Crisis in Ukraine

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Police buses head to Kiev amid protests

Officials say a column of police buses is heading toward the Ukrainian capital, and opposition activists have begun evacuating a government building they have been occupying for days.

Kiev regional police said Monday that buses carrying interior troops are moving toward Kiev, where thousands of protesters are blocking entrances to key administrative buildings and have seized the city administration.

President Viktor Yanukovych has faced weeks of protests after shelving a treaty with the European Union last month to focus on ties with Moscow. A rally on Sunday drew hundreds of thousands of protesters calling for Yanukovych's ouster.

The reported troop move comes a day after hundreds of thousands joined protests in Kiev and toppled a statute of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin.


Source : Sapa-AP /aa
Date : 09 Dec 2013 12:10
 
XennoX said:
Are we seeing the beginnings of USSR 2.0? It certainly seems like it. Seems Putin may become Stalin 2.0.
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Putin is a man living in the past, trying to put the genie back in the lamp. It doesn't matter how much he tries and how much he threatens, the USSR will never return. He is too deluded to see that, and that makes him very dangerous.
 
The_Assimilator said:
Putin is a man living in the past, trying to put the genie back in the lamp. It doesn't matter how much he tries and how much he threatens, the USSR will never return. He is too deluded to see that, and that makes him very dangerous.
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Yet the general sentiment I get from the media and from Russian friends of mine is that Putin is much loved by the people. When I poke fun at one of my Russian friends by calling him a 'commie loving bastard' he gets offended incredibly quickly and not because of the bastard part but because of the commie loving part. He says he would prefer it if Russia was still governed by a Monarchy as the communists, particularly Stalin and Lenin wrecked the country. As for how true this is, I don't know - I do know that Stalin was an ******* who killed millions of people.

When I point out that Putin is an ex-KGB spy his response is, "So?," when I point out that Putin himself has said that the loss of the USSR was a great tragedy (I'm paraphrasing here) his response was again, "So?," at which point I started calling him a commie loving bastard.
 
And we can't even mobilise to protest in our temperate climate.
 
XennoX said:
Yet the general sentiment I get from the media and from Russian friends of mine is that Putin is much loved by the people. When I poke fun at one of my Russian friends by calling him a 'commie loving bastard' he gets offended incredibly quickly and not because of the bastard part but because of the commie loving part. He says he would prefer it if Russia was still governed by a Monarchy as the communists, particularly Stalin and Lenin wrecked the country. As for how true this is, I don't know - I do know that Stalin was an ******* who killed millions of people.

When I point out that Putin is an ex-KGB spy his response is, "So?," when I point out that Putin himself has said that the loss of the USSR was a great tragedy (I'm paraphrasing here) his response was again, "So?," at which point I started calling him a commie loving bastard.
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Unfortunately the Russian people (and I'm speaking particularly about Russians here, not members of the former "republics" aka vassal states like Ukraine) have not been exposed to Western-style free and critical thinking. When communists were in power they were indoctrinated to be good communists, and now they are being indoctrinated to be good Putin-ists. The more things change...
 
Garyvdh said:
Ja... this is how you protest for a change of government! :D

Ukraine has the same population as us!

And here we are meekly buying our e-tags and complaining about how corrupt our government is....

Meanwhile they are having a full on revolution. ;)

What a bunch of pansies we are.
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But they voted for him. wtf is wrong with them.......
 
Riot police deployed near protest sites

Dozens of riot police in full gear positioned themselves outside the Kiev city administration on Monday, the deadline a court has set for the protesters occupying the building to leave.

Opposition activists have asked protesters to leave the city building and another building they had occupied to avoid clashes, but the police presence stoked fears that the government planned to disperse the mass protests that have gripped Ukraine's capital for weeks.

The policemen, wearing helmets and holding shields, formed a chain across Kiev's main street outside the city building.

President Viktor Yanukovych has faced weeks of protests after shelving a treaty with the European Union last month to focus on ties with Moscow.

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of protesters calling for Yanukovych's ouster poured into the streets of Kiev, toppling a statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin and blockading government buildings in the escalating standoff with the president over the future of the country.

The government has demanded that the protests disperse and threatened harsh measures.


Source : Sapa-AP /ml
Date : 09 Dec 2013 13:36
 
Ukraine protestors defiant after police storm square

Thousands of Ukrainian protesters and police were on Wednesday locked in a potentially explosive standoff after security forces stormed the epicentre of mass protests but demonstrators refused to leave.

Elite Berkut anti-riot police and interior ministry special forces moved against the protestors who had occupied Kiev's Independence Square for a over a week at around 2:00 am (midnight GMT).

