Air defense shot down the second S-200 missile flying to the Crimean bridge

Russian air defense shot down the second Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile of the S-200 complex, converted to strike at the Earth, flying to the Crimean bridge, there was no damage, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

Ukraine behind Crimean Bridge blast – US media

The blast that damaged Russia’s strategic Crimean Bridge and killed at least three people was orchestrated by Ukraine, the New York Times and Washington Post both reported on Saturday, citing sources.

Russia 'moves troops in Crimea' ahead of Ukraine-US meet

Kyiv accused Moscow on Sept. 18 of massing its troops in annexed Crimea on the Ukraine border, rattling nerves just as President Petro Poroshenko prepared to meet US counterpart Barack Obama.
     
The apparent push north by about 4,000 troops in the Black Sea peninsula came despite Russia's declared backing of a peace overture by Kiev to try to end five months of conflict in the rebellious east.
     
"According to our information, almost all military units of the Russian Federation stationed in the north of "occupied Crimea"(sic)... were pushed to the administrative border with Ukraine along with all their equipment and ammunition," National Security and Defence Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters.

Russian Navy Trains to Fight Assault as NATO Accumulates Ships in Black Sea

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has started training for fighting an amphibious assault in light of the high concentration of NATO ships in the area, a representative of the Russian Navy told journalists Tuesday. 

"Today, July 8, during a planned training of various Black Sea forces, coastal defense troops subdivisions have started drills for the defense of a coastal amphibious assault at the military training grounds on the Crimean Peninsula," the Russian fleet representative said.

Putin blames West for inciting civil war in Ukraine

Ongoing events in Ukraine were a "full-scale civil war" incited by the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday.
"The state coup (in Kiev) supported by U.S. and European partners was followed by chaos and now by a full-scale civil war," RIA Novosti news agency quoted Putin as saying in a speech at the 18th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
This was why Moscow had rescued Crimea from a "big tragedy" which would have happened on the peninsula if it had not joined Russia, he said.

Crimea would've been greater tragedy than Odessa had it not joined Russia (Vladimir Putin)

There would have been far more casualties in Crimea than there were in Odessa, had the peninsula not joined Russia, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

It was the right move, he said. "Had it not been done, we would have seen worse tragedies there than those we are now seeing in some Ukrainian cities, for example in Odessa where unarmed people were burnt alive in a building where they had been forced to hide: 50 people were burnt and as many have been unaccounted for. Where are they? In fact, they were murdered too.

Churkin: Russia is surprised as UN ignores shelling of Slavyansk

Russia is surprised at the absence of reaction from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to artillery shelling of the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk as well as to Kiev’s cutting off Crimea water supply, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said on Wednesday.

He said this had been brought to the attention of UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic. He said the Russian side had got a rather surprising answer that the issue was being looked into. “It can be seen from any satellite that the water does not come in,” he said, adding that the UN had once again dodged its responsibility to give unbiased assessment of events. The same way it avoided condemning the artillery shelling of Slavyansk, also referring to a need to carry out an investigation, the ambassador noted.

Ukraine builds dam cutting off Crimea water supply

Recent satellite images show that Kiev is deliberately trying to cut off Crimea peninsula's water supply by building a dam. In the meantime Russian scientists are trying to find ways to supply Crimea with fresh water.
Experts from the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources are developing ways to supply fresh water to the Crimea from the Kuban River in the Krasnodar region to the North Crimean Canal which now receives limited water-flow, as Kiev tightens the lid on Simferopol.

Turchynov signs bill declaring Crimea "occupied territory"

Ukraine’s parliament-appointed Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has signed the bill on ensuring the rights and freedoms of citizens on “a temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine”, the press service of the acting president said.

The bill that declares Crimea and Sevastopol “occupied territories” was approved by the Verkhovna Rada on April 15.

Kiev has no legal grounds for halting water supply to Crimea

Photo: monctonnews.net

Kiev has no legal grounds for halting water supply to Crimea, its First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev told ITAR-TASS on Saturday, April 26.
“The Kiev junta has once again shown its real face,” he said.
“There is no and will be no shortage of drinking water in Crimea. But there will certainly be losses in agriculture. We can’t say that the agricultural season has been wrecked, but there will certainly be losses,” Temirgaliyev said.
He said work was underway to draft a drip irrigation programme to save water. “We hope it will be implemented by the next agricultural year,” he added.

Italian PM, Matteo Renzi, expresses support to Ukrainian reform process. - Kiev lascia la Crimea senz'acqua

Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Saturday expressed Italy's support to the Ukrainian reform process in a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Arseny Yatseniuk in Rome, a statement from the Italian government's office said.

During the talks, "Renzi has expressed the strong support from Italy to the process of political and economic reforms carried out by the government in Kiev," the statement read.

"The day after the G7 statement, Renzi and Yatseniuk agreed on commitments to respect the Geneva accords," it added.

