[arista]

Thousands took the opportunity to see the president's luxurious estate


Ostriches were found in the vast compound

http://news.sky.com/story/1215842/lu...h-flees-palace

[Z]

Originally Posted by Marc

This photo is pretty stunning, horrific but stunning

That's really striking Marc, thanks for sharing. Wow.

[lostalex]

I don't even want to think about what he was doing to those poor ostriches

sick bastard.

[arista]

Originally Posted by lostalex

I don't even want to think about what he was doing to those poor ostriches

sick bastard.

They have a problem with all the Wild Animals
in his grounds as there is no more food for them
so they are asking for help to feed them
from the locals.

These Rebals do not seem to have a leader
although as temp PM is now in charge
Elections in May.


They are now saying they can not confirm if the president did leave
by Helicopter, they are not sure.

[arista]

Russian Naval Ships are getting close
maybe to take the Ex-President away if he is still there,
or something else.

The Ukraine nation is around 48million
in population but its bankrupt.
With so called Elections not going on until May
anything can happen.





http://news.sky.com/story/1216255/uk...or-mass-murder

Link For Kizzy
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...est-yanukovich

[Sticks]

I suspect President Viktor Yanukovych will soon be back in power, courtesy of several divisions of Russian tanks, invited in by the Russian speaking population.

The Russians have already said that what has happened is a threat to it's security.

When the invasion takes place, any time soon, that means the Paralympic games in Sochi will be cancelled, but who cares about them..

[Nedusa]

Originally Posted by Sticks

I suspect President Viktor Yanukovych will soon be back in power, courtesy of several divisions of Russian tanks, invited in by the Russian speaking population.

The Russians have already said that what has happened is a threat to it's security.

When the invasion takes place, any time soon, that means the Paralympic games in Sochi will be cancelled, but who cares about them..

Yes it does look like the legitimately elected Ukranian Govt has been overthrown by by bunch of protesters with massive covert western backing. The support from Western Govt's to incite and inflamme this simple protest into a virtual civil war is truly shocking.

Yanukovych must shoulder a lot of the blame for his ineptitude in handling this situation but there are other forces and agendas at work here, Russia knows it and is furious with Yanukovych's handling of this crisis.

But Putin is probably even more furious with the West in interfering with a Country so closely aligned to Russia and so close geographically. He will not allow Ukraine to become hostile to Russia, too many of Russia's interests are at stake here not least their access to Black sea ports and Med and Atlantic.

Putin will be considering sending in some form of Military force but is mindful of the consequences of over playing his hand.

One thing is certain though he will not sit idly by and watch the west tiptoe in through the backdoor. !!

[arista]

Originally Posted by Sticks

I suspect President Viktor Yanukovych will soon be back in power, courtesy of several divisions of Russian tanks, invited in by the Russian speaking population.

The Russians have already said that what has happened is a threat to it's security.

When the invasion takes place, any time soon, that means the Paralympic games in Sochi will be cancelled, but who cares about them..

No they want him for murder
so he would be killed if Russia tried that


The Care is due to Gas pipelines

[Nedusa]

Just a thought but it's funny how the Syrian civil war has gone very quiet recently, perhaps the west has given up on that particular front and are now turning their attention to the Ukraine.

the Coverage on Sky really is blanket coverage at moment......24 News channels struggle to find enough news to fill the air time so we get the same scenes, the same interviews and the same pictures put out constantly on a loop every 15 mins, really annoying showing the same segment over and over again.

[MTVN]

It's pretty clear now that Russia doesn't effectively run Ukraine like was being presented at the start of this crisis, if they did you can be sure that Yanukovych wouldn't have fallen so easily. It's odd that whenever Russia looks to protect its interests in countries they're accused of just imposing their tyranny on them, and when any leader considers their interests to be more aligned with Russia they're accused of just being a puppet of Moscow. It's entirely reasonable why Russia would want a certain amount of influence in Ukraine and it's understandable why a lot of Ukrainians would support these ties with the East, considering that the country was a part of Russian for centuries.

At least the UK so far is approaching this pretty hesitantly, we don't want to rush into backing what seems like quite a diverse opposition with some sinister elements in a complex situation like this

[Nedusa]

Originally Posted by MTVN

It's pretty clear now that Russia doesn't effectively run Ukraine like was being presented at the start of this crisis, if they did you can be sure that Yanukovych wouldn't have fallen so easily. It's odd that whenever Russia looks to protect its interests in countries they're accused of just imposing their tyranny on them, and when any leader considers their interests to be more aligned with Russia they're accused of just being a puppet of Moscow. It's entirely reasonable why Russia would want a certain amount of influence in Ukraine and it's understandable why a lot of Ukrainians would support these ties with the East, considering that the country was a part of Russian for centuries.

At least the UK so far is approaching this pretty hesitantly, we don't want to rush into backing what seems like quite a diverse opposition with some sinister elements in a complex situation like this

Like we did in Syria ??

[arista]

Originally Posted by MTVN

It's pretty clear now that Russia doesn't effectively run Ukraine like was being presented at the start of this crisis, if they did you can be sure that Yanukovych wouldn't have fallen so easily. It's odd that whenever Russia looks to protect its interests in countries they're accused of just imposing their tyranny on them, and when any leader considers their interests to be more aligned with Russia they're accused of just being a puppet of Moscow. It's entirely reasonable why Russia would want a certain amount of influence in Ukraine and it's understandable why a lot of Ukrainians would support these ties with the East, considering that the country was a part of Russian for centuries.

