Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Monday 29 February [Ukrainian sources]

MONDAY

Please scroll down to view news items added during the day

News -
71 attacks by Putin on Ukrainians yesterday.
Update - no dead, no injured yesterday. Slava Ukraini!

Weather -
A very warm night. +4. Today will be similar. Maybe +4 or 5. Well above average for the last day of February.
Cloudy, but dry at the moment.

http://tsn.ua/politika/glava-mzs-nimechchini-predstavit-radbezu-oon-zvit-schodo-ukrayini-600751.html
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No details. Probably will sit on the fence.

7:47
http://news.liga.net/news/politics/9288624-v_obse_rasskazali_kuda_ikh_ne_pustili_boeviki.htm
Mercenaries of the Russian Federation continue to put pressure on the observers of the OSCE SMM. Militants have restricted their access to several villages in the area ATO.
The OSCE told where they were not allowed militants
The militants of the terrorist group-controlling DNR Oleksandrivka village, which is 20 kilometers south-west of Donetsk, acted aggressively towards the observers of the OSCE SMM. This information was confirmed by the press service of the OSCE SMM.
The press service noted that the pro-Russian mercenary, apparently, was in a state of alcoholic intoxication. "SMM left this place", - the report says.
The militants are also denied access to the CMM with. Seaside, in 39 km north-east of Mariupol, pos. Staromykhailivka.
The terrorists near their checkpoint near the village of Lugansk insisted that the SMM observers left the territory ....

Forget the Voters: Ukraine’s Leaders Bring in ‘Party Dictatorship’
29.02.16 | Halya Coynash
http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1456702052

Germany closely monitors everything that is happening in the Ukrainian government and parliament.

Bundestag deputy Karl-Georg Wellmann said in an interview with Segodnia, Censor.NET reports.

"We are working on a new strategy aimed at the stabilization and development of Ukraine, stipulating much greater financial and political efforts. This is something new and will complement the Association Agreement. It [new strategy - ed.] is still elaborated, and not part of the official policy. It will be a "Marshall Plan" to revive Ukraine's economy, governance, and judicial system, etc. If this plan is launched some day in future, it will be implemented under the full control and monitoring [of Germany - ed.]. Europe is Ukraine's fate. But first of all, Ukraine itself should do its homework. For example, as the Poles did upon signing the Association Agreement with the EU more than 20 years ago," Wellmann said.

"You must realize that everything [that happens - ed.] in the Ukrainian government and parliament is closely monitored by Germany. The future of Ukraine is of great importance to all Europe,"

censor.net.ua In Russian

A woman has been detained outside a Moscow metro station and charged with murder after she walked around with a young child's severed head reportedly shouting "Allahu Akbar." A graphic video posted to social media appears to show the suspect.

Moscow investigators said the murdered child was three or four years old and that the nanny had killed her in the family apartment in the Russian capital before setting fire to the premises and fleeing.

Officials said in a statement the unnamed nanny was from Central Asia and that she was undergoing psychiatric testing to see if she was mentally sound and understood the significance of the crime they said she had committed...........

To read further go to this link:  vice.com

Over the past two years, Russia was not only a geopolitical pariah status, but may well qualify for the honorary title of "zones". Yes, a "zone", fenced if not a wall, at least yet, innumerable military bases and units of rapid reaction, ready to suppress any aggressive Kremlin's intentions in the bud. So, almost all Eastern European belt NATO plans in the coming years turned into a well-fortified and capable abroad, which would become one of the buffer zone between the Old World and Russia, who would not let her get deep into Europe. And the initiative to strengthen the lines comes to a large extent on the countries bordering the inadequate gas station. Just the other day it became known that Estonia at the NATO summit in Warsaw, which will be held in July, will appeal to the alliance with the request (or requirement) host the multinational framework ground forces. Earlier it became known that in Latvia, near the border with Russia, near the town of Alūksne, settling ground for the forces of NATO, and to the country, in addition to members of the US invite divisions and from other countries member of the Alliance. in general, similar trends are observed in all the countries of the Eastern European zone, and in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Estonia it will be placed command posts of the alliance. in fact, in the near future, Russia will be in complete isolation, and develop its geopolitical strategy of parasitism can only toward countries that are not yet within NATO - namely, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova. At the same time the Scandinavians into account should not be taken (Finland and Sweden), as aggression toward them is fraught with serious consequences. And in the three above voiced directions of the Russian Federation has sufficient strength for expansion. This bridgehead occupied the Donets Basin, with a hunted him weapons, the number of which not every NATO country beats, and Moldova, with a similar powder keg as Transnistria, and very seriously unnerving Kremlin Alexander Lukashenko, entering "green men" in the Republic which may occur on the Crimean scenario in a matter of hours. The rest of the Russian blocked from the south who come to the interests of either China or the Saudis, which makes them very dangerous aim to expand their borders. To conduct the operation away from the frontiers of Russia turned out to be very problematic, and Syria, eats huge amounts of money and resources to direct. But the rating needed victory ... And all of them do not. In fact, to the extent that, as a NATO base grow in Eastern Europe, like mushrooms after the rain, the tension in the already seriously Gone Wild Russia peak, and its further movement in view of the converging maneuver It can be very unpredictable and reckless.