Ukraine Confirms Entry Ban on Russian Males

The Ukrainian State Border Guard Service confirmed Thursday that Russian males aged 16-60 have been banned from entering the country.
Russia’s largest airline Aeroflot earlier announced it had received an official letter from Ukrainian authorities notifying the company of the severe restrictions.
The exceptions to the ban include passengers traveling with relatives who are women or children, or those who have documents confirming an invitation from close relatives or serious illness or death in the family, the company said.

Ukraine insists it will use self-defense if necessary...

The Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Yuri Klymenko said Tuesday at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, "If there is aggression against eastern and southern parts of Ukraine, we will use self-defense."

"We are worried about what is happening in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine and it happens because of the direct support of Russia on protests and provocations," Klymenko continued, adding "Crimea remains Ukrainian territory. We are going to cooperate with the international community particularly the U.S., UN and NATO to change the current situation."

Ukraine: "If the EU’s reaction is weak, Putin will make another step". - Polish MEP Paweł Kowal

Ukraine has been making the headlines for months. What started as mass demonstrations escalated into violent clashes and finally the annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russia. "The EU should have reacted much earlier," said Paweł Kowal, the head of Parliament’s delegation to Ukraine, the head of Parliament’s delegation to Ukraine. The Polish member of the ECR group discussed the situation in the troubled country during a chat with the Parliament’s Facebook fans on 9 April.

Many expressed their concerns over Russia's role in the crisis and its annexation of Crimea. Mr Kowal said the measures already taken against Russia were not enough: “We need to stop military cooperation with Russia and halt arms trade with them as well.” He also said that Putin is closely following the EU’s response to Crimea: “If the reaction is weak, he makes another step."

Analista: "EE.UU. busca un mayor enemigo para justificar sus gastos de defensa"

Con los gastos en defensa evaluados en un billón de dólares al año, EE.UU. trata de justificar este dinero mediante la creación de enemigos tangibles en todo el mundo, dijo el analista político Patrick Hennigsen a RT.
"Actualmente Estados Unidos está buscando a un enemigo, un enemigo mayor, que requiere para justificar los gastos de más de un billón de dólares al año en total. Y estos son los contratos que pertenecen a corporaciones que son muy poderosas, porque ejerciendo presión en Washington poseen una influencia increíble sobre el liderazgo político", recuerda Hennigsen.

NATO Will Not Consider Direct Military Aid to Ukraine. – Source

Direct military aid to Ukraine will not be considered at tomorrow's NATO meeting, a senior official of the Atlantic alliance said Monday on the condition of anonymity.
Foreign ministers of NATO member states are to meet in Brussels on Tuesday and will attend a session of the NATO-Ukraine commission.
The source said there will be no review of the operational aspects of the alliance's relationship with Ukraine, such as direct military aid. Discussions will instead focus on expanding cooperation with Ukraine under the framework of the existing commission.

La civilisation russe remplacera la civilisation européenne

Jacques Attali n’est pas à présenter. Le créateur de la BERD et conseiller spécial de François Mitterrand est loin de chérir la Russie. Pourtant, en homme objectif, il a tenu à se prononcer sur la Crimée et sur le droit des peuples à l’autodétermination. Voici ce qu’il a confié en toute exclusivité à la Voix de la Russie.

Voix de la Russie. Monsieur Attali, que pensez-vous de la situation en Crimée ?

Jacques Attali. Mon point de vue est le suivant : indépendamment de la question de la Crimée comme on dit, j’ai toujours été favorable à l’autodétermination des peuples. Par définition, l’autodétermination ne suppose pas l’accord des autres dont on se sépare.

Η Ουκρανία θα φιλοξενήσει δύο βασικούς Δυτικούς Συμμάχους της μετά την απώλεια της Κριμαίας...

Ο Γερμανός υπουργός εξωτερικών και ο Καναδός πρωθυπουργός θα συναντηθούν με τον προσωρινό πρόεδρο του Κιέβου που επιδιώκει στενότερους δεσμούς με την Δύση.

Οι δύο ζωτικής συμμαχίας σύμμαχοι επισκέπτονται σήμερα Σάββατο την Ουκρανία συμβάλλοντας στην εδραίωση της χώρας μακρυά από την Ρωσία μέσα σε ένα κλίμα Ψυχρού Πολέμου στο στυλ της πρώην Σοβιετικής Ένωσης και με την Κριμαία στην Ρωσική Ομοσπονδία και τυπικά.

Ukrainian FM urges OSCE to 'end Russian occupation'. -Turkey says it does not recognize the results of the Crimean referendum nor their implications.

VIENNA. -Ukraine's Acting Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchystsia has called on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to end the "Russian occupation" of his country.

Speaking at a meeting in Vienna of the Permanent Council of the OSCE on Thursday, Deshchystsia said Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty had been violated by Russia's action, which he said was a violation of OSCE Agreements and all UN Security Council resolutions.

Obama Announces New Sanctions Against Russia

WASHINGTON, March 20 (RIA Novosti) – US President Barack Obama on Thursday announced new sanctions against Russia over its reunification with Crimea.

Obama said more Russians were added to the blacklist of individuals, who are subject to travel restrictions and whose assets in the US will be frozen.

The US president also mentioned that sanctions will be imposed on The Rossiya Bank.