Ukraine's European Revolution?

[Ed Anger]

I'm getting a bad feeling.

So there won't be a war?

Heh, my war boners have been off lately, haven't they?

I'm just getting that feeling I'm gonna wake up one morning to news that Russian Airborne/Air Mobile units have grabbed the bridges on the Dniper.

[alfred russel]

Well I'm so glad Edward Snowden is there to make sure the Russian government protects press freedoms and the privacy  of individual Russians.

Yeah I have come around really hating that guy. It was important to uncover what the NSA has been doing to their own citizens, but this Snowden guy, I think, is a Russian agent.

He risked his life leaking the NSA stuff because he couldn't live with the injustice, but then continues to live silently in THIS Russia? Give me a break.

He really doesn't have much of a choice, does he?

[Sheilbh]

Yeah I have come around really hating that guy. It was important to uncover what the NSA has been doing to their own citizens, but this Snowden guy, I think, is a Russian agent.

He could be. Real question is when?

[DGuller]

Well I'm so glad Edward Snowden is there to make sure the Russian government protects press freedoms and the privacy  of individual Russians.

Yeah I have come around really hating that guy. It was important to uncover what the NSA has been doing to their own citizens, but this Snowden guy, I think, is a Russian agent.

He risked his life leaking the NSA stuff because he couldn't live with the injustice, but then continues to live silently in THIS Russia? Give me a break.

He really doesn't have much of a choice, does he?

Exactly, I really don't get that criticism.  He's in Russia because that's the only place he can be in without winding up in prison for life.  Whether you think he was right to go public like this is beside the point.

[derspiess]

He really doesn't have much of a choice, does he?

He originally did.  I'm just getting tired of seeing that fucker's face.

[Valmy]

He originally did.  I'm just getting tired of seeing that fucker's face.

That's fair.

Anyway, all this media censorship is only going to make Russia pro-West or at least that is how these things normally go.

[Syt]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26543464

Russia Lenta.ru editor Timchenko fired in Ukraine row

The chief editor of popular Russian news website Lenta.ru has lost her job over an interview it published with a far-right Ukrainian nationalist.

Galina Timchenko was fired after the state media regulator issued the website with a warning for publishing material of an "extremist nature".

She will be replaced by Alexei Goreslavsky, who until recently headed a staunchly pro-Kremlin website.

Her departure comes after several recent attacks on independent media.

The decision to dismiss Ms Timchenko was made by Lenta.ru's owner Alexander Mamut. It was immediately criticised by the website's editorial staff who complained of direct pressure being placed on them and a "dramatic decline" in the scope for free journalism in Russia.

"The dismissal of an independent chief editor and the appointment of a person who can be controlled from outside, including directly from offices in the Kremlin - that is already a violation of the media law," read the statement signed by 69 Lenta staff on the website's front page.

Writing on her Facebook page, Ms Timchenko said simply: "That's it. Thank you, it was interesting."

Media regulator Roskomnadzor cited an interview published two days earlier with a leading member of the Ukrainian ultra-nationalist group, Right Sector, referring to a hyperlink in the text that led to its leader, Dmitriy Yarosh.

It said the material contained statements inciting ethnic hatred. A Moscow court issued an arrest warrant for Mr Yarosh on Wednesday on charges of inciting terrorism.

Founded in 1999, Lenta is considered one of Europe's most visited news websites and last year became part of Mr Mamut's Afisha-Rambbler-SUP media group.

It is the latest media outlet in Russia to come under the scrutiny of the authorities:

* State news agency Ria Novosti was closed last year and relaunched under a new editor
* Independent TV channel Dozhd (Rain) was dropped by leading cable and satellite operators
* Radio station Ekho Moskvy's director-general, Yuriy Fedutinov, was replaced
* Ekho's veteran editor-in-chief Aleksey Venediktov, whose future is also being considered, condemned Ms Timchenko's removal as a "clearly political decision".

Mr Mamut, a 54-year-old billionaire who also owns UK bookshop chain Waterstone's, has an estimated fortune of $2.3bn, according to Forbes.


Analysis

The abrupt removal of Ms Timchenko is being seen as yet another blow to the country's embattled independent media.

One of the most respected figures on the Russian media scene, she has been at Lenta.ru from the start and became editor-in-chief in 2004.

"Under her guidance, Lenta.ru became the best web publication in Russian," liberal journalist Aleksandr Plyushchev wrote.

Her successor, Alexei Goreslavsky, until recently headed the staunchly pro-Kremlin website, Vzglyad.ru. According to opposition activist and blogger Leonid Volkov, he was also a media adviser on the campaign that helped elect Sergei Sobyanin, an ally of President Putin, as Moscow mayor last September.

Her departure is being seen as another blow to freedom of speech in Russia.

A statement by the editorial staff reflected on the "dramatic decline" in the scope for free journalism in Russia: "The problem is not that there is nowhere left for us to work. The problem is that there is nothing left, it seems, for you to read."

In Germany we call that "Gleichschaltung", i.e. bringing all institutions in line with officialdom.

[Syt]

Also, apparently in response to the U.S sending fighter jets to Lithuania, Russia sends 6 fighter jets to Belarus to "aid in the defense of the Union State".

http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/723406

[Syt]

And a bit more censorship:

http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/723462

Russian Internet users say providers blocking Echo of Moscow radio's website

MOSCOW, March 13, /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Internet users have reported the blocking of the Echo of Moscow radio's website by a number of providers.

Subscribers of the companies Akado, Rostelecom and MegaPhon in different regions of Russia see the notifications that the site has been blocked upon a court resolution or has been added to the list of forbidden sites when they try to download it.

The liberal radio's editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov has tweeted that Akado and Biznessvyazholding have blocked the website. At the time of reporting, Itar-Tass was unable to get comments from the federal telecommunications watchdog service, Roskomnadzor.

Earlier Thursday, Rozkomnadzor said it had answered a petition by the Prosecutor General's Office and had blocked the websites grani.ru. kasparov.ru, ej.ru, and the blog of the leading off-parliament oppositionist Alexei Navalny.

The watchdog agency said the sites had been carrying calls for unlawful activities and mass actions in bypass of the law.

And a nice little nugget: http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/723472

MOSCOW, March 14, /ITAR-TASS/. In a conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his assessment of the acute situation that has taken shape in Ukraine. In part "the settlement of the crisis will be possible only on the basis of unconditional respect for the interests and will of the multi-ethnic population in all regions of that country," the Kremlin's press-service said.

[derspiess]

It amazes me (though it probably shouldn't) that the Russians are using a vetoed language bill as a casus belli.

[Syt]

Echo of Moscow seems to be back online after their website removed Alexei Navalny's blog (the opposition guy placed under house arrest last month).

http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/723552

MOSCOW, March 14. /ITAR-TASS/. Website of the Echo of Moscow radio station has been excluded from the list of banned online resources, and all access restrictions have been lifted, spokesperson of the Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor Vadim Ampelonsky told Itar-Tass on Friday.

"The web page was excluded from the register at about 1am after Alexei Navalny's blog had been deleted from the site," he said.

On March 13, Roskomnadzor informed the radio station of the Prosecutor General's ruling to limit access to the opposition politician Navalny's blog of Echo's site. Access was also restricted to the sites grani.ru, kasparov.ru and ej.ru due to revealed signs of extremism - urges to illegal actions and unauthorized rallies.

A number of providers blocked access to the radio station's site following the announcement. Providers have a right to choose type of blocking, namely limiting access to a page or a resource as a whole, added Ampelonsky. Roskomnadzor recommends the former yet not all providers have the technical capacity needed.

Echo of Moscow's editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov earlier wrote in his blog the radio station's lawyers would send the Prosecutor General and Roskomnadzor an inquiry about which of Navalny's statements were considered extremist.

[KRonn]

Well I'm so glad Edward Snowden is there to make sure the Russian government protects press freedoms and the privacy  of individual Russians.

Yeah I have come around really hating that guy. It was important to uncover what the NSA has been doing to their own citizens, but this Snowden guy, I think, is a Russian agent.

He risked his life leaking the NSA stuff because he couldn't live with the injustice, but then continues to live silently in THIS Russia? Give me a break.

He really doesn't have much of a choice, does he?

I've come around to thinking that he had choices about the kind of info he was going to expose, so that determined where he would go. He chose to give a lot of very valuable info to Russia, China, over and above what NSA was doing legally or illegally to US citizens. I feel that Snowdon wasn't just about being some kind of whistle blower, he went much further, so his only recourse was protection from someplace like Russia.

[Razgovory]

Well I'm so glad Edward Snowden is there to make sure the Russian government protects press freedoms and the privacy  of individual Russians.

Yeah I have come around really hating that guy. It was important to uncover what the NSA has been doing to their own citizens, but this Snowden guy, I think, is a Russian agent.

He risked his life leaking the NSA stuff because he couldn't live with the injustice, but then continues to live silently in THIS Russia? Give me a break.

He really doesn't have much of a choice, does he?

Exactly, I really don't get that criticism.  He's in Russia because that's the only place he can be in without winding up in prison for life.  Whether you think he was right to go public like this is beside the point.

Roman Polanski does pretty well without being in Russia.

[Syt]

Prediction (best case):
- Russia continues to mass troops on the border and hype up "anti-Russian incidents in Easter Ukraine"
- Referendum in Crimea has landslide result in favor of joining Russia
- Russia offers recognition of East Ukrainian borders in exchange for Crimea

Prediction (possible case):
- Russia continues to mass troops on the border and hype up "anti-Russian incidents in Easter Ukraine"
- Referendum in Crimea has landslide result in favor of joining Russia
- Russia comes to protection of oppressed Russians in East Ukraine (of course it will be self defense militias without army insignia)
- repeat of Crimea m.o. (new regional government, pluis referendum about joining Russia)

Prediction (worst case):
- Russia continues to mass troops on the border and hype up "anti-Russian incidents in Easter Ukraine"
- Referendum in Crimea has landslide result in favor of joining Russia
- Russia comes to protection of oppressed Russians in East Ukraine after "outbreaks of violence" after the referendum
- Russia creates a "protective buffer zone" for their compatriots, and forces regime change in Kiev

[Valmy]

I've come around to thinking that he had choices about the kind of info he was going to expose, so that determined where he would go. He chose to give a lot of very valuable info to Russia, China, over and above what NSA was doing legally or illegally to US citizens. I feel that Snowdon wasn't just about being some kind of whistle blower, he went much further, so his only recourse was protection from someplace like Russia.

If you say so Kronn.

Anyway about Russia and the Ukraine?