JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.
OTHER RUSSIA-UKRAINE NEWS I DONE
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/malaysia-airlines-plane-with-239-on.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/2-killed-in-ukraine-crimea-as-one-day.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-ukraine-situation-fri-2-days.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-invasion-of-crimea-continues.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/crimea-russia-ukraine-situation-this-day.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/crimea-wants-independence-not-russian.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-blamed-for-deaths-in-ukraine.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russian-forces-tighten-grip-on-crimea.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-ukraine-situation-today.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-has-this-crimea-situation-well.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/eu-leads-diplomacy-on-ukraine-crimea.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/putin-pulls-back-from-brink-of-world.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russias-stock-market-fell-11-and-lost.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/watch-stock-markets-oil-today-from-this.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russian-troops-surround-ukraines-army.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-unanamously-approves-troops-in.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/02/russia-troops-copters-in-crimea-and-kiev.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/02/watch-for-afghanistan-to-have-next-arab.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/02/is-this-ukraine-situation-beggining-of.html
THE RUSSIA - UKRAINE SITUATION AT 8:40AM SUN MAR 16,14
THE REFERENDUM VOTE IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW.WE SHOULD FIND OUT THE FINAL RESULTS IN A COUPLE OF DAYS.
THE RUSSIA - UKRAINE SITUATION AT 1:00PM SUN MAR 16,14
WELL THE VOTE IS UNDER WAY IN CRIMEA.AND ALREADY THERE SAYING AT LEAST 80% ARE VOTING FOR RUSSIA TO TAKE OVER CRIMEA AND MAKE IT A RUSSIAN COUNTRY.BY TOMORROW WE SHOULD HAVE THE FINAL RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM.THEN BY TUESDAY THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT SHOULD PASS A LAW MAKING CRIMEA PART OF RUSSIA.
WITH THIS RESULT.THE USELESS UNITED NATIONS IS SAYING RUSSIA IS OCCUPYING STOLEN LAND.ITS NOT A LEGAL VOTE.AND IN UKRAINE THEY ARE WORRIED THAT PUTIN WILL PULL NAPOLEON-NERO BLITZKEG.AND WITH HIS ARMY AND GRADUALLY TAKE OVER THE WHOLE UKRAINE CITY BY CITY UNTILL ALL UKRAINE IS RUSSIAS.THEN PUTIN WILL GO FOR POLAND AND OTHER NATO NATIONS AROUND THE UKRAINE TO DO TO AS HE IS DOING IN THE UKRAINE-UNTILL THE WHOLE AREA IS IN RUSSIAN CONTROL.UNLESS NATO AND A EUROPEAN UNION ARMY STOP IT.AND TAKE CONTROL OF THE WHOLE AREA.SO PUTIN CAN'T CONQUER IT.SINCE OBAMA IS A USELESS EMPTY SUIT.THE EUROPEAN UNION HAS TO GET A QUICK ARMY TOGETHER STARTING WITH THE RAPID REACTION FORCE IN FRANCE COMING TO PROTECT THE AREA UNTIL THE EUROPEAN UNION CAN GET A 500 THOUSAND TO 700 THOUSAND MAN ARMY TOGETHER TO CONTROL RUSSIA IN THE UKRAINE AND ALL AROUND IT.
THE RUSSIA - UKRAINE SITUATION AT 2:35PM SUN MAR 16,14
RUSSIA HAS TAKEN THE CRIMEA BY A 90% VOTE THE POLLS ARE SAYING WITH JUST MINUTES BEFORE THE FINAL COUNT.ITS 8:35PM CRIMEA TIME-2:35PM EST.CRIMEA OFFICIALLY BECOMES MOTHER RUSSIA TERRITORY.LOOKOUT NOW.THE FIGHT OR WAR WILL LITERALLY BE ON BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE WEST NOW.
