Ukrainian protesters set up catapult to fire at police

Sunday’s violent riots have raised the spirits of some Ukrainian protesters to the point they no longer feel besieged by the police – rather, they think of themselves as the besiegers. Makeshift weapons and “crusader” shields that were earlier used in clashes with the police have now been joined by a “real” siege engine.

RT's Ruptly crew filmed the catapult in action after it finally became operational.

The catapult was later destroyed by police, RT’s Alexey Yaroshevsky reported.


Puzzled protesters and journalists watched Monday as a group of masked people studied some plans, standing next to a pile of long wooden poles they had carried to a central Kiev area earlier.

It soon turned out the protesters were building a catapult – or, as some argued, a trebuchet.

The process sparked a Twitter storm, as excited users and onlookers waited for the catapult to deliver its first test shot. Some were celebrating the new protesters’ capability to “spew fire” and stones at the police. The metaphor appeared to be quite serious after Molotov cocktails were thrown directly at the police Sunday night.

Others appeared less fascinated by the anti-police weapon.

“What the hell is this catapult about? Have they watched too much Lord of the Rings?” one Twitter user wrote.

“Templars, catapults… Is Ukraine living in the 14th century?!” another one wondered.

Footage from the scene showed the catapult fully ready for launch.

However, the test firing proved to be something of a damp squib, with the projectile landing harmlessly some 10 meters away.

After hours of fixing, the catapult appeared to be working better, and protesters flocked around it to load and fire rocks.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry on Monday condemned the “commandants of Maidan” – the deputies from the opposition representing the protesters rallying in central Independence Square – for providing rioters with “dangerous cold steel arms.”

The opposition deputies are handing aggressive protesters “two meter-long wooden sticks with sharp metal tips,” the ministry said. The improvised weapons are going to be used to harm law enforcement officers, it said.

The MPs are abusing their immunity for forming illegal armed units and inciting mass disorder, the ministry said.


Ukrainian activists use a catapult during clashes between police and protesters in central Kiev on January 20, 2014.(AFP Photo / Vasily Maximov)

While thousands of Ukrainians on Sunday peacefully rallied on Maidan to protest the recently passed legislation they consider undemocratic, heavy-handed and aimed at persecuting the opposition, hundreds of radical protesters pelted police cordons with stones and petrol bombs. The riots resulted in dozens of policemen suffering injuries and several burnt out police buses, but the much-anticipated forceful dispersal of protest rally did not ensue.

Reports from Maidan said the protesters have been divided over the role of the aggressive radicals in protests, some arguing they are necessary to bring down the government of the President Viktor Yanukovich, and others saying such riots only undermine the movement that started last year in protest of Yanukovich’s refusal to sign the EU association agreement.

The police opted for tear gas and stun grenades to contain the rioting crowd, which the Ridus website estimated at around 2,000 people.

http://rt.com/news/ukraine-catapult-protesters-arming-903/

Thailand: A Tale of Two Protests: Ukraine and Thailand – Part III. 21.1.14


January 20, 2014 (ATN) – When last looking at these two protests, one in Eastern Europe’s Ukraine, and another in Southeast Asia’s Thailand, it was concluded that:

It is more than mere fascist ideology that attracts the West to Svoboda in Ukraine and the regime of Thaksin Shinawatra in Thailand – it is each group’s willingness to make vast economic, social, and political concessions to the corporate-financier interests of the West in exchange for political power built upon foreign-funding, favorable news coverage in the Western press, and “appearances” by figures like John McCain to lend them legitimacy and drive they themselves lack. The forces opposed to them may not be perfect, but by comparison, and for the sake of both Ukraine and Thailand’s future and the many otherwise unprotected minorities that reside there, they are the best alternatives.

Since then, in Ukraine, protests have stalled with a violent clash this week the result of what the Western media is calling “frustration.” Ukrainian police once again responded with restraint.

In Thailand, the US-backed, unelected dictator Thaksin Shinawatra and his nepotist-appointed proxy regime have turned to a campaign of terror to fend off growing dissent in the streets of Bangkok. Protesters began their “Occupy Bangkok” campaign exactly one week ago, Monday January 13, 2014 – and have been attacked daily/nightly by gunfire and grenades. There have been scores of injuries and one death.

Just one day before the first deadly grenade attack, the regime’s “red shirt” enforcers announced they were stockpiling weapons in Bangkok and preparing for terror campaigns aimed at protesters – shedding any possible doubt as to who is behind the terror campaign. Additionally, the regime is seeking to impose emergency law across the city, using its own terror campaign as a pretext. Emergency law would make ongoing protests, and any gathering for that matter, illegal and open the door to more overt and extreme measures.

However, the West has instead only further hardened its stance on both. It still adamantly backs pro-EU protesters in Kiev, while it has increasingly and more openly condemned ongoing protests in Thailand and lending support instead to the embattled regime. The Washington Post’s editorial board serves as a telling barometer regarding both protests and the West’s stance on both.

In its piece on Ukraine titled, “Ukraine’s move toward Russia will only hurt the country,” it argued:

Western diplomats should continue to support the Ukrainian opposition and warn Mr. Yanu*kovych against repression while counseling the protesters to seek the government’s ouster by democratic means. There’s still a chance that Mr. Yanukovych could be pressured into calling a parliamentary election. Though he may try to rig the presidential vote in his favor, concerted Western pressure could still bring about a fair competition.

Mr. Putin’s bid for Ukraine is a zero-sum game borrowed from another century. The West should have a strategy that looks past thuggish Russian and Ukrainian rulers and invests in Ukraine’s future — which can be found in Kiev’s streets.

In direct contrast, the same editorial board would declare in its piece, “Thailand’s anti-democracy protests should provoke a harsh rebuke from the U.S.,” that:

Popular demonstrations against democracy are becoming an unfortunate trend in developing countries where elections have challenged long-established elites. The latest case is Thailand, where thousands of people took to the streets Monday to demand that the country’s freely chosen government step down, that an unelected council take its place and that elections scheduled for next month be canceled. The protesters’ strategy appears to be to disrupt Bangkok to the point at which the government will feel compelled to resign or be removed by the military.

Similar tactics have succeeded in bringing down two previous governments led by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his supporters since 2006, while a third was forced out by a dubious court decision. This time, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Mr. Thaksin’s sister, is standing firm, as she should. But she could use more support from the United States in rejecting an undemocratic outcome to the crisis.


The Washington Post would go on to refer to the protesters as “street mobs” and ” anti-democracy militants,” despite the regime being the only one deploying armed violence throughout the conflict. US Congressman Michael Turner (R-OH) would cite the editorial in a letter to US President Barack Obama imploring him to condemn the protesters and lend public support to the embattled regime.

It has been covered many times before, as well as reported in the New York Times, that the claim of Thailand’s regime being “freely chosen” is a lie, and that it is openly run by accused mass murderer, convicted criminal and fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra, both by the ruling party’s own admission and Thaksin’s himself. Thaksin was neither on the ballot in the last election, nor even in the country – and most certainly wasn’t and still isn’t eligible to run for office, let alone dictate policy – yet this is precisely what he is doing and plans to continue doing if and when sham elections are held as planned on February 2, 2014.

As the two protests continue in both Ukraine and Thailand, the hypocrisy of the West will only grow more acute and pronounced. The common denominator of this hypocrisy – with the West backing Neo-Nazi hooligans in the streets of Kiev while backing an illegitimate proxy regime run by a convicted criminal, wielding terrorism against its own population in the streets of Bangkok – is the willing capitulation to Western interests made by both Ukrainian opposition parties and Thaksin Shianwatra.

