US/NATO/EU and the desperate subversion of Ukraine

[John Dolva]

RT :

Bodies are piling up in Donetsk morgues after Kiev unleashed fighter jets and artillery on the country’s southeast just hours after the presidential election. New leader-elect Petro Poroshenko is pushing for the crackdown to become even “more effective.”

Ukraine’s southeast saw only a brief suspension of Kiev’s military operations on Sunday while the nation took to the polls. Just before the presidential election, Ukrainian MPs called for immediate troop withdrawal from the country’s southeast.

Following the vote, the leading candidate – billionaire chocolate tycoon Petro Poroshenko – said he sees no reason why the military should stop the operation.

“I support its continuation, but demand a change in its format – it must be shorter and it must be more effective, military units must be better equipped,” he said, despite earlier statements that he is ready for dialogue with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

Soon after the last vote was cast, the Kiev military descended on the southeast with new energy, shelling Slavyansk and attacking the airport in Donetsk with mortars.

The number of victims is not yet known. According to the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Aleksandr Boroday, 100 self-defense forces and civilians died in Donetsk during the attack. Donetsk authorities reported that about 40 people died and 43 others were injured.

In Slavyansk, at least three civilians died, including one woman.

“We see what that means today – shelling against civilians, bombs that fall near occupied apartment blocks, fighter jets, and helicopter launches against an urban population,” analyst Daniel Patrick Welch told RT, adding that talks were never part of Poroshenko's plan.

“We came up to look at the man but he was already dead. A shell had fallen right next to a nine-story apartment block, all the glass was out. The man’s head was bleeding, his arms and legs were broken,” a Slavyansk resident told RT. Civilian quarters of the city – which is home to about 130,000 people –came under fire for the first time on Monday.

“When we went further, we found a dead woman near a teachers college, a shell hit there too,” a local added, saying that a third man was found nearby.

BREAKING: Woman killed as Ukrainian troops shell eastern city of #Slavyanskhttp://t.co/cT02yIo6jopic.twitter.com/An3mZyGein

— RT (@RT_com) May 26, 2014

On Tuesday, reports appeared of a possible fourth victim among the civilians in Slavyansk. A woman was also killed near the Church of the Reigning Mother of God, according to a message on the website of the Gorlovsk and Slavyansk Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It added that the building of the church was damaged along with an apartment building and student dormitory nearby.

“A bomb fell just 10 meters from the church. Fortunately, there were no people in the church at that time," the message reads.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian fighter jets and helicopters were unleashed at armed self-defense forces occupying the airport in the city of Donetsk.

Army helicopter just passed over us, fired towards airport and left. Black smoke is rising over the train station building #Donetsk

— Petr Shelomovskiy (@shelomovskiy) May 26, 2014

“We’ve lost more than 50 self-defense fighters,” said the PM of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Aleksandr Boroday, as quoted by RIA Novosti.

“Many of the casualties are a result of two Kamaz trucks having been shelled by the Ukrainian army. The trucks were driving the wounded from the battlefield near the airport.”

The identification of bodies is underway the city’s morgue.

We ask 2 cover the young man's body.#Donetsk#morgue employee:'U shd've come in the morning,piles of dead bodies' pic.twitter.com/Bi1edyHpZ7

— Maria Finoshina (@MFinoshina_RT) May 27, 2014

You expect more bodies?-Yes. #Donetsk morgue.Just one of several in the city where those killed in clashes r brought pic.twitter.com/9I4VMuT8Zx

— Maria Finoshina (@MFinoshina_RT) May 27, 2014

Meanwhile, the city’s central railway station was also shelled on Tuesday. One civilian was killed and two others – including an eight-year-old boy – were injured, the region's administration told RIA Novosti.

ЖД вокзал,Донецк.Простые жители #Донецк #Донбасс #донецкаянароднаяреспублика pic.twitter.com/ZCQVwgXZP3

— Наталия Тропешко (@n_tropeshko) May 26, 2014

Government troops reportedly launched mortar fire on a private housing area in Donetsk on the same day.

Later in the day, the military stepped up the offensive, and fighting in Donetsk continued throughout the night around the airport, which was then taken under control by Ukrainian troops.

On Monday, Vice Premier Vitaly Yaryoma stressed that the operation will continue until not a single self-defense fighter “is left on the territory of Ukraine.”

