Civil War in Ukraine: Western Empire vs Russia

[angelburst29]

Ukraine's attempts to inspect the Crimean territory are unuseful, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a Saturday statement.

Ukraine's Attempts to Inspect Crimea 'Provocative' - Russian Foreign Ministry
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201704291053140882-ukraine-crimea-inspections-russia/

Ukraine's attempts to inspect the Crimean territory are "provocative and futile," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a Saturday statement.

The current status of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as Russian constituents is a settled issue. It is not a subject to revision… Thus, Russia is free to deploy its troops and military equipment on its own territory. The attempts to inspect the Crimean territory as part of Ukraine's inspection are provocative and futile," the statement said.

Moreover, Russia is ready to welcome inspectors and observers in Crimea if corresponding requests under the Vienna Document on military transparency are submitted, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"As for repeated accusations under the Vienna Document (as well as the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe) of 'occupation,' 'annexation' of Crimea and deployment of troops there 'without consent of an accepting party,' the peninsula rejoined Russia is a result of a free expression of will of its multinational population… Russia is definitely ready to accept inspectors, observers and assessment groups in Crimea in case the corresponding requests under the Vienna Document are submitted," the statement said.

The official promo video for the Eurovision song contest has been published, captioned "Come to Ukraine and celebrate diversity."

Ukraine 'adopts' Crimea in Eurovision promo video
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/04/ukraine-adopts-crimea-in-eurovision.html
http://www.mk.ru/social/2017/04/28/ukraina-prisvoila-krym-v-promorolike-dlya-evrovideniya.html (0:30 min.)

The video lasts 30 seconds, and as the description states, features "the most picturesque corners" of the country. It includes the famous "Swallow's Nest" castle on the Aurora cliff in Crimea.

The song of the production is a Shakira composition, which was performed by the finalist of the Ukrainian version of the show "Golos - Deti", Anastasia Baginskaya. The lyrics of the compostion say that Ukraine "will never back down."

Russian television has refused to broadcast the contest this year due to the fact that the representative of the Russian Federation, Yulia Samoylova, has been denied entry to the territory of Ukraine.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has evidence of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's involvement in execution and torture of Russian servicemen during the hostilities in the Russian region of Chechnya in 1995, the committee’s spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said Saturday.

Russia Has Proof of Yatsenyuk’s Involvement in Chechnya Executions in 1995
https://sputniknews.com/russia/201704291053134630-russia-executions-yatsenyuk-proof/

Petrenko added that the investigative committee intended to seek the conviction of Yatsenyuk in accordance with the Russian legislation, using all legal instruments of the international law.

“The committee has evidence that Ukraine's former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk participated in at least two armed conflicts on the Minutka square in Grozny city on December 31, 1994 and on February, 1995, while he was also involved in torture and execution of captured Russian servicemen in the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny on January 7, 1995,” the spokeswoman said.

In March, a court in Russia's southern Yessentuki city ordered the arrest in absentia of Yatsenyuk. Ukraine's justice and foreign ministries have opposed the move. On Friday, Russian Prosecutor General's Office sent a request to Interpol to put Yatsenyuk, who resigned from office in April 2016, on the international wanted list.

In 2015, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, said that Russia's investigators had information that Yatsenyuk was a member of several gangs, namely "Argo" and "Viking," fighting alongside Chechen militants against Russian troops between 1994 and 1995.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia has confirmed the information about sending materials to Interpol with a request to declare ex-premier of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk on the international wanted list. Kiev expects that the organization will not do this, RIA Novosti reported.

Confirmed: RF requests Yats be placed on Interpol international wanted list
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/04/confirmed-rf-requests-yats-be-placed-on.html

The court in Yessentuki indicted Yatsenyuk in absentia, who is accused of banditry, and has been on the international wanted list since February.

Earlier, the head of the SC of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin said that Yatsenyuk fought in Chechnya on the side of militants, and also participated in the torture and execution of Russian servicemen.

 

[Voyageur]

When it comes to the OSCE, the Donetsk News Agency reports April 28 https://dan-news.info/en/world-en/khartsyzsk-land-mine-might-have-targeted-osce.html that the Khartsyzsk land mine might have targeted OSCE.

Donetsk, Apr 28 – DAN. The radio-controlled bomb found near Khartsyzsk on Friday afternoon might have been used against OSCE Special Monitoring Mission representatives, a DPR Operations Command source told Donetsk News Agency.

“As this road is often used by OSCE in hardware withdrawal verification missions, we don’t rule out that the bomb could have been set off against a passing patrol,” the officer said.

On April 23 2017, a OSCE Special Monitoring Mission car hit a tank mine in the vicinity of Prishib township killing one OSCE monitor and wounding another three, according to LPR State Security Ministry.

DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko expressed the hope for unbiased investigation and the republic’s readiness to enhance the observers’ safety with additional measures.*jk

The same agency reports that Kiev forces violate ceasefire 300 times over week, fire 1,097 rounds at DPR. https://dan-news.info/en/defence-en/kiev-forces-violate-ceasefire-300-times-over-week-fire-1097-rounds-at-dpr.html

Kiev forces violated the ceasefire 289 times over the past week, firing 1,097 artillery and mortar rounds at DPR territory, DPR Operations Command deputy commander Eduard Basurin said on Friday.

“The enemy violated the ceasefire 287 times over the past week firing 1,097 artillery, mortar and tank gun rounds at DPR with weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements,” Basurin said.

According to DPR Operations Command, 23 DPR settlements came under fire over the past week.

These are Donetsk’s Petrovskiy and Kirovskiy districts and city airport area, Makeyevka, Gorlovka and Zaitsevo, Shirokaya Balka, Zheleznaya Balka and Dolomitnoye villages, Yasinovataya and its Spartak, Vasilyevka, Veseloye, Zhabichevo and Krutaya Balka neighbourhoods, Dokuchayesk and Yasnoye village, and Kominternovo, Sosnovskoye, Sakhanka, Bezymennoye, Zaichenko, Dzerzhinskoye and Kulikovo villages in DPR south.

“Seventeen houses sustained damage in these settlements,” Basurin said.

On Friday morning, DPR Operations Command said Kiev forces violated the ceasefire 53 times over the past 24 hours. *jk

 

[angelburst29]

Odessa Massacre - 3 years on, nobody convicted
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/05/odessa-massacre-3-years-on-nobody.html

On 2nd May 2014, a horde of radicals and Pravy Sektor extremists burnt more than 100 persons alive (officially only 40 persons) in the city's trade unions building . They used “Willy Pete” (white phosphorus) to carry out this crime.