THE RUSSIA - UKRAINE SITUATION AT 6:15PM SUN MAR 16,14
AT 4:35PM HALF OF THE VOTES ARE COUNTED IN THE REFERENDUM AND 95% OF THE VOTERS HAVE VOTED TO JOIN RUSSIA.TOMORROW THE CRIMEAN PRESIDENT WILL SIGN A PAPER TO OFFICIALLY JOIN RUSSIA.THE CRIMEAN PARLIAMANT WILL HOLD AN EMERGENCY SESSION TOMORROW-THEN A DELEGATION WILL GO OVER TO RUSSIA TO FINALIZE THE VOTING.SAYING THAT CRIMEA IS OFFICIALLY PART OF RUSSIAN TERRITORY.AND ALSO CRIMEA WILL ADOPT THE RUBLE AS THEIR CURRENCY IN APRIL.
IT OFFICIAL AT 6PM THAT 95% OF THE VOTES WERE FOR RUSSIA TO TAKE OVER FULLY CRIMEA.
Crimeans overwhelmingly vote for secession-By MIKE ECKEL and JOHN-THOR DAHLBURG 42 minutes ago-MAR 16,14-Yahoonews
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Fireworks exploded and Russian flags fluttered above jubilant crowds Sunday after residents in Crimea voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. The United States and Europe condemned the ballot as illegal and destabilizing and were expected to slap sanctions on Russia for it.Ukraine's new government in Kiev called the referendum a "circus" directed at gunpoint by Moscow — referring to the thousands of Russian troops now in the strategic Black Sea peninsula after seizing it two weeks ago.But after the polls closed late Sunday, crowds of ethnic Russians in the regional Crimean capital of Simferopol erupted with jubilant chants in the main square, overjoyed at the prospect of once again becoming part of Russia.The Crimea referendum offered voters the choice of seeking annexation with Russia or remaining in Ukraine with greater autonomy. After 50 percent of the ballots were counted, Mikhail Malishev, head of the referendum committee, said more than 95 percent of voters had approved joining Russia.Opponents of secession appeared to have stayed away Sunday, denouncing the vote as a cynical power play and land grab by Russia.The vote could also encourage rising pro-Russian sentiment in Ukraine's east and lead to further divisions in this nation of 46 million. Residents in western Ukraine and the capital, Kiev, strongly favor closer ties with the West instead of Russia.The Crimean parliament will meet Monday to formally ask Moscow to be annexed and Crimean lawmakers will fly to Moscow later in the day for talks, Crimea's pro-Russia prime minister said on Twitter.In Moscow, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Sergei Naryshkin, suggested that joining Russia was a done deal."We understand that for 23 years after Ukraine's formation as a sovereign state, Crimeans have been waiting for this day," Naryshkin was quoted as saying by the state ITAR-Tass news agency.Russian lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky said the annexation could come in as soon as three days, according to Interfax.Russian President Vladimir Putin said the referendum was conducted in "full accordance with international law and the U.N. charter."Some Crimea residents backing secession said they feared the new Ukrainian government that took over when President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia last month will oppress them."It's like they're crazy Texans in western Ukraine. Imagine if the Texans suddenly took over power (in Washington) and told everyone they should speak Texan," said Ilya Khlebanov, a voter in Simferopol.In Sevastopol, the Crimean port where Russia now leases a major naval base from Ukraine for $98 million a year, more than 70 people surged into a polling station in the first 15 minutes of voting Sunday.Ukraine's new prime minister insisted that neither Ukraine nor the West would recognize the vote."Under the stage direction of the Russian Federation, a circus performance is underway: the so-called referendum," Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Sunday. "Also taking part in the performance are 21,000 Russian troops, who with their guns are trying to prove the legality of the referendum."As soon as the polls closed, the White House again denounced the vote."The international community will not recognize the results of a poll administered under threats of violence," it said in a statement. "Russia's actions are dangerous and destabilizing."Russia raised the stakes Saturday when its forces, backed by helicopter gunships and armored vehicles, took control of the Ukrainian village of Strilkove and a key natural gas distribution plant nearby— the first Russian military move into Ukraine beyond the Crimean peninsula of 2 million people. The Russian forces later returned the village but kept control of the gas plant.
