Meanwhile in Ukraine... Revolution.

[Nemo1024]

Am I the only person that doesn't agree with the whole "Well, there are a lot of Russians there so they should just join Russia" line of reasoning? To me that is sort of like saying "well America had a lot of British people living in it so they should have just stayed a part of the British empire." News flash: if the people living in Ukraine wanted to be part of Russia don't you think they could have moved to Russia and applied for citizenship? Yet they did not.

That would mean the majority of Novorossia's population. They can't "just move". They and their ancestors were born and lived on that land. It's their home. It was not their fault that after the Revolution in 1917 Lenin decided to give them to his pet project: Ukraine.

If people would like to move to Russia, and they constitute 70-80% of the total population, they might just take their land with them when moving. Or they might proclaim their own state. UN charter gives them such right.

It's like saying that if Indians don't like it in the US, they can just pack up and go to Siberia.

Singapore has a large portion of ethnically Chinese people but I don't see them calling China to ask if they can be absorbed. I could think of many more examples...

Like, for example, Northern Ireland and Ireland?

Also, it would be informative for you to study the maps, collected here:
http://yablor.ru/blogs/dve-ukraini/3638493
to grasp the scale of the problem that is Ukraine.

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[Balthazar]

That would mean the majority of Malorossia's population.

Malorossia it's Belarus, it's a sovereign state already. I suppose that you mean Novorossia.

if the people living in Ukraine wanted to be part of Russia don't you think they could have moved to Russia and applied for citizenship? Yet they did not.

They're not aliens from Alpha Centauri, this people lived here centuries before creation of Ukraine project. So if they would decide to leave failed state project, it's obvious that they would take their land too.

Btw, many of them are RF citizens already...

[Nemo1024]

That would mean the majority of Malorossia's population.

Malorossia is Belarus, it's a sovereign state already. I suppose that you mean Novorossia.

Well, Malorossia is also in Ukraine, but I indeed mean Novorossia:

http://dokumentika.org/lt/slav/ukraina-ili-malorossiya


Fixed.

[Nemo1024]

What the hell?!!  

Ukraine to hold military exercises in central Kiev
http://rt.com/news/155908-ukraine-drills-kiev-military/

That was a false news.

http://rt.com/news/155908-ukraine-drills-kiev-military/

Ukrainian armed forces aren’t planning to hold any military drills involving armored vehicles in central Kiev on Wednesday night, the country’s Defense Ministry said, refuting an earlier announcement from the mayor’s office in Kiev.

I wonder what would be the purpose of that announcement in the first place?


Russian news also report that as a false alarm:
http://www.vz.ru/news/2014/4/30/684781.html

Might it be that Kiev junta accidentally showed its hand? As a Russian saying goes: There's no smoke without fire.

[dogechode]

Nemo and Balthazar:

I don't inherently disagree with what you are saying but the problem becomes, where do we draw the line? There are frankly a TON of artificial boundaries that were created by empires anywhere from decades to centuries ago. If every single group that feels that have ownership over the land they live on (because their ancestors historically controlled it) decided to retake said land and start changing national borders, the entire world could be turned upside down overnight.

[Balthazar]

Actually historical reasons are not a major issue, but there is another factor.

Like you know, yeah..

People from Alabama do not know real Russia. They have only propaganda info about Russia. But they will be disappoint. USA just use them....

FTFY. That was very funny, thanks.

I know that you can be (I doubt in this, but I'll try to imagine that your profile contains an actual location) american citizen, but seriously, how could you pretend to be better informed than our neighborhood?   Millions of people are crossing through the border every day. Many of them have a double citizenship and spouses on the other side of the border. Do you seriously think that their knowledge is lesser than yours? Really?

Well, have you already rated the stupidity of your statement, or not yet? Don't you think that it's time to make a break, and think some time about your statements?

Many people in the eastern and central ukraine have relatives on the other side of the border.