Nobody went to jail for this. Nobody was even arrested by the Kiev regime, although the leaders of the massacre are well-known by the authorities. The same authorities who took power illegally in Kiev after a bloody coup at the end of February 2014. A coup backed and funded by the US and some European countries.

Today, at President Putin and Chancellor Merkel's meeting in Sochi, Putin reminded the world that such tragedies cannot go unnoticed, while European leaders speak out about "LGBT Rights in Chechnya" and other internal human rights matters they supposedly care about.

Hundreds of people gathered on Tuesday in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa to commemorate those who were killed in the deadly fire in the city's Trade Unions House, and clashes between pro-Kiev radicals and anti-government protesters in 2014, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

People Gather in Ukraine's Odessa to Commemorate Anniversary of 2014 Massacre
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201705021053201413-odessa-massacre-anniversary/

During the rally, the attendees read poems in honor of the 2014 massacre victims and read out the names of the 48 people killed during the clashes between radicals and protesters, and the Trade Unions House fire.

Those at the remembrance rally in Odessa also said that they had been prohibited from flying banners and showing the victims' photos during the event.

On May 2, 2014, pro-Kiev radicals blocked a group of people protesting against the coup-imposed government in the House of the Trade Unions. Shortly thereafter, the radicals set the building on fire with Molotov cocktails. The probe launched by Ukraine's authorities to investigate the matter has not yet yielded significant progress, and has failed to convict anyone for the 2014 events.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained a group of local residents in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on suspicion of "preparing terrorist acts, sabotage and provocations," the SBU said in a statement Tuesday.

Odessa Residents Detained in Suspicion of 'Preparing Terrorist Attacks' - SBU
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201705021053192130-ukraine-odessa-detention-arrest/

SBU officers are holding activities in Odessa to prevent terrorist manifestations during the May holidays, as well as the anniversary of the tragic events on May 2, 2014 in the city. Operatives of the special service and the Alpha special unit detained in Odessa a group of local residents who are reasonably suspected of preparing terrorist acts, acts of sabotage and provocations," the SBU statement said.

According to the statement, the exact number of those detained has not been clarified and the operational and investigative activities are ongoing in the city.

A Sputnik correspondent reported from the city that Odessa police evacuated people from Kulykove Pole, where the ceremony to commemorate victims of the 2014 tragedy was underway, after police received a report of a bomb threat in the Trade Unions House, which later turned out to be false.

Ukraine's police reported that one person was detained on the ground of disobedience to law enforcers during the evacuation.

Immigrants from Russia and Ukraine participated in a remembrance rally near the European Parliament building in Brussels in commemoration of the victims of the Odessa tragedy of May 2, 2014, which claimed the lives of dozens of people, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Tuesday.

Ukrainians, Russians Rally in Brussels in Honor of Victims of Odessa Tragedy
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201705021053212774-brussels-rally-odessa-victims-honor/

Around 20 people participated in the demonstration organized by EU parliamentarian from Latvia Tatjana Zdanoka. The rally participants held photographs showing the site of the tragedy and had pins on their clothes saying "Remember Odessa. Stop fascism."

 

[angelburst29]

Black Death, The Plague epidemic strikes Ukrainian troops, several dead, 80 % Are Now In a overcrowded hospital , warning to residents to stay far away and avoid military nazi personnel.

http://novorossia.today/black-death-plague-strikes-nazi-ukraine-soldiers-mariupol-80-percent-affected-now-overcrowded-hospital-major-panic/

02.05.2017 - The Deputy Commander of the DPR Armed Forces, Eduard Basurin, said during a briefing that the Nazi Ukraine Army (AFU) soldiers had gone down in Mariupol with an easy form of plague, tularemia, with several people already dead.

The symptoms of the disease are a fever and rapid dehydration. The reason for its occurrence is insufficient provision of the Ukrainian army, which forces the military to switch to “pasture”.

‘The number of the affected indicates the onset of an epidemic. Approximately 80% of the battalion personnel were taken to the city hospital in Mariupol. Local residents complain that the hospital is overcrowded,’ said Basurin.

Basurin said that the disease is transmitted by airborne droplets and urged residents of Mariupol to avoid contact with the military personnel.

 

[goyacobol]

Another Plague link, just described as a plague:

Breaking: Plague epidemic in Ukrainian army, hospitals overcrowded

 

[Voyageur]

Another Plague link, just described as a plague:

Breaking: Plague epidemic in Ukrainian army, hospitals overcrowded

A little more background on this:

Tularaemia

Tularaemia is a zoonosis (infection that could transmit from animals to humans), caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis, capable of surviving for weeks at low temperatures in water, moist soil, hay, straw or animal carcasses. Natural reservoirs are many types of animals, mainly rabbits, hares, squirrels, foxes and ticks. Human infection can occur through a variety of mechanisms, the most important of which is through bites of infected insects (ticks, mosquitoes and flies). Other ways are through direct contact with infected animal tissues and contaminated soil or by drinking contaminated water and eating undercooked infected meat. On rare occasions infection could also occur through inhalation of infective aerosols.

After an incubation period of about 3–5 days symptoms start abruptly with high fever. Other symptoms vary with the portal of entry, and include swollen lymph glands, eye infection, throat infection, pneumonia and severe infection with blood stream infection. The infection is curable by antibiotic treatment, and death is rare in Europe.

General preventive measures include protection against tick bites, avoid drinking potentially contaminated water, and ensure that rabbit and hare meat is cooked thoroughly. Vaccine can be used to protect workers at occupational risk. Read more

 

[angelburst29]

The encouragement provided to Ukraine for its uncertain EU prospects by both the EU and Germany under Chancellor Angela Merkel is preventing the full implementation of the Minsk agreements on Ukrainian reconciliation, Beatrix von Storch, a member of the European Parliament for Germany's right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, told Sputnik.

Germany, EU 'Enabling Ukraine to Refrain From Implementing Minsk Agreements'
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201705051053323575-germany-eu-ukraine-donbass-minsk/

The German chancellor paid an official visit to Kiev in late January followed by a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in late March in Malta, where Merkel stressed Ukraine's importance for Europe. During the early April phone conversation between Merkel, Poroshenko, and French President Francois Hollande, the European Union leaders expressed their support regarding the introduction of a visa-free regime for Ukrainians.

