Russian Diplomacy Pays Off - Ukrainians & West Comply

[Reality Check]

The United States, Western Europe, the Government of Ukraine and the Ukrainian police move quickly to do Moscow's bidding.

Tuesday, April 1st, 2014

Ukrainian police moved to disarm members of a radical nationalist group after a shooting spree in the capital ( yesterday ).

Radical nationalist groups played a key role in Yanukovych's ouster, but they quickly fell out with the new ( unity parlimentary Ukrainian ) government. Many activists are still encamped on Kiev's Independence Square, known as the Maidan, and have signaled their intent to remain there until the election of what they deem to be a legitimate government ( current Ukrainian parlimentary government is made up of the same 450 elected members who formed the pro-Russian government in 2012).

Last week, one of the leaders of the most prominent radical group, the Right Sector, was shot dead while resisting police.

Right Sector members then besieged parliament for several hours, breaking windows and demanding the resignation of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. They lifted the blockade after lawmakers ( last week ) set up a panel to investigate the killing.

Late Monday (, yesterday) , a Right Sector member shot and wounded three people outside a restaurant adjacent to Kiev's main Independence Square, including a deputy city mayor, triggering a standoff that lasted overnight.

Police responded by surrounding the downtown Dnipro Hotel, which Right Sector had commandeered as its headquarters, demanding that the radicals lay down their weapons and leave. Avakov said that Right Sector members agreed Tuesday to leave their weapons behind and went to a suburban camp, escorted by officers of Ukraine's Security Service.

The Ukrainian parliament ( made up of the same 450 members of parliment that formed a pro-Russian government in 2012 ) then voted to order police to disarm all illegal armed units. Backers of the measure said the drive was needed to combat a recent surge in violent crime and to defuse the risk of provocations by "foreign citizens" in Kiev and the south and east of Ukraine, heavily Russian-speaking regions where anti-government groups have rallied over the past several weekends in calls for secession.

In March, authorities launched a broad appeal for the voluntary surrender of weapons, many of which went astray from police depots during months of unrest. The government has said a similar amnesty will remain in effect in April.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/04/01 ... latestnews