On Sunday, Ukrainian soldiers were digging trenches and erecting barricades between the village and the gas plant."We will not let them advance further into Ukrainian territory," said Serhiy Kuz, commander of a Ukrainian paratrooper battalion.Despite the threat of sanctions, Putin has vigorously resisted calls to pull back in Crimea. At the United Nations on Saturday, Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution declaring the referendum illegal.However, Putin spoke with President Barack Obama and supported a proposal from Germany to expand an international observer mission in Ukraine, the Kremlin said Sunday in a statement after the vote."The heads of state noted that despite the differences in their assessments, it was necessary to work together to find a way to stabilize the situation in Ukraine," the statement said.German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also spoke with Putin on Sunday, wants more observers sent to tense areas, particularly in eastern Ukraine, her spokesman said. Putin told Obama that such a mission would be welcome but would need to be extended to all regions in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.In Donetsk, one of the main cities in eastern Ukraine, pro-Russia demonstrators called Sunday for a referendum similar to the one in Crimea.In Sevastopol, speakers blared the city anthem up and down the streets but the military threat was not far away — a Russian naval warship still blocked the port's outlet to the Black Sea, trapping Ukrainian boats.At a polling station inside a historic school, tears came to Vladimir Lozovoy, a 75-year-old retired Soviet naval officer, as he talked about his vote."I want to cry. I have finally returned to my motherland. It is an incredible feeling. This is the thing I have been waiting for for 23 years," he said.But Crimea's large Muslim Tatar minority — whose families had been forcibly removed from their homeland and sent to Central Asia during Soviet times — remained defiant.
The Crimea referendum "is a clown show, a circus," Tatar activist Refat Chubarov said on Crimea's Tatar television station. "This is a tragedy, an illegitimate government with armed forces from another country."The fate of Ukrainian soldiers trapped in their Crimean bases by pro-Russian forces was still uncertain. But Ukraine's acting defense minister, Igor Tenyuk, was quoted as saying Sunday that an agreement had been reached with Russia not to block Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea through Friday. It was not clear exactly what that meant.On the streets of Simferopol, blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags were nowhere to seen but red, white and blue Russian and Crimean flags fluttered in abundance.Ethnic Ukrainians interviewed outside the Ukrainian Orthodox cathedral of Vladimir and Olga said they refused to take part in the referendum, calling it an illegal charade stage-managed by Moscow. Some said they were scared of the potential for widespread harassment."We're just not going to play these separatist games," said Yevgen Sukhodolsky, a 41-year-old prosecutor from Saki, a town outside Simferopol. "Putin is the fascist. The Russian government is fascist."Vasyl Ovcharuk, a retired gas pipe layer, predicted dark days ahead for Crimea."This will end up in military action, in which peaceful people will suffer. And that means everybody. Shells and bullets are blind," he said.___Dalton Bennett in Sevastopol, Yuras Karmanau in Strilkove and Jim Heintz and Maria Danilova in Kiev contributed to this story
Crimea vote fully legal, Putin tells Obama 37 minutes ago-MAR 16,14-Yahoonews
Moscow (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin told US President Barack Obama on Sunday the referendum on Crimea joining Russia was fully legal, but the two leaders also agreed to work together to find ways out of the Ukraine crisis, the Kremlin said.The telephone conversation between Putin and Obama, which the Kremlin said were held at the initiative of the American side, came amid soaring US-Russia tensions as initial results showed Crimea had voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia."(Putin) emphasised that it was fully in line with the norms of international law and the UN charter," the Kremlin said.It added that the referendum took into account "the well-known precedent of Kosovo" which has been recognised by more than 100 countries, including the United States and all but five EU members since declaring independence from Serbia in 2008. But the statement saide the two leaders also agreed that "despite the differences in assessment it is necessary to jointly search for ways of stabilising the situation in Ukraine".Putin also told the US president that any Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission should cover "all Ukrainian regions" and not just Crimea.German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Putin earlier Sunday that she backed a bigger role in Ukraine for the OSCE, in particular in the tense east of the country.The Russian leader, who has not recognised the new pro-West authorities in Kiev after the fall of president Viktor Yanukovych last month, told Obama that Moscow was unhappy with the Ukrainian government's failure to crack down on "ultra-nationalist and radical groups".He said such groups were "destabilising the situation and terrorising peaceful inhabitants as well as the Russian-speaking population".
