Ukraine

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Heracleum Persicum
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Heracleum Persicum »

o6ZiFErxRMg
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Doc
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Doc »

Endovelico wrote:
Doc wrote: Yeah sure they are Here is Russia Today exposing the evil gates foundation leader and name sake calling for eugenics and killing children with GMO food and provide vaccinations that cause polo to children so they get polo, and sterilize men by damaging their sperm with ultra sound Really stupid, ignorant, stupid stuff.

3TyAJZVARPw
Sorry but this is not a genuine RT issue. The format is not the usual RT format, and there is no identification but the RT green logo at the bottom, an easy enough thing to fake. Why do you waste your and our time with a fake RT video, just to try and convince us of their bad faith?... :roll: I watch RT regularly and never have I seen anything even remotely resembling such nonsense...
REALLY?

The whole program:
yzNTVWpsorY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#Criticism
Criticism[edit]

Propaganda and related issues[edit]

Mouthpiece of the Kremlin[edit]

Since its foundation in 2005, RT has been widely accused as being a mouthpiece of the Kremlin. In an interview with U.S government-owned external broadcaster Voice of America, the Russian-Israeli blogger Anton Nosik (ru) said the creation of RT "smacks of Soviet-style propaganda campaigns."[13] Pascal Bonnamour, the head of the European department of Reporters Without Borders, called the newly announced network "another step of the state to control information."[14] In 2009, Luke Harding (then the Moscow-based, Russia correspondent of The Guardian) described RT's advertising campaign in the United Kingdom as an "ambitious attempt to create a new post-Soviet global propaganda empire."[15] An article in the Christian Science Monitor wrote that RT reported on the good job Putin was doing in the world and next to nothing on things like the conflict in Chechnya or the murder of government critics.[153]

Former KGB officer turned political refugee, Konstantin Preobrazhensky, criticized RT as "a part of the Russian industry of misinformation and manipulation".[20]

Linas Antanas Linkevičius, Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, posted on Twitter on March 9, 2014 amid the Crimean crisis, "Russia Today propaganda machine is no less destructive than military marching in Crimea".[154]

United States Secretary of State John Kerry referred to RT as a state-sponsored "propaganda bullhorn" and he continued by saying, "Russia Today network has deployed to promote president Putin's fantasy about what is playing out on the ground. They almost spend full-time devoted to this effort, to propagandize, and to distort what is happening or not happening in Ukraine."[155] RT responded that they wanted "an official response from the U.S. Department of State substantiating Mr. Kerry's claims."[156] Richard Stengel from the U.S. Department of State responded.[28] Stengel stated in his response, "RT is a distortion machine, not a news organization," although he supports RT's right to broadcast in the United States. Concluding that "the network and its editors should not pretend that RT is anything other than another player in Russia's global disinformation campaign against the people of Ukraine and their supporters".[157]

In Russia, Andrey Illarionov, former advisor to Vladimir Putin, has labeled the channel as "the best Russian propaganda machine targeted at the outside world".[21][22] Media analyst Vasily Gatov wrote in a 2014 Moscow Times article that sharp ethical and reporting skills are not required for RT employees.[158]

Cliff Kincaid, the director of Accuracy in Media's Center for Investigative Journalism, called RT "the well-known disinformation outlet for Russian propaganda".[159]

Putin and Medvedev off-limits[edit]

In 2010, The Independent reported that RT journalists had revealed that coverage of sensitive issues in Russia is allowed, but direct criticism of Vladimir Putin or then-President Dmitry Medvedev is not.[44] Masha Karp wrote in Standpoint magazine that contemporary Russian issues "such as the suppression of free speech and peaceful demonstrations, or the economic inefficiency and corrupt judiciary, are either ignored or their significance played down".[160] In 2008, Stephen Heyman wrote in The New York Times that in RT's Russia, "corruption is not quite a scourge but a symptom of a developing economy."[21] Speaking after the launch of RT America, Garry Kasparov said "Russia Today is an extension of the methods and approach of the state-controlled media inside Russia, applied in a bid to influence the American cable audience".[16]

Anti-Americanism, anti-Westernism[edit]

The New Republic writer James Kirchick accused the network of "often virulent anti-Americanism, worshipful portrayal of Russian leaders."[17] Edward Lucas wrote in The Economist (quoted in Al Jazeera English) that the core of RT was "anti-Westernism."[18] Julia Ioffe wrote "Often, it seemed that Russia Today was just a way to stick it to the U.S. from behind the façade of legitimate newsgathering."[9] Shaun Walker wrote in The Independent that RT "has made a name for itself as a strident critic of US policy."[19] Allesandra Stanley wrote in The New York Times that RT is "like the Voice of America, only with more money and a zesty anti-American slant."[65] David Weigel writes that RT goes further than merely creating distrust of the United States government, to saying, in effect: "You can trust the Russians more than you can trust those bastards."[49]

