[DrCaleb]

stratos stratos:

Well avoid the protets and cops and everything else. Sounds like hell is about to break lose there no need for you to get cought up in it. Be safe.

And turn off your cell phone if you are near the square! No need for misunderstandings. Unless you want to be Yulia's cell mate.

[Public_Domain]

Unfortunately, it seems tanks are heading to Kyiv.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9ee_1390 ... ZPVUasU.01

[BartSimpson]

It's blowing up in Ukraine today:

EDIT: THE CANADIAN EMBASSY WAS ATTACKED!!!!!

$1:

Kiev police said a group of young people, armed with truncheons, also attacked the Canadian Embassy where they “smashed property and attempted to hurt employees of the diplomatic mission.”

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140218/1876499 ... ament.html

$1:

KIEV, February 18 (RIA Novosti) – Anti-government protesters and police engaged in violent street battles that left hundreds injured and at least ten dead, including three police officers, in Ukraine’s capital on Tuesday.

The capital’s police department said in a statement that three police officers died and 184 were injured, 35 of them critically. By late Tuesday, 159 officers have been admitted to city hospitals.

A Kiev police spokesman said that seven civilians also died as a result of the clashes. Two of them died of heart failure, one was killed in a car accident, one in fire and three were shot dead.

Fighting escalated in Kiev as a standoff played out inside parliament, where deputies faced off over changes to the constitution that the opposition has said could be a way out of the political paralysis gripping the country.

Thousands of radical demonstrators moving toward the parliament building around midday – many of them wielding shields and sticks, and wearing masks – were confronted by police who deployed rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas. Pictures from the front lines showed rioters ripping up cobblestones to hurl at police.

Riot police pushed the crowd back to barricades surrounding the central Independence Square. The area was cordoned off on Tuesday evening and police attempted to disperse the crowd using stun grenades and smoke pellets. At least one water cannon was also used.

Protesters responded by throwing Molotov cocktails and firecrackers at officers. Fires erupted in several areas.

A lawmaker with the ruling Party of Regions, Oleh Tsaryov, vowed shortly after that the Independence Square rally will be dispersed “in an hour.”

“We will restore order in Kiev and then will restore it around the country,” he said.

The crowd also seized the capital's city hall, which served as the headquarters of the major anti-government protest in Ukraine for nearly two months. The building was unblocked on Sunday after authorities freed all demonstrators who had been detained since the unrest erupted.

Kiev police said a group of young people, armed with truncheons, also attacked the Canadian Embassy where they “smashed property and attempted to hurt employees of the diplomatic mission.”

Police also said a truck, apparently hijacked by protesters, rammed a group of people, injuring three. The vehicle was later set on fire.

Lesya Orobets, a deputy with the opposition Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, said on her Facebook page that at least three protesters had been killed. Radio Free Europe cited opposition medic Olga Bogomolets as also saying from a first aid center near parliament that three people had been killed and seven were in a serious condition.

The Interior Ministry confirmed reports of six dead early Tuesday evening and said police were investigating the matter.

Police earlier said one person was killed at the headquarters of the ruling Party of Regions, which was stormed by demonstrators Tuesday.

Ukrainian officials said early Tuesday evening that if rioting did not die down within two hours – by 6 p.m. local time – authorities would be obliged to restore order by means provided for by law.

Operation of the Kiev metro was suspended amid the clashes, and passengers were told to disembark as the trains came to a halt across the city.

A Defense Ministry spokesperson said the seizure of a military building in the city earlier in the day by protestors would provoke an appropriate response by the military, according to the Russian state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

Opposition deputies in parliament blocked the speaker’s rostrum Tuesday in protest against pro-government deputies’ refusal to register a bill introducing reform to the constitution.

The bill was eventually registered, the opposition Svoboda party said later Tuesday on Twitter.

Opposition forces are seeking the restoration of the 2004 constitution, which they say would ensure a way out of the political crisis by transferring more powers to parliament from the president.

A spokesperson for the country’s legislature said that none of the draft resolutions to restore the 2004 constitution submitted Tuesday for consideration by the body had met a requirement of 150 signatures to bring them to the floor.

