Kiev

Churkin writes letter to UN: A final warning for Ukraine?

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From Fort Russ

July 22, 2016 –
By Eduard Popov for Fort Russ
Translated by J. Arnoldski

Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, has appealed to the UN with an official letter in which he requests that pressure be put on Ukraine in order to prevent the resumption of full-scale hostilities in Donbass. In Churkin’s opinion, Kiev is preparing a military operation, and his letter cites data on Ukrainian security forces’ shelling of civilian residential areas in Donbass “within the last week alone.” The number of these bombardments has grown dramatically.
Churkin is known for his professionalism and poise. Obviously, only the most extreme circumstances could have compelled him take such an extraordinary step. Moreover, this is not the first appeal by such a high-ranking Russian diplomat to international and foreign institutions. The Foreign Ministry of Russia’s State Secretary Grigory Karasin already met with the ambassadors of France and Germany on this subject and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone talk with the presidents of the US, France, and the German Chancellor. According to Karl Marx’s famous formula, quantity turns into quality. In our case, the number of shellings of Donbass’ cities by the UAF and neo-Nazi battalions risks turning into a new, full-scale war. 
It should be admitted that Kiev’s tactics are quite effective. Shellings cause tangible losses while also exerting psychological pressure on the republics. The purpose of such frequent attacks is provoking return fire by the DPR and LPR’s armies. Then Kiev would accuse the Donbass republics (and of course Russia) of tearing up the Minsk Agreements, and call upon the international community to intervene in the conflict. By “international community,” of course, is meant NATO. At the NATO summit in Warsaw, words of support for Kiev against “Russian aggression” were heard along with promises to provide military and technological assistance. It is possible that these and other measures of support are being prepared. Most likely, this is not Ukraine’s accession to NATO, but NATO’s accession to Ukraine, i.e., an actual occupation of Ukrainian territory by the alliance. This could come about in the form of establishing permanent military bases and upgrading equipment and manpower.
My friends from the military and political circles of the DPR report that the sheer force of UAF attacks is reminiscent of the most difficult days of summer, 2014. But the republics are not afraid of fire. On the contrary, they are waiting for when Ukraine will go on a new offensive in order to then bury the Ukrainian army on Donbass land. Ukraine has already been given two chances to stop (and survive), but has not taken any of these. Churkin’s letter is perhaps one of the last warnings for Ukraine. 
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/07/churkin-writes-letter-to-un-final.html

Euromaidan “hero”: Provocations and a military coup are being prepared in Kiev

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From Fort Russ

July 16, 2016 –
Mikhail Ryabov, PolitNavigator – 
Translated by J. Arnoldski
Preparation for a military coup is underway in Kiev over the course of which the Maidanite oligarchs will clear out their recent allies from the so-called “Revolution of Dignity.” Verkhovna Rada deputy Igor Lutsenko announced this on his Facebook page. Lutsenko himself is among the disgruntled “heroes of the Maidan” who would suffer from such a putsch.
“I am not exaggerating when I say that preparations for a military coup are underway in Kiev now. The date simply has yet to be assigned….Multiple armed forces at once are now almost openly declaring their desire to come to power by forces. I will emphasize that we are not talking about some kind of informal armed structures of the Right Sector type from 2014, but about official, formally state-controlled, organized, and trained troops with heavy equipment and God knows what other weapons. They are not even hiding that they are planning the details of their ascent to power in a, so to say, tactical, rapid way,” Lutsenko wrote. 
According to Lutsenko, a military dictatorship is supported by part of politicians currently in power. They are yearning to massacre their yesterday allies on the Maidan now quarreling with the government and inconveniencing authorities. He writes further: 
“Behind this preparation stand politicians of the highest echelon, including from the so-called ‘strategic seven.’ The heads of security agencies are actively developing an algorithm for an armed assertion of their own power.
Meanwhile, an active information campaign is underway and society is being massaged in order for, at a certain moment, a chain of provocations to be triggered and the scenario of a military coup to be realized which could be presented as something different, as salvation from a rebellion of some kind of abstract military men. 
One possible scenario is that some kind of group of radicals (of course with military experience) will make a coup attempt which will be effectively suppressed. To save “constitutional order,” regular armed units will immediately come in who will quickly take control of the main administrative centers of the country: government offices, TV/radio broadcasting, mobile communications, and the internet.
They’ll explain events as such: ‘Putin has put radicals into power, we are only restoring order, don’t worry, there will be no emergency measures, but for some time it’s just necessary to enforce a state of emergency.’ While the West is trying to figure out what happened, unknown persons will kidnap the active opposition. We are not taking about first persons of the largest opposition parties – this would be too obvious of an anti-democratic step. We are talking about decisive, influential, and competent people who are capable of becoming the engine of resistance to the oligarchical dictatorship, the potential field commanders of a peaceful or armed resistance.
The opposition will be deprived of power and provocations will help justify a long state of emergency in the capital. Civil society, so disoriented and divided following the Maidan, will refrain from joining the game.
The cleansing of this potential opposition is happening now. Politicians who are screaming more than all the others about the need for ‘order’ and threats to the government from volunteers, ‘nationalists’, and ‘radicals’ are those politicians who are planning a military coup. These state mutineers are inspiring criminal cases against Maidaners and front-liners and have entered into an alliance with the ‘old’ security forces of Yanukovych. These state rebels are now trying to physically and politically destroy their future opponents, those who are ready and able to stop their armed rebellion…
Society is blind and divided. ‘There won’t be a third Maidan’ – this is true. A military coup is a much more likely prospect among the radicalization of internal scenarios,” Lutsenko judges. 
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/07/euromaidan-hero-provocations-and.html

