COUP IN KYIV?

The European Commission has offered Ukraine trade incentives worth nearly 500m euros ($694m; £417m) to stabilise the country's crisis-hit economy.

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said import duties would be cut on some Ukrainian goods.

It is part of efforts to sign a key deal ditched by the now ousted President Viktor Yanukovych last year.

The move triggered mass protests. The crisis later escalated when Russia intervened in Ukraine's Crimea region.

He felt betrayed.

Russia's leaders are refusing all negotiations with their Ukrainian counterparts, Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has said.

He told AFP news agency that Ukraine would not intervene militarily in Crimea, even though a secession referendum there was a "sham".

Meanwhile interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is travelling to the US to meet President Barack Obama.

On Thursday he is due to address the UN Security Council in New York.

'A provocation'

"We cannot launch a military operation in Crimea, as we would expose the eastern border [close to Russia] and Ukraine would not be protected," Mr Turchynov told AFP.

In an emotional speech in Kiev on Sunday, former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky - recently released from 10 years in jail - told the Maidan "there is another Russia", one opposed to military action in Ukraine. Russian writer and broadcaster Andrei Ostalski agrees but says it's a small and embattled community.

On 2 March, one day after the Upper Chamber of the Russian parliament passed a motion allowing President Putin to use Russia's armed forces anywhere on Ukrainian territory, a Muscovite decided to stage a one-man protest. He knew it was a rather risky affair as the streets were full of "patriotically" minded people rejoicing and celebrating the prospect of a quick victorious war against their neighbour.

Nevertheless, Alexei Sokirko found a place on the pavement on Nikolskaya Street and unfolded his "Stop the war" banner.

Russian law allows one-man pickets to be staged without prior permission or advance notification so the police didn't do anything at first. In fact, they didn't need to as Alexei immediately started getting harassed by angry passers-by. To begin with they called him "fascist" and "scum". Then a woman spat at him. A few men started threatening him, and finally one of them snatched the banner from his hands and tore it up.

A scuffle followed - that was when the police intervened to arrest Alexei for violating public order. It was probably just as well, as he could have been seriously beaten. A woman then offered to fabricate a more serious charge against him. "I can testify that he was beating up a child," she suggested, enthusiastically. The policemen decided not to take her up on it.

Oleksandr Turchynov says intervention would leave Ukraine exposed in east, where Russia has 'significant tank units'

Ukraine's acting president has said the country will not use its army to stop Crimea from seceding, in the latest indication that a Russian annexation of the peninsula may be imminent.

The interim leader said intervening on the south-eastern Black Sea peninsula, where Kremlin-backed forces have seized control, would leave Ukraine exposed on its eastern border, where he said Russia has massed "significant tank units".

"We cannot launch a military operation in Crimea, as we would expose the eastern border and Ukraine would not be protected," Oleksandr Turchynov told AFP.

"They're provoking us to have a pretext to intervene on the Ukrainian mainland … [but] we cannot follow the scenario written by the Kremlin."
... ... ...

YEVPATORIYA, Crimea – Along the base’s low-slung cement wall, gloved Ukrainian soldiers unspooled wheels of barbed wire, running strands through eyelets banged into the wall and pickets hammered into the ground, creating a zig-zagging web of wire.

It’s the latest effort by the command of the 55th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment in the Crimean town of Yevpatoriya to dissuade the pro-Russian forces that have seized Crimea from coming over the wall to capture the base.

The strategy goes like this: If they try to climb over, they’ll get ensnared in the barbed wire, allowing the Ukrainian forces to pick them off from behind sandbags a short distance away. But the base’s deputy commander quietly admits that the new defenses would do little to slow well-trained Russian soldiers, as the mysterious men outside the front gate are believed to be.

Upstairs in his office, the base’s commander, Col. Andrey Matvienko, is not in a joking mood. He has been given an ultimatum of sorts, a demand from the green men to hand over his base and weapons to the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

“How can I leave this base if there is technical equipment and weapons and I’m responsible in front of the law for it?” he asked. “Our unit has sworn an oath. So this is the situation.”

