Ukraine

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HansTrappist said:
Yes it has.

See Victoria Nuland and John McCain.
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They aren’t in charge of a country. Russia has “advisors” in just about every agency of the Ukrainian government to assist their allies in said government make sure the country stays closely aligned with Russia (and report those agencies that are not.)

here is a good article on why people are protesting in the Ukraine
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25182823

and another one:
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26277970
 
gilliam said:
They aren’t in charge of a country. Russia has “advisors” in just about every agency of the Ukrainian government to assist their allies in said government make sure the country stays closely aligned with Russia (and report those agencies that are not.)

here is a good article on why people are protesting in the Ukraine
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25182823

and another one:
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26277970
Click to expand...
So… the BBC, a British publication obviously is quite familiar with the goings on?
I would posit that the West has no business in this matter, it belongs to the Ukrainian government, without the Imperialist meddling of the US and the EU.
 
gilliam said:
They aren’t in charge of a country. Russia has “advisors” in just about every agency of the Ukrainian government to assist their allies in said government make sure the country stays closely aligned with Russia (and report those agencies that are not.)

here is a good article on why people are protesting in the Ukraine
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25182823

and another one:
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26277970
Click to expand...
The criminal, murderous unrest occurring in Ukraine has been directly fomented by the United States Government:

The United States Senator, John McCain, actually had the nerve to travel to Ukraine to stir up the “protesters” against the legitimate, elected authorities in Ukraine: theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/15/john-mccain-ukraine-protests-support-just-cause

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland actually had the nerve to travel to Ukraine and foment unrest: cbsnews.com/news/us-victoria-nuland-wades-into-ukraine-turmoil-over-yanukovich/

I think Paul Craig Roberts, in recent commentary, put this very grave crisis in the proper context:

"We are witnessing this today in western Ukraine where a mixture of witless university students, pawns in Washington’s drive for world hegemony, together with paid protesters and fascistic elements among ultra-nationalists are bringing great troubles upon Ukraine and perhaps a deadly war upon the world.

Many of the protesters are just the unemployed collecting easy money. It is the witless idealistic types that are destroying the independence of their country. Victoria Nuland, the American neoconservative Assistant Secretary of State, whose agenda is US world hegemony, told the Ukrainians what was in store for them last December 13, but the protesters were too delusional to hear.

In an eight minute, 46 second speech at the National Press Club sponsored by the US-Ukraine Foundation, Chevron, and Ukraine-in-Washington Lobby Group, Nuland boasted that Washington has spent $5 billion to foment agitation to bring Ukraine into the EU. Once captured by the EU, Ukraine will be ‘helped’ by the West acting through the IMF. Nuland, of course, presented the IMF as Ukraine’s rescuer, not as the iron hand of the West that will squeeze all life out of Ukraine’s struggling economy.

Nuland’s audience consisted of all the people who will be enriched by the looting and by connections to a Washington-appointed Ukrainian government. Just look at the large Chevron sign next to which Nuland speaks, and you will know what it is all about.

Nuland’s speech failed to alert the Ukraine protesters, who are determined to destroy the independence of Ukraine and to place their country in the hands of the IMF so that it can be looted like Latvia, Greece and every country that ever had an IMF structural adjustment program. All the monies that protesters are paid by the US and EU will soon be given back manyfold as Ukraine is ‘adjusted’ by Western looting.

In her short speech the neoconservative agitator Nuland alleged that the protesters whom Washington has spent $5 billion cultivating were protesting “peacefully with enormous restraint” against a brutal government.

Ukrainian rioters have seized 1,500 guns, 100,000 rounds of ammunition, 3 machine guns, and grenades from military armories.

The human-rights trained Ukrainian police have permitted the violence to get out of hand. A number of police have been burned by Molotov cocktails. The latest report is that 108 police have been shot. A number are dead and 63 are in critical condition. These casualties are the products of Nuland’s “peacefully protesting protesters acting with enormous restraint."

