Ukrainian Regions Vote in Referendums Rejected as Illegal

[ThePythonicCow]

From Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-12/ukrainian-regions-vote-in-referendums-rejected-as-illegal.html):

=============



Ukrainian Regions Vote in Referendums Rejected as Illegal

By Olga Tanas, Arne Delfs and Daryna Krasnolutska May 12, 2014 12:29 AM CT

Pro-Russian groups hailed a large majority in favor of secession in a referendum they organized in eastern Ukraine that was dismissed as illegitimate by the government in Kiev and its U.S. and European allies.

In Donetsk, 90 percent of voters backed the breakaway plan, RIA Novosti reported late yesterday, citing Roman Liagin, head of the election committee. In Luhansk, the other region voting, turnout was 75 percent and the outcome wasn’t initially clear, RIA said. Final results are due later today.

The votes went ahead amid violent clashes between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels that continued in the region yesterday, and in the face of condemnation from Ukraine, the U.S. and the European Union, who all said the referendums were illegal. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused by Kiev and its allies of stoking the separatist unrest. He hasn’t decided his position on the referendums, Kommersant reported.
=============

[Snoweagle]

This is not good at all. Somebody wants to go to war and it isn't Russia.

Stop NATO . . . Opposition to global militarism
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

NATO is dominated by the EU Council, whom represent the Judaic Freemasonic Bankers of Switzerland whom control the world.
Personally, whatever we think or consider at this stage, I believe this game plan has already been agreed between these APPARENT enemies. Neither side can win. Therefore, I believe there will be conspired slaughter of populations. Prepare for a new book in Horror, part 2, we haven't seen anything yet in history for what is soon to start this autumn.

[ThePythonicCow]

RT.com's report Referendum results in Donetsk and Lugansk Regions show landslide support for self-rule (http://rt.com/news/158276-referendum-results-east-ukraine/):

==============



The results of referendums have been announced in Donetsk and Lugansk Regions, showing the majority of voters support self-rule, amid an intensified military operation by Kiev which resulted in several deaths.

Almost 90 percent of voters in Donetsk Region have endorsed political independence from Kiev, the head of the Central Election Commission of the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’, Roman Lyagin, announced.

“Counting the ballots proved to be surprisingly easy – the number of people who said ‘no’ was relatively small and there appeared to be only a tiny proportion of spoiled ballots, so we managed to carry out counting quite fast. The figures are as follows: 89.07 percent voted ‘for’, 10.19 percent voted ‘against’ and 0.74 percent of ballots were rendered ineligible,” Lyagin told journalists.

In Lugansk Region 96.2 percent of voters supported the region’s self-rule, according to the final figures announced by the local election commission.

Despite fears that amid Kiev’s intensified military crackdown – which killed at least two civilians on referendum day – the turnout will be low, in both of the region it was unexpectedly high. In Donetsk it reached 74.87%, while in Lugansk the central election commission says 75% of eligible voters came to the polling stations.

With such a huge turnout, the referendums have been recognized as valid by both election commissions.

The acting president of Ukraine, Aleksandr Turchinov, has condemned as a “farce” referendums in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

“This propaganda farce won’t have any legal consequences, except for criminal charges for its organizers,” Turchinov said, Interfax reported.

The referendums, according to Turchinov, were inspired by Russia to “totally destabilize the situation in Ukraine, disrupt the presidential election and overthrow the Ukrainian government.”

Calling the regional voting on self-determination illegal, Kiev sent its recently formed paramilitary forces to Donetsk and Lugansk regions on Sunday, in an apparent move to disrupt referendums.

As armored military vehicles blocked passage to polling stations, voting in four towns across Lugansk region was disrupted. In the Donetsk town of Krasnoarmeysk, the National Guard shot at a crowd and killed two civilians who were protesting their attempt to seize a polling station.
==============

[avid]

http://rt.com/news/158212-academi-blackwater-ukraine-military/
400 US mercenaries 'deployed on ground' in Ukraine military op

About 400 elite mercenaries from the notorious US private security firm Academi (formerly Blackwater) are taking part in the Ukrainian military operation against anti-government protesters in southeastern regions of the country, German media reports.

The Bild am Sonntag newspaper, citing a source in intelligence circles, wrote Sunday that Academi employees are involved in the Kiev military crackdown on pro-autonomy activists in near the town of Slavyansk, in the Donetsk region.

On April 29, German Intelligence Service (BND) informed Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government about the mercenaries’ participation in the operation, the paper said, RIA Novosti reported. It is not clear who commands the private military contractors and pays for their services, however.

In March, media reports appeared suggesting that the coup-imposed government in Kiev could have employed up to 300 mercenaries.That was before the new government launched a military operation against anti-Maidan activists, or “terrorists” as Kiev put it, in southeast Ukraine.

At the time, the Russian Foreign Ministry said then that reports claiming Kiev was planning to involve “involve staff from foreign military companies to ‘ensure the rule of law,’” could suggest that it wanted “to suppress civil protests and dissatisfaction.”

In particular, Greystone Limited, which is currently registered in Barbados and is a part of Academi Corporation, is a candidate for such a gendarme role. It is a similar and probably an affiliated structure of the Blackwater private army, whose staff have been accused of cruel and systematic violations of human rights in various trouble spots on many occasions.

