Chronicles of the Collapse of Kiev, Edition 2015 – 1b - Finishing School Edition

Part Two - Part One Here.

So we have a son finishing school this year. And current events dictate we need to be concerned, certainly about him getting into University, but also about what should happen if the path to University gets derailed, either by not getting sufficient scores on entry exams, by ever changing and morphing mobilization laws, or by stupidity in general. Regardless, the bribery option is still alive and well and living under the junta regime, so a few well placed bribes can certainly either get him into University or get him out of the country, should it come down to that.

All sources in this update are personal experience or conversations.

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Getting Ready for the End of an Uncertain School Year. Planning End of School Activities

This financial uncertainty is make it quite difficult to plan anything too far in advance. We have a son who is graduating from school this year. It is generally a tradition that on the last day of school to rent out a venue for an all-night event. Not surprisingly, at some schools they will still party as if it's 2014. They'll have the all-night event, they'll have a fancy venue, and no expense will be too much to pay. But at other schools, they'll only party like it's 2015. No all-night event. Just an average venue. And keep the costs down wherever possible. That's just the economic reality these days.

During December and January, two new students started attending our son's class. So now they needed to collect funds from two more sets of parents. We asked the one girl for her parents phone number, but she said we have to talk to her sister. It seems that this girl is from Lugansk, and the war zone. There are parents stayed behind; and sent their daughters to live in Kiev. Not with relatives, but by themselves. Obviously they have some money to be able to afford to do that, which might explain why the parents stayed behind. But yet, it's sad. This is not the first time that refugees from the war zone have come into our lives, and sadly I doubt if it will be the last time either.

After much conversation and plenty of hemming and hawing, a venue was selected. The selected venue, a late-Soviet era restaurant, gave us a fixed price, but who knows? But even then, they wanted part of the upfront price in dollars. So, at least for now, we think we have a venue. But just to get to this point, weirdness ensued. When it came time to hand over the deposit, the manager wrote out a piece of paper and signed it. No contract, just a piece of paper. He insisted that they've never used contracts in the year and a half that he's been working there. So my wife came home and looked up a blank contract on the Internet that could be adopted for this use. She filled in all the blanks and took it back to the venue to be signed. So at least there's a semi-official signed contract. It wasn't until later that my wife noticed that it was a contract form for the Russia Federation. But still that has to be better than no contract at all.

On a side note, unlike a good number of people in Kiev, this manager spoke mostly Ukrainian, in a perfect west Ukrainian accent. My wife looked him up on Facebook and sure enough, he's from L'vov, from the heartland of Ukrainian nationalism. Yeah, this is a thing over here. There's a world of difference in the Ukrainian mentality and a Russian mentality. I thought for a long time that it was mostly an exaggeration. It is not. Maybe I shouldn't go here, but I will.

The Ukrainian mentality reminds me very much of the mentality of certain minority groups in the USA. They are caught in a cycle of underachievement and low level of anger at pretty much everybody and everything. In the USA, skin color is the most noticeable physical difference, so everything gets blamed on racism. In Ukraine, the population is a lot more homogeneous. Physically, it is not possible to differentiate between the two. But mentally, they often seem to live on their own different planets. Russians have traditionally been more successful than their Ukrainian counterparts, and this difference was exploited quite successfully by those who want to sow turmoil in this part of the world. I'm sure that at least some of this hatred of all things Russian arises from this.

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Part of the ritual in a child's last year of school in Ukraine is to hire private tutors to bring the child up to speed on things they fail to learn in the classroom. We're currently utilizing three different tutors. One is for Ukrainian history. Up through the middle of last year, this teacher was teaching in the Lugansk school system, but her and her husband chose to flee to Kiev. Along with other refugees from the war in the East who chose to come to Kiev, they often encounter discrimination when trying to find accommodations and employment. Those who discriminate often don't want to deal with "separatists".

Our teacher eventually found full-time work here in Kiev and tutors on the side. Her husband was offered a position in a technical capacity of some sort, but turned it down because his salary would be 3000 hyrivnia. After the recent currency devaluation, that's about $120. A month. She didn't specify what technical skills he has, so it's hard to tell why such a low rate. So he's trying his hand that computer repair. One job a day, five days a week, and he's making what he would've made in the full-time job. And it's all cash payment under the table.

