16:38
22.3.2014
ITAR-TASS is reporting that Ukrainian border guards have unilaterally closed the exits to and entry from the Ukrainian mainland. Cites an unidentified Kremlin representative in Crimea. No other corroboration.
16:38
22.3.2014
Veteran CIS watcher Andrew Wilson of the European Council on Foreign Relations has a piece on foreignaffairs.com explaining how Putin gave up his dream of a Eurasian Union in taking Crimea. Now, Wilson argues, even Belarus wants out:
"Putin’s short-term victory is already coming at the expense of his most cherished long-term strategy -- the creation of a Eurasian Union, a trade union linking Russia and its closest neighbors. In other words, as the invasion expands Russian territory, it will diminish Russian influence in the very places he’d like to increase it. One need only look to Belarus, which is already beginning to hedge against its alliance with Moscow, to see why."
"Putin’s short-term victory is already coming at the expense of his most cherished long-term strategy -- the creation of a Eurasian Union, a trade union linking Russia and its closest neighbors. In other words, as the invasion expands Russian territory, it will diminish Russian influence in the very places he’d like to increase it. One need only look to Belarus, which is already beginning to hedge against its alliance with Moscow, to see why."
16:47
22.3.2014
There it is - Russian Foreign Ministry says OSCE mission to Ukraine (but not Crimea) shows it accepts "new realities" http://t.co/POoTrV79ZL
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) March 22, 2014
16:47
22.3.2014
Media corralled by #Russia forces at Belbek. All waiting to leave at front gate. Angrily telling us not to film.They want to finish this off
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) March 22, 2014
16:49
22.3.2014
#Ukraine tank holding a position near the border with #Russia. Is this really happening? pic.twitter.com/AmDxSrXTpc
— Lucian Kim (@Lucian_Kim) March 22, 2014
16:53
22.3.2014
Anders Aslund calls for "shock and awe" sanctions against Russia in interview with "Global Post."
If you look at Obama’s speech when he announced the new sanctions yesterday [Thursday], there was a new tone to it. I think he is finally coming around. The Treasury Department’s statement was also really tough. Europe is tagging along as well.
I would expect that there will be new sanctions, even tougher ones, next week. I hope that they will be targeted, not at individuals, but at corporations, as I have suggested.
What we need is the Powell doctrine here. [General Colin Powell, who, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1990, advocated that the US use overwhelming force if it is committed to war.]
We need “shock and awe.” The alternative is war.
I would expect that there will be new sanctions, even tougher ones, next week. I hope that they will be targeted, not at individuals, but at corporations, as I have suggested.
What we need is the Powell doctrine here. [General Colin Powell, who, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1990, advocated that the US use overwhelming force if it is committed to war.]
We need “shock and awe.” The alternative is war.
16:56
22.3.2014
Men in masks remove civilians in Belbek
Люди в масках выводят гражданских в Бельбеке pic.twitter.com/dLuBz23kzF
— Константин Рыков (@rykov) March 22, 2014
17:08
22.3.2014
From RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service: In Donetsk, Ukraine's SBU security service has detained Mikhail Chumachenka, leader of the so-called "Donbas Peoples' Militia," on preparing to "overthrow the constitutional order."
17:10
22.3.2014
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Pro-Russian forces appear to have stormed a Ukrainian air force base in Crimea, news agencies report. An armored vehicle was seen ramming into the gate of the base in Belbek, near Sevastopol, and an ambulance was seen driving into the compound at high speed. A live camera feed from outside the gate showed men in civilian clothes entering the base, before the video feed went dark. There were also witness reports of explosions and gunfire. The events occurred after a Russian ultimatum to the personnel at Belbek to surrender the base. In western Crimea, some 200 unarmed demonstrators broke through to the air base in the town of Novofedorivka. Ukrainian military personnel barricaded themselves inside buildings and threw smoke bombs at the intruders from the roof. In the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, some 5,000 people attended a pro-Russian rally, chanting slogans in favor of a referendum on seceding from Ukraine.
Pro-Russian forces appear to have stormed a Ukrainian air force base in Crimea, news agencies report. An armored vehicle was seen ramming into the gate of the base in Belbek, near Sevastopol, and an ambulance was seen driving into the compound at high speed. A live camera feed from outside the gate showed men in civilian clothes entering the base, before the video feed went dark. There were also witness reports of explosions and gunfire. The events occurred after a Russian ultimatum to the personnel at Belbek to surrender the base. In western Crimea, some 200 unarmed demonstrators broke through to the air base in the town of Novofedorivka. Ukrainian military personnel barricaded themselves inside buildings and threw smoke bombs at the intruders from the roof. In the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, some 5,000 people attended a pro-Russian rally, chanting slogans in favor of a referendum on seceding from Ukraine.
17:11
22.3.2014
CCTV screenshot from Belbek base in Crimea. Russian troops storming UKR base. #Euromaidan pic.twitter.com/gDfmIWdO6d
— Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) March 22, 2014