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

[Avvakum]

Kiss our asses Putin.

Russia Warns West "Remove Forces"; Begins Military Exercise On Ukraine Border


Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/23/2014 10:50 -0400

• Slovakia
• Ukraine

UPDATE: Dutch fighter jets were scrambled after Russian bombers approached Dutch airspace; the Russian planes turned away


With both sides appearing to have entirely un-de-escalated and the truce deal now a thing of the past (besides a few hundred Dow points), the Russians are speaking up today - and are not happy:

• RUSSIA IS EXTREMELY SURPRISED BY KIEV AND WASHINGTON'S "DISTORTED" INTERPRETATION OF AGREEMENT REACHED IN GENEVA LAST WEEK ON DE-ESCALATION OF UKRAINE CRISIS - FOREIGN MINISTRY
• RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SAYS KIEV AND WASHINGTON "CLOSING THEIR EYES" TO PROVOCATIVE ACTIONS BY NATIONALIST FORCES IN UKRAINE

And, on the heels of Turchynov's official restart of the so-called anti-terrorist operation, Russia is calling on Ukraine to pull back military from Ukraine's southeast... and rattles its sabre by undertaking a military exercise on the border.


Bloomberg reports,

Russia is surprised by distorted interpretation of Geneva accord from govts of Ukraine, U.S., RIA Novosti reports, citing Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

*RUSSIA CALLS ON UKRAINE TO REMOVE MILITARY FROM SOUTHEAST: RIA

Russia says Ukraine, U.S. closing eyes to provocations by right-wing extremists: RIA

Russia still believes partners are serious about resolving crisis in Ukraine: RIA

and in addition

• RUSSIAN MILITARY CONDUCTS MILITARY EXERCISE IN ROSTOV REGION, BORDERING UKRAINE - DEFENCE MINISTRY OFFICIAL

All of this sets the scene for an important set of meetings next week...

Russia ready to host EU, Ukraine energy officials in Moscow or consider other cities for talks, Russian Energy Ministry spokeswoman Olga Golant says by phone.

Golant confirms EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger invited Russia to gas talks

Slovakia planning talks on use of gas pipeline in reverse to supply Ukraine on Apr. 28 in Bratislava, Eustream pipeline operator spokesman Vahram Chuguryan says by phone

So to sum it all up:

1. The truce deal is dead
2. Russia blames Ukraine/West for breaking deal and misunderstanding it
3. Ukraine/West blame Russia for not unilaterally pulling back its forces
4. Russia is warning Ukraine to pullback military from Russia-held southeast Ukraine ("or there will be retaliation")
5. Russia is rattling its sabre by military exercises on the Ukraine border (after US sends another warship into the Black Sea)
6. Against all this tension, gas pipeline talks are set to begin shortly.

Still buying the fucking dip on the back of Ukraine 'calming down'?

Ukraine is not going to calm down, despite what both Obama, Merkel, and Putin want out of this deal. However, I have no doubt that the Oligarchic gangster traitors in Kiev (who already have begun cracking down on the REAL Ukrainian Nationalist groups that made their rise to power possible) will be willing to cut a deal behind the people's backs, perhaps after they've given Putin some minimal amount of 'provocation' to intervene somehow.

But I have a feeling that the people of Ukraine will put up a fight anyway, a very brutal one, and that is what Putin is trying to minimize. Not because he's leary of bloodshed, but because he and his comrades still feel they have to pretend being peace loving democratic and patriotic russians-they are none of those things.

[American Patriot]

Not only is it not calming down, it's about to blow.

Ukraine forces are killing Russian militants.

Putin is about to go in, in force.

Watch. 48 hours or less.

[American Patriot]

BTW - Kerry and Obama have said they'd "Stand by Ukraine".

I think they meant, "We'll stand by, Ukraine will burn." and just forgot the rest of the phrase.

Thing is, if this happens, WATCH CHINA NEXT - with Japan and Taiwan. As SOON as we don't do shit to help the Ukraine but talk, China will expect us to stand down with Japan too.

[Avvakum]

Not only is it not calming down, it's about to blow.

Ukraine forces are killing Russian militants.

Putin is about to go in, in force.

Watch. 48 hours or less.

You are correct, in fact I think the GRU Spetsialnoye Naznachenniye will have already been active behind the lines for weeks if not months ago, but the Ukrainians know and assume that to.

It will be ugly. And then there are the Nuclear Reactors....

[Avvakum]

Home » Regions » Europe

Charles McPhedranMarch 28, 2014 17:31 Right-wingers want to unseat Kyiv's interim leaders

Pravy Sektor's electoral appeal remains as uncertain as its future, but straw polls suggest a level of admiration — if not support — for the group.

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Supporters of the right wing party Pravy Sector (Right Sector) protest in front of the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv on March 27, 2014.
PHOTO BY: GENYA SAVILOV











KYIV, Ukraine — A paramilitary group that played an important role in removing Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych last month is now in a confrontation with the revolutionary government in Kyiv.
Pravy Sektor, or Right Sector, a nationalist group formed by right-wing demonstrators on Kyiv’s central Maidan, or Independence Square, in December, picketed the country’s parliament on Thursday amid tension with the government following the slaying of a party leader.
Police shot and killed the head of Pravy Sektor in Western Ukraine earlier this week in unclear circumstances. The group is demanding the interior minister resign over the incident.
After Thursday's demonstration, interim President Olexander Turchynov accused Pravy Sektor of trying to “destabilize” Kyiv. He called the group’s protest a Russian-inspired attempt to unsettle the country.
The nationalists’ challenge to the government comes after the paramilitary group announced it was purging extremist elements and adding a political party to its combat brigades.
The newly constituted party says its ideology is nationalist, not fascist or neo-Nazi — which means it wants Ukraine to be the master of its geopolitical destiny, and not the servant of larger powers such as the European Union or Russia. Publically, at least, it advocates “brotherliness” to the country’s minorities, including Russians and Jews.
On that platform, Pravy Sektor's leaders want to grab power at the ballot box across Ukraine — and to see leader Dmitro Yarosh elected president in May’s poll.
“Losing is not an option,” Pravy Sektor spokesman Arten Skoropadsky said in the lobby of party-occupied Hotel Dnipro. “Over the last two months we have grown from a small social organization to a national force. Ten thousand people have now said they are willing to join.”
More from GlobalPost: A Who's Who of the key figures and groups in Ukraine's political crisis




Until recent days, Pravy Sektor’s reputation as an apparently effective enemy of Yanukovych has won it support in Kyiv — including from protesters aligned with the new Ukrainian leadership.
During the winter demonstrations, protesters say, Pravy Sektor proved an agile force that was able to largely maintain security at the Maidan encampment and spearhead protesters' attempts to storm police lines and capture new ground in downtown Kyiv.
“They were organized and effective — they always carried out every task we gave them,” said Danielo Klech, the head of the Maidan self-defense committee, which is close to interim government National Security Council head and former Maidan commander Andrej Paruby.
Although Pravy Sektor helped bring the current government to power, since Yanukovych’s departure, the party has become a de facto challenger to the former parliamentary opposition leaders who are now in charge.
“We need to clean out everyone,” said Alexander Konomko, a militiaman in Pravy Sektor's 23^rd brigade on Maidan.
“We need to change the political system — they are trampling the bodies of the dead.”
Questions remain about the group's history of anti-Russian activities. Russian media says presidential hopeful Yarosh fought in Chechnya during the first war there in the 1990s. Other party leaders are also rumored to have served among the forces there fending off Russian advances.
Pro-Russian activists in the country's second city, Kharkiv, accuse members of Pravy Sektor's local branch of prompting ethnic conflict by drafting what they see as a group of neo-fascists from the central city of Dnepropetrovsk to attack pro-Russians in recent weeks. Pravy Sektor blame persecution by pro-Russian activists — a group including bikers and the self-proclaimed Russian fight club "Oplot" — for the ethnic unrest in Kharkiv. Locals partly support their version of events.
Two people died in clashes between pro-Russians and Pravy Sektor earlier this month. Afterward, police arrested around 30 nationalists.
“If [the nationalists] are freed ... it will cause massive unrest,” says Alexandr Alexandrovskiy, a political consultant to Yanukovych's Party of Regions. “This is a neo-fascist organization.”
Pravy Sektor's stance toward the Kyiv interim government has also been criticized. The party has pushed the authorities to be firmer with Russia in Crimea. Government supporters say that risks provoking an escalation of the crisis.
“They should not put as much pressure on the interim government,” said Klech, from the Maidan self-defense committee. “Right now, they are making ultimatums to the government to storm or capture something. Those tactics were suited to Yanukovych's time, but they aren't suitable now.”
Pravy Sektor's electoral appeal remains as uncertain as its future. However, straw polls conducted in Kyiv suggest a level of admiration if not support for the group.
“If it wasn't for Pravy Sektor we'd still be sitting on Maidan,” says Svetlana Klitskaya, who attended a meeting on the square last Sunday. “But they are not competent politicians — and they are too radical.”
Kyiv's Maidan revolution began last November with a call by an Afghan-Iranian journalist, Mustafa Nayem, for people to take to the streets in support of the European Union after Yanukovych refused to sign a political and economic pact with the organization.
More from GlobalPost: 26 things found in Yanukovych's compound that make him look even worse
In the final days of his regime, protesters clamped on helmets, carried shields and fell to police bullets — and Pravy Sektor was prominent among those facing down riot police.
But it remains unclear in these post-revolutionary days how the paramilitary group intends to transform itself into a political movement, and to what end. Leaders have made a broad vow to maintain the party’s paramilitary brigades so long as Ukraine faces “external or internal enemies.”
“A political party is a weapon of political struggle,” Pravy Sektor's Kyiv head Igor Mazok said at the party’s media launch, “like a Kalashnikov is an instrument of military struggle.”
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/n...ng-nationalist

Well, I was wrong about these guys, and even about Chechnya.

Freedom for your Nation is Freedom, and all men deserve Freedom no matter their origin. The Neo-Soviet Russia used the presence of Islamic Jihadists in Chechnya to destroy the Chechen Nations freedom, but the Presence of Ukrainians fighting against Russia there for freedom everywhere showed the Chechens, by fighting with them, that the true Orthodox Slav is a free man indeed and cannot endure slavery or the slavemasters against himself or his neighbor.

[Avvakum]

