Eastern Europe/Ukraine

[Philip]

Ukraine crisis: Pro-Russian separatists kill seven government soldiers in ambush
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 64655.html

Meanwhile Russia ends further co-operation on space station in retaliation against US sanctions

Seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed and seven wounded when they were ambushed by pro-Russian separatists near the eastern Ukrainian town of Kramatorsk, the Ukrainian defence ministry said.

It was the biggest single loss of life by the Ukrainian army since soldiers were sent into the mainly Russian-speaking east of the country to break up armed separatist groups who have seized control of towns and public buildings to push their demands for autonomy.

The ministry, in a statement published on its website, said an armoured column came under fire as it approached a bridge near a village 12 miles from Kramatorsk, one of several hot spots in the region.

About 30 rebels, who had taken cover among bushes along a river, attacked with grenade-launchers and automatic weapons, immediately killing two soldiers and wounding three others.

“In all, as a result of the prolonged fighting, six members of the armed forces were killed. Eight soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously,” the statement said.

The state security service said later that the seriously wounded soldier had died while being transported to hospital.

Before the Kramatorsk incident, the Ukrainian Defence Minister Mikhail Koval said a total of nine servicemen had been killed so far in the army’s “anti-terrorist” operation, which has been directed mainly against rebels in the towns of Slovyansk and Mariupol. The dead included five pilots who died when their helicopters were shot down.

Meanwhile Russia responded to Western sanctions against its activities in Ukraine by saying it would refuse to co-operate with the US in the International Space Station.

The Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Moscow would reject a US request to prolong the orbiting station’s use beyond 2020, and bar Washington from using Russian-made rocket engines to launch military satellites.

Moscow took the action, which also included suspending operation of GPS satellite navigation system sites on its territory from June, in response to US plans to deny export licences for hi-tech items that could help the Russian military.

“We are very concerned about continuing to develop hi-tech projects with such an unreliable partner as the United States, which politicises everything,” Mr Rogozin told a news conference.

Washington wants to keep the $100bn, 15-nation space station project in use until at least 2024, four years beyond the previous target.

While six years away, the plan to part ways on a project which was supposed to end the “space race” underlines how relations between the former Cold War rivals have deteriorated since Russia annexed Ukraine in March.

Since the end of the US Space Shuttle project, Russian Soyuz spacecraft have been the only way astronauts can get to the space station, whose crews include both Americans and Russians.

Mr Rogozin said Moscow was planning “strategic changes” in its space industry after 2020 and aims to use money and “intellectual resources” that now go to the space station for a “project with more prospects”. He suggested Russia could use the station without the United States, saying: “The Russian segment can exist independently from the American one. The US one cannot.”

The US space agency Nasa is working with companies to develop space taxis with the goal of restoring US transport to the station by 2017, but the US currently pays Russia more than $60m per person to fly its astronauts up.

In addition to the hi-tech sector sanctions, the US and the EU have imposed visa bans and assets freezes on officials and politicians and targeted companies with links to President Vladimir Putin.

PS:US,"Lost in Space.....!"

PPS:Germany scared stiff about Russia shutting of its gas supplies,is trying (much too late) to rein in the separatists by getting a more conciliatory attitude from the Kiev chickens. But so much blood has flowed down the Dnieper ,and animosities raised so high by the fascists,4 of whom are in the Kiev "govt",that the pro-Russian population of the east will dump the proposal to return to Kiev rule into the river.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/m ... sk-luhansk
Germany to aid Ukraine talks with separatists
Foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier aims for quick launch of dialogue after two eastern regions declare independence

Shaun Walker in Donetsk, Oksana Grytsenko in Luhansk and agencies
theguardian.com, Tuesday 13 May 2014

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (right) and his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Deshchytsia meet at Borispol airport in Kiev. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

The German foreign minister has arrived in Ukraine saying he hopes round-table talks between politicians and civil groups this week will help disarm pro-Russia separatists and improve the atmosphere for elections in the country later this month.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier met the acting prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, at Kiev's airport on Tuesday morning before travelling to the Black Sea city of Odessa, the site of deadly clashes between Ukrainian forces and rebels.

The situation in parts of Ukraine remained "dangerous and threatening", Steinmeier said, adding that the priority was for as many voters as possible to take part in presidential elections on 25 May.

"We also support your efforts to launch a national dialogue, under Ukrainian ownership, here in your country, through round-tables, at the central level and in the regions," Steinmeier told a joint news conference with Yatsenyuk. "I hope that under these conditions it is possible to take steps to bring back occupied buildings and eventually to disarm illegal groups," said the German foreign minister.

The "People's Republic of Donetsk" declared itself an independent country on Monday and, within two hours of doing so, had asked to join Russia. The region of Luhansk also claimed independence.

Dialogue is central to the road map for settling the crisis which was outlined on Monday by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The plan, presented by the Swiss president, Didier Burkhalter, calls on all sides to refrain from violence and urges immediate amnesty, talks on decentralisation and the status of the Russian language.

Russia has welcomed the initiative, which reflects some key demands of insurgents who have denounced the central government in Kiev as a "fascist junta".

Yatsenyuk pledged on Monday to talk to representatives of Ukraine's east.

The Donetsk separatist leader, Denis Pushilin, told journalists that the self-proclaimed republic would ask Moscow to consider absorbing the region, which borders Russia. But it remains doubtful whether Moscow will carry out a Crimea-style annexation of the region, which held a controversial referendum on independence on Sunday, together with neighbouring Luhansk.

According to results announced by the de facto authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk – which also declared independence from Ukraine on Monday – about 90% on a turnout of 70%, and 96% on a turnout of nearly 75% respectively voted for state sovereignty. The referendums – which Kiev has dismissed as illegitimate – were hastily organised and marked by numerous violations.

The results were roundly condemned in the west, but Russia said it respected the results. However, instead of previous statements saying it would protect people in the regions with troops if need be, the Kremlin called for dialogue between the government in Kiev and the south-east regions of the country.

"In Moscow, we respect the will of the people of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and are counting on practical implementation of the outcome of the referendum in a civilised manner, without any repeat of violence and through dialogue," the Kremlin said.

At a press conference in Moscow, Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, read out the Kremlin statement and added that only Russian television channels were telling "the truth in real time" about the crisis, whereas western news outlets were hiding the real causes.

Lavrov made no mention of the controversy over the referendum, merely noting the "high voting activity" of the population despite attempts from Kiev to disrupt the vote. He said no new international talks were planned on Ukraine.

Oleksandr Turchynov, Ukraine's acting president, told the country's parliament: "The farce which terrorists call the referendum will have no legal consequences except the criminal responsibility for its organisers."

The Kremlin has called the new government in Kiev "neo-fascist" and Kiev has accused Russia of organising the separatist movement by providing weapons and tactical advice. Nevertheless, Vladimir Putin last week asked the separatists to delay their referendum, which appeared to be an attempt to distance Russia from the vote, but the president's request was ignored.

There were a number of irregularities with the count and procedure, and it seems unlikely that the figures announced are an accurate reflection of views in the region, with most of those who disagreed with the proposition staying at home.

Nevertheless, there has been an increasing mood of defiance, especially as a Ukrainian army operation against the armed separatists resulted in multiple casualties. It is hard to judge how many people support the armed takeover of government buildings and attempts to separate from Ukraine, but feelings are running high.

The referendum question was worded ambiguously, appearing to offer state sovereignty for the Donetsk and Luhansk "people's republics". Roman Lyagin, head of the de facto central election committee in Donetsk, said before the vote that nothing would change in terms of state borders. He said that, in future, the region would be free to decide whether to stay within Ukraine, become independent or join Russia. In the end, it apparently took only two hours to make the decision, making a mockery of what voters had been told in the lead-up.

In Luhansk, separatists announced that more than 96% of ballots had been cast in favour of the independence of the region. "Congratulations on the birth of the Luhansk republic," said Vasily Nikitin, deputy head of the region's separatist movement. "We are now preparing an appeal to the UN and international community asking them to recognise us."

Nikitin said the constitution of the new "country" was almost ready, and that its residents would not participate in Ukrainian presidential elections planned for 25 May. Donetsk's de facto authorities have also said they will not allow voting in the elections. A key demand of Moscow has been to postpone the elections.

In Luhansk, one resident, Anatoliy Sukharev, 80, approached Nikitin and asked whether there would be a second referendum on joining Russia.

"What is next? When are we going to have this referendum?" he asked. Nikitin said a second referendum would happen, but the republic needed to "organise as a country" first.

But for many Ukraine-oriented residents, recent events have been a tragedy.

"My father is a businessman, now he is trying to sell all his businesses here before moving away. Many people I know have already left," said Olesia, 20, who refused to give her last name fearing retribution. "I can love Luhansk only if it is a Ukrainian Luhansk."

A Kremlin-linked MP, Vyacheslav Nikonov, said the Ukrainian military operation in eastern Ukraine represented "genuine fascism" and that the residents of Luhansk and Donetsk deserved no less support. "Indeed, they deserve much more support from us than the residents of Crimea," he said.

However, he added that Moscow would have to weigh the "economic, political, and military risks" before deciding whether it should absorb the regions.

Gazprom, Russia's state energy company, also told Ukraine it had to settle a $3.5bn (£2bn) gas debt and pay in advance for deliveries in June, or be cut off.

In Brussels, EU foreign ministers added 13 people and two firms to their visa ban and asset freeze list over the Ukraine crisis, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the measure had yet to be officially announced. The EU has targeted a number of officials but the sanctions have been far narrower than US sanctions over Ukraine.

[UlanBatori]

They could go on the Chinese Long March satellites... nah! Congress has specifically forbidden any NASA funding going to any Chinese entity.
Maybe the Eyeranians and the North Koreans have manned space launchers. Nah! They are under sanctions as well. Maybe the Syrians... ? Or the Boko Haram?
Maybe finally the GOTUS will have to get serious about developing manned space access again. Somehow I suspect that the USAF can get astronauts to and from the ISS any day, literally.

[Philip]

And what the Maidan Mob is doing right now.Trying to drum up "bounty hunters" to fight in the east!

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/m ... ters[quote]
Maidan Square activists urged to fight for Ukraine in the east
Chief of rally's fighting wing aims to co-opt Kiev protesters into battalions opposing pro-Russian rebels
Howard Amos in Kiev
theguardian.com, Tuesday 13 May 2014 17.15 BST

Ukrainian soldiers at a checkpoint near Slavyansk, where the national guard has deployed 400 volunteer fighters. Photograph: Vasily Maximov/AFP/Getty

Andrei Vlasov admitted that it used to be more exciting. Since November the 33-year-old has been living in a tent in Kiev's Maidan, or Independence Square, the focal point for Ukraine's protest movement.

But revolutionary fervour has faded and instead of the pitched battles with riot police that characterised the first months of the uprising, activists now spent time dealing with drunks and managing the day-to-day running of the camp. "It's boring here," he said, adding that only TV and the internet went some way towards relieving the tedium.

After Ukraine's president, Viktor Yanukovych, fled the country in February, the centre of unrest shifted, first to the Crimean peninsula, and then to the east where armed pro-Russian insurgents are now defying the interim government.

In central Kiev, burnt-out cars and barricades of cobblestones and tyres still litter the streets. Molotov cocktails, improvised clubs, stretchers and shields remain close to hand, but they have not been used since the fall of the regime.

