Today In History. What Happened This Day In History

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

Today in History
May 5

1494		Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Jamaica, which he names Santa Gloria.
1814		British attack the American forces at Ft. Ontario, Oswego, New York.
1821		Napoleon Bonaparte dies in exile on the island of St. Helena.
1834		The first mainland railway line opens in Belgium.
1862		Union and Confederate forces clash at the Battle of Williamsburg, part of the Peninsula Campaign.
1862		Mexican forces loyal to Benito Juarez defeat troops sent by Napoleon III in the Battle of Puebla.
1865		The 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery.
1886		A bomb explodes on the fourth day of a workers’ strike in Chicago.
1912		Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda begins publishing.
1916		U.S. Marines invade the Dominican Republic.
1917		Eugene Jacques Bullard becomes the first African-American aviator when he earns a flying certificate with the French Air Service.
1920		Anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are arrested for murder.
1935		American Jesse Owens sets the long jump record.
1942		General Joseph Stilwell learns that the Japanese have cut his railway out of China and is forced to lead his troops into India.
1945		Holland and Denmark are liberated from Nazi control.
1961		Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space.
1965		173rd Airborne Brigade arrives in Bien Hoa-Vung, Vietnam, the first regular U.S. Army unit deployed to that country.
1968		U.S. Air Force planes hit Nhi Ha, South Vietnam in support of attacking infantrymen.
1969		Pulitzer Prize awarded to Norman Mailer for his ‘nonfiction novel’ Armies of the Night, an account of the 1967 anti-Vietnam War march on the Pentagon.
1987		Congress opens Iran-Contra hearings.
2000		The Sun, Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn align – Earth’s moon is also almost in this alignment – leading to Doomsday predictions of massive natural disasters, although such a ‘grand confluence’ occurs about once in every century.
Born on May 5
1813		Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher.
1818		Karl Marx, German philosopher (The Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital).
1830		John B. Stetson, American hat maker.
1861		Peter Cooper Hewitt, electrical engineer, inventor of the mercury-vapor lamp.
1883		Charles Albert “Chief” Bender, baseball player.
1890		Christopher Morley, writer (Kitty Foyle).
1899		Freeman F. Gosden, radio comedy writer and performer (Amos ‘n’ Andy).
1909		Carlos Baker, biographer.
1943		Michael Palin, actor and screenwriter (Monty Python’s Flying Circus).

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/today-in-history#sthash.6DhlyMv5.dpuf

Ukraine Spring of 2014: Kyiv! Sniper kills unarmed people!

Ukraine! Kyiv! Sniper kills unarmed people!

TheFrankFranco

 Published on Feb 21, 2014/ 88,919 views

Noam Chomsky on the rise of Islamic State & the Ukraine crisis

Channel 4 News

Published on Feb 12, 2015

The political scientist and philosopher Noam Chomsky tells Channel 4 News that the ceasefire agreement in Ukraine is “a glimmer of hope… but we’ll have to wait and see.”

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Nigel Farage: Stop playing wargames with Putin

europarl

Published on Sep 16, 2014

Descriptionhttp://www.ukipmeps.org | @Nigel_Farage
• European Parliament, Strasbourg, 16 September 2014

• Speaker: Nigel Farage MEP, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Co-President of the ‘Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy’ (EFDD) Group in the European Parliament – http://www.nigelfaragemep.co.uk

– ‘Bluecard question’: Ioan Mircea PAŞCU MEP (Romania) – Socialist Group (P&D)

• Debate: Situation in Ukraine and state of play of EU-Russia relations
– Statement by the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
[2014/2841(RSP)]

Transcript:

Amongst the long list of foreign policy failures and contradictions in the last few years including, of course, the bombing of Libya, the desire to arm the rebels in Syria, has been the unnecessary provocation of Vladimir Putin.

This EU empire, ever seeking to expand, stated its territorial claim on the Ukraine some years ago. Just to make that worse, of course, some NATO members said they too would like the Ukraine to join NATO. We directly encouraged the uprising in the Ukraine that led to the toppling of the president, Yanukovych, and that led of course in turn to Vladimir Putin reacting. And the moral of the story is if you poke the Russian bear with a stick, don’t be surprised when he reacts.

Just to continue with that, today we are rushing through an Association Agreement at undue speed with the Ukraine and as we speak there are NATO soldiers engaged in military exercises in the Ukraine. Have we taken leave of our senses? Do we actually want to have a war with Putin? Because if we do, we are certainly going about it the right way.