Kidnapping reports raise pre-referendum tensions in Crimea
AFP By Oleg Leus 15 hours ago-MAR 16,14-Yahoonews
Sevastopol (Ukraine) (AFP) - Ukraine's Greek Catholic Church said a priest was seized by armed men from a chapel in Sevastopol on Saturday, shortly after a pro-Russian group reported one of its leaders had been abducted.The two incidents are the latest in a series of kidnapping reports in Crimea, often involving activists for and against the referendum to be held on Sunday to decide whether the region should break away from Ukraine and join Russia.Father Mykola Kvich, a chaplain with Ukraine's armed forces, was taken from a parish near the city cemetery, the Church said.But according to local police, the priest was detained and later released, and 10 bullet proof vests were found in his residence during a search.The Greek Catholic Church is particularly strong in the mostly Ukrainian-speaking west of the country and has been in favour of the Maidan protests that brought the current pro-West government in Kiev to power last month. The priest's chaplain role "could be the reason for these actions by the armed self-defence groups in Crimea," said Father Lyubomyr Yavorskiy, an official in the Church's military chaplaincy department.Earlier Saturday a pro-Russian leader in Sevastopol -- home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet since the 18th century -- was reported kidnapped.The Russky Blok party cited eyewitnesses saying that its leader in the city, local assemblyman Gennadiy Basov, "was seized by nine people and taken away in a blue minivan".
Repeated attempts to contact Basov on his mobile went unanswered and police said they were "checking" a formal missing person report from the party.Kidnapping reports are often hard to confirm because Ukraine's interior ministry no longer has authority in Crimea, and the reports sometimes appear to be part of an "information war" between two bitterly opposed sides.Three activists and journalists were reported missing after being last seen at a Crimean-controlled checkpoint earlier this week and have since been released.One of them, Olena Maksimenko, said the experience was "psychologically tough"."They were trying to find out who we worked for and who was paying us," she said at a press conference in Kiev.Maksimenko said at one point she was throttled with a rope and punched in the face by a Cossack.She said they were arrested at a checkpoint and taken to a military base in Sevastopol."They regularly took us out for interrogations, tried to get me to say I was some kind of spy," she said.Ukraine's former defence minister Anatoliy Gritsenko said Friday on his Facebook page that his son Oleksiy was one of three pro-unity activists who went missing on Thursday in the Crimean capital Simferopol.Gritsenko said his son had been supplying food, medicine and electricity generators to Ukrainian military bases on the peninsula, which are often surrounded by self- defence groups and Russian forces.Amnesty International said it was following the case and that two of the activists' mobile phones had been tracked to near Simferopol's military commissariat.The human rights watchdog in a statement called on Crimean authorities to ensure "their immediate and unconditional release". "Reports of the harassment and intimidation of activists and journalists by the de facto military forces operating in Crimea are an extremely worrying development where human rights abuses are already rife," said John Dalhuisen, the group's Europe and Central Asia director.Asked about these and other reports of abductions, Crimea's pro-Moscow prime minister Sergiy Aksyonov told reporters on Friday that any detentions were aimed at fighting off "provocateurs"."I'm not arresting anyone but if people come here with bad intentions then law enforcement will deal with them," he said.
