Rebels now saying that Donetsk airport is not under their full control, battle ongoing http://t.co/y3UIxtUQFn
— Paul Gypteau (@paulgypteau) October 3, 2014
Carlsberg is Considering Shutting More Breweries in Russia, Jyllands-Posten reports. Already temporarily closed 2 /10 http://t.co/F9uXPzTxhd
— Jason Corcoran (@jason_corcoran) October 3, 2014
Vice has published an interesting piece by Holly Baxter, who has been writing about her recent visit to Moscow on a mysterious press junket:
Ask anyone in the mainstream Russian media what they think of their Western counterparts and they will answer you with one word: "propagandists." Again and again, we were told in this exact phraseology that Russia was aiming to "win the information war." There is no objective truth, we were informed by one official; there is only narrative. A teenager studying journalism at Moscow State University told us that "democracy is an illusion."
Outside of the media agencies, Moscow has been transformed. During my visit, lush new parklands sprung up in front of my eyes where abandoned car parks had stood 24 hours before. The streets were newly paved, the polished stones literally shining, and many were lined with charity tents asking people to give money to the soldiers in Ukraine. Public memorials to Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine were a common sight; they were being hailed as the heroes of a new Russian struggle to take back land—and people—who rightfully belonged to Moscow.
That weekend, people came out for Moscow City Day in droves, swarming into open spaces like the Park of the Fallen Idols (or, depending upon your perspective, Park of the Heroes), which was once a place for abandoned Soviet statues and quiet reflection and now is a manicured space where free yoga classes are held and complimentary orange juice is given out among figures of Lenin, Krushchev, Brezhnev, and Stalin.
T-shirts were on sale in Red Square that featured images of Putin and Medvedev walking arm-in-arm with the caption: "THEY ARE PATRIOTS, YOU?" and reproductions of the infamous "Putin topless on a horse" photo. The faces of the vendors told me that none of this was intended ironically. A member of our group spotted a man whose young son was proudly sporting one of these garments—a T-shirt featuring Putin staring into the middle distance, his abs decorated with the Olympic rings.
Later, traversing the ridiculously beautiful Moscow Metro, a fellow journalist and I experienced one unexpected effect of this rejuvenated patriotism: We were grabbed by a local man who had overheard us having a conversation in English. "This is Russia. Speak Russian!" he demanded, before adding, eloquently, "In fact, if you’re American, I’ll punch you."
(My colleague—who, luckily enough, was fluent in Russian himself—managed to persuade the man that we were Serbians on holiday, at which point the man threw his arms around him and proclaimed that they were "brothers.")
This escalating sense of national pride had reached levels of hysteria; it was touching the drunk man on the subway as much as it was Putin—who openly sobbed during a rendition of the Russian national anthem while we were there—and the news agency heads, who were provoked into slamming their fists on the tables in rage when told that most of us saw the Ukrainian crisis as a Russian invasion rather than a humanitarian expedition.
Read the entire article here
This would appear to directly contradict what Kyiv's Security and Defense Council tweeted an hour or two ago (see below):
Rebels say that they took over Donetsk airport and are now "cleaning". Impossible to check or confirm so far.
— Paul Gypteau (@paulgypteau) October 3, 2014
Putin gives #Russia-n citizenship to Yanukovych, Pshonka and Azarov, says Azarov advisor. http://t.co/4glTR4ZMRI @ukrpravda_news #Ukraine
— Chrystyna Lapychak (@chryslap) October 3, 2014
This poll on the upcoming parliamentary elections doesn't augur well for Yulia Tymoshenko and her cohorts:
Oct. 26 parliamentary election puts #Ukraine's democracy to another test http://t.co/ZZmpTIVTgs pic.twitter.com/He5EHYTcLp
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) October 3, 2014
Christopher J. Miller and Olena Goncharova have been writing in "The Kyiv Post' about the challenges facing Ukrainian troops this coming winter:
This winter could be long, cold and deadly for Ukraine’s fighting army.
One soldier in the 25th Dnipropetrovsk Airborne Brigade at the Ukrainian military camp in Donetsk Oblast’s Debaltseve said that, when he enlisted, the government gave him one uniform, one pair of underwear, two pairs of socks and a used pair of combat boots that were a size too big.
“They told us this is supposed to last us two years,” the soldier said.
Hundreds, maybe thousands, of soldiers in Debaltseve are unprepared for the harsh Ukrainian winter. Some of them only recently received coats warm enough for the chilly and wet autumn. While they might repel water, they have no insulation, which is needed to stay warm in sub-zero temperatures.
“Look at this,” says one soldier, pulling open his jacket to reveal its insides. “No fur, no insulation and no warmth.”
\With the winter months approaching, the need for warm clothing for Ukrainian soldiers is becoming more acute. Most of them will be staying in the war zone through the winter, and they have very little grounds for optimism.
It seems that everything is in short supply, even very basic things like hats. As it is, the troops mainly have thin cotton balaclavas and military style caps. They will need something much heavier in just a couple months’ time.
As for the camp, there are a few dozen large military tents with furnaces that burn through the night and can keep about two dozen men in close quarters warm. But most of the troops at the camp sleep in personal camping tents. Their sleeping bags are light and thin. They aren’t the sub-20- or sub-40 degree bags necessary to stay warm through the frigid winter nights.
Read the entire article here
Donetsk airport is under control of UA troops, all attacks were repelled - ATO press-center. Mil. units conducted add defense preparations
— NSDC of Ukraine (@NSDC_ua) October 3, 2014
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with this report from RFE/RL's news desk on the death of a Red Cross worker in Donetsk:
A Red Cross worker has been killed in eastern Ukraine.
The worker died when a shell landed near the group's office in Donetsk, one of the main rebel-held cities in the east.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, (ICRC) identified the victim as Laurent DuPasquier, a 38-year-old Swiss national who had arrived in Ukraine just six weeks ago.
In a statement, Dominik Stillhart, the Geneva-based organization's director of operations, condemned the incident, saying "indiscriminate shelling of residential areas is unacceptable and violates international humanitarian law."
Government forces and the pro-Russian rebels blamed each other for the October 2 shelling.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin wondered whether the "terrorists have any idea of what humanity is all about when they shell the Donetsk office of the ICRC, whose only aim is to help people?"
Rebel leader Andrei Purgin said the Ukrainian government forces shelled Donetsk constantly and that the attack had come from one of their areas.
"The Red Cross worker was killed by a rocket from a multiple rocket launcher," he told the Reuters news agency.
The incident may further undermine an already shaky cease-fire that has been in force since September 5.
Seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a single strike by tank fire on their armored personnel transporter on October 1.
That same day, at least 10 people were killed when shelling hit a school playground in Donetsk and a public transit minivan in a street nearby.
Meanwhile, a top U.S. official has accused Moscow of continuing to supply the rebels with weapons despite the cease-fire.
State Department Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland was speaking on October 2 at the U.S.-Central Europe Strategy Forum in Washington.
Nuland added, "there is not a military solution to this if the Russian Federation chooses to go in and flatten Ukraine, because the Russian military is always going to be larger."
Moscow denies sending troops or weapons to help the rebels.
(AP, Reuters, RFE/RL)
That concludes our live blogging for Thursday, October 2.