Perhaps we ought to recognise that the West now faces the biggest threat and crisis to our way of life that we have seen for over 70 years. The recent beheadings of the British and American hostages graphically illustrates the problem. And of course we have our own citizens from our own countries engaged in that struggle, too.

In the war against Islamic extremism, Vladimir Putin, whatever we may think of him as a human being, is actually on our side.

I suggest we grow up. I suggest recognise the real threat facing all of our countries, communities and societies. We stop playing war games in the Ukraine and we start to prepare a plan to help countries like Syria, like Iraq, like Kenya, like indeed Nigeria, to try and help them to deal with the real threat that faces us. Let’s not go on provoking Putin whether we like him or not.

Question to Farage: Sir, in your considered opinion, what is better, to have Russian soldiers fighting a war on the territory of Ukraine, or NATO troops exercising as a response to that on the territory of Ukraine?

Reply from Farage: The point that I was making was that there should be a huge degree of guilt in this house about what provoked all this in the first place, and we saw Western Ukrainians, waving European flags, rioting, setting fire to things, and effectively staging a coup d’état, which brought down the Ukrainian president, which has led to this instability. Yes, yes, you are the guilty people and you refuse to accept it.

…………………………….
Video source: EbS (European Parliament)
…………………………….

• EU Member States:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom

Related articles

• Nigel Farage: A Fifth Column is Living in Our Countries

Sergentul, de Vasile Alecsandri

Sergentul
poezie

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
de Vasile Alecsandri [Vasile_Alecsandri ]

2002-08-08  |     |  Înscris în bibliotecă de aleksandar stoicovici

Sergentul Pe drumul de costise ce duce la Vaslui
Venea un om, cu jale zicind în gindul lui:
“Mai lunga-mi pare calea acum la-ntors acasa…
As vrea să zbor, si rana din pulpa nu mă lasa!”
Si bietul om, slab, palid, avind sumanul rupt
Si o camesa rupta bucati pe dedesupt,
Pasea tragind piciorul încet, dar pe-a lui fata
Zbura ca o lumina de glorie mareata,
Si-n ochii lui de vulturi adinci, vioi si mari
Trecea lucioase umbre de eroi legendari.

Opinca-i era sparta, căciula desfundata,
Dar fruntea lui de raze parea incoronata.
Calica-i era haina, dar straluceau pe ea
Si crucea “Sfintul Gheorghe” si a “Romaniei Stea”.
Romanul venea singur pe drumul plin de soare,
Când iata ca aude fanfare sunatoare
Si vede nu departre în fata lui venind
Un corp de oaste mindra în aur stralucind.
Erau trei batalione de garda-mparateasca
Mergând voiios la Plevna cu dor s-o cucereasca.

In frunte-i colonelul semet, pe calu-i pag,
La bravii sai tovarasi privea ades cu drag,
Si inima în pieptu-i batea cu foc, desteapta,
Căci el visa, privindu-i, la lupta ce-i asteapta.
Deodat’ el da cu ochii de sarbedul roman
Ce stase-n loc la umbra, sub un stejar batrân,
Si mult se minuneaza, si nici ca-i vine-a crede
Când crucea “Sfintul Gheorghe” pe sinul lui o vede.
S-opreste regimentul, iar bravul colonel
Se-nchina la drumetul, s-apropie de el.

Si-i zice cu blindeta: “De unde vii straine?”
“Vin tocmai de la Plevna.” “Cum e acolo?” “Bine.”
“Dar aste decoratii cum, cine ti le-au dat?”
“Chiar domninorul nostru s-al vostru imparat.”
“Dar pentru care fapte?” “Stiu eu?… Cica drept plata
Ca am luat eu steagul redutei… si pe data
Cu el, strapunsi de glonturi, ne-am prabusit în sant…”
“Dar ce rang ai voinice?” “Am rang… de dorobant!”
Atunci colonelul, dând mâna cu sergentul,
Se-ntoarce, da un ordin… Pe loc, tot regimentul
Se-nsira, poarta arma, saluta cu onor
Romanul care pleaca tragind a lui picior.

 

Tchaikovsky – Andante Cantabile for Cello and String Orchestra

Tchaikovsky – Andante Cantabile in B major,  for Cello and String Orchestra

bartje11

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский; tr. Pyotr Ilyich Chaykovsky; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893), was a Russian composer whose works included symphonies, concertos, operas, ballets, chamber music, and a choral setting of the Russian Orthodox Divine Liturgy.

