djones520 wrote:
That administration is going down. A matter of days now at the most. Russia is about to have a new refugee. He can shack up with the two Kyrgyz ex-presidents who have been chased from their country.

 BaronIveagh wrote:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26320004#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

Well, the arrest warrants have been issued.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said he doubts the legitimacy of Ukraine's new authorities.

In the strongest Russian reaction yet to the political upheaval in Kiev, Mr Medvedev said those now in power had conducted an "armed mutiny".

He was speaking after Ukraine's interim interior minister said an arrest warrant had been issued for fugitive ousted President Viktor Yanukovych.

MPs voted to remove Mr Yanukovych on Saturday.

Russia, angered at the loss of its political ally, has already recalled its ambassador for consultation.

Unrest in Ukraine began in late November when Mr Yanukovych rejected a landmark association and trade deal with the EU in favour of closer ties with Russia.

Meanwhile, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton has arrived in Kiev to discuss financial and political support for Ukraine's new leaders.

Ukraine is in danger of defaulting on its debts as a Russian aid package now seems unlikely to proceed.

Baroness Ashton began her visit by laying flowers in Independence Square to those killed in clashes between protesters and police.

Mr Medvedev, quoted by Russian news agencies, suggested that Western countries that accepted Ukraine's new authorities were mistaken.

"Strictly speaking, there is no-one for us to communicate with there today," he said.

"The legitimacy of a whole number of organs of power that function there raises great doubts.

"Some of our foreign, Western partners think otherwise. This is some kind of aberration of perception when people call legitimate what is essentially the result of an armed mutiny."

He added: "We do not understand what is going on there. There is a real threat to our interests and to the lives of our citizens."

Ukraine's foreign ministry quickly responded to Mr Medvedev's concerns for Russian citizens in Ukraine, saying they were "unfounded".

However, Russia's foreign ministry also issued a strongly worded statement saying a "forced change of power" was taking place in Ukraine and that interim authorities were using "terrorist methods" to pressure dissenters in regions including Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

It also criticised Western support for a snap presidential election in May and said constitutional reforms rushed through parliament should be put to a national referendum.

Ukraine's parliament has until Tuesday to form a new unity government.

Interim interior minister Arsen Avakov said on Facebook that a criminal case had been opened against Mr Yanukovych and other officials over "mass murder of peaceful citizens".

The statement said Mr Yanukovych was last seen in Balaklava on the Crimean peninsula on Sunday.

It said that after dismissing most of his security detail, he had left by car for an unknown destination, accompanied by an aide.

The statement did not name the other figures covered by the warrant.

According to media reports, Mr Avakov and Valentyn Nalyvaychenko - appointed by parliament to oversee security matters - have travelled to Crimea to defuse tensions.

The peninsula is an autonomous region where the majority of the population is ethnically Russian.

Crimea and some pro-Russian areas in the east have seen protests against the overthrow of Mr Yanukovych, sparking fears that Ukraine could be split apart by separatist movements.

Ukraine's health ministry says 88 people, mostly anti-Yanukovych protesters but also police, are now known to have been killed in last week's clashes.

Thousands of people remain in Kiev's Independence Square, the Maidan.
Correspondents say the atmosphere in the square is now largely calm, and it has become a shrine to those killed.

Interim Finance Minister Yuriy Kolobov has said Ukraine needs around $35bn (£21bn) in urgent foreign aid and asked for an international donors' conference to be held.

Moscow recently agreed to provide $15bn for Ukraine's struggling economy - a move seen as a reward for Mr Yanukovych's controversial decision not to sign the long-planned trade deal with the EU.

But there are fears Moscow could withdraw that offer. Ukraine has state debts of some $73bn, with around $6bn to be paid this year.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Apparently the EU is prepared to step in with financial help.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Apparently the EU is prepared to step in with financial help.

 curran12 wrote:
This seems a good place to slip this in, photos of the former president's private home:

http://thechive.com/2014/02/24/a-look-inside-the-recently-vacated-luxury-home-of-ukraine-president-viktor-yanukovych-40-photos/

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Apparently the EU is prepared to step in with financial help.

Separately, documents published on Ukraine's Glavkom website apparently show that the armed forces' general staff head, Yuriy Ilyin, had planned to deploy 2,500 soldiers to clear the Maidan.

Ukraine's new acting government is not legitimate, Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev has said. "If people crossing Kiev in black masks and Kalashnikov rifles are considered a government, it will be difficult for us to work with such a government," the prime minister said.

