Ukraine turmoil

Published time: February 18, 2014 15:03
Edited time: March 09, 2014 14:56

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Pro-Russian supporters attend a rally in Simferopol, March 9, 2014 (Reuters / Vasily Fedosenko)

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Clashes, Conflict, Opposition, Police, Protest, Ukraine, Violence

The coup-imposed government in Kiev is seeking foreign aid from the US, the EU and the IMF to address its budget shortage. The east remains defiant of the new authorities, while Russia reserves the right to deploy troops in order to prevent bloodshed.

Sunday, March 9

19:07 GMT:

Political analyst Patrick Hennigsen told RT that it makes sense for Kiev to have a strong local economic relationship with Russia, and the closer ties to the EU mean bigger debts.
"The Ukrainian economic ties with Russia, its not something that you can just wipe off the table. If you ask people now, if you look at what Ukraine is looking forward to in terms of being addled down with billions of debt. The country is an absolute mess economically and then to have the IMF to allow transnational corporations to come in and scoop up Ukrainian state assets and rise gas and electricity prices. I think if you ask Ukrainians in about two year time, they would rather have the stability of local partnership with Russia. i don't think they're going to see that in the very near future, but they will long term possible," said Hennigsen.
A provocation by a group of radicals has been prevented in the port city of Sevastopol, Crimea, reports ITAR-TASS. The incident occurred during a meeting devoted to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Taras Shevchenko, which was held near a monument to the Ukrainian poet. The celebration was interrupted when “comers from Western Ukraine started shouting Nazi slogans and called on Sevastopol residents to ignore the March 16 referendum,” the agency was told at the People's Self-Defense headquarters.
Police confirmed that 20 people were detained but refrained from further comments. However, a source at the Sevastopol law enforcement agency told ITAR-TASS that members of the Right Sector nationalist group were among the detainees.
In a separate incident, two pro-Maidan activists began shooting near the monument and were detained by self-defense squads. No one was injured. A criminal case was opened. Police seized a knife and a gun from the detainees, who confessed that they arrived from Kiev, where they were given the weapon.

Participants hold different-colored pieces of paper to display the Russian flag at the rally in support of the Crimean Parliament and Sevastopol City Council's decision to reunite with Russia, staged on Nakhimov Square in Sevastopol.(RIA Novosti / Valeriy Melnikov)

16:19 GMT:

Former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has addressed a crowd on Maidan, accusing Russia of involvement in the bloody February clashes, in which more than 100 people were killed.

Khodorkovsky claimed that force was used against the protesters “with the agreement of the Russian authorities.”

The former tycoon – who spent 10 years in jail for tax evasion, embezzlement, and money laundering and left for Europe upon release in December – also dismissed allegations that neo-Nazi groups have been taking an active part in protests, calling the accusations “Russian propaganda.”

“There are no fascists or Nazis here,” Khodorkovsky claimed.

Accusations of Russian special forces being “complicit” in the Kiev violence have also been taken on by new coup-imposed Kiev authorities after a leaked phone call between Estonia’s foreign minister and the EU's foreign policy chief revealed suspicions that the snipers responsible for the February carnage could have been hired by someone from the new Ukrainian “coalition.”

Kiev-picked Ukrainian Health Minister Oleh Musiy on Saturday confirmed that bullet wounds suffered by both the opposition and police were similar, according to AP. The official, however, blamed the shootings on Russian “special forces” who “served” the Yanukovich regime.