Ukraine Sliding From Oligarchy To Cronyism

KIEV, Ukraine -- The recent appointment of a second government led by Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov confirms Ukraine’s evolution from an oligarchy to a cronyist state whereby positions of power are increasingly being accorded to “the Family,” composed of President Viktor Yanukovych’s close relatives and loyal associates from his home town of Yenakiyeve in Donetsk oblast. “The Family” is orchestrated by the president’s eldest son, Oleksandr. Azarov is not a “Family” member and heads a caretaker government. However, twelve positions have been allocated to “The Family,” facilitating the privatization of the state budget and security forces. Illustratively, former National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Chairman Serhiy Arbuzov was made first deputy prime minister, a position from which he is likely to rise to prime minister. The new NBU Chairman Ihor Sorkin was born in Donetsk and in 2002–2010 headed the Donetsk branch of NBU. Sorkin’s wife, Angela, is the deputy head of UkrBiznesBank, now owned by Oleksandr Yanukovych but headed by Arbuzov until 2010. Both Angela Arbuzov and Oleksandr Yanukovych are (bizarrely) dentists by profession, and Oleksandr entered Ukraine’s top 100 wealthiest people in 2011, a year after his father came to power. Ihor Sorkin’s parents live in Moscow and his father is employed by a Gazprom entity whose affiliate in Donetsk employs Ihor’s sister. The State Tax Administration and Customs Service have been merged and, under the new government, continue to be headed by “Family” member Oleksandr Klimenko. “The Family” also continues to control the interior ministry (Vitaliy Zakharchenko) and the Ministry of Agriculture (Mykola Prysyazhniuk). Arbuzov and Prysyazhniuk will steer the last big privatization wave in Ukraine, this time of land. Rukh party defector Oleksandr Lavrynovych for now remains minister of justice and is slated to be Chairman of the Central Election Commission, but Batkivshchina defector Andriy Portnov will succeed him as justice minister. Portnov had provided legal counsel to Tymoshenko who challenged Yanukovych’s 2010 election. Two opposition defectors would be therefore in place to ‘manage’ the re-election of Yanukovych in 2015. Dmytro Tabachnyk, loathed by the opposition for his inflammatory remarks about Western Ukrainians and Ukrainian history, remains minister of education and was lobbied in 2010 by the Russian Orthodox Patriarch. The tradition since 2010 of ex-Russian citizens who served in the Russian armed forces controlling the security forces continues with Minister of Defense Pavlo Lebedyev and Oleksandr Yakymenko, made first deputy chief of the SBU by Yanukovych last year. The oligarchic gas lobby has lost influence in the new government, having been unable to secure many parliamentary seats in the October 2012 elections within the Party of Regions. As an insurance policy and to support the non-Tymoshenko opposition, the gas lobby invested in Vitaliy Klychko’s Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms part (UDAR). In the new government, Leonid Kozhara replaced Kostyantyn Gryshchenko as foreign minister (the former is aligned with oligarch Rinat Akhmetov’s group and the latter with the gas lobby). Gryshchenko’s replacement was part of a PR campaign claiming the “pro-Russian” gas lobby had derailed Ukraine’s European integration. Akhmetov controls transportation, economy, social and regional policy in the government and holds strong influence over Minister of Economic Development and Trade Ihor Prasolov, the former first deputy head of Akhmetov’s business empire Systems Capital Management (SCM). Akhmetov’s man in Dnipropetrovsk, former governor Oleksandr Vulkov, facilitated the expansion of SCM into that oblast. Vulkov was appointed Deputy Prime Minister where he will work alongside another loyalist, First Deputy Prime Minister Borys Kolesnykov. Gas lobby member Yuriy Boyko was moved from being minister of energy and the coal industry to first deputy prime minister where he could be marginalized. Whereas, in November 2012, First Deputy Prime Minister Valeriy Khoroshkovsky resigned, as he claimed, due to the absence of economic reforms and the freezing of Ukraine’s European integration. Yet, Khoroshkovsky’s European integration credentials are suspect since, notably, in 2010–2012 as chairman of the Security Service (SBU) he revived KGB-style policies against the opposition. Nevertheless, the departure of Khoroshkovsky, Serhiy Tihipko and former Our Ukraine businessman Petro Poroshenko means there is no longer even a moderate pro-European influence within the Azarov government. The chameleon nature of Ukrainian politicians such as Khoroshkovsky and Akhmetov represents a conundrum for Western policymakers who wrongly accept at face value what these Ukrainian politicians tell them—which, more often than not, is what Westerners wish to hear. In reality, in the past both oligarchs have prioritized short term graft over medium-to-long-term objectives of European integration. The increasing cronyism and privatization of the budget and security forces by “the Family” portends deepening corruption and political instability over the coming year in Ukraine. Taken together, the new-old Azarov government will not be able to undertake needed reforms, sign a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund or unfreeze Ukraine’s relations with the European Union.

Tymoshenko Probe Angers Opposition Groups

KIEV, Ukraine -- Political confrontation appears set to escalate in Ukraine after opposition parties on Monday demanded the holding of an emergency session of Parliament in reaction to a new investigation against jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. The Batkivshchyna party, joined by other opposition groups, seeks to hold the session on January 29 and plans to summon up key law enforcement officials, including Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka. Pshonka, Internal Affairs Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko and SBU security service chief Oleksandr Yakymenko will face a no-confidence vote, Arseniy Yatseniuk, the leader of Batkivshchyna, said. This may pose a problem for President Viktor Yanukovych, who does not control a stable majority in Parliament after October 28 elections. Yanukovych had to rely on independent lawmakers to make several important appointments in the government. The demands emerged in reaction to plans by prosecutors to seek life in prison for jailed Tymoshenko for her alleged involvement in the murder of lawmaker and businessman in 1996. Tymoshenko denied any involvement in the murder and said the allegations were politically motivated to eliminate her from political life. European leaders have repeatedly criticized the Ukrainians authorities for on-going political pressure and investigations against opposition leaders. But the latest developments raise serious concerns because they may undermine Ukraine’s plans to sign next month an important political association and free trade agreement with the European Union. “If the latest developments in Ukraine prevents the singing of the agreement, we see no other solution but demanding a total change of the government via holding early parliamentary and presidential elections,” the opposition Udar party said in a statement. Pshonka said on Friday that investigators had completed their investigation into the killing of businessman and lawmaker Yevhen Shcherban in 1996 and concluded that Tymoshenko and then Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko had ordered the murder, paying the killers $2.8 million. Tymoshenko on Friday was “served notice of suspicion” of organizing the murder, Pshonka said. Tymoshenko is already on trial for alleged financial crimes when she headed a gas-trading firm in the 1990s. The trial was adjourned on Friday after she didn't appear in court due to her continued ill health, her lawyer said. Prosecutors accused her of trying to "avoid responsibility." Oleksandr Tymoshenko, Yulia Tymoshenko’s husband who is now based in Prague, the Czech Republic, on Monday called Pshonka’s latest allegations a “complete madness.” The allegations “show that the authorities exhausted all sorts of evidence in other cases and they are absolutely on the verge of complete madness.” “All reasonable, objective people realize that Tymoshenko had nothing to do with the murder of Shcherban,” Oleksandr Tymoshenko said. "I appeal to all honest people - do not believe a word of this dull elite and occupiers in the government!” Oleksandr Tymoshenko said. “Fight for your future. Yulia Tymoshenko has defended you - it's time to defend her. Do not be ignorant. Tomorrow they will come to you."

Lawyer Of Former Ukraine PM Yulia Tymoshenko 'Faces Criminal Charges'

KIEV, Ukraine -- The senior lawyer acting for jailed former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko says he is under criminal investigation and fears imminent arrest. Serhiy Vlasenko told reporters on Monday that he had been accused of car theft, robbery and failing to obey a court ruling stemming from his divorce several years ago. Vlasenko dismissed all the accusations and claimed they were part of a campaign by Tymoshenko's long-time political foe, President Viktor Yanukovych, to leave Tymoshenko in jail without a lawyer. Ukrainian authorities stepped up their legal campaign against Tymoshenko last week, accusing her of organising the murder of a businessman nearly 20 years ago. She is serving a seven-year prison term on charges of abuse of office, a sentence that has been condemned by the west as politically motivated.

