BBC: Ukraine sanctions imposed amid Kiev clashes

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/28/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA3O16720140428

U.S. sanctions Putin allies as Ukraine violence goes on

 

The United States imposed new sanctions on allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, prompting Moscow to denounce "Cold War" tactics amid more violence in eastern Ukraine.

 

Banning visas and freezing assets of the likes of Putin's friend Igor Sechin, head of oil giant Rosneft, also drew fire from President Barack Obama's domestic critics, who called it a "slap on the wrist", even as European allies wrangled over how to follow suit without badly hurting their own economies.

 

Despite a Ukrainian military operation to contain them, the militants extended their grip by seizing key public buildings in another town in Donetsk region. In the regional capital, Donetsk, club-wielding pro-Russian activists broke up a rally by supporters of the Western-backed government in Kiev.

 

And the high-profile mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, was badly wounded by a gunman, raising fears of further unrest in a Russian-speaking region that has seen less trouble of late than the neighboring provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk.

 

U.S. sanctions were aimed, Washington officials said, at "cronies" of Putin. Seven men, including Sechin, were targeted by visa bans and freezing of any U.S. assets, and 17 companies were also named. EU states added 15 names to its blacklist and will reveal them on Tuesday.

 

"The goal is not to go after Mr. Putin personally," Obama said. "The goal is to change his calculus with respect to how the current actions that he's engaging in Ukraine could have an adverse impact on the Russian economy over the long haul."

Opinion polls show substantial but still only minority support in the depressed, industrial east of Ukraine for following Crimea into union with Russia.

 

Several people were injured on Monday after dozens of men in military fatigues, carrying baseball bats and throwing firecrackers, tried to break up a demonstration in Donetsk.

 

A crowd of about 2,000 waved Ukrainian flags and chanted "Donetsk is Ukraine" and "Putin, no" but dispersed after the assault, in which Reuters journalists saw at least 10 people treated for head injuries.

 

Earlier in the same region, armed men in camouflage who refused to identify themselves seized the police station and town hall in Kostyantynivka. Reuters journalists saw about 20 well organized gunmen controlling the administration building. They erected a barricade of tires, sandbags and concrete blocks.

After an appeal from Germany, long Moscow's firmest advocate in the West, for Russia to intervene to secure the release of the seven European monitors, four of whom are German, Moscow's ambassador to the OSCE said it would be good if they were freed.

 

But he also condemned the OSCE, of which Russia is a member, for being "extremely irresponsible" in sending them to eastern Ukraine. Moscow has condemned the Kiev authorities for failing to provide security in the industrial and heavily populated east, close to the Russian border.

 

In the face of Western and Ukrainian calls for it to pull back troops massed on Ukraine's frontier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday it had "deep concern" about forces Kiev has sent to the region, suggesting that Ukrainian troops might be preparing for "the destruction of entire cities".

They have some ****ing nerve.

 

http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20140428&t=2&i=892506836&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=580&pl=378&r=CBREA3R1FMF00

http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20140428&t=2&i=892495483&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=700&pl=378&r=CBREA3R1DKJ00

[visionary]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/whos-who-putins-friends-hit-us-sanctions

A WHO'S WHO OF PUTIN'S FRIENDS HIT BY US SANCTIONS

 

The seven people from Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle targeted with U.S. sanctions on Monday include men who have helped Putin restore Kremlin control over Russia's economy and its political system. They have been tasked with carrying out some of Putin's most ambitious projects, most notably his plans to make Crimea an integral part of Russia after seizing the peninsula from Ukraine.

 

There were already 20 people on the list. The United States also added 17 Russian companies.

 

Putin publicly has scorned the West's efforts to pressure him over the crisis in Ukraine, where a pro-Russia militia has been working to undermine the new Western-supported government in Kiev. "No sanctions can be effective in the modern world and they never produce the desired effect," Putin declared last week.

 

Still, the first round of sanctions has harmed Russia's economy, as Putin acknowledged, and the only positive news from the new round was that many feared they would be even worse.

 

Here is a list of the Russian officials and companies targeted:

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/RolandOliphant

Scary lot of scary track suits running toward pro Ukraine rally in Donetsk, at least one with a baseball bat

11:43 AM

 

Big bangs, smoke. Sounds like fireworks rather than grenades or shots.

11:46 AM

 

Guy down. Blood. Head wound but still breathing. Not sure if a shot or a stick. It's started.

11:57 AM

 

now they're attacking cars near the cathedral. Think this is turning into a good old fashioned aimless rampage.

12:23 PM 

Fight seems to be over for now. Column of pro Russians marching down artyema st. Purposefully.

12:17 PM

 

Just watched disarmed riot cops forced to wait to be picked up by colleagues, their shields piled on the ground, guarded by camo and clavas

12:37 PM

 

pro Russians seem to have retired in triumph back to occupied regional admin building. No sign of the pro Ukrainian marchers

12:43 PM

 

https://twitter.com/jamesmatesitv

Our producer Evgeny hit on the head by a brick as we ran from the pro-Russian attack pic.twitter.com/KIS5dRn6bV

12:11 PM

 

https://twitter.com/richardgaisford

Frightening times in Donetsk. Our camera now a crime scene. See knife. Cameraman attacked. Thankfully ok. pic.twitter.com/1oppjZ3z2c

12:18 PM

 

Russian News Agencies reporting a peaceful pro Russia rally attacked by pro Ukrainians - unbelievable falsehood, completely twisting truth

3:21 PM

[visionary]

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/international/2014/04/27/damon-pkg-living-on-edge-in-eastern-ukraine.cnn&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FDJ3P7ubOOH

Living on the edge in eastern Ukraine

 

Not everyone in eastern Ukraine is pro-Russian, and those who aren't live in fear.

 

CNN's Arwa Damon reports.

 

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/apr/28/ukraine-hate-progress/

Ukraine: Hate in Progress

 

From the cemetery in Khrestysche we could see for miles across the valley and the rolling green hills. Men from the village militia pointed to the horizon and said that their enemies were “over there,” somewhere. And then the funeral party came walking up the path from the village, bearing the open coffin of twenty-one-year-old Aleksandr Lubenets. “He was very cheerful. He loved life,” his father, Vladimir, told me. “And then some **** decided to end it. They shot him in the back.”

 

Krestysche is on the outskirts of Sloviansk, in eastern Ukraine. Aleksandr and two of his mates, were part of the local rebel militia, which has been ringed by anti-government barricades for the last few weeks. What exactly happened is unclear. Yevgeniy, the commander of Aleksandr’s group, said, “He wanted to be hero.” On April 24, the three friends ran into Ukrainian soldiers or police and that was the end of it.

 

On the same day, in the nearby town of Gorlovka, forty-two-year-old Volodymyr Rybak was buried. A policeman turned local councilman, he remonstrated with the men who had put up a rebel flag in town. A few days later he and a man later identified as a student from Kiev were found in a river near Sloviansk. Rybak’s body, which had been weighted down with a bag of sand, showed signs of torture. As mourners came to pay their respects at his home in Gorlovka, Elena, his widow, sat by his open coffin stroking his face.

 

If war is coming, which is the way it feels, Aleksandr and Volodymyr will be remembered and not just by their families and friends. When the Balkan conflict began in the early 1990s the names of the very first to die were engraved in everyone’s memory and later in the history books. Soon after, the individual names and faces gave way to the torrent of numbers.

 

In many ways the beginning of this conflict in eastern Ukraine resembles that of the beginning of the Yugoslav wars. But the similarities are superficial. As the rebels in Khrestysche—who are variously described as “pro-Russian” or “separatists” or, by the Ukrainian authorities, “terrorists”—scanned the horizon before firing their salute over Aleksandr’s grave, I was struck by the crucial difference. In the Balkans, the men would point to the next village and tell you how they had come to kill us in 1941 and how we are not going to let them do it again. In eastern Ukraine there is no ethnic basis for strife, but hate is still being manufactured. Almost everyone speaks Russian, but you can describe yourself as Russian or Ukrainian along a sort of spectrum. Nor, in contrast to the Balkans, do religious differences play a part. Almost everyone is Orthodox.