[Nemo1024]

Nemo and Balthazar:

I don't inherently disagree with what you are saying but the problem becomes, where do we draw the line? There are frankly a TON of artificial boundaries that were created by empires anywhere from decades to centuries ago. If every single group that feels that have ownership over the land they live on (because their ancestors historically controlled it) decided to retake said land and start changing national borders, the entire world could be turned upside down overnight.

This process has been going on for centuries, and it would be foolish to think that is has suddenly stopped now. Only during the last 100 years the borders changed a lot, in Europe alone!

In my view the boundary should be set by referendums and the UN charter on self-determination of peoples is a good start there. Also, I don't think that 50% of votes should be a deciding factor in such matters. It should be closer to 75%-80% for a region to proclaim independence or to join another state.

In the case of Ukraine, the conflict and the tension are so great that they can spark a civil war. In such cases a civilised divorce is a much better option than trying to keep the state artificially. Other such regions are Basque land, Catalonia, Scotland, Northern Ireland. In Yugolsavia there was not even a greater internal tension before the West decided to break up that country.


Ukraine decided to break off information exchange agreements with Russia, so that Russia should not be able to provide information to that half of the Ukrainian population, whom Kiev defined as separatists and terrorists, and who call themselves for pro-federalisation activists:
http://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/26047841/goskomteleradio-ukrainy-predlagaet-otkazatsya-ot
Vice-minister for mass media Volin, told Kiev that they should first form legitimate government structures before raising such questions.

[bryant.coleman]

I wonder what would be the purpose of that announcement in the first place?
http://rt.com/files/news/26/10/40/00/111.jpg

The most possible reason for that is - the newly appointed military head wanted to show off his powers. So he announced the military exercises, without consulting Turchynov. The latter cancelled it, as he knew that more than half of the soldiers would defect at any time.

[Nemo1024]

Russia blocked Ukrainian provocative initiative at calling an OCSE meeting to discuss recent Russia's activity in Russian Federation.

http://ria.ru/politics/20140430/1006084389.html

More absurdity from Kiev.

In the meantime:
Mission uncertain: Canadian planes leave for Eastern Europe to assist NATO
http://rt.com/news/155924-nato-mission-eastern-europe/

[bryant.coleman]

Meanwhile another town falls out of Kiev's grip:

Pro-Russian insurgents occupy Alchevsk city council building

According to the Luhansk-based portal 0642.ua, a group of about 30 pro-Russian insurgents walked into the Alchevsk city council building on April 30, where they were later joined by a larger group of protesters.

[Nemo1024]

It looks like there will be night-time exercises in Kiev after all:
http://ria.ru/world/20140430/1006098813.html

Not military, but a coop between police and state guard, practising actions on how to defend populace.

I don't know. Tomorrow will tell what this is all about...

One of the readers wrote:
'In Kiev when talking about people they say "populace", while about people in Donbass they say "terrorists"'

Another commentator wrote that Kiev might see tonight the "night of long knives", akin to the one organised by Hitler.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives

[bryant.coleman]

IMF approves $17bn Ukraine bailout package

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27233152

Meanwhile the UAH is hitting record lows against USD / EUR.

[Rassah]

Putin: Washington behind Ukraine events all along, though flying low
http://rt.com/news/155732-putin-usa-behind-ukraine-crisis/

“I think what is happening now shows us who really was mastering the process from the beginning. But in the beginning, the United States preferred to remain in the shadow,” Putin said, as quoted by RIA Novosti.

Hahahahahaha! So USA set up Ukraine as a trap by destabilizing it, and idiot Putin completely fell for it by attempting to invade it, just as USA planned? What a moron XD

And DEAR GOD, do you read any sources other than Russian propaganda bullshit? Based on all these news reports, you would think that Ukraine is on the brink of civil war, with fascists taking over the government, and everyone else freaking out and trying to escape the imminent fascist rule. While the actual news, coming from the people actually living there, is more along the lines of the people currently in power are helpless to do anything, and everyone in Ukraine is just worried about Russia invading them, and thinking they may have to fight off Russians.