Tymoshenko Murder Accusations Overshadow Upcoming EU-Ukraine Summit

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The EU-Ukraine summit scheduled for 25 February may mark a low point in the relations between Brussels and Kiev, with diplomats warning that it would be “impossible” to move forward without solving the case of imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is now accused of commissioning a murder. It is "impossible to move forward in the EU-Ukraine relations before the problem of selective justice is eliminated,” said The EU Ambassador to Kiev, Jan Tombiński, who was quoted in the Ukraine press. The diplomatic term ‘selective justice’ refers to the imprisonment of Tymoshenko and her ally Yuriy Lutsenko, a former interior minister. Lutsenko and Tymoshenko are already serving four- and seven-year sentences respectively for abuse of office, but Tymosjenko was additionally charged last Friday with commissioning the murder of Yevgen Shcherban a powerful lawmaker in 1996. Tymosenko rejected the charge, calling it “hysteria”. "The EU-Ukraine Summit due on 25 February is a regular component of the EU's dialogues with other states. It is not aimed specially at discussing issues related to Yulia Tymoshenko and other cases of selective justice. However, the issue will be discussed at the summit, as it is impossible to move forward in the EU-Ukraine relations before the problem of selective justice is eliminated," Tombiński said, as quoted by the Kyiv Post. EurActiv was the first to report about the intentions of the Ukrainian prosecution to press murder charges against Tymoshenko, back in November 2011. General Renat Kuzmin said the murder of MP Yefhen Shcherban, one of the richest man in Ukraine, and his wife at the Donetsk airport in 1996 by people dressed as police officers was commissioned by Tymoshenko. The murderers have confessed having received $1 million (€742,394) from a bank account linked to Lazarenko and Tymoshenko, Kuzmin said. The Kyiv Post today quotes Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka saying that law enforcement agencies of no country would ignore such crimes. "And Ukraine is no exception," he stressed. Tymoshenko and Lazarenko have categorically denied being involved in the murder. In the meantime, it was reported that Tymoshenko's state of health has worsened.

Russia Hands Ukraine $7Bn Gas Bill

KIEV, Ukraine -- Russia has demanded that Ukraine pay billions of dollars for failing to import an agreed amount of gas. The move came just as Kiev has taken a significant step to break free from its reliance on costly Russian gas imports. The bill was presented as Ukraine signed a deal with Royal Dutch Shell to exploit “unconventional” gas reserves in shale and sandstone that could ultimately involve $10bn-plus in investment, according to a senior official in Kiev. The Russian demand threatens to cause a third high-profile energy dispute between the former Soviet states after Russia twice cut off gas supplies to Ukraine since 2006 amid squabbles over prices. It comes at a time when both Russia and the EU are trying to persuade Ukraine to form a closer partnership with them. The bill also threatens to worsen Ukraine’s precarious financial situation, with the potential to hurt its credit rating and ability to borrow on international markets. Russian gas monopoly Gazprom alleges that Ukraine imported less gas last year than it was obliged to under a minimum “take or pay” clause in a 2009 supply contract. The Ukrainian official told the Financial Times that Gazprom sent a $7bn demand to Ukraine’s Naftogaz state gas company on Wednesday as Viktor Yanukovich, the president, was preparing to leave for Davos, where he attended Thursday’s deal signing with Shell. [The president] decided, nonetheless, to travel to Davos and go forward with Thursday’s signing . . . The geopolitical battle has started,” the official said. Naftogaz was unlikely to pay the bill, the official added, challenging Gazprom instead to take the issue to international arbitration. Gazprom’s refusal to reduce prices to its neighbour – though it has done for some west European clients since 2010 – has forced Ukraine to cut imports, seek alternative supply sources, and boost energy efficiency. Ukraine imported 33 billion cubic metres of gas from Russia last year – down a quarter from 2011 – of which Naftogaz’s share was 24.9bcm. Naftogaz confirmed that it had a received a “bill for gas which Ukraine did not import” but declined to reveal the value or volume of the alleged shortfall. “We feel that we met all obligations, paying all bills for gas imported from Gazprom in 2012, in full and in a timely fashion,” the company added. It said the company had notified Gazprom in advance that it would not need all its contracted gas, as permitted by its agreement. Gazprom declined to comment on Friday. The Russian monopoly told the FT a day earlier that Gazprom was not enforcing potential fines on Ukraine for the gas shortfall because it needed to “set realistically attainable goals” for Ukrainian consumption. Ukraine’s determination to pursue other sources, exemplified by its Shell deal, however, seems to have persuaded the Russian monopoly to send the bill. Mr Yanukovich also pulled out at the last moment from a meeting last month with Russian president Vladimir Putin. He was understood to be poised to receive a gas price discount in return for a loose commitment to join a customs union that Russia is creating with former Soviet states Belarus and Kazakhstan. Ukrainian officials have hyped up Thursday’s agreement with Shell, and the prospects of more production sharing agreements with US energy giants Chevron and ExxonMobil . They hope to repeat the US shale gas boom, betting that unconventional gas production technologies will wean its energy-intensive economy off costly Russian imports. But with its economy teetering on the verge of recession, Ukraine’s government is trying to cover or roll over some $10bn in sovereign external debt that matures this year. A mission from the International Monetary Fund arrived in Kiev this week to hold talks on a $15bn bailout programme sought by Ukraine. The IMF has long insisted that Kiev must raise heavily subsidised household gas prices in Ukraine, to reduce the burden of the subsidies on the budget, as a condition of any bailout – a move that would be deeply unpopular politically.

Ukraine, Shell Gas Deal Stirs News World

KIEV, Ukraine -- BBC, Financial Times, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and a number of other global media representatives draw public attention to the signing of the production sharing agreement between Ukrainian government and the Royal Dutch Shell. According to the agreement, Shell and Ukrainian state company Nadra Yuzivska have equal shares in the enterprise - 50 percent. "A new project has been born. This is just the beginning, we shall continue this cooperation," commented Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych at the January 24 signing of the agreement in Davos, Switzerland. The document is supposed to promote investment to Ukraine, help increase domestic gas production, create jobs, lift the economy, and boost state budget revenue. Reuters emphasizes the 50-year contract is "the biggest contract yet to tap shale gas in Europe," noting that the USD 10 billion deal is a significant step on the road to energy independence from Russia. Reportedly, Ukraine possesses 1.2 trillion cubic meters of shale gas - third largest deposits in Europe. The Wall Street Journal reminds that Ukraine is putting extra effort into exploring domestic gas reserves due to high prices for imported Russian gas. As the country stays committed to European integration, Yanukovych rejected Russia's offer of cheaper gas in return for closer economic and political cooperation of the neighboring countries. Neil Buckley of the Financial Times believes deal with Shell could promote investment to Ukraine. He reminds that in 2013 Shell alone is committed to invest USD 400 million. Criticizing political and economic environment in Ukraine, the author notes that reduced energy dependence of Ukraine could give a push to closer integration with the EU. This, in its turn, would "alter the investment environment" in the Eastern European country. The New York Times quotes London-based Lambert Energy Advisory expert, who notes that large energy companies recognize "the huge potential of the country." The paper compares Ukrainian gas estimates to those of Algeria, seventh largest gas exporter. Shell won the right to explore gas in Yuzivske gas field in Eastern Ukraine in May 2012. In August 2012, Shell, ExxonMobil, Romanian OMV Petrom, and Ukrainian state company Nadra received joint rights to develop underwater deposits at Ukrainian deep marine shelf field under the Black Sea.

