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Russia without Ukraine is a country; |
During the Great War, Germany grabbed Ukraine
and Lenin took it back
During the Great Pariotic War, Germany grabbed Ukraine
and Stalin took it back
During the Winter Olympiad, Germany grabbed Ukraine
and Putin let it slip away
Ukraine Crisis - Russian Military Intervention
Russia began a slow-motion occupation of Ukraine in April 2014. In the face of insurrections by pro-Russian protesters that spread like wildfire through eastern Ukraine, local security forces either melted away or, in some places, swapped sides and joined the protesters. "We did not expect that the whole system of central and regional power would fall to pieces so quickly," Acting President Oleksander Turchinov said. Federalization supporters in Donetsk, Druzkivka, Gorlovka/Horlivka, Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Luhans'k, Makiyivka, Melitopol, Slaviansk and Zaporizhzhya seized local adminstration buildings, and refused to recognize the legitimacy of the current Ukrainian government. If the Ukrainian government reacted passively to the Russian-backed Russian separatists they would be criticized as not defending their own interests and inviting more Russian aggression. But if they act, Russia could say they were being provoked. Inaction would invite opposition from right wing forces in Ukraine, while action would further alienate the Party of Regions.
Ukraine Crisis - 21 April 2014
US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Kyiv on 21 April 2014 , where he met with Ukrainian officials as a show of support. “He will call for urgent implementation of the agreement reached in Geneva last week while also making clear ... that there will be mounting costs for Russia if they choose a destabilizing rather than constructive course in the days ahead,” a senior administration official told reporters.
US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Russia to help implement an international agreement on the crisis in Ukraine, the State Department said. Kerry spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by telephone on Monday morning, department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. “The secretary urged Russia to take concrete steps to help implement the Geneva agreement, including publicly calling on separatists to vacate illegal buildings and checkpoints, accept amnesty and address their grievances politically,” Psaki said at a news briefing.
The senior mediator from the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe in eastern Ukraine held his first talks on Monday with the leader of pro-Russian separatists in the city of Slovyansk, a flashpoint of the crisis. Mark Etherington told reporters he met the self-declared, separatist mayor, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, for two hours. He had asked whether Ponomaryov and his group would comply with last week's Geneva accord under which Russia and Ukraine agreed that militants should disarm and vacate occupied public buildings. Etherington did not say how the separatist leader responded or give further details.
Federalization supporters in Kharkov held a rally on Monday and announced the election of a "people's governor," local resident Vladimir Varshavsky. Varshavsky said an executive committee had been formed already. "The executive committee must be comprised of experienced lawyers, well versed in criminal law, in order to protect those detained. We also need law enforcement personnel, retired and in service," he said.
As for the suspected presence of Russian servicemen in Ukraine, Klaus Zillikens, head of the OSCE monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine said that "there are signs that foreign consultants worked and operated in the Ukrainian territory, but no clear evidence of that. Perhaps, we will get such evidence tomorrow. I don't rule that out. But so far, there is none. Only signs. Precisely such information, such a picture we present and report to Kyiv," head of the OSCE mission in Donetsk said.
Ukraine Crisis - 20 April 2014
A deadly shootout in eastern Ukraine 20 April 2014 cast doubt on the viability of the accord between Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union aimed at pacifying Ukraine’s restive eastern territories. The incident shattered an Easter truce and appeared to dash already-scant hopes for a swift end to the unrest. ?Russian and Ukrainian officials traded accusations of responsibility for the shootout and the worsening chaos engulfing eastern Ukraine.
A group of gunmen launched a deadly attack on a pro-Russian checkpoint near the city of Slaviansk. Russian state-run media reported that five people had died, including three pro-Russian activists. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry confirmed that three people, including two local citizens, were killed and three others were injured in the overnight shootout. Two of the injured received medical aid and refused to be admitted to hospital. The attackers, estimated by the ministry at around 12, fled the crime scene and headed to the neighboring Kharkiv region, taking the injured and killed people with them.
According to pro-Russian authorities in the region, shells and foreign-made explosives, a map of Slaviansk, as well as insignia of the Ukrainian far-right movement Right Sector were reportedly found at the scene of the attack. Right Sector denied any involvement and instead accused Russian special services. The Ukrainian Security Service said no Ukrainian organization was involved. It denounced the incident as a “provocation” staged by outsiders.
People’s volunteer corps in the town of Slavyansk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region have been put on alert over reports about plans to stage attacks on block posts and administrative buildings occupied by the Donetsk People’s Republic, Slavyansk’s people’s mayor Vyacheslav Ponomarev told Itar-Tass. “We have information that an attack on our positions is planned soon. We are getting prepared to defend ourselves,” he said. According to Ponomarev, reports have been coming since morning about movements of armed people around the town. Attempts to enter talks have failed. It is not yet clear whether these people are servicemen of regular army units. Representatives of the Donetsk Republic believe they are Right Sector radicals.