The state of limbo has posed many questions about Maidan's future. Some say it should become a semi-permanent feature of political life, others that it should disperse after the presidential elections scheduled for 25 May.

In a government office a few miles up the road the former commander of the protest camp's fighting wing, Andriy Parubiy, is now at the heart of the Kiev's attempts to counter the rebellion in the east. As head of the national security and defence council, he oversees Ukraine's security forces.

"There was a time to throw stones, but now is the time to collect stones," Parubiy said about the remaining protesters in Maidan.

Officials are acutely aware of the potential threat posed by the large groups of men, many well-armed, that make up Maidan's self defence force. Extremist rightwing elements, which led much of the violence against the previous government, also have a prominent presence in the square.

In late March, rightwing radicals blockaded the Ukrainian parliament after a leader of the radical ultranationalist Right Sector group was killed by security forces during an attempted arrest. The interim Ukrainian president, Oleksandr Turchynov, warned at the time of "destabilisation".

Parubiy is spearheading attempts to co-opt Maidan activists into volunteer units that will fight alongside police, the army and special forces in the east.

Billboards across Kiev call for recruits for the re-formed national guard, which already has one battalion of about 400 volunteers deployed around the rebel-held town of Slavyansk.

"When we set off to Maidan we did not go to fight, but that's what life threw up, that's what fate decreed for us," said Parubiy. "A lot of people on Maidan still think that they need to protect Kiev … we are calling on all these people, especially young men, to join our [volunteer] battalions and go to where there are currently real barricades."

The strategy is not without risk. Some volunteer groups under the official jurisdiction of the interior ministry have been accused of leading the deadly violence in Mariupol and Krasnoarmeisk last week that helped to push local people into the arms of the rebels.

In another effort to boost fighting power, Kiev announced on 1 May that it was reintroducing conscription because of threats to the country's territorial integrity. The Ukrainian military was strongly criticised for its passivity as a string of administrative buildings in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk fell to pro-Russian irregulars in recent weeks.

"You can see how the army fights," said Svyatoslav Tsegolko, a deputy director and presenter at Ukraine's Channel 5 television station, which provided extensive coverage of the Maidan protests. "People joined the army to get flats."

While there appears to be strong support for the action of Ukraine's security forces in the east, there is also an awareness of the risks.

"People need to understand that they belong in Ukraine," said Anna Calyack, 24, a civil servant, who was walking with a friend through central Kiev on Saturday evening. "If we force them, then we will be just the same as Yanukovych."

Observers in Russia and Ukraine have hurried to describe events in the east as a civil war but people in Kiev tend to shy away from such language.

Parubiy said an unconventional war was being waged by Russia against Ukraine, and described pro-Russian irregulars as terrorists.

Others contrast the fast-paced propaganda campaign in the media with the relatively limited action on the ground.

Irina Rozsoshko, 29, said there was no sign, at least in Kiev, of a traditional war with tanks and people in uniform "but there is an information war going on".

Vlasov believed he had a better idea than most about the nature of the conflict in the east; he said he was from Kramatorsk, one of the towns taken by pro-Russian rebels last month, and he was sharing his tent with a group of activists from the eastern regions.

"Those who have seized power in Kramatorsk are all acquaintances of mine and it has become like the 1990s there – all the bandits have returned," he said. "About 70% of people support a unified Ukraine but they can't go against automatic weapons."

He said that many of the fighters there were being paid, and he did not believe the conflict would be over soon. While it continued there was no way he could return to his wife and children, he said. "If I go back I will be shot."

While Vlasov feared for his life, others remained on Maidan because they were convinced the uprising had not ended with the removal of Yanukovych and had not yet been completed.

Parliamentary elections should follow the inauguration of the country's new president, said Alexander Borshulyak, a vintage-car collector who arrived to protest in Kiev last year.

Borshulyak and three other volunteers from Maidan Square run a small charity helping the thousands of people who fled to Kiev after Russia annexed Crimea in March. "When I left my two sons last year I embraced them and said that I will only return to a different town in a different country," he said. "If I go back now when prices have risen, all the gold has been stolen and there are barricades on every street, what can I say to my children?"
[/quote]

[Vayutuvan]

Enough of it.

When are we going to say the same about the following?

It's like cooperating with Packees. Ugh.

[Philip]

It"s truly going to be a "Long March" for the US to get back to space.I cannot understand the cretins who scrapped the space shuttles unless some of the UFO's flying are from Area 51.

Donetsk....."Done,Done,Done!

Ukraine crisis: A country is born in Donetsk... but not for long
First the People’s Republic of Donetsk declared independence from Kiev. Then its leaders asked to be ruled by Moscow. Kim Sengupta reports on another day in the disintegration of Ukraine

The world’s newest country was born yesterday, but with the indication that it will have a brief lifespan. No sooner had the Peoples’ Republic of Donetsk declared its unilateral declaration of independence from Ukraine, that its leaders asked to be ruled by the Kremlin.

“People of Donetsk have always been part of the Russian world, for us, the history of Russia is our history”, declared Denis Pushlin, the chairman of the praesidium. “Based on the will of the people and the restoration of a historic justice, we ask the Russian Federation to absorb the Donetsk Peoples’ Republic into the Russian Federation.”

The will of the people, according to the separatists, has had a quite a remarkable outburst of expression.

It was initially announced by Roman Lyagin, the head of the rebel election commission, that 89.7 per cent of the public had voted in favour of leaving Ukraine, a figure that would have meant a turnout of 100.63 per cent. However, it later emerged that Mr Lyagin had mispoke and the figure was 89.07 per cent.

Still, considering the levels of uncertainty, violence and roadblocks - it represented an extraordinarily healthy participation.

There was no immediate response from the Russian government to the appeal. Earlier in the day a statement had been issued in Moscow saying that it expected the results of the vote to be implemented in a “civilized manner” with a dialogue between Ukraine’s caretaker government and Donetsk and another city, Luhansk, where the separatist leadership had also proclaimed independence after a referendum, this time with an alleged vote of 96 per cent.

Sergey Lavrov, said there were no further international talks planned over what has turned into one of the most serious international crisis in recent times. The Russian foreign minister attacked the “shameless lies” of the West over the affair and the “information blockade” which had been supposedly imposed over the large turnout at the polls.

Mr Lavrov also claimed that a roadmap for a negotiated settlement produced by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) calling for direct talks between the protagonists had the backing of John Kerry, but the US Secretary of State had failed to press the Kiev administration to accept it.

VIDEO: Donetsk celebrates after referendum result

Olesksandr Turchynov, Ukraine’s interim president, has been adamant that there “would be no talking to terrorists”. He told the Parliament in Kiev today: “The farce that terrorist separatists call a referendum is nothing more than propaganda to cover up murders, kidnappings, violence and other crimes”. The real figures for polls, he claimed, were much lower with 24 per cent in Luhansk and 32 per cent in the Donetsk region.

In Washington, the Obama administration stressed.” The United States will not recognise the results of these illegal referendums”, while the British Foreign Secretary, maintained: “The votes in the Eurovision Song Contest are more credible and carry greater weight than the circumstances in Donetsk and Luhansk.”

William Hague would not perhaps have known it, but the victory of Austrian Conchita Wurst had been held up by a few people, waiting to vote in the city of Mariupol, as a shocking example of West’s decadence. Sexual orientation was also an important issue for Mr Pushilin while discussing the common cultural ties between the Donbass and Russia, in an interview with Channel 4 Television yesterday. “We don’t like gay parades either here or in Russia,” he pointed out firmly.

On his first day as head of the Peoples Republic, Chairman Pushilin had initially seemed unsure about the pace of political ties with the Kremlin. Plans for a second referendum on asking to join the Russian Federation, scheduled for next Monday, had been dropped. Who, he had been asked by journalists, will then decide on such a monumental decision? “Which country we will join will be decided after consultations with experts”, responded Mr Pushilin. Who were the experts? Were they in Donetsk or in Moscow? A few hours later the plea came from him for Moscow to take over.

The separatist high commands in both Donetsk and Luhansk stated that the Ukrainian presidential elections, due on 25th May, will not be allowed to take place in their regions. Mr Pushilin went on to assert that Ukrainian forces in the region were now “foreign”. He continued: “They would have to make up their minds whether they want to be an occupying power, or join the forces of the Donetsk Republic which are being be set up. We shall take all steps necessary against foreign forces on our land.”

Such ultimatums were also issued in Crimea following the referendum there. But, on that occasion, it was backed up by the presence of Russian troops. Ukrainian forces in the peninsula subsequently faced prolonged and intimidating sieges by the “Green Men” and separatist militias. The roles are reversed in the Donbass, with the Ukrainian military and their armour attempting to surround and carry out strikes into militant towns and cities, albeit with limited success.

The forming of the Peoples Forces, meanwhile, has revealed inner tensions in the separatist hierarchy. On Sunday, three senior militia officers arrived from Slovyansk, a city which has gained the reputation for being the most belligerent and best armed separatist stronghold, to Donetsk and, it is believed, told a bemused Mr Pushilin and his colleagues that they would be in charge of all military matters from now on.

Yesterday, asked of his relations with the Slovyansk command, he insisted: “We all fight together, we are all equal”. Later in the afternoon it was confirmed that Colonel Igor Strelkov, whose original name was Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, would be the military commander of the Peoples Republic.

The Kiev authorities had accused Colonel Strelkov of being an officer in Russian military intelligence, the chief point of liaison between separatists and Moscow. No evidence, however, has been produced in support of the charge. Colonel Strelkov denies the charge, insisting that he was a Ukrainian citizen.

There had been no major Ukrainian military activity in the course of the day. Kiev appeared to be facing its own problems with its forces. Interior minister Arsen Avakov said that troops involved in a shooting on Sunday night were nor under the control of the government; an investigation would be launched into what happened. A number of private armies had been established in the region, one with supposed links to an oligarch.

[TSJones]

It"s truly going to be a "Long March" for the US to get back to space.I cannot understand the cretins who scrapped the space shuttles unless some of the UFO's flying are from Area 51.

The government needs to get out of the launch business and let it go commercial. I think russia's actions will boost commercial development in the US.

[abhischekcc]

It"s truly going to be a "Long March" for the US to get back to space.I cannot understand the cretins who scrapped the space shuttles unless some of the UFO's flying are from Area 51.

The government needs to get out of the launch business and let it go commercial. I think russia's actions will boost commercial development in the US.

Will it be in time enough to prevent ISS from falling from the skies?

[TSJones]

Will it be in time enough to prevent ISS from falling from the skies?

yes.

[vina]

Will it be in time enough to prevent ISS from falling from the skies?

Pratt & Whitney have the full drawings and the production rights for he RD-180. They just did not exercise that option to build it in the US. Now they might do that and build it in the US.

[Philip]

Crony Capiltalism US Veep style! Now we know why Joe Biden visited Kiev.It's the money that matters!
International nepotism US-Ukranian style! It's all been about plunder and loot by the Ukranian oligarchs and US politicos-MNCs.

Son of US VP Joe Biden appointed to board of major Ukrainian gas company
Published time: May 13, 2014

http://rt.com/business/158660-biden-son ... e-company/

Hunter Biden, son of US VP Joe Biden, is joining the board of directors of Burisma Holdings, Ukraine’s largest private gas producer. The group has prospects in eastern Ukraine where civil war is threatened following the coup in Kiev.

Biden will advise on “transparency, corporate governance and responsibility, international expansion and other priorities” to “contribute to the economy and benefit the people of Ukraine.”