Opening of Winter Olympics in Russia to cost $52 million

The opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics will cost Russia about $52 million. The nonprofit agency for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games will receive a subsidy for preparing and organizing the events. The bulk of the money will be spent on technical facilities and foreign designers. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said that it was decided to assign 1.6 billion rubles to prepare opening and closing ceremonies of the Sochi Olympics. The loan makes up 1.6 billion rubles ($ 52 million). For comparison - the opening and closing of the Olympic Games in London in 2012 cost about $65 million, so Russian specialists have something to look up to. According to publications in the Russian media, the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics 2014 is scheduled for February 7, 2014. It is planned that characters of Russian fairy tales, the Russian troika of Gogol's "Dead Souls", Peter the Great leading the fleet of five ships will appear on three stages. From the Imperial Russia, viewers will be taken to the XX century. Fifteen buildings will appear on the stadium, as well as six locomotives, six bridges and sculptures. The opening ceremony will end with the advent of the Olympic flame. The above-mentioned nonprofit agency chaired by Konstantin Ernst also will organize the opening and closing of the Paralympic Games to be held in Sochi on 7-16 March 2014. Students of circus and dance schools will also participate in the opening ceremony. Experts already say that the Winter Olympics in Russia's Sochi in 2014 will be the most expensive Olympics in history. Sochi 2014 may cost more than $30 billion in total.

Burglars steal rare cat from Moscow businessman

n Moscow, thieves stole a cat of a rare breed from a businessman. On January 13, 28-year-old CEO of the company Spy Jet, Dmitry Kuznetsov, went to police to report the robbery. While the man was away on holiday, his friends would come to the man's apartment to feed the cat. However, on Jan.13th, Kuznetsov found the door of his apartment broken. The burglars stole an expensive watch, cufflinks and a Bengal cat. According to the man, the burglars caused him the damage of 3.9 million rubles ($130,000). He evaluated the cat alone at 120,000 rubles ($4,000). The Bengal is a hybrid breed of domestic cat. Bengals result from crossing a domestic feline with an Asian leopard cat (ALC), Prionailurus bengalensis bengalensis. The Bengal cat has a desirable "wild" appearance with large spots, rosettes, and a light/white belly, and a body structure reminiscent of the ALC. The Bengal possesses a gentle domestic cat temperament, provided it is separated by at least three generations from the original crossing between a domestic feline and an ALC. The name "Bengal cat" was derived from the taxonomic name of the Asian leopard cat (P. b. bengalensis), and not from the more distantly related Bengal tiger.

Man falls asleep on railway tracks in St. Petersburg underground

happy story of a man was told in Russia's St. Petersburg. The man fell on the tracks of the local underground and survived despite the fact that the trains had not been stopped. Neither train conductors, nor passengers could notice the man at first, who was sleeping comfortably between the railway tracks. The incident took place on December 30 at Obvodnoy Kanal station, but the news was revealed only today. The movement of trains was eventually suspended to pull the man out from tracks. The man was sleeping on the tracks for at least several minutes. Two trains rode above him, while he was asleep. It was the conductor of the third train that saw the man. He managed to survive because he fell into the the space between the rails, and the passing trains could not harm him.

Russian Army to get rid of footcloths

Before the end of the year, the Russian army should finally get rid of footcloths, Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu said on Jan. 14th, at a news conference. "I ask to provide additional funds to completely abandon the concept of footcloths. It is already 2013, but we still use footcloths in the army," said the minister. It is worthy of note that footcloths, or foot wrappings, were used in all armed forces of the world, dating back to the army of the Ancient Rome. To date, the armies of many countries abandoned footcloths, but the Russian Armed Forces still use them. Earlier, it was reported that in 2014, the Russian Army would have new uniforms. The new uniforms were tested in ground troops and also in special forces. The new uniforms can be worn at temperatures from plus 40 to minus 40 degrees Centigrade. The set includes 19 items, including suits, jackets, shoes and hats. Five hundred pieces of clothing were tested last year in military units in different regions of Russia. The price of one set of new uniform is 35,000 rubles ($1,200).

Russia may ban foreign adoptions entirely

Deputies of the State Duma will soon review a bill that would completely ban adoptions of Russian children by citizens of other countries. At this time this ban applies only to the United States according to the "Law of Dima Yakovlev" that came into effect on January 1st. The law has caused a great debate. More precisely, the debate was about the section banning adoptions of Russian children by Americans. On January 13th in Moscow and other cities rallies of non-system opposition against the "Law of Dima Yakovlev" and for the dissolution of the Duma will be held. Meanwhile, the bill providing for a complete ban on adoptions of Russian children by citizens of other countries has been prepared (it is an amendment to the Family Code). An exception is made only for Italy and France, with which Russia has signed appropriate agreements. In an interview with "Pravda.Ru" a sponsor of the bill, the State Duma deputy Yevgeny Fyodorov, said that "the export of children to other countries will not be allowed." He emphasized that "the ban on foreign adoptions exists in most advanced civilized countries - European countries, Canada and Australia. "This is a normal situation where no one thinks it is appropriate to support export of children, human trafficking, etc. Humanity answered this question 150 years ago, ending the war against slavery in the United States," said Yevgeny Fyodorov. According to him, the bill has been discussed for over a year, and was reviewed by expert panels of the parliamentary faction "United Russia" five times. "We have had an extensive correspondence with the Ministry of Education that opposed the adoption of this law, which prevented us from promoting it further. The situation has improved significantly when part of the ideas that have been incorporated into it were implemented in the "Law of Dima Yakovlev," said the deputy. Yevgeny Fyodorov explained the need for the legislation with the fact that "in principle, it is wrong to sell children and people in general." "Unfortunately, in the 1990s we entered into a series of agreements that do not allow Russia not to export its children, we have to wrap up the process at least in stages. First stage is the law related to the U.S. Second stage would allow to only deal with the countries that are parties to respective agreements. The third stage is ending the agreements when it is legally possible. As a result of these actions, all export of children from the Russian Federation would be stopped," said Yevgeny Fyodorov. The deputy said that the bill contained another provision. Those Russian regions in which the adoption process is well established may make a decision to ban the export of children from their territory. There are no firm dates of adoption of the bill as of this moment. According to Fyedorov, it will be brought for consideration of the State Duma in a week or two.

Ukraine To Join Customs Union Of Belarus, Russia And Kazakhstan

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine will intensify efforts to join the Customs Union of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan in 2013, the Ukrainian government authorized representative for cooperation with Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Valery Muntiyan, says. According to the official, a special team will be established soon to draft a corresponding agreement. He also said in the same year the country is eager to sign an agreement with the EU in order to become an associate member of the body, as European integration remains the country's top priority.

