Voices of Ukraine

Dmitry Tymchuk, Coordinator, Information Resistance

06.06.2014
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

Brothers and sisters!

Here’s the Summary for June 6, 2014 (for previous summary, please see Summary for June 5).

The bad news:

1.  The French Foreign Minister L[aurent] Fabius confirmed that during a meeting with [President] F[rançois] Hollande, Russian President Putin boasted that he “has influence” over terrorists in Ukraine.

Lord Europeans, what are you waiting for? Putin himself is talking about his ties to terrorists. Where is your vaunted third stage of sanctions?

2. Russia continues to muddy the waters at the UN over the alleged “humanitarian catastrophe” in eastern Ukraine.

What Moscow means by its so-called “humanitarian aid” is well-known to us. This is the lever of influence over the situation to strengthen pro-Russian (and therefore anti-Ukrainian) sentiment in the region. This question is very relevant for the Kremlin, given that the popularity ratings of pro-Russian terrorists are plummeting.

At the same time (although it doesn’t smell of humanitarian catastrophe in Donbas yet, thank God), it’s clear the problems of local residents should be actively explored and that we should provide them with maximum assistance. Nonetheless, people are in fact living in a combat zone.

International organizations (like the Red Cross or the UN) can help with all of this. The only question is how to organize such interaction.

By the way, about the UN. Although this organization raises many questions because of its impotence during the annexation of Crimea, let’s not forget it has tremendous experience with mediating political dialogue in various conflict zones. Maybe it makes sense to refer to this experience in establishing a dialogue with Donbas–obviously, not with terrorists but with the part of the population which believe that their voice is “not heard” by Kyiv.

3. Russian pseudo-journalists have been caught in Zakarpattia of all places. In Uzhhorod, representatives of the Russian First Channel were gathering intelligence information disguised as Finnish journalists. The SBU [Security Service of Ukraine] caught them and sent them back to Russia (another incident occurred on May 17, but law enforcement officers reported this only today).

I think they should not be let go, and instead should be put on trial. We see how this Russian contagion has spread across the country under the guise of “journalists.” And wherever they go they only do one thing–crap on everything with a vengeance.

We must apologize to the so-called international community, explain to them the difference between the media and FSB agents, and initiate a full-blown hunt of these crazies. Don’t be shy. It’s time to understand that the journalistic ID in the hands of 90% of Russian journalists is no less a farce than a Santa Claus costume.

The good news:

1. The active phase of the ATO continues. All day there was fighting on the outskirts of Sloviansk.

Terrorists pathetically called Sloviansk their “Brest Fortress.” Although it would be more appropriate to call it “the Seelow Heights.” We are waiting for the remaining corps of the LVI Panzerkorps of “terrorist Wehrmacht,” led by Strelok and Girkyn, to break through to Berlin, pardon, to Moscow. To the last base camp of their Führer.

The bad thing about this is that innocent, peaceful civilians of Donbas suffer because of it.

2. Poroshenko and Putin met at the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings. They shook hands. If you believe the Office of the President of France, they agreed to talks on the crisis in Ukraine.

The Kremlin assures that it stands for “resolving the situation by peaceful means.” While simultaneously, Russian mercenaries climb, like cockroaches, from the territory of Russia into Ukraine.

Personally for me, to trust in Putin–is the second largest folly after believing in healing cancer with aspirin. But the fact that our new President has shown a willingness to resolve the crisis, not only by force, he is also open to dialogue–this is a positive political moment.

Of course, many deep down in their souls would like to see someone in Europe spit on Putin’s back. And not just on his back. But everything has its time.

L to R: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk after a group photo during the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Benouville, Normandy. (Poroshenko’s face says it all: “la, la, la,…”)  Photo: REUTERS.

3. The new Ukrainian government has not yet assumed office, but its arrival is already being felt. In these circumstances, it is obviously important to use the positive potential of “transitional authorities” (that was in force from February to June),  and is still present today.

At the same time, as we see, the current higher officials don’t cling to their seats, and this [behavior] pleases. For example, today the Acting Head of the Presidential Administration Serhiy Pashinsky wrote a letter of resignation; he was essentially responsible for the coordination of security forces, who so stubbornly refused to cooperate and only relatively recently have begun to improve.

It seems that this experience can be used for the benefit of the country. For example, in present circumstances it would clearly not hurt to return such a government position as the “Enforcement” Deputy Prime Minister dealing with law enforcement agencies and the Military-Industrial complex. And in this case benefit from the experience gained through such hardship all these past months.