Russia

Internal Security News

• At least 21 people died in clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol (Donetsk), according to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. Reports indicated that the police station was burnt to the ground, and a Ukrainian brigade commander was killed by a pro-Russian sniper. The police chief of Mariupol was abducted by militants.
   
• More than 100 armed separatists surrounded the residence of government troops in Donetsk and fired some shots at the building, which holds 120 soldiers.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Russian media quoted the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic as claiming Ukrainian troops “opened fire on civilians” in Mariupol.
   
• Chemical factories Stirol and Azot, based in Ukraine’s two eastern oblasts, where Kremlin-backed separatist violence is high, said that they would temporarily suspend production until the situatlon settles down.

International Observation News

• (ITAR-TASS) The Russian Foreign Ministry alleged that Kiev has essentially jeopardized the OSCE efforts to launch an inclusive dialogue in Ukraine.

Diplomacy News

• Russian President Putin made his first visit to Crimea since the region’s annexation, arriving to take part in Victory Day celebrations. Putin hailed the return of Crimea to Russia as the restoration of "historic justice". The government in Kiev called the visit a “gross violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
   
• Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin took part in ceremonies in Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniestr to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II. Rogozin, the Russian president's special representative for Transdniestr, said that Russia would do everything possible to guarantee the security of the self-declared republic.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had a telephone call in which Lavrov urged the U.S. to influence Kiev authorities by encouraging them to de-escalate the situation and create conditions for direct and equal dialogue with representatives of the southeastern regions.
• (RIA Novosti) Putin’s visit was met with criticism from world leaders, including the White Hosue and NATO Secretary General Rasmussen, who called it "inappropriate," adding: "we consider the Russian annexation of Crimea to be illegal, illegitimate and we don't recognize it."
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) EU foreign ministers will consider the issue of expanding criteria for a second phase of sanctions against those who are involved in confiscating Ukrainian property in Crimea, a high-ranking European diplomat said.
   
• French President Francois Hollande arrived in Germany for two days of talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, during which the Ukraine crisis will figure prominently.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center concluded that 83% of Russian citizens are confident that President Putin is doing the right thing in world affairs.
   
• Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said he suspects Moscow is planning some form of "skirmish" to discredit Kiev when the country celebrates Victory Day, based on Putin’s remarks.

Governance News

• (Interfax Ukraine) President Turchynov and PM Yatsenyuk issued a joint statement announcing that Ukrainian leadership is initiating all-Ukrainian national unity roundtables with the participation of political forces from all regions, as well as public and scientific circles.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office opened a case against two deputies of the Verkhovna Rada under suspicion of "rigged vote counting" during the plenary session of Parliament on January 16.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) The U.S. expressed its support for the Ukrainian national unity roundtable initiative.
   
• The governor appointed by the "Donetsk People's Republic," Denis Pushilin, predicted a "good result" for the May 11 secession referendum.

International Security News: 

• Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy announced that anti-terrorist operations in the east will continue regardless of any decision made by representatives of the "Donetsk People's Republic" concerning their referendum, set for May 11.

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian media reported that the representative of Svoboda Party leader and presidential candidate Oleh Tiahnybok was kidnapped by armed men from his home in Makiyivka (Donetsk). 

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) The body of Valeriy Salo, the head of Donetsk’s Prosvita All-Ukrainian Society branch, was found in a burned car in Luhansk. Salo had been kidnapped by armed representatives of the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’. 

 

• (ITAR-TASS) The Ukrainian State Administration of Railway Transport announced that international trains will only stop at the major stations in Ukraine due to “an unstable situation in the country and to prevent unauthorized interference in rail transport.”

 

• (RIA Novosti) Ukraine's security forces will fire at anyone with weapons in their hands, according to the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs. 

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy said that gunmen attacked a border unit between the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Internal Observation News: 

• (ITAR-TASS) Lamberto Zannier, Secretary General of the OSCE, arrived in Kiev for meetings with Ukrainian government representatives. 

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukraine received a roadmap from the Swiss chairmanship of the OSCE on resolving its crisis. Ukrainian leaders are reviewing the document before providing a response. 

 

• (ITAR-TASS) Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on the UN and the OSCE to condemn the Ukrainian government’s treatment of journalists. 

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatsenyuk said he hopes that the OSCE will support the roadmap to resolve the Ukrainian crisis proposed by Kiev.

 

 

Constitutional Reform News: 

• Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said he will propose envisaging the right of local councils to grant official status to Russian and other languages, leaving Ukrainian as a sole state language.

