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Nelson
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:33 am
FRIDAY

Please scroll down to view news items added during the day

News -
Russians attack the Ukrainian people 71 times yesterday.
2 Ukrainian soldiers injured yesterday.

Weather -
About zero. Almost all the snow has gone. High of +3 maybe today. +6 forecast for tomorrow.


Last edited by Nelson on Fri Jan 29, 2016 6:21 am; edited 2 times in total
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Terrorists fired at the checkpoint "Marinka" and are preparing new provocations against civilians - Staff (Tyzhden.ua)

Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:40 am
7:29
http://tyzhden.ua/News/157219
29 January 07:29
During the day, the terrorists opened fire 71 times.
For the past day 71 times terrorists once broken the silence mode in Donbas. The press center ATO.
As noted, the arc Svetlodarsk militants fired at our bases in the Armed Forces Zaitseva of mortars caliber 82 mm, and in the Novgorod and Mayorsk - with grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and infantry fighting vehicles.
"Nearby temporarily occupied Donetsk once again were fired from different weapons Ukrainian position at Opitnoe, Pisky, and mine Avdiyivka Module," - said in a statement.


Last edited by Nelson on Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:42 am; edited 1 time in total
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Finland will consider prospects of joining NATO (Ukrinform)

Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:53 am
http://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-abroad/1956202-finlandia-rozglane-perspektivi-vstupu-do-nato.html
===
They are also realising that Putin is one out-of-control nutcase.
Nelson
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty In Odessa cyberpolice and journalists uncovered an online store that sold fake medical documents (Internetua)

Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:57 am
Nelson
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Today, Parliament will consider a bill to revoke citizenship for separatism (Facenews)

Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:59 am
Nelson
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty In Moscow the average bribe doubles in size [Ru source]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:21 am
Nelson
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty A Russian journalist explains why there is no corruption in Russia [Engl]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:25 am
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/01/28/a-russian-journalist-explains-why-there-is-no-corruption-in-russia/
....For Russians, what was shown is “not corruption” but rather a manifestation of friendship and a kindly responsiveness to the needs of those around him....
===
Amazing.
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Poroshenko to meet with Merkel in Berlin on Feb 1 [Engl]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:34 am
Nelson
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty NBU worsens Ukraine's GDP growth forecast for 2016 [Engl]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:39 am
http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/economic/320690.html
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has revised downwards its forecast for Ukraine's GDP growth for 2016 from 2.4% to 1.1%, leaving inflation at 12%, the central bank said in a press release, referring to the decision of the board for the monetary policy made at a meeting on Thursday...
====
With a war still in progress against Russia any recovery will be small and slow.
But if UKraine can survive the next year or two without major upheaval, then things will be better, in my opinion.
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty The vast gulf between Russians and Ukrainians [Engl]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:49 am
http://www.dw.com/en/the-vast-gulf-between-russians-and-ukrainians/a-19010637
....Quite a few people in Ukraine agree with the young Kyiv poet, Anastasia Dmytruk. Her poem addressing Russians after the Crimean annexation called "We will never be brothers" is still very popular in the country. The video of Dmytruk reciting the poem has been viewed on YouTube over six million times....
====
And all of Putin's own doing.
DW - amazing. They finally seem to have shorter internet links now. They used to go on for pages!! Progress from Deutsche Welle.

Somebody correct me if I am wrong. Think this is the video -
Никогда мы не будем братьями! (Анастасия Дмитрук)



But I find this version clearer.

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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Text of poem above - "We will never be brothers"

Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:03 am
Текст песни и сам стих «Никогда мы не будем братьями»:

Никогда мы не будем братьями
ни по родине, ни по матери.

Духа нет у вас быть свободными –
нам не стать с вами даже сводными.

Вы себя окрестили «старшими» —
нам бы младшими, да не вашими.

Вас так много, а, жаль, безликие.
Вы огромные, мы – великие.

А вы жмете… вы всё маетесь,
своей завистью вы подавитесь.
Воля — слово вам незнакомое,
вы все с детства в цепи закованы.

У вас дома «молчанье – золото»,
а у нас жгут коктейли Молотова,
да, у нас в сердце кровь горячая,
что ж вы нам за «родня» незрячая?

А у нас всех глаза бесстрашные,
без оружия мы опасные.
Повзрослели и стали смелыми
все у снайперов под прицелами.

Нас каты на колени ставили –
мы восстали и всё исправили.
И зря прячутся крысы, молятся –
они кровью своей умоются.