"The EU is enabling Ukraine to refrain from fully implementing the Minsk agreements. Both the EU and Ukraine know that if Minsk II was fully implemented, the autonomy it provides to the Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts [regions] would hinder Ukraine's continued integration in the West. Implementation of the Minsk agreements cannot be achieved as long as Merkel continues to implicitly dangle the ever so feint prospect of EU membership to Ukraine," von Storch said.

According to the lawmaker, the EU-Ukraine association agreement, as well as Kiev's recent visa liberalization "feed into this delusion" that the European Union is Kiev’s "protector and caretaker."

Commenting on the Tuesday's meeting between Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which the leaders vowed to maintain a dialogue despite current political troubles, Von Storch said she remained "skeptical that Merkel aims at genuine extensive dialogue."

We must not only speak but listen. Russia has made very clear how it regards the continued expansion of the EU and NATO within its near abroad. Ukraine is of significant geo-political importance to Russia. If Merkel truly listened then Russia’s interests would be respected and this conflict would never have started in the first place," the lawmaker noted.

Ukraine should start to blackmail the United States - if Washington is to reduce aid to Kiev, as is anticipated in 2018 by almost 70%. The blackmail can be carried out by siding with Russia, says ex- military pilot turned politician, Nadejda Savchenko. This was said on the TV channel said of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament)

Savchenko: We will blackmail the US, by siding with Russia
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/05/savchenko-we-will-blackmail-us-by.html

The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recently stated that the American taxpayer should not be interested in what is happening in Ukraine.

"If you are not interested in what is happening in Ukraine, then we will strengthen Russia, and it will become a powerful enemy against you. These are the elements of political blackmail. It twists and turns - if you do not want to support us, we will support your enemy, and we will be friends with your enemy against you" - said Savchenko.

Effective today, May 4, Russia limits money transfers to Ukraine. This law was adopted by the State Duma in late March. The ban deals with transfers made through foreign payment systems.

Effectve today, May 4: No more cash transfers from Russia to Ukraine
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/05/effectve-today-may-4-no-more-cash.html

The document states that if a country imposed restrictive measures on Russian systems registered by the Central Bank, then money can only be transferred to this state through an operator controlled by a Russian legal entity. It's about fast transfers, for which you do not need to open an account.

The entry into force of the law makes direct transfers of money through payment systems from Russia to Ukraine impossible.

Recall that last year Ukraine introduced a ban on the use of a number of Russian payment systems. As Pravda.Ru previously reported, the Ukrainian authors of the idea chose not to notice the grotesqueness of the situation. After all, we are talking about transfers of money earned by Ukrainians precisely from that same 'aggressor,' in order to prevent the families that were left in the "great European power" from falling into complete poverty, for whom this "great and European power" itself can provide (at an African standard of living) - and this is against the background of Western-level fees for 'utilities' and everything else.

 

[angelburst29]

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released a unique archive of documents detailing the atrocities and horrifying cruelty perpetrated by the Nazis during their occupation of the city of Kherson, Ukraine during World War II.

Russia Declassifies Secret Report on Horrifying Nazi Crimes in Wartime Ukraine
https://sputniknews.com/society/201705061053337885-nazi-occupied-kherson-report-declassified/

The documents, published on the Ministry's website this week, feature a report by Lieutenant-General Mikhail Rudkov, the head of the political department of the Third Ukrainian Front, dated April 3, 1944. The report lays out in detail the Nazi occupation forces' cruelty, including their torture and execution of tens of thousands of civilians, the looting, plundering and destruction of city property, and their attempts to impose a new political and ideological order in the occupied territory.

The document is accompanied by a forensic medical examination report, conducted after the exhumation of the bodies from mass graves seven kilometers outside the city.

The preface to Rudkov's report reads: "In the two years and seven months of its control of the city of Kherson, the Germans committed monstrous crimes: murdering tens of thousands of Soviet citizens, including women, children, the elderly and prisoners of war. Thousands of youth were taken away into slavery in Germany. The Nazis conducted a systematic campaign of violence against Soviet citizens, beating, brutalizing and victimizing them in all possible ways, stealing state property and the belongings of the civilian population, destroying factories, public facilities, schools and cultural facilities."

Citing eyewitness reports, other testimony and estimates by local officials, the secret document details the cruelty inflicted by the Nazis against Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Gypsies, and other groups, such as the mentally disabled. The Gestapo secret police alone are estimated to have killed up to 17,000 people, stepping up their campaign as the Soviet army came close to liberating the city.

The report also covers the special cruelty reserved for Soviet prisoners of war, who numbered in the hundreds of thousands following the surprise invasion in 1941. Rudkov details how in Kherson region, POWs were left to starve to death in camps, and subjected to torture and summary execution. The report reads: "From cold, hunger, abuse and infection (including dysentery and typhus), up to a hundred POWs would die per day."

The report details how over 15,000 people from the city and the surrounding area, mostly children and teenagers, were forcibly rounded up and taken from their homes and sent to work camps in Germany in cattle wagons.

Rudkov also focuses on the Nazi plunder of Kherson's industrial and agricultural potential (much of it built up just a decade earlier during the difficult and taxing industrialization campaign). The officer documents how in the city's center, the Nazis took control of hundreds of houses and apartment buildings, government offices, stores, schools, and cultural centers. "The city's outskirts were particularly hard hit: here the Germans burned or destroyed over 600 houses," the report noted.

The formerly classified report also covers the Nazis' targeting of schools, and institutions of higher learning. It calculates that in the course of the occupation, over three quarters of secondary schools were closed. 75,000 books from the library of the pedagogic institute were burned, with another 225,000 books from other libraries and institutes also destroyed. Prior to their expulsion, the Nazis looted Kherson's Historical-Archeological Museum, known before the war to have contained the most impressive collection of artifacts in southern Ukraine.

Rudkov writes that occupation forces banned Russian-language schools, notwithstanding the strong presence of Russian in the city. In the remaining Ukrainian-language schools, only maths, handicrafts, Ukrainian and German language studies were permitted. History, geography, sciences and other subjects were simply banned.

"The Hitlerites worked to liquidate Ukrainian national culture," the report stresses, with city movie theaters showing only German films and Goebbels' propaganda. The region's churches were also looted, their icons, silver and gold crosses, other artifacts transferred to Germany.

The documents also make clear that as the war bore on and their successes were rolled back, the Nazis began a campaign to try to cover up their crimes in the occupied territories. This is shown by a directive by Wehrmacht High Command obtained and translated into Russian from June 15, 1944, showing a 'categorical ban' on photographing executions, along with an order to carry out the killings without witnesses.