Diplomacy News: 

• (Interfax Ukraine) The EU said that a May 11 referendum in eastern Ukraine is illegal, will lead to further escalation of the situation, and should not be held.

 

• (RIA Novosti) The Kremlin said it is going to take time to analyze the situation in Ukraine after separatists in southeastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk decided to move forward with autonomy referendums.

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian PM Yatsenyuk expressed surprise that the Ukrainian crisis was actively discussed at a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Switzerland, without representatives of Ukraine, the U.S., or the EU.

 

• (RIA Novosti) Russian strategic offensive and defensive forces are prepared and proficient, President Putin said after overseeing a routine drill of the country’s armed forces.

 

• (RIA Novosti) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko suggested to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the two countries could coordinate joint activities.

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) The Ukrainian Border Service announced Russian troops and hardware maneuvering are still visible along the border.

 

• German Foreign Minister Steinmeier said Russian President Vladimir Putin's newly "constructive tone" could provide new momentum for a diplomatic solution.

 

• (RIA Novosti) President Putin convened an urgent meeting with the country's security council to discuss Ukraine in the context of his talk with OSCE Chairman Burkhalter. 

 

• (ITAR-TASS) President Putin cited “irresponsible policy” as the main reason for the Ukraine crisis, stating that as a result, hundreds of thousands of people are unable to live a peaceful and prosperous life.

 

• -    (ITAR-TASS) NATO Secretary General Rasmussen said that NATO is not considering the possibility of providing military aid to Ukraine, but urged Moscow to withdraw its troops from the border, stating that “the international community supports Ukraine.”

Governance New: 

• -    Pro-Russian separatists decided to go ahead with the May 11 referendum, despite President Putin’s call for its postponement. 

 

• -    A Pew Research Center poll revealed that a strong majority of Ukrainians want their country to remain a single, unified state, even in the largely Russian-speaking east where a pro-Russian insurgency persists.

 

• (Interfax Ukraine) Forty percent of Ukrainians stand for negotiations with separatist protesters and 35% support the military crackdown, according to a poll conducted by the Rating sociological group.

 

• (ITAR-TASS) The Verkhovna Rada registered a draft resolution prohibiting Russian citizens from entering Ukraine.

 

• (RIA Novosti) Ukraine's authorities are ready to talk to representatives of local self-procliamed governments, and activists in regions demanding decentralization, President Oleksander Turchynov said.

 

• (RIA Novosti) Pro-Russian activists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said they are open for talks with Kiev, but fear the regime will deceive them.

 

• The press service of national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy announced that a delegation of the European Commission visited Kiev in late April to discuss reform plans, efforts to fully integrate with the European energy market, and the start of accumulating natural gas stocks at Ukrainian underground storage facilities.

 

• (ITAR-TASS) President Yatsenyuk announced that Ukraine is ready to pay off debts for Russian gas within ten days if its cost is set at $268.5 per 1 thousand cubic meters.

 

• Ukraine's national budget could fall short of Hr 1.5 billion in taxes and duties due to the situation in its southeast region, according to First Deputy Income and Tax Minister Ihor Bilous.

 

• Presidential candidate and Batkivschyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko said that Ukraine is not going to accept any ultimatums from Russia, and believes the unconditional implementation of agreements reached in Geneva are the terms of possible negotiations.

Internal Security News

• (Interfax Ukraine) The Ukrainian Security Service said that 14 servicemen have died and 66 have been injured since special operations began in eastern Ukraine.
   
• A spokeswoman for the militants claimed that five pro-Russians were killed when Ukrainian troops stormed a barricade in Mariupol.
   
• Ukrainian forces seized the rebel-held city hall in Mariupol, driving out pro-Russian activists before withdrawing, with no attempt to hold the building. Pro-Russian militants subsequently re-occupied the building.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) The Kiev City State Administration is negotiating with the Party of Regions, communists, and the All-Military Union, which intend to stage events on May 9 in order to rule out possible provocation.

International Observation News

• The OSCE offered to set up a fund to finance the implementation of a proposed disarmament plan in Ukraine, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter announced at a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
   
• OSCE Chairman Burkhalter said that the organization has no plans as of yet to hold the Geneva II conference for analyzing the fulfillment of earlier agreements in the Ukrainian peace process.
   
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he was ready to discuss a way out of the Ukrainian crisis with the head of the OSCE.

Constitutional Reform News

• (Interfax Ukraine) Members of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers will hold negotiations with representatives of the Kharkiv region on Wednesday to discuss constitutional reform in Kharkiv, Ukraine's foreign minister Andriy Deschytsia said.