military-observer.com In Russian

http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/02/29/7100696/
President Petro Poroshenko said that the government restart the responsibility of the Rada and the coalition.
He said this during a meeting with representatives of the Aspen Institute, quoted by the press service of the President.
"Restart government is the responsibility of Parliament and the parliamentary coalition," - said Poroshenko.
He noted the priority role of the parliamentary coalition, which, he said, "should decide - and on the candidacy of members of the Cabinet and head of government, and about the program and agenda of reforms to be carried out, and on position factions that are part of the this coalition. "
"The only thing I want to emphasize - in any case, I can not allow and will not allow early elections at this stage," - said the president.
"For in all that declare some political leaders and leaders that they really want to reboot, they are actually trying to catch fish in muddy water, they are actually working on early elections," - he explained.
"We have neither the time it takes for half of total inaction and populism, nor the need for better of we will not. We must learn to work with this rada," - said Poroshenko.
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I have to agree with him. It is not the job of a President to sort out coalitions in parliament.
Tymoshenko is tying to put pressure on Poroshenko - trying to blame him for all the failures. And wants to make him responsible for everything - rather than herself, of course. She wants to be President.
Can the Rada sort themselves out? Time will tell. But you can guess, after 30 days, Tymoshenko will be ranting and raving for elections.

http://www.unian.info/economics/1278107-ukrainian-electricity-tariffs-to-rise-by-25-from-march-1.html
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Wow - things are hard enough as they are. This is hardly likely to make the government any more popular.
You would think - with the big fall in gas prices, that they could reduce the rise in electricity and gas prices a little - and with the agreement of the IMF.
The government and the IMF need to start thinking about the people also. Times are very difficult, currently.
Found more info here
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http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/economic/328084.html
From March 1, 2016, the tariff for the first consumption group (up to 100 kilowatt-hours per month) will grow by 25%, from 45.6 kopecks to 57 kopecks per kWh, for the second consumption group (from 100 to 600 kWh per month) by 25.5%, from 78.9 kopecks to 99 kopecks and for the third consumption block (over 600 kWh per month) by 5.5%, from 147.9 kopecks to 156 kopecks per kWh.

http://en.censor.net.ua/news/376761/no_casualties_in_ukrainian_army_yesterday_ato_speaker
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Good news.
Slava Ukraini!

http://en.censor.net.ua/news/376800/detained_azov_regiment_activist_krasnov_leaks_information_to_russia_sbu
....Besides, Tkachuk said that Krasnov had handed over the list of the Azov regiment servicemen to the Russian side.
According to the representative of the Security Service, Mr. Krasnov and Ms. Shelest were detained at a gas station on the night of Feb. 28 after they had made a cache on the Kyiv-Kharkiv highway near the village of Shchaslyve. Krasnov tried to escape, resisted arrest.
The law enforcement officers have found plastic explosives (42 kg of TNT equivalent, which is comparable to seven anti-tank mines), 10 detonators, grenades, and the like in the cache.....
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Do they still shoot spies? They should do. A lot of traitors about in Ukraine, sadly.

https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2016/02/29/mh17-zaroshchenske-revisited-almaz-anteys-new-launch-areas/
pdf download here
https://www.bellingcat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Zaro-Revisited_Final.pdf
...Applying the same evaluation principles that were already applied to the Zaroshchens’ke launch area in the previous Bellingcat study mentioned above, it is possible to reject the claim that Ukrainian troops were present on 17 July in the launch area for the 9M38M1 missile. It is also possible to reject the claim that a Ukrainian Buk was in the area on that day. The rejections of both hypotheses substantiate that a potential missile launch from this area could not have been performed by a Ukrainian Buk. But it is possible to go further and assess that even a missile launch from this area can be rejected....