Вам шлют новые указания –
а у нас тут огни восстания.
У вас Царь, у нас — Демократия.
Никогда мы не будем братьями.
Nelson
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty The warm weather will continue for some days [opinion]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:26 am
Russia dreams of freezing Ukraine into submission, stopping the gas supply, offering Ukraine a "discount" which makes the price the highest in Europe.
But it is not working. Gas is coming in, albeit limited in supplies, from the west, notably Slovakia.
And the weather has been unreal. This has helped Ukraine tremendously.
This week - around January 27 - should be the coldest in the year for Ukraine. But instead the snow has all but melted away. And temperatures yesterday were +6 or 7 in western and central and southern parts of Ukraine.
Look at the pressure chart below, from www.weatheronline.co.uk for Saturday - tomorrow.
Note the (warm) wind from the west. Not the (usual for this time of year) cold blast from the east - Russia.
It almost represents the political situation also. Hell, death, war, tanks from the east, and - at least some gentle warmth from the west.

Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Satpreseurope

Normal for Kiev in late January - something like a low of -9 at night, and a high of -2 during the day.
Last night, by way of example, was nearer +2 for most of the time. Today we will see. Perhaps +5. Way way above average.
And the daylight is getting longer now. Light soon after 0700. And dark after 1715 or so... and maybe 3 minutes more light each day.
Winter is not yet over. But for now, it is surreal.


Last edited by Nelson on Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:11 am; edited 1 time in total
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty

Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:42 am
See also
Аномальное тепло пришло в Италию, местами +22 °С
27 января 18:01
Abnormal heat has come to Italy, places +22 ° C
Spring weather has come to Italy, the sun is shining, the air is warmed up to the May temperatures. This led to an anticyclone weather, more warmer in the coming days.
In the coming weekend and early next week peak of warm air reaches +25 ° C in many parts of the country ...

https://www.gismeteo.ua/news/klimat/16409-anomalnoe-teplo-prishlo-v-italiyu-mestami-22-degs/
===
This is from an Ukrainian weather site. Strangely I can't find anything in English currently. Perhaps by the weekend.
Of course, this all means that Europe's demand for gas is heavily reduced. You simply don't need to heat the house when the temperature is +25 !!
Nelson
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Russia's AvtoVAZ Carmaker to Slash Staff Pay [engl]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:23 am
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russias-avtovaz-carmaker-to-slash-staff-pay/557309.html
===
50,000 staff taking a 20% pay cut. That should make Putin even more popular than ever. (according to the "Russian polls").
see also
Russian Airlines Slash Ticket Prices Due to Low Demand
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russian-airlines-slash-ticket-prices-due-to-low-demand/557278.html
Prices 25% down.
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Strange Bedfellows: Moldovan Protest Leaders Share Common Goal, Different Beliefs [Engl]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:34 am
http://www.rferl.org/content/moldova-protest-leaders-common-goal-different-beliefs/27517364.html
Moldovan politics makes strange bedfellows, as shown by recent protests in Chisinau. But the unlikely alliance of pro-Europe and pro-Russia parties is fueling concerns that Moscow will emerge the winner...
A recent opinion poll showed that if elections were held today, the Socialist Party (with nearly 17 percent of the vote) and Our Party (with just under 15 percent) would garner the most votes. [both pro-Russian]
In a country with a three-quarter Romanian-speaking majority, which on the surface identifies more closely with Europe, the pro-Russian parties have steadily grown in influence....

====
Putin will want to stop Moldova moving closer to Europe. Moldova is right on Ukraine's border. With Russian-occupied Transdniestr between the two countries, for some length of that border. Will Moldovans want a European passport, or a Donetsk one?
Nelson
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty The Daily Vertical: A Comprehensive Threat [Engl]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:40 am
http://www.rferl.org/content/daily-vertical-comprehensive-threat/27516531.html

Whitmore giving his 2 minute daily address. Talking about the comprehensive threat from Russia - in all directions, not just militarily.
If only they could clone this guy - then we could read intelligent stuff from the BBC, Telegraph, Guardian, on Russia and Ukraine.
Instead we have Steve Rosenberg and Shaun Walker for ever posting pictures of Putin calendars on their twitter sites. Gag me with a spoon...



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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Quarantine in schools in Kiev extended until 8 February

Fri Jan 29, 2016 4:03 am
http://www.rbc.ua/rus/news/karantin-shkolah-kieva-prodlen-8-fevralya-1454055186.html
===
Basically schools closed a further week due to the flu virus.
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Moscow demands from Kyiv a secure special status in the Constitution for Donbass on an ongoing basis (Segodnya.ua)

Fri Jan 29, 2016 4:08 am
10:39
http://www.segodnya.ua/politics/pnews/moskva-trebuet-ot-kieva-zakrepit-osobyy-status-donbassa-v-konstitucii-na-postoyannoy-osnove-687038.html
===
Donbass is a wasteland now. Anything of value has been removed and taken to Moscow. Including entire factories.
There is no point in Ukraine compromising now.
Travelling around Kiev in the past couple of weeks - I have been struck by the number - seeming more and more to me - of cars with Donbass licence plates. AH and BB. More and more and more... Everybody who can is leaving the Donbass. They have seen the future, and they don't want to be there.
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty In the ATO area in the Donbas 2269 Ukrainian military have died (Interfax-Ukraine)