Shocking UN report lists crimes by the Ukrainian authorities

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From Strategic Culture Foundation

By Arina Tsukanova
June 11, 2016
Shocking UN Report Lists Crimes by the Ukrainian Authorities

The 13th report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Ukraine between 16 November 2015 and 15 February 2016, when the Minsk Agreements were in force, has come as a shock to Kiev.

According to the UN, more than three million people live in the areas directly affected by the conflict. The exact number of people who have left Ukraine-controlled territory is still unknown, although rough estimates range from 800,000 to 1,000,000 people. The Ukrainian government has estimated that more than a million people have left southeast Ukraine for Russia, Belarus and Europe. This figure does not match that of the Russian federal migration service, however: in 2015, around four million Ukrainians crossed the border, with nearly 2.6 million settling in Russia. More than a million people have arrived from southeast Ukraine. Residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are permitted to live freely in Russia.

The discrepancy in the figures clearly shows that Ukraine is not interested in keeping track of its citizens, whether within the country or abroad. This means that one of the aims of the military campaign launched in the east of the country is to displace the population from the area of conflict, predominantly to Russia. Given that refugees from the republics to Ukraine are facing discrimination in access to public services, according to the UN report, the authorities in Kiev do not seem to want the residents of Donbass either.

The UN also states that those living close to the contact line (nearly 800,000 people) are particularly suffering, and the lives of these people are constantly at risk. The UN mission believes that the assistance being given to the residents of Donbass is insufficient, even given Russia’s humanitarian convoys, although the fact that it was Ukraine that shut down all the social programmes and introduced the ‘blockade’ unfortunately remained beyond the scope of the report.

The UN believes that the permit regime introduced by Ukraine and the disorder at checkpoints are negatively reinforcing the isolation of those living in the DPR and LPR. Queues of up to 300-400 cars waiting on either side of the checkpoints are observed on a regular basis and this recently ended in tragedy. Due to the fact that the Ukrainian checkpoint is not open at night, civilians who had been queuing in their cars overnight were fired at by the Ukrainian side using illegal-calibre weapons (122 mm), resulting in the deaths of five people, including a pregnant woman.

During the period covered in the report, the Ukrainian armed forces have advanced even further into populated areas and the numerous attacks on the residential areas of Horlivka, Shakhtarsk and Debaltseve are also mentioned in the report.

Since the Minsk ceasefire agreements entered into force (i.e. since 15 February 2015), there have been 843 civilian casualties – 235 killed (216 adults and 19 children) and 608 injured (554 adults and 44 children). At the same time, the UN mission notes that it is unable to attribute some of the victims to either side of the conflict. It also emphasises that the real number of those killed and injured could be higher than that given in the report.

The number of people missing is particularly shocking. The Ukrainian side has reported 741 persons missing, while the DPR has registered 420 missing persons. In addition, the UN mission has ascertained that approximately 1,000 bodies held in morgues in government-controlled territory have still not been identified.

And once again the numbers are crying out that the Ukrainian government does not believe people to be important. The number of persons that Kiev has declared missing is a third less than the number of unidentified bodies! And the numbers also ignore the mortal remains in areas where hostilies took place – search operations are virtually non-existent. As the UN report states, there is not even a dedicated mechanism in place to gather statements from the relatives of missing persons.

The UN mission has also not taken into account the number of unmarked graves in cemeteries. The overwhelming majority of missing persons should not be looked for in the Donetsk and Luhansk republics, but among the thousands of bodies that have already been quietly buried or are still lying in morgues. It is possible that the official number of those who will never return has been hugely underestimated.

