Aleksander Babich: Does Ukraine need police reform?

Posted on December 28, 2014 by chervonaruta

By Aleksander Babich, Founder of “Tudoi-Syudoi” tour agency, historian
12.26.2014
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

Yesterday, the guys who came from the ATO [anti-terrorist operation zone] for our help brought several “gifts” at our request: expired RPG-18 “Mukhas,” RPG shanks, pieces from ATGMs (anti-tank missles), fragments and shells. This is what we asked them to bring in order to make a memory board for the guys who were killed from the “Storm” [Odesa volunteer battalion] at the Museum of the Department of Internal Affairs in Odesa region. I loaded all of this into the car and spent the whole day driving around the city with these “toys” in the trunk.

Finally, after I met my friend who flew in from Israel today, we went to unload [the car] at the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA). Zeyev is a brilliant tour guide and a very funny guy – he was not at all surprised that I had a trunkload of military stuff that can shoot (he knows that I can transport human bones in there for several days, if there is a need for it) – and he got excited about an occasion to get into a sticky situation.

So, we drive to the corner of Yevreiska and Polska streets. We park in a vacant spot. While we were parking, two officers from the Patrol and Inspection Service [PIS] began to plant their asses on a low fence right in front of us. Clearly, [they were] from amongst those that now patrol the façade of the DIA “to prevent terrorist acts and illegal activities.” We had already started giggling in anticipation of some interesting and different questions, and began to mentally prepare some puns and jokes (I was confident in a positive outcome: I had my “retired cop” ID in my pocket, and if the need arose, the museum folks would be able to explain everything).

[We] open the trunk, set the grenade launchers on our shoulders, and take two bags from which parts of mine shells are protruding. The “law enforcement officers” quietly observe our fuss. [We] slam the trunk [shut] and begin to walk in the direction of the DIA, anticipating shouts at our backs. Silence!

We passed a traffic cop who is always there at the intersection, passed a good dozen employees who always congregate by the entrance. TWO HUGE BALD FOOLS with grenade launchers and unambiguous bags crossed the entire quarter, quietly entered the courtyard of the Regional DIA, dropped in to the departmental museum and NOBODY GAVE A SH*T!!! Or are they such professionals, they can scan combat-ready weapons at a distance through the bags!?!?

And this is in a city where once a week some b*tch blows something up!
This is in a country in which a war is going on!!!

BLOODY HELL!!!!!

Source: Aleksander Babich FB

 

Posted in Crimea, English, English News, Eyewitness stories, Pictures, South&Eastern Ukraine, War in Donbas | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Dmitry Kapustin: Chonhar is fully under our control

Posted on December 27, 2014 by chervonaruta

 

Source: President Petro Poroshenko FB

*  *  *  *  *

By Dmitry Kapustin, Border Guard, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
12.26.2014
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

Katsapia in all its glory.

Today at almost 6:00 pm [EET], the occupants shot off three green missiles and left the territory of Chonhar peninsula [Kherson region]. Having previously removed their own and other people’s property.

They were ashamed to rob the Hotel, even though the guard there is a simple civilian. But the café Chonhar and pay toilets, which were decked out before the occupation in the latest fashion, were robbed completely, breaking down the doors and knocking the windows out, removing the toilets, sinks and fixtures, and tearing the lamps off the ceiling and switches and outlets from the walls. Across the street there was a more plain-looking café – it got bombed completely, there was only a box left of the building and the broken refrigerators for drinks.

But what else is there to say, when they even ripped the tiles out from the ground, and they shat everywhere. In the truest sense of the word. Piles of fresh occupiers’ shit on a floor made out of expensive tile.

That’s what we were able to see during the cursory examination in the dim light of a flashlight immediately after the assholes retreated. I think the picture we’ll see in the morning will be even more terrifying, because even with a flashlight it was obvious that the area looked as if it’s been through a nuclear war.

Well, and what else is there to say – bullish behavior and greed – these are the calling card of Putin’s Russia. Although it’s possible that they are overwhelmed with diarrhea and they can’t stop sh*tting in light of recent events, then it’s understandable why they needed those toilets so urgently.

[What a] disgrace.

Source: Dmitry Kapustin FB

Posted in English, English News, Eyewitness stories, Others, South&Eastern Ukraine, War in Donbas | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

I am grateful for that winter under Kyiv’s open sky that made me human.

Posted on December 27, 2014 by chervonaruta

By Oksana Shavarska
12.25.2014
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

If I were asked, even last September, if I love Ukraine, I would have said “No!”
[Because] I hated this country altogether. And for what would I love it? I visited Europe, I saw how everything is there. And I did not understand for what would I love this wretchedness under the name of “Ukraine.” No, I did not love [it].

If, only a year ago, I’d been told that I would fall in love with this country – I would not have believed it. But that is how love comes nonetheless, it comes when you least believe or hope for it.

