Brothers and sisters, here’s the summary for March 19
The bad news:
1. Russian occupiers have instantaneously turned Crimea into a criminal ghetto, where kidnappings are rampant, people are taken hostage, and a complete chaos flourishes. A striking example – the kidnapping of the Ukrainian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Sergiy Haiduk.
Today’s assault on the Headquarters of the Ukrainian Navy, when the “self-defense” polizei went on attack hiding behind women, we understood perfectly well who we were dealing with. There is nothing courageous about their behavior. Kidnapping and hostage-taking of military opponents are just another verse from the same song of baseness and infamy conducted by Putin.
2. Yesterday’s murders in Simferopol fall inder the same category. Russians announced today that a “third party” was responsible [for the murders].
However, even if you believe in this nonsense, one might wonder: how do these “protectors” stabilize the situation if nobody shot people on the street in broad daylight before their occupation of Crimea, and then this suddenly started?
3. The Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation is ready to urgently issue the Russian passports in Crimea. The service charge is 200 Hryvnias (about US$17).
Even before their annexation, the Russians shoved their passports to practically anybody on the peninsula in their efforts to create a “fifth column.” Now they are trying to consolidate their success. Obviously, for many residents of Crimea, a Russian passport looks almost like a pass to heaven. But I’m afraid it will prove to be the Ausweis [ID card] to hell (see paragraph 1).
The good news:
1. It was made clear to the Ukrainian troops and civilians in Crimea that Kyiv is thinking about them – the NSDC [National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine] Secretary announced the development of an evacuation plan. It is very important for the troops. They finally got the answer to the main question of “what next?” The same applies to the population.
I do not know how effective this plan will be. But I can see how many Ukrainians on the mainland are eager to help their fellow brothers – dozens of offers to shelter the refugees daily arrive to my personal Facebook inbox alone, what can I say about Ukraine itself! This is especially important for our fellow countrymen to understand that they are not abandoned in the occupied territory. Their pain is our common pain; their fate is our common concern. These are our brothers and sisters, and there is nothing more to explain.
2. The players in Europe can see the happenings in Crimea perfectly well. The EU Ambassador Jan Tombinski stated today that Crimea under the self-proclaimed authority is being transformed “into one of the most dangerous regions in the world.” Events on February 27, when a group of armed men seized government buildings in Simferopol were just the beginning. Now, according to the ambassador, more people in the occupied territory are becoming victims of human rights violations.
Whereas human rights is what the West is always ready to defend. For Western countries, such protection is understandable and justified. An ordinary European or American may not be entirely sure why it is necessary to help Ukraine in keeping Crimea a part of it. But no questions arise to the fact of human rights violations.
3. The NSDC decided today to introduce a visa regime with the Russian Federation. The NSDC Secretary [Andriy] Parubiy clarified that it was a matter of hours before the citizens of Russia could only enter Ukraine using their foreign passports.
Obviously, it should have been done not even yesterday, but in the first hours after the Russian invasion of Crimea. I am confident that the bloody clown acts by the separatists in Donetsk and Kharkiv would have been much more confined without strong support from thousands of “Putin’s tourists” who wandered there from Russia. Better late than never. Now, at least, it will be harder for the Kremlin to realize yet another “Crimean script” in our East. If only our border patrol locked the Ukrainian border.
And in general, a new day will show [us] if we are able to implement the positive decisions made today.