Fri Jan 29, 2016 4:13 am
Nelson
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Putin's Silenced Critics: A ‘Murder Machine’[Engl]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 4:27 am
http://www.kyivpost.com/article/content/kyiv-post-plus/putins-silenced-critics-a-murder-machine-406920.html
===
General article about how Putin silences his critics. Assassinations.
From the Kyiv Post, but currently this article is free to view.
I used to hate the Kyiv Post - because of its revolting devotion to the gas princess, Tymoshenko.
But perhaps now at least some of the staff are being more objective, and have grown up a little since Maidan II.
This article by American Alison Quinn. (Dominican Univ., grad 2007, English, studied Russian in Yaroslavl.) Euan Macdonald also writes intelligent stuff for the KP. Perhaps there is hope for this paper.
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Lutsenko sees no threat to the paragraph on the status of the Donbass in the Constitution (Left Bank)

Fri Jan 29, 2016 6:05 am
12:51
http://lb.ua/news/2016/01/29/326661_lutsenko_vidit_ugrozi_punkte.html
..."We have two options: either to write an excellent constitution and build a wall on the boundary line, or to try to restore the integrity of Ukraine....
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Woman struck by tram in Odessa [Ok]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 6:11 am
http://www.segodnya.ua/regions/odessa/v-odesse-devushka-popala-pod-tramvay-687118.html
...The woman was in the hood and headphones and did not notice the tram
In Odessa morning under a tram landed 28-year-old woman. The incident occurred around 8:50 in the street Lazareva.
"Special Vehicles moving on economically autonomous tram canvas, and the girl crossed the tram line in an unknown for this site. In addition, she was in the hood and headphones - did not hear warning signals," - ...
As a result of the incident injured shin girl - she was taken to the hospital....
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Yesterday two soldiers were wounded in the ATO zone - Lysenko

Fri Jan 29, 2016 6:18 am
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/01/29/7097179/
Friday, January 29, 2016, 12:45
One day in the area of anti-terrorist operation, two Ukrainian soldiers injured.
This at a traditional briefing on Friday said a spokesman for the Presidential Administration Andriy Lysenko ATO.
"For the past day nobody killed as a result of the fighting there, but two of our soldiers were wounded," - he said.
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Terrorists hide about 40 tanks and other equipment in Kominternove, - OSCE [Engl]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:57 am
http://en.censor.net.ua/news/371651/terrorists_hide_about_40_tanks_and_other_equipment_in_kominternove_osce
29.01.16 15:15
The observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission have recorded about 40 tanks and other equipment in the village of Kominternove captured by the militants in the Donetsk region.
Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug told a briefing, Censor.NET informs citing 112 Ukraine TV channel.
According to him, the residents ask the OSCE observers to visit their villages more often since they have noticed that the intensity of attacks committed by the terrorists reduces during visits of the monitoring mission....

====
Looks like the residents don't have the same love and affection for the terrorists that Guardian "journalist" Shaun Walker has for his "DNR guys". (his own term)
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Enshrining special status of Donbas in Constitution unacceptable, Foreign Minister Klimkin says [Engl]

Fri Jan 29, 2016 9:02 am
http://en.censor.net.ua/news/371610/enshrining_special_status_of_donbas_in_constitution_unacceptable_foreign_minister_klimkin_says
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin says that amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine in terms of the special status of certain areas of the Donbas, required by the Russian envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group, are fundamentally unacceptable.
"They will now be endlessly exploiting the issue of the special status and the way it should be enshrined. The problem is not that the special status should be granted for three years or more - they want to introduce amendments to the Constitution. And I consider it to be fundamentally unacceptable from the point of view of the process logic," Pavlo Klimkin said in his interview with the Den newspaper published on Friday, Censor.NET reports citing Interfax-Ukraine.
"They will certainly exploit this issue. They're not interested in the Donbas - they are engaged in destabilizing the situation in the country (Ukraine - Ed.). And they will keep trying to do so," the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said. ...

===
Also comments about the OSCE. I was walking along the road with a friend and an OSCE car went past. The friend said "Russian spies".
That's how the OSCE are seen here. Too many Russians in the organisation giving info straight to the Russian generals directing the war.
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Latest OSCE SMM reports

Fri Jan 29, 2016 9:16 am

http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/219216
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30hrs, 26 January 2016
KYIV 28 January 2016

The SMM observed a number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In Luhansk region, it also observed instances of ceasefire violations, including live-fire training. The Mission’s freedom of movement was restricted, mostly in areas not controlled by the Government.* In Zaitseve, the SMM conducted crater analysis and observed a damaged house. In Marinka it facilitated and monitored repair works on the local gas pipeline....