Russian studies professor Stephen F. Cohen stated in 2012 that RT does a lot of stories that "reflect badly" on the United States and that they are "particularly aggrieved by American sermonizing abroad." Citing that RT compares stories about Russia allowing mass protests of the 2011–2012 Russian election protests with those of U.S. authorities nationwide arresting members of the Occupy movement. Cohen states that despite the pro-Kremlin slant, "any intelligent viewer can sort this out. I doubt that many idiots find their way to RT."[142]

John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus says he appears on RT as well as the U.S.-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, commenting "You're going to find blind spots in the coverage for any news organization."[142] American journalist Glenn Greenwald listed the corporate and government owners of prominent Western media like NBC, BBC, Voice of America, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Politico and The Washington Post and asked why it was "an intrinsic violation of journalistic integrity to work for a media outlet owned by the Russian government." He also wrote that the real cause of American media hostility toward RT is that "the reporting it does reflects poorly on the U.S. Government, the ultimate sin in the eyes of our 'adversarial' press corps."[72]

Airing conspiracy theories[edit]

An 2013 article in Der Spiegel noted that RT is the most successful foreign broadcaster in many American cities and that RT "uses a chaotic mixture of conspiracy theories and crude propaganda", referring to a program which linked the Boston Marathon bombings to a U.S. government conspiracy.[10]

The launch of RT UK was greeted with a barrage of criticism in the British press. In The Observer, Nick Cohen accused the channel of spreading conspiracy theories and being a "prostitution of journalism" and in The Times, Oliver Kamm called on broadcast regulator Ofcom to act against this "den of deceivers".[161]

Anti-Israel[edit]

RT has been accused of being anti-Israel by Jewish and Israeli sources, describing its reporting as being unbalanced. Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman made a complaint to Putin at their official meeting in 2012.[162][163][164][165]

Response to critics[edit]

Sara Firth, a former RT anchor who quit over MH17 coverage, said she had editorial independence during her time there, except for disagreements over RT's coverage of the Syrian conflict.[24]

RT journalists Abby Martin and Erin Ade, in an interview with Larry King have denied having ever been told what to say or do. In addition, Martin said:

“ I think the image of RT is just people who are scared to address the facts because it's an easy way to blanketly dismiss an entire network and generalize an entire body of work... And that's why you see the smear campaign from the people who are too scared to debate what you are actually talking about.[166] ”

Choice of guests[edit]

In 2010 journalist and blogger Julia Ioffe described RT as being "provocative just for the sake of being provocative" in its choice of guests and issue topics, featuring a Russian historian who predicted that the United States would soon be dissolved, showing speeches by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, reporting on homelessness in America, and interviewing the chairman of the New Black Panther Party. She wrote that in attempting to offer "an alternate point of view, it is forced to talk to marginal, offensive, and often irrelevant figures".[9] The Economist magazine noted that RT's programming, while sometimes interesting and unobjectionable, and sometimes "hard-edged", also presents "wild conspiracy theories" that can be regarded as "kooky".[167] A 2010 Southern Poverty Law Center report stated that RT extensively covered the "birther" and the "New World Order" conspiracy theories and interviewed militia organizer Jim Stachowiak and white nationalist Jared Taylor.[168] An Al Jazeera English article stated that RT has a penchant "for off-beat stories and conspiracy theories."[18]

Margarita Simonyan told Nikolaus von Twickel of The Moscow Times that RT started to grow once it became provocative and that controversy was vital to the channel. She said that RT's task was not to polish Moscow's reputation.[4]

RT has made Manuel Ochsenreiter, a neo-Nazi, its primary on-air spokesman for the German point of view.[169][170] It also features Holocaust denier Ryan Dawson, presenting him as a geopolitical analyst, human rights activist and Asian affairs expert.[171]

Responses to RT's news coverage[edit]

Carson Scott, a business presenter who left the network in 2007, suggested that he'd been involved in countless heated debates with his editor and stated that "You are understandably walking a very fine line of being full and frank and biting the hand that feeds". However Peter Lavelle (who is still with the network) countered "No one is telling me what to say," while admitting "Part of our mission is public relations".[21]