Commenting on the significance of these documents, the Ministry of Defense explained that they have "acquired a special relevance today, in light of attempts by various political forces both in our country and abroad to rewrite the history of World War II and to impose a new version on the world – to reshape history for political purposes."

The Ministry recalled that the Great Patriotic War (the Russian term for the Soviet-Nazi German war of 1941-1945) "brought the peoples of the Soviet Union not only huge losses on the front, but took the lives of millions of civilians. Without regard for any norms of international law or civilized relations, the fascist armies, declaring the total extermination of 'sub-humans' (the Nazi term for the Slavic peoples) methodically organized a campaign of brutal terror in the territories they occupied."

Kherson, a region in southern Ukraine situated just north of Crimea, was occupied by Nazi forces in the summer of 1941, and suffered nearly three years of occupation before being liberated by Soviet troops in March 1944.

An estimated 6 million Ukrainians fought in the ranks of the Red Army during the Second World War. They fought alongside Russians, Belarusians, Kazakhs, Tajiks, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Jews and the dozens of other nationalities of the Soviet Union to liberate the country, and Europe, from the Nazi menace.

Unfortunately, over the last several years, in their effort to distance themselves from Russia, Ukrainian authorities have engaged in a systematic campaign to try to cast the 100,000 or so fighters from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a militia force that collaborated with the Nazis, as heroes. Most Russians, and many Ukrainians, consider this to be a shameful attempt to rewrite history, particularly because the vast majority of Ukrainians fought against the Nazis, and the UPA, during the war.

Back-dated Jan. 6, 2017 - On January 1, in what has become a tradition, radicals held a torch-lit march in Kiev to mark the birthday of Stepan Bandera, a WWII-era Ukrainian nationalist leader and Nazi collaborator. Sometimes, Ukrainians get into arguments with Russians, telling them why Bandera was really a 'hero' and 'freedom fighter'. Sputnik explains why that's not true.

Russia Cringes as Kiev Commemorates Nazi Patsies Who Terrorized Wartime Ukraine
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201701061049329109-russia-ukraine-spat-over-bandera-explained/

On Tuesday, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan proposed holding a grand ceremony to reinter the remains of Ukrainian WWII-era Nazi collaborators buried in Western Europe in Ukraine. This includes Stepan Bandera, a wartime nationalist leader who was buried in Munich, Germany after being assassinated in 1959. "They need to come back home," Omelyan wrote, in a post on his Facebook page, referring to hundreds of fighters from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and other paramilitary groups who fled to Western Europe and North America after the Second World War.

Of course, as a recent article by a staff writer for Russia's RIA Novosti pointed out, the Ukrainian official did not mention the horrendous war crimes committed by these so-called 'heroes'. The truth regarding the wartime activities of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), and its armed wing, the UPA, as well as the nationalists who served in the ranks of the SS, has remained hidden from view in the contemporary Ukrainian nationalist narrative.

Unfortunately, RIA Novosti added, these truths cannot be hidden from the historical record, with plenty of archival documents, photos, and other materials confirming the ferocity and brutality of the Banderite nationalists in the territories that they held in their grip during the war. Below readers will find some of this evidence, together with an explanation about why Russians will never accept Bandera to be a hero to anyone, and first and foremost to Ukrainians themselves.

Origins - Although Russians remember the OUN from its collaboration with Nazi Germany, it first gained notoriety as a terrorist organization in interwar Poland, when it had Interior Minister Bronislaw Pieracki assassinated in 1934. Bandera led the organization at the time and was sentenced to death for terrorism.

However, the Nazis needed assistance in their efforts to depopulate western Ukraine, which was populated by a mixture of Ukrainians, Jews and Poles and had been part of Poland until it was incorporated into the Soviet Union. Bandera was let out of prison in Poland in 1939 and teamed up with other key OUN members in Nazi-occupied Krakow, where they would work together with German intelligence to stage the invasion of Soviet Ukraine.

Before the start of the Second World War, he and other members of the OUN received permission from Berlin to create the "Legion of Ukrainian Nationalists," out of which the Roland and Nachtigall SS battalions would eventually be formed. These troops consisted mostly of residents of Galicia, a region in modern-day western Ukraine which at the time had belonged to Poland. Roman Shukhevych, a nationalist leader who would go on to lead UPA, was appointed commander of the Nachtigall Battalion in 1941.

Great Patriotic War Begins: Nationalists Become Major Nazi Tool - On June 30, 1941, one week after the commencement of Hitler's notorious Operation Barbarossa, the Wehrmacht occupied Lvov and Stepan Bandera was declared the head of an 'independent' Ukrainian State. In his "Act of Proclamation of Ukrainian Statehood," he announced that "the newly formed Ukrainian state will work closely with the National-Socialist Greater Germany, under the leadership of its leader Adolf Hitler, which is forming a new order in Europe and the world and is helping the Ukrainian People to free itself from Moscovite occupation."

Shukhevych's men arrived with the invaders. OUN fighters took an active role in the purge that followed. A single day after the invasion, the men, women and children of Lvov's Jewish population were humiliated, beaten, and sometimes shot on the spot. The transfer of the city's Jewish community to concentration camps would commence within a year. After Poland was divided in September of 1939 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, the Jewish population of the city doubled to more than 200,000 due to the arrival of refugees; only about 1,000 would survive the war.

However, the Germans soon demonstrated that they had no intention of changing the status of Reichskommissariat Ukraine. Just 11 weeks after his proclamation was read, Bandera was arrested and sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he would be held until 1944.

But the atrocities committed by the nationalists and collaborators did not end after their spiritual leader's arrest. In September 1941, after Kiev fell, the Nazis employed local nationalists to help murder over 100,000 people, most of them Jews, but also Gypsies, anti-fascist Ukrainians and Soviet prisoners of war, in what became known as the tragedy at Babi Yar.

In 1943, by the decision of the OUN, and with approval from Nazi authorities, nationalists established the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which quickly became known for its cruelty against Polish and Soviet civilians alike. In 1943, Roman Shukhevych left his service with the SS, and was soon appointed Supreme Commander of the UPA.

