Russia Building Military Base Near Ukraine Border

Russia building major military base near Ukrainian border

Russia has started to build a huge military base housing ammunition depots and barracks for several thousand soldiers near the Ukrainian border, a project that suggests the Kremlin is digging in for a prolonged stand-off with Kiev.

The base, when completed, will even have its own swimming pool, skating rink and barber shop, according to public documents. This week workmen were erecting a fence in a cornfield outside the village of Soloti to mark out the perimeter, and told a Reuters reporter to leave, accusing him of being an Ukrainian spy.

In almost the same spot there was a flurry of military activity in April last year that coincided with intense fighting across the Ukrainian frontier that lies about 25 km (15 miles) away. A squadron of Mi-24 attack helicopters was seen there at the time, as well as army tents and trucks.

NATO has accused Russia of using makeshift bases for sending soldiers and hardware into Ukraine to support pro-Russian separatists fighting Kiev.

Russia denies its military is in Ukraine. The defense ministry did not reply to written questions from Reuters about the purpose of the base it is building and whether there was any connection to the Ukraine conflict.

According to tender documents published on the Russian government website zakupki.gov.ru, the ministry is building the military base on a 300-hectare site near Valuyki, a small town not far from Soloti.

The ministry intends to build nine barracks for 3,500 soldiers, warehouses for rockets, artillery weapons, and other munitions with a total area of over 6,000 square meters.

The documents also stated there would be a large training complex, and an infirmary for 50 beds, which can be expanded in case of "massive influx of wounded".

They did not give the exact location of the base, but local residents in Soloti said they believed it would be on their doorstep. "They are building a military town," said Alexander Panchenko, a local resident whose house overlooks farmland where preparatory work is underway for a big construction project.

"SECRET FACILITY"

A Reuters reporter saw workers at the site on Monday installing a metal fence and paving the road to the construction site, in a large cornfield near the village. Also there were several construction trailers, an excavator and heaps of rubble behind the fence.

Russian Confirms Weapons on Flight to Syria

Russia confirms weapons on flights to Syria

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirms arms on flights, but spokesman declines to say whether troops have been sent.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has confirmed that the country's "humanitarian" flights to Syria carry military equipment as well as humanitarian aid - after the US and NATO warned Moscow over its involvement in the Syrian conflict.

"Russian planes are sending to Syria both military equipment in accordance with current contracts and humanitarian aid," Lavrov told reporters on Thursday.

Russia's Kommersant daily newspaper said earlier on Thursday that Moscow's advanced BTR-82A armoured personnel carriers were among arms supplied to Damascus.

Moscow has previously insisted in public that its flights to Syria were only for humanitarian purposes.

Al Jazeera's Peter Sharp, reporting from Moscow, said that nothing has changed and the Russians have been supplying the Syrian government for years now.

"Going back 60 years, Russia has been supplying Syria with arms, advisers, military equipment. Nothing much has really changed.

"Between 2009 and 2011 Russia was supplying 71 percent of Syria's military needs - everything from jets to military equipment to air defence systems.

"The Russian foreign minister says this continues to take place but he did make a distinction: There has been additional air traffic coming into Latakia's airbase and he says military equipment and humanitarian aid are being delivered," Sharp said. 

"As far as boosting up boots on the ground, he said Russian military specialists are working on training Syrians on using Russian weapons and no additional steps have been taken."

The Kremlin declined to comment on Thursday on whether Russian troops were fighting in Syria, after sources in Lebanon told the Reuters news agency that Russian forces had begun participating in military operations there.

"The threat coming from Islamic State [ISIL] is evident... The only force capable of resisting it is the Syrian armed forces," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, reiterating Russia's position that its longtime ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, should be part of international efforts to combat ISIL.

Washington has put pressure on Greece and Bulgaria in recent days to deny Russia's requests to use their airspace for its Syria flights.   

During a press conference with the Slovakian prime minister, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk announced the country will close its airspace to Russian planes flying to Syria.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed his concern over reports of Russian military activities in Syria, warning that it could fan more violence, a state department spokesman said.

Al Jazeera's Parry Culhane, reporting from Washington, said officials in the White House have not yet commented.

"What officials here are saying is that it is simply wrong to help the government of President Bashar al-Assad because of what he has done to his people.

"There is also a big concern that there could be some sort of accident where the US-led coalition could somehow run into a fight with the Russians," Culhane added.

