Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Monday 01 August. [Ukrainian sources]

Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Monday 01 August. [Ukrainian sources]

MONDAY

Please scroll down to view news items added during the day

News:
85 attacks by Putin on Ukraine yesterday; another increase.
A couple of months' ago the figure was around 20 or 30. Now... more and more shelling.
Yanukovich sidekick Effremov should appear in court today.
Sadly -
One soldier killed, six wounded yesterday. Shelling by Putin.

Weather:
Hot again. Maybe 32 today. 90F in American money. Blue sky, strong sunshine where I am.
But reading also of some smog in the city itself.

HQ: yesterday gunmen opened fire 85 times, ATO forces repelled a DRG attack
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/08/1/7116476/
Monday, August 1, 2016, 7:08

Militants in the area ATO for the past day 85 times opened fire 37 - in Donetsk area, 35 - in Mariupol and 13 - in Lugansk.
The press center ATO Staff reports page on Facebook.
"In Donetsk toward the enemy used heavy artillery 152 and 122 mm. The area Avdeevki night was particularly hot, the enemy used over a hundred shells. With mortars of various calibres, grenade launchers and machine guns opponent hatyv on our positions in the questionnaire, Avdeevka, Zaitsev and Pisky. Unrest was in Mayorsku, Kamyatski and Troitskoi "- said in a statement....

Avakov - Trump is dangerous for Ukraine
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/08/1/7116479/
...He wrote on his page on Facebook, commenting Trump is fully pro-Kremlin, shown by his repeating statements that the Crimean allegedly legally voted to join the Russian Federation....

Yatsenyuk on Trump's Crimea statement: "Breach of moral and civilized principles"
http://www.unian.info/politics/1445927-yatsenyuk-on-trumps-crimea-statement-breach-of-moral-and-civilized-principles.html
..."Donald Trump's recent comments regarding Crimea and Putin during his ABC interview go beyond any form of domestic political campaigning. An official candidate for the United States presidential election has challenged the very values of the free world, civilized world order and international law. It can hardly be called ignorance. This is a breach of moral and civilized principles," ...

Mark it down, Mr Trump, Russia has already gone into Ukraine
http://www.khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1470007670
Considering his multiple advisers with strong Russian links, US presidential candidate Donald Trump has proven disturbingly ignorant about Russia’s aggression against Ukraine - both Crimea & Eastern Ukraine, and seems quite indifferent to international law if a good deal can be struck with Russia. He displayed this ignorance during an interview given to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and broadcast on July 31.

He was wrong at all levels, though the US media have mainly focused on his denial of one historical fact – Russia’s invasion and occupation of Crimea. ...
Reminded that “he’s already there”, Trump’s response was somewhat baffling to the uninitiated. “OK, well, he’s there in a certain way. But I’m not there. You have Obama there. And frankly, that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama….”
====

I have to say, as a neutral observer, that the guy seems to be a complete baboon. A sort of American Boris Johnson.
How can somebody like this end up as a Presidential candidate? - money. Money counts in America, not brains, it appears.

Trump Says He Would Consider Recognizing Crimea As Part Of Russia
http://www.rferl.org/content/trump-ukraine-russia-putin-crimea-annexation/27892208.html
...The move would be a reversal of the Obama administration's policy of refusing to recognize Russia's occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea in March 2014.
He also suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin had no designs on Ukraine....
===

Fruitcake. There's a war going on! What planet is this nutter living on?

11:19
"Führer" we had one - former MP talked about nickname for Yanukovych (24 channel)
http://24tv.ua/fyurer_u_nas_buv_odin__eksnardep_rozpoviv_istoriyu_prizviska_dlya_yanukovicha_n710834
....This nickname Yanukovych ex-speaker Volodymyr Rybak, even before his election as president....
===

No wonder Putin got on well with him.

12:10
Smog starts to dissipate in Kiev (head office)
http://glavcom.ua/news/smog-u-kijevi-rozsiyujetsya-364618.html
===

Not super. Due to the heat. And almost no wind.
Fortunately I'm not in the city centre today. Apparently it is getting better. ?!

Putin’s Economy Is Stuck and He Doesn’t Know How to Get It Going
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-01/putin-s-economy-is-stuck-and-he-doesn-t-know-how-to-get-it-going
....“Putin makes political and geopolitical decisions confidently, but delays on the economic ones because they are harder for him,” said Yevgeny Yasin, a former economy minister. “Serious, decisive measures are needed” to get the economy out of its current stagnation, he said. “But I get the feeling the president isn’t ready for them.”...

1 soldier killed, 6 injured, yesterday in the ATO zone - Staff
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/08/1/7116505/

Monday, August 1, 2016, 12:44
One day in the area of ​​anti-terrorist operations 1 soldier killed, 6 wounded.
This at a traditional briefing on Monday, spokesman of the Presidential Administration on ATO Andrei Lysenko.
"For the past day because of fighting one Ukrainian soldier killed, 6 injured" - said the colonel.
According to him, these losses suffered as a result ATO forces being shelled by militants. Yes 1 soldier killed at Opitnoe 1 - suffered injuries in Novooleksandrivtsi, four - in Avdeevka, and another - in Shyrokyno.