The leader of self-defense forces, Ponomaryov, asked the Russian leadership to send peacekeeping forces to protect pro-federalization protesters from the Right Sector and the National Guard of Ukraine. “They are killing our brothers. They don’t talk to us, they just kill,” Ponomaryov said. Ponomaryov said “today the city is under siege from the Right Sector,” and only Russia can protect the citizens, adding that he has asked President Vladimir Putin to send peacekeepers to the Donetsk and Luhank regions.
Russia was outraged by the provocation in Slaviansk, which demonstrated the reluctance of Kiev to hold back and disarm nationalists and extremists, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "It is surprising that the tragedy occurred after the signing on April 17 in Geneva of the final statement of the four-sided meeting of representatives of Russia, the USA, EU and Ukraine which calls for refraining from any violent actions, intimidation or provocations. The Russian side insists on the strict fulfillment by the Ukrainian side of its commitments concerning the de-escalation the situation in southeast Ukraine," the ministry said. "The Eastern ceasefire was violated in Slavyansk on April 20. As a result of an armed attack by the so-called Right Sector innocent civilians died. Local residents seized the vehicles of the attackers in which they discovered arms, aerial maps of the area and Right Sector paraphernalia," the statement said.
Dmitry Tymchuk wrote "According to operational data from the Information Resistance group, the city of Sloviansk, which is currently controlled by extremists, has finally plunged into an abyss of chaos and anarchy. At checkpoints, extremists take personal vehicles from locals “for the needs of the Donetsk Republic,” the population is running out of cash, armed “criminal confrontations” have occurred. Along with “little green men” (Russian soldiers) who previously conducted the seizure of [administrative] buildings, appeared an armed group of men wearing the same black uniforms in the city."
There are indications that the Kiev authorities simply do not have enough loyal troops to crackdown on the pro-Russian protests. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry announced the creation of a special units corps to maintain order in the southeastern parts of the country. The move was explained by the “externally inspired separatist terrorist attacks, creation of gangs financed from outside the country, and the threat to internal law and order” in those regions, the ministry’s website said.
On 20 April 2014 the Interior Ministry called on former members of the Berkut riot police, which had been branded as thugs and criminals by the new authorities, to return to service. The ministry said the Berkut troops must forget their past grievances and protect Ukraine from what Kiev calls a secret invasion by a covert Russian operation. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry called on the former members of the Berkut riot police to stand up and fight against "intervention" and "save Ukraine." Berkut were involved in confrontation with radical activists during the Ukrainian protests in February, defending governmental buildings in Kiev from crowds, pelting them with Molotov cocktails and stones. Protesters accused the police officers of brutality, so after Ukraine’s coup all Berkut units were disbanded.
Former Berkut members must forget that they used to be on different sides of the barricades and remember that “they are children of a united Ukrainian land, forget grievances, and leave behind all personal ambitions,” the ministry leaders said in a statement. The statement said that “in February there was enough human wisdom to stop just short of fratricide. The plot to discredit Ukraine’s national statehood failed.” It’s not clear whether the ministry chose to dismiss the killing of more than 100 people during the Kiev protest as irrelevant, or decided to go against the position of the General Prosecutor’s office, which charged several former Berkut members with mass murder.
The attitude towards Berkut troops is one of several undermining the split in Ukraine following the February coup. Many anti-Maidan protesters hail them as heroes, who fulfilled their duty and resisted the violence of the radical activists. Some former Berkut members are reportedly taking active part in the protest movement in eastern Ukraine, which was defying Kiev.
Ukraine Crisis - 19 April 2014
The Ukrainian government announced a pause in security operations to oust pro-Russian militants from buildings they have seized. Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia said the government has suspended its efforts for the Easter holiday. He also said that the pause would give OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) monitors more time to organize. For both Russian and Ukranian Orthodox believers, Easter is the most significant religious holiday. And this year it coincides with Easter in the West. While church leaders of all faiths in Ukraine appear to support the new political leadership in Kyiv, the Russian clergy are keeping silent about recent events. Some say that Russian Patriarch Kirill was at odds with President Putin over the conflict. As evidence, they cite Kirill's absence from Putin's March 18 Crimea address in the Kremlin.
Because of a kind of truce after the Geneva agreements, Moscow ceased to give instructions to the separatists who seized administrative buildings in Donetsk region. Espreso.TV reported this, citing the sources in the SBU. "Just this uncertainty is related to the fact that the separatists either do not make demands or, as in Donetsk, put forward vague requirements such as the referendum," the channel reported. At the same time, the only order of the Kremlin was just to hold positions and to wait for new orders in the near future.
Horlivka policemen went to negotiate with the separatists who seized the building of the city Interior Ministry Department on 14 April, but to no avail. Head of armed separatists Russian Igor Bezlyar said that they will hold the police building until a further order from the center, located in the city of Sloviansk. Bezlyar said that “proved people” are in the building, he withdrew all civilians. And he added that there is an order "from the center in Sloviansk" to hold the building at any cost, because they count on appropriate assistance, while the group itself has "enough strength and means to defend the building in the future, because they have no intention to voluntarily surrender," head of the Horlivka criminal police Herman Prystupa said, who participated in the negotiations.
