Professional Documents
Culture Documents
May 2014
8 May: Pro-Moscow activists in eastern regions ignore a call by
Russian President Vladimir Putin to postpone referendums on
independence due on 11 May.
7 May: In an apparent shift in Russian policy, President Putin calls
for referendums in eastern Ukraine to be postponed to encourage
dialogue. He also describes Ukraine's presidential elections
scheduled for 25 May as a move "in the right direction".
4 May: Pro-Russian protesters attack the police headquarters in
Odessa, prompting police to release dozens of people arrested over
the earlier unrest. Interim PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk says "inefficient"
police failed to prevent the fire two days earlier.
3 May: Seven international military observers held for a week by
pro-Russian gunmen in eastern Sloviansk are released..
2 May: Acting President Olexander Turchynov says many pro-Russia
rebels are killed, injured and arrested in a government offensive in
the eastern city of Sloviansk. Pro-Russians shoot down two Ukrainian
military helicopters, killing a pilot and serviceman. Clashes in the
Black Sea city of Odessa leave at least 42 people dead, most of
them pro-Russian activists killed when a building they had
barricaded themselves inside caught fire.
1 May: Acting President Olexander Turchynov reinstates
conscription, warning Ukraine is on "full combat alert". Pro-Russians
take over the regional prosecutor's office in eastern Donetsk.
April 2014
March 2014
31 March: Russian President Vladimir Putin orders a "partial
withdrawal" of troops from the border with Ukraine, the German
government announces.
31 March: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev becomes the
country's highest-ranking official to visit Crimea - a move
condemned by Kiev as a "crude violation" of international rules.
28 March: Amid signs of a big build-up of Russian forces on
Ukraine's eastern border, US President Barack Obama urges Moscow
to "move back its troops" and lower tensions.
24 March: Ukrainian troops leave Crimea, following emotional
farewells to wives and family members left behind. The pullout
follows an order by Ukraine's acting President Olexander Turchynov.
20 March: EU leaders gathered in Brussels condemn Russia's
"annexation" of Crimea and extend the list of individuals targeted
for sanctions. The US also extends sanctions.
18 March: Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses parliament,
defending Moscow's actions on Crimea, then signs a bill to absorb
January 2014
28-29 January: Prime Minister Mykola Azarov resigns and
parliament annuls the anti-protest law. Parliament passes amnesty
bill promising to drop charges against all those arrested in unrest if
protesters leave government buildings. Opposition rejects
conditions.
16-23 January: Parliament passes restrictive anti-protest laws,
Days later two people die of gunshot wounds as clashes turn deadly
for first time. Third death reported as the body of high-profile
activist Yuriy Verbytsky is found. Protesters begin storming regional
government offices in western Ukraine.
December 2013
17 December: Vladimir Putin throws President Yanukovych an
economic lifeline, agreeing to buy $15bn of Ukrainian debt and
reduce the price of Russian gas supplies by about a third.
Early December: Protesters occupy Kiev city hall and
Independence Square in dramatic style, turning it into a tent city.
Biggest demonstration yet sees 800,000 people attend
demonstration in Kiev.
November 2013
Late November: Protests gather pace, as 100,000 people attend a
demonstration in Kiev, the largest in Ukraine since the Orange
Revolution. Police launch first raid on protesters, arresting 35.
Images of injured demonstrators raise international profile of the
protests.
David Stern describes first raid by police on protesters on 30
November
21 November: President Yanukovych's cabinet abandons an
agreement on closer trade ties with EU, instead seeking closer cooperation with Russia. Ukrainian MPs also reject a bill to allow Yulia
Tymoshenko to leave the country. Small protests start and
comparisons with the Orange Revolution begin.
2010
February: Viktor Yanukovych is declared winner in presidential
election, judged free and fair by observers. His main rival, Prime
2004
Opposition leaders Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko led the
2004 mass protests
December: Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko tops poll in
election re-run. Rival candidate Viktor Yanukovych challenges result
but resigns as prime minister.
November: Orange Revolution begins after reports of widespread
vote-rigging in presidential election nominally won by pro-Russian
candidate Viktor Yanukovych. Opposition candidate Viktor
Yushchenko leads mass street protests and civil disobedience.
Supreme Court annuls result of poll.
1991
August: Ukrainian parliament declares independence from USSR
following attempted coup in Moscow. In a nationwide referendum in
December, 90% vote for independence.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26248275
the following post is likely a recap of familiar facts and dates. For
everyone else, or those who just wish to plug the occasional hole in
their memory, here is a full timeline of events that led to the coup
that replaced the elected president Yanukovich - despite the signing
of an agreement memorandum which was endorsed by Europe and
the West keeping him in power and calling for presidential elections
- with an acting president who has been classified as illegitimate by
Russia, in exchange for which, as well as for numerous other
reasons, Moscow has completely occupied the Crimea and
increasingly more cities in east Ukraine are telegraphing their
alliance with Putin.
