'Slaughterhouse': Civilians die in Kiev's ruthless military attacks (GRAPHIC)

[Natural Citizen]

Huge blast devastates munitions factory in Ukraine’s rebel-held Donetsk (VIDEO)...

A powerful explosion occurred at a military plant in the rebel-held Ukrainian city of Donetsk after a shell hit it. A fire is now ravaging the damaged facility.

The plant was used for producing explosives and ammunition as well as for dismantling unexploded munitions collected on the battlefields. On Saturday morning, residents of the war-torn city heard a powerful blast, which was followed by a huge cloud of white smoke rising into the sky.

A neighborhood official told Ukrainian 112 television that a shell hit the plant.

“There was a direct hit at the No 47 industrial explosives shop, where some explosives were present. It detonated and caused another explosion. Luckily it didn’t hit the main storage facility where we have some 2.5 tons of explosives,” said Ivan Prikhod’ko, deputy chair of the local community council.

He added that while the incident caused considerable damage, nobody was hurt. The plant itself was not working at the time, so no one was there. Also, it was built far from any residential areas specifically for safety purposes.

As the fire continued, smaller explosions could be heard, presumably from shells detonating in the fire, RIA Novosti reported.

There is no verified report about what kind of weapon hit the plant. But there are rumors of it being targeted by a Tochka-U tactical missile launched by Kiev's troops.

“According to our information, three Tochka-U missiles were fired and there you have it,” a militia member who identified himself as codename ‘Scorpio’ told RT. He added that the area around the plant was considered dangerous lately because both the rebels and their opponents could shell it.

Donetsk saw sporadic shelling overnight.

The blast happened just as a Russian humanitarian aid convoy was unloading elsewhere in the city. Some 200 trucks carrying 2,000 tons of aid crossed the border earlier on Saturday.




Continued - Huge blast devastates munitions factory in Ukraine’s rebel-held Donetsk (VIDEO)

[Natural Citizen]

Over 300 schools destroyed in E.Ukraine...

[Natural Citizen]

Russia calls for intl probe into Ukraine burials with signs of execution...

Screenshot from Channel One video

Russia is calling for an international investigation into the discovery of burial sites with signs of execution at locations where the Ukraine National Guard forces were stationed two days earlier.

The head of Russia’s presidential human rights council, Mikhail Fedotov, has called on the authorities to do everything to “ensure an independent international probe” and “let international human rights activists and journalists” gain access to the site in Eastern Ukraine’s embattled Donetsk region.

The crime, Fedotov noted, shouldn’t “remain without consequences.” He didn’t exclude the discovery of other burial sites, reminding that mass killings are “the reality of the modern-day war” and that such crimes were committed in the wars in the former Yugoslavia.

The burial sites near the Kommunar mine, 60 kilometers from Donetsk, were first discovered on Tuesday by self-defense forces.

Continued - Russia calls for intl probe into Ukraine burials with signs of execution

[Natural Citizen]

Anti-govt forces ‘circle 1000s of Kiev troops, capture 2 tank battalions’ in E.Ukraine...

After sustained defensive combat against Ukrainian troops in the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk during August, rebels are now reporting entrapping two large groups of Kiev troops and seizing military hardware in a counteroffensive.

The main headquarters of the DPR army has made a decision to stop operations in small groups and form full-bodied independent military units, the anti-Kiev forces say in a summary of their operations filed on Sunday.

They also say they are blocking a large “punitive force” near Alekseevskoe, Blagodatnoe, Voykovsky, Kuteinikovo, Ulyanovskoe and Uspenka.

Some 5,000 Kiev troops “with military hardware” including some 50 tanks, over 200 armored vehicles and 50 artillery rocket systems (including Grad) are trapped in the area, the DPR claims.

“DNR’s army has surrounded the staff headquarters of the 8th army corps, 28th and 30th mechanized brigades, 95th air mobile brigade of the army of Ukraine, and also punitive battalions ‘Aidar’, ‘Donbass’ and ‘Shakhtersk’,” the document claims.

Continued - Anti-govt forces ‘circle 1000s of Kiev troops, capture 2 tank battalions’ in E.Ukraine

Kiev denies that they have been surrounded and lost tank battalions but given the technology age the pesky realism of photography and video tell a much different story.

[Natural Citizen]

Total obliteration: OSCE releases footage of Lugansk airport in ruins...

[Natural Citizen]

UN: 3,660 killed, 8,756 wounded in Ukraine conflict since April...

A man reacts near a house damaged by recent shelling by multiple Grad missiles in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, October 7, 2014. (Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov)

Kiev doesn’t have full control of its military and paramilitary forces, who continue to violate the principles of international humanitarian law, highlights the latest UN report on the human rights situation in Ukraine.

The UN has stated that at least 3,660 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since April – including 330 since the ceasefire brokered on Sept. 5.
A total of 8,756 people have been wounded since April, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said.

The UN statement notes in particular that, despite the ceasefire, “in some areas artillery, tank and small arms exchanges have continued on an almost daily basis, such as in Donetsk airport, in the Debaltseve area in Donetsk region, and in the town of Shchastya in Luhansk region.”

“While the ceasefire is a very welcome step towards ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine, I call on all parties to genuinely respect and uphold it, and to halt the attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure once and for all,”Zeid said in the report.

“For almost half a year, residents of the areas affected by the armed conflict have been deprived of their fundamental rights to education, to adequate healthcare, to housing and to opportunities to earn a living. Further prolongation of this crisis will make the situation untenable for the millions of people whose daily lives have been seriously disrupted,” he added.

The 37-page report covers the period from August 18 to September 16 and contains testimonial evidence of cases of violation on behalf of Ukrainian military units.

“During the reporting period, international humanitarian law, including the principles of military necessity, distinction, proportionality and precaution continued to be violated by armed groups and some units and volunteer battalions under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces,” the report reads.

Specific evidence of “beatings, poor nutrition and lack of medical assistance” are also mentioned in the report, RIA reports. The UN expressed special concern over the “enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment allegedly perpetrated by members of the volunteer battalions,” in particular Aydar, Dnepr-1, Kiev-1 and Kiev-2.

“In spite of a fragile ceasefire over the past month in the east of Ukraine, the protracted conflict continues to kill and wound civilians, and deprive the more than 5 million residents in areas directly affected by the violence of their basic human rights,” Zeid said.

Meanwhile the issue of mass graves recently found near Donetsk was not reflected in the document, TASS reports, as they were discovered outside the period under review and formally not subject to consideration by the rights monitoring mission of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Continued - UN: 3,660 killed, 8,756 wounded in Ukraine conflict since April

[Natural Citizen]

Ukrainian Defense Minister resigns, Poroshenko to announce another candidate...

Ukrainian Defense Minister Valery Geletey has officially stepped down with President Petro Poroshenko accepting his resignation. The Ukrainian leader is expected to announce a candidate for a new Defense Minister on Monday.

The Ukrainian president stressed that it was time “to change the military leadership.”

Earlier in August, hundreds of protesters in Kiev, many of whom were mothers and wives of the soldiers involved in the fighting in Donetsk and Lugansk, demanded Geletey’s resignation.

In early October, Russia's top Investigative Agency launched a criminal case against Geletey over murder accusations, the use of prohibited means and methods of warfare and genocide

Continued - Ukrainian Defense Minister resigns, Poroshenko to announce another candidate

[charrob]

Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland – Washington’s Ukraine Hawk – Visit to Ukraine Carries the Foreboding of US-Backed War Escalation

In an ominous sign that the war in Ukraine is set to further escalate, US state department official Victoria Nuland arrived in Kiev where she met with senior members of the Western-backed regime.

In recent days the ceasefire brokered on September 5 has come under intense pressure as Kiev military forces have stepped up their barrage of the eastern city of Donetsk, with several civilian casualties reported almost on a daily basis.

As civilian homes burn in Donetsk, the Kiev regime has also begun openly talking about resuming its war footing by “raising combat readiness” and mobilizing new army units toward the eastern Donbass regions, where it is trying to suppress a pro-independence movement in the self-declared People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

For the past month, the Kiev regime has been talking out of both sides of its mouth. At times it has been declaring commitment to a ceasefire brokered by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). At other times, hardliners in the regime have been warning that there was no such truce in practice, and that it was on the verge of an all-out war with Russia.

All the while, the putative ceasefire has been in tatters largely because Kiev’s forces have refused to withdraw from the conflict lines and continued to shell civilians centres.

Now the Kiev President Petro Poroshenko has flipped to a strident war rhetoric. In a televised appearance this week, the former industry tycoon had swapped his tie and suit for military uniform, and was warning that forces under his command were ready to use “modern fighting techniques.”

Poroshenko said that “Ukraine has transferred its economy to a military footing and will provide everything possible for the Ukrainian army to be stronger.” This while his bankrupt country owes Russia $5.3 billion in unpaid gas bills.

Last week his hardline Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk declared that Kiev’s military had been replenished with new equipment and winter gear.

The timing of this renewed militarism across the board in Kiev’s political leadership – together with increasing violations of the ceasefire in the east – seems more than coincidental with the arrival of eminence grise Victoria Nuland.

Nuland, who is Assistant Secretary of State to John Kerry, hasn’t been in Kiev since March. For the past seven months, she has taken a noticeably low profile with regard to Ukraine. Her absence was no doubt aimed at deflecting from her earlier controversial involvement in overseeing the CIA-backed coup on February 22, when the elected government of then President Viktor Yanukovych was deposed by the fascist cabal headed up by Yatsenyuk.

Two weeks before that coup, Nuland had been caught in a private phone call with the US ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, plotting on the shape of the new regime, with Yatsenyuk nominated as the point man. Nuland was also caught disparaging the European Union with expletives, in a clear signal that Washington was taking the driving seat to install the new regime, headed up by their man “Yats”.

Yatsenyuk’s Fatherland Party and the neo-Nazi Svoboda party, with its Right Sector storm troopers, have dominated the regime’s anti-Russia policies ever since. Following a secret visit to Kiev in April by CIA director John Brennan, the regime embarked on a massive military offensive to suppress dissident ethnic Russian populations in the east of the country who were refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the US-backed coup.

That offensive – dubbed an anti-terror operation – has been largely under-reported by Western news media, even though it has resulted in more than 3,600 deaths and up to one million refugees. Most of the casualties have been civilian, with a Russian Investigative Committee reporting last week that at least 2,500 people have been killed from indiscriminate shelling of civilian centers in Donetsk and Luhansk by Kiev forces. The latter comprise regular army units, as well as neo-Nazi paramilitaries belonging to the so-called National Guard and various private militia (death squads) run by pro-Kiev oligarch figures, such as Igor Kolomoisky.

Both Washington and Brussels have obfuscated this terror campaign by affecting to give it legality by referring to the Kiev regime as the “government of Ukraine.” Washington and Brussels have also amplified Kiev’s diversionary propaganda accusing Russia of covert aggression and destabilizing the Donbass regions. Moscow has consistently denied any involvement; and Western governments, the Kiev regime and NATO have not produced a shred of verifiable proof to support their tendentious claims against Russia.

Russia’s President Putin and the OSCE chairman, Didier Burkalter, who is also the Swiss president, this week reiterated that all sides in the Ukrainian conflict must abide by the terms of the ceasefire signed in Minsk on September 5.

But it seems that Kiev is now moving to dispel any pretense of recognizing that ceasefire.

Since the truce was called – and apparently signed up to by Kiev’s President Poroshenko – the pro-independence Russian-speaking militia in Donbass have claimed that Kiev’s forces were only using the lull in violence as an opportunity to regroup.

Speaking on September 8, Donetsk People’s Republic deputy premier Andrei Purgin said: “They are doing what was impossible without truce conditions. All the movements of convoys would have been impossible. During the truce, convoys of combat vehicles are reaching destinations and preparing for attacks.”

Poroshenko’s public role in all this seems to have been to give an outward impression of adhering to a cessation and paving the way for political dialogue with the dissident regions.

