Ukraine Crisis - Page 563

Timothy Ash, an analyst with Standard Bank in London, said: "Turnout seems to have been very high, representing a vote by the population in favur of an independent Ukraine. This represents a defeat for seperatists in southeastern Ukraine, and also for President Vladimir Putin and Russia. It was important that the turnout was high, that a second round run off was avoided, while also that the victor - in this case, seemingly Poroshenko - secured a signficant mandate to rule. And this vote has delivered all these aspects. Russia and Putin have no real choice but to accept this vote as legitimate and reflecting the interests of the Ukrainian population. Perhaps Putin's statements to this effect last week reflected his understanding that Russia had lost "hearts and minds" in Ukraine by its less than constructive approach in recent months. Russia can still significantly undermine a Poroshenko presidency, and it will be waiting to see what the president-elect is going to deliver in terms of concessions, including forging a new coalition government (to include those better representing Russia's interests), committments to no NATO membership nor European Union integration, and a new federal constitution. Not sure that Poroshenko can or will be willing to deliver on much of this agenda, and particularly after this landslide victory."

The turnout was expected to be around 60 percent nationwide and much higher in the western parts of the country where 52 percent voted by 4 p.m., according to OPORA, the biggest election watchdog. There were fears that many will not be able to vote at all because of long queues.

Prosecutors called today's election one of the most democratic and cleanest in Ukraine's history.

Kyiv elected a mayor and the city legislature for the first time since 2008.

According to the exit poll by Savik Shuster Studio political talk show, Vitali Klitschko won 57 percent of the vote, leaving the runner-up Lesya Orobets far behind with 10 percent of the vote.

The capital has lived without a mayor for the last two years since Leonid Chernovetsky, the city’s last elected mayor, resigned on June 1, 2012. He had been absent from Kyiv's political scene for more than six months before his resignation, allowing a presidential appointee to run the city. The Kyiv city council’s legal five-year term expired in June of 2013.

Since that time the council’s secretary Halyna Hereha, a business tycoon and wife of the Party of Regions lawmaker Oleksandr Hereha, was acting as city major. Until recently she ran the city along with Oleksandr Popov, an appointed head of Kyiv State Administration.

In the last two years the ruling Party of Regions kept sabotaging local elections in Kyiv through an array of legal means because its popularity had vanished. Previously, the Regions and allies controlled the 120-seat council. Now, power has shifted to Klitschko's UDAR, which got 42 percent of the votes, according to Shuster Studio's exit poll. A handful of smaller parties have also won seats.
Source.

On Monday, for example, European election monitors praised the election that was held Sunday, calling it an “impressive display” of democracy.

KYIV, 26 May 2014 – The 25 May early presidential election in Ukraine was characterized by high turnout and a clear resolve by the authorities to hold what was a genuine election largely in line with international commitments and that respected fundamental freedoms, despite the hostile security environment in two eastern regions of the country, international observers concluded in a preliminary statement released today. While the election administration ran the process impartially and transparently on the whole, some decisions taken may have been beyond its authority.

“This election proved the democratic spirit of the people of Ukraine, who had the opportunity to genuinely express their will at the ballot box, and seized it in high numbers,” said João Soares, the Special Co-ordinator who led the short-term OSCE observer mission. “The electoral and security authorities of Ukraine should be commended for their efforts – under extraordinary circumstances – to facilitate an election that largely upheld democratic commitments.”

Genuine efforts were made by the electoral authorities to conduct voting throughout the country, despite continued unrest and violence in the east, which seriously impacted the election environment, negatively affected the human rights situation, obstructed meaningful observation, and had a significant adverse affect on preparations. Forced evictions and closures of District Election Commissions by armed groups, abductions, death threats, forced entry into private homes and the seizure of equipment and election materials were attempts to prevent the election and to deny citizens their right to vote, the observers said.

“The extraordinary quality of yesterday’s election provides the new president of Ukraine with the legitimacy to establish immediately an inclusive dialogue with all citizens in the eastern regions, to restore their trust and confidence, and to decentralize state power in order to preserve the unity of the country by respecting the diversity of Ukrainian society,” said Andreas Gross, Head of the PACE delegation. “There is no military solution to today’s crisis, and those who belong together can only come together through dialogue, mutual understanding, social reforms and greater fairness.”

The election did not take place in the Crimean Peninsula, which is not under the control of the Ukrainian authorities, and Ukrainian citizens living there faced serious difficulties in participating in the election.

“Unfortunately, many citizens were prevented from voting in Donetsk and Luhansk, as were nearly all in Crimea, due to the ongoing threats to Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” said Ilkka Kanerva, Head of the OSCE PA delegation. “However, the impressive turnout in the rest of the country offered a powerful rebuke to those who would challenge Ukraine’s unity and progress.”

