Nikolaev deputy arrested for saying: "Nikolaev is ready to welcome the Russian tanks" - Fort Russ

The Security Service of Ukraine detained the Deputy of the Nikolaev Regional Council Nikolay Mashkin for "anti-Ukrainian statements," said the adviser to the head of Security Service of Ukraine, Markiyan Lubkivsky.

"I wish to inform you that in the framework of the fight against separatism and anti-constitutional and anti-state activities, Security Service of Ukraine detained the citizen of Ukraine Nikolay Mashkin, born in 1960, a member of the Nikolaev Regional Council," - wrote Lubkivsky on his page in Facebook.

"The reason for the detention of Mashkin was his anti-Ukrainian statements in anti-Ukrainian media, in particular on the "readiness of Nikolaev to solemnly welcome the Russian tanks". There are plenty of videos and publications with Mashkin, I am not going to advertise it," - added Lubkivsky.

SBU has considered the statements of the deputy as facilitating the militia and anti-Ukrainian propaganda. It is reported that on Tuesday Mashkin will be charged.

Complete story at - Nikolaev deputy arrested for saying: "Nikolaev is ready to welcome the Russian tanks" - Fort Russ

Ukrainian lawmakers propose firing people for 'separatism' | Ukraina.ru

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada plans to legalize the persecution of anyone who does not support the Kiev regime

The Ukrainian parliament has registered a new legislative initiative that would change several previous acts to allow dismissing civil servants from service for separatism.

The new bill, published on the Verkhovna Rada website, was proposed by a group of lawmakers from the ultra-right Svoboda (Liberty) party. They are pushing to extend the list of potential reasons for firing public officials so that it includes "evidence found of the person’s involvement in a violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, a forceful change or overthrow of the constitutional order or a seizure of power."

The authorities in Kiev have long started a crackdown on anyone who does not support their rule or the civil war in Ukraine. This, in particular, concerns educational institutions. A school teacher in Odesa was fired after telling her class about the atrocities committed by the Ukrainian army.

A student at Karazin University in Kharkiv has complained that professors get fired and students expelled for supporting Donbas and refusing to recognize Russia as the "aggressor."

It should be noted that the current Kiev government actually came to power through a "forceful takeover." An armed coup took place in Kiev in February 2014, overthrowing the legitimately elected president.

Complete story at - Ukrainian lawmakers propose firing people for 'separatism' | Ukraina.ru

Ukraine: Some call us rebels, some terrorists , some separatists - are we?

Right now, the world media is focused on the awful crash of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 in Ukraine that caused the death of 298 innocent people on board flight MH17 last week.

I am a freelance reporter for eTN and also an attorney in Ukraine. I would like to introduce readers to ordinary citizens, many of them are actually called rebels, terrorists or separatists. They actually are just regular people like you and me who lived a peaceful live in my beautiful home region of the Ukraine. They are my friends, they are my colleagues, they are family people, people who love to party and have fun, go to the movies, enjoy food and company.

Some don't really care about politics. They don't mind living in a country ruled by Ukraine, or ruled by Russia. BUT they are scared. They are scared because the government they never had a fair chance to vote for in far away Kiev has a lot interest in the wealth of our region, but has absolutely no interest in us, the people.

This right wing government has the support of the entire Western world. We love the west. We would be honored to be part of the European Union- we also love Russia.

Many of my friends speak about concentration camps for us after our own government in Kiev started bombing our neighborhoods, our schools and killed our families like cockroaches.

Ironically most of us still have good friends in all parts of our Ukraine - just the government is trying to tell us who we should like or hate.

I am from Luhansk in the Russian part of Eastern Ukraine. Actually now some call it Luhansk People’s Republic.

The situation in Eastern Ukraine, especially in Luhansk, is not easy. On Friday, July 18, in my home town, there were broken windows, destroyed homes, shell fragments, blood, and body parts on the pavement. About 64 civilians have been killed and more than 215 injured. Forty-six big apartment buildings have been destroyed, plus 195 homes. In addition, 3 schools, 12 kindergartens, the Central bus station, 5 factories, and 18 shops are all closed. In total, 60% of all stores and food markets are closed.

I would like to relate to eTN readers how some of my friends, regular residents of Luhansk, feel and how they describe life in a city under siege.

NoBC4U Note: The following people tell their stories at the link below. Link contains some graphic images...

Olga, 56 years old

Anna, 32 years old

Yevgeniy, 36 years old

Sergey, 29 years old, separatist

Yulia, 21 years old, separatist

Andrey, 42 years old, separatist

Igor, 36 years old, separatist

Complete story at - Ukraine: Some call us rebels, some terrorists , some separatists - are we?

Consider me a separatist | liva.com.ua

If there is a violation of the principle of territorial integrity, the apocalypse will come, the sky will fall, and the fish will walk on the land. These are the statements of most Ukrainian media and politicians over the breakaway of Donetsk and Lugansk People Republics. Territorial integrity is the overriding principle of international law, as they try to convince us. Those who violate it are separatists, and will be damned forever and ever, amen.

But let us imagine that the "fundamental principle" was never violated. In such a case Kiev would still be, if not the administrative center of Genghis Khan’s empire, or a province of the German Reich, then certainly the capital of the province of a “Anti-Soviet Union of Capitalist Republics”. Instead of such countries as the U.S., India, Pakistan, Canada, and Australia (the very existence of which is a flagrant violation of the territorial integrity of the British Empire) - the map would look like the indivisible possession of the British crown. The list goes on. Just to say that there would be no such countries as Norway, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Albania, Finland, all African countries ...

And what about international law?

Speaking seriously, without violating territorial integrity, modern nation-states (whose establishment was a great achievement compared with the feudal and capitalist empires) would not exist. There would be no independent states that emerged as a result of the national liberation struggle against colonialism and imperialism in the twentieth century. Just look at the political map of the world to understand the falsity of Kiev’s interpretation of "territorial integrity" and "separatism.”

The very principle of territorial integrity was adopted by the United Nations after the Second World War not to hold small or large nation under foreign oppression, but to effectively oppose the annexation policy, political grabs. According to the provisions adopted by the countries that gained victory over fascism in 1945, the desire of the people, whose rights are violated in a particular state, is above the "principle of territorial integrity."

This, incidentally, is recorded in the United Nations Declaration on Principles of International Law, that was signed also by Ukraine:

"All peoples have the right to freely determine, without external interference, their political status and to pursue their economic, social and cultural development, and every State has the duty to respect this right".

Complete story at - Consider me a separatist | liva.com.ua