Ukrainian Navy divided and other news of the day
Before I got word about the events in Luhansk Oblast, I was writing this entry, trying to sum up the news about what, when I started writing this, still seemed like a strictly Crimean crisis.
Anti-war protestor being detained in Moscow (va Reuters/Gazeta.ru)
Aside from the Luhansk Provincial Council declaration, the biggest news is that Denis Berezovskiy, who was appointed the head of Ukrainian Navy yesterday, has switched allegiance to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Before defecting, he ordered all units to surrender to the Russian forces. Ukraine declared Berezovski a traitor... not that it really means much at this point.
The ARC Prime Minister heralded this as the beginnings of the Crimean Navy, which is a very interesting position to take, since I'm pretty sure both Russia and Ukraine would take a dim view of an autonomous republic having its own navy. It would be an equivalent of United States Navy units stationed in Puerto Rico defecting to Puerto Rico and declaring themselves Puerto Rican Navy.
Navigator is reporting that two units, which the online news website describes as "most powerful," have ignored the order to surrender. Those units are the Marines unit in Feodociya and in Perevalnoye, a village near the ARC capital of Simferopol. Navigator's source is saying that they're prepared to resist "to the last bullet" if anyone tries to attack them. It should be noted that Russian forces were preparing to storm the marine positions in Perevalnoye a few hours earlier, but a ceasefire was reached. All this was before Berezovskiy's defection, so who knows if ceasefire will hold.
Meanwhile, it seems that the purpose of ARC referendum was quietly changes from making it more autonomous by restoring the 1992 constitution to "changing Crimea's status from autonomous to national." It really isn't clear at all if they mean full-fledged independence or simply being a de facto independent state while still being formally part of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, forces with no insignia have taken over Ukrainian Border Patrol regional administrative facilities in Crimea. The patrol officers locked down weapon caches, and from what I understand, the two forces are currently trying to negotiate.
Meanwhile, in Ukrainian mainland, head of Right Sector denounced "bandits and marauders" who were supposedly wrecking havoc under Right Sector's name. He urged them to be punished. This marked the first time anyone tried to reign in the Right Sector, and it would be interesting to see what happens next.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, Acting President Turchinov replaced heads of two eastern Ukrainian Oblasti with oligarchs loyal to the new regime. Given that nobody in former Soviet Union particularly like oligarchs, this has potential to backfire. Badly.
Meanwhile, in Russia, rallies were held in support of Russian decision to send in troops. There were also rallies opposing the move, but they were smaller, and, in a development that surprised absolutely no one, the police broke them up and participants were arrested. Gazeta.ru estimates that 330 people were arrested in Moscow. 40 protestors were arrested in St. Petersburg, according to official figures.
And that's pretty much all the news I got from Russia for now. This page may be updates if more news emerge throughout the day (moscow time).
As always, unless other links are provided, the info comes from Gazeta.ru's ongoing live-blog of the crisis.
For the new Twitter followers who may not have seen my earlier posts - feel free to check the Ukraine tag for my earlier translations/recaps of the coverage of Crimean/Ukrainian crisis.
Anti-war protestor being detained in Moscow (va Reuters/Gazeta.ru)
Aside from the Luhansk Provincial Council declaration, the biggest news is that Denis Berezovskiy, who was appointed the head of Ukrainian Navy yesterday, has switched allegiance to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Before defecting, he ordered all units to surrender to the Russian forces. Ukraine declared Berezovski a traitor... not that it really means much at this point.
The ARC Prime Minister heralded this as the beginnings of the Crimean Navy, which is a very interesting position to take, since I'm pretty sure both Russia and Ukraine would take a dim view of an autonomous republic having its own navy. It would be an equivalent of United States Navy units stationed in Puerto Rico defecting to Puerto Rico and declaring themselves Puerto Rican Navy.
Navigator is reporting that two units, which the online news website describes as "most powerful," have ignored the order to surrender. Those units are the Marines unit in Feodociya and in Perevalnoye, a village near the ARC capital of Simferopol. Navigator's source is saying that they're prepared to resist "to the last bullet" if anyone tries to attack them. It should be noted that Russian forces were preparing to storm the marine positions in Perevalnoye a few hours earlier, but a ceasefire was reached. All this was before Berezovskiy's defection, so who knows if ceasefire will hold.
Meanwhile, it seems that the purpose of ARC referendum was quietly changes from making it more autonomous by restoring the 1992 constitution to "changing Crimea's status from autonomous to national." It really isn't clear at all if they mean full-fledged independence or simply being a de facto independent state while still being formally part of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, forces with no insignia have taken over Ukrainian Border Patrol regional administrative facilities in Crimea. The patrol officers locked down weapon caches, and from what I understand, the two forces are currently trying to negotiate.
Meanwhile, in Ukrainian mainland, head of Right Sector denounced "bandits and marauders" who were supposedly wrecking havoc under Right Sector's name. He urged them to be punished. This marked the first time anyone tried to reign in the Right Sector, and it would be interesting to see what happens next.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, Acting President Turchinov replaced heads of two eastern Ukrainian Oblasti with oligarchs loyal to the new regime. Given that nobody in former Soviet Union particularly like oligarchs, this has potential to backfire. Badly.
Meanwhile, in Russia, rallies were held in support of Russian decision to send in troops. There were also rallies opposing the move, but they were smaller, and, in a development that surprised absolutely no one, the police broke them up and participants were arrested. Gazeta.ru estimates that 330 people were arrested in Moscow. 40 protestors were arrested in St. Petersburg, according to official figures.
And that's pretty much all the news I got from Russia for now. This page may be updates if more news emerge throughout the day (moscow time).
As always, unless other links are provided, the info comes from Gazeta.ru's ongoing live-blog of the crisis.
For the new Twitter followers who may not have seen my earlier posts - feel free to check the Ukraine tag for my earlier translations/recaps of the coverage of Crimean/Ukrainian crisis.