Inside News on Odessa and Ukraine
Over the past week several entries relating to counter-terrorism have appear here. One somewhat academic (but hopefully interesting), another somewhat more pragmatic. Needless to say there are other older entries stretching back many, many months to when it became clear that it was inevitable matters would slide into ad hoc terrorist activity across Ukraine, far beyond the […]
Last night, and in to the early hours of this morning, saw the RADA debate and then pass the budget for 2015 - sort of. To be blunt, quite what it passed is somewhat fuzzy. Numerous amendments were agreed in the session, thus what was submitted on paper, is not what was passed. What passed […]
This entry begins with a very necessary link to a particularly good blog entry by XX Committee entitled “Putin’s Orthodox Jihad”. That is not to say all XX Committee blog entries are less than good, they are. It’s just that the above linked is particularly good. There is little that can be added to the […]
Following on from the entry yesterday relating to a Ukrainian slide into “The Troubles”, it is probably necessary to note two further explosions today. The first in Odessa just after 0430 this morning, resulting in property damage and the death of the bomber, and a second in Kherson at about 1100 this morning, again resulting […]
As has been mentioned on this blog numerous times since April, most recently here, the anticipation that individual, ad hoc acts of terror seeping beyond the parameters of the conflict areas in Luhansk and Donetsk would manifest themselves (for years to come) has been expected by those with a modicum of forethought and sense. Yesterday […]
Yesterday, the law intended to expand the scope of powers held by the National Security Defence Council, and thus by extension its Secretary, Olexandr Turchynov, failed by 3 votes to pass through the RADA. Whether or not the NSDC, and its Secretary, require further powers is a matter of debate, both politically with regard to […]
On 11th November an entry was published relating to the change of Chairman of the Odessa Regional Administration following the resignation of Alexie Goncharenko who took up a seat in the RADA, and the subsequent vote and hidden shenanigans behind it. “The voting required one candidate to gain 67 votes to be appointed as Chairman – […]
The new National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine has been mentioned quite often recently here, in entries far too numerous to link to. Suffice to say that since its creation passed into law, with the president making it abundantly clear he would prefer a foreigner untainted by Ukrainian corruption to head the Bureau, little else has […]
About a month ago, an entry was published regarding the 2015 budget for Ukraine - an entry that given the current exchange US$/UAH exchange rate, undoubtedly underlines the NBU sentiment at that time as being more than a little optimistic. The Hryvnia has further devalued against the US$ since then, as was fairly clear to […]
Having recently, once again, drawn attention to the issue/nature of sanctions verses arbitrary punishment, an entry that concluded with; “If Ukraine cannot or will not make a case against them, is it any surprise that the EU may well remove certain Ukrainian citizens from the EU sanctions list? That does not necessarily excuse the EU and […]