Ukraine’s former interior minister was found dead yesterday, hours before he was due to be questioned over the murder of an investigative journalist.The body of Yuri Kravchenko was found by his wife at his dacha outside Kiev. Local media reported he was holding a pistol and had a bullet wound to his temple.
President Viktor Yushchenko suggested that he had killed himself after he had been implicated in the killing of Georgy Gongadze, 31, whose decapitated corpse was found in a forest in 2000.
Interfax news agency reported that Mr Kravchenko left behind a suicide note, in which he blamed the former president, Leonid Kuchma, and his entourage for his death. He said in the note that he was taking his life to save his family from”attacks”.
Some observers, however, suggested that the former minister might have been murdered to prevent him exposing accomplices in the current administration. Unconfirmed reports said he had two gunshot wounds to his head.
A supporter of outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was found shot to death with a gun by his body at his holiday retreat near the capital of Kiev. It seems there is a rushing to cover this story as not related to the recent elections by the BBC, but I somehow doubt that will stand. Another oddity I've found is the spelling of this mans name. It seems to be interchangeable between Kirpa and Kyrpa. The Scotsman even uses both spellings in the same article. Strange.
BBC (via Captain's Quarters)
The minister is reported to have gunshot wounds and officials said a gun was found near his body.I don't know about you, but I don't think there's many cases of suicide with multiple gunshot wounds to the body.Mr Kyrpa, 58, appointed in 2002, was a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
There are no reports his death is linked to Mr Yanukovych's defeat by opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko in Sunday's presidential poll re-run.
A government source told Reuters news agency it was not clear whether Mr Kyrpa had killed himself.
Here's a slightly different take to the above nice BBC story.
Scotsman (via Daily Pundit)
A Ukranian minister accused of being behind the plan to move tens of thousands of government supporters around the country to engage in illegal multiple voting in November’s annulled presidential election, was found shot dead last night....
Following the re-run election on Boxing Day and the victory for opposition leader Victor Yushchenko, Mr Kyrpa had been expected to face questioning and possible criminal prosecution for his part in the November vote rigging.
Speculation in Kiev last night among demonstrators and diplomats was that he may have been assassinated by those fearing he would give investigators details of the extent of November’s vote- rigging operation.
Originally posted at Diggers Realm
Doctors who tested Viktor Yushchenko have now confirmed that he was indeed poisoned and that they will be able to determine what the poison was by as early as Wednesday.
Ukraines's opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned in an attempt to kill him during election campaigning in September, a British daily reported today, quoting the doctor who oversaw his treatment.Doctors at Viennas Rudolfinerhaus clinic are within days of identifying the substance that left Mr Yushchenko's face disfigured with cysts and lesions, Doctor Nikolai Korpan was quoted as saying in The Times.
Specialists in Britain, the United States and France had helped to establish that it was a biological agent, a chemical agent or, most likely, a rare poison that struck him down in the run-up to the presidential election, he said.
Doctors needed to examine Mr Yushchenko again at the clinic in Vienna to confirm their diagnosis but were in no doubt that the substance was administered deliberately, he was quoted as saying.
"This is no longer a question for discussion," Doctor Korpan said.
"We are now sure that we can confirm which substance caused this illness. He received this substance from other people who had a specific aim."
Asked if the aim had been to kill him, Dr Korpan said: "Yes, of course."
Tipped by: In The Bullpen
Other Commentary:
Originally posted at Diggers Realm
The Los Angeles Times reports that Ukraine’s Government and opposition leaders on Wednesday agreed to work for a rerun of a presidential election:
Details of a revote remained sketchy, but it appeared to hinge on anticipation that Ukraine’s Supreme Court would soon render invalid the official results of the Nov. 21 presidential runoff, which put Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych ahead by a slim margin.
After several hours of mediation at the presidential residence, Yanukovych, outgoing President Leonid D. Kuchma , opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko and European foreign policy chief Javier Solana announced that they had reached a broad agreement to resolve the crisis peacefully with some form of repeat election.
[. . .]
The court, which is hearing opposition allegations of election fraud, was not part of Wednesday’s agreement. But Solana said it was “very unlikely” that judges would approve the disputed Central Election Commission tally.
Wednesday’s deal meant the crisis would be solved “by voting,” Solana said. The people of Ukraine “have shown their interest in free and fair elections, and this at the end of the day is what they’re going to have,” he said.
If the court quashes the election results, parliament would need to set the rules for repeat balloting.
From California Yankee.
Bloomberg reports that Ukraine’s parliamentary groups are negotiating to choose a successor to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych after he lost a confidence vote prompted by the political crisis arising from disputed election:
There are “four or five” candidates for the premier’s post, Valentina Semenyuk, a Socialist Party deputy for the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, said in an interview, without giving names. The talks began late yesterday, she said.
