MILNEWS.ca Ukrainian Update – 281040UTC Mar 14

• Feel free to check in here for links to help you keep track of whazzup in Ukraine between updates
• Interfax Ukraine (independent Ukrainian wire service)  “Ukrainian parliament passes bill raising military age to 55”
• Ukrainian Ministry of Defence  “During the action ” Support the Ukrainian army,” the accounts of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has received more than 60 million (Hryvna – CDN $6 million) – As of March 28 to the accounts of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine within the framework of the action ” Support the Ukrainian army” has received more than 60 million from businesses and individuals as an aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine ….” (Ukrainian – Google English)
  
• Zik.ua (Ukrainian media)  “A hot war with Russia is impossible as it will carry too high a price for Russia, ex-president Leonid Kuchma said, Liga.net reports March 28.  “I don’t believe Russia will attack Ukraine. It will carry the price for Russia which cannot be calculated,” he said.  Kuchma warned Ukraine politicians against the power games that can divide Ukraine.  “If Ukraine politicians continue the tug-of-war, the divide of the country will be quite possible,” Kuchma said.  The stand-off with Russia will continue as a trade war, he predicted ….”
• MSM (Wall Street Journal)  “Russian troops massing near Ukraine are actively concealing their positions and establishing supply lines that could be used in a prolonged deployment, ratcheting up concerns that Moscow is preparing for another major incursion and not conducting exercises as it claims, U.S. officials said.  Such an incursion could take place without warning because Russia has already deployed the array of military forces needed for such an operation, say officials briefed on the latest U.S. intelligence.  The rapid speed of the Russian military buildup and efforts to camouflage the forces and equipment have stoked U.S. fears, in part because American intelligence agencies have struggled to assess Russian President Vladimir Putin’s specific intentions.  The troop movements and the concealment—involving covering up equipment along the border—suggest Mr. Putin is positioning forces in the event he decides to quickly expand his takeover of the Crimea peninsula by seizing more Ukrainian territory, despite Western threats of tighter sanctions ….”
• The Interpreter (think tank blog)  “The Russian Federation currently has enough forces on the border of Ukraine to seize the southeastern portions of that country, but because it will face a partisan war after it defeats the out-manned Ukrainian military, the Russian forces currently available are insufficient to hold that region, according to Rashit Akhmetov ….”
  
• In Moscow’s Shadows (academic blog)  “What Would A Russian Invasion Of Ukraine Look Like? …. I should stress that the more time passes, the less likely I think such an attack becomes, because of the shifting political situation and also–as Kyiv moves forces east and mobilises reserves and volunteers–the military calculus. However, it cannot be excluded, so it is worth still considering, not least as the preparatory phases I outline below have all been carried out; the Russian General Staff may well not yet know if it is going to be invading, but it has made sure that if the word does come down from the Kremlin, it will be ready ….
  
• joinnfo.ua (Ukrainian media)  “(Ukrainian intelligence service) SBU in the center of Kiev arrested 40 armed provocateurs –  SBU in the Ukrainian capital were detained 40 provocateurs who had previously worked in military intelligence in Ukraine.  This was reported by the press service of the SBU, stating that the group was trying to destabilize the situation in Kiev. In particular, the provocateurs “organized” clash and provoke illegal actions against law enforcement officers and civilians.  Provocateurs, which was headed by ex-employee of the Sevastopol military intelligence Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Sergey R. had to perform a criminal order – to discredit the peaceful protests in Kiev, noted the agency ….”  (Russian – Google English)
  
• ITAR-TASS (main Russian Government information agency)  “Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s legitimate president who had to quit the country, in an address to the Ukrainian people has called for holding a referendum on the status of each region within Ukraine ….”
• Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior news release:  Bullets taken from Right Sector activist Oleksandr Muzychko’s body came from his own weapon (Ukrainian – Google English)
• RIA Novosti (Russian government information agency)  “The radical group Right Sector could be banned in Ukraine after around 2,000 of its supporters encircled and threatened to storm the country’s parliament late Thursday, a source in Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna party told RIA Novosti.  Late Thursday night, ultranationalists from Right Sector encircled the parliament building, demanding the country’s interior minister stand trial for the killing of notorious right-wing militant Olexander Muzychko, who died on Monday in a shootout with police.  Muzychko, also known as Sashko Bilyi, was wanted by Russian authorities for war atrocities in Russia’s republic of Chechnya, including the torture of Russian soldiers. He had earlier accused Ukrainian prosecutors and police of a plot to kill him.  The radicals that blockaded parliament Thursday later announced they were postponing the storming of the building until Friday morning.  Following Thursday’s siege, top Ukrainian officials held an emergency meeting, at which Interior Minister Avakov suggested an outright ban on Right Sector.  Andriy Parubiy, the head of the national security and defense council, reportedly supported the motion, adding the move would allow those present to whitewash themselves of ties with the radicals ….”
  
• Interfax Ukraine “Right Sector rally outside parliament building over, interim commission to be set up to probe into activist Sashko Bily (aka Oleksandr Muzychko) death ….”
• ITAR-TASS (main Russian Government information agency)  “A draft decree on the dismissal of parliament-appointed Minister of the Interior Arsen Avakov has been submitted to the Verhovna Rada on Friday by unaffiliated parliamentary Inna Bohoslovskaya.  The draft resolution has been submitted to relevant committees. Arsen Avakov was appointed Minister of the Interior February 27, 2014.  However, later it was reported that the draft decree on Avakov’s dismissal would not be discussed on Friday. However, the Ukrainian parliament plans to consider the issue of setting up an interim investigative committee for investigating the circumstances of Right Sector activist Oleksandr Muzychko’s death. ….”
  
• Liga Novosti (Ukrainian media)  “In Rada registered a draft resolution on the resignation Avakov – The Verkhovna Rada registered a draft resolution on dismissal of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov .  According to the official website of the Parliament, the initiator of the draft resolution is vnefraktsionnyh MP Inna (Bogoslovskaya). Text of the decision is not made public ….“ (Russian – Google English)
  
• ITAR-TASS (main Russian Government information agency)  “Ukraine’s Rada sets up commission to probe into death of Right Sector militant”