Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Various: Voting in Crimean referendum starts even as Ukraine government declares it illegitimate (UPDATES) March 16, 2014, 2:48 p.m. | Ukraine — by Kyiv Post KYIV/SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine - Balloting began at 8 a.m. in a Crimean referendum that asks peninsula voters whether they want to join Russia or simply declare more autonomy from Ukraine for the region's two million residents. The vote is widely considered to be a sham with an outcome pre-determined by the Kremlin and its prime minister in Crimea, Serhiy Aksyonov, whose authority the central government in Kyiv does not recognize. Polls close at 8 p.m. tonight. The vote comes after more than two weeks of intense pressure and intimidation tactics used by the Crimean government and its armed pro-Russian militia units to persuade residents to vote for joining Russia. Local television broadcasts have been replaced by Russian state media reports, pro-Russian messages have been plastered on billboards across the peninsula and peaceful pro-Ukrainian demonstrators have been attacked by vicious participants of opposing protests. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Previous Thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 (Almost) live from LvivScott Johnson3/15/14Reader Dustin Mullenix writes from Lviv, Ukraine: The number to look for in Crimea’s referendum tomorrow: according to this article, it’s 73 percent. The article includes an accompanying photo as evidence that ballots with the “join Russia” option checked are being printed in mass quantities. False ballots represent just half of Putin’s one-two punch to guarantee a 73 percent result. According to the article Russian servicemen will also vote in the election. (snip) ____________________________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 NATO Websites Hit In Cyber Attack Linked To Crimea Tension Adrian Croft and Peter Apps, Reuters 3/16/14 BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - Hackers brought down several public NATO websites, the alliance said on Sunday, in what appeared to be the latest escalation in cyberspace over growing tensions over Crimea. The Western military alliance's spokeswoman, Oana Lungescu, said on social networking site Twitter that cyber attacks, which began on Saturday evening, continued on Sunday, although most services had now been restored. "It doesn't impede our ability to command and control our forces. At no time was there any risk to our classified networks," another NATO official said. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Observers, journalists not welcome to watch vote count at polling station in Simferopol (UPDATES, VIDEOS) March 16, 2014, 8:56 p.m. | Ukraine by Kyiv Post SIMFEROPOL, Crimea -- If respected international election observers had been allowed to watch Crimea's referendum on whether to join Russia or merely gain greater autonomy from Ukraine, they would have found plenty of violations. After polls closed at 8 p.m., more signs of trouble surfaced, with Kyiv Post and even Russian journalists being aggressively barred from watching the vote count in one polling station in central Simferopol. Police smashed a TV camera of a Russian crew. "We just wanted to see the vote count, but they called us provocateurs and pushed us away," said Ekaterina Vinokurova of znak.com, crying. Yevheny Bontman, a journalist with Echo Moskvy, said he saw many people were supporting Russia. "We just wanted to formally confirm the vote count, but they pushed me away," Bontman said. "We don't have things like this in Russia." (Snip) Mar 16, 2014 Journalist voted at the referendum with Russian passport in Crimea Ukraine, March 16, 2014 [media] ['/media] Mar 16, 2014 Journalists rudely pushed out of the Polling Station in Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine, March 16, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Noah Sneider @NoahSneider Follow "Sample" #ballot outside polling site. Big #red mark next to #russia option. example or instructions? #Crimea #Крым 4:58 AM - 16 Mar 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Daniel Sandford @BBCDanielS 3h There is now some serious Ukrainian armour wondering around in Eastern Ukraine http://youtu.be/z6MzbmLN9nU BMP APC's T-64 MBT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Mar 4, 2014 Lt. Col. Frank Dowse, the former US military attaché to Ukraine joined John Howell with reaction to the situation on the Crimean peninsula. Listen to Big John and Amy weekdays 6-11 on AM 560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Nigel Cameron @nigelcameron 2h RT this. Sums up the whole thing. Articulate elderly lady in #Crimea knocked to the ground. HT @KateMaltby Mar 16, 2014 Russian occupiers in Crimea pushed down protesting Ukrainian old lady, March 15, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Pro-Russian demonstrators burn books, storm buildings in eastern UkraineLina KushchDONETSK, Ukraine Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:22pm EDT(Reuters) - Pro-Russian demonstrators in eastern Ukraine smashed their way into public buildings and burned Ukrainian-language books on Sunday in further protests following two deadly clashes in the region last week.Protests, some several thousand strong, spread to Russian-speaking southern districts as Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, under the control of the Russian military for two weeks, voted in a referendum on joining Russia.Violence in the east, where Russian-speakers are in the majority, has prompted warnings from Moscow that it is prepared to defend the rights of residents who disagree with the new pro-Western authorities in Kiev.