Sooo....no talk on Kiev's gradual descent into Mad Max beyond Thunderdome status??

[Leasy]

I gotta respect Putin when it is all said and done. Dude is really about that tithing the U.S and E.U bankers and the only bold one.

 

[The_King_of_Everything]

Today is judgment day...​

"It's goin be a hot summer" - killa cam

 

[88m3]

Read online earlier Russians were allowed to vote in the referendum.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

9m ago

More on the military truce between Ukraine and Russia, from the Guardian’s Luke Harding in Kiev:

Russia and Ukraine have agreed a truce in Crimea until 21 March [Ihor Tenukh, acting defence minister] announced. … The agreement provides some respite for Ukraine’s beleaguered troops, who have been trapped … since Russian forces began occupying the peninsula on 27 February. Ukrainian soldiers have been encircled ever since, in some cases without electricity. Local residents have smuggled in food to them amid a nervous standoff with the Russian military.

But there seems little doubt that Ukrainian forces will be evicted from Kremlin-controlled Crimea once the truce expires on Friday. Crimea’s deputy prime minister, Rustam Temirgaliyev, said on Sunday troops would be given safe passage out. He predicted that eastern Ukraine would be next to join Russia.

Updated 7m ago

20m ago

Ukraine calls for a nascent national guard
Kiev has announced it will call up a national guard, Reuters reports. Arsen Avakov, the interior minister, said “About 10,000 will be called up in the next 15 day.” He also vehemently argued against the professed identity of protesters and pro-Russian bands in eastern Ukraine, calling them “professional touring provocateurs from a neighbouring country”. Ukraine’s head of national security said the military would be working to upgrade as quickly as possible.

Ukraine’s interim leaders, who’ve made a splash by forgoing their predecessors’ limos and jets, have flown economy class to visit the White House and take the subway to work. They’re now taking these tactics a step further: Avakov has advertised how to join the national guard … on Facebook.

39m ago

Sergei Aksyonov, Crimea’s de facto prime minister – though not recognized by Kiev’s government as such – has tweeted that with “two hours before the close of polls voter participation was at 73.4%”.

In an interview with the Guardian yesterday, Aksyonov said he “had received ‘signals’ from Moscow that Crimea’s petition would be accepted”. Shaun Walker reported:

With the influx of Russian troops and the seizure of power by Aksyonov, who was previously a marginal figure in Crimean politics, many in the west regard events in Crimea as part of a carefully choreographed Russian plan. Aksyonov, however, insisted his rise was a response to a genuine threat from far-right Ukrainian nationalists in Kiev after the events that led to President Viktor Yanukovych being toppled last month.

“The first thing they should have done was to have wide-ranging consultations and invite people from Russian-speaking regions to work together. Instead all we got was threats,” he said. “We had no other option. Should we wait here for people to come here with arms?”

Updated 35m ago

47m ago

Demonstrations are carrying on in cities beyond Crimea; the mood seems rather festive for those inclined toward Russia.

Pro-Russian protesters in downtown Kharkiv. Photograph: SERGEY KOZLOV/EPA

#Donetsk evening. Protestors still on streets, marching to patriotic pop song: 'March March March! Russian March!'pic.twitter.com/7voAJBOYQt

— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) March 16, 2014​

• In Crimea, the Guardian’s Shaun Walker confirms the bubbly mood among supporters of joining Russia:

Victory concert on Lenin Sq in Simferopol, even though voting hasn't finished. Six bobbing clarinettists and an MP in a miniskirt singing.

— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) March 16, 2014​

Updated 16m ago

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

56m ago

The EU condemns the referendum
The EU has issued a statement that aligns with the US stance on Crimea: “illegal and illegitimate and will not be recognised”.

The statement, by president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, goes on to say that a solution is only possible “through diplomatic processes” and “in the framework of the Ukrainian constitution as well as the strict adherence to international standards”.

They say Russia needs to withdraw its armed forces, and warns that the ministers of foreign affairs will “decide on additional measures” tomorrow – a hint that the EU may yet put together sanctions.

Updated 56m ago

1h 4m ago

The US considers today's referendum 'illegal', Kerry says
US secretary of state John Kerry has repeated to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, that the US does not recognize today’s referendum as legal, and nor will it accept the outcome, Reuters reports.

Kerry told Lavrov that the crisis requires a political solution, that Russia must recall troops back to its bases, and that the US is very concerned about Russian military’s involvement in eastern Ukraine – namely the Kherson Oblast region in which Ukraine said Russian forces attempted to occupy on Saturday.

Reuters’ source, an unnamed US official, says that Kerry “urged Russia to back constitutional reform in Ukraine that would protect the rights of minorities such as Crimea’s Russian-speaking population”.

Updated 1h 4m ago

1h 21m ago

Summary
• Crimean authorities report high voter turnout throughout the region, although Tatar and pro-Ukrainian groups pledged to boycott.

