Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 15 January [Ukrainian sources]

FRIDAY

Please scroll down to view news items added during the day

News -
Russia attacks Ukrainians over 60 times yesterday.
Update - 2 soldiers injured.

Weather -
-4 this morning. But will stay below zero probably. No snow. But ice.
Update - made it to +1 for a while. Amazing for mid-January. Similar tomorrow, and then nearer normal.

Observation -
First Poro meets Russian envoy Gryzlov in Kiev, and today Nuland meets with Surkov, I think in Kaliningrad.
So - is Putin looking for an exit?

http://kriminal.tv/news/dnr_ponesla_poterishiff.html
...The seriousness of the situation, saying the words of the military DPR Speaker Eduard Eduard Basurin during a meeting with the separatists' Gorlovka no surrender! Retreat no one else is, we will only go ahead! "So, the mood in the ranks of the local" Russian world "is not very good". ...
Separatists also excited to be on Ukrainian territory under Gorlovka flying the flag of the Crimean Tatar; although for some reason they have decided that it is the flag of the Turkish military ... However, we do not mind.
"The volunteer DNR": this is not our war. The good life in the occupied city will never be...
[Video at link]
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Looks like even the most stupid among the terrorists are realising that they are/ were simply a pawn in a deadly political game by the mad dictator Putin.

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http://newsoboz.org/obshchestvo/plotnitskiy-podlozhil-svinyu-uchitelyam-lnr-15012016070700
"At the request of the leader of a terrorist organization" LPR "Plotnitsky - employees of establishments of the education system are forced to write statements of their dismissal on 30 January 2015 and on employment from January 6, 2016. The occupation authorities motivate this requirement is the need for the reorganization of the education system. As a result of the teacher's actions remain without payment of funds for rehabilitation, and their teaching experience will be interrupted, "..
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I frankly don't understand all this. Probably a way of reducing "costs". Basically -
Put an idiot in charge of something, and he will give the people idiotic things to do.

5:55
http://news.liga.net/news/politics/8412392-rossiya_ne_priznaet_legitimnym_tribunal_po_mn17_ne_pod_egidoy_oon.htm
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Because Russia vetoed it at the UN! Russian logic. Games with the families of the dead. Russian games.

"Why we are against the establishment of a tribunal? We believe that there are legitimate legal tribunals - they are created under the auspices of the United Nations. All the tribunals that are created outside the United Nations, are not legitimate for those countries which do not participate in them," - said the representative of the Foreign Ministry.

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7:48
http://glavcom.ua/news/354630.html
Kiev police began to investigate the attack on the people's deputy from the Radical Party Sergei Ribalka, which occurred on the evening of January 14. It is reported by the Main Department of Communication Department of the National Police in Kiev.
"The incident happened in the Pechersk district around 21:30. At the scene, left investigative team Pechersk police and Chief of Police of Kiev. It was found that the MP went car "Range Rover" with the sports complex. Two unknown men threw in two cars half-kilo weights. Attackers fled the scene, "- said in a statement.
The incident resulted in no injuries. According to preliminary information, the vehicle is damaged windshield and front passenger window....
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Ribalka. Big money. Business. Liashko party. Dneprpetrovsk base.
Many dodgy people in Liashko's party. And in the Rada, of course.
Сергій Вікторович Рибалка (нар. 22 липня 1978, Дніпропетровськ) — Народний депутат України. - wikipedia.

7:49
http://nbnews.com.ua/ru/news/170678/
On Friday, January 15, in Ukraine declared a storm warning: on the roads is expected to ice and wind gusts reached 20 meters per second. It is reported by the press service of the weather center....



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Looks to be mostly for western, central Ukraine. Clear sky. Light wind. -4 where I am, near Kiev. But it could change.

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http://kiev.pravda.com.ua/news/5697e4f9a794c/
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Two deaths already this year. Apparently people aged 40-55 most at risk. Also known as H1N1

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-13/a-fallen-russia-oligarch-sends-warning-to-rest-of-putin-insiders
....“This circle will continue to rotate,” Yakunin said in his private office in Moscow during a 90-minute interview. Putin has yet to form a stable “ruling class like Russia had during czarist times,”...
...Some insiders are making the mistake of viewing their property and privilege as inalienable rights, but everything they have hinges on Putin’s shifting views of what’s good for Russia...
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Quite brave really. Will he be next on Putin's "hit list". After Nemtsov.