OTHER RUSSIA-UKRAINE NEWS I DONE
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/malaysia-airlines-plane-with-239-on.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/2-killed-in-ukraine-crimea-as-one-day.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-ukraine-situation-fri-2-days.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-invasion-of-crimea-continues.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/crimea-russia-ukraine-situation-this-day.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/crimea-wants-independence-not-russian.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-blamed-for-deaths-in-ukraine.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russian-forces-tighten-grip-on-crimea.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-ukraine-situation-today.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-has-this-crimea-situation-well.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/eu-leads-diplomacy-on-ukraine-crimea.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/putin-pulls-back-from-brink-of-world.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russias-stock-market-fell-11-and-lost.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/watch-stock-markets-oil-today-from-this.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russian-troops-surround-ukraines-army.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-unanamously-approves-troops-in.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/02/russia-troops-copters-in-crimea-and-kiev.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/02/watch-for-afghanistan-to-have-next-arab.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/02/is-this-ukraine-situation-beggining-of.html
THE RUSSIA - UKRAINE SITUATION AT 8:40AM SUN MAR 16,14
THE REFERENDUM VOTE IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW.WE SHOULD FIND OUT THE FINAL RESULTS IN A COUPLE OF DAYS.
THE RUSSIA - UKRAINE SITUATION AT 1:00PM SUN MAR 16,14
WELL THE VOTE IS UNDER WAY IN CRIMEA.AND ALREADY THERE SAYING AT LEAST 80% ARE VOTING FOR RUSSIA TO TAKE OVER CRIMEA AND MAKE IT A RUSSIAN COUNTRY.BY TOMORROW WE SHOULD HAVE THE FINAL RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM.THEN BY TUESDAY THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT SHOULD PASS A LAW MAKING CRIMEA PART OF RUSSIA.
WITH THIS RESULT.THE USELESS UNITED NATIONS IS SAYING RUSSIA IS OCCUPYING STOLEN LAND.ITS NOT A LEGAL VOTE.AND IN UKRAINE THEY ARE WORRIED THAT PUTIN WILL PULL NAPOLEON-NERO BLITZKEG.AND WITH HIS ARMY AND GRADUALLY TAKE OVER THE WHOLE UKRAINE CITY BY CITY UNTILL ALL UKRAINE IS RUSSIAS.THEN PUTIN WILL GO FOR POLAND AND OTHER NATO NATIONS AROUND THE UKRAINE TO DO TO AS HE IS DOING IN THE UKRAINE-UNTILL THE WHOLE AREA IS IN RUSSIAN CONTROL.UNLESS NATO AND A EUROPEAN UNION ARMY STOP IT.AND TAKE CONTROL OF THE WHOLE AREA.SO PUTIN CAN'T CONQUER IT.SINCE OBAMA IS A USELESS EMPTY SUIT.THE EUROPEAN UNION HAS TO GET A QUICK ARMY TOGETHER STARTING WITH THE RAPID REACTION FORCE IN FRANCE COMING TO PROTECT THE AREA UNTIL THE EUROPEAN UNION CAN GET A 500 THOUSAND TO 700 THOUSAND MAN ARMY TOGETHER TO CONTROL RUSSIA IN THE UKRAINE AND ALL AROUND IT.
THE RUSSIA - UKRAINE SITUATION AT 2:35PM SUN MAR 16,14
RUSSIA HAS TAKEN THE CRIMEA BY A 90% VOTE THE POLLS ARE SAYING WITH JUST MINUTES BEFORE THE FINAL COUNT.ITS 8:35PM CRIMEA TIME-2:35PM EST.CRIMEA OFFICIALLY BECOMES MOTHER RUSSIA TERRITORY.LOOKOUT NOW.THE FIGHT OR WAR WILL LITERALLY BE ON BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE WEST NOW.
