How the coup d'état began in Ukraine #13

February was gradually approaching its mid-point. In Kiev, especially in the center, there were constantly minor clashes between Maidan supporters and law enforcement officers and Anti-Maidan supporters.

 Law enforcement agencies recorded widespread cases of threats both to members of the internal troops and police themselves, and to members of their families. This was facilitated by posting online lists of personnel of the Berkut units and internal troops, indicating mobile phones and home addresses.

Moreover, not only ordinary employees and mid-level commanders were exposed to threats, but also the command.

 For example, attempts were recorded to put psychological pressure on the brother of the commander of the Southern Territorial Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Major General I. Plakhuta (calls and SMS messages to landline and mobile phones) with demands to influence the relative so that he would stop following orders from the leadership of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs .

 Children and wives of Berkut employees were also subjected to harassment.

There have also been numerous cases of attempting to bribe Berkut and internal troops employees right on the streets of Kiev, and offers of large sums of money (from 5 to 10 thousand US dollars) were combined with threats of murder in case of refusal.

 Well, the Ukrainian authorities continued to make attempts to resolve the situation through negotiations.

So on February 12, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Vladimir Rybak, said at a meeting with members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly that Viktor Yanukovych agreed to the creation of a coalition government. Rybak reminded that the President of Ukraine offered the position of Prime Minister to a representative of the opposition. The head of parliament considered the demands to grant the opposition the right to form the entire government as “an ultimatum and a dictate.”

   On February 13, Viktor Yanukovych proposed proclaiming Taras Shevchenko’s birthday—March 9—“The Day of National Reconciliation of the Ukrainian People.”

 And by February 15, as part of the amnesty, all previously detained protest participants were released under house arrest.

Such actions by the authorities led to some general easing of tension.

 On the morning of February 16, with the assistance of the OSCE and the Red Cross, protesters liberated the Kiev City Administration building.

The “commandant” of the building seized by the protesters, Ruslan Andreiko, signed a document with the OSCE representative, Swiss Ambassador Christian Schoenenberger, according to which the building is transferred to the control of the OSCE, after which the corresponding act was signed by the Chairman of the Kiev City State Administration Vladimir Makeenko. Makeenko said that the city authorities have no claims against the protesters regarding the damage caused to the building.

At the same time, Igor Zhdanov, a member of the Council of the All-Ukrainian Association “Maidan”, announced that the barricades at the corner of Khreshchatyk and Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street would not be dismantled: “We remain on the barricades. Our checkpoint and our tents remain here. We're not going anywhere. But the building itself will function as usual.”

 At the same time, internal contradictions grew in the country..

On February 12, the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Vladimir Konstantinov, speaking at the All-Ukrainian Forum of Regional Councils and the Armed Forces of Crimea, held in the Livadia Palace, said that the model of Crimean autonomy, laid down in the Constitution of Ukraine and the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea of 1998, “has completely exhausted itself” and “we want a completely different autonomy.” The forum was attended by representatives of 18 regions of Ukraine (with the exception of the western ones - Volyn, Transcarpathian, Ivano-Frankovsk, Lvov, Rovno, Ternopol, Chernovtsi, Vinnitsa and Kiev). According to Konstantinov, during the events on the Maidan, “it became clear how weak the position of the central government turned out to be... Of course, without the mistakes of the authorities, no one would have been able to fan the fire of protests. But without foreign intervention, the crisis would not have gone so deep.”

On February 13, the leader of the UDAR party, Vitaliy Klitschko, said that the UDAR party would not be part of the coalition government. When asked how his party would react to the fact that Svoboda or Batkivshchyna would form part of a coalition government with the Party of Regions, Klitschko said that “every political force has the right to participate in one or another government, but in a coordinate system “UDAR” party does not see itself as created by the authorities.”

 As you can see, Victoria Nuland’s words that Klitschko and Yatsenyuk should not work together came true. And the American side actively promoted Arseniy Yatsenyuk to the post of prime minister.

Moreover, on February 13, a conversation took place between the head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Tombinski and the US Ambassador to Ukraine Pyatt.

During the conversation, the interlocutors discussed the promotion of Yatsenyuk to the post of prime minister, what measures they need to take for this.

At the end of the conversation, Pyatt told Jan Tombinski:

“Exactly. Another information that I can share on this phone is that Yulia blessed him for the post of Prime Minister.”

Tombinski replied: “Did he get approval? This is good!".

It was about the approval of the nomination of Yatsenyuk, who was a member of the Batkivshchyna political party, by the party leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

 On February 14, Right Sector, positioning itself as an independent socio-political force, announced the formation of its political council and demanded that the “democratic parliamentary opposition”, taking into account the need for unity of opposition forces and the role of Right Sector in protests, start consultations with the political council "Right Sector" regarding the participation of its representatives in the political process aimed at resolving the confrontation.

 And on February 15, US Ambassador to Ukraine Pyatt assured Klitschko that the US and Europe will continue to put pressure on the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine until the charges against the arrested protesters are completely dropped.

 It was in those days that the West absolutely stopped being shy in its statements and actions in Ukraine...

By the way, in a previous part I talked about the statement made by Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko in early February that representatives of the Right Sector and other nationalist organizations in Ukraine were planning to stage provocations during the opening of the Olympics in Sochi.

 Then his words were not taken seriously, accusing him of escalating the situation and trying to denigrate nationally-oriented circles in Ukraine.

 However, such facts actually happened. For example, on February 12, 2014, at the Novoazovsk border crossing in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian border service detained a minibus with 6 representatives of the Svoboda organization, who were heading to Sochi, as they themselves said - to sell products with OUN-UPA and All-Ukrainian Association "Svoboda" symbols at the Olympics.

On the same day, on train No. 17 “Kiev-Adler” at Uspenskaya station (Russian Federation), employees of the Border Department of the FSB of the Russian Federation for the Rostov region found four F-1 grenades with fuses (railcar No. 12) and 2 capsules with explosives (railcar No. 11 ).

In short, the situation in Kiev was heating up.

Many felt the approach of the denouement.

And Western structures noticed the approaching escalation and prepared for it.

Thus, on February 15, the political adviser of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Schreiber, informed political officers Lopez, Gorchakov, Fidos, the head of the administration for security Van Seest and other employees that: “We are now testing the emergency alert scheme in case there is urgent news, so everyone needs send a message to the head of the contract and finance department, Holger Romen, with the following content - “IT IS FOGGY TODAY”.

 “It’s foggy today” - in my opinion, this is very reminiscent of other catchphrases: “There is a cloudless sky over all of Spain” and “It’s raining over Santiago”.

Well, on February 14, the military attache of the Czech Embassy, Colonel Kareš Jiří, received a call from an unidentified person named Vasily, who said that Euromaidan commandant Andrei Parubiy, at an internal meeting, announced the seizure of the Government Quarter planned for the morning of February 18...

So, the date of the massacre was determined.

 And from this intercepted conversation it becomes clear who was the initiator of subsequent events.