“We saw the results yesterday,” Yaryoma added.

Kiev first launched a punitive military operation in the volatile southeastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk back in April. Following a coup in Kiev, the two proclaimed their independence from the new authorities, with the desire to break away seeing landslide support in May 11 referendums.

[John Dolva]

It seems hard to find any junta election results. Apparently less than 50% of potential voters voted at all and about 25% voted for the choclate guy. iow 75 % did not. I'd like to see a complete breakdown of all that the potential voters did not vote for This should include a count of all 'spoiled' papers. 'None of the above' et.c.

[John Dolva]

?It seems hard to find any junta election results. Apparently less than 50% of potential voters voted at all and about 25% voted for the choclate guy. iow 75 % did not. I'd like to see a complete breakdown of all that the potential voters did not vote for This should include a count of all 'spoiled' papers. 'None of the above' et.c.? Europe and Ukraine: A tale of two elections

Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for Asia Times/Hong Kong, an analyst for RT and TomDispatch, and a frequent contributor to websites and radio shows ranging from the US to East Asia.

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Published time: May 27, 2014 09:26

Ukrainian presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko walks in front of screen displaying results of the presidential elections in Ukraine prior his press-conference in Kiev on May 26, 2014. (AFP Photo / Sergei Supinsky)

Tags

Crime, Crisis, EU, Economy, Election, Human rights, NATO, Politics, Ukraine, Violence

Circumstances surrounding the European and Ukrainian elections were far from being a mere coincidence.

The regime changers in Kiev decided to hold a presidential election on May 25, the same day as European Parliament elections, in order to demonstrate their desire to follow a European-centric foreign policy.

Talk about two elections somewhat joined at the hip! In the end, the Ukraine election did actually represent European foreign policy in action – manifested in regime change leading to the specter of civil war.

Few in Europe would have noticed how this process is so far away from “democracy” –instead enshrining intolerance and an ideology of blind confrontation, as represented by this “debate” in Kiev driven by a clueless Yale historian.

Key facts that should be understaood are how the West ignored the Odessa massacre, as well as the detention of Russian journalists; and how the West dismissed the aspirations of eastern and southern Ukrainians as the work of “pro-Russians” or “terrorists.” These people simply became objects of repression - fully supervised by the West, with now the whole regime change theatre of the absurd in Kiev legitimized through an election charade.

Way beyond the established fact of an Atlantic push against Russian western borderlands, Ukraine remains a catfight of local oligarchies. No wonder the new Ukrainian president is also an oligarch; the 7th wealthiest citizen in the land, who owns not just a chocolate empire, but also automotive plants, a shipyard in Crimea and a TV channel. The only difference is that he’s a NATO oligarch

It’s the economy, stupid

Meanwhile, in NATOstan, local and transnational elites have been desperately trying to spin a measure of success. Abstention remains notable – only roughly 4 in 10 Europeans take the trouble to vote on what goes on in Strasbourg, with a majority alienated enough to legitimize the mix of internal European austerity and international belligerence.

Yet the vote on Sunday went way beyond “anti-establishment,” nationalist – and frankly xenophobic or even fascistic – parties consolidating the rejection of “more EU.”

Hardly discussed in the pre-vote campaigns were the Snowden NSA revelations; the shady negotiations between Washington and Brussels over a free trade agreement which will be a boon for US Big Business; and how the financial casino supervised by the European Central Bank, the IMF, and the European Commission (EC) will remain untouched, further ravaging the European middle classes.

The anti-EU crowd performed very well in France, the UK, Denmark and Greece. Not so well in Italy and the Netherlands. The mainstream did relatively well in Germany and ultraconservative Spain – even though losing votes to small parties.

A general view shows press crews working in the hemicycle of the European Parliament during the announcement of the European Parliament elections results on May 25, 2014 in Brussels. (AFP Photo / Georges Gobet)

In Italy, the ruling Democratic Party of current Prime Minister Matteo Renzi did very well (almost 41 percent). The Italian Tony Blair keeps promising a vague “radical reform” – whatever that means. As for the anti-establishment 5 Star party of comedian Beppe Grillo, it lost a lot of votes.

In regions such as northwest France, which includes Normandy – a traditional bastion of the Left – Marine Le Pen’s National Front got a whopping 32.6 percent of the vote. With Francois Hollande’s pathetic socialists in power, Le Pen could not but have the last laugh.

