Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Wednesday 23 December. [Ukrainian sources]

WEDNESDAY

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News -
Reading that Putin's Russian forces attacked more than 20 times last night.
Update - two soldiers injured.
Rada - voted for new elections in Krivy Rog. (Samopomich demand)

Weather -
Super. High of +10 forecast for today. Yes - here in Kiev. Normal would be -1.
Statistically, the forecast for the next week is closer to what you would expect at the beginning of November.
Also - there is warm weather throughout Europe, reducing the demand for oil and gas. Good news for Ukraine.

http://www.unn.com.ua/ru/news/1532244-boyoviki-oblashtovuyut-u-kominternovomu-drugiy-blokpost
Mariupol Kiev. December 22. UNN. Militants "DNR" in Kominternovo that in the Donetsk region have started to equip the second checkpoint. Told UNN has learned from its own sources.
According to the source, on the night of December 22 militants, "DNR" was opened in the village Kominternovo own checkpoint. Now continuing development of the second checkpoint.
Also, the militants began to dig a moat around Kominternovo.
Recall, at the headquarters of the ATO reported that the village Kominternovo Donetsk region have gone about a hundred fighters with armored vehicles.
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Terrorists advanced with vehicles into the "gray zone", against Minsk accord.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-russia-syria-idUSKBN0U600920151223
Russia's bombing of Syria may amount to a war crime because of the number of civilians its strikes have killed, Amnesty International said on Wednesday, presenting what it said was evidence that the air raids had violated humanitarian law.
"Russian air strikes in Syria have killed hundreds of civilians and caused massive destruction in residential areas, striking homes, a mosque and a busy market, as well as medical facilities, in...attacks that show evidence of violations of international humanitarian law," Amnesty said in a new report...
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Amnesty report here - need to select a language -
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde24/3113/2015/en/

http://www.rferl.org/content/poroshenko-says-ukraine-seeking-free-trade-deal-with-israel/27444121.html
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Probably beneficial for both countries. Israel does not have much land to grow food on. And too dry for many crops.
Ukraine is an obvious source of food, and easy to reach by boat also.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/12064450/UK-awash-with-oil-as-tankers-forced-to-turn-around.html
Unseasonably warm winter weather has left the UK with its highest October stockpiles of oil for the past five years, according to Government figures...
An unseasonably balmy period means the UK is on track for the warmest December in more than 100 years, and stocks of oil and gas are piling up as households turn down the heating...
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And reduced demand for gas means an increased possibility for reverse gas from Europe, rather than Ukraine having to buy Russian gas.


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Reading the report above about the warmest December in the UK in over 100 years, I thought I would look around Europe at the forecast, and statistics.
This for Munich, in southern Germany. Normally cold - around freezing point (0C).
Typically
DEC 23 HIGH Average 1C. LOW Average -4C
But now
12 / 11/ 12/ 13/ 12/ 9/ 8/ 9/ 9/ 9/ 9/ Forecast for the next ten days. www.weather.com
They are going to be using a lot less gas than usual.
Budapest, normally 3/ -2. But +8 predicted for today. (Hungary)
Paris. , normally 7/ 2. But 16 yesterday. 13 today and tomorrow. That is a large difference.
Warsaw - Poland, normally 0/ -4. But 11 yesterday. 12 predicted for today.
Incidentally, Warsaw 10 day is 12/ 8/ 9/ 9/ 7/ 7/ 5/ 4/ 4/ 4/ - all well above the average.