THE RUSSIA - UKRAINE SITUATION AT 6:15PM SUN MAR 16,14
AT 4:35PM HALF OF THE VOTES ARE COUNTED IN THE REFERENDUM AND 95% OF THE VOTERS HAVE VOTED TO JOIN RUSSIA.TOMORROW THE CRIMEAN PRESIDENT WILL SIGN A PAPER TO OFFICIALLY JOIN RUSSIA.THE CRIMEAN PARLIAMANT WILL HOLD AN EMERGENCY SESSION TOMORROW-THEN A DELEGATION WILL GO OVER TO RUSSIA TO FINALIZE THE VOTING.SAYING THAT CRIMEA IS OFFICIALLY PART OF RUSSIAN TERRITORY.AND ALSO CRIMEA WILL ADOPT THE RUBLE AS THEIR CURRENCY IN APRIL.
IT OFFICIAL AT 6PM THAT 95% OF THE VOTES WERE FOR RUSSIA TO TAKE OVER FULLY CRIMEA.
Crimeans overwhelmingly vote for secession-By MIKE ECKEL and JOHN-THOR DAHLBURG 42 minutes ago-MAR 16,14-Yahoonews
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Fireworks exploded and Russian flags fluttered above jubilant crowds Sunday after residents in Crimea voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. The United States and Europe condemned the ballot as illegal and destabilizing and were expected to slap sanctions on Russia for it.Ukraine's new government in Kiev called the referendum a "circus" directed at gunpoint by Moscow — referring to the thousands of Russian troops now in the strategic Black Sea peninsula after seizing it two weeks ago.But after the polls closed late Sunday, crowds of ethnic Russians in the regional Crimean capital of Simferopol erupted with jubilant chants in the main square, overjoyed at the prospect of once again becoming part of Russia.The Crimea referendum offered voters the choice of seeking annexation with Russia or remaining in Ukraine with greater autonomy. After 50 percent of the ballots were counted, Mikhail Malishev, head of the referendum committee, said more than 95 percent of voters had approved joining Russia.Opponents of secession appeared to have stayed away Sunday, denouncing the vote as a cynical power play and land grab by Russia.The vote could also encourage rising pro-Russian sentiment in Ukraine's east and lead to further divisions in this nation of 46 million. Residents in western Ukraine and the capital, Kiev, strongly favor closer ties with the West instead of Russia.The Crimean parliament will meet Monday to formally ask Moscow to be annexed and Crimean lawmakers will fly to Moscow later in the day for talks, Crimea's pro-Russia prime minister said on Twitter.In Moscow, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Sergei Naryshkin, suggested that joining Russia was a done deal."We understand that for 23 years after Ukraine's formation as a sovereign state, Crimeans have been waiting for this day," Naryshkin was quoted as saying by the state ITAR-Tass news agency.Russian lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky said the annexation could come in as soon as three days, according to Interfax.Russian President Vladimir Putin said the referendum was conducted in "full accordance with international law and the U.N. charter."Some Crimea residents backing secession said they feared the new Ukrainian government that took over when President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia last month will oppress them."It's like they're crazy Texans in western Ukraine. Imagine if the Texans suddenly took over power (in Washington) and told everyone they should speak Texan," said Ilya Khlebanov, a voter in Simferopol.In Sevastopol, the Crimean port where Russia now leases a major naval base from Ukraine for $98 million a year, more than 70 people surged into a polling station in the first 15 minutes of voting Sunday.Ukraine's new prime minister insisted that neither Ukraine nor the West would recognize the vote."Under the stage direction of the Russian Federation, a circus performance is underway: the so-called referendum," Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Sunday. "Also taking part in the performance are 21,000 Russian troops, who with their guns are trying to prove the legality of the referendum."As soon as the polls closed, the White House again denounced the vote."The international community will not recognize the results of a poll administered under threats of violence," it said in a statement. "Russia's actions are dangerous and destabilizing."Russia raised the stakes Saturday when its forces, backed by helicopter gunships and armored vehicles, took control of the Ukrainian village of Strilkove and a key natural gas distribution plant nearby— the first Russian military move into Ukraine beyond the Crimean peninsula of 2 million people. The Russian forces later returned the village but kept control of the gas plant.