US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed "disgust" over the crackdown, which came as EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland were in Kiev for talks with all parties to find a way out of the crisis.

The security forces tore down the barricades that the protestors angry at President Viktor Yanukovych's rejection of an EU pact under Russian pressure had erected around Independence Square.

Thousands of armoured police seized control of part of the square by forming a human chain but the demonstration continued as before over much of the area with more protesters arriving as morning broke.

With their numbers swelled to at least 10,000 after the police action, dozens formed human walls to prevent more riot police from entering the square from adjoining roads, said an AFP correspondent.

Speakers gave addresses from the stage as Ukrainian pop anthems made famous during the 2004 Orange Revolution blared through loudspeakers.

Thousands of anti-riot police had earlier surrounded the square and then entered the area, using their sheer numbers to force the demonstrators away from the road running through the square.

Police said in a statement that they had not used tear gas so far but reserved the right to "react adequately" in case of violations of the law.

Ukrainian opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk called for a millions-strong protest in Kiev after the police actions, predicting that the regime of Yanukovych would fall.

"We will not forgive this. Here there will be millions and his regime is going to collapse," Yatsenyuk, the leader of the party of jailed ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko, told the protesters on Independence Square.

"Yanukovych spat in the face of the United States and the EU member states," he said as protesters chanted "out with the gang!".

Thousands of protesters had been defying sub-freezing temperatures to remain overnight on the square in protests that started almost three weeks ago.

"Kievans rise up! Only together can we win our right to live in a free country," world boxing champion and leader of the UDAR (Punch) opposition party Vitali Klitshcko told the protesters.

Police at the scene said their aim was not to disperse the entire protest but to free up Kiev's main Khreshchatyk Street -- that passes through the middle of the square -- for traffic.

The leader of the nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) movement Oleg Tyagnybok said that several protesters had been injured and the authorities had detained 11 people.

Yanukovych's decision to scrap key trade and political agreements with the EU and police violence against protesters have plunged the ex-Soviet country into its most acute political crisis since the Orange Revolution.

The police action came just hours after Yanukovych held talks with Ashton and prompted swift personal condemnation from Kerry.

Kerry said Washington "expresses its disgust with the decision of Ukrainian authorities to meet the peaceful protest... with riot police, bulldozers, and batons, rather than with respect for democratic rights and human dignity".

"This response is neither acceptable nor does it befit a democracy," he added.

The EU's delegation in Kiev said it was seeking to contact Ukrainian authorities to prevent the use of violence against citizens.

"The authorities didn't need to act under the cover of night," Ashton said in a statement.

In a sign of Europe's support for the demonstrators, Ashton late Tuesday personally visited the epicentre of the protests on Independence Square, known locally as the Maidan.

"We follow events in and around Maidan at this moment with great concern. Repression is not way forward for Ukraine - reform should be," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt wrote on Twitter.

Yanukovych on Tuesday convened Ukraine's ex-leaders Leonid Kuchma, Leonid Kravchuk and Viktor Yushchenko for an unprecedented crisis meeting at the presidential administration.

"Calls for a revolution pose a threat to national security," Yanukovych said in comments broadcast on national television. However Kuchma, Ukraine's president between 1994 and 2004, told him: "Civil society is now awaiting a signal from the president."

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands filled Independence Square, and dozens of masked protesters tore down a statue of Lenin.


Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv
Date : 11 Dec 2013 09:12
 
White House: Force in Ukraine unacceptable

The White House says the use of force against Ukrainian protesters is completely unacceptable.

Spokesman Josh Earnest says the U.S. was appalled by recent clashes in the capital of Kiev. He called on President Viktor Yanukovych to respect his people's right to protest and assemble.

Security forces clashed with protesters on Wednesday as they began tearing down opposition barricades and tents set up in the center of Kiev. The protests began last month after Yanukovych backed away from a pact that would have deepened the former Soviet republic's economic ties with the European Union.

The White House spokesman says political oppression is not the way to respond to the Ukrainian people's "legitimate grievances" and that it is past time for Yanukovych to listen to them.


Source : Sapa-AP /kd
Date : 11 Dec 2013 21:34
 
Ukraine protestors reject government offer of talks

By JIM HEINTZ and MARIA DANILOVA

Associated Press

Opposition protesters in Ukraine have rejected President Viktor Yanukovych's offer of talks, saying they will not sit down with him until he fires his government and releases all arrested demonstrators.

