Ukraine General

[surpher 1]

(BBC) Crimea helicopters try to disrupt Tatar rallies

Military helicopters have flown low over a crowd of Tatars in Crimea, in an apparent attempt to disrupt rallies marking Stalin's mass deportations.

[mistyronin 1181]

If I recall properly Putin has already ordered that a few times before:

( RT ) Putin orders troops back to bases after drills in regions bordering Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to send troops back to bases from drills they were having in the southwestern regions of Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk, on the border with Ukraine.

“As the planned spring stage of the drills, which included redeployment of the troops to training areas in Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions, has come to an end, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to send troops back to their permanent bases and to go on with their military exercises at training areas nearby,†the Kremlin’s press service said.

[blu3sman 11]

Simon's been working all this time with army. But still no coverage on Vice.:(

[mistyronin 1181]

Simon's been working all this time with army. But still no coverage on Vice.:(

That's weird, maybe he has not enough good material to put in some video.

I miss his outstanding reports.

---------- Post added at 22:27 ---------- Previous post was at 21:24 ----------

( BBC ) No sign of Russia withdrawal, says Nato

---------- Post added at 22:52 ---------- Previous post was at 22:27 ----------

Interesting tweet of Simon:

Ukraine, release the @lifenews_ru reporters you detained. Russia, free Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov. Lifenews, stop faking news. Deal?

[Tonci87 163]

Or they are working on a full documentary, wich would be awesome!

[mistyronin 1181]

( Interfax ) Businessman Akhmetov condemns 'genocide of Donbas,' calls for peaceful rally against 'Donetsk People's Republic'

Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetov has called for workers of all enterprises in Donetsk region to start at noon on Tuesday a peace rally against the self-proclaimed 'Donetsk People's Republic.'

"I am calling upon all employees across Donbas to go out tomorrow for a peaceful warning protest at the companies where they work. The rally will start tomorrow at noon with a siren ringing at all industrial businesses of Donbas. In support of peace! Against bloodshed!" he said in a televised address on Monday evening.

( The Moscow Times ) Akhmetov Asks Donetsk Workforce to Protest Against Separatists

[Tonci87 163]

This is not good. If more groups like this emerge then the whole region could be destabilized even further very fast.

[mistyronin 1181]

This is not good. If more groups like this emerge then the whole region could be destabilized even further very fast.

Indeed. I understand why that kind of groups exist. But once those civilian militias get used to use weapons to get power who is gonna step them down? A gov which is unable to control the police forces and the army to effectively put an end to the Pro-Russian aggressive and criminal uprising?

Looks really bad.

Well, Putin has achieved his goals, he stole Crimea and destabilized Ukraine. Guess it can be called a victory for him.

Now the rest of the world will have to take care of Ukraine, and hope that in the next elections a president gets elected that can put some order there ( but seeing the candidates, I don't have much hope ).

[surpher 1]

(BBC) Prince Charles 'compared Russian actions to Nazis'

A former Polish war refugee who met Prince Charles in Canada has said he likened some Nazi actions in Europe to those of Russia's Vladimir Putin.

She added that she could not "exactly remember" the phrase the prince had used, but he then "said something to the effect of 'it is not unlike what is now happening in Russia, what Putin is doing'".

[ProfTournesol 956]

She added that she could not "exactly remember" the phrase the prince had used

That what i would call a brilliant information by the BBC...

[mistyronin 1181]

What is curious to me is the lack of response to Putin's invasion of Crimea ( besides the compulsory few weak sanctions ).

Basically what he did is proof that the military expansionism carries non important repercussion. Therefore, with Putin's same Arguments Germany could invade again part of Poland and Kaliningrad, etc. etc.

- - -

( New York Times ) Conflict Fatigue Deepens in East Ukraine, Just Days Before Vote

Edited May 21, 2014 by MistyRonin

[mistyronin 1181]

Graham Phillips, a known RT journalist that has been really active in Twitter ( I was following him ) has been held in Ukraine, I guess by the Ukraine's military.

