Russia, Ukraine and Europe have been into Vladimir Putin's black hole of fear

 Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Photograph: Alexey Druginyn/RIA Novosti/EPA

18 September 2014 ( Mikhail Shishkin theguardian) The formula for saving any dictatorship is universal: create an enemy, start a war. We are back in Soviet times of total lies. I remember that as a child I read about black holes in a popular science magazine about space and it scared me. The idea of our world being sucked into these breaks in the universe kept bothering me until I realised that it all was so far away that it would not reach us. But then a black hole tore our world very close to us. It started sucking in houses, roads, cars, planes, people and whole countries. Russia and Ukrainehave already fallen into this black hole. And it is now sucking in Europe in front of our eyes. This hole in the universe is the soul of one very lonely ageing man. The black hole is his fear. TV images of the demise of Saddam Hussein, Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi were messages that fate sent him from exotic countries. Protest rallies that gathered hundreds of thousands of people in Moscow ruined his inauguration and signalled approaching danger. The disgraceful flight of Ukraine's Viktor Yanukovych earlier this year set off alarm bells: if Ukrainians could oust their gang, it could serve as an example for the brotherly nation. The instinct of self-preservation kicked in immediately. The formula for saving any dictatorship is universal: create an enemy, start a war. The state of war is the regime's elixir of life. A nation in patriotic ecstasy becomes one with its "national leader", while any dissenters can be declared "national traitors". 

The whole article is available at

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/18/russia-ukraine-europe-putin-black-hole

 

Ukrainian Defense Minister Says Kyiv Receiving Weapons

September 14, 2014 (Based on reporting by Reuters, UNIAN and Interfax) Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey says that unnamed NATO member countries are delivering weapons to Kyiv to fight pro-Russian separatists. Heletey said at a news conference in Kyiv on September 14 that he discussed weapons needs with NATO defense ministers at the alliance's summit in Wales on September 4-5. NATO officials have said the organization will not send "lethal assistance" to Ukraine, although member states may do so. Heletey said the weapons are needed to "stop" Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine and Western countries accuse Russia of sending troops and equipment to the insurgents in eastern Ukraine but Russia denies the charges. Heletey would not say who is providing Ukraine with weapons. A nine-day cease-fire has been in effect in eastern Ukraine, where more than 2,600 people were killed in five months of fighting.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey

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http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-dfense-minister-kyiv-receiving-weapons/26583415.html

 

Ukraine crisis: Rebels free hundreds of soldiers

9 September 2014 (BBC News Europe) Rebels in eastern Ukraine have freed 648 soldiers under the terms of the ceasefire with the government, the Ukrainian military has said. Work was under way to free a further 500 soldiers, it added, clarifying a statement by President Petro Poroshenko on Monday that 1,200 had been freed. The rebels say that 311 of their men remain in government captivity. Officials insist a ceasefire agreed last week appears to be holding, despite several reports of clashes. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that the truce was being observed "in general".

Petro Poroshenko visited the embattled city of Mariupol on Monday

Meanwhile, Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions remained tense. He accused the rebels of violating agreements and shelling government forces' positions, while insisting that Ukrainian troops had only fired in response. Mr Lysenko said that the ceasefire had activated the process for releasing prisoners, with 648 Ukrainians freed so far by the rebels, and work under way "to free about 500 more prisoners". A rebel leader, Andrei Purgin, told Interfax news agency that a further 36 people would be exchanged on Tuesday. Under the truce reached on Friday, all captives held by both sides are due to be released. Five Ukrainian soldiers have reportedly been killed since the ceasefire deal last Friday. Meanwhile, EU member states have agreed to impose a new package of sanctions against Moscow, to come into force in the coming days. EU ambassadors are set to meet on Wednesday to discuss when the measures should be put in place. The timing is expected to depend on their assessment of whether the ceasefire is holding in eastern Ukraine. Diplomats say the new package will target Russian oil companies Rosneft and Transneft and the petroleum unit of state gas monopoly Gazprom. Their access to financial markets will be restricted - a serious matter for Rosneft, which last month asked the Russian government for a $42bn (£25.2bn) loan. Russia has warned that it could block international flights through its airspace if the EU goes ahead with new measures. On Monday, Mr Poroshenko visited the port city of Mariupol, which has been under attack from pro-Russian rebels. Russian gas exports will not be affected if new sanctions are put in place, diplomats say Before the truce came into place, pro-Russian separatists made big gains in eastern Ukraine and seized territory a few miles outside Mariupol. The ceasefire deal, aimed at ending five months of fighting, was reached in Minsk, Belarus, in talks brokered by the OSCE. Mr Poroshenko appealed on Monday for the OSCE to send representatives to areas where the ceasefire has been broken. Fighting in eastern Ukraine has left some 2,600 people dead since April. 

Rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko (in background) attended a ceremony in Donetsk on Monday

France suspends delivery of first Mistral helicopter carrier to Russia

September 3 (Reuters) The French government can not go ahead with the planned delivery of a first of two Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia, the president’s office said in a statement on Wednesday, citing Moscow’s recent actions in eastern Ukraine. “The president of the Republic has concluded that despite the prospect of ceasefire, which has yet to be confirmed and put in place, the conditions under which France could authorize the delivery of the first helicopter carrier are not in place,” President François Hollande’s office said.

http://www.france24.com/en/20140903-france-suspends-plans-deliver-first-mistral-helicopter-carrier-russia/

 

NATO plans to dispatch 10,000 troops to eastern Ukraine

Sunday Aug 31, 2014 (Press TV) NATO is reportedly planning to send an expeditionary force composed of 10,000 troops from seven different member states to Ukraine amid rising tensions with Russia over the conflict in Eastern European country. The creation of the force will be led by Britain and involve contributions from Denmark, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway, and the Netherlands, media outlets reported on Saturday.

Canada is also interested in joining the plan, but it is not known what its final decision will be.

Although no formal announcement has been made yet, British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to declare the force formation at the upcoming NATO summit in Wales on September 4. This comes as a response to Russia’s alleged involvement in the ongoing Ukrainian crisis. NATO has accused Russia of deploying more than 1,000 troops to Ukraine to bolster pro-Moscow forces in the eastern part of the country. Russia, however, insists that it does not have troops operating inside Ukraine and has dismissed NATO’s claims.

The West and Russia have been at loggerheads over the political situation in Ukraine since pro-Western forces toppled Ukraine’s former president, Viktor Yanukovych, in February 2014. Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence the pro-Russians in mid April. The unrest in eastern Ukraine has so far claimed the lives of more than 2,200 people. Nearly 300,000 people have been also forced to flee their homes.

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http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/30/377115/nato-to-form-a-force-of-10k-against-russia/

 

Ukraine conflict: Army parade to mark independence

August 23 (BBC News Ukraine) Sunday's celebrations mark the 23rd anniversary of Ukraine's independence after the Soviet Union collapsed. Ukraine is to mark its independence day with a military parade in Kiev as fighting continues in the east. The parade will feature hundreds of marching servicemen and military hardware. Critics say that it is inappropriate when Ukraine is at war. Pro-Russian rebels in the eastern city of Donetsk - the scene of the heaviest fighting - say they will hold their own parade featuring imprisoned soldiers. Four months of fighting in the east has left more than 2,000 people dead. More than 330,000 people have fled their homes.

Sunday's celebrations mark the 23rd anniversary of Ukraine's independence after the Soviet Union collapsed

A prayer will be said and wreaths laid for those who have died for an independent Ukraine, including those killed during protests against Mr Yanukovych in Kiev last winter. Supporters say the parade should boost army morale but critics have questioned any show of strength as a waste of money and inappropriate when people are dying in the east. In Donetsk, rebels put on display two destroyed armoured personnel carriers, and there are plans to parade prisoners of war through the streets.

 The military parades were rehearsed on Saturday

Sunday's celebrations come a day after the German chancellor, Angela Merkel visited Kiev and met President Petro Poroshenko. During crisis talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, she also called for "effective border controls" while reiterating her support for Ukraine's pro-Western leaders. The "territorial integrity and wellbeing of Ukraine" was essential, Mrs Merkel said. She cautioned that Russia - already subjected to punishing EU and US sanctions over its alleged interference in Ukraine - could face further punitive measures. "We cannot rule out thinking about further sanctions if things do not progress," Mrs Merkel told reporters. Mrs Merkel - who on Saturday announced a 500m-euro (£400m) loan to Ukraine from Germany - is the most influential. 

 Sunday's celebrations come a day after the German chancellor, Angela Merkel visited Kiev and met President Petro Poroshenko

Russia has been accused by Nato of amassing troops and tanks near its border with Ukraine

Stalin Tower in Moscow Painted In Ukrainian Blue And Yellow

August 20 2014 (Moscow) In the latest act of solidarity with Ukraine in Russia, a group of people have apparently scaled the heights of one of Moscow’s iconic Stalin-era skyscrapers, hoisted a Ukrainian flag over it, and painted the Soviet star at its peak yellow and blue. The incident took place under cover of darkness in the early morning hours of August 20 at a massive 32-floor elite apartment building on the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment in downtown Moscow in the vicinity of both the Kremlin and the Federal Security Service headquarters.  It is not yet clear who was behind the stunt, although police have reportedly arrested four young Russians with climbing gear, all of them believed to be residents of Moscow and the surrounding region. To hoist the flag and paint the star, the climbers presumably would have had to scale the 176-meter building -- or find another way to reach its peak. An unidentified Moscow police official told the Interfax news agency that the group used "an internal staircase" to reach the top floor of the building and then used "special equipment" to reach its spire.  A video posted by various Russian media purports to show one of the pranksters parachuting down from the height of the Stalin-era building after daybreak.

Read full article at http://www.rferl.org/content/moscow-ukraine-vandals-skyscraper/26540814.html