Diplomacy News

• Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia has withdrawn forces from its border with Ukraine, where NATO said there were approximately 40,000 Russian troops positioned. However, a NATO military official subsequently stated that NATO has no indication that Russia has withdrawn its forces from close to the Ukraine border despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's assertion that they had returned to their training areas.
   
• U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said that should the Donetsk and Luhansk separatist referendum occur, and Russia follows up with recognition and deployment of forces, the actions will trigger sanctions on Russian’s finance, energy and defense sectors.
   
• (RIA Novosti) The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement urging Kiev's government to stop what it alleges to be human rights violations. “The condemnation by the high-ranking official from the UN’s Human Rights body, violence and tyranny in Ukraine confirms that the illegitimate Kiev authorities under the cover of their Western patrons are continuing gross violations of conventional legal norms,” the statement said.
   
• European Council President Van Rompuy said that the EU is open to holding more talks with Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. to try to defuse the Ukraine crisis.
   
• Russia suspended a 2001 agreement on mutual military inspections with Lithuania amid growing worries in the Baltic region over Moscow's assertiveness in Ukraine.
   
• A spokeswoman for German Chancellor Merkel’s office stated that Germany is involved in international efforts to stop an escalation of the Ukraine crisis and plan a follow-up process to April’s Geneva agreement.
   
• Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe said that Japan will send ten observers to help oversee Ukraine’s presidential elections scheduled for May 25.
   
• The United Kingdom will pressure Russia into fulfilling the Geneva commitments, British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs William Hague said at a press conference in Kiev.

Governance News

• President Putin urged that a planned May 11 referendum on autonomy for southeast Ukraine be postponed.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) The government of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk intended to hold a May 8 vote to determine whether or not they will postpone the planned May 11 referendum.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) German FM spokesman Martin Schaefer said that Germany will not recognize the May 11 referendum.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Ukrainian presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko stated that in his opinion, "there is no legal basis" for a May 11 referendum on Donetsk’s status.
   
• President Putin said that Ukraine's May 25 presidential election is a step "in the right direction". However, he said the vote would decide nothing unless the rights of "all citizens" were protected.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) All sides in the Geneva negotiations must recognize Ukraine's right to hold presidential elections, British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs William Hague said at Kiev press conference.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) Presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko met with British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs William Hague to discuss the Ukrainian situation and the upcoming presidential election. Tymoshenko stressed the election’s importance, and the need for the expression of will by Ukrainian citizens, including eastern and southern region residents.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) The Interregional Council of Territorial Communities of Southeast Ukraine plans to hold a congress of representatives from territorial communities in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odessa, and Mykolaiv regions in Dnipropetrovsk on May 11.
   
• Unaffiliated presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko maintained the highest presidential electoral rating among all candidates, followed by Batkivschyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko and parliamentarian Sergiy Tigipko.

Imagine if you went to bed in one country woke up the next day in another. This is what happened to 293 million people of the former Soviet Union in 1991. Its collapse left millions of people with diverse backgrounds in newly created independent, national countries. Ukraine was one of them; composed of ethnically diverse regions, but unified within a single state.  

Ukraine is a multi-ethnic, multi- language and multi-culture country. According to the latest census, it is home to almost 130 nationalities. Twenty-two percent of Ukraine’s population is made up of ethnic minorities. Russians are the largest among them, 17 percent of Ukraine’s population, who historically lived in the southern and eastern part of the country. Since the first day of its independence, the leadership of Ukraine faced a challenging task of building a national identity that would unite various regions with ethnically diverse populations. The Euromaidan protests and the February revolution exacerbated deep-rooted divisions between the east and west. The new interim government not only failed to unite the country but also reinforced its division. Therefore, despite Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its destabilization activities in the eastern part of the country, the real causes of current Ukrainian crisis lie within Ukraine and can be solved only by the Ukrainian people and authorities in Kiev. 

Ethnic divisions in Ukraine go back several centuries and are a result of imperial fighting between Russia, Austro-Hungary and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The southern and eastern parts of the country have historically been a part of the Russian Empire and mostly populated with ethnic Russians and predominantly Russian-speaking Ukrainians. These regions have always had a very close cultural and economic relationship with Russia. Some western areas were part of Habsburg Austria until 1918; others were brought into Ukraine only after the Second World War. The west has always been the land of Ukrainian nationalism with strong pro-European feelings.

