Ukraine

NOVANEWS By Stephen Brown and Alexandra Hudson MUNICH (Reuters) - The opposing sides of Ukraine's political crisis put their cases to world powers on Saturday, with the opposition buoyed by pledges of support from the West while Ukraine's foreign minister accused Europe of forcing Kiev into a strategic choice. Meanwhile the United States and Europe, which held private meetings with the opposition, exchanged angry words with Russia, accusing it of exactly the same thing - strong-arming Kiev into an unpopular alliance. "Nowhere is the fight for a democratic, European future more important today than in Ukraine," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said. "The United States and EU stand with the people of Ukraine in that fight." He added that protesters believed their futures "...

NOVANEWS Western politicians who advocate freedom of choice for Ukraine, but say this must be a pro-European choice, have a strange interpretation of freedom, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a security conference in Munich. Lavrov was responding to numerous statements, including from the European Council President Hermann van Rompuy and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, which were voiced just minutes before at the conference. He also criticized Western support for Ukrainian anti-government protests, which he said ignored the darker side of the movements behind the violence there. “What does the inciting of street protests, which are growing increasingly violent, have to do with promoting democratic principles?” Lavrov said. “Why do we not hear statements of condemn...

NOVANEWS Police and military agents in Ukraine are notorious for dressing as protesters and assaulting the media By John Vibes UKRAINE (INTELLIHUB) — Agent Provocateurs in the Ukraine are known to be especially aggressive, starting fights among protesters and attacking the media. Agent provocateurs are used to instigate physical altercations between activists and authorities. Agent Provocateurs are people that work for the the government but pretend to be a part of a mob. While under cover these agents commit acts of violence and vandalism to give the police a pretense to use force against the demonstrators. According to Wikipedia: Titushky (Ukrainian: тітушки; sometimes titushkos, titushkas) is a widely-used term in Ukrainian mass media and by the general public for street hooligans w...

NOVANEWS The story we're told about the protests gripping Kiev bears only the sketchiest relationship with reality. Seumas Milne The Guardian, Wednesday 29 January 2014 ‘The Ukrainian faultine has the potential to draw in outside powers and lead to a strategic clash.' Illustration by Matt Kenyon We've been here before. For the past couple of months street protests in Ukraine have been played out through the western media according to a well-rehearsed script. Pro-democracy campaigners are battling an authoritarian government. The demonstrators are demanding the right to be part of the European Union. But Russia's president Vladimir Putin has vetoed their chance of freedom and prosperity. It's a story we've heard in one form or another again and again – not least in Ukraine's weste...

NOVANEWS 1400 Russian troops to handle social unrest in Ukraine By John Vibes UKRAINE (INTELLIHUB) — As the protests and uprisings in Ukraine continue to grow, the government is outsourcing troops from Russia to help put down protesters. “There is information that at 1400 Russian Spetznaz troops were disembarking at [Kyiv local airports] Boryspil and Zhulyany dressed in civilian clothing and that they were going to dress in [Ukrainian riot plice] Berkut uniforms and proceed to the Madan” Rada deputy Andriy Parybiy, of the Batkivshchyna Party said at a recent press conference.[1] Government agents in Ukraine have had trouble contending with the the large numbers of protesters and have been resorting to the most brutal tactics in some cases. As we reported earlier this week protesters ha...

NOVANEWS   Ukrainian citizens have rallied in the bitter cold at Independence Square in Kiev to demand a better economic future and to protest President Viktor Yanukovych's failure to sign an economic agreement with the EU. But while the draft of the EU "Association Agreement" is being sold as an economic boon for Ukrainian citizens, in reality it appears to be NATO's Trojan Horse: a massive expansion of NATO's military position in the region. What's more, the Agreement occurs under the cover of nebulous economic promises for a beset population hungering for better wages. In a country where the average monthly minimum wage stands at about $150 USD, it's not hard to understand why Ukrainians are in the streets. They do not want to be in Russia's orbit, nor do they want to be pawns...

NOVANEWS Running battles overnight appeared to have ended with police in retreat and anti-government campaigners still in control of central square Common Dreams staff A protester shouts behind riot policemen standing guard in Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, on Monday, December 9. Ukrainians occupied the square to denounce President Viktor Yanukovich's recent tilt away from Europe and towards Russia, as protests continued for a third week. (CNN)Though it appeared early on Wednesday that the restraint promised by Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych might hold, after darkness fell in the city of Kiev, riot police stormed the barricades set up by protesters around Independence Square where more than three weeks of anti-government demonstrations have been held. After hours of confro...