Free Republic

Despite the vast amounts Russia is spending on anti-Ukrainian propaganda, the TV channels Rossiya 1 and NTV skimped on actors – and got caught. Rossiya 1 shows a person they call Andriy Petkov and call him a supporter of federalism who was beaten up by “radicals”. NTV shows the same man, even adds a caption with the same name, yet has a quite different story, Petkov, they claim, was certainly injured, but is himself a “mercenary” who has made a “sensational confession” – that he, a resident of Germany brought 50 people, “all residents of Western Europe” to Ukraine to...

The Security Service of Ukraine said on March 31 that it had stopped a Russian man who investigators believe was planning to forcibly take over government buildings in Kyiv in an effort to destabilize the country. [He] had recruited some 200 people to assist in storming the buildings .... In addition, Bahtiyarov had made arrangements with various Russian television channels to produce video footage of the raids on the buildings, ostensibly to be used as propaganda, according to the SBU report.....

Ukraine judges 'under pressure' to reverse ruling By Tom Warner in Kiev Published: December 15 2004 17:37 | Last updated: December 15 2004 17:37 Volodymyr Lytvyn, the speaker of Ukraine's parliament, said on Wednesday that court judges were being pressured to reverse a decision that stripped Volodymyr Satsyuk, deputy chief of the SBU secret police, of parliamentary immunity. Mr Satsyuk, who is also a member of parliament, hosted a late-night meeting with Viktor Yushchenko, the opposition leader, hours before the latter's poisoning symptoms first appeared in early September. An official investigation into the poisoning of the presidential candidate is under...

The Ukrainian Supreme Court has ruled for Yushchenko and against the fraudulent election results that had purported to name Yanukovich president. Within 3 weeks there must be new elections. No word whether second round only must be repeated.

Ukraine’s Kuchma seeks Putin support By Stefan Wagstyl and Tom Warner in Kiev and Arkady Ostrovsky in Moscow Published: December 2 2004 18:55 | Last updated: December 2 2004 18:55 Ukraine’s president Leonid Kuchma said on Thursday he was willing to dismiss prime minister Viktor Yanukovich’s government if parliament proceeded with reforms to weaken the power of the presidency in favour of the government and prime minister. ”We urgently need to implement political reform. The government will be dismissed and there will be a new government...The most important thing for Ukraine now is to have a working government,” Mr Kuchma...

Yushchenko refuses prime minister position under Yanukovych Nov 30, 22:41 (AP) - Raising pressure on his government foes, opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko on Nov. 30 rejected an offer of the prime minister's job from the declared winner of Ukraine's disputed election, and his allies withdrew from compromise talks. Both sides in the struggle anxiously awaited a Supreme Court verdict on Yushchenko's appeal of the vote results that gave Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych the win in the Nov. 21 presidential runoff, but the court adjourned for the night without a decision. Hundreds of thousands who support Yushchenko claim of rampant fraud...