On Sunday, Ukrainian soldiers were digging trenches and erecting barricades between the village and the gas plant."We will not let them advance further into Ukrainian territory," said Serhiy Kuz, commander of a Ukrainian paratrooper battalion.Despite the threat of sanctions, Putin has vigorously resisted calls to pull back in Crimea. At the United Nations on Saturday, Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution declaring the referendum illegal.However, Putin spoke with President Barack Obama and supported a proposal from Germany to expand an international observer mission in Ukraine, the Kremlin said Sunday in a statement after the vote."The heads of state noted that despite the differences in their assessments, it was necessary to work together to find a way to stabilize the situation in Ukraine," the statement said.German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also spoke with Putin on Sunday, wants more observers sent to tense areas, particularly in eastern Ukraine, her spokesman said. Putin told Obama that such a mission would be welcome but would need to be extended to all regions in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.In Donetsk, one of the main cities in eastern Ukraine, pro-Russia demonstrators called Sunday for a referendum similar to the one in Crimea.In Sevastopol, speakers blared the city anthem up and down the streets but the military threat was not far away — a Russian naval warship still blocked the port's outlet to the Black Sea, trapping Ukrainian boats.At a polling station inside a historic school, tears came to Vladimir Lozovoy, a 75-year-old retired Soviet naval officer, as he talked about his vote."I want to cry. I have finally returned to my motherland. It is an incredible feeling. This is the thing I have been waiting for for 23 years," he said.But Crimea's large Muslim Tatar minority — whose families had been forcibly removed from their homeland and sent to Central Asia during Soviet times — remained defiant.
The Crimea referendum "is a clown show, a circus," Tatar activist Refat Chubarov said on Crimea's Tatar television station. "This is a tragedy, an illegitimate government with armed forces from another country."The fate of Ukrainian soldiers trapped in their Crimean bases by pro-Russian forces was still uncertain. But Ukraine's acting defense minister, Igor Tenyuk, was quoted as saying Sunday that an agreement had been reached with Russia not to block Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea through Friday. It was not clear exactly what that meant.On the streets of Simferopol, blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags were nowhere to seen but red, white and blue Russian and Crimean flags fluttered in abundance.Ethnic Ukrainians interviewed outside the Ukrainian Orthodox cathedral of Vladimir and Olga said they refused to take part in the referendum, calling it an illegal charade stage-managed by Moscow. Some said they were scared of the potential for widespread harassment."We're just not going to play these separatist games," said Yevgen Sukhodolsky, a 41-year-old prosecutor from Saki, a town outside Simferopol. "Putin is the fascist. The Russian government is fascist."Vasyl Ovcharuk, a retired gas pipe layer, predicted dark days ahead for Crimea."This will end up in military action, in which peaceful people will suffer. And that means everybody. Shells and bullets are blind," he said.___Dalton Bennett in Sevastopol, Yuras Karmanau in Strilkove and Jim Heintz and Maria Danilova in Kiev contributed to this story
Crimea vote fully legal, Putin tells Obama 37 minutes ago-MAR 16,14-Yahoonews
Moscow (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin told US President Barack Obama on Sunday the referendum on Crimea joining Russia was fully legal, but the two leaders also agreed to work together to find ways out of the Ukraine crisis, the Kremlin said.The telephone conversation between Putin and Obama, which the Kremlin said were held at the initiative of the American side, came amid soaring US-Russia tensions as initial results showed Crimea had voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia."(Putin) emphasised that it was fully in line with the norms of international law and the UN charter," the Kremlin said.It added that the referendum took into account "the well-known precedent of Kosovo" which has been recognised by more than 100 countries, including the United States and all but five EU members since declaring independence from Serbia in 2008. But the statement saide the two leaders also agreed that "despite the differences in assessment it is necessary to jointly search for ways of stabilising the situation in Ukraine".Putin also told the US president that any Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission should cover "all Ukrainian regions" and not just Crimea.German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Putin earlier Sunday that she backed a bigger role in Ukraine for the OSCE, in particular in the tense east of the country.The Russian leader, who has not recognised the new pro-West authorities in Kiev after the fall of president Viktor Yanukovych last month, told Obama that Moscow was unhappy with the Ukrainian government's failure to crack down on "ultra-nationalist and radical groups".He said such groups were "destabilising the situation and terrorising peaceful inhabitants as well as the Russian-speaking population".