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/Max_Fisher

Awkward: Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is in Russia to celebrate his birthday with buddy Vladimir Putin. http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/ukraine-krise-gerhard-schroeder-feiert-mit-wladimir-putin-geburtstag-a-966641.html

6:01 PM

 

https://twitter.com/noclador

It is real and in the first photo Schröder stands next to the German STASI officer who collaborated with Putin...

6:02 PM

[Switchgear]

I hate to say it, but I see Russia invading, and having the same kind of success they did in Georgia. They'll be condemned by the UN and the western world, but they'll get as much of Ukraine as they want and they'll pretend the sanctions and resolutions aren't having any effect. Ukraine may bloody them some, but they'll win, unfortunately.

 

Long term, I wouldn't be surprised to see other countries with sizable Russian minority populations (Belarus, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) start to "encourage" them to go live in Russia, since they are the pretext Russia is using to pull this crap.

 

Russia is going to make it's people unwelcome anywhere else with their aggression. Hopefully they'll run out of the political/societal will to keep going sooner rather than later.

[visionary]

http://en.itar-tass.com/world/729887

Japan imposes new sanctions on Russia

 

Japanese government has imposed additional sanctions on Russia Tuesday over current situation around Ukraine. The sanctions envisage temporary termination of issuing entry visas for 23 officials of Russian official agencies and other people. Their list will be made public later.

 

These sanctions are introduced to fulfill joint decisions which the leaders of seven leading highly industrialized countries had taken.

 

Japan has already introduced the first package of sanctions against Russia on March 18. These sanctions were related with Russia’s position on the Republic of Crimea. Then sanctions envisaged suspension of consultations over a softer visa regime and freezing of the start of talks on possible conclusion of three treaties on investment co-operation, co-operation in space exploration and prevention of dangerous military activity.

 

http://en.itar-tass.com/world/729861

EU expands Russia’s blacklist for 15 more people

 

EU expanded Russia’s blacklist for another 15 people, the EU Council reported. "EU Council adopted targeted measures against those responsible for the lack of reduction of tension in the east of Ukraine," the document says.

 

Names of Russian citizens included in the blacklist will be officially known on Tuesday, after the publication of the list in the Official Journal of the EU, and since then an updated list comes into force.

 

Thus, the total number of members of the European blacklist for Russia reached 48 people. The entry to EU for all of them banned until November, and their bank accounts will be frozen.

 

 

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:JOL_2014_126_R_0005&from=EN

List of persons, entities and bodies referred to in Article 1

 

Name

Identifying information

Reasons

Date of listing

1.

Dmitry Nikolayevich KOZAK

Born 7.11.1958 in Kirovohrad, Ukrainian SSR

Deputy Prime Minister. Responsible for overseeing the integration of the annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea into the Russian Federation.

29.4.2014

 

2.

Oleg Yevgenyvich BELAVENTSEV

Born 15.9.1949 in Moscow

Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation into the so called ‘Crimean Federal District’, Non-permanent member of the Russian Security Council. Responsible for the implementation of the constitutional prerogatives of the Russian Head of State on the territory of the annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

29.4.2014

 

3.

Oleg Genrikhovich SAVELYEV

Born 27.10.1965 in Leningrad

Minister for Crimean Affairs. Responsible for the integration of the annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea into the Russian Federation.

29.4.2014

 

4.

Sergei Ivanovich MENYAILO

Born 22.8.1960 in Alagir, North-Ossetian Autonomous SSR, RSFSR

Acting governor of the Ukrainian annexed city of Sevastopol.

29.4.2014

 

5.

Olga Fedorovna KOVATIDI

Born 7.5.1962 in Simferopol, Ukrainian SSR

Member of the Russian Federation Council from the annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

29.4.2014

 

6.

Ludmila Ivanovna SHVETSOVA

Born 24.9.1949 in Alma-Ata, USSR

Deputy Chairman of State Duma, United Russia — Responsible for initiating legislation to integrate the annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea into the Russian Federation.

29.4.2014

 

7.

Sergei Ivanovich NEVEROV

Born 21.12.1961 in Tashtagol, USSR

Deputy Chairman of State Duma, United Russia. Responsible for initiating legislation to integrate the annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea into the Russian Federation.

29.4.2014

 

8.

Igor Dmitrievich SERGUN

Born 28.3.1957

Director of GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate), Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant-General. Responsible for the activity of GRU officers in Eastern Ukraine.

29.4.2014

 

9.

Valery Vasilevich GERASIMOV

Born 8.9.1955 in Kazan

Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, First Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, General of the Army. Responsible for the massive deployment of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine and lack of de-escalation of the situation.

29.4.2014

 

10.

German PROKOPIV

 

Active leader of the ‘Lugansk Guard’. Took part in the seizure of the building of the Lugansk regional office of the Security Service, recorded a video address to President Putin and Russia from the occupied building. Close links with the ‘Army of the South-East’.

29.4.2014

 

11.

Valeriy BOLOTOV

 

One of the leaders of the separatist group ‘Army of the South-East’ which occupied the building of the Security Service in the Lugansk region. Retired officer. Before seizing the building he and other accomplices possessed arms apparently supplied illegally from Russia and from local criminal groups.

29.4.2014

 

12.

Andriy PURGIN

 

Head of the ‘Donetsk Republic’, active participant and organiser of separatist actions, co-ordinator of actions of the ‘Russian tourists’ in Donetsk. Co-founder of a ‘Civic Initiative of Donbass for the Eurasian Union’.

29.4.2014

 

13.

Denys PUSHYLIN

Born in Makiivka

One of the leaders of the Donetsk People's Republic. Participated in the seizure and occupation of the regional administration. Active spokesperson for the separatists.

29.4.2014

 

14.

Tsyplakov Sergey GENNADEVICH

 

One of the leaders of ideologically radical organization People's Militia of Donbas. He took active part in the seizure of a number of state buildings in Donetsk region.

29.4.2014

 

15.

Igor STRELKOV (Ihor Strielkov)

 

Identified as staff of Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU). He was involved in incidents in Sloviansk. He is an assistant on security issues to Sergey Aksionov, self-proclaimed prime-minister of Crimea.

29.4.2014

 

[Larry]

Somehow, I don't see listing a dozen people as "not welcome to visit our country, if they should want to, not that they've said that they want to", really crippling Russia or anything.

[visionary]

http://www.newsweek.com/kiev-losing-control-eastern-ukraine-249238

Is Kiev Losing Control of Eastern Ukraine?

 

Pro-Moscow separatists seized government offices in more Ukrainian towns on Wednesday, in a further sign that authorities in Kiev are losing control of the country's eastern industrial heartland bordering Russia.

 

Gunmen who turned up at dawn took control of official buildings in Horlivka, a town of almost 300,000 people, said a Reuters photographer. They refused to be photographed.

 

The heavily armed men wore the same military uniforms without insignia as other unidentified "green men" who have joined pro-Russian protesters with clubs and chains in seizing control of towns across Ukraine's Donbass coal and steel belt.

 

Some 30 pro-Russian separatists also seized a city council building in Alchevsk, further east in Luhansk region, Interfax-Ukraine news agency said. They took down the Ukrainian flag and flew a city banner before allowing workers to leave.

 

http://euromaidanpr.com/2014/05/01/luhansk-radicals-complain-of-rifts-and-anarchy/

Luhansk radicals complain of rifts and anarchy

 

Separatist radicals in Luhansk are experiencing growing disagreements and anarchy, with one faction forming new armed groups that can be satisfied only with a referendum.

 

Oleksiy Chmilenko, head of the pro-Russian radical group National Front, in the seized SBU (Security Service) building, described the growing anarchy, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda, April 30, citing the website Luhansk 0642.ua.

 

“We no longer control the situation in the streets,” he said. “Today I was actually threatened by Valeriy Bolotov’s group, who said they will come to arrest me. I know they even have orders to shoot me,” he said.

 

“With regard to everything that is happening, I want to make an announcement so people know the truth about what is going on. They’re being dragged into this anarchy, this civil war by Valeriy Bolotov and his group. People say they don’t want any negotiations with any government they don’t recognize. They always said that,” Chmilenko said.

 

“So now they involved the people, and the people have gone out of control. I can’t control the people. Oleksiy Mozhovyy can’t control the people in the streets either. Our people now remain inside the buildings,” he said.

