Ukraine forces, rebels clash in two eastern towns

[Bosonic]

Source: AFP

Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine's military clashed with pro-Kremlin rebels in two eastern towns overnight, the interior and defence ministries said Thursday.

Ukrainian soldiers retook control of the town hall in the southeastern port city of Mariupol and repelled an attack on an army base in the eastern town of Artemivsk, the ministries said.

Separatist sources confirmed the loss of the Mariupol town hall.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-forces-rebels-clash-two-eastern-towns-071208278.html;_ylt=AwrTWf0VulhTtkcArEHQtDMD

[dipsydoodle]

1. Ukrainian armed forces repel attack by gunmen on military compound in Artemivsk, Donetsk Oblast

Shattering the night silence, explosions and gunfire rang out early on April 24 in the eastern city of Artemivsk, Donetsk Oblast as armed pro-Russian insurgents attempted to seize a military base that houses some 20 to 30 tanks and a cache of weapons.

Ukrainian forces repelled the 2 a.m. attack by a group of some 70 to 100 insurgents who were armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, the country’s Ministry of Defense and Interior Minister Arsen Avakov reported. Hand grenades were used by the attackers in the assault, the Defense Ministry said.

Avakov said the group was led by a man with “an extensive beard,” hinting at pro-Russian separatist Alexander Mozhaev, who has been seen colluding with insurgents in the nearby city of Sloviansk. There, separatists have seized the city’s security services and administration buildings and taken several journalists hostage.

Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said in a statement that the attackers in Artemivsk sustained a “heavy” but unspecified number of casualties during the failed assault on the military installation on Chaikovskoho Street. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian soldier was “lightly wounded.”

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ukrainian-armed-forces-repel-attack-by-gunmen-on-military-compound-in-artemivsk-344883.html

[Bosonic]

2. Ukraine army armoured vehicles enter rebel-held Slavyansk

Last edited Thu Apr 24, 2014, 06:40 AM - Edit history (1)

(AFP)

#BREAKING Ukraine army armoured vehicles enter rebel-held Slavyansk

https://twitter.com/AFP/statuses/459255723785216000

AFP: Shooting in #Ukraine town of Slavyansk, rebel roadblock in flames.

https://twitter.com/W7VOA/status/459247522008281088

Reuters: five light-armoured vehicles take control of a checkpoint north of Slavyansk in Ukraine

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/459264518020136960

Reuters: Ukraine's Interior Ministry says forces have killed "up to five" militants at Slavyansk and destroyed three checkpoints

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/459273379791781888

#BREAKING Kiev's use of army in east Ukraine 'serious crime against own people': Putin

https://twitter.com/AFP/statuses/459278436767649792

Putin adds that Kiev's actions in east Ukraine will 'have consequences'

https://twitter.com/AFP/statuses/459279075631431680

[Bosonic]

3. Ukraine crisis: Army moves to retake Sloviansk

Ukraine crisis: Army moves to retake Sloviansk

Commandos have moved on the separatist stronghold of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine days after a new "anti-terrorist" operation was announced.

A number of casualties were reported among the separatists as the commandos, backed by armour, cleared barricades near the town.

Separatists are occupying key buildings in at least a dozen eastern towns.

It appears that pro-government forces have regained control of the city hall in another eastern town, Mariupol.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27138300

[jakeXT]

4. A bit of smoke

http://rt.com/news/154544-slavyansk-fighting-east-ukraine/

[dipsydoodle]

5. Kiev military op: Ukrainian army tanks, APCs, troops attack Slavyansk

According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, at least five self-defense guards have been killed and one policeman injured in Kiev’s ‘antiterrorist operation’.

“During the antiterrorist operation three checkpoints erected by illegal military groups have been destroyed in the north-eastern part of Slavyansk,” said the ministry.

http://rt.com/news/154544-slavyansk-fighting-east-ukraine/

Confirmed by :

Five dead, one wounded as anti-terror operation continues in Sloviansk (LIVE UPDATES, VIDEO)

15:10 p.m. -- According to Interfax Ukraine, the leaders of the Donetsk People's Republic have announced a general mobilization of separatist forces in eastern Ukraine in response to the anti-terror operation that Ukrainian authorities launched outside the city of Sloviansk on April 24.