As I have reported previously, Russia regards the prospect of Ukraine as a member of the EU with NATO with US bases on Russia’s frontier as a ‘strategic threat.’ It is unlikely that the Russian government and the Russian territories in Ukraine will accept Washington’s plan for Ukraine. Whatever their intention, Secretary of State John Kerry’s provocative statements are raising tensions and fomenting war. The vast bulk of the American and Western populations have no idea of what the real situation is, because all they hear from the ‘free press’ is the neoconservative propaganda line.

Washington’s lies are destroying not only civil liberties at home and countries abroad, but are raising dangerous alarms in Russia about the country’s security. If Washington succeeds in overthrowing the Ukrainian government, the eastern and southern provinces are likely to secede. If secession becomes a civil war instead of a peaceful divorce, Russia would not be able to sit on the sidelines. As the Washington warmongers would be backing western Ukraine, the two nuclear powers would be thrown into military conflict.

The Ukrainian and Russian governments allowed this dangerous situation to develop, because they naively permitted for many years billions of US dollars to flow into their countries where the money was used to create fifth columns under the guise of educational and human rights organizations, the real purpose of which is to destabilize both countries. The consequence of the trust Ukrainians and Russians placed in the West is the prospect of civil and wider war."
 
Hobbes42 said:
So… the BBC, a British publication obviously is quite familiar with the goings on?
I would posit that the West has no business in this matter, it belongs to the Ukrainian government, without the Imperialist meddling of the US and the EU.
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The Ukrainian government is corrupt and killing it’s own civilians, and you want them to settle the matter.

By the way, Canada has just put travel sanctions on certain officials in the Ukrainian government and it has also closed its embassy in Kiev (it will be probably place economic sanctions on the Ukraine as well).

Here’s a Canadian Sun News segment on the Ukraine concerning the sanctions:
sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/3119258817001
Click to expand...
sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/politics/archives/2014/02/20140220-130800.html
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Please pray for the Ukraine.
 
HansTrappist said:
The criminal, murderous unrest occurring in Ukraine has been directly fomented by the United States Government:

The United States Senator, John McCain, actually had the nerve to travel to Ukraine to stir up the “protesters” against the legitimate, elected authorities in Ukraine: theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/15/john-mccain-ukraine-protests-support-just-cause

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland actually had the nerve to travel to Ukraine and foment unrest: cbsnews.com/news/us-victoria-nuland-wades-into-ukraine-turmoil-over-yanukovich/

I think Paul Craig Roberts, in recent commentary, put this very grave crisis in the proper context:

"We are witnessing this today in western Ukraine where a mixture of witless university students, pawns in Washington’s drive for world hegemony, together with paid protesters and fascistic elements among ultra-nationalists are bringing great troubles upon Ukraine and perhaps a deadly war upon the world.

Many of the protesters are just the unemployed collecting easy money. It is the witless idealistic types that are destroying the independence of their country. Victoria Nuland, the American neoconservative Assistant Secretary of State, whose agenda is US world hegemony, told the Ukrainians what was in store for them last December 13, but the protesters were too delusional to hear.

In an eight minute, 46 second speech at the National Press Club sponsored by the US-Ukraine Foundation, Chevron, and Ukraine-in-Washington Lobby Group, Nuland boasted that Washington has spent $5 billion to foment agitation to bring Ukraine into the EU. Once captured by the EU, Ukraine will be ‘helped’ by the West acting through the IMF. Nuland, of course, presented the IMF as Ukraine’s rescuer, not as the iron hand of the West that will squeeze all life out of Ukraine’s struggling economy.

Nuland’s audience consisted of all the people who will be enriched by the looting and by connections to a Washington-appointed Ukrainian government. Just look at the large Chevron sign next to which Nuland speaks, and you will know what it is all about.

Nuland’s speech failed to alert the Ukraine protesters, who are determined to destroy the independence of Ukraine and to place their country in the hands of the IMF so that it can be looted like Latvia, Greece and every country that ever had an IMF structural adjustment program. All the monies that protesters are paid by the US and EU will soon be given back manyfold as Ukraine is ‘adjusted’ by Western looting.