(Snip) Euromaidan PR @EuromaidanPR 6h #Ukrainian 'Prosvita' building in #Kharkov. Books on History of Ukraine & Hunger-extermination burned by separatists Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Russia Could Still Turn the U.S. Into Radioactive Dust, News Anchor in Moscow Reminds Viewers ROBERT MACKEY March 16, 2014, 6:10 pm As the United States condemned a referendum on the future of the Crimean peninsula staged by pro-Russian separatists on Sunday, one of Russias most influential television hosts appeared on the evening news in Moscow, before a huge mushroom cloud graphic, to remind viewers that Russia is still the only country in the world capable of turning the U.S.A. into radioactive dust. Steven Lee Myers @slmmoscow Follow On Russian state TV: lovely closing ceremony of Sochi Paralympics v. warning that Russia can turn the US into radioactive dust. Good night. 1:39 PM - 16 Mar 2014 Although the saber-rattling comments came from Dmitry Kiselyov, a news anchor well-known for his mad as hell delivery of diatribes on the supposed threats to Russia posed by foreign plotters and native homosexuals, the report still stunned viewers of the state broadcasters main channel. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickydog Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 All Nazi tactics, it seems to me, i.e. burning books, staging voting, pushing around old ladies, tanks and troops all over the place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Rory Yeomans @roryyeomans 4h Confused paranoid old man claiming to be a "senator" says #Crimea ref "bogus" & #US policy shld be to win it back: http://tinyurl.com/mgtbcek The Hill McCain calls Crimea referendum 'bogus'"We used to call it plebiscite in the days of Hitler and Stalin," he said View on web Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickydog Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Russia Could Still Turn the U.S. Into Radioactive Dust, News Anchor in Moscow Reminds Viewers ROBERT MACKEY March 16, 2014, 6:10 pm As the United States condemned a referendum on the future of the Crimean peninsula staged by pro-Russian separatists on Sunday, one of Russias most influential television hosts appeared on the evening news in Moscow, before a huge mushroom cloud graphic, to remind viewers that Russia is still the only country in the world capable of turning the U.S.A. into radioactive dust. Steven Lee Myers @slmmoscow Follow On Russian state TV: lovely closing ceremony of Sochi Paralympics v. warning that Russia can turn the US into radioactive dust. Good night. 1:39 PM - 16 Mar 2014 Although the saber-rattling comments came from Dmitry Kiselyov, a news anchor well-known for his mad as hell delivery of diatribes on the supposed threats to Russia posed by foreign plotters and native homosexuals, the report still stunned viewers of the state broadcasters main channel. (Snip) Don't forget, oh mad-as-hell Dmitry, we can do the same to you. Simmer down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Euromaidan PR @EuromaidanPR 8m #Ukrainian Military refused to participate in the Illegal Referendum in #Crimea http://youtu.be/y3oAFluyqAQ |PR Video(english subtitles included) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Russia Could Still Turn the U.S. Into Radioactive Dust, News Anchor in Moscow Reminds Viewers ROBERT MACKEY March 16, 2014, 6:10 pm As the United States condemned a referendum on the future of the Crimean peninsula staged by pro-Russian separatists on Sunday, one of Russias most influential television hosts appeared on the evening news in Moscow, before a huge mushroom cloud graphic, to remind viewers that Russia is still the only country in the world capable of turning the U.S.A. into radioactive dust. Steven Lee Myers @slmmoscow Follow On Russian state TV: lovely closing ceremony of Sochi Paralympics v. warning that Russia can turn the US into radioactive dust. Good night. 1:39 PM - 16 Mar 2014 Although the saber-rattling comments came from Dmitry Kiselyov, a news anchor well-known for his mad as hell delivery of diatribes on the supposed threats to Russia posed by foreign plotters and native homosexuals, the report still stunned viewers of the state broadcasters main channel. (Snip) Don't forget, oh mad-as-hell Dmitry, we can do the same to you. Simmer down. Point being, most likely he would not have broadcast that w/o permission from higher up. At least that is my opinion (freely given and worth almost that much) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Ethnic Russians in Ukraine's Luhansk also want closer ties with MoscowOlga Rudenko3/17/14An anti-government rally takes place in Luhansk on March 16, attracting an estimated 2,000 people who want closer ties to Russia. LUHANSK, Ukraine -- When asked to be photographed, 64-year old