However, that impression has to be set against continual breaches of the ceasefire and mounting civilian casualties by his forces, relentless anti-Russian rhetoric from the hardliners like Yatsenyuk, and the supply of military aid to the Kiev regime from Washington – the last tranche worth $53 million was announced while Poroshenko was being feted in the White House three weeks ago.

This week on the day that Nuland landed in Kiev, the regime announced what many suspected all along – that it was merely using the month-old ceasefire as a tactical launchpad to redouble its military operations.

Andrey Lysenko, Kiev’s National Defense and Security Council spokesman, said on Monday: “We have managed to upgrade the equipment currently in service, to get new armaments, and to reorganize and retool the defense industries that manufacture armaments and repair hardware.” He added: “We have also managed to regroup our forces, to carry out deep reconnaissance and to gather more information about the enemy. We have completed the third wave of mobilization. We have replaced the units that needed that, we gave them a chance to have some rest after heavy fighting and to get back to normal.”

By “normal,” Lysenko means “terrorizing civilians in eastern Ukraine.”

This underscores what Poroshenko has in recent days said about “the economy moving to a war footing.”

The sinister sign is that the Kiev regime, including the “Candy King” Poroshenko, is now realigning to an all-out belligerent policy toward the people of eastern Ukraine, and by extension, toward Russia itself.

The long overdue visit to Kiev this week by Victoria Nuland – Washington’s Ukraine hawk – carries the foreboding imprimatur of US-backed war escalation.

http://www.popularresistance.org/nul...ls-up-for-war/

[Natural Citizen]

2 teens killed, 4 injured in shelling nr Donetsk school, E. Ukraine...

RIA Novosti / Gennady Dubovoy


Two schoolchildren were killed and four injured as an artillery shell hit a stadium in front of a school in the Eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, local self-defense forces said.

"All the wounded were taken to the Donetsk regional trauma unit,” Natalya Yemchenko, a militia official with the Donetsk People’s Republic, was cited as saying by Interfax-Ukraine news agency. “They are now in intensive care. One of them is in critical condition and three other are in a state of moderate severity.”
“There were children – a lot of them – at the stadium”when the shell hit, Yemchenko wrote on her Facebook page.

“When attempts were made to evacuate them from the pitch, the massive shelling continued in the area. It was hard for the medics to get to them,” she said.
Yemchenko said the school building was also seriously damaged in the explosion.

“Neither the ambulance, nor the Donetsk militias have reached the two dead bodies yet. It’s only us [journalists] and crying parents and relatives here,” Krasnoshchekov wrote on his Twitter account, almost an hour after the mortar hit as the medics tried to make their way through the shelling.

Ukraine has been engulfed in internal conflict since April, when Kiev’s army began its crackdown on the southeastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk after they refused to recognize the country’s new coup-imposed authorities.

The United Nations estimates that the death toll in the Ukrainian conflict has exceeded 4,000 people, with over 9,300 others wounded.

The warring sides agreed to a ceasefire during talks in Minsk, Belarus, on September 5, but there is still a long way to go for the conflict to be settled as the truce is being violated on a daily basis.

Continued - 2 teens killed, 4 injured in shelling nr Donetsk school, E. Ukraine

Aside - Shard shower: Girl dodges death as glass rains down at E. Ukraine stadium (VIDEO)

[Natural Citizen]

Kiev shells Donetsk amid tank battle in city suburb...

The Ukrainian army attempted to take over Donetsk suburb with tanks a day after two children were killed in the shelling of a local school, rebels allege. This comes as Dutch inspectors, probing the Flight MH17 crash, arrived in the area.

The self-defense forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said that have repelled a tank attack on the outskirts of Donetsk, with Kiev forces losing at least five armored vehicles during the battle in the town of Yasinovataya.

“The tanks opened sporadic fire at our positions and residential areas,” the staff of the DPR militias told RIA-Novosti news agency.

Meanwhile, Kiev has denied allegations that they had launched a new offensive in the suburb of Donetsk.

DPR’s Interior Ministry said that Kiev’s forces were continuing the shelling of residential areas in Donetsk on Thursday.

“Three homes were hit, according to our records. We also have information on two civilians being wounded. It's all happening in the Kievsky district of Donetsk, in the territory adjacent to the Donetsk airport,” a ministry representative told Interfax news agency.


A man walks past a residential block and a car damaged by recent shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.(Reuters / Maxim Zmeyev)

Several shells hit the Donetsk Railway Transport Institute, with an RT stringer on the scene reporting of four injured civilians.

A large blast was also heard near another school, this time inside Donetsk, again not far from the airport. The projectile exploded in an apartment block next door to School No. 59, cleared by residents beforehand, which avoided casualties.

The incident comes less than 24 hours after two schoolchildren were killed and four injured by an artillery shell that hit a stadium in front of a school near Donetsk.

Continued - Kiev shells Donetsk amid tank battle in city suburb – E. Ukrainian militias


Aside - Ukraine: School-boys killed playing football by shelling brought to morgue *GRAPHIC*

Shells strike Donetsk civilian areas...



Meanwhile, Kiev has denied allegations that they had launched a new offensive in the suburb of Donetsk....

[charrob]

In Ukraine, a Tale of Two Elections

The US government loves to “promote democracy” overseas, often at the barrel of a gun. Strangely enough, however, it often “deplores” actual elections being held in such places. Take Ukraine, for example. An election held last week by a group that forcibly seized power from a legitimately-elected government was hailed by the US administration as a great democratic achievement.

Said John Kerry about last week’s parliamentary election held by the post-coup government in Kiev:

We applaud Ukraine’s commitment to an inclusive and transparent political process that strengthens national unity. … The people of Ukraine have spoken, and they have again chosen to chart the course of democracy, reform, and European integration.

In this US-approved vote, the parties disapproved by the US were harassed and even essentially banned. But that’s OK.

However in eastern Ukraine, which refused to recognize February’s US-backed coup in the western part of the country, parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for tomorrow [2014-11-02] are scorned and even “deplored” by the US administration.

The White House condemned tomorrow's elections in eastern Ukraine in no uncertain terms:

We deplore the intent of separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine to hold illegitimate so-called local 'elections' on Sunday, November 2. If held, these 'elections' would contravene Ukraine’s constitution and laws and the September 5 Minsk Protocol.

