Ukraine, Crimea, and Russia

Ukraine's acting President, Oleksandr Turchynov, has said that they will not try and take back Crimea. Stating:



Adding:




Finally saying:




And that may be the case.

It's so interesting to see all these pictures coming out of these "maybe" Russian soldiers — who are not officially Russian soldiers.



Many see troops under Russian command aiming their weapons at just unarmed Ukrainian soldiers.



And then, finally, we have the leaders of the G7 Group of Nations warning Russia, and calling on them to stop all efforts to "annex" Ukraine's Crimea region.



And stating that if Russia took such a step, they would have to take further action, individually and collectively.



Conclusively, the principal point of this story is that everyone disagrees, and they all have weapons.

And really, that's where we are right now. There's a lot of talking. There's a lot of positioning. Both, reasons for Russia to enter, and reasons for Russia to stay out. Because no matter what happens, it won't just stop there. It's a domino effect situation. Nonetheless, the world will continue watching; and we'll see what happens next.

Update on Ukraine, Russia, China, America

The United States announced sanctions against Russia.





These sanctions include visa bans for Russian officials as well as an executive order further sanctioning "those who are most directly involved in destabilizing Ukraine."



Basically, people sanctioned are not specifically named. So, we'll see Russia's response to that.

Meanwhile, Crimea — which of course is the place where all this stuff is happening — their Parliament just asked to join Russia, effectively seceding from Ukraine!



And that's with 78 of the 100 deputies voting to join Russia.



They asked Vladimir Putin to accept the province into Russia, after a referendum.





And, experts say that this move, which is a surprise one, does seem to legalize Russia's effective seizure of Crimea, and essentially, throw a big wrench into the new government that Ukraine is trying to have.



Proportionally, and as expected, the government in Ukraine, and the European Union, are saying that this is unconstitutional. But, I don't know if that's really going to stop anything from happening.

Additionally, I have a report from Ukraine where they said that Russia sank their own ship: essentially a junked vessel they sank to create an obstacle so that Ukrainian Navy ships can't get out. Lol, slow but sure escalation.



Taking sides

You have the United States and the European Union backing the now interim government of Ukraine. China backs Russia, so we'll see what happens next.

Conclusively, do you think we're headed for another World War? Or would this just be an isolated incident, and it's more of a...Cold War? I'd love to know your thoughts, and why, in the comments down below. Maybe while you're at it, hit the share button.

Update on Ukraine

After the allegations and dismissal I blogged about day before yesterday, Putin went on TV to talk.



In the speech he made some key points:

1. Affirming the Kremlin's right to use all options in Ukraine, but adding "there is no reason yet" to use military force.



He called Ukraine's current leadership illegitimate, and the ouster of the former Ukrainian President an "unconstitutional coup".



Russia also warned that they could reduce their dependency on the US dollar to zero. This in response to the possibility of sanctions against Russia, because of Ukraine. Adding that this would crash the financial system of the United States of America.



Putin also defended his threat to cut Ukraine's gas subsidy, because they did not pay their last bill.



He denied that Russian troops were surrounding Crimea, despite reports otherwise, and dismissed photos of troops with Russian insignia – alleging that those uniforms could be bought from any shop.



But, US President Obama has refuted those claims, saying he doesn't think that Putin is fooling anybody.



Then, just after that speech, US secretary of state, John Kerry did arrive in Ukraine.



This, of course, after the cold war-tastic White House offer of $1 billion in aid to the interim government in Ukraine.



Additionally, the White House pledged to support Ukraine in implementing economic reforms, holding fair elections, combating corruption, and withstanding politically motivated trade actions by Russia, including in the area of energy.



And then, in case you were wondering if the cold war was really back on or not: as part of Russia's military games, they tested intercontinental ballistic missiles.



Saying:



Or put the way it was intended, 'I just want to make sure our missiles work, in case anyone makes me want to use them'.

So, there we go, I guess, kind of a nice change of pace from a chaotic escalation, to a more passive aggressive escalation on both sides. And, we'll see what happens next, unless the US and Russia blow each other up. But who knows really?

Russia and Ukraine: More of the Same

Russia has said that they would stay out of Ukrainian affairs. Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov saying, “We have confirmed our principled position to not interfere in Ukraine’s internal affairs and expect all [foreign powers] to follow a similar logic.”



Meanwhile, Russian police had to arrest 500 people protesting in their country. These protesters were out rallying because of sentences passed on other activists.