===
And also this -

http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/218926
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30hrs, 26 January 2016
KYIV 27 January 2016

The SMM observed a number of ceasefire violations across Donetsk region. In Luhansk region, it also observed instances of ceasefire violations, including live-fire training. It continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The Mission continued also to facilitate repairs to vital civilian infrastructure. The SMM met with a civilian wounded by a booby trap in Zaitseve. The SMM faced restrictions to its freedom of movement once in a government-controlled area and three times in “LPR”-controlled areas.*...

======

Somebody messed up on the dates somewhere. Both are dated as info received on 26 january. But they are different reports.
Likelyhood that the top one is actually for the 27th.
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Ukraine exposes new Putin’s plan to kick up oil prices

Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:42 pm
Putin’s new plan lies in making deceptive declarations to force the oil prices to grow, Ukraine Information Troops write in Facebook Jan. 29.

“The Kremlin lied about the forthcoming of Russia and OPEC representatives to stop the oil prices fall,” UIT said in a statement.

OPEC representatives did not confirm the meet with Russia, Bloomberg reports.

Following the dissemination of the Russian lie, Brent price climbed to $35 from $30 per barrel.

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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Russia returns Crimea to pre-WWII NKVD reprisals

Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:01 pm
On the one hand, Russia is brainwashing the Crimean population, while, on the other, promotes the atmosphere of Stalin purges in 1930’s, urging the locals to squeal on one another, Rustem Abliatif, the activist of the “Public Blockade of Crimea” NGO, told ZIK Jan. 29.

The overall economic situation on the peninsula is grim. There is a deficit of pharmaceuticals, Ukrainian consumer goods and electricity, he said.

Meanwhile, the Russian propaganda machine is powerful and uninterrupted. The locals are brainwashed into believing that, for Russia’s annexation in 2014, there would be a war on the peninsula, the same going on in Donbas.

Crimean no longer exchange opinions in queues as before. The atmosphere of Stalin’s days in the 1930’ is clearly there, the activist said.

The Russian authorities are siccing locals on each other, encouraging them to squeal – for money, the activist told.

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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Ukraine's American Chamber of Commerce president on long-overdue changes in Ukraine

Fri Jan 29, 2016 7:57 pm
Andy Hunder, Ukraine's American Chamber of Commerce president, joins us on ViewPoint to discuss the Davos Forum outcome for Ukraine and Ukraine's government reforms progress.  

Watch also American Chamber of Commerce President: 'Corruption is the cancer eating away at Ukraine's economy'

Andy Hunder: "I think what we saw this year's Davos, compared to other Davoses in the past number of years, is that there is a lot of attention, people now really do understand that Ukraine is changing."

"In the past there was a perception it (Ukraine) was somewhere near Russia, now it is a clear distinction that Ukraine has its own sort of image and brand.'

"This was a year of laying the foundation. We are moving from micro stabilization to the first signals of growth".

uatoday.tv


Last edited by Admin on Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty ‘Never Again' – antiwar song for Eurovision bid from Ukraine (VIDEO)

Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:04 pm
Ukraine Today's Viewpoint is joined by Svitlana Tarabarova, a Ukrainian singer and composer, to discuss the bid for the Eurovision Song Contest and an increase in popularity of patriotic songs among Ukrainians.

Svitlana Tarabarova: "My song is dedicated to victims of world conflicts. 'The world war must never happen again' is the main idea of the song."

"I hope that people all over the world will understand my song, will understand me and we will stop all wars in the world."



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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Russia's latest military drills coincide with eastern Ukraine truce violations

Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:10 pm
As part of the exercises servicemen took up positions and prepared for combat launches, as well as carrying out electronic test runs of preparing the Iskander short-range ballistic missile systems for use against various ground targets at a distance of 500 km.

Read also Russian tanks take part in military drills near Ukraine border

"Iskander high-precision tactical complex is designed for concealed preparation and effective missile strikes against the most important enemy targets, especially deep beyond enemy lines," said Captain Maxim Mikhalkin of the Southern Military District.

Russia will form four new military divisions this year to strengthen its western and central regions in response to the increase in NATO drills,according to a senior defence ministry official cited by Russian news agencies last week.

Russian military is undergoing a multi-billion dollar overhaul in 2016. It is currently carrying out air strikes in Syria after helping annex Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014.

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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Well-known Russian actor fights for right to stay in Ukraine

Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:19 pm
Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  1454004233

Sergei Anisiforov in Kiev during the Maidan
Sergei Anisiforov, 45, gave up a successful career as a TV and film actor in Russia to participate in Ukraine’s Maidan. Now he is part of the Odessa Maidan self-defence forces, but he is also battling the Ukrainian Migration Service for the right to remain in the country legally. Anisiforov talked to X Soviet about his situation.

“My parents abandoned me when I was born, ” Anisiforov said. “I went to school in a children’s home. After the army the wild 1990s started. I went to prison. I got out in the early 2000s. And fate gave me a chance – films. Moreover, a lot of crime serials were filmed in St. Petersburg. My typecasting played an important role in my life. No one is more accustomed to tyranny, lawlessness and injustice than I am, because since my childhood I’ve been through fire, water and copper pipes. I had to do everything in my life myself, there was never any help.”