And that duly prompted a portentous intellectual nullity such as the former executive editor of the International Herald Tribune to roar that Marine Le Pen is the French Vladimir Putin.

Essentially, European voters said two things out loud: either “the EU sucks,” or “we couldn’t care less about you, Eurocrat suckers.”

As if that sea of lavishly pensioned Brussels apparatchiks – the Eurocrats - would care. After all, their mantra is that “democracy” is only good for others (even Ukrainians…) but not for the EU; when the European flock of sheep votes, they should only be allowed to pick obscure Brussels-peddled and Brussels-approved treaties.

Brussels, anyway, is bound to remain the Kafkaesque political epitome of centralized control and red tape run amok. No wonder the EU is breathlessly pivoting with itself as the global economy relentlessly pivots to Asia.

Follow the money

To believe that an EU under troika austerity will bail Kiev out of its massive outstanding debts is wishful thinking. The recipe - already inbuilt in the $17 billion IMF “rescue” package is, of course, austerity.

Oligarchs will remain in control, while assorted plunderers are already lining up. Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright – for whom hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children were expendable – “observed” the elections, and most of all observed how to privatize Telecom Ukraine, as she is doing now with Telekom Kosovo.

There’s no evidence Right Sector and Svoboda will cease to be crypto-fascist, racist and intolerant just because Poroshenko – the King of Ukrainian Chocolate – is now the president. By the way, his margin for maneuver is slim, as his own markets – not to mention some of his factories – are in Russia. Heavy industry and the weapons industry in eastern Ukraine depend on Russian demand. It would take at least a whopping $276 billion for the West to “stabilize” eastern Ukraine. The notion of the EU “saving” Ukraine is D.O.A.

Moscow, once again, just needs to do what it is doing: nothing. And make sure there will be no economic or political help unless a federalized – and Finlandized - Ukraine with strong regions sees the light of day.

Even the Brookings Institution has reluctantly been forced to admit that the US neo-con gambit has failed miserably; there’s no Ukraine without Russian help.

A man assists a woman with the casting of her ballot at polling station in the southern Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk on May 25, 2014. (AFP Photo / Anatolii Stepanov)

So it’s up to the Chocolate King to prove himself a leader of all Ukrainians, and only then will he have a shot at entente cordiale with – and even help from - Moscow.

Signs so far are mixed. Poroshenko said Ukraine could “possibly” become an EU member state by 2025 (it won’t happen). He ruled out entering NATO (wise move). He rejects federalization (dumb move). He believes that with a strong economy Crimea would want to be back (wishful thinking). Still, he believes in reaching a compromise with Moscow (that’s what Moscow always wanted, even before regime change).

What a mess

Back in NATOstan, there’s the crucial point of what happens to the ultra-right-wing anti-EU brigade in the Parliament in Strasbourg. They may all abhor the EU, but the fact is this ideological basket case will hardly form an alliance.

An alliance would mean at least 25 Parliament members coming from at least 7 different countries. Marine Le Pen has already stepped into the ring. She has an agreement with the nasty Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, and could also count on the Austrian FPO and the Belgian Vlaams Belang. The Swedish Democrats – which are in fact crypto-Nazis – are sitting on the fence. The Greek neo-Nazis of Golden Dawn and the Hungarian Jobbik are out. As for UKIP, they definitely don't see themselves as part of this “family.”

What this ultimately means is that conservative and moderate parties, as per the status quo, will remain in control, expressed via an extremely likely coalition of the European People’s Party (center-right) and the Socialists and Democrats (center-left).

What comes next, in the second half of 2014, is the appointment of a new EU Commission. That’s Kafka redux, as in the bureaucrat-infested executive arm of the EU, which shapes the agenda, sort of (when it’s not busy distributing subventions in color-coded folders for assorted European cows.)

There are 5 candidates fighting for the position of EC president. According to the current EU treaty, member states have to consider the result of EU Parliament elections when appointing a new president. Germany wants a conservative. France and Italy want a socialist. So expect a tortuous debate ahead to find who will succeed the spectacularly mediocre Jose Manuel Barroso.

The favorite is a right-winger of the European People’s Party, former Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker. He is an avid defender of banking secrecy while posing himself as a champion of “market social economy.”

