Friday, April 18, 2014

Ukraine - A Shaky Agreement


News Summary from April 17, 2014:


In Geneva, joint efforts of the foreign ministers from Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine could bring about an agreement to mitigate the Ukrainian crisis. That agreement is including the following points, summed up by a Spanish language broadcast from Russia's state television RT:




- The disarming of illegal groups.

- The clearing of streets and places.

- An amnesty for protesters who did not commit serious crimes.

- The beginning of a dialogue where different regions participate.

- The realization of a constitutional reform.


According to Al-Jazeera, OSCE monitors should be sent to supervise the agreement.

However, there is some scepticism on the U.S. side when it comes to Russia's duty to translate the agreement into full action as U.S. President Obama made clear the same day.

Furthermore, latest news from Eastern Ukraine are showing rather increasing chaos than any smoothing of differences between the acting parties:




People's militias in Slaviansk are in control of the [local] Television tower.




Soldiers are changing sides after receiving orders to fight against the people.




"Yevgeni", a soldier of the Ukrainian army, is being quoted as follows: "I wonder why the
government in Kiev has sent us here. We spent three days in a tank, and now, we don't
know what we are exactly to do."




Confrontations in Mariúpol are leaving at least two persons dead and 16 wounded.




Ukraine forbids Russians who are between 16 and 60 years old to enter the country.




A witness says: In Donezk the [decision] to forbid Russian [citizens] to enter [the country] is being [widely] rejected.





Russia's president Putin in a live show on state TV, answering directly to the questions of Russian citizens. On the above photo he is just listening to the question of U.S. whistle blower Edward Snowden. Snowden wants to know if Russia is tapping telephone calls on a large scale like his own country does. Putin denies while referring to their common experience in the intelligence of their countries.




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Thursday, April 17, 2014

Ukraine - News Update


News from the Spanish service of RT-TV
(Russia Today) on April 17, 00:30 GMT:


La OTAN incrementa su presencia militar en el Mar Báltico y Mediterráneo en el marco de unas medidas ante la crisis ucraniana.

NATO increases its military presence in the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean in the frame of measures taken in the Ukrainian crisis.

Un manifestante murió y 12 resultan heridos al enfrentarse con soldados en una base militar ukraniana en Mariúpol, según los medios locales.

A demonstrator died and 12 were injured in a confrontation with soldiers in a Ukrainian military base in Mariúpol, according to local media.

Tropas ucranianas abren fuego contra los autodefensas en la ciudad de Kramatorsk y hieren a tres personas, según el portavoz de la milicia popular.

Ukrainian troops open fire against self-defence forces in the town of Kramatorsk and wounded three persons, according to the spokesman of the people's militia.





RT evening news for April 15 already informed about Ukrainian armoured vehicles being held up in Eastern Ukraine by local people. Hours later on April 16, both, Russian RT and the U.S. broadcaster CNN reported about Ukrainian tanks showing their change of sides by flying the Russian flag.

On April 15, the first victims in a Ukranian military crackdown on Russian separatists were counted when Ukrainian troops took over a local airfield from Russian rebels.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Ukrainian Crisis - Countdown


Important UPDATE included on April 14 / 15 !



مجلس الأمن الدولي يعقد الليلة جلسة طارئة لبحث الأزمة الأوكرانية بطلب روسي


On behalf of Russia, the UN Security Council holds an extraordinary session tonight to investigate the Ukrainian crisis.


[Source: Al-Jazeera الجزيرة evening news on April 13, 2014]

The Security Council's session actually did not take long and showed, as expected, nothing but an exchange of different standpoints and standardized stances between Russia's ambassador Vitaly Churkin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yuriy Sergeyev.

Churkin's proposal to Western leaders to "get to the telephone and convince the Ukrainians to refrain from what they are doing" and his wish for a "broad political dialogue on Ukraine", was not much convincing. Compared to this, Sergeyev's arguments seemed rather more specific and elaborate when it came to an interview in the aftermath of the session ("Russian special forces infiltrated into Ukraine", "Terrorist groups are using Russian weapons").




Therefore, one might ask why Russia had requested that emergency session of the United Nations' most decisive committee when it had nothing essential to bring about but standardized stances and such left the stage to the Ukrainian adversary. A possible answer could be: Russia has already made up its mind in the Ukrainian crisis and is only acting out of "political correctness". Churkin's key argument that "things are getting out of control in Ukraine", might therefore imply the need for Russia to intervene by force as soon as possible to "restore law and order".



