Kiev provocations continue even as Putin urges Federalists to postpone the May 11th Referendums
RIA Novosti......
Anti War......
The death toll is impossible to confirm because of the chaos in the city, but seems to be disputed to varying degrees by protester-linked factions, who have put the toll anywhere between 10 and 25, including many unarmed protesters.
Details of how this volunteer force will work are scant, but what we do know is ominous, with officials openly talking about recruiting the fighters from the Maidan protest that ousted the Yanukovych government, meaning the neo-Nazi Right Sector.
Ukraine’s interim government insists it is unnecessary to allow the protesters to attend the conference, on the grounds that as the (interim) government it “already represents all the people of Ukraine,” including apparently the ones their military is killing.
RIA Novosti......
Putin Calls on Ukrainian Federalists to Put Off May 11 Vote
Preparations for the referendum on May 11 in Slaviansk
© RIA Novosti. Mikhail Voskresensky
18:48 07/05/2014
MOSCOW, May 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday urged pro-federalization activists in southeastern Ukraine to postpone a referendum on self-determination to ensure the start of nationwide dialogue.
“We are calling on representatives of regions in southeastern Ukraine, supporters of federalization in the country, to postpone the referendum set for May 11 in order to create all necessary conditions for this dialogue,” Putin said at a joint news conference with OSCE Chairman Didier Burkhalter in Moscow.
A protest leader in Donetsk, Alexander Vaskovsky, said there was no need to put off the vote.
“I have not yet seen Putin’s address, but there is no need to do this [postpone the vote]. I’m extremely negative about this,” he said.
Early presidential elections were scheduled for May 25 in Ukraine after the country’s elected president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted late February following the so-called Euromaidan mass rallies in Kiev.
Citizens of the mainly Russian-speaking southeastern regions of Ukraine have refused to recognize the legitimacy of the country’s interim government and have announced referendums on self-determination in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, to be held on May 11.
Kiev’s current authorities have launched a special operation to crack down on the protesters, leading to violent clashes in major towns of southeastern Ukraine and dozens of casualties. Last Friday, 46 protesters were killed and over 200 were injured in the port city of Odessa.
Helicopters, Armored Vehicles Used Against Protesters in Slaviansk
Ukrainian helicopters (Archive)
© REUTERS/ Marko Djurica
18:38 07/05/2014
KIEV, May 7 (RIA Novosti) – Security forces of the Kiev regime are employing armored vehicles and helicopter gunships to crack down on pro-federalization protesters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slaviansk, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said Wednesday.
“An anti-terrorism operation is under way in Slaviansk. Ukrainian law enforcement forces use military vehicles and helicopters as part of it,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry posted a video on its official website, showing troops driving Soviet-era BTR-80 armored personnel carriers and Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunships.
Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov ordered the launch of a special operation last month to crack down on pro-federalization protests that have been spreading across southeastern Ukraine since a regime change in Kiev in February.
Ukrainian troops encircled Slaviansk over the weekend in a bid to wrest control from pro-referendum demonstrators and self-defense forces. At least a dozen protesters and civilians have been killed in hostilities in the city so far.
On Tuesday, local self-defense forces said the Ukrainian army has placed Grad multiple-launch rocket systems near the city in preparation for an imminent attack on pockets of resistance.
The use of the area-effect rockets would almost certainly cause massive civilian casualties as the systems are capable of firing 40 rockets almost simultaneously. One battalion of eighteen launchers is able to deliver up to 720 rockets in a single volley.
Igor Korotchenko, a leading Russian military expert, earlier told RIA Novosti that Ukraine’s Soviet-era military equipment was obsolete and its use may cause unnecessary deaths among civilians. It is impossible to strike targets with precision using equipment produced 25-30 years ago, he said.
Ukrainian Troops Bombard Russian TV Crew Near Slaviansk
Situation in Slaviansk (Archive)
© REUTERS/ Baz Ratner
18:17 07/05/2014
MOSCOW, May 7 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian troops have opened fire with mortars on Russian journalists from the LifeNews channel near the eastern city of Slaviansk, a statement on the broadcaster’s website said Wednesday.
“Ukrainian troops opened massed intense fire on Russian reporters in Donetsk region,” the statement said.
“Minutes before the mortar attack [reporter] Alexei Kazannikov informed us that not far from the roadblock Ukrainian troops had camouflaged several Grad rocket systems. Reports were coming about Kiev planning to use multiple rocket launchers against self-defense forces,” the statement added.
A representative of the local self-defense forces said earlier that Ukrainian troops were firing mortars at the roadblock of Slaviansk activists. In the video footage revealed by LifeNews, smoke and running reporters are seen. A correspondent said that they were forced to change shooting location due to the mortar fire, initiated “on the other side by national guards.”
According to the Donetsk Regional Administration, in the course of Kiev’s special operation, eight people were killed and 16 seriously injured in Slaviansk on Tuesday.
Over the last two months, reporters of Russia's leading channels have been not only denied access to Ukraine, but also kidnapped, beaten and threatened. Broadcasting of Russian media has also been banned across the country.
The OSCE voiced concerns over the alarming situation of media freedom violations in Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also repeatedly condemned Kiev's censorship policies.
Odessa Tragedy Planned by Authorities’ Representatives – Kiev Official
Odessa Tragedy Planned by Authorities’ Representatives – Kiev Official
© REUTERS/ Yevgeny Volokin
15:16 07/05/2014
KIEV, May 7 (RIA Novosti) – Last Friday’s massacre in Ukraine’s Odessa that left more than 40 people dead was a well-coordinated and planned operation with the participation of representatives of the authorities in Kiev, Ukraine’s acting Prosecutor General Oleh Makhnitsky said Wednesday.
“This action was not prepared at some internal level, it was a well-planned and coordinated action in which some authorities’ representatives have taken part,” Makhnitsky said.
Makhnitsky promised to reveal the names of those who took part in the tragedy that occurred in Odessa.
On Friday, 46 pro-federalization activists died and over 200 others were injured in a fire after being trapped in the trade union building in Odessa that was set ablaze during a clash between anti-coup activists and pro-regime supporters in the city.
The skirmishes were the bloodiest episode of violence in Ukraine since the start of the Ukrainian crisis in February. On Wednesday, the first refugees from Odessa arrived at Yevpatoria in Russia’s Crimea. Crimean officials said the two families had been witnesses of the tragedy.
Ukraine Says It Detained Donetsk People's Republic Defense Minister
Ukraine Says It Detained Donetsk People's Republic Defense Minister
© RIA Novosti. Natalia Seliverstova
15:06 07/05/2014
KIEV, May 7 (RIA Novosti) – The Ukrainian Interior Ministry has arrested the Defense Minister of the rebellious Donetsk People’s Republic during an ambush of a bus followed by an intense shootout, the ministry said Wednesday.
“There was a real battle there which lasted over an hour, law enforcers were being shot at from machine guns and semi-automatic Kalashnikovs, the bus driver was injured,” Anton Herashchenko, an aide to the ministry, was quoted as saying in a statement.
According to Herashchenko, Donetsk People’s Republic Defense Minister Igor Kakidzyanov was seized together with other activists in the Donetsk region. The operation was carried out by a battalion of the police’s Azov Special Forces.
Police alleged that the shooter who attacked the bus was killed and another two attackers were taken prisoner, including the defense minister.
Federalization supporters in the eastern city of Donetsk have refused to recognize the legitimacy of the current Ukrainian government, demanding Crimea-style referendums on the status of their regions.
Last month, pro-federalization supporters took over Donetsk’s regional administration, declared an independent People’s Republic of Donetsk and scheduled a referendum on the status of the region for May 11.
Kiev’s current authorities have launched a special operation to crack down on the protesters, leading to violent clashes in major towns of southeastern Ukraine and dozens of casualties. Last Friday, 46 protesters were killed and over 200 were injured in the port city of Odessa.
Moscow Urges Kiev to Stop Violence, Human Rights Violations
Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters
© Fotolia/ Valeriy
15:43 07/05/2014
MOSCOW, May 7 (RIA Novosti) – Kiev is continuing to grossly violate human rights with the tacit approval of the West, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
“The condemnation by the high-ranking official from the UN’s Human Rights body, violence and tyranny in Ukraine confirms that the illegitimate Kiev authorities under the cover of their Western patrons are continuing gross violations of conventional legal norms,” the statement said.
“We call on the de facto government in Kiev to immediately cease the use of force against its own people and take concrete steps to begin peace in society,” the ministry added.
On May 6, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay made a statement in which she expressed grave concern about the deadly violence in Ukraine, in particular pointing to the recent tragedy in Odessa that claimed more than 40 lives.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the events a result of the “criminal irresponsibility of the Kiev leadership indulging insolent nationalist radicals, including Right Sector, who are staging a campaign of physical terror against supporters of federalization and real constitutional changes in Ukrainian society."