The efforts of the Ukrainian side aimed at searching for and identifying those killed and those missing are referred to in the UN report using the word «inaction».

Kiev cannot admit that to avoid responsibility, it is secretly carrying out a policy of ‘unidentified bodies’. It is also being suggested to relatives that missing persons are being held captive by DPR and LPR ‘separatists’.

The report concedes that some people recorded as missing may be alive, but are being held in secret places of detention either in the republics or in Ukrainian-controlled territory.

The UN mission has finally figured out that the secret prisons and torture in Ukraine are an established system that has become part of the state and its policies. Of the 1,925 criminal investigations launched into allegations of torture in 2015, 1,450 were closed.

The report has also provided yet more evidence that it is not a civil war. It is a war between those who seized power by means of a military coup and the people of Ukraine, a war that is hypocritically being referred to as an ‘anti-terrorist operation’.

As noted in the report,

throughout the country, OHCHR continued to receive allegations of enforced disappearances, arbitrary and incommunicado detention, and torture and ill-treatment of people accused by the Ukrainian authorities of ‘trespassing territorial integrity’, ‘terrorism’ or related offenses, or of individuals suspected of being members of, or affiliated with, the armed groups.

People are not just being tortured, but are also being executed without trial. In Sloviansk, for example, the basement of the local college is being used for this purpose. A basement used for torture and summary executions was also discovered by UN inspectors in Izium, Kharkiv district. In addition, «a network of unofficial places of detention, often located in the basement of regional SBU buildings, have been identified». The SBU also has such basements in Odessa and Kharkiv. In February 2016, between 20 to 30 people were detained in the basement of the Kharkiv regional SBU building, and the vast majority of prisoners were not arrested in accordance with legal procedures and were not charged.

The report also notes that the SBU obtains confessions of terrorism using torture, and those who sign the confessions are told that should they complain, then their families, including their children, will also be made to suffer. The Security Service of Ukraine refers to such methods as the use of «proportional» and «justified» force.

The 13th report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Ukraine appeared on 3 March 2016, but it is only now that the information bomb has exploded following an article in The Times, in which Ivan Simonovic, UN assistant secretary-general for human rights, talks about the report and also about five secret SBU prisons that a delegation of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture was not allowed access to, resulting in the delegation cutting short its visit to Ukraine…

The 13th report also completely destroys the myth that there are thousands of prisoners in the DPR and LPR. There is no trace of the thousands – in February 2016, the SBU gave the UN mission a list of 136 people who are allegedly being detained in custody in the republics, but nothing is known about this for sure. The list provided by the DPR authorities, however, looks completely different. «Some 1,110 persons were detained by the Government of Ukraine, including 363 members of the armed groups. This includes 577 people arrested for ‘their political views’ and 170 civilians ‘who have nothing to do with the conflict’», says the UN report. The SBU has gone overboard by essentially creating a system of concentration camps. The UN report likens the actions of the SBU to the seizure of hostages.

It has been impossible to keep the scandal hushed up, but while this regime exists in Ukraine, investigations into its criminal activities will be carried out along the same lines as the investigations into the people burned alive in Odessa on 2 May 2014. Namely that the executioners will remain free or under house arrest while the victims are imprisoned. For years.

The original source of this article is Strategic Culture Foundation
Copyright © Arina Tsukanova, Strategic Culture Foundation, 2016

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2016/06/11/shocking-un-report-lists-crimes-ukrainian-authorities.html

http://www.globalresearch.ca/shocking-un-report-lists-crimes-by-the-ukrainian-authorities/5530494

Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) shelled front territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic 114 times for the last 24 hours

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From Novorossia Today
May 31, 2016

Kiev armed fighters shelled DPR territories last night

‘The situation in the DPR stabilized relatively, however, Kiev fighters shelled the territory of the republic 114 times’, DPR Defence Ministry reported.

It was added that the hostility launched 71 mines of 120 and 82 mm caliber. Moreover, they used APC, grenade launchers and small arms.

