West Turns Blind Eye to Arrest of Ukrainian Lawmaker Savchenko

Corruption is Everywhere - Certainly in the Ukrainian Politics

and Western Media?

Savchenko’s arrest and detention in Russia had been subject to intense scrutiny by the Western media, but her recent arrest in Ukraine went almost unnoticed in the West, Maria Zakharova said

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Tuesday expressed her concern about the lack of international reaction to the arrest of Ukrainian lawmaker Nadezhda Savchenko.

"Does anyone in the world still remember Savchenko?" Zakharova asked rhetorically during the "60 minutes" show on Russia’s Rossiya-1 TV.

Savchenko, a former Ukrainian military pilot who had taken an active part in Kiev’s military operation in eastern Ukraine, was detained in Russia in June 2014. She had been sentenced to 22 years in jail over complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists in east Ukraine. She spent nearly two years in Russian custody and was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 25, 2016. 

Upon her return to Kiev, Savchenko began an active political career as a member of the Ukrainian parliament. However, she fell into disfavor of Ukraine’s authorities after her private trips to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine and talks with their leadership.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Savchenko’s arrest and detention in Russia had been subject to intense scrutiny by the Western media. However, her recent arrest in Ukraine went almost unnoticed in the West.

"Right now, Savchenko is in prison again. And, again, she is on a hunger strike. The charges <…> that had been laid against her are totally absurd," Zakharova said.

"I will reveal a secret to you about how Western politicians describe Savchenko in unofficial talk. The people, who used to talk about her as a hero, a fighter woman… now describe her as a mad person," she added.

Ukrainian investigators claim that Savchenko plotted to carry out terrorist attacks in the parliament building and in the government district. If found guilty, she may face more than five years in prison. 

The Verkhovna Rada (parliament) stripped Savchenko of her parliamentary immunity and granted the go-ahead to detain and arrest her. A Kiev court put Savchenko into custody for two months on March 23, prompting her to declare a hunger strike. The court later rejected her appeal against the arrest and extended it for another two months.

Ukraine's Poroshenko Warns of 'Full-scale' Russia Invasion

President Poroshenko said there were now 50,000 Ukrainian troops in the east

From BBC Europe

President Petro Poroshenko has told MPs the military must prepare to defend against a possible "full-scale invasion" from Russia, amid a surge of violence in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has denied that its military is involved in Ukraine, but Mr Poroshenko said 9,000 of its troops were deployed.

Clashes involving tanks took place in two areas west of Donetsk on Wednesday

There was a "colossal threat" that large-scale fighting would resume, the president told parliament in Kiev.

The outbreak of violence, in the government-held towns of Maryinka and Krasnohorivka, was among the worst in eastern Ukraine since a ceasefire was signed in Minsk in February.

International monitors from the OSCE said that in the hours before and during the fighting around Maryinka a large amount of heavy weapons was spotted moving towards the contact line in rebel-controlled areas.

Government troops fired shells at rebel-held areas on the outskirts of Donetsk.

Ukraine said it had lost five soldiers in the past 24 hours, while the rebels said 15 people including civilians had been killed.

The separatists denied Ukrainian claims that they launched a major offensive in violation of a truce.

The OSCE said that for more than an hour on Wednesday they had tried to contact separatist leaders to halt the fighting, but they were either "unavailable or did not wish" to speak to the monitors.

Frightened residents of Donetsk flock to bomb shelters, again

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, accused the authorities in Kiev of jeopardising the Minsk agreement, by placing it "under the constant threat of disruption" and by refusing to engage in direct dialogue with separatist leaders.

The Kremlin has consistently denied sending serving soldiers across the border, although it has acknowledged that "volunteers" have joined the rebels.

The Kremlin would deny that trees are green and the sky is blue while standing on the edge of a forest on a clear day. Truth has absolutely no value to the Kremlin. 

Just days ago the Kremlin passed a bill forbidding the publication of military casualties in 'peace time'. I suggested then that it was in preparation of a major Russian push into the Ukraine. It appears Mr Poroshenko agrees. Indeed, it appears that the push has already begun as Russia took advantage of the Minsk ceasefire agreement to move weapons into restricted areas.