The Party of Regions has said it is willing to review the law but has refused to automatically return to a previous version.

Moscow reiterated Tuesday that the worsening situation in downtown Kiev is a result of Western interference in the country’s politics, according to a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Large-scale street protests erupted in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities in November after President Viktor Yanukovych backed away from deals to deepen political and economic cooperation with the European Union and instead opted for closer ties with Russia.

The protests have sporadically descended into violence on both sides.

Yanukovych has said he is ready to appoint a coalition government that includes members of the opposition, the speaker of parliament said last week.

I seriously hope PF is watching out for himself and his family!

[Zipperfish]

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

Unfortunately, it seems tanks are heading to Kyiv.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9ee_1390 ... ZPVUasU.01

Love the new avatar!

[Newsbot]

Title: Ukraine violence grows, as 9 people killed in fiery mayhem
Category: Political
Posted By: wildrosegirl
Date: 2014-02-18 13:18:21

[wildrosegirl]

Holy...

Not such such happy little Easter egg painters today, are they?

[Jabberwalker]

The Soviet Union produced so many happy peoples throughout Eurasia.

[BartSimpson]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

Unfortunately, it seems tanks are heading to Kyiv.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9ee_1390 ... ZPVUasU.01

Love the new avatar!

It would appear to be a self-portrait.

[saturn_656]

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

The Soviet Union produced so many happy peoples throughout Eurasia.

Well... the Russians were probably more or less content.

Everyone else on the other hand... much different story.

[Jabberwalker]

saturn_656 saturn_656:

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

The Soviet Union produced so many happy peoples throughout Eurasia.

Well... the Russians were probably more or less content.

Everyone else on the other hand... much different story.

Oh, no. The Russians feel entitled to far, far more and feel that they were cheated of their place at the top of the pyramid.

Do you remember any other times in history when a defeated people did not believe that they were defeated?

[BartSimpson]

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

Do you remember any other times in history when a defeated people did not believe that they were defeated?

Germany after World War One.

France after pretty much every war.

Muslims after pretty much every war.

Al Gore & the We-demand-a-do-over Democrats.

etc.

[andyt]

$1:

Riot police move against protest camp in Kyiv after violent clashes leave at least 18 dead

