized the southern region.
Moscow called on Ukraine to draft a new federal constitution granting broadened powers to the country's disparate regions in order to protect minority populations. The Russian Foreign Ministry urged the Ukrainian parliament to convene a constitutional assembly to provide for greater autonomy for the country’s regions, guarantee Russian as a second official language, and enshrine a principle of geopolitical neutrality for the country.
In accordance with decision of Prime-minister of Ukraine the National Guard and Security Service of Ukraine took full control of and put under special protection the national gas transportation and distribution system. This decision was made to ensure security and trouble-free functioning of the most important infrastructure system of Ukraine. Ukraine's defense ministry said an agreement with Russia's military in Crimea to cease provocations appeared to be holding. But the ministry says Russia had built up 60,000 troops in the separatist southern territory and along Ukraine's borders, which it vowed to defend.
Russia will allow Ukrainian military inspectors to carry out an emergency monitoring flight over Russian territory in line with the 2011 Vienna Document on confidence and security-building measures, the Defense Ministry said. It is the second time the new authorities in Kiev requested an inspection flight over Russian regions bordering with Ukraine, citing fears that Russia could be preparing to invade its neighbor. Russia initially agreed to allow Ukraine to carry out the flight under the Open Skies Treaty on March 17-24, but later reversed its decision because Ukraine could not finance the mission.
“In line with our obligations under the Vienna Document, we have agreed again to allow a Ukrainian group to inspect our territory,” Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said. Antonov said the Ukrainian military officials will inspect on March 18-20 parts of the Belgorod and Kursk regions bordering on Ukraine to make sure that the Russian armed forces are not involved in any kind of military activity threatening Ukraine’s security.
Ukraine Crisis - 16 March 2014
Crimeans voted 95.5 percent in favor of joining Russia in a disputed referendum on Sunday, according to preliminary results with 50 percent of ballots counted, local authorities said. Referendum commission chairman Mykhail Malyshev said 3.5 percent had voted to remain in Ukraine with wider autonomous powers and 1.0 percent were "spoiled ballots". According to first exit polls, about 93 percent of voters in the Crimean referendum had answered ‘yes’ to the autonomous republic joining Russia and only 7 percent of the vote participants want the region to remain part of Ukraine. According to a GfK poll of 600 residents taken ahead of the referendum, 70 percent said they will vote to become part of Russia, while 11 percent said they will vote to restore Crimea’s status as part of Ukraine.
Polling stations across Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula were swarmed by residents coming to vote on the region’s secession, widely expected to be passed by an overwhelming majority. The referendum asked voters if they prefer secession from Ukraine and annexation by Russia, or remaining as part of Ukraine but with expanded autonomy for the region. There was no option for retaining the status quo of the region within Ukraine or for Crimea to become an independent republic without Russian annexation.
The referendum was at the center of the biggest showdown between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. The Ukrainian government and Western powers said the plebiscite is illegal and is being held in an atmosphere of intimidation with an invasion force present and bands of uniformed Russian separatists patrolling the streets. Ukrainian television channels were blocked in the run-up to the vote and replaced with Russian channels. And so-called “self-defense units” and paramilitary forces in Crimea abducted and harassed activists and journalists.
During a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission in Ukraine be expanded immediately. Merkel proposed to expand the existing OSCE mission in Ukraine and send more observers, primarily to Ukraine's east. Such decision can be taken at tomorrow's session of the OSCE Standing Committee in Vienna. EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso say in a joint statement that "the solution to the crisis in Crimea must be based on territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."
Ukraine's acting defense minister told reporters the defense ministries of Ukraine and Russia had agreed on a truce in Crimea until 21 March 2014. Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh said an agreement has been reached with Russia's Black Sea fleet, which is stationed in Crimea, that no measure will be taken against Ukrainian military facilities during the truce. He said Urkaine's military sites were replenishing their supplies. "No measures will be taken against our military facilities in Crimea during that time. Our military sites are therefore proceeding with a replenishment of reserves." Tenyukh claimed that Russian troops in Crimea now number up to 22,000, allegedly in violation of a 12,500 limit set for 2014.