***Ricercata de Paris conducted by Alexandre Brussilovsky

***Painting by Isaak Levitan (August 30, 1860, Kybartai,   Lithuania
– August 4, 1900, Moscow, Russia)
‘A Russian Lake’

today’s birthday: Helmut Schmidt (1918)

Helmut Schmidt (1918)

Schmidt is a German Social Democratic statesman who was the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. His administration was characterized by a tough approach to the worldwide economic recession of the era. He was committed to improving relations with East Germany and the USSR, and he succeeded in cultivating ties with France, encouraging economic cooperation among western European nations, and maintaining close relations with the US. Why was he the subject of a police inquiry in 2008? More… Discuss

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check this sad story: Follow the story “Three Ukraine soldiers dead in first casualties since ceasefire”|via France 24

Three Ukraine soldiers dead in first casualties since ceasefire http://t.co/wN39PiJwgv pic.twitter.com/QV1r4URWOG

— FRANCE 24 (@FRANCE24) December 11, 2014

***********

@  http://f24.my/1Bf2sEc 

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• Soros: The European Union Is a “Failed” Experiment In “International Governance”
• Ukraine, rebels ‘agree in principle’ on ceasefire in Lugansk: OSCE
• Ukraine says it will not abandon ceasefire

this pressed: Ukraine, Russia and the ceasefire that never was|By Fergal Keane BBC News, eastern Ukraine via BBC News-on Twitter

“Ukraine, Russia and the ceasefire that never was“

By Fergal Keane BBC News, eastern Ukraine

“But It Is a Theoretical Hope-via BBC”

this day in the yesteryear: Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon (1942)

Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon (1942)

When Nazi Germany occupied northern and western France in 1940, the coastal city of Toulon fell under Vichy jurisdiction in the so-called unoccupied zone in the south. The center of French naval power since the 19th century, Toulon housed much of the French fleet. When, in 1942, Germany finally occupied all of France and Toulon’s capture appeared imminent, the French scuttled much of the fleet rather than allow the vessels to fall into German hands. What was the German mission in Toulon called? More… Discuss

this presses: for your right to know (publicat pentru dreptul de a stii: Ukraine Being Watched by Moldova

The former Soviet Union State of Moldova is holding an election next weekend and will vote to make a decision about if it will continue down the road to European integration, opposing Russia and risking war like Ukraine is. Moldova is being watchful of the happenings between Russia and Ukraine since their former Soviet sibling may show them what to expect by defying the Russian wishes.

Moldova is one of the smallest countries in eastern Europe and one of the poorest. The country, located on the western edge of what use to be the Soviet Union, has made large strides towards integration into the West and separating themselves from the Russian way more than any other ex-Soviet states.

The parliamentary election will take place on November 30 and as it gets closer, polls showing the opinion of Moldova’s citizens appear divided on if they should remain loyal to Russia or continue moving towards inclusion with the European Union (EU) nations. The decision is not a simple one, and one that has already hurt the country and its people.

Moving towards inclusion in the EU, the three-party group that comprises the Alliance for European Integration that formed in 2009 has earned the landlocked country a ban on imports of wines, meats and vegetables from Russia. This has affected the 3.5 million people living in Moldova, which is bordered by Romania, a member of the EU, and Ukraine.

via Ukraine Being Watched by Moldova

Google translator (Romanian)

Fostul stat sovietic a Moldovei organizează alegeri viitor week-end și va vota pentru a face o decizie cu privire la cazul în care va continua pe drumul spre integrarea europeană, opunându-Rusia și riscul de război ca Ucraina este. Moldova fiind atentă a ce se intampla dintre Rusia și Ucraina de la fostul lor frate sovietic putea arăta ce să se aștepte de sfidarea dorințele rusești.

Moldova este una dintre cele mai mici țări din Europa de Est și unul dintre cele mai sărace. Țara, situat la marginea de vest a ceea ce folosesc pentru a fi Uniunea Sovietică, a făcut pași mari către integrarea în Occident și se separă de modul rus mai mult decât orice alte state ex-sovietice.