These long-standing ideological divisions and lack of effective state policy regarding Ukraine’s diverse regions, after it became independent, are at the core of today’s crisis. Despite many alarming reports on situations with minorities issued by the international human rights organizations and the U.S. State Department, Ukrainian government officials failed to address these problems. Instead, the often-corrupt Ukrainian leadership concentrated on consolidating its power over the country. Some of the political leaders often confused nationalism with patriotism, consequently dividing the country further.

The shortcomings in national politics that caused a division among Ukrainians became obvious in the last two presidential elections of 2004 and 2010. The presidential candidates drew support from different regional bases and basically turned the country’s eastern and western regions into rivals by shifting political power from one to the other. While predominantly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine supported a pro-Russian candidate, the pro- western candidates drew support from the more nationalistic western part of the country. Some ethnic minorities voted for pro-Russian candidate, Yanukovich, in 2010 because they saw his candidacy as more supportive of minority rights than pro-western Timoshenko and her nationalist supporters. 

Although Euromaidan protests included people of many different nationalities and ethnic groups of Ukraine, its aftermath once again turned into a regional political power struggle.  Following the escape of then-president Yanukovich, the new interim government of Yatcenyuk was formed by representatives of the western regions. The Svoboda party, perceived as ultra-nationalist and fascist by the people in the east, assumed key ministerial positions in the interim government, such as the deputy minister, general prosecutor and defense minister. Ukraine's south and east, which account for the majority of Ukraine’s GDP and are home to almost half of its population, are represented by only two of twenty ministerial positions in the new government. Naturally, these developments raised concern among minority groups, especially the Russian-speaking regions, who were concerned about their future and afraid to be punished for their previous support of the Yanukovich’s government.  

Therefore, the new interim government in Kiev had to establish its legitimacy across all the regions by assuring every Ukrainian that his/her rights would be protected, regardless of their ethno-linguistic background. Instead, MP’s of the Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, voted on several very controversial bills, including:

• 4201 – Bill to ban Ukrainian Communist Party activity. 
• 4176 – Bill to repeal law penalizing Nazi propaganda.
• 4199 – Bill to repeal the use of their native language by minorities, which refers to Russian, Romanian, Hungarian and Greek.

Although the bill to repeal native language use was vetoed by acting President Turchinov, after sharp criticism by many European leaders, the veto came too late. The pro-Russian population in eastern Ukraine formed anti-Maidan protests against the new interim government in Kiev, supported by the Russian government and fueled by its news media propaganda. Moreover, UN Assistant Secretary–General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic raised issues of intolerance when he delivered a statement to Security Counsel on March 29. In his statement, he voiced his concerns about an increase of hatred between ethnic Ukrainians and Russians, as well as Maidan and anti-Maidan groups. Simonovich also called the new Ukrainian government to adopt all reforms and new policy measures “without any spirit of revenge and in a consultative, transparent and inclusive manner.” 

Unfortunately, the new government of Ukraine has been failing to follow these recommendations. The nationalistic rhetoric is high among politicians who are looking to score some extra points before the upcoming presidential election. The leaders of some ethnic minority groups, although they publicly announced support for the current government, are watching further developments with great concern. If Ukraine wants to avoid further division and possibly a civil war, the new government leaders need to stop confusing their nationalistic ideas with patriotism and implement policies that include interests of all people in Ukraine, despite their ethnic, cultural or linguistic backgrounds. 

Let’s not to be naïve: neither Western countries nor Russia truly care about democracy and freedom in Ukraine. Foreign governments care about their national interest and geopolitical influence. No one else can build the future of Ukraine except Ukrainians. The Ukrainian government should stop blaming Russia and deal with its internal demons. Russia is not the cause of these problems; it is merely fueling them and exploiting the situation. 

Sherzod Gulamov is from Uzbekistan. He is an MPA candidate at Baruch College, School of Public Affairs and an Executive Office Intern at EWI. His areas of interest include post-Soviet Union countries and Central Asia.

Photo Credit: Alec via Flickr

See the full clip here on CCTV America. 

Internal Security News

• Donetsk authorities reported 8 dead and 16 injured in Sloviansk.
   
• 24 individuals remained hostages in Donetsk.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Russian media reported that 48 people remained unaccounted for following an Odessa fire on May 2. Additionally, approximately 20 bodies remained unidentified out of the 46 recovered.
   
• Militants imposed a curfew in Konstantinovka (Donetsk), and reportedly refused entry to vehicles. A similar curfew was in place in Sloviansk where heavy fighting took place.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukraine’s State Aviation Service temporarily closed the Donetsk airport, before abolishing the resolution to suspend flights later in the day.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) The Verkhovna Rada supported assigning combatant status to people involved in eastern Ukraine’s anti-terrorist operations.
   