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http://www.unian.info/society/1236912-winter-on-fire-ukraines-fight-for-freedom-nominated-for-oscar.html
Winter on Fire, a documentary film which follows the 93 days of Ukraine's Euromaidan revolution has been nominated for an Oscar, according to Ukraine Today.
Trailer from youtube here - wow, already over half a million views! -

http://www.unian.info/economics/1237025-ukraine-azerbaijan-kazakhstan-georgia-agree-on-freight-transportation-rates.html
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I still don't see how a train can get from Ukraine to Georgia bypassing Russia.

10:01
http://ru.slovoidilo.ua/2016/01/15/novost/politika/lucenko-rasskazal-skolko-deputatov-gotovy-golosovat-za-izmeneniya-v-konstituciyu
...According to People's Deputy, the next step will be elections in single-mandate constituencies in the occupied territories, where local separatists win with a relatively peaceful image, but somewhere [are actually] appointees of Akhmetov. ..

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10:58
The border guards were not allowed to Ukraine more than 10 thousand Russians in the past year (Island)
http://www.ostro.org/general/society/news/490400/
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Personally I'd ban all Russians from entering Ukraine.

14:15
http://www.epravda.com.ua/news/2016/01/15/576663/
At the end of 2015, Wizz Air has celebrated the opening of the base in Debrecen, in 150 km from Uzhgorod...
Recall from April 20, Wizz Air Ukraine will stop its activities.
This airline will not operate flights stop in Ukraine.
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That really is news to me. I've flown a lot using Wizz from Kiev Julyani.
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Just checked their website, looked at dates in May. It says
Kyiv Zhulyany → London Luton (Operated by Wizz Air Hungary) ; flies on Monday and Friday. Who knows...

http://en.censor.net.ua/photo_news/369237/series_of_mysterious_deaths_of_russian_generals_kremlin_conducts_mopup_after_each_significant_operation
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Amazing number of "suicides". I'm surprised they've got any generals left.

http://www.newsru.com/russia/15jan2016/sochi.html
[Russian source]
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Putin has a new problem. Normally he simply shoots protesters dead. But his babushkas - if he shoots them dead then.. well.. there is nobody left who would vote for him, or wave a Russian flag for two rubles. Says this -

Judging by the published information, pensioners, many of whom use devices for walking, lined up at a pedestrian crossing, and clap their hands. They were filmed by inconspicuous men in civilian clothes.
So - now the KGB are watching the pensioners - dangerous subversives clearly!! Only in Russia!

Speaking at the Gaidar Forum, Head of the Russian Sberbank Bank German Gref said that Russia appeared to be among the countries that "are losing".

According to Gref, the world will follow the path of development of renewable energy only, Censor.NET reports citing the Russian media.

He has noted that China is going to increase the total capacity of power plants generating renewable energy to 560 GW in the coming years.

"As a comparison, this is 2.5 times more than the total capacity of the Russian Federation," the head of Sberbank said.

"The closest forecast is that China will consume ... about 45 percent less conventional energy sources at the rate which it currently develops alternative energy. This is our coal, which we develop and deliver on a large scale and keep making substantial investment in coal intended for the Chinese market. And hydrocarbon. One can say that this era has become history," RBC quoted German Gref as saying.

German Gref also spoke about the crisis in the oil market, which, according to him, was caused by the "sweeping changes in consumption". "The era of hydrocarbons is over. As the Stone Age was over not because there were no stones, the oil age is over the same way," Gref said.

"The future has come sooner than we expected. We already live in this future now. Welcome to the future!" the head of Sberbank said.

German Gref believes that the question of oil price is irrelevant. "We will be very far behind, if we do not change the concept of our social approach," Gref warned.

"We lost the competition and ended up in the camp of countries that are losing, the countries-downshifters. The countries and people, who have managed to adapt and invest in it in due time, are the winners. Those who have not are going to lose a lot," he concluded. According to Gref, Russia is facing "a huge income gap" compared to the "countries-winners".



censor.net.ua In Russian

The U.S. Department of State confirmed that negotiations between Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov in Kaliningrad on Ukraine were constructive.

Censor.NET reports citing spokesman for the United States Department of State John Kirby.

According to him, Surkov and Nuland discussed the situation in the east of Ukraine and a need for full implementation of the Minsk agreements. The negotiations were constructive and aimed at supporting the efforts of the Normandy Four and the Trilateral Contact Group, he said.