So much does the US administration hate the idea of unapproved people voting, that it even refused to call them elections, placing the very term in “scare quotes.”

Shortly after the February coup in Kiev, referenda were held in Crimea and in parts of eastern Ukraine to determine whether to remain tied to Kiev or declare independence from the new regime. Those elections were also condemned by the US.

“We reject the ‘referendum’ that took place today in the Crimean region of Ukraine. This referendum is contrary to Ukraine’s constitution,” said the White House immediately after the March vote in that region. The February coup was also contrary to Ukraine’s constitution but that did apparently not bother Washington.

Similarly, when referenda were held in eastern Ukraine this spring to determine that region’s future course, the White House spokesman condemned them as “illegal under Ukrainian law and a transparent attempt to create further division and disorder.”

When the wrong people hold votes, it seems, “division and disorder” are the result.

Those who overthrow democracy by force are legitimized – you might even say laundered – by an election they had no legal right to hold in the first place, while those who stood by previously-elected leaders and scheduled elections as a way out of the crisis caused by US interference are condemned, ignored, and not even recognized by the US government.

So here is the real message from the US government: elections overseas are only legitimate if we have pre-approved the parties allowed to stand and if we have pre-approved the outcome. The election must result in exactly the kind of “pro-West” government that we desire or we will begin destabilization and regime change, if completely ignoring the results does not do the trick.

Is that what John Kerry meant when he said, "you just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion”?

http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/arch...two-elections/

[Natural Citizen]

Seems like America forgot about this. Like it went away or something. Of course, it hasn't. Thanks for adding, charrob.

[charrob]

Is Kiev Preparing Another Attack?



November 3, 2014

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has steadily ramped up the rhetoric following last weekend's elections in breakaway eastern regions of the country. In just 15 minutes today, the US-backed leader racked up more than 30 Tweets mixing threats against the breakaway Donbas region of eastern Ukraine with promises of "free-trade zones" and "budgetary decentralization."

Some of Poroshenko's Tweets sound a bit like the seductive promises of the big bad wolf, particularly considering the recent findings by Human Rights Watch that the Kiev government used cluster bombs against the civilian population of the breakaway regions.

The attempt to toss out a few carrots does not cover up the sticks, however. First, Poroshenko strongly insinuates that by voting in their own leaders, the citizens of eastern Ukraine have broken the Minsk ceasefire agreement. This could well be construed as Kiev giving itself a green light to resume bombarding the region with its military forces.

He tweets that he is meeting with his security council to re-analyze the situation and refers to the recently-elected leaders in the region as "militants," "occupants," "terrorists," and "bandits." All of these seem to set the stage for a renewed assault on the region.

Two other factors that suggest perhaps imminent resumption of hostilities are the launching of yet another NATO military exercise on Russia's borders and a renewed frenzy of unsubstantiated reports of Russian military movements (inside Russia, but still "threatening").

Additionally, the US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoff Pyatt (who was earlier this year on the other end of State Department's Victoria Nuland's "F*** the EU" telephone call), pledged in a recent interview that the "United States will train Ukrainian servicemen and supply military high technology to Ukraine" to better operate in the Donbas -- precisely the location of the breakaway areas.

After several months of US special forces presence in Ukraine, helping with training and tactics, perhaps the Kiev government feels this it the time to attempt a final solution to the eastern problem.

http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/arch...nother-attack/

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Pyatt: US to train Ukrainian military and supply high technology to Ukraine

The United States will train Ukrainian servicemen and supply military high technology to Ukraine, which should help soldiers in Donbas protect themselves, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukra...ne-370087.html

In a move that will rankle Russian authorities, the U.S. government announced plans to give the Ukrainian military training, technology and weapons, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

The announcement was made by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper. The diplomat listed two challenges for Ukrainian security forces: eliminating corruption within its structure and developing a coherent response to Russian military activity. Russia annexed the territory of Crimea when political divisions in Ukraine grew into violent disorder earlier this year.

Pyatt said the U.S. has provided night vision devices, first aid kits, body armor and ready-to-eat military meals to help improve the Ukrainian military’s ability to act in the short term. The United States’ longer-term plans “are aimed primarily at retraining and raising the professionalism of Ukrainian military to create what President Petro Poroshenko said he really wants - an army built in line with NATO standards,” Interfax-Ukraine reports.

At a briefing in the capital city of Kiev a few days before the announcement, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, a deputy head of the Senate Committee on Armed Forces, said that President Obama is entitled to supply arms to Ukraine for self-defense with or without Senate approval. If no such decision is made by Obama, he added, the Senate will consider taking steps that would make the weapons available.

Inhofe said the weapons could be delivered in four days to two weeks. The Ukrainian defense minister gave him a list of weapons the military wanted, Inhofe said, but the senator would not say exactly what it contained.

http://www.truthdig.com/eartothegrou...apons_20141031

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[charrob]

Seems like America forgot about this. Like it went away or something. Of course, it hasn't. Thanks for adding, charrob.

Thanks N.C. I put separation lines in the next article that are too long and look messy (sorry). I'm trying to edit to shorten them but for some reason the editor isn't coming up (I'll try later -- may there's some sort of glitch going on right now).

I agree with you; it seems like this is forgotten. But it's really frightening; the U.S. government seems to be pushing Putin to the edge. And I can't help but ask 'why'? Why are they provoking him like this constantly? At some point he's going to say 'enough'. And if Russia and China join to together, this is not going to end well for the U.S.

[Natural Citizen]

Thanks N.C. I put separation lines in the next article that are too long and look messy (sorry). I'm trying to edit to shorten them but for some reason the editor isn't coming up (I'll try later -- may there's some sort of glitch going on right now).

I agree with you; it seems like this is forgotten. But it's really frightening; the U.S. government seems to be pushing Putin to the edge. And I can't help but ask 'why'? Why are they provoking him like this constantly? At some point he's going to say 'enough'. And if Russia and China join to together, this is not going to end well for the U.S.

It's not just Russia and China, though. Economically, the U.S. is isolating itself from essentially the entire globe. I think they understand the mistakes that they made here with regard to the Ukraine. The fact is that the folks who decided on sanctions and this coup there in the Ukraine simply didn't possess a firm grasp on the history of these countries and their existence with one another. That's a big deal. It's a dangerous thing to have the wrong people making foreign policy when they lack an understanding of the rest of the world. Particularly their history. Putin and the BRICS are going to economically hammer western nations, for sure. I do worry about war, though,. We just traded one group of war mongerers for another during this recent mid-term. TPP is still floating around at the whim of the same brand of economic hitmen that started this thing in the Ukraine as well...

[charrob]

It's not just Russia and China, though. Economically, the U.S. is isolating itself from essentially the entire globe. I think they understand the mistakes that they made here with regard to the Ukraine. The fact is that the folks who decided on sanctions and this coup there in the Ukraine simply didn't possess a firm grasp on the history of these countries and their existence with one another. That's a big deal. It's a dangerous thing to have the wrong people making foreign policy when they lack an understanding of the rest of the world. Particularly their history. Putin and the BRICS are going to economically hammer western nations, for sure. I do worry about war, though,. We just traded one group of war mongerers for another during this recent mid-term. TPP is still floating around at the whim of the same brand of economic hitmen that started this thing in the Ukraine as well...

That's interesting; you're take is a little more positive than mine. I don't know if they do understand what a mistake they have done because they're continuing on the same path. More training for Ukraine troops by U.S. Special Forces / U.S. military and, additionally, now U.S. weapons being discussed. And all this on Russia's border. This is just crazy.

[charrob]

A little more about the recent election in the East:

Large crowds turn out for controversial vote, Ukrainian separatists say



November 3, 2014

Voters in rebel-held eastern Ukraine turned out at the polls Sunday to elect members of Parliament and prime ministers in the pro-Russian separatist provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in a vote criticized by the Ukrainian government in Kiev and Western governments.

Against a backdrop of violence and bloodshed, the vote played out despite a truce on paper between pro-Russian separatist groups and Ukrainian government forces.

Moscow has said it will recognize the results, while the central Ukraine government in Kiev, the United States and European Union have condemned the elections, calling them "illegitimate" and a violation of the Minsk agreement.

The self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk announced that its current Prime Minister, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, had won the vote there.

After all the ballot papers were counted, Zakharchenko secured 765,350 votes, Roman Lyagin, the leader of the Central Election Commission in Donetsk, told a news conference Monday. He didn't say what percentage of the vote that was.

"Everything went better than expected," Lyagin had earlier told Novorossiya, the press center for the separatist Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

In the self-declared Luhansk People's Republic, the head of the Central Election Commission said more then a half million people turned out to cast ballots at over 100 polling stations, including three inside Russia, according to preliminary numbers from the CEC's website. The vote count is now under way.

Earlier Sunday, Luhansk CEC head Sergei Kozyakov told Itar-Tass so many people turned out to vote they extended polling station hours at several locations until 10 p.m.

The Russian news agency also reported on a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, which said it considers the vote valid.

"The elections in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions were held in an organized way in general and with high voter turnout," the ministry said, according to Itar-Tass. "We respect the will expression of the citizens of the southeast."

Authorities in Kiev are basically ignoring the election. In a statement Sunday, the Security Service of Ukraine said "it is a false election ... and a farce organized by criminals to collect data about people."

Before the vote, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called the ballot "pseudo elections ... by terrorists and bandits."

Ukrainian authorities also said Sunday they are launching a criminal investigation into the separatist elections, calling it "a power grab," Agence France-Presse reported, citing the Security Service of Ukraine.


Vegetables in exchange for votes

Some residents of the devastated region have said they were determined to participate in the vote, whether it's recognized by Kiev or not.

And many were rewarded with offers of free or cheap fruits and vegetables. Pictures at polling stations show large piles of vegetables outside stations in some areas in a bid to lure voters to polls.

Produce aside, people said they hoped the election would help end the violence.

"Day and night we hear shots. Yes, they bomb us. Yes, we have bomb shelters and basements. But we don't want to go back there. That's why we are preparing for the elections and hope for something better," said Tatyana, a schoolteacher.

"Mostly people are afraid. The constant shooting scares people. But of course we should go and vote to reach something good in life," said Valentina.

But there is no way to even verify the credibility of the balloting in the rebel-held areas. The voting has actually been under way for a week, by email and at mobile voting stations. And no official observers have been used to monitor the voting.

Last weekend, the bulk of Ukraine under government control held its own parliamentary elections, which kept pro-Western parties in power. But citizens in Russian-annexed Crimea and the eastern areas controlled by separatists didn't participate in those elections because of the ongoing violence.


U.S. and Russia at loggerheads

As Ukraine wrestles with internal turmoil, torn between Russian influence and Western support, the United States slammed the separatist vote.

"US will not recognize any election in separatist areas that doesn't follow Ukrainian law (and) is not held with consent of Ukrainian government," Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, tweeted on Sunday.

"We deplore the intent of separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine to hold illegitimate so-called local 'elections' on Sunday, November 2," National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement Friday.

She warned Russia "against using any such illegitimate vote as a pretext to insert additional troops and military equipment into Ukraine."

Russia is rejecting calls to distance itself from the rebel vote.

"We will of course recognize their results. And we expect that this election will be free and that no one will try to disrupt it from the outside," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/02/world/...bel-elections/

[HOLLYWOOD]

Zionist scum will stop at nothing to gain complete control, no amount of death, destruction, or cost.



Ron Paul Institute | Ukraine Collapse // Украина летит в пропасть

Russia to recognize elections in Novorossiya Republics unlike the US photo © РИА Новости. Эдуард Песов Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia would recognize the results of the forthcoming elections in the People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk "The elections to be held on November 2 on the territories of the proclaimed People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk will be crucial to the legitimization of power. We believe this is one of the top priorities of the Minsk accords," he said. Sergey Lavrov expressed hope that the “voting would be free and no one from the outside would attempt to disrupt it.” He also noted that Russia is ready to accept the results of the parliamentary election in Ukraine even though it is not being held throughout the country.