For Matvienko, it’s not just about the chain-of-command or pride. The weapons and equipment housed on this anti-aircraft base are not your standard fare: around 200 rockets, 16 tons of TNT and 500 tons of rocket fuel.

“I’m not scared of anything but at present I’m afraid for the citizens of Yevpatoriya,” Matvienko said.

If the Russian forces use their weapons and “if this is detonated, the town of Yevpatoriya will be wiped off the face of the earth.”

Then, the phone rings. Matvienko’s face drains, growing serious and worried. On the line is the new prime minister of Crimea who wants to see the region join Russia after a referendum Sunday.

“We all swore an oath and at present my command is Ukrainian,” the commander tells Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov. “The ones who can give me orders to surrender weapons, to take them out … resolve this with them.

“I guarantee you personally that if you don’t interfere, we will not leave the perimeter of the base,” he adds.

After hanging up the phone, Matvienko explains: “I agreed so there is no storming of this base. They will not touch the base until the [referendum on the] 16th of March. I will not be touched by the Russian Black Sea Fleet. I don’t know if they’ll keep their word. I can only give my word.”

G7 countries warn Russia against Crimea annexation

Brussels (dpa) - The Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations has warned Russia against annexing Crimea.

"Should the Russian Federation take such a step, we will take further action, individually and collectively," the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States say in a joint statement with the European Union.

"The annexation of Crimea could have grave implications for the legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all states," they add. "We ... urge Russia to join us in working together through diplomatic processes to resolve the current crisis."

They also call on Moscow to "immediately halt" any action in support of the referendum, describing it as "a deeply flawed process" given the "intimidating presence of Russian troops" in the Ukrainian peninsula and its lack of "legal effect." dpa amh npr

It doesn't matter much. The G7 has no legitimacy in this respect since two of its members invade Iraq illegally.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Ukrainian Jewish leader opposed to the Russian takeover of Crimea failed to drum up support this week from Israel, which is sitting out the crisis pitting its U.S. ally against Moscow.

Edward Dolinsky, head of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, made a lobbying trip to Jerusalem with influential Ukrainian Jewish lawmaker Alexander Feldman. They were not received by officials from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Speaking to Reuters on Wednesday, Dolinsky said he and Feldman had sought to win Israeli support for "Ukraine and the aspirations of the Ukrainian people". He voiced dismay at the Netanyahu government's failure to oppose Russia's Crimea move.

Such censure, while not voiced by all of Ukraine's 200,000 Jews, challenges Israel's effort to steer clear of the showdown between Moscow and the U.S.-backed nationalists in Kiev even as allegations of anti-Semitism surface on both sides.

"We were disappointed with the Israeli reaction, the acceptance of the Ukraine situation," Dolinsky said. "They are trying to be very diplomatic with Russia because of Russian influence and the future importance of Russia for Israel's situation."
[...]
However, other Ukrainian Jews, including some living in Crimea, identify with Russia's aims and voice fear at the rise of hard-right nationalists in the new Kiev government.

"There are Jews on both sides of this," an Israeli official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "It's not a clear-cut situation, and we're taking our lead from the Ukrainian Jewish community. For now, no one there is preparing for an exodus."
[...]
Zvi Magen, a former Israeli ambassador to Russia, said fence-straddling was best for the Netanyahu government.

"By clamming up, Israel pays a price with Russia, but it also has to be mindful of its American partnership," said Magen, now with Tel Aviv University's INSS think-tank.

Even in Israel, the 1.2 million immigrants from the former Soviet Union - many of them constituents of Netanyahu's and Lieberman's right-wing parties - were split half-and-half over which side to back in Crimea, Magen said.

Ukrainian Jewish head raps Israeli reticence on Crimea crisis

Quote:

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Ukrainian Jewish leader opposed to the Russian takeover of Crimea failed to drum up support this week from Israel, which is sitting out the crisis pitting its U.S. ally against Moscow.