Kidnapping reports raise pre-referendum tensions in Crimea
AFP By Oleg Leus 15 hours ago-MAR 16,14-Yahoonews
Sevastopol (Ukraine) (AFP) - Ukraine's Greek Catholic Church said a priest was seized by armed men from a chapel in Sevastopol on Saturday, shortly after a pro-Russian group reported one of its leaders had been abducted.The two incidents are the latest in a series of kidnapping reports in Crimea, often involving activists for and against the referendum to be held on Sunday to decide whether the region should break away from Ukraine and join Russia.Father Mykola Kvich, a chaplain with Ukraine's armed forces, was taken from a parish near the city cemetery, the Church said.But according to local police, the priest was detained and later released, and 10 bullet proof vests were found in his residence during a search.The Greek Catholic Church is particularly strong in the mostly Ukrainian-speaking west of the country and has been in favour of the Maidan protests that brought the current pro-West government in Kiev to power last month. The priest's chaplain role "could be the reason for these actions by the armed self-defence groups in Crimea," said Father Lyubomyr Yavorskiy, an official in the Church's military chaplaincy department.Earlier Saturday a pro-Russian leader in Sevastopol -- home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet since the 18th century -- was reported kidnapped.The Russky Blok party cited eyewitnesses saying that its leader in the city, local assemblyman Gennadiy Basov, "was seized by nine people and taken away in a blue minivan".
Repeated attempts to contact Basov on his mobile went unanswered and police said they were "checking" a formal missing person report from the party.Kidnapping reports are often hard to confirm because Ukraine's interior ministry no longer has authority in Crimea, and the reports sometimes appear to be part of an "information war" between two bitterly opposed sides.Three activists and journalists were reported missing after being last seen at a Crimean-controlled checkpoint earlier this week and have since been released.One of them, Olena Maksimenko, said the experience was "psychologically tough"."They were trying to find out who we worked for and who was paying us," she said at a press conference in Kiev.Maksimenko said at one point she was throttled with a rope and punched in the face by a Cossack.She said they were arrested at a checkpoint and taken to a military base in Sevastopol."They regularly took us out for interrogations, tried to get me to say I was some kind of spy," she said.Ukraine's former defence minister Anatoliy Gritsenko said Friday on his Facebook page that his son Oleksiy was one of three pro-unity activists who went missing on Thursday in the Crimean capital Simferopol.Gritsenko said his son had been supplying food, medicine and electricity generators to Ukrainian military bases on the peninsula, which are often surrounded by self- defence groups and Russian forces.Amnesty International said it was following the case and that two of the activists' mobile phones had been tracked to near Simferopol's military commissariat.The human rights watchdog in a statement called on Crimean authorities to ensure "their immediate and unconditional release". "Reports of the harassment and intimidation of activists and journalists by the de facto military forces operating in Crimea are an extremely worrying development where human rights abuses are already rife," said John Dalhuisen, the group's Europe and Central Asia director.Asked about these and other reports of abductions, Crimea's pro-Moscow prime minister Sergiy Aksyonov told reporters on Friday that any detentions were aimed at fighting off "provocateurs"."I'm not arresting anyone but if people come here with bad intentions then law enforcement will deal with them," he said.