In her short speech the neoconservative agitator Nuland alleged that the protesters whom Washington has spent $5 billion cultivating were protesting “peacefully with enormous restraint” against a brutal government.

Ukrainian rioters have seized 1,500 guns, 100,000 rounds of ammunition, 3 machine guns, and grenades from military armories.

The human-rights trained Ukrainian police have permitted the violence to get out of hand. A number of police have been burned by Molotov cocktails. The latest report is that 108 police have been shot. A number are dead and 63 are in critical condition. These casualties are the products of Nuland’s “peacefully protesting protesters acting with enormous restraint."

As I have reported previously, Russia regards the prospect of Ukraine as a member of the EU with NATO with US bases on Russia’s frontier as a ‘strategic threat.’ It is unlikely that the Russian government and the Russian territories in Ukraine will accept Washington’s plan for Ukraine. Whatever their intention, Secretary of State John Kerry’s provocative statements are raising tensions and fomenting war. The vast bulk of the American and Western populations have no idea of what the real situation is, because all they hear from the ‘free press’ is the neoconservative propaganda line.

Washington’s lies are destroying not only civil liberties at home and countries abroad, but are raising dangerous alarms in Russia about the country’s security. If Washington succeeds in overthrowing the Ukrainian government, the eastern and southern provinces are likely to secede. If secession becomes a civil war instead of a peaceful divorce, Russia would not be able to sit on the sidelines. As the Washington warmongers would be backing western Ukraine, the two nuclear powers would be thrown into military conflict.

The Ukrainian and Russian governments allowed this dangerous situation to develop, because they naively permitted for many years billions of US dollars to flow into their countries where the money was used to create fifth columns under the guise of educational and human rights organizations, the real purpose of which is to destabilize both countries. The consequence of the trust Ukrainians and Russians placed in the West is the prospect of civil and wider war."
Click to expand...
No wonder, Kyiv Andrew left, this is ridiculous!
 
HansTrappist said:
The criminal, murderous unrest occurring in Ukraine has been directly fomented by the United States Government:

The United States Senator, John McCain, actually had the nerve to travel to Ukraine to stir up the “protesters” against the legitimate, elected authorities in Ukraine: theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/15/john-mccain-ukraine-protests-support-just-cause

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland actually had the nerve to travel to Ukraine and foment unrest: cbsnews.com/news/us-victoria-nuland-wades-into-ukraine-turmoil-over-yanukovich/

I think Paul Craig Roberts, in recent commentary, put this very grave crisis in the proper context:

"We are witnessing this today in western Ukraine where a mixture of witless university students, pawns in Washington’s drive for world hegemony, together with paid protesters and fascistic elements among ultra-nationalists are bringing great troubles upon Ukraine and perhaps a deadly war upon the world.

Many of the protesters are just the unemployed collecting easy money. It is the witless idealistic types that are destroying the independence of their country. Victoria Nuland, the American neoconservative Assistant Secretary of State, whose agenda is US world hegemony, told the Ukrainians what was in store for them last December 13, but the protesters were too delusional to hear.

In an eight minute, 46 second speech at the National Press Club sponsored by the US-Ukraine Foundation, Chevron, and Ukraine-in-Washington Lobby Group, Nuland boasted that Washington has spent $5 billion to foment agitation to bring Ukraine into the EU. Once captured by the EU, Ukraine will be ‘helped’ by the West acting through the IMF. Nuland, of course, presented the IMF as Ukraine’s rescuer, not as the iron hand of the West that will squeeze all life out of Ukraine’s struggling economy.

Nuland’s audience consisted of all the people who will be enriched by the looting and by connections to a Washington-appointed Ukrainian government. Just look at the large Chevron sign next to which Nuland speaks, and you will know what it is all about.

Nuland’s speech failed to alert the Ukraine protesters, who are determined to destroy the independence of Ukraine and to place their country in the hands of the IMF so that it can be looted like Latvia, Greece and every country that ever had an IMF structural adjustment program. All the monies that protesters are paid by the US and EU will soon be given back manyfold as Ukraine is ‘adjusted’ by Western looting.