Joe Biden’s senior campaign adviser in 2004, financier Devon Archer, a business partner of Hunter Biden’s, also joined the Bursima board claiming it was like ‘Exxon in the old days’.

Biden Jr.’s resume is unsurprisingly sprinkled with Ivy-league dust – a graduate of Yale Law School he serves on the Chairman’s Advisory Board for the National Democratic Institute, is a director for the Center for National Policy and the US Global Leadership Coalition which comprises 400 American businesses, NGOs, senior national security and foreign policy experts.

Former US President Bill Clinton appointed him as Executive Director of E-Commerce Policy and he was honorary co-chair of the 2008 Obama-Biden Inaugural Committee.

Burisma Holdings was set up in 2002. Its licenses cover Ukraine’s three key hydrocarbon basins, including Dnieper-Donets (in eastern Ukraine), Carpathian (western) and Azov-Kuban (southern Ukraine).

The Biden board news came as Gazprom moved Ukraine to a prepaid gas delivery regime and sent Naftogaz, Ukraine’s gas champion, a $1.66 billion bill that is due June 2, or Moscow will halt supplies.

Ukraine currently has about 9 billion cubic meters of gas in storage, but by the winter needs 18.5bcm. Kiev bought 27.7 billion cubic meters from Gazprom for which it still owes some $3.5 bn in 2013.

Gazprom is demanding Kiev pays $485 per 1,000 cubic meters, raised from $268.50 after Moscow was forced to cancel several discounts agreed upon under Yanukovich's tenure as president. Kiev rejects the new price as “politically motivated” and says it will only pay its debt if Gazprom lowers the price back to $268.50, or else open an arbitration case against the company in Stockholm.

Stirring the hornet's nest?
Kiev military unit shoots at Russian journalists after fight near Kramatorsk
Published time: May 13, 2014
http://rt.com/news/158760-ukraine-milit ... urnalists/

Ukrainian armed forces have opened fire on journalists from Russia’s LifeNews working near the city of Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, where fighting broke out between self-defense forces and Kiev’s army.

The shooting began around 1 p.m. as three members of a LifeNews crew tried to enter the village of Oktyabrskoe following the fighting. The village is located some 20 kilometers from Kramatorsk.

“We saw that machines were gone and the shooting stopped like half-an-hour ago. We tried to enter the premises of the village to find out what happened to locals, if they needed help, and if there were wounded among them,” reporter Oleg Sidyakin told RT. “But as we got closer to the outskirts of the village, we ran into an armored troop carrier with a Ukrainian flag on it and armed people in black uniforms. We were going in a car with 'TV' stickers, indicating that were are press. We stuck hands out of windows, but first there came one shot and then machine gun fire.”

Sidyakin said he did not know where the shots were aimed – in the air or above their heads – but still decided to turn away and move to a safer location, in order to avoid provoking armed people.

“I had to make such decision because I could not put in danger the lives of a driver and a cameraman,” he said.

The LifeNews reporter said that local residents were shocked, stating that some of them hid in basements. Many still cannot return home. Sidyakin said that phone communication was cut off, which “as self-defense forces told us, is a sign of an 'active phase' of the military operation” conducted by Kiev forces.

Fighting between Kiev’s army and local self-defense groups broke out in the afternoon near Oktyabrskoe.

“It was around noon. The Ukrainian army was taking ammunitions to the city of Kramatorsk,” local resident Vladimir told RT, citing his friend Aleksandr, who lives nearby. “There is the village of Oktyabrskoe, where there is a bridge [on the way]. Our self-defense blew up a vehicle with ammunition and set Kiev’s APC on fire,” he said.

According to Kiev’s Defense Ministry, a group of around 30 self-defense troops “ambushed a convoy of armored vehicles of one of the military units.”

The ministry said the self-defense group came to the scene beforehand and hid in bushes along the river.

“The first shot from a grenade launcher targeted the engine of an APC, which came up to the bridge. There was an explosion. Another APC tried to pull away the damaged machine that caught fire further away from the village. The soldiers engaged in the fight," the ministry’s statement read.

Kiev says that six of its army fighters were killed and another eight injured, with one in critical condition.

Hours after the fight, self-defense units confirmed that they “destroyed two of the enemy’s APCs.” They also reported that one of their militiamen died.

"It is true that there was an armed clash,” the Kramatorsk self-defense unit told Interfax. “The enemy retreated.”

The fight near Kramatorsk is the latest in a string of local fights as Kiev continues to conduct its “punitive operation” against anti-government activists in southeastern Ukraine, which began May 2.

[Theo_Fidel]

Will it be in time enough to prevent ISS from falling from the skies?

Pratt & Whitney have the full drawings and the production rights for he RD-180. They just did not exercise that option to build it in the US. Now they might do that and build it in the US.

Probably a 5-10 year type endeavor to develop all the machining and manufacturing pieces, validate and test them, etc. All off which gets more stringent and critical closer to the operating margins you get. Esp. as the kerosene tech is relatively unfamiliar to USA.

Atleast for the that time period USA will be dependent on Russia engines and parts though there was mention of a small stock pile already present in state.

Vina, do you know what the operating margin for the RD-180 is? For the USA LOX engines it was 130% of design. Which is why most engines were one use and tolerances were so tight.

[Philip]

http://rt.com/news/158832-un-ukraine-he ... r-scandal/

UN-marked strike helicopter ‘used by Kiev against militia’ sparks scandal
Published time: May 14, 2014

The UN has voiced concerns over the apparent use of UN-marked helicopters by Kiev troops in their military operation against Donetsk regional militia. A video of a white-painted Mil Mi-24 strike helicopter with UN logo has emerged.

When inquired about the United Nations’ stance on the use of peacekeeper-marked military hardware in non-peacekeeper operations, the office for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson said such use would violate UN rules.

“It is the responsibility of Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) that provide Contingent Owned Equipment to peacekeeping missions to remove all logos and signage bearing the UN's name once such equipment has been repatriated to the home country or is no longer being used for official UN purposes,” the office told RT.

It added that UN-marked aircraft can be used for missions tasked by the UN and that UN’s Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support is in contact with the Ukrainian authorities to clarify the issue.

A video of a UN-marked Mil Mi-24 strike helicopter was published on Tuesday by LifeNews television. It said its correspondents covering Kiev’s military operation in the Donetsk Region took the video near Kramatorsk. LifeNews said at least three combat Mi-24 and one transport Mi-8 helicopters carrying UN colors were spotted in the area.

Russia said it “certainly” is interested in finding out more on the situation.

“We certainly want to understand how it happened that the UN logo – a UN-painted helicopter – was used against protesters in the east and the south. The United Nations has already expressed it very deep concern,” Russia’s Foreign Minister said in an interview with Bloomberg.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has denied the claims, saying that no UN-marked helicopters participated in its military operation in the southeast of the country.

“The helicopters colored in white paint, which formerly took part in peacekeeping missions, are used. However, they only have emblems on them that confirm they belong to the armed forces of Ukraine,” the ministry’s press-service told Interfax-Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military has provided equipment for several UN peacekeeping missions, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

[Philip]

Capitulation? Have the headless chickens of Kiev stopped running in circles from exhaustion and have learnt their lesson? After the fait-accompli of the referendum in the east,an overwhelming vote for independence and joining Russia,it appears that the Kiev clique are being forced to accept defeat on the battlefield,in the ballot and now must grab whatever crumbs they can find on the table.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/m ... gions-osce
Ukraine agrees to talks on Moscow-backed plan for eastern regions
Prime minister to chair discussions on OSCE peace proposals day after six Ukrainian soldiers killed in rebel ambush

The Ukrainian government has agreed to launch discussions on giving more powers to the regions under a peace plan brokered by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) – a roadmap backed by Moscow but regarded with scepticism by Kiev.

Ukraine's prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, is to chair the first in a series of meetings that will include national MPs, government figures and regional officials in line with proposals drafted by the OSCE – a transatlantic security and rights group that includes Russia and the US.

A solution to the crisis in east Ukraine had seemed remote on Tuesday, when six Ukrainian army servicemen were killed in an ambush by rebels and attempts to get Kiev and the armed separatists to negotiate came to nothing.

Ukraine's defence ministry released a statement saying six of its soldiers had been killed and a further eight wounded during an ambush outside the town of Kramatorsk, in Donetsk region. The attackers used grenade launchers and automatic weapons to fire at the Ukrainian column, hitting an armoured personnel carrier.

More than 50 people have died in Donetsk since Kiev began its "anti-terrorism operation" in the area, but Tuesday's attack represents the largest loss of life for the Ukrainian army in a single incident.

The de facto separatist government in Donetsk repeated on Tuesday lunchtime that the Ukrainian army was considered to be an "occupying force", and the ambush appeared to be a bloody restatement of their case.

The "Donetsk People's Republic" was proclaimed on Monday, after a hastily arranged referendum resulted in nearly 90% of votes in favour of state sovereignty. Critics have pointed out that there were no observers and that most of those who remain loyal to Kiev simply stayed at home. Nevertheless, the region announced independence and immediately appealed to Russia to accept it as a new region.

The Ukrainian government and western powers have rejected the referendum as a sham.

In Brussels on Tuesday, Yatsenyuk thanked the OSCE for its plan but said Ukraine had its own proposals for ending the crisis and that the people of his country should settle the issue themselves. He disclosed no details of that plan.

The self-proclaimed Donetsk republic took its first tentative steps on the international stage on Tuesday, imposing sanctions on three individuals – the US president, Barack Obama, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel and the EU foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton – who are banned from entering the territory as well as flying over it. The reason given is that they support the Kiev government's operation's against armed separatists in the east of the country.

In a document, the separatists also gave David Cameron a sharp warning, saying: "PS British prime minister David Cameron is on a provisional list (without the sanctions being enforced in practice) and is advised to think carefully about his attitude to the Kiev junta, especially given the traditional good relations between Britain and the Donbas region."

Donetsk was founded by a Welshman, John Hughes, in the 1870s, and for a time the city even bore his name.

Meanwhile the pressure piles up on the neo-Nazi thugs!
http://rt.com/news/159048-donetsk-ultim ... -withdraw/

Donetsk self-defense forces give Kiev troops 24 hours to withdraw
Published time: May 15, 2014

Donetsk self-defense forces set an ultimatum for the Kiev military, warning that if troops do not withdraw from block posts in the Donetsk region within 24 hours, they will be taken by force, RIA Novosti reported.

The pro-autonomy militia of Donbass region in eastern Ukraine made the statement on Wednesday.

"If the armored vehicles are not pulled back, the roadblocks of the so-called legitimate authorities are not removed, I will have enough power and means – the commander supported me today – to destroy and burn everything. Reconnaissance and sabotage groups are ready to move and some are steady,” deputy commander of the pro-autonomy militia of Donbass, Sergey Zdrilyuk, told RIA Novosti.

“I give 24 hours for them to withdraw all troops, all forces,” he added.

The statement follows referendums in Donetsk and Lugansk regions, which showed that the majority of voters support self-rule amid an intensified military operation by Kiev.

Almost 90 percent of voters in Donetsk region have endorsed political independence from Kiev, the head of the Central Election Commission of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Roman Lyagin, previously announced.

In Lugansk region, 96.2 percent of voters supported the region’s self-rule, according to final figures announced by the local election commission.

After the referendum, the Donetsk People's Republic proclaimed itself a sovereign state and asked Moscow to consider its accession into Russia.