Europe is basking in a heatwave. I would think that demand for gas must be around half what it normally is.
Related articles -
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Daffodils in bloom, the warmest ever December: how worrying is the world’s strange weather?
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/dec/20/global-warming-weather-environment-el-nino

Der warme Winter - normale Ausnahme
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/kurzerklaert-warmer-winter-101.html
[from yesterday. Short report. Der Winter ist in diesem Jahr bislang extrem warm. Extrem warm, for sure. ]

Winter-Wetter in Deutschland: Warm, wärmer, Weihnachten
http://web.de/magazine/panorama/wetter/winter-wetter-deutschland-warm-waermer-weihnachten-31224394
[article also from yesterday, 22 Dec. Headline says it all]

10:15
http://www.5.ua/polityka/Rada-pochala-rankove-zasidannia-na-robotu-pryishly-333-nardepy-101986.html
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Live now on Rada tv.
Detski Sad. Kindergarten. Ukraine's biggest problem, and Putin's best friend - Ukrainian deputies. $$$


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http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/fsb-allowed-to-shoot-at-crowds-to-prevent-terrorism-acts--duma/553605.html
Russia's lower house of parliament has approved a bill letting Federal Security Service (FSB) officers shoot at crowds, as well as at women and children under certain conditions, the Slon.Ru news portal reported Tuesday.
The State Duma passed the bill in the second, third and final reading at once. The bill changes the Federal Security service law, in order to give its officers more powers in using their weapons....
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We all know the real reason for this bill - Putin is getting very worried about an uprising at home. His own "Maidan". Why else do you need to shoot at crowds - i.e., people protesting. ? The Kremlin is getting worried about an uprising, and Putin being overthrown.

http://en.reporter-ua.ru/the-russian-state-duma-allowed-the-fsb-to-shoot-at-the-crowd-women-and-children.html
....Earlier it was reported that the Ministry of internal Affairs, FSB and the Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation five times increased orders for 2016 for the supply of the complex grenade launcher RGS-50M, which is used for suppressing riots.
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Similar to posting above, but with this extra material. - suppressing riots. Putin is getting worried.


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Rada currently in session.
All the big-shots there. Lutsenko, Liashko, Groisman, and looks like the full cabinet.
They must be expecting some close votes. Yatseniuk also there.
Live on Rada tv, Kanal 5, 24 kanal, etc.

1240. Tymoshenko just called for a law to impeach the President!
I wonder why this is so important to her? ha ha ha....
Liashko walking around a lot, trying to look important. He's in opposition now with the Regions guys.

http://24tv.ua/rada_priznachila_povtorni_vibori_u_krivomu_rozi_n642501
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Very much a demand of Samopomich. 239 votes.

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http://censor.net.ua/news/366354/terroristy_otkryli_ogon_iz_gradov_po_pozitsiyam_ukrainskih_voinov_v_rayione_troitskogo_i_boguslavskogo
12:17
 Terrorists opened fire "Grad" the positions of Ukrainian soldiers in the area of ​​the Trinity and Bohuslav, - the press-center of ATO
Pro-Russian illegal armed groups continued to flagrantly violate the latest agreements on the "total silence" in the area of ​​the ATO.

http://ru.golos.ua/politika/v_bpp_predlojili_prinyat_byudjet_v_tselom_posle_novogo_goda_7672
People's deputy of Ukraine Oleksiy Mushak of the faction "Block Poroshenko" proposes to adopt the draft state budget for next year in the first reading before the New Year and after the holidays to adopt the document as a whole.
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Playing for time, me thinks. Can they last without IMF money?

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http://www.rbc.ua/rus/news/lutsenko-soobshchil-dostizhenii-dogovorennosti-1450866969.html
12/23/2015 - 12:36
Lutsenko admitted that today will be a law on the Tax Code
The head of the faction "Block Poroshenko" Yuriy Lutsenko said the coalition had reached an agreement with respect to the voting of the Tax Code and the state budget-2016. This was Lutsenko said on the sidelines of the parliament at the end of the coalition council, which lasted more than three hours, the press service of the party.
"I have a strong feeling that today will be a law on the Tax Code, tomorrow will be a law on the budget for 2016 and we have reached complete agreement on the need to vote" for "the election in Krivoy Rog" - said Lutsenko
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If true, good news. Clearly a deal with Samopomich.
But will Tymoshenko scupper the budget? Quite possible, if Putin offers her enough $$$$$$.
Ukraine needs the budget to go through if the IMF are going to keep funding the country. Otherwise - forget it.

http://society.lb.ua/war/2015/12/23/324215_sutki_zone_ato_raneni_dva_boytsa.html
December 23, 2015, 13:12
Two soldiers were wounded in the fighting in the Donbas on Tuesday, 22 of December.
This at a daily briefing Speaker of the Presidential Administration on ATO Andrey Lysenko. For the past day dead on our side were none there, injured were 2"- he said.
Recall that on the eve of the tripartite contact group to resolve the situation in Donbas agreed on the introduction of an unconditional silence mode in the zone of the antiterrorist operation from 00:00 on December 23.

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http://www.rferl.org/content/the-end-of-russias-mass-hallucination/27444789.html
Fresh barbed-wire fencing around the nation's main TV tower isn't exactly a sign of a confident regime....
"Putin faces a harsh dilemma. He could try to make Russia more competitive by carefully retreating in Ukraine, getting Western sanctions lifted, and liberalizing the domestic economic climate. That would mean dismantling the backbone of his regime," Bershidsky wrote.
"Or Putin could drop the remaining pretense of democracy and rule openly by force, ordering mass reprisals against opponents both real and imagined. The system Putin has created is pushing him toward the second option."
The barbed wire around Ostankino is symbolic -- and it is probably just the beginning.
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Good article again from Whitmore.
Why can't we get stuff like this from the Moscow resident "journalists"?? Why? I think they are just too scared, and are more interested in keeping their residency documents in order. Others, of course, such as Shaun Walker, are basically in love with Putin and his aurora.

http://en.censor.net.ua/news/366373/rada_decides_early_election_in_kryvyi_rih_to_be_held_on_march_27_2016
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for mayor

According to President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, the number of deaths in the conflict in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions reaches 9,000 people.

He said this during a speech in the Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem, Israel, Censor.NET informs citing Ukrainski Novyny.

"Some 9,000 people became the victims of terror sponsored and supported by Russia," Poroshenko said.

He noted that out of this number, civilian losses amounted to about 7,000 people.

censor.net.ua In Russian

Following the introduction of new US sanctions on Russia, Duma’s economic policy commission deputy head Mikhail Yemelyanov proposed to sanction Coca-Cola, Visa and MasterCard, Apostrof reports Dec. 23.

“These sanctions will strongly affect some US companies still working in Russia. I mean the companies in the auditing and financial sector,” the Russian lawmaker said.

He called on state institutions and companies to stop using Visa and MasterCard.

This will entail a 4-billion loss to Americans, he said.

zik.ua

About 5,000 attendees of the anti-corruption forum gathered together in the exhibition hall of the International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv in order to discuss the issues on fight against corruption in Ukraine.

Censor.NET correspondent reports.

The event was opened by singer Ruslana, who sang the national anthem of Ukraine.

The lawmakers, diplomats, experts, and everyone interested in the topic of the fight against corruption take part in the forum.
Read more: Anti-Corruption Bureau starts probe into Saakashvili's allegations

Governor of the Odesa region Mikheil Saakashvili noted in an interview with journalists that the interest of such a great number of people to this event indicated that the society cared and did not want to put up with corruption.

"We were not going to organize a get-together party. The best people of Ukraine have gathered together here. No one has intentionally been brought and no one has got paid for one's presence," he stressed.

According to Saakashvili, such events will be also held in other regions of Ukraine to contribute to the real fight against corruption and implementation of reforms.

censor.net.ua In Russian

Ukrainian officials and Russian-backed separatists accused each other of violating a holiday cease-fire on December 23, just hours after the truce came into effect in Ukraine's conflict-torn east.

Army spokesman Andriy Lysenko said "illegal armed groups have already violated these agreements."

"Since the beginning of the day we recorded seven enemy shellings of our positions," Lysenko told journalists.

Separatist authorities rejected the claims and accused Ukrainian forces of "continuing to shell" their territory with mortars and also of using small arms against them.

The two sides had agreed on December 22 to halt all fire and maneuvers starting from midnight to last through the Christmas and New Year's holidays....................

To read further go to this link:   rferl.org