Civil War in Ukraine: Western Empire vs Russia

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Ukraine is no longer sustainable and no longer a state, but keeps on being a state only to the extent that it is recognized by international players.

US has a plan if Ukraine collapses -- Ischenko
http://fortruss.blogspot.ru/2015/12/us-has-plan-if-ukraine-collapses.html

The president of the Center for System Analysis and Forecasting, Rostislav Ischenko, explains why it better suits the world power-centers to keep Ukraine in its present state, in which the power is of the regional elites, and what sort of plan Washington has in case of the collapse of Ukraine.

[...] For Brussels and Paris, and Berlin, it is unprofitable to preserve Ukrainian statehood, but to admit its dissolution/destruction is an even more losing option.

If the US, the EU and the IMF have not found 3 billion to pay for Russian debts, they simply won't find the tens and hundreds of billions over 5-10 years for a new project.

At the same time, everyone understands that the regime is not something that is sustainable -- it isn't alive anymore, the local elections in Ukraine have shown that the regime can not compete even with regional elites: In all regions the elections returned local and regional elites. Therefore Biden, when he came to Ukraine, said that there was no longer a need to hold elections, let everything remain as it is.

Now there is such a situation where the central government has lost the function that it can play in the interests of the whole country, and is no longer able to attract external funding. The economy is in ruins, and making a budget through taxes and fees is impossible. The center has lost its importance for the regions and the process of decay depends only on the uptake of the regional elites, and their real and powerful capabilities. As crumbled as at the time of the Kievan Rus. The center only takes, but gives nothing in return.

The collapse is hampered by two things in one basket. First, the US interest -- that controls the Ukrainian government and the general policy -- is to maintain a single player, which they can show to the world and say: here is Ukraine. Not Odessa, Zaporizhia, Lviv, Zhytomyr, but the whole Ukraine. The other is the spastic rhinestones of the local regional elites in the face of the Americans
But the regional elites do not realize that the Americans depend on them to a much greater extent than they depend on the Americans: If Washington will face a collapse in Ukraine, they will play with Filatov in Dnepropetrovsk, Baloga in Transcarpathia, Saakashvili in Odessa and just forget about Kiev. Of course, it is more profitable to play with Kiev, but that will not change their interests.


Crimea no longer needs electricity from Ukraine
http://www.pravdareport.com/news/russia/15-12-2015/132868-crimea_electricity-0/

Russian President Putin launched another leg of the power bridge between the Crimean Peninsula and the Krasnodar Krai (region) of Russia.

"Start!" Putin said in a televised TV linkup. The launch of the second line of the power bridge between Russia and the Crimea gives additional 230 MW of electric power to the peninsula significantly reducing the power deficit in the region.

The second leg of the power bridge was to be launched on December 20, but was then rescheduled for December 15.

Putin launched the first leg of the power bridge between Russia and the Crimea on December 2. Vladimir Putin made a social trip to Simferopol for the ceremony. As a result, the Crimea is becoming absolutely independent on Ukraine in terms of electric power supplies.

By December 20, the Crimea will switch to power supplies from Russia. The power system of the Crimea was working in stand-alone mode for two weeks, after unknown individuals blew up power lines between the Crimea and Ukraine on November 22. The Crimea was thus cut off from electricity, a state of emergency was introduced.
 
Ukraine Is Preparing To Seize Over 400 km of DPR's Border With Russia

_http://fortruss.blogspot.ca/2015/12/ukraine-is-preparing-to-seize-over-400.html

Ukraine intends to establish control over the border of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic with Russia. An appropriate plan was developed by the state border service of the country. This was stated by the head of the department Viktor Nazarenko in an interview to the Agency "Interfax-Ukraine".

According to him, Ukrainian border guards, together with Ukrainian armed forces and law enforcement authorities, are preparing to seize 409.4 km of land in South East Ukraine.

"We are preparing to take control of the site, which we have no control over, it's 409,3 km. We drafted a plan, discussed it at the Board, and we must be ready for it. It is a difficult task we must perform. I noted that in this question we will also operate closely with the Armed forces and other law enforcement agencies," – said Nazarenko.

Previously, Donetsk media reported that the national guard of Ukraine is preparing the invasion of the DPR and moved its military equipment to the contact line. Scouting of the Republic confirmed the fact of accumulation of armored vehicles from the Donetsk and Horlivka directions, and in the village of Pioneer.
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Key Statements Following The Meeting Between Putin, Lavrov and Kerry in Moscow
http://fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/12/key-statements-following-meeting.html

Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ 15th December, 2015

U.S. Secretary of state John Kerry confirmed to the President of Russia Vladimir Putin that Washington is ready to work with Moscow to defeat the terrorist organization ISIS.
 
Game Theory analysis confirms what we have been saying all along: In Ukraine, Russia holds all the strong cards.

The Western aim of a unitary Ukraine inside the EU and NATO and allied against Russia cannot happen.

Even Game Theory Confirms It: Only Russia Can Win in Ukraine
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/even-game-theory-confirms-it-only-russia-can-win-ukraine/ri6855

Leonid Bershidsky elegantly summarises a paper that applies game theory to the Ukrainian conflict.

Briefly, the paper says that Russia can destabilise Ukraine indefinitely, creating a “frozen conflict” there, and that the West cannot prevent it from doing so.

The West can in theory respond by: (1) military escalation; (2) sanctions; and (3) returning to business as usual with Russia.

The authors of the paper, and Bershidsky himself, appear to think the most likely outcome in the short term is (2) (sanctions), but with a measure of (3) (returning to business as usual), and with (3) prevailing over the long term. Option (1) (military escalation) is not ultimately viable.

We agree.

Bershidsky — rightly, in our opinion — sums up Kerry’s visit to Moscow in that way: “Kerry has come to Russia so the sides can agree to disagree on Ukraine and move on to other issues such as Syria and Iran, where constructive interaction is still possible.”

Latest reports say that Kerry has warned Poroshenko against any attempt to recover Donetsk airport, which appears to bear that out. It seems that some at least in the U.S. are now at last looking for ways to isolate the Ukrainian conflict from the rest of the U.S. Russia relationship, so that the U.S. can move forward in its relations with Russia on other questions.

This warning from Kerry is incidentally the first time the U.S. has publicly warned Ukraine against a military solution.

Reports that suggest European leaders are now also pressing Kiev to fulfill the political part of the February Minsk Memorandum by entering into substantive constitutional negotiations and by granting wide autonomy to Donbass (previously discussed by us in First Sign of Germany Putting Pressure on Kiev to Implement Peace Deal, Russia Insider, 27th April 2015, and by me on Radio Sputnik, 12th May 2015) point in the same direction.

It should be said clearly however that this is in no sense a “draw”, as Bershidsky appears to suggest.

Bershidsky says Ukraine can still turn defeat in Donbass to its advantage:

“For Ukraine itself, the role of a pawn for bigger players may be somewhat humiliating, but it shouldn’t be. If the country successfully transforms itself into a Western-style democracy with a viable open economy, it can handle the continued Russian destabilization attempts and, in time, make them much less effective. Not being a player in the big strategic game is even, perhaps, to Ukraine’s advantage: Once it realizes it can have little effect on the outcome, it can concentrate on solving its internal problems.”

Those words are a triumph of hope over experience.

Nothing in recent Ukrainian history suggests its leaders are prepared to act in such a way. On the contrary, as we have often discussed (see Ukraine Goes to War – and Always Will as Long as Maidan Holds Power, Russia Insider, 20th January 2015), everything points to Ukraine’s leaders’ continued willingness to sacrifice Ukraine’s economy and the needs of its people to their ideological objective of a monocultural unitary Ukraine in its 2013 borders, distanced as far as possible from Russia and integrated in NATO and the EU, achieved through victory in Donbass.

Poroshenko’s latest threat to retake Donetsk airport is a case in point.

Ukraine’s present economic situation anyway hardly supports Bershidsky’s hopes. Latest reports suggest the rate of Ukraine’s economic decline is accelerating, exceeding even the most pessimistic predictions.

However one spins it, both game theory and the actual situation in Ukraine point the same way, to what we have said all along: in Ukraine it is Russia that holds the high cards.

Ukraine cannot prosper economically without Russia. Beyond that, to suppose the intense cultural and national connections linking Ukraine to Russia, built up over centuries, can be simply cut away in order to satisfy the ideological obsessions of certain Ukrainian politicians and the geopolitical fantasies of their Western sponsors, is foolishness.

The result of any of the likely scenarios outlined, whether by game theory or by Bershidsky or indeed by anyone else, is the same: the fantasy of a monocultural unitary Ukraine inside NATO and the EU, allied with the West against Russia, is dead. The Russians, at only slight cost to themselves, will always be able to prevent it. The West, in contrast, lacks both the means and the will to make it happen.

The people who in the meantime are paying the price are the people of Ukraine. All of them — those suffering hardship in the west, as well as those in the east — are paying the price for a reckless geopolitical game, which the West launched, but which there was never the slightest chance it would win.
 
Flagrant Violation of Freedom': Ukraine Bans Communist Party

_http://sputniknews.com/europe/20151217/1031927474/ukraine-bans-communist-party.html

The Communist Party of Ukraine has been banned from operating and participating in elections following a court's decision to uphold a government lawsuit that accused the party of promoting separatism and inter-ethnic conflict.

On Wednesday, the Kiev District Administrative Court ruled for the plaintiff – the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice – that had filed a lawsuit in 2014 requesting a ban on all activities of the Communist party in Ukraine.

In May, Ukraine adopted controversial "de-communization" laws which outlawed the display of Soviet symbols and prohibited the use of the term "communist." The Communist Party of Ukraine refused to change its name, logo or its charter to comply with the legislation.

