THE situation in Ukraine is spiraling out of control because Russia is providing Ukrainian and Russian militias with weapons and logistical support, encouraging separatist with encouragement with the positioning of tens of thousands of Russian troops with heavy armor on the Ukrainian-Russian border. Europeans are very familiar with this scenario, it was used time after time by hitler implementing his anschluss policy culminating with all out war with nazi germany's invasion of Poland and then western Europe. putin is our generations hitler, his goal is to reestablish the Soviet Union, and he is manipulating the situation in Ukraine to distract the Russian people from his repression of human rights, repression of a free Russian media and the economic problems of the Russian economy due to the corruption of his government, now being exacerbated by justified economic sanctions imposed by the First World industrialized nations since Russia's seizure of Ukrainian Crimea. The downing of two Ukrainian military helicopters this morning is an escalation the government in Kiev must respond to. These pro-Russian separatist must be brought under control, the legitimate regional governments in Donetsk and Luhansk Regions must be restored, the Russian militants (there are armed militants from Russia along with Russian special forces troops in these Ukrainian Regions) must be expelled from Ukrainian government offices, by force if necessary and the American, European Union, and Japanese, Australian and New Zealand governments must slam Russia with strong, comprehensive, across the board economic sanctions until they withdraw their clandestine troops from Ukraine and all their troops from the Ukrainian-Russian border. The U.N. must be prepared to defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine. It will not be a surprise to see Russian troops move into Ukraine today or this weekend. putin will be counting on the First World nations inability to respond over the weekend. Keep up on the situation with NPR's The Two-Way , NPR's website, the PBS NewsHour and ITN....
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JUDY WOODRUFF: Washington Post correspondent Simon Denyer is also covering the unrest in Donetsk. He was there when I spoke to him a short while ago.
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SIMON DENYER, The Washington Post: I saw a crowd of people chanting “fascists” as their leading activists went and stormed a police station with rocks in their hands, with sticks in their hands, and absolutely humiliated the riot police, who made a brave attempt to defend the building, the state prosecutor’s office, but ultimately surrendered and were forced to surrender their riot gear, their helmets, their jackets, and were led away cowed as people tried to punch them and spat on them.
So it was a pretty humiliating experience for the police and really underlined — it was meant to underline, I think, who is in control here. And the people who are in control are — well, they’re men with guns, with sticks, with whatever they can lay their hands on. And they are using the language of violence to get their way.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And how large and how well-organized are those pro-Russian separatist crowds?
SIMON DENYER: Well, you know, there was about 2,000 people, I would say, at a rally that kicked off the event today. It was a Labor Day rally. And so there was Soviet flags there, there were Russian flags there, there were flags of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
By the time the prosecutor’s office was stormed, the crowd had dwindled a little bit, maybe half that number. But in the front of that there is a few dozen, I guess you can call them thugs who are leading the sort of violent assault on the police station — I’m sorry — on the prosecutor’s office.
So — but, you know, they’re very much supported by this crowd. I mean, that’s still a tiny percentage of the population of Donetsk, let’s not forget that. So there is a huge silent majority of people here who — who are not taking part in rallies for either side.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, what — I do want to ask you about that, but first I want — we heard in this report that this was the last, I guess, major government building in Donetsk that is not under the control of these separatists. So it sounds like they pretty much have taken over the city.
SIMON DENYER: Well, they have, except that the city’s kind of running a parallel administration, not necessarily from these buildings. So they haven’t taken over, if you like, the sort of financial control of the city. They haven’t taken over refuse collection, for example, or running the hospitals.
They have taken over the symbols of power here. So they’re telling people who is in control, but there are still bureaucrats and officials who are doing their jobs. But what they are telling the police is, you have to answer to us. And what they said — they were outside the police station today, and they said, we’re holding a referendum on the 11th. And after that referendum, you the police, you have to answer to us. You have to take orders from us. And if you don’t, we will remember this.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And you were starting to reflect the views of ordinary folks. What are they saying, the people you talk to?
SIMON DENYER: Well, I mean, there’s a whole spectrum of views.
There are people who are — who want — there are many pro-Russian, Russian-speaking Ukrainians who want to remain in Ukraine. They want to remain in a country that has European values of human rights and freedom of speech. They don’t necessarily want to be in the E.U. But they do want to be in Ukraine which is part of Europe, with links to Russia.