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News UPDATE on April 14 / 15:

Russia Test-fires ICBM RS-24 Yars amid Ukraine Unrest

Moscow's Strategic Missile Forces test-fired the ICMB (intercontinental ballistic missile) RS-24 Yars equipped with re-entry warhead from Plesetsk, 800km northeast of Moscow. The launch took place on April 14 at about 10:40am local time.

"The main task of the launch was to confirm the reliability of a batch of missiles manufactured at the Votkinsk plant, in Udmurtia," said Colonel Igor Yegorov, spokesperson for the defence ministry's Strategic Missile Force unit, reports ITAR TASS news agency.

[Source: International Business Time UK, the British edition of a global news source with main office in New York, on April 14, 2014]


America Sends Missile-Destroying Warship Toward Russian Waters.
President Putin Presumably Not Pleased.

The Obama administration recently decided to send its guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) to the Black Sea. Armed with new Standard Missile-3 IB weaponry from Raytheon, the Cook boasts a robust version of Lockheed Martin's Aegis ballistic missile defense system capable of shooting down supersonic, high-trajectory missiles such as Russia uses to carry its nuclear warheads. The warship was modified for ballistic missile defense (BMD) duty as part of a $22 billion project to build shipborne and land-based missile defense stations to protect Europe from Iranian long-range missiles. But just as President Putin predicted, it appears to have use in countering Russian threats as well.

[Source: Daily Finance, a financial news service by AOL, on April 14, 2014]



[Source: International Business Time UK on April 15, 2014]


Saturday, April 12, 2014

Ukraine Awaiting Russian Invasion




The above timeline of recent articles published on the web on the proceedings in Eastern Ukraine has been recorded only one hour ago. It shows, even better than any military facts and individual evaluations could do, what the West is now expecting from Russia. Maybe this is what Russia's strongman Putin was planning from the very beginning ...

While recent press reports are concentrating on the development in Eastern Ukraine, Russia's military capacities, either for deterrence or invasion, have already been thoroughly analyzed days ago:



NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen in a
speech held in the Czech Republic on April 10, 2014.
[Source: TIME on April 11, 2014]


BBC News on April 8, 2014: Is Russia ready to move into eastern Ukraine?, a military evaluation published by Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence correspondent.






Some recent visitor from Beijing found my blogspot on military activity in North Korea by
simply typing into the search line of Google-HongKong: " The imaginary enemy troops ".




朝鲜无人机已能搭载高爆炸弹 杀敌于无形(图)

North Korean drones can already lift highly explosive bombs.
- Fighting the enemy out of nowhere. -


这是4月6日拍摄的坠毁在韩国三陡市山区的一架无人机。韩国官员当日说,韩方在东海岸一座荒山上找到又一架坠毁无人机。这是近期发现的第三架坠毁的无人机。新华社/美联

This is a snapshot taken on April 6 of an unmanned aircraft that crashed in South Korea. .......... It should be the third incident of that kind during a short period of time.

[Source: New China Agency 新华社 and other sources on April 11, 2014]

Sunday, April 06, 2014

German - Russian Argument over Ukraine


德国财长把普京比作希特勤,俄罗斯警告这是挑衅

German minister of finance compares Putin to Hitler,
Russia's warning: This is a provocation.



朔伊布勒对“普京—希特勒”的不恰当类比,火上焦油

Schäuble by using the inappropriate "Putin - Hitler" analogy
is pouring tar on the fire of the Ukrainian crisis.


Relevant quotations from the Schäuble evaluation:

“希特勒当年就是这么对待捷克斯洛伐克的苏台德地区。”
“这是历史告诉我们的事情。”


"Hitler's way of dealing with the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia that year."
"It's a matter history told us."


Schäuble's reminder of the Sudeten region refers to a territory in former Czechoslovakia that had been traditionally inhabited by a German minority. In 1938 that territory was annexed by Germany in order to "protect German citizens". One year later, the complete territory of Czechoslovakia was "swallowed" by the Nazi leadership.