A total of 19 of Ukraine’s warships were blockaded by the Russian navy in their ports in the Black Sea and Ukrainian military equipment was housed in dozens of bases in the peninsula. Most of Crimea’s electricity, water and food are supplied from the Ukrainian mainland through a narrow corridor connecting Crimea to the rest of Ukraine. There is no land connection with Russia. Eighty percent of Crimea’s water and 90 percent of its electricity comes from Ukraine. In an economic war Ukraine could cut off electricity and water. But to do so would no doubt trigger Russia to cut gas supplies to Ukraine.
Putin expressed concern over tensions in Ukraine's south and southeast, which he said were caused by "radical groups." According to a Kremlin statement, “Putin drew attention to the inability and unwillingness of the current Kiev authorities to curb rampant ultra-nationalist and radical groups, destabilizing and terrorizing civilians, including Russian-speaking population, and our fellow citizens”.
The pro-Russian demonstrations in Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk appeared to be moving fast. It appeared the demonstrators had taken control of the prosecutor's building and moved on to the regional government building they had occupied twice in the past. Hundreds of protesters in Donetsk stormed a prosecutor’s office demanding to free a local “people’s governor” Pavel Gubarev, who had been detained on March 6 on charges of violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine, takeover of power, and seizure of government buildings.
In Kharkov, the country’s second-largest city, between 1,500 to 3,000 protesters gathered on the central square demanding a referendum on federalizing Ukraine. “Our city has been Russian and will remain such albeit within Ukraine. We are ready to live in a single country but on our terms,” one of the activists, leader of Civic Platform movement Yury Apukhtin announced from a stage. Activists asked to deploy Russian peacekeepers to Kharkov region, adding that they fear for their lives and property.
Activists in eastern Ukraine in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions blocked columns of heavy military equipment heading from Kiev to the border with Russia. Activists from the Donbass people's militia blocked the way of columns with about 20 trucks carrying heavy military equipment near Donetsk heading to the Russian border. The activists and the troops, who called their superiors for guidance, came to a compromise, and the Kiev troops decided to turn around.
Spontaneous protests erupted in Kharkov, Donetsk and Lugansk regions against the transportation of the military equipment toward the border with Russia. Residents of Lugansk also stopped a train, carrying heavy military equipment, which was headed for the border. The arrival of the train with airborne combat vehicles and tanks to the Lugansk railway station during twilight caused a stir among the people. Locals from the nearby villages gathered at the spot and started to prevent the disembarkation of the equipment.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said Russian forces had seized the Ukrainian village of Strilkove, 10 kilometers north of the Crimean border. There are no reports of shots being fired, but the Ministry called the takeover an "invasion" and demanded the Russian soldiers leave. Ukrainian border guards said the Russians were guarding a gas pumping station in the town. The Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov said people trying to damage the pipeline introduced themselves as officers of the Border Guard. He said Crimean self-defense forces prevented an attempt to damage a gas pipeline at the Arabat Spit.
The leader of ultranationalist group Right Sector, Dmitry Yarosh, has threatened to destroy Russian pipelines on Ukrainian territory if a diplomatic solution is not reached with Moscow. “We cannot allow the enemy to carry out a blitzkrieg attack on Ukrainian territory. We mustn’t forget that Russia makes money sending its oil through our pipelines to the West. We will destroy these pipelines and deprive our enemy of its source of income,” Yarosh said. “Let the ground burn under the feet of the occupiers! Let them choke on their own blood when they attack our territory! Not one step back! We will not allow Moscow’s beserk, totalitarian regime to spark a Third World War!”
Ukraine Crisis - 15 March 2014
Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported it had repelled Russian forces trying to move into an area of Ukraine that is parallel to the east of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. “Units of Ukraine's armed forces today... repelled an attempt by servicemen of the armed forces of the Russian Federation to enter the territory of Kherson region on Arbatskaya Strelka,” a ministry statement said. “This was repelled immediately." Ukraine used paratroops and and aircraft in the operation.
Ukrainian officials say Russian troops backed by helicopter gunships and armored vehicles seized a Ukrainian village, Strilkove, near the border with Crimea. The bloodless action appears to be the first move undertaken by Russia in Ukraine outside of Crimea. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry condemned the alleged seizure of Strilkove, saying Ukraine reserved "the right to use all necessary measures to stop the military invasion by Russia." It said the Russian force consisted of some 80 personnel, though other reports spoke of as many as 120.