[pankajs]

Hunter Biden’s new job at a Ukrainian gas company is a problem for U.S. soft power

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wor ... oft-power/

Around the world, there is a major perception that U.S. foreign policy is dictated by a thirst for oil and gas. For example, a 2002 Pew Research poll found that 75 percent of French respondents felt that the United States-led invasion of Iraq was a simple ruse to gain control of Iraqi oil. And that isn't just what the "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" think either: Establishment figures in the United States such as Sen. John McCain and former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan have both made statements that suggest they buy into it, too.

Such a perception is probably an oversimplification, but there is clearly some truth to the idea. And whether it is true or not, perceptions clearly matter when it comes to international relations.

Think about that when you read the announcement that Vice President Biden's son, Hunter Biden, has accepted a position on the board at Ukraine's largest private gas firm. According to a news release posted Tuesday, the vice president's son would join the board of Burisma Holdings. The Yale-educated lawyer would be in charge of the company’s legal unit, the release said.

Here's a small selection of the responses to the news, which ranged from the incredulous to the resigned:

Biden's son takes job a Ukraine gas firm. Boy, that looks really bad. What are they thinking"? http://t.co/QzJQdoysp4
— Robert Coalson (@CoalsonR) May 13, 2014

Joe Biden's son is now head of legal affairs at Ukraine's largest gas company. Speechless! http://t.co/8t6Q1jLK3E
— Olga Kuzmina (@OlgaKuzminaDC) May 13, 2014

Obama White House for sale or rent. Biden’s son to head Ukrainian gas company. #Nefarious http://t.co/LQd8lQRdtJ
— Cong. Tim Huelskamp (@CongHuelskamp) May 14, 2014

While the general public appeared nonplussed, the official response has been muted. “Hunter Biden is a private citizen and a lawyer," White House spokesperson Kendra Barkoff told The Post. "The vice president does not endorse any particular company and has no involvement with this company."

[Austin]

Stephen F. Cohen U.S. Russia & Truth About Ukraine

[Philip]

Civil War on the cards,Lavrov.Other reports about the Kiev clique rounding up a "posse' of "volunteers",read contract killers and foreign mercenaries courtesy the CIA sponsors and their neo-Nazi bedfellows,is an ominous sign.It appears that there is going to be a major battle ahead of the so-called "election" of a Ukranian puppet pres. on May 25th.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/m ... iev-russia
Ukraine civil war fears mount as volunteer units take up arms
As Kiev struggles to wrest back control of east from pro-Russia fighters, irregular units of 'Ukrainian patriots' are stepping in

Shaun Walker in Mariupol and Howard Amos in Kiev
theguardian.com, Thursday 15 May 2014 12.16 BST

Members of the Donbas volunteer battalion take part in exercises in their camp on the border between Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions. Photograph: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images

The men, dressed in irregular fatigues and with balaclavas pulled over their heads, fingered their Kalashnikovs nervously and jumped at every unusual sound. Eager to aid their country's military struggle, the so-called Donbas volunteer battalion was ready to fight, but appeared to be short on training.

The battalion commander, Semyon Semenchenko, a 40-year-old from Donetsk with a degree in film-making, insisted that he and all his men had combat experience, from the Ukrainian or Soviet armies. They are all volunteers, receiving zero salary from either the state or oligarchs, he said, claiming they live off their own savings and donations from patriotic Ukrainians, who transfer them money after reading about them on social media.

"Our state needs defending, and we decided that if the army could not do it, we should do it ourselves," said Semenchenko, during a meeting with the Guardian outside the town of Mariupol, where his men were based and offering support to regular units of the Ukrainian army in their fight against armed separatists in the region.

With military operations inside Ukraine's borders an unappealing prospect for many of the country's professional soldiers, irregular units are springing up as Kiev struggles to wrest back control of Donetsk and Luhansk regions from the grip of pro-Russia fighters. They have been given semi-legitimacy by the Ukrainian authorities, grateful for any help they can get in their fight in the east.

"It is hard to trust the army and the national guard," said Semenchenko. "There are cases when they have just given up their weapons and fled. I don't understand it at all, how can you give an oath to a country and then not stick to it?"

Volunteers are recruited from western Ukraine and Kiev, and more quietly, within the east itself. A self-published newspaper in Donetsk gives the phone number where "Ukrainian patriots" can sign up for the volunteer battalions; its editor has gone into hiding to avoid being kidnapped by the separatist fighters. Volunteers undergo training in neighbouring Dnepropetrovsk region, and their battalions can be brought under the command of the interior ministry, allowing them to operate legally. Nevertheless, the training period can be as little as 50 hours, before the volunteers are put into real combat situations.

Arming troops with almost no real training and sending them into extremely sensitive situations where they may be shot at with weapons from within crowds, largely made up of angry but unarmed civilians, sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Members of a self-defence battalion take part in a training exercise. Members of a self-defence battalion take part in a training exercise. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters/Reuters

Indeed, it has resulted in bloodshed on a number of occasions so far, most notably in Mariupol last Friday, when at least eight people died when the national guard entered the city to clear the police station of separatist fighters. On their retreat, troops fired at civilians, almost all of whom were unarmed.

These incidents, already awful enough, are often amplified and distorted by Russian media, leading to even more anger among the crowds in what is becoming a downward spiral of hatred and violence.

Kiev's "anti-terrorism operation" in the east of the country involves units of the army, the police, special forces and the national guard, which is partly made up of volunteers drawn from those who participated in the Maidan protests in Kiev.

Andriy Parubiy, head of Ukraine's national security and defence council, told the Guardian that these were all coordinated from a single anti-terrorism command centre, but numerous sources on the ground attest to the fact that coordination is poor, and there are major concerns over how ready the volunteer brigades are for combat.

In addition to the difficulties of coordinating such a diverse range of paramilitary groups, there has also been concern at the extreme nationalist element among those fighting. The frequent Russian claim that the Ukrainian government itself is fascist is untrue, but there are certainly far-right elements involved in the fight in the east.

Parubiy himself has an extremely dubious past, having set up the neo-fascist Social National party of Ukraine together with the current leader of far-right Svoboda, Oleh Tyahnybok, in the early 1990s. While there has been little evidence that the militias have been motivated by any kind of far-right ideology when fighting in east Ukraine, there is no doubt that radicals have been the people most willing to fight, and this has led to a number of situations which appear to be well beyond the bounds of normal military behaviour.

In one incident, the radical politician Oleh Liashko was shown in footage that emerged last week humiliating captured insurgent and self-proclaimed defence minister of the "Donetsk People's Republic", Igor Kakidzyanov.

A video of the interrogation, where Kakidzyanov was shown in his underwear with his hands bound, circulated widely on social media and was promoted by Liashko himself.

"This whole situation is completely out of control," said Anna Neistat, an associate director at Human Rights Watch, who is currently in eastern Ukraine.

Five days after the incident, Parubiy told the Guardian that he had not even watched the footage, which also appeared to show Liashko ordering around armed men, and there had been no formal condemnation from the government.

Posters promoting Liashko's presidential campaign read: "Death to the Occupiers!" and are widely displayed all over cities across western Ukraine.

Speaking to the Guardian by telephone, Liashko said he conducted the interrogation because he wanted to find out what the motivations and ideas of Kakizdyanov were. He said he did not think it inappropriate that he was allowed to carry out the interrogation, nor that the questioning took place with Kakidzyanov stripped to his underwear.

"I had before me a terrorist and I wanted to understand how he thinks; what his goals, motivations and ideals were," said Liashko. "It turned out he was in close contact with Russian intelligence; it just proves that the people we are dealing with are Russian agents."

Liashko is currently in the process of setting up his own volunteer battalion, which he hopes will become another addition to the motley selection of forces currently fighting for Kiev in the east.

"For 23 years nobody has paid any attention to our army, and now when we need to fight for the borders of our country today, we can't," he said.

"We need a people's war, like in the second world war when people rose up to fight fascism, that's what we need to do now."
Pro-Ukrainian self defence unit Pro-Ukrainian self defence unit performs weapons practice at their training ground outside Donetsk, Ukraine. Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/Associated Press

Liashko said that he would be the "commissar" of the battalion but that it would take military orders from the army or the interior ministry. So far, he said, over 3,000 people had applied to join, of which around 400 had been selected. The criteria were that they should be physically fit, have combat experience, and undergo a background check to ensure they were not working for foreign intelligence agencies.

"We are fighting against terrorists and we will work according to the principle: if they don't surrender, they should be destroyed," said Liashko. "Russian mercenaries are trying to turn Donbas into a second Chechnya, and we cannot allow it."

Russian media reported earlier in the week that Liashko had been captured by rebels, but he later emerged unscathed, announcing his security by posting a photograph of himself, his mother and a large white cat on his blog. He told the Guardian that four pro-Russia separatists had been killed and three captured during the attempt to take him hostage, but gave no further details.

With the new militias often fighting in unmarked uniforms, it has sometimes been difficult even to identify who they are. In one incident during Sunday's unrecognised referendums on independence, a group of militiamen arrived in the town of Krasnoarmeisk, supposedly to stop people from voting.

They said they were from the "Dnepr" volunteer battalion, a similar outfit to the Donbas battalion, made up of volunteers and trained in neighbouring Dnepropetrovsk region, funded by the local governor-oligarch, Ihor Kolomoysky.

There was shouting and aggression from the crowd about the men who had disrupted the voting. At one point, several people lunged towards them, unarmed, and the men shot into the air. The volley of bullets did nothing to placate the crowd, and the men kept shooting, a look of panic on their faces. The incident ended with two civilians dead, and later the Dnepr battalion claimed its forces had never been there.

Exactly who the men were remains unclear, and the Ukrainian government has said it will investigate. Photographs from the event appear to show one of the deputy leaders of Right Sector involved in the incident.

The Right Sector is a loose grouping of ultra-radical elements that led confrontations with riot police in Kiev, throwing molotov cocktails and wielding baseball bats. The group's influence has been consistently distorted by its own boasts and Russian state media exaggerations, but it is clear that some of its members are fighting in the east, presumably within volunteer battalions.

It is Right Sector that is most often mentioned as the fascist component of the new government. Although its leader has met with the Israeli ambassador to Ukraine and insisted that the group does not adhere to racial ideology, it is clear that it contains some extremely far-right elements.

One 18-year old Right Sector member, who gave his nickname as "White", claimed that he was involved in fighting in the east and had been wounded outside the insurgent-controlled town of Slavyansk.

"People are terrified of Right Sector and think that we will kill children, but we don't make a big show of it [in the east] and we wear different uniforms without recognisable insignia," he said while patrolling in central Kiev with a gas mask and a rubber truncheon.

In addition to the huge number of different groups fighting on the Ukrainian side, there is also a ragtag assortment of people fighting for the separatists – a mixture of Cossack militias and others from Russia who may have links with Russian intelligence, people representing local business and criminal interests, and ideologically motivated locals who genuinely believe in the cause.

Insiders say there are already extreme tensions between the various armed groups that make up the forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, and there have been exchanges of fire between different pro-separatist groups on more than one occasion.

"I hope it does not progress further, but there is a tendency of moving towards the scenario we saw in the Yugoslav wars," says Ihor Todorov, a professor at Donetsk National University. "We can end up with different field commanders, who are fighting against everyone; not for a particular side but just for their own ends."