1938年希特勒以保护捷克斯洛伐克国内300万“德国裔少数民族”为理由,吞并了苏台德地区,一年之后纳粹占领了整个捷克斯洛伐克。

[Source: Wallstreet Information China 花尔街见闻 on April 04, 2014]

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Related News:

Russia Strikes Back 俄罗斯反击



因乌克兰危机,欧美等国联合对俄罗斯采取了一系列制裁,作为回应,俄罗斯试图挑战“石油美元”的地位,俄已经与伊朗、中国等国寻求油气贸易合作绕开美元结算,但俄罗斯强硬的态度可能造成国内资本快速外逃,不良的商信记录也使贸易对手缺乏积极性。

Because of the Ukrainian crisis, the European - U.S. alliance of countries has adopted a set of sanctions against Russia. As an answer, Russia tries to provoke the status of the "Petrodollar". It has already explored Iran and China for a trade cooperation [with respect to] oil and gas in order to bypass the settling of accounts in U.S. Dollars. However, Russia's unyielding attitude might cause a quick flight of capital at home. Bad commercial credit reports, as well, [might reduce] the trade opponent's initiative.


[Source: Wallstreet Information China 花尔街见闻 on April 05, 2014]

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Sunday, March 30, 2014

Russlands Historische Wurzeln am Rand der Ukraine


Wenn der Schutz des russischen Bevölkerungsanteils in der Ukraine heute als Vorwand einer russischen Expansionspolitik herhalten soll, darf man nicht vergessen, dass die in Frage stehende Region stets zum russischen Kulturkreis gehörte. Besonders deutlich wird dies im Spiegel einer sowjetischen Literatur, die nicht immer nur stalinistische Propaganda war, sondern auch, vielleicht unbeabsichtigt, ein Licht auf die Dominanz der russischen Volksgruppe in diesem Teil der ehemaligen Sowjetunion warf. Im folgenden soll ein sowjetischer Schriftsteller zu Worte kommen, dessen persönliche Integrität heute und im historischen Rückblick glaubhafter in Erscheinung tritt als zu seinen Lebzeiten.

Michail Alexandrowitsch Scholochow wurde am 24. Mai 1905 in Südrussland im heutigen Oblast Rostow geboren und starb dort auch am 21. Februar 1984. Er war ein sowjetischer Schriftsteller von internationalem Rang und wurde 1965 für sein Hauptwerk „Der Stille Don“ mit dem Nobelpreis für Literatur geehrt.

Scholochows russische Heimat, deren tragische Entwicklung nach der Oktoberrevolution im Stillen Don (1925-1940) und später in „Neuland unterm Pflug“ beschrieben wird, grenzt an die heutige Ukraine und umfasst genau die Region, in der die Russische Föderation im Jahr 2014 große Truppenteile zum „Schutz der russischen Minderheit“ in der Ukraine zusammenzieht. Das benachbarte ukrainische Industrierevier im Donezbecken wurde nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg auch von ethnischen Russen wieder aufgebaut und besiedelt und bildete ein wichtiges Zentrum der russischen Wirtschaft bis zum Zerfall der Sowjetunion. Dafür gibt es auch von anderen Autoren literarischer Belege in der zeitgenössischen Literatur.



Während die Ereignisse nach der Oktoberrevolution 1917 in den Geschichtsbüchern nachzulesen sind, beschreibt Michail Scholochow diese Epoche Russlands als hautnahen Erlebnisbericht. In seinen monumentalen Werken schildert er das Leben der russischen Donkosaken. Es geht um Krieg, Liebe, Familie und Traditionen, — und um ein Russland, das seinen alten Bräuchen eine neue Idee, den Kommunismus, entgegensetzt.

Während seiner Jugendzeit hielt sich die Familie Scholochow im Chutor Pleschakow auf. Hier fanden im Frühjahr 1919 die schwersten Kämpfe zwischen aufständischen Kosaken und den Bolschewiken statt. Michael Scholochow, damals 14, konnte die blutigen Gefechte von seinem Zimmerfenster aus beobachten. Ähnlich wie seine Romanfiguren litt Michael Scholochow, zumindest in seiner Jugend, wegen seiner Kosakeschen Wurzeln unter den Kommunisten. Der junge Scholochow hatte es schwer als Außenseiter in Moskau. Die großen Verlage wollten seine Erzählungen nicht drucken. Erst als ihm der Stalinpreis verliehen wurde, setzte sich Scholochow als Schriftsteller durch.

Das aus heutiger Sicht Interessante an Scholochows Werk bleibt die unbeabsichtigte Erkenntnis, dass eben auch in Teilen der heutigen Ukraine und seiner unmittelbaren Umgebung das „Herz von Mütterchen Russland“ schlägt. Diese Erkenntnis ist vielleicht "politisch unkorrekt", aber deshalb nicht weniger realistisch.

Scholochows Kunst besteht darin, die Menschen seines Romans selbst sprechen zu lassen. Der Schriftsteller geht nicht wertend dazwischen, um das Verhalten seiner Protagonisten zu erklären oder zu rechtfertigen. Stattdessen zeigt er dem Leser ein reelles Bild Russlands und seiner Bürger, ohne sich dabei auf die Seite der einen oder anderen Partei zu schlagen. Deshalb soll auch die leidvolle Erfahrung einer Romanfigur zitiert werden, die der neuen bolschewistischen Ordnung skeptisch gegenüberstand.

Es handelt sich bei den folgenden Zitaten um => Textabschnitte aus Scholochows Werk „Neuland unterm Pflug“ <=. Der Text weist indirekt auf die russische Besiedlung am Schwarzen Meer, und im ukrainischen Donezbecken hin, sowie auf das südrussische Oblast Rostow an der Grenze zur heutigen Ukraine.

Eine im Text angedeutete Kosaken-Revolte gegen die Bolschewiken fand tatsächlich statt und wurde schnell niedergeschlagen. Auch die geschilderten Misstände lassen sich zum Teil mit Dokumenten der ersten bolschewistischen Regierung belegen.

Es scheint, dass manchmal gerade die jahrzehntelange kollektive Erfahrung von Verzweiflung und Solidarität inmitten von Not und Willkür den patriotischen Zusammenhang einer Nation fördert.

Demgegenüber steht die Befindlichkeit einer Handvoll „Europathen“, die am liebsten alles was „links vom Ural“ liegt einer bereits unnötig aufgeblähten Europäischen Union einverleiben wollen (wenn möglich auch noch Volgograd dazu).




Um eine Zuordnung traditionell russischer Siedlungsgebiete zu erleichtern, wurden einschlägige Ortsnamen wie Rostow, Mariupol und Lugansk, ebenso wie Scholochows Heimat im südrussischen Oblast Rostow (Rostovskaya Oblast) in einer regionalen Karte markiert. Als kleine Hilfe zur geographischen Orientierung wurde schließlich auch noch die Stadt Volgograd mit ihrem alten Namen Stalingrad bezeichnet.

Unter den relevanten Textstellen in Scholochows „Neuland unterm Pflug“ ist übrigens die folgende am informativsten:



Der Gedanke liegt nahe, dass die Abwicklung der Sowjetunion seinerzeit mit der „heißen Nadel genäht“ wurde, wobei alte Distriktsgrenzen einfach beibehalten wurden. Ein solches Vorgehen konnte zunächst folgenlos bleiben, da ja auf beiden Seiten der Grenze eine vergleichbare Ausgangssituation herrschte. Erst mit der individuellen politischen Neuorientierung aneinander grenzender Folgestaaten der UDSSR, jetzt eingebunden in konkurrierende Wirtschafts- und Bündnissysteme, mussten dann auch lokale ethnische Probleme wieder akut werden, die im gleichgeschalteten System der Sowjetunion kaum eine Rolle gespielt hatten.

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Kapitalistische Umtriebe im sozialistischen Paradies.


Nach dem Tod des italienischen KP-Chefs Togliatti wurde die russische Stadt Stavropol an der Wolga in Togliatti (auch: Togliattigrad) umbenannt. Seit 1969 produzierte der italienische Autohersteller FIAT in den von russischen Ingenieuren gebauten Werkhallen jährlich mehrere 100.000 Fahrzeuge. 1968/69 zählte das FIAT-Lada-Werk in Togliattigrad zu den größten Industrieprojekten der Sowjetunion.




Westeuropäische Separatisten, die sich nicht verkaufen lassen wollten.


