#39;Situation in Ukraine is result of US struggle to dominate world #39;
The Maidan movement #39;s one-year anniversary is bringing a few familiar faces back to Kiev including US Vice-President Joe Biden. It #39;s his third visit this year. Following a meeting Petro Poroshenko,...
By: RT
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'Situation in Ukraine is result of US struggle to dominate world' - Video
The moment Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 explodes in Ukraine
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The moment Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 explodes in Ukraine - Video
Ukraine War Lisicansk Ukrainian military checkpoint - Ukraine News
Ukraine War Lisicansk Ukrainian military checkpoint - Ukraine News Ukraine War Lisicansk Ukrainian military checkpoint - Ukraine News Ukraine War Lisicansk Ukrainian military checkpoint...
By: naymer mehun
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Ukraine War Lisicansk Ukrainian military checkpoint - Ukraine News - Video
Ukraine's revolution began with a status update on Facebook.
Angered by another high-handed move by an increasingly unpopular government, activist reporter Mustafa Nayyem called for a rally on the country's most famous square, Maidan Nezalezhnosti ? Independence Square.
"As soon as there are more than 1,000 of us, we will start organizing," Nayyem wrote.
He got hundreds on that damp evening of Nov. 21, 2013, the start of a protest movement that eventually would draw hundreds of thousands into the square, topple the government and propel the world into a dangerous new diplomatic phase.
One year after that status update, Ukraine formed a coalition government Friday with a mission to overhaul the economy, combat corruption and steer the country toward integration with Europe.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke welcomed the coalition agreement as "an important and transparent step."
He said Ukraine is welcome to apply for ascension to NATO: "Our policy is that the door remains open."
Yet despite that apparent success, the dreams that brought Nayyem and his followers into the square seem fainter than ever. Ukraine is battling to stave off economic collapse and waging an exhausting war against Russian-backed separatists in the east.
Ukrainians marked Friday's anniversary with elegies to those who died during the political upheaval that drove out disgraced President Viktor Yanukovych in February. His successor, Petro Poroshenko, laid a wreath at a memorial on the Kiev street where many were shot dead.
But when thoughts turn to what has been achieved since those lives were lost, sorrow often turns to bitterness.
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Ukraine's Facebook Revolution, 1 Year Later
Eight months ago, David Arakhamiya was running a small IT company in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv. Today, as an adviser to Ukraines defense minister, he oversees a massive crowdfunding effort that since March has raised about $300million from ordinary citizens. The money is being used to equip Ukraines army with everything from uniforms, water, and other basic supplies to high-tech gear such as reconnaissance drones.
Yaroslav Markevich, another IT entrepreneur with a small company in Kharkiv, once a Soviet hub for aviation technology, presented a plan to the commander of one Ukrainian battalion to create a drone unit after hearing stories about the efficiency of Russian drones. The commander said yes, and by the time his battalion was deployed early this summer, it was the only one in the army equipped with a fleet of short- and long-range drones. Short-range drones are used to help guard roadblocksthey carry infrared-vision devices that detect approaching enemy soldiers at nightand long-range drones are used to locate artillerytargets.
Markevich regularly travels to the front lines to persuade army commanders to use aerial reconnaissance. We would come to an artillery unit, launch the drones, and show them targets located 20 kilometers away on the screen. It made them ecstatic, he says. His work with drones raised Markevichs profile, helping get him elected to Ukraines parliament inOctober.
A crowdfunding effort used to equip Ukraines military
IT experts across Ukraine have been an important part of the volunteer effort to supply the army with equipment. They may enjoy different music than the IT crowd in the U.S.they listen to underground Soviet bands from the 1980sbut theyre still geeks.
The Ukrainian army had no drones at the start of the war, while the rebels were using sophisticated Russian drone technology. Back in summer, reconnaissance drones would have saved many, many lives, says Andriy Horda, a volunteer scout with the Ukrainian army in the war zone. Now, Horda and others say, the troops are equipped with foreign-made drones and homegrown ones built in workshops across the country.
From the minute the army started using drones, the engineers and commanders realized it was cheaper to assemble them locally than to buy them from abroad, Markevich says. Western drones cost upwards of $200,000 apiece; the Ukrainians brought the cost down to about $60,000. About 10 informal groups of technology and aviation experts, all volunteers, are making about 40drones a month, using open-source software and cameras and other parts bought mostly from China.
We started cooperating with scientific institutes in Kiev and Kharkiv, Arakhamiya says. They helped us a lot with aerodynamics. The high-altitude drone systems are now comparable to Western versions, he says.
Other military hardware is under development, including encryption devices to protect communications in the field. Early on in the conflict, IT volunteers built a radio communications system that allows frontline commanders to direct the movements of soldiers using a tablet. Arakhamiya says it cost about eight times less than the army would have paid for a system from a commercial supplier.
Estimated cost of a Ukrainian-assembled reconnaissance drone
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Ukraine's IT Brigade Supports the Troops