Human rights campaigners criticized the court's decision, calling it "a flagrant violation of freedom of expression and association."

John Dalhuisen of Amnesty International said the court ban set a dangerous precedent.

"The decision may be seen as dealing with the damaging vestiges of the Soviet past. In fact, it does exactly the opposite by following the same style of draconian measures used to stifle dissent," he was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

"Expressing your opinion without fear of prosecution, particularly if that opinion is contrary to the views held by those in position of power, was one of the principles behind the EuroMaidan protests. Snuffing out the Communist party flies in the face of these ideals."

The Communist party has spoken out against Kiev's military campaign against separatists in eastern Ukraine, calling it a war against its own people.
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The ministry noted that the situation near Rivne was a continuation of a series of similar seizures of churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Russian Foreign Ministry: Evidence of Orthodox church seizure in Ukraine shocking
http://tass.ru/en/politics/845781

The Russian Foreign Ministry has called the seizure of an Orthodox church near Rivne by Ukrainian radical nationalists a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion.

Moscow is outraged by another unacceptable instance of an attack of the Ukrainian radical nationalists and extremist-minded splitters from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the connivance of the local police on the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ptichye village near Rivne with the purpose of its seizure," the ministry said. "The evidence of this flagrant case provided by human rights activists and members of the public, including video footage, is shocking."

The ministry noted that developments near Rivne were "yet another flagrant violation of the fundamental right to freedom of conscience and religion in Ukraine." "This country’s international legal obligations in the field of human rights and fundamental provisions of the Ukrainian Constitution are again trampled under foot," it added.

The ministry noted that the situation near Rivne was a continuation of a series of similar seizures of churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. According to it, ten cathedrals have been fully destroyed, 77 others severely damaged and at least three Orthodox priests have been killed. "Several churches have been seized because of inactivity and sometimes direct involvement of Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "Many priests fled to Russia trying to save themselves from threats by extremists."



Putin: "We cannot give up Donbass to be eaten by Ukrainian nationalists"
http://fortruss.blogspot.ru/2015/12/putin-we-cannot-give-up-donbass-to-be.html

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in an interview for the documentary film “World Order” on the tv-channel "Russia 1" that Russia will not give up the Russian-speaking population of Donbass “eaten” by Ukrainian nationalists.

Putin added that the implementation of the Minsk Agreements are linked with the extension of the West’s sanctions against the Russian Federation. “Well listen, are we the ones supposed to make amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine? Of course not,” the president stated.

According to Putin, everyone perfectly understands this, “but they believe that it is necessary to push Russia around a little bit so that she would concede something somewhere.”

“In general, it is not our business to insist upon anything. But we assume only one thing: that we cannot leave the people who live in South-East Ukraine to be eaten by nationalists. Not only Russians, but also the Russians-speaking population which is oriented towards us,” the president of the Russian Federation stressed, adding that “there is nothing excessive in this position.”



Erdogan Meets With Crimean Blockade Organizers: Naval Provocation Imminent?
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20151219/1032016827/erdogan-crimean-naval-blockade.html

Turkish and Ukrainian media have reported that President Erdogan has met with two of the organizers of the so-called Crimean blockade. Earlier this week, another of the masterminds behind the failed 'food' and 'electricity' blockades promised that the radicals would organize a 'naval blockade'. Is a provocation imminent? What will Turkey's role be?

On Thursday, the Russian-language edition of the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency news service unceremoniously reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had met with Mustafa Dzhemilev, one of the key organizers of the so-called 'food' and 'electricity' blockades of Crimea.

Erdogan and Dzhemilev, a Ukrainian lawmaker and key figure of the Mejlis movement, which claims to represent the Crimean Tatar community, met in a hotel in the southern Turkish city of Konya, speaking for about 40 minutes, Anadolu Agency reported. Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan was also said to be in attendance.

According to Ukraine's QHA news service, Refat Chubarov, another of Mejlis's leaders, was also at the meeting, and that following the closed-door meeting, the Ukrainian politicians held a second working meeting, this time with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.



Suspected Crimean blockade organizer’s property may be confiscated
http://tass.ru/en/economy/845733

According to the prosecutor, the measure will be taken to compensate for the damage inflicted due to the committed crimes.

The property of Crimea’s former deputy prime minister Lenur Islyamov, believed to be one of the republic’s blockade organizers, will be confiscated if he is found guilty by the court, Crimean top prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya said on Monday.

The measure will be taken to compensate for the damage inflicted due to the committed crimes, Poklonskaya said. "This property will compensate the damage, that means it will be confiscated and added to the state revenue," she said.

"Islyamov has been charged in absentia with committing an act of sabotage," Poklonskaya said, adding that investigation against the other perpetrators and organizers of the crime is underway.

Four transmission lines were supplying Crimea with electric power from Ukraine until November 20, when two pylons were blown up and a state of emergency declared. In the early hours of November 22, another two pylons were attacked.