The opposition appeared to be in a stronger position after the abrupt withdrawal of riot police early Wednesday from parts of Ukraine's capital. This has raised hopes that weeks of demonstrations have eroded police support for Yanukovych and his government.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, leader of the largest opposition party in parliament, calls the police withdrawal "a great victory."

Yanukovych issued an invitation late Wednesday to political, religious and civil figures to join a national dialogue. But it was unclear if the move was merely an attempt to buy time and mollify Western officials who are pressuring him to reduce tensions.


Source : Sapa-AP /mm
Date : 11 Dec 2013 20:45
 
Kiev protest unbowed after failed police raid

A police raid may have reduced their protest barricades to a pile of snow, but it has only made the demonstrators on Kiev's Independence Square more determined than ever.

"I no longer fear anything," said 54-year-old Anna Melnik, who braved sub-zero temperatures to head to the Ukrainian capital's iconic square in the early hours of Wednesday.

"We must support the protest. We hope to live better," said Melnik, who was among thousands who resisted police efforts to clear the area.

Singing the national anthem, dancing and drinking hot tea to fortify themselves against the bitter cold, the crowd occupying Kiev's central square has demanded President Viktor Yanukovych's resignation ever since he decided not to sign an EU pact in a dramatic U-turn.

Around midnight on Tuesday, after nearly three weeks of anti-Yanukovych rallies, hundreds of helmeted riot police troops massed on the edge of the square against the hodgepodge barricades put up by the demonstrators.

Two hours later, police ranks pushed in from three major arteries converging on the square.

Scattering protesters, they dismantled the barricades and tents on one part of the square in scenes that, though tense, were far from the violence of the night of November 30, when a similar attempt was made to tear the protest camp apart.

But at dawn, more than 10,000 people showed up at the square to face the neat rows of riot police shields in the morning twilight and refused to budge until the troops apparently received orders to leave several hours later.

Volodymyr Sundak, who has lived in Kiev for 27 years, headed to the square as soon as the subway opened Wednesday.

"If we stick together, we will stand fast," said the 66-year-old, criticising Yanukovych for "no longer hearing us".

"The fact that he did this shows that he is acting completely irrationally," Sundak said of the night raid on the square. "It's impossible for him to stay (in power)."

Standing close by, bundled in Ukraine's blue and yellow national flag, 61-year-old Iliya Pipska said she came to Kiev from the western city of Lviv to be part of the action.

"I don't want to look at this from afar," she said. "I have family in Poland and in Russia, and we can have good relations (with other countries) without taking orders."

The opposition criticises Moscow for pressuring Ukraine's government into scrapping the EU deal that would have put the country on the path to future integration.

On Kiev's snow-covered Khreshchatik boulevard, thousands surrounded the capital's City Hall, turned into a protest headquarters ever since it was seized by the opposition over a week ago.

Police attempted to drive protesters out of the building, but they responded with sticks and poured water on the troops with fire hoses, forcing them to retreat into their buses.

"What is happening shows it's worth the effort," said Sergiy Markin, a 28-year-old computer programmer who comes to help out every morning before heading to work.

"If everyone is afraid, we'll accomplish nothing," said Marianna, 30, standing guard by the entrance to the City Hall.

Sporting an orange hard hat near a tent pitched on Khreshchatik, 25-year-old Vitaly agreed: "There will be time to go home once the president leaves office."


Source : Sapa-AFP /mm
Date : 11 Dec 2013 18:35
 
Key points in Ukrainian protest

Thursday will mark three weeks of Ukrainian protests against their government's rejection of a historic pact with the European Union (EU).

Here are key dates in the opposition's mobilisation:

NOVEMBER

- 21: Ukraine halts preparations to sign a trade and political agreement with the EU and decides to reinforce relations with Moscow.

Opposition figures denounce the decisions and jailed leader Yulia Tymoshenko calls for public protests, which begin the following days, notably on the Independence Square in Kiev, and other cities.

- 26: The government acknowledges that Russia dissuaded it from signing the EU deal.

- 29: President Viktor Yanukovych confirms at an EU summit that he will not sign the agreement.

- 30: Security forces disperse demonstrators in Kiev, injuring dozens. The opposition calls for fresh elections after accusing Yanukovych of "treason".

DECEMBER

- 01: Several hundred thousand people rally in Kiev and smaller cities in favour of closer EU ties.

Around 300 people are injured in clashes, and occupy the Kiev town hall.

- 02: Thousands block the president's office, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov says the movement "has all the signs of a coup d'etat".

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the rallies "look more like a pogrom than a revolution."

- 05: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle calls attempts to pry Ukraine away from the EU "unacceptable."

Tymoshenko says the regime is like that of Josef Stalin and urges it be toppled "peacefully."