Svitlana Kliuyeva says: "Oh please, not with this on the background," and moves away from the momument to national hero Taras Shevchenko stands behind her back in the central square of Luhansk. Half-Russian, Kliuyeva was born and lived her whole life in this industrial Ukrainian city of nearly 500,000 people near Ukraine's eastern border with Russia. Now she supports the Crimean referendum to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. She rallies for federalization and greater autonomy of Luhansk Oblast as a first step to realizing her dream of becoming part of Russia once again. "I like Russia, it is close to me. I still think of Moscow as my capital," she says. When asked what Ukraine is to her, she replies: "Nothing." (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Kidnapped Sevastopol priest released after interrogation marquepro March 16, 2014 Crimea, Ukraine A priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Mykola Kvych, was released late March 16, 2014, and allowed to go home after being kidnapped by armed representatives of (the new) Crimean authorities and the so-called self-defense. As reported to the Institute for Religious Freedom by the Department for Pastoral Care in the Armed Forces of the Patriarchal Curia of the UGCC, the priest was held for twelve hours at the Sevastopol police station, where he was questioned harshly by local law enforcement officials who accused him of organizing provocations in Crimea. The priest was kidnapped Saturday morning during worship. Unidentified armed men broke into the parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in the city of Sevastopol. Father Mykola Kvych, who served as rector of the parish and principal military chaplain of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Crimea, was seized and taken to an unknown destination. At the same time, a search was conducted in Fr. Mykolas own home, where 10 bullet-proof vests were found. Father Mykola had these articles of self-defense in his possession as part of his pastoral ministry to provide humanitarian aid to Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea, who are blocked by unmarked Russian troops, and for journalists who are increasingly exposed to attacks while covering events on the peninsula. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Crimea, After the ReferendumMax Boot3/16/14 In the annals of fixed elections, Sunday’s referendum in Crimea on Anschluss with Russia was a relatively restrained result. Vladimir Putin, the guiding intelligence behind this sham vote, was apparently content with a mere 96.7 percent vote in favor of unification with Russia. Give him props for not going for the full Castro–a 99 percent endorsement. To say that the vote stealing was restrained is not, of course, the same thing as saying it was a fair or legal vote. Country A can’t simply invade a province of Country B and, under the guns of its army, call a snap election on unification with Country A. If that were permitted to occur, any semblance of the rule of law would be replaced with the law of the jungle. We would be back to the 1930s when predators ruled the international system. (Snip) Putin’s power grab is tremendously popular among Russians who think that Crimea (given to Ukraine in 1954 by Nikita Khrushchev) and Ukraine as a whole (which only became independent in 1991) are properly part of the Russian empire. There is no doubt that there is a close historical association between Ukraine and Russia, but Ukraine is now recognized by the entire world as an independent country, and the majority of its people have no desire to be dominated much less ruled directly by the Kremlin. Putin’s power grab is, in truth, no more legitimate than Saddam Hussein’s occupation of Kuwait in 1990, which he claimed was properly Iraq’s 19th province. (Snip) Alas we no longer have the military the HW had to work with. Also George HW Bush and his national security people had an actual clue as to how the world worked...unlike this bunch of clowns (with sincere apologies to clowns everywhere) Also Recommend Google WSJ: "Welcome to the 19th Century" Putin and the new Bonapartes see a weak and retreating West. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggingtree Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 With war clouds gathering in a 360 degree circle around America, what is Obama obsessing about today? Non-existent Global Warming! Speak Softly And Carry A ... Wet Noodle? By J.D. Longstreet (Bio and Archives) Monday, March 17, 2014 I must tell you—I am embarrassed by our President. I mean red-faced embarrassment. Obama is proving to be the empty suit we warned he was back in 2008. That doesn’t make me feel any better ... being right, I mean. In fact, it scares the heck out of me. Look. Mitt Romney was right about Russia being our number one enemy. (OK. So it’s a toss-up between Russia and China, but Russia always seems to be more overt with their meanness.) Putin is going to get away with his invasion and occupation of the Ukraine. If you think he will stop with the Crimea, well, don’t hold your breath. Even western Ukraine, which leans heavily toward the western orbit, was all, for hundreds of years, a part of Russia. http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/61796 