Civil war in Ukraine: News & discussion

[Superboy]

DPR leader unveils plan for repeat of Kosovo. First, get autonomy with own military, withdraw of all UAF soldiers from Donetsk oblast, then declare independence.

 

[Hindustani78]

The new border of separatist-controlled territories set up on March 17 by parliament is marked with a blue line on this map. These territories are now recognized as occupied, but will gain special status within Ukraine after they hold local elections under national legislation.
© Kyiv Post

 

[Superboy]

The new border of separatist-controlled territories set up on March 17 by parliament is marked with a blue line on this map. These territories are now recognized as occupied, but will gain special status within Ukraine after they hold local elections under national legislation.
© Kyiv Post

This has been rejected by rebels who states their borders are at the oblast borders and want all UAF soldiers to get out of Donetsk oblast.

a Hindu rebel fighter.

 

[Hindustani78]

Reuters / Monday, March 16, 2015
Women react next to a new volunteer of the Ukrainian interior ministry's special battalion "Sich" during an oath-taking ceremony in Kiev March 16, 2015. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

 

[Superboy]

Reuters / Monday, March 16, 2015
Women react next to a new volunteer of the Ukrainian interior ministry's special battalion "Sich" during an oath-taking ceremony in Kiev March 16, 2015. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

This Sich soldier look sick Need some medicine.

 

[Hindustani78]

This Sich soldier look sick Need some medicine.

Effects of the Hybrid warfare

 

[Superboy]

Effects of the Hybrid warfare

Effect of the people fighting against corruption, oppression, tyranny, racism. The people of east Ukraine.

 

[Hindustani78]

Effect of the people fighting against corruption, oppression, tyranny, racism. The people of east Ukraine.

Hybrid warfare is technological warfare involving satellites. People in Baltics have even gone through it including me.

 

[Hindustani78]

Wednesday, Match 18. DONBAS — The press center of the ‘anti-terror’ operation (ATO) reports: over the night the terrorists have attacked the Ukrainian soldiers for 11 times. Meanwhile, the number of provocations has reduced.

Donetsk: rebels attack Opytne, Avdiyvka and Pisky.

Mariupil: the flashpoint is Shyrokine. Armed provocations were near Chermalyk.

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KYIV, March 18 /Ukrinform/. Russia has intensified deployment and accumulation of material and technical resources in the 'LPR' and the 'DPR', necessary for the further conduct of hostilities from the occupied territories of Ukraine. In fact, the resource base for the further escalation of the conflict is created.

Information Resistance group leader Dmytro Tymchuk has posted this information on his Facebook page.

"In particular, during the day, the deployment of a company task group was noticed (seven tanks, eleven armored combat vehicles), supported by two mortar batteries (eight 120-mm mortars) in Stanytsia Luhanska village, Luhansk region," Tymchuk writes.

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OSCE reports use of heavy artillery near Donetsk airport : UNIAN news
18.03.2015

The Special Monitoring Mission of the OSCE in Ukraine has again recorded a violation of the ceasefire regime near Donetsk airport with the use of heavy artillery, according to an OSCE report of March 16, Ukrainian newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli has reported.

REUTERS
"From 0917 to 0957 SMM representatives heard from their location in the center of Donetsk (controlled by DNR) at least 16 mortar attacks, presumably of the 82-mm and 122-mm caliber. SMM members concluded that the incident occurred about 10 kilometers north-west of their location, near Donetsk airport," the statement reads.

At the same time, in the vicinity of the airport in Donetsk OSCE observers heard the sounds of more than 100 rounds (incoming and outgoing).

According to the mission, the rounds were fired from different types of weapons, including heavy mortars, tanks, artillery and guns.

In addition, the OSCE mission said it was continuing to record violations of the ceasefire regime in the area near Shyrokino, next to Mariupol, and in Donetsk region.
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A group of Russian-backed militants numbering up to a reinforced platoon has crossed the Siverskiy Donets River and taken up positions in Ukrainian territory, head of the Information Resistance group Dmytro Tymchuk wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

"Earlier, the militants repeatedly fired small arms in this area," he said.