In her short speech the neoconservative agitator Nuland alleged that the protesters whom Washington has spent $5 billion cultivating were protesting “peacefully with enormous restraint” against a brutal government.

Ukrainian rioters have seized 1,500 guns, 100,000 rounds of ammunition, 3 machine guns, and grenades from military armories.

The human-rights trained Ukrainian police have permitted the violence to get out of hand. A number of police have been burned by Molotov cocktails. The latest report is that 108 police have been shot. A number are dead and 63 are in critical condition. These casualties are the products of Nuland’s “peacefully protesting protesters acting with enormous restraint."

As I have reported previously, Russia regards the prospect of Ukraine as a member of the EU with NATO with US bases on Russia’s frontier as a ‘strategic threat.’ It is unlikely that the Russian government and the Russian territories in Ukraine will accept Washington’s plan for Ukraine. Whatever their intention, Secretary of State John Kerry’s provocative statements are raising tensions and fomenting war. The vast bulk of the American and Western populations have no idea of what the real situation is, because all they hear from the ‘free press’ is the neoconservative propaganda line.

Washington’s lies are destroying not only civil liberties at home and countries abroad, but are raising dangerous alarms in Russia about the country’s security. If Washington succeeds in overthrowing the Ukrainian government, the eastern and southern provinces are likely to secede. If secession becomes a civil war instead of a peaceful divorce, Russia would not be able to sit on the sidelines. As the Washington warmongers would be backing western Ukraine, the two nuclear powers would be thrown into military conflict.

The Ukrainian and Russian governments allowed this dangerous situation to develop, because they naively permitted for many years billions of US dollars to flow into their countries where the money was used to create fifth columns under the guise of educational and human rights organizations, the real purpose of which is to destabilize both countries. The consequence of the trust Ukrainians and Russians placed in the West is the prospect of civil and wider war."
Click to expand...
Paul Craig Roberts is nothing more than a pundit, i.e., this article that he’s written is completely one-sided, i.e., lacking in balance or perspective. It mentions nothing of the role Russia has played in the problems plaguing the Ukraine, nor the violence or corruption that the current Ukrainian government has mired it’s country in.
 
Kiev monastery now makeshift hospital

One of the prominent sights of Kiev, Mikhailivsky monastery has been turned into a makeshift hospital and a support centre where food, clothes and medicine are distributed.
Volunteers keep coming to the monastery to offer their help. This cathedral alone received 23 dead bodies on Thursday.

bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26284109
 
A bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said that anti-government protestors who killed by security forces are “martyrs,” according to a report from the Religious Information …

A bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said that anti-government protestors who were killed by security forces are “martyrs,” according to a report from the Religious Information Service of Ukraine.

“These are pure people, who have no evil intentions, who were ready to give everything they had today, so that we might live different lives,” said Bishop Borys Gudziak, the Ukrainian Catholic bishop of Paris. “Sacrifice and martyrdom bring fruit. This does not justify the actions of the government today, nor the behavior of the titushkos [hired thugs], our police or the Berkut [special forces unit].”

catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=20563
 
Lviv, Ukraine, Feb 21, 2014 / 04:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Ukrainian Catholic University, located in the far-western city of Lviv, is lamenting the death of one of its lecturers who was killed Feb. 20 during anti-government protests in Kyiv.
Code: 
Bohdan Solchanyk, who was 29, lectured on modern history at the university and was killed at Independence Square in the Ukrainian capital during protests that have been ongoing since November.

“I really appreciated Bohdan as a creative young lecturer and researcher,” Olekander Zaitev, the former chair of Ukrainian Catholic University’s modern history department, told CNA Feb. 20.

“He was a true generator of ideas, had a creative attitude toward his work with students. He initiated a cinema seminar at UCU, where teachers and students discussed Soviet movies from historical and sociological perspectives. I took part in this seminar with great interest.”

Solchanyk was an archivist and sociologist with a special interest in electoral practices in contemporary Ukraine.

A statement on his death, made “with great sadness in our hearts,” was issued by Ukrainian Catholic University, calling Solchanyk “talented at everything, whether it was an amateur theatrical role, or everyday teaching at the university.”