Some Crimean officials believe the blockade was organized by Islyamov and Ukraine’s MPs Mustafa Dzemilev and Refat Chubarov.
They earlier officially announced plans to cut Crimea off power supplies.

Russia’s Federal Security Service has earlier said a criminal case was also opened against Islyamov for calls to violate Russia’s territorial integrity.

In early December, a court in Crimea ordered to arrest the property of Islyamov, the owner of the ATR TV channel, worth several dozen million rubles. The assets include land property in southern Crimea, popular resort Yalta, Moscow, as well as hotels and houses. Crimea’s prosecutors said they have revealed fraud schemes used to conceal Islyamov’s property.



Are Erdogan's Grey Wolves Terrorists Knocking on Crimea's Door?
http://sputniknews.com/analysis/20151210/1031518376/grey-wolves-threat-to-crimea.html

Over the past several days, Russian analysts have been investigating rumors that members of Turkey's extreme right-wing nationalist Grey Wolves movement, the same organization which claimed responsibility for killing a Russian pilot in Syria last month, have found their way into southern Ukraine. But are they a threat to Crimea?

Last weekend, Lenur Islyamov, the Tatar nationalist thought to be one of the main organizers of the so-called Crimean food and energy blockade, posted a photo of himself with what appeared to be members of the Grey Wolves, the militant organization considered to be the 'unofficial militant arm' of Turkey's extreme-right-wing Nationalist Movement Party, on his Facebook page.

The photo features Islyamov, surrounded by four men, three of them gesturing the group's symbol –the so-called 'face of the wolf', with their hands. The description reads "Turkish patriots from the Bozkurtkar, Turk ulkuculeri – known among the people as simply the Grey Wolves, visiting us at the blockade. The ring around the blockade is tightening!"

Commenting over the past few days on what the post may imply, some Russian experts have suggested that it could be an implicit indication that the Crimean Tatar nationalists who coordinated with Ukraine’s notorious Right Sector militant group to launch a farcical 'food blockade' of Crimea in September, and a more serious 'energy blockade' in late November, have begun to receive reinforcements from terrorist groups in Turkey.



Is Russia losing its little brother? Information war drags Serbia closer to EU
http://fortruss.blogspot.ru/2015/12/is-russia-losing-its-little-brother.html

"Serbia is betraying Russia and joining the EU"

Serbia already received candidate status for EU membership back in March 2012. For a long time, starting negotiations was blocked by the conflict with Kosovo, which seceded from Serbia in 2008. For a few years, Serbia did not recognize the secession of their land. However, this summer they agreed to cooperate with it.

On August 25, Serbia and the partially-recognized Republic of Kosovo even signed agreements in Brussels, according to which they will deepen their cooperation and join the European Union together. With this step, Serbia actually recognized the independence of its former territory. Despite the fact that this is a pure betrayal of Kosovo Serbs, Belgrade is making this step only for the sake of good relations with the West and the possibility of becoming a member of the European Union.

Oh, those dreams of Eurointegration…They are like a virus which infect some hot head and instantly block memory and common sense.

The process of accession formally began this month. The European Union launched accession talks on Serbia’s joining, put forth a number of economic demands along with a plan for building relations with Kosovo. The authorities of this Balkan country plan to fulfill all of Brussels’ requirements by 2019.

In doing so, all of Serbia’s domestic and foreign policies fall into dependence on Brussels. Think about it: European officials are giving Serbs instructions on how and on what terms good-neighborly relations with Kosovo should be approached.

After the meeting with the “bosses” of Europe, the Serbian Prime Minister eloquently expressed that Serbia is going to Europe not for economic reasons, but, first and foremost, for the public: the Serbian people want to match European-style society.

What is this - a sensible step or betrayal? In our opinion, it is betrayal.

A Serbian proverb says “in heaven there is God; on earth there is Russia.” Russia has always come to the aid of Serbia. During the Russo-Turkish War in 1878, Russian troops pinned down the Turks and forced them to sign a peace treaty, according to which Turkey was forced to recognize the independence of Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania.

Nikolai II entered the First World War partly for the sake of Serbia. In 1915-1916, he forced England and France to save the Serbian army which had retreated into Albania and was on the verge of destruction.

Friendship between Russia and Serbia is based not only on historical ties, but also on a common Slavic origin of the Russian and Serbian peoples, as well as on the shared Orthodox religion. Serbs and Bulgarians live on the Balkan peninsula surrounded by Catholics and Muslims, and Russia has always been the bulwark of Orthodoxy. So why has the Serbian government taken the path of integration with the West, and not with Russia? And why is the Serbian people rather calmly reacting as if it approves of this?

In our opinion, the point lies in the information activities of Serbian media, which work for Western interests.
 
Ukraine prepares new lawsuits against Russia over Crimea — FM

_http://tass.ru/en/world/845915

"We are working on lawsuits planned in the future, as concerns compensations and on individual Ukrainian companies," the foreign minister said in a televised interview

KIEV, December 21. /TASS/. Ukraine is preparing new lawsuits against Russia over damage to Ukrainian companies following Crimea’s secession from Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Monday.