• Speaking to journalists in the Verkhovna Rada, billionaire presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko said there was evidence that toxic chemicals were used in the Odessa fire.

International Observation News

• UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffry Feltman is scheduled to visit Ukraine from May 7-8. According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the visit was initiated by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to assist with a diplomatic settlement.
   
• (RIA Novosti) A senior Russian diplomat called on UN officials to be as impartial as possible while assessing ongoing events in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Russian President Vladimir Putin is slated to discuss the Ukrainian crisis with Swiss President Didier Burkhalter, current Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, on May 7.

Constitutional Reform News

• (Interfax Ukraine) The Verkhovna Rada did not back the idea of holding a referendum on decentralization on May 25. The decision resulted from a closed-door session. "It needs to be held, but not during a war…. a referendum cannot be held at a gunpoint," parliamentarian Oleksandr Bryhynets wrote on Facebook.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) The Verkhovna Rada will hold the first vote on a bill amending the Ukrainian constitution in May, and the bill should be adopted by October or November, Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman told journalists.

Diplomacy News

• Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov ruled out holding fresh talks in Geneva to defuse the crisis, unless pro-Russian opposition groups are involved.
   
• The Russian Foreign Ministry released its White Book on Violations of Human Rights and Rule of Law in Ukraine. The report was presented to President Putin and alleged “widespread and gross violations of human rights and freedoms on the part of the self-proclaimed government and its supporters.”
   
• The Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Russia were scheduled to meet in Vienna for a "working dinner" after a Council of Europe committee meeting on May 6.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Ukraine is willing to hold another round of Geneva talks “if Russia is ready to support elections and stop the threat,” said Ukrainian FM Andrei Deshchytsa.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) European Council President Herman Van Rompuy ruled out military intervention in Ukraine, stating that the EU should "use other tools" to help resolve the crisis.
   
• White House spokesman Jay Carney stated that the U.S. is prepared to escalate sanctions if necessary. “We have a wide range of tools available to us up to and including sectoral sanctions.  And should Russia take actions that we and our partners decide or view as meriting further escalation costs on Russia, then that's what we will do.  We will impose those costs.”

• Ukraine is close to war, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned in interviews published in four European newspapers.

• Foreign Minister Lavrov urged national dialogue in Ukraine as foreign ministers met in Vienna, Austria, in the latest international effort to rein in the spiraling crisis. Lavrov called on Kiev’s interim authorities to listen to opposition activists who want greater autonomy in Ukraine's south and east.

• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Russian authorities should recognize the legitimacy of Ukraine’s presidential elections scheduled for May 25.

• (ITAR-TASS) Lavrov stated that the events in Odessa were a frank manifestation of fascism. He said the West is concealing the true causes, and that the investigation will eventually die off.

• A U.S. Air Force General stated that Russia had stepped up military activity in the Pacific as Ukraine tensions continue to rise.

Governance News  

• Foreign Minister Lavrov said it would be "unusual" to hold a presidential election in Ukraine while the army was being deployed against Ukrainians.
   
• Ukrainian President Turchynov dismissed the Odessa governor in response to the fire and violence that took place there.
   
• (RIA Novosti) The Party of Regions, Ukraine’s ruling party under ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, warned Kiev’s current authorities that Ukraine’s disintegration is becoming irreversible. The party, which draws most of its electoral support from rebel eastern and southeastern regions, laid the blame for mounting tensions on the “coup-imposed” government.

Internal Security News: 

• (Interfax Ukraine) A Mi-24 helicopter of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was shot down from a heavy machine gun outside Sloviansk on May 5. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry indicated the pilots survived. 
   
• The Ukrainian Interior Ministry reported four servicemen were killed and 30 injured during a military operation on May 5 outside Sloviansk. Ukrainian forces drove pro-Russian militants deeper into the city as they retook a TV tower. RIA Novosti reported that a civilian woman was killed by a stray bullet and six were injured during an attack on a separatist-manned roadblock in the city. Ukraine’s Security Services stated that pro-Russian activists continue to destabilize the situation in east Ukraine.
   