• Ukraine’s interim prime minister Arseny Yatseniuk vowed to apprehend separatists ”under the cover of Russian troops” and “bring them to justice”.

• Russian and Ukraine agree to a military truce until 21 March, and Ukraine’s acting defense minister says “no measures will be taken against our military facilities in Crimea during that time”.

• Competing demonstrations continue in eastern Ukrainian citiesof Donetsk and Kharkiv, though protests so far are smaller and less violent than in recent days.

• Ukraine appeals for military aid from Nato, but has not yet received a reply.

• The EU reiterates that it will not recognize the referendum’s outcome, as Russian president Vladimir Putin calls German chancellor Angela Merkel to say it “complies with international law”.

• No major international organizations are monitoring today’s vote, after “self-defense groups” prevented their entry. A number ofself-proclaimed observers, mostly far-right European politicians from across Europe, are in Crimea, with one saying “What is sauce for Kosovo’s goose is certainly sauce for Crimea’s gander.”

Updated 53m ago

1h 43m ago

The scene in the main square in Simferopol around four minutes ago.

Crimeans gather in Simferopol in anticipation of secession result Photograph: /Reuters TV

2h 18m ago

An overview of the Kharkiv demonstration.

Pro-Russian protesters gathered for their rally in downtown east-Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Photograph: SERGEY KOZLOV/EPA

2h 20m ago

Some pictures of pro-Russian demonstrations in Kharkiv.

Pro-Russian protesters gather for their rally on the main square of the east-Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Photograph: SERGEY KOZLOV/EPA

A Ukrainian policeman washes his face after being overcome by teargas during a pro-Russia rally held on the main square of the east-Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Photograph: SERGEY KOZLOV/EPA

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

watch them get a turn out like 109% or something wild

 

[88m3]

watch them get a turn out like 109% or something wild

Pretty much have to be a contrarian or troll to support Russia.

 

[Jhoon]

so eu favors ukraine holding elections after disposing of elected officials but hate that people are voting for their own self interest? typical western hypocrisy

 

[88m3]

so eu favors ukraine holding elections after disposing of elected officials but hate that people are voting for their own self interest? typical western hypocrisy

kingsmen that you ?

 

[No1]

nikka. goddamn. just move to moscow already.

He's just a troll. I don't know how we get so many of them on thecoli.

 

[Sinnerman]

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

so eu favors ukraine holding elections after disposing of elected officials but hate that people are voting for their own self interest? typical western hypocrisy

The disposal of a corrupt politician doesn't mean you should vote to segment the other country.

Nations can be against and for things as long as it supports them.

Stop thinking about "hypocrisy"

When you see things not as "right and wrong" but merely "interests" things will make more sense to you.

 

[Sinnerman]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/16/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E820140316

(Reuters) - Russian state media said Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to break with Ukraine and join Russia on Sunday, as Kiev accused Moscow of pouring forces into the peninsula and warned separatist leaders "the ground will burn under their feet".

RIA news agency said 93 percent backed annexation, citing an exit poll released as voting ended at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT). Another Russian agency said turnout was over 80 percent.

Caught in an East-West crisis reminiscent of the Cold War, Kiev said Russia's build-up of forces in the Black Sea region was in "crude violation" of an international treaty, and announced plans to arm and train 20,000 members of a newly-created National Guard to defend the nation.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Moscow that Washington would not accept the outcome of the vote, which is likely to favor union with Russia for a region which has a Russian-speaking majority.

The White House also warned Moscow to expect sanctions while foreign ministers from the European Union, which has major trade ties with Russia, will decided on possible similar action in Brussels on Monday.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected Western accusations that the referendum was illegal, saying it respected the will of the Crimean people, while his foreign ministry said it had agreed with the United States to seek a solution to the crisis through constitutional reform.

In Kiev, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk threatened dire consequences for the Crimean politicians who had called the vote, saying separatist "ringleaders" wanted to destroy Ukrainian independence "under the cover of Russian troops".

"We will find all of them - if it takes one year, two years - and bring them to justice and try them in Ukrainian and international courts. The ground will burn under their feet," he told a cabinet meeting.

Yatseniuk had just returned from a U.S. trip where he won expressions of moral support but no offers of weapons. Kiev's pro-European rulers, who took power after last month's fall of Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovich to popular unrest, have been as powerless as Western governments to prevent the referendum or buildup of Russian forces on Ukrainian territory.

At a polling booth at a school in Simferopol, the Crimean regional capital, dozens of people lined up outside to cast their ballots early.

"I have voted for Russia," said Svetlana Vasilyeva, 27, a veterinary nurse. "This is what we have been waiting for. We are one family and we want to live with our brothers."

Vasilyeva voiced fears common among some of Ukraine's native Russian-speakers about the consequences of Yanukovich's downfall after protests in which over 100 people were killed. "We want to leave Ukraine because Ukrainians told us that we are people of a lower kind. How can you stay in such a country?" she said.

But ethnic Tatars - Sunni Muslims who make up 12 percent of Crimea's population - said they would boycott the vote despite promises by the regional authorities to give them financial aid and proper land rights.