For now, all-out infighting between groups ostensibly on the same side has been prevented by a stronger hatred for the enemy, as both the pro-Kiev and pro-separation forces have cultivated a hatred for their opponents.

On the pro-Russia side, the gunmen regularly speak of the Ukrainian army as "fascists". Rumours that Ukrainians are forced to go through psychological training that allows them to kill unarmed women and children with no remorse are widespread.

On the Ukrainian side, too, there is little sympathy for the views or goals of those they are fighting against.

Semenchenko, of the Donbas volunteer battalion, was uncompromising about civilian casualties, claiming that many of the unarmed people in the crowds were paid to be there as cover for armed attackers, and referred to them as "pigs". It was the "terrorists" who were responsible for genuinely unarmed protesters being inadvertently shot by pro-Kiev forces, such as in Mariupol, he said.

It is the sort of language that precedes civil wars, and talking of Russian anger that the bloodshed in Mariupol had come on Victory Day, Semenchenko he did not believe that the pro-Russians had anything to celebrate.

"My grandfather also fought in the second world war. I think these people are the grandchildren of traitors, secret policemen and collaborators, as real heroes could not produce such grandchildren

[Austin]

HalfBright is heading for Ukraine

Madeleine Albright to head US observer team in Ukraine’s presidential election – reports

Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will head a team of US observers to supervise Ukraine's upcoming presidential election, scheduled for May 25, the Voice of America radio station said on Friday.

Jane Harman, former congresswoman and Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center, told the Voice of America that US observers would be monitoring “standard things” at polling stations.

The observers will air their conclusions about how the election was held at a news conference after the vote, Harman said.

Foreign observers in Ukraine will include a large delegation from the International Republican Institute as well as lots of monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organizations, she said.

[Philip]

Dusting off "Half-Bright",who suffers from a serious ailment CJD (mad-cow disease) to the Ukraine to supervise an illegal election to vote in a neo-Nazi as junta leader of the country is such a blight on human rights and democracy that beggars the imagination.Half-Bright is there to see that the US/CIA candidate wins by a "thumping majority" (110%) and claim legitimacy,as the massive turnout and overwhelming victory for the separatists of the east in the referendum that they held,has shattered the authority of the Kiev clique over the east ,which is for all practical purposes well and truly lost.watch out also for another massive mil. offensive just before the "election",with fake ballots being cast in the east to perpetrate a fraud upon Ukranians.

Meanwhile Mr.Putin rreassures tartars.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/m ... an-ukraine

Vladimir Putin tells Crimea's Tatars their future lies with Russia

Crimean Tatars gather at a cemetery outside Simferopol for the funeral of Reshat Ametov, who disappeared and was later found dead after protesting against the Russian takeover of Crimea. Photograph: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

On the day of the referendum, the body of Reshat Ametov, a Tatar who had protested against the seizure of the peninsula by Russian troops, was found with signs he had been tortured.

He had last seen alive in video footage showing unmarked men in camouflage leading him away from a protest in Simferopol's Lenin Square.

"It's like when we came in the 1990s, they looked at us askance. It's the same way now," said his wife, Zarina Ametova. "They look at us like an enemy."

Aksyonov has denied that local militias had anything to do with Ametov's murder, which remains unsolved. But many fear the murder was the start of a campaign of violence and political persecution against the Tatars.

The US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, Victoria Nuland, told Congress this month: "We are extremely concerned about the human rights situation for all Crimeans but notably for Tatars."

In a report released on Friday, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, said the Tatars faced numerous problems including physical harassment, fear of religious persecution and internal displacement.

The report warned of an "alarming deterioration" of human rights in eastern Ukraine, where it said insurgent groups had carried out "targeted killings, torture and beatings, abductions, intimidation and some cases of sexual harassment".
Crimean Tatars protest at a blocked road outside Armyansk Crimean Tatars protest on 3 May after their unofficial leader Mustafa Dzhemilev was banned from re-entering the peninsula. Photograph: Alexander Polegenko/AP

The UN highlighted the case of the Crimean Tatars' unofficial leader, Mustafa Dzhemilev, a Ukrainian MP and former Soviet dissident, who was banned from the peninsula after he left for meetings in Kiev and was not allowed back in.

Dzhemilev has set the tone for the Tatar people and their self-governing Mejlis council by refusing to recognise the new pro-Russia government and the referendum to join Russia, even telling the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to withdraw Russian troops in a phone call before the vote.

"They want to make us all Russian citizens, but there's no democracy in Russia," Dzhemilev said. "We're used to living more freely."

After Dzhemilev was denied entry to Crimea for the second time on 3 May, more than 1,000 Tatars closed roads around the peninsula in protest.

In response, Crimea's chief prosecutor, Natalia Poklonskaya, said last week that members of the Mejlis were suspected of "extremist activity" and that the council could be "liquidated".

Sahri Mustafayev, one of those who closed roads, said he had been fined 15,000 rubles (£260) last week along with at least 10 others, adding that 200 others also faced fines. But he plans to appeal against the decision, and the harsh measures seem to have only hardened protesters' resolve.

"I'm a Crimean Tatar, why can't I say what I want?" Mustafayev said. "This is our homeland. We have nowhere else to go. I would rather die here than listen to this new government.

"We're waiting for what the Mejlis will say to us. If they say rise up, we will," he said, but added that Tatars were also waiting for the results of the Ukrainian presidential election on 25 May, in which many of them hope to vote.

Dzhemilev said the Mejlis was split on whether to refuse to cooperate with the new government, but he thought it would have to compromise.

The political tension has been exacerbated by incidents such as one in which a 14-year-old Crimean Tatar was beaten by unknown men who reportedly said Tatars should be kicked off the peninsula.
Russia's Vladimir Putin with his envoy to Crimea Oleg Belaventsev and Crimea's PM Sergei Aksyonov Russian president Vladimir Putin, his envoy to Crimea Oleg Belaventsev and Crimean PM Sergei Aksyonov meet Tatar representatives in Sochi, Russia, on Friday. Photograph: Mikhail Klimentyev/AP

A member of the Mejlis, Abduraman Egiz, was beaten on camera last week by men who he said identified themselves as members of a pro-Russia self-defence unit and demanded to check his documents.

Tatar leaders are calling for the liquidation of self-defence forces, which have been a major issue of contention for the community.

"They say they ensure law and order. We think that they don't ensure it, they start conflicts," Egiz said, adding that beatings were on the rise. "They're dangerous in Crimea. They destabilise the situation."

Local police did not respond to requests for comment.

According to the independent Crimean political analyst Sergei Kostinsky, the Kiev government had previously kept discrimination against Tatars by the Crimean government in check.

Despite a promise by Putin last month to deal with issues including housing for Crimean Tatars, Kostinsky said Moscow has yet to take serious steps to rein in "Crimean chauvinism". Russians are beginning to express old biases in everyday life, he said.

Kostinsky attributed the pressure on Tatar political leaders to the Kremlin's attempt to crush opposition to its rule in Crimea and eventually divide the Tatars politically.

"Today Crimea is supposed to be a window exhibit for Russia, the world community, Ukraine," he said. "There's supposed to be mass support for Russia here, and if there is 12% to 20% of the population that considers itself to be Ukrainian it will ruin the picture and negatively affect the image of Russia, which says that the Crimeans invited it to invade."

About 1,500 Crimean Tatars have fled to western Ukraine, most of them fearing religious persecution, according to Rustem Ablyatifov, a Crimean Tatar who heads the pro-European integration NGO Institute for a Civil Society.

Dzhemilev has said a total of 5,000 Crimean Tatars have had to leave since the Russian takeover. Ablyatifov fled to Lviv because he was afraid of retaliation for his active support of the Euromaidan protests in Kiev after security services followed him and tried to arrest him, he said.

"When they detained us they shouted: 'We'll deal with you Muslims, we'll show you!'" he said.

About 30 Crimean Tatars have received political asylum in Poland, according to Ismail Ismailov, a pro-Euromaidan activist who has himself fled to Azerbaijan.

"The chauvinists have more government posts now. They feel more confident, and they will constantly put pressure on Crimean Tatars," Ismailov said.

For now, the conflict has yet to affect the daily lives of most Tatars. At the Khan's Palace in Bakhchysarai, the historical capital of the Crimean Tatars, tourists and a Russian wedding party posed for photographs on Sunday as Tatars sat outside the mosque.

At the city bazaar, where Russians and Tatars hawk their wares side by side, a Russian, Viktoria Bayeva, said that "everything seems friendly" for now.

"Of course we're worried, we're worried about the future of our children, but we hope it will be OK," said a Tatar woman named Sabina, who was sitting with her two daughters outside the mosque.

"For now the conflict isn't touching these peaceful women, but it could touch their husbands and brothers," said Nadzhie Femi, a local journalist who writes for Radio Free Europe.

"When they forbid a Tatar, especially one of such status as Dzhemilev, to enter Crimea … it's interpreted as the start of bigger repressions".

[Philip]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 87926.html
Ukraine crisis: Country's richest man steps into the breach to help calm Donbas region

Employees of Rinat Akhmetov have joined police on patrol in Mariupol and have begun to clear up the mess left by the clashes

This time last week Nicolai Vorodinov was part of a large and angry crowd confronting troops and armour on one of the bloodiest of days in this violent region. Today he was on patrol with police officers removing the last of the barricades from the streets while fellow steelworkers and miners were helping to restore power and water, repair looted shops.

Mariupol, which for a while had looked like having the ominous distinction of being the place where the vicious strife in eastern Ukraine would slide into civil war, has begun to offer flickering hopes of stability and even possible peace in the future. Other cities across the region, including even Donetsk, the capital of the Peoples' Republic, are now tentatively taking the lead from this port on the Azov Sea.

Behind this 'third way', trying to find an equilibrium between nationalists and separatists, is the richest man in Ukraine and the biggest employer in the area with 300,000 on his payroll. Rinat Akhmetov, 47, has an estimated fortune of $11.7 billion and also owns the local football club FC Shakhtar.

The Oligarch is also someone with significant political clout in this region. He has, it is said by some, played both sides in this confrontation. Pavel Gubarev, the self-styled 'Peoples Governor' recently freed by the Kiev authorities claimed that Mr Akhmatov bankrolled part of the separatist movement - a charge he vehemently denies. At the same time, when Arsenyi Yatsenuik, the interim prime minister paid a visit to Donetsk, a scurrying one for security reasons, he made sure he met the billionaire to ask for his help in the deteriorating crisis.

Mr Akhmetov, who has a reputation for avoiding publicity, has been declaring in the last few days that independence for the east, supposedly voted for in a deeply flawed referendum last week, would be an economic disaster. The next step envisaged by the separatists, rule by the Kremlin, would be even more so. Russia, he has pointed out, does not need more coal and steel and is hardly likely to keep these industries in the region going with heavy subsidies required.

It is vital, Mr Akhmetov holds, for the Donbass to stay in a united Ukraine, albeit one with much more autonomy. Ukraine's presidential elections, banned by the Peoples' Republic, should also be held in the region, he has stressed, to stop it being disenfranchised.

The employees from Metinvest and DTEK out on the streets of Mariupol on a sunny morning insisted that their action was primarily to prevent the scenes from last week, - police headquarters burning, dead bodies in the streets, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) smashing away cars - from recurring.

Pro-Russian militants take their positions using an armored personnel carrier preparing to fight against Ukrainian government troops outside Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine Pro-Russian militants take their positions using an armored personnel carrier preparing to fight against Ukrainian government troops outside Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine (AP)
"The day these things came into our city, the day the soldiers were shooting at people, we decided that the people in Kiev had declared war on us. We will defend ourselves if necessary, but we have thought about this, we discussed this among ourselves, we do not want war, we want the Donbass to be normal again", said Mr Vorodinov.

He waved at two APCs on the side of the road. One was from a looted military base, the other, abandoned by the troops, reduced to a hulk after a drunken militant threw in a Molotov Cocktail, setting off the ammunition inside. "Look at these, we can't leave these lying here, they have to be taken to a secure place, we have people treating these as toys."

But commercial concerns, these volunteers acknowledge, were also a key driving force. "There are people in these parts who think joining Russia will make them rich. Older people will tell you that they get three times higher pension across the border. But all that will be no good if the mines and factories are closed down," Leonid Victorovich, from the steelworks at Azovstal, was keen to stress. "Look, a lot of people in the masks who were causing trouble don't work, they do not care; why else would they just destroy things, property?"

Across the road stood City Hall, which had changed hands among separatists and nationalists through several days of fighting before being finally set alight, contents of value inside stolen, the rest used for barricades. Mr Akhmnetov's workers and local people were clearing the remaining debris from outside the charred building, a few teenagers who had taken upon themselves in the last few days to act as 'militia guards' with home-made balaclavas had followed instructions to clear off.

At a playground, in the front of the building, Anya Rukosova watched the work with her two young daughters: "Of course these guys will get the support of the people, the situation was getting worse and worse, we worried about our families." Was she among the tens of thousands who had tuned up to vote in Mariupol in the referendum, one which the separatists claim gave an overwhelming mandate for secession and joining Russia?

"I wanted autonomy, not independence, but the question [on the ballot paper] wasn't clear. Most of us don't want to join Russia, what we want is the money from the Donbass to stay here and not all go to Kiev", responded the 38-year-old office manager; the upholstery business where she works has been shut for the last week due to the violence. "What is happening here, with the blockposts [barricades] cleared is a good start. Did Mr Akhmetov organise it? Well he should be more involved in this area."

Whether the start will bring real changes remains to be seen. Both the nationalists and the separatists are wary of what is being done.

Yuri Ryzhenkov, the chief executive of Metinvest, described how 'officials' of the Peoples' Republic had paid a visit to one of the factories. "They were suspicious at first, a bit aggressive. But they knew they were dealing with steelworkers and miners, people who don't like being bullied. But most importantly, the people of the city support this, and they will not accept the work being stopped."

There may also be problems from the other side, especially a private force supposedly linked to another oligarch, Igor Kolomoisky. Many of the attacks in Mariupol were carried out by these "Men in Black", the Donbass Battalion. I had witnessed meting out unprovoked beatings to demonstrators, while residents accuse them of indiscriminate shooting.

Mr Kolomoisky has praised Mr Akhmetov's efforts to keep Donbass in the Ukraine. But the unit's commander, Semyon Semenchenko, was unconcerned about civilian casualties, many of whom, he claimed, were "pigs" who had been paid to attack terrorists.

Mr Semenchneko, who has a degree in film studies and claims to have military experience, was also unrepentant about bloodshed taking place on 9 May, a revered anniversary in these parts, commemorating victory against Nazi Germany. Those who had turned up to celebrate were, he declared, "grandchildren of traitors, secret policemen and collaborators, as real heroes could not produce such grandchildren."

Hearing about the comments, Nicolai Vorodinov, the steelworker, said after a pause: "Many of us have elderly relations who fought against the Nazis, some of them died; that is the reason we turn up for Victory Day. This is obviously going to be a big problem with achieving peace; we are trying to calm things here, but Kiev just keeps sending us fascists."

[Virupaksha]

as I said, it is not about democracy, it is not about human rights, it is not about values - it is about money and control over oligarchs for the west. The more power the oligarchs have, easier it is for them to control ukraine.

[UlanBatori]

Seems like the difference between the May Revolution and the Oktober Revolution in Russia: The Oligarchs take over and establish (their corrupt) order. Then The People sweep in.

[Philip]

Ukraine crisis pushes Putin's popularity among Russians to six-year high

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 90719.html

Vladimir Putin is known for his outlandish PR efforts but apparently all the Russian President needed to do to improve his popularity was annex Crimea.

According to Iran’s Press TV, his widely-condemned stance through the increasingly bloody Ukraine crisis has endeared him to the Russian public, pushing ratings to a six-year high.

The conflict seems to have succeeded where topless horse riding and "finding" ancient Greek jugs have failed in securing positive public opinion.

The results of the poll, conducted by the All-Russian Centre for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) earlier this month, showed that Mr Putin’s approval rating had increased from 82 per cent to 85 per cent since April, and by more than a third since the beginning of the year.

“Thus, this figure is virtually identical to the one recorded six years ago,” the poll said.

His United Russia party also did well, winning 60 per cent approval, up from just 41 per cent in January.

Political analysts in the country believe the results are closely tied to Russia’s controversial involvement in the Ukraine crisis.

[Vayutuvan]

Why does Ukrain need observers? It is not a third-world country like India or some in Africa. It is a first world TFTA like Pakistan which had no observers but Gen Musharraf got elected in a land slide election with 398% of the 400% who voted.

[Peregrine]

Exclusive: German industry sees 'irreparable damage' from Russia sanctions

BERLIN (Reuters) – Europe's showdown with Moscow over Ukraine is already having a major impact on German business in Russia and imposing economic sanctions would cause lasting damage to industry, a confidential paper sent to the German government by a business lobby warns.

The paper from the German-Russian chamber of foreign trade, a group representing 800 companies that provides support to German firms operating in Russia, underscores the extent of concern among German businesses over the Ukraine crisis.

It also suggests industry is stepping up efforts to dissuade Chancellor Angela Merkel's government from pressing ahead with tougher sanctions.

Merkel has warned of more punitive measures against Russia if a presidential election in Ukraine, scheduled for May 25th, is disrupted.

"The growing destabilisation of Ukraine and the diplomatic tug-of-war for a common solution are already having a massive impact on German business in Russia," the two-page "position paper" dated May 7th warns.

"Deeper economic sanctions would lead to a situation where contracts would increasingly be given to domestic firms, projects would be suspended or delayed by the Russian side, and Russian industry and politicians would turn to Asia, in particular China," the paper says.

It says the loss of market share for German and European firms would be "long-term and sustainable", causing "irreparable damage" to Germany's competitive position in Russia.

The paper says this would lead to job losses in Germany and would leave companies vulnerable to "massive compensation" claims if they were forced to break contracts with Russian counterparts.

Cheers

[gunjur]

Apologies if already posted.

Perimeter Defense - By Stephen Rodriguez

Is America still feared by enemies and trusted by friends? The Economist doesn’t seem to think so. This storied magazine recently bemoaned “The Decline of [American] Deterrence.” It highlights President Obama’s recent tour of Asia, during which he was repeatedly questioned about America’s commitment to its allies in the region.

But The Economist and other critics of this administration’s inaction over Ukraine seem unable to distinguish between our peripheral interests and vital interests. Dana Allin and Steve Simon at the International Institute for Strategic Studies define a vital interest as one that, if threatened, would directly endanger us “militarily or economically, or its neglect constituted the betrayal of a solemn moral or strategic commitment that we have undertaken.” Implied in this definition is the use of military force to protect said vital interest.

American vital interests in the region consist of our commitments to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which – notably – does not include Ukraine. Still, member countries, such as the Baltic States, Poland, and Turkey have been shaken by the ongoing turmoil in Ukraine by virtue of proximity and their own troubled histories with Russia and the Soviet Union. Like it or not, their threat perceptions impact the U.S.-underwritten international order, and thereby should be of no small concern to Washington. Consequently, America must respond clearly to Russian military and paramilitary provocations but not in the way The Economist suggests.

Direct military aid to Kiev, as many have suggested, is highly provocative to Moscow. Our diplomatic options are also limited given Russia’s permanent presence on the United Nations Security Council and Europe’s continued freeriding on the U.S. security dividend. Nonetheless, Washington still has a set of viable, indirect military and direct economic options for exerting real influence over a situation in which Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has seized the initiative.

A good start would be enacting a set of policies labeled “Perimeter Defense.” In basketball, perimeter defense is designed to limit an agile opponent’s freedom of movement and vision of the field while forcing weaker than intended actions. It would be wise to follow a similar strategy in the current crisis with Russia. Perimeter Defense would start with the indirect military option of augmenting our NATO allies with U.S. forces. This would involve the semi-permanent deployment of Special Forces and Parachute Infantry Regiments in Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia as was done just days ago in the Baltics and Poland. These light infantry deployments would be augmented by rotational training deployments of Heavy Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) to Eastern Europe in the manner of REFORGER during the 1970s and 80s. The intent would be to enable their training in response to a pseudo-military incursion (e.g. unmarked green men coming across the border), create a stronger barricade opposed to Russian armed incursions and resurrect a Cold War “tripwire” strategy that is effective against Russian “salami-slicing” tactics.(for those readers unfamiliar with this concept, see the Berlin Brigade or U.S. Forces along the Korean De-Militarized Zone). In doing so, the U.S. would raise the risk of Putin’s current strategy and force him to explore alternatives that are more conducive to NATO’s strengths (e.g. peacekeeping and conflict prevention).

The second component of Perimeter Defense is exploiting economic vulnerabilities within Russia without directly harming our NATO allies’ reliance on commodities and trade with Moscow. Current commentary has suggested comprehensive sanctions designed to impact Russia’s extractive, natural resource industries. This proposed policy is dangerous, however, as pursuing the Russian gas and oil industry will handicap their biggest trading partners: our allies in Europe. A more nuanced approach would be to sanction their mining industries, as this would directly impact Putin’s economic constituency while minimizing blowback on NATO countries. We have also taken the initial step of ejecting Russia from the G8, although not permanently. This must be followed by expanding the limited sanctions on Russian state-owned banks proposed by U.S. Senator Bob Corker and approving the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). These economic policies would enable our military options described above by reducing Putin’s freedom of movement as these sanctions and the reality of TTIP hit home.

Lastly, a Perimeter Defense strategy should exploit political “wedge” opportunities between Putin and his base of support, the oligarchs. Undermining oligarch support of Putin is critical. The foundation of his popularity and resilience is the Russian “economic miracle” that has been enabled through the compliance of the oligarchs. Restricting their movement abroad, denying their access to capital and publicly shaming them and their families may provide enough leverage to create political daylight with Putin. The goal is narrow their “political” field of vision by shrinking the base of support at home for Russia’s extra-territorial operations.

Russia’s actions in Ukraine are unacceptable and in direct violation of international agreements that they are signatory to. However, it is important to correctly calibrate the U.S. response by understanding what our vital interests actually are, as well as what actions will have a demonstrable effect on curtailing further infringements by Moscow. The Perimeter Defense strategy proposed here is designed to introduce uncertainty into Putin’s decision calculus, raise the risks of his intended strategy and force him to proceed along a set of weaker policy options designed to heighten our strategic objectives in the region. This strategy reassures our allies that America stands by its friends, while allowing us to do so in a way that responsibly defends our vital interests.

