Ukrainian Crisis: Clashes at the rallies, military drills and other news
It's a sad sign of the time that the news that "polite armed men" have surrounded yet another Ukrainian Boarder Patrol facility in Crimea feels like 'regular news." So long as shots haven't been fired, it just doesn't feel as newsworthy as it was around this time last week.
That is not to say there hasn't been any violence at all on the peninsula
Pro-Ukrainian demonstrators rally in Sevastopol, calling for peace and unity (via Navigator)
Navigator and BBC News have both reported that a rally in Sevastopol turned violent. A group of approximately 500 Ukrainians (200 according to BBC) assembled in front of the statue of Taras Shevchenko, a Ukrainian poet, to mark his 200th birthday. But of course, the rally was about more than that. People came holding signs calling for peace and Ukrainian unity. Local politicians and celebrities called for Ukrainians to ignore the referendum and said that Sevastopol was a great example of how Russians and Ukrainians can get along.
That's when pro-Russian activists with Russian flags and orange-and-black ribbons (symbols of support of the Russian army, past and/or present). Young people on both sides got into a fight, and police went in to break them up, but tensions remained until the rally ended.
The clashes didn't end nearly as quickly in eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk. You may remember it as the area where the provincial government issued an ultimatum to new Ukrainian government (a resolution which regional court subsequently ruled illegal). As in Sevastopol, pro-Ukrainian supporters assembled in front of a statue of Shevchenko, and the pro-Russian activists attacked them. But this time, there was no police intervention. Navigator quoted local sources in saying that pro-Russian supporters "tore away Ukrainian flags, beat up the people at the rally, tramped the flowers at the monument and turned over the speakers. They tore Ukrainian wreaths off girls." Several people were taken to the hospital. The pro-Russian activists later took over the provincial government building and raised a Russian flag over it - all without police doing anything to stop them.
Elsewhere on the Ukrainian mainland, the Ukrainian military has been moving troops and equipment from western Ukraine toward the east. Officially, it's for military exercises, but the subtext is hard to miss.
Returning to Crimean peninsula for a moment, Deputy Prime Minister of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea alleges that Ukrainian government has frozen ARC government accounts. But, he said, ARC is switching to Russian accounts anyway regardless of how the referendum goes, so salaries and pensions would still be paid. And, in a bit of news that emerged as I was writing it, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Acting Prime Minister of Ukraine, said that Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea will be paid, and that they'll get the funds "as soon as possible."
As I was writing this, we got another update about the situation of Ukrainian military in Crimea. Speaker of the ARC Supreme Council said that most Ukrainian military installations are under ARC control, that weapon caches are under "mutual control" and that Ukrainian soldiers wouldn't be harmed. If the referendum succeeds, the soldiers would have a chance to either join Russian army or leave the peninsula peacefully.
And, in Moscow, according to the statement on Kremlin's website, Putin told Angela Merkel and UK PM David Cameron that ARC referendum is legitimate, in compliance with international law and represents the interests of the people. The first part is not true (in the strictly legal sense). The second part, as both BBC and gazeta.ru pointed out, is a bit dubious. It isn't like Scotland or even Kosovo, where there's an ethnic minority demanding independence. But there's no doubt that there's a lot of Crimeans who want to join Russia. Whether it's enough to join Russia remains to be seen, but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if referendum does pass. .As I said on Facebook earlier, how much issue is West going to raise if the popular support for the annexation turns out to be clearly there.
As always, this entry will be updated if any significant news emerge before the end of the day, Moscow time (which, because Russia doesn't observe daylight savings time at the moment, is now going to happen an hour later than it did for the past two weeks. Isn't international time fun!)
Edited to add: It seems that it wasn't it for factional clashes in Ukraine. Navigator reported that three people who were handing out leaflets supporting keeping the country intact. The locals weren't too keen on it, and after some harsh words, they beat the activists and made them kneel. Thanks to police intervention, it didn't get any further than that, but still...
And back in Luhansk, the pro-Russian rally continued. After taking over the provincial government building, they forced the provincial governor outside and pressured him to resign. The local police still did nothing. The article also mentions the protestors' demands - that Ukraine hold a referendum on making the country a federation, on having the country join Russia's burgeoning customs union and making Russian the second national language. The third one seems a bit hollow, since the law that would have cancelled Russian language's status as the second language never got passed.