" Mir wölle bleiwe wat mir sin " (Wir wollen bleiben, was wir sind) blieb für lange Zeit der Wahlspruch des Großherzogtums Luxemburg. Anlass dafür war die Luxemburgkrise von 1867: Frankreichs "Operettenkaiser" Napoleon III beabsichtigte zu dieser Zeit den Erwerb des Großherzogtums, dessen Staatsoberhaupt Wilhelm III der Niederlande war und das dem Deutschen Bund angehörte.




Al-Capone im Euroland


Im französischen Übersee-Territorium Saint Pierre et Miquelon unterhielt einst der Gangster Al-Capone (1895-1947) ein ex-territoriales Schnapslager. Während der Prohibitionszeit in den USA wurden von hier aus die illegalen Kneipen ("Speakeasy") in den Großstädten der amerikanischen Ostküste beliefert. Die winzige Inselgruppe Saint Pierre et Miquelon gehört heute zur Eurozone.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Ukraine - Crimean Referendum


Latest Development (March 16, 03:30 GMT):
According to different German news sources, some secondary NATO websites should have been disabled by hacker activity. All sources are mentioning a possible relationship with the Crimean referendum which is to begin only some hours later. [Main Source: German N-TV news] => Related NATO paper: NATO and Cyber Defence.

The New York Times (March 16, European edition):
Russia Seizes Gas Plant Near Crimea Border, Ukraine Says => illustrated article

Crimean News Agency QHA (March 17):
- Turnout of votes 64% by 15:00 on day of referendum (i.e. March 16).
- 93% of Crimeans voted for Russia.
- 90% of Crimean Tatars didn't take part in referendum.
- Dead body of a Crimean Tatar with signs of torture found in Crimea.
- Ukrainian soldier to swear an oath to Crimea or leave.
- Referendum results to be adopted on March 17.
- Crimean authorities to introduce Russian ruble in April.
- Russia's Putin tells Germany's Merkel referendum in Crimea is legal.



The Muslimic and Turkish speaking minority of Tatars in the
[Autonomous] Republic of Crimea [picture from archives].


زعيم مسلمي القرم: تدخلوا قبل وقوع المجازر

Crimea's Muslimic leader: [Intervention] prior to the occurrence of massacres.

طالب زعيم التتار المسلمين في القرم مصطفى جميليف اليوم الخميس حلف شمال الاطلسي الناتو بالتدخل "قبل وقوع مجزرة"، داعيا أبناء الأقلية لمقاطعة الاستفتاء المقرر الأحد القادم في شبه الجزيرة الأوكرانية حول انضمامها إلى روسيا.ـ

Today, Thursday [i.e. March 13], the leader of Crimea's Muslimic Tatars, Musdafa Djamilif, called for the North Atlantic Pact NATO to intervene "prior to the occurrence of massacres" [while inviting] the descendants of [that] minority to boycott the referendum [which is] to be held next Sunday on the Ukrainian peninsula on the issue of its affiliation to Russia.

وقال جميليف في اتصال هاتفي مع وكالة فرانس برس من بروكسل "ندعو تتار القرم لمقاطعة الاستفتاء"، مضيفا "طالما ان الامم المتحدة لن توافق أبدا، بسبب الفيتو الروسي في مجلس الأمن الدولي، على إرسال قوات حفظ سلام دولية إلى القرم، فإن حلف شمال الأطلسي عليه أن يتدخل كما فعل في كوسوفو (...) قبل وقوع مجزرة في القرم".ـ

In a telephone call with the [news] agency France-Press in Brussels, Djamilif said: " We are calling the Crimean Tatars to boycott the referendum ", [and he added:] " Since the United Nations will never agree to a deployment of international peace-keeping forces in Crimea because of Russia's veto in the international Security Council, [what] if the North Atlantic Pact therefore intervenes like it did in Kosovo (...) before it comes to a massacre in Crimea. "


And Djamilif added being decided to meet with the secretary general of the North Atlantic Pact, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

[Source: Network of Al-Arabiya TV العربية نت on March 14, 2014]

Editor's Note: The Tatar minority comprises about 12-15% of the Crimean peninsula's population.

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The following excerpt belongs to an article on the problem of self-rule in Crimea, Kosovo and other countries and was published by Peter Baker, staff-writer for The New York Times, on March 8, 2014. I consider this to be a " must have read ".