Stephen Rodriguez (@steverod78) has nearly thirteen years of operational experience from Afghanistan to Colombia in strategic planning, corporate strategy, and business development. He serves on three corporate boards, is a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations and a New York Fellow at the National Review Institute. He also Chairman of the Foreign Policy Initiative’s Leadership Council, a member of the Leadership Council at IAVA and the Young Friends Committee of the New-York Historical Society

[Philip]

The latest report that Russian troops on the UKR border have been told by Putin to return to their bases could be a splendid way to show no Russian influence in the east when the Kiev chickens try to hold their illegal pres. election.That the elections will be stoutly resisted by the newly formed People's Republic's of Donetsk,etc.,.If they succeed in stopping the elections in the east,it will be a body blow to the Kiev junta and rob them of any legitimacy that they are desperate to acquire,and their ability to hold on to the east. If they do try and "force" the issue,a full scale civil war is inevitable and Mr.Putin will almost certainly ask his troops to move back to battle ready stations.

Putin orders troops back to bases after drills in regions bordering Ukraine (VIDEO)
Published time: May 19, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to send troops back to bases from drills they were having in the southwestern regions of Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk, on the border with Ukraine.

“As the planned spring stage of the drills, which included redeployment of the troops to training areas in Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions, has come to an end, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to send troops back to their permanent bases and to go on with their military exercises at training areas nearby,” the Kremlin’s press service said.

In the same statement, Moscow called on Kiev to cease violence in southeastern Ukraine, immediately.

“Russia calls for the immediate cancellation of the punitive operation and violent actions, on troop withdrawal and finding a peaceful solution to all the problems,” the statement reads, adding that President Putin would welcome meetings between the government in Kiev and supporters of federalization.

Sporadic military clashes between Ukrainian troops and self-defense forces have been reported throughout the weekend in the towns of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region – two hotspots of the ongoing military operation conducted by Kiev to suppress anti-government forces there.

“The gunfire is a fabric of daily life now in Slavyansk, but this is the heaviest fighting I’ve heard in Slavyansk since I got here over a month ago,” said freelance journalist Graham Phillips, who is reporting for RT from southeastern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions held referendums on May 11, where the majority of voters supported self-rule. Now the breakaway regions are rejecting the idea of participating in the Ukrainian presidential elections on May 25.

On Sunday, two Russian LifeNews journalists were detained near the town of Kramatorsk, presumably by the Ukrainian military.

News Media Holding, which owns LifeNews, has appealed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, asking him to help with the release of the journalists. Moscow has condemned the detention and asked the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for assistance in releasing the journalists.

However,NATO thinks otherwise.

Ukraine crisis: Nato chief ‘regrets’ lack of Russian troops withdrawal, despite orders from President Vladimir Putin
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 96137.html

[Lisa]

Prince Charles 'compared Russian actions to Nazis'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27497899

but,

Having colonies, killing their populations is OK. No acknowledgement, no apology, no reparations needed in India, Burma, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Nigeria ....................need I carry on?

[Virupaksha]

The neo-nazi ruling clique of kiev is waiting for its masters to give a go ahead, the masters are waiting for the people of ukraine and russia to make a mistake.

The clique's interests is in killing and controlling ukrainian people against it. Its masters interests are in the control of economy of ukraine and getting only a market without competition, a neo-colony for the west.

[Johann]

- Akhmetov is a key figure in the Party of Regions, which has a number of oligarchs. I pointed out in my original post on this thread's grandfather that it was his defection, along with other key figures that brought Yanukovych down, not the actions of guys in masks on the street - until the Party of Regions defected it was the state that had the upper hand, not the crowds. These oligarchs were friends of Putin and the Kremlin before. They can be again. It is not a zero sum game, and perhaps Putin's starting to see that.

- As I said before, Putin did not have the force disposition to fight a contested war with Ukraine, or see a full blown return to the Cold War with the West. How far he goes depends on how much space he can take cheaply. He got Crimea, and he got a solid boost in domestic ratings. From here on out prolonged crisis will become a liability, not an asset given the opposition he has aroused.

- Gazprom has declined to reveal the price at which its selling gas to the Chinese in the new deal. The sticking point is that the Russians insisted that they couldn't sell gas to China at the same price they sold to Europe because of the cost of building new infrastructure out to the Chinese border. This is a major expenditure, and it seems the Russians in a tight spot have had to eat that cost. I've no doubt they will try to recoup it part of it by increasing the cost of gas to Europe. But in short China's the economic winner in the Russian-Western confrontation.

- I also brought up the space access issue in my original comments, which still stand. The winner is going to be SpaceX. They're very, very serious. The prices they're charging for GEO and LEO launches means their win will come at the expense of everyone else in the commercial launch market - Lockheed Martin and Boeing in the US, the Russians of Khrunichev/ILS/Energomash, and EADS/Arianespace in Europe.

When it comes to the ISS, Elon Musk has talked about a manned demonstration flight for the Dragon Mk. 2 some point in 2015. The Dragon has already demonstrated flight to the the ISS, re-entry and recovery five times in unmanned freight missions. The key element is the integration of a new launch abort system, which is to be demonstrated in pad and mid-flight tests this year. SpaceX has taken a 20 year lease on NASA's LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, the pad that launched the Apollo moon shots and most of the Shuttle missions. They started hiring retired NASA astronauts years ago, so they have trained and experienced pilots ready.

As for the heavy payloads for DoD/NRO satellites missions demonstration flight of the Falcon Heavy (which will have the largest payload delivery of any current launch vehicle) is set for early 2015. There's no question it will be ready, and certified for EELV class launches by the USAF before ULA runs out of RD-180 engines. SpaceX has two other pads, and are on the verge of getting a license to build the world's first entirely private commercial rocket launch spaceport on the Gulf coast of Texas, so they will have the capacity to expand their launch manifest.

Even if SpaceX was to somehow to fail to deliver, they have private sector competition from Boeing. The CST-100 crew vehicle is also far along, and their Delta IV production line is still open, and could substitute for the Atlas V for DoD satellite launches.

The Russians know all of this, which is why the only really substantial threat is to refuse to renew the ISS beyond 2020, given how vital the Russian modules are. Which is really more of a negotiation tactic of holding a gun to the head of their own manned space program - the Russians don't have the money to build a new space station and separating their modules, and bearing the full cost of separating, supplying and maintaining them would be crippling to their other manned space plans.

[TSJones]

^^^^^^Not to be left out is the Dream Chaser being built at the Michoud plant at New Orleans by Sierra Nevada. It is due for an orbital test in 2016. Plus there is Blue Origin built by Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com. Then there is the SLS and the Orion being built by US Congress. But who knows about that one?

[Austin]

- Gazprom has declined to reveal the price at which its selling gas to the Chinese in the new deal. The sticking point is that the Russians insisted that they couldn't sell gas to China at the same price they sold to Europe because of the cost of building new infrastructure out to the Chinese border. This is a major expenditure, and it seems the Russians in a tight spot have had to eat that cost. I've no doubt they will try to recoup it part of it by increasing the cost of gas to Europe. But in short China's the economic winner in the Russian-Western confrontation.

The sticking point was Russia wanted to sell China Gas at the same price it did to Europe but China wanted a lower cost , The total cost of the deal is $400 billion roughly it comes to $350-360 thats close to Europe price and Europe price is not Uniform , Germany gets gas at lower cost because it funded part of infra Nord Stream

So cost is a complex factor depending on who is funding the infra and at what percentage , what is the advanced payment made , what is the tax concession agreed etc both Russia and China is happy with the deal.

[Austin]

NYT:In Taking Crimea, Putin Gains a Sea of Fuel Reserves

[Johann]

- TSJ, SNC's Dream Chaser was to be launched on the Atlas V, which has the engine supply issue. SpaceX and Boeing unlike SNC have their own launch vehicles with US engines. If those two have to take up slack for the Atlas V they have no incentive to make their crowded launch pads and launch vehicle inventory available for rival SNC Dream Chaser missions. Although ESA and the Germans in particular are interested in possibly launching a modified Dream Chaser on Ariane 5, it's at least five years away if it ever happens.

Jeff Bezos has nothing remotely close to ready to get people to orbit. He's in no hurry - its a side project for him.

NASA's Orion will be tested in September this year on a Delta-IV launch. It could do in a pinch, but given that its designed for deep-space beyond earth orbit operations its cost and manufacturing complexity (largest heatshield *ever*) makes it more of a 1-time emergency backup launch capacity (e.g. evacuating the NASA/ESA/JAXA crew from the ISS) rather than a regular service.

So realistically speaking its SpaceX and/or Boeing - and they're both very close. Musk announced the actual Dragon Mk. 2 flight hardware would be unveiled at the end of this month when they (most likely) pass NASA's critical design review.

- Let me put it another way Austin - this was a deal that had been stalled for a very long time over fundamental differences. Its not an accident that those differences were resolved now, as Russian-EU relations came under unprecedented strain. There's no question that to break the logjam it is Russia, not China that had to make concessions. What remains to be seen is how deep those financial concessions are, and the way Gazprom or the Russian state recoups those costs.

[Austin]

How would you know that only Russia made concessions and not China or are you just assuming here ?

We know know from reports that the cost is $350-360 bcm with long term contract with take or pay option along the lines of German deal. { Compare that with the price Ukraine has to pay till date $268.50 bcm )

Long term contract always get discount and that is how the business is run , it goes for Germany China or Finland ( infact with Finland the deal is much sweeter with 50 % cost based on Henry Hub Price Finland's Russian gas price a dream deal for others

If any thing else Russia got what it wanted with China Gas deal which is 100 % linked to Oil Price and not Spot Pricing which varies according to season.

Check Medvedev recent interview to bloomberg , Russia and China got a good deal and it is close to linked to Europe price

[TSJones]

- TSJ, SNC's Dream Chaser was to be launched on the Atlas V, which has the engine supply issue. SpaceX and Boeing unlike SNC have their own launch vehicles with US engines. If those two have to take up slack for the Atlas V they have no incentive to make their crowded launch pads and launch vehicle inventory available for rival SNC Dream Chaser missions. Although ESA and the Germans in particular are interested in possibly launching a modified Dream Chaser on Ariane 5, it's at least five years away if it ever happens.

Jeff Bezos has nothing remotely close to ready to get people to orbit. He's in no hurry - its a side project for him.

NASA's Orion will be tested in September this year on a Delta-IV launch. It could do in a pinch, but given that its designed for deep-space beyond earth orbit operations its cost and manufacturing complexity (largest heatshield *ever*) makes it more of a 1-time emergency backup launch capacity (e.g. evacuating the NASA/ESA/JAXA crew from the ISS) rather than a regular service.

So realistically speaking its SpaceX and/or Boeing - and they're both very close. Musk announced the actual Dragon Mk. 2 flight hardware would be unveiled at the end of this month when they (most likely) pass NASA's critical design review.

- Let me put it another way Austin - this was a deal that had been stalled for a very long time over fundamental differences. Its not an accident that those differences were resolved now, as Russian-EU relations came under unprecedented strain. There's no question that to break the logjam it is Russia, not China that had to make concessions. What remains to be seen is how deep those financial concessions are, and the way Gazprom or the Russian state recoups those costs.

Johann, if we take the Russians at their word Dream Chaser and the CT-100 meet the non military use requirement that the Russians have mandated. OTOH, the US Congress critters could step in and quash the deal as being anti-American. They are pretty riled up right now with the threat to the ISS which I would point out that the Russians have no made official. Yet.

[Johann]

TSJ, that is true. Energomash has said they have received no official instructions from the Kremlin yet, and yes, NASA would not fall under Rogozin's threatened ban on use for DoD launches.