• A unity rally in Odessa was attacked by pro-Russian separatists on May 2, which sparked violence in the city, resulting in a fire in the Trade Unions House. 46 people (mostly pro-Russian activists) were killed and over 200 injured, with 144 detained by security services. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry claimed that the fire was started by pro-Russians using Molotov cocktails inside the building, though other accounts cite the use of Molotov cocktails by both sides. Ukrainian PM Yatsenyuk accused Odessa’s security services and law enforcement office of being inefficient, saying they had “done nothing to stop this crackdown” and had “violated the law.” 
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian police succumbed to pressure from a local mob on May 5 and released 67 individuals who had been detained for taking part in the clash in Odessa. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s public relations department stated that the decision was made by regional prosecutors “at the protesters’ request;” however, Reuters reported that protesters had been released after a crowd broke down the main gate of the prison at which they were held. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov stated that “police in Odessa acted in a totally disorderly, possibly criminal way” by releasing the detainees, while PM Yatsenyuk implied that they were corrupt. An additional 42 detainees were transported from Odessa to a central region of Ukraine.
   
• PrivatBank, Ukraine's largest bank, "temporarily" closed branches in separatist-held Donetsk and Luhansk on May 5, saying it could no longer carry out cash transactions in regions riddled with crime that could "threaten the lives" of its workers. A PrivatBank branch in Mariupol was set on fire on May 4, while several other branches, ATMs and bank vehicles in Donetsk and Luhansk were vandalized, set on fire and broken into over the weekend. 
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Fighting between government troops and pro-Russian militants continued in Kramatorsk over May 2-3, as Ukrainian forces retook a television station and the local SBU headquarters, resulting in the deaths of 10 insurgents. Some accounts maintained that the militants subsequently retook the SBU headquarters. RIA Novosti reported on May 5 that militants still held the buildings of the Interior Ministry and Security Service as well as others, with Ukrainian troops in control of most of the city excluding the center. 
   

International Observation News: 

• OSCE Chairman Didier Burkhalter was scheduled to arrive in Moscow on May 7. 
   
• OSCE observers held by pro-Russian separatists were released on May 3 “without conditions.” The special representative to Russian President Putin called the conditions in which the observers were held acceptable. 
   
• (RIA Novosti) The Russian Civic Chamber announced on May 5 its intention to appeal to the UN and the European Council to postpone the presidential election in Ukraine currently scheduled for May 25.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Germany’s Ministry of Defense stated on May 5 that it does not intend to send military observers to Ukraine in the framework of a possible new mission of the OSCE.

 

Constitutional Reform News: 

• (ITAR-TASS) Ukrainian PM Yatsenyuk submitted a bill to the Verkohvna Rada on May 5 proposing holding a poll on May 25 on issues related to the territorial integrity, national unity and the decentralization of power within Ukraine. 
   

Diplomacy News: 

• German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on May 5 for a second international conference in Geneva. He said one way to "put an end" to Ukraine's violence was OSCE mediation at local level across Ukraine.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on May 5 that a place and date for the second round of multilateral talks on Ukraine are not known yet, but it could take place on May 25, when the first round of early presidential elections is to be held in Ukraine. The ministry spokesman also stated that the talks could be held prior to the elections. 
   
• (RIA Novosti) The Russian Foreign Ministry said that FM Sergei Lavrov was due to attend a ministerial meeting at the Council of Europe in Vienna the week of May 5 amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was scheduled to visit the European Commission on May 13.
   
• German Chancellor Merkel’s spokesperson stated on May 5 that Germany believes that a referendum planned by pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk the week of May 12 would violate the constitution of the country and make the situation there even worse.
   
• (RIA Novosti) The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on May 5 announcing its compilation of a ‘white book’ detailing human rights violations allegedly committed in Ukraine. The book “shows the grossest violations of the fundamental international principles and norms in the area of human rights committed by the monopolizing protesters of Euro-Maidan and its radical nationalists, and sometimes with the direct promotion of the United States and the European Union, which confirms that these occurrences had a massive character.”
   
• A Kremlin spokesman stated on May 3 that Russia is receiving is receiving “thousands” of calls for assistance from Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine, and it has not yet decided on a response.
   
• US President Obama and German Chancellor Merkel announced in a joint press conference on May 2 that the US and Germany are prepared to launch broader sanctions against Russia should the Ukrainian election of May 25 be disrupted. Obama stated that the US would move to “a broader-based sectoral sanctions regime” should Russia impede the election, while Merkel voiced support for a move to wider sanctions and said the European Union and the United States would continue to work in concert on the issue.
   
• US President Obama stated on May 2 that "It is obvious to the world that these Russian-backed groups are not peaceful protesters. They are heavily armed militants." 
   

Governance News: 

• Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, said on 4 May that it would be “absurd” for Ukrainian authorities to push forward with the May 25 presidential vote following the violence in the southern port city of Odessa and Kiev’s military operations to dislodge pro-Russian separatists from towns in the east.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry reiterated on May 5 its intent to move forward with elections, stating, “We do not accept any initiatives to put off the elections, set for May 25. The elections will be held as planned. All other initiatives are aimed exclusively at upsetting stability in Ukraine and continuing Russia's interference in Ukraine's internal affairs.”
   