( BBC ) British journalist Graham Phillips held in Ukraine

As I told in other posts, to capture journalists it's just No-No.

[ProfTournesol 956]

So that's a proof there are journalists working for RT :pet1:, i wasn't sure.

[mistyronin 1181]

Well at least it seems that everything went fast, not like in the Simon's case when the terrorists ( in that case they don't have any other name ) took their time, torturing him for days, without acknowledging his capture, then playing mind games with the press, etc.

( RT ) RT journalist to be handed to UK consul in Kiev, SBU proceedings against him ‘over’

Ukraine Security Service’ has finished proceedings against RT contributor, Graham Phillips, and he is about to be handed over to the consul of the British embassy in Kiev, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry told RT.

Almost a day after Phillips was detained at a checkpoint near Mariupol in eastern Ukraine on May 20, the British Foreign Office officially confirmed the incident and said it is “in contact with the Ukrainian authorities.â€

Although from Simon's Twitter:

Ukraine building a case against @RT_com contributor @GrahamWP_UK, Interior Minister just told me he was caught holding an automatic rifle

I find what the Ukraine's Interior Minister said hard to believe, but not impossible ( why would Graham commit such stupidity? ).

Here is the video from the "capture" according to RT. But the RT video editor forgot to release half of the audio, and gave a really bad quality montage.

Edited May 21, 2014 by MistyRonin

[Tonci87 163]

What kind of stupid RT video was that? :confused:

[lesscubes 1]

What is curious to me is the lack of response to Putin's invasion of Crimea ( besides the compulsory few weak sanctions ).

Basically what he did is proof that the military expansionism carries non important repercussion. Therefore, with Putin's same Arguments Germany could invade again part of Poland and Kaliningrad, etc. etc.

- - -

( New York Times ) Conflict Fatigue Deepens in East Ukraine, Just Days Before Vote

What is there to do? Grumble loudly? The EU can't make sanctions work fiscally, they need Russian resources. NATO doesn't have the teeth it needs to back diplomacy with the threat of force.

I'd be scared shitless if I were a citizen of a former Warsaw Pact nation... But I also think Putin's not crazy enough to push it too much harder.

[mistyronin 1181]

What is there to do? Grumble loudly? The EU can't make sanctions work fiscally, they need Russian resources. NATO doesn't have the teeth it needs to back diplomacy with the threat of force.

I'd be scared shitless if I were a citizen of a former Warsaw Pact nation... But I also think Putin's not crazy enough to push it too much harder.

The EU survived quite well without that resources during the Cold War. Anyway IMO the international response to Crimea invasion and annexation has been weak, specially compared to the reactions in former similar cases ( like Kuwait, Falklands, etc. ).

This creates a dire precedent in Europe.

BTW I'm not saying that Putin is gonna try to invade all the world, but he is coping the first steps of Hitler's and Stalin's expansionist strategy.

On the other hand I'm living now living in Finland, which is not a former Warsaw Pact nation, but: ( Yle, in English ) Finland asks Russia to explain airspace violations

Earlier on Wednesday, Finland's Defence Minister Carl Haglund said that airspace violations are taken very seriously and he hopes the incidents are not related in any way to the situation in Ukraine.

- - - -

( BBC ) Many soldiers die in Donetsk attack

Heavily armed "terrorists" attacked a checkpoint in the Volnovakha area, killing or wounding a number of soldiers, the defence ministry said.

Associated Press journalists counted 11 bodies at the scene while a Russian website said 15 soldiers had died.

Separatists have been skirmishing with security forces in Donetsk for weeks.

Both the defence ministry and Ukrainian military journalist Dmytro Tymchu blamed the attack on "terrorists" - the term commonly used by Ukrainian officials for armed pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk and the neighbouring Luhansk region.

The Russian source, pro-Kremlin news website Lifenews, quoted an unnamed police source as saying 15 had been killed and 35 wounded.