Russia, Ukraine Sell Arms To Syria, Iraq

AMMAN, Jordan -- Russia and Ukraine, old hands at selling arms in the war-torn Middle East, are reported to be providing weapons, paid for by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to anti-government rebels in Syria and for the regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, courtesy of the Pentagon. The Eurasia Daily Monitor, published by the Jamestown Foundation think tank of Washington, reported recently that Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, has shipped several consignments of weapons to insurgents fighting the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad "through Saudi proxies." "Weapons crates found in the Syrian city of Aleppo showed the arms were delivered from the Ukrainian port of Gostomel and exported by Dastan Engineering from LVC (Luhansk Cartridge Works), a major ammunition manufacturing plant in Luhansk," the report noted. One of LCW's main exports is the 7.62mm cartridge used in AK-47 assault rifles, which are used by both sides in the Syrian civil war, in which a recent U.N. report said some 60,000 people have been killed since March 2011. Saudi Arabia and Qatar, both Persian Gulf monarchies, are bitterly opposed to Assad's republican regime, which is a close ally of Iran, Riyadh's archrival for supremacy in the gulf region. Russia is Assad's paramount ally on the international stage, particularly on the U.N. Security Council. Moscow has long been a key arms supplier of the Damascus regime, going back to the Cold War era. Ukraine, once a Soviet republic, was deeply integrated into the Soviet economy. Kiev inherited a major arms industry when the Soviet Union collapsed. That included one-third of the Soviet space industry. The East European country has become notorious for providing weapons to warring countries in Africa and the Middle East, often in defiance of U.N. arms embargoes. Ukrainian arms have been identified with some of the world's bloodiest conflicts and most notorious governments, including Saddam Hussein's brutal regime in Iraq that was toppled by the Americans in 2003 and more recently the Taliban in Afghanistan. "The Syrian civil war represents only the latest case of Ukraine being involved in supplying weapons to an ongoing violent conflict," Eurasia Daily Monitor observed. "For example, the Central African Republic and Chad each purchased Mi-28B combat helicopters and portable air-defense systems from Ukraine that in both cases were used in domestic civil wars and to support guerrilla groups in neighboring states." Ukraine is also reported to have supplied 200 tanks worth $100 million to Ethiopia since 2010. Ethiopia is engaged in fighting rebel groups in the Ogaden region and has tense relations with neighboring Eritrea. The two countries, among the poorest in the world, fought a bitter border war in 1998-2000. In 2011, Ukraine supplied tanks and upgraded armored personnel carriers to Sudan, along with 30 BM-21 Grad armored rocket launchers, 30 122mm 2S1 Hvozdika self-propelled artillery guns and 43 anti-missile systems. "Some of the weapons used by Sudan against the newly independent South Sudan," which formally broke away from Sudan in July 2012, "included tanks from Ukraine," the newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda reported June 28. "By their clandestine nature, Ukrainian arms deliveries to the Syrian rebels resemble Ukrainian arms supplied to the Croatian army and Kosovo Albanian separatists in the 1990s as part of covert operations supported at the time by the United States," Eurasia Daily Monitor noted. Intelligence Online, a Paris website, reported the Americans have procured Russian weapons "from discreet intermediaries" to equip the Iraqi and Afghani armies. Intelligence Online said the U.S. defense budget approved by Congress last month included an amendment introduced by Republicans and Democrats that imposed sanctions on Russia's defense export arm, Rosoboronexport, for supplying the Syrian army. The move has caused some embarrassment at the Pentagon since it, too, has received supplies from the Russian armaments group," Intelligence Online added. "In June 2011, Washington shelled out $375 million for 21 Mil Mi-17 V5 Russian helicopters for the Afghan air force and in February this year, it paid Rosoboronexport another $5 million for light arms to Afghanistan." The deals were reportedly negotiated by a small Tampa, Fla., distributor, Bulova Technologies, "which specializes in 'non-conventional' arms and represents Rosoboronexport in the U.S. "Bulova has also supplied U.S.-financed tanks and light arms to the Iraqi army."

Top Ukraine Diplomat Dispels 'Myths' About Relationship With EU

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Ukraine's ambassador to the EU Kostiantyn Yeliseiev has moved to dispel "myths" about his country's relationship with Brussels. Yeliseiev focuses in particular on the prospects of a potentially lucrative association agreement between the EU and Ukraine. The issue is expected to discussed at the next EU-Ukraine summit in Brussels on February 25. Yeliseiev said, "We enter a new year which will certainly decide the fate of the agreement between Ukraine and the EU. Both the supporters of European integration of Ukraine and its opponents await this decision." "This is indeed the moment of truth, a choice, which will determine the vector of Ukraine's development for the next decade." He said it was "not surprising" that the issue of an agreement was "being debated at all levels," adding, "There are different opinions." He added, "Overall, this is a good thing, a sign that foreign policy discourse in Ukraine is as active as domestic political life." However, one of several "myths" he wished to dispel, he said, was that failure to sign the agreement would "indicate a crisis" in relations between the EU and Ukraine. He said, "This myth constantly changes. For a long time there was an assumption that not signing the agreement at the EU-Ukraine summit in December 2011 was the failure of Kiev in relations with Brussels." "Then, throughout 2012, despite the incompleteness of technical procedures, there were assumptions that the EU did not want to sign the agreement." "However, the rate and volume of technical work on preparation of the agreement, including the translation of multi-pages text into 23 official languages of the EU, show that the signing of the document in 2011-2012 could not have even been considered as an option." "Only in 2013 is the signing of the agreement real." Another "myth" he wished to counter was that accession to the customs union would be more profitable for Ukraine than economic integration into the EU. He said a free trade agreement with the EU would provide access to a market that is larger - 500 million consumers in the EU versus 170 million in the customs union - and more "predictable", with a much higher purchasing power from consumers. "An FTA with the EU will contribute to improving the business climate in Ukraine, ensuring the transition from Soviet to European 'rules of the game' in the Ukrainian domestic market." "In other words, we are talking about strengthening the rule of law and guaranteeing equal opportunities for investors." "Economic integration with the EU is the path to modernisation. Look at the progress the European countries of the former Socialist union have made in the last 20 years." "The vast majority of them are already members of the EU, while Russia's economy continues to be based on commodity-driven exports. Russia itself is in need of radical modernisation, the proof of which is the launch of a special initiative with the EU under the telling title 'partnership for modernisation'." He added, "Accession to the customs union may grant Ukraine only short-term dividends: a few billion dollars." "However, an association agreement with the EU provides explicit legal and political guarantees of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state."

Ukraine Is Closest To EU Standards Than Other Former Soviet States - Polish Ex-President

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- If one were to compare Ukraine with its neighboring countries, Belarus or Russia, the situation in the former remains, undoubtedly, the closest to the European standards, said the former President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski. The statement was made by the politician during his interview to the Polish media in Brussels, reports PAP. The third Polish president stressed that the October parliamentary elections made it obvious that Ukraine had reached a state which doesn't exist in other former Soviet Union countries. He talked about Ukraine's united opposition which is one of the strongest and which doesn't exist in Russia, Belarus or the countries of Central Asia. He also talked about a much higher level of civil freedoms and freedom of press. In addition, he mentioned the reforms which, not without an effort, are still being implemented by the Ukrainian government. Less than three months ago, on October 28, 2012, Ukraine held parliamentary elections. The leading Party of Regions received the support of 30 percent of the voters. The parties that are considered in the opposition and took the seats in the Ukrainian legislature were Batkivshchyna, liberal UDAR and the far right Svoboda with 25.54, 13.96 and 10.44 percent of the votes accordingly. The fifth and final party that crossed the election threshold of five percent was the Communist Party of Ukraine with 13.18 percent of the votes. Suffice to say that having acknowledged some violations during the election process, the monitoring mission from the European Parliament reckoned that the parliamentary elections in Ukraine were better than the ones in other post-Soviet countries that the EP had observed. As far as civil freedoms are concerned, "there is a complete freedom of self-expression and no censorship in Ukraine," stated the Head of the Delegation of the EU to Ukraine Jan Tombinski in October, 2012. At the same time, he said, there was an issue regarding the ability of citizens to express their views through media. In September 2012 report Freedom House gave free internet freedom status to Ukraine giving it the best internet freedom result among the researched CIS countries. In 2012, Ukraine has been actively working on the electoral law, judiciary and constitutional reforms.

treasure trove

A treasure trove of ancient artifacts has been uncovered in the Crimea, in Ukraine. 
Archaeologists say that the finds points out to an especially brutal chapter in the Roman Empire of 2,000 years ago, and that these finds were "funeral sacrifices" made by people that they were about to be killed by the invading armies.

Artezian, which covered an area of more than three acres featured a cemetery, was part of the Bosporus Kingdom.

The kingdom's fate at that time was torn between two brothers: Mithridates VIII, who sought independence from Rome and his younger brother, Cotys I, who was in favor of keeping the kingdom a client state of the growing empire. Rome sent an army to support Cotys, establishing him in the Bosporan capital.

Armies pillaged and set fire to settlements controlled by Mithridates, including Artezian.

In reconstructing the probable cause for the recently discovered treasure trove, the people huddled in the fortress for protection as the Romans attacked, knowing they were doomed.