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Some parents are not paying school costs. There are just some school costs the government haven't been paying for, both now and under previous governments. Things like security, printers and toner and paper, and other school supplies. Oh, and I mustn't forget to mention gifts for the teachers. Gifts for birthdays, gifts for holidays, gifts that will make their job easier. Some parents likely can't afford this, so they don't pay, but one mother thinks that donating to the ATO (the Anti-Terrorist Operation, also known as Poroshenko's genocidal war), should absolve her from paying her dues to the school. But in effect, that means that the other parents end up subsidizing this mother's donations to the ATO. And a few parents are not very pleased about it.

My wife and I have decided that we will no longer pay these costs to the school either, since neither of us want to subsidize those who don't pay because they'd prefer to donate to the ATO. So we are saving up the money so that when the end of school comes around, the graduates will have a bit more to celebrate their milestone with.

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Part of the last year of school ritual, here like elsewhere, is having photos taken and creating the new photo album of your school memories. Many photographers would come to the school with the camera and a few lights, sit you in the chair, and take a photograph. A few students and a few parents decided they wanted did a bit more than that. Something with props and decorations and atmosphere. But it would've cost a lot more to have the photographer bring all of that to the school, so one Saturday they trekked across town to the photographer's studio. Though one of the props the photographer had one whole bunch of letters that went arranged in the correct order spelled out "Slava Ukraina," the Bandera era Nazi slogan that's all the rage with non-thinking government supporters everywhere. Well my wife was none to pleased about that one, and she made her displeasure known. And the word started to get around our son's class. A week later there was a parents meeting at the school, and the photo with the Nazi slogan once again came up. And then a few other parents went ballistic. Not surprisingly, a good number of the students are not too pleased with this controversy. And no surprise. I'm sure the school spent a lot of time, especially this year, inculcating their impressionable minds with the new proper groupthink.

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One last story before I close out this edition.

If you think that the so-called "leaders" of the free world might come to their senses any time soon, think again. We recently put in a request to have some simple routine maintenance done in the common area of our building. How routine? How about just changing some light bulbs? Well it seems the maintenance departments have their hands full these days, because they are cleaning up and renovating basements all around the city. Why? For use as bomb shelters, of course.


Aaron Talka is an American and long-term resident of Ukraine. He writes occasionally about the situation in Kiev and maintains the blog "No Bread And Circuses For You".

Chronicles of the Collapse of Kiev, Edition 2015 – Part 1a

Events here in Kiev slowed down in the last half of December and the first half of January, but since then, the situation has certainly deteriorated. Here are some of the current observations from the last few weeks in the capital of Ukraine.

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A note about sources: A number of sources below mention "Source: Personal Observation" or similar. This indicates events seen or heard either by myself, by family members, by family friends, or in conversations with people we otherwise have a reason to deal with.

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In the prior edition of the Chronicles of the Collapse of Kiev, there was a section titled "Ukrainians are starting to refuse to pay utility bills," of which I stated I'd have more to say on this soon. So let me pick up and go into detail a bit more about this story.

But first a correction. I started the story by stating that the unpaid utility debt was as of the end of November. That was not correct. The debt mentioned in the story was actually as of the end of October. So that means that the debt incurred up to that time, 11.8 billion hrynias, or about $800 million using the exchange rate at the time, was all incurred before the start of the heating season. Now that the heating season has begun, the utility debt will ramp up exponentially.

Calculations of the State Statistics Committee, it follows that in the Kiev region paid 65.5% of all accounts, Kirovograd - 64.5%, Cherkasy and Chernihiv - 66%, Sumy - 62% Ternopil - 60%. The total underpayment for hot water has reached 5.5 billion hryvnia for gas - 2 billion hryvnia.

Source: Unpaid Utility Debt in Ukraine (in Russian) - Translation by Google Translate

I've yet to find further news updates on this story, though it's certain that even more people are falling behind in their utility payments. Some because they can't pay, and some because they hope their non-payment forces the government into a more tenuous position than it is now.

(Source: personal observation)

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Economic uncertainty has sprung into high gear. People are attempting to put their money into something that will hold value. Not only has the hryvnia taken a beating already; it's widely anticipated that the local currency will take a further beating later this year.

