Ukraine's European Revolution?

[Syt]

An article linked on EUOT about the warning that Russians shouldn't travel abroad has this nugget:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/497922.html

The number of Russians who view the right to "go to another country and come back" as a fundamental human right was 20 percent in January, a survey by the independent Levada pollster showed.

[Syt]

RT says Kiev has buckled:

http://rt.com/news/ukraine-protest-deadline-expires-856/

Kiev backpedals on referendums after deadline to stop protest expires

Just after a deadline set by Kiev for protesters in eastern Ukraine to vacate seized buildings expired, Parliament-appointed PM Arseny Yatsenyuk pledged to push through a law allowing regional referendums in the country.

Holding referendums on the status of their respective regions was among the main demands posed by anti-Maidan activists, who have taken over a number of governmental buildings in eastern Ukraine this week.

Ukrainian law currently does not allow regions to hold referendums separately from the rest of the country. It was one of the main arguments Kiev voiced in declaring illegal last month's referendum in Crimea, which ended with the peninsula's seceding from Ukraine and joining Russia.

Speaking in Donetsk, one of the regions engulfed by the anti-Kiev protests, Yatsenyuk said his government wants greater autonomy for Ukrainian regions, including the abolition of the offices of capital-appointed governors.

He was speaking just as a 48-hour deadline, which Kiev gave to protesters to liberate the seized buildings, expired. Previously the central authorities threatened to use force, including that of the military and even threatened their opponents as terrorists, unless they withdrew from the buildings.

The U-turn comes after Ukraine's elite Alpha unit reportedly refused to obey an order to besiege protester-held buildings. At a session of law enforcement officials in Donetsk, one of the Alpha commanders said that he and his men are a force intended for rescuing hostages and fighting terrorism and will only act in accordance with the law, local media reported.

Discontent with the new authorities in Kiev, which has been brewing in eastern and southern Ukraine for weeks, escalated on Monday, as protesters in several cities started to take over governmental buildings. Protests took place in the cities of Donetsk, Kharkov and Lugansk, while smaller protest actions and some clashes were reported in Odessa and Nikolayev.

Donetsk activists remain in control of the regional administration building and have built three lines of barricades to defend themselves from a possible siege. They have declared the Donetsk region, which is home to about one-tenth of the population of Ukraine, a "people's republic" and have demanded a referendum on its future status. They also declared forming a "people's army" in response to threats from violence form Kiev.

Negotiations between the activists and the Kiev-appointed authorities of the region were held on Thursday and into Friday morning. They are trying to hammer out a deal to deescalate the tension, which includes some sort of joint patrols formed by police and the activists of Donetsk and a possible relocation of the protesters to a nearby building.

In Lugansk, activists are maintaining their hold on a Ukrainian Security Service office. They also cordoned off a base of the Interior Ministry's troops on Thursday night, saying this would prevent their deployment for a crackdown on the protest, although later the blockade was lifted.

Meanwhile, in Kharkov, where police on Tuesday captured a regional administration building and took more than 50 activists into custody, the protests do not seem to be calming down. On Thursday evening several hundred people picketed the building, despite a court ban on doing so. A mass protest rally is scheduled for Sunday.

[Queequeg]

New theory:
Russia is Norma Desmond
Ukraine is Joe Gillis
Belarus is Max con Meyerling

[Valmy]

An article linked on EUOT about the warning that Russians shouldn't travel abroad has this nugget:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/497922.html

The number of Russians who view the right to "go to another country and come back" as a fundamental human right was 20 percent in January, a survey by the independent Levada pollster showed.

They might have a point.  If it was a basic human right there would not be passports, border controls, and travel bans.

[Neil]

'Basic human right'?  You know, I need to stop reading anything to do with current affairs.  The stupidity of people raises my blood pressure.

[Syt]

Yet it was in no small part the desire for that right that led to the downfall of the GDR.

[Valmy]

Yet it was in no small part the desire for that right that led to the downfall of the GDR.