Anisiforov got his first break in 2008 when he was cast in the penultimate episode of the series “Brothers”, chosen for his rough looks. “We were called to an arrest at a flat, then I was in a scene outside with the main character, kidnapping a child, ” he said. Ironically, Anisiforov was even photographed with Putin. “The best moments in films for me were the socialising, ” Anisiforov said. “Many luminaries of Russian cinema taught me about life, ” he added.

“In 2011 I started to understand the situation in the country, ” Anisiforov said. “Plus in 2011 after filming in Odessa I got very sick. When I returned to Russia I went Cherepovets in Vologda Oblast for an operation. I started working with the Other Russia party and took part in protest actions in Cherepovets against the policies of the governor of Vologda Oblast and Putin’s policies. In October 2013 I went to Ukraine on personal business. I had been to Ukraine more than once after 2011. I went to improve my health by the sea after the operation. Unfortunately I saw an unstable situation there. That’s why I joined the ranks of the Euromaidan in December 2013, ” he continued.

“I came to the Maidan in Kiev in early December 2013, ” Anisiforov said. “I went through [the shootings on] Hrushevsky and Institutskaya [streets]. I got a concussion. In April 2014 I couldn’t leave Ukraine from the Maidan to get a stamp in my passport to legally come to Ukraine. After recovering in hospital in May I was in an illegal situation. In July I applied to the Kherson Migration Service to be given refugee status, since I couldn’t go back to Russia, ” he explained. In October 2014 Anisiforov made a video appeal to President Petro Poroshenko asking for Ukrainian citizenship.

“Serious threats have been made against me by anonymous people in Russia because I went against the Yanukovych-Putin regime in the Maidan, ” Anisiforov said. He gave X Soviet a screenshot from a message to him on the social network VKontakte in which a man calling himself Stanislav said, “You’ll all be wiped out by Chechen special battalions, you’ll be cut up like rats!”, accompanied by a photograph of hanged men. Anisiforov is also pictured in camouflage, holding a weapon, on the website Tribunal, which promises that “retaliation will come”.

“I supported the Ukrainian people in their struggle against tyranny and so on, ” Anisiforov said. “After two weeks the Migration Service refused to examine my application. I started to appeal their decision in court. Since 2014 I’ve won in all courts right up to the Supreme Court, but the Migration Service appeals all the rulings. They don’t want to admit that I’m in danger in Russia, although all the courts recognise that I can’t go there, ” he continued.

“The Migration Service refuses to look at what’s happening in Russia, and says that Russia is a democratic country, ” Anisiforov said. “The structure of the Migration Service still hasn’t undergone reforms and lustration hasn’t happened. After my first refusal I went to the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine. Their lawyers have been dealing with my case in the courts for almost two years. I’m also the only Russian from the Maidan who goes to the courts. The others gave up on the courts at the first instance. I’m not giving up and I don’t plan to, ” he added.

Going back to Putin’s Russia means death

“Now I’m facing my fifth court, we constantly present new evidence in the courts about what’s happening in Russia, and the dangers that are threatening me, but the Migration Service doesn’t want to accept it, ” Anisiforov said. “I know [Russian political emigres] Vyacheslav Martynov, Petr Lyubchenkov and Vladimir Malyshev from back in the Maidan. You need to give people the opportunity to become legal in Ukraine. The country should accept them, this concerns all Russians who have been fighting on the front for Ukraine. Unfortunately we’re seeing the opposite. The Migration Service is preventing this. It’s clear that going back to Putin’s Russia means death. The Ukrainian Migration Service is a branch of the FSB, there’s no doubt about it, ” he added.

“I came to the conclusion a long time ago that no one wanted us here, despite the fact that some went through the Maidan and fought in the ATO. To be honest I’ve wanted to go to another safe country for a long time, but I don’t have that opportunity to leave, ” Anisiforov said.

“The Moscow oprichnik Putin has exceeded even Hitler and Stalin, and also Ivan the Terrible,” Anisiforov said. “Russia has gone back to 1937. I think that we need to very quickly set up a Hague tribunal and bring the Moscow tsar there under escort otherwise the botoxed dwarf will go even crazier. The punishment should be the harshest – he should be shot. He should answer for everything, ” Anisiforov insisted...........................

To read further go to this link:  khpg.org
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Ukrainian Library director to remain under house arrest on ‘extremism’ charge

Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:47 pm
A Moscow court on Jan 27 extended for a further 3 months the house arrest imposed on Natalya Sharina, Director of the Ukrainian Literature Library in Moscow. The application for the 58-year-old librarian to be at least allowed short walks so that she could walk to a clinic was turned down. Her lawyers had stressed the need for both exercise and a medical examination and say that she has constant problems with high pressure.

