Free Republic

The relative calm of the last two weeks as US talking-heads proclaim Ukraine 'fixed', Russia 'under control', and Europe 'recovering' is being obliterated this morning. The storming of various non-Crimean Ukrainian city government buildings suggest round two of the push is beginning and Russia is wasting no time explaining how this will go down. Russian Senator Viktor Ozerov stated that "Russia has no right to [send peacekeepers] unilaterally" to Eastern and Southern Ukraine (unless the UN agrees)... but... "Russia is interested in stability in Ukraine. At the same time, the will of the people must be documented. A referendum is...

Pro-Russian protesters who seized the regional government building in Donetsk, Ukraine are reported to have declared a "people's republic". Footage online showed a Russian speaker telling the assembly "I proclaim the creation of the sovereign state of the People's Republic of Donetsk." The rebels are reported to have called a referendum on forming a new republic. Earlier on Monday, protesters seized state security buildings in both Donetsk and Luhansk. SNIP From the Wall Street Journal:On Monday, the occupying protesters proclaimed the creation of the "Donetsk People's Republic," ruled by the self-declared "Supreme Soviet," the Interfax news agency reported. The protesters...

Law enforcement agencies have established individuals who participated in the seizure of administrative buildings of the Donetsk Regional State Administration and SBU in the Donetsk region. This was announced by Attorney Nicholas Frantovskyy Donetsk region, the press service of the Prosecutor's Office. "At present, law enforcement agencies established individuals who participated in the riots. Measures are all necessary steps to apprehend the offenders," - he said. "Action without exception all the participants in the events will provide a fundamental legal assessment" - added Frantovskyy . "I emphasize that each recorded a violation of the law and the investigators examined all...

Dem polls tells us about McCain popularity. Although this article doesn't tell us but Flake is also unpopular as well. Hopefully we will be able to take Flake out in 4 years and MCCain obviously isn't even going to try for reelection.

<p>The U.S. and Europe have been emphatic in their support of the new Ukrainian government – but a significant number of Washington's new bedfellows are members of what some experts class as extreme right-wing parties.</p> <p>When Sen. John McCain traveled to Kiev in December, he told the crowd of 200,000 on Independence Square: "The free world is with you, America is with you, I am with you."</p>

Seven Decades of Nazi Collaboration: America’s Dirty Little Ukraine Secret Paul H. Rosenberg and Foreign Policy In Focus The Ukrainian nationalist party Svoboda holds a rally in Kiev, January 1, 2014. (Reuters/Maxim Zmeyev) As the Ukrainian crisis has unfolded over the past few weeks, it’s hard for Americans not to see Vladimir Putin as the big villain. But the history of the region is a history of competing villains vying against one another; and one school of villains—the Nazis—have a long history of engagement with the United States, mostly below the radar, but occasionally exposed, as they were by Russ...

Ukraine will sign an agreement on closer political cooperation with the European Union on Friday, leaving the signature of a more far-reaching trade accord for later, the EU said on Monday. EU foreign ministers said in a statement after meeting in Brussels that they looked forward to the signing of the political provisions of the so-called association agreement that Ukraine had negotiated with the 28-nation EU, on March 21.

The head of the National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) has been beaten by members of the nationalist Svoboda party and forced to write a letter of resignation over allegations that his channel aired anti-Ukrainian content. The office of the acting CEO of the National Television Company of Ukraine, Aleksandr Panteleymonov, was stormed by people who claimed to be members of the freedom of speech and information committee. What began as a loud conversation quickly turned into a fight. A video of the incident has been posted online.

Former Rep. Ron Paul says that America’s reaction to Crimea’s vote to secede from Ukraine should be,“so what?” “Why does the U.S. care which flag will be hoisted on a small piece of land thousands of miles away?” the Texas Republican and libertarian icon wrote in a USA Today op-ed Monday. ...Over the weekend, Crimeans voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia,which the Russian government has moved to approve. American politicians have called the vote a sham and the administration has said it does not recognize the results of the vote,placing sanctions on some Russian officials in response. Ron...