'Russian bayonets'

In his annual address to parliament, Mr Poroshenko warned of a "colossal threat" from the rising violence.

"Ukraine's military should be ready for a new offensive by the enemy, as well as a full-scale invasion along the entire border with the Russian Federation," he said. "We must be really prepared for this."

A market on the outskirts of rebel-held Donetsk
was shelled as violence surged on Wednesday

More than 6,400 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since the conflict began in April 2014 when rebels seized large parts of the two eastern regions, following Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula.

Mr Poroshenko said Ukraine had 50,000 troops in the east who were able to defend the country.

What he described as the Kremlin's "plan to sow separatism in south-eastern Ukraine" had failed, he added, and only persisted in areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions because of "Russian bayonets".

The Underground Children of Donetsk

Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - As the shelling came closer to 10-year-old Artyom's neighbourhood, he was forced to swap his local playground for a bunker -- just like children across rebel-held east Ukraine.

Whenever the boom of artillery bombardments echoes over the separatist stronghold of Donetsk, Artyom's grandmother Lyudmila Tarasova quickly grabs him and hurries down to an underground shelter by their apartment.

But with fighting having intensified in east Ukraine for the past 10 days, that survival reflex means Artyom and his grandmother have been living in their subterranean retreat constantly.

"Sometimes I go out to get some fresh air, but I can't stay and play for too long," Artyom tells AFP, his large, dark eyes gazing out from under his woollen hat.

The children of Donetsk -- once a bustling industrial hub of a million people -- have a strangely pale complexion these days, with eyes that focus on a point somewhere in the distance.

The thud of mortar fire has replaced the ringing of school bells as the 10-month conflict has worn on, and with the days punctuated by the sound of silence and artillery, the local children struggle to combat fear and boredom.

About 1,000 children around the city are forced to regularly seek shelter underground, the United Nations children agency Unicef estimates.

- 'My friends have left' -

Ania, 11-years-old (L), Alesia, 4-years-old (C), and Michal, 4-years-old (R),

In the cavernous Soviet-era bunker that houses Artyom and his granny, there are another two children among the 40 people seeking safety behind the concrete walls and thick metal door.

"Almost all of my friends have left," Artyom mumbles in a monotone voice.

Now, he plays hide-and-seek among the makeshift beds with twins Sofiya and Rada, who are five years his junior.

Sometimes he likes drawing, he says: cars, his favourite football team's logo, people, the planet Earth.

Hanging from the walls, however, are only pictures of tanks, artillery pieces and missile systems.

Another photo shows a rebel fighter standing in front of three kneeling Ukrainian soldiers. "Sorry for the bombing," "We won't do it anymore," and "We promise," captions depict the three government troops saying.

Little Sofiya likes to draw too. "Mainly ponies," she says. "And my bed."

Artium,10-years-old, stands at the entrance of
a bomb shelter in Donetsk's Kiyevski district

Concentrating on her colouring book, she does not lift her eyes as she sings a song extolling the virtues of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the prompting of her grandmother.

"I want to be a painter when I grow up," she says.

- 'Homework like a holiday' -

In the Petrovsky district in the west of the city, Anya, 11, and her sister Olesya, 3, rarely venture out of their basement.

Shells fall regularly in this area only around two kilometres (just over a mile) from the frontline.

"I don't go any further than just outside the door," says Anya, sporting a pink jacket.

Three metres (yards) away, a crumpled electricity pylon shows how close danger has struck.

"During the night when it goes 'boom' right nearby, it wakes me up," the young girl says.

Now, though, the two sisters have become used to the fighting and don't cry, their grandmother says.

As time drags on in their shelter, Anya looks forward to Wednesdays most, when her teacher calls her on the phone and gives her a few lessons.

"I love all the subjects, but my favourite is maths," she says shyly.

Schooling for the children of Donetsk is sporadic at best.

Schools reopened in October when clashes died down. But since the fighting has picked up again in recent weeks, they've been gradually closed again.

"Doing homework feels like a holiday," says Anya's grandmother.

As the shells fall, four-year-old Misha carries on playing a car racing game on his basic computer console.

"There is nothing to do here beside eat and sleep, sleep and eat," says his mother, Natalia Snizhkovskaya.