Also see:

A Tale of Two Protests: Ukraine and Thailand – Part I
A Tale of Two Protests: Ukraine and Thailand – Part II


http://planet.infowars.com/activism/thailand-a-tale-of-two-protests-ukraine-and-thailand-part-iii-21-1-14

The opposition leaders initially condemned attacks by protesters on riot police when they began on Sunday night, saying they were carried out by "provocateurs". But as the mood has become more radical, they have come under pressure to take a more decisive stance.

http://www.thebellforum.com/showthread.php?t=110282

Whatever so-called 'progressives'(for austerity!) there were in the anti-government ranks have been subsumed by the nazis, which probably suits them just fine. Let the nazis take the blame for any ugliness and then call them provocateurs and the tools of the West can pose as 'moderates'.

Time to quit pussy-footing with these assholes.

Time to quit pussy-footing with these assholes.

Completely agree.

This from the Washington Post - war mongering as always.


The West must break Ukraine free from Mr. Putin’s grasp

I only quoted the title, I couldn't cut and paste anything else. But if you can stomach reading this awful editorial, the article is "the kettle calling the pot black". The very laws the editorial blasts the Ukrainian government for, are exactly identical with the laws the US has in place to deal with exactly the same issues. The "no helmet and no masks" laws, the "no tents in public spaces", etc. - the US cops acted toward Occupy exactly the same way the Ukrainian cops have acted toward these neo-Nazis/western tools.

Anyway, here's the article,..

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-west-must-break-ukraine-free-from-mr-putins-grasp/2014/01/21/400a30aa-82c8-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html

Ukraine crisis: a 'geostrategic game' of the West, most notably US - expert

http://cdn.ruvr.ru/2014/01/23/1175646404/31.01.14_grushevskogo_54.JPG
A huge crowd of demonstrators has surrounded the US embassy in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, protesting against Washington’s meddling in the country’s internal affairs. That’s according to local media reports. The event was organized by Kievans for Clean City, a new pro-government activist group which opposes violence in downtown Kiev. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that the situation in Ukraine was getting out of control, calling for dialogue between all the parties. Marcus Papadopoulos, Publisher/Editor of Politics First and Russia First magazinesб talked with the Voice of Russia about the evolving crisis in Ukraine.

Marcus, you claim that the Ukrainian protests are nothing more than a provocation on the part of the European Union and the United States. Why? Do you have any sufficient evidence proving your allegations?

I certainly do. I believe that what we are seeing in Ukraine is not what Western media and Western politicians are portraying it is – a matter of freedom versus tyranny. That’s absolute nonsense. If Ukraine was a tyranny, there wouldn’t be protesters out in the streets in the first place. It is quite simple. What we are seeing in Ukraine is an attempt by the opposition forces, which are in fact taking their orders, being encouraged by certain Western countries (most notably the US), to bring down a democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych and install a pro-Western government, which would in their ambitions allow Ukraine to join NATO and then the EU.

And that is what the reality of the situation is. It is a geostrategic game that the West is playing. And the game is this – in the last 20 years, ever since the Soviet Union collapsed Washington has been attempting to place what I call a sanitary cordon around Russia on its western borders. Now, all your listeners need to do is take a map of Europe and they will see that on Russia’s western borders it is pretty much surrounded by countries which are in NATO and which are in the EU. For example, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Romania.

And this goal of America, it goes back to a doctrine known as the Pentagon’s Defense Planning Guidance of 1992 or more commonly known as the Wolfowitz Doctrine, known after Paul Wolfowitz – its architect. And it basically stated that Russia is the only country in the world that is capable of challenging American global dominance and, therefore, steps must be taken to limit Russia’s influence in the world. And the steps which need to be taken focus on bringing those countries that used to be part of the Eastern Bloc and that used to be part of the Soviet Union, on bringing them into fold of the West.

And also, a very prominent American writer Zbigniew Brzezinski, who used to be the National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter…

And he is still in place. I have to interrupt you there, but I know, Zbigniew Brzezinski is a very interesting character, by the way. And frankly, I totally agree with everything you said.

He wrote a book some years ago saying that Russia without close relations to Ukraine would cease to be a global player and, therefore, Ukraine should be brought into NATO. And Brzezinski is a very influential person in the American corridors of power.

Absolutely! And it seems that what you are saying kind of fits the idea of a strategic surrounding of certain power points around Russia. And, of course, as we saw with Georgia, as we’ve seen with Poland etc, it seems like the ex-Slavic or CIS states are being pressured into submission for the sort of the strategic game.

Yes, absolutely!

What is the final aim of the masterminds behind the protests in Ukraine and behind this sort of a plan going back to Zbigniew?

You know, we can cite other countries. We can cite Syria and the American interference there. I mean, it is no coincidence that in Syria the enemy, as America tells the world, is the Syrian Government. And it is no coincidence that the Syrian Government pursues an independent foreign policy has historically close relations with Russia and won’t go down to Western pressure. And it should also be stated that America and the rest of the West, if it is really committed to democracy, freedom, the rule of law, then does it have such a close relationship to Saudi Arabia – a thoroughly wicked, vile regime.

But, going back to Ukraine, the objective is to bring down the democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych and replace it with a government which will be leant towards the West and which will try and end all the economic relations with Russia, and join NATO and the EU. That’s the objective. And let’s not forget, we’ve had senior Western politicians, like the EU official Catherine Ashton, Senator John McCain, the German Foreign Minister flying to Kiev late last year, flying into a country, which is an independent sovereign country, joining the violent protesters in calling for the overthrow of a democratically elected government.

How on earth can these people – the John McCains of this world, the Catherine Ashtons of this world – talk about respecting a country’s independence when they go to an independent sovereign country and call for the overthrow of its government? How would they feel if, how would John McCain feel if a foreign politician came to Washington and joined a protest there against the American government, and called for new elections in America and the overthrow of the American President? It is an intolerable situation.

Very well said, Marcus. And we could see with things like the book of John Perkins, that we’ve mentioned before, here on the show in the previous months, the Economic Hitman how the US had a sort of similar staging-coup-influence in the Latin countries of Bolivia and Peru etc. with Jaime Roldós and, you know. So, this is a very interesting point you are making here that a sort of a similar power is at play here in Ukraine.

So, then, what the Ukrainian opposition really is? Would it be certain intelligence agencies working behind the scenes? Or what role does it play in the protests? And can we say that the leaders of the opposition in Ukraine are just puppets dancing to someone’s tune?

I don’t think we should regard the opposition in Ukraine as a unified force. I would certainly not sit here and say that all the protesters in Kiev are violent. That would be wrong. Some of them are peaceful. And they have absolutely every right to express their dissatisfaction with the economic course of the Ukrainian government.

But there are many other groups which make up the opposition, which are thoroughly repugnant people. Many of them are nationalist or ultranationalist groups which hold anti-Semitic views, which praise those Ukrainians that collaborated with the Nazis during the Nazi occupation of the Soviet Union. People like Stepan Bandera, organizations like the Organization for Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgents Army – all three – Bandera and those two organizations I cited just now – they are named by the historians of the holocaust to have participated in the killing of Soviet Jews.

And that is something the Western media is not highlighting. And they are not highlighting it for a reason – because it damages the course of Western governments.


Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_01_23/Ukraine-crisis-a-geostrategic-game-of-the-West-most-notably-US-expert-4662/

Police officer killed, two others captured as violence resumes in Kiev

Radical protesters attacked and held three police officers inside the occupied city council building amid clashes near Independence Square. One of the officers received a stab wound, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry reported.