"An armored group of the militants, consisting of four tanks and three armored personnel carriers, which was previously observed by the Information Resistance group during its redeployment towards the village of Vesela Hora, took up positions among combat formations of the militant advanced units," Tymchuk said.

 

[Superboy]

Rebels rejected Ukraine's offer of special status and says Minsk agreement is no more.

 

[Hindustani78]

Wednesday, March 18. UKRAINE — The soldiers of the 128th Mountain Infantry Brigade, ‘North’ Operations Command, received over UAH 55,000 for captured in action T-72 tank in February.

One Ukrainian soldier killed, five wounded in Donbas in past 24 hours| Ukrinform
KYIV, March 18 /Ukrinform/. One Ukrainian soldier has been killed, another five have been injured in the area of the anti-terrorist operation in past 24 hours.

Spokesman for the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine Andriy Lysenko said this at a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"Over the last day, we have lost one Ukrainian serviceman, and another five soldiers have been injured as a result of military lashes and shelling," Lysenko said.

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Head of the Information Resistance group Dmytro Tymchuk wrote this on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

"Russian-backed militants carried out provocations by firing on the positions of Ukrainian troops and a series of active offensive actions. In particular, near the village of Maiorske the militants tried to push the Ukrainian units from their advanced positions. The militants were also active near the villages of Shyrokyne, Pisky, Adviivka," he wrote.

"In particular, near Avdiivka, militant infantry groups were reinforced by tank platoons with three or four tanks, which act as direct fire support groups," Tymchuk said.

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Ukrainian colonel: Two trains with mercenaries and weapons arrive in Debaltseve : UNIAN news
18.03.2015 | 22:15

Pro-Russian militants are hiding up to 10 Grad multiple rocket launchers in the forest belt along a road from Horlivka to Vuhlehirsk.

Deputy Head of the Anti-Terrorist Operation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions Colonel Valentyn Fedychev announced this information, according to Ukrainian online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.

What is more, he said, two military trains consisting of 40 railway cars with militants and armored vehicles on board arrived at the railway station of Debaltseve in the early hours of March 16.

"Members of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic are being trained at a combat training center located in Starobesheve, Donetsk region," Fedychev added.

The colonel announced yesterday that militants were hiding tanks and self-propelled artillery systems in territory of Horlivka-based Stirol Concern.

There are no regulars of Russia in Donbas. Regulars never fight without cover from air force and navy. Russian poor people who have no jobs go to Donbas to make a new living. You can watch this and learn.

Former Kyrgyz mercenary: ‘I saw Russian army, not Ukrainian fascists in Donbas’ : UNIAN news


With the scale of Russian involvement in the Donbas conflict becoming ever clearer, a Kyrgyz mercenary has come forward with more details about Russian regular troops fighting on Ukrainian soil.

REUTERS
In an exclusive interview with Radio Liberty, the mercenary spoke of his disillusionment with Russian propaganda – disinformation that prompted him to come to the war in Ukraine’s Donbas in August 2014 to fight on the side of the Russia-backed militants, according to a report on the interview in Ukrainian news magazine Novoye Vremya.

“It’s all just propaganda, as it appeared to be,” says the fighter, who goes by the nom de guerre of “Manas.”

“It’s quite sad, actually, as I graduated from a political school and still fell for such nonsense.”

The former LNR (Luhansk People’s Republic militant organization) fighter said that he had personally seen Russian troops being deployed and in combat, and was absolutely positive that Russian servicemen were involved in the fighting.

“What doubts can I have if we fought together? There can be no doubts,” he said.

He said that his experiences had led him to doubt information about the Ukraine conflict coming from the Russian media - doubts which ultimately led him to leave Ukraine in November 2014.

Saying that the experienced “rebel” fighters were actually Russian servicemen, Manas said that there were militant fighting units composed mostly of contracted Russian soldiers who had participated in both of Russia’s Chechen wars.

“The local insurgents [by themselves] are nothing. It’s all about Russian heavy weapons,” said Manas, adding that when the Russian troops are withdrawn, their heavy weapons are left in the area.

Describing the makeup of so-called LNR fighting units, Manas claimed there were almost no foreign volunteers, and that local miners had left, to be replaced by Russian regular troops, who had been reinforced lately with howitzers.

