UKRAINE: SEA BREEZE JUNE 8 UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIEV 002247

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2016
TAGS: PGOV MARR PREL NATO PINR UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: SEA BREEZE JUNE 8 UPDATE

REF: A. KIEV 2208

B. KIEV 2207

C. KIEV 2190

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i., Sheila Gwaltney for reasons 1.4
(b,d)


1. (C) Summary: Defense Minister Hrytsenko defended his
ministry's preparations for the U.S.-Ukraine bilateral
military exercise Sea Breeze and determined, with the UK
Embassy Defense Attache, that the joint Ukraine-UK Lone Knot
exercise would need to be cancelled. Parliament's
provisional presidium decided against holding a special
session, which meant that the Rada would not consider
authorization for international military exercises before
June 14. Party of Regions MP Hanna Herman said Party of
Regions leader Yanukovych intervened to ask certain Regions
MPs to soften their statements. Although Yanukovych decided
against visiting Crimea, a group of mostly Regions and
SDPU(o) MPs arrived in Crimea June 8 to support demonstrators
protesting the U.S. military presence, and two Regions MPs
gained access to USG containers at the port containing
ammunition for the Sea Breeze exercise. The June 8 crowd of
demonstrators in Feodosiya was larger than normal. End
summary.

DefMin's Defense
--------------


2. (C) In a June 7 meeting with DATT and UK Embassy DATT,
Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko reiterated the importance
of Sea Breeze to Ukraine, saying that President Yushchenko
had endorsed the National Security and Defense Council's
decision to continue preparations for Sea Breeze, and
defended the Ministry of Defense's preparation for the
exercise. Hrytsenko said relevant authorities were properly
informed well in advance, including a briefing to the Crimean
Autonomous Republic officials and Feodosiya's mayor. There
had also been articles in the regional press and tours of the
exercise areas. Hrytsenko and the UK DATT determined that
the Ukraine-UK Lone Knot bilateral exercise could not take
place according to schedule; they discussed coordination of a
press release regarding Lone Knot's cancellation for 2006.
Lone Knot was scheduled to start next week.

Parliament's Status
--------------


3. (SBU) Parliament's (Rada) provisional presidium voted June
8 against a motion from 176 Rada deputies (mostly, if not
all, Regions Party deputies) to hold a special Rada session.
Party of Regions Parliamentary Deputy Volodymyr Makeyenko
told us that, in the event, technical reasons would have
prevented the holding of an extraordinary Rada session.
First, the Rada Speaker convoked special sessions, and there
currently was no Speaker. Second, according to Article 12 of
the Rada Rules of Procedure, the parliamentary gazette must
publish an announcement regarding the special session three
working days beforehand and, with the June 12 Holy Trinity
holiday, the next scheduled Rada session on June 14 was now
only two working days away.

Embassy Action
--------------


4. (C) Charge spoke June 8 with both Bloc Yuliya Tymoshenko
MP Andriy Shkil and Party of Regions MP Hanna Herman to
underscore our concerns about Rada deputies intruding into
the sanatorium housing the U.S. military reservists after
acting Defense Minister Leonid Polyakov told us that
Yanukovych and Shkil planned trips today to Feodosiya. Shkil
made clear that he supported Ukraine's NATO aspirations as
the only choice for its future. While he said he was not
planning a trip to Crimea, he could see the value of an MP
visit that he could lead in his capacity as the former head
of delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Herman,
like her Party of Regions colleague Leonid Kozhara (ref A),
stressed that Party of Regions and its leader Viktor
Yanukovych continued to support Ukrainian cooperation with
NATO; Regions opposition in this case was aimed at the
Ukrainian government's unconstitutional actions in allowing
foreign military to enter Ukrainian territory. She said the
fact that Yanukovych and Regions MP Raisa Bohatyreva,
contrary to some media reports, did not go to Crimea spoke
for itself and opined that only a meeting between Yanukovych
and President Yushchenko had the potential to defuse the
controversy. She said Yanukovych was following the situation
in Crimea closely and had asked certain Regions MPs to soften
their statements. Charge reminded Herman that Regions
deputies continued to demand access to the Marines and to

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U.S. exercise cargo at the port. Regions deputies and flags
were also prominent at the continuing demonstrations outside
the Feodosiya sanatorium. Herman promised to relay our
concerns to Yanukovych.

Further Crimean Developments
--------------


5. (U) Despite Yanukovych's decision to stay put, Ukrainska
Pravda reported June 8 that a group of more than 20 Regions
MPs (and also including Crimean Parliament MP Nestor Shufrych
from the SDPU(o)-led Ne Tak bloc) had arrived in Crimea to
provide moral support to the demonstrators. MP Yevhen
Kushnaryov said the group intended to thank Crimeans for
"protecting the Ukrainian constitution and Ukrainian
sovereignty." The group would also ensure the welfare of the
demonstrators and that the authorities did not infringe on
their rights. Kushnaryov said any attempts to limit the
rights of free speech and assembly would be severely
punished. According to a later news report, a group of
300-350 demonstrators drawn from Regions, the Progressive
Socialist Party, the Russian bloc, and Union (Soyuz) party
gathered before the Feodosiya port to demonstrate and greet
the MP delegation. Shortly thereafter, a group of 15
pro-democracy Pora Party activists unfurled party flags and
banners with slogans such as "NATO is Ukraine's guarantee,"
sparking a scuffle between the two groups. The Pora flags
and banners were torn.


6. (U) The June 7 (Wednesday) evening protest in front of the
main gate of the sanatorium was the larger than normal with
300 to 400 participants. A non-violent crowd of mostly older
people with some younger participants chanted, listened to
speeches and played music. The crowd swelled further the
following day, June 8. Interfax reported the number of
demonstrators was 1,500, but RSO on the ground estimated the
crowd at 800-1,000. RSO said the demonstrators appeared to
include a larger percentage of young people, perhaps bussed
in from other locations such as Sevastopol and Odesa. A
larger crowd might also have been attracted by Yanukovych's
rumored arrival.


7. (U) RSO reported Kushanaryov addressed the crowd by first
apologizing that Yanukovych had been unable to appear
personally, then reported he had seen open containers with
contents evidently missing during his visit to the port. He
vowed to open a parliamentary investigation to account for
the cargo. RSO also reported that inflammatory leaflets
bearing Progressive Socialist Party leader Nataliya
Vitrenko's picture were circulating. One leaflet had Hitler
giving a Nazi salute to a NATO soldier holding an axe before
a river of blood with heads and arms appearing and labeled
"Yugoslavia," "Afghanistan," and "Iraq." Another leaflet had
a NATO soldier with a bloody knife next to a prostrate figure
labeled "Mother Ukraine."


8. (U) Visit Embassy Kiev's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Gwaltney