Interview with Dmytro Yarosh, Leader of Right Sector

7 Feb

Ukrains’ka Pravda, 4 February 2014, 15:59
“Dmytro Yarosh, Leader of Right Sector: When 80% of the Country Does Not Support the Regime, There Can’t be a Civil War”
An Interview by Mustafa Nayyem and Oksana Kovalenko (Translated from Ukrainian by William Risch)
Dmytro Yarosh, leader of Right Sector, has been the least well-known figure over the past two months. Just two weeks ago, only a narrow circle of people involved with organizing the Euromaidan even knew about the very existence of the Sector and Yarosh. Today, it’s impossible not to describe events in Kyiv without mentioning Right Sector.
On January 19, after events on Hrushevskyi Street started, world media exploded with fiery scenes of young guys with Molotov cocktails and masks over their faces. Right Sector’s actions tore the term “peaceful protest” to pieces, but at the same time, Right Sector forced the regime to listen to the Maidan and repeal the January 16 laws.
The headquarters of this still informal group is on the fifth floor of the Trade Unions’ Building. Photography is forbidden in the hallway, numerous matresses are spread on the floor, next to which, besides wood and metal sticks, lay textbooks – most of Right Sector’s members are young guys of university age.
We met Dmytro Yarosh in one of the floor’s offices – two by three meters – where Right Sector press conferences usually take place. Here, too, is the fully-equipped office for the sector’s leader. Three guys with walkie-talkies, dressed in camouflage, with masks over their heads, man the office’s “reception room.”
THEY CALL ME A HAWK IN TRIDENT
What is your personal story, and what have you done with your life?
I am leader of the all-Ukrainian organization, Stepan Bandera Trident. I have been involved in public life for the past 25 years. I’m from Dniprodzerzhyns’k, in the Dnipropetrovs’k Oblast’ (Region). I raised the first blue-and-yellow flag in April 1989 in Dniprodzerzhyns’k.
I was one of the founders of the People’s Movement of Ukraine (Rukh). I was a member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union; in 1989 I received recommendations (to join it) from Levko Luk’ianenko and Stepan Khmara in Moscow, on the Arbat, where we picketed then for the renewal of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s activities. Since 1994, as a founder of the Stepan Bandera Trident, I have had various positions in it: first as leader of Trident’s city structure, then as leader of its oblast’ structure, then its regional one, and so on.
I was commander of the organization from 1996 to 1999, then I was chief inspector of Trident, then I became commander of the organization again, then I passed on my duties as chief commander to my successor, Andriy Stempits’kyi. I’ve actually spent a lifetime in this. I have been trained as an instructor of Ukrainian language and literature, and in 2001, I finished the Drohobych Pedagogical University in the Philological Faculty.
How did Right Sector emerge?
There was a big protest in Kyiv on November 24-25 because of the decision to cancel the Eurointegration program. In general, Trident is not an active supporter of any integration processes, but we announced that we would create Right Sector as a platform for coordinating the actions of various revolutionary-oriented groups, because to a considerable degree, from the very beginning, we were perfectly aware that we couldn’t live in the system of state structures that has existed up to now.
Right Sector fully emerged after the events of November 30, when we went out to protest on Mykhailivs’kyi Square.
It was there that we started training and getting our defenses ready. Then we were at the Maidan all the time, and we entered the Maidan’s self-defense force. Other organizations that entered Right Sector were Trident, UNA-UNSO (Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian National Self Defense), and Carpathian Sich from the Subcarpathians.
Have you conducted training before?
Yes, for 20 years. We already have a lot of generations who have been changed by it. My kids were small at one time, and now my daughter is 20 years old, and she’s spent her whole life in Trident.
Trident is an organization with narrow operations, like an order of knights. We have three specific tasks: propagandizing the ideology of Ukrainian nationalism as interpreted by Stepan Bandera; raising up Ukrainian youth in a spirit of patriotism; and national defense activity, that is, defending the honor and dignity of the Ukrainian nation in all forms by all methods and means available.
In general, Ukrainian nationalism and Banderites are not narrow-minded plebs with sadistic tendencies; these are intellectuals, people who write, who publish, who are involved not just in using force. Trident is an organization that produces certain ideas.
We are not a political party. In Trident, we’re even forbidden from taking state jobs.
Serhiy Kvit, President of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy, is among Trident’s well-known members. He’s my good friend and comrade. At one time, he was a sotnyk in our organization. There’s also Petro Ivanyshyn, a doctor of philology, head of an academic department at the Drohobych Pedagogical University, who was also a sotnyk.
Where exactly do these training sessions take place?
At camps throughout Ukraine: Dnipropetrovs’k, Dniprodzerzhyns’k, Kryvyi Rih, Pavlohrad, Nikopol’ and so on. Guys get together, and they have their plan of activities for a month, for half a year, for a year. They go through training and lessons. They conduct various events aimed at the de-communization and decolonization of Ukraine.
I think you’ve heard about events from 2011, when our mobile group blew up the head of Stalin’s bust in Zaporizhzhia; that was a rather notorious thing.
We never made PR out of it. We simply do what is for our nation’s good, for our state’s good. Those of us who can do it close down drug dealerships and help law-enforcement organs (if you can call them that, because it seems to me that the police are the most active drug dealers).
Was what happened on January 19 on Hrushevs’kyi Street something planned in advance?
No, of course not. We were always on the front lines those two months. The dictatorship laws that were passed January 16 were the stimulous for these events. We couldn’t live under state rules like those. On January 19, Automaidan activists drove up, and they wanted to go to the Supreme Rada and picket it. Right Sector came up there in organized fashion when hundreds of people were already there.
We tried to talk with the police and get them to agree to let us through. They responded rather aggressively. And what happened next, you know – we committed active deeds, and our guys defended the people. And I think that what happened was very good, because if it hadn’t been for those events on the nineteenth, I don’t think the regime would have made concessions and negotiate with the opposition.
How many of your people are at the Maidan?
Around 1,500 people, along with a mobilization reserve from Kyiv. But right now, affiliates are emerging all over Ukraine. They are organizing on their own, they call themselves Right Sector, and we are working to coordinate their activities as much as possible.
How many people in general can you mobilize across the country?
I think that for now, we can already mobilize 4,000 – 5,000 people.
How do you finance your organization?
I am not involved in that issue, but it’s all financed by people. We even opened up bank cards, but they were blocked right away. And after January 19 – there’s just been a flood of help. We need everything, because we’ve been here for two months already. People bring packs of money. We keep a complete account, everything is transparent, and guys buy equipment with the money.
Tell us about your organization’s structure.
The structure will be completely finalized after these events. Right now, Right Sector is a completely orderly organization; it’s not at all an extremist one, or a radical one; in general, I don’t like the word “radical.” Right now there is a unit on the Maidan, there are units in the oblasts, and there are spontaneous groups that have emerged. We invite leaders, we talk with them, we look to see if these are decent people, and then we make decisions about them. Right now we have started coordinating our actions with those of Afghan War veterans, too. They haven’t officially entered Right Sector, but we now coordinate our activities with them completely, because I don’t bring guys together just like that.
How do you make decisions?
There are strategic decisions, there are emergency ones, and there are tactical ones. People themselves make them at all levels. Regarding strategic matters, we discuss this or that problem with a leadership group of up to 12 people, including me, and we make a decision. And all the commanders decide all the other things. For example, we have Iranian – he makes a decision in his group whether or not to send people to the barricades.
Iranian? Is he from Iran?
No, that’s just his pseudonym. All the guys have pseudonyms for obvious reasons, because we live in such a state system. For example, since 1994, I have had the code name Hawk (Iastrub) in Trident. And we have one Pylypach and one Letun. Everyone chooses his own name, just like in the Cossack Sich.
AFTER JANUARY 19, NOT A SINGLE OPPOSITION LEADER CAME UP TO SEE OUR GUYS
Do you coordinate your activities with opposition forces?
First of all, we have relations with Andriy Parubiy as Maidan commander and de-facto leader of Self Defense (Samooborona), which we formally belong to as the 23^rd hundredth (sotnia), though we have over 1,500 people.
But if you talk about the entire opposition, for the most part, we have no relations with them at all. They don’t recognize our existence. It seems to me that this is a big mistake of the opposition, that they don’t consider the forces of the Afghan veterans, Right Sector, or even Self Defense.
It seems to me that even Andriy Parubiy doesn’t have such an easy time coordinating actions with the trio of opposition leaders. Because I see some of the remarks that they make there. Andriy says one thing, while the leaders say something slightly different.
For example, I’m surprised that after January 19, opposition leaders didn’t come upstairs and thank the guys. Approach people, talk with them. These are live people, and they’re good, too.
Yesterday, a television crew came by, and the cameraman said, “I was surprised. One guy was reading a textbook on materials’ resistance, while the other was fluent in English and was speaking with some foreigner. You have such great guys!”
Well, it’s true. They’re the flower of the nation. These are people who right now are sacrificing their lives and their freedom for the sake of the Fatherland. This is something else, but politicians close their eyes to it.
Though there was Vitaliy Klychko – I met with him twice, and we had absolutely normal conversations. However, the opposition often fulfills part of our demands, because they are perfectly aware of our presence, and they see that Right Sector is a certain factor to be reckoned with on the Maidan.
But didn’t you try to contact them for the sake of coordinating activities?
We had no direct contacts. I had the impression from the very start of the peaceful Maidan that they operated very much on impulse, not on a system of actions thought through. They didn’t even set up a unified headquarters. From the very beginning, we called for unity at the Maidan so that there would be no divisions between politicians, Civic Sector, and Right Sector. In all interviews I’ve had, I’ve stressed that the uprising must be unified, and that I don’t want to provoke responses from the opposition.
But everything has its limits. When the country faced a real threat of war, great distrust of opposition leaders surfaced on the Maidan. They just talked for two months. Even though they had been given a mandate – “Take it, decide things!” – they couldn’t do anything. On January 19, we went on the offensive, and they started doing something. Well, we’ll keep putting pressure on them.
As far as we understand, the Freedom (Svoboda) Party is closest to you in ideological views…
Yes. We have a lot of common positions when it comes to ideological questions, but there are big differences. For instance, I don’t understand certain racist things they share, I absolutely don’t accept them. A Belarusian died for Ukraine, and an Armenian from Dnipropetrovs’k died for Ukraine. They are much greater comrades of mine than any, sorry, Communist cattle like Symonenko, who play for Russia but are ethnic Ukrainians.
Stepan Bandera once advocated three ways of dealing with non-Ukrainians. It’s very simple. You deal with them as comrades – and this is for those who fight with you for Ukraine, regardless of their nationality. You deal with them in a tolerant way – for those who live on the land and do not oppose our struggle; thus, we treat them normally, Ukraine has a place for all. The third way of dealing with them is in a hostile way – and this is for those who oppose the Ukrainian people’s national liberation struggle. And this is in any state; any people takes exactly these positions.
Social nationalism is very complicated for me, because it is my belief that nationalism does not require anything extra; it is enough. Oleh (Tiahnybok – Ukrains’ka Pravda), too, has lately tried to go the way of traditional nationalism. Thank God. Although there isn’t much of a point talking about ideological discussions during a revolution. Finally, our guys stand at the barricades just like guys from Svoboda. This unites us.
People from the regime say that during negotiations, opposition leaders claimed that people were ready to leave administrative buildings if those arrested and prosecuted were released. Is this true?
I think the regime lied. I think that the opposition didn’t say any such thing. Before the amnesty law was voted on, we made clear our position, and it was like the same thing the opposition had said. That is, if the regime made a compromise and passed the law for a so-called amnesty drafted by the opposition, then Right Sector was ready to withdraw its fighters from Hrushevs’kyi Street and unblock the street. This would be a reasonable compromise.
This doesn’t cancel out our political demands. We must change the country at another level. The Maidan is only a Sich (a Cossack military and administrative center – WR), a training ground, but it’s not about constant fighting.
Your opponents would reply that you were the first ones to open fire and go on an all-out offensive…
No, no, no! Excuse me, Berkut special forces beat children on the Maidan on November 30, 2013. For two months, people stood at the Maidan and took no action. Then came the regime’s usual provocation – passing the laws of January 16. They started beating activists, kidnapping people. Look what they’ve done with the Automaidan.
They were the very ones who provoked this situation, and people went on the attack, because people couldn’t take it anymore. How much longer could you stand there and dance on the Maidan? We’re not sheep, Ukrainians must have some pride, and they showed that Ukrainians do have pride.
What do you think, why did Right Sector have to show up for this, why didn’t the opposition do it?
Because Right Sector is the Maidan’s most revolutionary structure. Let me emphasize: revolutionary, and not radical. Revolution is reason, a plan, action. When the people are in an uproar, you can’t avoid using this situation for the people’s own benefit. The opposition, unfortunately, is incapable of doing this, maybe because their seats in parliament are very soft and they can’t take decisive steps. We can take such a step.
Have you spoken with the opposition about this?
I’m telling you, we have no contact with them. I’ll stress it again – I am for unifying the opposition movement, the one involved in protests and in the general uprising. Thus, any explanation I give will wind up being used against me. They’ll start yelling that I’m a provocateur. If you want my honest opinion, I don’t care what they say about me. Our difference is that I’m not interested in political ratings.
Right now, representatives of opposition parties are taking part in negotiations with the regime. What do you think, can these people take responsibility for the Maidan’s actions and give some guarantees on its behalf?
That’s the problem; the Maidan doesn’t control the negotiations process. The levels of trust opposition leaders had at the beginning and now are completely different.
We demand that not only opposition leaders be in the negotiations, but also representatives from the Maidan. At least as observers. Then you can offer some guarantees and at least articulate here, to people on the Maidan, that we have this agreement reached between the regime and the opposition, and it should be carried out.
Because otherwise, there’s the impression that they agree on one thing, and then they change something among themselves, and then the result turns out to be completely different.
Our goal now is to force the opposition to go back to negotiations with specific demands and achieve a certain compromise. But this absolutely must happen with Maidan representatives.
Those Afghan veterans or Andriy Parubiy as self-defense commander can be in the negotiating group. If they invite me, I’ll go. We see nothing awful in this. We can argue our position and compel both the regime and the opposition to make an agreement, so that there will be no bloodshed, and so that the state will take different actions. I’m ready to go negotiate for this.
Let’s make this simpler. Imagine that you are in negotiations, and Viktor Yanukovych is sitting across from you. What arguments would you use to convince him to change his actions?
I would seek a compromise. I would put pressure on him, though I know he wouldn’t like that very much. I’m not sure that Yanukovych is getting reliable information. It seems to me that he has some inadequate understanding of the situation. For example, I think he doesn’t understand that 80% of the people right now do not trust the regime. I think that his advisors are giving him slightly different figures and are showing him different scenarios from the real ones.
First, I’d start out by saying that he can’t fight his own people. No one yet has defeated his own people. I would explain that those things that law enforcement are doing is a real war against Ukrainians. Second, and this is very important – I would try to explain to him that those thousands of self-defense forces that have already been formed will not give Berkut or riot police an easy time clearing the Maidan and pass through it in parade fashion.
They don’t understand that the Maidan is a phenomenon with its own army, with its own medical services, with its own structures, and that it’s already a certain state. And they won’t be able to take it over without shedding a lot of blood.
