Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Proud of victory over Nazis but also supportive of struggle against Russian aggressor

The sacrifice and contribution to victory in 1945 over Nazi Germany by Ukrainians was huge but has largely not been recognised in the west - and the current Russia authorities are doing everything possible to monopolize the remembrance of the victory  in 1945 too.

But there is no contradiction in Ukrainians being proud of their contribution, and yet supporting Ukraine' fighting forces in their struggle against a Russian aggressor who is still trying to bring their country to its knees. I know this from elderly members of my own family who fought in the Red Army during WW2

Now two brief but emotionally charged videos are being shown on Ukrainian television to underline this.

Please watch these videos at this link





Sunday, April 26, 2015

New laws mean Ukrainian cities to be renamed at last?

Following the recent de-communisation laws passed in the Verkhovna Rada the renaming the Sovietized names of some Ukrainian cities has now, quite correctly, become a hot topic.

The reluctance to do this after more than two decades of independence was an absolutely unbelievable disgrace to the shame of all previous administrations.

First on the list for change is undoubtedly Dnipropetrovsk, named after the infamous Hrigoriy Ivanovich Petrovsky, one of organizers of the genocidal 1932-33 famine in Ukraine.

Next should be Kirovohrad, named after Sergei Mironovich Kirov head of the Leningrad Communist Party. Kirov's 1934 assassination served as one of the pretexts for Stalin's escalation of repression against dissident elements of the Party, culminating in the Great Purges of the late 1930s

Dniprodzerzhynsk is named after Felix Dzerzhynsky, founder of the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka - responsible for vast numbers of summary executions.

Tsyurupinsk in the Kherson region was named in honour of Alexander Tsyurupa, RSFSR People's Commissar of food in 1918-1921 and head of Gosplan. During his period in office mass forcible seizure of grain and food from the local population by Bolsheviks was common practice. The city has been trying to change its name to Oleshky for several years, indicating that at least some people demand change.

[More on this story and background on other cities here, in an article from gordon.ua]

p.s. Why should any sane person be against renaming cities, currently associated with such hideous personages, by law? Is this indication of the serf-like mentality of some Ukrainians, ready to accept humiliation for a crust of bread thrown down to them by 'pany'?

Also - Latest opinion polls indicate ever-increasing numbers of Ukrainians would like to see their country part of the NATO alliance. Even around 20% of Donbas residents support future membership.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Putin's right hand man oversaw Euromaidan crisis?

Highly respected journalist Sonya Koshkina reveals in Lb.ua the massive involvement of Russian agencies, and in particular that of Vladislav Surkov, [who some call 'Putin's Rasputin  and 'The Hidden Author of Putinism'], in the Euromaidan crisis.

Below are two excerpts from her article:

"During the winter of 2013/14 groups of Russian FSB and Russian Interior Ministry operatives visited Kyiv on three occasions.

First time from 13 to 15 December - this was the largest group - twenty seven people in total. The second time was from 26 to 29 January - six people. And the third time - from 20 to 21 February - seven people.

Each time theses "guests" appeared just after peaks in the confrontation.

In December it followed attempts to disperse [Euromaidan] protesters on 10th and 11th of that month.

In January after the collapse of the state of emergency.

And in February after the massacre on the 18th, and on the day of the mass shootings at Instytutska.....

From the summer of 2013 until the end of the winter of 2014 the following visits were recorded:

Mid August 2013 - Vladislav Surkov in Kyiv. August 13-14 - in Crimea;

13-15 December - group of representatives of the Interior Ministry and Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in Kyiv;

20-21 January 2014 - Vladislav Surkov in Kyiv. at the height of preparations for the introduction of a state of emergency;

January 26-29 - second visit of the siloviki group;

January 31 - February 1 - Surkov, Russian presidential adviser Rapoport, Chesnakov, Pavlov in Kyiv on Bankova Street [Ukr president's admin];

February 11-12 - Surkov and Rapoport in Donetsk and Crimea;

February 14-15. Surkov again in Kyiv;

February 20-21, Surkov, FSB General Beseda, and siloviki in Kyiv. Russian ambassador Zurabov and official RF representative Lukin  visited Bankova on 21st;

On the morning of the 27th the siloviki arrive at Simferopol airport.

Koshkina also reveals how Russia supplied Ukrainian law enforcement agencies with thousands of stun grenades and other lethal equipment and weaponry.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Russian marauders in Donbas

Yesterday's I wrote how extremist elements of Russian society are wreaking havoc in Donbas with the full blessing of the Kremlin leadership.

Now check out this brief RFE/RL video entitled "Debaltseve – Gunmen, Looting, And Bread Queues...

The town of Debaltseve, in eastern Ukraine, fell to a Russian-backed separatist assault shortly after the Minsk cease-fire agreements were signed in February. A fraction of the pre-conflict civilian population now lives there. Those who remained have experienced looting, buried bodies being dug up, and bread queues controlled by gunmen"

According to most accounts Debaltseve was taken in violation of the Minsk 2 agreement, almost entirely by heavily equipped Russian forces.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Where the fascists are..

If you have a spare hour check out this deeply scary BBC documentary [first of three]....and worry:


[Also on YouTube here]

"Reggie Yates' Extreme Russia - 1. Far Right & Proud

In the first of three programmes revealing the extreme side of Russia, Reggie Yates travels to Moscow to get close and personal with some of the country's far-right nationalists."

The people whom he meets are the same ones described in this recent revealing description of the current situation in Donbas - "Russia has found a great way to use the situation [in the Donbas] to its own advantage. It sends those which pose a threat to itself - all the radical, marginal political organizations in Russia - they are clearly anti-government, anti-Kremlin. 