" The Kosovars’ secession from Serbia in 1999 drove a deep wedge between the United States and Russia that soured relations for years. Washington supported Kosovo’s bid for independence, culminating in 2008, while Moscow saw it as an infringement of Serbia’s sovereignty.

Now 15 years later, the former Cold War rivals again find themselves at odds, but this time they have effectively switched sides: Russia loudly proclaims Crimea’s right to break off from Ukraine while the United States calls it illegitimate. The showdown in Ukraine has revived a centuries-old debate over the right of self-determination versus the territorial integrity of nation-states. "


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" No Right to Finance Bandits "
[quoting Ukraine's ousted
president V. Yanukóvich]


The above article from the Spanish website of Russia's state-run TV Russia Today RT was published on March 13 and deals with Russia's interest to avoid any disturbances of its gas deliveries to the Ukraine and other countries.

On the occasion of his meeting with German vice-chancellor and minister for economy and energy, Sigmar Gabriel, the president of Russia's energy giant Gazprom, Alexéi Miller, is quoted with the following words:

" Even though we have all rights from the valid contract to request prepayment, we refrain from doing so because we don't want to promote an economic collapse of Ukraine. Neither do we want the appearance of risks for Russian gas delivery to Europe. "

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"Minority Report":




Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Ukraine - New Voices


As there are many sides involved in the Ukrainian drama, so there are many voices to be heard. This, however, doesn't make it easier to receive a complete picture of the situation. To add some further pieces to the puzzle, here are selected news I collected while searching the web and watching satellite TV during the last days.



نحو ألف من المسلحين يحاصرون وحدات من حرس الحدود الأوكرانيين في شبه جزيرة القرم

About 1,000 troops besiege units of the Ukrainian border guard on the Crimean peninsula.



موسكو: قرار الرئيس بوتين بالتدخل العسكري في اوكرانيا يحظى بتأييد شعبي روسي على أنه حماية للروس هناك

Moscow: As to the military intervention of the Ukraine, president Putin is enjoying the support of the Russian people [under the aspect of] a protection of the Russians there.


[Al-Jazeera Arabic TV on March 2]

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Analista: Las sanciones se podrían tomar como declaración de guerra.

An analyst is saying the sanctions [considered by U.S. and EU] could be taken as a declaration of war.


The above headline is referring to a live interview with some expert from Madrid. The running text below is implying that Ukrainian military units should have decided to surrender "in masses" to Russian intervention troops. This, however, has been denied by different independent observers.

[RT-TV (Russia Today) on March 2]



From Moscow with Love ..............
Limpia Noticias - News Cleaner
To help you clean your TV-screen.
A new product provided by RT-TV
(Russia Today, Spanish program).

[ Editor's WARNING: Keep it away from immature persons ! ]




Above: Spanish website of Russia Today RT on March 4, 2014.


Now, here is an article chosen from today's English website of Russia's RT-TV and which is titled: Russia is allowed to have 25,000 troops in Crimea...and other facts you didn’t know. I'm sure this has the truth, even though, it might be only half of the truth as foreign military out of its local base could easily be considered as an invasion.

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Welcome to World War III


Sunday, March 02, 2014

China - Terrorists Attack Railway Station


Important UPDATE: March 3

Yesterday evening, the town of Kunming in Yunnan province experienced a terrorist attack targeting the town's railway station. According to Chinese reports at least 100 people should have been affected. However, reliable information about casualties was not available even one day later.

As separatists from Xinjiang province are suspected to be behind the incident, general secretary Xi JinPing has already interfered, and a furious comment was published on People's Network. That comment reflected the semi-official intention to "smash the nation's public enemy".


Today's main headline on People's Network is saying:
"Xi JinPing gave important instructions in the case of a
violent terrorist incident at Kunming railway station."

Headline, related picture and comment are marked red.


................................


UPDATE for March 3:

Today's CNN news report is quoting XINHUA agency with further details. According to them eight terrorists armed with knives should have attacked people at Kunming railway station on Saturday evening (i.e. February 1), killing at least 28 people and wounding 113. Four terrorists should have been shot on the spot, the others have been arrested.

Editor's Comment:

That bloody attack obviously surprised Chinese authorities and media. I remember a first Chinese report, mentioning more than 100 wounded victims, and which suddenly disappeared from the web before I could extract more information. Another website taking over included a link to China's national TV channel CCTV1, however, the TV news report covered everything else but that terrorist incident. As my time is limited, I could not follow the news any longer that day.