During the 2008 South Ossetia War Russia Today correspondent William Dunbar resigned because he was not allowed to report on Russian airstrikes on civilian targets and stated "any issue where there is a Kremlin line, RT is sure to toe it."[172] Human Rights Watch said that the RT claim of 2,000 South Ossetian casualties was exaggerated.[173][174] Shaun Walker, the Moscow correspondent for The Independent said that Russia Today had "instructed reporters not to report from Georgian villages within South Ossetia that had been ethnically cleansed.", also showed that "RT blasted "GENOCIDE" across its screens for most of the war’s duration".[52] Julia Ioffe wrote that an RT journalist whose reporting deviated from "the Kremlin line that Georgians were slaughtering unarmed Ossetians" was reprimanded.[9] According to Variety, sources at RT confirmed that Dunbar had resigned, but rejected that it was over bias. One senior RT journalist told the magazine, "the Russian coverage I have seen has been much better than much of the Western coverage... When you look at the Western media, there is a lot of genuflection towards the powers that be. Russian news coverage is largely pro-Russia, but that is to be expected."[175]

In June 2011, RT broadcast a programme called "War on RT?", in which it highlighted that Glenn Beck (then with Fox News), had called it "the Pravda of today" and NPR had warned RT viewers against thinking it was a normal news network. According to Oliver Bullough, RT responded, "not by saying it was unbiased, but by insisting that everyone else, too, was biased. The programme’s host suggested that, in sum, objectivity is a myth"[96]

In September 2012, United Kingdom broadcast regulator Ofcom found that two Libyan dispatches broadcast by Lizzie Phelan on RT in August 2011 were in breach of its code on accuracy and impartiality. One stated that Libyan rebels had little popular support and another criticized Western media as lying about the NATO operations. It held that broadcasters should note that "when items in their news programmes criticise the policies and actions of individuals, organisations, governments or states, they must not only be presented with due impartiality but also reported with due accuracy."[176] The following November, RT was again found in breach of impartiality rules in relation to its coverage of the Syrian conflict – particularly involving a news bulletin that was broadcast on July 12, 2012 that featured an interview with the Editor of Pan-African News Wire, Abayomi Azikiwe who was supportive of the Syrian Government position, followed by a report criticizing a boycott of Syrian television and film production by certain Arab countries.[177]





RT team covering protests in Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on December 10, 2011
According to The Independent, RT covered all the protests that started in December 2011 and lead up to the March 2012 Russian presidential election. However, Margarita Simonyan tweeted that protesters should "burn in hell" and RT accused opposition leader Alexei Navalny of having strong and even bigoted Russian nationalist views.[178][179]

After a May 2012 protest broke into violence between police and protesters, Simonyan tweeted "You were warned that all your starry-eyed idealism would end in fanatical carnage."[180] RT blamed the clashes on "a number of radical protesters."[181] Navalny, who exposed massive corruption and theft in Kremlin-connected companies, frequently has been covered in a negative fashion on RT,[19] including coverage of the search of his home and office during an investigation of the May clashes.[182] Putin chose RT for his first televised interview after the election and stated that new laws against non-governmental organizations, street rally disorders or defamation only had to do with "crime and legal procedure, not politics."[183]

In 2012 Jesse Zwick in The New Republic criticized RT, stating it held that "civilian casualties in Syria are minimal, foreign intervention would be disastrous, and any humanitarian appeals from Western nations are a thin veil for a NATO-backed move to isolate Iran, China, and Russia." He wrote that RT wants to "make the United States look out of line for lecturing Russia." Zwick also noted that Stephen F. Cohen has criticized western coverage of the Syrian conflict, saying he was suspicious of CNN coverage and that "It seems to be the flip side of RT. It's too black and white, too virtuous and simple. Each side sounds like one hand clapping."[142]

Zwick also wrote that RT provided a "disproportionate amount of time" to covering libertarian Republican Ron Paul during his 2012 presidential campaign.[142] Paul also has been interviewed on RT.[184] Writing after her 2014 on-air resignation, Liz Wahl suggested the reason for this "wasn't his message of freedom and liberty but his non-interventionist stance and consistent criticism of U.S. foreign policy. His message fit RT's narrative that the United States is a huge bully."[185] In a June 2011 broadcast of Adam vs. the Man, host Adam Kokesh endorsed support and fundraising for Paul, leading to a complaint to the Federal Election Commission charging a political contribution had been made by a foreign corporation. Kokesh denied his cancellation in August was related to the complaint, but said it did involve Paul's aide Jesse Benton.[150]

