PRO-RUSSIAN GROUP BANNED IN SEVASTOPOL

An arbitration authority in Sevastopol, so called “Tribunal of commerce” banned a youth organisation whose militancy and pro-Russian stand have been irritating the Ukrainian occupant regime. The Proryv (breakthrough) was founded in August, 2005. The group has a singnificative following in Sevastopol and several other Crimean cities as well outside of the Ukraine (Transdnitria, South Ossetia and Abkhasia). The Proryv has been staging numerous colourful protests against Ukrainian rule in the Crimea. Last summer, Ukrainian authorities deported the leader of the group Alexei Dobychin to Moscow. The most spectacular action by the Proryv was held almost a year ago on January 20, 2006.
A group of young people people dug a trench on the Chongarsky isthmus (connecting the Crimean peninsula to the continent) to demonstrate that the Crimea was cutting itself off from the mainland Ukraine. They Proryv members said they had been inspired by an episode from the Island of Crimea novel by famous Russian writer Vasily Aksenov. The police failed to build up a case against the Proryv. The charges of violation of the Ukrainian sovereignty laid by police did not stand in court. During the investigation, Ukrainian security agents conficated a copy of Vasily Aksenov novel from one of the activists. The case of the Proryv was heard in the absence of the accused on December 21. The organisation learned about the ruling only recently from the Internet. Lawyer for the Proryv Oksana Denisova said that she had filed an apeal.

TARASIUK POSING AS A BONA FIDE MINISTER

Boris Tarasiuk, sacked by parliament as foreign minister, visited Prague where Czech authorities received him as a bona fide chief of the Ukrainian diplomacy. This visite infuriated Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych who asked Ukrainian prosecutors to take measures against leader of the nationalist Rukh Party. Mr. Tarasiuk has full support of Victor Yushchenko. The Ukrainian president reappointed him as foreign minister despite objections from parliament and the Cabinet of ministers. Mr. Yanukovitch says that he did not authorize Tarasiuk’s trip to Prague. According to the Prime Minister, Mr. Tarasiuk’s activities harmed the Ukraine’s image.
Tuesday, the Czech Ambassador in Kiev was summoned to the Cabinet of Ministers for explanation. The Ukrainian government wants to know why Tarasiuk was received in Prague as a foreing minister of the Ukraine. The Ukrainian Government issued a statement reminding that Mr. Tarasiuk had been fired by parliament on December 1, 2006, and that he cannot represent the Ukraine abroad.

SUSPECTED MASS MURDERER PROMOTED TO SBU DEPUTY CHIEF

General Guennadi Moskal has had only an eight month stint as President Yushchenko’s eye in the Crimea. On January 9 Mr. Yushchenko relieved him of his duties as his representative in the Russian-speaking peninsula and appointed Moskal as a second in command at the Ukrainian secret police (SBU). General Moskal had started his career as a police officer. He served all political regimes in the Ukraine: from communists to Kuchma and to orange tin pot dictator Victor Yushchenko. From 1997 to 2000 he was a chief policeman in the Crimea and got known for his ruthlessness and intrigue. His Crimean colleagues say that Mr. Moskal played off one criminal group against the other and manipulated political clans taking shady business schemes under his control. After former president Leonid Kuchma dismissed him from the Crimean police Moskal has had several appointments in regional administrations. As a local SBU chief in Dnepropetrovsk Moskal was entrusted to prepare Kuchma’s visit to the city that counted many homeless people. General Moskal swiftly got rid of the city’s shameful eyesores. Witnesses say that he rounded the beggars up put them on a barge and let it sail along the Dnepr river. When the barge came to its destination in a desert place 36 out of 150 passengers were missing. There is no precise information of what happened to those who disappeared. Some evidence suggests that they were thrown overboard. The survivors were let go in the wild. Their fate is unknown. Charges against Mr. Moakal were laid. Later, they were unexpectedly dropped.