"We are working on lawsuits planned in the future, as concerns compensations and on individual Ukrainian companies," he said in a televised interview.

He said some Ukrainian companies, including the Oschadbank bank and the Naftogaz national energy company, have already gone to law, while several other companies are preparing to follow suit. "The Foreign Ministry is coordinating these processes," the minister said.

He reiterated Ukraine’s stance on Crimea, saying Ukraine refused to recognize its accession to Russia, supported sanctions against Crimea and worked on lawsuits.

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deals March 18, 2014.

Despite Moscow’s repeated statements that the Crimean referendum on secession from Ukraine was in line with the international law and the UN Charter and in conformity with the precedent set by Kosovo’s secession from Serbia in 2008, the West and Kiev have refused to recognize the legality of Crimea’s reunification with Russia.
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Ukrainian forces move 26 units of military equipment to contact line in Donbas — media

_http://tass.ru/en/world/846095

DPR intelligence spotted 20 self-propelled artillery systems, armored personnel carriers and vehicles near the Nikolaevka settlement and 6 Grad rocket launcher systems on the Gorlovka direction

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces have moved 26 units of military equipment to the contact line in Donbas, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) defense ministry said on Tuesday.

"Donetsk People’s Republic’s intelligence continues registering movement of military equipment and Ukrainian Armed Forces’ personnel along the entire contact line," the DPR defense ministry told Donetsk News Agency.

According to DPR defense ministry, intelligence spotted 20 self-propelled artillery systems, armored personnel carriers and vehicles near the Nikolaevka settlement (Donetsk direction, eight kilometers from contact line), and six Grad multiple rocket launcher systems on the Gorlovka direction in 42 kilometers from the contact line.

Weaponry withdrawal in Donbas

The withdrawal of weaponry was completed in three stages — firstly, from the Deblatsevo direction, then from the southern direction and lastly from the contact line near Donetsk.

The supplement to the Package of measures on implementing the Minsk Agreements from 12 February 2015 was agreed upon on September 29 at the negotiations of the Contact Group in Minsk. The supplement envisages withdrawal of tanks, artillery weapons of less than 100mm caliber, and mortars of equal to or less than 120mm caliber to a distance of 15 kilometers from the contact line in Donbass. On September 30, the document was signed by DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko and LPR head Igor Plotnitsky.

In accordance with the reached agreement, tanks were withdrawn first, followed by artillery weapons of less than 100mm caliber and mortars. The first stage started two days after the complete ceasefire and finished in 15 days. The second stage took 24 days to complete. The withdrawal started in the "North" sector on the LPR territory and continued in the "South" sector in DPR. The whole process of withdrawal took a total of 41 days.
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Ukraine’s president says Jewish people played notable role in emergence of Ukraine

_http://tass.ru/en/world/846453

The Jewish language was one of the official languages of the young Ukrainian state and the Jews were immediate participants in the rise of the Ukrainian republic of 1918-1921, Poroshenko says

KIEV, December 23. /TASS/. Jewish people played a notable role in the emergence of the modern Ukrainian state, president Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday as he addressed the Israeli Knesset.

He said, among other things, the Jewish language was one of the official languages of the young Ukrainian state and the Jews as a nation were immediate participants in the rise of the Ukrainian republic, meaning the Ukrainian People’s Republic of 1918-1921.

In 1918 through 1921, the Ukrainian people made what he called "the first desperate attempt over the period of 200 years" to revive its statehood and proclaimed the Ukrainian People’s Republic," he said.

As a particular evidence of the role the people of Jewish descent played in the then events, he pointed out the bank notes issued in the then republic, saying the contained inscriptions in Yiddish as one of the four most spoken tongues in the land.

Poroshenko said he might be mistaken but, to the best of his knowledge, those were the earliest bank notes issued in the 20th century that had Jewish letters on them.
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OSCE observers, journalists under fire in E. Ukraine

https://www.rt.com/news/327211-osce-journalists-under-fire-ukraine/

OSCE observers have come under fire in the Donetsk Region of Ukraine and had to abort their inspection of the village of Kominternovo on Sunday, the watchdog said, adding that none of its staff had been injured in the incident.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine said it “confirms that an incident involving small arms fire took place, today, 27 December, at 11:20 in the vicinity of Kominternove.”

There were no injuries among the mission’s members or damage done to OSCE vehicles in the attack, it added.

According to the watchdog, the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) observers had to “evacuate the area immediately” and return to their base in the city of Donetsk, held by the forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

The DPR’s Deputy Head of General Staff, Eduard Basurin, and the Russian TV crew was accompanying the monitors when the shots were fired.

"Fortunately, there were no victims among the journalists and OSCE mission members. Eduard Basurin also avoided injuries,” a DPR military representative told Interfax.

The Rossiya 24 channel said none of its crew, who were filming in Kominternovo, were hurt.