Aerial imagery indicated that Russia is focusing on Bassel al-Assad International Airport, south of Latakia on Syria's Mediterranean coast, and on the Russian naval facility in Tartus, the AFP news agency reported.

Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, expressed a similar reaction to Kerry, saying the move "will not contribute to solving the conflict".

"I think it is important to now support all efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria. We support very much the efforts by the UN."

Chaotic Scenes at Hungary Migrant Camp

Footage has emerged of migrants being thrown bags of food at a Hungarian camp near the border with Serbia.

An Austrian woman who shot the video said the migrants were being treated like "animals" and called for European states to open their borders.

The emergency director of Human Rights Watch said the migrants were being held like "cattle in pens".

It comes as Central European ministers again rejected a mandatory quota system for sharing out migrant arrivals.

"We're convinced that as countries we should keep control over the number of those we are able to accept and then offer them support," Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said at a press conference with his Hungarian, Polish and Slovak counterparts.

The European Commission, with Germany's backing, has proposed sharing out 160,000 asylum seekers a year between 23 of the EU's 28 members.

The Central European states had already rejected the plan, even though they would take in far fewer refugees than Germany if the EU backs it. European Council President Donald Tusk has said he will call an emergency summit later this month if a solutio

n is not found soon.

In recent weeks, tens of thousands of migrants have been desperately trying to make their way to Europe from war-torn

Syria and Libya. Many travel through Hungary to Germany, Austria and Sweden - wealthier EU nations with more liberal asylum laws.

Hungary has become a key point on the journey. The footage comes from a camp at Roszke, where large numbers of migrants have built up.

It was filmed by Michaela Spritzendorfer, the wife of an Austrian Green party politician who was delivering aid to the camp, and Klaus Kufner, a journalist and activist.

"These people have been on a terrible tour for three months," said Michaela Spritzendorfer.

'Cat And Mouse' For Migrants At German Town Police are hunting smugglers offloading migrants at a border town.

'Cat And Mouse' For Migrants At German Town

It is pitch dark and just after 5am. The blackness of night is lit up by the blue flash of a police car warning traffic of the impending checkpoint ahead. A sign at the side of the road gives a clue as to why vehicles are being marshalled to a near halt. It's telling motorists to slow down and watch out for people on the road.  This is where smugglers dump their human cargo as soon as they reach Germany. Passau, in the south of the country, is a popular dropping-off point because of its proximity to the Czech and Austrian borders. Germany has said all Syrians who make it here will be granted asylum - making Germany the number one destination of choice for many. And that's prompted a massive police operation to clamp down on people smugglers. As we approach the checkpoint we are waved on. But it's clear a daily game of cat and mouse is under way under a cloak of darkness.  The smugglers switch their drop-off points, trying to out-smart the authorities. Retired policeman Ali Krenn knows only too well how popular Passau has become for refugees. He regularly sees them abandoned on the flyover by his home. He found a group of 10 on his doorstep, hungry and thirsty. "I was shocked to see a group of people passing at 1am armed with flashlights," he said. "I started to help, they were thirsty, and had two little kids with them. I brought out the water, a big bottle." Overnight 300 people were picked up and brought to one registration centre in Passau alone. That's in spite of Hungary's restrictions on the movement of migrants by train within the EU. Among the new arrivals are a group of young boys - there's no mistaking their relief to have made it to Germany. Europe may be fighting over their futures but after weeks, probably months, in search of a place to call home they are just glad somebody is pleased to help them.

Source

UK Vice News journalists released from Turkish prison

Two British Vice News journalists arrested in Turkey on terror charges have been freed, the media group says.

Correspondent Jake Hanrahan and cameraman Philip Pendlebury were arrested while filming in the south-east region of Diyarbakir one week ago.

They were charged with "working on behalf of a terrorist organisation" and questioned over alleged links to Islamic State and Kurdish militants.

Their translator, Iraqi Mohammed Ismael Rasool, reportedly remains in custody.

Their lawyer, Ahmet Ay, told the BBC a Turkish court had accepted an appeal of release for Mr Hanrahan, from Northampton, and Mr Pendlebury, from Wigan.

However, the court rejected an appeal for Mr Rasool's release, saying material on his computer was still being investigated.

"We are planning to appeal to this decision as well, most probably next week. We think all the three journalists' actions were within the frame of journalism," he said.

'Unjust detainment'

The two British men were now being taken from the high security prison where they were held to the immigration bureau, he said.

He said there was no court decision asking for their deportation, and the trial will continue in their absence. As yet, no date is set for the first hearing.