The leadership of the republic told Interfax that "A combined arms operation has been launched in Sloviansk. This means only one thing: a civil war."

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/5-dead-one-wounded-as-anti-terror-operation-continues-in-sloviansk-live-updates-344902.html

[Supersedeas]

7. what will Europe do when it is time to respond

[dipsydoodle]

8. Do you mean the EU as opposed to Europe ?

.

[Supersedeas]

12. there are non-EU members that may have a stake in the situation as well

[dipsydoodle]

13. Any European country

whether EU or not would need to act of its own volition if it felt it needed to do so.

[Bosonic]

6. Russian Defence Minister says military starting drills near Ukraine border

Russian Defence Minister says military starting drills near Ukraine border in response to "Ukraine's military machine"

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/459318625426767872

Video which purportedly shows large convoy near border (Krasny Sulin / Gukovo / Zverevo on blue road sign)

[nyabingi]

9. Meanwhile,

Dmitry Yarosh, the leader of the neo-Nazi Right Sector, is continuing to recruit new members and Yarosh just claimed he is moving their headquarters to the east in order to better fight some hated Russians.

Nice to see Americans cheering for the neo-Nazis...smh.

[pampango]

10. The European far-right is pro-Putin, not pro-Kiev. The Right Sector will come around.

Far-right parties are set to do well in next month’s elections to the European Parliament, a fact that has thrown a spotlight on their links with the Kremlin. A recent study by the Budapest-based Political Capital Institute documents the support that far-right parties in the EU have given to Russian President Vladimir Putin, particularly throughout the Ukraine crisis. These parties repeated the Kremlin’s line that it is the EU and the West, rather than Russia, which are provoking tension and fueling violence in the Eastern European country.

http://euobserver.com/eu-elections/123887

Right wingers in Europe - as elsewhere - as pro-nationalist, anti-EU types. They share these convictions with Putin. My guess is that the Right Sector will not be invited to too many meetings hosted by the European far-right until they get on board with their pro-Putin agenda.

[nyabingi]

11. European rightists support Putin as far as opposition to the EU

goes because they see him as the strongest opponent of it, but that in no way implies that they share the same ideologies and goals. Yarosh is moving his headquarters east to help get rid of what he terms the "Kremlin infection", so thinking Right Sector "will come around" to Putin's side is a foolish statement, pampango. Disarming Right Sector has been the focus of Russia during recent negotiations (while the US and EU want the disarming of pro-Russians in the east).

This is similar to right-wingers trying to say Nazis were the same as Communists because Nazi stood for "national socialist". They do this because they want to disassociate themselves from their genocidal history and place it in the laps of leftists.

[pampango]

14. The point is that it is the European far-right, not the left, that supports Putin over Kiev.

...that in no way implies that they share the same ideologies and goals.

What differences do you think exist between the ideologies and goals of the European far-right and those of Putin? I see them as racist, homophobic, anti-equality, anti-immigrant, nationalistic, authoritarian and pro-military solutions to problems. The only difference is that Putin is a pro-Russia nationalist, Marine Le Pen is a pro-French nationalist, Geert Wilders is a pro-Dutch nationalist, etc.

...so thinking Right Sector "will come around" to Putin's side is a foolish statement...

If the Right Sector is still around in three years (it is less than a year old now), I believe they "will come around" to the anti-EU, pro-nationalist position that the rest of the far-right shares. Since Putin will still be in office, will undoubtedly still be anti-EU and pro-nationalism and the Ukrainian situation will have died down, I think it is quite likely that the Right Sector (though it will probably be extinct by then) "will come around" to Putin's side as has the rest of the European far-right.

This is similar to right-wingers trying to say Nazis were the same as Communists because Nazi stood for "national socialist".

I think the far-right in Europe sees Putin for the right-winger he is. (The use of military pressure to expand one's borders and reunite fellow ethnic groups with the "mother country" has historically not been a liberal endeavor.) Otherwise they would not support him.

