Russian Invasion Of Ukraine (Formerly: Democratic Malaise Draws Ukraine Eastwards)

[American Patriot]

Germany sees Russia "isolated" over Crimea referendum

BERLIN, March 17 Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:46pm IST


(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes Russia has isolated itself on the world stage by carrying out a referendum in the Ukrainian region of Crimea despite international rejection of the vote as illegal.


"Russia is isolated to a large degree in its recognition of this so-called referendum," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said, pointing to Saturday's vote at the U.N. Security Council where 13 countries rejected the referendum as invalid, China abstained and Russia stood alone, using its power of veto.


Seibert said Germany urged Russia to refrain from any military activity on Ukrainian territory which was not agreed upon with the transition government in Kiev - though Moscow rejects the current Ukrainian government as illegal. (Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum; Writing by Stephen Brown)

[vector7]

In Sevastopol, 123% of population voted for separation

12847 views
0 Comments
17/03/2014Data publication

Glorious churovski tradition - in action. By becoming a part of Russia voted 123% of Sebastopol . It is estimated Russian teh_nomad, writes Yevromaydan.

Sometimes emotions take precedence over common sense, but even emotions can be traced to the illegitimacy of the referendum.

Euphoria , the Russian anthem, sailors , 93 % ...

Though someone tried to analyze the results of the referendum in absolute terms ? It seems that just brought the figure of 93% and more likely do not care.

Analyze .

Statement on 00-00 from the Crimea :

Turnout in Crimea 20.00 ( 22.00 GMT) amounted to 81.36 %, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea with the organization and conduct of the referendum Mikhail Malyshev.

" After 20 hours in the Crimea voted 1 million 250 thousand 426 people. This result excluding Sevastopol " - he said .

"Given Sevastopol voted 1 million 724 thousand 563 man" - said the chairman.

If you count : 1 724 563-1 250 426 = 474 137 people from Sevastopol voted in the referendum.

Go to site statistics Sevastopol and read

http://sevstat.sevinfo.com.ua/statis.../ludi_1013.pdf

At the end of last year, the population of Sevastopol was 385,462 persons. It is based on children who were not allowed to vote.

474,137 - 385,462 = 88,675 person accidentally appeared in Sevastopol during the referendum.

474137/385462 * 100 = 123 % Sebastopol voted to becoming a part of ...

So, come all - infants and school children, and the suspect dead.





----------------------------------------------------------

Russian Market ‏@russian_market · 1 min
TUSK SAYS EASTERN POLAND MUST BE READY FOR UKRAINE REFUGEES.


Russian Market ‏@russian_market · 39 seg
TUSK SAYS PROVOCATIONS IN POLAND CAN'T BE RULED OUT.

[vector7]

zerohedge ‏@zerohedge · 1 min
U.S. PREPARING FOR POSSBILE RUSSIA MOVE INTO UKRAINE: OFFICIAL

Russian Market ‏@russian_market · 1 min
TUSK SAYS EASTERN POLAND MUST BE READY FOR UKRAINE REFUGEES.

Russian Market ‏@russian_market · 39 seg
TUSK SAYS PROVOCATIONS IN POLAND CAN'T BE RULED OUT.


Raymond Pritchett‏@Galrahn·33 secs
Shorter Obama: Russia took Crimea by force, and if Russia attacks again we will punish more than 7 rich friends of Putin.

The Interpreter‏@Interpreter_Mag2h
Russian stocks rally in light of weaker-than-expected sanctions over Crimea http://bit.ly/1ivF6SZ


zerohedge ‏@zerohedge · 6 min
CRIMEA'S FIRST DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER SAYS U.S. SANCTIONS WILL NOT AFFECT REGION'S ACCESSION INTO RUSSIA - INTERFAX

Tony White ‏@rumoverijse 8m
UK Amb to #Lithuania just announced that British fighter jets will soon be deployed to patrol #NATO's northern air space

NATOSource @NATOSource
24 Russian Su-27SM3 fighter jets to be deployed in Belarus by end of 2014 http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/723892?utm_medium=rss20 … pic.twitter.com/QNh40OYLax
Retweeted by ЄВРОМАЙДАН


zerohedge‏@zerohedge·27 secs
UKRAINE RECALLS AMBASSADOR TO MOSCOW OVER CRIMEA: MINISTRY



Myroslava Petsa ‏@myroslavapetsa 6m
#Ukraine's MFA spox: #Russia's handing out AKs in #Crimea. All it takes to get one is Crimean registration and self-defense membership

KyivPost ‏@KyivPost 46m
Ukrainian government refuses to remove troops from Crimea, prepares for war #Ukraine #Russia #crimea #Putin #kyivpost



Nathan J Hunt‏@ISNJH48m
Ukrainian soldiers in Strelkovo in Kherson region as Russian helicopter patrols overhead.

UkraineInEurope‏@UkraineInEurope2 hrs
Putin's end game = secure at least 1/3 Ukraine territory & disrupt rest from functioning normally. Current level sanctions won't stop that.

ian bremmer‏@ianbremmer3 hrs
New Russia sanctions big on symbolism, small on economic impact. Marginal in Putin decisionmaking. #Ukraine

gandalf greybeard‏@gerrydogma11 mins
Column of Russian traffic off the ferry at Kerch today. Fuel trucks, buses, tenders, unmarked trucks/vans http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jsr20EX428 …






Mike Giglio‏@mike_giglio5m
People get out of their cars to gawk at Ukrainian military equipment making its way through Donetsk tonight: pic.twitter.com/gNSJqdGnvs

Gulliver Cragg ‏@gullivercragg · 15m
Retired #Ukrainian Admiral Ihor Kabanenko tells me he believes Russia will attack the South and East simultaneously


RT @courtneymoscow: Moscow investment banker on US sanctions: "It's as innocuous as we'd hoped"

RT @courtneymoscow: Moscow financial community delighted on sanctions. "It's not scary. It's actually market positive right now," one broker tells me

Interfax Russia
22:08 Putin aide Surkov claims being proud to be on U.S. black list Washington is considering, Obama is monitoring, Putin is acting...


Raymond Pritchett‏@Galrahn22m
The total net worth of the 29 folks the US / EU sanctioned *might* be up to $3 billion. Only ~$350 million assets outside Russia, if that.


WSJ Washington Wire @WSJwashington
McCain statement: "[S]anctioning only seven Russian officials is wholly inadequate at this stage." mccain.senate.gov/public/index.c…
Josh Rogin‏@joshrogin9 mins
Exclusive: Russia Will Sanction U.S. Lawmakers and Officials including @SenatorDurbin http://goo.gl/KiZyYL




gandalf greybeard‏@gerrydogma9 mins
Russian military column near SE border with Ukraine (Ростов-Таганрог highway) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0YFTaL_Ln4 …




The Torn Curtain‏@TornCurtain199140m
Ukraine Embassy in Moscow attacked with smoke bombs http://tvi.ua/new/2014/03/17/video_napadu_na_posolstvo_ukrayiny_u_moskvi?utm_so urce=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter …


gandalf greybeard‏@gerrydogma2m
BBC : Crimea's parliament has formally declared independence from Ukraine and asked to join the Russian Federation.

Kristof Bender‏@kristofbender13 mins
Putin will address Russian Fed Assembly tomorrow about #Crimea's appeal for accession to #Russia, reports ITAR-TASS http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/724037

Russian Market ‏@russian_market 2 min
Putin will sign agreement on annexing Crimea on March 18 - Gazeta. Ru

[vector7]

John Schindler‏@20committee2 mins
3000 Russian intel personnel (mainly SIGINT) moving to Finnish border...wonder why? http://barentsobserver.com/en/security/2014/03/moving-3000-intelligence-officers-finnish-border-14-03 … HT @MarkGaleotti

Sanctioned Russian Officials Tell ‘Comrade Obama’ to Get Bent on Twitter

by Evan McMurry | 1:10 pm, March 17th, 2014 NYAH NYAH NYAH NYAH

Russian politicians are not taking the United States’ newly-imposed sanctions lying down.