 

[Larry]

But don't worry. If they keep escalating things, we're considering cutting off the premium cable tv channels. To another 10 people.

[visionary]

http://news.yahoo.com/pro-russian-mob-attacks-building-ukraines-donetsk-005237402.html

Pro-Russian mob attacks building in Ukraine's Donetsk

 

A crowd of some 300 pro-Russian militants attacked the prosecutor's office in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Thursday, AFP reporters on the scene said.

 

The mob hurled rocks at around 100 riot police defending the building, who responded with stun grenades and tear gas, in the latest unrest to hit the crisis-wracked eastern part of Ukraine.

 

The crowd stripped weapons and shields from some of the police, several of whom fled.

 

At least four police officers were wounded in the clashes as the crowd, some of whom were chanting "fascists, fascists", set upon them.

 

The building came under attack from several sides, according to AFP reporters. There were no visible signs of firearms being used.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27222023

Ukraine unrest: Kiev 'helpless' to quell parts of east

 

Ukraine's acting President Olexander Turchynov has admitted his forces are "helpless" to quell unrest driven by pro-Russian activists in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

 

Mr Turchynov said the goal was now to prevent the unrest spreading.

 

Activists have seized scores of government buildings and taken hostages including international monitors.

 

Mr Turchynov also said Ukraine was on "full combat alert", amid fears Russian troops could invade.

 

"I would like to say frankly that at the moment the security structures are unable to swiftly take the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions back under control," he said during a meeting with regional governors.

 

He admitted security personnel "tasked with the protection of citizens" were "helpless".

 

"More than that, some of these units either aid or co-operate with terrorist groups," he said.

 

Mr Turchynov added: "Our task is to stop the spread of the terrorist threat first of all in the Kharkiv and Odessa regions."

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/02/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA400LI20140502

Moscow May Day parade lauds Putin as rebels seize more Ukraine buildings

 

Russia staged a huge May Day parade on Moscow's Red Square for the first time since the Soviet era on Thursday, with workers holding banners proclaiming support for President Vladimir Putin after the seizure of territory from neighboring Ukraine.

 

Thousands of trade unionists marched with Russian flags and those of Putin's ruling United Russia party onto the giant square beneath the Kremlin walls, past the red granite mausoleum of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin.

 

Many banners displayed traditional slogans for the annual workers' holiday, such as "Peace, Labour, May". But others were more directly political, alluding to the crisis in Ukraine where Russia's annexation of Crimea in March precipitated the biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War.

 

"I am proud of my country," read one banner. "Putin is right," said another.

 

In eastern Ukraine, where a number of government buildings have been seized by armed groups seeking union with Russia, the security situation deteriorated further.

 

Separatists stormed the prosecutor's office in the city of Donetsk, throwing rocks, firecrackers and teargas at riot police defending officials they accused of working for the Western-backed government in Kiev.

 

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/nato-expansion-the-source-russias-anger-10369#.U2LXQNjXQOo.twitter

NATO Expansion: The Source of Russia's Anger?

 

Nothing confounds the Western response to Russian aggression in Ukraine more than its incremental character. By shrewdly focusing on one localized crisis at a time, camouflaging the role of Russian forces, and contriving pretexts to intervene from hallowed principles like protecting human rights, Moscow has studiously managed to stay below the threshold for a serious Western response. Only when the threat to Western interests is seen in a wider frame—not to some obscure piece of Eastern Europe real estate, but rather as a challenge to the entire post–Cold War order—does the sacrifice and risk of confronting Russia seem worth it.

 

Unfortunately, a growing chorus in the United States has seized on the Ukraine crisis to challenge one of the pillars of that order, NATO expansion. Far from academic, the suggestion that NATO is the source of core Russian grievances makes it much harder to formulate tough measures. Now is the time to dispense with the canard that NATO expansion was a mistake, returning the policy debate to where it belongs—on how to urgently deter further Russian adventurism.

 

Critics claim that by expanding NATO, the West violated the terms for ending the Cold War. The argument has a certain moral logic to it, suggesting that if only the West—the United States, really—hadn’t been so arrogant towards a defeated and demoralized foe, then relations with Russia would be far less difficult today. But this morality play only holds water if we believe that NATO expansion, first, violated Western promises to Russia and, second, threatened Russian security. The record demonstrates the opposite.

 

 

https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking

Reports of Ukraine government military operation in Sloviansk, stronghold of pro-Russia militants 

11:08 PM

 

https://twitter.com/AFP

BREAKING: Gunfire, heavy detonations heard near Ukraine town of Slavyansk

11:57 PM

 

 

 

Also seeing reports of helicopters involved, shooting, and possibly one being shot down.

[Renegade7]

Im reading, just don't have anything to add.

 

Pretty much.

 

It's not that this doesn't matter, its really waiting to see what Russia we are really dealing with.  Not sure how the sanctions thing is going to counter-act the fact Russia annexed a resource-rich area and is causing chaos in the industrial east of this country.  

 

If Russia actually invades Ukraine, and we don't act militarily, I don't see why they wouldn't stop rounding up the rest of the states that broke off from the former USSR.  Putin is acting in the interests of Russia at the expense of the former soviet states, i really feel he could care less about sanctions right now.

 

PS:  I'll be honest, if Russia had came up with an alternative to the EU for the former Soviet states, I wouldn't have been totally against it because it possibly could've helped all of their economies, especially with a single currency like Africa is working for with the African Union.  This, this is terrible with no end in sight.

[visionary]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/02/ukraine-dead-odessa-building-fire

Ukraine clashes: dozens reported dead after Odessa building fire

 

More than 30 people were reported to have been killed in violent and chaotic clashes in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa on Friday as pro-Ukrainian activists stormed a building defended by protesters opposed to the current government in Kiev and in favour of closer ties with Russia.

 

Odessa's large Soviet-era trade union building was set alight as pro-Ukrainian activists mounted an assault as dusk fell. Police said at least 31 people choked to death on smoke or were killed when jumping out of windows after the trade union building was set on fire.

 

Bodies lay in pools of blood outside the main entrance as explosions from improvised grenades and Molotov ****tails filled the air. Black smoke from the building and a burning pro-Russian protest camp wreathed the nearby square.

 

Pro-Russian fighters mounted a last-ditch defence of the burning building, tossing masonry and Molotov ****tails from the roof on to the crowd below.

 

Medics at the scene said that the pro-Russian fighters were also shooting from the roof. At least five bodies with bullet wounds lay on the ground covered by Ukrainian flags as fire engines and ambulances arrived at the scene.

 

Some people fell from the burning building as they hung on to windowsills in an attempt to avoid the fire that had taken hold inside. Pro-Ukrainian protesters made desperate efforts to reach people with ropes and improvised scaffolding.

 

"At first we broke through the side, and then we came through the main entrance," said one pro-Ukrainian fighter, 20, who said he was a member of the extreme nationalist group Right Sector.

 

"They had guns and they were shooting … Some people jumped from the roof, they died obviously," he said.

Bloody and dazed pro-Russian protesters were eventually escorted out of the building, and were immediately surrounded by angry mobs. Many were handed over to police, and loaded on to police vans.

 

"The aim is to completely clear Odessa [of pro-Russians]," said Dmitry Rogovsky, another activist from Right Sector whose hand had been injured during the fighting. "They are all paid Russian separatists."

 

The seizure of the trade union building was the violent culmination of a day of street battles in this Black Sea resort city.

 

The clashes reportedly began after protesters gathering in support of a unified Ukraine were attacked by pro-Russian activists armed with clubs and air pistols.

 

But the confrontation quickly escalated into a series of skirmishes as the two sides played a deadly cat and mouse game in the centre of the city.

 

Police largely stood aside as the two sides hurled Molotov ****tails, cobblestones and bricks at each other. Girls as young as fourteen were smashing cobblestones to break them up into missiles of a manageable size.

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikegiglio/i-should-kill-you-right-here

“I Should Kill You Right Here”

 

Pro-Russian rebels kidnap more U.S. journalists amid fresh unrest in east Ukraine.“Do you know the things America has been doing here?”

