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  1. #1
    Senior Member HAPPY2BME's Avatar
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    Globe in Ukraine: Ukrainian military says it 'repelled' attempted Russian incursion

    The Globe and Mail
    Mark MacKinnon and Paul Waldie
    3/15/14

    "This was repelled immediately."
    Globe in Ukraine: Ukrainian military says it 'repelled' attempted Russian incursion

    The Ukrainian military says it has “repelled” an effort by the Russian military to land in southern Ukraine, just outside Crimea.

    "Units of Ukraine's armed forces today ... repelled an attempt by servicemen of the armed forces of the Russian Federation to enter the territory of Kherson region on Arbatskaya Strelka," a statement from the Defense Ministry said. "This was repelled immediately."

    It said the Ukrainian military used aircraft, ground forces and its aeromobile battalion in the operation. It was unclear whether any shots were fired.

    Earlier, local websites reported that several dozen paratroopers landed in the Kherson region, which is adjacent to Crimea. The soldiers reportedly wore no insignia, but were dropped off by helicopters bearing the red star of the Russian military.

    According to the Kherson Online website, the troops seized control of a gas distribution plant. The Crimean peninsula – which is set to vote Sunday in a referendum on joining the Russian Federation –is reliant on electricity, gas and water that transit the Kherson region.

    If confirmed, it would mark a serious escalation of the crisis in Ukraine, and the first Russian military move outside Crimea.

    UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT STILL HOPING FOR DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION

    Elsewhere, as Ukrainians brace for Sunday's referendum, the country's Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs said the government is preparing for a potential invasion by Russia but he is hoping a diplomatic solution to the crisis can still be found.

    “We ready to stand the aggression and we are in constant talks with other partners about how to stop not only the aggression, but how to stop the decision-making process [of Russia]," Andriy Deshchytsa told reporters in Kiev on Saturday.

    Mr. Deshchytsa declined to provide details but he said at this point the government is not considering evacuating Ukrainian troops from Crimea. “As you know our position is to solve this crisis with all peaceful means and with all diplomatic means, through all the diplomatic channels, and we are doing this. And since this is diplomatic war between Ukraine and Russia, we cannot unveil all our plans at this moment.”

    Crimea is set to hold a vote on Sunday on whether to join Russia. The results are expected to be overwhelmingly in favour of succession given that Crimea has a large Russian-speaking population and the local government has already asked Russia to annex the territory. The Ukrainian government along with the European Union, United States, Canada and other countries have said the referendum is illegal and they will not recognize the result.

    Russian troops have surrounded several Ukrainian military bases on the peninsula but so far no shots have been fired. The Ukrainian soldiers have been under pressure from the Crimean authorities to join a new territorial army but so far few have agreed.

    A meeting Friday in London between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov failed to reach a solution. Mr. Kerry and the EU have said Russia will face sanctions if it accepts the results of the referendum. The Russians have countered by insisting that they are following the will of Crimean citizens and the government in Kiev is not legitimate, having overthrown the duly elected president of Viktor Yannukovych, who was pro-Russian.

    Tensions have been running high across the country leading up to the vote particularly in Eastern Ukraine which also has large Russian-speaking populations. On Friday in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, two people died and a police officer was wounded in clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian groups. One person died earlier in the week in similar clashes in Donetsk. The Ukrainian government has blamed “Kremlin agents” for causing the disturbances, something Russia denies.

    Mr. Deshchytsa said more countries are backing Ukraine’s position and he believes there will be strong support for a U.S. resolution on Crimea at the United Nations Security Council which says the referendum “can have no validity”. The motion is expected to be put to a vote on Saturday but Russia will likely veto the measure.

    “We are getting more and more support, wider and stronger support in the international arena,” he said Saturday adding that China also supports Ukraine’s position. He also plans to travel to Brussels on Sunday for meetings with EU officials and NATO on Monday.

    He added that the Ukrainian government is prepared to consider granting more powers to Crimea, which is already considered an autonomous territory. “We are ready to discuss this in a dialogue, sitting around a table, but not talking to the guns which are on the streets through Crimea.”

    RUSSIA VETOES UN RESOLUTION on CRIMEA'S FUTURE

    Russia has vetoed a U.N. resolution declaring Sunday’s referendum on the future of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula illegal, but its close ally China abstained in a show of Moscow’s isolation.

    Supporters of the U.S.-sponsored resolution knew that Russia would use its veto. But they put the resolution to a vote Saturday morning to show the strength of opposition to Moscow’s takeover of Crimea. The 13 other council members voted “yes.”

    The resolution would have reaffirmed the council’s commitment to Ukraine’s “sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.”

    Supporters of Ukraine’s territorial integrity had hoped to demonstrate the strength of opposition to Russia’s takeover and possible annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in the vote.

    The resolution would also have declared that Sunday’s referendum on whether Crimea should become part of Russia “can have no validity, and cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of Crimea.”

    U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said the resolution is aimed at “showing the extent of Russia’s isolation as it pursues a non-peaceful path.”

    The draft resolution also urged all parties “to pursue immediately the peaceful resolution of this dispute through direct political dialogue,” to protect the rights of minorities in Ukraine.

    China is very sensitive to the issue of territorial integrity because of Tibet and other restive areas, and China’s U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi reiterated Beijing’s support again Thursday for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for not interfering in other countries’ internal affairs.

    The Security Council has held six meetings on Ukraine in less than two weeks but has been unable to take any action because of Russia’s veto power.