From California Yankee.
The Associated Press reports that an agreement signed by Yushchenko; the declared official winner of the presidential runoff, Viktor Yanukovych; outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and European envoys requires Yushchenko supporters to lift their siege of government buildings:
The agreement also calls for talks on changes in the Ukrainian law to end the election crisis.
Participants in the talks emphasised the need to avoid the use of force and said the next round of talks would be held after the Supreme Court rules on the opposition’s appeal against the official vote results.
From California Yankee.
Ukraine’s parliament brought down the government Wednesday, approving a no-confidence motion as international mediators gathered in the capital to try to bring the spiraling political crisis to a peaceful resolution.The dramatic vote came only days after the Election Commission certified Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich as winner of Ukraine’s disputed presidential run-off, though opposition leader Victor Yushchenko (search) has said the vote was fraudulant — an allegation backed by Western governments.
The vote with 229 in favor came minutes after the 450-member chamber initially turned down the motion by a vote of 222-1, and after outgoing President Leonid Kuchman announced he supported holding an entire new presidential election, not just a revote of the disputed second round.
More on that at Ukraine Revolution
For more first-hand reporting and opinion, check out Post Modern Clog. Just start at the top and keep scrolling. Also check out Ben in Ukraine and Teksty.
From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :
Ukraine’s Parliament has voted to sack the Government of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich to help end a 10-day political crisis sparked by allegations of fraud in the presidential ballot.In a secret ballot, the 450-member Parliament has passed the dismissal with just three more votes than the minimum required.
The deputies have also voted to create an interim “government of national trust”.
Agence France-Presse reports with events shifting in the opposition’s favor, fears rose of a partitioned Ukraine as the eastern Russian-speaking regions warned they would split off into an autonomous territory.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev criticized the parliamentary vote, which reinforced the opposition’s call for a re-run election to be held on December 12.
From California Yankee.
“This decision could lead to a split” in Ukraine, he said. “The goal is to establish order and not to lead the country into chaos,” he added.
Ukraine’s parliament declared the country’s disputed presidential election invalid Saturday amid international calls for a new vote, fueling what has become a political tug-of-war between the West and Moscow over the future of this former Soviet republic.The elections commission chief also said he was not opposed to a revote.
Parliament’s vote, which was symbolic and has no legal standing, came as representatives of the two presidential rivals sought a solution in talks mediated by European envoys. Demonstrators jammed downtown Kiev in freezing weather for a sixth straight day, alleging the Nov. 21 vote was rigged and robbed their candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, of victory.
From the BBC :
Journalists on Ukraine’s state-owned channel - which had previously given unswerving support to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych - have joined the opposition, saying they have had enough of “telling the government’s lies”.Journalists on another strongly pro-government TV station have also promised an end to the bias in their reporting. The turnaround in news coverage, after years of toeing the government line, is a big setback for Mr Yanukovych.
Journalists in Ukraine seem to have responded to the call by opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko for them to reject government censorship.
A correspondent on the state channel, UT1, announced live on the evening bulletin that the entire news team was going to join the protests in Independence Square. She said their message to the protesters was: “We are not lying anymore”.
For the first time in years, the UT1 bulletin aired opposition views in a balanced way after the station’s management acceded to the journalists’ demands.
Hat Tip : Instapundit
The Ukrainian Parliment has rejected the reported results of the Nov. 21st runoff election
Parliament passed by large majorities two points of a resolution saying the Nov. 21 poll was invalid, subject to many irregularities and failed to reflect voters’ intentions.
Follow the news of the events in the Ukraine through the blogosphere: Ukraine Revolution, Orange Ukraine, Le Sabot Post-Moderne, Ben in Ukraine, Fistful of Euro’s, Periscope, Kumbaya, Ukraine, Russia, Europe, the US, Oh My!, Teksty and From our man in Ukraine.
Reuters reports that Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich urged supporters on Friday to help him avert an “unconstitutional coup:”
“Dear friends, together we must do everything so that an unconstitutional coup in Ukraine does not happen,” Yanukovich told thousands of his own supporters brought to Kiev by train from the Donbass coalfield in his power base — the Russian- speaking east of the country.
“I believe in our strength, I believe in the law, I believe in the constitution,” Yanukovich told the crowd, mostly men in their 30s and 40s, outside the main railway station.
A Reuters Television correspondent at the station said the miners were highly organized — broken up into groups of 100, each under the direction of a supervisor. Most were carrying large sticks.
In order of likelihood to show anything of interest happening.
Kiev Maidan
Solomyanska Square
Kiev Southern Railway Station
And if you’re waiting due to Bytelock, there’s a still picture of Ruslana, the Ukrainian Pop Singer and Eurovision song contest winner.
