Self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics form ‘Novorossiya’ union

Self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics which recently held referenda on independence from Ukraine have declared the creation of Novorossiya union.
“We have signed a memorandum on the union,” Denis Pushilin, co-chairman of the Donetsk People’s Republic, told the media.
The new union will be called Novorossiya, said the people’s governor of the Donetsk Region, Pavel Gubarev.
He added that the document was signed in the city of Donetsk by Donetsk People’s Republic Prime Minister Aleksandr Borodai and the head of Lugansk People’s Republic Aleksey Karyakin.
People’s representatives from eight Ukrainian regions gathered for a congress in Donetsk on Saturday, a day ahead of scheduled countrywide presidential elections.
As a result of the congress, the south-eastern regions of Ukraine,  reed more...

Vote at gunpoint,' anyone? US keen to legitimize 'good' election in Ukraine

A team of American lawmakers is in Ukraine to observe the presidential election which Washington has called a historic milestone and provided over US$ 11.4 million to support the vote despite ongoing violence in eastern Ukraine.
US senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Benjamin Cardin (D-Maryland) arrived in Ukraine’s capital Kiev as a part of the American monitoring mission. The US team is led by former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright.
Ahead on Sunday’s voting, Maryland Democratic Senator Benjamin Cardin emphasized Washington’s backing for the vote . more...

'Kept in dug-out, tied up with sacks on heads': Russian journos on Ukraine detention

Two Russian journalists held in detention in Ukraine for several days say they were kept in a dug-out cell with sacks on their heads, their hands and legs tied. They claim their lives were also threatened.
It all started when the two moved towards the airport near Kramatorsk to check the information provided by the locals that the Ukrainian forces had left it.
“Next to the airport, we ended up being at gunpoint by Ukrainian law enforcement officials. We raised our hands and shouted that we are journalists,” cameraman Saichenko said.
About 12 people jumped from two armored vehicles and opened fire over the journalists’ heads. They were surrounded, searched, pushed in to the armored vehicle. The military men also took their belongings.
No reasons were given for their detention, everyone just “kept poking at them with machine guns,” Sidyakin said.
“We told them we’re journalists, that we had no weapons, that we were on an official mission from our editors. But they weren’t convinced. In an hour we were pushed in the same armored vehicles and took to a field, and then loaded us into helicopters. When we arrived, we were forced to keep our heads close to the ground not to see anyone’s faces… In response to our requests to call someone, we were hit on the head,” Sidyakin added. more...

Today’s Ukraine election means there will be no war with Russia

The main message of today’s presidential election in Ukraine is that war with Russia is off the table—at least for now. Russia and Ukrainian separatists tried hard to prevent the vote—and succeeded in swaths of eastern Ukraine—but now that the election has gone ahead, they will turn to other tactics to press their views.

Yet Ukraine’s new leadership faces other gargantuan challenges, including a decision yesterday by two of its most important industrial regions to combine in their own “people’s republic” called Novorossiya.

Russian president Vladimir Putin’s softer rhetoric suggests that he is prepared to at least hear out Petro Poroshenko, a chocolate magnate who, an exit poll predicts, will emerge the outright winner. If the polls are wrong and Poroshenko fails to win 50% of the vote, he will face the candidate with the second most votes in a June 15 runoff.  more...

How Ukrainian arms-dealing connects to Syria’s bloody civil war

 




All the ingredients are there for a proper arms deal: A former government official with connections to the military-industrial complex. A stockpile of Soviet arms in Ukraine. Soldiers in Syria with a yen for ammo and cash to burn. The biggest problem? Getting the arms from eastern Europe to the battleground without alerting international authorities or tipping off your enemies.

The story isn’t about Russia or the United States. It’s about Russia and the United States.

This week, the Wall Street Journal shone a light (paywall) on one American’s thwarted effort to run guns into Syria for the anti-regime Free Syrian Army. Last fall, analysts at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS) in Washington assembled public data to identify a network of businesses (pdf) in Ukraine and Russia at the heart of Russia’s efforts to arm the Syrian regime. The two stories have a lot in common, with a key difference being that Russia’s government is a lot more invested in arming its side of the conflict.

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