It’s already impossible to drive it away with clubs. They’ll have to use weapons, real ones, not like the ones they use on Hrushevs’kyi Street. And they’ll really get it from us, that I can guarantee Viktor Yanukovych.
All right, but what do you want? So you tell Viktor Fedorovych (Yanukvoych) that the situation is like this. What next?
A precondition for any negotiations must be the freeing of all those arrested. These people aren’t terrorists and they aren’t extremists. I think you even know some of those people. They are absolutely normal, decent people who got fed up. People should be freed. Any talk about normalizing the situation can only happen after this.
Second, the regime should stop using force. In the regions, above all. Stop kidnapping activists. This is terror against one’s own people.
They must immediately start investigating crimes that have taken place on the streets. Berkut special forces couldn’t have been shooting without the knowledge of the Minister of Internal Affairs. It’s a military structure; there has to be discipline there, a clear sense of subordination. If they were provocations, then we need to find out who was doing the shooting. Give people information, don’t be silent, don’t close your eyes to what has been going on.
Yanukovych indeed has fulfilled several of our demands regarding the government’s resignation and the repeal of the laws of January 16. But changing an existing office to another that has the prefix “v.o.” (“acting” – translator) doesn’t solve any problems.
We need to form a compromise government that could be made up of people who are not leaders of political parties, but professionals. Moreover, all those odious figures – all the Zakharchenkos, the Tabachnyks, and other politicians like them – should be replaced. This is the first step they would need to make, and it would remove the tensions immediately.
Who do you see heading the Cabinet of Ministers?
I can’t say, because I’m not an expert at forming governments. Politicians should talk about that.
But when you don’t have your own proposals, you take away all responsibility from yourself and remove yourself from political developments.
For 25 years, I’ve avoided public politics. That’s not a problem for me. Although now, we are looking into the possibility that, if there will be peace, Right Sector will grow into a political organization. All the guys have said this. For God’s sake! We can always get involved in politics. For me, they’re the flower of the nation, and they can’t be cannon fodder people use and then forget. But it’s still too early to talk about anything specific. Right Sector today can’t be narrowed down to some political matters.
But that’s exactly what it looks like right now – you’re being used: you’re standing at the barricades, while they offer government posts to Arseniy Iatseniuk and Vitaliy Klychko.
The fact is that the life of the state and the life of our people aren’t limited to a sole Cabinet of Ministers. Let them take those positions. If they invite us to help, we will. We’ll take over law enforcement, and we’ll bring order in the state. But I doubt that we’ll get even just one office.
WE WILL HAVE OUR OWN CANDIDATE IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
What will you propose to Viktor Yanukovych if the revolution is victorious?
It depends on him. Some time ago, we gave him 24 hours to leave the country, and no one would touch him. Today, if he made a smart decision, we could even grant him safety in his own state. Just so there would be no war, so there would be no bloodshed. Let him stay in Mezhyhir’ia, take care of his ostriches, and no one would bother him there. But that has to be his decision.
Do you see yourself in some office?
Right now, no. I have a really good office right now – I’m leader of Trident. It’s easier for me to speak in front of members in formation, not onstage.
But that’s not an office that can change the country. What would you do in a time of peace?
If you want peace, get ready for war. We started Right Sector, and Right Sector has changed the country a little. During peace, I would continue being involved in Trident. Like I’d been doing for the last twenty years.
You understand, Trident is not a structure that has an unequivocal goal of setting up some armed conflict. No. Any kind of normal state must have state paramilitary structures that prepare youth for service in the army, which gives it a chance to mobilize a certain personnel reserve for defending the people’s interest in times of foreign or domestic peril. It’s a normal thing in most civilized countries of the world. Trident will always be relevant. Even if we have the best president and the best government.
Do you have any information regarding who’s kidnapping people?
Unfortunately, we don’t. We are trying to dig this information up, but we’ve had no luck so far. We ask the regime to activate law enforcement, its Security Service (Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU – WR), so that all investigation teams are employed in this search. Finally, [the SBU] is not as compromised in all these events as the MVS (Ministry of Internal Affairs) is. But there’s been nothing so far.
So you sincerely trust regime structures to investigate this issue?
I’m not certain that the regime is guilty of these crimes. I don’t rule out foreign special services being responsible for this. For example, the FSB (Federal Security Service). Russia always makes use of instability in Ukraine. As soon as there is instability in Ukraine, they come over here and deal with certain issues they have. Putin has said more than once that Ukraine is not a state. And I am more than convinced that up to the present, there have been plans for splitting Ukraine up into two or three, or five, or six zones of influence.
But Right Sector and its activities have been called a destabilizing factor.
It seems to me that it’s the opposite – over the last few months Right Sector has shown that it is a stabilizing factor. If it hadn’t been for Right Sector, there wouldn’t have been any negotiations, radical moods would have increased, and they would have exploded in regions as partisan warfare. Why doesn’t anyone think about that?
As for now, the situation anyway is under control, and it it is now at some negotiating stage. If they don’t reach an agreement, the risk of partisan warfare in Ukraine will sharply increase. We know Ukrainians have a very glorious tradition of waging partisan warfare. They’ve fought for decades. Only will this be useful for the state?
But aren’t you afraid that a partisan war could grow into a civil war?
There can be no civil war. When 80% of the people do not support the regime, it will be a struggle between society, the people, and the regime. And these two things make great differences between a civil war and what we are talking about. This will be a national liberation war. But we’d rather not have one. We have a state, we have a foundation for developing nation building and state building.
But a lot of people in eastern Ukraine sincerely believe that Banderites and nationalists are gathered here, and they are really convinced that they must fight this. What should we do with these people?
According to the information I have, this is a very small percentage of people. I myself am from the Dnipropetrovs’k Oblast’, and I completely understand the situation. These are mostly people working for hire. You saw the events near the Dnipropetrovs’k Oblast’ Administration building. There, local (Party of) Regions deputy Stupak for a year and a half got scumbags together and formed fight clubs and guard structures that, together with the police, out of “conviction” defend the Oblast’ Administration.
Did you see at least one normal citizen among those defenders of the administration building who went out there voluntarily? Or in the Crimea itself, they’ve set up units of hatted Cossacks, chauvinists, who form Black Hundreds and defend the regime. But where are the masses of people? Besides that, Crimean Tatars are completely on the side of the Euromaidan. So none of this is simple.
If you’d speak with people in the East, they’d say the same thing about the Maidan: that there is a very small percentage of sincere supporters, and that the majority are hired nationalists. Both you and they have very similar rhetoric, which in the end is very unlikely to produce a compromise.
Let’s consider some examples. The Party of Regions tried to set up an Anti-Maidan by bringing in people from all over Ukraine. Who actually has been standing there? It’s either really asocial elements or state employees and recipients of state aid who simply were forced to come. I spoke with a whole bunch of such people, and when I yelled out, “Get out, crook!” (Zeka het’!), they waved and laughed. It’s a myth that there’s some social support for Yanukovych and his regime.
The soccer ultras all over Ukraine, the ones who supported the Maidan, are clear examples of this. These are people with real ideas, from Luhans’k Zoria, Simferopil’ Tavriia, Zaporizhzhia Metalurh, Dnipropetrovs’k Dnipro, Kharkiv Metalist, and so on. How many times did Dopa and Hepa (Mykhailo Dobkin, governor of the Kharkiv Oblast’, and Hennadiy Kernes, mayor of Kharkiv – WR) try to gather those hired thugs and send them here to Kyiv, and they haven’t been able to do it. What support can you talk about? This idea about a split in the country is a big lie. There is no split. Yanukovych, bless his heart, united the country.
All the time there’s been this call made at the Maidan to the three opposition leaders to make a decision on a single candidate. Do you support this call?
It doesn’t seem that relevant because you more often hear calls to make decisions with Maidan leaders. The leaders of the resistance which is going on. The importance of presidential elections for people has gone down to second or third place.
During presidential elections – early or regularly scheduled ones – what will be your strategy: will you support someone, or will you run on your own?
We don’t rule out Right Sector nominating its own candidate for elections. But it’s still too early to talk about this.
So you sincerely believe that a candidate from Right Sector has a chance at winning across the country?
If you took at reality, there is always a chance for it. Right Sector became an all-Ukrainian phenomenon in a few weeks. It’s Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovs’k, Donets’k, the Crimea. On the other hand, presidential elections can bring quite a bit of attention to our ideas of revolutionary changes for the state.
Aren’t you afraid that your electoral campaign could divide up the opposition’s electorate and lead to you being blamed for causing a split?
Listen, let this process finish, and then we’ll see what’s going on and how things are going. Fairy tales about fragmenting one’s forces, which they tell each other, is some kind of child’s play. They all know that they’re running as three separate candidates, thus breaking up forces from the very beginning.
Either you sit down and make a real agreement and fulfill what you’d agreed to do, or each should play his own game. For us, at this stage, it’s not that important to take part in presidential elections. We need peace.
The fact is that there are people who talk a lot and do little, while there are people who act and demonstrate with their sweat and blood that they can change things, that they can act, that they can achieve a result.
Right Sector is a platform for guys who have demonstrated their ability to change something, to sacrifice the gifts they have received to achieve something higher. Politicians in recent years have not demonstrated this. I don’t see them having demonstrated this kind of sacrifice, the desire and the ability to sacrifice.
So who for you is the leader of the resistance?
There is no one for now. I made an announcement that I was ready to bear responsibility for all those things that happened. This doesn’t mean that I have some presidential ambitions. I simply see that there needs to be complete coordination and control over the situation. Let politicians settle those issues for themselves. If one of them is ready to do it, then let him do it, and we will sincerely support him. But I don’t see anyone doing this.
RIGHT SECTOR DOESN’T FIGHT WITH FAMILIES
Are you aware of the fact that if you are defeated, or even if there is a compromise between the regime and the opposition, a jail cell might be waiting for you?
Yes, of course. I’ve been ready for it for the past 25 years. What can you do? That’s life. I go there but for the grace of God. What will be, will be. If there will be a criminal case, then there will be a criminal case. I am ready to fight for Ukraine. Let them try to put me in jail. Finally, we’ve yet to see who will imprison whom.
Have you been given a police summons?
No. I live here, what do I need a summons for? They don’t deliver them to the Maidan, and guys don’t let cops enter the fifth floor.
But something could happen before you’re even arrested. You could face the fate of Ihor Lutsenko or Dmytro Bulatov…
I know in whose name I’m waging this struggle. Of course, I don’t want that, I’m a living human being, and I have the instinct of self-preservation. But guys are protecting me, they go around with me, and they wear armored flak jackets.
Do you go outside the Maidan in general?
I’m rarely outside it. I won’t tell you where I go.
What is happening with your family right now?
I last saw my family for Christmas. They’re in Ukraine, but I’ve temporarily changed their residence. The fact is that all information about our addresses has been posted on the Internet, and about our families, so there is a certain danger.
But there’s also the very same information on the Internet about Berkut forces, for instance. Can you give guarantees to all law enforcement and regime officials that nothing threatens their families?
I can guarantee that Right Sector in no way will touch any child, or any family, of any law enforcement personnel, from any structure. Right Sector doesn’t fight women and children. We are not beasts from Berkut who beat up journalists and medical personnel. So you don’t have to worry – no one will be taking any actions like those. I can vouch for Right Sector.
But you still set an ultimatum… you have this demand for the Fourth (of February): either you release everyone, or there will be… Can you say what this is about? Why exactly the Fourth?
The Fourth of February is the next session of parliament. We demand that the Supreme Rada produce a document announcing the unconditional and complete freeing and rehabilitation of people arrested. And this is no amnesty, because there were no crimes committed.
We also demand the regime end any use of force – this would be kidnappings, burning cars, and so on. I think that they will listen to us. I am 90 percent certain that they will listen to us.
Otherwise, we are on the edge of a bloody conflict. I don’t rule out that people who are standing on the Maidan will conduct a very serious mobilization and go to the government offices district. And they will take it – and I am more than convinced of this – though it will be with blood, with great losses. Because we’ve been left with a pathological situation. Then all of them will be taken out: both the regime guards and Yanukovych. That’s why it’s better for them to reach an agreement with us.
Do you understand that even what you just said now can be used against you?
Yes, of course. It’s a revolution. There are two sides of the barricades – it’s a basic fact. Right now everything is being used either against us or against them.
Do you select in some way people who come to you? Do they go through some selection process?
Without a doubt. We are signing up volunteers all the time, especially during some active campaigns. Regarding criteria, you need to talk directly to the commanders. They work with people. I know exactly that they don’t take in people who are under age. Because they run in packs at age 15-16.
Do you issue people weapons (that is, ones that are not firearms)?
They show up on their own with either some baseball bats or with some sticks. We don’t equip them with them. As for the money that we get from people, we use that to buy all kinds of little shields, helmets, shields, a very big arsenal of all that stuff. They get all the necessary equipment, and then they have lessons with them.
If a person is in poor physical health, then he or she gets other work – in the kitchen, in the medical station, and so on. Our girls are great, simply great; they’ve done so much good already. They even took away the wounded during fighting, and they help us here all the time.
Regarding firearms, you called on people to bring them to the Maidan. Why have you done that?
When the MVS issued an order allowing use of firearms against people, I called on people who had legally registered firearms to join us, to create a group for supporting us with firearms in case they came to the Maidan and started shooting. I think that you can only return fire, because there are no other alternatives. But that’s only if they open fire first.
Has this unit been created?
That’s a secret, sorry.
Who has all the information that is now at Right Sector? There is a person who knows everything.
No one knows everything. The political leadership has the information.
How do you coordinate your actions? It’s not a secret that all telephone conversations are listened in on, how do you do it?
Regarding messengers and go-betweens, all the guys have walkie-talkies, but they also monitor them, and we know that. I get the impression that they have listening devices installed in all the buildings around us. Operational vehicles are in place and so on. By the way, I don’t regard guys sitting in them as enemies or something like that. They’re doing their job, and they have to do it.
Moreover, I am more than convinced that in law enforcement structures, attitudes toward the regime, the opposition, and the Maidan are very, very ambiguous. Some of them hate us, but that’s a small percentage. Others are sympathetic toward us, because we also have been conducting certain negotiations with law enforcement personnel. Guys come to us and talk. The regime is falling apart. You just need to put enough pressure on it so that they take those political steps.
There are two barricades on Hrushevs’kyi Street. Do you talk at all with Berkut forces? Do you bring them warm tea or coffee? I know that there used to be such initiatives.
I don’t know if we bring them right now. Earlier, when they blocked us in at the Maidan itself, we gave them food. I was against this, not because these cops, these guys, are not friends. They’re also Ukrainians, they simply are on the other side of the barricades. They serve the enemy. But it’s not worth doing. The more they are driven crazy by not getting enough food and so on, the less chances there are that they will go on the offensive and on the attack, and begin beating people like they’ve done several times. Thus, out of purely pragmatic reasons, I don’t think that we should bring them sandwiches or coffee.