"The fortress had been besieged. Wealthy people from the settlement and the neighborhood had tried to hide there from the Romans. They had buried their hoards inside the citadel," Nikolaï Vinokurov, a professor at Moscow State Pedagogical University, explained.

"We can say that these hoards were funeral sacrifices," Vinokurov wrote in an email.

"It was obvious for the people that they were going to die shortly," he wrote in an email.

The siege and fall of the fortress occurred in AD 45. Curiously, each hoard included exactly 55 coins minted by Mithridates VIII.

"This is possibly just a simple coincidence, or perhaps these were equal sums received by the owners of these caskets from the supporters of Mithridates," the team wrote in its paper.

Vinokurov's team has been exploring Artezian since 1989.

Scholars have found that the people of the settlement followed a culture that was distinctly Greek.

The population's ethnicity was mixed, Vinokurov wrote, "but their culture was pure Greek. They spoke Greek language, had Greek school; the architecture and fortification were Greek as well. They were Hellenes by culture but not that pure by blood."

Greeks had been known to intermarry with the Crimeans.

The customs and art forms they introduced appear to have persisted through the ages despite being practiced nearly 600 miles from Greece itself.

Ukraine To Tackle Frozen Conflicts At OSCE

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine says it will work diligently to resolve "frozen conflicts" as the new 2013 chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). 
Newly appointed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara said Tuesday in a New Year's Day message as his country assumed the rotating OSCE chairmanship his agenda will include a strong focus on facilitating settlements for disputes such as the Transdniestrian conflict.

"We must re-energize negotiations within the existing formats and prevent any escalation in tensions," he said.

"The resolution of protracted conflicts must remain the highest priority for the OSCE and all participating states."

Kozhara -- named Ukraine's top diplomatic envoy by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych Dec. 24 -- said momentum shown in the last year toward a settlement for the Moldovan breakaway territory on the southwestern border of Ukraine confirms that progress is possible in resolving Europe's roster of protracted international disputes.

That also applies to the South Caucasus, which is wracked by three frozen conflicts in Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia, where Ukraine has said it "intends to become instrumental in the Geneva International Discussions" covering that region as the incoming chair of the OSCE, which includes 57 countries from Europe, Central Asia and North America.

The 20-year-old Transdniestrian conflict erupted when Russian-speaking residents living east of the Dniester River fought to establish a Transnistria republic independent of the newly established, Romanian-speaking state of Moldova, which came into existence following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

More than 1,000 people were killed during the 1992 conflict, during which the Transnistria separatists enjoyed the tacit backing of the Russian 14th Army.
Since then, the conflict has remained in a frozen limbo, with Russian, Moldovan and Transnistrian peacekeepers patrolling the enclave's heavily armed perimeters.

Russian maintains 1,100 troops within the territory, claiming its residents need its protection from Moldova's pro-NATO government.

The OSCE agenda of reintegrating Transnistria back into Moldova with special protection for the Russian-speaking population made significant progress in 2012 under the "5+2" negotiating process with the help of officially neutral Ukraine acting as a "guarantor."

Under the two previous OSCE chairmanships of Lithuania and Ireland, the OSCE has brought Moldovans and Transnistrians -- along with Russia, Ukraine, the European Union and the United States -- together for face-to-face talks for the first time in years.

OSCE foreign ministers meeting last month in Dublin issued a statement praising the 5+2 progress, reaffirming their support for the resolution of the Transdniestrian conflict "based on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova with a special status for Transnistria that fully guarantees the human, political, economic and social rights of its population."

Ukraine's interest in bringing Transnistrian territory under Moldovan sovereignty stems from its desire to shut down smuggling routes that cost Kiev dearly in lost customs revenue and in ending the Russian military presence on its southwest frontier, Matthew Rojansky of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said in April.

Settling the decades-old conflict would make Moldova more attractive as a candidate for EU membership, and by extension potentially strengthen Ukraine's own bid, Rojansky wrote in the U.S. diplomatic journal World Politics Review.

Reverse Brain Drain: Ukraine Beckons

KIEV, Ukraine -- “The real fun is not about improving performance from 97.2 out of 100 to 98.1,” says Maya Solntseva, an engineer working for multinational consumer goods producer Proctor & Gamble in Ukraine. “It’s about going from 35 to 72.” Back in 2007 Solntseva passed with brio a four month training program at the company’s Brussels office and was offered her pick of postings: staying in the Belgian capital to do engineering or programming work, or moving to the company’s regional hub outside Prague, Czech Republic. She chose none of the above. Born and raised in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, Solntseva opted to stay closer to home. Dnipropetrovsk was a formerly closed city on account of being the USSR's rocket construction hub. Solntseva heard about a factory opening in Ordzonikidze, a small town of 25,000 in eastern Ukraine. She packed her bags and hasn't looked back. Compared to the two world-class business and cultural centers she was offered, Ordzhonokidze, or "Ordzho" as locals affectionately call it, had little going for it. Still bearing the name of one of Joseph Stalin's favorite henchmen two decades after the collapse of communism, the backwater is less a town than a handful of Soviet low-risers and asbestos-roofed huts surrounded by heavy industry and a quarry. But it was a chance to build something from the ground up, to learn a lot, and to give something back to the homeland. "I hate these people that leave Ukraine and then claim 'life in Ukraine is so bad, nothing can work there,'” she said. “Well, what have they done to make it better?" Ordzhonikidze gave her a chance to do just that. "Everybody here works at Proctor, or around it," said Oleg, a taxi driver in his early 20s who worked on feminine hygiene products until the line was cancelled. It pays well, he explained, with 3000 hyrvnias ($370) a month plus food and transport, compared to 2000 hyrvnias elsewhere in the region. And they take worker safety seriously, he added. "Its simply humane conditions," he said. Improving working conditions gives you the biggest kick, Solntseva said. When you have a production line that shuts down 200 times per shift, she explained, and you manage to reduce that to 20, and the operator can actually come and talk to you instead of rushing from one place to another putting out fires — that’s when you feel you’ve done something worthwhile, made that person’s life a little less miserable. But it isn't just selfless altruism and a taste for adventure that drives her. Rapid career growth and the chance to gain a wealth of experience are key parts of the bargain. The first year she dove right in, running the old site with a handful of other fresh managers while the new one was being set up. This meant going through a number of areas — manipulation, logistics, operations, distribution — and learning each in ways that would be impossible anywhere else. Quickly, she earned a series of promotions — starting in two months she will be managing 110 people out of a total 600 in Proctor & Gamble’s biggest factory in Ukraine’s market of 45 million. “Never would I have been promoted to a higher level in just one-and-a-half years in Brussels,” Solntseva said. “It would take three, four years, maybe two in exceptional cases. But never one-and-a-half.” Like many other West European countries, youth unemployment has been high in Belgium at 18 percent (though still far below the 30 percent in Ireland and 50 plus in Spain and Greece). Perhaps more frustrating still, newcomers on the job market spend years making coffee and taking notes before they get real responsibilities. “It’s a more mature market,” Solntseva said. There, even if someone met the criteria for promotion, there would be five others in the situation, and seniority would decide. But not in Ordzhonikidze, she said, where you just have to meet the necessary qualifications. “There’s less people in the queue,” she laughed. But her decision has not been without sacrifice. Salaries would be twice as high in Belgium, she said, with lots of traveling and hotels. And in Ordzhonikidze, “there’s nothing to do in the evenings," Solntseva said, "going anywhere means two, or eight, or 12 hours of travel one way.” But she’s clear about where to head next: Africa. "Asia is where it happens today, but Africa is where it will be happening tomorrow," she said. Having just come back from a month in South Africa and Zimbabwe, she said, the region for her resembled Ukraine in the '90s: corruption and poverty, but full of opportunity and amazing people. Plus it’s a chance to get in at the very beginning of something, she argued, given that Proctor & Gamble doesn’t have any production in the continent’s southeast.

Ukraine: Corrupt And Stoic

KIEV, Ukraine -- It seems to be a bit of a cliché to look back at the ending year and summarize the results but there is no better way to monitor the progress — or lack thereof. Looking at various 2012 rankings for Ukraine, the picture can be described as “one step forward, two steps back,” but the good news is that the country doesn’t stand still. Among positive news, is the easing of doing business in Ukraine. This year’s World Bank’s ranking– gauging the country’s business climate – showed a noticeable improvement: Doing Business 2013 index went up 15 points from 137 to 152. Out of 185 countries included in the list, it’s still pretty low, but it’s the direction that counts here. At the same time, freedom – measured by Freedom House – maintains Ukraine’s status “Partly Free”, after being “Free” two years ago. “Free” is the most desirable ranking, with the highest score of 1. In 2012 Ukraine’s freedom status, affected by the awkward political situation with imprisoned opposition leader – Ukraine’s former prime minister Yulia Tymomshenko – worsened, rising to 3.5 from 3 in 2011. Lack of freedom, seeming to be slightly independent of corruption as gauged by the Transparency International Corruption Perception index, improved in 2012. Out of 176 countries – with 176 being most corrupt – Ukraine holds 144 place, scoring 26 out of 100 possible points, with 100 representing the highest transparency. Ukraine still remains one of the most corrupt countries in the world, but the 2011 ranking was even worse: 152 out of 182 countries, compared to 2010 when the country held 134th place. The Transformation Index, showing trends in developing countries in terms of democracy and market economy, showed decline, suggesting a weakening democracy and lack of transparency. Among other interesting rankings of the countries around the world in 2012, there is the Gallop poll that officially labels Ukraine as one of the most stoic and reserved nations of them all. The survey measured the level of emotional expressiveness among various countries. It turns out, in terms of showing their emotions, expressing positive or negative feelings, Ukrainians – as well as the rest of the post-Soviet countries – ranked as the least emotional, after Singaporeans. May be this explains why it takes such a long time for Ukraine’s progress to come about and free to country to take to the path of prosperity it deserves.

Ukraine Accused Of Letting Foreign States Abduct Asylum Seekers

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine has been accused of allowing other states to abduct and repatriate their own nationals who have sought refugee status in the former Soviet republic, in contravention of international rights governing refugees. Three prominent cases in as many years involving people from Russia, Palestine and Uzbekistan, which share many disturbing similarities, prompted strong criticism of Ukraine from human rights groups. The latest case involved an anti-Putin activist, Leonid Razvozzhayev, who said he was seized by masked men on the streets of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, and whisked across the border to Russia. He initially admitted plotting an uprising across Russia but later denied it, saying he had made the statement under pressure. "They were torturing me for two days, [they] kidnapped me from Ukraine," Razvozzhayev yelled to his friends, who filmed him leaving a court in Moscow in October. It was suspected that Russian FSB (formerly the KGB) officers had masterminded the snatch. A Ukrainian police spokesman, Volodymyr Polishchuk, appeared to confirm this, saying: "It is most likely that security or law enforcement officials of foreign countries acted there. You can come to this conclusion if you watch the video that was on Russian television the next day, in which [Razvozzhayev] is escorted by Russian FSB officials," he said. However, Russian and Ukrainian law enforcement bodies have refused to open a criminal investigation into the alleged kidnapping, saying that Razvozzhayev deliberately crossed the border. His lawyers deny this. Razvozzhayev remains in detention in Russia. "The situation is clearly unsatisfying, with many questions unanswered," said Oldrich Andrysek, the UN high commissioner for refugees regional representative, adding that the UNHCR had asked the Russian authorities to let it meet Razvozzhayev to clarify the situation. "With the two dramatically different accounts of what happened, it stands to reason that there is a need to ascertain what really happened," he added. The case is reminiscent of that of Dirar Abu Sisi, a Palestinian engineer who was seeking a residency permit in Ukraine in 2011. In February Abu Sisi was travelling by train from Kharkiv to Kiev when two men entered his compartment, took his passport and asked him to go with them, according to Andriy Makarenko, another passenger. Days later, Abu Sisi turned up in an Israeli prison, charged with belonging to Hamas. He is still in jail. His family and lawyer claim the operation was conducted by the Mossad, the Israeli secret service, with Ukrainian assistance. "Ukraine and its secret services were definitely involved in arrest of Dirar Abu Sisi and his transportation to Israel," his lawyer, Tal Linoy, said. Like Razvozzhayev, Abu Sisi admitted guilt, but later retracted it, claiming that his confession had been made under pressure. Both Ukrainian and Israeli officials refused to comment on how the Palestinian had arrived in Israel. Maksym Bukkevych, a human rights campaigner for Ukraine with the No Borders initiative, recalled a similar story about an event in late 2009 relating to an Uzbek citizen, Hamidullo Turgunov, who had sought refugee status in Ukraine. Turgunov disappeared from the country and reportedly resurfaced two weeks later in jail in Uzbekistan. The UN refugee agency requested information from Ukraine about him but "has not received a satisfactory explanation", according to Andrysek. In a statement on Razvozzhayev's abduction, Amnesty International accused Ukraine of ignoring human rights law. "Amnesty International has repeatedly raised concerns that Ukraine does not respect the rights of refugees and asylum seekers," said Heather McGill, an Amnesty researcher on Europe and central Asia. "We have also raised concerns about the seeming willingness of the Ukrainian authorities to allow abductions by other states, such as in the cases of Dirar Abu Sisi and Hamidullo Turgunov," she added. So concerned is Amnesty about Ukraine's record on asylum that earlier this year it prevented a Syrian asylum seeker from being returned from Britain to Ukraine because of the risk he would end up in Syria.

Rights Concerns Mar Ukraine's OSCE Presidency

BERLIN, Germany -- Ukraine is set to take over the presidency of the OSCE in January 2013. The country has said it wants to strengthen human rights during its term - while facing criticism for its own democratic credentials. Walburga Habsburg Douglas was outraged after authorities denied her a meeting with former Ukrainian Prime Minster Yulia Tymoshenko, who is being treated for back problems at a hospital in Kharkiv in the eastern part of the country. This, according to Douglas, Special Coordinatior for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), "is a violation of human rights." Opposition leader Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in a trial that drew wide international criticism. As a result, she was unable to take part in parliamentary elections in late October, which the OSCE observer mission declared to be unfair and a "step backwards." Allegations of human rights violations In early 2013, Ukraine is set to take over the presidency of the OSCE. The Kiev newspaper "Dserkalo tyschnja" wrote that allegations of a politically motivated judiciary and doubts about the fairness of parliamentary elections were the worst possible backdrop the the Ukrainian OSCE presidency. Many experts share the newspaper's opinion. "The presidency is implicitly loaded," Wolfgang Zellner, head of the Center for OSCE Research (CORE) at the University of Hamburg, told DW. Susan Stewart at the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) also believes that Ukraine's reputation has suffered in recent years because of human rights violations and backpedalling on democracy. "That's why I think it will be difficult for Ukraine to exercise strong leadership," Stewart said. Ukraine is the second former Soviet republic to assume the OSCE presidency after Kazakhstan in 2010, which paved the way. But Kazakhstan was also criticized for human rights violations. 'Anxiety behind the scenes' "Until a few years ago, it was customary in the OSCE to only choose those countries to take over the presidency that met a minimum set of human rights requirements," Zellner said. But that tradition, he adds, is now over. Zellner admits that Ukraine is causing some "anxiety behind the scenes." The OSCE could use strong leadership. The organization, which began life in the 1970s as the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), is battling a loss of significance. The OSCE was created during the Cold War to serve as a forum for dialogue between the warring blocs in the East and West. Today, the Vienna-based organization unites 57 nations from Europe, Central Asia and North America. It fights terrorism, seeks to resolve conflicts and helps protect the environment. Observing human rights and fundamental freedoms is a key part of OSCE's security concept. Divisions paralyse OECD But the organization hasn't been overly successful, critics say. And old divisions threaten to paralyze its work altogether. Zellner views the "divergence in different directions" as the largest problem. "On the one side, you have the United States and the Western nations, barricaded behind human rights requirements, and on the other, Russia, which makes it difficult to know where cooperation is desired," he said. Russia and other former Soviet republics accuse the OSCE of meddling in their internal affairs because of the organization's criticism of their elections. The Kiev government is trying to keep expectations low. Key priorities during its presidency include the protection of fundamental rights, securing energy and resolving conflicts, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said without providing any details. 'Too weak to achieve much' Transnistria is one area where those ambitions could be put to the test. The conflict in Moldova's breakaway province has been simmering for 20 years. The self-proclaimed republic declared its independence in 1992. As a neighbor, Ukraine has been involved in international talks on a solution. Zellner doesn't expect a breakthrough, though, "Even if Ukraine wanted to, its position is too weak to achieve anything alone," he said, adding that he doubts "Russia is prepared to give Ukraine this success." Some observers in Kiev believe the Ukrainian presidency could sink into the diplomatic routine. The presidency is mostly about maintaining relationships, organizing meetings or appointing heads of field missions such as the one in Kosovo, according to Zellner. And it has "nothing to do" with observing elections, he added. Zellner is nevertheless optimistic about the Ukrainian presidency, pointing to Kazakhstan as an example. The country, he admits, may not be a democracy like those in the West but during the unrest in Kyrgyzstan, it was able to contribute to resolving the conflict. "It's all up to Ukraine," Zellner said.

Femen In Paris: Ukraine's Topless Warriors Move West

PARIS, France -- In mid-November, when Inna Shevchenko, 22, Femen's leader in France, and Oksana Shachko, 25, a veteran Femen activist, heard that the militant Catholic organization Institut Civitas was planning to protest against a proposed law that would legalize same-sex marriage in the country, they decided to stage an in situ counter-demonstration in the controversial, deliberately provocative style for which their group has won no small measure of notoriety. 
Along with eight French members of Femen, they donned nuns' habits, painted their bodies with slogans (FUCK CHURCH, GAY IS OK, FUCK RELIGION), equipped themselves with aerosol canisters of white powder marked Jesus Sperm, and set out for the Civitas rally.

Once there, they stripped down to their black panties and black and white head veils, and began marching, breasts bare, brandishing their "sperm," and chanting, in an ever more strident crescendo, "In Gay We Trust! In Gay We Trust!"

A minute later, they halted and sprayed their "ejaculate" into the startled, predictably hostile crowd of Catholic fundamentalists.

In the ensuing gaseous white-out, male Civitas demonstrators set about savagely beating and kicking the Femen activists, who tried to keep up their chanting between blows to the head and body and screams of fear.

Most of the women retreated halfway down the block, stopping nevertheless to blow kisses to their assailants and shout, rather unconvincingly, "We love you!"

But demonstrators pursued them.

They took off again and reassembled at a safe distance, and, battered and visibly shaken up, chanted some more for the cameras, before allowing police vans to carry them out of range of further mayhem.

In the brawl, Shevchenko lost an incisor and Shachko got a bloody nose, and most of their cohorts suffered cuts and bruises.

Though Shevchenko knew of Civitas' extremist reputation, such violence was hardly what she expected when arriving in reputedly liberal Paris to establish, at the behest of French feminists, Femen's international "training center" and its first official presence abroad.

Beneath a banner reading "We Came, We Stripped, We Conquered," as Shachko jumped rope nearby, her hoodie up, I spoke with Shevchenko just after a training session in the historic, if run-down, Lavoir Moderne Parisien theater that serves as Femen's international headquarters in the poor, mostly Muslim Goutte d'Or neighborhood.
Femen wasted no time in making its presence felt here, inaugurating their new home abroad in August with a topless march through the district, their naked torsos painted with slogans such as "Muslims Let's Get Naked!" and "Our God is a Woman!"

She shrugged off her injury, telling me, in a slightly tremulous, surprisingly vulnerable voice, that she "had no problem losing a tooth" for Femen.

For all the anger she displays at demonstrations, she comes off as warm and modest in person.

Far worse was her all-night detention a year ago in Minsk after protesting on the steps of the KGB building against the country's dictatorial president Alexander Lukashenko.

Then, members of the country's security services seized her, along with Shachko and another activist, and drove them into the forest, where they were threatened, taunted, disrobed, beaten, and dowsed in oil and feathers, before being finally abandoned during the winter night somewhere near the Ukrainian border.

Undaunted, she called that the "best day . . . because I realized what I'm capable of doing for my cause."

A journalist by profession who once worked for the mayor's press office in Kiev, Shevchenko had not expected to end up living in France.

In 2010 she took part in her first demonstration with Femen -- a topless protest against Ukrainian prime minister Mykola Azarov and his remark that political "reforms aren't a woman's business."

She was fired from her prestigious job as a result, and decided to devote herself fulltime to Femen.

But last August, after she sawed down a cross (to express solidarity with Pussy Riot members jailed for performing their Femen-inspired "punk prayer" in a Moscow cathedral), Ukraine's ex-con president Viktor Yanukovych publicly demanded that she be harshly punished.

Early in the morning a few days later, several men -- agents of Ukraine's security services, she assumes -- tried to break into her apartment.

She grabbed her passport, jumped out the first story window, and fled Ukraine for Paris.
She was subsequently charged in absentia with "hooliganism."

Femen now has 150,000 members worldwide.

Femen in France so far counts 30 local activists, the only Ukrainians regularly present being Shachko and Shevchenko.

At the weekly orientation session preceding my visit, 20 aspirants showed up, many spurred to attend by the publicity surrounding l'affaire Civitas.

Here as elsewhere, Femen has pledged to fight the sex industry, the church and its traditionalist stances against women, and "patriarchal society," as well as those who oppose equal rights for the LGBT community.

Recently in Paris they marched on the Egyptian embassy in defense of Egyptian blogger and women's rights advocate Aliaa Magda ElMahdy (who earned death threats by posting nude pictures of herself in protest against "a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy"); stormed an IKEA store (angered by the company's decision to Photoshop women out of its Saudi Arabian catalogue); and attempted to occupy the Ministry of Justice, which it dubbed "a club of rapists" following a Parisian court's surprise acquittal of 10 men accused of raping minors.  

Each Femen demonstration is contrived to shock, generate publicity, and come off well on camera.

Though in theory any woman may join, almost all the activists are 20-something, fit, and attractive.

In protest-spirited France, they quickly became media darlings.

The newspaper Le Figaro selected Shevchenko as one of the most influential women of 2012, and the weekly culture magazine Les InRocKuptibles featured her and French activist Éloïse Bouton, a 29-year-old singer, on one of their December covers.

Last month, Shevchenko even spoke at the prestigious Institut d'études politiques de Paris, aka Sciences Po, about her group's "popular kind of feminism adapted for the younger generation."

Shevchenko has resisted well-meaning French attempts at adoption: she remains a staunch Ukrainian patriot and told me that she regrets she can no longer work in her own country.

Femen, she pledged, will be international.
"We have members in Brazil, Germany, the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Bulgaria, and Tunisia.

And we are not just about bare breasts, but bare breasts in action."

But why should "bare breasts in action" draw so much attention here in France, where topless bathing on beaches has been common for decades? (Nudity elsewhere in public is proscribed.)

I put the question to Marie-Carline, a 26-year-old French journalist and Femen activist who had just gone through the training session.

"Showing breasts on the street is a guerrilla act," she replied, "a work of art. Many here are extremely conservative and see this as debauchery."

Was Femen really needed in France, widely regarded as one of Europe's most liberal countries? I asked.

"Certainly," she said.

"One out of eight women here suffers violence, you get harassed on the street, and we are paid less than men. My own episode of sexual violence pushed me to join." Bouton concurred.