"Some of our foreign, western partners think otherwise, considering them to be legitimate authorities. I do not know which constitution, which laws, they were reading, but it seems to me it is an aberration of perception when something that is essentially the result of a mutiny is called legitimate."

He also called the legitimacy of many of Ukraine's governing bodies "doubtful", adding: "There is no one to deal with there [in Ukraine]; masked and armed people are no partners for dialogue."

The Russian PM said he did not understand what was happening in Ukraine. "There is a real threat to our interests and to the lives of our citizens," he said. "There are big doubts about the legitimacy of a whole series of organs of power that are now functioning there."

But Medvedev also said any legally-binding Russian-Ukrainian agreements "must be honoured". There are fears about the future of a gas deal agreed in December under which Russia reduced the gas price for Kiev to $268.50 per 1,000 cubic metres, from the $400 which Ukraine had paid since 2009.

"Those agreements which are legally binding must be honoured," Medvedev said. "We are not cooperating with personalities or isolated individuals. These are inter-state relations. We are neighbours, close nations, and we cannot run away from one another. Whatever has been signed must be honoured. For us, Ukraine remains a serious and important partner."

Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, has yet to comment on the events that swept Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych out of power on Saturday.

The hunt is now on for Yanukovych, who is currently believed to be hiding in the pro-Russian Crimean peninsula. The country's new acting government has issued a warrant for his arrest, accusing him of the mass murder of protesters who died in street clashes last week.

Ukraine's acting interior minister, Arsen Avakhov, said on his official Facebook page on Monday that a warrant had been issued for the arrest of Yanukovych and several other officials for the "mass killing of civilians". At least 82 people, primarily protesters, were killed in clashes in the capital, Kiev, last week.

After signing an agreement with the opposition, Yanukovych fled the capital for eastern Ukraine. Avakhov said he tried to fly out of Donetsk but was stopped, then went to Crimea. Yanukovych appeared in a video address on Saturday evening claiming he was still the president, but he has lost the support of most of his party and his main goal now will probably be to flee the country without being arrested.

Avakhov said Yanukovych arrived in Crimea on Sunday, relinquished his official security detail and then drove off to an unknown location. There were rumours that a yacht named the Bandido, believed to belong to Yanukovych's son, was spotted in the harbour in the Crimean port of Balaclava.

In Balaclava on Monday there was no sign of either the yacht or the president, and locals claimed they had not seen Yanukovych in recent days. Officials in Sevastopol also professed ignorance. In Kiev, western diplomats said they had no idea of the president's location.

Calls are mounting in Ukraine to put Yanukovych on trial after a tumultuous presidency in which he amassed powers, enriched his allies and cracked down on demonstrators. Anger boiled over last week after snipers attacked protesters in the bloodiest violence in Ukraine's post-Soviet history.

The turmoil has raised fears that the country, with a population of 46 million, could split apart. The economy is on the brink of default and loyalties are torn between Europe and Russia.

Tensions have been mounting in Crimea, where pro-Russian protesters raised a Russian flag on a city hall in one town and scuffled with police. Russia maintains a big naval base in Sevastopol that has complicated relations between the countries for two decades.

The protests were sparked in November when Yanukovych shelved an agreement with the EU and turned towards Russia. The movement quickly expanded its grievances to alleged corruption and human rights abuses, and called for Yanukovych's resignation.

"We must find Yanukovych and put him on trial," said Leonid Shovtak, a 50-year-old farmer from the western Ivano-Frankivsk region who came to Kiev's Independence Square to take part in the three-month protest movement. "All the criminals with him should be in prison."

The parliamentary speaker assumed the president's powers on Sunday, even though a presidential aide told the Associated Press on Sunday that Yanukovych planned to stay in power.

The speaker, Oleksandr Turchinov, said top priorities included saving the economy and "returning to the path of European integration", according to news agencies. The latter phrase is certain to displease Moscow, which wants Ukraine to be part of a customs union that would rival the EU and bolster Russia's influence. Russia granted Ukraine a $15bn (£9bn) bailout after Yanukovych backed away from the EU deal.

The US ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt said America was ready to help Ukraine get aid from the International Monetary Fund. The EU is reviving efforts to strike a deal with Ukraine that could involve billions of euros in economic perks. The EU foreign policy chief, Lady Ashton, is visiting Kiev on Monday and Tuesday.