He earned a masters in sociology at Ivan Franko National University in Lviv, and was a Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate Program for Social Research in Warsaw; he taught such courses as “The Soviet Union as a System” at Ukrainian Catholic University and was well regarded among faculty and students.

Solchanyk had a deep concern for Ukraine’s public life, and was reported to have been active in the country’s Orange Revolution in 2004, when hundreds of thousands of protestors occupied Kyiv’s Independence Square, also called “Maidan,” in response to a contested presidential election.

The Orange Revolution was bloodless, but the current demonstrations saw their bloodiest days this week, with reports of up to 100 dead, both protestors and police forces, since Feb. 18.

The Ukraine protests first began after the government’s Nov. 21 announcement that it would not sign a major economic partnership agreement with the European Union, in favor of a $15 billion bailout agreement with Russia. Tens of thousands of protesters have filled the streets of Kyiv and at times occupied government buildings.

Government security forces have been accused of shooting protesters with automatic weapons and at least one sniper rifle. One doctor told CNN she had treated 13 people she believes were targeted by professional snipers, on the grounds that the shots directly targeted victims’ hearts, brains and necks.

“We unequivocally affirm that responsibility for the current escalation rests solely on the government – personally Viktor Yanukovych and his ‘hawkish’ command,” the rectorate of Ukrainian Catholic University declared in a Feb. 19 statement.

“Every case of escalation, each more striking in its complete absurdity, slashes our hopes for a peaceful and wise solution to the crisis and brings us closer to a humanitarian catastrophe.”

“May the merciful Lord fill us all with hope and courage to sacrificially serve Ukraine during these difficult trials!”
feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/aIolMUKkZWU

Full article…
 
Ukraine Announces Tentative Accord to End Crisis

KIEV, Ukraine — The government of President Viktor F. Yanukovych announced a tentative resolution on Friday to a crisis that has brought days of bloodshed to Ukraine. The agreement, which has yet to be signed, was announced after all-night talks with opposition leaders, Russian representatives and the foreign ministers of Germany, Poland and France.
In a statement later on his website, Mr. Yanukovych said he would call early presidential elections, form a coalition and reduce presidential powers through constitutional reforms.
Any deal that does not include the president’s departure, however, is unlikely to get very far with protesters and it was uncertain whether, in the event of a final deal, the protest movement’s political leadership could deliver the support of an angry base comprising many different groups and factions.

nytimes.com/2014/02/22/world/europe/ukraine.html?_r=0

Ukrainian president and protesters agree early election

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition protesters have agreed to an early presidential poll before the end of the year.
The election is part of a deal to end the country’s political crisis.
The deal has not been published, but Mr Yanukovych referred to a national unity government and constitutional changes reducing the president’s power.
The compromise came after hours of talks between mediated by three European foreign ministers.

…

Ukrainian broadcaster ICTV said it had seen a copy of the agreement, which included three main proposals:
  • The 2004 constitution will be restored within 48 hours, and a national unity government will be formed within 10 days
  • Constitutional reform balancing the powers of president, government and parliament will be started immediately and completed by September
  • A presidential election will be held after the new constitution is adopted but no later than December 2014
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26289318

This is pretty dramatic and looks like a “win” for the protesters and a defeat for Russia, Putin didn’t want early elections nor did he want the Ukraine to return to the 2004 constitution which didn’t give the president autocratic powers that the current one does.
 
Protesters wanted the president to resign, which has not happened (yet)

The deal also stipulates that illegal weapons should be handed over to the interior ministry within 24 hours of the new law - which will restore the 2004 constitution - coming into force (this may make the deal hard to survive)

The German Foreign Ministry has also posted the terms of the agreement, which say:
  • a law restoring the 2004 constitution will be passed within 48 hours
  • the formation of a coalition and national unity government will occur within 10 days
  • constitutional reform, balancing the power between the president, government and parliament, will begin now and be completed in September
  • Presidential elections will be held as soon as the constitution is adopted but no later than December 2014
  • an investigation into the recent acts of violence will be conducted by the authorities, opposition and Council of Europe
  • The authorities will not impose a state of emergency and both the opposition and authorities will refrain from use of violence
 
This was in my inbox this morning from the local Ukrainian Events Group. I probably will catch it on webcam or local TV, and wonder if this will have national exposure:

“FALLEN HEROES” SILENT PROTEST AT THE WHITE HOUSE:

WHAT: A silent protest will take place, staged with “fallen heroes” lying on the ground with Ukrainian flags draped over them.