• A plenary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada was slated to be held behind closed doors on May 6. 
   
• (RIA Novosti) Members of the Ukrainian parliament from the right-wing Svoboda party introduced a bill on May 5 intending to ban symbols associated with Russia, including the black-and-orange St. George ribbons adopted by pro-Russian militants, referred to in the bill as “extremism instigators and separatists.”

Twenty-eight years ago on May 1, 1986, tens of thousands of children marched on the main street of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in its Labor Day Parade. Unaware and unprotected, these smiling and laughing children celebrated the holiday without being told that only five days prior, a nuclear explosion took place in Chernobyl, a small city located 80 kilometers (approximately 50 miles) away. The government purposely hid the truth from the population to avoid dampening the joyous atmosphere of Den Pratsi—the biggest Soviet holiday celebrating the working class. Many of those children developed leukemia at various stages of their lives. No preventative measures were taken to ensure the public’s safety after the catastrophic Chernobyl events. If only those children had worn protective clothing–or been instructed to stay inside–their fates could have been different. 

Even though nuclear plant disasters had occurred prior to Chernobyl (such as the 1979 Three Mile Island disaster in Pennsylvania), the scale of the Chernobyl meltdown changed the world’s opinion on the use of nuclear power, and demonstrated the far-reaching effects of nuclear radiation, without respect for sovereign borders. Millions of people in Ukraine and neighboring nations, such as Belarus, western Russia, Finland and Sweden suffered significant emotional, psychological and physical injuries, which are still being felt today—28 years later. The level of radiation released from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP) was a hundred times “more powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki” and caused the “release of over a hundred types of radioactive material into the environment.” Some of those elements—Strontium, Cesium (both linked to leukemia and liver cancers) and Iodine (which harms the thyroid gland in children)—contaminate the environment to this day, having spread over great distances. There are still hot regions, where the level of radiation is 15 times higher than the level produced during chest x-rays. According to a 2005 UN report, long-term cancers that occurred as a result of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster (CND) will eventually kill about 4,000 people. Moreover, over 2.25 million people have been affected as a result of the widespread radiation—among them, 260 liquidators (nuclear plant cleanup workers) and a half million children. 

The Ukrainian government has forsaken its Chernobyl victims. The main law addressing the disaster was adopted during Soviet times and paid for by the USSR budget. When Ukraine gained independence, it did not have enough financial resources to pay the same benefits to its population. Most benefits for the Chernobiltsi are recorded in laws, but inaccessible. For instance, a 55-year old Category A liquidator, disabled due to the CND, was “forced to work during the liquidation period… otherwise [he] would be sent to prison.” He shared that, “free medicine is only on paper… most procedures effective for my treatment are expensive, as they involve special equipment.” The Ukrainian bureaucracy’s ineffective handling of the CND legacy can be attributed to the its high level of corruption, which leads to a lack of funding, and thus, to the violation of the rights to “life, adequate standard of living and the enjoyment of the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health.”

Sadly, the liquidators and other CND victims are remembered only at politically-important times, such as an election season and before the Chernobyl anniversary. The government and media talk of new remedies and upcoming changes, such as “the need to improve pensions of Chernobyl victims.” Before the 2010 election, pensions were increased by 120 hryvnias ($10.6 USD). Yet once a politician is in office, “he [or she] totally forgets about the promises made.” New problems occur and “Chernobyl is forgotten,” at least until the next anniversary or election cycle. This year, as politicians debate the situation in Eastern Ukraine, no one even has time to talk about Chernobyl. 

Lack of funding has also limited Chernobyl responses. One proposed solution—the creation of a new safety cover that would cost approximately 980 million euros, and would ensure the safety of the reactor for about a 100 years—was set to be completed by 2015 by French Novarka Consortium. However, the international financial support has been significantly reduced. Additionally, the UN action plan Vision for 2016 assumes that national budgetary support “for contaminated regions [will be] substantially reduced,” and falsely assumes that the problem is mostly solved. Foreign aid, including €110 million from the EU in April 2011, is often criticized as an effort to “alleviate the Chernobyl situation in the eyes of many commentators and decision makers.” 

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have further complicated ongoing Chernobyl cleanup projects, and the conflict could delay a $2.1 billion U.S. project—a 250-meter-wide sarcophagus to cover an existing, hastily-constructed structure next to the Belarussian-Ukrainian border—for two years. As a result, the replacement of temporary shelters, such as “Object Shelter,” originally meant for only short-term protection against radiation leakages, will be compromised. 