Actually, they might have been lying down when they tweeted this stuff. After the Obama administration announced sanctions on eleven major Russian and Crimean officials, including several high-ranking Putin officials, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Rogozin thumbed his nose at the new restrictions imposed on him:


Dmitry Rogozin ‏@DRogozin 14h
Comrade @BarackObama, what should do those who have neither accounts nor property abroad? Or U didn't think about it?)http://bit.ly/1ebMXDM


RELATED: Russian Anchor: Russia ‘Capable of Turning U.S. into Radioactive Ash’

Meanwhile, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov, aka “Putin’s Man in Crimea,” tweeted this political cartoon, along with a warning that roughly translates to “We are not afraid”:



Next Aksyonov tweeted out a picture of Obama’s head photoshopped on a military officer’s body, along with a jab that has been translated as “I wonder if Barack will be promoted to colonel after the successful campaign to return Crimea?”

[h/t Talking Points Memo]
[Image via Grigory Sysoev / RIA Novosti]

Crimean P.M. mocks Obama in faked Russian uniform on Twitter

• Enlarge Photo
  Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov tweeted a photoshopped image of President Barack ... more >

So the prime minister of Crimea has a sense of humor — and he unleashed it at the White House on Monday, sending out a mocking Photoshopped photograph of President Obama wearing a Russian military uniform.

And the accompanying translated text — take or leave a couple of pronouns — that’s attributed from Sergey Aksyonov, as reported by The Huffington Post:

“Interestingly, after the success of the company in returning Crimea, Barack is getting the rank of colonel?”

The mocking comes as the vast majority of Crimeans voted to join Russia. The White House, which is in strong opposition of the vote, issued sanctions on Monday.

Yet Crimea does not seem to care.

“We are going home. Crimea is in Russia,” Mr. Aksyonov said to the crowds of voters who were celebrating their victory in Lenin Square, CNN reported.

Russia To Place Sanctions On U.S. Senators, Congressmen, WH Officials…


Tit for tat.
Via Foreign Policy:

U.S. senators, congressmen and top Obama administration officials are sure to be on Vladimir Putin’s sanctions list; a response to the Obama Administration’s announcement on Monday that 7 Russian officials and 4 Ukrainian officials would be barred from holding assets or traveling to the United States.


Putin is expected to release his retaliation list as early as Tuesday and while the final list is still being crafted, it will include top Obama administration officials and high profile U.S. senators, in an effort to roughly mirror the U.S. sanctions against Russian officials and lawmakers, according to diplomatic sources. At the top of the list in Congress is Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, who recently co-authored a resolution criticizing Russia’s invasion of Crimea.


Durbin’s inclusion on Putin’s list would mirror Obama’s naming of Valentina Matvienko, the head of the upper chamber of the Russian Duma. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are not expected to be on the Russian sanctions list.


Keep reading…

[Ryan Ruck]

There was supposedly some voice traffic earlier around 12:15pm ET so I've got The Buzzer on right now in the background with hopes I might get to hear a voice transmission and I just heard some some interesting audio blipping, almost sounded like a game of Pong. No idea if it was broadcasting on the station or just some anomaly the receiver picked up.

Just before that there were some odd noises a little further up the band. Hard to describe them but I got a screenshot of them on the scope before they scrolled out of view:

[Ryan Ruck]

Just got some odd warbling like data transmission...

Definitely a lot of odd activity on The Buzzer today!