Something does not have to be a fundamental human right for people to want it.

[Zanza]

It's article 13 of the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights": "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."

[Valmy]

It's article 13 of the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights": "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."

Except they need a passport issued by their government to do that.  Some universal right, I don't need a free speech permit.

[Razgovory]

Well, if he can create a siege mentality (it's all foreign sabotage against Mother Russia! which, let's face it, Russians are prone to) then he might get away with it for a while.

And all of us on this board have seen what a Siege mentally ends up as.

[Tamas]

Two Russian warships entered Lithuanian waters, transmitted a radio signal warning of a missile attack, tucked up civilian traffic, and stopped two hours later when a Lithuanian destroyer finally arrived and asked them to stop trolling.

Shit

[Syt]

Someone's hellbent on getting a violent reaction out of Kiev.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27000700

Gunmen seize Ukraine police station in Sloviansk

Armed men dressed in camouflage clothing have seized a police station in eastern Ukraine, officials say.

Police said the gang fired shots and used stun grenades to seize the offices in Sloviansk, near the Russian border.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov called the gunmen "terrorists" and said special forces would repel the attack.

Pro-Russian protesters have taken over government buildings throughout eastern Ukraine. Kiev says the unrest is being orchestrated from Moscow.

Protesters in the eastern city of Donetsk, 130km (80 miles) from Sloviansk, have been occupying government buildings for days and demanding a referendum on becoming part of Russia.

A similar move prompted a Russian takeover of Ukraine's Crimea region earlier this year.

The US and EU have put sanctions on Russian and Crimean people they say were connected with the takeover.

Russia has denied responsibility for the protests in eastern Ukraine, but Western nations have expressed concern over a build-up of Russian troops along the border.

Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk visited Donetsk on Friday and attempted to placate anti-government groups by guaranteeing that no restrictions would be put on the use of the Russian language.

The Kiev government had set a deadline of Friday for all occupations to end, but trouble continued in several cities in the east.

Regional police spokesman Ihor Dyomin described how armed men were bussed to the police station in Sloviansk.

"Six or seven unknown persons got out. They fired several shots in the air and attempted to storm the police department," he said.

He added that "people in camouflage uniform" and with weapons" were inside the building.

Mr Avakov promised to deal with the attackers.

"The response will be very tough because there is a difference between protesters and terrorists," he said in Ukrainian on his Facebook page.

In Donetsk, pro-Russian groups continued to occupy the local government building.

Alexander Gnezdilov, the protesters' unofficial spokesperson, told the BBC the group that seized Sloviansk police HQ was "an independent group who are supporting the Donetsk protest".

Later on Saturday, a BBC reporter in Donetsk saw hundreds of pro-Russian protesters marching towards a police station.

[dps]

It's article 13 of the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights": "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."

Except they need a passport issued by their government to do that.  Some universal right, I don't need a free speech permit.

I'd consider fundamental human rights to include the right to decline to agree with everything the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" says.

[Razgovory]

Two Russian warships entered Lithuanian waters, transmitted a radio signal warning of a missile attack, tucked up civilian traffic, and stopped two hours later when a Lithuanian destroyer finally arrived and asked them to stop trolling.

Shit

They are really getting obnoxious aren't they?  It's good thing you aren't in Eastern Europe anymore.

[Syt]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/12/uk-pro-russian-separatists-idUKBREA3B0DA20140412

Pro-Russian separatists set up checkpoints around east Ukraine city

(Reuters) - Pro-Russian separatists armed with automatic weapons set up checkpoints on roads into the eastern Ukrainian city of Slaviansk on Saturday, Reuters witnesses said.

Masked men wearing a mixture of civilian and combat clothing checked passing vehicles before waving them past barricades built out of car tyres and sand bags on roads leading into the city from Donetsk and Luhansk, the witnesses said.

A Russian flag flew at one of the checkpoints, while a black, blue and red separatist flag flew above another one.