According to a recent survey conducted by Volodymyr Kipen, a political analyst based at Donetsk National University, around two thirds of people in the city of Donetsk want the region to remain part of Ukraine. About a quarter think it should become part of Russia. "Around 20 percent of respondents told us they would welcome Russian troops in Donetsk." And just as many, about one in five, said they would fight the Russians in the event of an invasion. The mood is "very strongly polarized" and bears the potential for civil war, he said.
Ukraine's government, short of effective forces, has shown little sign of trying to recapture the dozen or so town halls, police stations and other sites seized over the past two weeks, despite proclaiming the launch of an "anti-terrorist operation". Ukraine's Foreign Ministry promised "the suspension of the active phase of the anti-terrorist operation" among a list of government initiatives to defuse the crisis issued late on 18 April 2014 . A spokeswoman for the SBU state security service said on 19 April 2014 the suspension was "linked to the implementation of the Geneva agreement and the Easter holidays".
The US intends to deploy the ground forces to Poland in response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine. This agreement was reached by results of a three-day visit to the US by Poland's Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, the US and Polish media inform. Poland and the United States will soon announce the deployment of US ground forces to Poland as part of an expansion of NATO presence in Central and Eastern Europe in response to events in Ukraine. At the request of Warsaw, 12 U.S. F-16 fighters and 300 persons of service personnel already arrived in Poland, who will be in the Polish Republic until the end of the year. In addition, Canada also decided to send to Poland six CF-18 fighter planes and ground staff within the frames of the NATO operation in response to the crisis in Ukraine.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that Poland would not mind to host the two combat brigades of the NATO countries. NATO’s top military commander, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, said in an interview that one of the options the alliance has on the table is to move a 4,500-member combat brigade from Fort Hood, Texas, to Europe. Siemoniak earlier called on the Pentagon to deploy as many as 10,000 American troops in his country. Poland already hosts some 100 to 150 US military servicing a battery of surface-to-air Patriot missiles, which was deployed in 2010.
The US administration is not considering the possibility of settling the crisis in Ukraine through military force, U.S. President Barack Obama has said. "I think I've been very clear that military options are not on the table in Ukraine, because this is not a situation that would be amenable to a clear military solution," he told reporters. "What we have to do is to create an environment in which irregular forces disarm, that the seizing of buildings cease, that a national dialogue by Ukrainians - not by Russians, not by Americans or anybody else, but by Ukrainians - takes place," Obama said.
Ukraine Crisis - 18 April 2014
The United States said 18 April 2014 Russia has a "responsibility" to call on pro-Russian militants occupying government buildings in eastern Ukraine to evacuate. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that if Russia does not take steps to de-escalate the situation and implement Thursday's deal with Ukraine, aimed at lowering tensions, there will be "consequences." The agreement on 17 April 2014 between Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the European Union called for all government buildings to be evacuated and for the militants to be disarmed. But it included few concrete measures for ending the crisis, and many Western leaders are skeptical about Russia holding up its end of the bargain.
Militant leader Denis Pushilin in Donetsk said that his men are not bound by the deal and will only stand down after the Ukrainian government resigns. the self-declared leader of the pro-Russian separatists, Denis Pushilin, dismissed efforts to get him and his followers to leave. "Russia's foreign minister didn't sign for us, he signed for the Russian Federation," Pushilin told journalists. Pushilin said that the Kiev authorities were “refusing to pull back the troops from the territory of the Donetsk Region, and in those conditions it is impossible to talk of compromise.” Kiev “must vacate the seized buildings, disarm the illegal armed groups – the National Guard and the Right Sector – and free all the political prisoners,” Pushilin stressed. “After that, we will be ready for dialogue.”
Reports of a reduction in the number of people in a tent camp near the building of the seized SBU building in Luhansk are untrue, the OstroV online newspaper has reported. "People are not dispersing anywhere and they won't leave until a referendum is held," one of the coordinators of the camp of "people's militia of Luhansk region," who called himself Oleksandr, said.
Almost two months after Yanukovych fled the country, wood smoke still chugs from grubby tent chimney stacks in the protest encampment that sprawls over Kyiv's iconic Independence Square and down the arterial Khreshchatyv Street. The encampment is expected to remain in place at least until the May 25 presidential elections. Ukrainian foreign minister Deshchytsa said that Kiev activists do not have to quit Independence Square (Maidan) because it has been occupied “legally.”
Russia's Foreign Ministry released a statement saying it was "disappointed" with the United States' assessment of the April 17 Geneva talks between representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the United States, and the European Union. The Foreign Ministry statement accused Washington of trying to "whitewash" what the ministry claimed was the use of force by Kyiv's authorities against pro-Russian protesters in eastern Ukraine. The statement said, "It's clear when we talk about disarmament, we mean first of all confiscating weapons from the militants of the Right Sector and other pro-fascist groups."
Ukraine's acting president and prime minister issued a strong pledge to eastern Ukrainians; promising to support constitutional change, and decentralize power to local councils - allowing them to conduct business in Russian - a central demand of the separatists.