[Ryan Ruck]

That odd noise I got a picture of came back a little bit ago. Got a better screen shot. After listening to it for the duration it was on, it sounded almost like The Woodpecker OTH radar but slower and a different pitch.

It is the signal around 4630kHz:



Normally The Buzzer looks like this:




Meh, maybe it's nothing.

[American Patriot]

or it could be something...

lol

[American Patriot]

Russia's Putin Signs Treaty to Annex Crimea

President Says Ukraine Region Is Vital to Russia's Security




By Gregory L. White
connect

Updated March 18, 2014 9:15 a.m. ET



Russian President Vladimir Putin received a standing ovation while giving a speech to both houses of Parliament, in which he defended his decision sign a treaty to annex the breakaway Ukrainian region of Crimea. Photo: Getty Images






MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday moved to annex the breakaway Ukrainian region of Crimea but sought to reassure Ukrainians by saying Moscow has no further designs on its southern neighbor's territories.
Related Articles

• MoneyBeat: Ukraine And China Compete as Top Investor Worry

Enlarge Image




Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the Federal Assembly on the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region at the Kremlin in Moscow on Tuesday. AP







In a defiant Kremlin speech to both houses of parliament and top government and civic officials, Mr. Putin dismissed sanctions and threats of other consequences by Europe and the U.S., saying the West had "crossed the line" by fomenting what he called a "putsch" in Kiev earlier this year.


"Crimea is our common property and a very important factor in the stability of the region," he said. "This strategic territory should be under a strong, sovereign state and that in fact can only be Russia." Leaving Crimea in Ukrainian hands, he warned, could lead Sevastopol, the port that is home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, to become a harbor for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.


Legislators were expected to complete the ratification process later Tuesday and the regions would become Russian territory immediately.




But Mr. Putin signaled that Moscow isn't planning to send its troops- which occupied Crimea over the last two weeks—further into Ukraine. That could provide some reassurance to the government in Kiev and western capitals, although Mr. Putin reiterated his harsh denunciations of the western-backed government in Kiev as illegitimate and dominated by nationalists.


Appealing to the people of Ukraine, he said, "don't believe those who are using Russia to scare you, who say that other regions will follow Crimea. We don't want a partition of Ukraine. We don't need this."


"Millions of Russian people, Russian-speakers, now live and will continue to live in Ukraine, and Russia will always defend their interests through political, diplomatic and legal means," he said.


But elsewhere in the speech, he seemed to cast doubt on Ukraine's historical claims to the eastern and southern regions where ethnic Russians make up a large share of the population. Mr. Putin said those territories—which he called "the historical south of Russia"—were given to Ukraine by Bolshevik leaders in the early 1900s without the approval of residents. He said the 1954 Soviet decision which shifted Crimea from Russia to Ukraine—both at that time republics of the Soviet Union—was done in violation of laws in effect at the time.


Following the speech, which was interrupted repeatedly by applause from the gathered dignitaries, Mr. Putin signed treaties formally annexing Crimea and Sevastopol.


Western capitals have denounced Russia's claims to Crimea and called the annexation a violation of international law.


Mr. Putin scoffed at those criticisms in his speech, accusing the U.S. and its allies of ignoring international law when it suited their interests.


"We've been deceived time after time" by western assurances that Russia's interests would be taken into account, he said. "We have every reason to believe that the well-known policy of containing Russia from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries is being continued today."


After years of weakness in the 1990s where Russia couldn't defend its interests, Mr. Putin said Russia now is able to stand up for herself.
Write to Gregory L. White at greg.white@wsj.com

[Ryan Ruck]

or it could be something...

lol

Well, checking up on it, either The Buzzer is off the air currently or that receiver in the Netherlands isn't able to pick it up right now.

[American Patriot]

That frequency should be able to be heard at night I would think. I've heard noises on the frequency, but they are so low level I can't tell what they are.

[American Patriot]

Oh... oh....

Here come the lies....

