Yulia Tymoshenko, the ex-Ukraine PM and one-time billionaire “Gas Princess” has been accused of everything from murder to forgery. More recently she has been outed in a leaked phone call. She is heard chatting with former government official Nestor Shufrych and venting about the situation in Crimea. In the course
Continue readingAuthor: Jay Cables
drive-by planet: Israel, Harper back unelected Kiev government: anti-Semitism and far-right nationalism downplayed
Top: Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok in group shot with Canada’s John Baird / Lower left: Tyahnybok in action / Lower right: Svoboda parade Stephen Harper’s visit to Ukraine this week is the first by any G7 leader since the coup that saw the overthrow of Yanukovych. Harper is a
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Watch: far-right Svoboda politicians beat Ukrainian TV chief, force him to resign
Video stills Kiev: According to Russian news sources, also this report in Huffington Post, politicians from the far-right Svoboda party have been involved in a brazen attack on a CEO of Ukrainian state television. Some of the reports claim the attackers are members in the new Ukrainian parliament. The action
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Massive turnout in Crimea: 96.77 vote for integration with Russia: jubilant crowds capture the mood
There was a massive turnout in the Crimea referendum, with 81.3 percent of eligible voters participating. When the final tally was in 96.77 percent voted “yes” to integration with the Russian Federation. The way it breaks down in terms of numbers is 1,233,002 votes for integration out of a total
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Double standards, threats and false claims in run-up to March 16 referendum in Crimea
The referendum in Crimea scheduled for March 16 has been declared invalid by US secretary of state John Kerry who also issued warnings of serious consequences if Russia “annexes” Crimea. He promised that sanctions against Russia would “get ugly fast.” This was echoed by Germany’s Angela Merkel who has made
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Leaked phone-call links US-backed coalition in Kiev with deadly sniper attacks
A leaked phone call between Estonian foreign minister, Urmas Paet, and EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, surfaced last week. It includes the suggestion that some party connected with the opposition – the current coalition in power in Kiev – was behind the lethal sniper attacks in Independence Square that
Continue readingdrive-by planet: New government in Kiev not exactly ‘revolutionary’: demonization of Russia
Top – Kiev government officials / Beneath – billionaire oligarchs Igor Kolomoyski and Sergey Taruta It comes as no surprise that the so-called “democratic revolution” in Ukraine basically boils down to a change of governing elites. The self-appointed government in Kiev does not herald any sweeping change that could credibly
Continue readingdrive-by planet: U.S. hypocrisy on Russian involvement in Crimea
This week US president Obama raised concerns about Russian involvement in Crimea. He said he is “deeply disturbed” by the Russian move and that “Any violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply destabilizing.” He made reference to “costs” facing Russia for its “military intervention” – adding to
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Ukraine’s fascist ‘heroes’ and a bleak new dawn
Beneath: Banner of Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera hangs in Kiev City Hall / Yulia Tymoshenko The forcible removal of Victor Yanukovych’s regime in what has been likened to a “fascist putsch” has led to an unstable and potentially dangerous situation in the Ukraine. Terms such as “democratic revolution” used by
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Ultra-nationalists and fascist thugs – tools of imperialist designs in Ukraine
The protests in the Ukraine that began last November in Kiev’s Independence Square – the Maidan – were staged to protest president Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to back out of a plan to join a trade agreement with the EU, in preference for joining the Eurasian Customs Union. As with most
Continue readingdrive-by planet: ‘Zionism is the problem’: new Presbyterian study guide takes a criticial look at Zionist ideology
A recent post on Electronic Intifada discusses a new study guide published by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. titled Zionism Unsettled. It takes a critical look at Zionist ideology that has influenced many of the unjust Israeli policies targeted by the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In an
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Vijay Prashad on anti-imperialism [video]: the ‘third way’ on Syria
I concur with most of what Vijay Prashad is arguing in this video talk except to say that there is a lot more at stake in Syria than for example Libya, in terms of the power balance in the Middle East. When the NATO attack on Libya got underway some
Continue readingdrive-by planet: The Syrian nightmare Washington is helping to create
Many progressives and leftists find themselves in a conflicted position over the war in Syria. They don’t support western interventionism but by the same token are unwilling to give support to the Assad regime. A third way approach is support for the Syrian people and their legitimate demands – as
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Snowden ARD interview (video – English version): U.S. officials ‘want to kill me’
In an interview with ARD, Germany’s national broadcaster, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden speaks of threats against his life that were reported on Buzzfeed. A Buzzfeed piece titled America’s spies want Edward Snowden dead cites a number of threats made by anonymous US officials. These include a rather macabre hit suggested
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