"As soon as the OSCE began its inspection, we heard separate shots. The military later told us that it was sound of the sniper rifles. It was followed by machinegun fire,” Andrey Rudenko, Rossiya 24 correspondent, said on air.

“After driving around a kilometer away from the scene, we’ve heard that shells, which were presumably fired from mortars, began exploding on the very spot,” he added.

Rudenko stressed the area where the attack took place is controlled by the Right Sector ultranationalist group.

The fire came from the direction of Ukrainian military positions, according to Basurin.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the attack on the OSCE observers was a provocation staged by the self-defense forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic.

The OSCE observers are working in eastern Ukraine to monitor the implementation of the Minsk peace deal, which was signed in February between Kiev and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

Kiev clearly doesn’t want compromise with E. Ukraine regions – Russia’s UN envoy

The accord has led to a sharp decrease in the fighting, which has been going on since April 2014 and took over 9,000 lives.

The agreement, which envisaged a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges and the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, led to a drastic decrease in violence in the area, but has not been fully implemented by either side.

The attack on the OSCE observers wasn’t the only incident in the Donetsk People's Republic on Sunday, with Basurin saying that two people were killed in the shelling of the village of Zaytsevo by Ukrainian forces.
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Anna News
A summary of the events of December 27, 2015. Eng.
Published on Dec 27, 2015

https://youtu.be/Hqa6oH2utNo
In the morning at twenty past eleven Ukrainian snipers opened fire at the Deputy Commander of Corps of the DPR the Ministry of Defence Eduard Basurin and representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission and the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination in the settlement Kominternovo. Basurin reported to the Donetsk News Agency today. There were no casualties. Cars weren't damaged - he added. But the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission letf this settlement after the incident and went back in Donetsk.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces shelled the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic 17 times. The DPR Ministry of Defense reported to the Donetsk News Agency today. According to the Ministry of Defense, the settlements Kominternovo, Zhabunki, Zaytsevo, Zheleznaya Balka, Lozovoe, Staromikhaylovka, Spartak and the area of the airport were subjected to fire. Ukrainian fighters used mortars of 82 and 120-mm caliber, tanks and armoured personnel carriers. They launched more than 125 mines, 10 tank shots, 30 shots from the armoured personnel carrier for a day.
Ukrainian fighters opened fire at the mine "Trudovskaya" in the Petrovsky district of Donetsk. They shelled the settlement from Marinka. There were no casualties and destructions. The head of the local administration Maxim Zhukovsky reported to the Donetsk News Agency today.

Ukrainian fighters are ready to make dIversions and acts of terrorism in the Lugansk People’s Republic. The deputy chief of staff of the LPR People’s Militia Corps Colonel Igor Yashchenko reported to the Lugansk Information Center today. Reconnaissance teams of the LPR People’s Militia registered 50 units of weapons and artillery systems in the settlement Sokolniki. 30 fighters arrived in the settlement Lopaskino of the Slavyanoserbsky region - Yashchenko added. In this regard hе asked to be careful during New Year holiday,

Russian Language Edition:
Сводка событий за 27 декабря 2015 года.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgZXXyrhMGo
Published on Dec 27, 2015

Сегодня в 11:20 заместитель командующего корпусом Минобороны ДНР Эдуард Басурин попал под снайперский огонь со стороны украинских силовиков в поселке Коминтерново. Об этом сегодня он сообщил ДАН. Басурин добавил, что инспекционная группа включала представителей Специальной мониторинговой миссии ОБСЕ и Совместного центра контроля и координации прекращения огня на Донбассе. Никто из сотрудников Специальной мониторинговой миссии не пострадал, машины не получили повреждений. Но Команда ОБСЕ была вынуждена покинуть район сразу после инцидента, и вернуться на базу в Донецк.
Украинские силовики за сутки 17 раз нарушили режим прекращения огня, применяя минометы калибром 82 и 120 мм, а также танки и БТР. Об этом сегодня ДАН сообщили в Минобороны ДНР. Обстрелам подверглись населенные пункты: Коминтерново, Жабуньки, Зайцево, Железная Балка, Лозовое, Старомихайловка, Спартак и район аэропорта города Донецк. Всего по территории республики было выпущено более 125 мин, сделано более 10 выстрелов из танков и более 30 выстрелов из БТР.

Украинские силовики ночью обстреляли поселок шахты «Трудовская» на западной окраине Донецка в Петровском районе. Огонь был открыт со стороны Марьинки. Пострадавших и разрушений нет. Об этом сегодня ДАН сообщил глава местной районной администрации Максим Жуковский.

Киевские силовики готовятся к проведению диверсий и террористических актов на территории ЛНР. Об этом сегодня заявил заместитель начальника штаба Корпуса Народной милиции полковник Игорь Ященко. В район населенного пункта Лопаскино Славяносербского района прибыло подразделение численностью до 30 человек. Также в районе села Сокольники обнаружено около 50 единиц смешанной техники", - добавил Ященко. В связи с угрозой диверсий и терактов он напомнил о необходимости соблюдать бдительность в предстоящие новогодние праздники.
 