Via Reuters, and yes, this timeline too is biased to fit the "Western"
narrative of events:
The crisis began in November when Ukraine's then president, Viktor
Yanukovich, under Russian pressure, turned his back on a trade deal
with the EU and accepted a $15 billion bailout from Moscow. That
prompted three months of street protests, leading to the overthrow
of Yanukovich on February 22.
Moscow denounced the events as an illegitimate coup and refused
to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities. In late February, Russian
troops seized the Crimean peninsula in a bloodless military takeover.
* Nov 21: Kiev suddenly announces suspension of trade and
association talks with the EU and opts to revive economic ties with
Moscow. Several hundred Ukrainians gather on the capital's central
Independence Square to protest.
* Nov 22: Jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko urges Ukrainians
to protest against the switch away from the EU.
* Nov 24: Some 100,000 people rally in Kiev against spurning the
EU.
* Nov 25: Ukrainian police fire tear gas at demonstrators.
* Nov 29: At the EU summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius,
Yanukovich fails to sign the association agreement.
* Nov 30: Riot police try to break up the Kiev demonstration by
force. Protest turns against Yanukovich and his government.
* Dec 1: Some 350,000 people protest in Kiev and clash with police.
Crowds turn Independence Square into a protest tent city.
Opposition leaders call on Yanukovich to resign.
* Dec 4: Senior EU officials and ministers start visiting the protest
square.
* Dec 6: Yanukovich holds previously unannounced talks in Sochi
with Putin on "strategic partnership".
* Dec 8: Some 800,000 people rally in Kiev. A statue of Lenin is
toppled.
* Dec 13: Yanukovich's first face-to-face talks with opposition bring
no breakthrough in crisis.
* Dec 15: EU suspends talks with Ukraine on the pact. Some
200,000 people rally in Kiev.
* Dec 17: Yanukovich and Putin meet for second time since crisis
began. Putin agrees to buy $15 billion of Ukrainian debt and to slash
by a third the price of Russian gas supplies to Ukraine.
* Dec 18: Tens of thousands of protesters gather in Kiev, calling for
Yanukovich to resign over bailout.
* Dec 20: About 100,000 take to square in central Kiev, opposition
forms bloc called Maidan.
Dec 24: Ukraine receives first $3 billion tranche of Russian bailout.
* Jan 12: At least 50,000 protesters march in Kiev, reviving the
movement after a Christmas and New Year lull.
* Jan 15: Ukraine court bans protests in central Kiev.
* Jan 17: Yanukovich signs new laws banning anti-government
protests.
* Jan 19: Thousands protest in Kiev defying ban, some clashing with
riot police.
* Jan 22: Three people die during protests and EU threatens action
over handling of crisis. Talks between opposition and Yanukovich fail.
* Jan 23: Washington threatens sanctions if violence continues.
* Jan 26: Police clash with protesters in Kiev. Unrest spreads to
traditionally pro-Yanukovich east. Yanukovich offers important
government posts to opposition, who say they will press for more
concessions, including early elections.
* Jan 27: Yanukovich and opposition agree to scrap some of the antiprotest laws. Protesters try to storm Kiev cultural centre.
* Jan 28: Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov resigns. Deputies
loyal to Yanukovich overturn anti-protest laws in a bid to restore
calm.
* Jan 30: Yanukovich goes on sick leave, announcing that he is
suffering from an acute respiratory ailment.
* Jan 31: Still on sick leave, Yanukovich signs into law a conditional
amnesty for those detained in the unrest.
* Feb 2: Yanukovich returns to work after four days' sick leave,
protesters fill Kiev's main square.
* Feb 7: Moscow accuses the United States of trying to foment a
coup in Ukraine. Washington says Russia leaked a recording of U.S.
diplomats discussing how to shape a new government in Kiev.
* Feb 9: Pressure on Yanukovich grows as protests against him
continue and Russia links disbursement of next tranche of a $15
billion aid package to repayment of hefty gas bill.
* Feb 14: Russia accuses EU of seeking Ukraine "sphere of
influence". Protesters released under amnesty but streets still tense.
* Feb 17: Russia boosts Yanukovich with $2 billion fresh cash
injection to Ukraine.
* Feb 18: At least 14 people die as protesters clash with police in
worst violence since demonstrations began.
* Feb 19: West threatens sanctions after death toll rises to 26.
Yanukovich denounces bloodshed as an attempted coup.
* March 7: After hour-long phone call with Obama, Putin says they
are still far apart.
* March 8: Warning shots are fired to prevent an unarmed
international military observer mission from entering Crimea.
Russian forces become increasingly aggressive towards Ukrainian
troops trapped in bases.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-10/trip-down-memorylane-full-ukraine-crisis-timeline
GermanNewspaperSaysCIAandFBIActivein
Ukraine
produced and knew that if they had a presence there they could
threaten Russia in perpetuity. In the end, it didnt matter: Germany
lost Word War I, and Russia reclaimed Ukraine. During World War II,
the Germans seized Ukraine in the first year of their attack on the
Soviet Union, exploited its agriculture and used it as the base to
attack Stalingrad, trying to sever Russia from its supply lines in
Baku. Between the wars, Stalin had to build up his industrial plant.
He sold Ukrainian food overseas and used it to feed factory workers
in Russia. The Ukrainians were left to starve, but the industry they
built eventually helped the Soviets defeat Hitler. After the Soviets
drove the Germans back, they seized Romania and Hungary and
drove to Vienna, using Ukraine as their base.
From the perspective of Europe, and particularly from the
perspectives of former Soviet satellites, a Ukraine dominated by
Russia would represent a potential threat from southern Poland to
Romania. These countries already depend on Russian energy, fully
aware that the Russians may eventually use that dependence as a
lever to gain control over them. Russias ability not simply to project
military power but also to cause unrest along the border or use
commercial initiatives to undermine autonomy is a real fear.
Thinking in military terms may seem more archaic to Westerners
than it does to Russians and Central Europeans. For many Eastern
Europeans, the Soviet withdrawal is a relatively recent memory, and
they know that the Russians are capable of returning as suddenly as
they left. For their part, the Russians know that NATO has no will to
invade Russia, and war would be the last thing on the Germans
minds even if they were capable of waging one. The Russians also
remember that for all the economic and military malaise in Germany
in 1932, the Germans became the dominant power in Europe by
1939. By 1941, they were driving into the Russian heartland. The
farther you move away from a borderland, the more fantastic the
fears appear. But inside the borderland, the fears seem far less
preposterous for both sides.
Russian Perspectives
From the Russian point of view, therefore, tighter Ukrainian-EU
integration represented a potentially mortal threat to Russian
national security. After the Orange Revolution, which brought a
short-lived pro-EU administration to power in the mid-2000s,
Russian President Vladimir Putin made clear that he regarded
Ukraine as essential to Russian security, alleging that the
nongovernmental organizations that were fomenting unrest there
were fronts for the U.S. State Department, the CIA and MI6. Whether
the charges were true or not, Putin believed the course in which
Ukraine was headed would be disastrous for Russia, and so he used
economic pressure and state intelligence services to prevent
Ukraine from taking that course.
This is by no means the first such evidence that violence in Kiev was
orchestrated. There is already ample proof that the US and EU were
covertly working to agitate protests against the Ukrainian
government. For three months, Western politicians have been
issuing statements to whip up demonstrations. Western officials
have paraded in Kiev with fascist elements and given the
provocateurs legitimacy to carry out outrageous acts of violence
against government people and property that would not be
tolerated for a second back in their own countries.
The involvement of the American CIA and its various offshoots, such
as the National Endowment for Democracy, has also been well
documented in Ukraine going back to at least the early 1990s.
The precipitous deployment of organized violence by "protesters"
from late November onwards, allegedly as a result of the
Yanukovych government rejecting an EU trade pact, also bears the
hallmark of an externally driven regime change operation.
A decisive tipping point was reached against Yanukovych with the
surge in killings among protesters - apparently by police gunfire
during the last week of February. Yanukovych had already signed a
"national unity deal" on February 21 with opponents promising
constitutional reforms. But that deal was not enough for his
opponents who wanted Yanukovych out of office altogether.
In the wake of the street violence, US vice president Joe Biden
reportedly phoned Yanukovych to tell him that it was game over. His
efforts at cutting a deal were "a day late and a dollar short," said the
voice from the White House. Yanukovych then fled to Russia within
days of Biden's phone call.
The latest evidence of orchestrated violence in Kiev for political
ends - the definition of terrorism - adds to Russia's claims that what
the West has championed as "a people's revolution" is in actuality
nothing but a Western-backed coup d'tat by terrorism.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin this week said that the new regime
occupying the government offices in Kiev is not legitimate. It
represents an illegal seizure of power by violence.
That is why Russia is right to not recognize the usurpers in Kiev and
to take security measures to protect ethnic Russians living in
Ukraine and to defend its vital interests in the Crimean Peninsula.
The unelected Western-backed regime, which Western media
propagandize as "the fledgling government of Ukraine", comprises
neo-Nazis who detest Russians and who have publicly stated their
intention to commit the worst kind of violence against ethnic
Russians and any other people whom they deem to obstruct their
fascistic program of governance.