The injured policeman was released and hospitalized. The condition of the other two officers is unknown at this time.

The opposition has denied the ministry's report that police officers were attacked by protesters.

In a separate incident, a police officer was shot dead in Kiev on Friday night. Witnesses heard the shots and saw two people running away from the scene, Unian news agency reported. The victim lived near the Berkut living quarters.

Meanwhile an explosion went off near the police station in Cherkassy, central Ukraine. Seven windows were reportedly broken, according to Espresso.tv. There are no injuries reported.

RT’s Peter Oliver described the situation in central Kiev: “We saw many, many Molotov cocktails being thrown by the rioters, also fireworks, as well as any bits of stones, about the size of a fist if not bigger. We also saw homemade sling-shots being used on those rocks being thrown at police.”

“The wall of flame is separating the rioters and police,” he said. “There is no sign of any kind of truce, no sign of any kind of listening to calls for calm.”

Oliver said that rioters are chanting: “Glory to Ukraine, glory to heroes. Glory to the nation and death to our enemy.”

Police are responding to attacks with rubber bullets and flash grenades.

Rioters have started at least 10 new fires on Grushevskogo Street, with protesters actively adding more car tires and fuel to the flames, Unian news agency reported.

Police forces have lined up directly across from the rioters, keeping calm and periodically lighting up the area with powerful floodlights.

There are currently about 1,500 people present on Grushevskogo Street, including both rioters and police officers, according to Unian. Two ambulances have arrived at the site of the clashes.

RT's Alexey Yaroskevsky reported that people on the streets are facing severe weather, with temperatures expected to drop to -30 Celcius overnight.

In the meantime, the opposition said the civil crisis in Ukraine will be very difficult to solve without western intermediaries.

“We have a social crisis in our country, not a political one. And we discussed ways out of that crisis with our European partners. I can clearly state that it will be very difficult to find a way out of this crisis without our western partners,” Batkivshchyna opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk said after a meeting with the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Stefan Fule.

Some experts believe protesters are trying to force the issue.

“This is a typical extortion tactic. The whole point is to force the government to react, to force Berkut and other police forces to confront the protesters and then scream: ‘Bloody murder, oh my god, they are killing us, they are oppressing us, please help, foreign intervention,’” Ukrainian affairs analyst Nebojsa Malic told RT. “It is a very basic tactic from the rebellion playbook, as was articulated in Serbia 15 years ago and being implemented throughout the world in Georgia and elsewhere, even in Ukraine 2004 of all things.”

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry once again confirmed Washington’s support for Ukrainian protesters during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Kerry said the US is working with its allies and top Ukrainian officials to end the violence.

“We are working with our partners to press the government of Ukraine to forego violence, to address the concerns of peaceful protesters, to foster dialogue, promote the freedom of assembly and expression,” he said.

Kerry added that he received a text message shortly before beginning his speech from US diplomats in Kiev, who are negotiating with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych “to try to achieve calm and help move in this direction in the next days.”

Earlier on Friday, Yanukovich promised a government reshuffle and amendments to the anti-protest laws that triggered the violent clashes in Kiev.

"We will make a decision at this session [on January 28]. I will sign a decree and we will reshuffle the government in order to find the best possible professional government team," Yanukovich said on Friday, as quoted by his press service.

In return for rioters leaving Grushevskogo Street - the epicenter of the unrest - Yanukovich on Thursday offered the release of those detained during the riots and mitigated penalties for protesters arrested in clashes.

On Friday, he confirmed his readiness to pardon all protesters involved in the riots, as long as they have not committed grave offenses.

A total of more than 100 people were detained following mass riots in the city, Kiev authorities stated on Thursday. Hundreds have sustained injuries. Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said about 256 police officers have been wounded, 100 of them hospitalized.

Meanwhile, riots have been spreading to other cities, mostly in western Ukraine, with protesters seizing local administration buildings and demanding governors’ resignations.

Demonstrators seized the governors’ offices in the cities of Lvov, Ternopil, and Rivne, and administration buildings in Uzhgorod, Lutsk, Khmelnitsky, Zhitomir, and Sumy.

http://rt.com/news/kiev-rioters-chaos-police-167/

“We have a social crisis in our country, not a political one. And we discussed ways out of that crisis with our European partners. I can clearly state that it will be very difficult to find a way out of this crisis without our western partners,” Batkivshchyna opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk said after a meeting with the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Stefan Fule.

Some experts believe protesters are trying to force the issue.

“This is a typical extortion tactic. The whole point is to force the government to react, to force Berkut and other police forces to confront the protesters and then scream: ‘Bloody murder, oh my god, they are killing us, they are oppressing us, please help, foreign intervention,’” Ukrainian affairs analyst Nebojsa Malic told RT. “It is a very basic tactic from the rebellion playbook, as was articulated in Serbia 15 years ago and being implemented throughout the world in Georgia and elsewhere, even in Ukraine 2004 of all things.”

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry once again confirmed Washington’s support for Ukrainian protesters during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Kerry said the US is working with its allies and top Ukrainian officials to end the violence.

The "West" (read USA) is playing with fire here. 1914 wasn't this volatile. And how about that EU ministry, the Commission for Enlargement? How Orwellian can you get? I wonder if this commission is made up of Germans?

'Ukrainian opposition doesn’t control crowds'

Ukrainian opposition aren’t asking for concessions, rather demanding the government’s complete capitulation, says political blogger Alexander Mercouris. The main problem is that the opposition leaders are not in control of the protesters.

RT: Ukraine’s opposition says it wants more concessions form the government. Do you think they will to get those concessions?

Alexander Mercouris: One does not know at this point. What they are basically demanding are not concessions, they’re demanding the government’s complete capitulation. They want the president to resign, they want new elections, they want new parliamentary elections and they want power transferred to themselves. Whether Mr. Yanukovich is prepared to grant or agree to those things remains to be seen. A few days ago, I would have said now, but then I did not expect for him to offer Mr. Yatsenyuk and Mr. Klitschko posts in his government. At the moment the position of the government is that they will not agree to elections.

RT: The opposition and government agreed to clear the street of Kiev last night, but there were still protesters there. How in control do you think oppositions’ leaders are?

AM: They are not in control. If we can go back to what happened last Sunday - the violence began when the opposition leaders spoke at Maidan Square, made an extremely disappointing impression on the crowds and the crowds then shifted and attempted to go down Grushevskogo Street towards the parliament and the government buildings. Mr. Klitschko tried to restrain them, to stop the violence that was going on and he got squirted by a fire extinguisher. He doesn’t control the crowds.

And this is a problem because he goes to negotiate, agrees to things with the government, the moment he gets back to Maidan [Independence] Square, those agreements are simply torn up because the protesters who are on the street are not responding to him.

RT: Meanwhile the EU has been stepping up its pressure on Ukrainian government. There is a statement from the head of the European Parliament Martin Shultz - he is urging sanctions. How close is Brussels to acting on these threats?

AM: I don’t think it is as close as it makes out. There are divisions within the European Union itself. There are some hardliners like Mr. Shultz, but I am not convinced that everybody in the EU agrees with this.

RT: It looks like the government is trying hard to appease the opposition. Do you think its efforts will have any impact on the EU vision of the conflict?