[Ryan Ruck]

I can tell you all one thing. You do not move this much armor for a Sunday picnic...





That video was uploaded 4/24 and is supposedly at Novoshakhtinsk, Russia, near the border of Ukraine. I've seen estimates of either a division or Motorized Rifle Regiment in strength.




Something to keep in mind... May 1st, otherwise known to the Commies as May Day, is coming up quickly. Think we'll see action then? I'm thinking it's a distinct possibility considering how they love their symbolism.




Oh, and good thing we're retiring the A-10...

[American Patriot]

Ukraine crisis: John Kerry issues blunt warning to Russia as deadly clashes at Slaviansk raise tensions – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Posted by talesfromthelou on April 25, 2014
Posted in: Political science, Politics, Russia, Ukraine, USA, Violence, War, World, WW3. Tagged: John Kerry, Russia. 2 Comments

All is needed now is a political assassination, preferably half a dozen politicians in bed with the West and presto! WW3? Lou
Ukraine crisis: John Kerry issues blunt warning to Russia as deadly clashes at Slaviansk raise tensions – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
http://www.abc.net.au
Fri 25 Apr 2014
Photo: A Ukrainian security force officer is deployed at a checkpoint set on fire and left by pro-Russian separatists near Slaviansk. (Reuters: Gelb Garanich)
US secretary of state John Kerry has accused Russia of launching a “full-throated effort to actively sabotage the democratic process” in Ukraine, after clashes inside the country left five people dead.
Russian forces began new military drills near the Ukrainian border after Ukraine’s interior ministry said troops had killed “up to five terrorists” while destroying three pro-Russian militant checkpoints north-east of the separatist-held city of Slaviansk.
Speaking in Washington, Mr Kerry suggested that the United States was drawing closer to imposing more sanctions on Russia by saying time was running out for Moscow to change its course in Ukraine.
“The window to change course is closing,” he told reporters.
“President [Vladimir] Putin and Russia face a choice. If Russia chooses the path of de-escalation… all of us will welcome it. But if Russia does not, the world will make sure that the costs for Russia will only grow.”
Full story:
Ukraine crisis: John Kerry issues blunt warning to Russia as deadly clashes at Slaviansk raise tensions – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

[Avvakum]

I can tell you all one thing. You do not move this much armor for a Sunday picnic...





That video was uploaded 4/24 and is supposedly at Novoshakhtinsk, Russia, near the border of Ukraine. I've seen estimates of either a division or Motorized Rifle Regiment in strength.




Something to keep in mind... May 1st, otherwise known to the Commies as May Day, is coming up quickly. Think we'll see action then? I'm thinking it's a distinct possibility considering how they love their symbolism.




Oh, and good thing we're retiring the A-10...

Something to bear in mind, which J.R Nyquist brought up about this crisis, is that the 'Russians' could easily have this whole thing backfire on them, with the perception of Russia vs. Ukraine, because of the very closeness of the two Nations. Brother Slav Orthodox fighting brother Slav Orthodox isn't going to go down well with the Russian public, unless they can succeed in making this an attempt by America to take over Ukraine as part of a larger plot to destroy the Russian people. That's why they give lots of media space covering the alleged 'Neo-Nazi fascist' orgs in Ukraine, which groups almost certainly are infiltrated to a degree by Spetnaz GRU and FSB forces.

[American Patriot]

25 April 2014 Last updated at 14:04 ET Ukraine crisis: 'International monitors seized' in Sloviansk


Russia has denied involvement in the seizures of official buildings by pro-Russians in eastern Ukraine



Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have seized a bus carrying international military observers, Ukraine's interior ministry says.


Negotiations were under way to secure the release of the observers, seized near the town of Sloviansk, it added.


Western leaders earlier announced they were debating fresh sanctions against Russia over its alleged failure to help de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine.


Russia has accused the West of wanting to "seize" Ukraine.


Moscow has tens of thousands of troops stationed along its side of the border with Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists have been occupying key buildings in a dozen eastern towns, defying the central government in Kiev.


A week ago, Ukraine and Russia struck an agreement in Geneva calling for the separatists to leave official premises and give up their arms. The pact included an amnesty for those agreeing to retreat peacefully.

But so far the pro-Russian activists have refused to give in to the demands.


'Concerning rhetoric'

On Friday, Ukraine's interior ministry said armed separatists had seized seven representatives from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as well as five Ukrainian army personnel and a bus driver.


Pro-Russian leaders in Sloviansk confirmed that the bus had been stopped and said they were checking the identities of the people on board.


Correspondents say the seized observers are not part of the main OSCE monitoring mission, which had been agreed after long negotiations by Russia, Ukraine and the United States.


Instead, they appear to be unarmed military observers from individual OSCE states. The German defence ministry, which is in charge of that mission, earlier confirmed that it had lost contact with the group.




A bride passes by masked pro-Russian activist near a barricade outside a government building in the eastern city of Donetsk



Pro-Russian separatists are refurbishing old rifles at a makeshift camp in the town of Sloviansk




Two women sit inside a barricade built around the regional administrative building in Donetsk


Earlier on Friday, the US, France, Germany, Britain and Italy accused Russia of disrespecting the Geneva agreement and of continuing to escalate the situation in Ukraine "through its increasingly concerning rhetoric and threatening military exercises on Ukraine's border."


As a result, the leaders agreed to "work closely together, and through the G7 and European Union, to coordinate additional steps to impose costs on Russia", the White House said in a statement.


German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier said she had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin to express her dissatisfaction with Russia's lack of commitment to bring about a "peaceful path of discussion" with the separatists in eastern Ukraine.


Russia's foreign currency ratings were cut on Friday by the credit ratings agency Standard & Poor to one notch above "junk" status.


The agency warned that further downgrades were possible if the West imposed tighter sanctions against Moscow.


'World War Three'

Ukraine warned it would consider any crossing into its territory by Russian troops as a "military invasion".


The country has launched military raids to regain the buildings occupied by separatists in several eastern towns.


Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the raids as a "bloody crime".



Natalia Antelava investigates who entered Mariupol's city council building

On Friday, acting Ukrainian Defence Minister Mikhail Koval said Russian forces had come within a kilometre of the border.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Russia of wanting to "start World War Three" by occupying Ukraine "militarily and politically" and by creating a conflict that would spread to the rest of Europe.
Raids by Ukrainian commandos around the town of Sloviansk left at least two separatists dead on Thursday.
There have also been reports from the port city of Odessa indicating that an explosion at a checkpoint injured at least seven people.
Unrest began in Ukraine last November over whether the country should look towards Moscow or the West.
Last month, Russia annexed Ukraine's mainly ethnic-Russian Crimea. This followed a referendum in the region that backed joining the Russian Federation but which the West and Kiev deemed illegal.


More on This Story

[American Patriot]

Russia refusing Phone calls from US Chuck Haggle

April 25, 2014 by American Patriot
Just reported on Fox News Channel, Shepard Smith – stated that the Russian Counterpart of Chuck Haggle is refusing contact with the US. No phones are being answered by the Russia Defense Minister’s office and his underlings for US phone calls.

[American Patriot]

here we go, real report on it:

Ukraine Crisis: Pentagon Calls to Russia Go Unreturned

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon phoned the Russian Defense Ministry within the past 24 hours to say Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is willing to talk directly with his Russian counterpart at any time. The Russians have not returned the call.
The revelation is seen as a sign that the U.S. is growing increasingly concerned that Russian troops are about to invade Ukraine.



Defense officials say Hagel again wanted to appeal to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to help “de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine.” And to re-iterate that Russian actions so far have had a “destabilizing effect that is not helpful.”
U.S. officials tell NBC News that Russian forces “pulsing the border” with Ukraine have been operating in small battalions, several hundred soldiers with armored vehicles and attack helicopters.

STRINGER / Reuters

Russian servicemen drive armoured personnel carriers on the outskirts of the city of Belgorod near the Russian-Ukrainian border, April 25, 2014.

According to the officials, the Russian forces advance on Ukraine, but stop short close to the border, then turn either north or south to continue along the border for several miles before returning to their garrisons.
The officials say it appears there are three objectives to the maneuvers: training, intimidation and intelligence gathering — the latter to gauge the response from Ukrainians across the border.
There is also the possibility that the exercise itself could be used as a feint to mask an actual invasion.



Officials say there is still no sign they Russian forces are falling into large formations for an actual invasion.
But defense officials have repeatedly said that from their current positions, the Russians could launch an invasion within 12 hours.
— Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube

[American Patriot]

I told you weeks ago this was escalating, and I thought it might have simmered down a bit. Apparently not. It's coming apart at the seams over there and it won't be long before there's shooting going on, and not long after that before the US somehow becomes embroiled in the conflict.

Ukraine's leaders say have US backing to take on 'aggressors'

The Star Online-Apr 23, 2014
But it was unclear what steps, in reality, Kiev could take to restore its authority in ... Lavrov said Moscow has no influence over the pro-Russian militias in ... John Kerry told Russia's Lavrov in a telephone call on Tuesday that ...




Russian ambassadors: 'next we'll take Catalonia, Venice, Scotland ...

The Guardian-Apr 4, 2014
A call between the US assistant secretary of state, Victoria Nuland, and the US ... An official Russian source, claiming Nuland not only swears in ...