Alegerile parlamentare vor avea loc la 30 noiembrie și cum se apropie, sondajele arată opinia cetățenilor Republicii Moldova par împărțite asupra în cazul în care ar trebui să rămână loiali Rusia sau de a continua deplasarea spre includere cu Uniunea Europeană (UE) națiuni. Decizia nu este una simplă, și una care a rănit deja țara și oamenii ei.

Mutarea spre includere în UE, grupul trei partide care cuprinde Alianța pentru Integrare Europeană, care a format în 2009, a câștigat țara fără ieșire la mare o interdicție asupra importurilor de vinuri, carne și legume din Rusia. Acest lucru a afectat 3,5 milioane de oameni care trăiesc în Republica Moldova, care este marginita de România, membră a Uniunii Europene, și Ucraina.
prin Ucraina Fiind urmarit de Republica Moldova.

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this pressed for your right to know: The broken-down beauty of Eastern Ukraine, 25 years after the end of the USSR | Where do We go from Here?

Before there was a raging civil war that devastated the region’s infrastructure and polarized its population, the Donbass region in Eastern Ukraine was an economically depressed area, far removed from the authority of the central government in Kiev.

Historically, Donbass—known officially as the Donets Basin, which encompasses the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts—was the center of Soviet industrialism, a region that symbolized the power of Soviet might where towns and cities sprung up alongside coal mines and factories. Following the USSR’s collapse, however, much of the region lay in ruins.

The AllFall- Donbass Romanticism

That’s the theme behind the series, “Donbass Romanticism,” by Moldovan-born photojournalist Misha Friedman, who photographed the region in 2010 and 2011 while living in Kiev. Friedman set out to depict the ruined, crumbling infrastructure as a symbol of government neglect and the collapse of Soviet ideals.

via The broken-down beauty of Eastern Ukraine, 25 years after the end of the USSR | Where do We go from Here?.

Russia says Ukraine monitors biased

Russia says Ukraine monitors biased http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30056604

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Roxelana

The story of Roxelana is a true rags-to-riches tale. Little is known of her early life, but she was likely born in Ukraine in the 16th century. At some point, she was captured by Crimean Tatars and taken as a slave. Brought to Constantinople (now Istanbul), she was selected to be a concubine in the harem of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Roxelana soon gained Suleiman’s favor and—in a shocking break with tradition—he made her his legal wife. What did this mean for the sons she bore him? More… Discuss

this pressed-for the record: Flash – Ukraine president replaces Donetsk governor with hardline general – France 24

AFP

A woman walks past grafitti reading “Donetsk will be free”, and bearing a Russian flag in Donetsk on October 10, 2014

A woman walks past grafitti reading “Donetsk will be free”, and bearing a Russian flag in Donetsk on October 10, 2014

Ukraine’s president on Friday fired a millionaire businessman who failed to stop the advance of pro-Russian rebels while governor of war-torn Donetsk and replaced him with a hardline nationalist general.

via Flash – Ukraine president replaces Donetsk governor with hardline general – France 24.

From EUROPARL: Nigel Farage: Stop playing wargames with Putin – Video source: EbS (European Parliament)

Nigel Farage: Stop playing wargames with Putin

   europarl

Descriptionhttp://www.ukipmeps.org | @Nigel_Farage
• European Parliament, Strasbourg, 16 September 2014

• Speaker: Nigel Farage MEP, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Co-President of the ‘Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy’ (EFDD) Group in the European Parliament – http://www.nigelfaragemep.co.uk

– ‘Bluecard question’: Ioan Mircea PAŞCU MEP (Romania) – Socialist Group (P&D)

• Debate: Situation in Ukraine and state of play of EU-Russia relations
– Statement by the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
[2014/2841(RSP)]

Transcript:

Amongst the long list of foreign policy failures and contradictions in the last few years including, of course, the bombing of Libya, the desire to arm the rebels in Syria, has been the unnecessary provocation of  Vladimir Putin.

This EU empire, ever seeking to expand, stated its territorial claim on the Ukraine some years ago. Just to make that worse, of course, some NATO members said they too would like the Ukraine to join NATO. We directly encouraged the uprising in the Ukraine that led to the toppling of the president, Yanukovych, and that led of course in turn to Vladimir Putin reacting. And the moral of the story is if you poke the Russian bear with a stick, don’t be surprised when he reacts.

Just to continue with that, today we are rushing through an Association Agreement at undue speed with the Ukraine and as we speak there are NATO soldiers engaged in military exercises in the Ukraine. Have we taken leave of our senses? Do we actually want to have a war with Putin? Because if we do, we are certainly going about it the right way.

Perhaps we ought to recognise that the West now faces the biggest threat and crisis to our way of life that we have seen for over 70 years. The recent beheadings of the British and American hostages graphically illustrates the problem. And of course we have our own citizens from our own countries engaged in that struggle, too.

In the war against Islamic extremism, Vladimir Putin, whatever we may think of him as a human being, is actually on our side.

I suggest we grow up. I suggest recognise the real threat facing all of our countries, communities and societies. We stop playing war games in the Ukraine and we start to prepare a plan to help countries like Syria, like Iraq, like Kenya, like indeed Nigeria, to try and help them to deal with the real threat that faces us. Let’s not go on provoking Putin whether we like him or not.

Question to Farage: Sir, in your considered opinion, what is better, to have Russian soldiers fighting a war on the territory of Ukraine, or NATO troops exercising as a response to that on the territory of Ukraine?

Reply from Farage: The point that I was making was that there should be a huge degree of guilt in this house about what provoked all this in the first place, and we saw Western Ukrainians, waving European flags, rioting, setting fire to things, and effectively staging a coup d’état, which brought down the Ukrainian president, which has led to this instability. Yes, yes, you are the guilty people and you refuse to accept it.

…………………………….
Video source: EbS (European Parliament)
…………………………….

• EU Member States:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom

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this pressed: Moscow will review its military strategy in face of NATO plan for rapid-reaction force – The Washington Post

Moscow will review its military strategy in face of NATO plan for rapid-reaction force –

The Washington Post.

this pressed: Ukraine: Nato hält Niederlage für Kiew für sicher – SPIEGEL ONLINE (Analysis of the military situation: NATO sees Ukraine as already loser)

Ukraine: Nato hält Niederlage für Kiew für sicher – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

(Analysis of the military situation: NATO sees Ukraine as already loser)

Excerpts from article:  “Kiev / Moscow – NATO has changed its military assessment of the situation in eastern Ukraine fundamentally. A week ago, the strategists of the Alliance assumed that Russia has strengthened the separatists with covert troops only because the pro-Russian rebels had to retreat under pressure of the Ukrainian army.

When the generals of the alliance but then late last week to a crisis meeting on the situation of the army of the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko came together, they painted a grim picture. “Militarily, the conflict for Kiev is already lost,” stated a senior NATO general. Poroshenko, the judgment, were “really only talks to withdraw his men alive from the pliers of the Russians“.

The location descriptions behind closed doors were far more dramatic than the few images that NATO published mid-week. On large maps were marked with thick arrows Russian units, which now from the north, the west and the south on the border of eastern Ukraine are at least 20 Battalions  with a minimum of 500 men and heavy guns are the scouts of NATO.”
(translation from German to English with the aid of Google Translate online service)

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NATO Says Russian Troops in Ukraine

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this pressed watch video here: Ukraine detains Russian paratroopers; U.S. ambassador warns of ‘counteroffensive’ – The Washington Post (“davai ceas, davai palton”…) the never ending story

Ukraine detains Russian paratroopers; U.S. ambassador warns of ‘counteroffensive’ – The Washington Post.

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295 Thought Dead in New Malaysia Airlines Tragedy

A Malaysia Airlines flight bound for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam crashed in eastern Ukraine yesterday, and it may not have been an accident. Ukraine has accused terrorists of shooting down the commercial flight, while the rebels have pointed the finger back at Ukraine. All 295 persons on board—280 passengers and 15 crew—are presumed dead. This is the second tragedy to strike the airline this year. In March, another flight went missing without a trace, and it has yet to be found. More… Discuss

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this day in the yesteryear: Sweden Defeated at the Battle of Poltava (1709)

Sweden Defeated at the Battle of Poltava (1709)

During the Great Northern War, neighboring countries sought to break Swedish supremacy in the Baltic area. Its most famous battle is likely the Battle of Poltava, which occurred after Charles XII of Sweden invaded Ukraine and—lacking reinforcements and seeking a stronghold—laid siege to Poltava. When the battle began, 45,000 Russian troops faced just 14,000 Swedish soldiers. The Russian victory effectively ended Sweden’s role as a major power. What did the Russians do with the Swedish prisoners? More… Discuss

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this pressed: BBC News – Ukraine crisis: Russia must engage with Kiev, says G7

BBC News – Ukraine crisis: Russia must engage with Kiev, says G7.

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this pressed: Two-dinner Hollande hosts Obama and Putin seeking Ukraine thaw | Reuters

Two-dinner Hollande hosts Obama and Putin seeking Ukraine thaw | Reuters.

“Nobody can refuse French cuisine… Hope it settles well and agrees with everyone’s stomach…”

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press this: UPDATE 2-Russia will respond to increased NATO activity near border – top general | Reuters

 

UPDATE 2-Russia will respond to increased NATO activity near border – top general | Reuters.

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From Wikipedia: 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine

Ukrainian crisis
Part of the 2014 Crimean crisis
Crimea (black), Ukraine (light green) and Russia (light red) in Europe
Crimea (disputed by Ukraine and the Russian Federation)   Ukraine   Russia
Date 27 February 2014 (de facto)[1] – present (2 months, 1 week and 1 day) Location Crimea and Sevastopol Southern Kherson Oblast, Ukraine[2] Allegedly, Eastern Ukraine[3] Status Ongoing Unmarked Russian troops take over Crimea, seize military units,[4] fortify near Chongar, Kherson Oblast.[5][6][7] Russian military buildup on Russian-Ukrainian border[8][9] Ukraine seals border with pro-Russian Moldovan region of Transnistria on 15 March.[10] NATO condemns Russian involvement,[11] plans Rapid Trident military exercises in Ukraine,[12] reinforces members west of Ukraine.[13] US,[3] Ukraine[14] accuse Russia of orchestrating rebellion in eastern and southern Ukraine
Belligerents
Russia Crimea	Ukraine[15]
Commanders and leaders
Pres. Vladimir Putin Gen. Sergey Shoygu Gen. Valery Gerasimov Lt.Gen. Igor Sergun V.Adm. Aleksandr Vitko Sergey Aksyonov	Pres. (acting) Oleksandr Turchynov Adm. Ihor Tenyukh Lt.Gen. Mykhailo Kutsyn R.Adm. Serhiy Hayduk (P.O.W.) R.Adm. Denis Berezovsky (defected)
Units involved
Russian Armed Forces:[16][17] 76th Airborne Division 31st Airborne Brigade 18th Mechanized Brigade 1st Battalion “Vostok” (Chechen Republic) Baltic Fleet[18] Northern Fleet Black Sea Fleet: Marines FSB Operators Spetsgruppa “Alpha” Spetsgruppa “Vympel” GRU Operators 22nd Spetsnaz Brigade 45th Spetsnaz Rgt. “Crimean self-defense” Chetniks[19][20] Don Cossacks from Volgograd[21][22]	Armed Forces of Ukraine: Ukrainian Navy 36th Coastal Defense Brigade[23]   Ukrainian Sea Guard Ukrainian police Internal Troops National Guard of Ukraine SBU Spetcnaz “Alpha”
Strength
Crimean Force: 25,000–30,000[24][25] Black Sea Fleet: 11,000 (including Marines)4 Squadrons of fighter aircraft (18 planes each) 30 + Warships (incl. submarine) Reinforcements:Between 16,000[23][26][27][28] and 42,000[29] troops	Crimean garrison: ~ 14,500[30] – 18,800[31] troops 10 warships
Casualties and losses
15 Pro-Russian militants killed[22][32][33][34][35]	3 Ukrainian soldiers killed[36][37][38] 1 Ukrainian SBU officer killed 3 militants killed (Russian claim) 1 civilian activist abducted and killed[39] 1 Ukrainian MP abducted and killed 1 Ukrainian civilian killed 8+ wounded[15][40] 50+ captured[40][41][42] 1 Mil Mi-8 helicopter 1 An-2 transport aircraft 12 ships captured (some damaged)
Overall deaths: 25

[show] v t e Pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine

[show] v t e Post-Soviet conflicts

Following the events of the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, a secession crisis began on Ukraine‘s Crimean Peninsula. In late February 2014, unmarked armed forces began to take over the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine. Experts identified the gunmen to be Russian Special Forces^[43] and other paramilitaries. Russia at the time insisted that the forces did not include Russian troops stationed in the area,^[44] but only local self-defense forces.^[45][46] The local population and the media referred to them as “martians” or “little green men“.^[47][48] On 17 April, Russian president Vladimir Putin admitted that Russian troops were in fact active in Crimea during the referendum, claiming this facilitated self-determination for the region.^[49][50]

Russia rejected the legitimacy of the interim Ukrainian government in favor of ousted-President Viktor Yanukovych,^[a] whose request for intervention has also been cited.^[52][53] Russia has accused the United States and the EU of funding and directing the Ukrainian revolution.^{[54][55][56][57]} The Ukrainian military reaction has included a mobilization of Ukraine’s armed forces and reserves. Western media reported that as of 3 March, Russia had stated that its troops would stay until the political situation was “normalised”^[58][59] however Russia consistently denied that its troops were involved in the conflict at the time.^{[60][61][62][63]}

Geopolitics of the Crimean autonomous Republic, March 2014.

Read more

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BBC News – Ukraine soldiers killed in renewed Sloviansk fighting

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DEATHS CLIMB IN UKRAINE UNREST

Clashes between pro- and anti-Russian activists in Odessa in southwestern Ukraine claimed dozens of lives on Friday, while in the eastern, rebel-held city ofSloviansk, separatists shot down two Ukrainian army helicopters involved in operations to take back the city. Moscow condemned the “punitive” operations in Sloviansk, saying Ukraine had violated a peace deal by firing on civilians from the air, but Kiev countered saying that the use of missiles to bring down its helicopters proves that Russian forces had already infiltrated the area. More… Discuss

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THIS DAY IN THE YESTERYEAR: NUCLEAR REACTOR AT CHERNOBYL PLANT EXPLODES (1986)

Nuclear Reactor at Chernobyl Plant Explodes (1986)

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is regarded as the worst nuclear accident in history. Radioactive debris from the disaster drifted across parts of the western Soviet Union and Europe. Large areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were badly contaminated, resulting in the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of people and a disputed number of deaths. The incident set off an international outcry over the dangers posed by radioactive emissions. What caused the accident? More… Discuss

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Just a thought: Imagine going to sleep in your sovereign country, and waking up in as annexed to the neighboring one: Such is the fate of Ukrainian Citizen….What a shame!

click on image to access the report at CNN

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Vivaldi – Concerto No. 1 in E Major, OP. 8, RV 269 : The Four Seasons: Spring

[youtube.com/watch?v=-4kTei0XrCs]

Vivaldi – The Four Seasons: Spring

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Visit at your own risk! I personally expressed my wish not to be associated in any way with this instigating website listed on my discussion settings!

click to access this site (at your own risk) AKA john galt keeps rebblogging my copyrighted posts even after my expressed wish that he abstain!

Visit at your own risk! I personally expressed my wish not to be associated in any way with this instigating website listed on my discussion settings!

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The Beatles – Back in the USSR

[youtube.com/watch?v=PxyISsA0Oh0]

 

“O Joyful Day,” Anonymous Slavic 17th century motet trans. Mark Bailey

American Baroque Orchestra
Mark Bailey, artistic director

From a live 2013 performance entitled, “Music across the Nations,” this Slavic part-song or kant is arranged for two instrumental groupings that trade musical lines, and then play as a united ensemble for the final time. These part songs reveal the first significant wave of western music to influence regions such as Ukraine and Russia. They were sung para-liturgically, i.e. based on sacred themes but not designed in the church service per se. Because they were strophic and tuneful, part songs were very popular for many decades. They lend themselves quite well to instrumental ensembles and likely were played that way as well.

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NEWS: CONTROVERSIAL CRIMEA REFERENDUM DRAWS SANCTIONS

Controversial Crimea Referendum Draws Sanctions

Despite opposition from Kiev and the West, Crimeamoved forward with a referendum in which voters overwhelmingly backed seceding from Ukraine and joining Russia. Given the buildup of Russian troops in the region and the hurried nature of the referendum, many question the legitimacy of the vote. Nevertheless, Crimean officials—whose authority is also contested—lost little time in formally applying to join Russia. The US and EU responses were swift, though not as far-reaching as some had hoped; sanctions were imposed on a number of individuals in Russia and Crimea who pushed for or helped carry out the referendum. More… Discuss

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History of Ukraine (excerpts from Wikipedia) <<<>>

[youtube.com/watch?v=28Ms7_K4TMM
History of Ukraine]

Tetyana Ivanytska “Have Mercy On Me, Oh Lord” (Ukrainian classical music)
Artists: “Khreschatyk” Academic Chamber Choir, a conductor — Pavlo Struts
Kyiv, 2008

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

Part of a series on the
History of Ukraine
Ancient history[show]
Middle Ages[show]
Cossacks[show]
Early modern[show]
Early 20th-century[show]
Soviet era[show]
Modern[show]
Topics by history[show]
Ukraine portal

The territory of Ukraine has been inhabited for at least forty four thousand years.^[1] It is where the horse was first domesticated^[2] and a candidate site of the origins of the Proto-Indo-European language family.^[3][4]

According to a popular and well established theory, the medieval state of Kievan Rus was established by the Varangians in the 9th century as the first historically recorded East Slavic state. It emerged as a powerful nation in the Middle Ages but disintegrated in the 12th century. By the middle of the 14th century, present Ukrainian territories were under the rule of three external powers: the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Kingdom of Poland, during the 15th century these lands came under the rule of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth (since 1569), and Crimean Khanate.^[5] In 1653 the greater portion of the population rebelled against dominantly Polish Catholic rule and in January 1654 an assembly of the people (rada) voted at Pereyaslav to turn to Moscow, effectively joining the southeastern portion of the Polish-Lithuanian empire east of the Dnieper River to Russia.^[6] After the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) and conquest of Crimean Khanate, Ukraine was divided between Russia and Austria, thus the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into theRussian Empire, with the rest under Austrian (known as Austro-Hungarian since 1849) control.

A chaotic period of warfare ensued after the Russian Revolution, with internationally recognized establishment of an independent Ukrainian People’s Republic. Independent Ukraine emerged from its own civil war. The Ukrainian–Soviet Warfollowed, which resulted in the Soviet Army establishing control in late 1919^[7]Soviet victory. The conquerors created theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which on 30 December 1922 became one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union. The Soviet government was hostile to Ukrainian language and Ukrainian culture; there were mass repressions of Ukrainian poets, historians and linguists. Then there was a genocide of Ukrainians: millions of people starved to death in 1932 and 1933 in the Holodomor. After the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union, the Ukrainian SSR’s territory was enlarged westward. During World War II the Ukrainian Insurgent Army tried to reestablish Ukrainian independence and fought against both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. But in 1941 Ukraine was occupied by Nazi Germany, being liberated in 1944. In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the United Nations.^[8] In 1954, it expanded to the south with the transfer of the Crimea.

Ukraine became independent again when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. This dissolution started a period of transition to amarket economy, in which Ukraine suffered an eight-year recession.^[9] Since then, however, the economy has experienced a high increase in GDP growth. Ukraine was caught up in the worldwide economic crisis in 2008 and the economy plunged. GDP fell 20% from spring 2008 to spring 2009, then leveled off as analysts compared the magnitude of the downturn to the worst years of economic depression during the early 1990s.^[10]

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Leaked U.S. phone call about Ukraine draws anger from Russia, EU | The Rundown | PBS NewsHour | PBS

Victoria Nuland’s alleged explicit comments about the EU’s involvement in Ukraine has caused controversy. Photo by Greece’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Flickr
A taped and leaked telephone conversation between two U.S. politicians about the future of Ukrainian politics — which included an explicit comment about the European Union — has caused a diplomatic flap, exacerbating tensions between the United States and Russia.

[youtube.com/watch?v=zKiXIaBSC9E]

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Sviatoslav Richter plays Grieg Lyric Pieces – Op.65 No.6 ‘Wedding day at Troldhaugen’

Sviatoslav Richter plays Grieg Lyric Pieces – Op.65 No.6 ‘Wedding day at Troldhaugen‘

• 

  The image of Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  Sviatoslav Richter

  Pianist

• Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet pianist well known for the depth of his interpretations, virtuoso technique, and vast repertoire. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Wikipedia

 

• Born: March 20, 1915, Zhytomyr, Ukraine

• Died: August 1, 1997, Moscow, Russia

• Albums: Schubert ‘Wanderer’ Fantasy, More

• Movies: Classic Archive: Sviatoslav Richter, Michelangeli and Richter: Two Titans of the Keyboard

• Parents: Anna Pavlovna Moskaleva, Teofil Danilovich Richter

 

Ippolitov-Ivanov – Caucasian Sketches Suite No. 1

Ippolitov-Ivanov – Caucasian Sketches Suite No. 1
Arthur Fagen and National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
Visit Musical Musings at : http://muswrite.blogspot.com/