Then there’s more Kafka: choosing the new president of the EU Council and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs. Translation: the EU won’t decide anything, or “reform” anything for months. That includes the critical negotiations with the Americans over the free trade deal.

It’s absolutely impossible to spin these Sunday elections as not discrediting even more the EU project as it stands.

As I’ve seen for myself, since early 2014, in 5 among the top EU countries, what matters for the average citizen is as follows: how to deal with immigration; how to fight the eradication of the welfare state; the implications of the free trade agreement with the US; the value of the euro –including an absurdly high cost of living; and what the ECB mafia is actually doing to fight unemployment.

With Kafka in charge for the foreseeable future, what’s certain is that Paris and Berlin will drift further and further apart. There will be no redesign of the EU’s institutions. And the next Parliament, filled with sound and fury, will be no more than a hostage of the devastating, inexorable political fragmentation of Europe. “Saving” Ukraine? What a joke. The EU cannot even save itself.

[John Dolva]

08:08 GMT:

A railway line has been blown up on the Donetsk-Mariupol route and an explosive device was found on another line, causing a five-hour delay to train schedules. The railway has been demined, repaired and a normal service restored. Yesterday, there was an anonymous phone call warning of an explosive device on the line.

07:57 GMT:

Polish Catholic priest Pavel Vitek went missing in Donetsk on Tuesday. His whereabouts remain unknown. The priest arrived in Donetsk to visit a Roman Catholic hostel headed by Father Nikolay and attend an all-confessions daily service on downtown Constitution Square, but he never showed up.

07:42 GMT:

Ultranationalists from the Right Sector union that form the backbone of the punitive detachment ‘Donbass’ is negotiating “an official status and modern structure” that will allow them to be armed with heavy armaments and replace the frontier guards on the Russian-Ukrainian border, claims unit leader Semen Semenchenko, so that the ‘Donbass’ battalion can perform “reconnaissance and counter-sabotage operations.”

07:27 GMT:

Ukraine’s National Guards have used prohibited exploding bullets in an attempt to seize the town of Rubezhnoe in the Lugansk region, claimed self-defense forces. Locals had to hide in cellars as the Ukrainian troops storming the town used mortars and missiles in the assault. The attack has reportedly been repelled.

[John Dolva]

Ultimátum de gobierno ucraniano mina solución de conflicto

Por Odalys Buscarón Ochoa
Moscú, 28 may (PL) Los pronunciamientos del presidente electo ucraniano cerraron las posibilidades de negociaciones de cara a una normalización de la situación, afirmó hoy aquí el representante de la autoproclamada República Popular de Donetsk, Andrei Kramar.

• George Soros reconoce contribuyó a derrocar a Yanukóvich en Ucrania
• Destacan carácter popular de milicias en este ucraniano
• Comisión Europea evita nuevas sanciones a Rusia por crisis ucraniana
• Ejército ucraniano inicia ataques masivos en Lugans

[John Dolva]

Wednesday, May 28

20:09 GMT:

Near the city of Lugansk, the forces of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic have been storming a military installation hosting the Ukrainian National Guard. Gunshots have been fired in the area.

There are conflicting reports on casualties and the outcome of the attack, which is taking place on the territory of an Air Force academy.

According to RIA Novosti, at least 10 Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered to self-defense troops in ongoing negotiations with parents, many of whom live next to the military installation. Others have barricaded themselves inside and refuse to lay down arms. According to the agency, some of the troops say that their captain has forbidden them to surrender.

Meanwhile, Lugansk self-defense forces have claimed they are in control of the base, while the press service of the National Guard said that the attack has been deterred with no casualties. Earlier, at least one Ukrainian soldier was reported to be seriously injured.

The initial assault lasted for 10-15 minutes with almost unceasing gunfire, witnesses say. A video filmed near the attacked facility has appeared on YouTube.

18:03 GMT:

Some 3,000 miners on Wednesday marched through the streets of Donetsk, protesting against Kiev's ongoing military operation in eastern Ukraine, RIA Novosti reports.

The demonstrators, who then gathered at a central square for a rally, chanted “Fascism won’t pass!” and “Donbass will not forgive!”

While some of the miners interviewed by RIA Novosti support the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, the others simply reject what they refer to as the “fascist” policies of the Kiev authorities.

“What is now happening in Donetsk, all this shooting, this does worry our wives, our children. People want to leave peacefully, to work peacefully, in a peaceful and prosperous country,” a miner named Viktor said.