Sharina is accused of “circulating extremist literature”, yet her lawyers point out that the investigators have not explained what specific actions she is accused of. The investigators claimed that they still need to question some witnesses and receive ‘cultural-linguistic’ and psychological assessment on books, and some other investigative activities. None of this justifies her continued house arrest yet judge Yevgeny Naidenov went along with the application, as do Russian judges almost without exception these days.

Sharina was recognized as a political prisoner by the Memorial Human Rights Centre back in November 2015. According to her lawyer Ivan Pavlov, as a political prisoner she was recently given 100 thousand roubles by the Khodorkovsky and Navalny Assistance Fund. Pavlov explained that she would be giving the money to the staff of the Ukrainian Literature Library who had their salaries slashed just before New Year and believe they may lose their jobs altogether in this latest, most ferocious, attack on the Ukrainian library in Moscow.

As reported, on Oct 28, armed OMON police officers carried out searches of the Ukrainian Literature Library in Moscow, Sharina’s home, as well as that of the Head of the Association of Ukrainians of Russia, Valery Semenenko. Sharina was taken into custody.

The following day Russia’s Investigative Committee reported that the 58-year-old librarian was accused of ‘inciting national enmity or hatred, and also denigrating human dignity” (Article 282 § 2b of the Russian Criminal Code). The charges can carry a sentence of up to 5 years imprisonment. The Investigative Committee asserted that from 2011-2015, Sharina, as Director of the Ukrainian Literature Library, “circulated among visitors books by Dmytro Korchynsky designated by the court as extremist material and prohibited for use”.

The Investigative Committee also claimed that printed matter containing “calls to anti-Russian state and anti-Russian propaganda” had been removed. There is no information as to what this was, and the library staff clearly believe only one book by Korchynsky, which was not in the library, was purportedly ‘found’.......................

To read further go to this link: khpg.org 

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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Putin's accusation of corruption the US frightened the Kremlin?

Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:57 pm
A spokesman for Putin formulated not only the position of the Russian elites, but also relevant to these fears.

United States "began a campaign to demonizing Vladimir Putin" - commented a spokesman for the Russian president the words of his American colleague Josh Ernest, who supported the US Deputy Finance Minister Adam Zubin, who recently spoke about the fact that Vladimir Putin was involved in corruption. The Kremlin has stated that such charges require proof, but Moscow will not require them.

Russia has noticed remarks a representative of the Treasury Department Adam Zubin, who in an interview to the BBC this week called Russian President Vladimir Putin corrupt, but they treated as official statements of the second link. Later, however, the press secretary of the White House Josh Ernest said that the US government support to the Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian president on corruption. This has caused a strong reaction in the Kremlin.

A spokesman for Putin, Dmitry Peskov described the words as an insult Josh Ernest Russian president.

"I honestly say that if I, for example, would have allowed a similar image to the President of the United States, I would be fired!" - Said Peskov.

It should be noted that not been released nor Dmitry Kiselev, who heads the state news agency and works on the state channel nor his colleagues from the Russian state television, calling on Americans to wipe radioactive ash.

Russian elections and fears the Kremlin

But if Peskov quite similar reaction could be expected, his explanation of the statements of American leadership is very unexpected. A spokesman for the Russian president formulated not only the position of the Russian elites, but also relevant to these fears.

"We see that the ocean has started preparing for our election. Before the presidential elections in Russia is far, more than two years, but training, apparently began. Clearly, the accumulated negativity, and negativity about the head of our state, which, of course, used to exert pressure and influence on the course of the future - the future still only - election campaign, "- said Peskov.

The hardest place

Is Americans less than a year before his presidential campaign the heads of Russia? According to political analyst Dmitry Oreshkina, their statements the Americans stepped on toes painful Russian authorities that it perceives as corruption charges.

"The hardest place the most vulnerable point of Putin's vertical, it exists to suck resources from its citizens and from their territories for personal enrichment. All the pathos vertical is that everything is done for the people, in order to protect the gains of the people "from the international imperialists" who "rabid saliva flowing envy" to these gains, "- said the analyst.

The Kremlin said that allegations of corruption require evidence, but noted that Moscow would not require them.

Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  2B270799-6FF6-43EF-B8D2-72F212F45618_w640_s

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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty French filmmaker adopts Putin’s ’Ukrainian fascist hordes’ line for Canal Plus

Fri Jan 29, 2016 9:33 pm
Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  1453944582

If anybody wants a quick reminder of how easy it is to mislead film viewers, they should watch Paul Moreira’s ‘Masks of the Revolution’.  They may then wish to ask France’s popular Canal Plus cable television channel why it has collaborated in the making of such a film and why it has scheduled its broadcast for Feb 1.

Only part of the film is available here, but that has been widely distributed, together with the words describing it.  Both are packed with manipulative reporting and outright lies.   Judging by the written trailer for the film, Moreira believes that the Western media have muffled crimes in Ukraine because “in the new Russia vs. USA cold war, Ukraine is a strategic pawn to contain Putin’s ambitions.”

Moreira’s title ‘The Masks of Revolution’ was originally used by the Kremlin-funded Russia Today.  It is now supposed to reveal the details about what he considers “the blind corner” allegedly not reported by other media.

The assertion that the role of right-wing, and even far-right groups in the events of the last two years has been underplayed is already contentious.  There have been  numerous reports, both in Ukraine and abroad, about the role of the ultra-nationalist Right Sector and far-right VO Svoboda party during Euromaidan.   There has also been considerable coverage of the Azov Battalion and other volunteer battalions fighting against Kremlin-backed militants and Russia in Donbas, with many reports focusing on the ideology espoused by at least the battalion leaders.

Attempts to overplay the role of far-right groups, to explain Euromaidan as US-supported ‘paramilitary militias’ or ‘street fighters’ are not just dishonest, but foolishly so.  Moreira is following a tradition begun by the Viktor Yanukovych regime and pushed by Russian President Vladimir Putin who tried to justify Russia’s interference in Ukraine’s matters as being because of ““the orgy of nationalists, extremists and anti-Semites on the streets of Kyiv”.  Those lies have been consistently refuted by, among others, prominent representatives of the Jewish and Crimean Tatar communities and the National Minority Rights Monitoring Group.

The initial images and accompanying script in Moreira’s version show violent scenes with ‘street fighters’ during Euromaidan reported only to have overthrown President Viktor Yanukovych.  Only much later do we learn of the over 100 deaths with these wrongly claimed to have usually been “members of the militias”.

There is no mention at all of the reasons for Euromaidan, for the repressive measures against peaceful protesters.  Nor is there any explanation that the activists killed were gunned down by the Yanukovych regime.

It is from the end of Euromaidan, in the film, that distortion and omissions turn into falsehood.

The viewer is shown an image of young men running, then obviously ready for battle and is informed that “after their victory, they never went home.  Heavily armed and powerful, they became a threat to the government.  Their parallel armies took the streets and imposed their own new order”.

At this point, the viewer sees men in camouflage gear with the Azov emblem.

What the viewer never hears is even one word about Russia’s invasion of Crimea and military aggression in Donbas.  That is the real reason that many of the activists on Euromaidan indeed “never went home” but volunteered to fight for their country in Donbas.  Many were killed.

It was their sacrifice in the face of immense danger to Ukraine’s very existence that made many observers, including the author,  careful in making simplistic judgements.  Concern was expressed where Right Sector activists were seen to be involved in criminal activities, or when neo-Nazis like Andriy Biletsky and Ihor Mosiychuk were elected to parliament because of their war effort, not their political views.  Biletsky remains an MP, but has interestingly modified his tone altogether.  This probably doesn’t indicate a change in his ideology, but is a cheering sign that he has to conceal his views before the public.

Moreira has unfortunately chosen to present an extremely distorted version of the events in Odesa on May 2, 2014.  It is clear that they were in possession of the facts since Moreira actually contacted Tatyana Gerasimova from the 2 May Group, a civic initiative made up of journalists and others which has investigated the tragic disturbances and fire in Odesa on May 2.  She was startled that Moreira asked only for commentary on scenes with members of Right Sector and the police doing nothing, and showed no interest in the undisputed fact that the disturbances were provoked by anti-Maidan activists.  If he was so interested in police inaction, why did he not at least cover the open shooting by anti-Maidan activist Vitaly Budko which almost certainly killed the first – Right Sector – victim, Ihor Ivanov?

Gerasimova assumed that journalists producing a film for Canal Plus were interested in the truth and now feels understandably deceived.

Moreira has followed Russian propaganda in claiming that far-right paramilitaries “slaughtered in full impunity” people.  Even the number of fatalities is given incorrectly.   42 people lost their lives in a fire caused by activists on both sides of barricades throwing Molotov cocktails at each other.  Specialists from the bipartisan 2 May Group, as well as the International Advisory Panel studied hours of video footage, forensic material and witness accounts and have concluded that there is no way of knowing whose incendiary device caused the fire, and certainly no evidence that there was any intention to cause death.  The fatalities were due to the fire brigade taking 40 minutes to appear.

This was clearly not what the French filmmaker needed.  He was quoted by the Russian RIA Novosti back in December 2015 as follows:  “In September I went to Ukraine and shot a film called ‘Masks of the Revolution’.  I wanted to get to the bottom of the Odesa massacre – it was totally muffled in Europe, and nobody knew anything about it, including me.  When I arrived, I was stunned – 45 people were killed in the centre of Europe and nobody knows!”

If you arrive wanting to make a film about a ‘massacre’ that never happened, you have two options.  The 2 May Group would have happily assisted him in providing a truthful account.  He could have also watched their film, available in Russian, English and in German.  He unfortunately chose to use selective and highly deceptive video footage and biased witness accounts to push a false massacre narrative.  The trailer, for example, presents one pro-Russian ‘witness’ claiming that it “was like when an animal smells blood and goes crazy”..............................