Ankara to send Military Aid to Ukraine, Turkey’s “Volunteer Battalion” to Enforce Crimea Blockade, Act of Aggression against Russia
http://www.globalresearch.ca/ankara-to-send-military-aid-to-ukraine-turkeys-volunteer-battalion-to-enforce-crimea-blockade-act-of-aggression-against-russia/5498124

Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ

The Defense Ministry of Turkey is providing assistance in Ukraine by creating a volunteer battalion named “Noman of Celebicihan”, said the coordinator of the ‘civil action by blockade of Crimea‘, Lenur Islyamov.

“Now we will form a new volunteer battalion named “Noman of Celebicihan”. Further, we expect a number of military units, which we must assign, but we are already receiving volunteer assistance for the battalion”, writes ”Odessa crisis media center”.

“On Friday we received the first batch of Turkish military uniforms. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine still itches to help, but the Turkish Ministry of Defense are already beginning to support us. We produced 250 sets of uniforms and shoes,” said Islyamov.

“Soon we will have the appropriate number of military units, I think, by January 15th, we will gather at Chongar for the world Congress of Crimean Tatars, and the Executive Committee will be here. We will gather all Crimean Tatars from all over the world i.e. from USA, Canada, Poland, Romania, Turkey, some 43 countries,” he said.

According to him, “the battalion will consist of 560 people,” which “will be engaged in the tasks set by the General staff”. “But the main task is the protection of the border of Crimea. We will bring security to Crimea as soon as possible. The task of this battalion is to operate in the same way, the only way we know”, he said.

In December, the Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Mustafa Dzhemilev, during his visit to Turkey, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and asked for funding for military units on the border with Crimea.
 
angelburst29 said:
Ankara to send Military Aid to Ukraine, Turkey’s “Volunteer Battalion” to Enforce Crimea Blockade, Act of Aggression against Russia
http://www.globalresearch.ca/ankara-to-send-military-aid-to-ukraine-turkeys-volunteer-battalion-to-enforce-crimea-blockade-act-of-aggression-against-russia/5498124
[...]
Click to expand...
Erdogan is continuing the job that the US and the EU began.

Perhaps somebody has mentioned it before, but apparently the UK helped 7100 from Waffen SS. I found the links via https://www.facebook.com/groups/267593370087233/permalink/488649111314990/ who also gave the youtube link further down.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/releases/2005/highlights_aug/aug3/default.htm said:
Ukrainian SS 'Galicia' Division allowed to settle in Britain
Recent releases at The National Archives

Home office papers reveal how 7,100 Ukrainian men from the 14th Waffen SS 'Galicia' Division were allowed to settle in Britain in order to protect them from persecution in Stalinist controlled Ukraine. The documents follow the case of the Ukrainian soldiers, from their capture in Italy by British forces to Britain's reaction to an Italian treaty with the Soviet Union to repatriate the men. Catalogue reference: HO 213/1851, Ukrainian prisoners of war in Italy: possible transportation to UK for 'screening'. Go to Discovery to view the images

Catalogue reference: HO 213/1853, Ukrainian prisoners of war: proposal to return to Germany if not accepted for release to civilian status as agricultural workers in UK. Go to Discovery to view the images

Catalogue reference: HO 213/1518, Ukrainians: disposal policy. Go to Discovery to view the images
Click to expand...
The documents are behind Pay walls.

https://youtu.be/guziIIutKEE

There is now a second report about the use of toture in Ukraine: http://orientalreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Second-report-War-Crimes-of-the-Armed-Forces-and-Security-Forces-of-Ukraine.pdf

That I found the reports about the Ukrainian SS being "saved" by the UK, and the new report on toture is a coincidence. The question maybe remains if the UK would act the same way today, as they did after WW2.
 
Welcome to the EU! Poles Remind Ukrainians About The Restitution Of Property
http://fortruss.blogspot.ru/2015/12/welcome-to-eu-poles-remind-ukrainians.html

"Welcome to the European Union! Together with our possessions" - so began the leaflet that was distributed among Ukrainian migrants staying in Poland by participants of the organization "Restitution Borderlands". The organization seeks the return of Polish property to the heirs of those who lived in Western Ukraine prior to its annexation by the USSR.

"We just want to remind people that Kiev has agreed certain terms of Association with the EU. Of course, nobody has asked Ukrainians, but, once the government provides such an opportunity, the poles will seek lawsuits demanding compensation for property of their ancestors" - quoted Jaroslaw Augustyniak from the organization "Restitution Borderlands", according to the resource "Politnavigator".

"With great joy we, Polish citizens, the heirs of owners of homes, estates, real estate, factories, of any property that has remained in the Eastern territories of the Polish Republic, kindly invite Ukraine and Ukrainians into the common European family", the leaflet stated.