====

Russian ambassadors: 'next we'll take Catalonia, Venice, Scotland and Alaska'

Unauthenticated, expletive-laden recording of pair joking about which countries to annex after Crimea is leaked online

• Shaun Walker in Moscow
  
• theguardian.com, Friday 4 April 2014 07.13 EDT

Link to video: 'Russian ambassadors' plan world domination: audio recording of leaked phonecall A recording has surfaced online purporting to be a leaked conversation between two Russian ambassadors discussing which parts of the world they would like to annex after Crimea.
The five-minute recording, laden with expletives, has been posted on YouTube and claims to be a telephone call between Igor Chubarov, Russia's ambassador to Eritrea, and Sergei Bakharev, the ambassador to Zimbabwe and Malawi. It has not been authenticated.
"We've got Crimea, but that's not fucking all folks. In the future we'll damn well take your Catalonia and Venice, and also Scotland and Alaska," says the voice labelled as Chubarov, interspersing his speech with laughter and punning the word for Scotland in Russian so it sounds like "Cattleland".
After this, Chubarov says Russia will make a move for "all those fucking border countries", such as Estonia, as well as Romania and Bulgaria. He adds that the head of the EU mission to Eritrea had jokily said that he wished Russia would "take back" Romania and Bulgaria.
In the end, the ambassadors agree it is probably better to leave Bulgaria, Romania and the "Baltic shit" in the EU for now, and Bakharev says it would be more interesting to go for California or Miami.
"Exactly, Miamiland is fucking 95% Russian citizens," says Chubarov. "We have a full right to hold a referendum." Bakharev suggests holding one in "Londonland" as well, to jovial laughter.
Chubarov congratulates Bakharev on the fact that Zimbabwe was one of only 11 countries, with Syria and North Korea, to back Russia at the UN over its annexation of Crimea. There is also consternation that the "bastards" from Malawi did not support Moscow.
It is possible that the leaking of the recording is revenge for the recent spate of high-profile leaks of western diplomatic discussions over Ukraine. A call between the US assistant secretary of state, Victoria Nuland, and the US ambassador in Kiev was leaked, in which Nuland discussed strategy advice for the leaders of the Ukrainian protest movement, as well as stating "fuck the EU" in reference to differences over Ukraine policy. Nuland as good as confirmed the authenticity of the recording, claiming "the tradecraft is really quite impressive".
Later, a recording of a conversation between the EU foreign policy chief, Lady Ashton, and the Estonian foreign minister, Urmas Paet, was leaked. They discussed the theory that those who died in Kiev violence could have been shot by snipers hired by the opposition rather than government forces, a line which the Russian foreign ministry has pushed.
The reaction in Moscow to the African ambassadors' tape was one more of amusement than anger, especially given that the taped diplomats are significantly lower ranking than Nuland or Ashton.
An official Russian source, claiming Nuland not only swears in English, but is proud of her ability to swear in Russian, said: "If this was their response to Nuland's strong expressions, then be assured that no Russian ambassador could outdo her when it comes to swearing in Russian."
Maria Zakharova, deputy spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, wrote on Facebook that she had no idea who was talking on the tape, but noted that the photograph appended to the YouTube video of Bakharev bore no resemblance to him.
Zakharova insinuated that the recording was clumsy US handiwork and compared it to the incident during the "reset" of relations between Russia and the US, when the then secretary of state. Hillary Clinton. presented the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, with a button that was meant to say "reset", but got the Russian word wrong and thus said "overload".
"It's like with the 'overload' button. They wanted to do something better than usual, but it turned out as it always does," wrote Zakharova.
Since the crisis in Ukraine began, there has been an increase in the diplomatic war of words and leaks. Last month, in an official statement detailing what it said were false claims from Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, the US state department said: "The world has not seen such startling Russian fiction since Dostoevsky".
On Thursday, Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov accused the US of "childish tantrums" over Crimea.
"What can we advise our American colleagues? They should get more fresh air, do yoga, eat healthily, maybe watch some sitcoms on television," said Ryabkov, in comments to Interfax news agency.

[American Patriot]

Breaking: Russian Spy Ships Operating Near East Coast, Gulf of Mexico

Posted by Jim Hoft on Friday, April 25, 2014, 10:57 AM





The Russian RFS VIKTOR LEONOV CCB175
The NIKOLAY CHIKER was last seen near Havana.
Russian ships Viktor Leonov and Nikolay Chiker are currently operating in waters that are beyond U.S. territorial seas but near Cuba, the Pentagon announced this week.
The Washington Free Beacon reported:

A Russian intelligence-gathering ship has been operating off the U.S. East Coast and near the Gulf of Mexico for the past month, the Pentagon said Thursday.
“We are aware that the Russian ships Viktor Leonov and Nikolay Chiker are currently operating in waters that are beyond U.S. territorial seas but near Cuba,” said Lt. Col. Tom Crosson, a Pentagon spokesman. “We respect the freedom of all nations, as reflected in international law, to operate military vessels beyond the territorial seas of other nations.”
The Leonov is an intelligence gathering ship outfitted with high-tech electronic spying gear. The Chiker is an ocean-going naval tug that has been accompanying the spy ship on its mission.
Pentagon officials suspect the ships were part of a spying operation since March against the U.S. nuclear missile submarine base at Kings Bay, Ga. and other U.S. military facilities.

This follows the news last week that Putin was flying spy planes over America.

[American Patriot]

Apparently we missed this one:

Breaking: Putin is Flying Russian Spy Planes in American Skies

Posted by Jim Hoft on Friday, April 18, 2014, 1:03 PM





Russia’s Tu-214R spy plane on a recent test flight near its factory in Kazan.
It’s an Obama world.

Russian President Vlad Putin is flying spy planes in American skies.
The Daily Beast reported:

The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. military and American intelligence agencies have quietly pushed the White House in recent weeks to deny a new Russian surveillance plane the right to fly over U.S. territory. This week, the White House finally began consideration of the decision whether to certify the new Russian aircraft under the so-called “Open Skies Treaty.” And now the question becomes: Will the spies and generals get their way?


As the United States and Russia face off publicly over Ukraine, behind the scenes, Obama’s national security cabinet is having its own quiet feud over a long-standing agreement to allow Russian surveillance flights over U.S. air space.


The spies and the generals want to deny the Russians the overflight rights for its latest surveillance planes. The State Department, which ultimately makes that decision, has favored such certification. On Wednesday an interagency meeting of senior officials failed to reach consensus, delaying the decision until Obama takes it up with the National Security Council, according to U.S. officials involved in the dispute.

For a regional power, the Russians sure are acting boldly.

[Ryan Ruck]

Breaking: Russian Spy Ships Operating Near East Coast, Gulf of Mexico

Oops, didn't see you had posted this and just posted it in the "Russian Fleet Movements" thread.

[Ryan Ruck]

Ukraine Official Says He Fears Russian Invasion Imminent

April 25, 2014

Ukraine's deputy foreign minister said Friday he fears an imminent Russian invasion.

"We have the information we are in danger," Danylo Lubkivsky told reporters at the United Nations.

He spoke as an official in Ukraine confirmed that pro-Russian forces had detained a team of military observers with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The official said the team would be released after further investigation.

Lubkivsky said 20 members had been taken and called it shocking and unprecedented. "We demand to release hostages," he said.

Tensions have spiked as Russia increases military exercises along the Ukraine border. Lubkivsky called it a "very dangerous development" and demanded that Russia withdraw its troops.

"We are going to protect our motherland against any invasion," Lubkivsky said. "We call on the Russians to stop this madness."

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, told reporters earlier Friday that Ban Ki-moon had been reaching out to both countries.

"I think we all have to realize here that the stakes are extremely high, with potential negative implications for peace and security that extend far beyond the eastern Ukrainian cities," Dujarric said. "It would be a grave mistake in the secretary-general's views for any party to turn to military means in an attempt to resolve political issues that can and must be addressed by peaceful means."

[Ryan Ruck]

Russian Jets Cross Into Ukraine Airspace

April 25, 2014

U.S. officials said Friday that Russian fighter jets flew into Ukrainian airspace a handful of times over the last 24 hours, in what one called a continued provocation of the heightened tensions in the region.

The officials said it's not clear what the intent was, but the aircraft could have been testing Ukrainian radar or making a show of force. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the issue.

The flights come as Russia increases military exercises along the Ukraine border, including moving a broad array of fixed wing and rotary aircraft, infantry and armored troops. The exercises inflame worries about a potential Russian military incursion into Ukraine.

The West has threatened additional sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean region in March and the ongoing escalation of military operations along the border.

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his Russian counterpart, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, yesterday, but officials were not able to provide details of the conversation.

Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said U.S. officials have let Russian defense ministry officials know that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel would like to speak to his counterpart, Russia Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. There has been no response yet, Warren said.

This is the second set of military exercises conducted by the Russians along the border region. The latest exercises were quickly denounced by Hagel, who called them "dangerously destabilizing" and "very provocative." If such activities escalate, they will make it more difficult to find a diplomatic solution to the situation in Ukraine, Hagel said, speaking in Mexico City.

[Avvakum]

This is the political program of the other party that the Commies are calling 'Nazi' and 'Fascist' and 'anti-semites'. the Party 'Svoboda'. Check it out and see if they have a point or not, to me it looks all good, especially the parts in bold;

All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" program - "Program for the Protection of Ukrainians"

