Ukraine Briefly Cuts Power to Crimea Amid Dispute With Russia Over NATO

[inanna]

Source: New York Times

MOSCOW — Ukraine on Wednesday briefly severed electricity to the Crimean peninsula, nine months after it was annexed by Russia, in a pointed reminder of the territory’s reliance on Ukrainian energy sources.

The electricity shut-off came as Moscow threatened a greater rift with the West if Ukraine attempted to make good on its intention to join NATO.

<snip>

Ukrainian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to abandon the country’s nonaligned status, which was adopted in 2010 under President Vladimir F. Yanukovych, as a step toward NATO accession.

“If this decision in the future takes on a military character, then we will respond appropriately,” Mr. Antonov said. “Then there will be a complete severing of ties with NATO, which will be practically impossible to repair.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/25/world/europe/ukraine-briefly-cuts-power-to-crimea-amid-dispute-with-russia-over-nato.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[MattSh]

1. NYT: Clueless again...

People in Kiev lose their power 2-3 times a day for a few hours. It's been going on for weeks now.

So it's no surprise that Crimea might occasionally lose power too.

Another non-story by the NY Times...

[newthinking]

5. The reporting around what has happened in Ukraine and Russia has

really exposed the emotional and tabloid movement of the mass media hasn't it.

So many news articles are lacking in depth and investigation and replaced with opinion and hypothesis.

If I see another "current event" described as "How Putin must feel" about it, etc, I will.... excuse me, barf. What intellectual value is there in someone's biased opinion of how they think events affect someone else's thinking? That isn't "reporting", but it is the mass media.

On the subject of Utilities:
As I am sure you are certainly aware...Anyone who has been to Ukraine knows that intermittent and sometimes regular outages are not something that really ever completely ended. Heat and power have always been in less than abundant supply there and basically the closer you live to the business center of a city, the more consistent power and water will be. Many cities still did not have 24 hour hot water in the outer rings (unless you had your own water heater, which not everyone has). And that was before the current crisis.

[Igel]

2. It's not the cuts that are surprising.

After all, the rest of the country is subject to them. The Luhans'k thermoelectric station has had intermittent outages because of "rebel" shelling, other stations are closed, and there's a general coal shortage thanks to an coal embargo not only by the DNR and LNR but also by Russia (sometimes mediated by having the rebel republics prohibit transshipment, sometimes because of Russia).

The outages haven't intentionally affected the DNR and LNR so far, or the Crimea. Which you have to admit is surprising--there's regular shelling by the rebels that kill soldiers and civilians, and around Krims'ke the rebels have placed mines. The rebel republics don't pay for electricity. Yet they've been getting it from the enemy they regularly threaten to kill and whom they call merciless fascists.

It's like terminating pension and welfare benefits in the DNR and LNR. Fairly often the armored vehicles that were to provide any cash benefits were confiscated and the funds seized by the militants fighting there. Silly, funding those trying to dehumanize you and kill you.

Then there's taking up Russia's slack by continuing to provide electricity to the Crimea, including to the newly beefed up Russian military bases there even as Russia makes threats and helps the rebel republics both economically and militarily. At least they pay.

While the outages this morning lasted a couple of hours, the Crimean "minister" of fuel and energy announced rolling blackouts would resume this evening (meaning about 45 minutes before I make this post). http://novosti.dn.ua/details/241364/ http://novosti.dn.ua/details/241390/

[newthinking]

4. It's (just) "Crimea" (or Krym). Not "the crimea".

There is no "the" in front of it unless you are saying something like "the Crimean Peninsula"

[cosmicone]

3. Ukraine's pipe-dream of joining NATO

is never going to be fulfilled. Germany and France don't want it nor do Italy, Spain and Netherlands.