Edward Dolinsky, head of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, made a lobbying trip to Jerusalem with influential Ukrainian Jewish lawmaker Alexander Feldman. They were not received by officials from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Speaking to Reuters on Wednesday, Dolinsky said he and Feldman had sought to win Israeli support for "Ukraine and the aspirations of the Ukrainian people". He voiced dismay at the Netanyahu government's failure to oppose Russia's Crimea move.

Such censure, while not voiced by all of Ukraine's 200,000 Jews, challenges Israel's effort to steer clear of the showdown between Moscow and the U.S.-backed nationalists in Kiev even as allegations of anti-Semitism surface on both sides.

"We were disappointed with the Israeli reaction, the acceptance of the Ukraine situation," Dolinsky said. "They are trying to be very diplomatic with Russia because of Russian influence and the future importance of Russia for Israel's situation."
[...]
However, other Ukrainian Jews, including some living in Crimea, identify with Russia's aims and voice fear at the rise of hard-right nationalists in the new Kiev government.

"There are Jews on both sides of this," an Israeli official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "It's not a clear-cut situation, and we're taking our lead from the Ukrainian Jewish community. For now, no one there is preparing for an exodus."
[...]
Zvi Magen, a former Israeli ambassador to Russia, said fence-straddling was best for the Netanyahu government.

"By clamming up, Israel pays a price with Russia, but it also has to be mindful of its American partnership," said Magen, now with Tel Aviv University's INSS think-tank.

Even in Israel, the 1.2 million immigrants from the former Soviet Union - many of them constituents of Netanyahu's and Lieberman's right-wing parties - were split half-and-half over which side to back in Crimea, Magen said.

MINSK (Reuters) - Russian military ally Belarus will ask Moscow to deploy 12 to 15 warplanes on its territory in response to increased NATO activity near its borders due to tension over Ukraine, President Alexander Lukashenko said on Wednesday.

The United States and Poland, Belarus's western neighbor, began war games on Tuesday that are expected to involve at least 12 U.S. F-16 fighter jets. A joint naval exercise of U.S., Bulgarian and Romanian naval forces in the Black Sea started on Wednesday.

The drills were planned before the crisis in Ukraine but underscore support for NATO nations near Russia, which has taken control of Ukraine's Crimea region and has warned it could invade to protect Russians there after the president's ouster.

"We reacted calmly until large-scale exercises began ... in Poland," Lukashenko said. "There is a clear escalation of the situation near our borders."

He said Belarus would ask Russia to send "no more than 12 to 15 planes", indicating that the request had been made under a clause of a "union treaty" signed by the close Slavic nations after the Soviet Union's collapse.

When did Israel become a spokesman for the Jewish religion outside of Israel? The Chief Rabbi in Israel is the Chief Rabbi of Israel, not the Pope of Judaism. Get it?

Foofie wrote:

When did Israel become a spokesman for the Jewish religion outside of Israel? The Chief Rabbi in Israel is the Chief Rabbi of Israel, not the Pope of Judaism. Get it?

Dearest Foofie!
I've quoted a report and gave the source for that quote.
My name is Walter Hinteler, and not Dan Williams.

Ukraine's media regulator has ordered all cable providers to stop transmitting top Russian state-controlled TV channels, which have portrayed it as a country overrun by "neo-Nazis" and on the brink of chaos and collapse.

The Ukrainian National Council for TV and Radio Broadcasting instructed all cable operators on 11 March to stop transmitting a number of Russian channels, including the international versions of the main state-controlled stations Rossiya 1, Channel One and NTV, as well as news channel Rossiya 24.

It said it was acting in the interests of "information security". It was also responding to calls from the National Security and Defence Council, which on 6 March said the presence of Russian TV channels in Ukraine's "information space" represented a threat to "national security".

'Apocalyptic'

Russian TV's attacks on Ukraine have been relentless. As critic Yekaterina Bolotovskaya wrote on Russian website Gazeta.ru, they have been painting an "apocalyptic" picture of the country, embellished by "bellicose language" reminiscent of the height of the Cold War.