"This is my land. This is the land of my ancestors. Who asked me if I want it or not? Who asked me?" said Shevkaye Assanova, a Crimean Tatar in her 40s. "For the rest of my life I will be cursing those who brought these people here. I don't recognize this at all. I curse all of them."

TWO OPTIONS

Crimea's 1.5 million voters have two options: union with Russia or giving their region, which is controlled by pro-Kremlin politicians, the broad right to determine its own path and choose relations with whom it wants - including Moscow.

Provisional results were to be released late on Sunday and the final tally expected a day or two later.

A local Tatar television channel broadcast the count at one small polling station. It took just a few minutes for officials to stack up the papers, virtually in a single pile. One gave the result as: "166 for, 2 against, 1 spoiled". By "for" she clearly meant the first option on the paper, for union with Russia.

Russia has the right to keep forces on the Black Sea peninsula, including at its naval base in the port of Sevastopol, under a treaty signed after Ukraine gained independence from the wreckage of the Soviet Union in 1991.

But Ukrainian acting defense minister Ihor Tenyukh accused Moscow of going far beyond an agreed limit on servicemen - which he said was 12,500 for 2014.

"Unfortunately, in a very short period of time, this 12,500 has grown to 22,000. This is a crude violation of the bilateral agreements and is proof that Russia has unlawfully brought its troops onto the territory of Crimea," he said.

This figure had risen from 18,400 on Friday. "Let me say once again that this is our land and we will not be leaving it," he told Interfax news agency.

Tenyukh later said that the defense ministries in Kiev and Moscow had declared a truce until March 21 during which Russian forces, who have been arriving by boat and helicopter, would leave Ukrainian military facilities untouched.

Many Crimeans hope union with Russia will bring better pay and make them citizens of a country capable of asserting itself on the world stage. But others see the referendum as a land grab by the Kremlin from Ukraine, whose new rulers want to move the country towards the European Union and away from Russia's sway.

Putin defended the vote in a phone call on Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying it complied with international law, including Article 1 of the U.N. Charter which states the principle of self-determination of peoples. "It was emphasized that Russia will respect the choice of the Crimean people," a Kremlin statement said.

Putin has said he must protect the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine from "fascists" in Kiev who ousted Yanukovich. Western powers largely dismiss his characterization of the new authorities as successors of Nazi-allied Ukrainian forces which fought the Red Army in World War Two.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged Kerry on Sunday to encourage authorities in Kiev to stop what he called "massive lawlessness" against the Russian-speaking population. In their second phone conversation in two days, Lavrov and Kerry agreed to seek a solution to the crisis by pushing for constitutional reforms in Ukraine, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

However, Kerry told Lavrov that the United States would not accept the referendum result and said Russia must pull back its forces to their bases, a senior State Department official said.

The White House also warned Putin that he faces international isolation that will hurt Russia's economy. "You can expect sanctions designations in the coming days," White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer told NBC's Meet the Press.

The administration is preparing to identify Russians whom the United States will seek to punish with visa bans and asset freezes that President Barack Obama authorized last week.

At the United Nations, 13 Security Council members voted for a draft resolution on Saturday saying the Crimea result should not be recognized internationally, but Moscow exercised its veto while China abstained.

TENSIONS IN CYBERSPACE

Tensions over Crimea appear also to be spreading in cyberspace. Unidentified hackers brought down several public NATO websites with attacks on Saturday, the alliance said.

Spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Twitter that the attacks, which began on Saturday evening, continued on Sunday, although most services had now been restored.

"It doesn't impede our ability to command and control our forces. At no time was there any risk to our classified networks," another NATO official said.

A group calling itself "cyber berkut" - named after riot police formally disbanded by the central powers in Kiev - said the attack had been carried out by patriotic Ukrainians angry over what they saw as NATO interference in their country.

Apart from Crimea, tension is also running high in parts of the Russian-speaking industrialized east of Ukraine near the border with Russia, with clashes between rival demonstrators which Moscow has seized on to support its case that ethnic Russians are being victimized.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Osborn in Simferopol, Natalia Zinets and Ron Popeski in Kiev, Lidia Kelly and Maria Kiselyova in Moscow, Matt Spetalnick and Arshad Mohammedin Washington, Mirjam Donath at the United Nations, Adrian Croft in Brussels and Peter Apps in London; Writing by David Stamp; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Alastair Macdonald)

 

[yseJ]

so eu favors ukraine holding elections after disposing of elected officials but hate that people are voting for their own self interest? typical western hypocrisy

why are you even surprised ?
its clear if the same coup happened to a government loyal to the west, eu and us would tell the government to do the same thing they criticized yani for (police suppressing it)

hell, if a riot happens NOW in crimea against the new government, eu and us will support all and any bloody methods of suppressing it

seriously, no need to go any further than kosovo to parallel the hypocrisy. we'll support secession when it suits our interests and will support not seceding when it doesn't