Ukraine accused "Kremlin agents" of fomenting deadly violence in Russian-speaking cities and urged people not to rise to provocations its new leaders fear Moscow may use to justify a further invasion after its takeover of Crimea. Acting president Oleksander Turchinov referred to three deaths in two days in Donetsk and Kharkiv and said there was ``a real danger'' of invasion by Russian troops across Ukraine's eastern border. Two men, described by police as pro-Russian demonstrators, were shot dead in a fight in Kharkiv. A Ukrainian nationalist was stabbed to death when pro-Russia and pro-Ukraine demonstrators clashed in Donetsk.
Thousands of people rallied in Moscow at two separate rallies to oppose and support Russian intervention in Ukraine. At the opposition rally there were reports of as many as 50,000 people. Russian police, who regularly downplay the size of opposition demonstrations, earlier estimated the number of marchers at 3,000. The rival pro-Putin demonstration near the Kremlin attracted some 15,000 people, police said. Opposition protesters shouted “hands off Ukraine” and “the occupation of Crimea is Russia's disgrace" and said they wanted peace between the two neighboring countries. Demonstrators bearing both Russian and Ukrainian flags urged President Vladimir Putin to withdraw troops currently occupying Crimea, comparing the situation with the Nazi annexation of the Sudetenland region ahead of World War II.
The Russian Foreign Ministry warned of possible provocations in Ukraine. A column of trucks with armed mercenaries belonging to the Right sector had reportedly left from Kharkov heading for Donetsk and Lugansk, the ministry said in a statement. The leaders of the movement had announced the opening of the “eastern front” while one of the garment factories reportedly began to urgently sew Russian uniforms, it added.
Russia had received numerous requests from Ukrainian civilians to protect them from radicals, including those from the Right Sector group, and has promised consider them, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said. Gunmen, including those from the far-right group Right Sector, continue their rampage in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "We are getting alarming reports that a column with armed mercenaries from Right Sector has left Kharkov for Donetsk and Lugansk. Right Sector leaders have declared the opening of the 'eastern front' and one of the clothing factories is hurriedly sewing Russian military uniform," the ministry said. "Russia is receiving many appeals from peaceful citizens who are asking for protection. These appeals will be considered," the ministry said.
The UN Security Council failed to adopt a resolution March 15, 2014 that would have urged countries not to recognize the results of the referendum in Ukraine's Crimea region. The draft resolution noted that the Ukrainian government in Kiev has not authorized the referendum and said that it cannot be valid. “This referendum can have no validity, and cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of Crimea; and calls upon all States, international organizations and specialized agencies not to recognize any alteration of the status of Crimea on the basis of this referendum and to refrain from any action or dealing that might be interpreted as recognizing any such altered status,” the documents reads.
Russia, as expected, voted against the measure while China abstained. The 13 other Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution. China's decision to decline to follow Russia and veto the measure could indicate further isolation for Moscow in its support of the Crimean referendum. When the Security Council ruled on a similar international crisis, between Russia and Georgia in 2008, Beijing abstained.
It was “no secret that Russia would vote against the US draft resolution,” Russia’s envoy at the UN Vitaly Churkin said ahead of the voting. He added that Moscow would respect the choice of Crimeans. “We cannot accept its basic assumption: to declare illegal the planned March 16 referendum where there residents of the Republic of Crimea should decide on their future,” Churkin said, explaining Moscow’s decision to veto the proposed document. “The philosophy of the authors of the draft runs counter to one of the basic principles of the international law – the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples enshrined in the Article 1 of the UN Charter,” the Russian diplomat said.
Russia will allow Ukrainian military inspectors to carry out an emergency monitoring flight over Russian territory only if Kiev pays a regular fee under existing agreements, the Defense Ministry said. In line with the Open Skies Treaty, which establishes a regime of unarmed aerial observation flights over the territories of its signatories, a country requesting a monitoring flight must finance the mission. Kiev notified Moscow that Ukraine cannot fulfill its financial obligations related to the requested flight “due to conditions and timeframe of currency transfers.”
Ukrainian customs officials have blocked the ways in and out of Transnistria, a Ukrainian-Moldovian border at the river Dniestr, for male citizens of Russia. According to an officer of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, “All the men with Russian passports aren’t allowed to pass the border.” Freight trains with cargo for Russian peacekeepers also can’t get to Transnistria. Two trains with food, goods and fuel for Russian troops have been at a checkpoint Kuchurgany for five days.
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