Ukraina valde Ryssland före EU - stora protester som följd, länkar i inlägg2

Enligt Skillt har aktivister som bussats in från Ryssland bidragit till att piska upp pro-ryska stämningar i östra Ukraina. Han berättar att han förra veckan var med när en rysk soldat greps och förhördes av en pro-ukrainsk paramilitär grupp i Charkov.
– Det kom en busslast med pro-ryska aktivister. Det blev lite konfrontation och en av herrarna från bussen togs om hand och förhördes. Det visade sig att han var rysk soldat på permission. Han hade fått betalt för att resa till Charkov och ställa till med cirkus. Han var inte betald av den ryska staten utan av grupperingar i Ryssland som har intresse av det här och arrangerar bussresor till östra Ukraina.
– Det betyder inte att det inte finns vanligt folk och lokala grupper som är pro-ryska också. Det finns det. Men en stor del av de som är väldigt militanta och duktiga på att bedriva militant aktivism är ryssar.

När Fria Tider frågar Skillt om misstankarna att den ukrainska oppositionen kan ha legat bakom beskjutningar av demonstranter på Maidan, säger han att han känner till uppgifterna men inte sätter tilltro till dem. Däremot har han själv talat med två personer som bedrev prickskytte mot polisen vid Maidantorget under kravallerna.
– De använde sig av halvautomatiska gevär av märket Saiga, försedda med kikarsikten, och sköt från tredje våningen i det så kallade fackföreningshuset vid Maidantorget. Deras uppgift var att slå ut Berkuts prickskyttar, säger Skillt.

Nato's top military commander has warned that Russia is building an "incredible force" on its border with Ukraine, and said the time has come for Western allies to move its own troops to the east.

There are growing fears that President Vladimir Putin may be preparing to follow up the annexation of Crimea with a move into Moldova's mainly Russian-speaking separatist Transdniestria.

US Air Force General Philip Breedlove, Nato's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said Russia had used "snap" military exercises apparently as a tactic to shift vast numbers of troops towards the border.---

"You cannot defend against that if you are not there to defend against it. So I think we need to think about our allies, the positioning of our forces in the alliance and the readiness of those forces ... such that we can be there to defend against it if required, especially in the Baltics and other places."

Asked whether he could rule out a military incursion into Ukraine beyond the Crimea, Vladimir Chizhov said it was not Russia's "intention", but added that he could not speak for "the Commander in Chief".

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry has been told to withdraw all its forces from Crimea, hours after Russian troops threw stun grenades and fired shots during their seizure of a navy base.
Ukraine's acting president said the defence ministry was given the order on Monday after Ukrainian troops lost control of one of their last remaining bases in the region.
Speaking in parliament Oleksander Turchinov said the decision was taken in the face of "threats to the lives and health of our service personnel."

He said: "The National Defence and Security Council has instructed the Defence Ministry to carry out a re-deployment of military units in Crimea and carry out the evacuation of their families."
Russian troops, backed by helicopters and armoured personnel carriers, forced their way into the base in Feodosia in the early hours of Monday morning.
Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov said: "The invading troops were using stun grenades and also firing automatic weapons ... The interior of the compound is full of Russian troops."

"The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw has received an official letter from the deputy chairman of the Russian Parliament Vladimir Zhirinovsky with a proposal to divide the Ukraine". Eturbonews.com writes about this.

According to the source, the letter suggested for Poland to evaluate and work on a referendum in the Ukraine on the question of inviting the Ukrainian regions Volyn, Lviv , Ivano- Frankivsk, Ternopil and Rivne to join the EU country Poland.

"It's just outrageous to think Poland would participate in the division of a friendly country and change its borders ," was the response by Tomas Nałęcz, a presidential aid of humanitarian affairs for the Polish government. He added the "official" message must be directed to the analysis of a psychiatrist.

According to Polish media reports the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw received an official letter from the Russian State Duma , which contains the sentence about Ukraine. The Polish news outlet Gazeta.pl with reference to the international channel of the Polish Public Television TVP (Telewizja Polska) reported about the letter.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski confirmed the letter was received and said that no one considered this letter seriously ."

Moreover, as reported by TVP, similar "suggestions" from the Russian’s officials were sent Hungary and Romania, These two EU nations were invited to invite Transcarpathia and Chernivtsi to join them.