The rally marked the end of the Donbas miners’ “neutrality” – until this week, they chose to not participate in anti-government actions. Just one day earlier, on Tuesday, workers at several mines in Donetsk went on strike.

[youtube videos]

13:37 GMT:

The Ukrainian people “are being pushed into the abyss of fratricidal war,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

“Task number one and a test for the Kiev authorities, according to the results of the presidential election, is an immediate stop to using the military against the people, and cessation of any kind of violence on all sides,” Lavrov said.

The Ukrainian crisis was catalyzed by the wish to utilize the country as a “divide between the East and the West” of the continent, the minister believes.

“Those carrying out these policies absolutely do not care that a wedge between different parts of European civilization is being forced through the Ukrainian people,” Lavrov said.

12:44 GMT:

Russia has promised humanitarian help to eastern regions of Ukraine, where goods supplies have been disrupted because of the military operation. Moscow is seeking Kiev’s help in ensuring its aid reaches areas blockaded by Ukrainian troops.

“The Russian Foreign ministry sent a note to the Ukrainian Foreign ministry on May 28, drawing Ukraine’s attention to the fact that Russia has been receiving urgent calls for humanitarian aid – especially medication – from people and organizations in the conflict zones in eastern Ukraine, where many people have been killed and wounded,” a statement by the Russian Foreign ministry reads.

12:33 GMT:

In Slavyansk mortar shells hit a school and a kindergarten during the shelling of the city by Kiev troops.

According to a schoolteacher interviewed by RT, part of the roof over the school hall “was simply blown away.” Luckily, no children were in the hall at the moment they heard a loud explosion, and those present in the building were quickly evacuated to the basement.

It was not immediately clear, if there were any casualties in the kindergarten or other places shelled in Slavyansk, but Rossiya-24 channel reported that 9 people were injured in total, including a 4-year-old boy. The channel’s crew narrowly escaped a direct hit by a mortar shell, as it fell “literally next to our car.”

Место попадания снаряда в крышу актового зала школы №13 #Славянск pic.twitter.com/ppURDdY9Jq

— Андрей Краснощёков (@a_krasnoschekov) May 28, 2014

Место падения снаряда на ул.Батюка.Выбиты окна в киосках,продавцы, покупатели прятались за прилавками.На асф-те кровь pic.twitter.com/drkkYP0VTz

— Андрей Краснощёков (@a_krasnoschekov) May 28, 2014

12:05 GMT:

Armed self-defense temporarily took over the live position of RT's Paula Slier, who was reporting from a roof of a Donetsk hotel in. Hotel security told Slier that the journalists need not worry as "people's protectors are here."

Armed men take over our live position on roof of hotel #Donetsk pic.twitter.com/1rGXkZuJNq

— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 28, 2014

Hotel security's telling me not to worry. "People's protectors are here!", he says.

— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 28, 2014

10:33 GMT:

PHOTO: Shelled school in #Slavyansk, E.#Ukraine http://t.co/VEWkRrxJ8e pic.twitter.com/Ow2KgLeEIu

— RT (@RT_com) May 28, 2014

10:27 GMT:

Self-defense forces defending Donetsk claim to have downed a Ukrainian army reconnaissance UAV. The press-service of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic also maintains that Kiev’s assault forces have been driven out of the city’s international airport and fighting has ceased in that area.

10:19 GMT:

A fighter jet has been spotted over the center of Donetsk, according to an RIA Novosti correspondent on the ground, who says the jet is of the same type that took part in the military actions on Monday.

10:13 GMT:

Shooting has been heard in Donetsk, near the local office of the Ukrainian intelligence service, according to ITAR-TASS citing self-defense forces.

The mayor, Aleksandr Lukyanchenko, has urged residents to avoid that area of the city and not to “come close to the windows, step out onto the balconies or go outside,” unless it’s really necessary.

[John Dolva]

Russia Offers Humanitarian Aid to East Ukraine

28/05/2014

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it was ready to dispatch humanitarian aid to Ukraine’s turbulent eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, adding it hoped Kiev would take steps to guarantee its delivery.

Moscow Has Not Received Donetsk Republic’s Plea for Help

28/05/2014

Russia has not received any official request from the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) for Russian help, Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Wednesday.