 

The pro-Russia militants who stood guard at one of the tire-strewn checkpoints littering eastern Ukraine presented a fearsome picture on Friday morning, their faces wrapped in black ski masks and pistols tucked into their body armor.

 

But with a new government offensive underway in the nearby city of Slovyansk — the militants’ capital of sorts about 20 miles down the road — they also seemed confused and afraid. As we pulled up the men became unsettled. They weren’t sure what to do about the American inside. Could a Western journalist be trusted, or might he be a spy? They directed our driver to pull over to the side.

 

The campaign in Russian media against the U.S. had lately been running on high. On Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry repeated claims that the U.S. was to blame for the violence. It’s a trope repeated endlessly by Moscow’s state-run media. “Do you know the things America has been doing here?” one man asked angrily; another said: “I should kill you right here.”

 

What remains unclear is if the crackdown on journalists — done through the brute force of kidnapping — is a result of the chaos on the ground or a directive from on high. Russian media operates largely freely in the region, fueling suspicion that critical views are being purposefully scared off as a new stage in the conflict begins.

 

 

https://twitter.com/RolandOliphant

Rebels say Ukrainians cleared five checkpoints on the western approaches to Slavyansk, killed 3 militia and 2 civilians. 

11:53 AM

 

They also say they're still in full control of the town itself, which seems consistent with other sources. Still calm there now.  

11:54 AM

 

Churkin: If Kiev doesn't stop this stuff something worse is unavoidable 

12:12 PM

 

Meanwhile, MoD says two paras have just been killed in a rebel counter attack near the village of Andreivka outside Slavyansk. 

3:42 PM

 

https://twitter.com/WilliamsJon/status/462327799878258688/photo/1

If you weren't worried about Ukraine before, WaPo map of troops massing on both sides border, suggests we shoud be! pic.twitter.com/b0mvEbk9Ba

4:28 PM

 

[visionary]

http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-many-insurgents-killed-slovyansk-150634081.html

Ukraine: Many insurgents killed in Slovyansk

 

Pro-Russia insurgents shot down two Ukrainian helicopters Friday and Ukraine reported many militants killed or wounded as the interim government in Kiev launched its first major offensive against an insurgency that has seized government buildings across the east.

 

The Kremlin said Kiev's military move against the insurgents "destroyed" the two-week-old Geneva agreement on cooling Ukraine's crisis. President Barack Obama said it was obvious to everyone now that the pro-Russia militants were not peaceful protesters and the U.N. Security Council held an emergency session in Ukraine at Russia's request.

 

Fighting broke out around dawn near Slovyansk, a city 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the Russian border that has become the focus of the armed insurgency. Two helicopter crew members were killed in the crashes, both sides said, and the insurgents reported one member killed.

 

Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov later said two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and seven wounded in Friday's clashes and the insurgents suffered significant losses, including many killed or injured. It was not clear if the two referred to the helicopter crew.

 

"Our security forces are fighting mercenaries of foreign states, terrorists and criminals," he said in a statement

 

By early evening, Turchynov said the army controlled all of the checkpoints around Slovyansk, a city of 125,000 people.

 

One of the helicopters was hit by a surface-to-air missile, the Ukrainian Security Service said, calling it a sophisticated weapon that undercut Russia's claims the city was simply under the control of armed locals. The agency said its forces were fighting "highly skilled foreign military men" in Slovyansk.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-merkel-russia-faces-tougher-sanctions-if-ukraine-election-is-disrupted/2014/05/02/47c2c368-d1fe-11e3-9e25-188ebe1fa93b_story.html

Obama, Merkel: Russia faces tougher sanctions if Ukraine election is disrupted

 

President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that broad new economic sanctions would be imposed on Russia if its threat to eastern Ukraine disrupts the country’s presidential election later this month.

 

The warning, delivered during a White House news conference, provided for the first time a specific threshold that Russia must not cross if it is to avoid further sanctions from Europe and the United States.

 

Those measures could include sanctions against Russia’s lifeblood energy sector, banking system and mining industries, moves that would hurt Europe primarily but also ripple through the U.S. economy.

 

For weeks, the Obama administration has declined to specify what, short of a Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine, would trigger the most severe sanctions to date in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s seizure of Crimea and support for pro-Russian militias in eastern Ukraine.

 

But both leaders expressed reluctance to carry out the threat, a reflection of the deep European uncertainty over the costs of doing so.

 

“The idea that you’re going to turn off the tap on all Russian oil or natural gas exports, I think, is unrealistic,” Obama said during the Rose Garden appearance. “But there are a range of, you know, approaches that can be taken not only in the energy sector but in the arms sector, the finance sector, in terms of lines of credit for trade, all that have a significant impact on Russia.”

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPR

Odesa police head Petro Lutsyuk was dismissed. Service investigation over 2May events in Odesa started. http://mvs.gov.ua  |EMPR News  

3:21 AM

 

Breaking photos now on border between Kherson & Crimea Crimeans face-off with former Berkut.

pic.twitter.com/AwMPte0TaX

3:14 AM

 

UKR flag flies on border between Kherson & Crimea Crimeans face-off with former Berkut.

pic.twitter.com/FXfAkZONbC

3:15 AM

 

BREAKING! Berkut Firing shots into air attempting to disperse crowd on border between Kherson & Crimea Crimeans. 

3:19 AM

 

BREAKING! Some Crimeans have cross border to Mustafa Cemilev between kherson & Crimea.

3:25 AM

 

https://twitter.com/BSpringnote

"Hundreds" of Crimean Tatars heading to Crimea border point Armyansk to meet their leader Dzemilev who Russia isn't allowing in  

3:51 AM

 

              

Foto allegedly showing just freed OSCE observers pic.twitter.com/BbiWQSVlfE

3:53 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak

Russian news agency says OSCE observers detained by pro-Russians in eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk have been freed  

3:46 AM

[visionary]

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303678404579537971371803670?tesla=y&ref=/news-opinion-commentary

Ukraine Needs U.S. Military Aid

 

The battle for Ukraine is entering a dangerous new phase, as the Kiev government is finally making an attempt to regain control over its eastern cities from local thugs and Russian special forces. Is it too much to ask the U.S. to offer the military means to help Ukraine keeps its own territory?

 

Vladimir Putin's campaign to destabilize and disrupt his neighbor is escalating as the May 25 date to elect a new Ukrainian government nears. The Russian strongman wants to block the vote, or disrupt it enough so he can call it.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/05/03/how-not-to-sound-ukrainian-when-captured-by-pro-russia-separatists/

How not to sound Ukrainian when captured by pro-Russia separatists

 

On Friday, Buzzfeed reporter Mike Giglio recounted on Twitter the ordeal he and translator Elena Glazunova had when held by pro-Russia separatists near the breakaway town of Slovyansk, in eastern Ukraine. After being arrested, they were taken to an undisclosed location, along with some other unfortunate journalists, and held for a few hours, kept in a state of confusion that was likely also felt by their captors. Giglio later shared this absurd moment from his detention:

 

I was confused as to why an American reporter would be forced to speak the word "garden" in such circumstances and so decided to ask some Slavic language experts. They expressed bemusement when told of Giglio's interrogation -- "This is silly," says Volodymyr Dibrova, who teaches Ukrainian at Harvard University -- but kindly offered some pointers on the basic distinctions between Russian and Ukrainian pronunciation (there are obviously clear differences in lexicon, as well).

 

To prove that I was a U.S. citizen as advertised, the woman asked me to name the U.S. capital, then to pronounce the word “garden.” I passed, but a British journalist wasn’t so lucky, receiving two stiff punches from one of the armed men when the English-speaking woman questioned the integrity of his accent. “Are you American?” the woman demanded of the poor man.

 

The separatists are on the lookout for supposed interlopers from western Ukraine, whose accent when speaking in Russian would probably give them away. In his viewing of amateur footage and videos coming out of eastern Ukraine, Dibrova has noticed many of the pro-Russian fighters

 

demanding of others "where are you from?" -- a paranoia, perhaps, that spurred Giglio's detention.

But why "garden"?

 

The first obvious distinction between typical Ukrainian and Russian speech is the Ukrainian habit of voicing a sort of breathy, throaty "h" sound while Russians would more likely voice a "g" sound. "We have both sounds in Ukrainian, but 'h' is much more frequent," said Svitlana Melnyk, a lecturer at the University of Indiana. (I somehow doubt Giglio would have thought to say "harden".)