- 06: Yanukovych and Putin mull a "strategic partnership" in Sochi, Russia. A day later, Yanukovych's opponents accuse him of "selling" Ukraine to Russia.

- 08: Several hundred thousand people demand Yanukovych's ouster and topple a statue of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin in central Kiev in the biggest rally since the Orange Revolution in 2004.

- 10: Yanukovych says that "calls for a revolution pose a threat to national security", and meets with EU foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton.

- 11: Security forces move against protestors on Independence Square shortly after midnight but are forced back. US Secretary of State John Kerry voices "disgust" at the attempt, while Ashton condemns the use of force against demonstrators.

Yanukovych meets with US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who also meets with protesters.

Ukrainian Orthodox Patriarch Filaret warns more violence could spark a full-blown civil conflict.

Azarov says Ukraine needs 20 billion euros in EU aid if it is to sign the agreement.


Source : Sapa-AFP /mm
Date : 11 Dec 2013 18:56
 
Nearly 300,000 Ukrainians rally after EU halts talks

by Anna MALPAS

Nearly 300,000 outraged Ukrainians braved freezing temperatures Sunday to demand closer Western integration after the European Union abruptly suspended historic partnership talks because of the government's continued courtship of Russia.

The ex-Soviet nation of 46 million has been at the heart of a furious diplomatic tug of war since President Viktor Yanukovych's shock decision last month to ditch a landmark EU association agreement and seek closer ties with its traditional masters at the Kremlin.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele announced in a surprise tweet at the start of Sunday's rally that the bloc was halting all negotiations until it received "a clear commitment" from Yanukovych that Ukraine was serious about the deal.

"Ukraine: Words and deeds of President and government regarding #AssocAgreement further and further apart," Fuele said.

Yanukovych is due in Moscow on Tuesday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin that protesters occupying central Kiev's iconic Independence Square fear could result in an even firmer alliance between the two neighbours.

Demonstrators have planned another huge rally to coincide with Yanukovych's meeting with Putin on Tuesday evening. They were warmly reassured of continued US backing on Sunday by Republican Senator John McCain -- one of Washington's staunchest critics of Kremlin rule.

"To all Ukraine, America stands with you," McCain called out to a cheering sea of people who chanted "Thank you!" in English in return.

Protesters were eagerly awaiting McCain's appearance on a makeshift Independence Square stage when news spread that Fuele had said Brussels was halting talks with Kiev after an inconclusive Friday meeting.

EU officials told Ukraine that further discussions required a "clear commitment (to) sign (but) Work on hold, had no answer," Fuele said.

Yanukovych upset Brussels on Friday by threatening to prosecute Ukrainian government officials who had worked out the current terms of the EU partnership deal.

The president then accused his negotiators of "violating the national interests" of Ukraine by putting the country's wobbling economy under further threat.

"Need clarity from #Ukraine whose President said it hurts national interests," Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius of EU chair Lithuania tweeted on Sunday.

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov last week requested a 20 billion euro ($27.5 billion) loan from the European Union before it signs the closer trade and political association deal.

Ukraine says the money would compensate for the losses it would suffer from the trade sanctions threatened by Russia -- an energy power that has promised cheaper gas shipments should Kiev join a customs union championed by Putin instead.

Brussels has rejected the loan request and argued that Ukraine stood to benefit over the long term from the removal of EU trade barriers.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt -- a strong proponent of Ukraine's integration who has paid repeated visits to Kiev -- said Sunday that the original terms of the EU deal stood.

"The door is wide open for Ukraine to sign association and free trade agreement with EU," Bildt tweeted. "It's ready. Any time."

Ukraine's security services were on high alert on Sunday as around 5,000 Yanukovych supporters bused in from the provinces began what they said would be "nonstop protests" in a park near Independence Square.

"If the president made a mistake, that doesn't mean you need to gather in the Maidan (Independence Square)," said pensioner Galina Beresneva as she stood amid dozens of large army tents and a field kitchen set up by pro-government organisers.

Yanukovych moved to appease the protest movement on Saturday by suspending Kiev's mayor and the deputy head of his security council over a violent November 30 crackdown protesters.

But opposition leaders said they were also seeking the dismissal of the interior minister and the prime minister.

McCain began his visit to Kiev on Saturday by holding meetings with the troika of opposition leaders who most prominently include boxing champ turned UDAR (Punch) party leader Vitaly Klitschko.

The powerful US senator declared Sunday that Ukraine's protests -- the largest since the 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution -- were "inspiring" the entire world.

"Ukraine will make Europe better, and Europe will make Ukraine better," McCain said.