(Source: personal observation)

The national Bank of Ukraine has already committed itself to increase the money supply this year by 27%. Officially, the prediction is an inflation rate of 17% for the year 2015, but it's most likely that it will go much higher than that.

Source: National Bank Plans Large Scale Money Printing This Year.

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So, what is the average Ukrainian attempting to buy that will hold its value? Why, dollars of course. The official exchange rate until recently was around 16 1/2 to 1, but good luck trying to get dollars at any bank at that rate. Or at any rate. (Different rules applied to the well connected though). If you wanted dollars (under the assumption that they will hold their value a lot better than the local currency), you needed to go to the black market and buy dollars at a rate of 24 to 1! And even at a 50% premium, they sold out quickly. People would not have paid this 50% premium unless they believed the local currency would perform much worse than that. Finally, the government stopped fighting the tide and implemented what those on the street had already known. And the hryvnia duly sank. And now you can obtain dollars at banks at a rate of 25 - 1.

(Source: personal observation)

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The fare to travel on Kiev's Metro (subway) has just doubled, from 2 hryvnia to 4. And the fare on city run transportation; buses, trams, and trolleys have gone up to 3 hryvnia. Independent operators, who's fares often were above the fares of city run transportation, have long since abandoned their former fare structure to comply with the new reality. The decision to implement the higher fare came before the recent 40% devaluation of the hryvnia. It's not known if they knew this devaluation was coming and included it in the recent fare increase, or if they were not aware and will have to raise these fares again in the near future.

Source: Fares on Public Transportation to Rise.

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Drivers of course should not rejoice either. The price of gasoline last year started around 12 and over a period of a couple of months soared to 17. Then the world wide price of oil started to plummet. But that had only a minimal effect on the price of gasoline in and around Kiev. It remained stuck around 17. Since currency devaluations most directly affect imported goods, and gasoline most certainly fits that bill, it shouldn't be too long before the cost of gasoline reflects that 40% devaluation.

(Source: Personal Observation)

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The ingenuity of the locals sometimes is quite impressive. Over the years, they have developed numerous ways to beat the system that is always trying to beat them first. One of the more popular ones over the years has been tampering with the meters that read electric usage to keep down the cost of electricity. But my wife was recently informed of a new way to beat the system, ironically, or maybe not, by a refugee from Lugansk.

During the Soviet era, communal buildings were built with unmetered water systems. In theory, you could use as much hot water and cold water as you liked. Over the years, authorities have tried to encourage people to install meters, but such installation would have to be paid by the homeowner, with dubious savings later. I know of a few people who installed meters on a trial basis and found out that they wouldn't be saving any money at all, so the never reported the fact that they had a meter installed. With the price of hot water and cold water going up courtesy of the new government, people are again looking for new and innovative ways to cheat the system. So how does it work?

First go to an electronics bazaar and find out what brands and models have an aftermarket fix. Go buy a supported meter and have it installed, at your expense, and have a government inspector come in to certify it. Then install your aftermarket device, which will allow you to underreport your water usage by up to 90%. This handily beats the systems that allow you to underreport your electric usage, which generally only save you 50%.

(Source: refugee from Lugansk, currently living in Kiev).

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The price of most utilities went up again on January 1. A major component of one's winter bills is heat, which went up 40%. But for the government, what exactly did they gain from last year's price increase? They gained not much at all. The price for consumers went up 50%. But by the end of the year the hryvnia had lost 50% of its value. So if, hypothetically, someone had been paying 500 hryvnia a month for heat, he would now be paying 750 hryvnia. In the spring, that 500 hryvnia would be around $62. But by the end of the year, that 750 hryvnia was worth about $45. And we all know that oil and gas are generally paid for in dollars. With the new 40% price increase, someone who was paying 750 in December is now paying 1050 in January. At the previous exchange rate, that's approximately $65. At the newest exchange rate, that 1050 comes out to $42. Oh, but consumers do get less heat. Even so, it's hard to see how the government is gaining any ground.

So far this winter, the government has dodged the bullet weather-wise. Except for a 10 day period in early December, this winter has been mild as winters in Kiev go. It's been within a few degrees of zero during the day for over a week now. (For those of you in the USA, that's 32°F).

(Source: Laws of Ukraine (rising prices), Math is my own).

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It seems that over the last few weeks, the situation with electricity has stabilized. I've seen no reports of ongoing outages, and my wife's father, who was losing electricity 2 to 3 times a day now reports that the electricity situation has returned to normal. Which means that he still loses electric, but not very frequently.

(Source: Personal Observation)

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The propaganda trucks took a break for several weeks, but recently have returned to the scene, but not nearly at the same frequency as before.

(Source: Personal Observation)

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A couple of months back, I wrote about how, while in Moscow, my wife had purchased some crucial medicine, medicine that is difficult to get in Kiev even in normal times, while managing to save 60% off what it would have cost locally. I asked her to stock up on important medicines and to make sure she always maintained a minimum of one month supply. One medicine however she apparently thought was not all that crucial, and since it has always been available and it has always been affordable, she did not pay much attention to it. A few days ago, she called more the 10 places, and none of them had this medicine available. She finally found a place that had it, near the outskirts of town, and had to travel out there to pick up the only box they have left.

But this probably highlights an important difference between me, growing up in the USA, and her, being raised in the Soviet Union and living as an adult in Ukraine. Americans generally tend to believe everything will work out OK, and when some minor inconvenience arises, like a snowstorm, tend to panic and go out and buy a weeks worth of food. Like a good number of people and many other parts of the world, she doesn't have the expectation that things will generally work out well. She lived through the collapse of the Soviet Union and she lived through the 10,000% hyperinflation of 1996. She understands that bad things happen and therefore she tends not to panic, because things have been quite bad before and in the end everything came out just fine. Likewise, things will probably work out just fine this time. At least that's the hope.

(Source: Personal Observation)

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Generally most things can still be found in the supermarket, though certainly at a higher price than last year. Out of season fruits and vegetables are the most affected by price increases, along with anything that is imported. There are exceptions, of course. A tit-for-tat trade war between Ukraine and Russia has made some Russian products unavailable. Likewise, some confections have disappeared because they were made in the Donetsk region. But never fear! President Poroshenko is more than happy to satisfy your sweet tooth with his Roshen products (Though a good number of people are boycotting Roshen, it's likely others are buying more than before).

(Source: Personal Observation)

Poroshenko's a diabetic and can't eat his own products. I'm sure of course that he has no trouble finding medicines that he might need.

Roshen

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A couple of months ago, I stated that I believed that Kiev is being deliberately maintained as an island of stability within the chaos that is Ukraine. A good portion of the remaining economic activity in Ukraine is coming out of Kiev. I stated that if Kiev turned against the junta, the junta would find themselves in the world of hurt a lot quicker than if Kiev remained neutral or positive. Recent polling seems to back this up. Where in the Odessa region, 80% are against the war, and in West Ukraine, 70% are against the war, it can probably be said that in Kiev, feelings about the war still occupy a neutral position. Only 55% in Kiev are against the war.

Source: Ukraine Wants Peace While Kiev Junta Wants War.

Now that certainly by no means is an overwhelming vote of confidence, but it has yet to turn overwhelmingly against. This is not surprising. While you do occasionally hear of some mobilization activity in Kiev, it by no means suggest that many people in Kiev are being called up. I've neither seen or read anything that contradicts that. If a few portions of a few major metropolitan centers can be kept relatively unimpacted by the war, it seems the government hopes that they can keep attracting investment into Ukraine. This seems to me to be a dubious strategy, but when you have very little to work with, anything that suggests a strategy will have to do.

(Source: Personal Observation)

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A person that works with my wife mentions that she occasionally volunteers at a local hospital helping those who return from the front. The stories, needless to say, are not very pleasant. This colleague works with those who suffer impaired motor skills, often from shrapnel in the brain or other blunt force injuries. Beyond that, she did not go into a great deal of detail. But there are more needs to be met than volunteers available to fulfill them.

