11:52
11.3.2014
My interview with Radio Ekho Moskvy:"..it’s a huge mistake to view #Ukraine through the lens of the 19th century.": http://t.co/WegCRqskI3
— Geoffrey Pyatt (@GeoffPyatt) March 11, 2014
12:24
11.3.2014
Peter Eltsov and Klaus Larres write in "New Republic" that Russia's de facto annexation of Crimea may naturally lead to Moscow biting off chunks of north Kazakhstan, with its large Russian-speaking population.
They write: "Nazarbaev is cautiously silent, but spontaneous protests in front of the Russian Consulate in Almaty... have not been disbanded by the police." They go on to note that Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, as the Soviet Union was falling, himself called for the creating of a new Russian state combining Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and parts of Kazakhstan. "It is quite possible that President Putin wants his legacy to be the implementation of Solzhenitsyn's ideas... Putin is a great admirer and was a friend of Solzhenitsyn's."
12:38
11.3.2014
Fascinating "Daily Beast" piece from Kyiv, where Jamie Dettmer profiles Euromaidan's so-called inner Circle of Trust, which includes doctor Olha Bohomolets, Right Sector head Dmytro Yarosh, Oleh Mikhnyuk from the Afghan War Veterans, and Serhiy Poyarkov, an artist and Automaidan head who is increasingly worried that the current conflagration in Ukraine could derail Maidan's achievements and goals:
"Poyarkov has ventured into the hotel to meet with some foreign businessmen to deliver the message that there could be a 'new Maidan' if Ukraine’s embattled interim government doesn't start 'changing the system' in earnest. He and the others in the Circle of Trust want crooked judges ditched and the notoriously corrupt police reformed. They also want the speedy introduction of a lustration law, blocking officials from the kleptocracy of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych from occupying government posts and public office. Such a law would offer also a process to deal with past human-rights abuses and injustices."
"Poyarkov has ventured into the hotel to meet with some foreign businessmen to deliver the message that there could be a 'new Maidan' if Ukraine’s embattled interim government doesn't start 'changing the system' in earnest. He and the others in the Circle of Trust want crooked judges ditched and the notoriously corrupt police reformed. They also want the speedy introduction of a lustration law, blocking officials from the kleptocracy of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych from occupying government posts and public office. Such a law would offer also a process to deal with past human-rights abuses and injustices."
13:23
11.3.2014
A series of tweets from Ukrainian singer and Maidan stalwart Ruslana Lyzhychko:
Ruslana: #Putin has not change anything in KGB propaganda. It is still about fascists.#Ukraine
— uacrisis (@uacrisis) March 11, 2014
Ruslana: I ask to stop discussing and reacting on any statements of #Putin propaganda. #Ukraine
— uacrisis (@uacrisis) March 11, 2014
Ruslana: #Crimea is a part of #Ukraine. That is all.
— uacrisis (@uacrisis) March 11, 2014
13:25
11.3.2014
In the Czech Republic, creative anti-Russia dissent continues in the city of Liberec, where Dekomunizace, an anticommunist watchdog group, today unfurled a giant banner from atop the town hall that features a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin sporting a Hitler mustache and wearing a Stalin-style overcoat. "Everyone can choose to see who they want," said Martin Fryc, one of the activists behind the project.
City officials are permitting the banner to remain in place through the day, as a sign of support for Ukraine.
Dekomunizace raised a similar portrait of Putin in Prague in October 2013, to protest the political aspirations of the Czech Communist Party ahead of parliamentary polls.
City officials are permitting the banner to remain in place through the day, as a sign of support for Ukraine.
Dekomunizace raised a similar portrait of Putin in Prague in October 2013, to protest the political aspirations of the Czech Communist Party ahead of parliamentary polls.
13:28
11.3.2014
From the wires. Ukraine is further mobilizing its reserves:
Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has called for the formation of a national guard and for the mobilization of reserves and volunteers into the country's armed forces.
Turchynov asked parliament to approve a decision to turn the country's Interior Ministry troops into a National Guard "to defend the country and citizens against any criminals, against external and internal aggression."
Turchynov said that the mobilization will include those who have previously served in the military, as well as volunteers.
Turchynov said Ukraine had as few as 6,000 combat-ready infantry out of a nominal force of 41,000. Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, meanwhile, said a 1994 agreement under which Ukraine agreed to give up its Soviet nuclear weapons obliges Western powers to defend Ukraine's sovereignty.
Turchynov asked parliament to approve a decision to turn the country's Interior Ministry troops into a National Guard "to defend the country and citizens against any criminals, against external and internal aggression."
Turchynov said that the mobilization will include those who have previously served in the military, as well as volunteers.
Turchynov said Ukraine had as few as 6,000 combat-ready infantry out of a nominal force of 41,000. Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, meanwhile, said a 1994 agreement under which Ukraine agreed to give up its Soviet nuclear weapons obliges Western powers to defend Ukraine's sovereignty.
13:35
11.3.2014
Yanukovych's Kharkiv duo in legal trouble: Dobkin arrested, Kernes named as suspect http://t.co/TPN4RgdmpI @KyivPost pic.twitter.com/4jtBAYjxW6
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) March 11, 2014
13:35
11.3.2014
The UN is in Kharkiv:
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic has met with local authorities in Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv.
A UN statement said Simonovic discussed "possible human rights-related measures that could help deescalate tensions in Ukraine" and raised with the authorities allegations of human rights violations.
Simonovic was also scheduled to hold talks with both pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian civil society representatives.
The statement said Simonovic will go to Crimea Wednesday and to Lviv on Thursday. He is scheduled to hold a news conference Friday in Kyiv.
A UN statement said Simonovic discussed "possible human rights-related measures that could help deescalate tensions in Ukraine" and raised with the authorities allegations of human rights violations.
Simonovic was also scheduled to hold talks with both pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian civil society representatives.
The statement said Simonovic will go to Crimea Wednesday and to Lviv on Thursday. He is scheduled to hold a news conference Friday in Kyiv.
13:42
11.3.2014
"Ukrainska Pravda" reporter translating Viktor Yanukovych's presser -- into Ukrainian.
ФОТО: Vladyslav Musiienko екс-представник колишнього президента у ВР дивиться трансляцію з ростова-на-дону pic.twitter.com/30imVsJxwj
— Українська правда (@ukrpravda_news) March 11, 2014
13:43
11.3.2014
Our Belarus Service is reporting that police in Minsk have detained two Belarusian activists for holding a pro-Ukrainian rally in front of the Russian Embassy.
Dzmitry Karashkou and Stanislau Bulay were protesting Russia's military occupation of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea on Tuesday.
They held posters saying, "Putin is the enemy of Ukraine and Russia!" and "Putin, hands off Ukraine, no to war!"
Karashkou managed to tell his friends by phone that he was being taken to the police directorate in Minsk's Central District.
Calls placed to his phone since then go unanswered.
They held posters saying, "Putin is the enemy of Ukraine and Russia!" and "Putin, hands off Ukraine, no to war!"
Karashkou managed to tell his friends by phone that he was being taken to the police directorate in Minsk's Central District.
Calls placed to his phone since then go unanswered.