“Among the candidates for the role of gendarme is the Barbados-registered company Greystone Limited, which is integrated with the Academi corporation,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “It is an analogue, and, probably and affiliated body of the Blackwater private army, whose employees have repeatedly been accused of committing grievous and systematic human rights abuses in different troubled regions.”

Allegations increased further after unverified videos appeared on YouTube of unidentified armed men in the streets of Donetsk, the capital of the country’s industrial and coalmining region. In those videos, onlookers can be heard shouting “Mercenaries!”“Blackwater!,” and “Who are you going to shoot at?”

(FILES) A picture taken on July 5, 2005 shows contractors of the US private security firm Blackwater securing the site of a roadside bomb attack near the Iranian embassy in central Baghdad. (AFP Photo / Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

Academi denied its involvement in Ukraine, claiming on its website that “rumors” were posted by “some irresponsible bloggers and online reporters.”

“Such unfounded statements combined with the lack of factual reporting to support them and the lack of context about the company, are nothing more than sensationalistic efforts to create hysteria and headlines in times of genuine crisis,” the US firm stated.

The American security company Blackwater gained worldwide notoriety for the substantial role it played in the Iraq war as a contractor for the US government. In recent years it has changed its name twice – in 2009 it was renamed Xe Services and in 2011 it got its current name, Academi.

The firm became infamous for the alleged September 16, 2007 killing of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad. The attack, which saw 20 others wounded, was allegedly without justification and in violation of deadly-force rules that pertained to American security contractors in Iraq at the time. Between 2005 and September 2007, Blackwater security guards were involved in at least 195 shooting incidents in Iraq and fired first in 163 of those cases, a Congressional report said at the time.

Who is funding these mercenaries, and arming them?

[GoodETxSG]

The answer to the who/why is pretty obvious... Nazi tactics and Agenda's never change... Amazing how many who hate what Nazi's stand for are tricked into supporting them

[avid]

http://www.rense.com/general96/blackwtr.html

Blackwater Killers in Eastern Ukraine

By Stephen Lendman
5-12-14

Blackwater's rap sheet reveals a record too deplorable to conceal. It became Xe. It's now Academi.

Putting lipstick on this pig doesn't help. It's no different than before. Jeremy Scahill's book titled "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" called it:

A "shadowy mercenary company (employing) some of the most feared professional killers in the world accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences (and) largely off the congressional radar."

It has "remarkable power and protection (within) the US war apparatus." It's well funded. It operates extrajudicially.

It's unaccountable. It's licensed to kill, terrorize, destroy and destabilize. It takes full advantage. It does so wherever it's deployed.

On May 11, Voice of Russia (VOR) headlined "400 US commandos help Kiev in its military offensive in east Ukraine - reports."

They arrived to commit mayhem. They're from the "notorious US private security firm Academi..."

They're involved "in a punitive operation mounted by (Kiev) against federalization supporters in Eastern Ukraine…"

Bild am Sonntag is Germany's largest Sunday circulation broadsheet. It reported Academi operatives near Slavyansk.

It's uncertain who hired them, it said. It's clear Washington's dirty hands are involved. Russia's Foreign Ministry said:

"(I)n the absence of support from the Ukrainian population, the Maidan government has only one option if it wants to remain in power - to mobilize any support possible from foreign sponsors, including foreign mercenaries."

"Among the candidates for the role of gendarme is the company Greystone Limited, registered in Barbados, which is integrated with the Academi corporation," it said.

"It is an analogue, or, probably, an affiliate body of the Blackwater private army, whose soldiers have been accused of committing rigorous and regular human rights abuses in troubled regions."

Note: Greystone is a private company. It separated from Academi in 2010. Both firms maintain close ties. They operate the same way. They do so extrajudicially.

"It looks as though this practice, if it really is implemented, goes against the Ukrainian laws that ban foreign citizens from working with private security companies," said Russia's Foreign Ministry.

"Such initiatives demonstrate that those who have conquered their place in power in Kiev cannot guarantee minimal order or even their own security."

"The question arises, what the price of this plan is and where the money will come from."

"To what extent will the burden of spending on highly-paid foreign specialists be shifted to ordinary Ukrainians who, in connection with the painful tax increase, including taxes on gas as the precondition for securing loans from the International Monetary Fund, will have to tighten their belts even stronger?"

VOR cited Itar Tass saying Kiev putschists believe they're unable to suppress Eastern resistance on their own. They can't eliminate activist leaders.

Coup-appointed Kiev president Oleksandr Turchynov agreed, saying:

"Therefore it was decided to 'attract' foreign mercenaries, who will serve as political police and state security protection."

They'll operate extrajudicially. They'll do so unaccountably. They're licensed to kill.

VOR said coup-appointed governors Igor Kolomoisky and Sergei Taruta are involved. They're multi-billionaire oligarchs. Earlier Kolomoisky said:

"(W)hy reinvent the wheel if there are real people who understand how and how much to pay."

They're hired guns. They're unrestricted by US, international or local laws. They're free from civil or criminal accountability.

Under Article 47 of the 1977 Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions:

"A mercenary is any person who:

(a) is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;

(b) does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities:

(c) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of the Party;

(d) is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict;

(e) is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; and

(f) has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces."

Washington uses them in conflict areas. They serve its imperial agenda. They're doing so in Ukraine. Perhaps hundreds more will be sent.

Much more on link.

[Tesseract]

Director of CIA was in Ukraine and no one is talking about it. Can you imagine the OUTRAGE if director of FSB touched down in Donetsk..