[surpher 1]

(BBC) Russia seeks talks following Prince Charles's remarks

[lesscubes 1]

The EU survived quite well without that resources during the Cold War. Anyway IMO the international response to Crimea invasion and annexation has been weak, specially compared to the reactions in former similar cases ( like Kuwait, Falklands, etc. ).

This creates a dire precedent in Europe.

BTW I'm not saying that Putin is gonna try to invade all the world, but he is coping the first steps of Hitler's and Stalin's expansionist strategy.

On the other hand I'm living now living in Finland, which is not a former Warsaw Pact nation, but: ( Yle, in English ) Finland asks Russia to explain airspace violations

I really do agree, and also mirroring the pattern of events in the 1930's is Putin being able to count on the international community being too weary to confront the issue...

Cases like Op. Desert Shield/Storm and the Falklands war don't exactly mirror this situation though- Iraq and Argentina couldn't project power the same way Russia can. Nor did Politics matter much in the end in those situations- they required direct, fairly costly action. You directly confront Russia, and you might have a real war on your hands. What Russia is doing more closely mirrors Soviet actions in the 50's and 60's in Warsaw Pact states- stamping out liberal movements and governments in order to keep those countries under Soviet dominion. Russia never invades and annexes Crimea if the pro-Russian government stays in power in Kiev. It's blatantly wrong, but as the Russians so gleefully point out- the West has a habit of acting militarily to protect it's interests too.

Politically, Russia wins here pretty much however it ends. They still will have grabbed a huge, strategically important piece of land, destabilized what it sees as an unfriendly government, and reminded the world that Russia is still a force to be reckoned with... If the EU steps up and goes far enough to hurt the Russians (IE, ceasing ALL import of Russian gas and Steel) then how might they react?

[spooky lynx 73]

Ukrainian army battle group was attacked near Blagodatnoye village, Donbass. Three BMPs and three cars were destroyed. Group was attacked by unknown troops who used civil jeeps and bank vans. Ukrainian army helicopter had been flying at the battlefield but hadn't provided any fire support for attacked troops. One bank van of attackers was destroyed by army troops.

Warning - NSFW!

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

Edit: helicopters that arrived at the battlefield fired at army troops. Video from the soldier who survived first attack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQt7ukb0kmU

At the last minutes Ukrainian commander of group calls to somebody and argues that helicopters which were supposed to be rescue ones opened fire at them.

Edited May 22, 2014 by Spooky Lynx

[mistyronin 1181]

Simon "strikes" again:

[Tonci87 163]

Nice to see him back. I like that he takes the time to talk to the locals.

EDIT: I have no idea what is going on here

Friendly fire?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBy0szgtYWw

Edited May 23, 2014 by Tonci87

[surpher 1]

(BBC) Russia's Vladimir Putin 'to respect' Ukraine vote

Russia's President Putin has said he will respect the outcome of Ukraine's presidential election on Sunday.

Speaking at an economic conference in St Petersburg on Friday, Vladimir Putin also said he believed Ukraine had descended into "full-scale civil war".

Edited May 23, 2014 by surpher

[spooky lynx 73]

EDIT: I have no idea what is going on here

Friendly fire?

One of the first vehicles destroyed by choppers was abandoned "Privat-bank" (held by Kolomoisky) armored van damaged by army soldiers in battle. Seems that them main goal was to remove any evidence of Benya involvement. But sh!t happened and van was taped before it was destroyed.

Photos and video from the place of heavy fighting in Rubezhnoye, Donbass. Three more BMPs and Ural w/ZU-23-2 destroyed.

Edited May 23, 2014 by Spooky Lynx

[blu3sman 11]

One of the first vehicles destroyed by choppers was abandoned "Privat-bank" (held by Kolomoisky) armored van damaged by army soldiers in battle. Seems that them main goal was to remove any evidence of Benya involvement. But sh!t happened and van was taped before it was destroyed.

I see youre an adept of THAT version. Can you please tell a full story of what happened. So our english-speaking friends know The Truth about jew-reptiloid Kolomoisky and his mercs killing ukr army.