The White House national security advisor, Susan Rice, told reporters that the US has been clear that it and its European partners "remain ready to impose additional costs on Russia" if it fails to meet its obligations. She said "in the event of a dramatic escalation," such as the movement of troops, those costs and sanctions could include targeting what she called "very significant sectors" of the Russian economy.
President Barack Obama expressed hope that a plan to de-escalate tensions in Ukraine, reached Thursday in Geneva, will lead to restoration of peace and security for all citizens of Ukraine. Obama told reporters that if Russia failed to take steps to defuse the crisis in eastern Ukraine, the United States and Europe will respond with tough measures, but he ruled out a military intervention.
Former US permanent representative to NATO Kurt Volker does not put much faith in the agreement with Moscow. "It is deliberately misleading about what’s going on in Ukraine and what its own actions are in Ukraine. And when it says it’s agreed to de-escalation, I am convinced that what Russia means is that they expect Ukraine and the West to de-escalate and allow Russia to go about doing what it’s doing. So I don’t see this agreement is really amounting to very much,” said Volker.
Special operations to crack down on protests in eastern Ukraine are continuing, but have switched to an “inactive phase” following the agreement at four-party talks in Geneva, the country’s Security Service said Friday. “In line with the Easter holidays and the Geneva agreements, operations are now in an inactive phase. Headquarters is working and re-planning is underway.” Kiev has no plans of halting special operations in eastern Ukraine and their intensity will depend on how the Geneva agreements are being fulfilled, including vacating occupied administrative buildings and laying down arms, acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchitsia said.
The acting minister added that officials plans to meet with members of a monitoring mission to Ukraine by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to discuss their possible participation in the negotiations. “If these people are ready to vacate buildings, to lay down their weapons today or tomorrow, we are ready to encourage the OSCE [to participate] in negotiations on implementing the [de-escalation] agreement, to make them mediators in these talks,” he said, adding that otherwise “certain actions” against the protesters will follow.
The disarmament of irregular militant groups in Ukraine is a task for the authorities in Kiev, OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said, outlining a roadmap devised at talks in Geneva. “It should be done by the Ukrainians. It’s a law and order issue, and the relevant Ukrainian institutions should do it,” he said, explaining that the objective is complicated and “has to be part of a broader process where the central part is dialogue.” The Special Monitoring Mission, which was launched by 57 OSCE participating states, deployed to Ukraine two weeks earlier. Over a hundred OSCE observers currently work in 10 Ukrainian cities, including Kiev, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russia does have troops near the Ukrainian border and that some of those forces are stationed there "on a permanent basis." Peskov said additional forces are in the area along Russia's border with Ukraine but only "as reinforcement aganst the background of what is going on in Ukraine."
To counter Russian propaganda lies about the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula on Feb. 27, Dmitry Tymchuk set up the Center of Military and Political Research in Kyiv. He served in the Army air defense from 1995-1998, the National Guard from 1998-2000 and in the Defense Ministry in subsequent years on missions to Iraq, Lebanon and Kosovo. His blogs are translated into English by Voices of Ukraine. He called Putin's recent call-in TV show "a protocol of feverish delirium. Just take his story about eastern Ukraine as “New Russia with roots related to Russia” as an example."
Well-known politologist Oleksandr Paliy criticized statements, made by Russian President Vladimir Putin about the alleged inclusion of Novorossiya into Ukraine at the beginning of the 20th century, as not consisting with historical reality. “Absolutely absurd things were said about the Ukrainian territory, about some Novorossiya. I would just like to say to everyone who relish this idea: No Novorossiya has ever been in Ukraine. Before formation of only a province called “Novorossiya” as a part of Russia, there was, first, the Kyiv Principality with an access to the Black Sea - Oleshky, Kherson region, Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky - it's all up to the 15th century and since the 15th century there was the Zaporizhzhia Sich - these were the lands of the Zaporizhzhia Army. If the Sich was basely destroyed - it does not mean that its lands suddenly became some Novorossiya - these are all Ukrainian lands," the expert said.
Commenting on Russian President Putin's communication with the Russians on April 17, Paliy noted that it was not by chance conducted on the day of the four party talks in Geneva and had both external and internal target. The external target was to primarily demonstrate to the world the strength and hardness of Russian positions. "To show that he (Putin) - can almost attack Alaska, that he will not take it, because it's very cold there, but he can make attacks everywhere - where it is warm,” Paliy said.
Ukraine Crisis - 17 April 2014
Three people were killed and thirteen others injured by gunfire in a confrontation between anti-Maidan protesters and soldiers stationed at an Interior Ministry base in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. A group of several dozen protesters arrived at the base, located in the turbulent Donetsk region. They called on the troops to abandon the base, but the soldiers didn't listen, the demonstrators said. Instead, the troops opened fire at the protesters. At least 63 people were detained overnight following the incident, but 25 of them were then released within hours. Police “could not charge those 25 people with anything,” Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser, Stanislav Rechinsky, told journalists.