Dmytro Yarosh, a leader of the Right Sector movement, addresses a rally in central Independence Square in Kiev [Caption from] Reuters The leader of the far-right Ukranian Nationalist Pravy Sektor (Right Sektor) party has reportedly threatened to attack Russia's lucrative gas pipeline which travels through Ukraine to prevent the Kremlin from sparking a "Third World War.' ...

KIEV - The man Russian President Vladimir Putin has cast as one of Europe's potential new Adolf Hitlers is a little late for coffee this Saturday morning. Igor Mazur, or Topoyla (Poplar) as he's known because he's 6'7" is the leader of the Ukranian Right Sector at Maidan, Kiev's Independence Square. The Right Sector are the radical nationalists of this Ukranian Revolution. There are others: the right-wing Svoboda (Freedom) Party, for one, which has an actual political following, 12 percent of the vote in the last elections. It used to identify itself as a national socialist movement, just like the...

Hackers knocked out the Russian presidency's website several times on Friday and brought down the central bank website, the Kremlin press service said. "A powerful cyber attack is under way on the (Kremlin) site," a Kremlin spokeswoman said, adding that the attack was continuing and security experts were trying to prevent further disruptions.

As the U.S. Senate took up a bill to provide financial aid to Ukraine, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, rose to object to an IMF bailout Majority Leader Harry Reid attached to the legislation. In the process he blasted Reid for repeatedly demonizing the billionaire Koch brothers - Reid tried to blame the Koch brothers for halting progress on the Ukraine bill. "I'm beginning to think [the Koch brothers] are a character almost out of Dr. Seuss in the majority leader's mind, they are the grinch who stole Christmas in his telling," Cruz said. Cruz accused Reid of "using his...

Last night, March 13th, on the streets of Donetsk, Russians and Ukrainians clash. Very violent and very good quality film by Vice News. Link is to youtube video.

Ukraine: Two weeks after Russian troops covertly slipped into Crimea and took over, the consequences of U.S. passivity are clear: some 80,000 Russian troops amassing on Ukraine's border, three hours from Kiev. It's no surprise that they should be: The lack of leadership seen from the U.S. and the European Union in these lost days has been read as a green light for Russia to make a final grab for Ukraine.

Secretary of State John Kerry warned of serious repercussions for Russia on Monday if last-ditch talks over the weekend to resolve the crisis in Ukraine failed to persuade Moscow to soften its stance. Kerry will travel to London for a Friday meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ahead of a Sunday referendum vote in the Crimea region to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. U.S. and European officials argue that Moscow is orchestrating the referendum and waging an intimidation campaign with thousands of Russian troops controlling the region. If Russian-backed lawmakers in Crimea go through with the...

Russia could launch a 'full scale' invasion that would see troops overrun Ukraine in hours, a senior security official warned today. The secretary of Ukraine's National Security and National Defence Committee Andriy Parubiy claimed Russia has 80,000 troops, 280 tanks and 170 aircraft massed on the border ready to invade. 'They are adding to this military potential,' he said. 'We have a critical situation on the entire southeastern border. The Russian army is only two to three hours from Kiev.' Ukraine's defences would be incapable in the face of a Russian invasion, he said.

Today, as a result of the Ukrainian crisis, U.S.-Russian relations have hit their lowest point since the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 or of Czechoslovakia in 1969 — or perhaps even since they bottomed out during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Crimean crisis, which began as a power struggle between the ruling authorities in Kiev and opposition forces, transformed in to an attempt to overthrow Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych by pro-Western and nationalist opposition forces with the support of the U.S. and European Union. The crisis escalated into a conflict between the U.S. and Russia after the West supported a...

Apparently going viral tonight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fWkfpGCAAuw

As violent scenes play out on the streets of Kiev, we look at the major role extremist right-wing movements have played in Ukraine's "pro-democracy" movement. Ukraine's far-right is gaining support and confidence through its role in the street protests, with the Svoboda party assuming a leading role in the movement and paramilitary groups leading the street fighting. In December US senator John McCain travelled to Ukraine to offer his support to the opposition, appearing on stage with leaders of the three opposition parties leading the protests - including the far-right Svoboda party. Svoboda is currently Ukraine's fourth biggest party and...