 

 

https://twitter.com/sarahrainsford

Just spoken 2 freed OSCE monitors. Say they're hugely relieved; their time as hostages - 'really tough' especially as security sit worsened 

7:12 AM

 

Vladimir Lukin was with x hostages: Russian envoy. Seems his intervention was critical. Rsa is OSCE member...so pressure on them 2 help high

7:15 AM

 

Angry, pro Rsn crowd in Donetsk now marching on SBU office. Response 2 horrific events in Odessa, where more than 40 died. Dangerous spiral. 

11:46 AM

 

https://twitter.com/WilliamsJon

Kremlin preparing ground: Putin spox Peskov: “People are calling in despair, asking for help. Overwhelming majority demand Russia's help”  

12:16 PM

 

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPR

BREAKING Terrorists seized SBU HQ building in Donetsk right now without ANY resistance from Ukrainian authority side  EMPR source  

12:16 PM

 

https://twitter.com/simondenyer

Pushilin says it is unimaginable Odessa deaths happened on "our land, on Russian land." Says so-called intellectuals support what happened. 

10:57 AM

 

Television tower in Donetsk suburbs now back in pro-Ukrainian hands, showing Ukrainian TV again. Donetsk People's Republic not happy. 

11:13 AM

 

Smashing windows to applause from crowd pic.twitter.com/FCv0qOy0Kz Crowd chant Odessa will not be forgiven amid sound of smashing glass pic.twitter.com/wjFoNXVwTB

12:35 PM

 

More smashing windows at office of metallurgical company part owned by Donetsk governor Taruta pic.twitter.com/0UpejGbAPJ

12:38 PM

 

 

https://twitter.com/simondenyer

Crowd chant "Russia" as flag flies on balcony. Ironically company half owned by Russians. pic.twitter.com/WAlvr6dToj

12:39 PM

 

Couple of people in crowd saying not right to plunder office as men walk out carrying computers pic.twitter.com/GLY4rad7rJ

12:45 PM

 

Papers being thrown out of smashed windows. "Donbass" and "no to fascism" chanted pic.twitter.com/LNuGCGBrjv

12:46 PM

 

"Taruta is killer" the crowd chants against Kiev-appointed governor pic.twitter.com/JVvEQyGWel

12:48 PM

 

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/04/world/europe/behind-the-masks-in-ukraine-many-faces-of-rebellion.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Behind the Masks in Ukraine, Many Faces of Rebellion

 

The rebel leader spread a topographic map in front of a closed grocery store here as a Ukrainian military helicopter flew past a nearby hill. Ukrainian troops had just seized positions along a river, about a mile and a half away. The commander thought they might advance.

 

He issued orders with the authority of a man who had seen many battles. “Go down to the bridge and set up the snipers,” the leader, who gave only a first name, Yuri, said to a former Ukrainian paratrooper, who jogged away.

 

Yuri commands the 12th Company, part of the self-proclaimed People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic, a previously unknown and often masked rebel force that since early April has seized government buildings in eastern Ukraine and, until Saturday, held prisoner a team of European military observers it accused of being NATO spies.

 

His is one of the faces behind the shadowy paramilitary takeover. But even with his mask off, much about his aims, motivations and connections remains murky, illustrating why this expanding conflict is still so complex.

 

Yuri, who appears to be in his mid-50s, is in many ways an ordinary eastern Ukrainian of his generation. A military veteran, he survived the Soviet collapse to own a small construction business in Druzhkovka, about 15 miles south of here.

 

But his rebel stature has a particular root: He is also a former Soviet special forces commander who served in Afghanistan, a background that could make him both authentically local and a capable Kremlin proxy.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/04/pro-russia-prisoners-released-militants-storm-odessa-police-headquarters?CMP=twt_gu

Pro-Russia prisoners released as activists storm Odessa police HQ

 

A group of pro-Russia activists has stormed the police headquarters in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa and released scores of prisoners detained at the scene of deadly violence on Friday that culminated in people being burnt alive in a trade union building.

 

In the pouring rain, men armed with improvised clubs battered their way in to the building through a vehicle entrance.

 

Ranks of riot police offered no resistance. When crowds burst into the compound and began smashing windows and wrecking police vans, officers agreed to release the activists.

 

Men and women, many in tears, emerged from the door of their cellblock and left through a tunnel of cheering supporters. Local police said later that 67 people were set free.

 

"The police did not interfere," said Maksim, 26, an activist wearing a balaclava and helmet who was one of the first to get inside the compound. "They are only defending their weapons."

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/howardamos

Am inside the trade union building. Bloodstains, smoke blackened. Chilling: pic.twitter.com/kfbjoE5mYK

5:49 AM

 

There was a small Molotov factory in the building's attic: pic.twitter.com/G7X2M3HvbC

6:05 AM

 

Has to be said that there are large parts of the building untouched by fire: pic.twitter.com/qx4Y69FzLs

6:13 AM

 

People from the crowd just assaulted this Ukrainian TV crew. They left: pic.twitter.com/hy2f8AwmsZ

7:31 AM

 

A massive Russian flag has been raised on trade union building. Crowd chanting "Russia, Russia, Russia!" pic.twitter.com/nqLLwFA4s6

7:27 AM

 

https://twitter.com/howardamos

Angry pro-Russian crowds outside central police station. Guys in masks and shields like this one: pic.twitter.com/eOvxgNV7Ma

8:53 AM

 

They want the pro-Russians detained on Friday in trade union building to be released. "Freedom for heroes!" 

8:54 AM

 

The crowd is using sticks to smash CCTV cameras. Windows being smashed now.

8:59 AM

 

They are breaking down the door to the police station: pic.twitter.com/D6zlA1tRPR

9:02 AM

              

The police have let out prisoners. Crowd goes wild: pic.twitter.com/ZGsbOf3t3M

9:26 AM

 

https://twitter.com/howardamos

Now the chant is "Odessa is a Russian town": pic.twitter.com/IlzPj5tj0u

9:35 AM

 

To be clear, the police are opening the cells themselves. To save the mob breaking down the doors. 

9:39 AM

 

A bit calmer, still tense. The police are pulling all their men back inside the police compound: pic.twitter.com/CtJc3cAq0W

10:32 AM

 

At least 100 riot police in full gear filling indoors. Demoralisation barely covers it: pic.twitter.com/nzn0Jy2xSx

10:35 AM

 

Pouring down with rain now. A few hundred pro-Russians left, waiting for other police stations across city to release their prisoners. 

10:45 AM

 

https://twitter.com/howardamos

Odessa city centre is eerily quiet, lots of cafés shut. Gangs of men with clubs wandering about. More violence looks very much on the cards. 

2:13 PM

 

Pro-Maidan guys gathered at the top of Potemkin steps. Small Right Sector units appear to be taking up positions in nearby courtyards. 

2:18 PM

 

Well armed pro-Maidan guys number about a thousand. Can see approximately 20 police. 

2:20 PM

 

Pro-Maidan crowd is moving out. Singing the national anthem. I recognise several from the trade union building storm. 

2:22 PM

 

Following behind is a group of medic volunteers from local Red Cross. They are carrying medical supplies: pic.twitter.com/itD6njPMOh

2:27 PM

 

https://twitter.com/howardamos

Two guys just ran past with a box of Molotovs. People armed with baseball bats. Just saw a chain.  

2:34 PM

 

Crowd gathering outside region police building: pic.twitter.com/M3yAxWCec6

2:37 PM

 

The new police chief appointed today has emerged and is addressing the crowd: pic.twitter.com/KsMRcGe0PS

2:40 PM

 

Begins his speech with "Slava Ukraina!" The crowd like it. 

2:40 PM

 

He says he "understands" the crowd. Says he has only just been appointed - a fair point.  