Writing for the American magazine Politico, journalist Leonid Ragozin said that Russian propaganda usually contained a "grain of truth", but this was then used in the service of a "big lie".

For example, he said, it was perfectly true that ultranationalists played a key role in the street clashes that led to the overthrow of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, but "all this is a far cry from Nazis taking over Kiev, an image now being stamped into the brains of Russian and East Ukrainian audiences 24 hours a day on Kremlin mouthpieces".

This message has been supplemented in recent days by a constant stream of reports backing Crimea's unification with Russia, ahead of a disputed referendum on the peninsula's future on 16 March.

"We have not stopped regarding Crimea as ours," a Rossiya 1 news presenter declared on 9 March.
Russian TV's role in the current crisis has been crucial because it has been widely watched in Ukraine, especially the mainly Russian-speaking east and south of the country.

In Crimea, Russian TV channels have now almost completely replaced Ukrainian ones.

Ukraine's media news website Telekrytyka has been at the forefront of efforts to confront what it calls the "manipulation of facts" and "overt lies" disseminated by Russian TV.

It pointed to a Rossiya 1 report from 1 March, which appeared to show a gun battle outside a government building in Crimea. "An analysis later showed the video was staged," Telekrytyka said.

Reports like this were used to justify Russia's stepping up its military presence in Crimea and supporting the separatist movement there.

Russian TV has also repeatedly alleged that Ukrainian "extremists" have been harassing and terrorising journalists, though until recently it had provided little actual evidence for this.

That is, until pro-Moscow journalist Sergey Rulev told several of Russia's leading TV channels how he had been set upon by a gang of nationalists who had punched and kicked him, and tried to rip out his fingernails. A report on Gazprom-Media's NTVon 6 March even showed YouTube footage of the alleged attack.

But, as Ukrainian blogger Pauluskp pointed out, the full video of the incident (which took place on or before 20 February) clearly shows that Rulev was attacked not by nationalists but by ex-President Yanukovych's hired heavies - the so-called titushki.

Activists at StopFake, a website set up by Ukrainian journalists to monitor media coverage of the current crisis, have compiled a whole dossier of what they call "distortions and propaganda"

Showing how Russian TV passed off disturbances in Kiev as violent clashes on the streets of the Crimean capital Simferopol
Highlighting evidence that contradicts Russian media claims of a mass exodus of refugees from Ukraine to escape the violence and chaos there
Collecting extensive photographic and video evidence that appears to show that parts of Crimea are occupied by Russian troops - something flatly denied by President Vladimir Putin and ignored by Russian TV
Evidence of Russian military activity in Crimea can also be found on the YouTube channel of Information Resistance, an impromptu news agency set up by Dmytro Tymchuk, head of the Ukrainian Centre for Military-Political Studies.

'Dictatorship'

The issue of how to respond to Russian TV's onslaught has been hotly debated in Ukraine in recent weeks.

Some MPs and media experts have been calling for a clampdown. But others, such as Telekrytyka's chief editor Nataliya Lihachova, have warned that this could be "senseless and harmful".

In a news conference on 4 March, she said that blocking Russian TV channels could have a similar effect to the Ukrainian parliament's annulment of the law on regional languages, which would have, among other things, lowered the status of Russian in Ukraine.

The annulment was vetoed by interim President Oleksandr Turchynov after a public outcry.

Russian nationalist MP Vladimir Zhirinovsky told a news conference at the State Duma on 12 March that the ban on Russian channels in Ukraine was an act of "dictatorship". Rossiya 1 said he spoke for MPs of all parties.

Russia has also reacted angrily to Ukraine stopping some Russian journalists from entering its territory. The Foreign Ministry accused the international community of turning a blind eye to "such manifestations of censorship".

Over half of Ukraine's cable operators have now stopped carrying the main Russian channels, according to the media regulator. The largest operator Volya has said it will follow suit in the next few days.

Viewers in Ukraine are also able to access Russian TV via satellite.