Thread: Russia accepts passports issued by east Ukraine rebels

Russia accepts passports issued by east Ukraine rebels

19 February 2017
From the section Europe

President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia is temporarily recognising passports and other identity documents issued by the self-proclaimed rebel republics in eastern Ukraine.

Clashes between pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian army flared up again in recent weeks, leaving many dead.

Ukraine's President, Petro Poroshenko, condemned the decision to recognise separatist passports.

But Russia's foreign minister said it was a humanitarian decision.

Sergei Lavrov also announced that heavy military hardware would be withdrawn from the region, and said a ceasefire would come into force on Monday.

He is currently in Munich for a Nato conference. US Vice-President Mike Pence, also in Munich, said the US would "continue to hold Russia accountable" and would demand that Russia honour the 2015 ceasefire deal signed in Minsk, one of the provisions of which is the removal of heavy weapons.

The Russian decree (in Russian) covers the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic.

"Identity papers, school or professional diplomas, birth and death certificates... issued by the competent bodies in the zones mentioned are recognised as valid by Russia," it reads.

Tens of thousands of people from eastern Ukraine have sought refuge in Russia since the fighting began.

Government officials in Ukraine reacted angrily to Russia's decision on passports, with one calling it a "deliberate escalation".

And the former acting President, Oleksandr Turchynov, now the head of Ukraine's national security and defence council, echoed this, saying the Kremlin had "completely ruled out" a return to the ceasefire agreement.

Mr Turchynov said: "The Minsk process provides for the de-occupation of eastern Ukraine and its restitution to the legal force of the state.

"By signing this decree, Putin has legally recognised the quasi-state terrorist groups which cover Russia's occupation of part of Donbas."

More than 9,700 people have died since the Ukraine conflict erupted in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula. Pro-Russian rebels later launched an insurgency in the east.

A ceasefire was agreed in February 2015 but there have been frequent violations. The latest truce began on 23 December.

Ukrainian forces say the fresh outbreak of fighting began when rebels launched an attack on Avdiivka, a flashpoint town held by the army that borders land controlled by the separatists.

The rebels say they were attacked by Ukrainian government forces.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39018429

We've not been told the straight scoop on Russia in Ukraine. This doesn't sound like "Russian aggression" to me. It sounds like the people in these two provinces or areas of Ukraine are Russian and want to be part of Russia, like Crimea did, instead of the Ukraine.

Originally Posted by Judy

We've not been told the straight scoop on Russia in Ukraine. This doesn't sound like "Russian aggression" to me. It's sounds like the people in these two provinces or areas of Ukraine are Russian want to be part of Russia, like Crimea did, instead of the Ukraine.

That's not it. The East Ukrainian Russians do not want to be a part of Russia and Russia does not want to annex East Ukraine. All the East Ukrainians want is a certain amount autonomy. Russia does not have the same historical claims on Ukraine that it does on Crimea. I think the East Ukrainians would even settle for just better representation in Kiev. The problem is really the utterly irresponsible political forces in Kiev who are violently anti-Russian.

Recall that this whole mess started when a former leader of the Ukraine was thrown out of office for advancing better relations with the Russian Federation. It was a violent coup that continued to violence against Russians in East Ukraine and elsewhere in the Ukraine.

The whole thing is nothing more than a continuation of the ant-Russian hysteria we are seeing everywhere in Europe and the US as well.

Thank you pkskyali for the clarification. So I wonder who was involved in organizing the "coup" and creating the "discontent" that led to the violent coup? Was our CIA involved in this too? Is this one of the secrets they're so afraid Trump will find out? Flynn probably knew this, right?

Why does the media reinforce and perpetuate the lie about "Russian Aggression"? Why do they not tell the truth about what's going on and not going in Ukraine and Russia's true intentions in the area? Does the CIA control our media in some way?

Originally Posted by Judy

Thank you pkskyali for the clarification. So I wonder who was involved in organizing the "coup" and creating the "discontent" that led to the violent coup? Was our CIA involved in this too? Is this one of the secrets they're so afraid Trump will find out? Flynn probably knew this, right?

Originally Posted by Judy

Why does the media reinforce and perpetuate the lie about "Russian Aggression"? Why do they not tell the truth about what's going on and not going in Ukraine and Russia's true intentions in the area? Does the CIA control our media in some way?

No, I don't think the CIA had anything to do with it. For all the things that the CIA is accused of, if half were true, you would wonder where they found the time. They have things that they have to be doing and they report to people in the government. It's a busy job and none of it pays for itself.

The truth is that the problem goes back to WWII and the Nazi occupation of Eastern Europe. Many Ukrainians were and continue to be Nazi sympathizers and apologists. We see more blatant displays like this in Croatia, once a member of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Lithuania sees similar displays. It scares the Russians pretty badly and it ought to scare us too, more than it does.

We some display of sentimental displays of Stalinist sympathy among some of the Russians in Ukraine, but they are generally pretty creaky and with no vitality, not like the resurgence of Nazi sympathizers we see in many parts of Eastern Europe. Many Russians are beginning to understand that Stalin was no Russian and never did any Russian any good.

https://sputniknews.com/europe/20170...blockade-kiev/

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Supporters of Donbass Blockade Clash With Police in Kiev

Riot police and members of the Ukrainian National Guard block activists and supporters of nationalist parties during a rally against trade with Ukraine's rebel-held east areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, in Kiev, Ukraine Supporters of Donbass Blockade Clash With Police in Kiev

© REUTERS/ Valentyn Ogirenko

21:50 19.02.2017(updated 23:17 19.02.2017)

Scuffles broke out on Sunday in central Kiev after a mob tried to pitch tents outside the presidential office, demanding a freeze on trade with self-proclaimed Donbass republics, local media reported.

KIEV (Sputnik) — Veterans of the Ukrainian military operation to reclaim eastern territories cut off railway connection with parts of Lugansk and Donetsk regions last month, calling coal deliveries from these areas illegal. This led to electricity shortages.

Dozens of Ukrainian nationalists, including two lawmakers from the Self-Reliance party, marched on the presidential administration today to demand an end of what they perceive as coal smuggling, the Hromadske TV reported.

The angry mob, some of them wearing masks and carrying bats, ran into hundreds of riot police officers who blocked off government buildings. Clashes erupted when protesters hurled a firecracker at the police and sprayed them with a fire extinguisher.

One police officer and ten protesters were hurt in the scuffles. The officer suffered serious injuries, according to Kiev Police Department chief Andriy Hryshchenko. A medical worker said at least one demonstrator received a head injury.

Hryshchenko told the local television channel that five people had been detained. Police sources told Sputnik that violence had stopped and calm had returned to central Kiev.

Head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko said Thursday that Donbass would cope with the blockade organized by Ukrainian radicals, whereas for Kiev, the consequences would be serious, as in two weeks Kiev "can forget about heating and energy industry."

President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday condemned the blocking by Ukrainian radicals of coal deliveries from Donbass.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday, after meeting his counterparts from Germany, France and Ukraine in Munich, that the blockade of Donbas was unacceptable. German foreign policy chief Sigmar Gabriel echoed this statement, saying on behalf of the "Normandy Four" ministers that curbs on coal traffic in Ukraine hurt both sides.

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