The main purpose of the All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" is to build a powerful Ukrainian State based on the principles of social and national justice. A state, which takes its rightful place among the leading countries and provides a continuous development of the Ukrainian nation.
In order to achieve this objective, The All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" proposes a clear plan of immediate priority steps.
І. Power and Society: Radical Clean-up and Fair System
1. Conduct lustration of the authorities. Depose from power the agents of KGB and government officials who held executive positions in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
2. Promulgate lists of the agents of the USSR KGB, who were or are in the state service of Ukraine and in other socially important positions.
3. Appoint released after the lustration vacancies to young professionals, graduates of Ukrainian universities, who are selected on the base of principles of patriotism and professionalism and special government administrative courses.
4. Establish mandatory policy for polygraph testing of government employees and candidates for elective office regarding their involvement in corruption, cooperation with foreign intelligence services and having dual citizenship.
5. Adopt a special anti-corruption law to control not only income, but also expenditures of public officials and their family members.
6. Implement as a principle in criminal law that "the greater the position, the higher the responsibility for the crime committed".
7. Set the graph "nationality" in the passport and birth certificate. Determine the nationality by birth certificate or birth certificate of the parents, considering the requests of the citizen.
8. Implement a criminal penalty for any displays of Ukrainophobia.
9. Submit to public discussion the draft law on proportional representation in the executive branch of Ukrainians and representatives of national minorities.
10. Submit to public discussion the draft of the Constitution, according to which the Ukrainian state is a presidential republic, the President of Ukraine is the head of the state, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the direct head of the Government of Ukraine.
11. Reduce the term in office of the President of Ukraine to four years. (One and the same person can hold the office of President for no more than twice). To be elected as the President, one must be a citizen of Ukraine by birth, has lived in Ukraine for the last 20 years, has reached 35 years of age, who speaks and is fluent in the official language, has no criminal record and has not been brought to responsibility for anti-Ukrainian offenses.
12. Implement a proportional system of elections to the parliament with open lists. To be elected as a deputy, one must have been living in Ukraine for the last 10 years, reached 18 years of age, who speaks and is fluent in the official language, who is competent and has no criminal record.
13. Provide equal access for all electoral stakeholders to the media for their coverage of program provisions, debates and so on. Prohibit paid political advertising in the mass media three months before and throughout the campaign.
14. Oblige candidates for all elective offices to specify in their official biographies the nationality, all previous (from the Soviet era) party and government positions and convictions - repaid and unrepaid. Withdraw the registration of the candidates who concealed biographical facts or deprive deputies of their mandate, if the concealment was found after the election
15. Provide equal participation of representatives of all political parties participating in elections in the electoral committees.
16. Cancel parliamentary immunity from criminal and economic crimes. Prohibit bringing to responsibility deputies of all levels for their political positions, statements and voting nature (except for anti-Ukrainian, anti-state, and Ukrainophobian activity).
17. Limit the duration of the parliament and local councils from five to three years. Reduce the number of national deputies of Ukraine in the parliament to 300.
18. Implement fingerprint voting in order to ensure exclusively personal involvement of the deputies in the Parliament.
19. Restrict the increase of wages and other material rewards for deputies within the period of validity of their mandate.
20. Implement the election of local judges by the community for 5 years, appellate judges by the Congress of local judges for a period of 7 years, the Supreme Court by the Congress of Judges of Ukraine for 10 years.
21. Raise the age limit of judges to 30 years. A judge may be elected if he is a citizen of Ukraine who has experience in the field of law for at least 5 years, who is competent, has no criminal record, has been living in Ukraine for the last 10 years and who speaks and is fluent in the official language.
22. Provide transparent and publicly accessible functioning of the unified register of court decisions in order to ensure uniform application of the law by all courts of the state.
23. Provide compensation for moral and material damage incurred by a person through unlawful decisions and actions of state authorities and local government officials, at the expense of the perpetrators. The losses for a wrongful judgment must be compensated at the expense of the judge who approved it.
24. Submit to public discussion the draft law on a new three-tiered system of administrative-territorial structure of Ukraine, which consists of 300 counties and also cities, towns and villages.
25. Implement a majoritarian system of elections for deputies of village, town and city councils, a mixed proportional and majoritarian system for deputies of county councils.. To be elected as a deputy of the local council, one must be a citizen of Ukraine, who reached 18 years of a age on the election day, who is competent, has no criminal record and has been living in the community for at least 5 years.
26. Provide local communities with the right to elect every 3 years the village, town, city and district chairmen who heads the Executive Committee through secret, equal and direct voting. Elect village, town and district headmen in two rounds.
27. Provide the local communities with the right to withdraw deputies of local councils and local judges, to impeach the head of the executive committee, surveyor and the head of of Internal Affairs by referendum.
28. Ensure the increase of the role of local government by reallocating powers and financial resources between the central government and local governments on the basis of budgeting "from the bottom up".
29. Introduce the practice of the widest direct democracy in local communities - referendums, plebiscites, general meetings and so on. Introduce the practice of the widest direct democracy in local communities - referendums, plebiscites, general meetings and so on. Conduct local referendums on vital issues. Introduce a mechanism for community veto on decisions of local governments.
30. Deepen the impact on the livelihood of the local government communities by creating house, street and block committees. Allow the division of land and new construction in populated areas only with the consent of the authorities, except in cases of national needs. Resolve disputed land and construction issues through local referenda.
31. Allow all mentally healthy citizens of Ukraine that have never been convicted of a crime to freely acquire and possess firearms and cold weaponry.
ІІ. Economy: Economic Independence and Social Justice
1. Conduct "energy audits" - carry out a complete inventory of mining sites and energy production of all types in Ukraine.
2. Adopt a national program of energy independence of Ukraine on the principle of "consumption reduction, production increase, source diversification."
3. Diversify the import sources of energy resources: no more than 30% per provider (country). Implement and develop special trade programs (for example, the project "carbamide in exchange for liquefied gas"). Eliminate the monopoly of foreign energy companies on the Ukrainian market.
4. Establish strict proportional dependence of prices for Russian gas transit through Ukraine and the rent of underground gas storage facilities in accordance with the selling price of gas for Ukraine.
5. Achieve sales of Russian gas to European consumers in the east and not the west border of Ukraine.
6. Destroy corruption schemes in the energy sector. Establish transparent tenders for equipment for state-owned energy companies. Implement strict state control over the pricing in the oil and gas sector.
7. Adopt a national program to develop energy fields. Increase own gas and oil production, in particular by developing the sea shelf, including deposits abroad. Develop the coal industry as a priority area.
8. Create own closed nuclear cycle based on domestic raw materials. Construct public infrastructure necessary for the storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel.
9. Adopt a national program of development and implementation of alternative energy: diesel fuel from coal, biofuel, wind, solar, hydropower (including recovery of small HPP networks) etc.
10. Develop and implement a national program to encourage energy-saving technologies. Switch to control heat measuring equipment of end users. Invest in heat supply technology. As a result, reduce the energy needs of the state and lower prices for utilities.
11. Adopt a law on strategic companies and strategic industries. Disallow the privatization of strategic enterprises and return to state ownership ones that were privatized earlier. Ensure state control over natural monopolies.
12. Check the legality of the privatization of all large enterprises (in which the average number of employees exceeds one thousand persons annually or the gross revenue from sales of the product in a year exceeds fifty million hryvnias). Return illegally privatized facilities to state and workers ownership.
13. Provide an opportunity to employees to acquire right of ownership of state and communal companies, participate in their management and fair distribution of profits. Allow employees to sell their share in the company exclusively to the appropriate company. Require employees who have stopped the employment relationship with the enterprise to sell their share to the enterprise.
14. Ensure the benefits of domestic investors over foreign ones in the privatization of state enterprises.
15. Return to state ownership privatized enterprises whose owners do not fulfill their social, investment and other commitments.
16. Allow transfer of long-term use of historical and cultural heritage objects for the purpose of restoring, preserving and efficient functionality, subject to the investor protection requirements of restoration and investment commitments. Suspend the use in case of non-compliance or liabilities.
17. Increase criminal penalties for crimes related to the seizure of enterprises, land and so on. Create a legal framework for combating illegal construction.
18. Adopt a new land code and approve it in national referendum. Conduct a complete inventory of land, buildings, and premises in Ukraine. Create a "Unified State Register of rights to immovable property and land" and to ensure its openness and transparency.
19. Prohibit agriculture land trade in Ukraine. Give it to long-term possession of Ukrainian citizens with the right of family inheritance. Determine legal grounds for termination of such possession in case of using the agricultural land for inappropriate purposes or in case of deterioration of the soil (fertility).
20. Establish criminal liability for soil erosion as a result of human actions. Strengthen criminal liability for illegitimate acquisition of soils.
21. Allow persons who acquired ownership of agricultural land by lawful means (when shared, or obtained by an inheritance by law) to sell these plots of land exclusively to the state. Disallow any other means of transfer of such sites. Disclaim the ownership of agricultural land acquired by debt receipts.
22. Obligate the citizens who wish to acquire land for agricultural purposes in an amount greater than 30 acres, to take a qualifying exam in the subject of the land's activity.
23. Allow land ownership only of homestead land parcels and those under apartment buildings and other real estate. Do not allow ownership of land by foreigners and persons without citizenship.
24. Ensure the rent for the use of agricultural land to be in accordance with the regulatory assessment of the land.
25. Disallow change of use of agricultural land designation, except for state and public needs. Turn to the state ownership land that is not used for the purposes intended or used contrary to the comprehensive plans for sustainable rural development.
26. Adopt a law on increased land value to regulate its use and ensure public control over it.
27. Adopt a new tax code with socially fair simplified system of taxation. Simplify and improve
tax administration and accounting.
28. Reduce the fiscal pressure on all sectors of the state, which produce national product, particularly small and medium enterprises. Establish progressive tax rate on the principle of "small business - low taxes, big business - big taxes."
29. Cancel criminalized value added tax. Establish a single social tax on personal income taxation on a progressive scale and base rate of 20%. Do not tax the income of minimum wage. Set progressive luxury tax (real estate, luxury goods, etc.). Forward a minimum 30% of revenues from taxes on luxury to lower consumer prices of essential commodities.
30. Establish comprehensive tax incentive investments in science, education and innovation. Reduce income tax to 5% on the portion of profits that redirect to technological renovation of production means in accordance with advanced technology.
31. Provide maximal punishment for economic crimes, corruption and state job damages in especially large amounts. Fight for capital export in the offshore, including through the revision agreements on avoidance of double taxation of income and property.
32. Ensure state control over the banking sector (state-owned banks must have at least 30% of the banking capital of the country). Legally restrict usurious extortionate interest on bank loans for households and enterprises in Ukraine. Do not allow foreign persons to own controlling stakes of any private banks in Ukraine.
33. Ensure complete transparency and accessibility of the National Bank for law enforcement agencies. Restrict the independence of the National Bank during economical emergency situations, such as the economic crises, wars. Introduce criminal liability for antisocial monetary and other policies of the National Bank, which lead to the impoverishment of the general population. Adopt a law on state gold and currency reserves.
34. Prohibit the issuance of foreign currency loans (exception - business entities that carry out foreign trade activities). Transfer debt on loans issued to individuals in foreign currency into national currency at the exchange rate that was at the time the loan. Compensate for the difference at the expense of gross expenses of banks and foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine.
35. Eliminate the social gap between rich and poor by encouraging development of the middle class (small and middle businessmen, high-paying professionals, including public sector workers - doctors, teachers, etc.), which will amount to not less than 60% of the working population. Provide targeted public interest-free loans to start a business (SME) and to simplify the permitting system. Implement state program of economic education of citizens.
36. Adopt a new Law of Ukraine "On government procurements and state orders", considering the benefits for the national manufacturers. Trade with state funds. Create a unified state Internet resource for the effective conduct of online-trading in the area of ​​procurement.
37. Ensure revenues from the transit potential of Ukraine to the state budget and send them to construction of transport infrastructure.
38. Require to conduct construction of state and municipal facilities solely by national experts, thus creating working places for the citizens of Ukraine.
39. Implement targeted preferential government loans to small and medium agriculture, particularly to provide for agricultural manufacturers with means of production. Implement large-scale sectoral programs of direct grants. Provide government support for innovation in agriculture.
40. Adopt a national program for the development of agricultural equipment. Impose prohibitive import duties on agricultural machinery 5 years after its announcement, the equivalent of which is produced in Ukraine.
41. Develop the cooperative movement in rural areas in accordance with a separate comprehensive state program.
42. Create networks for sales of Ukrainian agricultural products.
43. Establish the parity of purchasing and selling prices for agricultural products. Provide food needs of the state exclusively through domestic agricultural products (except products that are not cultivated in the Ukraine).
44. Carry out an effective and transparent activity of the State Reserve and its activity on all agricultural markets. Provide agricultural manufacturers with government contracts for agricultural products. Rebuild the state system of storing agricultural products.
45. Adopt national development programs of breeding, seed production, plant protection, livestock breeding, horticulture, fish culture and so on. Conduct a complete inventory of appropriate production facilities.
46. Develop the social sector in rural areas. Ensure easily accessible preferential loans for the purchase and construction of housing in rural areas if the borrower participates in agricultural production and for budget employees.
47. Develop competitive sectors for Ukrainian industrial and innovation activities: food-processing (including recycling of foreign material), aircraft, shipbuilding, machine tools and machinery (energy, agriculture, etc.), military-industrial complexes and space industry. Direct government support for high-tech, knowledge-intensive, innovative, import substitution and vertically integrated industry.
48. Encourage gradual replacement of imported products with domestic ones (especially big and small agricultural machinery, light industry, food products).
49. Eliminate private monopolies and oligopolies in the Ukrainian economy.
50. Allow export of non-recoverable raw materials and derivative products only by
corresponding licenses.
51. Adopt a law on privatization of housing in apartment blocks including land plots for houses, adjacent areas and joint ownership of citizens.
52. Reform housing and communal services. Stimulate the creation of condominiums. Ensure maintenance and exploitation of apartment buildings on competitive basis. Disallow foreign companies to serve condominiums. Introduce institute of certified managers of apartment buildings.
53. Return companies-monopolists of electricity, gas, heat, water supply and sanitation to communal ownership of territorial communities.
54. Implement a comprehensive state program for full utilization of solid domestic and biological waste.
55. Require building companies to build social housing at affordable prices in accordance with the government program. Create a state special fund for development of social housing. Implement a comprehensive program of reconstruction and gradual replacement of buildings built in the 1960-ies ("khrushchevskas").
56. Adopt a new, socially just, Labor Code - Labor Code of Ukraine. Develop a tariffication scale of hourly wages in line with European standards. Set five-fold ratio between the maximum and minimum hourly wage in the public sector employees.
57. Support the development of effective independent trade unions. Ensure the right to strike.
58. Abolish the unjust pension reform, legitimize retirement age from life expectancy. Establish direct dependence of the amount of pension from work experience and the permissible five-fold ratio between the maximum and minimum pension for solidarity pension system.
59. Bring the living wage in line with the actual needs. Regularly review the living wage standards to maintain their relevance.
60. Provide disabled citizens and orphans government with targeted assistance in an amount not less than the subsistence minimum.
ІІІ. National Health: Overcoming the Demographic Crisis and Raising the Quality of Life
1. Implement long-term state program to promote healthy social life, including the promotion of mental and physical health, fighting drug addiction, alcoholism and smoking.
2. Implement obligatory state social health insurance that will provide a guaranteed basic package of urgent primary medical aid, provided free of charge at the expense of public health fund.
3. Implement a "Reproductive Health of the Nation" program. Disallow abortion except due to medical issues, and/or rape, which were proved in court. Align the implementation of illegal abortion to attempted murder in the criminal law.
4. Implement a policy of economic protectionism against domestic pharmaceutical industry and medical engineering. Ensure strict state control over the quality and price of medical products, especially imported.
5. Recover and return to state ownership Sanatorium and resort facilities. Prohibit realigning of sanatoriums. Prevent the privatization of the resort and sanatorium lands throughout Ukraine.
6. Adopt national housing program under which a family with three children receives state free loan, a family of four children - state free loan, 50% of which is refundable, a family with five children or more - free housing from state. Establish accessible government soft loans for housing for young families.
7. Increase the amount of payments to Ukrainian families for the birth of each additional child in accordance with inflation rates in the country and the growth of prices for baby products.
8. Ban advertising of tobacco products and alcoholic beverages in any form throughout Ukraine. Criminalize promotion of drug use (including so-called 'soft drugs') and sexual perversions.
9. Provide local communities the right to limit the sale of alcoholic beverages.
10. Set a special tax on alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, genetically modified food. Direct the funds received to programs addressing social diseases (tuberculosis, oncological and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, HIV / AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, drug addiction).
11. Create a network of modern laboratories for the analysis of food products for the presence of genetically modified organisms.
12. Allow sale of genetically modified food products only with special labeling that is clearly visible and only in specialized departments of retail establishments. Strengthen criminal penalties for non-compliance during labeling and trade of genetically modified foods.
13. Organize adequate state control over healthcare workers, sanitary working conditions and public safety in manufacturing.
14. Provide residents of regions of Ukraine, who were affected by anthropogenic pollution, with a status equal to that of Chernobyl residents.
15. Keep the existing reserve areas and parks intact and create new recreational areas.
16. Require raw material-intensive branches of large companies to conduct ecological modernization of production facilities.
17. Encourage the transfer beyond the settlements to a safe distance of all enterprises engaged in pollutant emissions into the environment.
18. Oblige physical and legal persons to compensate double the amount of damage caused to the environment.
IV. Citizenship and Migration: Right to a Homeland and Protection of the Living Space
1. Adopt a new Citizenship Act, under which citizenship will be given only to those persons who were born in Ukraine or are ethnically Ukrainian, who returned from abroad for permanent living and working in Ukraine. Allow people born in Ukraine from foreigners or stateless persons to acquire Ukrainian citizenship upon reaching age of majority only under the conditions of Ukrainian language fluency, knowledge of Ukrainian history and content of the Constitution of Ukraine.