An August 2013 news story concerning unverified reports of the killing of 450 Kurdish civilians near the Turkey-Syria border again breached UK broadcast regulator Ofcom's rules. This complaint centred on mobile phone footage of three men being apparently being burnt alive.[186] That December, Ofcom again found RT in breach of its standards in relation to the impartiality of a documentary entitled "Syrian Diary" broadcast the previous March.[187]

On March 4, 2014, Breaking The Set host Abby Martin, speaking directly to her viewing audience during the show's closing statement, said that even though she works for RT, she is against Russia's intervention in Ukraine. She said that "what Russia did is wrong", as she is against intervention by any nation into other countries' affairs.[188] Later, Martin asserted that RT still supports her despite her differences of opinion with the Russian government.[189] RTs press office suggested that Martin would be sent to Crimea and responded to accusations of propaganda, stating "the charges of propaganda tend to pop up every time a news outlet, particularly RT, dares to show the side of events that does not fit the mainstream narrative, regardless of the realities on the ground. This happened in Georgia, this is happening in Ukraine".[190] Glenn Greenwald said that American media elites love to mock Russian media, especially RT, as being a source of shameless pro-Putin propaganda, where free expression is strictly barred. Agreeing the "network has a strong pro-Russian bias", he suggested that Martin's action "remarkably demonstrated what 'journalistic independence' means".[191]

On March 5, 2014, RT Washington, D.C. bureau anchor Liz Wahl resigned on air, blaming RT for propaganda. She explained later "that she felt challenged being the daughter of a U.S. military veteran and being the partner of a physician who works at a U.S. military base, and that is why, personally, she cannot be part of a network funded by the Russian government that whitewashes the actions of Putin". Wahl stated that what "broke" her was that RT censored a question from her interview with Ron Paul about "Russia's intervention in Ukraine". Paul later asserted that he was not censored in any way and that his message was delivered in full and to his satisfaction.[192] James Kirchick quickly published the exclusive story, explaining that he had periodically been in contact with Wahl over the previous six months.[193]

In response, RT released a statement: "When a journalist disagrees with the editorial position of his or her organization, the usual course of action is to address those grievances with the editor, and, if they cannot be resolved, to quit like a professional. But when someone makes a big public show of a personal decision, it is nothing more than a self-promotional stunt. We wish Liz the best of luck on her chosen path".[194]

In a March 2014 Politico article, Wahl stated “For about two and a half years. I’d looked the other way as the network smeared America for the sake of making the Kremlin look better by comparison, while it sugarcoated atrocities by one brutal dictator after another.”[185]





RT America broadcast with former anchor Liz Wahl.
When asked about a clip of her interviewing a guest on RT by Brian Stelter, host of CNN's Reliable Sources, Wahl responded,

“ They get these extreme voices on that have this kind of hostile toward the West viewpoints towards the world, very extremist. These are the people that they have on. And when I was on the anchor desk, they would instruct you to egg on these guests and try to get them, you know, rallied up, to really fire off their anti-American talking points. Listen, I'm all about exposing government corruption. I'm all about being critical of the government. But this is different. This is promoting the foreign policy of somebody that has just invaded a country, has invaded the country and is then lying about it, is using the media as a tool to fulfill his foreign policy interests. And RT is part of Putin's propaganda network and it's very, very troubling in the wake of what is going on in Ukraine today ”

—[25]


New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof commented on CNN's Piers Morgan Live about Wahl's and Martin's initial actions, "admire their outspokenness but, you know, at the end of the day, RT is a Russian propaganda arm, and I don't think its going to matter very much to the geopolitical consequences here."[195]

Former RT Moscow anchor Stacy Bivens, and other former RT journalists speaking under anonymity according to BuzzFeed, said they regretted working for the network, citing their dislike of the network's use of propaganda. Bivens, for example, was explicitly asked to go to Germany and procure a story proving that "Germany is a failed state". When she rejected, other reporters were sent instead.[26]

Steve Bloomfield, the foreign editor of Monocle wrote that RT's "coverage of Ukraine could not have been kinder to Moscow if Vladimir Putin had chosen the running order himself. While Putin kept up the pretence that there were no Russian troops in Crimea, so too did RT. The storming of government buildings across eastern Ukraine has been portrayed as the understandable actions of peace-loving protesters who fear "chaos" in Kiev".[196]

In March 2014, a group of Ukraininan journalists started a website StopFake.org dedicated to debunking propaganda and false news published by Russian media, including RT, for example using footage from past military conflicts in Georgia, South Ossetia or Syria and presenting them as current footage from Ukraine.[23][197][198]