The Foreign Minister stressed that neither the rebels nor the Ukrainian troops “fail to finalize the line of separation.” The heavy weapons can only be withdrawn after both sides agree on that. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama said that the US will not recognize the Donbas election if it does not comply with Ukrainian legislation, the White House website reports.

Читать далее: http://en.ukraina.ru/news/20141028/1010998784.html

[charrob]

Ukraine Launches Intense Shelling of Rebel Donetsk


November 9, 2014

Tensions are on the rise between Ukraine and the eastern rebels again, with the city of Donetsk, the de facto rebel capital, seeing the worst shelling its had in over a month as Ukrainian military forces move into the area.

Not that the Ukrainian military were the only ones fighting. The rebels were quick to start shelling the airport on the outskirts of town, which lies in ruins, but still in government hands.

Over a month into the ceasefire, what fighting there’s been has been in Donetsk, though whether this latest escalation actually means a resumption of the war or not yet remains to be seen. The Ukrainian military sent additional troops into the area after the easterners held a vote they objected to.

The White House blasted the rebel moves against the airport as a “blatant violation of the Minsk agreements,” but was mum on the government shelling of Donetsk itself.

http://news.antiwar.com/2014/11/09/u...rebel-donetsk/

[Natural Citizen]

This was mentioned previously here but coming under more scrutiny now.

Ukraine, Syria civilians attacked with incendiary weapons – HRW...

Incendiary weapons were used in recent conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says, citing their own evidence. The organization also reported that residential areas in Ukraine suffered rocket attacks from Kiev’s army.

The watchdog has analyzed evidence of attacks involving “exceptionally cruel” incendiary weapons, including white phosphorus. These allegedly occurred in 2014, during the ongoing civil war in Syria and the military operation waged in eastern Ukraine. In a damning report, the watchdog urged tougher laws on the use of munitions.

According to the report, victims of incendiary weapons, which burn at exceptionally high temperatures, often suffer long-term physical and psychological damage, as these kinds of weapons can cause exceptionally painful thermal and respiratory burns.

“Weapons that cause terrible burns and disfigure survivors have been used against towns in both Syria and Ukraine,”said Bonnie Docherty, lead author of the report, in a statement. “The recent attacks with incendiary weapons show it’s past time for nations to reassess and strengthen international law on these cruel weapons.”

The HRW report recalls two “especially troubling”attacks in Ukraine – in Ilovaisk, a town 30km southeast of Donetsk, and Luganskoe, a small village south of Donetsk – where researchers have documented use of incendiary Grad rockets.

Local residents said that “weapons resembling fireworks fell on the northwest part of their town over the course of three nights and burned three homes.” However, the organization failed to conclude which side of the conflict was responsible for these attacks.

HRW is ready to hand over its documents to the UN or any other concerned international organizations.

"Of course we’re willing to explain our findings to any interested government or international organization," Mark Hiznay, senior arms researcher at HRW, told the RIA Novosti news agency, adding that HRW has not "officially" provided its information to anyone yet, as it can't force organizations or governments to cooperate.

Continued - Ukraine, Syria civilians attacked with incendiary weapons – HRW


Aside - 112 trucks carrying German humanitarian aid enter Ukraine (VIDEO)

Previously - 3rd Russian humanitarian aid convoy arrives in Donetsk

[Natural Citizen]

This is a minimally lengthy read so will share a sizable snippet.


Russia fears ethnic cleansing in Ukraine amid rise of neo-Nazism – Putin...

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland (R) and U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt (2nd R) distribute bread to riot police near Independence square in Kiev December 11, 2013. (Reuters / Andrew Kravchenko)

As Kiev continues to amass its forces in eastern Ukraine despite the ceasefire and use radical nationalist groups as armed battalions, Moscow is concerned about possible ethnic cleansing there, Russian President Vladimir Putin told ARD in an interview.

Speaking with Hubert Seipel of the German channel ARD ahead of the G20 summit, Putin warned of catastrophic consequences for Ukraine if the Kiev government continues to nurture radical nationalism and Russophobia, including in the ranks of its military and National Guard units that are still being sent as reinforcements to the country’s troubled east.

“Frankly speaking, we are very concerned about any possible ethnic cleansings and Ukraine ending up as a neo-Nazi state. What are we supposed to think if people are bearing swastikas on their sleeves? Or what about the SS emblems that we see on the helmets of some military units now fighting in eastern Ukraine? If it is a civilized state, where are the authorities looking? At least they could get rid of this uniform, they could make the nationalists remove these emblems,” Putin said.

The Russian leader dismissed the idea that only Russia has the key to solve the Ukraine crisis, saying that it sounds as if someone is trying to pass responsibility for the conflict to Moscow.

However, the president hinted at the possibility that Western countries could actually make a difference in the Ukrainian situation, and persuade the West-leaning government in Kiev to follow a path of national dialogue instead of sending tanks to rebel territories.

“There is just one thing that I always pay attention to. We are told again and again: pro-Russian separatists must do this and this, you must influence them in this way, you must act in that way. I have always asked them: 'What have you done to influence your clients in Kiev? What have you done? Or do you only support Russophobic sentiments?'” Putin said.

Western politicians and media have been accusing Russia of sending weapons to the rebels – which Moscow denies – but have provided no hard evidence of the claim. Initially, the self-defense forces of Donbass armed themselves with weapons and vehicles seized at military depots in the region, but they also managed to capture some hardware from the Ukrainian troops. The Ukrainian army, often severely underequipped, recently started receiving military aid from several Western countries.

Continued - Russia fears ethnic cleansing in Ukraine amid rise of neo-Nazism – Putin

[Natural Citizen]

Over 4,000 dead, almost 10,000 injured in E. Ukraine fighting since April - UN...

At least 4,317 people have been killed and 9,921 wounded in the conflict in eastern Ukraine since April, according to the latest UN human rights report.
Of these, over 900 deaths have occurred since the ceasefire was announced on September 5.

The number of the internally displaced people also spiraled out of control: from more than 275,489 in September to about 466,829 in November.

“Violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law persist,” the report states. “The situation in the conflict-affected area is becoming increasingly entrenched, with the total breakdown of law and order and the emergence of parallel governance systems in the territories under the control of the [self-proclaimed] ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and the [self-proclaimed] ‘Luhansk people’s republic’.”

The report, the seventh produced by the 35-strong UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, covers the period between 17 September and 31 October 2014.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

Continued - Over 4,000 dead, almost 10,000 injured in E. Ukraine fighting since April - UN

[Natural Citizen]

#Euromaidan 1st birthday: How the Kiev coup grew (Op-Edge)...

Continued - #Euromaidan 1st birthday: How the Kiev coup grew (Op-Edge)

State forces stood down and Yanukovich was forced to flee. The hardcore nationalists had ignored the peace agreement and the US capitalized by installing a puppet government, exactly per Nuland’s intercepted phone call.

There had been a coup in Kiev. Despite their agreement with Yanukovich, the EU leaders, amazingly, also backed the militant regime. Ukraine would never be the same again.

Continued - #Euromaidan 1st birthday: How the Kiev coup grew (Op-Edge)

[Natural Citizen]

NATO top commander vague about 'Russian threat' while pledging more military aid to Kiev...

Polish servicemen take part in military exercises outside the town of Yavoriv near Lviv, September 19, 2014 (Reuters / Roman Baluk)

NATO – and its supreme allied commander in Europe, General Breedlove – has previously made statements on Russia's military presence in Ukraine, without providing any concrete proof of such. The Russian Defense Ministry has called NATO's claims "groundless," reminding of earlier accusations by the alliance which were not backed up by any evidence.

Speaking about the possibility of sending lethal equipment into Ukraine, the general said that "nothing at this time is off the table," but the "focus remains on pursuing a diplomatic solution."

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has previously suggested that NATO give "special" status to the country outside the bloc, calling on Washington to provide Kiev with more "lethal and non-lethal" military equipment. Ukraine's appeal was turned down by US President Barack Obama, who promised Poroshenko only non-lethal assistance – which, according to the latter, is not enough.

While Ukraine is not a NATO member, the US Department of Defense intends to increase its military presence for constant army drills on the territory of the neighboring countries in Eastern Europe, including Poland and the Baltic states.

Russia has warned the bloc that its progress towards the east and Ukraine will trigger a strong reaction.

Continued - NATO top commander vague about 'Russian threat' while pledging more military aid to Kiev

[AngryCanadian]

Its ironic how the westren news media outlets have never shown any of these videos show the war crimes which the westren pro EU government have caused and created agaisnt the eastern Ukrainians, well they spew anti russian hatred and propaganda to fuel there agenda.

[Natural Citizen]

Its ironic how the westren news media outlets have never shown any of these videos show the war crimes which the westren pro EU government have caused and created agaisnt the eastern Ukrainians, well they spew anti russian hatred and propaganda to fuel there agenda.

Heh...

Poroshenko aims to change laws to allow foreigners into Ukrainian govt...

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gives a speech during a parliament session in Kiev on November 27, 2014. (AFP Photo / Sergei Supinsky)

Ukraine’s president has announced plans to change the nation's legislation to make it possible to appoint foreigners to top government positions. This has been dubbed “unprecedented,” and may indicate that the country is being governed “from outside.”

“My idea is to change the laws in order to give the right to engage foreigners in state service, including government,”President Petro Poroshenko said in his address to Parliament on Thursday. “Or to expand the list of people whom Ukraine’s president may provide with Ukrainian citizenship in a speedy procedure,” he added.

Poroshenko also suggested appointing a foreigner as the head of the newly-created National Anti-corruption Bureau.

Earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenuk suggested the creation of a new position – deputy prime minister of European integration affairs. He proposed that a European leader be appointed to the post.


Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk walks during a session of the parliament in Kiev November 27, 2014.(Reuters / Andrew Kravchenko)

Reports cited by RIA Novosti claim that foreigners may be offered top jobs in the ministries of finance, energy and coal production, and infrastructure, as well as the post of deputy prime minister.

In his Thursday address to Parliament, Poroshenko said that Ukraine's neutral out-of-bloc status had proved unjustified and should be abandoned.

"For this reason we have got back to the idea of integration with NATO," he added. "We are deepening our cooperation and the compatibility of our army with NATO's armed forces and reorienting to NATO standards.”

Continued - Poroshenko aims to change laws to allow foreigners into Ukrainian govt

[HOLLYWOOD]

Boy does that sound familiar? Just like the Washington DC's ZOG with dual citizenship sleeper agents.

Heh... Poroshenko aims to change laws to allow foreigners into Ukrainian govt...
Continued - Poroshenko aims to change laws to allow foreigners into Ukrainian govt

So where's the US media coverage of 1,000+ killed and 5,000+ wounded in eastern Ukrainian Oblasts? All you hear from the US/NATO corporate media is the Russian tanks that keep rolling into eastern Ukraine for the invasion that keep happening over and over... Western Ministry's of Propaganda keep on spewing lies across North America. Joseph Geobbels would be proud of American media/gov propaganda.

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2014...g-saddams-wmd/





Russia Invades Ukraine. Again. And Again. And Yet Again … Using Saddam’s WMD!

[Natural Citizen]

The BRICS summit thread has a lot of great information that is relevant to this, HOLLYWOOD. There is some serious skulldugerry happening with regard to a couple of major nations that will affect this whole thing.

This is a good thread... http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post5710196

A lot of what we see discussed or shared there directly relates to what we see happening in the Ukraine. I'm going to add to it maybe tonight or tomorrow once I get my thoughts together because now we have this... http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post5714391

[libertarianinternational]

Was expecting as much after the Nazis took control.

As much as I despise the Ukrainian government and their policies, they are more neo-liberal internationalists than Nazis. The Nazis were removed from government after the elections in October. The current coalition consists of four mainstream conservative and centrist parties and one agrarian socialist party. In the whole 450 seat legislature, Svoboda have 6 seats and Right Sector have 1 seat. That's 1.6% of seats. By contrast, the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn has 5.3% of seats in the Greek legislature and Svoboda's former Hungarian ally, Jobbik, has 11.6% of seats in the Hungarian legislature. Both of these parties have pro-Russian orientations.

