IMPOVERISHED SIMEIZ WELCOMES GAYS

The Crimean resort of Simeiz may turn into a gay capital of the former USSR during the New Year celebrations. According to the New Region Information Agency, a number of Russian travel agencies are luring gays offering them attractive packages for the New Year period in Simeiz. Tour operators are targeting gays in all former Soviet republics. The promotion campaign seems to be successful and packages for gays are a hot sell. Simeiz as well as other scenic Crimean resorts are losing customers due to an outbreak of the bird flu. This ailment does not scare gays. They are streaming to Simeiz hoping to have a good time in a macho and straight environment of the Crimea. The city of Simeiz hopes that the massive arrival of sexual minorities will put its budget afloat. Local machos don’t protest: non olet pecunia.

YUSHCHENKO REGIME LOSING NERVES

People’s Front “Sevastopol-Crimea-Russia” says the Ukrainian occupation regime is losing its nerves. In a statement issued in response to the detention of its militants more than a week ago the Front says: “Such an honour as an arrest after the press-conference had only been given to the leader of the Crimean Wahhabits. And only once. The Cerberuses smell the Russian spirit!” The statement says that the detention of two militants was totally groundless. The police could not clearly explain its reason. Her only plausible grievance was directed at the rally on August 24 that had lasted longer by one hour than the time frame requested by the organizers. The Ukrainian regime is increasingly worried by resurgence in Sevastopol of pro-Russian activities by recently created youth organizations “Sevastopol-Crimea-Russia” and “Proryv”.

“YUSHCHENKO IS A CZAR”, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS

Former Attorney General of the Ukraine Sviatoslav Piskun claims that Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko is very sick and his will is paralyzed. “His aids are profiting from such situation giving the president bad advice”, Mr. Piskun said in an interview to the IZVESTIA UKRAINA paper. He was fired by Yushchenko but sued for wrongful dismissal and won. The case is still pending with the “oranges” trying to overturn the ruling.
Sviatoslav Piskun thinks that Yushchenko had been really poisoned on September 5, 2004 but not at the supper with former chiefs of the Security Service (SBU) as it is widely believed. Mr. Piskun said that on that particular day Mr. Yushchenko had also had a breakfast with other important people. Mr. Piskun refused to elaborate citing the investigation secrecy. The former Attorney General revealed that President Yushchenko take many decisions unilaterally giving direct orders to his underlings. “Yushchenko is a Czar, Piskun says. There were cases when he demanded to release criminals from jail. Once he requested to let go several detained women. One day, he had a hysterical fit when he learned that we had arrested suspects in a case of trade in humans. Yushchenko insisted that I should release them. I did not. The Supreme Court did”.
Mr. Piskun said that the Attorney General Office might have documents on President Yushchenko’s activities in times of his stint at the head of the National Bank.
His deputy Bondar was investigated for alleged financial schemes. He was also accused of non-payment of a 300 hundred million dollar credit. It was decided then not to lay charges against Yushchenko. “Was it legal? It could be found out,’ said Sviatoslav Piskun.

TORTURES IN UKRAINE

Head of the Ukrainian Parliament Human Rights Committee Gennadi Udovenko said that Ukrainian police use tortures to extort evidence from suspects. According to Mr. Udovenko, today’s tortures are harsher than those used by Nazi invaders in WWII. “Our tortures reach such a degree of cruelty that they cannont even be compared to those Zoe Kosmodemianskaya had to go through”, said Mr. Udovenko. He forecasts another revolution in the Ukraine that will overthrow the orange regime.