"We own about $5 billion of property not only within the old borders of the Second Polish Republic, but everywhere that was (and according to the law - and still is) Polish property before the revolution. Not all of us will take money, some will take away land and homes. We expect from you full commitment and cooperation if you want our help, if you want to join the European Union and NATO".

Also, the authors of the leaflets remind people that Poland itself has already passed through restitution, while entering the EU. Many poles were forced to return the property to the Germans and the Jews.

The distribution of these leaflets was held near the Warsaw center "Ukrainian world", the Embassy of Ukraine, as well as the Church of the Dormition, located in the Polish capital.

To recap, earlier, Arseny Yatsenyuk, speaking at a meeting with the delegation of Poland, called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact criminal, the signing of which annexed Western Ukraine to the Ukrainian SSR from Poland.



Another Regime Change "Success": Ukraine President Less Popular Than State Dept-Ousted Predecessor
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-30/another-regime-change-success-ukraine-president-less-popular-russian-backed-predeces

$3 billion obligation. To be sure, the move wasn’t unexpected.

“I have a feeling that they will not pay us back because they are crooks,” Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev said previously.

Here, in a nutshell, is what happened.

Back in 2013, Putin bought a $3 billion eurobond from Kiev’s Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovych. As Reuters noted at the time, “Kiev needed cash to cover its external funding gap, while the central bank's currency reserves are depleted by efforts to support the hryvnia and repay foreign debt.”

The deal was closed in December of that year. Two months (nearly to the day) later, Yanukovich was run out of Ukraine by protesters supported by the US and, most notably, by John McCain.

Later, as part of a deal to restructure some $18 billion in debt, the Petro Poroshenko (Yanukovych’s successor) government struck a deal with creditors including T. Rowe and Franklin Templeton that will see creditors take a 20% haircut on the way to improving Ukraine’s debt sustainability. Kiev offered Putin the same deal. Indignant at the prospect of having to take a 20% loss on money loaned to a friendly government but now owed by a country with which Moscow is effectively at war, The Kremlin refused. Ukraine defaulted.

We retell that story in order to provide some context for the following poll from Gallup which shows that incredibly, Poroshenko is now less popular than Yanukovych before he was ousted.

From Gallup:

Despite signs last year that Ukraine's then-new president was starting to rebuild Ukrainians' trust in their leadership, President Petro Poroshenko is now less popular than his predecessor Viktor Yanukovych was before he was ousted. After more than a year in office, 17% of Ukrainians approve of the job that Poroshenko is doing. This approval rating is down sharply from 47% a few months after his election in May 2014.

Poroshenko's low approval rating largely reflects Ukrainians' disenchantment with their leadership, which many feel has failed to deliver on what protesters demanded when they took to the streets two years ago. Since the Maidan revolution, Ukraine's economy has been in shambles, the Crimea region joined Russia and fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the country's East has claimed more than 9,000 lives.

Poroshenko is not popular in any region of Ukraine.
 
The First as Tragedy, Then as Farce: Is Erdogan After New Crimean War?

http://sputniknews.com/world/20160101/1032574365/erdogan-crimea-war-farce.html

The Crimean War was one of the most absurd conflicts in modern history, according to geopolitical expert F. William Engdahl; however, the escalating conflict being incited by Turkey’s would-be new Sultan, Recep Erdogan, by provoking Russia again and again, is more of a farce, he said, recalling Karl Marx’s remark on how tragedies repeat themselves.

“As if it weren’t enough to satisfy his macho by shooting down a Russian Su-24 fighter jet in Syrian airspace, an act of war by a NATO country, and murdering the Russian pilot, using his Turkish Grey Wolves terrorists, in violation of every precept of civilized nations, now the hot-headed Erdogan is openly stirring conflict in the Russian region of Crimea,” F. William Engdahl writes in his article for the magazine New Eastern Outlook.

The expert illustrates the above statement with the recent meeting of the Turkish leader with the “two organizers of the recent blockade actions against food and electricity that have been launched against the citizens of Russian Crimea.”

Another illustration is that Erdogan is also “sending the ultra-right-wing Turkish nationalist terrorist Grey Wolves into Ukraine to team up with Ankara-backed Crimean Muslim Tatar terrorists.”

The expert warns that “Erdogan’s ambitions are not modest. If he is mad enough to persist, as he seems so far to be, backed by Saudi and Qatari billions and his mad obsession with creating a new Ottoman Sultanate, he could detonate a new world war.”

That is, he stresses, “unless the more civilized world finally tires of his Monty Python-esque megalomania,” referring to the 1975 comedy classic “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”.
F. William Engdahl then warned that, if unleashed, the new conflict will be more of a farce than a tragedy, referring to the first line of an essay Karl Marx wrote in 1852.

Describing France of the time of Napoleon III, Marx, referred respectively to Napoleon I and to his nephew Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III).

“Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice,” Marx wrote in his essay. “He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.”

F. William Engdahl echoed his words, adding that “this third time, it is Erdoğan, not as Napoleon III, but as Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
 
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