Free Republic

GOOGLE TRANSLATION "I am now in Lugansk. The situation is as follows. Terrorists captured in the SBU approximately 300 machines, 100 guns, 20 sniper rifles. Criminals-mostly military and former Afghans, their indoors up to 150 persons. Zìvak around the building is still a man. Among the terrorists of Russian diversantìv, gives the accent and rub that they have. The perimeter of the building, another man 10-15 with racìâmi and with weapons. Strange, but seized the building of the SBU has not turned off the electricity, water, etc. Terrorists are freely enjoyed computers and mobile communication, coordinate its activities with the...

Following up on Putin’s phone call to Obama, Kerry is making a detour to Paris to negotiate with Lavrov over the fate of Ukraine. Lavrov has laid out Russia’s terms, and intimates that Obama and Kerry have accepted the principles underlying these terms. First, Russia demands that Ukraine adopt a new constitution that establishes a federal structure that gives each region considerable autonomy. Translate this to mean that these regions would be able to pull a Crimea. Or, more accurately, that Russia would be able to pull a Crimea, slicing off pieces of Ukraine and splicing them onto Russia. Crucially,...

Ukraine is raising the price of gas for domestic consumers by more than 50 per cent from May 1 and will implement further rises under a fixed timetable until 2018, an official of state energy company Naftogaz said on Wednesday. The step, which will be widely unpopular with ordinary Ukrainians who have grown used to subsidized gas prices from the Soviet era, were taken in response to demands by the International Monetary Fund.