The protest movement has been in large part a fight for the country's economic future – for better jobs and prosperity. Ukraine has struggled with corruption, bad government and short-sighted reliance on cheap gas from Russia. Political unrest has worsened the deficit and caused volatile exchange rates, and may have pushed the economy back into a recession.

Per capita economic output is only around $7,300, even adjusted for the lower cost of living, compared with $22,200 in Poland and around $51,700 in the US. Ukraine ranks 137th in the world for output, behind El Salvador, Namibia, and Guyana.

As a new regime consolidated its grip over power in Kiev on Sunday, calls for secession in the pro-Russian south of Ukraine were growing louder.

At a protest attended by thousands in the port city of Sevastopol on Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, the crowd voted to establish a parallel administration and civil defence squads.

Demonstrators waved Russian flags – there was not a Ukrainian flag to be seen – and chanted "Russia, Russia, Russia" during the gathering.

"Sevastopol is a Russian town and will always be a Russian town… we will never surrender to those fascists in Kiev," said Anatoly, who was handing out Russian flags and declined to give his surname. "The struggle is only just beginning."

The largely Russian-speaking eastern and southern regions of Ukraine have been shaken by events in the Ukrainian capital over the last week that have led to the toppling of President Viktor Yanukovych.

Nowhere in the country is a Russian heritage stronger than in Crimea. The peninsula was officially a part of Russia until 60 years ago when the Soviet leadership transferred it to Ukraine.

Even today the Kremlin retains significant influence in the popular holiday destination for wealthy Russians, and Moscow leases naval bases in Sevastopol for its Black Sea fleet.

"We are not like the Kievans, we will not give up," said Olga, a pensioner in the crowd on Sunday.

"We hoped there wouldn't be a split in the country, but if a fully Bandera regime emerges in Kiev then we will be a part of Russia," she added, using a controversial term for the opposition from the name of a nationalist leader who fought against both the Nazis and the Soviets during the Second World War.

Amid fears that the new leadership in Kiev will soon fire the local government, demonstrators elected a new city leader, Aleksei Chaly, who vowed to defend Sevastopol.

Protesters also voted to set-up self-defence squads – a fledgling militia that would mirror those established in pro-European Western Ukraine last week after Yanukovych's authority crumbled and locals ransacked police stations.

Speakers said that in a similar demonstration earlier in the day in the regional capital of Simferopol about 5,000 had joined such squads.

The response was likely to be much greater in Sevastopol where up to 200,000 people could be counted on, said Dmitry Sinichkin, president of the local branch of the Night Wolves motorbike group.

"Bloodshed is inevitable," added Sinichkin, who was dressed in black leather. The Night Wolves enjoy the patronage of Russian President Vladimir Putin and its leadership has close ties to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Speakers at the protest avoided direct calls for Russian intervention, but when the head of the city's administration said that the secession of Crimea could not be permitted he was booed from the stage.

Russian officials refrain from publicly stating their support for Crimean separatism, but Kremlin aide Sergei Glazyev described Ukraine last month as "schizophrenic" and said that Russia would support greater federalism.

In recent weeks local media have carried stories about intensive contact with Russian officials and Vladislav Surkov, the Kremlin's so-called "grey cardinal," was reportedly spotted in Crimea last week.

"Russia does not openly take part in encouraging separatism… but there are organisations which are financed through Kremlin structures," said Viktor Neganov, a local supporter of the uprising in Kiev who has just been appointed an adviser to the country's new interior minister.

Neganov suffered concussion and a bloody nose on Saturday when he was beaten by people greeting riot police returning from Kiev to Sevastopol in the wake of the fall of the Yanukovych government.

While Ukraine's riot police, or Berkut, are widely reviled by the opposition whose activists have battled them on the streets of Kiev for months, they were treated to a hero's welcome in Sevastopol, given flowers and embraced by locals.

There have been pushes for Crimean separatism several times since the fall of the Soviet Union, including during Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, but analysts said that more was now at stake.

"It's easy to imagine Crimea calling a referendum and getting special status within the Ukraine," said Masha Lipman, an expert at the Carnegie Centre in Moscow. "The natural next step would be to secede."

There was little sympathy in Sevastopol for Yanukovych, who has fled Kiev and been denounced by many of his closest followers. His current whereabouts is unknown.