[dipsydoodle]

15. Do they support Putin

or just not support Kiev ?

[pampango]

16. Why would they not support Putin? He's a conservative nationalist just like them.

And if, as some perceive, the Kiev government is heavily influenced by the right, why would the European far-right not be supportive of Kiev? They must get the sense that the Right Sector and others on the right as not as influential in Kiev as some would have us believe.

[Adrahil]

17. Realistically, there's not much difference right now

Putin intends to destroy Ukraine.

And frankly, Putin is proving to be more of a fascist than the "neonazi" boogeymen supposedly calling the shots in Kyiv.

http://queerussia.info/2014/04/07/4877/

[nyabingi]

19. So you think the fact that Putin

is a homophobe also makes him a raging right-winger? You believe the far-right parties of Europe want Russia to regain sole influence over the former Soviet republics they way Putin wants.

The right-wing of Europe is anti-EU the same way the extreme right-wing in the US (Klan, neo-Nazis, the militia people) are anti-UN - they think anything even vaguely resembling a "New World Order" type group is bad. Putin is more anti-NATO (for good reason) and has seemed more than willing to work and trade with the EU countries. The far-right in Europe still looks upon Russia as the great evil empire of former commies they'd like another stab at (since they failed in WWII). Putin's moves are a good bit for internal political reasons and if he's seen as standing up to western bullying, he'll benefit from the nationalism his defiance will produce among Russians.

Right Sector is relatively new but their allies in the post-coup Kiev government, Svoboda, has been openly involved with other far-right European parties and political movements. These two pro-western, US supported groups are far more aligned to the European far right than Putin (it's not even close).

Like I've said, the American media has been successful at diverting your attention and making the object your hate Putin instead of the people you should be hating.

[pampango]

20. Being homophobic is not the only reason that Putin is a "raging right-winger".

So you think the fact that Putin is a homophobe also makes him a raging right-winger?

He is also racist, anti-equality, anti-immigrant, nationalistic, authoritarian and pro-military solutions to problems. If all of that does not add up to "raging right-winger" then we have different definitions.

These two pro-western, US supported groups are far more aligned to the European far right than Putin (it's not even close).

The European far-right does not see it the same way you do. You may believe that the Right Sector and Svoboda are "far more aligned to the European far-right than is Putin (it's not even close)" but the European far right itself does not agree with you. They are backing Putin not Kiev.

If the Right Sector and Svoboda were influential in Kiev, one would expect the European far right to support them (given their common "alignment&quot . They do not.

[dipsydoodle]

18. OSCE Military Observers at Ukraine-Russia Border – Kiev’s Security Service.

KIEV, April 24 (RIA Novosti) – A group of OSCE military observers is present at a Ukrainian checkpoint at the border with Russia that is surrounded by federalization supporters, the press center of the Ukrainian Security Service said Thursday.

"An inspection team of OSCE military observers has been working on the site of the Luhansk border detachment over the past few days. The purpose of their mission is to fix the facts of military activity near the border and provocative actions aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine," the service said in a statement.

The observers have monitored the situation at the border and visited several border units. They will continue their work Thursday.

Another multinational group of observers supervised by Germany arrived in southeastern Ukraine on Monday, taking the place of a group from the Netherlands that had been working there since April 12, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported Wednesday.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140424/189347607/OSCE-Military-Observers-at-Ukraine-Russia-Border--Kievs-Security.html


Lavrov: OSCE mission must urgently meet with ailing 'people's governor'

The Donetsk "people's governor" Pavlo Hubarev must be released, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "We are very worried about the fate of political prisoners in Ukraine who were arrested and jailed only because of their involvement in political protests. One of them is Hubarev whom people in Donetsk have elected as their so-called people's governor and whose fate we discussed repeatedly with our western partners, including Secretary Kerry. The last time I raised this matter was in Geneva on April 17 when we were negotiating the well-known Geneva statement," Lavrov said in a statement, a copy of which was posted on the Foreign Ministry's website.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/lavrov-osce-mission-must-urgently-meet-with-ailing-peoples-governor-345000.html