At least the UK so far is approaching this pretty hesitantly, we don't want to rush into backing what seems like quite a diverse opposition with some sinister elements in a complex situation like this

Yes a Hard Nation to Unite

Maybe The Boxer could do it (if he is not Shot, of course)

[Z]

Originally Posted by MTVN

It's pretty clear now that Russia doesn't effectively run Ukraine like was being presented at the start of this crisis, if they did you can be sure that Yanukovych wouldn't have fallen so easily. It's odd that whenever Russia looks to protect its interests in countries they're accused of just imposing their tyranny on them, and when any leader considers their interests to be more aligned with Russia they're accused of just being a puppet of Moscow. It's entirely reasonable why Russia would want a certain amount of influence in Ukraine and it's understandable why a lot of Ukrainians would support these ties with the East, considering that the country was a part of Russian for centuries.

At least the UK so far is approaching this pretty hesitantly, we don't want to rush into backing what seems like quite a diverse opposition with some sinister elements in a complex situation like this

Yeah that was just pro-EU propaganda really. Ukraine is essentially caught between a rock and a hard place and the only way out is through the emergency exit. Move towards Russia and it's condemned to poverty and being a victim of Russia's gas pricing monopoly; move towards the EU and face harsh consequences from Russia's gas pricing monopoly. That's really the only thing keeping it pinned in this weird no man's land, politically.

[arista]

Bring it on Russia

[Z]

I attended a panel discussion this evening, featuring four Ukrainians (a journalist, an activist, a student and a priest) who were talking about the events in Ukraine at the moment. Very informative and eye opening.

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Zee

I attended a panel discussion this evening, featuring four Ukrainians (a journalist, an activist, a student and a priest) who were talking about the events in Ukraine at the moment. Very informative and eye opening.

and what did they say? Are they hopeful for the future of Ukraine? do they see recent events as positive or negative? What did they have to say about Russia's involvement? what did they say about the EU and US's involvement?

Tell us more. inquiring minds want to know.

[Z]

Originally Posted by lostalex

and what did they say? Are they hopeful for the future of Ukraine? do they see recent events as positive or negative? What did they have to say about Russia's involvement? what did they say about the EU and US's involvement?

Tell us more. inquiring minds want to know.

Opinion was split right down the middle. Two of them thought the future was looking positive, two thought it was negative. Nobody thought there was any real risk of separatist movements gaining any traction because the protests have been happening all over the country, there's no clear geographical distinction between pro-EU and pro-Russia. In the east, people are richer because of ties with Russia which is why they're anti-EU but there have also been plenty of protests dotted about there so it's not like the east is unified in its Russia support, same with the west and its EU support, it's just not clear cut at all. They see recent events up until violence as positive but with the police actively shooting to kill things have turned ugly. They say that what's happening now is a rehash of the 2004 Orange Revolution, which was left unfinished because people assumed that the government would take over from all the good work the protesting people had done. That was not the case. They're all glad Tymoshenko is out of jail but none of them want to see her back in power. She may not have been guilty of what she was jailed for but she is not an innocent woman either. They don't support any of the current candidates touting themselves for leadership; many Ukrainian people would like to see a new face enter politics and take up leadership, there's an inherent mistrust now of all career politicians. They're all a bit scared that the Svoboda party (extremist, borderline fascist party with a leader who has made anti-Semitic comments in the past) might gain significant popular support. The priest in particular said that he felt that Russia has always been more interested in Ukraine than the other way round but nobody thinks it's likely that Russia will come storming in with tanks; although a recent development is that Russia is now offering Russian passports to people living in the Crimea - in Ukraine it's illegal to hold dual nationality status so this is quite an offensive manoeuvre designed to cause tension.

All in all a very interesting discussion!

[arista]

Crimean parliament seizure inflames
Russian-Ukrainian tensions - live updates

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...t-live-updates
Nasty






Ukraine: Russia Puts Fighter Jets On Alert

http://news.sky.com/story/1218041/uk...-jets-on-alert

[MTVN]

The Russians are coming

[arista]

The President who ran off to Russia
is now speaking Live on all media



Fugitive president Viktor Yanukovich says he will continue
to fight for the future of Ukraine - and claims he has not been ousted.

http://news.sky.com/story/1218978/uk...ws-to-fight-on


He says he left to Stay Alive
he thanked his pilot that saved him.
he Blamed America for getting involved


I bet King Putin liked that

[arista]

Originally Posted by MTVN

The Russians are coming

Only in their section
They are protecting
the Pro Russians in lower crimea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimea


The troops have removed the numbers /badges
and will not speak to Ch4news.



America can stay the Feck Away from Ukraine

[MTVN]

Yeah the Crimea is pretty undeniably Russian; ethnically, geographically and politically. Only even became Ukraine in the 50s when Khrushchev gave it to them as a strange present when he was apparently drunk.

[arista]

[MTVN]

Who are you backing arista?

[arista]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Who are you backing arista?

Russia