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There should be an all-out boycott of this film, throughout Europe. Figures the French which seems Putin ass kissers would do something like this. Looks like Putin's now going for older boys, like this Paul Moreira @PaulMoreiraPLTV and he probably loved it. I hope he burns in hell like a true whure should.

If anyone pays to see this film, they're contribution to Putin's propaganda and paying others to prostitute themselves. Obviously, this DYPAK Moreira can't make money from factual films, so he has to drop his drawers in order to do so.
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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Georgian political analyst told about the signs of the failure of Putin to Ukraine

Fri Jan 29, 2016 10:27 pm
Russia's plans to seize the Ukraine have failed because of the rapid revival of the Ukrainian army, which had a strong resistance to the invader, but also because of the tough stance of the West towards the Russian aggression. In an interview with "apostrophe" said Georgian political analyst, professor at Tbilisi State University, Ilia Panfilov.

"The Russians did not expect that the Ukrainian army will be so strong in a very short period of time and have a strong resistance. This is the main reason, "- said the analyst.

"Another - the resistance of the West, which imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation. When in this direction began to take concrete measures, Putin has realized that he is coming to an end. After the operation with the "polite men" (without the Russian military insignia - Ed.) In the Crimea, I realized that the General Staff of the Russian army are sitting idiots who are doing the same thing, "- says Panfilov.

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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty The Russians do not value freedom as Americans

Fri Jan 29, 2016 10:58 pm
Unlike the Americans, who are not only very much value their freedom, but also require the state to ensure their safety, the Russians are willing to voluntarily give up part of personal rights for the sake of social and public welfare. Such a discovery made ​​a professor at Harvard University Marvin Kalb. In an interview with PBS, he noted that the reasons for the differences are rooted in Russian history, Russian like strong leaders such as Peter I and Stalin. What, in your opinion, the Russians are different from the Americans on the issue of correlation of security and freedom? MARVIN Kalb, journalist, political analyst and professor at Harvard University: This is the big question. And I have a feeling ... I hope I am right in saying that the Americans are greatly concerned about their personal freedom. But at the same time they are demanding that the government was engaged in and security. The Russians share these concepts. They say, "I'll give you a part of their freedom, if you protect me, provide work. I forget about all these personal things. "The reasons for this lie deep in Russian history. In his book "Imperial Games" I have already described Putin as a mixture of Stalin and Peter the Great. Like Stalin, he is tough, he will crush you if you stand in his way. For example, in 2008 the Georgians were against him - he crushed them, Ukrainians were against him - and BAM! He is ready to resort to any military force necessary to keep in their hands the personal power. And like Russian. Russian like a strong leader. In Russian, there is even a word - "leader", which means not just the leader, it involves a powerful leader like Stalin. And even with all of their achievements in education, technology, in all of this, Russian still cling to the idea that "our country is so big and need someone very strong to us to manage."

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Russia - Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 29 January [Ukrainian sources]  Empty Vladimir Yelchenko urged to strive for greater efficiency in the work of the UN Security Council (English translation)

Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:53 pm
Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council on the results of its work in January, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, Vladimir Yelchenko urged to seek greater efficiency in addressing contemporary issues that are included in the agenda of the Council. In this regard, he urged not to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the Syrians, and seek an end to the endless cycle of violence. The Ambassador of Ukraine stressed that the activities of the Security Council related to the Syrian conflict, was not successful, although this issue has been central to the agenda in January. "The Syrian people continue to suffer more than all paying the price for the conflict on their own land. Of particular concern is the fact that the parties are using hunger as a method of warfare. This is absolutely unacceptable, and I say this as a representative of a country which has suffered from famine, targeted organized Soviet communist regime in 1932-1933, "- said the permanent representative of Ukraine. He stressed that it is time to find ways out of the Syrian crisis and achieve the transformation of words in action. "We need one thing - political will. Genuine and sincere political will. Without it, no matter how much we held a meeting in this room or in a room for consultation or how they will be prolonged, the suffering of the Syrians and their deaths will not stop, "- said Vladimir Yelchenko. The Ambassador encouraged to achieve greater efficiency in the work of the main UN body responsible for the maintenance of peace and security. "Once again, becoming a member of the Security Council, I could not help but marvel at how big the volume of work of the Council. Many new items on the agenda. Considering each of these items in our meetings takes much longer. However, I am afraid that this is a case where more is not better. Sometimes we barely managed to see only one point in the morning or evening session, "- said Vladimir Yelchenko." I remember that during our last term of office of the Council 15 years ago, we have time to discuss at a meeting of the 4 or 5 topics. I am firmly convinced that in this regard the work of the Security Council requires considerable improvement, and Ukraine is ready to work closely with our partners on improving the Council's working methods ", - said the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations. He thanked Uruguay for work in January. Venezuela wished the Ambassador a successful presidency of the Security Council in February and said that she can count on the support of the Ukrainian delegation.

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