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Another Bellingcat report on MH17. Basically concludes that the Russian version is "highly unlikely". i.e. a load of bs once again from Putin.
Given the Russian propensity for lying about everything, it can be seen as just another fiction story from the Kremlin.

See also
Six Takeaways from Today’s Dutch Safety Board MH17 Response
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2016/02/25/dsb-responses/
The response of Tjibbe Joustra, the Chairman of the DSB, to the Russian letter is, to put it mildly, succinct. ... ending with the sentence “The Dutch Safety Board concludes that on the basis of the arguments put forward, there is no new and significant evidence.”
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Basically saying that the long long Russian letter is a load of b.s. - again.
also
1) As previously reported, the investigation has viewed “satellite data” of a missile launch provided by the United States. But no radar data....
On page 136 of the report, it is noted that within 30km of flight MH17 no (military) aircraft were present at the time of the crash....
5) The DSB used both Google Earth and other satellite imagery, including classified materials
.... The DSB is bound to secrecy when it concerns satellite data.

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I bet no satellite data was provided by the Russians!
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And as I reminder, a report published on the 23rd, implicating the Russian 53rd missile brigade.(over 100 pages long)
MH17 – Potential Suspects and Witnesses from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2016/02/23/53rd-report-en/

Conclusion of all the evidence - what we already knew. Putin shot down MH17.
That's why Strelkov deleted his internet claim within an hour, and why lifenews of Russia changed their story from the Russian rebels shooting down another Ukrainian plane, to - we definitely couldn't have shot down a plane - in the space of an hour also!

Ukrainian army destroyed a group of Russian servicemen near Avdijyvka, Roman Zajtsev of the Peacemaker cite wrote in Facebook Feb. 26.


“For 3 days, the Russian/rebel troops have been shelling our positions with mortar fire. However, the deaf and blind observers from the Joint Ukrainian/ Russian Observation Center looked the other way, feigning they do not see any violations of the Minsk ceasefire agreement.

Then a Russian task force approached our positions at 20.00 yesterday.

Ukraine army fire killed the larger part of the group.

Learning about the Russians’ heavy losses, Russian officers on the joint observation center rushed to Avdijyvka, decrying ceasefire violations by Ukrainians.

One of the Russian observers, Gen. Muradov, was angered when he saw the results of the night battle.

However, he refused to come closer to the bodies of the Russian servicemen, fearing he may be shot by Russian snipers.

Using swear words, Muradov started shouting at the Ukrainian servicemen, Zajtsev wrote.

zik.ua

Three newborn babies were presented with military draft notices along with their birth certificates last week by the Russian authorities who control the Crimean Peninsula.

The boys were given the notices by the chief Russian military recruiting officer in the Simferopol district of Crimea, the Moscow-installed Justice Ministry for the region said on its website.

The documents were presented as part of a celebration of "the glorious sons of Russia" marking Defenders of the Fatherland Day, the February 23 holiday honoring the Russian military -- and, unofficially, all Russian men.

The ministry said the notices indicated the boys should report for military service on January 24, 2032...........

rferl.org

A Russian Su-25 warplane crashed while performing a training flight in Stavropol Territory, the south of Russia, at 19:23 Moscow time on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry's press service said, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

The pilot did not survive the crash, it said.

The jet was carrying no weapons and crashed in a non-populated area not far from the Budennovsk airfield, causing no destruction on the ground........

unian.info

Fitch Ratings Ltd. said it will probably stop issuing local ratings on Russian companies under new rules that make it impossible to abide by European Union and U.S. sanctions against Moscow, according to Bloomberg.

The rules create a dilemma for international firms because they run counter to the penalties imposed by their home countries over Ukraine, said Ian Linnell, global analytical head at Fitch, Bloomberg wrote.

The firm, based in New York and London, has had a branch in Moscow for about 20 years.

"For us, as a global company with significant operations in the U.S. which are subject to U.S. legislation, this is very problematic and puts us in a situation whereby we would either be breaking Russian law or international law," Linnell said by phone.

Under new guidelines, the big three ratings firms, Fitch, Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's, can only issue local ratings through a Russia-regulated subsidiary that agrees ratings can't be withdrawn under outside political pressure. When the U.S. and European Union imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 after it annexed the Crimea peninsula, firms dropped some assessments. Branch offices will no longer be able to issue local ratings after the middle of next year..............

To read further go to this link:  unian.info