RichardPrins wrote: 
This is horrible.  No good can come of this.  I've been trying to follow this as much as time allows.  This is going to be touchy.

Nine Dead as Mayhem Grips Ukrainian Capital - NYTimes.com

KIEV, Ukraine — Mayhem gripped the center of the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday evening as riot police officers tried to drive two armored personnel carriers through stone-reinforced barriers in Independence Square, the focal point of more than two months of protests against President Viktor F. Yanukovych.

Pelted by rocks and fireworks, the vehicles became stuck in the massive barricades outside the Khreschatyk Hotel and burst into flames, apparently trapping the security officers inside, prompting desperate rescue efforts from their colleagues.

In the course of wild day of parries and thrusts by the protesters and the police, the authorities in Kiev reported nine people killed, including two police officers. It was the bloodiest day of violence since President Yanukovych spurned a trade deal with Europe in November and set of protests that began peacefully but have since involved occasional spasms of deadly violence. (...)

BBC News - Ukraine crisis: Leaked phone call embarrasses US

 Red_Dragon wrote:
 
Very good analysis, but there is a long way to go with a series of unpredictable events to happen before anyone can claim to know what the end game is, imo.  I study/follow Ukrainian affairs fairly closely.  I have Ukrainian friends here and there.  Their opinion, and mine, is that the end game may be a division of the country—to avoid a civil war that nobody wants to see occur.  The pro west, western part of the country, including Kiev, stays Ukraine and forges stronger ties with EU Europe.  The pro-Russian east becomes a Russian client state similar to Belarus. There will be stress and contention over Crimea.  Russia will leverage intensely to maintain a naval presence and port.  Black Sea access is VERY important to them.  They have a nuclear submarine base in Ukraine on the Black Sea, currently, I believe.

Moldova (a small, very poor country) is in the middle of this too.  But they should have their own forum.

The Gov't resignation is important.  But what President Yanukovych decides will be the major pressing issue.  Are his hands tied?  Will he resign? Coup?  Stay tuned.

end game

Ukrainian Police Strip, Beat and Humiliate Protester

 

Leak of video may suggest discontent in the officer ranks with the way the government is handling the protests

We’ve seen a lot of shocking photos come out of Ukraine the last few days and months, but this latest one takes the cake. A video posted to YouTube today shows Ukrainian police abusing a naked protester with clear bruises on his body, making him pose for photos in subzero temperatures.

Ukrainian government texts ominous Orwellian message directly to cell phones of protesters | The Verge

Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance.

 Coaxial wrote:The Chechnyans, among others,  will be highly motivated  to wreak havoc.  They are hardened, fearless, skilled fighters who have succeeded in terror acts in the past.  Putin will have Sochi and the surrounding area virtually inaccessible to the non-credentialed.  The winter Olympics require mountains, and that sort of terrain is easier to penetrate, difficult to defend.

 ScottN wrote: 
That whole area seems so volatile I wonder just how safe they can really make Sochi....

I won't pretend I am expert, but I have been to Ukraine several times and have Ukrainian friends here. I study Ukraine history and follow closely current events. Ukraine, to avoid a civil war, will partition. The pro west portion of the country, including Kiev will join the west.  The pro-Russia east will become another Belarus-type Russian client state.  The issue will be Crimea and Black Sea disputes. Moldova (an impoverished country) lies between the pro Russia area and western leaning Odessa—-another problem.  Russia is heavily vested in having seaport access  on the Black Sea..  Very simplified version, of course, but it seems the way it is playing...so far.

Ukraine: 3 protesters dead amid clashes with police in Kiev

A bird's-eye view of the demonstrations in Ukraine show the vast scale and might of the protests

This extraordinary recent panoramic view shows Independence Square in the heart of Kiev, Ukraine’s capital.

Demonstrators have defied a ban on protests, taken control of the square, stormed City Hall and demanded “revolution.”

 Manbird wrote:

Mailbags always did. They have a check box for "what do you want to do if customs gives you any trouble?" One of the options was "Abandon." I always checked that.

 Lazy8 wrote: 
If they call just say, "In Soviet Russia, package deliver you. Now saying good bye" and hang up. It'll get there. 

 Manbird wrote:

Probably for dealing with customs, and I'd be pretty helpless with that.

 Beaker wrote:

No 'puter, no internet access, no phone, and as far as I can tell no cell service either. Pretty remote village.

Ukrainian chicks are really hot.

 Lazy8 wrote: 
I just use my own phone number half the time. I figure they're not really going to call anybody. But that's shipping within the US - maybe they do need to call for some reason outside the US. 

I need to ship a couple of boxes of books to the Ukraine, but my old standby method (international mailbag) has become prohibitively expensive. Fedex and UPS require a phone number for the recipient, and the recipient has no phone. Anybody got a reliable (hopefully inexpensive) way to ship into the country?