AM: I don't think it does. The hardliners with the EU have long ago made up their minds, which is that they support the opposition and they oppose the government. And they are just not interested in who is actually driving these protests on the streets or where the violence is coming from. As far as they are concerned it is the government that is to blame.

http://rt.com/op-edge/ukrainian-opposition-no-control-228/

Ukrainian parliament repeals controversial anti-protest laws

Nine out of 12 anti-protest laws passed on January 16 have been canceled during the special session of the Ukrainian Parliament. It was one of the main demands of the opposition.

The cancelation of the laws has been approved by 361 MPs, while 226 were needed to get it passed.

The laws, banning unsanctioned gatherings and imposing multiple restrictions on mass demonstrations, have been harshly criticized by the opposition.

Among things that were illegal according to the repealed bills were protesters’ wearing of masks or helmets, and erecting tents or stages without permission from the authorities.

When passed, the laws provoked a mass demonstration with at least 10,000 participants out in the streets of Kiev. The protest eventually ended in violent clashes with police.

The announcement of the voting results was welcomed by applause.

The leader of the ruling Party of Regions, Aleksandr Efremov, has described the repeal of the law as a positive development.

“There are no winners or losers here,” he said, referring to the authorities and the opposition. “Society on the whole has won,” he added

The parliament is also planning later in the day to vote on a bill granting amnesty to the participants of the mass protests, according to Verkhovna Rada Speaker Vladimir Rybak, cited by RIA Novosti. The government and the opposition have recently agreed that the Rada would announce an amnesty if administration buildings and roads were unblocked.

Another big issue on the agenda is creating a special commission to amend the constitution. The opposition has repeatedly demanded constitutional reform, which would see a parliamentary form of government introduced in Ukraine.


Protests in Ukraine started in November 2013, when the government put integration with the EU on hold. Mass demonstrations have since then on multiple occasions turned into violent clashes between the opposition and the rally participants.

The opposition has demanded the government resign and the process of the integration with Europe be resumed. In an attempt to resolve the crisis President Viktor Yanukovich offered Batkivshina (Fatherland) opposition party leader Arseny Yatsenyuk the chance to head the Ukrainian government and UDAR party leader Vitaly Klitschko to become deputy prime minister for humanitarian affairs. Both rejected the proposals.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov submitted his resignation to the President on January 28, explaining the move as an attempt to peacefully resolve the political crisis in the country.

Repealed laws were milder than those in EU, US

The EU and the US have been voicing concerns over what they see as a harsh response to the rallies and sweeping anti-protest laws (which were repealed on Tuesday). This is despite draconian measures taken against demonstrators on their own turf.


The Ukrainian laws presupposed punishment of up to five years in prison to people who blockade public buildings, and possible arrests of protesters who wear masks or helmets.

Other provisions introduced the term ‘foreign agent’ to be applied to NGOs that receive foreign funds, and made dissemination of slander on the Internet punishable by a year of corrective labor.

Following the passing of laws, Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief, said that she was "deeply concerned'' by the legislation and urged Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich to revise it.

In a statement released late on Thursday, the US State Department called the laws "undemocratic" and said they contradict Ukraine's aspiration to a European future, AP reported.

However, laws against protests and other public gatherings are far from mild in Europe and in the US.

For instance, extremism in Germany is punishable by five years’ imprisonment. Italy sentences those guilty to three years behind bars. Ukraine only issues a fine of $400-$1600 for manufacturing and distribution of extremist material, and its public demonstration in media or during rallies.

Ukraine also only detains those violating public order for 10 to 15 days – compared with Greece or France, with up to 10 or 15 years respectively.

Failure to obey the police’s demands is punished in Ukraine with a fine, while in the US the same charge may land one behind bars for life. Some European laws are quite harsh, too: five years in prison for Germans, three for Greeks.

There are charges which would see one get the same punishment in Ukraine as in Europe: for example, blocking public transport and enterprise is punished with a two-year imprisonment both in Ukraine and in Greece. Germany isn’t very far from them, with three years’ jail.

Further on come anti-mask laws which are widespread across the globe after the mid-20th century’s legislation banning the Ku Klux Klan.

In the US, controversy over the anti-mask laws during the Occupy protests led to suggestions that the long-standing legislations may be even unconstitutional.

Wearing a mask is considered illegal in Denmark, Germany (up to one year in prison), Spain (a fine of up to 30,000 euro) and France.

http://rt.com/news/ukraine-parliament-protest-law-289/

This from the comments:


And so begins the end of the current goverment. Klitschko will lead Ukraine into modern day slavery. 2% of people managed to destroy countries future. Now you know whom to thank one day. Keep this in mind forever.

This will no doubt encourage nazis everywhere, whether that is warranted or not.

‘Ukrainian opposition is morally and politically bankrupt’


The Ukrainian opposition's aim is to take over the government, but after that they have no idea what to do and their effort will lead to failure, Nebosja Malic from the R. Archibald Reiss Institute for Serbian Studies told RT.

RT: The opposition wants everyone freed unconditionally. Why should rioters who injured or even killed policemen be released, when these actions typically land you in prison for decades? Is it realistic?

Nebosja Malic: The opposition keeps moving the goal posts. Obviously they want the government to unconditionally surrender on all of their demands whatever those demands might be. Today they are requesting one thing, two days before they were demanding something else and the week before something else altogether. If they are given this by the parliament they will demand even more.

They’ve made it obvious that only unconditional surrender will do. Releasing these people would send a dangerous message to everybody in Ukraine that you can get away with murder literally if you happen to lend in power. And you get there by blackmailing the government, by occupying the town squares, by resorting to violence. This is not going to end well if these demands are appeased. Appeasement usually doesn’t end well anyway.

RT: President Yanukovich has shown he's willing to negotiate and compromise. Why isn't the opposition making similar efforts to try and end the violence?

NM: They are like a dog chasing cars. They have no idea what to do when they catch it. Their whole gambit is to take over the government. Short of taking over the government their effort will be a failure. They need to capture the government to be successful. So this is the marching orders they were given by people financing them. Anything short of dismantling the government and hanging it over to them would be a failure; this is why they just cannot compromise even if they wanted to.

The offer to Yatsenyuk to take over the prime ministership the other day, I thought at first it was just a sign of weakness, but it might be a brilliant gambit to expose the bankruptcy of the opposition because here take exactly what you demand and see what the response is. If the response is “no – we want even more.” So they have declared themselves completely morally and politically bankrupt and yet the government tries to appease them, which is further definite sign of weakness.

RT: The EU Commission chief said he wants to see a political solution in Ukraine, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the same in a phone call with the opposition. Do you think the West will try to push the opposition towards dialogue now?

NM: I sincerely doubt it. The European Union wants to see a client regime in Kiev. I think they want to see a government that would obey them in every respect like what they have in Serbia currently. I think that’s the ultimate goal and if opposition coalition is willing enable to get into power using any means necessarily and making any demands it sees fit, and the government is weak enough to let them, then I don’t see why the European Union would essentially stop them. They want this to happen, they want these people to take over the government.

RT: The EU and the US have hailed Viktor Yanukovich's concessions as a sign of progress. Why are they basically praising the president's efforts all of a sudden?

NM: Because he is capitulating. I think the perception is “OK, we will praise you when you surrender, we will criticize you when you fight, so sooner or later you’ll be conditioned to surrender on demand.” I think they’ll be happiest with Yanukovich if he resigns tomorrow and hands Ukraine over to Klitschko, Yatsenyuk and Tyagnibok, which if they will then run things into the ground is completely immaterial to these foreign backers.