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  2. #2
    Senior Member HAPPY2BME's Avatar
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    Ukraine says Russian forces move outside Crimea

    Associated Press
    By MIKE ECKEL and JIM HEINTZ 1 hour ago

    SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces backed by helicopter gunships and armored vehicles Saturday took control of a village near the border with Crimea on the eve of a referendum on whether the region should seek annexation by Moscow, Ukrainian officials said.
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    The action in Strilkove appeared to be the first move outside Crimea, where Russian forces have been in effective control since late last month. There were no reports of gunfire or injuries. The incident raises tensions already at a high level before Sunday's referendum.

    In a statement, the Foreign Ministry denounced the foray outside Crimea, and said Ukraine "reserves the right to use all necessary measures to stop the military invasion by Russia."

    The village is on a long spit reaching northward from the main part of the Black Sea peninsula, about 10 kilometers (six miles) north of the border between Crimea and the Kherson region.

    A spokesman for the Ukrainian border guard service, Oleg Slobodyan, told The Associated Press the Russians, about 120 in all, took control of a natural gas distribution station in the village. The Foreign Ministry said the force consisted of about 80 and didn't mention the station, but said the village was seized.

    As Crimea prepares for Sunday's referendum, dozens of billboards throughout the regional capital proclaim "Together With Russia." But a few have been hit by spray-painters who scrawled out "Russia" and replaced it with "Ukraine."

    The referendum is denounced by Kiev and the West as illegitimate ; the West is threatening costly sanctions against Russia if it moves to incorporate Crimea. But the result is seen as a foregone conclusion — Crimea is almost certain to vote to split off, further aggravating Ukraine's political crisis and one of the harshest East-West confrontations since the end of the Cold war.

    View gallery

    A Ukrainian woman, who is a member of the district electoral committee, holds a ballot box during

    At the United Nations, Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution declaring the referendum illegal, and close ally China abstained in a sign of Moscow's isolation on the issue. Supporters of the U.S.-sponsored resolution knew that Russia would use its veto. But they put the resolution to a vote Saturday morning to show the strength of opposition in the 15-member Security Council to Moscow's takeover of Crimea. The final vote was 13 members in favor, China's abstention, and Russia as a permanent council member casting a veto.
    The question of whether Crimea, a strategically important Black Sea peninsula that is home to a key Russian naval base, should become part of Moscow's orbit raises strong passions on both sides.

    Supporters say the region rightfully belongs to Russia and that the government that replaced fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych is a coterie of fascist-minded nationalists who will abuse Crimea's majority ethnic-Russian population. Opponents bristle at Russia's heavy hand; Crimea effectively is already under Russian control after forces were sent in last month.

    Tensions are also high elsewhere in Ukraine. On Friday night, two people were killed and several wounded in a shootout that erupted after a clash in the city of Kharkiv between pro-Russian demonstrators and their opponents.

    In downtown Simferopol, at least 1,000 people on Saturday jammed a square in front of a soundstage and two massive TV screens as a long succession of Russian musical acts lauding "friendship of nations" and Russia itself. Musical acts from distant regions of Russia sang folk songs and danced traditional dance. One ensemble dressed as fairy-tale characters sang "Don't Fall Out Of Love with Russia!" No Ukrainian flags or colors were visible.

    "We have our great mother, Russia, who has taken us in her arms," said 40-year-old demonstrator Nikolai Antonov. "If Russia hadn't protected us, we would have had to take up arms" against the new authorities in Kiev.
    View gallery

    Police stand guard after Pro Russia protestors stormed the regional governance Security Service of U …

    Posters pasted to walls throughout the city center made comparisons between Russia and Ukraine for gasoline prices, doctors' salaries and student benefits. The comparisons all suggested Russia was a more prosperous country.

    But referendum opponents at a smaller rally said the economic argument is foolish.
    "It's better to be poor and live in a normal country than to live in a police state," said Ine Sultanova, a 66-year-old retired engineer.

    "I'm a citizen of Ukraine. I don't want to be a citizen of another country, or of Russia. It's well known what it's like to live in Russia. There's absolutely no civil society whatsoever. You can't say what you want. People can't gather for demonstration unless it's good for the government," said Andrei Voloshin, a 20-year-old law student.

    Details of the Friday night shooting in the city of Kharkiv were murky, but local news reports said it broke out after a skirmish between pro-Russia demonstrators and their opponents.

    Violence has escalated in Ukraine's Russia-leaning east in recent days, as pro-Russia demonstrators have seized government buildings and clashed with supporters of the new Kiev government. At least one person died and 17 were wounded in clashes in the city of Donetsk on Thursday.
    View gallery

    Valery Ivanov, head of the regional governance Security Service of Ukraine, center left, speaks with …

    Kharkiv, near the Russian border, is a hotbed of pro-Russia sentiment and opposition to the acting Ukrainian government that took power last month after Yanukovych fled the country in the wake of months of protests.
    After the skirmish, according to the reports, there was gunfire outside a building housing the offices of several nationalist groups including Right Sector, which was one of the drivers of the protests against Yanukovych and that vehemently opposes Russian influence in Ukraine.

    Russia has denounced Right Sector and similar groups as "fascists" who allegedly want to oppress ethnic Russians in Ukraine.

    A spokesman for Right Sector in eastern Ukraine, Igor Moseichuk, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying the shooting was a "planned provocation by pro-Russian forces."

    Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on his Facebook page that two people were killed and several wounded, including a policeman who was seriously injured. He said some 30 people "from both sides" had been detained.

    The victims' identities were not immediately made public. Moseichuk was quoted as saying the two killed were not among those inside the Right Sector offices.

    The violence in Kharkiv and Donetsk has raised concern that Russia, which has massed troops near eastern Ukraine's border, could use bloodshed as a justification for sending in forces to protect the ethnic Russian population.

    Ukraine's acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, warned Saturday that "there's a real danger of the threat of invasion of the territory of Ukraine."

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday, after meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, said Russia has no plans to send troops into eastern Ukraine.

    http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-says-r...153116949.html
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