Meanwhile, in Ukraine, there was a much different picture of police begging for forgiveness – which is a very weird thing to look at.



Crowds were greeting them with chants of shame and tribunal. And, seeing it just really makes me wonder if it is more of the same.



We constantly see regimes changing, and the opposition becoming the majority, and then there's still problems.

Conclusively, if this is any indication, then it may, in fact, be more of the same.

Ukraine: Things Have Changed

From peaceful protesting...



...to rioting in the streets...



...to people being shot by snipers...



...today the update since the last time that we communicated, is the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, has vanished!



The Ukraine parliament voted to oust him as President, and the interior ministry issued a warrant accusing him of mass murder, and the killings of anti-government protesters last week. He was last seen in the Eastern part of the country, on Saturday, where he said that he was still the legitimate President, and would not flee the country.



Also, for now, Lawmaker Oleksandr Turchinov was named the caretaker of the new government until new elections in May.



Turchinov was appointed by Yanukovych's own ruling party.

Thousands of Ukrainians have gone to, and taken over the Presidential compound; which is just an interesting mishmash of vintage cars...



...a freaking pirate boat...



...and animals.



And, in response to everything that has changed, Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, questioned the legitimacy of the new Ukrainian authorities and said that Russia feels events are "a threat for our interests".



While the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, condemned what he said are Western attempts to influence the outcome of the turmoil in Ukraine.



Which resulted in the US National Security Adviser, Susan Rice, warning that it'd be a grave mistake if Russia intervened militarily.



Lol, as long as there are big, conflicting world powers, it can always get worse. And it'd be very interesting to see what happens from here; and as it happens, I will keep you up to date.

Conclusively, that's where I think I actually want to end this article. And, I'd love to know your thoughts on this, in the comments down below. Also, please, click the share button – if you're so inclined.

Updates on Venezuela and Ukraine

The main thing I want to blog about today is HUGE international news. The first bit is about the protests still happening in Venezuela.



Last we talked, of course, Venezuelans were protesting president Nicolas Maduro's government for over a week – seemingly over the problems of shortages, inflation, insecurity, the lack of opportunities.





Allegedly, Maduro's government has now blocked social media.





International news outlets have been attacked, and as of typing this, at least 5 people have been killed; one of the most recent was opposition supporter (and beauty queen), Genesis Carmona, who was shot by people riding by on motorcycles.



Thousands of Venezuelans are still in the streets protesting.



The footage and pictures coming from this, are very very intense.



And it's going to be interesting to see what does happen; and as things keep developing I will, of course, keep you up to date.

The other international news I want to blog about – I've been blogging about it all week – is Ukraine. The situation continues to get worse and worse, and worse (especially if you've been keeping up with the news, or the live stream link that I've been including). There are many more deaths. As of typing this, 70 people have been killed. That number coming from medic with the opposition; and the AP notes it has not been verified right now.



Protesters have been capturing policemen.



There is now video footage of what looks to be policemen sniping at protesters.



And this is followed by footage of the actual protesters being hit, so you know that it's live ammo and not something else.

The protesters were fighting back with bricks, Molotov cocktails.



There have been reports of small arm fire.



A lot of what I know is happening on the ground, are coming from the people actually there, and non-American sites.



Lol, I typed that because when you go to many American sites, this is what you see:



This is literally CNN.com right now; 'cause who in mainstream media cares about people being murdered in the streets? Those people aren't Americans, you know who's an American? The $19 billion app.



And, on FOXNEWS.com, you don't really care about that, Obama didn't cause that, we're worried about the "government in the newsroom"!



On MSNDC.com, we care what Chris Christie is going to say.



Venezuela and Ukraine aren't even in the top ten things!





I thought for a second maybe HLN was covering it. I was like, "Oh, they're going to sensationalize it!", but then I remembered they're the missing-white-girl/trying-to-use-YouTubers-to-have-some-sort-of-relevance-in-this-day-of-age channel.



And then, ABC, lol, actually ABC News was reporting on it – it was their number one story.



And this is just me venting on it. Genuinely, I hate blogging about stuff like this, because there's no twist to it, or silver lining, or happy thing. But the fact that the other guys with actual journalism degrees don't, or they at least wait until they know that they can make it sexy in some way, that's the reason why I do, that's the reason I will continue. Why? Because I think that it's more important that more people know about this than Facebook acquiring WhatsApp.

I think that's where I want to actually end this article. All that typed, I'd love to know your thoughts too.