The shelling of Ukrainian punitives covered Zaytsevo village in Gorlovka, Yasinovataya, Dokuchaevsk, Vesyoloe, Spartak, Zhabichevo, Petrovskiy district of Donetsk.

http://novorossia.today/uaf-shelled-front-territories-of-the-dpr-114-times-for-the-last-24-hours/

Kiev City Council announces termination of relations with Moscow

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From Fort Russ

Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ
13th May, 2016
 
 
 
The deputies of the Kiev city council sent a letter  to the Russian government on the termination of bilateral agreements on the “twinning relationship” between the Ukrainian capital and Moscow. The corresponding letter was posted on the Facebook page of the Deputy mayor of Kiev and Secretary of Kiev city council – Volodymyr Prokopiv.
Earlier, the deputies of the Kiev city council supported the initiative for the termination of bilateral agreements on the “twinning relationship” between the Ukrainian capital and a number of Russian cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg.
“In accordance with the decision of the Kiev city Council, Kiev unilaterally severs all previously signed agreements about twinning, partnerships, and cooperation with Moscow,” said the letter of the city council sent to the government of the Russia.
Earlier, the deputies of the “Svoboda” nationalist party in the Kiev city council proposed to terminate the bilateral agreement on “sister-city relationships” between the Ukrainian capital and a number of Russian cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. Later, the authorities of the Ukrainian city of Khmelnytskyi decided to terminate the partnership with Tver and Ivanovo, and notified the city Duma of the Russian twin-cities. However, press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov expressed deep regret at the position of Kiev on the rupture of relations with Russian sister cities.

“We’re Not Afraid!”: Veterans will march in the center of Kiev on May 9th

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From Fort Russ

Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ
29th April, 2016
 
A likely ban on the celebration of Victory Day in Ukraine would be an insult to the veterans of the great Patriotic war. However, they intend to march on Khreshchatyk, even if far-right extremists open fire on them.
According to the head of the Kiev organization of veterans of Ukraine, Nikolai Martynov, the Verkhovna Rada adopting the law on the “condemnation of the communist and national socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes in Ukraine and prohibition of propaganda with their symbols” takes the celebration of the victory away from the veterans. He made such a statement during an interview with the Ukrainian version of “The voice”.
“The presidential decree takes away the concept of the great Patriotic war, […] takes away the celebrations on May 9th, and focuses on 8th May — the Day of remembrance and reconciliation. When Viktor Yushchenko came to power, he asked us about reconciliation. We said that the leadership of the organization cannot resolve the issue personally and offered to ask the veterans. We interviewed them, and at that time we were told by 99.9% that there cannot be reconciliation with those who are not rehabilitated. What is reconciliation? We signed a contract  with Nazi Germany. She surrendered,” — quotes RT.
Martynov also stressed that the decree is unconstitutional, because this decision was made without a referendum. In the case of approval of the law by the President, according to the head of the Kiev organization of veterans of Ukraine, the ban in the country will fall on the Day of Defender of the Fatherland.
“My office has a copy of a Victory banner — a veteran banner. And opposite in the city centre there are trash cans. So I’m afraid if the “Pravy sector” come, they can tie this banner around their neck and suffer in the dustbin. An element of intimidation is also felt by veterans. Lawlessness comes from the SBU, some law enforcement bodies” — said Martynov to the website “Politnavigator”. He also fears that on 9th May, they may be attacked by extremists from the “Right sector”.
His words were confirmed by veteran-soldier and retired Colonel Dmitri Stadnyuk. “We will never agree with the fact that you cannot celebrate May 9th […] We will openly go to downtown. Let them try to shoot at us. We’re not afraid. We will fight, if you will bring us to such a state,” — he said.
As a reminder, the Ukrainian Parliament, on April 9th, passed a law condemning communist and national socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes in Ukraine and prohibition of propaganda with their symbols.” Its goal is to “prevent the recurrence of crimes of the communist and national socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes, any discrimination on national, social, class, ethnic, racial or other grounds in the future, restoration of historical and social justice, and the removal of threats to the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national security of Ukraine”.
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A restless night in Donbass

