Stop NATO
February 12, 2014
1) Ukrainian judge who sentenced protesters murdered in Kiev
2) Insurgents reinforce barricades with sandbags
3) Defense minister says army not to intervene, but is not indifferent to developments
4) Russian diplomat: Ukraine is de facto federalized if not fragmented
5) Baroness Ashton says EU ready to sanction Ukrainian government
6) Last time? Ukraine hosts meeting of foreign ministries of the Commonwealth of Independent States
1)
Russian Information Agency Novosti
February 12, 2014
Judge Who Sentenced Protesters Shot Dead in Ukraine
KIEV: A Ukrainian judge who recently sentenced several political protesters to house arrest has been shot dead by unknown attackers, police said Wednesday.
Alexander Lobodenko, a 34-year-old district court judge, was shot several times in the back by two assailants on a street near his home in central Ukraine late Tuesday night, the country’s Interior Ministry said.
One of the bullets grazed his spine, according to a statement on the Kremenchug district website, and Lobodenko died in intensive care at about 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Police have opened a criminal case into the death and said that Lobodenko was likely killed as a result of his judicial work. They did not speculate about which of the judge’s decisions may have motivated the attack.
One of Lobodenko’s most recent rulings, according to the Ukrainian newspaper Telegraf, sentenced two pro-European activists on January 28 to two months of house arrest.
The men had tried to break into the city hall building during a rally in Kremenchug days before, in a local instance of a broad anti-government protest movement that has engulfed Ukraine for the last two months.
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2)
UNIAN
February 12, 2014
Barricades at Maidan to be strengthened by bags with sand
Instead of the bags with snow, the barricades at Maidan Nezhalezhnosti will be strengthened by bags with sand.
One of the commandants of Maidan, lawmaker Stepan Kubiv said this in the comment to UNIAN.
He told that sand and empty bags have been already purchased and are at storehouses in Kyiv. From there bags with sand will be delivered at Maidan in order to strengthen the barricades.
They will start strengthening the barricades at Hrushevskogo and Instytutska Streets firstly.
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3)
Interfax-Ukraine
February 12, 2014
Ukraine minister says no legal grounds for army intervention in home conflict
Ukraine’s acting defense minister has pointed out that Ukrainian law prohibits the use of the armed forces to put down domestic unrest in any situation other than a state of emergency or martial law.
“Under the law ‘On the Armed Forces of Ukraine,’ it is only possible if a state of emergency or martial law is introduced in the country. Under the Constitution, it may be introduced by a presidential decree and is subject to approval by the Verkhovna Rada [parliament],” Pavlo Lebedev told Interfax-Ukraine in an exclusive interview.
Currently there exists no such decree, he said.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are at their bases and following their normal routine. There is full-scale scheduled training underway,” Lebedev said.
“But the exacerbation of the situation in the country hasn’t left the armed forces and Ministry of Defense personnel indifferent. As citizens of Ukraine, they have stated their civil position. There have been general meetings in the Armed Forces of Ukraine at which 87% of servicemen expressed support for the president’s actions to settle the current conflict in a peaceful way and prevent an exacerbation of the civil confrontation,” the minister said.
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4)
Interfax-Ukraine
February 12, 2014
Ukraine informally functioning as federation – Russian diplomat
Ukraine is informally developing as a federation, as alternative government bodies have been set up in a number of regions, in the view of Andrei Vorobyov, minister-counselor of the Russian Embassy to Kyiv.
“I am sure that, regardless of political wishes, the country is developing toward federalization. Whether it will be formally stipulated by the constitution or whether it will formally remain to be a unitary state, but informally it is already a federation,” Vorobyov said at debates the ‘Federalization of Ukraine: From Split to Unity’ in Kyiv on Wednesday.
The talk about Ukraine’s federalization has been continuing for a long time, but the country has been living as a federation in the past three months, Vorobyov said. “Speaking to [Kharkiv regional administration head] Mykhailo Dobkin recently, I heard from him a phrase that, in my view, is quite truthful: Ukraine has been living as a federation in the past three months. And this actually looks true, because alternative government bodies have been set up on a part of the country’s territory,” he said.
Vorobyov pointed out that the priority now is to resolve the crisis in a peaceful way, and Russia is interested in a peaceful settlement through negotiations.
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5)
National Radio Company of Ukraine
February 12, 2014
Ashton says about possible sanctions against Ukraine
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton has said that she clearly gave the Ukrainian leadership to understand that the EU could exert all possible types of pressure on it, and said she believes this was noted in Kyiv. Asked about possible sanctions against Ukraine during a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, Ashton said that “none of the options has been removed from the agenda.”
She also added that during the talk with Ukrainian government and president, she clearly explained the concerns of the European side.The EU high representative also said that the issue of sanctions was the subject of numerous disputes with EU member states and the leaders of the opposition, and now two approaches of EU policy have appeared: pressure and support.
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6)
National Radio Company of UkraineFebruary 12, 2014
Consultations between foreign policy ministries of CIS countries to be held at MFA of Ukraine on February 13
The meeting will be held this year under the presidency of Ukraine in the CIS.
According to the head of information policy department of the MFA of Ukraine Yevhen Perebiynis, the interaction under the CIS will be discussed during the consultations Among the issues to be discussed are also matters of economic cooperation.
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