Our question for the president is: How many more must die for freedom before you will act?

Please join us: - with Ukrainian flags (don’t forget to attach a black ribbon) - US flags (and flags of other nations you may represent) - with a mat or blanket to lie on (or for someone else to lie down) - and a flag to drape - with pictures of the heroes in the way that we wish to remember them: proud, courageous, hopeful. (and so not pictures of the violence).

Please wear black clothes as a sign of mourning for those who gave their lives for Ukraine’s freedom and democracy. This is a silent protest.

We will update you as plans, and events, evolve, and welcome your help.

WHEN: Sunday, February 23 2:00 - 4:00

WHERE: White House (Lafayette Park side) 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC

FOR MORE INFORMATION: If you have any questions, or wish to volunteer to help prepare, please write to the RAZOM team of Washington DC: ukrainians.in.usa@gmail.com

Additional details and further updates can be found on Facebook at: facebook.com/events/718465174852676/? ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

The RAZOM team will have (and suggest) signs in an update Friday evening in the Facebook event posting.
 
BillyT926 said:
If you’re defending Putin here, wow.
Russia has had her tentacles all over the east since the days of Pan-Slavism, and before. The Ukrainian people want independence. They want to go their own way, not to be dominated by Russia. They want to be a part of the western orbit. And Russia will not let that stand.
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Evidence please.

Russia is not the Soviet Union anymore. And a huge portion of the Ukraine’s population is simply Russian.

Last I checked the man who’s the boss in Ukraine now was our darling not too long ago. Now, suddenly, he’s a totalitarian monster.

And you’re correct about traditional Russian national ambitions. But then again American Manifest Destiny has had its consequences in South America, last I checked; and the concept of spheres of influence isn’t considered illegitimate. What happens in the Ukraine has consequences for Russia. You can’t alter the Ukrainian economy without affecting the Russian economy. There are religious, cultural and ethnic overlaps too.

Let’s not be naïve. If Russia were doing anything illicit to interfere at present in the Ukraine we would know about. Our news outlets aren’t afraid to launch the most ludicrous and baseless accusations against Putin. Any real evidence of wrong doing would be broadcasted to the Moon.
 
These are some of the key events in the escalating unrest:
  • 21 November 2013: Government announces EU Association Agreement is being abandoned, prompting major protests in Kiev
  • **30 November: **Police launch brutal raid on student protesters; TV images spur protests which grow during December
  • 17 December: Russian President Vladimir Putin offers economic lifeline to Ukraine, with $15bn of loans and cheaper gas supplies; protesters see it as Moscow buying off President Yanukovych
  • **16 January 2014: **Parliament passes anti-protest laws, which opponents call “draconian”; most of the laws later repealed
  • 19-20 January: Intense clashes
  • **22 January: **First protest deaths: two people die from gunshot wounds after clashes with police; body of an activist found in a forest days after his abduction
  • **23-24 January: **Protesters seize government buildings in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and other western Ukrainian cities; protests also spread east
  • **28 January: **Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his government resign
  • **14-16 February: **Under an amnesty deal, protesters vacate occupied government buildings, and charges against those arrested dropped
  • **18 February: **Parliament speaker rejects debate on changing constitution; violent clashes erupt in Kiev, leaving many dead
  • **20 February: **Independence Square and nearby streets become a battlefield. At least 77 people are killed in a 48-hour period, and hundreds wounded in clashes between protesters and police, including many shot by uniformed snipers
Ukraine crisis timeline
 
Russia’s strategy towards its traditional southern partner.
For Russia’s President Vladimir Putin international relations are first and foremost about competition, which is intensifying. His approach towards Ukraine reflects that basic philosophy.

