I regret that I have not kept up with Ukrainian News. I found this out in this forum from Mr. Durak. As I recall, Ukraine could not pay its natural gas bill, and therefore, Russia shut down the pipeline that went through Ukraine to many parts of Europe. After a few months, the government of Ukraine and Russia had an agreement that seemed to fix it all. There has been no crisis since.
Now, they say former prime minister Yulya Tymoshenko is to blame and is now in prison? To complicate matters, she is now on a hunger strike. What that means, I don't know. A complete fasting will kill her shortly. Auntie Yulya's supporters say this is a political ploy of selective prosecution, meaning there are other culprits in the opposition, now in power.
What happened? Was the money there and they did not pay the gas bill? The gas crisis of a few years ago could have been averted and it was Auntie Yulya's fault?
I haven't followed the story in any detail -- it is too depressing.
If I understand rightly, the bottom line is that Tymoshenko is in prison, because her side lost the elections.
I suggest to any men reading this forum: don't kid yourself about the harshness of conditions in most of the former Soviet Union. In Ukraine in 2004, presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned with dioxin. In 2000, the people of Ukraine heard their then-president Leonid Kuchma on (purported) recordings ordering the kidnapping of journalist Georgiy Gongadze, who had been kidnapped and murdered that year. (Kyiv buffs may be interested to know the Prospekt Radianskoi Ukraini has been renamed Prospekt Georgiy Gongadze.)
Beneath the seeming surface normality, there is deep darkness.
I just met a woman in Kyiv who told me about being robbed and hit several years ago by Ukrainian police, who later claimed her injuries were due to having fallen.
I have been telling people on travel forums for years now, Russia is not some exotic variation on western Europe. It is a different world.
Durak, what you wrote reminded me of a email conversation I had with Aweb years ago! I had been asking them about my girl at that time, who was from Lugansk! I wrote to them; Lugansk is known around the world for it’s scammers. Is it genetic? Is there something in the air or water?? No,,, but what do all of the girls have in common??? The agencies!!
Today,, I’m not so sure there isn’t something in the water or air,, or if it couldn’t be genetic?!
They have such a harsh environment, and yet they don’t want to leave it!
The investigation into the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko gathered pace dramatically yesterday as it emerged that a number of British Airways aircraft that fly between Moscow and London have been contaminated with radioactive material.
Two BA Boeing 767s were grounded at Heathrow following tests ordered by Scotland Yard, and a third aircraft was being tested in Moscow after its pilot was warned not to take off.
Last night the airline appealed to around 800 passengers to come forward. They flew on four flights between London and Moscow in the days either side of Litvinenko's poisoning on November 1.
However, the Guardian understands that the airline is scrambling to contact up to 33,000 passengers and 3,000 of its own staff who flew on the aircraft, on 10 different routes, since October 25. The aircraft are known to have been used for a total of 220 flights.
The airline said that only "very low traces" of the substance had been discovered on the Boeing 767s and the risk to public health was low. Passengers concerned about their health should call NHS Direct, it said.
It is thought Litvinenko, 43, was not a passenger on any of the jets - he had been granted British citizenship after claiming asylum following his decision to become a whistleblower about the alleged activities of the Russian security services.
Aviation industry sources suggested other individuals connected to the police investigation had travelled on the aircraft. The police are particularly interested in a flight from Moscow to London on October 25. It is known Litvinenko met two Russian contacts, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun, at the Millennium Hotel in London's West End on November 1, the day he fell ill.
Mr Lugovoi, a former KGB bodyguard who now runs a security company in Moscow, has said that he flew in the day before with his family and friends to attend a Champions League football match between Arsenal and CSKA Moscow and for a series of business meetings. As Litvinenko lay dying, Mr Lugovoi insisted he had been framed by someone who wished him to appear to be the poisoner.
"I have the feeling that someone is trying to set me up as the fall guy," he said.
Shortly before Litvinenko died last Thursday night, police realised he had been poisoned with polonium 210, a rare and highly toxic isotope. Since then they have found traces of the substance at seven buildings around London, including the former spy's home and the two hospitals where he was treated.
Litvinenko's associates were accusing the Kremlin of being behind the poisoning even before he died. Russian officials have dismissed such claims as nonsense, saying he is more likely to have been the victim of intrigue among the Russian emigre community in London.
Scotland Yard's newly formed counter-terrorism command, which is managing the inquiry, is refusing to describe it as a murder investigation, prompting speculation that they believe the spy may have poisoned himself.
The airline said it was contacted by Scotland Yard on Tuesday night and alerted that it "had a problem" with three of its aircraft. It will be unable to recover the 767 currently stranded in Moscow without permission of the British government, because of the contamination.
While there was no immediate confirmation that polonium 210 is the substance discovered on the BA aircraft, it is widely assumed at the airline that this is the case.
Each plane can carry 252 passengers plus two pilots and nine cabin crew. The airline is appealing initially to hear from passengers on four flights:
· BA875 Moscow-Heathrow on October 25 - aircraft number GBNWX
· BA872 Heathrow-Moscow on October 28 - aircraft number GBNWX
· BA873 Moscow-Heathrow on October 31 - aircraft number GBNWB
· BA874 Heathrow-Moscow on November 3 - aircraft number GBZHA.
The other routes that the planes are believed to have flown are from Heathrow to Barcelona, Düsseldorf, Athens, Larnaca, Stockholm, Madrid, Istanbul, Frankfurt and Vienna.
An airline spokeswoman said: "We are being advised that there is a low risk. But we are keen to contact passengers and ensure that they are aware of what happened and to contact NHS Direct if they are concerned."
BA was trawling passenger lists and setting up a dedicated call centre last night as it raced to contact thousands of passengers. The airline has suffered a torrid end to the year, having lost £100m as a result of the terror alert in August and drawing criticism over its suspension of a Christian employee for wearing a cross.
Meanwhile, a postmortem examination will be carried out on Litvinenko tomorrow under secure conditions to avoid possible contamination. Mario Scaramella, an Italian KGB expert who met Litvinenko the day he became ill, was under police protection last night and underwent medical tests. He was not contaminated, his lawyer said.
UK expelled some Russian diplomats and thereafter UK air defences were tested many a time including this incident of 64 very noisy propellors in close formation:
September 7th, 2007
Eight Russian Tu-95 Bears were sent to probe British airspace this morning. The lumbering, 1950s turbo-prop giants were intercepted by the RAF's sleek and modern Tornadoes. Oddly enough, the Bears turned around and went home.
An RAF Wing Commander who I spoke to earlier today could scarcely contain his enthusiasm has he told me exactly what happened. As well as scrambling four Tornadoes, the British also sent up a Boeing E3 early warning aircraft and a VC-10 tanker to provide air-to-air refuelling. Having dispatched four Tornadoes to meet the Bears, the RAF then rolled out another four fighters to protect British airspace in case any other threats appeared.