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Thread: Ukraine: non-military aspects (August 2014-December 2015)

  1. #401
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    A suspect arrested at the scene was identified as Ihor Humeniuk, a member of the Svoboda party and the Sich volunteer battalion who was on leave from the war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The fact that both the attacker and the victims were part of organisations established to fight in defence of the country makes the deaths particularly shocking for Ukrainians.
    Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...v-clashes.html
    davidbfpo

  2. #402
    Council Member mirhond's Avatar
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACHH4G08wCQ

    An interview with D. Marunich, Ukrainian economist, who looks like knowing a thing or two about energy grid. Most of the time he talks about quite probable blackout, one thing particulary catched my interest - at 21:30 he says that Tripolsky coal power plant near Kiev is still online and it works on antracite from Donbass. War is war, business is business.
    Haeresis est maxima opera maleficarum non credere.

  3. #403
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Trying to understand the Ukraine

    A Ukrainian author's comment on events in Kiev: http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...-crisis-russia

    Now this I found strange, the second sentence:
    Kolomoisky is considered to be an enemy of President Poroshenko since he was sacked from his position as governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Kolomoisky’s man in Odessa, Igor Palitsa, also lost his job as governor and was replaced by the former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili.
    davidbfpo

  4. #404
    Council Member mirhond's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
    A

    Now this I found strange, the second sentence:

    Kolomoisky is considered to be an enemy of President Poroshenko since he was sacked from his position as governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Kolomoisky’s man in Odessa, Igor Palitsa, also lost his job as governor and was replaced by the former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili.
    Huh, what partuculary strange in this sentence? It's comletely normal, since Ukrainan ruling class is divided by competing rings of oligarсhs, Poroshenko vs. Kolomoiski is just most typical example. How many bulldogs under the carpet are there - we'll never know. Kolomoisky clique is loosing, their private armies are dissolved and major assets are seized - this is for sure.
    Last edited by mirhond; 09-04-2015 at 12:29 PM.
    Haeresis est maxima opera maleficarum non credere.

  5. #405
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    Window on Eurasia continues myth busting. This time the topic is Kremlin's fascist rhetoric.

    This week’s article in Popov’s series is especially important because he devotes particular attention not only to why the Kremlin has been pushing the falsehood that the Maidan represented some kind of “fascist junta” but also to why so many Russians, including members of the intelligentsia, have been willing to accept that absurdity.

    The most important feature of Putin’s hybrid war against Ukraine is the fact that “its information component exceeds its physical component geographically.” In such an information war, Popov argues, “success is measured not by the number of cities seized and soldiers of the opponent killed but by the number of victims in the population … that can be hung on it.”

    That makes the charge of fascism so useful that it is “beyond any competition” because it “designates an evil without cause or motivation.” Popov cites the words of Russian journalist Andrey Lipsky who says that “for the overwhelming majority of Soviet people” who suffered from World War II, “fascism is an unqualified diabolical symbol of inhumanity, cruelty and aggression” (novayagazeta.ru/politics/62934.html).

    Fascism is so evil that the usual rules about mercy and forgiveness do not apply, but it is also the case that at least in Russia, when fascism is mentioned, “the laws of cause and effect” don’t either, as when pro-Kremlin writers like Sergey Markov insist that pro-Moscow actions were the result of some action they deem necessary even though those actions happened before rather than after (inosmi.ru/sngbaltia/20141210/224829739.html?id=224836485).
    http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.be/...h-myth-of.html

    If you read study about Russia's activities in Baltics, then the anti-fascist rhetoric is used exactly the same way to manipulate mood among people in Baltics and inside Russia.

    So-called “antifascists organizations” in the Baltic states are part of the France-registered World Without Nazism, a global group founded by the Russian ex-politician and billionaire Boris Shpigel, who has close ties with the Kremlin. Among the official aims of the organization is fighting against the rise of Nazism and fascist ideas. However, in reality, the group often is used as a tool for the Russian foreign policy. Its public statements tend to match the views of the Russian Foreign ministery.
    http://www.rebaltica.lv/en/investiga..._millions.html

    I'm really glad Window on Eurasia is translating ej.ru articles. To my knowledge this site is blocked by Russian authorities. Mirhond can correct me.
    Last edited by kaur; 09-05-2015 at 05:12 PM.

  6. #406
    Council Member mirhond's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kaur View Post
    To my knowledge this site is blocked by Russian authorities. Mirhond can correct me.
    Nope, this site is completely accessible.

    News: special blend for davidbfo

    Kolomoiski calls Saakashvilli a dog:
    http://ru.tsn.ua/politika/kolomoyski...na-481797.html

    Saakasvilli calls Kolomoiski a remnant of a bandits past:
    http://ru.tsn.ua/ukrayina/saakashvil...to-482007.html
    Haeresis est maxima opera maleficarum non credere.

  7. #407
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    Thanks mirhond, good to know.