Ukrainian lawmaker Valerii Kalchenko doubts that Russia will continue to provide funding, as it has abandoned its G-8 obligations to lead fundraising for the sarcophagus cost overruns. Kalchenko forecasts that Ukrainians, together with the international community, have only three or four years to finish the project—time that we cannot afford to lose to the Ukrainian-Russian dispute.

Moreover, around 95 percent of the “original radioactive inventory of reactor Unit 4 remains inside the ruins of the reactor building.” It is far from hyperbole to say that without funding or adhering to containment schedules, Europe will face a second nuclear catastrophe from the same site. 

Thousands of people might be affected if Europe continues to falter at meeting already-established arrangements and fails to cooperate on this pressing issue. Even if these projects are built on time, the Chernobyl problem will not be completely solved: removing the remaining radioactive materials will be the next dangerous, costly and time-consuming task. 

Nadiya Kostyuk is a program coordinator for EWI's Worldwide Cybersecurity Initiative. She grew up in Berezne, Ukraine. 

Photo Credit: Pedro Moura Pinheiro/Flickr

Internal Security News:

• An “anti-terror” operation was launched to clear the city of Sloviansk of pro-Russian militants. During this operation, militants shot down two of Ukraine's army helicopters; the Ukrainian government said that a pilot and serviceman had been killed, four suspected separatists held and 10 rebel checkpoints seized. Four insurgents in Sloviansk were later detained by Ukrainian law enforcement under suspicion of involvement in the helicopter shooting. 
   
• The Ukrainian Interior Ministry announced that the National Guard had “practically cleared Sloviansk of the terrorists” following the military operation in the city. A source within the pro-Russian militant groups claimed that the Ukrainian military controlled only a few streets in the suburbs of Sloviansk, and that the “self-defense” fighters continued to remain in control of the majority of the city. 
   
• (RIA Novosti) a representative of the self-proclaimed "people's mayor" of Sloviansk said that negotiations on the exchange of captive OSCE observers for arrested militia leaders were held but were halted due to the military operation in Sloviansk. 
   
• A 1,000-person rally for Ukrainian unity in Odessa was attacked by pro-Russian activists. Shots were fired, and some noise grenades were used in the clash. Police were seen interfering in the clash.
   
• The Interior Ministry said that pro-Russian separatists left the prosecutor's office and television center in Luhansk.
   
• (Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Turchynov signed a decree reinstituting military conscription for male citizens aged 18-25. The decree cites “undisguised aggression” of pro-Russian armed groups and the “exacerbation” of the sociopolitical situation in southeastern Ukraine as impetus and stipulates that the draft campaign will be conducted in May-July 2014.
   
• Ukrainian PM Yatsenyuk said that his country was entering its "most dangerous 10 days" since independence in 1991 and was struggling to counter pro-Russian separatists on the verge of taking over the industrialized eastern heartland.
   

Diplomacy:

• (RIA Novosti) A Kremlin spokesman called the Ukrainian military’s operation to clear Sloviansk “a punitive operation that destroyed the last hope for Geneva Accords to be effective.”
   
• The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry rejected the Russian side's accusations that Ukraine is not fulfilling the Geneva agreements.
   
• (RIA Novosti) A statement from the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Russia said that the Ukrainian military’s operation in Sloviansk was, “fully sanctioned by the U.S. and its NATO allies.” The statement also asserted that, “all this poses a threat to Russia's security."
   
• Russia's Foreign Ministry called on Western powers to give up their "destructive" policy on Ukraine and urged Kyiv to stop its "punitive operation" in the south-east of the country. "This will allow a real process of de-escalation to begin," the ministry said in a statement.
   
• (ITAR-TASS) Ukraine banned Russian passenger airline flights to Donetsk or Kharkiv. 
   
• A spokeswoman for EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton told reporters that, “We are following with growing concern the events in eastern Ukraine.”
   
• (ITAR-TASS) The European Commissioner for Energy said that the EU believes the price of Russia’s gas should be the same for all member countries and noted the need to create a pan-European gas and electricity distribution networks. "We want a single price for (Russian) gas on the common European market.”
   
• (RIA Novosti) Russian, Ukraine and the EU failed to agree on gas supply issues at a meeting in Warsaw. Further tripartite meetings were expected to take place in subsequent weeks.
   

Governance: 

• The leader of the Third Ukrainian Republic movement, former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, said that there are legal grounds to ban the Regions Party and the Communist Party.