Quote: (04-14-2014 03:17 PM)Courage Reborn Wrote:
I've been out of the loop on this. Can someone break down the current situation?
Basically, pro-Russian protesters are occupying government buildings in several eastern cities.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2014-04-1...ine-passes
Quote:Quote:
HORLIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's acting president urged the United Nations on Monday to send peacekeeping troops to eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian gunmen kept up their rampage of storming and occupying local government offices, police stations and a small airport.
The request came from a government that has proved powerless to rein in separatists in its eastern and southern regions, where insurgents have seized or barricaded government buildings in at least nine cities, demanding more autonomy from the new government in Kiev and closer ties with Russia.
The Kiev government and Western officials accuse Russia of instigating the unrest and of deploying armed Russian agents in civilian clothing to carry them out.
In a telephone call with Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov suggested that an "anti-terrorist operation" be conducted jointly by Ukrainian security forces and U.N. peacekeepers, according to the presidential website.
Peacekeepers, however, would have to be authorized by the U.N. Security Council, where Russia holds a veto.
Turchynov's deadline for insurgents to give up their weapons and vacate their homemade barricades passed Monday without any visible action — instead, the violence continued. A pro-Russian mob stormed a Ukrainian police station in Horlivka, another city near the Russian border. Later in the day, armed men in masks also seized control of a small airport outside the city of Slovyansk, also in the Donetsk region bordering Russia.
"The Russian Federation is sending special units to the east of our country, which seize administrative buildings with the use of weapons and are putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of our citizens in danger," Turchynov said, according to the presidential web-site.
The events echoed those in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia last month after key regional facilities were seized by Russian troops aided by local militiamen.
Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Monday that Putin has received "numerous appeals" from eastern Ukraine "asking him to help and interfere in one way or another." Peskov added that Putin was "watching the developments in those regions with great concern" but wouldn't elaborate.
The Kiev government is in a bind because if they crack down, and there is major bloodshed, it sets up a pretext for Russia to invade.
If only you knew how bad things really are.