"I don't support Yanukovych because he has betrayed Ukraine," said Dmitry Kovalenko, 23, a student. "We need to unite with Russia."

 whembly wrote:
Oh my... reportedly the Ukrainians are thinking about amending their constitution to "the rights to bear arms", ala the US' 2nd amendment.

 Da Boss wrote:
Surely they'd call theirs the NRA as well?

Today every citizen of Ukraine understands why our country has hundreds of thousands of policemen. Last illusions were crushed when riot police used rubber batons and boots at the Independence Square on peaceful citizens.

After such actions we realize that it is not enough to only adopt the Gun Law.

As of today Ukrainian Gun Owners Association will start to work on the preparation of amendments to the Constitution, which will provide an unconditional right for Ukrainian citizens to bear arms.
People should have the right to bear arms, which will be put in written into the Constitution.

Authorities should not and will not be stronger than its people!

Armed people are treated with respect!

 whembly wrote:
They put out a press release:
http://zbroya.info/en/blog/2650_ukrainian-gun-owners-associations-official-statement/

Today every citizen of Ukraine understands why our country has hundreds of thousands of policemen. Last illusions were crushed when riot police used rubber batons and boots at the Independence Square on peaceful citizens.

After such actions we realize that it is not enough to only adopt the Gun Law.

As of today Ukrainian Gun Owners Association will start to work on the preparation of amendments to the Constitution, which will provide an unconditional right for Ukrainian citizens to bear arms.
People should have the right to bear arms, which will be put in written into the Constitution.

Authorities should not and will not be stronger than its people!

Armed people are treated with respect!

Separately, documents published on Ukraine's Glavkom website apparently show that the armed forces' general staff head, Yuriy Ilyin, had planned to deploy 2,500 soldiers to clear the Maidan.

 whembly wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Apparently the EU is prepared to step in with financial help.

That's interesting...

Also... what seems to be the most important thing to Russia seems to be the Crimea -- which is a warm-water port on the Black Sea. That's kinda strategic.

 whembly wrote:
I also think it's likely thats a reaction to all those sniper kills during the protest:

 Palindrome wrote:

 whembly wrote:
I also think it's likely thats a reaction to all those sniper kills during the protest:

So in other words it would increase the death toll from around to 100 to thousands. Great idea.

 whembly wrote:
Oh my... reportedly the Ukrainians are thinking about amending their constitution to "the rights to bear arms", ala the US' 2nd amendment.

Russia flexes military muscle as tensions rise in Ukraine's Crimea region

Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Russia ordered surprise military exercises on Ukraine's doorstep Wednesday as tensions in that country's southern Crimea region simmered, with pro-Russian demonstrators facing off against rival protesters in the city of Simferopol.

As the mood soured among the thousands rallying in front of the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol, some scuffles broke out.

One group waved Ukrainian flags and shouted "Crimea is not Russia," while the other held Russian flags aloft and shouted "Crimea is Russia," images broadcast by Crimean TV channel ATR showed. As the crowd became more agitated, a line of police moved in to divide the groups.

Local leaders sought to calm the mood, urging the protesters to go home and resist provocations.

One man died around the time of the protests in front of parliament, the Crimean Ministry of Health said on its website. The man had no visible signs of injury, and early indications point to a heart attack, it said. Seven people sought medical help.

The demonstrations signal the broad divide between those who support what is going on in Kiev, where the new government is leaning toward the West, and those who back Russia's continued influence in Crimea and across Ukraine.

In the capital Thursday, the names of nominees for the country's new unity government were read to the crowd in Independence Square. Opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk was named as a nominee for interim prime minister. Candidates are expected to be voted on in parliament Thursday.

Russia's foreign minister has vowed not to intervene militarily in Ukraine.

But with tensions in the region high, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered surprise military exercises.

The exercises are "to check combat readiness of armed forces in western and central military districts as well as several branches of the armed forces," Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu was quoted as saying by state media.

Shoigu did not mention Ukraine, which lies to Russia's west, but the timing of the move has prompted speculation about the motivation.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the exercises since they are on Russian territory.

U.S. military intelligence has seen some Russian naval ship movement near Ukraine since the weekend, but it sees no immediate indication the Russians are preparing for any offensive military action in Ukraine, two U.S. officials said.

Russia held at least six snap combat readiness checks of its armed forces last year, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency said.

'Rumors' fuel fears of split
Concerns were heightened in the Crimea region when the Crimean parliament convened a previously unscheduled session Wednesday, amid local media reports that secession might be on the agenda.

