Free Republic

The actions of new administration can be explained in different ways: absence of professional training, revolutionary inertia, and thirst for revenge or something else. Among these actions, explainable from political point of view and unexplainable from juridical one, the so-called "NTN case" is one of the most resonance cases. Under pretence of far-fetched problems with payment for broadcasting license and sharing of TV frequencies judicial authorities make an attempt to close NTN. The fact that the administration’s accusations are far-fetched is proved juridically. However, the representatives of new power do not hide true reason of situation. New administration does not...

The tapes also provide insight into how the Yanukovych campaign added upwards of 2 million votes -- and raised turnout by 19% -- in Donetsk oblast between rounds one and two. In comparison, turnout increased by only 3% in Lviv, Yushchenko's base. Unlike some of the Melnychenko tapes, the voices on these new recordings are clearly identifiable. These figures include Kluyev, Viktor Medvedchuk (head of the presidential administration), Sergei Kivalov (chairman of the Central Election Commission [CEC]), Sergei Kluyev, "political technologist" Yuriy Levenetz, and long-time Yanukovych adviser Eduard Prutnik. One of the most interesting sections on the tapes is a...

Embassy RowBy James MorrisonPublished November 9, 2004 Ukraine undecided    A chief adviser to the Ukrainian prime minister sees uncanny parallels between his boss's campaign for president and last week's U.S. presidential election.     The Nov. 21 runoff between Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Viktor Yushchenko, a former prime minister, is too close to call. Each candidate received about 39 percent in the first round of voting on Oct. 31. Ukrainians appear divided between Mr. Yanukovych's rural supporters and Mr. Yushchenko's urban ones.     Also, as in the American election, billionaire George Soros, who poured millions of dollars into efforts to defeat President...

Viktor Yanukovych’s “appointment” to the post of President did not only arouse street protests: emotions raged in some quiet offices, too. Shortly after the Central Election Commission announced the final returns of the November 21 presidential runoff, MP Oleg Rybachuk disclosed the techniques the Yanukovych election team had used. Rybachuk presented transcripts of phone conversations between Yanukovych election staffers. According to him, the talks were intercepted between October 30 and November 23. Unlike the notorious Melnychenko tapes of 2000, the technical quality of these digital recordings is high. They reveal in detail how the voting procedure was managed and coordinated,...