Manas admitted to fighting against Ukrainian government forces, adding that he had not encountered fascists in pro-Ukrainian volunteer units, despite the claims of Russia’s prominent First channel, Rossiya TV and other Russian media outlets that these units are made up of neo-Nazis.

After several months in Ukraine, the Kyrgyz mercenary decided to go back home, saying he regretted the decisions he had made last summer when he had believed the Russian propaganda about Ukraine.

Manas also said that local residents in the Luhansk region feel betrayed by Russia. He said hopes for the region joining Russia had totally disappeared after the Minsk ceasefire agreements, and now the prospects of being granted a special status within Ukraine leaves locals wary, with many fearing legal repercussions for participating in separatist activity.

 

[Hindustani78]

Reuters / Wednesday, March 18, 2015
A pro-Russian rebel takes cover as a woman from inside a kiosk looks on, during what the rebels said was an anti-terrorist drill in Donetsk, Ukraine, March 18, 2015. REUTERS/Marko Djurica

Reuters / Tuesday, March 17, 2015
A member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) waits to depart to the frontline in eastern Ukraine, in central Kiev, March 17, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

 

[nangyale]

Only Moscow Can Stop It
Washington’s War on Russia
by MIKE WHITNEY
“In order to survive and preserve its leading role on the international stage, the US desperately needs to plunge Eurasia into chaos, (and) to cut economic ties between Europe and Asia-Pacific Region … Russia is the only (country) within this potential zone of instability that is capable of resistance. It is the only state that is ready to confront the Americans. Undermining Russia’s political will for resistance… is a vitally important task for America.”

-Nikolai Starikov, Western Financial System Is Driving It to War, Russia Insider

“Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power.”

-The Wolfowitz Doctrine, the original version of the Defense Planning Guidance, authored by Under Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, leaked to the New York Times on March 7, 1992

The United States does not want a war with Russia, it simply feels that it has no choice. If the State Department hadn’t initiated a coup in Ukraine to topple the elected president, Viktor Yanukovych, then the US could not have inserted itself between Russia and the EU, thus, disrupting vital trade routes which were strengthening nations on both continents. The economic integration of Asia and Europe–including plans for high-speed rail from China (“The New Silk Road”) to the EU–poses a clear and present danger for the US whose share of global GDP continues to shrink and whose significance in the world economy continues to decline. For the United States to ignore this new rival (EU-Russia) would be the equivalent of throwing in the towel and accepting a future in which the US would face a gradual but persistent erosion of its power and influence in world affairs. No one in Washington is prepared to let that happen, which is why the US launched its proxy-war in Ukraine.

The US wants to separate the continents, “prevent the emergence of a new rival”, install a tollbooth between Europe and Asia, and establish itself as the guarantor of regional security. To that end, the US is rebuilding the Iron Curtain along a thousand mile stretch from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Tanks, armored vehicles and artillery are being sent to the region to reinforce a buffer zone around Europe in order to isolate Russia and to create a staging ground for future US aggression. Reports of heavy equipment and weapons deployment appear in the media on nearly a daily basis although the news is typically omitted in the US press. A quick review of some of the recent headlines will help readers to grasp the scale of the conflict that is cropping up below the radar:

“US, Bulgaria to hold Balkans military drills”, “NATO Begins Exercises In Black Sea”, “Army to send even more troops, tanks to Europe”, “Poland requests greater US military presence”, “U.S. Army sending armored convoy 1,100 miles through Europe”, “Over 120 US tanks, armored vehicles arrive in Latvia”, “US, Poland to Conduct Missile Exercise in March – Pentagon”

Get the picture? There’s a war going on, a war between the United States and Russia.

Notice how most of the headlines emphasize US involvement, not NATO. In other words, the provocations against Russia originate from Washington not Europe. This is an important point. The EU has supported US-led economic sanctions, but it’s not nearly as supportive of the military build up along the perimeter. That’s Washington’s idea and the cost is borne by the US alone. Naturally, moving tanks, armored vehicles and artillery around the world is an expensive project, but the US is more than willing to make the sacrifice if it helps to achieve its objectives.