Updating a previous post, from her site :
5.11.04. Ruslana’s address to the international mass media community
Due to the recent situation in Ukraine regarding the rigged presidential elections, Ruslana is sending an address to all the mass media agencies in Europe asking them to be as detailed as possible about the situation in Ukraine.
“Your objective and detailed coverage of the events in Ukraine, where every day demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of people are happening, is vital for us at this moment. Only when the European community takes an active stand about the violations of basic democratic principles in Ukraine, there is a chance to re-establish justice.” - she said. “I believe that the victory of the opposition leader Victor Yuschenko, which we are all aspiring for, will also influence the preparations for Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in the positive way”.
On September 21st, Ukraine held the presidential elections that were rigged in favor of the current Prime Minister Victor Yanukovich, who clearly won the minority of votes.
24.11.04, 20:23.
The protest that Ruslana has initiated was supported by other Ukrainian musicians.
To this moment we have the agreements of various Ukrainian artists in support of Ruslana’s choice to protest. Detailed information will soon be available on the web cite.
Things are coming to the boil, and rather quickly. Hence the abbreviated posts, the situation is changing hourly - follow the links to read the rest.
Russia Slams Western Interference :
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has slammed Western intervention in Ukraine, as the European Union stepped up efforts to mediate a standoff over a presidential vote in the former Soviet republic.
Ukrainian Opposition surrounds Key Buildings:
Ukraine’s pro-Russia Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich has been prevented by blockades from meeting European leaders trying to mediate an end to a disputed election.A Government spokeswoman says the Prime Minister was unable to enter his offices because thousands of Opposition supporters are blocking key state buildings.
Ukraine opposition blocks HQ :
Several thousand Ukraine opposition supporters today blocked the entrance to government headquarters in the capital Kiev, according to AFP reporters on the scene.”Yushchenko! Yushchenko!” chanted the crowd clad in the orange standard of opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, as more and more people streamed to the 10-story building in the centre of the capital.
Opposition Claims Russian Troops in Kiev :
“I confirm the presence of Russian special units in Kiev, I can tell you where they are staying. They arrived in Kiev by plane and put on Ukrainian uniforms. They are armed with submachine guns,” Boris Tarassuk told bTV private television.Mr Tarassuk is the president of the Ukraine parliament’s foreign affairs commission…
Now possibly the crucial development :
Ukraine TV starts showing protests :
The Ukrainian Government’s control over nationwide television was broken today, a key factor in maintaining support for Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, when a station began covering opposition demonstrations that have gripped the capital.The pro-government private channel 1+1 said in a statement yesterday that it decided to begin providing “objective information” after having halted news broadcasts since Monday when journalists refused to operate under censorship.
The first reports of the mass opposition rallies in the country were aired in the dawn hours of today.
The channel is controlled by the powerful head of the presidential administration, Viktor Medvedtchuk.
Television stations which broadcast nationwide have provided extensive positive coverage of Mr Yanukovich, the declared winner of the election, while giving scant and negative attention to opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.
“We are aware of our responsibility for having until now broadcast biased information under pressure for different political forces,” 1+1 journalists said in a statement.
“Given the current opposition in society we are obliged to declare that … all information will now be complete and objective,” they said.
Game Over.
Ukrainian opposition supporters encircled the presidential and Cabinet buildings on Friday, refusing to let anyone pass in a bold move ahead of the arrival of four European envoys sent to defuse the electoral standoff.
Ukraine’s Supreme Court barred the publication of the official presidential election results for a week until it has examined an appeal lodged by the opposition against them, a spokeswoman told the foreign media.
The president of Ukraine has reportedly decided to meet with the opposition candidate for president.
Russia’s Interfax news agency says the meeting will take place today. It also says European envoys will present for the meeting between President Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko
From Notes from Keiv:
Residents with apartments overlooking the Presidential Administration grounds last night witnessed the burning of documents. It lasted from 9:00pm to 3:00am. It also has been suggested the Russian troops at the Presidential Administration are there to destory documents that Russia/Kuchma might wish to keep away from public view. Apparently this was done in Iraq and Geogria before their fall.
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine’s highest court on Thursday blocked the inauguration of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, whose contested election has led to mass protests, and said it would examine a complaint by his liberal challenger.The Supreme Court rejected the official publication of election results that showed Yanukovich had beaten Viktor Yushchenko in a run-off election last Sunday.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court appeared to turn the tide of events in favor of Yushchenko, who has brought thousands of supporters on to the streets after alleging he was cheated out of the election.
A president cannot be sworn in without the result being officially published.
Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko filed an appeal with Ukraine’s Supreme Court on Thursday to declare the results of the presidential election invalid, while huge throngs of his supporters jammed central Kiev.
