High and dry
Moments before an An-24 was to make a morning flight from Simferopol to Kyiv, alert ground service workers checked the aircraft’s fuel supply. They discovered that, thieves had siph-oned more than 200 liters of fuel from the plane’s tanks. Had the purloined petrol not been detected, the flight could have departed, later finding itself high and dry.
– Kiev2000.com
DOUBLE DIP
Anti-American Zaporizhya resident Olena Solod, who earlier petitioned to have her name changed to Osama bin Laden, has now declared her apartment to be a Taliban embassy. Solod has demanded that the Foreign Affairs Ministry recognize her as the Taliban ambassador to Ukraine. In a letter to the Foreign Ministry, Solod also demanded diplomatic immunity from prosecution. And wants Ukraine to issue diplomatic license plates for her Moskvich-412 automobile and to post security outside her apartment building.
– UNIAN
SHOW AND TELL
U.S. inspectors want to know whether the Ukrainian ICBM missile silo is a functional threat or a real museum piece. The silo is purportedly being used as an exhibit at the Museum of the Strategic Rocket Forces, a branch of the Central Museum of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The American inspectors, who plan to examine the silo over a three-day period this month, need to make sure that the silo has been sufficiently disabled so that it can no longer be used to launch missiles – a use that would violate Ukraine’s treaty obligations.
– Interfax-Ukraine
YOU’RE NO SAINT, NICK
Nikolai Soltys, the Ukrainian immigrant who allegedly murdered six family members in a rage earlier this year and is awaiting trial in a California jail, says he’s lonely. In a telephone conversation, Soltys complained to a Ukrainian consular official that none of his relatives had visited him in prison. To kill time, Soltys has reportedly developed an interest in Ukraine’s economic and political situation.
– Podronosti.com.ua
CIS love-fest
President Kuchma said Dec. 3 that 2003 would be “The Year of Russia.” His announcement came a few days after Russia declared that 2002 would be “The Year of Ukraine” in Russia. Kuchma said he was sure the Year of Ukraine would “go beyond the framework of purely cultural activities.”
– Ukraine.ru