Putin Says Russia Doesn’t Want Ukraine Split After Crimea (2) By Olga Tanas and Ilya Arkhipov March 18, 2014


President Vladimir Putin said that Russia won’t further split up neighbor Ukraine, blaming Western encroachment for forcing him to annex Crimea in a move that’s sparked the worst diplomatic crisis since the Cold War.


He called on Russia to ratify a treaty to absorb the Black Sea peninsula after a March 16 referendum there supported its secession from Ukraine. Putin addressed lawmakers and regional leaders in Moscow, telling them Crimea was an “inalienable” part of Russia, which felt “robbed” when the province stayed with Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union.


“Don’t believe those who scare you with Russia, who yell that Crimea will be followed by other regions,” Putin said in a speech at the Kremlin that was met with standing ovations. “Crimea is our historic legacy. It should be part of a strong and stable sovereignty, which today can only be Russian.”


Video: Putin Calls for Russia to Annex Crimea



Putin defied sanctions imposed yesterday by the U.S. and the European Union aimed at dissuading him from taking over the Black Sea peninsula. He also underscored Russia’s right to defend Russian speakers in Ukraine’s east, where the country’s prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said the Kremlin is behind “aggressive” protests among Russian-speakers who want to follow Crimea in secession.


After his speech Putin signed a treaty to absorb Crimea and its port city of Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, paving the way for lawmakers to ratify the document and for Russia to formally annex them by Jan. 1 next year.
Mother Russia

Putin’s comments lifted U.S. stock-index futures as investors took the speech as a sign the crisis is easing. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in June gained 0.4 percent to 1,857.3 at 8:33 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts added 57 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,223 today. Russia’s benchmark Micex index climbed 2.2 percent to 1,311.64.


Story: Power Delusions: U.S., Russia Face Off Over Ukraine



Putin said Yatsenyuk’s government in Kiev “isn’t in control of anything” and was being led by nationalist, anti-Semitic, and Russophobe “radicals.”


His speech gave no indication that a resolution between Russia and the West is near, and Russia could take over more of its neighbor, Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels, said by phone.


“Putin has a long record of violating international boundaries, so I wouldn’t believe anything he says about not seeking to grab more of Ukraine,” Erixon said. “The Kremlin is interested not just in eastern Ukraine but also Kiev and western Ukraine, which is all seen as part of Mother Russia.”
Story: Putin’s Gamble: Crimea Land Grab Will Be Met With Western Inaction
More Sanctions

After almost 97 percent of voters in Crimea backed joining Russia, the region’s lawmakers declared independence yesterday, and then Putin recognized Crimea’s sovereignty.
The U.S. and EU responded by imposing an asset freeze and visa travel bans on Russians including members of Putin’s inner circle, as well as separatist Crimean leaders and Ukrainians in the broadest sanctions used on Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.


Western leaders kept more punitive measures in reserve to dissuade Putin from moving further into Ukraine and avoid hurting trade between Russia and the West, even if they offered little deterrence, Ulrich Leuchtmann, the head of currency strategy at Commerzbank AG, wrote in a note.


Story: Strange Invasion: On the Ground as Russia Takes Crimea From Ukraine
Effect: Zero
“The effect on the Russian economy or international capital flows is almost exactly zero,” Leuchtmann wrote. “If the EU was determined to really put a stop to Russia’s policy in Ukraine it would have to threaten concrete and relevant measures -- like a medieval torturer used to show the delinquent the tools he was going to use.”


U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in Poland on a trip to meet the eastern most European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said Russia will “see additional sanctions for what he denounced as ‘‘a brazen, brazen military incursion,’’ and a ‘‘rushed and illegal referendum in Crimea.’’


Video: Carney on Russian Sanctions; Mideast Peace Talks



Putin last month won the authorization of the upper house of parliament to deploy troops in Crimea and southeastern Ukraine to protect the rights of Russian-speakers and those of Russian heritage.


The Russian leader lashed out at the U.S. and NATO area countries for infringing on territory close to Russia’s interests and engaging in a policy of ‘‘Russian containment.’’
Isolation Route

‘‘Everything has its limits,’’ Putin said. ‘‘And in the case of Ukraine, our Western partners have crossed the line and behaved rudely, irresponsibly and unprofessionally.’’
Western nations condemned both Putin’s push to take over Crimea and his reasoning that NATO’s 1999 intervention to force Serbian troops out of Kosovo and the expansion of western alliances into the area of the ex-Soviet Union justified it.

[vector7]

Putin says U.S. foreign policy is guided by 'the rule of the gun'

MOSCOW Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:43am EDT

90 Comments



(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Monday of being guided in its foreign policy not by international law but by the "rule of the gun."

"Our Western partners headed by the United States prefer not to be guided by international law in their practical policies, but by the rule of the gun," he told a joint session of parliament.

"They have come to believe in their exceptionalism and their sense of being the chosen ones.

That they can decide the destinies of the world, that it is only them who can be right."

[vector7]

PzFeed Top News‏@PzFeed2m
BREAKING NEWS: Russians are storming Ukrainian military base in Simferopol right now. Reports of injuries. Via @Kateryna_Kruk

PzFeed Top News‏@PzFeed·22 secs
BREAKING NEWS: Russian military fired shots at Ukraine navigational base in Semfiropol, Crimea. At least one Ukrainian officer wounded. CNN


Raymond Pritchett‏@Galrahn·35 secs
The Ukrainian unit under attack in Simferopol is a Topology Intelligence unit.

gandalf greybeard‏@gerrydogma3m
A USAF U-2 has landed at RAF Fairford (serial 80-1083)



Russian Market ‏@russian_market · 2 min
#BREAKING GUNMEN STORM UKRAINE ARMY INSTALLATIONS IN CRIMEA

GUNMEN STORMING CRIMEA BUILDINGS SHOOTING IN AIR - DEFENCE MINISTER OF UKRAINE ON FACEBOOK


Euromaidan PR‏@EuromaidanPR1m
#Ukraine military unit A3674in #Simderopol is capturing by #russian troops.Head of unit taken captives.1officer wounded in neck&arm-channel5



Ed Flanagan ‏@edmundflanagan 50s Another powwow of officials, self-defense forces and camouflaged men in front of us.. no word what's happening inside pic.twitter.com/YRlusjDp5G


15:16:
BBC Monitoring quotes the Ukrainian soldier at that base in Simferopol as saying: "They are telling us to lay down arms, but [we] have no intention to surrender."

@rolltidebmz 9m

Obama invites G7 leaders to emergency summit on #Ukraine in The Hague next week

Update: YouTube reinstates Russia Today's account after it was suspended; no explanation given - @RT_com Click on the word "LIVE" in red:http://rt.com/news/rt-youtube-suspended-glitch-534/

[Ryan Ruck]

That frequency should be able to be heard at night I would think. I've heard noises on the frequency, but they are so low level I can't tell what they are.

That's what I figured given the time difference. They should be about 4-6 hours ahead of me (without looking at a time zone map).

ETA: Just double checked and it is coming in very faint right now.

[American Patriot]

well, I was referring to US in the USA hearing it.

I'm not sure about stations in Netherlands.... they are relatively close.

Normally, I've had good contacts on 7mhz using low wattage at 75-200 miles. When you are listening to broadcast band stuff (635-1600 khz, a little lower than 4000kc) then you are talking thousands of miles at night. Stuff around 4-6 Mhz should be going thousands of miles after dark... as the uppermost layers drop down.

But, I'm talking with a lot of experience in my distant past now.... so I might be a little off... /shrug.

I assume you're listening to the HF via internet and not an actual shortwave right?

[American Patriot]

By the way FNC is NOT reporting a damned thing about the Russians invading that base.