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Mar 17, 2014 Some people might say that two weeks isn't enough time to prepare for referendum to separating from the country that you've been a part of for the last 70 years. But that's not what a reported 95.5 percent of Crimeans think, according to the official vote count. VICE News correspondent Simon Ostrovsky visits the polling stations in Simferopol, including predominantly Tartar areas where the pro-Russian fervor is seemingly absent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Ukrainian government refuses to remove troops from Crimea, prepares for war Ukraine by Isaac Webb March 17, 2014, 5:30 p.m. In the wake of a March 16 referendum in which Crimeans voted to join the Russian Federation, Ukrainian leaders refused to cede any part of the peninsula, calling on their troops to prepare for war. Crimea was, is, and will be our territory, said Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh in a statement delivered at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center on March 17. Former heavyweight boxing champion and leader of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform Vitali Klitschko announced that Ukrainian troops would remain at their bases, even after March 21, the end of a peace treaty signed by the interior ministries of Ukraine and Russia. n accordance with the March 16 peace treaty, the Russian Interior Ministry promised to allow Ukrainian soldiers to pass freely into and out of their bases, which Russian troops had surrounded for more than two weeks. Tenyukh said that the Russian military had thus far respected the terms of the treaty. Although tensions have de-escalated around military bases in Crimea since the signing of the treaty, neither side is prepared to back down. The Russian government expects that Ukrainian troops will surrender their military bases before the conclusion of the treaty. The Ukrainian government has said that it will not withdraw forces from Crimea, using the peace as an opportunity to replenish supplies for Ukrainian troops stationed on Crimean bases. When asked whether Ukrainian troops would fight to defend Crimea, Tenyukh replied tersely, The armed forces will execute their tasks, later adding, Ukrainian forces will stay [in Crimea] until all their tasks have been completed. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Ukraine to sign political aspects of EU pact on Friday BRUSSELS Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:56pm EDT (Reuters) - Ukraine will sign an agreement on closer political cooperation with the European Union on Friday, leaving the signature of a more far-reaching trade accord for later, the EU said on Monday. EU foreign ministers said in a statement after meeting in Brussels that they looked forward to the signing of the political provisions of the so-called association agreement that Ukraine had negotiated with the 28-nation EU, on March 21. The agreement is expected to be signed on the sidelines of an EU summit being held in Brussels that day. An EU official said it was not yet known if Ukraine's interim prime minister, Arseny Yatseniuk, or another Ukrainian official would sign. Pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich turned his back on signing the association agreement in favor of closer ties with Moscow last November, prompting months of street protests that eventually led to his fleeing the country. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Did the U.S. provoke the Russian bear?Paul Mirengoff3/17/14 Jack Matlock, Jr., a former ambassador to the Soviet Union and a long-time foreign service officer, blames U.S. policy for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Matlock is a bipartisan blamer. He indicts President Clinton, President (George W.) Bush, and Congress. Only President Obama is spared. What were our sins? They fall largely into two categories. First, we took military action in Serbia and Iraq without U.N. Security Council approval. Second, we expanded NATO to include former Warsaw Pact nations and talked of including certain former Soviet Republics in that alliance. To compound the second sin, we backed the “color revolutions” in Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan (Snip) But what was its fear — that NATO would invade Russia? That the U.S. would colonialize Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, etc? Or did Putin fear that we were foreclosing Russia’s future ability to conquer or dominate these nations? Matlock doesn’t say. But he gives the answer away in the opening of his article. There, he recalls that he knew the Cold War was over when the Soviet foreign minister accepted U.S. criticism of its human rights abuses and agreed to correct them because doing so was in the interest of his country. Now, however, Matlock criticizes the U.S. Congress for condemning Russian human rights abuses — action that he says infuriated Russia’s rulers. (Snip) _____________________________________________________________ Gosh I feel real bad now that we forced that nice Mr. Putin to invade another country. Does anyone think its too late for an apology? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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