2. Allow to acquire citizenship of Ukraine in exceptional cases, to persons who are legally residing in Ukraine for at least 15 years and are fluent in Ukrainian, have knowledge of Ukrainian history and content of the Constitution of Ukraine., took the oath of allegiance to Ukraine and abandoned all other nationalities. Disallow these persons' right to acquire the citizenship of Ukraine, if they have criminal records.
3. Provide strict criminal liability for unlawful provision and obtaining of citizenship.
4. Eliminate the illegal practice of dual citizenship. Deprive of Ukrainian citizenship persons who hide that they are citizens of another state.
5. Confiscate property and capital goods acquired in Ukraine from offenders of the Citizenship Act to the state.
6. Facilitate the mass returning to Ukraine of ethnic Ukrainians. Ensure preferential terms for returning home of Ukrainians and their descendants born abroad.
7. Conclude bilateral agreements on the legalization of Ukrainian workers. Provide state protection of Ukrainians abroad by all possible means.
8. Create conditions for Ukrainian migrant workers to return home. Consider their earned money and property, provided that they invest in Ukrainian business, to be investments that are not taxed.
9. Eliminate the root cause of migration and demographic crisis - ensure the constitutional right to housing for every Ukrainian family.
10. Ban the adoption of Ukrainian children by foreigners.
11. Introduce symmetrical visa regime with other countries. Let visa-free entry to Ukraine to citizens of only those countries which have abolished visa requirements for citizens of Ukraine.
12. Establish stricter anti-immigration measures and improve the system of detention and deportation of illegal immigrants.
13. Strengthen state border protection and cut off channels of illegal migration.
14. Establish mandatory registration of foreign citizens who arrive on the territory of Ukraine, in the local bodies of Ministry of Internal Affairs. Establish, due to the threat of international terrorism and crime, a uniform biometric control system for everyone who enters Ukraine (database of fingerprints, eye retina, etc.).
15. Terminate agreement with the EU on readmission. Conclude with other states, from territories where illegal immigrants come to Ukraine, readmission agreements (return of illegal immigrants) on favorable conditions for Ukraine.
16. Provide place in higher educational institutions' dormitories primarily for Ukrainian, not foreign students.
17. Carry out regular inspections of Foreigners Registration materials coming from schools with lists of students who actually enrolled in them. Ensure timely exit from the territory of Ukraine of foreign students who are expelled from schools.
V. Information Space and Education: Preserving National Identity and Cultural Development
1. Adopt the Law "On Protection of the Ukrainian language" instead of the current "On Languages ​​in the Ukrainian SSR". New State Language Policy Committee, responsible for the protection and distribution of Ukrainian language. Create a State Language Policy Committee, responsible for the protection and propagation of the Ukrainian language.
2. Regulate the use of the Ukrainian language in the media according to the number of Ukrainians - no less than 78% of their space and airtime.
3. Provide simultaneous official language audio translation of foreign performances, broadcasts and films on television and radio. Provide translation at the expense of the media owners.
4. Abolish tax on the Ukrainian book publishing, audio, video production and software.
5. Implement a mandatory Ukrainian language exam for civil servants and candidates for elected office. Require all state employees to use Ukrainian language at work and during public appearances.
6. Include in the programs of all universities in Ukraine a compulsory "Culture of Ukrainian language" course of not less than 72 hours.
7. Verify the language of instruction in all without exception training and educational institutions to be in accordance with the official status of the learning facilities. Revoke licenses of educational institutions if they have carried out ​​teaching in foreign languages ​​without proper registration status of the establishment of foreign language teaching. Cease the supply of textbooks and teaching materials in foreign languages at the expense of the State Budget of Ukraine in institutions that do not have official status of institutions with foreign language teaching.
8. Cultivate the best traditions of Ukrainian pedagogy. Discontinue the practice of mechanical copying of foreign models, including the Bologna Process.
9. Expand the network of preschool educational institutions. Provide each child access to Ukrainian preschool.
10. Restore and maintain the system of after-school facilities and children's sports schools.
11. Implement a state program of soft loans for education. Provide graduates of secondary and higher education with first working place.
12. Adopt a state program of patriotic education and hardening the nature of the young generation. Provide active leisure and recreation for children and youth. Promote youth networks and patriotic organizations, sports groups, clubs, summer camps for children and youth.
13. Change the principles for candidate of science titles and PhDs and for structure of the Supreme Attestation Commission of Ukraine for ensuring real, not formal control over the quality of dissertations.
14. Encourage the return of Ukrainian scientists who moved abroad.
15. Establish incentive programs of cooperation between Ukrainian and leading foreign academic institutions.
16. Bring patent law of Ukraine in line with the leading international practice of patent law. Ensure that the researchers and developers receive no less than 25% of the amount from the sale of rights to a patent for their invention.
17. Remove soviet propagandistic literature from youth and public library funds. Purchase at the expense of the national budget works of literature, art, music, film to replenish libraries, museums, record libraries, video libraries, repertoire of theaters, music collectives and more.
18. Provide state scholarships and grants on competitive basis to carry out art projects, creations of national works of literature, art, music, movies, plays, concerts, TV programs and more.
19. Develop networks of concert halls, cinemas, bookshops, galleries and exhibition halls, providing favorable conditions for them to rent.
20. Introduce the protection issue of national information space within the competence of NSDC to deal with informational occupation of Ukraine. Create public radio and television, competitive Ukrainian film industry.
21. Deprive of licenses the media that violates language legislation, humiliates national dignity of Ukrainians, spreads misinformation or carries out anti-Ukrainian propaganda.
22. Require all media to inform the public about all of their owners (the press - in every issue, TV and radio - daily, during broadcast).
23. Increase import duty on foreign polygraphic, audio and video products. Implement a tax on foreign rebroadcasting of radio and television program products, copying and rental of music and film. Redirect the funds for the development to the national information space.
24. Direct every sixth hryvnia from profits from rental of foreign films to the development of the domestic film industry. Set tax on advertising, during the broadcast of foreign films, in favor of
national cinema.
25. Increase mandatory quotas of airtime on radio and TV and screen time in cinemas for Ukrainian language audio-visual products produced in Ukraine and ensure its uniform presence on the air throughout the day. Implement strict criminal liability for failure to comply with the quota.
26. Establish tax relief on the development of advanced information technology and modern electronic networks. Eliminate oligopoly market of information technologies on the territory of Ukraine.
27. Create competitive Ukrainian operating system for computers based on current available systems with high-quality translation, reasonable ammount of Ukrainian fonts, implement customer support and security services. Establish a Ukrainian operating system in all government bodies and institutions.
28. Establish domestic production of Ukrainian-language software (especially specialized: for accounting, storing, school, office, etc.) for government agencies, educational institutions and for free sale. Require public institutions to use exclusively Ukrainian software.
29. Promote the establishment of a unified Ukrainian Local Church centered in Kiev.
VI. Historical Justice: State Building and Overcoming the Consequences of Occupation
1. Specify in the Constitution of Ukraine that the succession of modern Ukrainian state was established in Kievan Rus', continued by Galicia-Volhynia, Cossack Hetman Republic period, Ukrainian People's Republic, West Ukrainian People's Republic, Carpathian Ukraine and the Ukrainian state, which was restored by the Act of June 30 1941, and that independent Ukraine emerged as a result of over three centuries of national liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people.
2. Recognize the fact of occupation of Ukraine by Bolshevik Russia during 1918-91, which resulted in an unprecedented genocide of Ukrainians.
3. Achieve Ukrainian genocide recognition during the twentieth century from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the United Nations, the European Parliament, the parliaments of the world, in which 20.5 million Ukrainians were killed, to be considered a crime against humanity (terror and looting of civilians during the war of UPR against Bolshevik Russia in 1918-1921; dekulakization and forced collectivization; artificial famine of 1921, 1932-33, 1947; several waves of Ukrainian elite killings in 1920-30-40's and 1970's; killing of civilians during the war, forced labor export of Ukrainians to foreign lands; "Operation Vistula"; torture in prisons and humiliation using punitive psychiatry on Ukrainian patriots until the collapse of the Soviet empire; robbing the national economy, historical and cultural values; robbery and destruction of Ukrainian churches; persecution on ethnic and religious grounds; the systematic destruction of Ukrainian culture and language; total Russification).
4. Open all the archives of Cheka-SPD-NKVD-MGB-KGB that are stored in the central archive and regional archives of the Security Service of Ukraine.
5. Renew criminal investigation into the Holodomor of 1932-33, which was recognized by the state as genocide of the Ukrainian people, a crime, to which the statute of limitations is not applicable. Carry out a public trial of communism. Obtain a court order to ban the communist ideology as misanthropic and one that has caused irreparable damage to the Ukrainian people.
6. Establish strict criminal liability for public denial of the Holodomor as genocide against the Ukrainian nation.
7. Abolish and prevent the use of imperial-Bolshevik symbols, commemorations of dates, monuments and names in honor of butchers of Ukraine. Prohibit the establishment of any imperial monuments and symbols in Ukraine that glorify the history of the occupants..
8. Set up a special investigative structure for tracing criminals who were destroying the Ukrainian nation, and after finding them bring them to justice.
9. Demand from Moscow official recognition, apology and compensation for the genocide of the Ukrainian people. Achieve from Russia the return of savings of the citizens of Ukraine (83 billion karbovanetses as of 1991). Insist on the transfer to Ukraine the rightful share of the Diamond fund, gold and foreign exchange reserves, foreign assets of the former USSR.
10. Pay compensation to repressed Ukrainians and their descendants in amounts corresponding to their suffering.
11. Provide Ukrainians from Kuban, Chełm Land, Nadsyannya, Podlasie, Lemko regions, which were forcibly evicted from their land, with status of deported peoples with all social guarantees.
12. Develop and implement a public education program "The Truth about the Ukrainian genocide." Provide separate educational discipline "History of Ukrainian genocide in the twentieth century" in all schools.
13. Acknowledge that the struggle, which was taking place until the end of the 1950-ies by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), was a national liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people. Acknowledge UPA soldiers and OUN underground fighters to be members of the national liberation struggle for independence of Ukraine.
14. Provide the veterans of UPA with proper privileges and compensate for the not added ones since the independence.
15. Abolish special pensions for servants of the Soviet regime, the executives of the Communist party, Komsomol and punitive authorities of the USSR.
16. Disseminate the truth about the Ukrainian liberation struggle in the twentieth century by means of social advertising, public parliamentary hearings, documentary and feature films, book publishing and more. Implement a course of studying the history of the Ukrainian liberation struggle in the twentieth century in all schools.
17. Establish a National Memorial Museum dedicated to the Ukrainian valour (the armed struggle for independence of the Ukrainian Nation).
18. Revive traditional Ukrainian holidays. Introduce state-level celebration on the second Sunday in May of traditional for the Ukrainians Mother's Day.
19. Announce October 14 (St. Pokrova - patron saint of Ukrainian Cossacks, the day of the creation of UPA) to be a national holiday - the Day of Ukrainian Weaponry. Cancel celebration of 23th February - the so-called "Fatherland Defender Day" (of the Soviet army).
20. Facilitate the return of national, cultural, historical and other values to Ukraine ​​exported abroad during periods of occupation.
VII. Foreign Policy and Defence: the European-Ukrainian Centrism and a Strong State
1. Determine the European Ukrainocentrism state strategic course according to which Ukraine aims to become not only the geographical, but also the geopolitical center of Europe.
2. Cease all participation of Ukraine in supranational formations launched by Moscow: Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Common Economic Space (CES), the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) and others.
3. Pay special attention to the only true geopolitical project, in which the main role is played by Ukraine - GUAM. Involve other countries in the Commonwealth from the Black Sea and Caspian Basin.
4. Direct foreign efforts to build closer political and economic cooperation with natural allies - the countries of Baltic-Black Sea geopolitical axis (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, in the long term - Belarus et al.). Initiate mutually beneficial agreements between these countries and Ukraine in all strategic areas: trade and customs policy, energy security and transit, defense, etc.
5. Develop and implement an effective state program's for positive image of Ukraine in the world. Involve through special government programs the numerous Ukrainian diasporas to lobby Ukrainian interests in other countries.
6. Complete delimitation (establish agreement) and demarcation (marking of border signs) of Ukraine national borders, including the sea. Set borders unilaterally in case of further delays by neighbors countries, including Russia. Ensure proper border security. Introduce a visa regime with Russia.
7. Demand from countries which declared the safety and security of the borders of Ukraine in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons (Budapest Memorandum, 1994), effective rather than paper guarantees. Conclude bilateral agreements with the U. S. and the UK for immediate full-scale military assistance to Ukraine in case of armed aggression against Ukraine.
8. Appeal to the General Assembly and the UN Security Council demanding statements to evaluate the possibility of pre-emptive nuclear strikes without declaring war.
9. Restore the nuclear status of Ukraine due to violations of the Budapest Memorandum by Russia (one of the guarantors of security of Ukraine): conflicts around Tuzla island and the Kerch Strait, direct threats, brutal political and economic pressure, regular attempts of officials to question the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Restore tactical missile and nuclear arsenal state. Appeal to the U. S. and the UK to promote and support the nuclear program in Ukraine.
10. Start real, not declarative actions that enable the integration of Ukraine into the European security structures: clean authority and power structures from the agents of Moscow; neutralize subversive organizations funded by Russia; delimit and demarcate the borders; destroy the pockets of separatism; neutralize all territorial claims to Ukraine; ensure the withdrawal of Russian military bases on Ukrainian territory; immediately reform and rebuild the Armed Forces and Naval Forces of Ukraine.
11. Demand from NATO member countries favorable conditions for Ukraine, clear guarantees and specific terms of possible entry of Ukraine into NATO. Develop and implement a parallel plan for Security and Defense of Ukraine.
12. Develop own system of missile attack warning and means of action in response to the independent or joint basis with other countries. Recover in its entirety the air defense system to protect the country's entire airspace. Strengthen Air Defence to protect strategic facilities and populous cities. Appeal to Western countries to provide Ukraine for rent with mobile air defense system to deploy missile and air shields in exchange for intelligence of Ukrainian radar stations in Sevastopol and Mukachevo. This way, verify the real willingness of NATO to cooperate with Ukraine in the field of defense and security.
13. Set funding of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at 5% of GDP (to overcome technological backwardness of the Armed Forces from neighboring countries), given the urgent need for reforming and upgrading the troops. Reform the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including the navy and the aircraft, equip them with ships, aircraft, missile strike systems and air defense systems of the 4th and 5th generations, re-equip existing equipment (aircraft, ships) with modern weapons.
14. Restore the prestige of service in the Armed Forces and other military formations. Increase salaries of military personnel. Solve the problem of providing them with housing by providing soft loans for the state of its acquisition.
15. Rebuild own military-industrial complex for providing the Armed Forces of Ukraine with national modern weapons and effective participation of Ukraine in the global arms market. Integrate research institutions of the Armed Forces into the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. Provide priority studies on the establishment of the modern samples of high precision weapons and weapons that act on new physical principles. Establish favorable military-technical cooperation with other countries.
16. Ensure strict control over pricing and receiving the proceeds from arms sales to the state budget of Ukraine. Direct all proceeds from arms sales solely for defense. End the practice of mindless destruction of modern effective samples of armament at the request of other countries or their sale at the expense of Ukraine.
17. Develop and systematically implement by 2017 a new program of reform and construction of Ukrainian army that will provide real national defense. Create high-tech and professional contract army - the regular troops. Establish a national reserve of the Armed Forces.
18. Create a unified system of training and mobilization of reservists (on the Swiss model). Restore in its entirety the system of initial military training and civil defense in the secondary school and a network of military faculties in universities.
19. Create an effective counter-intelligence service to ensure the safety of the Ukrainian rear against saboteurs of the likely opponent.
20. Reorganize and strengthen the coast guard of the Black Sea. Set in the strategically important areas on the Black Sea-Azov coast of Ukraine anti-ship and anti-submarine missiles to protect the body of water, place modern air defense missile systems to cover military coast guard and Marine Corps's naval forces. Increase the number of troops in the Crimea, re-equip them with modern rocket artillery and armored vehicles for rapid deployment and countering possible aggression.
VIII. Crimea and Sevastopol: Establishing a Constitutional Order and Ensuring Stable Development
1. Submit to nationwide referendum the change of status of the Crimea from autonomous to regional and abolish the special status of Sevastopol.
2. Provide Sevastopol with the right of free port. Implement preferential tax treatment for resort and recreational economic activity in the Southern and Western coast of Crimea.
3. Terminate "Kharkiv agreements" between Yanukovych and Medvedev of April 21, 2010.
4. Develop a program at the level of National Security Council on unilateral actions of Ukraine in case of failure of obligations on the withdrawal of the Black Sea Fleet from the territory of Ukraine until 2017. Demand the immediate withdrawal of the Black Sea Fleet from Crimea, if the Russian Federation further violates the laws of Ukraine and the signed international agreements.
5. Create Ukrainian checkpoints at all sites, leased by the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Disallow foreign military personnel in military uniform to move outside of leased military bases of foreign countries on the territory of Ukraine(except for official delegations).
6. Raise the flag of Ukraine over all the objects rented by the Black Sea Fleet and set the procedures for the use of foreign state symbols on the territory of Ukraine in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine and international standards.
7. Ensure immediate enforcement of all decisions of the Ukrainian courts regarding the removal of Ukrainian property from illegal use by the Black Sea Fleet. Appeal to judicial instances with claims for compensation related to these losses. Conduct a thorough inventory of the property, buildings and territories used by the Black Sea Fleet.
8. Implement unilaterally and in accordance with international standards the recalculation of rental rates for the Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine.
9. Strengthen the protection of the state border in the Azov and Black Seas. Ensure strict customs controls for all cargoes that enter the territory of Ukraine through Black Sea Fleet.
10. Implement continuous unimpeded professional inspections of military facilities the Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine for compliance with the laws of their operation and Ukraine signed international agreements. Demand from the Russian Federation detailed quarterly reports on their residence in Ukraine (including the territorial waters and the continental shelf) weapons and ammunition.
11. Make a complete revision of property rights and land use rights and property of objects in the Crimea.
12. Restore the right for unrestricted use of land areas in accordance with applicable law - beaches and coastal zones in the hundred-meter zone from the flow line.
13. Adopt a state program of integration into Ukrainian society of the Crimean part that would foresee economic, transport, cultural, informational and educational integration.
14. Implement state programs representing Ukrainian culture and art in the Crimea. Provide on competitive basis centers of Ukrainian culture and Ukrainian media in Crimea, supported by the state.
15. Ensure that the Ukrainians of the Crimea have free access to Ukrainian media and bookstores through targeted subsidies from the state budget.
16. Ensure that the Ukrainians of the Crimea have the opportunity to freely receive education in their mother tongue in secondary, vocational and higher education establishments.
Approved by the Constituent Congress of SNPU on September 9th, 1995,
with amendments and additions made by
The ninth Congress of SNPU on February 14th, 2004,
The twentieth Congress of the All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" on May 24th, 2009,
The twenty-third Congress of the All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" on December 24th, 2011
Registered by order number 1470/5 of Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on August 12th, 2009.