Canada rejected the result of a presidential election in Ukraine, joining the United States in refusing to recognise pro-Russia candidate Viktor Yanukovich as the winner.Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan warned that unless Ukraine opened the results of Sunday’s election to transparent scrutiny, its relations with Canada, where a million people claim some Ukrainian descent, could be at risk.
“Considering the allegations of serious and significant electoral fraud from international and Canadian observers, the government of Canada cannot accept that the announced results by the central election commission reflect the true democratic will of the Ukrainian people,” McLellan said.
Opposition leaders, backed by thousands of supporters who spent a fourth night outside in the bitter cold, kicked off a nationwide strike Thursday to protest the Ukrainian government’s decision to name a Kremlin-backed candidate winner of presidential elections.[….]
Wednesday’s call by reformist candidate Viktor Yushchenko and his allies for an “all-Ukrainian political strike” came after election officials declared Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych the winner of the bitterly disputed runoff that the United States and the European Union denounced as rigged.
[fixed link]
Ukraine opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday called for a national strike that would halt transport and shut factories in protest at the declaration that his Moscow-backed rival had won election as president.Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, meanwhile, warned that civil war could “become a reality” in the country and he asked the world community to stay out of Ukraine’s affairs.
Yushchenko said that the naming of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich to succeed Kuchma, after an election marked by mass cheating, brought Ukraine to “the brink of civil conflict.”
“We do not recognize the election result as officially declared,” Yushchenko told tens of thousands of supporters massed in Kiev’s main square as heavy snow fell.
Tension Mounts in Kiev Streets:
With hundreds of thousands of protesters from both sides on the streets of Kiev by evening, tension was mounting.The peaceful and sometimes carnival atmosphere at Independence Square had been replaced with an air of tension.
There are fears there may be violent confrontations.
Ongoing Ukraine blog coverage here and here.
Bush envoy to Ukraine hints U.S. may act:
President George W. Bush’s special representative to Ukraine suggested Tuesday that concrete measures be taken against anyone found to have obstructed the presidential elections there, including a travel ban.
CSM: The East-West Stakes Over Ukraine
To be updated.
Secretary of State Colin Powell (search) said Wednesday the United States cannot accept the results of elections in Ukraine, which the opposition says was marred by fraud.Powell warned “there will be consequences” for the United States’ relationship with Ukraine as a result of the developments in the former Soviet bloc nation.
Breaking from Reuters:
Ukraine’s Central Election Commission on Wednesday declared Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich the winner in a presidential election denounced by the opposition as subject to mass fraud.Commission head Serhiy Kivalov told reporters that Yanukovich has won 49.46 percent of the vote to 46.61 percent for liberal opposition challenger Viktor Yushchenko.
See previous Ukraine election coverage here.
Update:
The team of opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday filed with Ukraine’s Supreme Court a suit complaining that the Central Elections Commission failed to disclose how many absentee ballots were issued and used in Sunday’s presidential runoff.
[See also previous post here]
A firebrand opposition leader once dubbed Ukraine’s “gas princess” is rallying hundreds of thousands of demonstrators through Kiev’s snowy streets to protest against what they call a rigged presidential election.
At least 2.8 million ballots were rigged in favor of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the independent Ukrainian committee of voters (CVU) reported today to the daily business newsletter Ukrainian Journal.
“The fraud was carried out systematically and involved at least 85,000 local officials throughout Ukraine,” the CVU’s deputy chairman Oleksiy Koshel and chief legal expert Andriy Duda told the Journal. “It’s the biggest election fraud in Ukraine’s history,” they said.
The U.S. State Department called in Russia’s ambassador to the United States to voice concern over Moscow’s early embrace of its preferred candidate in the disputed Ukranian presidential election, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.
—-
Ukraine’s Central Election Commission has turned into an insurmountable fortress as it prepares to announce the official results of the November 21 presidential run-off.The multi-storey building in the centre of Kiev is surrounded at least by five security circles. The first two, which have become a casual sight during the presidential election, are a metal fence and a shield barrier, behind which about 10 military vehicles stand.
[To be updated]
AFP: Ukraine in crisis as opposition leader declares himself president
Ukraine’s political crisis threatened to spiral out of control as thousands of opposition supporters surrounded the presidency hours after their leader Viktor Yushchenko declared himself president.Hundreds of security forces cordoned off the presidency in the capital Kiev as demonstrators shouted slogans and called on police to join the protest.
After an emergency parliament session, Yushchenko called on Ukrainian civil servants and police to cross over and join the mass demonstrations that have gripped the nation since the weekend presidential vote.
“Ukraine needs you, come over to our side,” he urged, as protesters camped defiantly outside the legislature, many waving the signature opposition color of orange, before heeding a call to march on the presidency.
“Form a column and come with us to the presidency. We will surround it and we will wait for them to surrender or we will demand that they do so. We will not use force,” said Yulia Timoshenko, another opposition leader.