Vice News released a statement saying it was grateful for the release of two of their journalists, but calling for a "swift end to this unjust detainment" of Mr Rasool.

Mr Rasool was an experienced journalist and translator who had worked extensively across the Middle East with news outlets including Associated Press and Al Jazeera, it said.

The three men had been in the area filming clashes between police and youths from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which have erupted in recent weeks, according to Vice News.

Turkey has limited journalists' access to the region.

The authorities came under criticism for detaining the group, including from Amnesty International, which described the charges as "bizarre".

On Wednesday, the Foreign Office expressed "concerned" at the arrests, saying it expected Turkey to uphold its obligation to uphold press freedom according to EU and UN human rights law.

Vice News is an international news organisation which publishes documentaries and written news, focusing on "under-reported stories from around the globe".

EU refugee crisis ‘absolutely expected’ – Putin

           EU refugee crisis ‘absolutely                expected’ – Putin

Russia has frequently warned of major problems which Europe would face as a result of Western policies in the Middle East and North Africa and jihadist groups terrorizing people, so the current refugee crisis in the EU doesn’t come as a surprise, said the President of Russia.

“I think the crisis was absolutely expected,” President Vladimir Putin told journalists at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

“We in Russia, and me personally a few years ago, said it straight that pervasive problems would emerge, if our so-called Western partners continue maintaining their flawed ... foreign policy, especially in the regions of the Muslim world, Middle East, North Africa, which they pursue to date,” said Putin.

According to the Russian president, the main flaw of Western foreign policy is the imposition of their own standards worldwide without taking into account the historical, religious, national and cultural characteristics of particular regions.

The only way to reverse the refugee flow streaming into Europe is to help people resolve problems at home. And the first step should be by creating a common and united front against jihadist groups such as Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and fighting them at their core.

“We really want to form some kind of an international coalition, therefore we conduct consultations with our US partners,”Putin said, noting that he spoke about it with President Obama.

However it is premature to discuss “direct” Russian involvement in military actions against ISIS, needless to say joining the US-led coalition, as Moscow is currently considering “other options,” said Putin.

The issue of rebuilding local economies and social spheres to convince terrified people to move back would only arise after terrorism is rooted out, Russian President said. But international support for rebuilding the statehood of the countries which have suffered at the hand of ISIS should only occur with full respect for history, culture and local traditions.

“But if we act unilaterally and argue about the quasi-democratic principles and procedures for certain areas, that will lead us to an even greater impasse,” Putin concluded.

The Russian leader emphasized that he was being critical to figure out “what is happening, and what to do next,” rather than to tease or to point out that Western policies were “shortsighted.”

Putin noted that the US is not facing a refugee crisis of the same magnitude as the EU, which has been “blindly following American orders.”

Prior to Putin’s speech, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the EU could actually learn something from Russia in terms of offering proper living conditions to those fleeing conflict zones.

Reminding Brussels of Russia’s experience in dealing with the influx of civilians fleeing Kiev’s so-called “anti-terrorist operation” in neighboring Ukraine, the ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova said that hundreds of thousands of refugees who fled to Russia were provided with “shelter, food and aid.”

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Migrant crisis: EU 'must accept 200,000 refugees', UN says

Migrant crisis: EU 'must accept 200,000 refugees', UN says

EU nations must accept up to 200,000 refugees as part of a "common strategy" to replace their "piecemeal" approach to the migrant crisis, the UN says.
Antonio Guterres, head of the UN refugee agency, said the EU must mobilise "full force" for the crisis, calling it a "defining moment".
EU leaders, split over sharing the refugee burden, are scrambling to agree a response in meetings on Friday.
In Hungary, hundreds of refugees are locked in a stalemate with authorities.
Migrants hoping to reach the Austrian border have refused to disembark from a train surrounded by police in the Hungarian town of Bicske, 40km (25 miles) from Budapest.

Hungarian authorities want to move the migrants to a nearby refugee camp - but the migrants fear registering there will hamper their plans to seek asylum in Germany and other countries.
In the Hungarian capital, Budapest, hundreds of stranded refugees have vowed to "walk to Vienna" because they have not been allowed to board trains onwards.
Hungary has also shut its main border crossing with Serbia after some 300 migrants escaped from a camp in the town of Roszke, prompting a police search operation.