[Ryan Ruck]

'A Message To Moscow': First Of 600 U.S. Soldiers Arrive In Eastern Europe Prompting Kremlin To Launch Its Own Military Drills Near The Border As Death Toll Rises In Ukraine

NATO soldiers will be deployed in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

April 25, 2014

The first of 600 U.S. soldiers have arrived in eastern Europe as a Pentagon spokesman declared the mission was sending a 'message to Moscow'.

But the Nato drills prompted a backlash from Russia, which sent its troops on exercises along the Ukrainian border today and declared: 'We have to react somehow'.

The escalation of east-west tensions comes amid a slowly rising death toll in Ukraine, where the government renewed its crackdown today on pro-Russian militants leaving at least five shot dead.


Drills: 150 U.S. troops have arrived at an air force base in Swidwin, Poland, prompting a Kremlin backlash


Marching out: There will be 600 U.S. Nato troops spread between Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania


Inspection: Polish Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak walks in front of the first U.S. troops to arrive yesterday

Around 150 soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade arrived yesterday at an air force base in Swidwin, western Poland, as the U.S. stepped up its presence in eastern Europe.

Flying to the region from their previous posting in Italy, they were met by Polish troops in similar red berets and the nation's defence minister.

Within a few days there will be 450 more American Nato troops spread between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The Americans insisted the military exercises will not be a precursor to intervention in Ukraine, which is not a Nato member, and they could last until next year.

But Rear Admiral John Kirby, a top Defense Department spokesman, said the deployments sent a strong message to Nato allies about U.S. commitments to the alliance following events in Ukraine.

'If there's a message to Moscow, it is the same exact message that we take our obligations very, very seriously on the continent of Europe,' he added.


Gathering storm: The U.S. troops (pictured) have prompted the Kremlin to mount new military drills


Warm welcome: Polish troops in green assembled in Swidwin (left) including General Adam Josk, the commander of the 6 Airborne Brigade in Krakow, pictured with the U.S. Brigade commander Michael Foster


Reinforcements: The U.S. paratroopers could be taking part in the joint exercises until next year

But Russia has insisted the build-up may violate the Founding Act, a 1997 agreement between Moscow and Nato.

Today Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reacted by ordering new military exercises in Russia's south and west, along the Ukrainian border.

The latest exercises - which add to the tens of thousands of troops already massed on the border - will involve ground and air forces.

'We have to react to these developments somehow,' he said.

Mr Shoigu quoted unspecified sources claiming Kiev has deployed more than 11,000 troops and 160 tanks against just 2,000 pro-Russian insurgents.

Today Russian President Vladimir Putin added: 'If the Kiev government is using the army against its own people this is clearly a grave crime.'

The U.S. and Nato have insisted their troops will not intervene in Ukraine despite Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region and a buildup of Russian forces on the border.

But they are 'temporarily' boosting their presence in eastern Europe in a drive to reassure allies that they would have protection against any Russian aggression.


Touching down: The troops will be assembling in four Baltic states over the next few days


Working together: The Polish troops (in green) and Americans (in grey) marched in the same ceremony


Reactions: Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said the deployments, praised by Poland, Estonia and Latvia, would 'strengthen our readiness for collective defence and will add to ensuring safety of our people'


Relaxed: Polish General Adam Joks with Michael Foster, Commander of the U.S. army's 173rd Airborne Brigade

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all have their own Russian-speaking minorities and governments there are worries the crisis in Ukraine could spread.

The Latvian government welcomed the move, calling it a 'fast and practical response.'

Estonian Defence Minister Sven Mikser added it 'significantly increases the security of Estonia.'

And Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said the deployments would 'strengthen our readiness for collective defence and will add to ensuring safety of our people.'

Poland, which only emerged from Soviet-imposed communism in 1989, has also called for a strong presence of western troops.

The exercises run in month-long rounds in what the Pentagon calls a 'persistent rotational presence' that stops short of permanently basing troops in the Baltic states.

The American frigate USS Taylor has also returned to the Black Sea, just as the guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook prepares to leave in the next few days.