Brutal Ethnic Cleansing Campaign in Western Ukraine - The UPA's activities in western Ukraine, in the territories of Volyn and eastern Galicia, are particularly painful for many Poles even to this day, and are arguably the most terrible page in the paramilitary group's history. Between 1943 and 1944, UPA conducted a massive campaign of ethnic cleansing in these territories, with historians estimating that between 80,000-120,000 Polish civilians were killed. The campaign was also known for its shocking brutality, with militias burning down entire villages, and using knives and axes on their victims to save bullets.

In 1944, Stepan Bandera was released from his imprisonment, and quickly set up shop in Berlin to try to coordinate the Ukrainian nationalist resistance to the advancing Soviets by begging for support from the crumbling German war machine.

UPA's Postwar Fate - At the end of the war, Bandera and his men fled to the Allied Zone of Occupation, with some leaving for other countries and continents. Some soon went on to work for MI6 and eventually, the CIA.

As for the UPA nationalists who remained in Ukraine, they continued their insurgency against Soviet Ukrainian authorities until well after the end of the war, with the NKVD (the predecessors to the KGB) destroying the last unit only in the mid-1950s.

Unfortunately, the story didn't end there. After arriving in their new homes in Western Europe and North America, many ex-fighters continued their activities, creating propaganda, engaging in politics, and publishing massive tomes recounting the 'official history' of their activities. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, many of these nationalists and their descendants returned to their home country, bringing their ideology, and more importantly, grant-funded textbooks for Ukrainian schools and universities, with them.

In the last two-and-a-half years, Ukrainians have gotten into heated arguments with Russians, in public, on television programs and online, complaining about why Russians, who also had their traitors during the war, including former Red Army General Andrei Vlasov, raise such a ruckus about Bandera and Shukhevych.

The response they are given is always the same: Vlasov was never turned into a hero in Russia, even after the USSR's collapse, and never will be. Moreover, Russians say, six million Ukrainians served in the Red Army during the war, while only about 100,000 served in the ranks of the UPA, with a few tens of thousands more in other polizei and SS formations. By these numbers, they say, Kiev's lionization of Bandera and his men is equally absurd.

 

[youlik]

Попытка покушения на Захарченко: террористы заложили 6 фугасов
http://rusvesna.su/news/1494233846

Попытка покушения на Захарченко: террористы заложили 6 фугасов | Русская весна
Еще пять фугасов (помимо взорванного) обнаружены на трассе, ведущей к мемориальному комплексу Саур-Могила в Шахтерском районе ДНР.
«Найдено еще пять фугасов. Они были не радиоуправляемые, а заведены на определенное время», — сообщили источники в силовых структурах Республики.
Ранее сообщалось, что на трассе в районе Саур-Могилы были заложены два боеприпаса фугасного типа, один из которых взорвался. После взрыва местность обследовалась саперными подразделениями ДНР.
Отметим, что утром в районе Саур-Могилы, по разной информации, прозвучало от одного до двух взрывов. Погибших и пострадавших в результате инцидента нет.
Факт происшествия подтвердили в администрации Главы ДНР.

Translation

The assassination attempt on Zakharchenko: the terrorists have laid 6 land mines | Russian spring
Five more bombs (in addition to blown up) discovered on the road leading to the memorial complex Saur-Grave in the Mining district of the DNR.
"Found five more bombs. They were not radio controlled and the switched at a certain time," according to sources in power structures of the Republic.
Earlier it was reported that on the highway in the area of Saur-Grave was laid two ammunition of high explosive type, one of which exploded. After the explosion the area was surveyed sapper units of the DNR.
Note that the morning in the area of Saur-Graves, different information came about one or two explosions. Those killed and injured in the incident, no.
The incident confirmed in the administration of the head of DNR.

 

[youlik]

Здесь видео от К. Долгова с того самого мероприятия, на пути к которому пытались взорвать кортеж Захарченко.
http://rusvesna.su/news/1494266001

Translation
Here is the video from K. Dolgov from the event, on the way to which tried to blow up the motorcade Zakharchenko.

 

[angelburst29]

On April 23rd, an OSCE mission vehicle was blown up in the Donbass, killing one observer - an American man.

Ukrainian saboteurs' cellphones allegedly show OSCE vehicle blast in planning [Video]
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/05/ukrainian-saboteurs-cellphones.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNEHhbf1n48 (1:47 min.)

Videos and still images have been derived from the mobile phones of members of a Ukrainian sabotage-intelligence group, who were previously suspected of the crime, and who were themselves destroyed on 2 May.

In video recordings made on 27 April and 1 May - Ukrainian saboteurs boast about firing on the positions of the Donbass defenders.

The faces of these men, captured in photos and video footage, are believed to have carried out the vehicle blast of the OSCE mission , in order to give rise to the possibility of the OSCE, or another international 'peacekeeping force', going into the Donbass armed.

Nearly three years of investigations have been conducted since the Italian Andrea Rocchelli, "Andy," founder and member of "Cesura," the group of independent photographers, was killed in Andreyevka near the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk on May 24, 2014
By Cesare Giuzzi

Italian investigation concludes reporter in Donbass was murdered in an ambush
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/05/italian-investigation-concludes.html

Andy did not die by mistake. His death was not "collateral damage" in the war in Donbass. No, the murder of Andrea Rocchelli, photojournalist of the independent group Cesura, was an intentional murder.

It was a repeated bombardment with 40-60 mortar shots and it lasted more than half an hour. A "continued" fire, as the investigators write, with artillery-troops who fired shots on the taxi Andy Rocchelli, his Russian interpreter the journalist Andrei Mironov and their French guest William Roguelon were in.

Then they focused specifically on the "hole" where the photographer and the interpreter found shelter. Until the certainty that they were killed.

The first real breakthrough in investigations into the death of the photojournalists in Ukraine comes three years since they were killed May 24, 2014. The deputy prosecutor of Pavia, Andrea Zanoncelli and the associate Mario Venditti are convinced that Rocchelli, born and raised right on the banks of the Ticino, was intentionally killed in an ambush and not in an incident of war. A thesis that somehow collides with what the family claimed and even the only survivor of the attack (the taxi driver never was identified), the Frenchman Roguelon. The transalpine reporter was questioned twenty days ago in Milan by carabinieri of Ros [Special Operations Group], led by Colonel Paolo Storoni.

The investigators, after being stymied more than two years, have been able to give new impetus to investigations by seizing hitherto unpublished documents. So far, despite the appeals of the family, requests with Kiev and Moscow had in fact brought no step forward in the investigation (the file originally had been opened in Rome).