Ukraine’s National Guard Uses Banned Explosive Bullets Near Luhansk

28/05/2014

Soldiers of Ukraine’s National Guard have used prohibited explosive bullets while shelling the city of Rubizhne, near Luhansk, a member of the local self-defense forces told RIA Novosti Wednesday.

[John Dolva]

Published on May 28, 2014

"The Kiev Junta" offense.

Donetsk. Angry miners.

By the main streets of the city the miners protest march was passed in order to make their voices heard. "We won't forgive Odessa!", "Donbass", "Fascism won't pass!"- chanting people, miners.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS0g26HBh3I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS0g26HBh3I

[John Dolva]

Thursday, May 29

23:38 GMT:

Self-defense forces of Donetsk do not want OSCE observers to leave the eastern part of Ukraine, Itar-Tass cited an OSCE report as saying.

The report also referred to 11 OSCE observers who were stopped on Wednesday near Donetsk. It said the observers were brought to a local television broadcasting center, where they were fed and asked about their mission. The local commander expressed his hope of seeing the OSCE's work continue in the region, as it represents the only available outlet for getting clear information, according to the report.

23:37 GMT:

Ukrainian forces are using weapons banned by international conventions, premier of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), Aleksandr Boroday, told reporters on Thursday. “Expanding bullets are being used.”

23:37 GMT:

DNR’s leaders are looking for the missing OSCE observers, but in the meantime are not ruling out that their disappearance could be a provocation by Kiev authorities, Boroday said. “There is still no information regarding the location of the OSCE group. Our forces are actively looking for them.”

23:06 GMT:

Tractors smash down tyres and sandbags at entrance to local admin bldg #Donetsk pic.twitter.com/KUFOkG8FFL

— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 29, 2014

14:14 GMT:

The Russian Foreign Ministry has reiterated their demand that Kiev’s coup-imposed authorities stop the “fratricidal war” in southeastern Ukraine, because it’s the only way to peace in the country.

“People keep on dying” as a result of Kiev’s actions, the ministry said in a statement, adding that regular attacks on cities and civilian infrastructure bring “pain and suffering to the people” and there are kids and elderly among the victims.

“Once again we urge our Western partners to use all their influence on Kiev in order to prevent Ukraine from sliding into a national catastrophe,” the statement said.

The ministry maintains the agreements on solving the Ukrainian crisis, reached on April 17 in Geneva, must be fulfilled.

12:21 GMT:

Rain finished. Everyone got back in position.Journos on 1 side w/ the crowd;armed guys on the other side in front of the admin bldg #Donetsk

— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 29, 2014

11:12 GMT:

Evacuation of #Donetsk regional bldg - we now waiting outside. Being kept away pic.twitter.com/9z2l6yUeLz

— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) May 29, 2014

10:59 GMT:

Kiev should refrain from using excessive force in Ukraine, believes UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

“I call on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that no excessive force is used, not to take discriminatory action and to avoid action that can harm the civilian population,” the official told Itar-Tass.

She added she was “deeply concerned” with the ongoing violence in Ukraine, and hopes that the observation mission her office has sent to the country will help mediate the situation and protect minority groups there.

09:32 GMT:

Political reconciliation in Ukraine must include a thorough investigation of all crimes committed there, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

He added that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon could use his leverage to push for a transparent and fair investigation in at least one of crimes: the slaughter of activists in Odessa on May 2.

“We aren’t trying to impose any particular form [of international involvement in Ukraine], but we really feel the need for some extra push from the international community,” Lavrov said.

09:11 GMT:

Ukraine’s artillery and aviation forces have begun shelling the eastern-Ukrainian cities of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, signaling the start of a full-scale military operation, the Ostrov agency reports.

The news follows Twitter reports of explosions and gunfire around the Slavyansk train station, as well as clashes near Cherevkovka and Molochar. There is also word of interruptions in mobile network reception.

[John Dolva]

Fourteen Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in a helicopter crash near the city of Slavyansk in the Donetsk Region, according to the acting president of Ukraine, Aleksandr Turchinov.

Anti-government protesters in Slavyansk have downed a Ukrainian forces helicopter in the south-east of Slavyansk in the Donetsk region.

Fourteen servicemen, including a major-general, Vladimir Kulchitsky, have have been killed in a helicopter crash near Slavyansk, according to the acting president of Ukraine, Aleksandr Turchinov, who spoke at a parliamentary session in Kiev.