That is not to say there hasn't been any violence at all on the peninsula
Pro-Ukrainian demonstrators rally in Sevastopol, calling for peace and unity (via Navigator)
Navigator and BBC News have both reported that a rally in Sevastopol turned violent. A group of approximately 500 Ukrainians (200 according to BBC) assembled in front of the statue of Taras Shevchenko, a Ukrainian poet, to mark his 200th birthday. But of course, the rally was about more than that. People came holding signs calling for peace and Ukrainian unity. Local politicians and celebrities called for Ukrainians to ignore the referendum and said that Sevastopol was a great example of how Russians and Ukrainians can get along.
That's when pro-Russian activists with Russian flags and orange-and-black ribbons (symbols of support of the Russian army, past and/or present). Young people on both sides got into a fight, and police went in to break them up, but tensions remained until the rally ended.
The clashes didn't end nearly as quickly in eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk. You may remember it as the area where the provincial government issued an ultimatum to new Ukrainian government (a resolution which regional court subsequently ruled illegal). As in Sevastopol, pro-Ukrainian supporters assembled in front of a statue of Shevchenko, and the pro-Russian activists attacked them. But this time, there was no police intervention. Navigator quoted local sources in saying that pro-Russian supporters "tore away Ukrainian flags, beat up the people at the rally, tramped the flowers at the monument and turned over the speakers. They tore Ukrainian wreaths off girls." Several people were taken to the hospital. The pro-Russian activists later took over the provincial government building and raised a Russian flag over it - all without police doing anything to stop them.
Elsewhere on the Ukrainian mainland, the Ukrainian military has been moving troops and equipment from western Ukraine toward the east. Officially, it's for military exercises, but the subtext is hard to miss.
Returning to Crimean peninsula for a moment, Deputy Prime Minister of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea alleges that Ukrainian government has frozen ARC government accounts. But, he said, ARC is switching to Russian accounts anyway regardless of how the referendum goes, so salaries and pensions would still be paid. And, in a bit of news that emerged as I was writing it, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Acting Prime Minister of Ukraine, said that Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea will be paid, and that they'll get the funds "as soon as possible."
As I was writing this, we got another update about the situation of Ukrainian military in Crimea. Speaker of the ARC Supreme Council said that most Ukrainian military installations are under ARC control, that weapon caches are under "mutual control" and that Ukrainian soldiers wouldn't be harmed. If the referendum succeeds, the soldiers would have a chance to either join Russian army or leave the peninsula peacefully.
And, in Moscow, according to the statement on Kremlin's website, Putin told Angela Merkel and UK PM David Cameron that ARC referendum is legitimate, in compliance with international law and represents the interests of the people. The first part is not true (in the strictly legal sense). The second part, as both BBC and gazeta.ru pointed out, is a bit dubious. It isn't like Scotland or even Kosovo, where there's an ethnic minority demanding independence. But there's no doubt that there's a lot of Crimeans who want to join Russia. Whether it's enough to join Russia remains to be seen, but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if referendum does pass. .As I said on Facebook earlier, how much issue is West going to raise if the popular support for the annexation turns out to be clearly there.
As always, this entry will be updated if any significant news emerge before the end of the day, Moscow time (which, because Russia doesn't observe daylight savings time at the moment, is now going to happen an hour later than it did for the past two weeks. Isn't international time fun!)
Edited to add: It seems that it wasn't it for factional clashes in Ukraine. Navigator reported that three people who were handing out leaflets supporting keeping the country intact. The locals weren't too keen on it, and after some harsh words, they beat the activists and made them kneel. Thanks to police intervention, it didn't get any further than that, but still...
And back in Luhansk, the pro-Russian rally continued. After taking over the provincial government building, they forced the provincial governor outside and pressured him to resign. The local police still did nothing. The article also mentions the protestors' demands - that Ukraine hold a referendum on making the country a federation, on having the country join Russia's burgeoning customs union and making Russian the second national language. The third one seems a bit hollow, since the law that would have cancelled Russian language's status as the second language never got passed.