The most estimable Dmitry Tymchuk wrote that "The anti-terrorist operation (ATO) – all of the high expectations put onto it are not justified.... The ATO has been planned, the means and capabilities have been defined, and the tasks – set. However, special forces were put under the strictest limitations and conditions of their actions, such that a successful ATO should be considered a miracle of religious proportions. The Operation Commander – if he can succeed under the current conditions – will be able to walk on water just as easily as on land, and to cure the paralyzed with his mere touch. This person could easily be considered a miracle worker and canonized while alive.... if we wanted to empower the extremists, we could just arrange for a distribution of weapons from army arsenals and stop tormenting our special forces."
Russia formed shock troops on the border with Ukraine near Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions in northern Ukraine, Director of the Centre of Military and Political Studies Dmytro Tymchuk said. "According to operational data of the Information Resistance group, formation of shock troops of Russian forces is held in the Russian regions bordering on Ukraine. In particular, in the areas near Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions, in the vicinity of the state border, battalion tactical groups are being formed," he said. According to the expert, the shock troops are consisting of airborne forces and special groups of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Russian Federation. "At the same time, joint exercises of Special Operations Forces of … Belarus and of the Russian airborne units began on the territory of Belarus," he added.
Top diplomats from Ukraine, Russia, the European Union, and United States agreed 17 april 2014 on a set of measures to ease the conflict in Ukraine. Some of the measures agreed to include disarmament of all illegally armed groups and amnesty for all protesters who peacefully vacate occupied buildings, aside from those found guilty of capital offenses. Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, who were already in Ukraine, would be immediately engaged in putting the de-escalation measures into place.
Ukrainian Premier Arseniy Yatseniuk has said he's not pinning great hopes on the quadrilateral meeting in Geneva as he is sure that Russia has a goal of continuing to destabilize the situation in Ukraine. "I am not overly hopeful about this meeting since I don't believe the Russian side… Now Russia is playing just one game: further aggravation, the further seizure of territory and further provocations," he told journalists in Kyiv.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the US will provide Ukraine with more non-lethal military aid, including medical supplies, helmets, sleeping mats and water purification units. Despite requests for military assistance, the Obama administration had until now provided Ukraine mostly with financial support while pressuring Russia diplomatically.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had "a right" to send troops into Ukraine but hopes he will "not have to exercise that right." Speaking live on Russian TV call-in show after a clash in eastern Ukraine in which three pro-Russian protesters were reported killed, Putin warned the Ukrainian authorities of "the abyss they're heading into" and urged dialogue. Putin stopped short of saying Russian forces were currently operating in eastern Ukraine. "It’s nonsense," Putin said. "There are no Russian troops or special forces in eastern Ukraine," adding that Kyiv’s use of armed force in the region is a "serious crime."
Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that "little green men," or people in military uniforms without any insignia, in Crimea were Russian military. He said this during the Q&A session on TV. "We had to take the necessary measures to prevent the events from unfolding in a way they are unfolding in the southeastern part of Ukraine today, so that there were no tanks, no combat units of nationalists and people with extreme views but properly armed with automatic weapons. Of course, our military servicemen stood behind the back of the self-defense forces in Crimea. They acted in a very correct but a resolute and professional way," Putin said. Earlier, Putin categorically denied the presence of Russian troops in Crimea who described themselves as self-defense forces.
Ukraine was holding in detention about 10 Russian citizens, all of whom have intelligence backgrounds, the State Security Service announced. Answering a journalist's question about comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin about the extent of Russian involvement in the Ukraine crisis, an SBU spokeswoman said, “We have about 10 Russians, with Russian passports, who have been detained.”
The Ukrainian State Border Guard Service confirmed that Russian males aged 16-60 have been banned from entering the country. Russia’s largest airline Aeroflot earlier announced it had received an official letter from Ukrainian authorities notifying the company of the severe restrictions. The exceptions to the ban include passengers traveling with relatives who are women or children, or those who had documents confirming an invitation from close relatives or serious illness or death in the family, the company said. A spokesman for the service told RIA Novosti that "these temporary measures apply, primarily, to healthy males who could somehow influence the situation in eastern Ukraine."
The public organization Civil Guard reported on a significant amount of Russians, noted that in the capital of Ukraine, which come in small groups of 5-8 people. Eizvestia.com informs: "According to information received from local residents, they are based in the areas of Lukianivka, Syrets and Arsenal. The “tourists " arrive in Kyiv by public transport from Chernihiv region through Brovary. At the same time, they demonstrate complete ignorance of the city geography and are not in possession of the Ukrainian currency," a report says.
A reward of USD 10,000 is offered by Dnipropetrovsk governor Ihor Kolomoisky for each "little green man," caught in Ukraine. "For each caught "little green man," he is a mercenary, who came to our common land and is trying to push us to the fratricidal war - a reward of USD 10,000. For each vacated building, handed over to the local authorities and transferred under the guard of a special squadron Donbas of the Dnipro battalion - a reward of USD 200,000". At the same time, he said, for each returned sub-machine gun a fee of USD 1,000 will be paid, for machine gun - USD 1,500 and grenade-thrower - USD 2,000.
Deputies of Regions Party in Donetsk region have urged their countrymen to lay down arms and leave captured administrative buildings. "We address all our fellow countrymen protesting in the cities of Donetsk region, and ask you to lay down your weapons; don't put the lives of peaceful citizens at risk; leave the captured administrative buildings," reads a draft resolution of the emergency congress of Regions Party deputies of all levels in Donetsk region.
Ukrainian and Israeli media reported that Jews in the eastern city of Donetsk -- where pro-Russian militants had taken control of government buildings -- were ordered to "register" with those who were trying to force the city to become part of Russia. The letter is signed by "people's governor," Dennis Pushilin. US Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the move. "In the year 2014, after all of the miles traveled and all of the journey of history, this is not just intolerable, it's grotesque. It is beyond unacceptable," he told reporters. In fact the regisration letrer was a fake, and not a very good one. Firstly, no one has elected the people's governer. Secondly, the seal there belongs to the former Mayor. Pushilinsaid "everything is done through photoshop". He categorically denied the authenticity of the letter.
Ukraine Crisis - 16 April 2014
A large column of the Ukrainian army's armored vehicles was moving toward Kramatorsk in Donetsk region 16 April 2014 to support special forces units that were already in the city. According to eyewitnesses, the column consists of at least two dozen armored vehicles with paratroopers. Before them, ten armored vehicles and airborne combat vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had already entered the city. Ukrainian servicemen opened fire on the militia in Kramatorsk. The militia tried to break the convoy of several BMD that was going to the airfield, which was held since the evening by the Ukrainian military. They wedged into the column and blocked the way to the closing machine. Ukrainian military opened fire. One militia was wounded in the shoulder and two were wounded in the legs. The convoy managed to go through towards the airfield.
Four people were reportedly injured by gunfire in a confrontation between anti-Maidan protesters and soldiers stationed at an Interior Ministry base in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. A group of several dozen protesters arrived at the base, located in the turbulent Donetsk region. They called on the troops to abandon the base, but the soldiers didn't listen, the demonstrators said. Instead, the troops opened fire at the protesters, injuring at least four people. One of them took a bullet in his chest and is in serious condition, according to protesters. Unconfirmed reports put the number of casualties higher, with four people killed and as many as 12 injured.
Pro-Russian separatists raised the Russian flag on Ukrainian army armored vehicles in eastern Ukraine, mocking the pro-Western Kyiv government's attempt to reassert control on the eve of crucial talks in Geneva on the country's future. A Ukrainian defense ministry statement confirmed that six armored personnel carriers were seized with the help of Russian agents. As the armored vehicles drove into Slovyansk waving flags, some people waved back and shouted: "Well done lads!" and "Russia, Russia!" A soldier guarding one of the carriers now under the control of the rebels told Reuters he was a member of Ukraine's 25th paratrooper brigade from Dnipropetrovsk. There had been reports several days earlier that elements of that unit had mutinied.
The Russian flags on Ukrainian Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) were a stratagem, Kiev says. According to the acting head of the Batkivshchina Party, Sergey Sobolev, the Ukrainian military raised Russian flags on their vehicles on purpose, to fool the Donetsk region’s self-defense squads and thus be able to get into areas under the control of protesters. “Those were our military units using guerilla methods of intervention,” Sobolev said, citing the acting Defense Minister. “Very soon, in two to three hours this maneuver is going to be disclosed and you’ll understand that it was actually a breakthrough, which our units thus carried out.”
Masked saboteurs of the Russian 45th Airborne Troops Regiment are operating in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaliy Yarema told reporters. "We have identified those persons who are now in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. They represent a unit of the 45th Guards Airborne Troops Regiment "Kupyanka -1", which is housed near Moscow. This unit is now operating in the territory of Ukraine," he told reporters in Poltava region. A reminder that Russia denies the presence of its troops in the east of Ukraine, as it had previously denied their involvement in the occupation of Crimea.
Vitaly Nayda, Ukraine's counter-intelligence chief, said he had evidence of Russia's involvement in eastern provinces. He told a news conference that the determination was made after intercepting conversations of the Russian military from Sloviansk. The official said 40 agents 'recruited by Russian security services' had been arrested. Nayada added that those arrested had admitted to being recruited and were now assisting with the investigation. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) disclosed plans by the Russian special services to kill Ukrainians in order to send troops to the country. One of the leaders of the SBU counterintelligence, Vitaliy Naida, said. "We intercepted the negotiations indicating that the Russian special services are planning to kill 100-200 people in Ukraine and then use tanks and armored vehicles," Naida said.
An armed attack on SBU officers in Sloviansk (Donetsk region), during which one SBU employee was killed and three others were injured, was committed by a subversive group led by Russian intelligence officer Igor Strelkov. One of the heads of the SBU counterintelligence, Vitaliy Naida, said. "It was established that an intelligence and sabotage group of over 30 people, which was headed by an officer of the main intelligence department of the general staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Igor Strelkov, carried out an armed attack on SBU employees [in Sloviansk on April 14]," Naida said.
He also said that Strelkov, whose negotiations with other saboteurs were earlier intercepted by SBU, acted in Crimea and, after the occupation of the peninsula, moved to the southeastern regions of Ukraine "to destabilize the socio-political situation." "We recorded that he [Strelkov] personally gave instructions to Ukrainian citizens, whose names are not currently disclosed, to seize and hold the buildings of the Kharkiv and Luhansk regional state administrations, as well as to destroy the Alfa special police unit, which arrived in Donetsk region to conduct an anti-terrorist operation," Naida said.
Dmitry Tymchuk of Information Resistance [a very well informed Ukrainian military analyst], wrote "the Information Resistance group, strongly recommend to the Kremlin that they recount their soldiers, for example, at the 2nd Separate Spetznaz Brigade of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, in Pskov oblast [region]. Since we are in the possession of rather bad information that not all of these soldiers are sitting at home in Russia.... in absence of the “little green men” from Russia, extremists have no chance to destabilize the situation. A handful of village idiots cannot impose their will on the rest of the community. The strength of current terrorist acts lies in the support of trained professionals from the Russian special forces. Without the Kremlin’s help, all efforts to plunge the [Donbas] region into the blaze of civil war are doomed to fail."
'Little green men' have been seen in the seized Mariupol city council building on Wednesday, according to the local 0629 online resource. Young guys in masks and special uniform walked along the territory of the city hall, were inside the building and on the roof. From previous invaders they differ with almost the same athletic build, real army boots and uniform, an eyewitness said. For the first days since the takeover, it is prohibited to take pictures and shoot video. "No video allowed," the invaders explained.
The anti-Maidan movement against the Kiev coup-imposed government in the southern city of Odessa has called for protest action. “From this day on, the Odessa region is declared the Odessa Popular Republic where the power belongs only to the people who live there. Tomorrow at 4pm [13:00 GMT] Odessa should be ground to a halt! Literally! Your task at the indicated time is to block the transport connections indicated on the map with your cars, pedestrians, go to the zebra crossings and stand there. Create as many traffic jams across the city as possible,” the Odessa Anti-Maidan movement website addressed the city’s residents.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance has decided on a series of immediate steps to reinforce its military footprint in eastern Europe, in response to Russia's moves. "We will have more planes in the air, more ships on the water, and more readiness on the land," he told a news conference after the decisions were taken by NATO ambassadors. "For example, air police and aircraft will fly more sorties over the Baltic region," he said, "allied ships will deploy to the Baltic sea, the eastern Mediterranean, and elsewhere as required."
Ukraine Crisis - 15 April 2014
Ukrainian armed forces on 15 April 2014 launched a "special operation" against militiamen in the country's Russian speaking east, authorities said, recapturing an airfield from pro-Moscow separatists [some reports call it a "military airfield" but no significant military units are associated with this location].Turchynov issued a statement saying Ukraine had retaken the airfield in Kramatorsk from pro-Russian militants, while the state security service said an "anti-terrorist" operation was in progress against separatists in the nearby town of Slaviansk.
At least four protesters were killed and two other wounded as the Ukrainian troops stormed the airfield by one report. Heavy gunfire could be heard from the airfield at the town of Kramatorsk after a fighter jet swooped low over the area. Ukrainian troops were seen disembarking from helicopters. The Ukrainian forces included about 60 units of armored vehicles that had been preparing for several days. There are about 15 tanks, the other units are armored personnel vehicles. Special forces of the Interior Ministry Omega and of SBU Alfa also took part in the operation.
Ukrainian forces supported by armored vehicles were reported to have entered the nearby eastern city of Slovyansk. Reports said some 500 Ukrainian troops backed by 20 armored vehicles and tanks entered Slovyansk early in the evening. By mid-day the regional administration building and local police station were still under the control of anti-government activists and there are no Ukrainian military troops inside the city. “There is no military machinery in Slavyansk, no troops, though there are a lot of panicky reports in the media of tanks moving [to the city], armored vehicles and so on,” said an aid to the head of Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior Rechinsky.
As the operations started, Ukrainian General Valeriy Krutov, who was appointed chief of the security operation in eastern Ukraine, said pro-Russian groups occupying government buildings in eastern Ukrainian cities and towns "must be warned that if they do not lay down their arms, they will be destroyed." Krutov had been appointed one day earlier as chief of the Anti-Terrorist Center at the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and SBU first deputy chief. Vasyl Krutov is called "legend of Alpha Special Forces ". He is Lieutenant General of the Security Service of Ukraine, a Doctor of Law, and a Professor. He took part in the releasing of Ukrainian sailors, members of the crew of the "Faina" vessel that was captured by Somali pirates.
Acting President Turchynov said an offensive he first announced on 13 April 2014 was now in progress after days in which it failed to materialize. "The anti-terrorist operation began during the night in the north of Donetsk region. But it will take place in stages, responsibly, in a considered way. I once again stress: the aim of these operations is to defend the citizens of Ukraine," he told parliament.
Turchynov said civilians will not be provided with weapons and there will be no civil war in Ukraine. He said this at a meeting of the parliament, commenting on the initiative of the Svoboda faction to pass a law that allows civilians to have weapons, as well as some of the initiatives to give civilians weapons to protect the state. "The government gives weapons only to those who come to work in the police, or who is going to serve with the National Guard or armed forces. When we open free access to weapons, it would also mean free access to the separatists, and it means that we push Ukraine into the abyss of civil war ... There will be no civil war in Ukraine. End of story," Turchynov said. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev wrote on his Facebook page that Ukraine is on the verge of civil war.
The Party of Regions faction in Ukraine's parliament says it opposes the involvement of the armed forces to recapture the governmental buildings seized by armed people in the eastern regions of Ukraine, the faction's leader Oleksandr Yefremov said. "We're strongly against the use of force. What is more, we believe the involvement of the Ukrainian army against Ukrainian civilians is unacceptable," Yefremov said at a sitting of the Conciliation Council of parliamentary factions' and committees' heads in Kyiv on April 14.
The first battalion of the National Guard, formed of the Maidan volunteers, left for the east of Ukraine on 15 April 2014. NSDC Secretary Andriy Parubiy wrote: "The first battalion of the National Guard, formed of volunteers of the Maidan's Self-Defense, left for the front. Fighters have high morale and readiness to defend Ukraine. It is very difficult. I know since I have only recently returned from Luhansk, where I spent the whole week. But I'm sure that we shall win because God is with us and Ukraine."
The staff for national defense in Dnipropetrovsk region, which brings together opponents of the movement for Ukraine's federalization, has set up 26 volunteer checkpoints and plans to bring the number to 100 in a bid to stop separatists from coming into the region. Most of the checkpoints which are located on the region's border with the regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson, notify traffic police posts about all suspicious vehicles. There were furthermore, mobile checkpoints in the region and mobile teams that consist of members of the "national defense regiment" and would be able to move to other Ukrainian regions. There is, moreover, a self-defense unit in each district of Dnipropetrovsk region.
Ukrainian border guards stopped a total of more than 11,000 suspects who were trying to get into Ukrainian territory from Russia. This was disclosed by Border Service spokesman Oleg Slobodyan. According to him, only those citizens who raise suspicions of illegal stay on Ukrainian territory are detained. Russians can get into the territory of Ukraine travelling only alone, because the border service toughened control.
Ukrainian officials offered evidence of Russian involvement. Acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya said the armed men seizing government buildings were armed with automatic rifles used by the Russian Army, and not the types of rifles stolen from Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) forces, as many pro-Russian protesters have claimed. Although he did not offer specific details, Deshchytsya appeared to be referring to documented use of Kalashnikov AK-100 rifles, which are not part of the Ukrainian arsenal.
Andriy Parubiy, the head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, a former lawmaker and Euromaidan protest leader, announced on April 15 that SBU agents had detained officers from the Russian Defense Ministry's main intelligence wing, the GRU, for involvement in the eastern actions. The main detainee was Igor Strelkov, a GRU commanding officer and the leader of the paramilitary group that has taken control in the eastern city of Slovyansk.
Nelya Shtepa, the mayor of Slovyansk, said in a television interview on April 15 that the "little green men" -- as pro-Russian fighters without identifying insignia have come to be called -- had not attempted to hide that they were from Crimea and Russia when storming city buildings on April 14.
The Ukrainian operations appeared to mark an escalation of the deepest East-West crisis since the Cold War. The standoff has raised fears in the West and in Kiev that Russia might intervene militarily on behalf of Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine, following its annexation of the Crimean region last month in response to the overthrow of Ukraine's pro-Moscow president, Viktor Yanukovych, after weeks of protests.
"The Ukrainian government has the responsibility to provide law and order and these provocations in eastern Ukraine are creating a situation in which the government has to respond,'' White House spokesman Jay Carney said at a briefing. The United States is "seriously considering'' new sanctions against Russia, but is not considering providing lethal aid to Ukraine, he said.
A United Nations report cast doubt on whether Russian-speakers were seriously threatened, including those in Crimea who voted to join Russia after Moscow forces had already seized control of the Black Sea peninsula. "Although there were some attacks against the ethnic Russian community, these were neither systematic nor widespread," said the report by the U.N. human rights office. The report, issued after two visits to Ukraine last month by Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic, cited "misinformed reports'' and "greatly exaggerated stories of harassment of ethnic Russians by Ukrainian nationalist extremists''. Russia called the report one-sided, politicized and apparently fabricated.
Estonian Radio correspondent Astrid Kannel, currently in Donetsk, said the mood and developments in the eastern Ukrainian city are similar to the stuation she witnessed before the referendum in Crimea. "On the spot, it's become evident that the majority of people are very cross at Kyiv for various reasons and you could say that Donetsk, for one, is a completely pro-Russian city. It's hard to come here to take something back, if there's no support for taking it back," Kannel said on ETV. "I haven't seen any action from the Ukraine side here in the course of today. What I have seen is how the provisional government in Donetsk is calmly negotiating and making plans for how to seize power in smaller villages and towns."
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