Kulchitsky, 51, was the head of the department of Combat and Special training in Ukraine’s National Guard.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s National Guard reported 12 dead: six servicemen, including the helicopter crew and six members of the Berkut forces.

Ukraine’s army has started shelling the eastern Ukraine cities of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, thereby resuming its massive military operation in the East of the country, local news outlets report.

“A full-scale military operation has begun in Kramatorsk and Slavyansk. BM-21 launch vehicle “Grad” are being used,” Donbas-based Ostrov agency says.

“Intensive shooting has been heard in the region, and thick black smoke seen,” he added.

СЛАВЯНСК:СБИТЫЙ МИ-8.ПИЛОТЫ ПОГИБЛИ. pic.twitter.com/VGEP7567Wi

— Страшный БЭНДЕРовец (@Realuran) May 29, 2014

One more damaged house in Slavyansk. The residents were outside during the attack.

#Славянск еще один разрушенный дом. Во время попадания снаряда жители были во дворе. pic.twitter.com/naprUxTTn4

— Evgeny Poddubnyy (@epoddubny) May 29, 2014

Meanwhile, Itar-Tass has reported that fighter jets have been flying over the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk Region. “The hospitals were told to evacuate patients from the upper floors,” said a representative from the self-defense forces.

On Wednesday a school and a kindergarten were shelled in Slavyansk. In the kindergarten at least 9 civilians were injured, including a 4-year old boy.

A teacher from the targeted school said that the shell exploded right above the school hall, where children are usually gathered for festive events, and part of the roof “was simply blown away.” Luckily, no children were in the hall at the time. All the pupils and teachers were quickly evacuated to the basement.

[John Dolva]

21:44 World

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry turns down humanitarian aid to eastern regions from Russia

[John Dolva]

MOSCOW, May 30. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia will certainly provide humanitarian aid to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“Humanitarian aid will be given to them for sure, but I can’t say anything about military aid. The military should be asked about that,” Peskov told Russian media on Thursday.

On Wednesday, DPR head Denis Pushilin sent Russia an official request asking the country to adopt the DPR as its constituent member as well as provide comprehensive assistance to Donetsk Region people.

[John Dolva]

Militias in Lugansk Capture National Guard Headquarters

Kiev, May 29 (Prensa Latina) The popular militias of Lugansk captured the headuqarters of Ukraine''s National Guard today after clashes and the surrender of the soldiers who had been participating in the military-police operation southeast.

During the nearly four-hour attack on the military unit of that repressive structure, comprised of former combatants of ultranationalist organizations from western Ukraine, the militias suffered casualties and the National Guard claimed one of its men was injured.

Popular militias noted that a battalion of volunteers arrived, unarmed, at the 3035 station asking the soldiers there to surrender, but a group of soldiers and their commanders, reluctant to negotiate, opened fire.

Amid the clashes and negotiations for surrender, numerous mothers asked the station's commanders to release their sons.

Chief of General Staff of the southeastern army Guennadi Tsypkalo told the press that the recruits, mainly from the cities of Ivano-Frankovsk, Ternopol and Vinnitsa, will be returned to their homes.

From Kiev, acting Minister of the Interior Arsén Avakov insisted that regular forces had seized the arms left by militiamen at the Donetsk international airport, captured on Wednesday by the army after several days of clashes with militias.

sus/sa/lch/ro/oda Modificado el ( jueves, 29 de mayo de 2014 )

[John Dolva]

RIGA, May 29 (RIA Novosti) – About 1,200 Ukrainian army soldiers have been killed during a special operation in Slaviansk, and eight helicopters and 15 armored vehicles were destroyed, Slaviansk people's mayor Vyacheslav Ponomaryov said Thursday.

"According to our information, the Ukrainian army has the following losses and damages: 1,200-1,300 people were killed, eight helicopters, 15 armored transport vehicles, and three [artillery] weapons destroyed. They are suffering huge losses. I’m speaking only about Slaviansk," Ponomaryov said in an interview with the Latvian radio station Baltkom.

[John Dolva]

Friday, May 30

03:36 GMT:

The Ukrainian military is taking over train stations around Dnepropetrovsk region, Segodnya.ua quoted officials as saying. The decision was made in light of self-defense forces taking over the railroads. The military will have the authority to stop and search passenger trains.