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From Fort Russ

Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ
24th February, 2016
 
To be brief, it has begun. Indeed the fighting in Donbass has resumed. More precisely, the firing of weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements. Again, after dark, Donetsk, Gorlovka, Makeyevka, Yasinovataya feels the charm of the “truce”. If before the shelling on the outskirts of the city we were informed by daily summaries from Basurin, now we hear for ourselves that there is almost nothing left of the ceasefire.
On Defender of the Fatherland Day, the Ukrainian army began to congratulate the armed forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic in the evening of the 22nd February. At approximately 18:00 the attack on the Yasinovataya post, Oktyabrsky, the Airport began.
“Now at 21:11 it’s all trembling and shaking in the vicinity of Donetsk. From 20:30 and at this minute in the area of Yasinovataya, near the post of the traffic police, there is an intense battle. You can hear small artillery and tanks. Apparently, UAF is trying to breach again. Bangs can be heard all across Yasinovataya. The windows are shaking. Thinking about the stairs into the basement. It hasn’t been like this for a long time”,- stated the reports from local residents.
It was the same in Gorlovka, which had suffered a lot before this.
“North Of Gorlovka. Zaytsevo. UAF infantry trying to come to the Northern suburbs of Gorlovka. A battle began, then flying shrapnel on our positions (and residents in homes and apartments) from large caliber mortars. They aim at sniper positions.”.
The same situation occurred already on 23rd February, but with greater intensity. The sounds of war can be heard even in the rear areas of Donetsk. Thunder. Trembling. Shaking. Frankly speaking, the situation is tense.
“The whole Western front is booming. Maryinka, Staromikhaylovk, Volvo center, Pesky, Spartak, the Airport, Gorlovka. The UAF use all possible weapons. Half an hour ago, in the outskirts of Staromikhaylovka thundered 6 explosions, which shook the entire city. The intensity of the fire increases with each passing hour.”
23.02.16 Yasinovataya
But there is something about this situation that is unlike the previous ones: the reaction of the people. Although all are incredibly scared during the attacks, all were waiting for them. Being under constant pressure, many panicked and believed those who tried to convince the locals that they were betrayed. The resumption of active hostilities instills hope that now the DPR and LPR armies will stop at nothing and will be able to push the enemy farther away from our cities. People believe in their defence, knowing that they will be able to give a worthy answer to the army of the occupier. The fact that the Ukrainian government is trying to divert people’s attention from the real problems and again to write off everybody in the war plays into the hands of DPR and LPR. A breach of silence, the Ukrainian side has untied the hands of the armies of the People’s Republic that will allow them to liberate the occupied territories. Let’s hope for it and believe in our soldiers.
Soon I’ll have photo reports from the places of attacks and shelling.
Alas, but it seems it will be an uneasy night.
P.S. A quote from the head of the DPR Alexander Zakharchenko :

“If Kiev will go on the offensive, then we’ll go on the counter. Where it will end — we’ll see…”

http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/02/a-restless-night-in-donbass.html

Court in the Hague investigates claim of Kiev participation in murders on Maidan

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From DONi News

Wednesday, February 24, 2016 – 19:35

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague started an investigation of the Ukrainian Institute of legal policy and social protection’s complaint concerning the participation of the current authorities’ representatives in murders on Maidan – the Head of the Institute, the ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Irina Berezhnaya.

The International Criminal Court in the Hague started an investigation of our complaint concerning the participation of members of the current Ukrainian authorities in massacre on Maidan.

She explained that the court would consider some episodes, in particular, the cases on the first dead on “Maidan” and an attempt of the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Sergey Pashinsky to bring away a sniper rifle without being seen, and also the shooting of participants of “Maidan” and law enforcement authorities by the unknown snipers on February 20, 2014.

Berezhnaya has also published the letter from the International Criminal Court in a social network with a promise to consider the complaint quickly.

DONi News Agency

https://dninews.com/article/court-hague-considers-claim-kiev-participation-murders-maidan

Kiev in trouble– sniper groups seen in the capital

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From Fort Russ

Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ
21st February, 2016
 
In Ukraine, people are actively discussing the information on the unknown sniper groups who arrived in the center of Kiev.
On the Ukrainian social networks there were photos of unknown snipers taken by witnesses in the center of Kiev.
The photos were published on Sunday morning outside the walls of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. There were men dressed in strange uniforms.
The people of Kiev, with a disturbing sense of humor, asked each other, not “musicians” again? Since the riots on the Maidan, they are sometimes called snipers because of the similarity between the cases of the rifles and the protective cases of musical instruments.
“These musicians like to play at the funeral of a new ‘heavenly thousand'”, — said opponents of the Maidan.
As a reminder, “a Third Maidan”, organized by the so-called Revolutionary right-wing forces (RPS), is ongoing in the centre of the Ukrainian capital.
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/02/kiev-in-trouble-unknown-snipers-found.html

Victoria Nuland arrives in Kiev, and there is a spike in Minsk violations – coincidence?

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From Fort Russ

Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ
6th December, 2015
112.ua

 The U.S. assistant Secretary of state for Europe and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland, has arrived in Ukraine and traveled to the security Service of Ukraine, “Ukrinform” reported.

“Nuland, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, at around 14:00 on Sunday went to the SBU building in Volodymyrska, – the website reported.

Before that, the American diplomats visited the sculpture named “The Victorious Cossack”. As a reminder, the U.S. Vice-President Joseph Biden, on December 8th, will speak in the Verkhovna Rada during his visit to Ukraine.

http://www.fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/12/nuland-arrives-in-kiev-spike-in-minsk.html