But the parliament speaker, Volodimir Konstantinov, denied there were plans to discuss "radical issues" such as the separation of Russia-oriented Crimea from Ukraine.

In a statement on the parliament website, he dismissed the local media reports as "rumors," saying they were "a provocation aimed at discrediting and de-legitimizing the Crimean parliament."

He also urged the Crimean people to remain calm and not be provoked, the statement said.

In the nearby port city of Sevastopol, where about 60% of the population is Russian and Moscow has a key naval base, residents told CNN they were angry that President Viktor Yanukovych has been forced out and fear that they will be oppressed by the country's new leaders.

Small pro-Russian protests were taking place in the Black Sea city Wednesday.

A CNN team in the area encountered more than one pro-Russian militia checkpoint on the road from Sevastopol to Simferopol.

Yanukovych's base of support is in eastern and southern Ukraine, where Russian culture and language predominate. In that region, most people are suspicious of the Europe-leaning views of their counterparts in western Ukraine, who were at the heart of the anti-government protests that filled central Kiev.

Many are struggling to get to grips with the rapid political upheaval that has unfolded in Ukraine in recent days, after months of protests and last week's bloody clashes between protesters and security forces.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has accused Ukraine's lawmakers of discriminating against ethnic Russians by excluding them from the reform process.

Talks on new government
The tensions come as Ukraine's lawmakers scramble to put together a new unity government amid continued instability after Yanukovych's ouster.

Vasil Gatsko, of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms (UDAR) party, said the newly formed government will be officially voted in in Ukraine's parliament Thursday morning. The interim authorities had initially hoped to announce a new government Tuesday.

The names of the nominees for the new administration were read in Kiev's Independence Square, or Maidan -- which has been at the heart of the protest movement -- for approval from the crowds gathered there. The nominees were selected in a meeting Wednesday of the three main opposition parties and smaller parties.

The lawmakers face the challenge of forming a body that genuinely represents of all the main political parties, despite their widely divergent views, and includes technical experts and some of the people's heroes from the protests in Independence Square.

Presidential and local elections are due to be held on May 25.

One candidate has already been announced. Opposition leader and former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, of the UDAR party, will run for the presidency, his press secretary Oksana Zinovyeva said.

Earlier Wednesday, acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced that a riot police force used against anti-government protesters in Ukraine had been disbanded.

Demonstrators accused the elite Berkut force, deployed by the government of Yanukovych to quell recent protests, of using excessive force.

Avakov said on his Facebook page that he'd signed the order disbanding the force Tuesday.

But the new, pro-Russian mayor of Sevastopol said Tuesday night at a rally in the city that he had secured funding to keep paying Berkut riot police there even after the force was disbanded.

The mayor, Alexej Chaliy, was elected in an unofficial local vote, but the interim authorities in Kiev have said he is not a legitimate leader.

Last week, the bloody street clashes between demonstrators and security forces left more than 80 dead, the deadliest violence in the country since it gained independence when the Soviet Union collapsed 22 years ago.

Russia, which backed Yanukovych, contends that the President was driven out by an "armed mutiny" of extremists and terrorists. A warrant has been issued for his arrest, but his whereabouts remain unknown.

Diplomatic moves

While Yanukovych is on the run, the diplomatic wheels have been set in motion within the international community.

One key concern is Ukraine's perilous financial position.

Interim Finance Minister Yury Kolobov proposed Monday that an international donor conference be held within two weeks. Ukraine, he said, will need $35 billion in foreign assistance by the end of 2015.

Russia had offered Ukraine a $15 billion loan and cut in natural gas prices in November, but that deal seems unlikely to remain on the table if Ukraine turns toward Europe.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague tweeted Wednesday: "Will discuss international financial support for #Ukraine at the IMF in Washington DC today."

Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform said the country has slashed its imports of natural gas from Russia in recent days.

Speaking in Washington on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said officials were "deeply engaged in trying to help this extraordinary transition that is taking place in Ukraine."

In a joint news conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, Kerry said that Ukraine's alliances should not necessarily determine what happens to its people -- and that it was not a "zero sum" game.

"It is not a Russia or the United States or other choices," he said. "This is about people of Ukraine and Ukrainians making their choice about their future. And we want to work with Russia, with other countries, with everybody available to make sure this is peaceful from this day forward."
Yanukovych's decision to scrap a European Union trade deal in favor of one with Russia prompted the protests, which began in November.