Ukraine's Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Pavlo Sheremeta, said in a press briefing today that the military conflict in the Donbas will result in an additional reduction of the national GDP by 3-4% in 2014.
In a press conference, military commander of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Russian operative Igor “Strelkov” Girkin has made a public plea to the people of Donetsk, calling to 'severely punish’ his men for committing 'serious crimes and banditry.' He stated today, 'I ask the people of Donetsk for understanding of what people arrived here, who for months lived in a state of stress and deadly threat. Not all of the men were prepared to enter a peaceful city after being in the trenches.' Strelkov’ has been described by Ukraine’s security service as a Russian colonel and resident of Moscow. He is currently a target of European Union sanctions, and was named by the EU’s Official Journal to be on the staff of the Russian foreign military intelligence agency (GRU), and a key figure involved in the military takeover of Crimea as an assistant on security matters to Sergei Aksyonov, Crimea’s self-declared prime minister.
Another story reported today, on the Izborsky Club is a group of intellectuals and writers put together by Aleksandr Prokhanov to promote Russian nationalist and traditionalist views. They have been exposed as having had a major influence on Vladimir Putin’s thinking and policies, including his annexation of Crimea and support for the idea of a Russian world.
Vitaly Averyanov, the director of the Moscow Institute of Dynamic Conservatism and a co-founder of the Izborsky Club stated: 'Ukraine is not a state: it is a buffer formation.' It is the product of the weakening of the Russian nation. And it is not a separate nation either – although he said one can create the simulacrum of a nation. 'Give me the money and staff, and after 15 years, I will form a nation of Siberians which I can control.'
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