After the July 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, RT rushed to blame others for the plane's shoot-down in Ukraine amid accusations by Ukrainian fighters of Russian involvement in the crash.[199] Sara Firth resigned as an RT correspondent over the coverage of the downed flight MH17. Shortly before resigning, she wrote, "RT style guide Rule 1: It is ALWAYS * Ukraine’s fault (* add name as applicable)." She later noted that there is "bias" against Russia and stated "I have always said it’s better to have RT than to not have that perspective, but actually with a story like this and the way they misreport it, it’s quite dangerous, I don’t want to be [a] party to it."[24]

The following November, RT was again found in breach of Ofcom's impartiality rules. This time in relation to its coverage of the Ukraine crisis, specifically events leading up to the annexation by Russia of Crimea.[200] Because of repeated violations of its rules on impartiality, Ofcom threatened sanctions should further breaches occur.[31]

In January 2015 Ofcom found RT not in breach of rules on generally accepted standards following a compliant centered on the use of graphic imagery of bodies at the MH17 crash site.[201][202]
"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros
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Endovelico
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Endovelico »

Doc wrote: yzNTVWpsorY
This RT piece is clearly one sided but sources are given and could be checked. One can dispute the veracity of the image it projects, but similar programmes are made by most tv channels throughout the world, and this doesn't seem to me any worse than what CNN or BBC World does on a regular basis.

Is RT a propaganda tool for the Kremlin? Of course, and I have never disputed it. But at the same time it provides us with information which western media systematically silences, and that's what allows us to grasp a bit more of the political reality around us. By balancing US, UK, German, Russian propaganda and one sided information, I can get a more realistic view of things. Therefore, thank you RT!...
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Endovelico
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Endovelico »

How the Ukrainian government expects to fight Russia

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

[The whole thing here: https://drakulablogdotcom3.files.wordpr ... ussia.ppsx]
Don't miss it! Worth seeing in full!

Good luck to them... :D
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Doc
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Doc »

Endovelico wrote:How the Ukrainian government expects to fight Russia

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

[The whole thing here: https://drakulablogdotcom3.files.wordpr ... ussia.ppsx]
Don't miss it! Worth seeing in full!

Good luck to them... :D
It ill be tough to copy Putin's plan for taking over large parts of Ukraine.
"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Endovelico »

Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council bans activities of Communist Party, Regions Party, Opposition Bloc, Ukraine Development Party

Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council has banned the activities of the Communist Party of Ukraine, the Party of Regions, the Opposition Bloc, and the Ukraine Development Party in the region.
http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/261093.html

"To ban in the territory of Ivano-Frankivsk region the activities of the Communist Party of Ukraine, the Party of Regions, the Opposition Bloc, and the Ukraine Development Party, which contradict the interests and violates the rights and freedoms of the citizens of Ukraine," reads the resolution which was adopted by Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council on Friday.

The council also decided to apply to the Department of Justice in the region to demand that the registration of the local branches of these parties be revoked by the next session.

A total of 60 members, out of a total of 113, voted in favor of the decision.
I'm sure NATO and the EU will be delighted to receive as their future member this deeply democratic country... :lol:
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Parodite »

Endovelico wrote:I'm sure NATO and the EU will be delighted to receive as their future member this deeply democratic country... :lol:
I'm ok when political separatists fight for independence the old fashioned way. First you try to ban your enemies and if that doesn't work just pick up your Kalashnikov. I would treat commies the same way, it is necessary to get rid of them.
Deep down I'm very superficial
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Endovelico »

Militia claim spotting up to 70 mercenaries of US military company Academi in east Ukraine
April 21, 20:05
http://tass.ru/en/world/790838

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Kiev has moved to the area of the village of Volnovakha 70 mercenaries of the private US military company Academi, the spokesman for the Defense Ministry of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Eduard Basurin, told a news briefing on Tuesday.

"According to the available information, in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces, namely, in Volnovakha, the presence of 70 representatives of the private military company Academi has been revealed. Earlier, that company was known under the name of Blackwater," the Donetsk news agency quotes Basurin as saying.

He recalled that the organization is known for "fulfilling direct orders from the US State Department in hot spots."

"In 2007, fighters of that private military firm became notorious for shooting 17 civilians in Iraq, among whom were women and children. The event caused a wide response worldwide, after which the organization changed its name. Now the criminal organization is fighting against peaceful Donbass on the side of the Ukrainian authorities," Basurin said.

The Defense Ministry said the presence of the Academi company in Ukraine, in close proximity to the contact line between the conflicting sides, testifies to violation of Point 10 of the Minsk agreements, which says that illegal armed groups and military equipment as well as fighters and mercenaries should be withdrawn from Ukraine.

In this connection, the DPR authorities are calling on international organizations to join the investigation of the incident.

German media reported last May that data about 400 fighters from Blackwater, supporting Kiev forces in the east of Ukraine came from US intelligence agency.

The White House denied the media reports of US mercenaries hired from private military company Blackwater in eastern Ukraine.

In December, the Academi confirmed its readiness to start training a Ukrainian battalion for street fighting.
Situation around Ukraine

Thousands have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee Ukraine’s embattled east in clashes between Ukrainian troops and local militias during Kiev’s military operation, conducted since mid-April 2014, to regain control over the breakaway territories, which call themselves the Donetsk and Lugansk People's republics and constitute parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

A ceasefire was agreed upon by the parties to the Ukrainian conflict mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) during talks on September 5, 2014 in the Belarusian capital Minsk two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed his plan to settle the situation in the east of Ukraine. The ceasefire has reportedly been numerously violated since.

The Trilateral Contact Group on east Ukrainian settlement comprising representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE adopted a memorandum on September 19, 2014 in Minsk. The document outlined the parameters for the implementation of commitments on the ceasefire in Ukraine laid down in the 12-point Minsk Protocol of September 5, 2014.

The nine-point memorandum in particular envisioned a ban on the use of all armaments and withdrawal of weapons with the calibers of over 100 millimeters to a distance of 15 kilometers from the contact line from each side. The OSCE was tasked with controlling the implementation of memorandum provisions.

The Contact Group’s meetings in late December 2014 and on January 31, 2015 did not bring major results. Regular talks of the participants of the Trilateral Contact Group were held in Minsk on February 10-12, 2015. Normandy Four leaders also discussed the Ukrainian issue in Minsk then.

A 13-point Package of Measures on implementation of the September 2014 Minsk agreements was adopted at those talks.

The package in particular included an agreement on cessation of fire from February 15, withdrawal of heavy armaments, as well as measures on long-term political settlement of the situation in Ukraine, including enforcement of a special self-rule status for certain districts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

The foreign ministers of the Normandy Four held talks on Ukraine in Berlin on April 13. The focus of the negotiations was implementation of the February 12 Minsk deals.
One can only hope that the Novorussian army will eventually destroy them all as the scum they are...
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Doc »

^^^^^
Hey I have a suggestion. Maybe the forum could be renamed "The glorious Putin and his empire" That way everything could be condensed into one single thread and in that way avoid confusion on where to post things.
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Re: Ukraine

Post by YMix »

Russian diplomat praises Kerry's warning over Kiev's intention to regain Donetsk airport

MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/. The Russian side finds the statement by US Secretary of State John Kerry who warned Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko against attempts to regain control over the Donetsk airport, to be a very important one, the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin told Rossiya’24 news channel.

"It’s an important thing that Kerry made this statement and that he said the US believed it was crucial to observe the accords reached in Minsk on February 12," he said. "Let’s hope the Americans would send this signal to Kiev in private contacts (with the Ukrainian officials), too."

On Monday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the Donetsk airport, controlled by the militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), will be recaptured. "I do not doubt that we will free the airport because it is our land. And we will restore the airport," Poroshenko said.

Kiev forces controlled Donetsk airport terminals for several months, shelling the city’s suburbs from their positions. In January, DPR authorities said that the self-defense forces had regained full control over the airport. Ukrainian forces made several attempts to recapture their positions. DPR defense ministry said around 600 Ukrainian military were killed or injured during the armed stand-off around the airport.

Ceasefire is one of the key point of the Minsk agreements on the Ukrainian settlement. Other points include heavy weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local elections in Donbas and a constitutional reform in Ukraine.
Afraid this show's over. At least for a while. :)
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Typhoon »

Doc wrote:^^^^^
Hey I have a suggestion. Maybe the forum could be renamed "The glorious Putin and his empire" That way everything could be condensed into one single thread and in that way avoid confusion on where to post things.
Or just rename a few posters . . .
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Doc »

Typhoon wrote:
Doc wrote:^^^^^
Hey I have a suggestion. Maybe the forum could be renamed "The glorious Putin and his empire" That way everything could be condensed into one single thread and in that way avoid confusion on where to post things.
Or just rename a few posters . . .
:lol:
"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Endovelico »

Doc wrote:^^^^^
Hey I have a suggestion. Maybe the forum could be renamed "The glorious Putin and his empire" That way everything could be condensed into one single thread and in that way avoid confusion on where to post things.
An alternative would be

"The idiotic West and its demise and the mod's desperate attempt at hiding it"... :D
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Ukraine'e economic miracle...

Post by Endovelico »

Image

I'm sure the EU and the US - and NATO - will be happy to assist... :lol:
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Heracleum Persicum
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Re: Ukraine'e economic miracle...

Post by Heracleum Persicum »

Endovelico wrote:.

Image

I'm sure the EU and the US - and NATO - will be happy to assist... :lol:

.

Wonder where "Yulia Tymoshenko" is .. she started all this rubbish .. fooled by west

Ukraine pretty much wiped out

Should be a lesson to all EX

Seems Poland itching for another disaster

Wrong lesson, or no lesson at all, learned from history

.
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Endovelico
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Endovelico »

Ukraine is moving to Russia
Aleksey Zhuravko - May 18, 2015
http://fortruss.blogspot.pt/2015/05/ukr ... ussia.html

(Translated by Kristina Rus)

I want to share with you my impressions of a trip to the border of Ukraine and Russia. What immediately catches the eye - hundreds of cars from Western Ukraine, Vinnitsa, Transcarpathia, Volyn, Ternopil, Uzhgorod, Kiev. Buses chock full of people. Going clearly for a long time, bringing children, household items. And all - towards Russia, and not vice versa. For some reason these people did not jump and shout: "Who does not jump, is a Moskal". They were focused on passing the border.

When I was taking care of documents at the customs, I wanted to ask people some questions and directly asked them: "Why are you going to Russia?". The answer was a question: "And where should we work and how to survive?"

Almost everyone with one voice said that they have relatives there. I asked a second question: "What about Europe?" To which they replied, that no one wants them there. "But you jumped on the Maidan". In response - silence... They asked me a question: "So where are you from?" I said - from Kherson.

But most importantly I saw that in every passing car with Ukrainian plates there were Ukrainian national flags with the coat of arms, and no one took them off. Because they know - there is no such savagery in Russia, as in Ukraine. No one breaks cars because of yellow-blue flags. But all over Ukraine they break car windows, if inside there is a Russian flag or a St. George's ribbon.

I call it bestiality and lawlessness.

When we smoked outside, I asked: "But you fought for independence, jumping on Maidan. What do you think about all the new ministers being foreigners?". You know, what the answer was? "We were deceived".

Then they loosened their tongue! You have no idea what they're now saying about Europe. There were 8 people and no one uttered a good word about today's government.

When I returned to the question, "But you jumped on Maidan", one of them Ivan from Volyn said, "If we knew what was going to happen, that blood will spill, and we will be unemployed, then we would buy Yanukovych another Golden loaf of bread" [in reference to the one found at Yanukovych's lavish residence, which became a symbol of corruption of his government - KR]. And others standing nearby were silent and did not utter a word.

So what can I say? Turns out, Ukraine is slowly getting rid of its population. The grown ups are in search of work, young people are running away from war and destruction. Do you know how painful it was to see that and to understand that a significant portion of them will never return to their homeland. Except to visit. In a couple more years Ukraine will be left without the working age population. May be this is the goal of the new government?
Sure, it is another piece of Russian propaganda, but it is based on fact: many Ukrainians - Western Ukrainians - are moving to Russia to look for work and a livelihood. Soon Putin will not have to use its army to recover the Ukraine...
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YMix
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Re: Ukraine

Post by YMix »

I asked a second question: "What about Europe?" To which they replied, that no one wants them there. "But you jumped on the Maidan". In response - silence...
The cultural and language gap is a problem.
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
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Re: Ukraine

Post by YMix »

Saakashvili announces plans to reinforce border with Transdniestria

KIEV, June 9. /TASS/. Governor of Ukraine’s Odessa region Mikhail Saakashvili said on Tuesday he plans to reinforce Ukraine’s border with the unrecognized republic of Transdniestria.

"We have two major tasks - to reinforce the border and curb corruption. Drug and weapons trafficking across this border mean nothing good," he told a news conference in Odessa.

He pledged Ukraine would take efforts to "restore lawfulness along the line of contact." "We have a presidential programme that provides financing for border reinforcement measures," he said. "It is quite realistic to fulfil it after we curb corruption in all power bodies. No barbed wire will help if a customs or border office overlooks contraband. Everything is pointless in this case."

Engineering works aiming to block movement of military hardware and contraband started at the Transdniestrian section of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.