[American Patriot]

Russian Troop Buildup Seen at Ukraine Border After Crimea Seized

By Jake Rudnitsky and Ott Ummelas March 18, 2014

---

Russia has increased its military presence near Ukraine’s border as it tries to repeat the events that led up to Crimea’s incorporation into Russia in the east of the country, the governor of the Kharkiv region said.
Russian forces have been boosted in the last five days, massing along roadways about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the border, said Ihor Baluta, appointed by the interim government in Kiev after the ouster of Viktor Yanukovych last month.
“They are concentrated along the highways, which implies they want to move quickly into our territory,” Baluta said in an interview in Ukraine’s second biggest city today. “Russia is trying to create the situation unfolding now in the south here in eastern regions.”
Story: A Humiliated Putin Plans His Next Move in Ukraine
An expanded presence by Russian forces in the border region would be at odds with today’s pledge by President Vladimir Putin to oppose a further division of Ukraine after his decision to annex the southern region of Crimea. Putin has parliamentary approval to deploy troops in Ukraine to protect the rights of Russian-speakers and those of Russian heritage.
Military movements “will pump in separatism and that will bother us for a long time to come,” Baluta said.
Russia’s worst confrontation with the West since the Cold War over its incorporation of Crimea has stirred worries that Putin may try next to annex parts of eastern Ukraine where the Russophones make up a large part of the population.
Story: Strange Invasion: On the Ground as Russia Takes Crimea From Ukraine
Separatist Push

Putin today blamed Western encroachment for forcing him to annex Crimea and denied plans to occupy eastern Ukraine. About a quarter of the region’s 3 million residents sympathize with a secessionist push, he said, Baluta said.
“Don’t believe those who scare you with Russia, who yell that Crimea will be followed by other regions,” Putin said in the speech at the Kremlin.
Speaking at a press conference in Moscow on Dec. 19, Putin said any suggestion that Russia would use its armed forces in Crimea was “complete rubbish, nothing of the sort is possible.”
Story: How Russia Is Pushing Ukraine Into the West's Arms
Russia has 21,900 soldiers in Crimea that are blocking Ukrainian troops on the Black Sea peninsula, Oleksandr Rozmaznin, a Ukrainian military official, told reporters today in the capital, Kiev. Russian warships are also blockading Ukraine’s fleet, with 17 Ukrainian state infrastructure sites now seized in Crimea, including 11 military buildings, he said.

[American Patriot]

France May Scrap Russian Warship Deal Over Ukraine Crisis

Topic: Russia's purchase of French Mistral-class warship

Mistral warship (archive photo)
© RIA Novosti


19:30 18/03/2014
Originally published at 10:31

Tags: Mistral, Dmitry Rogozin, Crimea, Ukraine, France, Russia
Related News

• Russia Begins Construction of Mistral Ship Base
• France Floats Out First Russian Mistral Warship
• Russia to Receive First Mistral Warship in November 2014
• Russia Recognizes Crimea’s Independence
• Western Countries Sanction Russian Officials Over Crimea Vote