I don’t think trying to appease the protesters and trying to get into good graces of the EU and the US by essentially self-destructing the country is a good strategy for any politician, but I would really like to point to Serbia as an example of what not to do, for everybody in the world, including Ukraine.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

http://rt.com/op-edge/ukraine-opposition-politically-bankrupt-459/

The crazy old fuck is at it again, moments of lucidity randomly emerging from the dunghill of his mind, like flies.



Will Mobocracy Triumph in Ukraine?

by Patrick J. Buchanan, February 04, 2014
Despite our endless blather about democracy, we Americans seem to be able to put our devotion to democratic principles on the shelf, when they get in the way of our New World Order.

In 2012, in the presidential election in Egypt, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won in a landslide. President Obama hailed the outcome.

One year later, the Egyptian army ousted and arrested Morsi and gunned down a thousand members of his brotherhood. The coup was countenanced by John Kerry who explained that the Egyptian army was “restoring democracy.”

Comes now the turn of Ukraine.

In 2010, Viktor Yanukovych, in what neutral observers called a free and fair election, was chosen president. His term ends in 2015.

Yet since November, protesters have occupied Maidan Square in Kiev, battling police, and howling for Yanukovych’s resignation. The United States appears now to be collaborating with Europe in bringing about the neutering or overthrow of that democratically elected government.

Military coups, a la Cairo, and mob uprisings, at la Kiev – are these now legitimate weapons in the arsenal of democracy.

What did Yanukovych do to deserve ouster by the street? He chose Russia over Europe.

In the competition between Vladimir Putin and the European Union over whose economic association to join, Yanukovych was betrothed to the EU. But after an offer of $15 billion from Putin, and a cut in fuel prices to his country, Yanukovych jilted the EU and ran off with Russia.

Yanukovych felt he could not turn down Putin’s offer.

Western Ukraine, which favors the EU, was enraged. So out came the protesters to bring down the president. And into Kiev flew John McCain to declare our solidarity with the demonstrators.

Kerry has now joined McCain in meddling in this matter that is none of America’s business, declaring in Munich that, “Nowhere is the fight for a democratic European future more important than today in Ukraine.”

We “stand with the people of Ukraine,” said Kerry.

But which people? The Ukrainians who elected Yanukovych and still support him or the crowds in Maidan Square that want him out and will not vacate their fortified encampments until he goes?

Kerry is putting us on the side of mobs that want to bring down the president, force elections, and take power. Yet, Americans would never sit still should similar elements, with similar objectives, occupy our capital.

Reportedly, we are now colluding with the Europeans to cobble together an aid package, should Yanukovych surrender, cut the knot with Russia, and sign on with the EU.

But if Putin’s offer of $15 billion was a bribe, what else is this?

While he rules a divided nation, Yanukovych has hardly been a tyrant. As the crowds grew violent, he dismissed his government, offered the prime ministry to a leader of the opposition, repealed the laws lately passed to crack down on demonstrations, and took sick for four days.

But the street crowds, sensing he is breaking and smelling victory, are pressing ahead. There have now been several deaths among the protesters and police.

Putin is incensed, but inhibited by the need to keep a friendly face for the Sochi Olympics. Yet he makes a valid point.

How would Europeans have reacted if, in the bailout crisis, he, Putin, had flown to Athens and goaded rioters demanding that Greece default and pull out of the eurozone?

How would the EU react if Putin were to hail the United Kingdom Independence Party, which wants out of the EU, or the Scottish National Party, which wants to secede from Great Britain?

Ukraine was briefly independent at the end of World War I, and has been again since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Still the religious, ethnic, cultural and historic ties between Russia and Ukraine are centuries deep.

Eight million Ukrainians are ethnic Russians. In east Ukraine and the Crimea, the majority speak Russian and cherish these ties. Western Ukraine looks to Europe. Indeed, parts belonged to the Habsburg Empire.

Pushed too far and pressed too hard, Ukraine could disintegrate.

Security police who have questioned jailed rioters seem to believe we Americans are behind what is going on. And given the National Endowment for Democracy’s clandestine role in the color-coded revolutions of a decade ago in Central and Eastern Europe, that suspicion is not unwarranted.

Nor is Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov entirely wrong when he says, “a choice is being imposed” on Ukraine, and European politicians are fomenting protests and riots “by people who seize and hold government buildings, attack the police and use racist and anti-Semitic and Nazi slogans.”

If, as a result of street mobs paralyzing a capital, a democratically elected Ukrainian government falls, we could not only have an enraged and revanchist Russia on our hands, but a second Cold War.

And we will have set a precedent that could come to haunt Europe, as the rising and proliferating parties of the populist right, that wish to bring down the European Union, learn by our example.

http://original.antiwar.com/buchanan/2014/02/03/will-mobocracy-triumph-in-ukraine/

bolding added

This from the comments:


Pat writes:
"Kerry has now joined McCain in meddling in this matter that is none of America’s business ....."
None of America's business. I wish I could hear that phrase used just once by a progressive. That is not to be. For they are the missionaries of this 21st Century American Empire, and they think that their view of democracy, human rights etc. is what the world needs. They no less than the neocons embody the hubris of Empire.

Recording Allegedly Has US Diplomat Saying ‘Fuck the EU’, Meddling In Ukraine Politics

The Kiev Post reports on an alleged conversation between U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. Nuland is quoted as saying “Fuck the Eu” on the recording.

The voices have yet to be comprehensively and independently verified.

The woman, who sounds like Nuland, can be heard on the recording saying “fuck the EU,” while the man, who sounds like Pyatt, refers to Vitali Klitschko as the “top dog” among opposition leaders but implies that Klitschko is too inexperienced to hold a top government post…

The leaked phone call appears to have been made following President Viktor Yanukovych’s Jan. 25 offer to opposition leader Arseniy Yatseniuk to be prime minister and Klitschko to be deputy prime minister, offers both men refused. Mykola Azarov resigned as prime minister on Jan. 28.

Nuland and Pyatt allegedly discuss who they want to promote and prevent from entering the Ukrainian government, which if true would provide further evidence of the US government meddling in Ukrainian internal affairs. Nuland later states that she wants to bypass the EU and work with the United Nations to pursue America’s interest.

She later tells Pyatt that she will involve Vice President Biden in the strategy.

The phone call ends with Nuland saying she can get U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden to make a phone call, presumably to Yanukovych “for an at-ta-boy and to get the deeds to stick.” Biden has talked to Yanukovych by telephone at least four times in the last month.

Civil conflict in the Ukraine has reached the point of violence as protesters and government forces have clashed on the streets. The cause of the strife appears to be disagreement over whether Ukraine should be closer to Europe or Russia – a situation that may lead to a splitting of the multi-ethnic country.

http://news.firedoglake.com/2014/02/06/recording-allegedly-has-us-diplomat-saying-fuck-eu-meddling-in-ukraine-politics/

HEADLINES! Western Media Hyperbolic!



LIVE: THE POLICE ATTACK KIEV PROTESTERS — AND THE IMAGES ARE INSANE


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/protestors-in-ukraine-fight-a-crackdown-2014-2#ixzz2thynrawY


AP PHOTOS: Violent clashes escalate in Ukraine

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/world/article/AP-PHOTOS-Violent-clashes-escalate-in-Ukraine-5245283.php


Violence resumes in Kiev

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/violence-resumes-in-kiev/


Riot police move in against Kiev protest camp

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/feb/18/protesters-clash-with-police-in-ukraines-capital/

The nazi-symps are beside themselves. How soon before they call for NATO reinforcements?

Past time. Ukraine security forces have shown far more restraint than would be displayed by any NATO member.

The nazi-symps are beside themselves. How soon before they call for NATO reinforcements?

