Author Archives: RomanInUkraine

Crimea airport at centre of Ukraine and Russia standoff is owned by ousted president’s son

There’s a Russian saying: “Live like a wolf, howl like a wolf.”

The airport at the centre of a tense standoff between Ukraine and Russia is owned by the son of ousted Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovych, the Mirror can reveal.

Armed militia arrived at Simferopol Airport, in the Crimean region of Ukraine, in trucks overnight and began patrolling, some carrying Russian naval flags.

The company that owns the airport, Mizhnarodnyy Aeroport Simferol PAT, was bought by Oleksandr Yanukovych in April last year, according to mergers and acquisitions monitors Zephyr.

No purchase price was available but a report by Zephyr noted that 100% of the shares in the firm were acquired by Mr Yanukovych.

Ukraine’s interior minister Arsen Avakov has accused Russian naval forces of mounting an “armed invasion” of both Simferopol Airport and the nearby Sevastopol military airport.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/ukraine-news-simferopol-airport-crimea-3194165

(Thanks, Elmer)

Cultural Reflections of Ukraine’s WWII History

Both world wars had the character and catastrophic consequences of a civil war on the territory of Ukraine. May all the fallen from all sides rest in peace.

I was recently interviewed at “Press Club” about Ukraine’s protests, back when they could still be called protests.

Before me spoke an author from Lviv. He’s second overall in the video below. He asked what happened to the culture of the many Ukrainians who served in the Red Army? Where are the songs and poems about their struggles and tribulations?

I haven’t researched the matter myself, but I’ll take him at his word that there aren’t any. By contrast, he pointed out, though only about 100,000 Ukrainians served in the partisans, their struggle is immortalized in popular Ukrainian culture.

No least by the album “Nashi Partyzany” (Our Partisans): http://www.vulyk.ua/Taras-Chybai-Skryabin-ta-Plach-Jeremiyi/Nashi-Partyzany_14/L/en

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[youtube]YhXjssaMNkA[/youtube]

for laughs

My friend Sviatoslav: IT’S WAR, BROTHER!!! Where are you?

Me: Guarding “Svit Kavy” coffee shop.

Sviatoslav: I’m serious. If it gets hot, you can come to me in the village.

Me: Okay, thanks.

The ex-Israeli soldier who led a Kiev fighting unit

‘Delta’ has headed ‘the Blue Helmets of Maidan’ of 40 men and women – including several IDF veterans – in violent clashes with government forces.

He calls his troops “the Blue Helmets of Maidan,” but brown is the color of the headgear worn by Delta — the nom de guerre of the commander of a Jewish-led militia force that participated in the Ukrainian revolution. Under his helmet, he also wears a kippah.

Delta, a Ukraine-born former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, spoke to JTA Thursday on condition of anonymity. He explained how he came to use combat skills he acquired in the Shu’alei Shimshon reconnaissance battalion of the Givati infantry brigade to rise through the ranks of Kiev’s street fighters. He has headed a force of 40 men and women — including several fellow IDF veterans — in violent clashes with government forces.

Several Ukrainian Jews, including Rabbi Moshe Azman, one of the country’s claimants to the title of chief rabbi, confirmed Delta’s identity and role in the still-unfinished revolution.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.577114

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I don’t like this and don’t trust this. You can’t have foreign military involved in another country’s protests.

edit — Regarding the propaganda impact of this story: Makes it hard to claim the protesters are Nazis. But easier to claim that the protesters are orchestrated by the NWO.

A Thus-far-bloodless Russian invasion of Crimea is Underway

Bits of news are being reported everywhere. For specifics, you can look here: https://twitter.com/search?q=%23russiainvadesukraine&src=hash

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There was also a large pro-Russian rally in Donetsk: http://inagist.com/all/439729182587633667/

report: 10 euro for being on a square before 2pm at a pro-Russia demo. After 2pm demo is over, people went home – colleagues reported

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Loss of these regions would be a shame for the Ukrainians who live there, for the Crimean Tartars who despise Russia, and for the business interest who have enjoyed some autonomy.

However, on the whole, loss of these regions might be the best thing that ever happened to Ukraine. It would create less confusion and a more homogenous society, which is good for peace, trust and stability.

Here’s an interesting wrinkle: Russian oligarchs from Donetsk own tons of property in western Ukraine, including in the Carpathians, much of which was seized by land privatizations of dubious legitimacy. They stand to lose a lot. I hope they do.

Rebels

Made by an ex-pat acquaintance of mine.

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I always thought the Confederate flag had a lot in common with the black and red flag of the Ukrainian partisans. Both represented rebellion against a stronger, more numerous foe. Both ended in defeat and humiliation and the perception of history wrongly told.

redblack-ukraine-flag

Thank you for the concern

Thank you for the concern that some of my readers have expressed. I’m concerned too, but only a little bit.

Crimea is far away, as is the east. I think at the very most Putin will try to take those. At the very least, it’ll be the city of Sevastopol.

He needs to show a little muscle, but if he shows too much then he risks losing Belarus, Chechnya, Dagestan, Siberia.

The last place they’ll come in Lviv. :)

Who appointed Turchynov / Yatzenyuk as President / PM?

Okay, the answer seems to be as follows:

1. Verkhovna Rada adopted the Constitution of 2004, which lets it appoint the Cabinet of Ministers (over 2/3 of MPs)
2. Verkhovna Rada fired the Head of VR and appointed Turchynov as Speaker.
3. Verkhovna Rada ousted Yanukovich (political decision). Turchynov under the Constitution became temporary President.
4. Verkhovna Rada voted for Yatseniuk as the PM under the new Constitution. Yatseniuk presented to the VR the ministers he’d like to propose (that were to an extent confirmed with the people on Maidan), and VR voted for the ministers separately.