The answers that came back from Kiev have been considered "not satisfactory" even just to rebuild the dynamics of the shooting. Investigators are now convinced that they have identified a trail behind the ambush, and even if the secrecy remains high, they may have shed some light on the men who were part of the Andreyevka fire near the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk.

Among the new material seized were the archives on which Rocchelli kept the photographs taken during his working days, the virtual icloud with which he sent the material to Italy, to Pianello Val Tidone in Piacentino where the collective Cesura is located, and also part of the files that were erased from this hardware.

What is believed, but at the moment unconfirmed, is that Rocchelli and the Russian journalist and former Russian dissident Mironov were killed by the fire of Ukrainian troops. The main target would be Mironov. But Rocchelli, who had already dealt with the war in Chechnya, was a well-known name among the war reporters in the former USSR.

Italian magistrates are about to demand a new inquest from the Ukrainian authorities.

 

[angelburst29]

Another Plague link, just described as a plague:

Breaking: Plague epidemic in Ukrainian army, hospitals overcrowded

A little more background on this:

Tularaemia

Tularaemia is a zoonosis (infection that could transmit from animals to humans), caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis, capable of surviving for weeks at low temperatures in water, moist soil, hay, straw or animal carcasses. Natural reservoirs are many types of animals, mainly rabbits, hares, squirrels, foxes and ticks. Human infection can occur through a variety of mechanisms, the most important of which is through bites of infected insects (ticks, mosquitoes and flies). Other ways are through direct contact with infected animal tissues and contaminated soil or by drinking contaminated water and eating undercooked infected meat. On rare occasions infection could also occur through inhalation of infective aerosols.

After an incubation period of about 3–5 days symptoms start abruptly with high fever. Other symptoms vary with the portal of entry, and include swollen lymph glands, eye infection, throat infection, pneumonia and severe infection with blood stream infection. The infection is curable by antibiotic treatment, and death is rare in Europe.

General preventive measures include protection against tick bites, avoid drinking potentially contaminated water, and ensure that rabbit and hare meat is cooked thoroughly. Vaccine can be used to protect workers at occupational risk. Read more

It doesn't surprise me that some kind of epidemic has hit the Ukrainian army, considering the horrid conditions they are made to endure, much like the photo in this article. There's many more dotted across the Internet. Even the food allotted to the Ukrainian solders is substandard and rationed.

The Ukrainian government said in a statement Thursday that it had to extend the temporary energy emergency measures, introduced over energy shortages due to the conflict in the Donbass region, for an additional month.

Blockade Backfires: Ukraine Extends State of Emergency in Energy for Month
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201705111053522872-ukraine-emergency-energy-blockade/

In late January, following the escalation of tensions in the southeastern part of the country, a group of former participants of Ukraine's military operation in Donbass, including several lawmakers, blocked traffic on several segments of freight rail lines running from the territories uncontrolled by Kiev. The blockade led to irregularities in supplies of anthracite coal from Donbass, subsequently leading to power shortages in Ukraine, and prompted Kiev to declare an energy emergency.

Making things worse, the Ukrainian president shifted the self-destructing blockade to an official level.

"The Government at its meeting on Thursday has prolonged extraordinary measures on the electricity market for one month which were implemented in the framework of the regime of saving resources due to the economic and energy blockade which was imposed in January of this year," the statement said.

The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) decided to impose receivership regime on Ukrainian enterprises in the area on March 1 in response to the transport blockade.

Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk said that Ukraine is planning to appeal the decision of the High Court of London in the case of the sovereign debt to Russia in the beginning of June.

Ukraine to Appeal London Court Ruling on Russian Debt in June
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201705111053509618-ukraine-russian-debt/

Ukraine is planning to appeal the decision of the High Court of London in the case of the sovereign debt to Russia in the beginning of June, Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk said Thursday.

The London High Court ruled in March that the case should not go to a full trial, which is a partial win for Russia, but gave Ukraine the right to appeal.

The $3 billion sovereign bond debt was secured by former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's government in late 2013. Russia has repeatedly stated that Ukraine's failure to pay back the debt should be classified as a default.

Russia filed the lawsuit against Ukraine with the court in February 2016, demanding the repayment of the $3-billion principal and unpaid interest accumulated starting from the Eurobond's maturity date in December 2015.

Holidays events dedicated to the third anniversary of the republic started.

Today is the third anniversary of the establishment of the DPR
http://novorossia.today/today-is-the-third-anniversary-of-the-establishment-of-the-dpr/

Remember that today, on May 11, 2017 is the third anniversary since the establishment of the DPR.

Today like previous two years people join the parade, and then the celebration will be continued with the concert at the stadium.

 

[angelburst29]

Ukrainians will be quickly disappointed in their country's visa-free regime with the EU after they face a wide array of problems upon entering the bloc, Kiev-based political analyst Mikhail Pogrebinsky told Sputnik.

Not as Rosy as Painted: Why EU Visa-Free Regime Will Soon Infuriate Ukrainians
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201705131053575973-ukraine-eu-visa-free-regime/

In an interview with Sputnik, Mikhail Pogrebinsky, head of the Kiev-based Center for Political and Conflict Resolution Studies, suggested that the numerous problems Ukrainians will face after entering the EU will lead to widespread disillusionment about their country's visa-free regime with the EU.

On Thursday, the EU Council approved the liberalization of the visa regime with Ukraine, allowing those who travel "for business, tourist or family purposes" to enter and stay in the European Union for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa.

The regulation, applying to the Schengen area and excluding Ireland and the United Kingdom, allows Ukrainian citizens to travel to the EU for business, tourist or family purposes with a biometric passport.

At the same time, Brussels promised to suspend this visa-free regime for Ukraine if the country faces "serious issues" related to migration and security.

Speaking to Sputnik, Pogrebinsky said that after the visa-free travel regulation enters force, those Ukrainians who will travel to the EU may face the necessity of confirming their ability to stay within the bloc, among other problems.

"I think we should hear [Ukrainians'] impressions about the visa-free regime in the next few months. We will listen to many different complaints from people who have faced various troubles," Pogrebinsky said.

He noted that while the visa-free regime will allow Ukrainians to take a vacation in the EU, it will not give them the opportunity to work or study in EU countries.

Earlier, Russian political analyst Vladimir Zorin told Sputnik that the European Union is tired of the political limbo in Ukraine and expects Kiev to take political action in exchange for Brussels granting Ukrainian citizens a 90-day visa-free visit.