2:44 PM

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPR

At least 2K pro-Ukrainian ppl gathered near Duke monument in Odessa. PeterShuklinov EMPR 

2:19 PM

 

Euromaidan activists, self-defense, pro-Ukr ppl gather near Duke monument in Odessa. http://dumskaya.net  |EMPR pic.twitter.com/efDhxgSBLb

2:28 PM

 

Donetsk city police unit of Leninsky district is seized by militants. novostidnua  EMPR News 

2:50 PM

 

Earlier today separatists captured Donetsk Military Prosecutor's Office, flew "ppl's guard" flag. |EMPR Photo pic.twitter.com/Wz25BEkLjC

2:53 PM

 

Additional Red Cross rescue teams arrive today in Odessa to supplement local teams |EMPR News Ukraine pic.twitter.com/Ht77dTgSom

2:58 PM

 

https://twitter.com/howardamos

The crowd seems to have been appeased. They are leaving now and heading for the trade union building, site of Friday's tragedy. 

3:07 PM

 

Actually the crowd has split. About half has remained at police building. Other half heading for trade union building.  

3:15 PM

 

They just stopped to let a tram go by. Otherwise, marching in step with linked arms: pic.twitter.com/jNe6Ewd3Zh

3:27 PM

 

The Russian flag from earlier has gone. Guys on the roof are apparently raising the Ukrainian flag.  

3:34 PM

 

Speeches at the moment. But looks like it is winding down. People beginning to leave.  

3:55 PM

[visionary]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-06/breedlove-says-nato-may-need-permanent-troops-in-east-europe.html

Breedlove Says NATO May Need Permanent Troops in East Europe

 

Air Force General Philip Breedlove, NATO’s top military commander, said Russia’s actions in Ukraine have created a “new paradigm” in Europe that may require a revaluation of how the military alliance operates on the continent.

 

Options include positioning permanently troops in eastern Europe, Breedlove said at a press conference in Ottawa.

 

“We will look at some of those tougher questions about are we positioned correctly in Europe,” Breedlove said. “I think we need to look at our responsiveness, our readiness and then our positioning of forces to be able to address this new paradigm that we have seen demonstrated in Crimea and now on the eastern border of Ukraine.”

 

Asked specifically about permanent troops in eastern Europe, Breedlove said: “I think this is something we have to consider and we will tee this up for discussion through the leaderships of our nations.”

 

https://news.vice.com/video/russian-roulette-dispatch-thirty-five

Russian Roulette (Dispatch Thirty-Five)

 

On Tuesday morning the Ukrainian government announced it had ordered the halting of flights at Donetsk airport and the closure of the airspace across the region. The airport was almost completely empty, except for a few stranded travelers.

 

Later in the day, VICE News visited a Ukrainian regional military college where pro-Russia rebels had set up a perimeter surrounding the entrance to the building, blocking the road of any traffic. A Donetsk People's Republic spokesperson said they heard that the Ukrainian ultra-nationalist group Right Sector was going to seize the academy and use it as a base.

 

In a sign of increased escalation, the militia in Donetsk was well equipped with AK-47s, RPGs, and even anti-tank missile launchers.

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/07/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA400LI20140507?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Putin to Ukraine rebels: postpone secession vote

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine to postpone a vote on secession just five days before it was to be held, potentially pulling Ukraine back from the brink of violent dismemberment.

 

It was the first sign the Kremlin leader has given that he would not endorse a referendum planned for Sunday by pro-Russian rebels seeking independence for two provinces in the east, and Russian analysts said they believed the rebels would heed Putin's call to put off the vote.

 

In what could be a breakthrough in the worst crisis between East and West since the Cold War, Putin also announced he was pulling Russian troops back from the Ukrainian border.

 

NATO, the Pentagon and the White House all said they had seen no signs of a Russian pull-back from the frontier, where Moscow has massed tens of thousands of troops, proclaiming the right to invade Ukraine to protect Russian speakers.

 

But Putin's comment suggested that any Russian military incursion into eastern Ukraine was off the agenda for now.

Ukrainian government troops have launched a military campaign to retake territory held by separatists this week. Troops briefly captured the rebel-held city hall in the eastern port of Mariupol overnight, but quickly abandoned it, leaving it back in the hands of the separatists.

 

Witnesses said the soldiers left after smashing furniture and office equipment. The smell of tear gas hung in the air inside the building which was largely empty in the morning, with activists in gas masks clearing debris.

 

Pro-Russian activists were rebuilding barricades outside the building where separatist flags flew and patriotic songs blared from loudspeakers.

 

In a boost for the rebels, one of their leaders, Pavel Gubarev, was released from detention in exchange for three members of the Ukrainian security services, a spokesman for the separatists' military headquarters in Slaviansk said.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/05/07/putin-ukraine-referendum/8802277/

Putin: Russian troops withdrawn from Ukraine border

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called for a delay in Sunday's referendum on autonomy in southeastern Ukraine and said Russia has withdrawn troops from the Ukraine border.

 

"We have been told that our troops on the Ukrainian border are a concern — we have withdrawn them," Putin said after meeting in Moscow with Swiss President Didier Burkhalter. "They are not now on Ukrainian territory, but at locations where they conduct regular drills at ranges."

 

TV Rain, an independent Russian TV channel, tweeted photographs of Russian troops pulling back from the border.

 

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said "we have seen no change in the Russian force posture along the Ukrainian border." NATO estimates that Russia had stationed about 40,000 troops in the area.

 

At the same time, he called on Ukraine's military to halt operations against pro-Russia activists who have seized government buildings and police stations in eastern Ukraine.

 

"This method of settling the internal political conflict is not a reliable way of resolving all political disputes," he said. "On the contrary, they deepen the divisions."

 

Putin said a delay in the May 11 referendum was needed "to create proper conditions for this dialogue," the Russian ITAR-Tass news agency reports.

In response to Putin's remarks, pro-Russian activist Denis Pushilin, one of the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said the "people's council" would discuss the possibility of a postponement on Thursday, RT.com reports.

 

"We respect Putin's position," Pushilin said. "He is a balanced politician. So we will submit this proposal tomorrow to the people's council. "

[Larry]

Wonder if this means Putin figured he was gonna lose the vote.

Still, this news is a lot better than I was expecting, when I clicked on this thread.

[visionary]

If they run a referendum that they are in control of, they will 'win', like in the Crimea.

But they have to have an appearance of legitimacy and forces on the ground to enforce it.

That doesn't seem to be the case throughout Donestk or Luhansk at this point.

 

It doesn't really make sense to have a referendum that they can't actually enforce.  They don't control much of these areas except for a bunch of key buildings in a few of the bigger cities and most of some smaller towns.

 

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27320806

Ukraine crisis: Separatists to debate Putin referendum call

 

Pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine are due to consider a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to delay referendums on autonomy.

 

Separatist leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk say they will put the matter before "people's councils".

 

The votes are due to take place on Sunday and millions of ballot papers have been prepared.

 

Mr Putin has said putting off the vote could help create the conditions necessary for dialogue.

 

In what appeared to be a shift in Russian policy, Mr Putin also said this month's presidential elections in Ukraine were a move "in the right direction".

 

His remarks came days after his spokesman said holding such an election would be absurd.

The White House said the "illegitimate, illegal" vote should be cancelled rather than postponed.

 

And Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk dismissed Mr Putin's calls as "hot air".

 

The US and the European Union have imposed sanctions against several Russian individuals and small businesses and threatened to impose wider measures if Moscow takes further steps to interfere in Ukraine.

 

Sunday's planned referendum was seen as a potential trigger for that.

 

 

I'm guessing Putin wants the referendums postponed because the ground isn't ready yet for them. There's been a lot more back and forth in those areas and nearby the past week or so than he originally probably expected.

[visionary]

http://pressimus.com/Interpreter_Mag/press/2687

Separatists Will Hold May 11 Referendum on Autonomy

 

Despite a suggestion made yesterday by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk and Lugansk will proceed with Sunday's referendum vote as planned. BBC reports:

 

The decision to press ahead was announced by separatist leaders in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. The leader in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, said it had been unanimous.

The suggestion to postpone the vote may have come "from a person who indeed cares for the people of the south-east," he said, "but we are the bullhorn of the people".

 

The separatists say that they have printed one million ballots, but without full control over most of the territory where Russian-backed separatists plan on holding this vote, it's not clear how such a vote will be conducted.

 

Ukraine, the United states, and many European nations have already said that the referendum is not constitutional and its results will not be recognized.