Kremlin with a light heart opens up a pathway for them to Donbas. They are told: you have two choices - either you are going to jail for a long time, or you go out there and are not coming back. And we'll let you go with  weapons , with anything you need. The main thing is do not come back.

A great many such people realize their ambitions, desires and political ideas in the Donbas..."

Saturday, April 11, 2015

BBC report on Ukraine's Fragile Ceasefire

"Natalia Antelava reports from both sides of the ceasefire line on whether the fighting has stopped and what hope there is for a lasting peace."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b05rdf2d/our-world-ukraines-fragile-ceasefire

"What makes the ceasefire so fragile is that it's based on the premise Russia is neutral in this conflict"

The occupied territories will not be incorporated into Russia any time soon because of the huge cost of subsidising the LNR and DNR. According to some experts the figure could be over 10 billion dollars p.a. - and Putin is simply not prepared to pay this. Furthermore annexation of these territories would also aggravate the crisis in Russia's relations with the West to even greater depths.

On the other hand no Ukrainian politician will agree to prop up these separatist regions financially unless there are blue and yellow flags flying over their city halls..

As the weeks pass residents of Donbas are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. There are reports of elderly people  dying of hunger in the occupied territories. Even basic medicines are in desperately short supply.

'Segodnya' compares prices of basic foodstuffs in Donetsk and Mariupol - in Donetsk the price for a typical family food basket is currently about a third higher than in Mariupol.

The future for those living in separatist/Russian held territories looks very grim..
Does anyone seriously think further fighting will make things better?


Friday, April 03, 2015

Political drift in Donbas suits west but could force Putin's hand

Vitaly Portnikov writes about the current dangerous stalemate in the Donbas.
I have paraphrased what he says below:

The situation in the occupied part of the Donbas is drifting not to a frozen conflict but rather to a stalemate for the Russian leadership.

Talking to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Berlin recently Chancellor Angela Merkel once again stressed that the preparation for the local elections in the Donbas can begin once a full ceasefire has been established and only after the complete withdrawal of heavy weaponry has taken place.

Merkel is waiting for confirmation from the OSCE observers but it will be a long wait, because Moscow is unlikely to vacate the territories now under its control, not because it fears a Ukrainian offensive but because it could be preparing for one of its own. And even if this is not the case it wants to give the impression that it is, otherwise mercenaries could drift away from the occupied zone and leaders of the "People's Republics" could begin to quietly start negotiating with Kyiv, possibly even giving some ground, in the search for compromise.

Angela Merkel achieved her aims at the meeting in Minsk on February 11-12 - not a frozen conflict in the Donbass, but rather an end to fighting [almost], and the current stalemate.

For Ukraine, the removal from the occupied territories of the Russian troops and other armed gangs is paramount - only then can local elections be held and dialogue on the status of the territories and welfare payments/civil servants' salaries restarted.

For Russia, it is important for Ukraine to promptly restart payment of salaries and welfare payments etc. After this Puin wants a dialogue to be initiated on the status of the territories, and on changes to the Ukrainian constitution under which fresh elections could be held.

The two conflicting parties therefore have absolutely differing priorities on the sequence of what needs to happen  for resolution of the war.

Ukraine's goal is the restoration of the territorial integrity of the country. This objective can be achieved only when Russian troops and armed gangs are removed from the territory of Donbas and competitive free elections under reliable international supervision take place.

Russia's goal is the creation of a quasi-state on the occupied territory under its own control, and the transformation of Ukraine to a Bosnia-type state after the Dayton Accords, i.e. a shaky union of quasi-states. This can only be achieved if Russian troops and armed gangs remain in the Donbass, the "republics" conserved and elections  undertaken under the supervision of separatist leaders Zakharchenko, Plotnitsky and the Russian FSB.

The economic blockade of the occupied territories is pushing Putin to come to a decision whether to abandon his Donbas adventure or to consider a further large-scale offensive to disguise his defeat.

The goal of the West is primarily to ensure cessation of hostilities continues.

Merkel can afford not to rush local elections in the Donbas, and not press for any dialogue between Kyiv and representatives of the occupied territories on the implementation of points of the Minsk Agreement; her mission is to draw Putin into a bureaucratic morass. The foreign ministers of Normandy format will meet, calls to each of the leaders will be made, reports of the OSCE observers studied, the possibility of holding elections discussed. After this a law on special status passed, and so on.  Russia will insist that first the law is passed, then elections, then "let's meet again soon for further discussions, invite OSCE observers and on and on and on...

And all this time, month after month, the Russian economy will be sinking.

Because of the present cessation of hostilities, this stabilization will lead Russia nowhere except to a final irreversible collapse of their regime, which no one in the West now recognises as being capable of reasonable dialogue.

But in all of this there is one "but." Putin also understands what is happening. He does not have the money to supply the Donbas or moreover rebuild Donbas, and every day he has less and less. A frozen conflict would suit him only if Ukraine restarts payments to the occupied territories.

If Ukraine agreed to this Putin would then not need to start building a quasi-state at the expense of Ukaine and the West. If Russia and the separatists expanded the area under their control, Ukraine would continue to feed these newly occupied areas too, until eventually even Crimea would be reached.

Simply put, Putin will try to escape from the trap set by Western players and the Ukrainian leadership and not just sit by waiting for the deadly western sleeping pills to act.

The most important thing is not to allow him to wake up.

However Portnikov does not speculate on possible consequences for Russia in the event of restart of military attacks against Ukraine, e.g. an attempt to take Mariupol. Apart from major casualties for both warring parties, arming of Ukraine by the US and western powers becomes far more likely. Severe extra sanctions and exclusion from global banking arrangements could be imposed on Russia.