"Always here men get the jobs and are better paid, treat women as objects, and have affairs with prostitutes. For me this is the real face of French misogyny."

Shevchenko summed things up: "France is so nice and developed, and relations between men and women not so difficult. But women are oppressed everywhere and raped every day. Even here."

"Guerrilla" aptly describes Femen's protests, which are extremely confrontational and can verge on the anarchic.

The rigors of their weekly training session aim to prepare members to both incite reactions and deal with the response (which is usually from the police; Civitas was an exception).
I had arrived at the Lavoir Parisien to find nine French members -- fully dressed in leotards or tracksuits -- standing in front of Shevchenko in the dimly lit hall, holding posters with slogans -- "Saudi Arabia Take Off Your Clothes!" "Nudity is Freedom!" "Liberté Laïcité!" (Secularism [is] Freedom!) -- above their heads.

"We are not trying to be beautiful or sexy," Shevchenko said, addressing them in English. (Neither she nor Shachko has had time to learn French, so English is the language of instruction.)

"We use our nudity as a weapon, to irritate people. We're taking off what's on the outside to show we can't stand it anymore on the inside. Femen gets naked for our freedom."

She explained the correspondence between a government's reaction to female nudity and the amount of freedom women enjoy.

Then she showed how to demonstrate, Femen-style.

"Always feel the aggression and anger. Stand with your poster held high and your feet apart, like a winner, and show that you're secure in your every motion, even when a man is going to beat you. Show me now what you can do!"

The trainees approached her individually, raised their posters, and shouted their slogans in her face. "Fuck the Church!" "In Gay We Trust!" "Nudity is Freedom!" "No, stop smiling!" Shechenko replied.

"Femen never smiles, it's a rule! . . . Scream as a wild animal! . . . we work in front of cameras, so we need to illustrate our message and show anger! . . . scream -- no, scream your message! . . . hate the pimps! . . . It's not usual for us to show aggression, but we're Femen and we do!"

Shevchenko then put the women through an improvised obstacle course.

Trying to keep their posters in the air, they jumped over a red-and-white "police tape," crawled between and under tables, and jumped up to circle back and repeat, shouting, "Nudity is Freedom!" "Faster!" ordered Shevchenko.
"Hold your slogans higher! We do our actions on the top of cars sometimes, you must be fit!"

The women then paired off for calisthenics -- sit-ups, push-ups, and even partial squats with partners riding piggyback.

Self-defense followed -- mostly drilling in jujitsu moves to break (an arresting police officer's) grip on wrists and arms.

But even when detention is inevitable, the protest doesn't end.

"When the police attack," Shevchenko said, "they have one goal: to stop you from protesting, take you somewhere, and let you go. Your goal is to try to gain time for your demonstration. You fall down when attacked, and pitch and roll around, shouting your slogan."

With Shevchenko watching, pairs of trainee "officers" then attempted to detain an "activist," meeting with varying degrees of her approval.

Then Shachko stepped up.

When her "officers" grabbed her arms, she lurched, yanked, and twisted about, almost pulling them off their feet.

But she did not drop to the floor. "What are you doing, Oksana!" Inna shouted in Russian.

"I usually feel very strong during a protest, so I don't fall," Shachko replied.

The next time, she did hit the ground, squirming, kicking, and rolling, breaking her assailants' hold and leaping to her feet, poster held high.

Though smaller-boned than many of her fellows, Shachko is perhaps Femen's most pugilistically gifted member.

During training, she rarely smiled, and projected a self-assured, almost steely, air.

Afterwards, when we spoke, she seemed almost shy, which surprised me given her proven pugnacity.

A university graduate, artist, and former iconographer, she originally wanted to join a nunnery.
Her parents' opposition to her desire to become, as she put it, "Jesus' wife," prompted her to turn away from religion, read philosophy, discover atheism, and adopt a militant Leftist worldview.

She left home at 16 and has lived independently ever since.

Routine humiliations she suffered in Ukraine first awakened her spirit of protest.

"In our daily life as women, any day we could be beaten up and raped and no one would know. With our protests we take risks, but at least the world will know what happens to us."

"We [women] were angered that we couldn't even walk around in Kiev without getting propositioned by foreigners, who thought they could buy us a cup of coffee and take us to a hotel for the night. This insulted us. Unfortunately, a lot of our girls do think they can marry a foreigner and find a better life with him in Europe. We think these men are insulting not only us, but our mothers and children by thinking Ukrainian girls are prostitutes."

Like Shevchenko, Shachko has had her share of troubles with the law.

In Moscow, on the day of the tainted State Duma elections in December 2012, she and two Femen colleagues carried out a protest that presaged widespread demonstrations to come, and, in fact, the wholesale emergence from the shadows of Russia's opposition movement.

At a polling station in the capital, they stripped to the waist, and, with Shachko in the lead, charged and grabbed hold of ballot boxes, shouting, "I'm stealing for Putin" and "Putin is a thief!"

She and her co-activists were arrested for "hooliganism" and did two weeks' time.  

"The FSB interrogated us," she said.

"They wanted to know if the CIA was paying us, telling us we had to stand in Slavic solidarity against the Americans ."

The authorities finally declared her persona non grata and deported her.
She is wanted in Ukraine, too, for "desecrating a state symbol" -- the Indian flag -- which she used to pummel the door of the Indian embassy in Kiev during a protest against restrictive visa policies that presuppose, she said, that all Ukrainian women are prostitutes -- "an insult to our mothers and to us."

In the Civitas melee, Shachko displayed considerable physical courage, not retreating with the rest, and trading blows with multiple assailants.

Wasn't she concerned about getting hurt?

"In our daily life as women, any day we could be beaten up and raped," she answered, "and no one would know.

With our protests we take risks, but at least the world will know what happens to us.

We fight against inequality, for the working class, against the rich and the politicians."

Her tone hardened.

"The important thing is I fight for what I believe in, even if it means fighting the police. I'm not afraid."

Once the physical training ended, Inna instructed the group to sit in a circle for the ideological part of the afternoon.

Each week, a Femen member prepares a talk on a subject relevant to women.

Julia, who sported short-cropped blond hair with magenta tints, introduced the day's topic -- rape.

"We're always raised being told, 'be careful or you could be raped; it's always the woman's fault.' But it's men who need to be taught not to rape."

Inna added her perspective: "In Ukraine, you're always taught it's your mission to look good, but if you get raped, they say, 'Ah, look at how you look!' Always the women is blamed, always the woman's role is to please men."
Julia presented the clearest, most outlandish examples of retrograde remarks on rape she could find, which all happened to have come from U.S. Republican Party members over the past two decades. "'Legitimate rape' . . . 'honest rape' . . . 'forcible rape' . . . 'easy rape' . . . 'enjoyable rape' . . . 'gift from god' rape" -- the last, in reference, she explained, to the fetus conceived following the crime, which must not be aborted.

Several of the group members voiced disbelief that American politicians could have said such things.

She then returned to France, to the scandal-ridden Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who faced rape charges in New York but was not prosecuted, and who then fended off rape accusations levied by a French journalist.

"Rich and powerful people rape and suffer no penalties. Look, DSK is free. This sends a message to young men, that you have power and money, so you can rape."

DSK has not been convicted of rape, but recently reached a civil settlement, the terms of which remain secret, with his New York accuser.

With that, the session adjourned.

During our subsequent talk, I asked Shevchenko to describe working with French women.

"We've created a culture called Femen. Here, maybe we would never otherwise be friends, but we share language and beliefs."

She does not necessarily planning on remaining in France.

Once Femen can sustain itself here without her guidance, she plans to "move to more faraway lands."

Where, specifically?

Her eyes lit up. "The Middle East."

To confront regimes there, and bare-breasted at that, Femen activists will need all the training they get in Paris, and more.
Compared with the reaction the group will surely face south of the Mediterranean, the confrontation with Civitas may end up looking like a minor skirmish.