Past time. Ukraine security forces have shown far more restraint than would be displayed by any NATO member.

I heard this morning that ol' Joe Biden called the Ukraine prez and urged him to negotiate with the neo-nazi protesters. When has the US government ever negotiated with protesters who had become violent? Who had killed cops? If these events were taking place in a major US city, the National Guard would be shooting down people on the streets with live rounds and real grenades. Tanks would be on the corners and the jails would be full. The two-faced hypocrisy is just jolting. Even when they do it all the time, it is still breathtaking.

Ukraine bloodshed: Kiev death toll jumps to 67

Ukraine At least 67 people have been killed in violent riots in Kiev, the Ukrainian Health Department has stated. Doctors working on Kiev’s Independence Square, however, claim that as many as 70 people were killed on the rioters’ side alone on Thursday.

The death toll in the most violent wave of clashes between the rioters and the police in Kiev is likely to increase, as there are conflicting figures coming from the Health Department, city officials and the opposition.

As many as 550 people have been injured, according to official estimates.

The surge in the number of victims comes as both armed rioters and the police are now using live ammunition in clashes. Many of the protesters and police officers killed or injured since Tuesday sustained gunshot wounds. Police have officially been allowed to use firearms in accordance with the law by an order of the Ukrainian Interior Minister.


Violence escalated on Tuesday after a group of radicals taking part in a “peaceful march” of the opposition attempted to storm the building of the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada). They were repelled by police cordons. The move came despite the agreement on amnesty finally reached between the government and the opposition.

The rioters then stormed and looted the nearby unprotected office of the ruling Party of Regions, also setting it on fire. One office worker was later found dead in the devastated building, with reports saying he died from smoke inhalation.
The clashes soon grew bloody, with footage showing masked rioters firing rifles and pistols at the police in central Kiev and reports describing dead protesters with gunshot wounds.

As the situation increasingly spiraled out of control, both the Ukrainian government and the opposition blamed each other. While the government demanded that the riots stop and the armed protesters lay down their weapons, speakers on Independence Square (Maidan) demanded that police leave central Kiev. Despite the truce agreed between President Viktor Yanukovich and the leaders of the opposition, the violence continued as armed rioters did not heed the words coming from Maidan.


Meanwhile, the US, the EU and NATO lay full responsibility on the Ukrainian government, threatening it with “consequences” and sanctions. Individual sanctions for 20 Ukrainian politicians have already been imposed by Washington. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the actions of the Western states “resemble blackmail,” and he urged condemnation of the actions of “radicals and extremists, who are mostly responsible for violence and bloody riots.”

The so-called Maidan leaders must “immediately stop bloodshed” and “continue seeking a peaceful resolution to the crisis without threats or ultimatums,” Lavrov stressed. The Foreign Ministry also reminded in a statement that any sanctions other than those imposed by the UN Security Council are “absolutely illegitimate.”


http://rt.com/news/ukraine-kiev-death-toll-955/

What is with the CIA's whole retro thing - camels in the streets of Cairo, catapults in Kiev...

What's next? The HMS Victory in the Strait of Hormuz? Siege engines on the outskirts of Caracas? Greek Fire in Kabul?

What is with the CIA's whole retro thing - camels in the streets of Cairo, catapults in Kiev...

What's next? The HMS Victory in the Strait of Hormuz? Siege engines on the outskirts of Caracas? Greek Fire in Kabul?

Yeah, the spooks are going old school?

Try this shit in the Land of the Free and you'll get buried in lead.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0kTv_8lwiQ&feature=player_detailpage

Just imagine what the response would have been if Occupy had attacked the cops like this! The cops would have gunned down ALL of them. Speaking of, where are the Twitter Warriors on this? Haven't heard a thing...

Statement of the Press Office of the CC of the KKE about the development in Ukraine

The bloody events in Kiev are linked to the intervention of the EU and the USA in the developments in Ukraine, are the result of the fierce competition of these powers with Russia over the control of the markets, raw materials and the country’s transport network.

From this standpoint, the interventions of the EU and the USA in favour of the demonstrators of the opposition, who are allegedly fighting for “freedom” and “democracy”, for the accession of Ukraine to the EU, are extremely hypocritical . In reality, the EU and the USA support and utilize even armed fascist forces, which are active inside the Ukrainian opposition in order to promote their geopolitical goals in the Eurasia region.

Of course that attachment of Ukraine to the tank of contemporary capitalist Russia is not a solution for the people. The attempt to divide the Ukrainian people and to lead them to a bloodbath, with immeasurably tragic consequences for their country, so that they choose the one or the other inter-state capitalist union is entirely alien to the interests of the workers.

The KKE denounces the foreign interventions in the internal affairs of Ukraine. It denounces the activity of fascist forces, anti-communism and acts of vandalism against the Lenin monument and other Soviet monuments.

We express our solidarity with the communists and the working people of Ukraine and the conviction that they must organize their independent struggle with their interests as the criterion and not with the criterion of the imperialist which is chosen by the one or the other section of the Ukrainian plutocracy. They must chart the path for socialism, which is the only alternative solution to the impasses of the capitalist development path.

The peoples, particularly of the countries of the former USSR, lived with peace and prosperity in the years of socialism. For this reason, in any case, the majority of the population fondly recalls socialism, despite the fact that over 20 years have passed and the younger generations have not experienced its achievements.

http://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/Statement-of-the-Press-Office-of-the-CC-of-the-KKE-about-the-development-in-Ukraine/

Of course that attachment of Ukraine to the tank of contemporary capitalist Russia is not a solution for the people. The attempt to divide the Ukrainian people and to lead them to a bloodbath, with immeasurably tragic consequences for their country, so that they choose the one or the other inter-state capitalist union is entirely alien to the interests of the workers.

Dead-on. The KKE seems always to be in exactly the correct place. That is what theory and true materialism gets you. All the bullshit of one "side" against the other is just distraction and dross.


We express our solidarity with the communists and the working people of Ukraine and the conviction that they must organize their independent struggle with their interests as the criterion and not with the criterion of the imperialist which is chosen by the one or the other section of the Ukrainian plutocracy. They must chart the path for socialism, which is the only alternative solution to the impasses of the capitalist development path.

Completely correct. Neither side of the capitalist fight is in the interests of working people - we oppose the EU and its US masters and we oppose Russia and its oligarchic rulers.

What is with the CIA's whole retro thing - camels in the streets of Cairo, catapults in Kiev...

What's next? The HMS Victory in the Strait of Hormuz? Siege engines on the outskirts of Caracas? Greek Fire in Kabul?

Have you no sympathy? Man, they've got Kiev to deal with AND Venezuela all in the same week. It's a lot of work!

Among other tidbits in this news report is the proposal from the new interior minister that the brown shirts(Right Sektor) be incorporated into state security.

We've seen this movie.

http://rt.com/bulletin-board/rtnews-february-22-1700msk-237/

Defacto partition or civil war?


KHARKIV, Ukraine — Regional lawmakers in Ukraine's pro-Russian east are questioning the authority of the national parliament, amid concerns that the nation may be splitting in two.

A gathering of governors, provincial officials and legislators in Kharkiv approved a statement Saturday calling on regional authorities to take full responsibility for constitutional order on their territory.

Some called for forming volunteer units to protect against force by protesters from pro-European western regions. The assembly urged the army units deployed on their territories to maintain neutrality and protect ammunition depots.

The moves came after protesters took control of Ukraine's capital and parliament sought to oust the president and form a new government.