Earlier, Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov called the last meeting with Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland "brainstorming" to find a compromise for the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

censor.net.ua In Russian

Minister of Infrastructure Andrii Pyvovarskyi believes the "Southern Silk Road," being an alternative to Russia's trade route, will ensure diversifying flows of goods from Baltic and Scandinavian states.

He said this to journalists on Friday in Illichivsk seaport, Censor.NET reports referring to Ukrinform.

"The new transit route from Ukraine to China via Georgia [the Black and the Caspian Seas - ed.] will provide a stable and smooth movement of goods between Europe and China as well as from all Asia. First of all, this transport corridor could be the key to diversifying trade flows from the Baltic states and Scandinavia on the basis of existing routes used by rail-road combined transport "Viking," "Bison," and "Podillia," the minister said.

According to him, the export of goods by rail-road and ferry transport via the new route is carried out at the common preferential tariffs agreed by member countries, and this factor will also contribute to transport's loading by products originating from the European Community.

"Especially, given the unpredictable actions of the Russian government which curbed the transit of Ukrainian goods through its territory, ignoring the rules and principles of the World Trade Organization," Pyvovarskyi concluded.

censor.net.ua In Russian

A court in Popasna, Luhansk oblast, sentenced a Russian citizen for serving in the rebel troops, PGO says Jan. 15.

The accused was charged with serving in the rebel troops as a reconnaissance officer.

The charges were investigated by Ukraine prosecutors who accused the Russian of trying to undermine Ukraine’s security.

zik.ua In Russian

Odesa region prosecutor's office has issued today notices of suspicion to Zatoka mayor, the chairman of standing land committee, and the main architect of the city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.
This was announced by Deputy Prosecutor General Davit Sakvarelidze on his Facebook page, Censor.NET reports.

According to Sakvarelidze, the above officials are suspected of abuse of office and deliberate interference with the execution of court's ruling.

The investigation revealed that in September-December 2014, they facilitated the privatization of a land plot within recreational area of more than 3 ha, having previously removed it from public ownership.

"This land, which is located in one of the most promising areas near the sea coast, has been divided among 66 persons being somehow linked to the said officials. I would also like to note that Ukraine's legislation forbids any cottage construction within recreational area. Moreover, any activity has been prohibited within the territory in question by court's decision. The prosecutor's office will ask the court to remove all the defendants in the case from their offices for the course of the investigation," Sakvarelidze wrote.




censor.net.ua In Russian

Russia's harsh winter is bleak – and so is the future of these 300 Ukrainian refugees. The Kremlin is forcing them to pack their bags. Last autumn, new rules were imposed – meaning anyone who fled the war from Ukrainian-controlled territory must leave by February 1, according to Ukraine Today.

When Russian troops began entering eastern Ukraine in April 2014, hundreds of thousands were reported to have fled to the safety of Russia. But now, these housing centers are weighing down the Russian budget which is already strained by low oil prices and international sanctions, Ukraine Today reports.

unian.info

In 2016, ESA will refuse from Soyuz launchers in favor of the Ariane-5 to deliver Galileo satellites to the orbit.

The European Space Agency (ESA) renounces in 2016 the use of Russian a Russian Soyuz-ST carrier rocket in bearing the European Galileo satellite navigation system to the orbit, according to ESA chief Johann-Dietrich Werner, TASS reports.

The preference will be given to Europe’s own heavy-lift Ariane-5 launcher, Werner said at a Friday’s press conference.

The launch from the French Guiana Space Center is scheduled for October. The heavy class Ariane-5 can bring four satellites in one trip, while Soyuz was only able to deliver two satellites in a single launch.....

unian.info

The press service of Ukraine's State Security Service says a militant from an illegal armed formation in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic abandoned his accomplices and defected to Ukraine, according to Ukraine Today.

The man joined the ranks of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) terrorist organization in spring, 2014, Ukraine Today reported.

He was responsible for patrolling checkpoints and streets in the town of Lisichansk, in the Luhansk region. The militant said he was frustrated at the New Russia (Novorossiya) ideas which turned out to be merely false promises.

He eventually learned about the SBU special program 'Waiting for You at Home' and decided to turn to Ukraine's authorities, as he neither participated in hostilities nor committed murder.....

unian.info

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