Neither side of this conflict are good. The real solution would be opening direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, which many in the Ukrainian government seem not to be interested in.

[Natural Citizen]

I'm just adding this as an update to the previous report...

Source note...

2. Using our material

Information presented on this website is considered public information (unless otherwise noted in material) and may be distributed or copied for non-commercial (personal, educational, research etc.) purposes.

The use of any material from this website and quoting in mass media requires appropriate credit and link to the web page where the information was taken from.

Poroshenko aims to change laws to allow foreigners into Ukrainian govt...

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gives a speech during a parliament session in Kiev on November 27, 2014. (AFP Photo / Sergei Supinsky)

Ukraine’s president has announced plans to change the nation's legislation to make it possible to appoint foreigners to top government positions. This has been dubbed “unprecedented,” and may indicate that the country is being governed “from outside.”

“My idea is to change the laws in order to give the right to engage foreigners in state service, including government,”President Petro Poroshenko said in his address to Parliament on Thursday. “Or to expand the list of people whom Ukraine’s president may provide with Ukrainian citizenship in a speedy procedure,” he added.

Poroshenko also suggested appointing a foreigner as the head of the newly-created National Anti-corruption Bureau.

Earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenuk suggested the creation of a new position – deputy prime minister of European integration affairs. He proposed that a European leader be appointed to the post.


Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk walks during a session of the parliament in Kiev November 27, 2014.(Reuters / Andrew Kravchenko)

Reports cited by RIA Novosti claim that foreigners may be offered top jobs in the ministries of finance, energy and coal production, and infrastructure, as well as the post of deputy prime minister.

In his Thursday address to Parliament, Poroshenko said that Ukraine's neutral out-of-bloc status had proved unjustified and should be abandoned.

"For this reason we have got back to the idea of integration with NATO," he added. "We are deepening our cooperation and the compatibility of our army with NATO's armed forces and reorienting to NATO standards.”

Continued - Poroshenko aims to change laws to allow foreigners into Ukrainian govt

Update...

American, Georgian & Lithuanian get key jobs in Ukraine’s new govt...

Ukrainian Prime Minsiter Arseny Yatsenyuk (third right) in the government box at a session of Verkhovna Rada in Kiev (RIA Novosti / Nikolay Lazarenko)


The natives of the US, Georgia and Lithuania were hastily granted Ukrainian citizenship in order to become key ministers in the new government of Ukraine, which was approved by the country’s parliament on Tuesday.

President Poroshenko has also announced he will sign a decree to grant citizenship to foreigners fighting on Kiev’s side in the east of the country.

Natalie Jaresko of the US, who currently heads the Kiev-based Horizon Capital investment fund, will take reigns at the Ukrainian Finance Ministry.

In 1992-1995, Jaresko served as the first Chief of the Economic Section of the US Embassy in Ukraine.

Before that she occupied several economic positions in the US State Department, according to Horizon Capital website.

The position of health minister went to Aleksandr Kvitashvili, who occupied a similar post in the Georgian government in 2009-2012.

"Ukraine spends 8 per cent of its GDP on healthcare, but half of this money is being plundered. Aleksandr Kvitashvili must implement radical reforms as he has no ties with the Ukrainian pharmaceutical mafia,” Ukrainian PM, Arseny Yatsenuk, said as he presented the new minister to the deputies.


Alexander Kvitashvili, a candidate for head of the Ukrainian health ministry, at a session of Verkhovna Rada in Kiev (RIA Novosti / Mikhail Polinchak)

Lithuanian Aivaras Abromavicius has been approved as the economy minister by the new parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

Abromavicius, who is a partner at the $3.6 billion-worth East Capital asset management group, conducts his operations from Kiev after marrying a Ukrainian.

“There’s hard work ahead of us because Ukraine is a very poor and corrupt country and we’ll have to use radical measures,”he told MPs from the Rada tribune.


Aivars Abramovicus (Aivaras Abromavicius), a candidate for head of the Ukrainian economy ministry, at a session of Verkhovna Rada in Kiev (RIA Novosti / Mikhail Polinchak)

288 out of 450 deputies supported the cabinet proposed by Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, with the new ministers sworn in right after the vote.

“I congratulate the Ukrainians with the formation of the pro-European government,” Poroshenko wrote on his Twitter page.

He told the Rada that he views the foreigners as some kind of anti-crisis management need due to the difficult situation in economy, the fighting in Donbas, the necessity of radical reforms and large-scale corruption.

Earlier on the Tuesday, the president has signed special a decree granting Ukrainian citizenship to Jaresko, Kvitashvili and Abromavicius.

Dual nationality is forbidden in Ukraine and the trio has already written applications to give up the citizenship of foreign states, Yury Lutsenko, the head of the Petro Poroshenko Block (PPB), said.

Poroshenko said that there’ll be even more foreigners on administrative positions in Ukraine as the county “must attract the best international experience, which includes assigning positions in the government to representative of states friendly to Ukraine.”

Also on Tuesday, the MPs from Poroshenko’s ruling bloc have registered a draft law in the Rada on amending the Ukrainian legislation for it to allow citizens of other states in the government.

It had been announced by Poroshenko a week ago. This move has been dubbed “unprecedented” and attracted criticism from experts with some calling it “allegiance to the so-called European choice,” and others expressing concern that it can be a sign of Ukraine losing its sovereignty.

Poroshenko also promised to grant the citizenship of Ukraine to all foreigners fighting for Kiev against the militias in the country’s eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

“I’m going to sign a decree conferring Ukrainian citizenship to those, who defended Ukraine with arms in their hands,” he wrote on Twitter.

However, not everybody in the parliament supported the inclusion of foreigners into the Ukrainian government.

Earlier, the MP from the Opposition Block said Aleksandr Vilkul suggested that by inviting people from abroad the Ukrainian authorities are trying to absolve themselves of responsibility for the state of things in the country.

Vilkul colleague, Yury Boyko, said he can’t understand how it wasn’t possible to find 10 candidates for the cabinet among Ukraine’s 40-million population.

Continued - American, Georgian & Lithuanian get key jobs in Ukraine’s new govt