Still given all that has happened NASA and Congress would be unlikely to count on the Russians given that the crisis is not over, and that there's been a fundamental change in the tenor of the relationship.

Its clear that everyone is contingency planning now - Ukraine crisis and the extent of escalation was not expected by the US Government, and they won't want to be caught out again.

ULA has said they are ramping up Delta IV production and rationing Atlas V launches.

There's also word that NASA is consulting on ways to accelerate the commercial crew programme. If NASA fast-tracks one company it will be SpaceX. If Congress is generous then perhaps SpaceX and Boeing/ULA.

SNC has booked for an unmanned launch in November 2016, and Boeing with an unmanned in January 2017, and manned in mid-2017. SpaceX is the only one talking in public about *manned* launches in 2015.

This is to a large extent because the SpaceX Falcon 9.1 launch vehicle was already built to man-rated specifications. ULA on the other hand is still making changes to the Atlas V - integrating the two-engine Centaur upper stage with the Atlas V for the first time.

[Austin]

On Ukraine

Dmitry Medvedev’s interview with Bloomberg TV

[Philip]

The May 25th deadline is fast approaching and disaster occurring for the illegal Ukranian forces in the Independent Donetsk Republic.Was this attack an own-goal by the illegal Kiev clique,or a most diabolic "false-flag" op against their own forces? The jury is out.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/m ... rmy-rebels

The conflict between pro-Ukraine and separatist forces in the east of Ukraine led to one of its bloodiest days yet on Thursday, days before presidential elections due to take place on Sunday.

At least 11 pro-Ukraine forces were killed in a surprise dawn attack on a Ukrainian army checkpoint, apparently by a group of armed separatists. Ukraine's interim president Oleksandr Turchynov put the death toll at 13, while a military source said two of the seriously wounded had also died. Journalists on the scene confirmed they had seen 11 bodies.

About 30 soldiers were injured, including four who remained in critical condition on Thursday afternoon. Adding confusion to the incident was the presence of two Ukrainian helicopters, which arrived after the engagement and may have opened fire, leading many locals to believe the operation had been staged by the Ukrainians against their own forces – something that was reported as fact by the press service for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. It remained unclear whether any soldiers had been killed by "friendly fire" or whether all the casualties were from a separatist attack.

Journalists from the Associated Press met rebels in the town of Horlivka early on Thursday morning who said they had just returned from the attack and showed them a seized weapons cache, passports they had removed from dead bodies and an armoured vehicle riddled with bullets.

"We destroyed a checkpoint of the fascist Ukrainian army deployed on the land of the Donetsk Republic," the commander of the Horlivka rebels told the journalists. He said one of his men had also been killed. "The weapons you see here have been taken from the dead, they are trophies," he said, displaying a huge collection of automatic weapons, sniper rifles, rocket grenade launchers and knives.

At the hospital in Volnovakha, where most of the injured were recuperating, several doctors said the injured soldiers were confused by what had happened and did not understand who had attacked them and why. Ten wounded soldiers left the hospital in the middle of the afternoon in two ambulances, but would not answer questions about where they were being taken or what had happened in the morning.

A man who said he was part of the pro-Kiev forces but did not want to give his name told journalists at the hospital that the people who attacked the checkpoint were "professionals" and that the helicopters had been sent to support them. He had arrived on the scene as backup shortly after the attack.

"I don't know who sent them or what they were doing, I am scared to think of it," he said. He added that the Ukrainians involved were a regiment made up mainly of reservists. In heated exchanges with locals at the hospital, he apologised for the Ukrainian military operation in the east of the country, and said he no longer knew what to believe.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 17005.html

Ukraine crisis: At least 14 soldiers reported dead after checkpoint attack

t least 14 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and more than 30 wounded in the deadliest attack on government forces since fighting began in the east of Ukraine almost two months ago.

The attack took place at a checkpoint in the village of Blahodatne, 20 miles from the city of Donetsk, as tensions were running high in the troubled east of Ukraine ahead of presidential elections on Sunday. Kiev has accused Russia of trying to destabilise the country before the vote.

Journalists from Associated Press reported seeing bodies scattered on the road. Photographs showed three charred Ukrainian armoured personnel carriers with their turrets blown away. Other burnt-out vehicles were also visible.

The attack, at dawn, was believed to have been the work of pro-Russian rebels. At a separatist-held police headquarters in Horlivka, a town near the checkpoint, a man describing himself as a rebel commander told journalists his forces were responsible. “We destroyed a checkpoint of the fascist Ukrainian army deployed on the land of the Donetsk Republic,” the balaclava-wearing commander said, giving his name as Bess, which means “demon” in Russian. He showed reporters weapons which he claimed had been taken from the dead Ukrainian soldiers.

Ukraine crisis aftermath: Slavyansk residents show the scale of damage caused by weeks of unrest

The attack at Blahodatne was one of several reported overnight in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, called for an emergency session of the UN Security Council and blamed Russia for fomenting the crisis. According to UN estimates, 127 people have died in the violence in the east and south of Ukraine.

Russia has yet again said that it is pulling back its forces from the Ukrainian border, where Nato estimates it has 40,000 men stationed. The Russian defence ministry said four trainloads of weapons and 15 aircraft had already left the area.

The Nato Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, cautiously confirmed the troop movements. “We’ve seen limited Russian troop activity vicinity of Ukraine border that MAY suggest that some of these forces are preparing to withdraw”, he wrote on his Twitter account. “Most of previously deployed Russian force remains near the Ukrainian border. We see continued Russian exercises.”

Separatists in Donetsk say they will boycott Sunday’s presidential elections, saying they do not recognise the legitimacy of the vote.

[Philip]

It looks like the bruised and battered Ukranian army is descending into disastrous levels of incompetence.The next big day is going to be the 25th of May,when the referendum /election for a new UKR pres. takes place.Russia has vowed to respect the verdict ( since it also gives legitimacy to the other referendums held in the east),but has warned that civil war is at hand thanks to Kiev's mil. offensive against separatists whom it describes as "terrorists". How the Kiev clique will be able to conduct elections in the east is going to be very interesting and .....very bloody.

http://rt.com/news/161044-ukraine-helic ... nt-attack/

Donetsk bloodbath: Insider video shows Ukraine helicopters firing at own checkpoint
Published time: May 23, 2014

Ukrainian helicopter gunships shot at a Ukrainian military checkpoint in Donetsk Region in the aftermath of a night battle, a video presumably shot by one of the soldiers indicates. Apparently, Kiev’s troops suffer from gross lack of communications.

The eight-minute video on YouTube was shot near the town of Volnovakha in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region, according to the description. It shows a group of armed uniformed men with Ukrainian army insignia and at least two others in civilian clothes taking cover behind a military truck.

The vehicle is at a field and the men are observing from a distance a woodland belt separating on the field border At least two vans are seen and fire burns among the trees. Sporadic gunfire can be heard, possibly from ammunition detonating in the fire, and then a massive explosion erupts at the camp. The soldiers discuss whether they should fall back.

Then two Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunships start barraging at low altitude over the area. After several passes the aircraft start barraging the burning camp from their cannons.

“What are their doing?” one of the soldiers exclaims in surprise. “Are they ours?” “Who the f*** else?” another replies.

The group hastily flees the scene, but the cameraman continues shooting the footage, cursing and praying as he runs.

Screenshot from youtube.com/user/MrTheVvideo

A couple of minutes later he gets to another woodland belt. He approaches another Ukrainian military man, who is speaking on a mobile phone.

“Who are they shooting at?” the man says. “There are civilians and our soldiers there. Do you have a line to the army aviation, what the f*** is happening?”

“Two [Mi-]24s and one [Mi-]8 arrived. They are flying over our checkpoint and shooting at our checkpoint,” the report continues. “There are lots of corpses there. We were dousing the burning BMP [infantry combat vehicle], we thought the Mi-8 was going to pick up the bodies. Now they are shooting.”

Ukrainian troops use their helicopters in the fight against the local armed militias opposing Kiev’s rule to destroy hardware damaged in the clashes to prevent it from falling into the hands of the militias. Miscommunication among the troops could have led to the aviation command believing that the checkpoint was taken over by the militias.

The video was uploaded on YouTube on Tuesday, which puts the timing of the video hours after a night attack on the military checkpoint near Volnovakha. The attack may not have been a militia raid, but rather a case of friendly fire, in which one pro-Kiev unit mistakenly attacked another unit.

The battle left at least 16 Ukrainian troops killed and 30 others injured.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/m ... -president

Russia will recognise outcome of Ukraine poll, says Vladimir Putin
Putin says Russia will 'respect the choice of Ukrainian people', but separatist authorities vow to disrupt weekend's presidential election

As Sunday's election approaches, violence in the east has continued, with Ukraine's defense ministry saying up to 500 insurgents attacked government troops in one clash in eastern Ukraine that left 20 insurgents dead. The ministry said in a statement the clash took place on Thursday as a convoy of Ukrainian troops was attacked outside the eastern village of Rubizhne. Up to 16 Ukrainian soldiers also died on Thursday in an assault on a checkpoint by separatists.

On Friday, the Donbass paramilitary group, which operates with the tacit backing of Kiev, said it had been ambushed by separatist forces, with at least one dead, and many injured or taken hostage.

Voting in the east will be severely limited on Sunday, with pro-Kiev forces not fully in control of the region and a fear that violence could spike as the separatists attempt to disrupt the vote. Kiev has said it will halt its "anti-terrorism operation" against separatist forces on voting day.

[Austin]

http://rt.com/news/161296-putin-new-cold-war/

Those who provoked the armed coup in Ukraine should have thoroughly weighed up the consequences that would follow, Putin stressed.

“Those who had been provoking the armed coup in Kiev should have thought, if they were real professionals, about the consequences of their illegal ambitions,” he said, adding that he hopes that what happened in Ukraine “will become a precedent which has its own negative consequences, but still would revive a conscientious attitude to international law and practice of agreeing positions based on each other’s interests,” rather than “methods of using force.”

'Russia won't just sit on a bench and listen what others say'

Touching on Russia's actions towards Crimea, Putin said it was a reasonable response on the part of Russia.

“We think that [the West] tried to talk to us in the language of force, and we, using the same logic, gave a reasonable answer. But I hope that this will never, under any circumstances, happen again anywhere,” Putin said.

When it comes to cooperation, particularly with the US, Russia will not “just sit on a bench and listen what others say.”

“This is not the role Russia would agree on,” Putin said, stressing the importance of taking into account partners’ interests. But in bilateral relations there are lines “that can’t be crossed”.

In Russia-US relations, in particular, Crimea was “that same line”, Putin pointed out.

“Tools are good when they are used. If we have platforms for mutual work, these are not platforms for having tea or coffee all together. These are platforms for finding solutions and compromises.”

In this regard Putin also pointed out reactions to the crisis in Ukraine which came from Canada.

“What about Canada’s position, it is traditional and close ally of the US, nothing surprises us here,” he said. “But where is Canada and where is Ukraine and Russia?” Putin added, stressing that neither Canada, nor the US has “this volume of national interest” as Russia does.

Russia’s leader has expressed confidence that many people living in Europe share Russia's stance on the Ukrainian crisis.

“Russia's stance over Ukraine is a fair one and European people see that," he said. "Conduct an opinion poll in Europe - I am not sure at all that the majority of citizens support their political leaders' stance on that matter. I have all grounds to assume that our position has very many supporters,” he said.