(Source: Personal Observation)

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I help run a sports program here in Kiev. It's just a weekly get-together to play some (sport name deliberately left blank). I help to recruit players from the English-speaking community. But once you're in charge of recruiting players, you sometimes have the unpleasant task of telling someone they really don't fit into the program. A couple of weeks ago, one woman answered one of our online ads. The following week, she came to play, but it was quite obvious that she had never played this game before. So after some consultation with other players, I contacted her to deliver the bad news. The first thing I discovered is that she lists her hometown from the war zone in East Ukraine. And now I'm thinking "damn, I get to tell the refugee that she doesn't belong". Yeah, I know, I'm taking this just a bit too personally. It's not like I'm escorting her out of town at gunpoint. But still…

I then looked at her linked Facebook profile and found out that she just recently graduated from university here in Kiev, so that means she's spent a good deal of time in Kiev the last few years. I guess that made it a little bit easier to tell her she didn't fit into our program, but still, maybe this whole mess is starting to get to me.

(Source: Personal Observation)

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There will be another update about events of the last couple of weeks (Part 1b) coming out shortly, hopefully on Wednesday.

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Continued at this link:  Part Two:

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Aaron Talka (a pseudonym) is a long-term resident of Ukraine. He writes occasionally about the situation in Kiev and maintains the blog "No Bread And Circuses For You".

Kyiv Post disables online comments section (That's Kiev to you)

The CIA's English language asset in Kiev is shutting down their comment section. They can't handle the truth, it seems...

Dear Kyiv Post readers,

The Kyiv Post is disabling its online comments section due to an increase in trolls, comments advocating violence and personal attacks. Other news organizations worldwide have taken similar steps for the same reasons. The Kyiv Post regrets having to take this action. The newspaper believes in a robust public debate, but the discussion must be constructive and intelligent. For the time being, the Kyiv Post will allow comments on its moderated Facebook group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/kyivpost/

The newspaper will consider hosting online comments again when circumstances allow.

Thank you from the Kyiv Post.

Complete story at - Kyiv Post disables online comments section

Kiev military plant director accused of stealing almost $1 million | Ukraina.ru

Ukraine’s General Prosecutor’s Office has brought charges against Acting Head of the Kiev Armor Plant Leonid Sholomitskiy for stealing $800,000, a press statement at the office’s website reads

According to the prosecution, the accused abused his power and colluded with accomplices and other unknown persons, the release says.

The accused seized state funds to the amount of 12 million hryvnias and transferred the money to the account of a fictitious company before withdrawing the sum. According to the prosecution, the money was allocated to produce armored personnel carriers.

"One of the accomplices of the accused is now wanted. The prosecution is making efforts to recover the financial losses suffered by the state and to identify everyone responsible," the press release says.

In August, the Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into the alleged stealing of a T-72 battle tank by employees of the Kiev Armor Plant.

Complete story at - Kiev military plant director accused of stealing almost $1 million | Ukraina.ru

Residents outraged by power cuts in the Kiev Region | Ukraina.ru

Power has been switched off in the Kiev Region in the morning and evening several times recently. Earlier, the authorities swore that there would be no power cuts during those hours

A spokesperson for the Kievoblenerho grid company has explained that rotating power cuts are now being applied throughout the region due to an emergency at unit 3 of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, which caused a power deficit that could not be immediately compensated for. December 2 saw power cuts both in the Kiev Region and elsewhere across the country. In Kiev and the far-off suburbs, power was switched off at 8:41 am Moscow Time, according to the Kievoblenerho website.

The company urged consumers in the capital and the suburbs to save electricity, use it rationally and avoid running several high power consumption appliances simultaneously.

Power cuts without warning affect people much more severely than it might seem at first sight, paralyzing the water supply and shutting off gas boilers. Suburban cottage towns are particularly vulnerable.

There were power cuts in the Sviatoshyn, Vyshhorod, Makariv and Borispyl districts and in the towns of Irpin and Bucha in the Kiev Region on December 1-2, locals say.

"I live in the Kiev-Sviatoshyn District, in the village of Dmytrovka. Emergency power cuts started yesterday [December 1]. At first, they warned that it would happen between 6 and 8 pm. And so it did. But they switched off power this morning too, at 8 am. It lasted to about 10 am. All our houses have autonomous heating systems, but as the majority of gas boilers can’t operate without electricity, there is no heating either," an angry local resident complained on the Internet.