Ukraine has 1,222 kilometre long border line with Moldova, including a 450-kilometre Transdniestrian section.
Look who's back! The tie-munching CIA asset!

(Sorry about the TASS link, but Kyiv Post‎ wants money)
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
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Alexis
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Alexis »

YMix wrote:Look who's back! The tie-munching CIA asset!
Image

I've had heavy artillery pounding a little city at night, killing hundreds civilians and starting a war.
But Russia called my bluff, and America dropped me while I expected military support.
Now I feel a little bit bad...



Yes, that's him.

Incidentally, in addition to being a war criminal, this guy is wanted by the justice in his country to answer of corruption charges.

Wonder if he will one day be wanted in Ukraine too?

And maybe Poroshenko, Yatseniuk and the rest of the band, who knows?
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Re: Ukraine

Post by YMix »

The USA dropped the ball on military support, but did provid shelter after the war.
New York Times in 2014 wrote:[...]

Mr. Saakashvili is in self-imposed exile on North Seventh Street — plotting a triumphant return, even as his steep fall from grace serves as a cautionary tale to the many American government officials who had hoped he would be a model exporter of democracy to former Soviet republics.

Since leaving office last November, this George W. Bush favorite — whose confrontation with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia led to a disastrous war in 2008 — has commandeered his uncle’s apartment in a tower on the Williamsburg waterfront, where he luxuriates in the neighborhood’s time-honored tradition of mysteriously sourced wealth. When not lingering in cafes, riding his bike across the bridge or spending stag evenings with friends on the Wythe Hotel rooftop, Mr. Saakashvili seizes on the Ukrainian conflict and his experience with Mr. Putin’s wrath as a lifeline back to political relevance.

[...]

For now Mr. Saakashvili is writing a memoir, delivering “very well-paid” speeches, helping start up a Washington-based think tank and visiting old boosters like Senator John McCain and Victoria Nuland, the assistant secretary of state. He said he was in the process of changing his tourist status here to a work visa and in the meantime is enjoying the bars and cafes of his adopted homeland. On his roof deck, with sweeping views of Manhattan, he has entertained David H. Petraeus, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and is expecting Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, at the end of the month.

[...]
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
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Endovelico
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The Future of Ukraine

Post by Endovelico »

Image
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Parodite
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Re: Ukraine

Post by Parodite »

Russian Rejection of U.N. Tribunal Casts Doubt on Possibility of MH17 Prosecution

MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin says he won’t accept a proposal for the U.N. Security Council to set up a criminal tribunal over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, casting doubt on the prospect of bringing those responsible to justice under international law.

In a phone call Thursday with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Mr. Putin called the proposal “untimely and counterproductive,” according to a Kremlin statement. He said a “thorough and objective” international investigation had to finish before countries took any decisions on how to punish those guilty of the crime.

Russia holds a veto in the U.N. Security Council, giving it the final say on any of the council’s efforts. A year after the crash in eastern Ukraine, there are other avenues to pursue a prosecution, but the challenges are deep.

“Not all hope is lost,” said David Scheffer, a law professor at Northwestern University and former U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues. “Many times, these efforts at building tribunals go through many stages of setbacks and then forward movement, until you actually get the court established.”

[...]
Say no more..
Deep down I'm very superficial
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Re: The Future of Ukraine

Post by YMix »

Endovelico wrote:Image
Just a heads up: see that westernmost province of Novorussia? That's the Bugeac (it means "corner" in Turkish) and kinda used to be Romanian for some centuries. Now, I wouldn't want the Romanian government to try and take it from Ukraine because it would be a disgusting move under the circumstances, but if it falls under Novorussian control all bets are off. Romania doesn't owe Novorussia anything and their control of the northern bank of the Danube is guaranteed to be trouble.

Some more info
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
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YMix
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Re: Ukraine

Post by YMix »

Ukraine's internal security service could launch an anti-terror operation in Transcarpathia, where members of far-right group Pravi Sektor clashed last week with police forces and the private militia of a local politician. In reality, this seems to be a war for controlling the smuggling routes to Europe. In March, the personal army of oligarch Igor Kolomoiski, then governor of Dnepropetrovsk, stormed the headquarters of national oil transport company UkrTransNafta because the new CEO appointed by Petro Poroshenko had stopped delivering oil to Kolomoiski's refinery at discount prices.
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
noddy
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Re: Ukraine

Post by noddy »

you traitor, you should be pushing for greater romania :P

eastern european oligarch politics is something that appears to put the worst of the western corporate robber barrons to shame - i have no idea how i would express my politics in that particular part of the world.
ultracrepidarian
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