May 2, 2014

A number of pro-Russia rebels were killed and injured this morning in a Ukrainian military offensive in the separatist stronghold of Slovyansk. Speaking to media representatives in Kiev, interim Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov confirmed that government forces were tightening a cordon around Slovyansk, with the object of retaking control of the city.

Earlier in the day two Ukrainian army helicopters were shot down, killing a pilot and a serviceman. The self-appointed mayor of Slovyansk, Vyachislav Ponomaryov, claimed that his forces had brought down the helicopters. Ponomaryov stated that the helicopters had fired missiles into the city. His assertions remain unconfirmed.

Ukrainian military forces today launched an offensive against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. (World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

In Moscow, the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly denounced the offensive, declaring that Ukraine has effectively destroyed “all hope” for a plan, negotiated last month in Geneva, Switzerland, to defuse growing tensions. While Putin called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, a Kremlin spokesperson repeated Putin’s recent warning that he reserves the right to intervene militarily in eastern Ukraine to protect the interests of its ethnic-Russian residents.  Speaking to German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday by telephone, Putin demanded that the Ukrainian government withdraw all troops from eastern Ukraine. Russia has 40,000 troops massed along the Ukrainian border.

For additional information on the Ukrainian crisis, search Ukraine articles under Archived Stories.

Additional World Book article:

• Russia in the Post-Soviet World (a special report)

March 3, 2014

Russia reportedly has demanded the surrender of Ukrainian forces in Crimea. There are reports that the Russian military has given Ukrainian forces in Crimea an ultimatum to surrender tonight by 10:00 pm EST or face a full military assault. With Russian troops surrounding Ukrainian bases and airports and manning roadblocks that have cut Ukrainian access to the peninsula, Russia is, in effect, already in control of Crimea, the southern most region of Ukraine.

After already having ordered thousands of troops into Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin on March 1 received  authorization from the Russian parliament to deploy armed forces “on Ukrainian territory.” Correspondents reported that the road from Sevastopol to Simferopol, the provincial capital, quickly filled with Russian army trucks.

Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, subsequently announced that he had put Ukraine’s armed forces on full readiness because of “potential aggression” from the estimated 15,000 Russian troops crossing into Crimea.

In a heated, 90-minute telephone conversation on March 1, President Putin informed U.S. President Barack Obama that Russia had the right to protect its interests and those of Russian speakers not only in Crimea but also in east Ukraine. After the conversation, President Obama expressed his deep concern over Russia’s clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, which he characterized as  a “breach of international law.”

President Vladimir Putin sent thousands of Russian troops into neighboring Crimea, the southernmost region of Ukriane.(AP/Wide World)

In a video address on her website, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko declared on March 2 that by occupying Crimea, Russia has effectively “declared war” on the United Kingdom and the United States. According to Tymoshenko, British and U.S. representatives in 1994 signed the “Budapest Memorandum” guaranteeing Ukraine’s security. “Vladimir Putin is fully conscious that by declaring war, he is also declaring war on the guarantors of our security, the United States and Britain,” she noted.

European Union foreign ministers went into session today in Brussels to discuss possible punitive steps against Russia unless it pulls its troops back to its own bases in Crimea. British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Russia to pull back its forces in Crimea or face “significant costs,” echoing comments made by U.S. President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. “The world cannot just allow this to happen,” Hague told the BBC. “The world cannot say it’s O.K. in effect to violate the sovereignty of another nation in this way.” However, the governments of France and Germany have made it plain that the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia is not on the table, let alone a military intervention. International affairs experts note that much of the European Union is highly dependent on Russian oil and natural gas.  In 2007, EU countries imported from Russia 32.6 percent of their total oil imports and 38.7 percent of total natural gas imports.