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/08/us-france-russia-mistral-idUSBREA470TH20140508?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

No decision on French arms sale to Russia before October: source

 

France does not intend to review its 1.2 billion-euro ($1.66 billion) contract to sell helicopter-carriers to Russia earlier than planned because of the Ukraine crisis, a French government source said on Thursday.

 

Paris has come under pressure from Washington and some European partners in recent months to reconsider its supply of high-tech military hardware to Moscow, and has responded by saying it will review the deal in October - but not before.

 

"Our position remains the same. No decision before October," a French government source said on Thursday.

 

French news agency AFP quoted U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland as saying on Thursday Washington was "concerned" by the sale.

 

The comments come just three days before French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is due to travel to the U.S., setting up a potentially uncomfortable meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry.

 

French officials have shied away from discussing whether the 2011 contract with Russia for two Mistral helicopter carriers, with an option for two more, could be suspended in a potentially politically awkward sacrifice, to show French resolve in future sanctions against Moscow.

 

Russia's Mistral purchase would give it access to advanced technology, alarming some of France's NATO allies.

 

In an interview with Reuters this week, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said he believed the European Union should include an arms embargo in any new round of sanctions on Russia.

 

The long-discussed French sale was Moscow's first major foreign arms purchase in the two decades since the fall of the Soviet Union.

 

https://twitter.com/markmackinnon

Kiev says some 40 armed men attacked Izvarino border post between Ukraine and Russia today, from Ukrainian side. Border troops repelled them   

1:49 PM

 

Kharkiv very nervous ahead of Victory Day tomorrow. Annual military parade cancelled for fear of "provocations." 

4:39 PM

 

Lots of extra police on streets, many said from Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk. Pro-Maidan "self-defense" forces bracing for trouble.  

4:40 PM

 

Do you support masked men with axes? Or miners bearing flowers? (Donetsk referendum billboard via novostidnua) pic.twitter.com/rn5uHzJnuK

4:47 PM

 

https://twitter.com/RichardEngel

State owned Russia Today releases video of military drills. What a difference a day makes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb6plZWdhfQ&feature=youtu.be …

2:16 PM

 

Not a shot was fired when armed separatists occupied the local TV station in Donetsk, Ukraine today. pic.twitter.com/36046RC2za

5:17 PM

[visionary]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27344029#TWEET1123865

Ukraine crisis: Vladimir Putin visits annexed Crimea

 

President Vladimir Putin is making his first visit to Crimea since Russia annexed it from Ukraine in March.

 

He told crowds marking the 1945 Soviet victory over the Nazis that Crimea had shown loyalty to a "historical truth" in choosing to be part of Russia.

 

The Kiev government protested at the visit, calling it a "gross violation of Ukraine's sovereignty".

 

Kiev also reported that more than 20 people had died in a security operation against separatists in Mariupol.

 

Footage showed a gun battle unfold on the streets of Mariupol

 

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that about 20 pro-Russian protesters and one Ukrainian security officer had been killed in the southern port.

 

Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists had clashed at the police HQ, which was set on fire.

 

Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions are to hold secession referendums on Sunday.

 

However, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported that the Kharkiv region would not now hold the referendum, as it could not agree a common wording.

 

Activists remain in control of many official buildings across the south and east despite a military operation by Kiev to remove them. Dozens have been killed in the unrest.

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/dandemoustier

Serious fight going in mariupol National gard shooting in the streets. Unclear at who. At least 1 dead and 1 wounded.

5:05 AM

 

Just filmed serious fighting downtown #Mariupol. Snipers everywhere. Heavy guns. A man got shot just next to me. Black smoke over the city

5:46 AM

 

Ukraine soldiers now retrieving from the city . Tanks fired shells at police HQ, now burning. Mariupol pic.twitter.com/CNz9KLJffZ

7:19 AM

 

Looks like the fight in Mariupol is over now. Don't think the #Ukraine army has won hearts and minds here. People are incredibly angry.

7:56 AM

 

 

https://twitter.com/clarissaward

Not much doubt about where this crowd stands (that's Stalin on the flag) VictoryDay Donetsk pic.twitter.com/SVERDXclgd

5:13 AM

 

Pro-Russians burning tires outside town hall, have built a blockade in the middle of the road, situation extremely tense

9:02 AM

 

Lots of hostility from crowd to Western journalists. Emotions (and alcohol consumption) high. Take care fellow hacks.

9:03 AM

 

https://twitter.com/MaximEristavi

Pro-Russia people have captured Ukrainian IFV, promise to launch offensive with it, @ronzheimer reports

pic.twitter.com/CVUkJhKQDS

11:21 AM

 

Donetsk separatists send a truck full of people to support Mariupol rebels

11:25 AM 

 

https://twitter.com/obk/status/464795562706206721

Guys on the captured APC very young and very drunk. Many of them barely being able to hold on pic.twitter.com/ENLRy7xO83

11:54 AM

[visionary]

http://www.newsweek.com/russian-official-says-hell-return-bomber-after-being-barred-romania-250599

Russian Official Says He'll Return in Bomber After Being Barred From Romania

 

Romania asked Moscow for an explanation on Saturday after Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin, reacting to being barred from its airspace, tweeted he would return in a TU-160 strategic bomber.

 

Rogozin, one of the senior Russian officials sanctioned by the European Union and United States after Moscow moved to annex Crimea, was turned away when his plane tried to fly to Moscow from Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region.

 

According to his tweets in English, Rogozin, who oversees Russia's powerful arms industry, was also blocked by Ukrainian interceptor jets as he tried to fly home from the Russian-speaking region of Moldava bordering Ukraine.

 

"Upon U.S. request, Romania has closed its air space for my plane," he tweeted. "Ukraine doesn't allow me to pass through again. Next time I'll fly on board TU-160." The supersonic Soviet-era TU-160 is Russia's largest strategic bomber.

 

The Romanian foreign ministry asked Moscow to clarify whether Rogozin's comments represented "the Russian Federation's official position towards Romania as an EU and NATO member".

Um...wow.

 

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/tensions-roil-on-eve-of-eve-of-secession-referendum-in-eastern-ukraine/2014/05/10/8703c1be-d823-11e3-8a78-8fe50322a72c_story.html

In eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, law and order crumbles on eve of secession vote

 

Drunken mobs roamed the otherwise deserted center of this eastern port city Saturday a day after clashes between pro-Russian militants and Ukrainian security forces left at least seven people dead and the region as a whole continued to seethe on the eve of referendum to secede.

 

The deadly firefight Friday broke the calm of a patriotic holiday and heightened tensions ahead of Sunday’s hastily organized plebiscite to break with the interim government in Kiev. Late Friday, a group of unidentified assailants attacked and briefly detained several Red Cross volunteers, including a French citizen, at an office in Donetsk.

 

Iryna Tsaryuk, an employee of the Ukrainian office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Kiev, told the Interfax news service Saturday that the seven employees who had been taken captive were released about 2 a.m. and that one had been hospitalized after a severe beating. Roman Lyagin, the head of the rebel election commission, denied that rebels were involved in the incident.

In another sign of the collapsing morale of Ukraine’s security forces, the national guard evacuated its barracks in Mariupol on Saturday morning, apparently hastily. In the city center, meanwhile, activists set fire to a broken-down infantry fighting vehicle that the army had abandoned the previous day, causing a string of explosions and an upsurge of panic, according to witnesses.

 

Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov again called on rebellious citizens in the east to work out their differences through negotiations, saying the national government was willing to discuss more local control and to guarantee minority rights for ethnic Russians.

Security forces rolled armored personnel carriers into this crucial port city to take back the police department from pro-Russian militants who had stormed the building in what officials said appeared to be an attempt to seize weapons. At least seven people were killed, they said.

 

Unlike in other parts of eastern Ukraine, the security forces in Mariupol seemed determined not to cede control of the city without a fight. The heavily armed forces arrived about 10 a.m. and fought a fierce two-hour battle to retake the building.

 

By afternoon, the police station was a smoldering ruin. A plume of smoke rose into the sky where the roof had collapsed. The walls were charred and pockmarked with bullet holes, and there were at least three large cavities apparently caused by heavy weapons.