The key themes were reiterated in his State of the Nation address to parliament last week. The principal competitors are “large geopolitical units”: the US, China and Europe - though the latter is still not a full-fledged strategic player.

In this context, Russia is one of very few major independent actors. To compete more successfully, Russia must expand its power base by creating an economic, political and military union in Eurasia.

Russia, according to Mr Putin, is not only a strategic unit, but also possesses a separate civilisation, which it shares with several other countries, such as Ukraine and Belarus. That civilisation is both Christian and European, but it is not a simple extension of Western Europe, or the European Union. Rather, it seeks to become the EU’s peer.

bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25401179

I would add that the Ukraine is vital for the maintenance of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
 
Catholic_Press said:
A bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said that anti-government protestors who killed by security forces are “martyrs,” according to a report from the Religious Information …

A bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said that anti-government protestors who were killed by security forces are “martyrs,” according to a report from the Religious Information Service of Ukraine.

“These are pure people, who have no evil intentions, who were ready to give everything they had today, so that we might live different lives,” said Bishop Borys Gudziak, the Ukrainian Catholic bishop of Paris. “Sacrifice and martyrdom bring fruit. This does not justify the actions of the government today, nor the behavior of the titushkos [hired thugs], our police or the Berkut [special forces unit].”

catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=20563
Click to expand...
The rioters were killing cops and kidnapping them. There were radical elements who infiltrated the protests and deliberately set about antagonizing and provoking the police - including targeting them. Cops are known to get just a little upset when you are killing and kidnapping their comrades.

One approved protest that set off the increase in violence was supposed to just march up to a certain building. It ended up instead marching on the building, violently taking it over and setting it on fire. You can be sure that action was not approved of or called for in the protest permit. There have been a few innocent deaths as a consequence of these attacks.

I cannot say this enough: if anything even remotely analogous to what is happening in the Ukraine was replicated in the streets of Washington, there would be thousands in prison. News that “protesters” were deliberately targeting police with sniper fire, killing them and even kidnapping cops would be met with fierce action and a restoration of lawful order even with the most brute force - and the U.S gov’t couldn’t and wouldn’t care less what anybody else thought about it, and would laugh to scorn accusations of violating human rights and the rest of it.

A riot is not a lawful activity and only the most naïve people actually think what happened in Kiev constitutes a “riot”. Riots are more spontaneous than this. There were radical militant elements that infiltrated the protesters and ensured that chaos and bloodshed resulted. They succeeded. We saw something similar attempted here in Toronto for the G8 not too long ago.
 
HansTrappist said:
The criminal, murderous unrest occurring in Ukraine has been directly fomented by the United States Government:
I think Paul Craig Roberts, in recent commentary, put this very grave crisis in the proper context:

"We are witnessing this today in western Ukraine where a mixture of witless university students, pawns in Washington’s drive for world hegemony, together with paid protesters and fascistic elements among ultra-nationalists are bringing great troubles upon Ukraine and perhaps a deadly war upon the world.

Many of the protesters are just the unemployed collecting easy money."
Removing the rabid harangue in the interest of getting to the bottom of propaganda, I find that “witless university students” (which do exist but hopefully in small numbers) are being used to paint graffiti on a picture of reality. This picture includes “paid protestors” and “just the unemployed collecting easy money”. These two statements leap off the canvas to reveal pure hogwash! The people we are seeing embroiled in a passionate struggle of protesting a government that is deceiving them are NOT to be dismissed as “witless, paid mercenaries, and unemployed collecting easy money”. Wow! Some people seem to get away with saying just about anything without being taken to task. I don’t view people who have their lives exposed to death against oppressors deserving of scorn. Not oppressors?
The power and might seems a bit lopsided which is usually the case when people have to defy a government. Sometimes the elected government is found to be “corrupt” and totally against what the people thought they had established. Protests are sure to follow and then history repeats. The fight is on; May God Bless the Good!:knight1::knight2::signofcross:
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