"The lights went out without any warning. Our life depends so much on electricity. You can't take a shower, or drink a cup of tea or heat up food after work. We are lucky to have a coal boiler. But what about home appliances, refrigerators and others?" echoed another web user.

Complete story at - Residents outraged by power cuts in the Kiev Region | Ukraina.ru

Molotov cocktails in Orthodox churches of Kiev | Ukraina.ru

Late at night on December 2, unidentified persons attempted to start a fire in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Icon of the Joy of All Who Sorrow in the Babi Yar memorial complex

"A Molotov cocktail was thrown into the altar through the window grate. The fire scorched the wall, the window, the planking and polyethylene," Father Serhiy Temnik said.

He said the church guard saw the flames and put the fire out, saving the relics that were in the altar. Father Serhiy added that the church had been threatened increasingly often recently, but this was the first time that his church had been attacked.
He reported the incident to the police.

This was not the first attack at a church in Ukraine. In October, a group of 50 people accompanied by police seized the Orthodox Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in Turka, a town in the Lviv Region. In August, Ukrainian radicals disrupted a service in the Church of the Intercession in the village of Chervona Motovylivka and demanded that Father Volodymyr Navozenko "leave Ukraine within a week" or they would kill him.

Complete story at - Molotov cocktails in Orthodox churches of Kiev | Ukraina.ru

Kiev to face emergency power outages due to cold weather | Ukraina.ru

Ukrenergo, the national power company, resumed scheduled power cuts in Kiev starting December 1. A power deficit arose as a result of the cold weather that has arrived in the country

The outages will continue until at least December 5. The emergency power outage schedules apply exclusively to industrial enterprises and organizations that are not engaged in providing basic services and are not linked to the social and housing sphere, Kievenergo’s press service reports.

"The main reason for resuming power cuts is the energy deficiency in the integrated Ukrainian power system due to the depleted coal reserves at power stations and the preliminary (emergency – editor) shutdown of the third power unit of the Zaporizhia nuclear plant. To make up for the power deficiency, the chief controller ordered that power unit No. 2 of the CHP (Combined Heat and Power) No. 6 be put into operation," the press release reads.

The second unit of the CHP-6 operates on gas, and a rise in its consumption will make Kiev power companies even more indebted to Naftogaz, the national oil and gas company.

According to Kievenergo, alternating power outages aimed at reducing the load on the power system can be in effect for no more than two hours per customer.

In this context, Russia resumed limited deliveries of coal for Ukrainian power plants, Acting Deputy Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuriy Prodan told journalists today.

Complete story at - Kiev to face emergency power outages due to cold weather | Ukraina.ru

Classes in Kiev suspended due to cold | Ukraina.ru

The winter holiday for Kiev schools will last three instead of the usual two weeks in order to save heat

"Due to the energy saving regime implemented in Kiev, the City Council is forced to extend school winter holidays to three weeks, from December 27, 2014 to January 18, 2015 inclusively," Deputy Mayor for Humanitarian Issues Hanna Starostenko said.

She said that an extra holiday week would save 5 million hryvnias or $333,000. This will help keep the schools warm in a colder period, which usually comes in late January – early February, the mayor office’s press service quotes the official as saying. Starostenko added that “the school curriculum will be taught in full by making it more intensive.”

Ukraine is facing shortages of coal and gas needed to produce both heat and electricity. The country is forced to cut back on gas use due to the reduced amount purchased from Russia, while coal shortages are a result of the military operation in Donbas, where the majority of the country’s mines are located.

Kiev was reported on Monday to have resumed coal deliveries from Russia.

Complete story at - Classes in Kiev suspended due to cold | Ukraina.ru

Russian news: Kiev Faces Emergency Power Outages - Russia Insider

NoBC4U Note: Sorry, but this is horse rubbish. Maybe that was the plan, or maybe that's what the EuroMaidan PR department wants you to believe, but the reality is much different. Without trying very hard, I've got a number of first-hand reliable sources that are telling me that the reality is much different. I've got reports that residential areas in several areas of Kiev and one outlaying town have been blacked out for up to 16 hours a day. Only industrial enterprises they say? No more than two hours a day? No way!

The outages will continue until at least December 5. The emergency power outage schedules apply exclusively to industrial enterprises and organizations that are not engaged in providing basic services and are not linked to the social and housing sphere, Kievenergo’s press service reports.