 

Two bodies lay in the street as an angry crowd milled about. The regional government said its health department had reported that seven people were killed and 39 wounded. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the dead included one Ukrainian policeman and that four separatist fighters had been captured.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/05/09/russia-said-it-moved-its-troops-away-from-ukraine-satellite-images-seem-to-say-otherwise/

Russia said it moved its troops away from Ukraine. Satellite images seem to say otherwise.

 

Earlier this week there was a rare sign of rapprochement in Ukraine's ongoing crisis, with Russian President Vladimir Putin suggesting his country's military had pulled back from its troubled neighbor's borders.

 

"We were told repeatedly that our forces by the Ukrainian border were a source of concern," Putin said on Wednesday. "We have withdrawn our forces and they are now not on the Ukrainian border but are carrying out their regular exercises at the test grounds."

 

The announcement was welcomed: The sheer scale of Russian troops on the borders had been a real cause of concern. But some United States officials were quick to voice skepticism. “To date, there has been no evidence that such a withdrawal has taken place," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

 

Now on Friday, the United States Mission to NATO has taken to Twitter to show new satellite images that it claims are proof Putin is lying:

 

 

http://pressimus.com/Interpreter_Mag/press/2728

Referendum Ballots Already Filled Out?

 

Kyiv Post reports:

A group of armed Kremlin-backed rebels in possession of a 100,000 ballots already marked with a 'yes' vote for the May 11 referendum in Donetsk Oblast were captured and the ballots seized during the Ukrainian government's anti-terrorist operation near the rebel-occupied city of Sloviansk on May 10.

 

In addition, a Kalashnikov rifle, Makarov pistol, plus ammunition were seized,

Obezrevatel

reported. Earlier,

Ukrainska Pravada

reported that the separatists had seized 80 schools in Donetsk city to carry out their referendum.

 

The Balkans correspondent for The Economist, Tim Judah, adds this video, which Kyiv Post is also carrying.

 

https://twitter.com/mike_giglio

Referendum voting already underway in some places in Donetsk, if you'd like to get a head start.  

10:35 AM

 

Take all referendum news with salt: claims authorities catch 100k forged ballots. Is that even illegal in their eyes? http://obozrevatel.com/politics/38691-zaderzhana-gruppa-terroristov-perevozivshih-100-tyis-progolosovavshih-byulletenej.htm  

10:40 AM

 

Was told by a Donetsk referendum organizer that they hadn't invited any "official" observers, but "anyone who wants to can observe" 

10:56 AM

 

Me: "so did you vote today?" Pro-Russia activist in Donetsk: "yes, and I voted for you too." ... he was just kidding, I think.  

12:02 PM

 

Pro-Russia activist jokes that there is "special democracy" here in Donetsk and people can vote even without leaving their homes..  

12:09 PM

 

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/atikaCNN

Dozens line up to cast their votes. The polling booths have curtains for privacy. But few bother to fold their ballots when voting. 

2:09 AM

 

Voters show passport id to cast ballots. They are using old electoral rolls but voters can register to be added on. pic.twitter.com/TTE81irJkA

2:21 AM

 

Meanwhile, men in balaclavas toting guns and wearing black and orange ribbons give us a long stare before driving off. 

2:40 AM

 

https://twitter.com/atikaCNN

For those asking, the ballot says: "Do you support the Act of Independence of People's Republic of Donetsk?" There's a box for Yes or No. 

3:23 AM

 

On the ballot boxes, flags for the Donetsk People's Republic. pic.twitter.com/mbn73OJB2M

4:37 AM

 

At polling stations, seeing a number of people voting twice. 

5:13 AM

 

The ballots are deposited into transparent boxes. Few here fold their ballots, so you can easily see the many "yes" votes inside.

5:57 AM

 

https://twitter.com/mike_giglio

Just a friendly reminder that those who are not on board with this whole separatist thing are likely not standing in line to vote today  

4:43 AM

 

Me: "are you voting today?" Pro-Ukraine activist: "no, because it's fake."  

4:46 AM

 

Young referendum worker in charge of one Donetsk polling station says he thinks turnout so far is better than last time he did this, in 2012  

5:11 AM

 

There had been about 1200 voters so far, he said.  

5:12 AM

 

Very crowded Donetsk polling station says it has gone through half of its 5k ballots, might run out. 

6:04 AM

 

https://twitter.com/MaximEristavi

One of 4 polling stations in Mariupol. City of 500K via johnangier

6:15 AM

 

 

https://twitter.com/shaunwalker7

Russian journalist Ilya Azar @A3AP says he was allowed to vote with no passport in Mariupol (but did not in the end actually vote) 

6:19 AM

 

https://twitter.com/RichardEngel      

 

"Todays referendum is not real" say Marina, a travel agent and Vlatislav, a sailor. They want ukraine to stay united pic.twitter.com/DM5MgoA1XC

6:19 AM

 

[visionary]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikegiglio/east-ukraine-just-voted-on-autonomy-and-no-one-knows-what-co

East Ukraine Just Voted On Autonomy And No One Knows What Comes Next

 

Even the polling station officials who’d been working around the clock on the hastily organized referendum had to admit it: they had no idea what comes next.

 

That the vote currently underway in some parts of eastern Ukraine would come down in favor of independence was not in doubt: most opponents to the region’s surging separatists would rather stay home than partake in a vote that they — along with the government in Kiev — see as a sham. But then what?

 

“That’s a difficult question,” said Andrei Zamliansky, an electrical engineer who was overseeing one crowded polling station in Donetsk.

 

He mentioned that local authorities, wary of confrontation, had more or less been letting the separatists in the city operate without too much trouble — and he seemed wary of any bloodshed that could result from a violent attempt by the separatists to seize more power. On the other hand, he wanted autonomy for the region — the subject of the single yes/no question on the ballot — and maybe to join Russia, following the example set by Crimea in March.

 

“It will be a long process,” he said somewhat hopefully, echoing the sentiment of many in Donetsk on Sunday who seemed set on carrying out their referendum first, and thinking through the consequences later.

 

Polls consistently show that most voters in eastern Ukraine want to remain part of the country, a stark contrast to pre-referendum sentiment in Crimea. Yet the vote pressed ahead in the Donetsk region — which includes small cities such as Slovyansk and Mariupol that have seen heavy fighting between militants and Ukrainian forces — as well as in neighboring Luhansk.

 

Other important eastern and largely Russian-speaking regions, most notably Kharkiv, home to Ukraine’s second-largest city, sat the referendum out.

 

https://twitter.com/StateOfUkraine

All 4 'referendum' voting locations in Mariupol are closed now due to information about Ukraine forces in city 

12:10 PM

 

Ukraine National Guard came to Mangush, #Mariupol region, took all ballots without battle, referendum is finished there 

11:41 AM

 

https://twitter.com/sarahrainsford

All the papers I've seen dropped into the transparent ballot boxes in Donetsk say 'da' to self-rule. Big turn out. Relaxed so far.  

4:48 AM

 

I saw 1 ballot paper marked 'no' in Donetsk; others double-ticked 'yes.' Those who oppose - & there's plenty here - largely staying away  

8:55 AM

 

Team checking reports that Ukrainian military stopped voting in Krasnoarmeisk. Armed stand off. Surely not a sensible move?  

9:13 AM

 

Rpts shooting, casualties in Krasnoarmeisk after Dnipro task force surrounded City Hall. Cmdr had told locals=sent cos 'separatists' coming  

1:15 PM

 

https://twitter.com/stopnarcotics

Ok, Krasnoarmiisk now. Apparently shot were fired in the air half an hour ago. Ukrainian national guard soldiers are I side the city hall  

12:41 PM

 

Right now. One is shot to death another wounded in Krasnoarmiisk, near Donetsk pic.twitter.com/mrz1Yni0tP

12:53 PM

 

Lots of gunfire  

1:02 PM

 

They are leaving now. A couple more locals down  

1:02 PM

What is the point of this?  What the hell are they doing?

 

https://twitter.com/stopnarcotics

Journos helping with the first aid kit  

1:08 PM

 

They are gone now leaving one dead and two civilians wounded. Locals are shocked. Stains of blood and shot cartridges everywhere  

1:20 PM

 

Ok. Police is at the scene now  

1:29 PM