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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Pro-Russian mob targets journalists in Ukraine



Seriously, What Do You Do?
  • The usual cast of pro-war chest-beaters in America demand "action" in Ukraine.  Whatever that means. 
  • But you have pro-Russian militias, most of them armed, having seized buildings in nine eastern and southern Ukrainian towns.  Pro-Russian crowds roam the streets.  There are genuine and deeply felt emotions of nationalism on both sides.  A perfect tinderbox to start a wider war.


Gabriel Gatehouse reports from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine for BBC Newsnight, where journalists - including a BBC team - have been targeted by a pro-Russian mob. Russia and the West are accusing each other of fomenting the crisis which has now spread to at least ten cities.

Ukraine says it has asked for UN peacekeepers, but Russia holds a veto on their deployment.



Villagers confront Ukrainian military - BBC News
Villagers in Novoselovka in eastern Ukraine have been filmed trying to stop Ukrainian military vehicles which appear to be moving towards nearby Kramatorsk airfield.
 



Kiev's grip on eastern Ukraine weakens
  • Pro-Russians seize army vehicles.  What was meant to be a show of strength by Ukraine's army has instead shown how the country is unraveling.
  • "We're Russians. We live on Russian soil. So how can we be separatists?"

(The Guardian)  -  For Kiev's beleaguered army it was meant to be a display of strength. Early on Wednesday a column of six armoured personnel carriers trundled through the town of Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine. Some 24 hours earlier Ukrainian soldiers had recaptured a small disused aerodrome. Their next target appeared to be Slavyansk, the neighbouring town, occupied by a shadowy Russian militia. Was victory close?

The column didn't get far. At Kramatorsk's railway junction, next to an open-air market and a shop selling building materials, an angry crowd caught up with it. Next armed separatists dressed in military fatigues turned up too. Within minutes the Ukrainian soldiers gave up. Without a shot being fired they abandoned their vehicles. The pro-Russian gunmen grabbed them. They raised a Russian tricolour. They sat on top and went for a victory spin.

In theory this was happening in Ukraine, under the control of a pro-western government in Kiev, and several hundred kilometres from the Russian border. In reality large chunks of the east of the country are now in open revolt. Ukraine is rapidly vanishing as a sovereign state. Its army is falling apart. What happens next is unclear. But the Kremlin can either annexe the east, as it did Crimea, again shrugging off western outrage. Or it can pull the strings of a new post-Kiev puppet entity.

Militia gather by seized APCs as they stand guard in Slavyansk, Ukraine.
Photograph: Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images

The militia who captured the armoured vehicles on Wednesday looked like professionals. They had Kalashnikovs, flak jackets, ammunition. One even carried a tube-shaped green grenade-launcher. Some hid their faces under black balaclavas. Others waved and smiled. All wore an orange and black ribbon – originally a symbol of the Soviet victory over fascism, and now the colours of the east's snowballing anti-Kiev movement. There was a flag of Donbass, the Russian-speaking eastern region with its main city of Donetsk.

After posing for photos, this new anti-Kiev army set off. The armoured personnel carriers (APCs) rattled past Kramatorsk's train station and turned right over a steep dusty bridge. There was a cloud of diesel smoke. Amazed locals jogged alongside then piled into battered mini-buses to keep up. White tread tracks on the tarmac pointed the way. The column covered about six miles (10km) before turning left at the entrance to Slavyansk. It then drove serenely into town and parked round the back of the city hall. Soldiers got off and stretched their legs next to the White Nights cafe.

Slavyansk residents who had been fearing an imminent attack from Ukrainian forces had a moment of cognitive dissonance. Armed pro-Russian gunmen seized control of the city administration on Saturday. Ever since, Ukrainian helicopters and planes had buzzed ominously overhead.

"We're Russians. We live on Russian soil. So how can we be separatists?" Sergei Sevenko, a 52-year-old car mechanic, wanted to know. A handful of female volunteers stood with him; they had kept vigil until 1am.

Sevenko added: "I've lived all my life in Kramatorsk. The economic situation here is horrible. We're just defending our town and our property from fascists." Waiting to interview him was a young female journalist from Moscow. She was holding a microphone decorated with the logo of Lifenews.ru, the Kremlin's favourite website.



Ukraine is split by language and culture.


Pro-Russian supporters carry a huge Russian flag during a rally in Kharkiv,
eastern Ukraine, some 40 km from the Russian frontier.

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