By the way, the appearance of a fire brigade, shown on the official photo, suggested the use of a bomb rather than a mass slaughtering using knives. Even the remark of a Chinese journalist, saying he accidentally passed the railway station that evening and found it closed by police forces, shows how much confusion must have been on the Chinese side.

Ukrainian Crisis Culminating


Last UPDATE: March 3



Russia's Parliament: License to Act


In their evening news on March 1, 2014, Russia's state-run TV "Russia Today" broadcast an interview with Konstantin Dolgov, the special commissioner for human rights from Russia's ministry of foreign affairs. Dolgov denounced Ukrainian terrorists as the real danger to Ukrainian democracy and which made Russia's intervention on the Crimean peninsula inevitable to saveguard the Russian population there.

On this occasion, the U.S. concentration camp of Guantánamo was mentioned as a proof that Western nations are turning a blind eye at undemocratic behaviour when it is serving their purpose. The broadcast of Russia Today was recorded from its Spanish language service.

Here are some headlines and stances published by Russia's national TV in Spanish. They were accompanied by scenes of violence from Kiev, showing assaults on public buildings and security personnel during earlier demonstrations that were targeting the pro-Russian government of president Yanucovich and who was ousted only some days ago. A cruel beating up of what seems to be a Yanukovich supporter was shown as well as insurgents using molotow cocktails against Ukrainian security forces.



Analista: EEUU y países de la UE son responsables de la crisis ucraniana.

An analyst says the U.S. and countries of the European Union are responsible for the Ukrainian crisis.

Rusia estudia retirar a su embajador en EE. UU.

Russia is considering to call back its ambassador to the United States.

Analista: La situación en Ucrania puede evolucionar en guerra civil.

According to an analyst the Ukrainian situation might develop into a civil war.



Razing reminders of the Russian dominated Soviet Union.


En la Ucrania de hoy hay una verdadera orgía de grupos extremistas y un atropello a los DD.HH.

In Ukraine today, extremist groups are having a veritable orgy and a clash on human rights.



Ukrainian opposition invading government buildings in Kiev.


Los radicales ucranianos al frente de las protestas seguían un guion preparado con apoyo del exterior.

Ukrainian radicals in the front line of protests are following a script prepared with foreign help.

El jefe de un grupo ultranacionalista ucraniano se dirigió al terrorista checheno Doku Umárov piniéndole su apoyo, según refleja una página de una red social rusa.

Some website belonging to a social network in Russia refers to [an alleged] request for support by the leader of an ultranationalist group in Ukraine and who addressed Chechen terrorist Doku Umarov .



To defend one's interest by force, as the Ukrainian
opposition did, is not at all democratic [behaviour].



It is oddly enough for the West not to speak about illegal and
racist activity in Ukraine while caring so much for democracy.


Las decisiones de la oposición pueden aumentar la tensión interétnica en Ucrania.

The decisions taken by the opposition might increase interethnic tensions in Ukraine.


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UPDATE for March 3:



Revolución Por Guión
Screenplay Revolution


This was the adage of an evening broadcast by Russia Today RT on March 2, 2014. The program dealt with parallels and differences between the Ukrainian revolution and similar developments in Arabic states which became known as the Arabic Spring.



Analizamos similitudes de primavera árabe con crisis que vive Ucrania.

We are analyzing similarities between the Arabic Spring and the current
crisis of Ukraine.




Particularities of all national revolutions analyzed here included the economic development where Ukraine could be compared to Egypt and Libya. In all of these countries former leaders had either been ousted or killed. The economy of Ukraine, Egypt and Libya had therefore drastically suffered from political turmoil while Syria's economy seems still somehow stable. Libya, where internal chaos has replaced the strong grip of Muammar al-Ghadafi, suffers most from a loss of governmental control, while Egypt seems to be stabilized by the unbroken influence of the military. One Spanish expert on national economy was quoted as follows:

Inestabilidad golpea a países que sufren estas revueltas. Oferta de asociación de la UE a Ucrania no tiene sentido.

Countries suffering from such rebellions are hitten by instability. An offer of association with the European Union doesn't make sense.



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Russia Never Changes !