Despite the challenging environment and limited lead-time, the Central Election Commission operated independently, impartially and efficiently, in general, and met all legal deadlines. A lack of adequate regulation of a few aspects of the election, however, lessened uniformity in the administration of the process. The substitution of numerous candidate nominees to District and Precinct Election Commissions affected the stability and efficiency of election administration, but most commissions outside of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions were able to overcome time constraints, the frequent changes in their composition and some resource problems.

“Before Sunday, everyone agreed that this was going to be an important, if difficult election, but few believed it would be successful. Our assessment is clear: the Ukrainian authorities and the Ukrainian people have made this election a success,” said Karl Lamers, Head of the NATO PA delegation. “Despite an exceptionally challenging environment, we have seen a good election process and election officials performing their duties with dedication and professionalism, sometimes in extremely difficult conditions. And we have seen the Ukrainian people expressing confidence in their country’s future by voting in large numbers, wherever they were able to do so.”
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On May 27 2014 00:28 Mc wrote:
I'm disgusted by the fact that I actually liked the song... that thug knows how to flow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIi7cBloy60

Song title is "Russian Orthodox".... I hope mods don't expect me to translate the text (you can copy past the transcript to translate.google for pretty poor results)

DONETSK, May 26. /ITAR-TASS/. The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic’s militia units have temporarily recaptured the Sergei Prokofiev International Airport, which was controlled by Ukrainian army and security forces. “However, fighting has resumed near the airport just now,” the press service of the Donetsk People’s Republic told ITAR-TASS.
The press service did not confirm that fighting was under way near the city railway station.
Many shops and public places, including the city’s biggest Shakhtar Plaza center, were shut down. The city streets are deserted. In connection with the ongoing security operation, many people left work ahead of time.
Explosions were heard at the airport on Monday morning, and a cloud of smoke could be seen rising over the runway. Three army helicopters flew in the airport’s direction and intensive shooting, including from large-caliber guns, could be heard at the airport.
It is believed that assault aviation could have delivered missile strikes at the airport.
Earlier on Monday, three Ukrainian army helicopters fired at the Tochmash engineering plant in Donetsk. One person was hurt in the shooting attack.

On May 27 2014 02:13 PaleMan wrote:
big fight whole day for Donetsk international Airport



Source

follow up videos:+ Show Spoiler +

5:08 p.m. -- Here's a timeline from the Kyiv Post correspondents at the scene:

The armed, Kremlin-backed rebels showed up at the Donetsk International Airport at 3 a.m. and started facing off with the Ukrainian military that was guarding the airstrip. Negotiations began, but obviously failed. At 5:30 a.m., several rebels were captured by Ukrainian forces, according to the Defense Ministry. At 10 a.m., three buses of 50 Kremlin-back rebels entered the airport to support the militia already there.

Around 1 p.m., Ukrainian forces issued an ultimatum to the rebels to lay down their arms and surrender. However, they failed to do so. That led to a firefight that began before 2 p.m.

Rebels previously had taken over buildings without any resistance. But today, it seemed as though the military understood that losing the airport would be a huge strategic loss, much like in Crimea.

By the early afternoon, two Ukrainian fighter jets buzzed overhead. Three Ukrainian military helicopters flew over the airport, with fighters releasing anti-missile flares as they buzzed by. A MiG-29 fired on the rebel fighters from the air.

One helicopter fired at and destroyed the insurgents' anti-aircraft gun, according to Vladislav Seleznev, a Ukraine military spokesperson. Around 3 p.m., Ukrainian forces took further offensive actions. Bursts of gunfire punctuated by mortar and RPG blasts echoed through the area.

The military pushed the rebels south into a residential area a less than a quarter mile from the city's central train station.

Rebels and ukraine troops exchanged gunfire from their positions behind trees and bus stops.

At least one rebel was injured and carried to a car and driven away.

As the fighting moved toward the train station, an announcement to evacuate blared from loudspeakers. People there spilled out of the building. Several people were visibly emotional. One woman cried into the phone, "Mom! They're shooting everywhere!"

In the afternoon, one civilian -- a male parking lot attendant -- was killed by stray bullet at Donetsk train station.

Many shops and restaurants in Donetsk closed, including the large shopping mall Donetsk City, as the Russian-backed insurgents appear to have taken control of the railway station by 5:30 p.m.
Source.

On May 27 2014 00:39 zatic wrote:

Can you please explain what we are seeing in the video? No need to translate every bit but please provide context.

On May 27 2014 04:01 nunez wrote:
@ghan
itar-tass is not reporting that fighting did not happen at railway station, they have in fact been reporting on it. they're stating, in the article likeasu, linked that the dpr press service did not confirm it.

i don't think you should be trashing itar-tass out of hand. you ought to substantiate why the itar-tass article is 'not proper', or edit your post, instead of linking a gory tweetpic that might or might not be related to the fighting and incorrectly claiming that they are reporting that no fighting was happening.

On May 27 2014 04:17 likeasu wrote:
Few months have passed.
And who can explain me now what is the profit of "euromaidan"? One oligarh Ianucovich has gone , new oligarh Poroshenko has come... o_O