A 56-year-old electrician named Sergei said he and others around him on Independence Square felt encouraged by McCain's talk.

"Of course it's important to have the support of the American parliament and president," Sergei said. "In Ukraine we don't think the US wishes us harm."


Source : Sapa-AFP /ma
Date : 15 Dec 2013 20:21
 
'American stands with you', Senator McCain tells Ukraine rally

US Senator John McCain told more than 200,000 EU supporters rallying in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Sunday that Washington backed their desire for European integration.

"To all Ukraine, America stands with you," he called out to the cheering crowd. "The free world is with you, America is with you, I am with you... Ukraine will make Europe better and Europe will make Ukraine better."

Source : Sapa-AFP /nsm
Date : 15 Dec 2013 15:15
 
Ukraine ruling party demands government reshuffle

UKRAINE RULING PARTY DEMANDS GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE

Ukraine's ruling party demanded Monday a sweeping cabinet reshuffle in a sign the leadership was seeking to placate the opposition in a bitter standoff over a rejected EU pact.

President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to scrap key agreements with the EU last month and police violence against protesters sparked the largest demonstrations in the ex-Soviet country since the 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution.

The announcement by Yanukovych's party appears to be a move to appease the opposition after the first direct talks between the president and three opposition leaders failed on Friday to defuse Ukraine's deepest crisis in a decade.

Yanukovych had earlier offered a number of concessions, sacking senior officials over police violence and announcing an amnesty for arrested protesters, in a bid to ease tensions.

But the pro-EU opposition has dismissed the moves as half-measures, and leaders are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, as well as early presidential and parliamentary elections.

"We have put forward a demand before Azarov to reformat the government by 90 percent," Anna German, a lawmaker with Yanukovych's Regions Party, said after talks with Azarov.

"Azarov said that he will today let the position of the faction be known to the president and conclusions will certainly be made," she told reporters after the closed-door meeting attended by the entire cabinet.

German, a former Yanukovych aide, said the resignation of Azarov was not discussed.

The opposition appeared implacable, however.

"We believe that Viktor Yanukovych has made no step toward the resignation of the government and we are awaiting the president's decision regarding this cabinet," said protest leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

The details and timing of any reshuffle have yet to be hammered out, the president's parliamentary representative Yuriy Miroshnychenko said.

"An emotional conversation based on principals was held. We have to take the decisive steps necessary to solve the problems," he told reporters.

Ukraine's richest man Rinat Akhmetov in a rare statement Friday called for talks and expressed sympathy with the protest movement.

"It depends on the oligarchs and particularly on Akhmetov, who controls a large group of lawmakers in the Regions Party's parliamentary faction, whether it will be possible to influence Yanukovych so that he removes Azarov," said political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.

On Sunday nearly 300,000 protesters flooded central Kiev despite freezing temperatures to demand the government sign the EU pact.

The authorities staged a counter rally nearby, bussing in thousands from the provinces.

The protest movement, now in its fourth week, is planning another major rally on Tuesday when Yanukovych and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to oversee the signing of energy, space, investment and other agreements.

The government has insisted no deal that would require Ukraine to become a member in the Moscow-led Customs Union will be signed.

A Kremlin aide, Andrei Belousov, told reporters on Monday that Russia may give Ukraine a much-needed loan without providing any specifics.

Tens of thousands have taken to the streets over the past three weeks, putting intense pressure on Yanukovych to choose between Brussels and Moscow.

Analysts say either choice will further divide the politically volatile country, which is split between a Ukrainian-speaking, pro-EU west and a Russian-speaking, Moscow-leaning east. "On December 17, Viktor Yanukovych is flying to Moscow where he is planning to sign an agreement on selling Ukraine into the Customs Union in exchange for salvaging his own political fate," opposition lawmaker Borys Tarasyuk said on Sunday.

"I have the feeling Yanukovych does not hear the people and does not hear the European Union and all the attention the European Union pays us," said Bogdan Baran, a 32-year-old builder from the western city of Lviv, as he drank coffee by camp fire in the protesters' tent city in central Kiev.

Yanukovych, whose government has sought up to $20 billion in foreign assistance to prop up the struggling economy, has assured the demonstrators that he eventually planned to sign the Association Agreement and sent a delegation to Brussels.

But the bloc abruptly suspended the talks on Sunday, saying Ukraine's leadership was being disingenuous.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday reiterated the bloc's willingness to strike a deal, but said the ball was in Kiev's court.

"If there's a clear message from Kiev we're ready to sign tomorrow," said Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.


Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 16 Dec 2013 15:08
 
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