Read more here:

http://www.kansas.com/2014/02/22/3304791/aide-yanukovych-wont-leave-country.html#storylink=cpy



“We, the local authorities of all levels, the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Sevastopol region decided to take responsibility for ensuring the constitutional order and the rights of citizens on their territory,” their resolution said.

The Kharkov public gathering has announced a number of measures local authorities should take in response to the developments in Kiev. They should take full responsibility for all decision in respective regions with no regard to authorities in Kiev until the constitutional order in Ukraine is restored, a resolution of the gathering says.

They authorities should take measures to protect arms depots and prevent their take-over and looting by radical opposition activists.

The deputies have criticized the decision adopted by the Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) in the last few days, saying they are raising doubts about its legitimacy.

The gathering says the legislative acts may have been passed involuntary and are neither legitimate nor lawful.

The resent decisions of the national parliament were taken in conditions “of terror, threats of violence and death,” the resolution says.

Meanwhile, citizens are encouraged to form local militias to protect public order. Local authorities are to fund and support those militias.

Over 10, 000 people have gathered at the city’s Sport Palace, where a total of 3,477 deputies have been holding a meeting.

The situation remains generally quiet with the crowd being partly in good spirits and partly subdued and concerned, Itar-Tass news agency reports from the Palace.

“3, 477 deputies from local councils in southeastern Ukraine have gathered. We have gathered here not to separate the country, but to save it,” the regional governor, Mikhail Dobkin, told the crowd.

The head of the Kharkov administration, Gennady Kernes, has called the public gathering “an attempt by qualified deputies from the east of the country to stabilize the situation.”

"My colleagues and I have been personally threatened. But today we have gathered to change the situation,” he said. “We will not give in; we will fight till the end.”

The statement has been echoed by Rada’s Party of Regions deputy, Vadim Kolesnichenko, who also said that politicians are being threatened and “their families are basically hostages [of the situation].”

Russia sent several officials in the capacity of observers to the gathering, including Aleksey Pushkov, the head of Russian parliamentary commission on foreign affairs, Mikhail Markelov, Pushkov’s counterpart in the Council of Federation, the upper chamber of the parliament, and several governors from regions in eastern Russia.

“The decisions taken here are positive and concrete. What is important is that everything voiced here was implemented in the interests of the Ukrainian people and the entire Ukraine. What Ukraine needs now is common sense and a survival instinct,” said Evgeny Savchenko, Governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, commenting on the Kharkov gathering.

Meanwhile, parliament (Verkhovna Rada) is holding a new emergency session on Saturday. While the whereabouts of Ukrainian President Yanukovich remain uncertain, opposition leaders passed the law on the return to the 2004 Constitution without the president's signature.

They have also elected Aleksandr Turchinov the new head speaker of the Supreme Rada. He will be taking over the cabinet’s work until the formation of a coalition government.

Among new appointees is Arsen Avakov, who was named the acting head of the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine.

With 233 voting in favor, the Ukrainian Rada has ruled to free the former PM Yulia Timoshenko from prison.

A day after Yanukovich agreed to opposition demands and signed an EU brokered deal, his residence in Kiev was abandoned and left virtually unguarded. Some media reports speculate that the president has left for Kharkov in the east of the country.

http://rt.com/news/thousands-gather-eastern-ukraine-252/

The nazis are feeling their oats...


Banderovtsy Tortured Lvov KPU Cadre Rostislav Vasilko in Kiev: “They Drove Needles under My Fingernails, Beat Me with Clubs”

Communist blogger ColonelCassad posted this message from a KPU cadre from Lvov, “Comrades, I’m Rostislav Stepanovich Vasilko, First Secretary of the KPU Gorkom in Lvov; the Banderovtsy beat me up badly in Kiev. They stalk my mom; they put out death threats against my children. They threatened to kill my common-law wife and me. Help me to find political asylum in another country. On 22 February, from 11.00 to 23.00, Euromaidan ruffians tortured me in Mariinsky Park; they drove needles under my fingernails and beat me with clubs and fists. They punctured my right lung; they broke three ribs, my nasal septum, and a facial cyst. They cracked my skull and I have a second-degree concussion. I got bruises all over me. Tomorrow, the doctors will do a spinal tap. I’m in the deep doo-doo! The Banderovtsy cleaned me out! They took my documents, my money, and my cross on a gold chain”. At the end of the post, ColonelCassad challenged his readers to verify his report.

Darya Mitina, one of the leaders of the Left Front, posted, “One of my friends, a communist from Lvov, is now in hospital with a cracked skull, ruptured kidneys, torn nails, punctured right lung, broken ribs, his nose broken in three places. For hours, they beat him in one of the most beautiful parks in Kiev; then, they made sure to threaten his common-law wife, telling her that the same fate awaited her. It’s impossible to get him out of there now, as he’s just out of surgery and he’s still on the mend; besides which, ‘guards’ from the new junta secured the hospital… they patrol all the floors, they dump together Euromaidan activists, anti-Maidan patriots, and ordinary citizens, all in one common batch {that means that the Banderovtsy in hospital would rat out anyone trying to rescue anti-Maidan patriots: editor}. How do we get him out of there? Where do we take him and how do we get him there? It’s a devilish pickle”.

Further on, in the commboxes, she noted that she discussed it with KPRF RF Gosduma deputies… the main question is how to help others who find themselves in the same situation. Mitina observed, “[The Banderovtsy] are already doing it, there’s a whole list of others… unfortunately, he’s not alone in this situation. Specifically, about Rostislav…we have a problem with getting him out of there to safety, the main difficulty is getting him out of the hospital as he’s not on his feet, and there’s a triple cordon of thugs outside the hospital”.

Mark it down that the KPU is going through a very hard time. Earlier this week, media reports appeared about pogroms against KPU Obkoms in the Ukraine. Former KPU Rada People’s Deputies told nakanune.ru that they had to go underground to save themselves. At the same time, Ukrainskaya Pravda has an article on Vasilko’s beating. According to “whistle-blowers”, the modest politician from Lvov was the one who exposed the “peaceful Maidan protestors” for what they really were.

26 February 2014

KPRF.ru

https://02varvara.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/banderovtsy-tortured-lvov-kpu-cadre-rostislav-vasilko-in-kiev-they-drove-needles-under-my-fingernails-beat-me-with-clubs/

Funny how none of this gets any traction in the Western press. That RT is a state mouthpiece is to be expected, but the self censorship of Western journalism presents the ruling class line even more effectively. That's how freedom works.


'I'll hang you by the balls and have you f***ed' – Ukrainian presidential hopeful abducts pro-Russian MP

A Ukrainian presidential hopeful and his supporters have abducted a regional MP over his opposition to the coup-imposed government in Kiev. A video of the action shows the MP being roughed up by a group of men and threatened.

Oleg Lyashko reported secretly going to the Lugansk region on Sunday night and detaining Arsen Klinchev, a member of the local parliament from the Party of Regions.

"The scum Klinchev will answer for his crimes. We detained him and handed him over to law enforcement. I am sincerely grateful to everyone, who helped with this deed. The video is coming shortly. The fight goes on," Lyashko wrote on his Facebook page.

The promised footage followed soon. In it Lyashko is seen entering the office, as Klinchev later clarified, of local General Vladimir Guslavsky with a group of half a dozen men, whose faces are covered with a black circle. They floor the MP and handcuff his arms behind his back.