KYIV, Ukraine - Amid cries of "Glory to Ukraine!" and with flaming tires lighting up the night sky, thousands of riot police armed with stun grenades and water cannons attacked the sprawling protest camp in the centre of Kyiv on Tuesday, following a day of street battles that left 18 people dead and hundreds injured.
The violence was the deadliest in nearly three months of anti-government protests that have paralyzed Ukraine's capital in a struggle over the nation's identity.
With the boom of exploding stun grenades and fireworks nearly drowning out his words at times, opposition leader Vitali Klitschko urged the 20,000 protesters to defend the camp on Independence Square that has been the heart of the protests.
"We will not go anywhere from here," Klitschko told the crowd, speaking from a stage in the square as tents and tires burned around him, releasing huge plumes of smoke. "This is an island of freedom and we will defend it," he said.
Many heeded his call.
"This looks like a war against one's own people," said Dmytro Shulko, 35, who was heading toward the camp armed with a fire bomb. "But we will defend ourselves."
As police dismantled some of the barricades on the perimeter of the square and tried to push away the protesters, they fought back with rocks, bats and fire bombs. Against the backdrop of a soaring monument to Ukraine's independence, protesters fed the burning flames with tires, creating walls of fire to prevent police from advancing. A large building the protesters had used as a headquarters caught fire and many struggled to get out.
Speaking over loudspeakers, police urged women and children to leave the square because an "anti-terrorist" operation was underway.
The protesters appeared to sense that Ukraine's political standoff was reaching a critical turning point. As the tents and also some tires went up in flames, defiant protesters shouted "Glory to Ukraine!" and sang the Ukrainian national anthem.
Shortly before midnight, Klitschko headed to President Viktor Yanukovych's office to try to resolve the crisis, his spokeswoman said.
Earlier in the day, protesters attacked police lines and set fires outside parliament, accusing Yanukovych of once again ignoring their demands and dragging his feet on a constitutional reform to limit presidential powers.
Tensions had soared after Russia said Monday that it was ready to resume providing the loans that Yanukovych's government needs to keep Ukraine's ailing economy afloat. This raised fears among the opposition that Yanukovych had made a deal with Moscow to stand firm against the protesters and would choose a Russian-leaning loyalist to be his new prime minister.
The protests began in late November after Yanukovych turned away from a long-anticipated deal with the European Union in exchange for a $15 billion bailout from Russia. The political manoeuvring continued, however, with both Moscow and the West eager to gain influence over this former Soviet republic.
Until Monday, the government and the opposition had appeared to be making some progress toward resolving the political crisis peacefully. In exchange for the release of scores of jailed activists, protesters on Sunday vacated a government building that they had occupied since Dec. 1.
Russia also may have wanted to see Kyiv remain calm through the Winter Olympics in Sochi, so as not to distract from President Vladimir Putin's games. But after the outburst of violence against riot police, Yanukovych's government may have felt it had no choice but to try to restore order.
While Kyiv and western Ukraine have risen up against Yanukovych, he remains popular in the Russian-speaking eastern and southern regions, where economic and cultural ties with Russia are strong.
As darkness fell, law enforcement agencies vowed to bring order to the streets and they shut down subway stations in the centre of the capital. In Independence Square, Orthodox priests prayed for peace.
"We see that this regime again has begun shooting people; they want to sink Ukraine in blood. We will not give in to a single provocation," opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the protesters. "We will not take one step back from this square. We have nowhere to retreat to. Ukraine is behind us, Ukraine's future is behind us."
Tuesday's clashes were the first to lead to deaths since Jan. 22, when two protesters were hit with live ammunition and a third died after a fall.
As angry protesters outside parliament hurled stones at police and set trucks blocking their way on fire, riot police retaliated with stun grenades and fired what appeared to be small metal balls, as smoke from burning tires and vehicles billowed over Kyiv.
Early Wednesday morning, government agencies said 18 people died in the violence, including seven policemen who died from gunshot wounds. Eleven civilians also died, including three who were shot. Hundreds of police and civilians were injured.
The co-ordinator for the opposition's medical response team, Oleh Musiy, said more than 400 protesters were injured. He also claimed that about 20 had died, but this could not independently be confirmed.
One of the civilians was found dead after protesters stormed the office of the president's Party of Regions. Police pushed them away, but when firefighters arrived to put out a fire, they discovered the body of an office employee, Kyiv's emergency services said.
Justice Minister Olena Lukash, a close Yanukovych aide, accused the opposition of violating earlier agreements with the government and blamed protest leaders for the violence.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged both sides to end the violence, halt their ultimatums and hold high-level talks.
U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Payatt also threatened both sides with sanctions. "We believe Ukraine's crisis can still be solved via dialogue, but those on both sides who fuel violence will open themselves to sanctions," Payatt said on Twitter.
Germany has refused to back Washington's calls for sanctions against Ukraine's government to pressure it into accepting opposition demands for reforms.
But when central Kyiv exploded in violence Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Ukrainian security forces have a "particular responsibility" to de-escalate the situation, adding that the EU might resort to unspecified sanctions against individuals. "Whoever is responsible for decisions that lead to bloodshed in the centre of Kyiv or elsewhere in Ukraine will need to consider that Europe's previous reluctance for personal sanctions must be rethought," he said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry blamed the West for the escalation of the violence and called on the opposition to work with the government to find a way out of the crisis.
"What is happening is a direct result of the conniving politics of Western politicians and European bodies," the ministry said in a statement.

[Jabberwalker]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

Do you remember any other times in history when a defeated people did not believe that they were defeated?

Germany after World War One.

France after pretty much every war.

Muslims after pretty much every war.

Al Gore & the We-demand-a-do-over Democrats.

etc.

Yeah, those dangling freakin' chads make my blood boil, too.

[MeganC]

CNN says 26 dead today in Ukraine.

[Jabberwalker]

This is how the Syrian war started. If the Ukraine's European neighbours intervene to stop the bloodshed (low probability), the Russians will go ape-shit. If the Russians intervene (high probability) the Ukrainians will go ape-shit.