PRO-RUSSIAN ACTIVISTS DETAINED IN SEVASTOPOL

Three pro-Russian militants in Sevastopol have been detained today for interrogation. The People Front “Sevastopol-Crimea-Russia” held a press conference Friday to announce its further steps in a new campaign to put an end to the Ukrainian domination in the Crimea. The organizers said they were planning to send a petition to Russian president Vladimir Putin. They wish to convince the Russian leader to resolve the Crimean problem through international legal proceedings. After the press conference, plain-clothed police officers approached two militants Serov and Bystrikov. They were taken to the militia (police) headquarters for interrogation. Veteran pro-Russian activist Alexander Kruglov was also interrogated. All three were then released. Crimean pro-Russian organizations fear a crack down on their activities. The orange regime in Kiev is scared by the recent growth of anti-Ukrainian sentiments among young Crimeans.

POULTRY SLAUGHTERED IN CRIMEA

20 000 poultry will be slaughtered in the Crimea, said head of the veterinary service of the “Autonomous” republic Maria Miroshnichenko. Chicken, geese, ducks and turkeys are being burnt in specially dug out pits in three Crimean regions. President of the Ukraine Victor Yushchenko placed the Crimea under the state of emergency. Interior ministry checkpoints had been established on a three-kilometer radius around the villages, disinfecting all vehicles coming out of them. A quarantine was placed around the five villages where poultry was dying en masse. Sales of live poultry are banned in open markets. However, according to some sources, this ban is not fully enforced due to inefficiency of local services.
International press agencies report, that the H5 virus was found among chickens and geese in five villages in the Crimea, a peninsula that juts into the Black Sea, after more than 1,600 domesticated birds, including chickens, geese, ducks and turkeys, died in the region. Victor Yushchenko held an emergency government meeting. A special Commission to deal with the epidemic was set up head by minister for emergency situations Victor Baloga. Ukrainian media reports that 25 million grivnas will be released from special funds to compensate local peasants for their losses. Puppet prime minister of the Crimea Anatoly Burdiugov said that the state would pay for every destroyed bird a market price. On-line edition of the Crimean Committee The Tavrichesky Kurier, quotes its reliable sources as saying that the compensation will vary from 10 to 15 grivnas a bird. It is lower than the price in open markets. Some peasants say they will slaughter their birds and can them for future use. The epidemic is dealing a tremendous blow to the poorest class of the Crimean population. For many residents in rural steppe regions poultry is an important source of food and some income. Few Crimeans believe that the Ukrainian regime will be efficient in combating the bird flu. Kiev’s failures may contribute to further growth of anti-Ukrainian feelings which already are running high in the pro-Russian Crimea.

ISLAMIC MILITANTS THREATEN CRIMEA

“The Crimean Tatar Majlis (illegal ethnic “parliament”) has drawn up lists of people who, as it thinks, are able to put up resistance and who are slated for physical elimination”. Leader of the Proryv youth organisation Alexei Dobychin made this statement in an interview to the Russian online agency Regnum.ru. “Every regional branch of the Majlis has its own hit list. If the events on the peninsula degenerate into violence, the Tatar can massacre the Crimean population, especially in the steppes, in a matter of two or three days”. Obviously, the Majlis is ready to rerun a WWII scenario. After the Nazi takeover the Tatars massacred up to 100 000 people of Slavic origin in the Crimean steppes. Mr. Dobychin thinks that a war in the Crimea is inevitable and that the peninsula could turn into another Kosovo. Dobychin claims that up to 30 Islamic extremist groups are operating now in the Crimea. “Three years ago, he says, they were drilled in urban guerrilla. Arms caches are still being discovered in the Crimean Mountains. They have fire ranges. Caravans loaded with drugs and arms make deliveries through the Ai-Petri Mountain. Militant terrorist groups recruit their members from the Majlis structures. They get full support from the illegal Crimean Tatar “parliament”. The new members of the terrorist groups are mostly young people who used to be apolitical but turned into warriors after a serious ideological brainwashing. Young Crimean Tatars say bluntly that this is their land and all the others should leave. Older Crimean Tatars admit in private that they don’t share such ideas but cannot oppose them out of fear for their security”. Mr. Alexei Dobychin added quoting unnamed sources that in a critical situation the Russian Black Sea Navy would be able to defend only territories where it has its bases. There will be no Russian interference beyond them.