Then Lyashko is seen calling Klinchev “scum” several times, while forcing him to make a statement on camera, ordering his supporters to vacate the regional administration building.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VivY94Cp0s0&feature=player_embedded

The building was captured on Sunday by a group of protesters, who opposed Mikhail Bolotskih, the new Kiev-appointed governor. The protesters forced Bolotskih to sign his resignation, but hours later he stated that the resignation was invalid because it was signed “under threats.” The protesters also raised the Russian flag in front of the administration.

Lyashko forced Klinchev to call on the protesters to take down the Russian flag and free the administration building, while the MP was denying any authority over the people.

“You're scum, that's what I say. Now tell your people to go out of the Lugansk administration. And make a good face now, nobody will give you money, retard,” Lyashko told the MP.

Klinchev, still handcuffed, is then dragged into a bus, where one of the men who abducted him lectures him on his pro-Russian stance. He promises to hang him “by the balls” and “call an army to f**k you”.

After driving for nearly 30 minutes, a phone rang and a voice, (Klinchev assumed it was Lyashko’s), ordered their return. Back in General Guslavsky’s office, Lyashko continued his intimidation, after which he and his group left.

Shortly after being released, Klinchev shed light on the conflict and gave his version of what happened.

Speaking to the media, Klinchev said that he met with General Guslavsky, as they agreed, after midnight.

“At 11pm, all people know, General of Lugansk [regional] Department of Internal Affairs was there. He was talking to the people and was persuading them to leave this [administration] building and was in general listening to what people wanted. After that he addressed me and said: Arsen, after you talk to people, come to my office and we will discuss everything,” Klinchev said.

Klinchev then goes on to say that at around 12am he called General Guslavsky, who asked to come up to his office to talk.

“Once I entered his office and took a seat, Lyashko along with another, about eight people, run into the room. In fact, many of them I personally know. There were also journalists, particularly, from the Ukraine TV channel. Those people were standing aside, while a group of four people started twisting [my arms]. They handcuffed me,” Klinchev said.

He says they called him and his supporters “scum” and “scumbags”, who do not understand things. Lyashko and his people said Russian flags were “treason” and that is why “all of us should be butchered.”

After that Klinchev was taken from the building through a back door and put on the ground.

“Actually, all of them [eight people] were not wearing masks. Honestly, I already said good bye to my life, because those people who I saw just would not leave me alive afterwards. While we were driving they were telling me what awaits me, that I am a scum and a scoundrel and etc,” Klinchev continued.

“After we came back and went up to Guslavsky’s office, the sitting governor [Bolotskih] was already there. After that Lyashko and his team left. Actually, I am now being told that Lyashko now says that he is boss here in the Lugansk region and starting this moment, everyone who does not agree with him will be ‘driven in a trunk’,” Klinchev said, adding that according to the governor, he was supposed to be sent to Kiev on a charter flight.

It's not unusual for the new Ukraine authorities to resort to insults and threats in dealing with those defying them. Just days ago, Boris Filatov, the deputy head of the Dnepropetrovsk region, who was appointed by Kiev as well, posted a political program on Facebook, which involves “giving the scum any promises, guarantees and concessions” and “hanging them later.”

Lyashko, who is the presidential candidate for his own Radical Party, has a shady past not normally expected from a person with ambitions to head a nation. In 1994, he was convicted of large-scale embezzlement and abuse of power and sentenced to six years, but was amnestied a year later.

His criminal record was expunged in 1998, so now, in this regard, Lyashko is on par with the ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who has two expunged convictions dating back to the Soviet era.

http://rt.com/news/ukraine-mp-abducted-threatened-882/

The BBC gets a glimmering of a clue


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5SBo0akeDMY

It is really interesting that in the fifties and sixties and seventies of last century the US would accuse the Soviet Union (and/or Cuba) of inciting revolution or regime change and would intervene to stop it. In almost every case there was none or almost no SU/Cuban involvement beyond encouragement and example. Now, after the demise of the SU, the US is running all over the world inciting revolution and regime change and becoming indignant when called on it. The US/West used one side of the coin when confronting a class antagonist power and they use the other side of the coin when dealing with same class rivals. Oh, those wily bouge!

Edit to add: I am going to use Wily Bouge as a character name in something...

Statement of Press Office of the CC of the KKE on the Ukraine and the referendum in the Crimea

The KKE from the very first moment denounced the imperialist intervention of the USA-NATO-EU in Ukraine and the coup carried out by reactionary forces, with the participation of Nazis, which creates major dangers for the Ukrainian people. The stance of these forces and their criticism in relation to the developments in Ukraine and the referendum in the Crimea are a monument of hypocrisy. As these are the same forces that played the leading role in the dismemberment of Yugoslavia, in the secession of Kosovo, in the imperialist interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, in the organizations of coups against governments that are not to their liking. They attempted to do the same in Syria as they are doing now in Ukraine.

Having as our criterion the interests of the people, we consider that the assimilation of the Crimea into Russia does not deal with this intervention effectively, nor does it solve in essence any of the real problems of the Crimean people, nor does it mean any normalization of the situation or long-term solution of peace and cooperation for the peoples of the region with prosperity and progress. The majority of the people are suffering both in Russia and Ukraine, living inside conditions of capitalist barbarity, which were brought about by the counterrevolutionary changes in 1991.

We understand that the people of the Crimea, who to a great extent are of Russian and Tatar background, are worried about the acquisition of governmental power by nationalist and fascist forces, which amongst their first acts was the targeting of minorities and communists, abolishing with a law the “regional languages” and destroying anti-fascist monuments. Nevertheless, the withdrawal of Crimea for the Ukraine and its assimilation into Russia will not solve the problem of changing the correlation of forces against the reactionary and fascist forces.

It would be different if Russia was a socialist country and the people of the Crimea had made the choice and demanded accession to a socialist union together with Russia, as occurred with the accession of countries to the USSR.

The secession of the Crimea and its assimilation in Russia will further strengthen the nationalist current, both in Ukraine and in Russia. It will entrap millions of workers in a confrontation on the basis of nationality, concealing the real causes of the conflict, as well as the only alternative solution, which exists for the workers and is found on another path of development, socialism.

There is also the danger of opening “Pandora’s Box” in other regions as well, especially in the Balkans, leading to other regions being assimilated e.g. the assimilation of Kosovo into the so-called “Greater Albania” which is linked to the annexations of the territories of neighbouring countries. There are in any case examples from the dismemberment of Yugoslavia which, in the name of the self-determination of the peoples, paved the way for border changes.

The developments confirm the superiority of socialism in dealing with related problems. All the administrative changes in the Crimea, from its declaration as an autonomous republic in 1921, in the framework of the USSR, until its administrative assimilation in Ukraine in the 1950s, occurred smoothly and peacefully, because socialist relations of production were prevalent and consequently the criterion was the interests of the working class and people.

The Crimean people, the Ukrainian people, the Russian people have historical memories and positive experiences from the years of socialism, which are not erased even if over 20 years have passed since the overthrows. The Crimean people have intense memories of the anti-fascist struggle of the Soviet people, who wrote history in the siege of Sevastopol. The fact that in various regions that are seeking union with Russia they are demonstrating with, amongst other things, red flags expresses such a memory or expectation, despite the fact that such an expectation is not realistically based on today’s reality and development. Because today Russia is a capitalist country, which is in competition with the other imperialist centres, and its people are also suffering.

The historical experience teaches that in the conditions of socialism is that the peoples and the nationalities in the USSR lived fraternally and progressed with peace, while now the nationalist-divisive poison is being spread. These peoples, all the peoples, must follow this path today.

http://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/Statement-of-Press-Office-of-the-CC-of-the-KKE-on-the-Ukraine-and-the-referendum-in-the-Crimea/