"The main reason for resuming power cuts is the energy deficiency in the integrated Ukrainian power system due to the depleted coal reserves at power stations and the preliminary (emergency – editor) shutdown of the third power unit of the Zaporizhia nuclear plant.

"To make up for the power deficiency, the chief controller ordered that power unit No. 2 of the CHP (Combined Heat and Power) No. 6 be put into operation," the press release reads.
The second unit of the CHP-6 operates on gas, and a rise in its consumption will make Kiev power companies even more indebted to Naftogaz, the national oil and gas company.

According to Kievenergo, alternating power outages aimed at reducing the load on the power system can be in effect for no more than two hours per customer.
In this context, Russia resumed limited deliveries of coal for Ukrainian power plants, Acting Deputy Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuriy Prodan told journalists today.

Complete story at - Russian news: Kiev Faces Emergency Power Outages - Russia Insider

"Kiev will join Novorossiya in 2017" | Ukraina.ru

So, my dear, precious, and misguided radical Ukrainians, here is the most unpleasant piece of news for you: It’s curtains for you. It’s curtains for everyone flashing Nazi salutes, everyone obsessed with the idea of the great Uke nation, everyone who hates, snarks, and kills. It’s curtains for these tens of thousands of Ukrainians.

First, what has remained of Ukraine will be divided into three regions: Novorossiya (including Transnistria), Central Ukraine, and Galicia (without Subcarpathian Rus). I believe that these borders are clear to everyone and have more or less been delimitated. Central Ukraine, which is now waging war in the southeast against Donbas, will see enough Banderovite romance for a lifetime. Armed gangs will not only rob, rape, and kill, they will start ruling according to the historical law of justice. And by the way, this is already happening, except that so far, they have been thieves who look like killers; later they will be killers who look like thieves. You will immediately see the difference, as you can see it now between Yanukovych and Poroshenko/Yushchenko.

This division of Ukraine is necessary if only to brainwash these deranged Ukrainians (incidentally, reasonable Ukrainians are in the majority, but they remain silent) and cleanse their brains of neo-Nazi ideas, as was done in Germany in 1945 according to the same scheme: FRG-GDR.

Second, Novorossiya’s lands, being the least contaminated by Nazism, will be quickly Russianized, naturally. It will not formally join Russia. There is no need for that.

It will be the second largest state in Europe by size (at minimum, eight regions). In terms of resources and intellectual potential, these regions can make rapid strides toward well-being and self-sufficiency.

If anyone is still concerned about international recognition and being able to go to Disneyland, let me disabuse you: It’s all bullshit. Transnistria’s experience is very instructive in this respect.

Complete story at - "Kiev will join Novorossiya in 2017" | Ukraina.ru

Walls in central Kiev painted with slogans supporting Novorossiya | Ukraina.ru

Slogans supporting the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics and against the Ukrainian government have appeared on walls in the center of Kiev

Residents living in the central areas of the Ukrainian capital reported the appearance of the slogans via Facebook.

"First, someone placed a Donetsk People’s Republic flag not far from my home. Then slogans appeared on the walls of my building. And today, they were spotted near my daughter’s school," Kiev resident Miriam Dragina wrote on her Facebook page.

The following slogans were painted in black on one of the walls in Russian: "Glory to Donetsk People’s Republic," "We Will Hang You" and "Forward Novorossiya."

Earlier, similar slogans supporting Novorossiya appeared on Trukhanov Island in Kiev. They called for peace and an end to the so-called anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine. Several weeks ago, a flag of Novorossiya was flown in Kiev’s Lviv Square and remained there for several hours. The law enforcement agencies have failed to detect who installed the flag and how.

Complete story at - Walls in central Kiev painted with slogans supporting Novorossiya | Ukraina.ru

Refugees Slaviansk in Kiev Courier - Russia

NoBC4U Note: Translated from the original French by Google Translate.

Plagued by civil war, the eastern Ukraine is now experiencing a mass exodus of its population. Thousands of people leave the region. While the pro-Russian in Russia will, supporters of Ukraine united flee Kiev - as did Sergei and Olga Sviatko originating Slaviansk. Faced with threats from insurgents, the couple had to quickly leave his hometown to stay alive. Interview with the relevant Ukrainian Journal Reporter .

The atmosphere in this small studio is stifling: there is no air inside and just half-open window to the room is filled with trees flew down. In the entrance enthroned a packet of detergent and a mop.

"I bought the laundry today, says his tenant, Sergei Sviatko, showing the package. We have very little money, but it is not a reason to live in the dirt. Want to see our kitchen? "

The small room, bright, contains an oven, a sink and a small table. Top: tea, sugar, buckwheat, cookies, bread, vegetables and preserves.

"You see under what conditions of paradise we were seated? "Said Sergei. And his voice does not contain a hint of irony - only sincere gratitude to the Kievan which allowed them to him and his family to live here free "as long as it takes." There are only a few days Sviatko was ready to sleep even in a cave - anything but being shot in his native Slaviansk. In Kiev, the man takes everything that happens to him as a gift.

"I am pleasantly surprised at how people, learning where we fled, trying to help us recognize Sergei. Everything you see here, mattress, sofa bed, bed in which we sleep, all the clothes I wear, my wife's ...: all that was brought to us by people we have met since we are here. "

Complete story at - Refugees Slaviansk in Kiev

​‘No evidence of Berkut police behind mass killing in Kiev’ – probe head — RT News

There is no forensic evidence linking the victims of mass killings in Kiev on February 20 with officers from the Berkut police unit, the head of the parliamentary commission investigating the murders told journalists.

"This will be yet another case, like the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy, which is still being investigated today,” Gennady Moskal reported.

The MP made the statements at a media conference on Tuesday gathered to announce preliminary results of his commission’s probe. He assured that despite the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s office having arrested 12 Berkut officers on allegations of committing the mass killings, forensic evidence suggests their innocence.

He said the bullets that killed people in Kiev on the bloodies day of confrontation between protesters seeking to oust President Viktor Yanukovich and riot police didn’t match any of the firearms issued to Berkut’s special unit, which, unlike the majority of riot police, was allowed to carry lethal weapons.

Moskal added that the first shot was fired at police, not the protesters. He alleged that the shooters were agents of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) acting from the ranks of the protesters, but admitted that genuine protesters could have been the culprits.

Earlier Moskal said that the investigation of the high-profile case was being stalled by the SBU and the Interior Ministry because the post-coup heads of the law enforcement don’t want to face the scandal which would ensue if the real perpetrators were exposed.

Complete story at - ​‘No evidence of Berkut police behind mass killing in Kiev’ – probe head — RT News

‘100% sure Berkut police didn’t shoot people in Kiev’ – ex-Ukrainian interior minister — RT News

Berkut riot police were targets – not shooters – during the Maidan standoff, ex-Ukrainian Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko said, adding that a fair investigation of the tragic events in Kiev is impossible under the biased, coup-imposed government.

During his interview with Russia’s Channel One, Zakharchenko stressed that he is “100% sure that it wasn't the police” who used firearms against the people during the February Maidan standoff. 

“Berkut riot police were without their service weapons. On February 18 and 19, 86 police officers were wounded by gunshots. Fourteen of them died. They were internal troops, military, Berkut, and traffic police, who were shot at their post checkpoint,” he said. 

On February 20, Berkut forces and internal troops encountered point shooting in Kiev’s center and “that’s why they actually, began retreating,” the former interior minister explained. 

“It’s clear for any reasonable person that if it were the law enforcement officers who opened fire, they would’ve probably been advancing. That would’ve been the reason to use firearms. Meanwhile, they began retreating after the killing of their troops began,” he said. 

According to Zakharchenko, the servicemen that were brought to Kiev hospitals had gunshot wounds from 9mm pistols, hunting rifles, buckshots, and smooth-bore weapons. 

The ex-minister stressed that the snipers – who fired at both police and demonstrators – were stationed in three buildings, which were under the control of Maidan protestors. 

“It was a provocation staged with only one motive – to launch another attack on law enforcement, launch an attack aimed at seizing the governmental buildings and institutes. That’s the logic behind all those events,” he said. 

Complete story at - ‘100% sure Berkut police didn’t shoot people in Kiev’ – ex-Ukrainian interior minister — RT News