NATO Expresses Concern After Report Of New Russian Military Base Near Ukraine
By RFE/RL
NATO has expressed concern after a news report that Russia is building a large military base near its border with Ukraine.
Speaking to RFE/RL on September 10, a NATO official said, “Overall, NATO remains concerned about Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine’s borders and its continued attempts to destabilize Ukraine.”
Reuters reported on September 7 that Moscow had started building a major military base in Belgorod Oblast near the border with Ukraine.
It said workers were erecting a perimeter fence at the alleged site near the town of Valuiki.
Citing public documents, the news agency said the Defense Ministry is building the base on a 300-hectare site.
The facility is to house ammunition depots and barracks for 3,500 soldiers, as well as a recreation center with a skating rink and a swimming pool.
The ministry says it plans to use the base to train soldiers on artillery and army air defense, as well as in driving armored vehicles. The plan includes a site for studying the tactics of the U.S. military.
Kyiv and the West accuse Russia of sending soldiers and hardware to eastern Ukraine to support pro-Russian separatists fighting government forces.
Moscow denies its military is in Ukraine.
Deputies and activists got into a brawl at today's Odesa city council meeting. The activists had expressed anger that the question of recognizing Russia as an aggressor state was not put on the agenda.
They demanded the city council consider the question, yelling “Shame!” and trying to put a garbage bag on one of the deputies, Oleksandr Kazarnovskyy.
Already last year, activists from groups like the ultranationalist Right Sector have been tossing officials in trash containers -- and sometimes beating them, too -- to signal disgust at the officials' ties to the government of former President Viktor Yanukovych, their alleged corruption, or their supposed support for separatists in the country’s east.
This in from RFE/RL's News Desk:
Ukrainian, Slovak PMs Criticize Nord Stream Expansion
The prime ministers of Ukraine and Slovakia have condemned a recent deal to expand the current Nord Stream pipeline that delivers natural gas directly from Russia to Western Europe.
Following the two leaders’ meeting in Bratislava on September 10, Slovakia’s Robert Fico said the deal was a betrayal, while his Ukrainian counterpart, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, called the plan "an anti-European and anti-Ukrainian project."
Yatsenyuk said his country would lose $2 billion and Slovakia $800 million in transit fees if the project, known as Nord Stream-2, is implemented.
Last week, Russian giant Gazprom and energy companies from Western EU countries signed a shareholders' agreement on the plan to expand the pipeline that runs beneath the Baltic Sea to Germany.
The project has also been criticized by Poland.