"The EU is waiting for Kiev to do something in exchange for the visa-free travel. Brussels is tired of the current political and economic limbo in Ukraine, and the EU needs neither a frozen nor simmering conflict there, not to mention an open one," Zorin said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexey Meshkov, for his part, said that the EU's latest decision to grant Ukrainian citizens a 90-day visa-free visit is a "carrot on a string" that does little in the way of easing the current system.

The European Union has paid the first tranche to Kiev within the program to support Ukraine's administrative reforms.

Ukraine Receives $11 Million From EU for Public Administration Reform
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201705131053592560-ukraine-eu-tranche-public-administration-reform/

Ukraine has received 10 million euros ($11 million) from the European Union as the first tranche within the EU program supporting the reform of the public administration in the country, the press service of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers said Saturday in a statement.

"The European Union adopted the decision on payment of the first fixed tranche of budget support in the framework of the EU programme supporting Ukraine in implementing a comprehensive Public Administration Reform. … Ukraine has received 10 million euros to support the reform of public administration," the statement reads.

The statement added that the European partners of Ukraine had noted the government's efforts to reform public administration as well as the political will to implement these changes.

In November, the European Union announced that it would provide additional 300 million euros ($316.5 million) to Ukraine to support the public administration reform, the process of decentralization and the establishment of the rule of law in the country.

Earlier this week, the European Council announced Thursday it had approved a measure granting Ukrainian citizens 90-day visa-free travel within the bloc.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Washington is engaged in the work of the Normandy format on settling the conflict in Donbass.

Poroshenko Says US Engaged in Normandy Format on Donbass Conflict Settlement
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201705141053607463-ukraine-us-donbass-poroshenko/

The United States is engaged in the work of the Normandy format on settling the conflict in Donbass, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Sunday.

The Normandy Four contact group on Ukraine crisis comprises Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine.

I want to stop any discussions that it would be more effective for us to bring the United States into the Normandy format. I highlight that it is engaged [in this format] and it will be. All the time, including under the previous administration… there was a respective diplomat in the rank of ambassador, who was fully informed about the content of the talks in the Normandy format, and they were coordinated with our US partners," Poroshenko said during a press conference.

In February, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel spoke in favor of maintaining the current format of four-way ministerial meetings on Ukraine, while staying in touch with the United States.

In February 2015, the warring parties to the Ukrainian conflict in Donbass signed the Minsk peace accords in order to cease fire in the crisis-torn region. Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine, as the members of the Normandy Four, helped negotiate the Donbass ceasefire. The truce, however, has been repeatedly breached, with Kiev forces and Donbas militia accusing each other of violating it.

Victory Day in the Lugansk People's Republic

LPR News Round-Up: Lugansk is sick of the OSCE
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/05/lpr-news-round-up-lugansk-is-sick-of.html

On May 9th, Colonel Yan Leshchenko, commander of a detachment of the People's Militia of the LPR, led the festive military parade alongside the head of the Republic, Igor Plotnitsky. The head of the LPR recalled the contribution of the inhabitants of the Lugansk region to the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, 287 of whom became Heroes of the Soviet Union during the war.

The parade was attended by approximately 1,200 military personnel and law enforcement officers of the LPR, by the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and by cadets. Moreover, about 100 military vehicles and weapons were used, including tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, Grad rocket systems, self-propelled and towed artillery systems, as well as the Arrow-10 anti-aircraft missile system.

At the end of the parade, in Lugansk's Theater Square, the March for Peace and the column of the Immortal Regiment March were held, whose participants carried the pictures of their family and loved ones who defended their homeland during the Great Patriotic War and are doing so now in face of Kiev's aggression against Donbass. The column stretched for five kilometers. Tens of thousands of representatives of different professions and generations took part in the procession. Factory collectives from Lugansk and across the Republic, students, youth and social organizations, servicemen of the People's Militia, veterans, doctors, teachers, miners, and civil servants were all united by the march.

Also on Victory Day, motorcyclists from the Donbass Night Wolves motor club visited memorial places along the "Battle Road of the Fraternal Donbass." The ride went from Lugansk to Alchevsk and Perevalsk, and then, having planned their route through the People's Republic of Donetsk, they visited Debaltsevo, Enakievo, Donetsk, Makeyevka and Shakhtersk. The final point of the ride was the legendary Saur-Mogila, located in the mining district of the DPR.

Lugansk People's Republic now lives without Ukrainian electricity

At a meeting of the Council of Ministers with the participation of LPR head Igor Plotnitsky, Pavel Malgin, the Acting Minister of the Fuel, Energy and Coal Industry of the People's Republic of Lugansk, announced that the LPR has successfully switched to normal electricity supply mode without any failures or accidents.

This marks full recovery from April 24th, when at 11:41 P.M., the Ukrainians halted the supply of electricity to the fuel and energy stations in the LPR. According to Sergey Ivanushkin, the Republic's Minister for Emergency Situations, thanks to the rapid operations of electrical power engineers, the power supply to the main districts of the city of Lugansk was already turned on within 40 minutes, and at 2:00 am the country completely switched to its internal resources.

Previously, Igor Plotnitsky has stated that the LPR will not de-energize the settlements of the Lugansk region controlled by Kiev, even if the Ukrainian authorities stop supplying electricity to the Republic.

Lugansk is sick of the OSCE

The Head of the LPR, Igor Plotnitsky, has accused the OSCE of destroying civilian's homes. This was reported by the State broadcaster (GTRK) of the People's Republic of Lugansk.

According to Plotnitsky, as written in the OSCE's mandate, this international organization is responsible for the safety and security of the lives of the civilian population, so he wants to demand that OSCE observers recompense destroyed homes in the so-called "gray zone." According to the head of the LPR, there are about 300 people who have suffered from such a situation.

"If they are not able to enforce their statutes, then what is the point of their presence on the territory of the Republic? If they cannot protect, they have to pay for destruction. In this case, we will also adhere to the OSCE Charter. If they do not perform their functions politically, then let them carry out their functions economically. Please, take our position to Minsk and convey to the OSCE our economic demand for compensation,” Vladislav Daney, the authorized representative of the Republic at the Minsk negotiations, was instructed by the LPR Head.

Mass protests have taken place across the territory of the Republic during which thousands of LPR residents have repeatedly expressed their discontent with the actions (or more often, rather inactions) of the OSCE in regards to shelling by Ukrainian militants. The people of Lugansk have also spoken out over European observers' "real gift of foresight," i.e., their suspicious abandoning of areas half an hour before shelling begins, and their complete lack of reaction to Ukrainian bombardments that happen right under their noses. An OSCE official has even been caught spying for Ukraine.

Everyday violence in Ukrainian-occupied Donbass

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Lugansk People's Republic has issued a report on the behavior of Ukrainian police in the part of Donbass occupied by Ukraine. According to the press officer of the LPR's MIA, Sergey Kolesnikov: "The police refuse to investigate the crimes of the military and militants of the Avakovskiy national battalion, thereby confirming, in practice, that they all came here as invaders..."

Residents of Severodonetsk reported to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the LPR's hotline: "To ensure the passage of a Ukrainian general and two American instructors, military law enforcement services detained an ambulance for 15 minutes that was delivering a patient with a myocardial infarction to the hospital. This cost the life of the inhabitant of Donbass.”

In one of the buildings of the Lugansk thermal power plant, a special UAF unit installed radio equipment with powerful transmitters on the roof. It is controlled by the military from a nearby house, while all the employees of this building are have no choice but to suffer the radiation consequences.

"Disregard for the law in the occupied territory of Donbass has reached such a scale that even police officers cease to tolerate this, and call the MIA Liaison Hotline with reports of crimes. These people understand what they are threatened with for leaking operational information, but they do not want to hide the crimes of their leadership,” said the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Lugansk People's Republic.

Even more grotesque information has been revealed. An employee of the Ukrainian police, calling the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the LPR, reported that fragments of a human body were found near the Starobelsk-Belovodsk route. It has been established that these are the remains of the body of Lieutenant Colonel Shpak, former head of the Rubezhansky City Department of Internal Affairs, who disappeared in July 2014. At the same time, however, this information has been hidden by the Ukrainian police. In the meanwhile, investigation has accurately established that Shpak was last seen at a checkpoint of the Aidar battalion. "After that, Shpak's traces were lost," Sergey Kolesnikov reported. The need to twist the facts for the sake of propaganda has thus turned out to be stronger than the rule of law in what's left of Ukraine.

 

[angelburst29]

In the next four years, Ukraine will have to return $20 billion of debt. The lack of reforms and problems with receiving new loans are a major obstacle. The situation is complicated by the fact that the government will not take unpopular measures due to the 2019 presidential election.

Ukraine Teeters on the Brink of Default as Kiev Struggles to Repay Debts
https://sputniknews.com/business/201705151053623553-ukraine-money-debts/

S&P Global Rating estimated Ukrainian debt repayment in 2017-2020 at over $20 billion, which exceeds the country’s current gold and exchange reserves. According to a report by Ukraine’s National Bank, as of May 1, the gold and exchange reserves are $17.2 billion.

Ukraine began negotiations on the restructuring of its $19.3 billion debt in 2015. In August 2015, Kiev reached an agreement with creditors to write down 20 percent of the debt and move the pay back dates for four years, from 2015-2023 to 2019-2027.

Eurobond holders received 20-year derivative securities, proportional to a share in the Ukrainian debt. They will receive their money back in US dollars, depending on the dynamics of Ukraine’s GDP. Payments of interest will be available after Ukraine’s nominal GDP reached $125.4 billion, 50 percent more than in 2016.

At the time when the debt restructuring was agreed Ukraine was expected to implement reforms and attract investments. However, the government was not ready for radical changes.

As a result, domestic problems deepened and capital inflows to Ukraine decreased. Ernst & Young ranked Ukraine first in its latest Global Fraud Survey.

Last year, Kiev attracted nearly $4 billion in foreign investments, including $3 billion from Russian banks as additional capitals to their Ukrainian subsidiaries.

In 2017, Ukraine will repay to creditors $2.6 billion plus $3 billion to settle its debt to Russia. The two-year loan was provided by Moscow to Kiev back in 2013 in Eurobonds, but in 2015 the new government refused to pay back and demanded for its restructuring.

The sides could not reach a compromise and Ukraine said a technical default on the debt could not be ruled out. In February 2016, Russia filed a lawsuit against Ukraine at London's High Court of Justice, demanding to pay back the loan.

In late-March, the Court ruled against holding a full trial on Ukraine’s $3 billion debt to Russia as Kiev had no justifiable defense for failing to pay it back.

The Russian Finance Ministry said that Moscow considers the ruling as "final and obligatory."

"After reviewing the Russian request for quick hearings of the Russian lawsuit, the High Court in London ruled that Ukraine must pay off the nominal sum of the Eurobonds in the amount of $3 billion, as well as the accumulated interest," the ministry said in a statement.

Nevertheless, Kiev said it would contest the ruling in the Court of Appeal in London.

In 2018, Kiev will have to return $3.9 billion to creditors while in 2019 $7.5 billion. The situation is complicated by the fact that in 2019 prior to the presidential election the government will have to improve social standards, in order to win voters’ support. Kiev does not have money to increase social benefits, and as a result will have to implement its unpopular pension reform, including removing some of the subsidies and increasing minimal employment record from 15 to 25 years.

Additional money could also be earned from selling agricultural lands, a measure insisted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, the move is likely to spark public outrage across the country.

Erik Nayman, managing partner at Capital Times, said that if the land and pensions reforms are implemented they will trigger economic growth in Ukraine, which could be slowed down only by crises in the United States or China.

If the unpopular reforms are not implemented and the government fails to receive money from other sources Kiev will have to declare a default on its debt.

In fact, President Petro Poroshenko has found himself between a rock and a hard place, forced to decide between repaying the debt and losing public support, on the one hand, and accepting a default and a decrease of social standards after the election, on the other.

International tank competition Europe Tank Challenge 2017 finished for Ukraine with the last place

Ukraine took the last place of honor at the NATO competition (Video)
http://novorossia.today/ukraine-took-the-last-place-of-honor-at-the-nato-competition/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UL6iGwvz6g (3:19 min.)

As it was reported by the press-service of the Defence Ministry of Ukraine, competitions were since 7 to 12 May in the German city Grafenvir. Together with tankers from the USA, Germany, France, Poland, tankers from Ukraine took part the first time.

However, they have nothing to boast with.

 

[Voyageur]

Funny how you mixed those two articles together (and they fit), angelburst29. Was reading about what you posted re the Ukraine financial woes above (my god what they have done to the people via their economy) and their attempt at staying the debt via the High Court (a failure as to be expected), and than the article about "tank" competition. Ultimately, taken both together, the whole Ukrainian economy in in the tank, has tanked. So yeah, coming in last place in the tank competition matches their economy, and others countries are not far behind.

What a mess the West helped to create.