May 15-16: Ukrainian divorce, GMO to be outlawed in Russia, Crimea cut off Ukraine's water supply

There isn't going to be any institutional reconciliation. The Donetsk and Lugansk regions are permanently separating themselves from Kiev and have said that no voting will take place in their regions on May 25th for the presidential elections. And that they are forming their own armed forces. Ukraine had 45 million people. It now has 36.5 million people.

Elijah Traven, U.K.

It was disturbing to see the water supplies for the Crimea cut off by the Ukraine. I once lived on an island where all the water came from RO desalinization. True, it cost 3 cents a gallon - but we had plenty of it. Is there any chance this could be done temporarily for Crimea? Nuclear desalinization - I wonder if that could be done on short notice?

Tom Mysiewicz, USA

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I was pleased to read that companies manufacturing GMO's will be outlawed and prison sentences given in Russia.

Steve Wojcyk, Canada

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There isn't going to be any institutional reconciliation. The Donetsk and Lugansk regions are permanently separating themselves from Kiev and have said that no voting will take place in their regions on May 25th for the presidential elections. And that they are forming their own armed forces. Ukraine had 45 million people. It now has 36.5 million people. They've lost almost a quarter of the population due to their criminal seizure of power and their refusal to take the pro-Russian population into consideration and to deal with them with respect for their way of life.

Politically the newly formed interlocked regions will be of a pro-Russian nature and may as an independent entity join the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan economic community of like minded nations in the future. It will be a new nation on the world map. 
Whatever happens we have the best possible outcome, a divorce from within the former Ukraine. What good would be a civil war or mass assault launched by Kiev? They've lost the territory and the people. Let Kiev and western Ukraine do whatever they like within reason. Russia has acted honourably throughout. Russia has great flexibility and always acts and speaks in a clear manner. 
Elijah Traven, UK

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Just saw that Ukraine cut off the water supply for Crimea thru the canal that flows from south Ukraine to Crimea. No water for crops, personal use. This is all orchestrated by US who wants to sell off Ukrainian assets, not help its people. IMF loan is bondage. US is sponsoring domestic terrorism while blaming others for lesser actions, calling that terrorism.

Jane Jacoby, USA

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Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_05_16/May-15-16-Ukrainian-divorce-GMO-to-be-outlawed-in-Russia-Crimea-cut-off-Ukraines-water-supply-5867/

Ukraine mayor Gennady Kernes fighting for life after being shot

The mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, was fighting for his life on Monday after unidentified gunmen shot him in the back as he went for a morning swim.

Gennady Kernes, 54, was undergoing emergency surgery in hospital, his office said. "The doctors are fighting to save his life," said his spokeswoman Tatiana Gruzinsyaka. It was unclear who was behind the apparent assassination attempt.

Kernes was a leading figure in the Party of Regions of Ukraine's ex-president Viktor Yanukovych. The mayor had bitterly attacked the Maidan demonstrations that caused Yanukovych flee to Russia in February. A flamboyant figure with alleged ties to organised crime in the 1990s, Kernes had backed closer relations with Moscow.

Since the change in government in Kiev, however, Kernes's statements had become more patriotic. He stated that Kharkiv, an eastern university city25 miles from the Russian border, should remain part of Ukraine. A billionaire, he also claimed he was himself a victim of Yanukovych's corrupt system.

Kharkiv journalist Zurab Alasania blamed Russia for Monday's shooting. He noted in a Facebook post that the mayor had not changed his routine of going for a morning lake swim, despite the deteriorating security situation in the east.

"The Russian Federation is identifying and liquidating key centres of resistance," Alasania said.

A group of 30 pro-Russian gunmen seized a police station in the eastern city of Konstantinovka, 30 miles south of the rebel stronghold of Slavyansk. The masked men entered the building at 6am. The police offered no resistance and allowed the gunmen to take over.

The town is 65 miles north of Donetsk, the regional capital, and on the main highway to Slavyansk. It has little strategic importance but appears part of an ongoing plan to establish a rebel "Donetsk People's Republic" on the ground, before a separatist-organised "referendum" due to take place on 11 May.

Via - http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/28/ukraine-mayor-kharkiv-gennady-kernes-shot

Ukraine crisis: Russia 'to respond if its interests' attacked

Russia will respond if its interests in Ukraine are attacked, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said, drawing a parallel with the 2008 Georgian war.

Speaking to Russian state TV channel RT, Mr Lavrov also accused the US of "running the show" in Ukraine - a claim Washington dismissed as "ludicrous".

Russia's foreign ministry also repeated its call for Kiev to withdraw military units from the east of Ukraine.

Ukraine's government faces an armed revolt there by pro-Russia separatists.

Kiev and the West say Moscow commands gunmen in eastern Ukraine - something Russia denies.

'Aggressive rhetoric'

In recent weeks, pro-Russian militants have seized administrative buildings in at least a dozen towns in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

They have installed their own officials, in similar tactics to those used to take over the Ukrainian region of Crimea earlier this year.

The US has called on Moscow to ask pro-Russian gunmen to lay down their weapons and leave public buildings. It has also urged Russia to tone down its aggressive rhetoric or face further sanctions.

The Kiev authorities responded to the occupation of official buildings and roadblocks by carrying out an "anti-terror" operation in eastern Ukraine.

The military operation became bogged down and was suspended over the Easter period before resuming on Tuesday.

Via -  bbc.com

Via -  bbc.com

Via -  bbc.com

Read More here - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27124453

Russia risks further US sanctions over Ukraine, says Kerry

The US Secretary of State has warned of further sanctions on Russia if it does not de-escalate tensions in Ukraine.

In a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, John Kerry expressed "deep concern over the lack of positive Russian steps".

Russia blames Kiev's leaders for the collapse of last week's Geneva accord.

Ukraine's acting president earlier ordered the relaunch of military operations against pro-Russian militants in the east of the country.

It came as President Oleksandr Turchynov said two men - including local politician Vladimir Rybak - had been found dead after being "brutally tortured".

"The terrorists who effectively took the whole Donetsk region hostage have now gone too far," he said.

Politician Vladimir Rybak disappeared after being filmed trying to access a building seized by pro-Russian activists, as Daniel Sandford reports

The US and the West accuse Russia of using undercover military to back separatists in eastern Ukraine, where public buildings are occupied in at least nine cities and towns. Russia denies involvement.

Visiting Kiev, Mr Biden warned Russia that further "provocative behaviour" would lead to "greater isolation"

'Absence of progress'

In his conversation with Mr Lavrov on Tuesday, Mr Kerry "urged Russia to tone down escalatory rhetoric, engage diplomatically in the east... and issue public statements calling for those occupying buildings to disarm," according to a senior State Department official.

"Secretary Kerry also reiterated that the absence of measurable progress on implementing the Geneva agreement will result in increased sanctions on Russia," the official said.

The warning came after US Vice-President Joe Biden met Ukraine's new leaders in Kiev, and called on Russia to "stop talking and start acting" to defuse the Ukraine crisis.

Read more article here - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27121679