On Monday, Moscow released a "White Book" of the most heinous human rights violations in Ukraine. The Russian Foreign Ministry said it based its report on Russian, Ukrainian and foreign media reports, as well as on the Kiev regime's statements, eye witness testimonies, as well as on facts and interviews collected by Russian NGOs.
The goal of the book was to draw attention by the world community to the facts of the events ongoing in Ukraine. The OSCE has echoed Moscow’s concerns over the human rights situation in Ukraine, criticizing the country’s authorities for banning journalists from entering its territory and other widespread infringements on press freedom.
Anti War......
Ukraine Interior Ministry: More Than 30 ‘Terrorists’ Killed in Slovyansk Fighting
Confirms Four Ukrainian Troops Also Killed
by Jason Ditz, May 06, 2014
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry is claiming to have killed at least 30 “terrorists” in the eastern city of Slovyansk, which is under control of protesters and being attacked by Interior Ministry forces.
The death toll is impossible to confirm because of the chaos in the city, but seems to be disputed to varying degrees by protester-linked factions, who have put the toll anywhere between 10 and 25, including many unarmed protesters.
The most recent round of attacks on Slovyansk began Friday, but stalled over the weekend, when troops moved back from the city and began focusing their attention on taking down protester-erected barricades on the outskirts. They reentered the city Monday.
The Defense Ministry is also announcing the creation of a “volunteer” paramilitary organization to help with attacks against protester-held cities, saying the fighters will be paid nearly $1300 a month by a “charity” calling itself Patriot to restore law and order in the region. That is dramatically more than Ukraine’s soldiers are paid, and it is widely expected the volunteers will be from the Right Sector neo-Nazi faction.
Ukraine Raising Volunteer Force to Attack Eastern Protesters
Conflicting Details on Plan, Which Seeks Right Sector Fighters
by Jason Ditz, May 06, 2014
Ukraine’s government has announced the creation of a “volunteer” paramilitary force charged with “quickly restoring law and order” in the protester-held eastern cities around Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.
Details of how this volunteer force will work are scant, but what we do know is ominous, with officials openly talking about recruiting the fighters from the Maidan protest that ousted the Yanukovych government, meaning the neo-Nazi Right Sector.
The faction’s legal structure is totally unclear, with some nominal control being given to the Defense Ministry, but the group being funded entirely by a “local charity foundation called Patriot.”
The fights for the new group are going to be paid handsomely too, with the reports suggesting they will receive Hr 15,000 (about $1,300) per month, far more than the roughly $200 per month Ukrainian soldiers are paid.
The move suggests a growing desperation in the interim government, as many Ukrainian soldiers are flat out refusing attacks on civilian protesters, while the Right Sector seems to be the only ones really spoiling for a fight against the ethnic Russian protesters.
Talks Unlikely After Ukraine Bars Protester Involvement
Russia: Talks Pointless Without Opposition
by Jason Ditz, May 06, 2014
Pushes for a new round of peace talks amid escalating violence in eastern Ukraine seem to be hitting a brick wall, with Ukraine refusing to allow any involvement of the eastern protest movement in the talks, and Russia ruling out participating in any talks without them.
Ukraine’s interim government insists it is unnecessary to allow the protesters to attend the conference, on the grounds that as the (interim) government it “already represents all the people of Ukraine,” including apparently the ones their military is killing.
Russian officials insist there is no point in the talks without the protesters’ involvement, and that they would amount to just going around in circles. The last round of talks, which similarly didn’t include the protesters, ended with a call to end the protests. The protesters didn’t, and everyone blamed Russia, insisting that with the protesters dominated by ethnic Russians, the Russian government theoretically could order them to stop.
The last round of talks didn’t change anyone’s position, and instead they all issued a joint statement that every nation involved interpreted as supporting their existing stance, with the interim Ukraine government arguing the call to end tensions in the east was essentially international permission to invade and “liquidate” the protesters to restore order.
http://rt.com/news/157240-slavyansk-surrounded-citizens-assault/
Shooting continued Wednesday morning near the besieged anti-government protester stronghold of Slavyansk. The city is encircled by pro-Kiev troops, who are reportedly preventing any civilians from leaving.
The clashes come as the anti-government militia are trying to retake a TV tower and several checkpoints previously captured by Kiev's troops, Interfax reports, citing a militia source.
Kiev's operation commander, Dmitry Tymchuk, said there was an attempt to break through Kiev's blockade in the morning, but it failed.
Neither side immediately reported any casualties.
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