You know they don’t really want to have to choose. They want to get the best of both worlds. There are others who are saying that they’re being forced to choose, that they feel devalued by the people in Kiev. And they’re obviously listening to a lot of Russia propaganda. And they say well, you know, we’re Russian-speaking Ukrainians, but we’re being asked — one man said to me today: I’m having to choose what’s in my soul, whether to be a Ukrainian or a Russian, and I have chosen a Russian, because that’s what I am in my soul.
So people are taking — having to take sides, where they didn’t have to before.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And are they expressing fear?
SIMON DENYER: There is fear, yes.
I mean, I think, you know, there’s fear particularly among the people who want to remain part of Ukraine. Let’s not forget two days ago they held a rally here. They were beaten up by pro-Russian activists, whatever you — separatists, whatever you want to call them. And the police stood and watched. One or two policemen did try to stop it, but most of the police stood and watched.
So those people feel that they can’t — they can’t fly Ukrainian flags, they can’t speak the Ukrainian language, if they are Ukrainian speakers. But even if they are Russian-speaking Ukrainians, they can’t now express a view to say that they want to remain part of Ukraine. So they’re the ones who are feeling most intimidated and scared.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, it certainly seems like a fast-moving situation.
Simon Denyer with The Washington Post in Donetsk, thank you.
SIMON DENYER: Pleasure. Thank you, Judy.
Pro-Russian demonstrators overwhelm Donetsk police when crackdown backfires
http://youtu.be/jkIntghD0CQ
TRANSCRIPT
JUDY WOODRUFF: Russian
President Vladimir Putin today told German Chancellor Angela Merkel
that Ukraine must remove its military from the country’s southeastern
region to resolve the showdown with pro-Russian militants. This comes
after the acting Ukrainian president said his government’s security
forces had lost control of the area.James Mates of Independent Television News reports from Donetsk.
JAMES MATES: They must have guessed what was coming. In a rare show of resistance, well-equipped, but clearly nervous riot police decide to take as a pro-Russian May Day march approaches.
And in moments, it starts, the sheer weight of numbers driving the police back. First, they release some tear gas, but much too close to their own lines to be effective. Then come stun grenades thrown repeatedly into the crowd. It drove them back, all right, but incited even greater fury.
The police position was becoming completely untenable. They were forced back inside the building. This is the last official building, the last government office in Donetsk that was still showing any loyalty to Kiev. It is paying the price for that. Now the rioters’ anger turned on the building itself, rocks, then petrol bombs in what appeared to be a concerted attempt to burn it down.
That forced the now beleaguered police into a courtyard, one group standing behind their shields. Another crouched under theirs to form a dome, something like a Roman tortoise formation, against the hail of rocks and paving stones that were raining down.
“Fascists, fascists,” they scream, but the police they had surrounded were completely helpless, surrender their only option. The mob, now inside the compound, stripped them of shields, helmets, and protective vests.
In small groups, clearly very frightened men were frog-marched away. One policeman had his balaclava ripped off. All of them run a gauntlet of insults and spitting. The prosecutor’s office, its files and criminal records all now in the hands of those who would be rid of the government in Kiev. Police resistance had proved futile, the only effect, to let weapons and equipment fall into the hands of their enemies. They’re unlikely to try it again.
Roman Pilipey/EPA/Landov
Ukrainian forces have launched what appears to be a major
operation to rout pro-Russia forces from occupied government buildings
in the country's east. Two helicopters were shot down by separatists,
killing the pilots, both sides report.
The move is being described by Ukraine as an "anti-terror" operation in the Slovyansk-Kramatorsk region.
The Kremlin said Friday that Kiev's actions have "killed the last hope" for a deal to diffuse the crisis, which was agreed on last month in Geneva. President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov also described Ukraine's operation as "punitive," the BBC reports.
NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, reporting from near Kramatorsk in Ukraine's east, says pro-Russia gunmen stationed at a checkpoint leading to Slovyansk appear "very nervous."
"They definitely fear this is not limited to Slovyansk," Soraya .
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a statement that the "active phase" of the operation began at 04:30 local time.