    Former Czech active measures officer writes in his book "The KGB and Soviet Disinformation" in 1983.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  8. #408
    Council Member mirhond's Avatar
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    Spirit of a Great War:
    Three Ukrainian paras got missed at Crimean border 06.09.2015
    http://newsukraine.com.ua/news/52521...ikov-genshtab/

    Three Ukrainian paras detained by border guards in Crimea
    http://www.kommersant.ru/Doc/2805260

    Those guys just wanted a small talk:
    «Мы выпили вечером. Поспали, а наутро встали, позавтракали. Взяли арбуз, сало и спиртное и пошли брататься»
    "We warmed up last night, then at the morning we took melon, lard and booze and went off to fraternise"
    Haeresis est maxima opera maleficarum non credere.

  9. #409
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    How on earth this Czech officer did managed to predict what Russian Duma speaker Matvienko will talk 8.9.2015? Article is in Russian. I'm sad Izvestia is not translating their articles

    http://izvestia.ru/news/591109

  10. #410
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Ukraine crisis: Is conflict fuelling far-right threat?

    A reasonable overview from the BBC after the violence in Kiev:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34176602
    davidbfpo

  11. #411
    Council Member mirhond's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
    A reasonable overview from the BBC after the violence in Kiev:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34176602
    This reasonable overview contains some bullsh!t:

    1.
    The deaths of three members of the national guard
    those guys are policemen, not NG

    2.
    plans to give more autonomy to the country's Russian-supported separatist regions.
    This draft of Constitution amendments has nothing to do with "more autonomy to separatist regions" - it talks about general principles of how the power structure and authority distribution in Ukraine should be arranged (self-governance is emphasised).
    http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/w...1?pf3511=55812

    moreover, Poroshenko denies any "special status of Donbass"
    http://www.theinsider.ua/rus/politics/55f0201beb25b/

    the latter part of the article is no-nonsence, although trivial.
    Haeresis est maxima opera maleficarum non credere.

  12. #412
    Council Member mirhond's Avatar
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    http://www.ft.com/intl/fastft/402251...er-isda-ruling

    Pay day approaches for investors who had bought protection against a government debt default by Ukraine.
    The International Swaps and Derivatives Association said on Monday that Ukraine's deal with bondholders to restructure $18bn of debt constituted a credit event.
    As such, holders of insurance on the country's sovereign debt (via so-called credit default swaps) can seek payment.
    Ukraine recently agreed a restructuring deal with a group of international creditors holding around $9bn of the country's outstanding debt and this week the country's parliament backed the plan, which requires investors to accept a 20 per cent haircut on the face value of their bonds and pushing back debt repayment dates.
    In August, credit rating agency S&P said that the exchange, which is part of a $40bn IMF rescue plan for the country, would classify as a default.
    I'am not completely sure what all of this about, but it looks like Ukraine is going to have hard times with private loan holders.

    Provided that war is burning out, external management for Ukraine is quite reasonable option.
    Haeresis est maxima opera maleficarum non credere.

  13. #413
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default The Crimean blockade: how Ukraine is losing Crimea for the third time

    The blockade of the Crimea has appeared on SWC elsewhere (the war thread) or earlier in this thread.

    Open Democracy have this commentary that the blockade does not help either the people living in the Crimea, notably the Tatars, or the Ukraine:https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-rus...for-third-time
    davidbfpo

  14. #414
    Council Member mirhond's Avatar
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    https://www.opendemocracy.net/sean-g...shock-doctrine

    While a crisis of faith, of sorts, has resounded in western discourse on the economic effectiveness of austerity, this scepticism, rather ironically, dissipates when you cross over into the remnants of the Iron Curtain.

    Neoliberalism’s flagellants reside east of the Elbe. There, ideological purity remains, if not redoubled. Former patients of shock therapy are now its most devoted converts. This was not only demonstrated by Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovak, and Polish officials’ unyielding support for ‘tough reforms’ in Greece, but the general lack of sympathy among their populations for the Greek people. Past shock therapies have left them numb, docile, and inured to the calamities of neoliberal logics.

    The neoliberal faith is expanding further eastward as well. The Ukrainian leadership have shown their unbridled readiness to exchange one master, Russia, for another: western finance and corporate capital. Even in light of the Troika’s ‘fiscal waterboarding’ of Greece and the utter failure of austerity as economic policy, the Ukrainian government is willing, even enthusiastic, to implement reforms prescribed by the IMF not only with the blind faith that they will stimulate economic recovery, but also in the name of ‘European values’, which are now subject to much scrutiny.
    Haeresis est maxima opera maleficarum non credere.

  15. #415
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    mirhond, if you don't live in "gas station", then you have to drag yourself out from the "end of golden age" somehow. Show me the other way than neoliberal. State railways fallen king turned academics (after ambassador episode Yakunin has shown his way https://www.project-syndicate.org/co...akunin-2015-10 This is also theory at the moment. In Russia there is another professor called presidential advisor Sergei Glazyev. His solution to revival of Russia and Eurasian project is working in Ukraine at the moment.

  16. #416
    Council Member mirhond's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kaur View Post
    mirhond, if you don't live in "gas station", then you have to drag yourself out from the "end of golden age" somehow. Show me the other way than neoliberal.
    Your faith is strong and steadfast, I see, Thatcher bless you and Reagan smiles on you
    Haeresis est maxima opera maleficarum non credere.

  17. #417
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    mirhond, show me the working alternative and I'm glad. After reading this discussion even Russia's own bright heads can't see it.

    И все же: сколько понадобится снова времени, чтобы слезть с волны самодержавия и несвободы?

    Гуриев: Я остаюсь оптимистом — все будет нормально, но не в ближайшие несколько лет. Завтра будет хуже, чем сегодня, но послезавтра будет совсем хорошо.

    Аузан: Я думаю, что при нашей жизни начнутся изменения, но это будет очень длительный процесс. В России были только одни длинные реформы — реформы царя Александра II. Вот я бы очень хотел, чтобы мы опять вошли в длинную волну реформ. Потому что с короткой волной мы все время будем повторять одну и ту же картинку. Если мы это сделаем, то шанс на успех — 10–12%, если ничего не будем делать — ноль.
    http://www.newtimes.ru/articles/detail/103328

  18. #418
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    mirhond, it seems you share the thoughts mentioned here.

    One of the main conclusions of the workshop is that political liberalism as an ideology and as a political thought in Russia has been largely discredited. Western countries and international organizations have probably underestimated the trauma of the collapse of the Soviet Union, which instilled in a significant part of the Russian public a distrust toward liberalism, there understood as an ideological justification to destroy the Soviet Welfare state. This disqualification of political liberalism, associated by the Russian public opinion with neoliberal economic practices responsible for huge socioeconomic inequalities, contributes largely, today, to the call within Russia for a return to a Great Power status.

    We need to remember that a large part of the Russian society has been calling for Russia’s international prestige and a comeback to some Soviet practices and conservative values since the early 1990s – with the electoral successes of the Communist Party for instance – long before “greatpowerness” and conservatism became the flagship of Putin’s third mandate. Indeed, for part of the public opinion, Russia’s greatpowerness is synonym for a strong state domestically, capable of reinstating a paternalistic social-economic order.
    http://www.resetdoc.org/story/00000022596

  19. #419
    Council Member mirhond's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kaur View Post
    mirhond, show me the working alternative and I'm glad. After reading this discussion even Russia's own bright heads can't see it.

    http://www.newtimes.ru/articles/detail/103328
    You know, I almost always laugh when venerable economists talk about history: for many of them the real world is a subcase of some crackpot economic theory, they really don't bother with facts and data. But thanks, anyway, I'll put this in my collection.

    Quote Originally Posted by kaur View Post
    mirhond, it seems you share the thoughts mentioned here.

    We need to remember that a large part of the Russian society has been calling for Russia’s international prestige and a comeback to some Soviet practices and conservative values since the early 1990s – with the electoral successes of the Communist Party for instance – long before “greatpowerness” and conservatism became the flagship of Putin’s third mandate. Indeed, for part of the public opinion, Russia’s greatpowerness is synonym for a strong state domestically, capable of reinstating a paternalistic social-economic order.
    http://www.resetdoc.org/story/00000022596
    Captain Obvious rescued us again, but this stuff does not belong to this thread, actually. Copy this to the relevant thread, please.

    Moderator Adds

    I have copied Posts 627-632 to the main Russain economy thread, as requested (ends).
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 11-18-2015 at 04:49 PM. Reason: Mod Note added
    Haeresis est maxima opera maleficarum non credere.

  20. #420
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Crimea: has no electricity from the Ukraine

    For several months now activists have blockaded the land access routes into the Crimea (see Post 413) and I have seen little recent reporting on this, let alone the impact.

    The Daily Telegraph reports:
    A state of emergency has been declared in Crimea after pylons carrying electricity from Ukraine were blown up cutting off power to almost two million people, media and the Russian government said on Sunday. The Russian Energy Ministry didn't say what had caused the outages, but Russian media reported that two pylons in the Kherson region of Ukraine north of Crimea had been blown up by Ukrainian nationalists.
    It would appear the Ukrainian state could not stop this happening:
    On Saturday, the pylons were the scene of violent clashes between activists from the Right Sector nationalist movement and paramilitary police, Ukrainian media reported.
    The pylons had already been damaged by the activists on Friday before they were blown up on Saturday night, according to these reports.
    Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-darkness.html

    I cannot think of anything more likely to get the Russian Army moving west, ostensibly to "restore order and power".

    Given the state of relations I do wonder if the electricity provided, which I assume is from Ukrainian generators was being paid for. IIRC there was a map long ago showing the interconnectivity of the Russian and Ukrainian power grids.

    Added: The BBC has some more information:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34893493
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 11-22-2015 at 11:36 AM.
    davidbfpo

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