[Wilikon]

38 people die after radicals set Trade Unions House on fire in Ukraine's Odessa

At least 38 anti-government activists died in fire at Odessa’s Trade Unions House after suffocating with smoke or jumping out of windows of the burning building, Ukrainian Interior Ministry reported. The building was set ablaze by the pro-Kiev radicals.

Some 50 people, including 10 police officers, were also injured in the incident, the official statement said. It was not immediately clear whether those injured in Friday street clashes in Odessa were included in those numbers.

According to the ministry, the Friday standoff on Odessa included “anti-Maidan” activists on one side and “football fans” from Odessa and Kharkov, as well as "euro-Maidan" activists, on the other. A criminal case on the charges of mass unrest has been opened.

The Trade Unions House was set on fire by pro-Kiev radicals after they surrounded and destroyed the tent camp of anti-government activists that stood in front of the building on Odessa’s Kulikovo Field Square. It was torched in a storming attempt after some of the anti-Maidan activists rallying in the square barricaded themselves inside the building.

Thirty of the victims were found on the floors of the building having apparently suffocated to death with smoke. Eight more died after jumping out of the burning Trade Union House’s windows, according to police.

Earlier reports of the clashes in Odessa said that both sides used Molotov cocktails and, allegedly, gunfire.

A live video stream from inside the building showed disturbing scenes of supposedly dead bodies lying around the rooms with thick smoke in the air and blood stains on the floor.



http://rt.com/news/156480-odessa-fire-protesters-dead/

[Bit_Happy]

I find that USA and USSR are like twin brothers. Slightly different ideology (liberalism vs. state capitalism), but identical structure and methods. Also the same destruction process is working.

Does the USSR have insane levels of debt?
I thought they are relatively rich from oil?  (and gold?)
Of course the USA has a lot of oil but leaves much of it in the ground.

[Balthazar]

Does the USSR have insane levels of debt?

It's a part of few differences between USSR in 1980s and today's USA.

• USSR used gold standard for currency;
• Soviet central bank was a public company, not a private FED-like entity.

Actually, state capitalism is the worst enemy of FED-like structures, it's their nightmare. Because such approach is able to demonstrate their uselessness.

By the way, soviet currency had no oil dependence until 1961. In 1961, Khrushchev performed the reform which introduced ​​a ruble dependence on oil. This dependence caused some problems few decades later. USA economy is dependent on oil price too, but their dependence is like a reflection of USSR situation. High prices cause an increase in budget spending on import, which accelerates the growth of debt.

[bryant.coleman]

Still Russia is sending no support for the separatists, despite almost 50 dying in Odessa, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk yesterday. I think Putin will wait until all of the pro-federalization supporters are finished off by the neo Nazis.

[Sithara007]

Still Russia is sending no support for the separatists, despite almost 50 dying in Odessa, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk yesterday. I think Putin will wait until all of the pro-federalization supporters are finished off by the neo Nazis.

Heard that most of the Right Sector members who arrived in Odessa where from Kharkov.

[bryant.coleman]

NATO Commander Says Russia Doesn't Need to Invade to Take Over Eastern Ukraine

http://www.nationaljournal.com/defense/nato-commander-says-russia-doesn-t-need-to-invade-to-take-over-eastern-ukraine-20140502

Instead, Russian President Vladimir Putin may be able to annex pieces of Ukraine simply by encouraging unrest among pro-Russian forces inside the country, said Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, who commands U.S. and European NATO forces. "As little as a week and a half, two weeks ago, I would have put military incursion as the most likely outcome," Breedlove told National Journal. "Now, I don't take that option off the table—[Putin] can still use it, his force is imminently prepared to do that—but he may be able to accomplish his objectives with simply the unrest his forces are causing in eastern Ukraine right now."

[bryant.coleman]

Victims of the massacre at Odessa, perpetrated by the Right Sector:

NSFW:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmsPMpxCIAEZxvF.jpg