The OSCE Representatives in Ukraine have said that journalists remain the principal target in the continued siege of Ukraine. Two employees of the Journalistic Investigation Centre were detained in Simferopol (journalist and editor Sergei Mokrushin and director Vladlen Melnikov) by representatives of the “self-defence” near the editor's office of the Journalistic Investigation Centre. Mokrishin and Melnikov were kept in a so-called self defence head-quarter in the former office of the Communist Party. The self-defence group claimed the journalists were offending and harming the reputation of high ranking officials of the Russian Federation. After they had been beaten in the HQ they were taken to the Central Regional Department of Internal Affairs.
In Donetsk, armed men detained Alexander Bryzh, editor-in-chief and journalist with Donbas newspaper, and Andrey Krivtsun, editor-in-chief of Vecherniy Donetsk. The journalists were threatened and intimidated to change the editorial policy of their newspapers in favour of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
The well-known Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov has been detained by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in Crimea on May 11 and has since been moved to a prison in Moscow. Sentsov was accused of preparing and organizing a terrorist attack based on the testimony of two unknown individuals who supposedly pointed him out as the organizer. The Russian Federation has refused permission for representatives of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to visit, or be in contact with, Sentsov.
Mustafa Dzhemilev, leader of the Crimean Tatars, received the Polish 'Solidarity' prize today in Warsaw for his role in defending democracy and human rights. The Solidarity prize includes EUR 1 million. Dzhemilev has said that this money will be used for the Fund for the Development of Crimea. About EUR 100,000, will be donated to help the families of the 'Heaven’s Hundred' (the people killed on Maidan in Kyiv in February ) and those killed during the antiterrorist operation. Dzhemilev said he considers this award a sign of timely moral support for the Crimean Tatars and for Ukraine. Today Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced that Ukraine will sue the Russian Federation for more than 1 trillion Ukrainian Hryvnia for the illegal seizure and robbery of Ukraine.
In other news, Obama is making moves to extend American military presence in Eastern Europe. Once again, looking out for the economic interests of his own regime and flexing his muscles in the geopolitical power plays with Russia.
Further, the central electoral committee in Ukraine has confirmed that 9 857 308 people, or 54.7% of all those who have participated in the elections, voted for Petro Poroshenko. However, the road ahead for this new leader is uncertain, particularly in terms of how many of his promises will actually be possible.
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