Meanwhile, a Syrian Kurdish child who was drowned while attempting to reach Greece has been buried in his hometown of Kobane on Friday.
The family of Alan Kurdi crossed the border from Turkey to Syria, carrying coffins bearing his body and those of family members who died with him.
Images of the toddler's limp body, washed ashore on a Turkish beach, have been widely circulated, heightening outrage over the migrant crisis.
As the crisis mounts, the EU is facing intense pressure to adopt a cohesive policy towards the migrant flows - the greatest seen globally since World War Two.
Mr Guterres, of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), criticised the bloc's "unbalanced and dysfunctional" system that he said had only benefited people smugglers.
He urged the EU to admit up to 200,000 refugees as part of "a mass relocation programme" that had the "mandatory participation" of all member states.

In a statement, Mr Guterres said Europe needed to build "adequate reception capacities", especially in Greece, replacing a "piecemeal" approach with a "common strategy".
In other developments:
• Hungarian MPs have approved tougher border controls and penalties for migrants trying to pass through to their preferred destination, Germany
• Members of the European Commission are in the Greek island of Kos to examine the difficulties caused by the large numbers of refugees and migrants landing there
• The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary will hold an extraordinary summit in Prague
• EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels
• The UK government - under pressure over its response to the crisis - has agreed to provide settlement for "thousands more" Syrian refugees
• Some 50 migrants are feared to have drowned after their boat sank off the coast of Libya, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Migrant crisis: coverage in detail

• Image copyrightReuters

• ---

'Ashamed'

• ---

Migrant crisis: Key questions
Why are so many people on the move?
Where are they coming from?
Why are people fleeing Syria?

• ---

By Nick Thorpe, BBC Budapest correspondent

• 

Migrants or refugees?

• Ten powerful photos
  Hungary lays bare EU East-West split
  Will one image change our views?
  Migrant crisis in graphics
  Volunteers step up
• Hungarian MPs on Friday are also voting on creating new holding camps for migrants, and on whether the situation constitutes a state of emergency.
  Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday described the situation as a "German problem" as Germany was where those arriving in the EU "would like to go".
  However, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn - who is heading the EU meetings on the crisis - criticised Hungary's conservative leader on German television, saying: "One sometimes has to be ashamed for Viktor Orban."
• EU countries are under pressure as a surge of migrants from the Middle East and Africa seek to escape war and oppression. Italy, Greece and Hungary, on the EU's borders, are under particular pressure.
  Syrians make up the largest group by nationality, followed by Afghans and Eritreans.
  An uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted in March 2011, and the country has since descended into a complex civil war. More than 240,000 people have been killed, and around half Syria's pre-war population have fled their homes.
  Why is EU struggling with migrants and asylum?
• European Council President Donald Tusk has said at least 100,000 refugees should be distributed across EU states - a sharp increase on a previous European Commission target of 40,000.
  German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have said they will present plans for the redistribution of refugees within the EU.
• 
• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a political leader who thrives on conflict.
  While he tolerates no dissent within his Fidesz party, he enjoys taking on his opponents. But in the refugee crisis now overwhelming Hungary, he is attacking not only the migrants themselves, but, increasingly, Germany.
  Mr Orban himself has described proposals for binding quotas of refugees to be accepted by all EU countries as "idiotic" - a personal insult to Chancellor Angela Merkel.
  His game now seems to be two-fold: to stir up xenophobia at home by appearing both patriotic and powerful and to reach out to anti-migrant opinion across Europe.
  Profile: Hungary PM Viktor Orban
• Germany seizes its chance to help
  How could EU solve the crisis?
• International services had been suspended at Budapest's Keleti railway station but hundreds crammed on to the first train on Thursday, hoping it would take them to the Austrian border.
  Many people continued to camp out at Keleti station, and elsewhere in Budapest, overnight. Images showed the migrants sleeping overnight on the train at Bicske.
  BBC Radio Four's Today programme has interviewed a Syrian teacher at a camp in Hungary, who said her family wanted asylum in Germany after having struggled to survive in Lebanon and Turkey.
  "All the governments make this war in Syria," the woman, identified as Hamza, said. "And now they... prevent us going to their countries."
  
  

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• The word migrant is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "one who moves, either temporarily or permanently, from one place, area, or country of residence to another".
  A refugee is, according to the 1951 Refugee Convention, any person who "owing to a well-founded fear" of persecution is outside their country of nationality and "unable" or "unwilling" to seek the protection of that country. To gain the status, one has to go through the legal process of claiming asylum.
  The word migrant has traditionally been considered a neutral term, but some criticise the BBC and other media for using a word they say implies something voluntary, and should not be applied to people fleeing danger.