The Russian Defense Ministry says a Mi-8 transport aircraft has been shot down by rebels in the Syrian province of Idlib.



The helicopter was returning from delivering humanitarian aid to the city of Aleppo, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted officials as saying.



Defense officials note the Mi-8 transport aircraft had five people on board.



Unconfirmed reports say at least four of them are now dead.




As previously reported, on July 9, two Russian servicemen were killed near the Syrian city of Palmyra when their helicopter was shot down by rebels, bringing the number of Russian military personnel killed in the Syria conflict to at least 12.

ua.censor.net.ua In Ukrainian/український

It seems many that go by right-wing propaganda and a lack of actually doing research say that Putin's being victorious by the hands of Obama. Obviously they lack an effort to find out the truth on their own.  Would they rather Obama pull a McCain and put boots on the ground throughout eastern Europe and cause tens of thousands of lost lives, not only from US troops but also many thousands of Ukrainians, just to pound their chest.

Here are FACTS, not propaganda Anne R. Pierce ‏@AnneRPierce on how victorious (fiction) that Putin's Russia has been by the hands of Obama and company. I hope it doesn't hurt too much that you've been duped by your people's propaganda. A little more strength perhaps will let you see the real light.

I have much more, but I figured you'd get bored by too many FACTS.

Putin Faces Growing Exodus as Russia's Banking, Tech Pros Flee

Russia Is Losing Its Best and Brightest

Russian government statistics show a sharp upturn in emigration over the last four years. Almost 123,000 officially departed in 2012, rising to 186,000 in 2013, and accelerating to almost 309,000 in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea and even more in 2015
Russia Is Losing Its Best and Brightest

Russians express increasingly negative views about the economic situation in their country. Roughly three-quarters (73%) say the Russian economy is bad, with only around a quarter (24%) saying it is good.
Russians See Downward Trend on Economy and International Image

Why the Russian
Economy Is Tumbling
By JASMINE C. LEE APRIL 12, 2016
nytimes.com

Low oil prices and international sanctions have crippled Russia’s economy. The country has been operating at a deficit since 2012, and its Reserve Fund is slated to run out by 2017. Last week, the World Bank warned that the poverty rate in Russia is rising sharply.



Around 2 years ago, oil was at around $1.00 per barrel. NOW!!
WTI Crude Oil:   $40.08 -1.52 -3.65%
Brent Crude Oil: $42.27 -1.26 -2.89%

Current Russian Ruble to the Dollar: $1 =  66.89 RUB. 2 years ago it was $1 = 34 RUB

Sales of these fuels accounted for 68% of Russia's total export



In total, oil and gas comprised 68% of all Russian exports, with crude oil and petroleum products netting them almost four times as much revenue as from natural gas.

Ukraine is now able to meet their gas needs without getting it from Russia, which was one of Russia's main consumer.

In all, 45% of Russians say sanctions are having a major effect on the economy,

Sanctions and a Falling Ruble
After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the European Union and the United States used economic sanctions to target Russia’s financial, energy and defense sectors. Western sanctions have multiplied the effect of the low oil prices, said Robert Kahn, an international economics senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Russia has very little debt, but sanctions have made it difficult for the country to borrow on international capital markets.

Additionally, the ruble has fallen nearly 50 percent against the dollar since August 2014. This has depressed the standard of living across Russia, because a weaker ruble makes imports more expensive. Russia countered Western sanctions with import bans on various food products, leading to a smaller supply of those goods and further rising prices.

The World Bank predicts the poverty rate will reach 14.2 percent in 2016.

NOW tell me how victorious Putin is and how Obama's dropped the ball. And here's a little touch on Obama with the US since Bush.

US GDP GROWTH

Date        Value
Mar 31, 2016 3.29%
Dec 31, 2015 3.12%
Dec 31, 2014 3.88%
Dec 31, 2013 4.05%
Dec 31, 2012 3.24%
Dec 31, 2011 3.64%
Dec 31, 2010 4.56%
Dec 31, 2009 0.11%
Dec 31, 2008 -0.92%

FACTS! Not fiction. Now can you handle the truth, on how Obama's decisions has put Putin in a bad corner, and no American lives lost.

Have a great day.

Russia is preparing to move into northern Ukraine and occupy Sumy and Chernihiv. This is evidenced by the increasing concentration of Russian troops just across the border, says Donbas military prosecutor Kostyantyn Kulyk, pl.com.ua reports Aug. 1.

Russia is preparing for a big war, and Ukrainians should not believe that the present confrontation will end soon. Russia may play off the Russian language card, saying it protects the Russian-speaking population, same as it did in Donbas in 2014, Kulyk says.

Over the past weeks, Russia has moved the large amount of its troops from Rostov-on-Don to Belgorod, close to Sumy and Chernihiv. The troops are just waiting for the marching orders to invade Ukraine, the official said.

zik.ua

Earlier, Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has nothing to do with the conflict in Ukraine.

A candidate for the US presidential election the Republican Party Donald Trump on his page on Twitter clarified its position on Russia occupied Crimea.