And what are Washington’s objectives?

Interestingly, even political analysts on the far right seem to agree about that point. For example, check out this quote from STRATFOR CEO George Friedman who summed it up in a recent presentation he delivered at The Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs. He said:

“The primordial interest of the United States, over which for centuries we have fought wars–the First, the Second and Cold Wars–has been the relationship between Germany and Russia, because united there, they’re the only force that could threaten us. And to make sure that that doesn’t happen.” … George Friedman at The Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs, Time 1:40 to 1:57)

Bingo. Ukraine has nothing to do with sovereignty, democracy or (alleged) Russian aggression. That’s all propaganda. It’s about power. It’s about imperial expansion. It’s about spheres of influence. It’s about staving off irreversible economic decline. It’s all part of the smash-mouth, scorched earth, take-no-prisoners geopolitical world in which we live, not the fake Disneyworld created by the western media. The US State Department and CIA toppled the elected-government in Ukraine and ordered the new junta regime to launch a desperate war of annihilation against its own people in the East, because, well, because they felt they had no other option. Had Putin’s ambitious plan to create a free trade zone between Lisbon to Vladivostok gone forward, then where would that leave the United States? Out in the cold, that’s where. The US would become an isolated island of dwindling significance whose massive account deficits and ballooning national debt would pave the way for years of brutal restructuring, declining standards of living, runaway inflation and burgeoning social unrest. Does anyone really believe that Washington would let that to happen when it has a “brand-spanking” trillion dollar war machine at its disposal?

Heck, no. Besides, Washington believes it has a historic right to rule the world, which is what one would expect when the sense of entitlement and hubris reach their terminal phase. Now check out this clip from an article by economist Jack Rasmus at CounterPunch:

“Behind the sanctions is the USA objective of driving Russia out of the European economy. Europe was becoming too integrated and dependent on Russia. Not only its gas and raw materials, but trade relations and money capital flows were deepening on many fronts between Russia and Europe in general prior to the Ukraine crisis that has provided the cover for the introduction of the sanctions. Russia’s growing economic integration with Europe threatened the long term economic interests of US capitalists. Strategically, the US precipitated coup in the Ukraine can be viewed, therefore as a means by which to provoke Russian military intervention, i.e. a necessary event in order to deepen and expand economic sanctions that would ultimately sever the growing economic ties between Europe and Russia long term. That severance in turn would not only ensure US economic interests remain dominant in Europe, but would also open up new opportunities for profit making for US interests in Europe and Ukraine as well…

When the rules of the competition game between capitalists break down altogether, the result is war—i.e. the ultimate form of inter-capitalist competition.” (The Global Currency Wars, Jack Rasmus, CounterPunch)

See? Analysts on the right and left agree. Ukraine has nothing to do with sovereignty, democracy or Russian aggression. It’s plain-old cutthroat geopolitics, where the last man left standing, wins.

The United States cannot allow Russia reap the benefits of its own vast resources. Oh, no. It has to be chastised, it has to be bullied, it has to be sanctioned, isolated, threatened and intimidated. That’s how the system really works. The free market stuff is just horsecrap for the sheeple.

Russia is going to have to deal with chaotic, fratricidal wars on its borders and color-coded regime change turbulence in its capital. It will have to withstand reprisals from its trading partners, attacks on its currency and plots to eviscerate its (oil) revenues. The US will do everything in its power to poison the well, to demonize Putin, to turn Brussels against Moscow, and to sabotage the Russian economy.

Divide and conquer, that’s the ticket. Keep them at each others throats at all times. Sunni vs Shia, one ethnic Ukrainian vs the other, Russians vs Europeans. That’s Washington’s plan, and it’s a plan that never fails.

US powerbrokers are convinced that America’s economic slide can only be arrested by staking a claim in Central Asia, dismembering Russia, encircling China, and quashing all plans for an economically-integrated EU-Asia. Washington is determined to prevail in this existential conflict, to assert its hegemonic control over the two continents, and to preserve its position as the world’s only superpower.

Only Russia can stop the United States and we believe it will.

MIKE WHITNEY lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition. He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com.

 

[metronome]

 

[Superboy]

Serbia is under Western occupation