"A real battle with professional mercenaries is going on," Avakov said, adding that Interior Ministry troops and the National Guard were involved.
Russia's state-run Rossiya 24 TV channel said the city was being "stormed,"
Stella Khorosheva, a spokeswoman for the pro-Russia militants, said one of their men was killed and another injured. She offered no further details, according to The Associated Press. Another spokesman for the separatists said fighting had broken out at several points around the city and that government armored vehicles were seen on roads leading into Slovyansk.
Avakov said on his Facebook page that government troops had met fierce resistance from the separatists but had succeeded in retaking nine checkpoints on roads surrounding Slovyansk.
In apparent response to the helicopter assault, the Kremlin has urged an accounting of what's happening in southeast Ukraine, where "aviation is being used against [the] population,"
Ukraine authorities said one of the helicopters was downed by a surface-to-air missile, "which it said undercut Russia's claims that the city is under the control of civilians who took up arms," the AP reports. Soraya says a grenade launcher reportedly may have been used to take down the other helicopter.
JAMES MATES: They must have guessed what was coming. In a rare show of resistance, well-equipped, but clearly nervous riot police decide to take as a pro-Russian May Day march approaches.
And in moments, it starts, the sheer weight of numbers driving the police back. First, they release some tear gas, but much too close to their own lines to be effective. Then come stun grenades thrown repeatedly into the crowd. It drove them back, all right, but incited even greater fury.
The police position was becoming completely untenable. They were forced back inside the building. This is the last official building, the last government office in Donetsk that was still showing any loyalty to Kiev. It is paying the price for that. Now the rioters’ anger turned on the building itself, rocks, then petrol bombs in what appeared to be a concerted attempt to burn it down.
That forced the now beleaguered police into a courtyard, one group standing behind their shields. Another crouched under theirs to form a dome, something like a Roman tortoise formation, against the hail of rocks and paving stones that were raining down.
“Fascists, fascists,” they scream, but the police they had surrounded were completely helpless, surrender their only option. The mob, now inside the compound, stripped them of shields, helmets, and protective vests.
In small groups, clearly very frightened men were frog-marched away. One policeman had his balaclava ripped off. All of them run a gauntlet of insults and spitting. The prosecutor’s office, its files and criminal records all now in the hands of those who would be rid of the government in Kiev. Police resistance had proved futile, the only effect, to let weapons and equipment fall into the hands of their enemies. They’re unlikely to try it again.
Ukrainian soldiers stay near a checkpoint
they seized not far from Slovyansk, Ukraine, on Friday. Ukrainian
officials say two helicopters were shot down during an "anti-terror"
operation against pro-Russia separatists.
The move is being described by Ukraine as an "anti-terror" operation in the Slovyansk-Kramatorsk region.
The Kremlin said Friday that Kiev's actions have "killed the last hope" for a deal to diffuse the crisis, which was agreed on last month in Geneva. President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov also described Ukraine's operation as "punitive," the BBC reports.
NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, reporting from near Kramatorsk in Ukraine's east, says pro-Russia gunmen stationed at a checkpoint leading to Slovyansk appear "very nervous."
"They definitely fear this is not limited to Slovyansk," Soraya .
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a statement that the "active phase" of the operation began at 04:30 local time.
"A real battle with professional mercenaries is going on," Avakov said, adding that Interior Ministry troops and the National Guard were involved.
Russia's state-run Rossiya 24 TV channel said the city was being "stormed,"
Stella Khorosheva, a spokeswoman for the pro-Russia militants, said one of their men was killed and another injured. She offered no further details, according to The Associated Press. Another spokesman for the separatists said fighting had broken out at several points around the city and that government armored vehicles were seen on roads leading into Slovyansk.
Avakov said on his Facebook page that government troops had met fierce resistance from the separatists but had succeeded in retaking nine checkpoints on roads surrounding Slovyansk.
In apparent response to the helicopter assault, the Kremlin has urged an accounting of what's happening in southeast Ukraine, where "aviation is being used against [the] population,"
Ukraine authorities said one of the helicopters was downed by a surface-to-air missile, "which it said undercut Russia's claims that the city is under the control of civilians who took up arms," the AP reports. Soraya says a grenade launcher reportedly may have been used to take down the other helicopter.
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