Multimedia

• Crimea Celebrates Landslide Vote to Join Russia
• Referendum in Crimea

MOSCOW, March 18 (RIA Novosti) – Paris will consider canceling a 1.2-billion-euro deal to deliver two Mistral-class warships to the Russian navy if Moscow provokes further escalation in Ukraine, the French foreign minister has said.
In the interview with France’s TF1 channel on Monday, Laurent Fabius denied the legitimacy of Sunday’s referendum in Crimea to join Russia and urged Moscow to take urgent measures to avoid “useless and dangerous” escalation of the situation in Ukraine.
"If Putin carries on like this, we could consider canceling the sales,” Fabius said adding that the possible loss of the contracts could have a negative impact on the French economy.
The remarks came after the US and EU imposed sanctions Monday on senior Russian officials following a referendum in Ukraine's Crimea in which voters overwhelmingly supported secession and reunification with Russia.
The French minister, however, appeared to soften the tone of his warning to Russia on Tuesday, saying that he had actually meant a possible suspension of the sale and only if it were accompanied by equivalent action by other EU countries.
"What is being envisaged is the suspension of these contracts but ... that would only be in the event of us moving to a third level of sanctions and we are not there yet," Fabius said.
He reiterated that the sanctions “must involve everyone” and urged the United Kingdom to “do something equivalent with the assets of the Russian oligarchs in London.”
In response to Fabius’ remarks, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Tuesday that “France is starting to undermine confidence it is a reliable provider in the very sensitive sector of military and technical cooperation."
“All those political waves around the referendum in Crimea will soon subside, but our countries will have to continue working together,” Rogozin, who has been targeted by recent EU sanctions, said in his Twitter blog.
Under a June 2011 contract signed between Russia and France, the first French Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, named Vladivostok, will be delivered to Russia by the year-end, while the second warship, the Sevastopol, is due to arrive in 2015.
The ships are capable of carrying 16 helicopters, four landing craft, 70 armored vehicles, and 450 soldiers and are expected to be deployed with Russia’s Pacific Fleet.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned earlier this month that sanctions against Russia would cause mutual damage in the interconnected, globalized modern world.
Updates with new Fabius comments, Rogozin response, minor rewrites
© RIA Novosti.
France's Mistral amphibious assault ship

[American Patriot]

Ukraine PM says Crimea conflict enters military stage after officer killed

Shooting in Ukrainian army base near Crimean capital is a 'war crime,' Ukrainian PM says.

By Reuters | Mar. 18, 2014 | 6:05 PM

Tweet

Crimean soldier, wearing a ribbon in the colors of the Russian flag, holds his weapon at the gate to a military base in Simferopol, Ukraine, March 13, 2014. Photo by AP



By Reuters and The Associated Press
Mar. 18, 2014 | 3:42 PM







Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Tuesday that the conflict in its Crimea peninsula, now under Russian control, had entered a military phase and accused Russia of committing a "war crime" by firing on Ukrainian servicemen.


"The conflict is moving from a political one to a military one because of Russian soldiers," he told a meeting at Ukraine's defense ministry. "Today, Russian soldiers began shooting at Ukrainian servicemen and this is a war crime without any expiry under a statute of limitations."


Yatseniuk said he had ordered Ukraine's defense minister to call a meeting with his counterparts from Britain, France, and Russia - signatories to a 1994 treaty guaranteeing Ukraine's borders to "prevent an escalation of the conflict".


Earlier, a military spokesman said a Ukrainian officer was killed in a shooting at a military facility on the outskirts of the Crimean capital Simferopol, but it was unclear who was behind the incident.


Some Ukrainian military facilities in Crimea have been under the control of Russian forces for several weeks after Russian troops poured into the Black Sea peninsula ahead of a referendum at the weekend that handed over control from Ukraine to Russia.


There was no immediate evidence that Russian soldiers were involved in Tuesday's incident, witnesses said.


It was not possible to see far into the compound, because streets leading to it had been blocked by so-called "self-defense" units of pro-Russian volunteers who have been patrolling the streets of Crimea in the run-up to the referendum.


There have been major concerns over whether the governments of Russia and Ukraine, who are at loggerheads over Moscow's annexation of Crimea, could achieve a smooth handover of control of Ukrainian military bases in the region.


Pro-Russian nationalists have been seen gathering outside Ukrainian military bases on several occasions this month, demanding that Ukrainian soldiers leave and hand over control to Russian forces.


The fact that the road blocks outside the facility in Simferopol were staffed by "self-defense" units suggested it was they who were involved in the incident rather than Russian forces. The situation was calm by 1520 GMT.


On Sunday, the Ukrainian and Russian Defense Ministries said they had agreed on a truce.