"When I told that Putin" will go to Ukraine and write, "I mean if I am president. It is already in the Crimea! "- Wrote Trump.

"So, with all of Obama's strong statement of Russia and Ukraine, the Russians have seized the Crimea and continue the onslaught. That's what I said! "- He added.

@kimleehang @molly_knight @realDonaldTrump Maybe he just misquotes himself. pic.twitter.com/JANTJrd1en

— Steve Olson (@Sgolson16) August 1, 2016

Earlier, Trump said that the majority of Crimean residents have opted Mr. and benefits of, and the US should take this into account.

Trump also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has nothing to do with the conflict in Ukraine , and Ukraine does not plan to open aggression.

glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український

Bloody Games Kremlin led to tens of thousands of dead Ukrainian. The dead really, without any "hybridity" ...

The phenomenon of "hybrid war" against Russia Ukraine is growing interest among researchers, experts and analysts. However, whether this unique is the current aggression of Russia against Ukraine? How Russia's actions that led to the occupation of the Crimea and Donbas may be considered a new word in the art of war?

A few quotes that will help to approach the understanding of "hybrid warfare". Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Lidehaard Martin said in December 2014: "... There is a new kind of threat. I would not call it necessarily military - a hybrid warfare, which used massive propaganda, provocation, activation groups in other countries, this is not war, but something very close to a hostile and war ... " .

In turn, James Sherr, Fellow of the British Royal Institute of International Affairs, one of the best experts on Russia, in 2013 in his book Hard Diplomacy and Soft Coercion published several traditional practices used in tsarist Russia and Soviet times. Paradoxically, but this set of methods and tactics are very similar to the tools of "hybrid warfare" against Ukraine, which began in February 2014. Judge for yourself:

The policy of separation and influence;
Use vulnerability (moral, financial and political);
Penetration (to opponents and allies);
Involvement ( "temporary and conditional alliances");
Creation of fictitious companies, "shadow structures", the use of nominees;
The use of "agents of influence operations";
Linguistic manipulation;
Propaganda / information struggle.
Even more ancient quotation, dated 1880 year, belongs to Sergey Nechayev, one of the first representatives of Russian revolutionary terrorist leader so. Called. "People's massacre". He proclaimed the right revolutionary act by any means, chief among them - blackmail, murder, lies and constant provocation. By the way, then these methods are included in the traditional arsenal of NKVD / KGB.

The author will dare to assert that "hybrid" war, which is said experts and politicians, in fact, is nothing new. And, although the phenomenon itself conducting aggressive war in Europe in the twentieth century is indeed unique, many methods of imperial Russia achieve its strategic goals, in fact, used by Moscow for several centuries. Anyway, regarding Ukraine. All of these "novelty" and "surprises" in Putin's Ukraine, we were not once.

In fact, to be quite precise, the whole history of relations between Ukraine and Russia - a "hybrid" reality distortion under the imperial model of development. The evidence of this - mass. Attempts to verify the events connected with Ukraine, described in Russian history, often stumble on one important issue - there is no actual evidence. Or actual evidence tells a different story......................

Access complete text in English of the editorial:  glavcom.ua

glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український

The most overvalued currency experts called the Swiss franc

The course of the Ukrainian hryvnia is undervalued by 68.8%, the highest among other currencies. This is stated in the publication of the magazine The Economist , which are the most recent data index Big Mac.

Note Big Mac index of The Economist put experts for assessment rates based on the idea according to which price the same goods in different countries should be approximately the same. For ease of calculation chosen value Burger Big Mac.

According to The Economist, Ukrainian hryvnia is the most undervalued currency in the world, of course diminished 68.8%. Followed by the Malaysian Ringgit and the Russian ruble. The most overvalued currency called the Swiss franc.

glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український

Landyk said the former Regions Efremov personally organized an illegal referendum in Luhansk region

Alexander Efremov personally organized an illegal referendum in Luhansk region. This is the comment "on Channel 5," said former Regions Volodymyr Landik, which is one of the key witnesses in the case Ephraim.

According to him, gave orders the defendant to pay the Russians, who were brought by buses to Lugansk to seize the building and RSA Security.

"He did this referendum, he was there, he called and said businessmen who will pay for what. He ordered those barricades do not let our Ukrainian army is all it is all activists of the Party of Regions. He then gave the command Holenko that he proplachuvav buses and buses from Krasna Talivka Milov and drove us to the Russians 3 and 9 March seized RSA, and they brought them then seized SBU ", - said Landik.

Recall now the court ruled to leave in custody until 28 September Ephraim.



glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український

Trump responded to the statement that the policy itself does not know where the Crimea on the map.

US presidential candidate from the Republican Party, Donald Trump said that the attempt to return the Crimea by force could lead to World War III, reports Politico.

Donald Trump during his speech on Monday, said that, in his opinion, an attempt to take away the power of the Crimea in Ukraine and return it could lead to the Third World War.

He also responded to remarks that he is not a politician knows where the Crimea on the map, and in 2014, the peninsula became part of Russia.

"I know for sure. It was about two years ago. So? Around "- said Donald Trump.

glavcom.ua In Ukrainian/український