The people of Ukraine are split over their attitudes toward East and West. Crimea as well as eastern Ukraine is largely populated with Russian-speaking people with close historic and cultural ties to Russia. Western Ukraine is largely populated with Ukrainian-speaking people who want Ukraine allied with the European Union and the West. Today, pro-Russian demonstrators marched in the streets of the big cities of eastern Ukraine, voicing their allegiance to Moscow. In the city of Donetsk, about 1,000 demonstrators, waving Russian flags and shouting, “Putin, come!” occupied the first floor of the regional government building that has already been flying the Russian flag for several days.

Additional World Book articles:

• Russia in the Post-Soviet World (a special report)
• Ukraine 1994 (a Back in Time article)

February 24, 2014

Ukraine’s parliament issued an arrest warrant today for Viktor F. Yanukovych, Ukraine’s ousted president, who is believed to be in hiding somewhere in Crimea. He is charged with mass murder for the killing last week of more than 80 antigovernment protesters in Kiev, the capital. On February 21, Yanukovych and leaders of the antigovernment opposition reached a compromise agreement designed to end the political crisis that had turned Kiev into a battleground. However, the protesters in the streets would have none of it and demanded his immediate resignation. Abandoned by his political party, by the army and police, and even by his own body guards, Yanukovych fled Kiev late on February 22. According to one source, he flew by helicopter to eastern Ukraine, the Russian-speaking half of the country that was once his base of public support.

The Ukrainian parliament, moving quickly to assert control of the government, yesterday stripped Yanukovych of all power and granted its new parliamentary speaker, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, the authority to carry out the duties of the president. In a recorded address to the nation, Turchynov assured the public that all police and security services were now on the side of the new government. “The law enforcement structures are no longer threatening the life, health and security of the citizens of Ukraine,” he declared, noting that the army has also vowed its support. “Our first task today,” he stated, “is to stop confrontation, renew governance, management and legal order in the country.”

The parliament also restored to the state ownership of the presidential palace, which Yanukovych had privatized. The presidential compound was subsequently thrown open to the public, which streamed through the opulent, gilded rooms, gawking at the conspicuous display of wealth: the collections of expensive cars, antique and modern; a zoo; and a private restaurant in the shape of a floating pirate ship. In the face of such profligacy, the leaders of Yanukovych’s own party, the Party of Regions, issued a scathing statement denouncing him as a crook, a criminal, and a coward. Experts on Ukraine’s financial situation noted that the nation faces an economy in shambles, disastrous national debts, and a treasury and national pension system on the brink of bankruptcy.

Former President Viktor Yanukovych, who is wanted for mass murder, is believed to be in hiding somewhere in Crimea, the southernmost region of Ukraine. Border guards claim to have blocked Yanukovych from leaving the country by air sometime over the weekend. (World Book maps)

The unrest in Ukraine began in November when Yanukovych rejected a trade deal with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia. In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to purchase $15 billion in Ukrainian government bonds. These moves to bind Ukraine to Russia infuriated Ukrainians who wanted the country allied to the West with its tradition of democracy and capitalism. Speaking this morning from the Olympic park in Sochi, Russia, Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev condemned the movement that brought down Yanukovych: “Today, I see no legitimate Ukrainian partners for dialogue. . . If people crossing Kiev in black masks with Kalashnikov rifles are considered a government, it will be difficult for us to work with such a government.” The next multbillion dollar installment of Russian aid to Ukraine has been cancelled, and yesterday, the Russian ambassador to Kiev was recalled, because of “chaos” in the city, and the.

Foreign correspondents in Kiev reported this morning that calm seems to have settled over the city. Former protesters have joined city police–who only last week were shooting at them–to share responsibility for guarding government buildings and directing traffic.

Additional World Book articles:

• Kuchma, Leonid Danylovich
• Viktor Yushchenko
• Ukraine 2004 (a Back in Time article)
• Ukraine 2005 (a Back in Time article)
• Ukraine 2009 (a Back in Time article)
• Ukraine 2010 (a Back in Time article)
• Ukraine 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Ukraine 2012 (a Back in Time article)