I never thought that one day I would be considering my identity within the context of this country’s history. I could not even imagine that a silver trident on my neck would be dearer to me than all the diamonds in the world. For this trident is not just a decoration. It is a symbol of my love for the country in which I was born, this is my personal [good luck] charm. I very much love the Ukrainian language, I worship my fellow countrymen, I think these are the [most] unique people [out there]. I am proud of them. Of you.

And even now, when I, just like most other people, suffer from the economic crisis, I am not discouraged [by it], I continue to live and think, “My country is sick with a serious illness, but we will surely save her. Everything will pass, and this too shall pass as well.”

I remembered all the prayers that I was taught as a child, because sometimes when I hit rock bottom, all that remains – is to pray to the Universe, so that the best people of my country would stop dying, so that my land would be finally left in peace, so that no animal would prevent me from living and breathing freely.

This will likely never be understood by anyone who did not live through last winter exposed to the bitter sky of Kyiv. But whatever happened then, I am grateful for that winter … I am grateful to her for making a human being out of me. And who I was before that – I do not remember anymore. And I do not want to remember.

Source: Oksana Shavarska FB

Posted in "Voices" in English, Analytics, English, English News, Maidan Diary, Pictures | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

For the first time in Ukraine, the court recognized a deceased volunteer soldier as a participant of the fighting

Posted on December 26, 2014 by chervonaruta

By Radio Svoboda
12.20.2014
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

The first trial in Ukraine regarding the recognition of a soldier from a volunteer battalion, who died in the [line of duty] during the ATO, as a military combatant, has ended in Dnipropetrovsk. By the decision of the Amur-Nyzhniodniprovskyi District Court of Dnipropetrovsk, the fact of 46-year-old Oleksandr Petrushov’s participation in fighting during the ATO (whose widow Olha Petrushova filed the lawsuit) was officially recognized.

According to Olha Petrushova, she fought for the official recognition of her husband as a military combatant for several months; she filed numerous petitions with the state authorities and got refused everywhere. According to Olha, her husband, who served in Afghanistan [in the 1980s], joined the “Ukrainian Volunteer Corps” created by “Right Sector” after the outbreak of hostilities in Donbas. On August 12, 2014, a bus travelling with Oleksandr and his friends for prisoner exchange was ambushed at a checkpoint in Mariinka, on the outskirts of Donetsk, and three soldiers were killed.

According to the plaintiff, a positive judgment in Dnipropetrovsk could set a precedent for other volunteers, who face [the same] problems with the recognition of their participation in the ATO, and [such a precedent could] also help simplify the combatant status for other soldiers.

However, legal professionals say that the court’s decision finding on volunteer participation in the ATO is not a decision granting him the status of a combatant, which must be provided by the relevant government agencies.

The court proceeding on the matter was begun two weeks ago.

Source: RadioSvoboda.ua

Posted in "Voices" in English, English, English News, South&Eastern Ukraine, War in Donbas | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nadiya Savchenko offers Putin: If you leave Ukraine alone, you can shoot away at me for your own joy

Posted on December 26, 2014 by chervonaruta

By Obozrevatel.com [The Observer]
12.23.2014
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

Ukraine’s number 1 captive in Russia, aviatrix and MP, Nadiya Savchenko described what she thinks about her illegal detention, which is supported by Russian civil servants and, in particular, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“They are holding not only me, but many more Ukrainians. If they release the other abducted Ukrainians, take their hands off of Crimea and Ukraine, then they can shoot away at me in public for the joy of it” – Savchenko wrote in her first written interview from jail in Moscow, UNIAN reports.

“Ukraine has never been of less worth than Russia. We were, we are, we will be Ukraine and Ukrainians! We have our own history, culture and identity. There is no need to humiliate us, to call us ‘Little Russians,’ ‘Novorossiya.’ We – are Ukrainians, we – are Ukraine! We are not your ‘little brothers,’ we are your equals,”– stressed Savchenko.

As was reported by Obozrevatel, Savchenko said that she is not to blame for the death of Russian reporters. They were killed by “separatists,” which Russia itself supports and sponsors.

Let’s recall that Ukrainian aviatrix Nadiya Savchenko was kidnapped by terrorists back in June of 2014. In July, Savchenko turned up in jail in Voronezh. She is charged with complicity in the murder of Russian journalists.

Savchenko’s lawyers have already presented to the court an entire package of exculpatory evidence on the pilot, in particular, the testimony of participants in the events in eastern Ukraine, but Russia does not want to recognize the innocence of this Ukrainian woman. In addition, the court forced the prisoner on a hunger strike to get basic treatment for otitis media (medical care is not being provided), which can lead to serious health consequences for the defendant.

Source: Obozravatel.com

Posted in "Voices" in English, #Free Savchenko, English, Pictures, War in Donbas | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments