NATO says hundreds of Russian troops, including special forces, still in Ukraine http://t.co/idYeP4k5JX @AFP
— Danny Kemp (@dannyctkemp) September 30, 2014
Former world chess champion and Russian opposition activist Garry Kasparov has been giving a forthright interview to Yahoo News, in which he is pretty critical of the West's response to the Ukraine crisis:
Arguably the world's best chess player ever, Garry Kasparov is on a new mission. He hopes to convince the world that the biggest threat to global unrest is not the Islamic State, al-Qaida or North Korea. Instead it is Vladimir Putin, Russia's president from 2000 to 2008 and then again from 2012 to today.
In an interview with Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga, Kasparov outlined his reasons for believing that Putin should be what keeps the world up at night. He chided President Barack Obama for being too late in addressing Putin's aggression in Ukraine — ultimately annexing Crimea. And while he views the president's speech at the United Nations— calling Russia's invasion into Ukraine and ideology of "might makes right" backward —he still believes that actions speak louder than words. Kasparov has extremely harsh words for what he views as European indifference to Putin's actions, and he compares the world's complacency with the lead-up to World War II.
Kasparov calls the Islamic State militant group (also known as ISIL and ISIS) a diversion for the world to focus on. He finds it hypocritical that the U.S. and other Western allies have agreed to supply Syrian rebels opposed to IS, while refusing Ukraine's similar request.
Regarding the current sanctions imposed on Russia, Kasparov believes that at some point they will hurt not only the Russian economy, but also Putin and his inner circle. However, for that to happen, he believes the sanctions will have to be in place through at least March 2015. He adds that Putin will use Russia's vast supply of natural gas as leverage ahead of what he calls the "upcoming cold winter," threatening to shut down supplies to Europe and other former Soviet republics and satellite nations. Kasparov fears that the threat will be enough to persuade an easing of sanctions. He also believes Putin is telling his inner circle of Russia's richest and most powerful business leaders, who are facing the ramifications of stiff sanctions that the western governments "will blink. As before, they will capitulate. We'll get what we need." Kasparov believes that Putin is calling the world's bluff. "He is playing poker while everyone else is playing chess."
Read the entire interview here
#Ukraine 11 billion more to help stabilise economic and financial situation | Background note: http://t.co/mDXKcBwlBu pic.twitter.com/FNdCIeaFdu
— Maja Kocijančič (@AshtonSpox_Maja) September 30, 2014
More details on the Ukrainian deputy who was attacked by a mob in Odesa. The video of the incident is above (warning: graphic content):
A deputy from the party of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was attacked and beaten by a crowd in the Black Sea resort of Odesa on September 30 during campaigning for parliamentary elections set for October 26.
Nestor Shufrych is a member of parliament from Yanukovych's Regions Party and was deputy secretary of Yanukovych's National Security and Defense Council until late 2012.
He was left bleeding from blows to the face before he was bundled into a van and driven away by his bodyguards.
A mob of about 20 attacked Shufrych as he tried to enter the main regional municipal building in Odesa. Some attackers wore masks, camouflage fatigues, and armbands of the right-wing nationalist Right Sector group.
Shufrych is a critic of Kyiv's military campaign against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
His supporters said Shufrych was campaigning on behalf of an opposition bloc running against pro-Western and Ukrainian nationalist parties.
This just in from AFP:
Russia still has hundreds of troops in Ukraine despite a "significant" force withdrawal made since Kiev and pro-Russian rebels agreed a cease-fire earlier this month, NATO said Tuesday.
After the pullback, "hundreds of Russian troops, including special forces, still remain inside Ukraine," NATO spokesman Jay Janzen said, adding that no further reduction had been seen in the past week and that some 20,000 soldiers were still deployed near the Ukrainian border.
More by our News Desk on the decision by Moscow not to participate in the FLEX program:
Russia has canceled its participation in a respected program that sends high school students from former Soviet republics to study in the United States -- a move that comes amid Western sanctions against Moscow over its role in the Ukraine crisis.
The U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Tefft, says Russia informed Washington on September 30 that it will not participate in next year's Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program.
Tefft said: "We deeply regret this decision by the Russian government to end a program that for 21 years has built deep and strong connections between the people of Russia and the United States."
Under the program, more than 8,000 Russian high school students have lived with American familes and attended U.S. high schools.
More than 20,000 students have taken part in the program, which also involves Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazkahstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine.