Ukraine: military (Aug '14 to mid-June '15) closed

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia getting ready to declare #Minsk2 void and open a major new offensive westward into Ukraine. https://twitter.com/Amb_Yakovenko/status/599234302274969600 …

AND Russia has not annexed Abkhazia????

Russian General Becomes Army Chief In Breakaway Abkhazia http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-russian-general-to-head-abkhazia-army/27024637.html … via @RFERL

2 National Guard servicemen - Ihor Panchyshyn and Mykola Valebny of 8th battalion were liberated from captivity http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2015/05/19/7068388/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Humor of the day---



#Lavrov states that the subtitles were wrong at spesnaz-video. #Kremlin released the original ones. https://twitter.com/search?q=pic.twitter.com%2FPe0k9ggLHC&src=typd

[OUTLAW 09]

Ground combat is now becoming more intense and one can now actually say Minsk 2 is formally "dead".

Militants attacked Ukr forces near Katerynivka, 4Ukr servicemen were KIA in combat, 2WIA, exchange of fire continues http://moskal.in.ua/index.php?categoty=news&news_id=1745 …

#BREAKINGNEWS
Russian forces are trying to break through the Ukrainian line of defense near Zolote
4 KIA
2 WIA
so far pic.twitter.com/ihI4uNq3SR

Artillery, mortars and ground forces involved in coordinated push.

[OUTLAW 09]

Dmitry Tymchuk: Military update 5.19

Posted on May 19, 2015 by tilamuse


Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

Operational data from Information Resistance:


Russian-terrorist troops in Donbas continue using heavy infantry weapons to shell the positions of Ukrainian troops and civilian objects (including heavy automatic grenade launchers, mortars, large caliber machine guns), also operating artillery systems.

In the seaside (Mariupol) direction, insurgents shelled the positions of Ukrainian troops near Shyrokyne using several 82-mm mortars similar to 2B9 “Vasilyok.”

Insurgents used the same weaponry to fire at positions of Ukrainian troops in the vicinity of Opytne and Vodyane.

Terrorists fired at the positions of Ukrainian troops near Mayorska station and the settlement of Avdiivka from 82- and 120-mm mortars.

In the vicinity of Pisky, Krasnohorivka, and the Butovka mine, insurgents actively use AGS-17 “Plamya” automatic grenade launchers and large-caliber machine guns similar to “Kord.” During shelling, the movement of several terrorist groups (up to 20-25 people each) has been observed in the direction of the Petrovskyi district of Donetsk.

In the vicinity of Luhanske, Lozove, Myronivka, Zolote, and Leniniske, terrorists are actively shelling the positions of Ukrainian troops from mortars (120-mm and 82-mm caliber) and other weapons (AGS-17 automatic grenade launchers, heavy machine guns NSV-12.7, “Utes,” and “Kord”; use of anti-aircraft cannons ZU-23-2 has been observed). The insurgent fire-strike groups are well coordinated in the Artemivsk direction.

Terrorist sabotage and reconnaissance groups continue to operate in the vicinity of Novotoshkivske ##– Krymske and Shchastya – Stanytsia Luhanska, supported by intense mortar and artillery unit fire. Also, the command of the Russian-terrorist forces does not cease attempts to make a breakthrough on the right flank of this stretch. All actions by insurgent gang formations are thwarted by ATO forces’ response fire.

Another enemy sabotage and reconnaissance group (up to 15 people) has been identified, during their attempt to infiltrate the tactical rear of Ukrainian troops, by combat outposts of the ATO near Troitske. The enemy sabotage and reconnaissance group made a tactical retreat as a result of the armed confrontation, returning to the territory controlled by terrorists.

There is a growing movement of terrorist formations at the forefront near Hranitne. Also, several fire strikes at positions of Ukrainian troops in the area have been observed (mostly from mortars and small arms) to cover up the regrouping of forces.

East to the Malomykolayivka – Myrne – Uspenka highway, insurgents launched several “combat training centers” and at least two reinforced battalions (one of them – a tank battalion). Large numbers of armored vehicles and artillery have accumulated in the area (up to 25 tanks (T-64 and T-72), 38 armored combat vehicles (various types, including BMP-1, BMP-2, and BMP-97 “Vystrel”), 22 MLRS, 16 cannon artillery guns (mainly D-30 howitzer), and 12 units of self-propelled artillery (howitzers 2S1 “Gvozdika” and 2S3 “Akatsiya”).

During the last 24 hours, we recorded approximately 40 insurgent vehicles moving throughout the occupied area. These were mainly individual cars or small (2-3 vehicles) supply convoys, and in less frequent instances, up to 5 vehicles. Cargo transport was moving the most actively in the vicinity of Luhansk and north of it, as well as from Krasnodon and Sverdlovsk towards Luhansk, Krasnyi Luch, and the Donetsk “hub.”

The following convoys merited particular attention:

– a motor convoy of 12 vehicles between Lutuhyne and Krasnyi Luch. The convoy included several specialized machinery units (one PZM-2 regimental ditching machine, two IRM engineer reconnaissance vehicles, one BAT-2 trail builder, and one E-305 military excavator). The convoy proceeded in the direction of Debaltseve.

– on the Donetsk – Luhansk highway, in the vicinity of Yenakijeve (near the turn to Shakhtarsk), we spotted a convoy of 4 thoroughly tarpaulined trailers (according to our preliminary data, they were transporting TOR-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems), plus three trucks, and an escort of two BTR-80 armored personnel carriers.

Movement of armored vehicles and personnel:

– Four insurgent tanks and two BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles were spotted transferring to the area east of the Yasynuvata junction. The armored vehicles took camouflaged positions.

– Mortar details continue transferring to the Spartak area. Terrorists are using motor vehicles en masse: for lateral transportation of their personnel and equipment, as well as to rapidly increase the mobility and maneuverability of their firing groups. The prevailing majority of insurgent firepower with the highest resistance intensity has now been mounted on mobile platforms (mainly on trucks).

– A part of the insurgent armored group that had previously operated between Pervomaisk and Stakhanov has moved in the direction of Donetske and Frunze (the group includes 6 tanks and 6 armored combat vehicles). An insurgent group from Alchevsk (up to 80 personnel, on board of tanks and ACVs) was spotted in the vicinity of Bryanka.

– A terrorist infantry unit was transferred from Starobesheve to the vicinity of Olenivka (a total of up to 50 personnel, with two 120-mm mortars, three trucks, two BTR-80 APCs and two BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles).

– The terrorists are rotating their units in a number of areas in the Seaside (Mariupol) sector. Several groups of Russian mercenaries (up to 250 personnel organized in several “units”) arrived [in this sector] from the north and from Russia.

[OUTLAW 09]

Dmitry Tymchuk: Military update 5.19

Posted on May 19, 2015 by tilamuse


Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

Operational data from Information Resistance:

This report is interesting in that it mentions increased use of Russian Spetsnaz teams in direct combat and the mentioning of the AD System TOR M1 in a spotted convoy.

NOTE--while the captured Spetsnaz intel types stated they were on a simple recon mission--highly suspect they were on a sabotage mission first and recon second in preparation of an actual follow on ground attack. This attack mission set was seen in attempts in other sectors by Spetsnaz teams that failed and were forced back.

Both the Russian FM and the Russian MoD adamently stated recently there are no Russian AD Systems in the Ukraine and the reports of them by the US were bascially lies.

[OUTLAW 09]

#Mariupol residents can hear heavy fighting from #Shyrokyne

This comes after this morning conversation intercepted by SBU - "Smash the city at 21:00" http://www.unian.net/war/1076346-kontrrazvedka-perehvatila-razgovor-boevikov-s-planami-raznesti-ekaterinovku-v-2100.html …

"DPR" claims they are attacked and they destroyed 2 Ukr tanks, 4-5 KIA, 14 WIA.

BREAKING: Mariupol residents can hear heavy fighting from #Shyrokyne http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/19-may-mariupol-residents-can-hear-heavy-fighting-from-shyrokyne …


NOTE--Remember the Russia disinformation concept of reverse reporting--this means the Ukrainians were attacked and they the mercenaries lost two tanks and personnel killed and or wounded----AS nothing has been reported by the Ukrainian unit on the ground currently--Azov.


NOTE---Azov is quick to report via FB straight out of the fighting which means it is intense and still in progress.

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears now that Ukrainians in the Russian mercenary zones are starting to get "buyers remorse".


"Lots of Ukrainian symbols visible around Lugansk. Unlike Donetsk, no serious attempt to remove pic.twitter.com/cwQEQgA1DC"

[OUTLAW 09]

Ukraine's Emb. to UK ✔ @UkrEmbLondon
#Ukraine's security chief told BBC two #Russia's soldiers captured in E Ukraine were military intelligence officers pic.twitter.com/KQr8KdcdWA

If serving, they are Russian POWs. If "former servicemen" as Kremlin claims, they are Russian mercenaries as per even Russian law pic.twitter.com/0xj3ne356I

For two “former Russian service members” who were "volunteers" in the LNR militia--- these actions now by the Russian MoD and others does seem strange??? Nice admission they were in fact active duty Russian Spetsnaz.

#Russia “on all channels” is trying to negotiate the release of detainees in#Ukraine special forces http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/19-may-russia-on-all-channels-is-trying-to-negotiate-the …

The General staffs of Russia and Ukraine may hold talks on the fate of GRU officers http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/19-may-the-general-staffs-of-russia-and-ukraine-may-hold …

Russians wanted to kill their captured officers in Luhansk reg, Ukrainian servicemen saved their lives, claims #Ukraine's FM Pavlo Klimkin.

UKR Mission to OSCE @UKRinOSCE
Russian occupants in #Donbas aren't tired of refuting myth that "Russians do not abandon their own people" http://www.firstpost.com/world/ukraine-says-russia-tried-to-kill-captured-russian-soldiers-reuters-2250938.html

So in fact the two captured Spetsnaz are not "former service members" but actual active Russian Army personnel.

Meanwhile, RU Major-General Igor Konashenkov refers to "abuse of wounded comrades by SBU"
http://uatoday.tv/news/russian-defense-ministry-demands-release-of-captured-russian-soldiers-428073.html …

NOTE--this Russian General has a Russian SF history.

Reference Russian claims of "abuse".

Prisoners of Russian SoF not tortured and provided with satisfactory health care - Amnesty International http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/19-may-prisoners-of-russian-sof-not-tortured-and-provided …

[OUTLAW 09]

#Mariupol residents can hear heavy fighting from #Shyrokyne

This comes after this morning conversation intercepted by SBU - "Smash the city at 21:00" http://www.unian.net/war/1076346-kontrrazvedka-perehvatila-razgovor-boevikov-s-planami-raznesti-ekaterinovku-v-2100.html …

"DPR" claims they are attacked and they destroyed 2 Ukr tanks, 4-5 KIA, 14 WIA.

BREAKING: Mariupol residents can hear heavy fighting from #Shyrokyne http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/19-may-mariupol-residents-can-hear-heavy-fighting-from-shyrokyne …

NOTE--Remember the Russia disinformation concept of reverse reporting--this means the Ukrainians were attacked and they the mercenaries lost two tanks and personnel killed and or wounded----AS nothing has been reported by the Ukrainian unit on the ground currently--Azov.

NOTE---Azov is quick to report via FB straight out of the fighting which means it is intense and still in progress.

#Shyrokyno - at 19.45 russians started firing at Ukr positions with mortars, tanks and artillery. https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/600713834354049025 …

Now Azov is confirming via their FB site of a heavy ongoing fight so the previous mercenary claims of Ukrainian loses are actually their own.

There is a battle in Shyrokyne for almost an hour now which continues. RU forces using tanks & howitzers - AZOV

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1055372281159560&substory_index=0&id=879147128782077&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1055372281159560&__tn__=%2As …

[OUTLAW 09]

How Capable Are Russia's New Armata Armored Vehicles? http://bit.ly/1R0LTnG pic.twitter.com/31AkbX7avL




"

[OUTLAW 09]

Ground combat is now becoming more intense and one can now actually say Minsk 2 is formally "dead".

Militants attacked Ukr forces near Katerynivka, 4Ukr servicemen were KIA in combat, 2WIA, exchange of fire continues http://moskal.in.ua/index.php?categoty=news&news_id=1745 …

#BREAKINGNEWS
Russian forces are trying to break through the Ukrainian line of defense near Zolote
4 KIA
2 WIA
so far pic.twitter.com/ihI4uNq3SR

Artillery, mortars and ground forces involved in coordinated push.

Now the Russian mercenaries are stating Minsk 2 is "dead".

"LPR's" Mozgovoi: "We are ready for more deaths. There is no way that we can reach an agreement with Kyiv government" http://ind.pn/1Fkz42e

[OUTLAW 09]

Now the shellings are getting intense--- AND across the entire contact line.

#Horlivka, #Dzerzhynsk 20:35
All to the basements!!! https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/600716718831460352 …

#Donetsk 8:46PM
Kyivsky district - something loud, towards airport, #Pisky, railway station. https://twitter.com/666_mancer/status/600719089343057921 …

#Donetsk 8:45PM
Now the shells are falling at the airport, windows tremble. https://twitter.com/idinmor/status/600718871356710913 …

Shelling in #Donetsk airport, #Pisky, Donetsk railway station, #Horlivka, #Dzerzhynsk and more places reported.

[OUTLAW 09]

Note the quality of these tanks--as if they are straight out of the weapons storage depot.

Do these Russian soldiers with tanks look like rebels/militants to you? So why call them "rebels" or "militants"? pic.twitter.com/RxI5foguwG

[OUTLAW 09]

So in fact the two captured Spetsnaz are not "former service members" but actual active Russian Army personnel.

Meanwhile, RU Major-General Igor Konashenkov refers to "abuse of wounded comrades by SBU"
http://uatoday.tv/news/russian-defense-ministry-demands-release-of-captured-russian-soldiers-428073.html …

NOTE--this Russian General has a Russian SF history.

Reference Russian claims of "abuse".

Prisoners of Russian SoF not tortured and provided with satisfactory health care - Amnesty International http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/19-may-prisoners-of-russian-sof-not-tortured-and-provided …

Now we see the "truth"--seems Russia is in panic mode after the two released interview videos from today--WHY else would the Russian FM want to met with "two so called former Service members"??????

Do not think they would have madfwe the same request to visit if a "miner and truck driver" had been captured.

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
Russian embassy demands meeting with Russians captured by Ukrainian army in Luhansk Regionhttp://tass.ru/en/russia/795627

This Russian press release is an utter attempt at rather bad disinformation--reflects a panic mode.


MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. Russia’s embassy in Kiev has demanded a meeting of consular staff with Russians Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev detained by the Ukrainian side on May 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

"According to information in Ukrainian media citing Ukraine’s Security Service and Defense Ministry, on May 17 the Ukrainian army wounded and seized nationals of the Russian Federation Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev in the Luhansk Region," the ministry said. "The Ukrainian authorities said these were Russian servicemen."

NOTE--the two Spetsnaz personnel openly stated they were active duty Russian service members of the 3rd GRU Spetsnaz Brigade NOT the Ukrainians and provided more than enough names of other Russian Spetsnaz in their team.

"The Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation is known to have already reported that the above-mentioned citizens are not active servicemen of Russia’s armed forces," the statement said.

"The Russian embassy in Kiev has demanded a meeting of consular staff with the held nationals of the Russian Federation to render them required assistance in line with norms of international law," the ministry said.

"We have been informed about the joint show staged today by Ukraine’s General Staff and the Security Service dedicated to the alleged detention of two Russian soldiers in the Luhansk region," he said. "The two Russian nationals, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, who were captured by the Ukrainian Security Service in the Luhansk region on May 17, were not servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces at the moment of detention."

First deputy commander of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic's militia Sergey Kozlov was earlier reported saying the republic insists on Kiev’s immediately releasing Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev.

"In line with provision six of the Minsk agreements that were signed by the Ukrainian president and with an aim of avoiding further escalation of the situation in the region, we demand immediate release of our militias, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev," he said. "Mistreatment of our will not be left without consequences."

NOTE---the Russian mercenaries on their own decided to stop all prisoner exchanges--currently they hold 401 confirmed POWs and a large number of civilians. There have been confirmed cases of Ukrainian POWs being both tortured and executed by Russian mercenaries--confirmed by AI and HWR. Ukrainians released all held Russian mercenary POWs in accordance with Minsk 2--Russia currently holds a number of Ukrainians actually imprisioned in Moscow after kidnapping them from the Ukraine. The US and NATO have repeatedly stated Russia must release all POWs under Minsk 2.

He stressed that LPR’s militias "have always been humane towards all captives." "I would like to stress that I am speaking not only about servicemen of the Ukrainian army but about soldiers of Ukrainian punitive battalions, including foreigners. We offered emergency assistance to all of them and let them return home," he said.JUST a side note--how is it possible that the two captured Spetsnaz had such a deep fear if captured their organs would have been harvested by the Ukrainians--they stated they had been told that by their Commanders-in the video today from the captured CPT he stated he was willing and attempted to use a grenade to kill himself to avoid this.

NOW the kicker--there have been some social media reports that this has been ongoing with Ukrainian POWs. In RUMINT there is somewhere a grain of truth.

[OUTLAW 09]

Now the Russian mercenaries are stating Minsk 2 is "dead".

"LPR's" Mozgovoi: "We are ready for more deaths. There is no way that we can reach an agreement with Kyiv government" http://ind.pn/1Fkz42e


Fergal Keane ✔ @fergalkeane47
Exclusive: #Ukraine's Poroshenko tells me now "real war" with Russia pic.twitter.com/9DEwzSrL1w

OSCE Apakan is talking out of something ---as Sector M is hot, and Russian forces at Novoazovsk staging post are on high alert.

NOTE---Sector M is Mariupol area where fighting is extremely this evening and it has been ongoing now for over three hours.

[OUTLAW 09]

Highly unusual time for this type of air activity on the part of the Russian AF.

Russian Air Force strategic bombers airborne... https://twitter.com/te3ej/status/600727767659995136 …

[OUTLAW 09]

So in fact the two captured Spetsnaz are not "former service members" but actual active Russian Army personnel.

Meanwhile, RU Major-General Igor Konashenkov refers to "abuse of wounded comrades by SBU"
http://uatoday.tv/news/russian-defense-ministry-demands-release-of-captured-russian-soldiers-428073.html …

NOTE--this Russian General has a Russian SF history.

Reference Russian claims of "abuse".

Prisoners of Russian SoF not tortured and provided with satisfactory health care - Amnesty International http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/19-may-prisoners-of-russian-sof-not-tortured-and-provided …

RUSSIANS CAPTURED IN UKRAINE SEND MESSAGES BACK HOME
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_UKRAINE_RUSSIAN_SOLDIERS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-19-14-30-10 …

VIDEO Soldiers of the '92nd Ombre' explaining how and where they captured Russian tourists...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Riat3JeK5Zs … pic.twitter.com/XfzVj46ZvY

Captured commandos cause panic in Russian General Staff. They are now looking for a way out - Media http://en.censor.net.ua/n336764

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian propaganda has 4 Ds: dismiss, distort, distract, dismay.

Always keep this in mind when reading Russian offical comments, press releases and or blog comments.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian embassy in Damascus comes under mortar fire http://tass.ru/en/world/795652

Russia the country that provides Assad with every weapon possible is bitching about the targeting of its Embassy in Damascus...

What goes around always comes around is an old Arabic saying---I remember that the KSA at an Arab League meeting recently condemned Russia arms shipments to Assad.


MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. Russia’s embassy in Damascus came under mortar fire on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

"The embassy was shelled presumably from the Jobar district controlled by illegal armed groups," he said. "One mine went off 15 meters off the main entrance gate of our diplomatic mission. Another mine broke through the outer wall and hit an office in the embassy building."

"Luckily, no one was hurt. The building was damaged," he said.

The ministry considers the shelling a terrorist attack against the diplomatic mission. "We reiterate our solidarity with the Syrian authorities in their efforts to rebuff the terrorist threat in Syria," the diplomat said.

"We call on the international community to respond to this terrorist attack against the Russian diplomatic mission. We urge all parties enjoying influence on extremists in Syria to demand they immediately stop such actions," he said.

Do not think for a moment that Russian acitvities in the Ukraine and in Syria are not connected. Seems DC and the NSC has forgotten this small point.

[OUTLAW 09]

#Shyrokyno - at 19.45 russians started firing at Ukr positions with mortars, tanks and artillery. https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/600713834354049025 …

Now Azov is confirming via their FB site of a heavy ongoing fight so the previous mercenary claims of Ukrainian loses are actually their own.

There is a battle in Shyrokyne for almost an hour now which continues. RU forces using tanks & howitzers - AZOV

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1055372281159560&substory_index=0&id=879147128782077&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1055372281159560&__tn__=%2As …

Appears that the OSCE is way to hopeful--seems they forgot to ask the combatants on the ground.

OSCE chief monitor [Apakan] says situation around Ukraine's #Shyrokyne will be settled within days (Kremlin TASS) http://tass.ru/en/world/795650

It will be settled only via armed conflict--as it is the key to the defense of Mariupol and Odessa and the Russian troops and her mercenaries know this--seems OSCE does not though.

[OUTLAW 09]

VIDEO Russia (test) fires a BUK missile. Probably during one of their many exercises.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIAGADTheF4 … #MH17 pic.twitter.com/gRcsBcoKeG

During the last day #Ukraine lost 4 soldiers and 16 were injured. https://twitter.com/UaForces/status/600732188078940160 …

4 Ukrainian troops killed, 2 injured as fighting flares in Katerynivka & Stakhanovets villages in Luhansk region, @interfaxua citing Moskal.

The ATO pressers lately doesn't give the numbers of "ceasefire violations" anymore, just report the incidents. There are just too many.

#Katerinovka As of 21:00 battle ended, attack repelled. There are only single/isolated shots now. Wounded evacuated. https://twitter.com/UaForces/status/600731186051358720 …

[OUTLAW 09]

So in fact the two captured Spetsnaz are not "former service members" but actual active Russian Army personnel.

Meanwhile, RU Major-General Igor Konashenkov refers to "abuse of wounded comrades by SBU"
http://uatoday.tv/news/russian-defense-ministry-demands-release-of-captured-russian-soldiers-428073.html …

NOTE--this Russian General has a Russian SF history.

Reference Russian claims of "abuse".

Prisoners of Russian SoF not tortured and provided with satisfactory health care - Amnesty International http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/19-may-prisoners-of-russian-sof-not-tortured-and-provided …

Detained Rus servicemen in hospital told @novaya_gazeta they were rendered quality med aid, are treated well @24tvua

Novaya Gazeta Visits Two Russian POWs, Obtains Confirmation One was Contract Soldier; Publishes Further Research http://bit.ly/1AduXpW

[OUTLAW 09]

Great new Russian military in the Ukraine open source documentation coming from bellingcat.

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
9 days until the May 28th release of Hiding in Plain Sight - Putin's War in Ukraine #PutinAtWar pic.twitter.com/ukru8cdtNH

[OUTLAW 09]

Now we see the "truth"--seems Russia is in panic mode after the two released interview videos from today--WHY else would the Russian FM want to met with "two so called former Service members"??????

Do not think they would have madfwe the same request to visit if a "miner and truck driver" had been captured.

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
Russian embassy demands meeting with Russians captured by Ukrainian army in Luhansk Region http://tass.ru/en/russia/795627

This Russian press release is an utter attempt at rather bad disinformation--reflects a panic mode.

JUST a side note--how is it possible that the two captured Spetsnaz had such a deep fear if captured their organs would have been harvested by the Ukrainians--they stated they had been told that by their Commanders-in the video today from the captured CPT he stated he was willing and attempted to use a grenade to kill himself to avoid this.

NOW the kicker--there have been some social media reports that this has been ongoing with Ukrainian POWs. In RUMINT there is somewhere a grain of truth.

Turnaround is fair play in the world of propaganda it seems---

Kyiv demands access to 2 Ukrainians detained by Russia - Foreign Ministry [/B]http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/kyiv-seeking-access-to-2-ukrainians-detained-by-russia-foreign-ministry-388982.html …?

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian embassy in Damascus comes under mortar fire http://tass.ru/en/world/795652

Russia the country that provides Assad with every weapon possible is bitching about the targeting of its Embassy in Damascus...

What goes around always comes around is an old Arabic saying---I remember that the KSA at an Arab League meeting recently condemned Russia arms shipments to Assad.

Do not think for a moment that Russian acitvities in the Ukraine and in Syria are not connected. Seems DC and the NSC has forgotten this small point.

Russian embassy in Damascus is on fire.

Seems it was Assad forces trying to hit IS--kind of like Russian mortar munitions coming home.

Russian embassy in Damascus hit by mortar during strike against IS. http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2442348&language=en …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian propaganda has 4 Ds: dismiss, distort, distract, dismay.

Always keep this in mind when reading Russian offical comments, press releases and or blog comments.

The Kremlin's #4D propaganda approach: dismiss, distort, distract, dismay. My policy paper http://goo.gl/mnUCOi via @GLOBSEC

Significant upsurge in false blame put on Ukraine for Russian shelling in Donetsk sector: orchestrated reporting by main Russian TV Networks

#Russia Launches ‘Predictive System’ for Monitoring Protest Activity Online http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/05/19/russia-launches-predictive-system-for-monitoring-protest-activity-online/ … pic.twitter.com/f6JovuCxJM

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin’s Disunited Nation.

The ethnic, regional & religious fragmentation of Russia is seen as a growing threat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/20/opinion/putins-disunited-nation.html?_r=0 …

Russian forces position somewhere in Donbas: "Vikings" Battalion mercenaries (added 18 May) https://vk.com/albums-93369497 pic.twitter.com/fCrPo5vy8r

#Horlivka - the village #Batmanovka was a buffer zone without troops. Tonight about 50 ruscists occupied it. https://twitter.com/Utilizator_/status/600724759169638401 …

6 Ukrainian soldiers killed fighting nr Papasna, Luhansk region. Frontline quite fuzzy + fluid all around this area http://www.ukrinform.ua/rus/news/pod_zolotim_bil_boy_shestero_voennih_pogibli_stolk o_ge_raneni___smi_1746096 …


Some much needed humor tonight---

If you report "rebels" without quotation marks, should you be described as a "journalist"?

[OUTLAW 09]

#Footage
Ukr tanks on the move, some km West of #Shyrokyne.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0-mUpCv9XE …
Preparations for what'll come. pic.twitter.com/FDENgZG9ik

"Гуманитарная помощь" - humanitarian aid has arrived today in Millerovo near #Ukraine border. https://archive.is/TGorY pic.twitter.com/eq4Nle0GdE

Again flares and fighting in northern #Donetsk http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/19-may-again-flares-and-fighting-in-northern-donetsk-- … pic.twitter.com/RXImtg42fI

Another payday for a RU mercenary in #Donetsk https://archive.is/khq0A + parade apc & GRU flag at 48.007051, 37.795269 pic.twitter.com/gZ3havicGC

Here's our new platform to track Russian military in Ukraine→Submit your findings #PutinAtWar https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2015/05/18/next-phase-in-bellingcats-ukraine-vehicle-tracking-project/ … pic.twitter.com/WSnTUIWzjR

Yep, but it's too much outgoing shelling from #Donetsk for RT to switch back on the livecam

Full size Lunev with Givi at DAP 15 Jan - Supports theory that Lunev was more than a reporter. GRU? SVR? pic.twitter.com/ErREaqKXpT

Other photos of Lunev for comparison pic.twitter.com/QlfmVhBRfz

VIDEO #Ukraine T-64 BM "Bulat" tanks being transported east by rail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_v0Z3wfO1E … #Donetsk #Luhansk #Putin pic.twitter.com/5nEOmEYjKm

Russian aid: Militant with radar. pic.twitter.com/qtjgaaDddD

#Footage
Russian"LPR" forces in #Luhansk prepare for war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcA8E4cHZAI …
pic.twitter.com/ScJLJyop7X

[OUTLAW 09]

The Kremlin's #4D propaganda approach: dismiss, distort, distract, dismay. My policy paper http://goo.gl/mnUCOi via @GLOBSEC

Significant upsurge in false blame put on Ukraine for Russian shelling in Donetsk sector: orchestrated reporting by main Russian TV Networks

#Russia Launches ‘Predictive System’ for Monitoring Protest Activity Online http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/05/19/russia-launches-predictive-system-for-monitoring-protest-activity-online/ … pic.twitter.com/f6JovuCxJM

Which of the 4Ds is this an example of?????

Witnesses in #Donetsk yesterday all described outgoing shelling from centre (Russian-held).
RU media: Wasn't us! pic.twitter.com/j20rvVzml7

[OUTLAW 09]

Turnaround is fair play in the world of propaganda it seems---

Kyiv demands access to 2 Ukrainians detained by Russia - Foreign Ministry [/B]http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/kyiv-seeking-access-to-2-ukrainians-detained-by-russia-foreign-ministry-388982.html …?

BREAKING: Putin may get involved in the release of detained Russian commandos - State Duma http://en.censor.net.ua/n336783

[OUTLAW 09]

After these two comments does any SWJ reader actually assume for more than 1 minute that Putin is really interested in a full implementation of Minsk 2???

What is really striking is the total lack of US leadership responses to both the heavily increasing shellings and ground attacks, the now totally convincing evidence of Russian active duty SF in the actual fighting and the still heavy weapons, munitions, fuel and other modern military supplies coming into the Ukraine----WHY is there total silence both from the White House, the DoS, the NSC AND more importantly absolutely nothing coming from mainstream US media.


Savel'ev Anton, Mamausupov Timur, and Kardapolov Ivan - Russian SOF killed in Ukraine on May 5 via @RuslanLeviev pic.twitter.com/aaCo41h8Ef

Tymchuk: In the last 24h Russian forces dramatically increased attacks on Ukrainian positions. Large Russian arms shipments are pouring in.

[OUTLAW 09]

#ATO press center reports #Russia-backed militants fired at #Pisky, #Donetsk airport area using incendiary munitions https://www.facebook.com/ato.news/posts/1001515726525900 …

10:10 #Shakhtarsk @Helgi__UA The second day in a row RUS fuel trucks drive ever and again from Russia to #Donetsk

10:42 #Donetsk @Serzzze 3 BMP via Kalinovka eastwards

Report on new graves of Russ special forces soldiers who “died in Ukraine” via @RuslanLeviev
https://www.facebook.com/ruslanleviev/posts/10155598429565424 … pic.twitter.com/aw6Eqtl30Q

Ukraine captured over 80 Russian soldiers on its territory in recent months, @poroshenko in intv w/ @fergalkeane47 pic.twitter.com/4FGeN1N5VF

#Russia's proxies attacked Ukr forces in #Shyrokyne this am. Fighting lasted for over 3hrs. 3 Ukr servicemen are WIA http://www.0629.com.ua/news/831825

#Donetsk @DoneckiiPatriot pic.twitter.com/BHtcTVOd0r

#Russia-backed militants resumed shelling of residential areas and towns: Shchastia, Hranitne, Katerynivka, Popasna https://www.facebook.com/ato.news/posts/1001515726525900

General Staff: Three Ukrainian soldiers killed, six wounded in fighting near Katerynivka
http://www.unian.info/politics/1079894-general-staff-three-ukrainian-soldiers-killed-six-wounded-in-fighting-near-katerynivka.html … pic.twitter.com/QsW7V3ZnLw

[OUTLAW 09]

@Guderian_Xaba The attacks at #Shyrokyno continued after midnight. 3 troopers WIA. http://www.5.ua/ato-na-shodi/Unaslidok-obstriliv-Shyrokynoro-poraneni-try-natshvardiitsi--sektor-M-80937.html …

#Luhansk reg @LuganskNews RUS [fired/shelled] w/AA-guns&GLs #Schastya, #Tryokhizbenka, #Krymske http://goo.gl/k2iyCd

#Horlivka @LeeZernoganja "yday evening/night RUS moved fr/Horlivka to Dzerzhynsk direction several tanks, BTRs & SPGs

09:45 #Shakhtarsk @Helgi__UA 1 Ural & 1 Kamaz trucks w/troops & D-30 cannons tow/#Torez. Trucks look new.

Savel'ev Anton, Mamausupov Timur, and Kardapolov Ivan - Russian SOF killed in Ukraine on May 5 via @RuslanLeviev pic.twitter.com/aaCo41h8Ef

Eng translation of @RuslanLeviev + @Pjatak post about discovery of new graves of Russ soldiers “killed in Ukraine”: https://medium.com/@ReggaeMortis1/russian-activists-investigate-spetsnaz-deaths-in-ukraine-59e2416b19b9 …

Tymchuk: In the last 24h Russian forces dramatically increased attacks on Ukrainian positions. Large Russian arms shipments are pouring in.

[OUTLAW 09]

08:12 #Donetsk Prozhektorna @DoneckiiPatriot There was a massive gunshot, maybe SPG

Russian-backed illegal armed formations shell communities and Ukrainian army positions http://www.mil.gov.ua/en/news/2015/05/20/russian-backed-illegal-armed-formations-shell-communities-and-ukrainian-army-positions/ …

More Russian disinformation at work.
Russian TV reports spoof Ukrainian news as realhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/monitoring/russian-tv-passes-off-spoof-ukrainian-news-as-real-thing … pic.twitter.com/4BUCgqYS3l

[OUTLAW 09]

Tymchuk: Russia is overtly deploying SAM missile systems in Ukraine that only it has such as the newly arrived Tor-M1 pic.twitter.com/Lg0SPxSohm

#OSCE reports more trucks from #Belarus in #Donbas: Transporting #Ukraine's coal to #Russia? http://belsat.eu/en/articles/osce-reports-increase-trucks-belarus-donbas-transporting-coal-russia/ … pic.twitter.com/o8D8QsUedf

Geolocating the "Buk" which shot down #MH17 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bxvEWZgCM8 …

Prez @poroshenko to @BBC: several weeks and months ago we captured 20, then 60 #Russian spetsnaz servicemen http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/international/2015/05/150519_poroshenko_bbc_interview …

Don't remember such "interesting" discussions when Russians and Cossacs in Krasny Partizan executed UKR soldiers ...

For the second day in a row Russian fuel trucks drive from #Russia to #Donetsk through #Shakhtarsk all day via @loogunda

[OUTLAW 09]

Again more “fake” Russian news media stories:.@SputnikInt wrong again. US not prepared to start up financial dialogue with Russia until Minsk fully implemented. pic.twitter.com/cMg68wdB2F

Well slowly the Russian mercenaries ie the Russian MoD are getting to their moment of “Russian truth”—first they were “former members of the Russian military “voluntold””—today they are now at least “ reservists”—well at least that is an improvement—SO “reservists called up for “active duty”—yes or no would be the next Russian MoD step they will be making in the next day or so.

Oliver Carroll @olliecarroll
Plotnitsky claims two Russians came to Lnr as volunteers. "They were reservists"

Plotnitsky presser in Luhansk. All questions agreed beforehand pic.twitter.com/Nw31dfQp95 http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/20-may-at-plotnitsky-presser-in-lugansk-all-questions-agreed … via @olliecarroll

Oliver Carroll @olliecarroll
Lugansk regional journalist (mercenary reporter): "Thank u 4 allowing journalists to ask questions". Plotnitsky: "no problem. I value work of 4th estate". Indeed

Another bit of Russian mercenary blatant propaganda—
Oliver Carroll @olliecarroll
Plotnitsky reiterates claim to northern part of Luhansk region which, he claims, voted for rebels in referendum. "We are trying peacefully"

[OUTLAW 09]

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Map. Situation in eastern #Ukraine, May 20, 12:00 EET pic.twitter.com/r7ZJIVDJ9k

#BreakingNews
Total number of Ukrainian casualties in yday #Katerinovka battle & mine attack rises to 14.
5 KIA
9 WIA

This morning a 3 hour battle took place in Shyrokyne (03:15-06:20) RU forces fired with 152mm artillery & AGS - AZOVhttps://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1055728201123968&substory_index=0&id=879147128782077&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1055728201123968&__tn__=%2As …

Militants fire on Hranitne, Katerynivka and Popasna
http://www.unian.info/war/1079938-militants-fire-on-hranitne-katerynivka-and-popasna.html … pic.twitter.com/A88Ejoh8hz

OSCE: The OTs continued to observe dumper trucks transporting coal from the Luhansk region to the Russian Federation through the BCP #Gukovo

NOTE: a large increase in Belarus plated trucks are being now seen vs five months ago so far more coal is being "stolen" than previously assumed.

#OSCE confirms rise of fuel transports at #Russia - #Ukraine border
checkpoints:http://www.osce.org/om/158861

[OUTLAW 09]

Tymchuk: Russia is overtly deploying SAM missile systems in Ukraine that only it has such as the newly arrived Tor-M1 pic.twitter.com/Lg0SPxSohm

#OSCE reports more trucks from #Belarus in #Donbas: Transporting #Ukraine's coal to #Russia? http://belsat.eu/en/articles/osce-reports-increase-trucks-belarus-donbas-transporting-coal-russia/ … pic.twitter.com/o8D8QsUedf

Geolocating the "Buk" which shot down #MH17 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bxvEWZgCM8 …

Prez @poroshenko to @BBC: several weeks and months ago we captured 20, then 60 #Russian spetsnaz servicemen http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/international/2015/05/150519_poroshenko_bbc_interview …

Don't remember such "interesting" discussions when Russians and Cossacs in Krasny Partizan executed UKR soldiers ...

For the second day in a row Russian fuel trucks drive from #Russia to #Donetsk through #Shakhtarsk all day via @loogunda

NOTE: the TOR MI AD system is only deployed in the active Russian Army and requires a very well trained regular army team NOT "miners and truck drivers" who would need over a year to master.

Remember as well the Russian MoD and the Russian FM both recently stated (after accusing the US of lying) there are absolutely no Russian AD systems in the Ukraine--WELL they now are and they are highly modern.

4 units of TOR-M1 air defense missile systems and radar reconnaissance deployed in the area between Jenakijewe and #Horlivka

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin's Peskov "Missile defense in Ukraine is a direct threat for the Russian rockets" http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/20-may-putins-peskov-missile-defense-in-ukraine-is-a-direct …

Turchynov: we will discuss Missile defense deployment to counter Ru missiles

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
SBU blocked schemes that funded “DPR” and “LPR”. Pro-Kremlin biker Aleksandr Zaldostanov [Khirurg] is implicated. pic.twitter.com/pFqr1WoEiM

Great #Hromadske video on #Crimea Tatar family starting new life in w. #Ukraine's Carpathians https://youtu.be/Cpci-5gh0S0?t=40s … pic.twitter.com/cKJ5w5zInm

Russian humanitarian aid is exactly what again?????
The truth about the humanitarian aid from #Russia to the #DNR. pic.twitter.com/cqQWcRr4Ht

Vodka and 120mm mortar shells in the same shipping crate---maybe by pouring the vodka into the mortar tube prior to firing one gets maybe another kilometer in range distance and an improved accuracy rate--who knows????

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Ukrainian servicemen spotted 9 flights of enemy UAVs, 3 more UAVs on the admin border between Kherson region and Crimea

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Russia-backed fighters fired at the Ukrainian positions 4 times in Shyrokyne

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Tryokhizbenka, Shchastya & areas around the Bakhmutaka road were sites of conflict in Luhansk sector.

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Militants used arms banned by Minsk II: 22 times – 120mm mortars, 3 times –122mm artillery, 4 – tanks

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
27 in the Donetsk sector. Hotspots: Pisky, Opytne, Avdiivka, Putylivska mine & Horlivka, Hranitne, Starohnativka

[OUTLAW 09]

OLD VIDEO #Ukraine treated #Putin soldiers w decency but this is how #Russia treats prisoners https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7bwlYuErdY … pic.twitter.com/nNk1g9J1yh

I don't recall my troll army going nuts over the "rebels" parading Ukraine POWs in front of a baying mob. pic.twitter.com/H9AvW0OvQw

@edwardlucas --Ukrainians are angry there was no Western outcry when Ukrainian POWs were killed/abused/paraded in streets by "rebels". Or when a Russian mercenary admits on camea he executed 14 Ukrainian POWS and would do more of it.

AND the West goes crazy over whether two captured Russian Spetsnaz are POWs, mercenaries or terrorists when videos are provided of their statements, excellent medical care was provided, messages sent to their families and the IRCI and OSCE visited them.

There are still over 400 Ukrainian POWS being held that were not released as stated they should be under Minsk 2—the mercenaries refused to continue the exchange—the Ukraine released all they held as it was to be an all for all process.

[OUTLAW 09]

Seems American social media companies to include PayPal seem to want to truly believe they do not live in a "political world". In the current 21st century--there is no such animal called "non political".

Russian oligarch and "black money" has flowed heavily into Twitter---to the tune of 700M USD, unlisted heavy inflow by Russian oligarch into Face Book both as investments but also in controlling the European FB operations, massive Russian oligarch monies into YouTube and Paypal as so called "investments.

So the question becomes are in fact US companies "beholden" and answer to the current Russian information warfare campaign?

It is interesting that currently GlobalVoices was able to identify recently a 20,000 Russian bot system using Twitter and FB for spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation AND they were not blocked BUT countless western and Ukrainian accounts which support the Ukraine and western journalists are being blocked for reasons sometimes really vague by Russian accounts--AND not much in the way of responses by the US companies on their apparently proRussian "political" stances.

In the Information Age, you'd think a giant like Facebook would be prepared for the Information War
https://twitter.com/euromaidanpress/status/599607890786258944 …

Users in #Ukraine Complain of @Facebook #Censorship; Zuckerberg Says Censored Posts Are Hate Speech http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/05/15/facebooks-zuckerberg-responds-to-ukrainians-complaints-but-is-his-answer-enough/ … by @tanyalokot

More now on this topic:

Who would like to defend Face Book as being proRussian and anti Ukrainian maybe it is the Russian investments into FB or the Russian Regulator pressure—who knows but they definitely are not defending the right to free speech yet rake in millions –so exactly again which side is FB on—democracy and free speech or the millions in Russian investments?

They blocked a photo of a grieving Ukrainian young child whose father was killed in the fighting with Russian troops under the guise of “graphic violence”?????

Yesterday they blocked Ukrainian accounts that carried the videos of the captured Russian Spetsnaz---if one looks at the Russian Regulator's comments about extremist materials--they view anything being proUkrainian and or anti Russia ie these two videos as "extremist".

UKRAINE TODAY @uatodaytv
Facebook blocks more Ukrainian users
http://uatoday.tv/politics/facebook-blocks-more-ukrainian-users-428335.html …

Russian Watchdog Threatens Google, Facebook Over 'Extremist' Content | News | The Moscow Times http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russian-watchdog-threatens-google-facebook-over-extremist-content/521832.html …

NOTE: all social media these days is political in nature and to attempt to refute that is simply not smart.

[OUTLAW 09]

More Russian disinformation ie propaganda---just replace the word Ukrainian with Russian and the "truth" suddenly appears.

Typical Orwellian Russian double speak.

Russia24 channel announces? They tell of concentrating Ukrainian Grads near Volnovakha + "when should we wait new shellings?"via @Helgi__UA

[OUTLAW 09]

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.de/2015/05/putin-kadyrov-and-co-now-can-kill.html

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

‘Putin, Kadyrov and Co.’ Now Can Kill Anyone and Hide Their Role, Eidman Says

Paul Goble
Continued........



Staunton, May 20 – The investigation of the murder of Boris Nemtsov shows that the first-ever “killer agency” capable of handling the entire course of a killing, from the selection of a victim to the disposition of the case in such a way that those behind it will not be held responsible, has been organized in Russia, according to Igor Eidman.

And that means, the Moscow commentator says, that “as long as the Putin-Kadyrov killer agency continues to exist” – something that tensions between Moscow and Grozny may ultimately destroy – “new murders of those it finds unsuitable can take place at any time” (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=555B0779C9897).

According to Eidman, “certain senior bureaucrats and leaders of the law enforcement organs in Moscow and in Grozny participate in the work of this agency to one degree or another.” They tend to choose Chechens of low rank and importance as the executors because public opinion can be whipped up against them and those who order the killings protected.

But what makes the Putin-Kadyrov murder agency especially effective is its ability to assign as investigator of any particular murder “its own man” who will make sure that the investigation goes so far and no further and imposes punishment only on low level lackeys who can be sacrificed to protect those above them.

Moreover, this “killer agency” involves “a limited circle of people,” and consequently, “all its murders are similar to one another, suspicions fall on one and the same people, and one and the same ‘law enforcers’ conduct the investigation,” Eidman points out; and for those paying attention, that gives the game away.

[OUTLAW 09]

Typical respect by Russia of “those small things called international law/agreements” they claim to always observe. Seems Gazprom “forgot” to get EU commission approval as it will cross into EU countries out of Turkey and yet turkey still has not even signed the pipeline agreement after officially backing away from it.

Gazprom starts to build ‘Turkish Stream’ pipeline without getting Turkey’s permission first
http://www.unian.info/economics/1079987-gazprom-starts-to-build-turkish-stream-pipeline-without-getting-turkeys-permission-first.html … pic.twitter.com/n5TxESgJvd

Russian submarine detected close to Latvian territorial waters, 48th case of RU military activity near border in 2015
http://www.baltictimes.com/russian_submarine_detected_close_to_latvia_s_terri torial_waters/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Have to get mileage out of the mortar attack from yesterday especially in light of the fact that it was Assad forces firing on IS positions that strangely hit the Russian Embassy.

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
We view a mortar attack at the Russian Embassy in Damascus as a terrorist attack, 19.05. http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/0/1C54DFECA5BE325C43257E4B002DBDEC … pic.twitter.com/un3uLyQevd

#Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers terminates Military and Technical Cooperation Agreement of 1993 with #Russia: http://www.hromadske.tv/politics/kabmin-pripiniv-viiskovotekhnichne-spivrobitnitstv/ …

In some ways this is actually correct—one has not heard a single word more from Hollande and or Merkel even in the face of the extensive heavy shellings and ground attacks since Sochi.

This might explain why the US stepped in ie Sochi.

On #Ukraine: the Minsk agreement is unfulfillable says @CER_IanBond. The #EU (read: @GermanyDiplo) stumbled into a trap!
The Germans felt that if they could get the shooting to stop then diplomacy would work--how wrong they have been and yet fail to admit it.

More Russian technology being used by Russian mercenaries who were as Putin explained just “miners and truck drivers”.
In the #DNR there was never a lack of technology. #Russia has made this possible. pic.twitter.com/gkX8IkXTrW

[OUTLAW 09]

Afternoon shellings are slowly kicking in. Will be interesting to see if they are accompanies as yesterday with strong ground attacks.

14:30 #Hirske @GirkinGirkin Rumble

In #Shyrokyno again heard incoming 120-mm mortar rounds. https://twitter.com/amdh2012/status/600976498024144896 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Seems Russian FM “forgets” they were engaged in military actions, carrying the latest Russian Spetsnaz rifle and admitting they were active duty Russian Spetsnaz and named their Russian Spetsnaz unit and their mission sets—strange word behavior for a Foreign Ministry.

THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
official site

Press release on the arrest of Russian citizens in Ukraine

964-19-05-2015


The Ukrainian media reports, quoting the Security Service of Ukraine and the national Defence Ministry, that, on May 17, 2015, Ukrainian forces wounded and captured Russian citizens Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev in the Lugansk Region. Ukrainian authorities claim they are Russian military personnel.

The Russian Defence Ministry has already noted that both men are not active members of the Russian Armed Forces.

The Russian Embassy in Kiev demanded that consular officers be allowed to meet with Russian citizens, now being held in custody, and to provide them with assistance as defined under international law.

NOTE: Russia is always quick to point put to others when they are so called in "violation of international law" BUT they themselves fail repeatedly to adhere to even the international agreements they sign ie Budapest Memorandum and Minsk 2.

[OUTLAW 09]

More now on this topic:

Who would like to defend Face Book as being proRussian and anti Ukrainian maybe it is the Russian investments into FB or the Russian Regulator pressure—who knows but they definitely are not defending the right to free speech yet rake in millions –so exactly again which side is FB on—democracy and free speech or the millions in Russian investments?

They blocked a photo of a grieving Ukrainian young child whose father was killed in the fighting with Russian troops under the guise of “graphic violence”?????

Yesterday they blocked Ukrainian accounts that carried the videos of the captured Russian Spetsnaz---if one looks at the Russian Regulator's comments about extremist materials--they view anything being proUkrainian and or anti Russia ie these two videos as "extremist".

UKRAINE TODAY @uatodaytv
Facebook blocks more Ukrainian users
http://uatoday.tv/politics/facebook-blocks-more-ukrainian-users-428335.html …

Russian Watchdog Threatens Google, Facebook Over 'Extremist' Content | News | The Moscow Times http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russian-watchdog-threatens-google-facebook-over-extremist-content/521832.html …

NOTE: all social media these days is political in nature and to attempt to refute that is simply not smart.

http://uatoday.tv/politics/facebook-blocks-more-ukrainian-users-428335.html

Facebook blocks more Ukrainian users

Activists accuse the social network of ignoring anti-Ukrainian posts


More than a hundred Ukrainian users of Facebook were blocked on May 18 for 'inappropriate content' or without an explanation. Popular Ukrainian bloggers and activists like Vakhtang Kipiani or Alexander Roytburg were blocked together with MP Borislav Bereza.

Ukrainian media Watcher conducted an experiment, lodging complaints on some Facebook posts containing anti-Ukrainian messages. One of them was an interview with a pro-Russian militiant, in which he says that their forces were coming to kill Ukrainians. Responding to the complaint, the Facebook administration said that the content does not violate their 'Community Standards'.

On the other hand, Ukrainian MP Borislav Bereza was banned for a post in which he called on the EU and UN to pay their attention to the interview of the recently captured Russian soldiers.

Maksim Savanevsky, the managing partner of digital agency PlusOne and co-founder of Ukrainian Crisis Media Centre said:

'The Facebook administration has lagged behind the reality. It looks like neither Mark Zuckerberg, nor his team have heard about hybrid wars. They continue to think in the field of funny pictures and kittens, while thousands of people die in Ukraine.

The Facebook administration refuses to recognize that their complaints system is imperfect and has a lot of bugs, which are used by the Russian secret services to block thousands of Ukrainian users. At least fifty percent of popular Ukrainian activists have been blocked at least once in the last 3 months.

Instead of fixing the system, Zuckerberg tells us that their system works perfectly and Ukrainians have to blame themselves for being blocked.'

A week ago, thousands of Ukrainian users signed a petition to Mark Zuckerberg, asking to open a Ukrainian office of Facebook because of the unfair moderation of Ukrainian posts. During the Q&A session, the Facebook CEO commented that the company had no plans to open a Ukrainian (or Russian) office. He believes the moderation of posts is totally fair and all the posts were deleted justly.

So this begs a really simple question DOES in fact Zuckerberg work for the Russian FSB and his Russian investors or does he not believe social media has become both political and a weapon of choice in the "weaponization of information"??

GlobalVoice recently released a open source study on an over 20,000 Russian infowar bot network--and Zuckerberg yet still believes his FB is not "political"--he really does need to read their study.

Otherwise he is rather naïve and that would be a fair understatement.

[OUTLAW 09]

.@poroshenko tells @bbc #Ukraine is at war. Just look at the territories captured in Marchhttp://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32805555 … pic.twitter.com/xKEajyCaH8

Two Russian paratroopers, killed near Debaltseve, were buried in Togliatti, Russia. PHO http://24today.net/open/415431 pic.twitter.com/M2QL8qwdCJ

Unusual:
#Horlivka @evroplastid "Suspicious silence for about 24 hours

Previously Russian FM alluded to the fact that during the Nuland visit to Moscow she supported direct dialogue between the Ukraine and the Russian mercenaries—seems to have been a “fake” report by the Russian FM. Russian propaganda has been hard at work the last few days creating an illusion that Putin is this great “managing director” and Russia is being vindicated for it’s position reference the Ukraine.


MOSCOW - The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has denied earlier reports suggesting that Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland spoke in favor of establishing direct dialogue between Kyiv and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR) during her recent visit to Moscow.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian naval activity is ramping up.

NBS @Latvijas_armija
Armed Forces on 20 MAY in LV EEZ 10 nmi from territ. waters spotted RU Navy's Kilo-class submarine, and hydrographic survey ship GS-270

Alpinist spy ship "Zhigulevsk" departed Kronshtadt today for at-sea operations

Yantar research ship "Yantar" to conduct tests in Atlantic Ocean in Aug http://ria.ru/interview/20150520/1065490343.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Two totally different takes on the eastern front war of the Ukraine:

Russian media write that #Donetsk and Luhansk "people republics" announced #Novorossiya projected to be closed down" http://m.gazeta.ru/politics/2015/05/19_a_6694441.shtml …

US military expert, Phillip Karber: #Russia Is Preparing For A Great Offensive in #Ukraine
http://www.defence24.com/news_russia-prepared-for-a-great-offensive#.VVx-cR0i1jY.twitter … pic.twitter.com/di7R5GqX9y

And this is not de facto annexation--by extending one's one military legal/command structures over another country????
Russia's Parliament will recognise legal status of DPR 'armed forces' which will make it easier to justify Russian armed forces "assistance"

16 May, DPR militia became 'armed forces' modelled on Russian Fed law. In effect, extension of Russian armed forces. http://rg-dnr.info/page/parlament-dnr-prinyal-zakon-o-sozdanii-voorujennyih-sil …

Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss
PT: 2008 NATO Bucharest summit was where Putin first floated hostility toward Georgia and ("not really a state") Ukraine.

Russian forces and proxies attack #Shyrokyne with heavy artillery banned by Minsk agreements
http://euromaidanpress.com/2015/05/20/russian-forces-and-proxies-attack-ukrainian-positions-with-heavy-artillery-banned-by-minsk-agreements/ … pic.twitter.com/1rvtyXWst9

[OUTLAW 09]

http://uatoday.tv/politics/facebook-blocks-more-ukrainian-users-428335.html

Facebook blocks more Ukrainian users

Activists accuse the social network of ignoring anti-Ukrainian posts

So this begs a really simple question DOES in fact Zuckerberg work for the Russian FSB and his Russian investors or does he not believe social media has become both political and a weapon of choice in the "weaponization of information"??

GlobalVoice recently released a open source study on an over 20,000 Russian infowar bot network--and Zuckerberg yet still believes his FB is not "political"--he really does need to read their study.

Otherwise he is rather nave and that would be a fair understatement.


Paula Chertok @PaulaChertok
Ukraine's capture of Russian military spies is BIG news. Facebook blocks account for posting the video?? C'mon guys pic.twitter.com/IDKC5cRYYS

[OUTLAW 09]

This was found after battle with Spetsnaz: RU АК103 w. GP-34 & special device for 100 series. https://www.facebook.com/andriy.tsaplienko/posts/10153058512259690?pnref=story … pic.twitter.com/8MzBGXVCI5

SMM confirms presence advanced surface-to-air missile system 9K35 Strela-10 in rebel-controlled territory; spotted by our UAV recently

Really enlightening comment out of a Russian political type…….

Chairman of Russia Foreign Policy Committee:
IF Ukraine wants to keep Donbass, it'll have to do what we want.
pic.twitter.com/TuOBN6rODJ

Now we have a Russian mercenary religious fanatic…..

Russian-Backed Separatist Leader Says His Government Will Only Recognize Four Religions
http://www.interpretermag.com/ukraine-live-day-457-3-ukrainian-soldiers-9-wounded-with-heavy-fighting-in-shirokino-and-near-katerinovka/#8430 … pic.twitter.com/enp2iSSAIX

[OUTLAW 09]

Going to be a rather early and long shelling night and then the ground attacks will occur.

19:55 #Donetsk @Serzzze A tank via Kalinovka westwards

20:05 #Shakhtarsk @Helgi__UA 12 Kamaz trucks from #Donetsk eastward

19:50 #Donetsk Tekstilschik @GirkinGirkin There was an explosion at ATB store parking, 'half district jumped'

19:43 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster Sporadic distant rumbles

19:15 #Donetsk Tekstilschik @PVB40 Rumble in 19th coalmine area

20:45 #Donetsk Kyivsky @jackson_villi It started over. Volleys rumble

#Donetsk
20:43 @UkraineSuper1 3 heavy outgoing [voilleys] fr/Tochmash
20:44 @HeleneHelene5 Single heavies fr/Balka/Smolyanka

20:40 #Donetsk @nixer79 3rd series during 15min of howitzer/SPG volleys, 3 tubes fr/Shakhtarska,shells fly behind #Yasynuvata

20:54 #Donetsk @ZeppelinMint 4th [volley] and so on, from Vishnevsky hospital area?

20:47 #Donetsk @Irina16135931 Afternoon d-30 arrived to Donetsk, in the evening 20 Ural trucks went for ammo, looks like no calm night today

20:49 #Donetsk @relictDon Atrilley works fr/DurnaBalka

#Donetsk @nixer79 Fr/20:43 frequent single volleys started

#Horlivka @ItechVK I haven't seen armed militants in the city center for ages. I am lucky or they have some order.

#Donetsk @dnavtoparts
20:46 Vetka: rumble
20:46 Azotny:rumble
20:49 Topaz: rumble

[OUTLAW 09]

Dudayev Battalion Fighter Reportedly Killed Outside Stanitsa Luganskaya http://bit.ly/1K1MAJg

Defending #Ukraine: Soldiers repel militant attacks near #Donetsk Airport http://uatoday.tv/politics/defending-ukraine-soldiers-repel-militant-attacks-near-donetsk-airport-428444.html … pic.twitter.com/RxY3GASsOZ

Russian Embassy: N response from Kyiv re meeting with captured Russian officers
http://www.unian.info/war/1080237-russian-embassy-n-response-from-kyiv-re-meeting-with-captured-russian-officers.html … pic.twitter.com/CO5DiHEMDE

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings were prelude to four major ground attacks—not your average mini assaults ongoing

20:51 #Donetsk @jackson_villi Arty volleys tow/#Avdeevka
20:51 @PVB40 4+4+3+2+2 not that heavy loud volleys fr/other cannons

#Dzerzhynsk 9:23PM
Ongoing exchange of courtesies.
LOUD https://twitter.com/hdzerz/status/601090830313488384 …

#Dzerzhynsk 9:34PM
Battle, tracers, flares https://twitter.com/hdzerz/status/601093690057203712 …

#Dzerzhynsk 9:35PM
In general, every five minutes heavy incoming, something extremely powerful. https://twitter.com/blessmaster/status/601093974888226817 …

It seems that the word "ceasefire" it's just missing from the russian dictionary.

20:47 #Donetsk Putilovka @hauzenmynh outgoing mortar
20:50 #Makeevka @Shymanovski single heavies fr/mil base in Schorsa St

20:36 #Donetsk Kirovsky @ropogckou New "infernal volleys/rumble" heard, unclear what it is

20:52 #Donetsk @PVB40 "They started early today, 3-5 volleys fr/diff sides each min like fr/Petrovka to the center"

Battle between #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca and #Kamyanka, flares, machine guns, mortars, heavy explosions. https://twitter.com/Staroignatievca/status/601085436019224576 …

20:45 #Shakhtarsk @Helgi__UA 5 18-wheelers escorted by cars w/policelights-foghorns eastward

#Mariupol 21:30
The entire city has plunged into darkness! There is neither light nor water. https://twitter.com/DonUkrop/status/601093835368837120 …

They say now there''s power in some parts of the city.
RU source also saying Mariupol, #Horlivka partly w/o electricity

Don't forget, those 2 spetsnaz from 3rd brigade were on an op heading towards a power station.

This is why Lentsov wants DMZ at Shyrokyne so badly: Russian General Staff plan is to swing north of Mariupol, down on Berdyansk

yep, and pushing north of Gorlovka and Lugansk. It's pincer time all over Donbass soon

Of course, we all know what this means: Russia plans to make trouble in the Balkans to distract NATO/EU/US... https://twitter.com/tassagency_en/status/601096277770805248 …

[OUTLAW 09]

A solid analysis of what is currently ongoing-------


http://www.rferl.org/content/lose-the-territory-win-the-war/27024973.html

The Power Vertical

Lose The Territory, Win The War

-- Brian Whitmore

May 19, 2015


For more than a year, there's been a war in eastern Ukraine that nobody called a war. And for the past three months, there's been a cease-fire there that wasn't a cease-fire.

And now that the agreement reached in Minsk in February that was supposed to end hostilities in the Donbas is all but dead in the water, we seem to be lurching toward some kind of endgame. And it is shaping up to be as strange and counterintuitive as every other aspect of this through-the-looking-glass hybrid conflict.

"Normally, wars are fought over prize territory: winners gain it, losers lose it," Alexander Motyl, a professor at Rutgers University-Newark and expert on post-Soviet affairs wrote recently in Foreign Policy.

But in this conflict, Motyl added, whoever ends up holding the Russian-controlled territories of the Donbas will actually be the loser.

The region, he noted, is an economic basket case. Its industrial base is devastated. Infrastructure damage is estimated to be $227 million. Gas and water shortages are endemic. Only one-third of the population is receiving regular wages.

Of the estimated 3 million people remaining there, 2 million are either children or pensioners who must be supported by 1 million working-age adults.

Responsibility for rebuilding this mess will be a major financial albatross for either Kyiv or Moscow.

And then there are the politics.

Without the rebel-held areas, Ukraine can get on with reforming its economy and integrating with the West. With them, Kyiv will be saddled with a pro-Moscow fifth column in the east that will paralyze it for the foreseeable future.

So who is losing?

"As the man who owns the enclave and is likely to do so for the foreseeable future," Motyl wrote, "Vladimir Putin is thus the loser. And both Russia and Ukraine know it."

And this explains a lot. It explains, for example, why the Kremlin is suddenly so concerned about Ukraine's territorial integrity.

In a radio interview last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow wanted Ukraine to remain united and accused the authorities in Kyiv of trying to partition their own country.

Lavrov made his comments in reaction to a call by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for UN peacekeepers in Donbas

It also explains why separatist leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk last week submitted proposals for those territories' long-term status that keep them inside Ukraine -- albeit one that is decentralized to the point of dysfunction.

"At first glance, the separatist documents seem promising. In a sharp break with previous practice, they make no mention of the unrecognized Donetsk and Lugansk 'people's republics,'" Russian political commentator Leonid Bershidsky wrote recently in Bloomberg.

"Instead, the territory is called 'a separate district with a special status.'"

Bershidsky added that the proposals "have Moscow's fingerprints" and "demonstrate a lawyerly cunning that the rough and ready rebels have never exhibited."

This is the context, subtext, and backstory of the flurry of diplomacy we have seen in recent weeks -- from Angela Merkel's visit to Moscow to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's stopover in Sochi to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland shuttling between the Ukrainian and Russian capitals.

The West is desperately trying to salvage a Minsk cease-fire that is long past its sell-by date.

Russia, meanwhile, is trying to force an interpretation of that cease-fire on everybody that results in a Bosnia-style solution that allows Moscow's proxies in eastern Ukraine to keep the country dysfunctional and out of the Western orbit.

Russia could of course still launch a costly and risky military offensive aimed at Mariupol or Kharkiv.

Or, as Bershidsky suggests "he can freeze the situation and proceed to build ties with the rebel-held areas on the model of other frozen conflict zones: Transdnistria in Moldova, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia."

But according to Motyl, "time is on Ukraine's side" as "the current stand-off is the best of all possible worlds for Kyiv."

"Winning this 'hybrid' war means losing territory. All Ukraine needs do is keep the separatists boxed in," he wrote.

"Sooner or later, a rational or semi-rational Putin disinclined to start World War III over a piece of crummy real estate will have to accept 'frozen conflict' status or pull another Crimea and annex the territory. Either way, Russia will be stuck with a no-future region that will be a drag on its economy for decades to come."

[OUTLAW 09]

http://maidantranslations.com/2015/05/20/dmitry-tymchuk-military-update-5-20-freesavchenko/

Dmitry Tymchuk: Military update 5.20

Posted on May 20, 2015 by chervonaruta


Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine


Operational data from Information Resistance:

During the past 24 hours, a sharp surge in the activity of Russian-terrorist forces has been recorded in Donbas. The number of fire strikes on the positions of ATO forces has increased; illegal armed groups have also made several unsuccessful attempts to break through the defense of the Ukrainian troops.

Russian troops and the terrorists fired from 152- and 122-mm artillery systems, 82-mm and 120-mm caliber mortars. They also used tanks, armored vehicles, all kinds and types of both light and heavy infantry weapons. In addition to the positions of ATO forces, the terrorists launched aimed fire onto [civilian] settlements.

The situation is heating up in the Artemivsk direction, where new insurgents units were earlier deployed to the flanks. During the past 24 hours, terrorists have fired at Ukrainian positions near Shyroka Balka, Luhanske, Zolote, Katerynivka, and Svitlodarsk.

The situation in the area has been aggravated between the settlements of Popasna and Orikhove. Positions of Ukrainian troops and their strongholds succumbed to massive mortar and artillery bombardment practically along the entire length of this area, including the town of Popasna and the village of Katerynivka. During the long firefight with the ATO forces division defending Katerynivka, terrorists from the “Pryzrak” [Ghost] gang made an unsuccessful attempt to surround the stronghold from the flanks. Ukrainian troops promptly identified and stopped the advancement of the infantry units of this illegal armed group.

Russian-terrorist forces have escalated in the vicinity of Hranitne, Novohryhorivka, and Starohnativka. The positions of Ukrainian troops were repeatedly fired at with 82- and 120-mm mortars and Zu-23-2 anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon. Four BMP-2 fired at a stronghold of the ATO forces from standard weapons in the vicinity of Trokhizbenka and Sokilnyky.

Shellings and firefights have also been recorded near Avdiivka, Krasnohorivka, Pisky, and Mariinka. A sharp increase in enemy sniper fire has been observed in several areas at once.

On movements of units and military equipment:

At least two 11-12-vehicle convoys with covered transport have been recorded moving through Luhansk towards Krasnodon and Rovenky. Later, another convoy of 20 vehicles, including three buses with armed personnel, has been observed heading in the same direction.

Transfer of military equipment, weapons and ammunition for the needs of insurgents continues through the railway stations of Krasnodon and Ilovaisk. The arrival of eight tarped platforms with tracked vehicles has been observed in Ilovaisk.

The transfer of four units of TOR-M1 surface-to-air missile systems and radar reconnaissance systems has been recorded in the area between Yenakijeve and Horlivka. The relocation of air defense systems (currently in the service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation) was carried out without any disguise.

The movement of a mixed “mechanized infantry” company of insurgents with 14 ACVs has been observed on a highway between Starobesheve and Telmanove.

A group of Russian-terrorist forces in the vicinity of the Yasynuvata junction has been reinforced with two T-72 tanks, six BMP-2, two MT-LB and a “Strela-10″ SAM within the past 24 hours.

In addition, a significant movement of motor vehicles within Donetsk, mainly in the Kyivskyi and Petrovskyi districts of the city, as well as south of Luhansk between Dokuchajevsk and Olenivka has been observed.

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings were prelude to four major ground attacks—not your average mini assaults ongoing

20:51 #Donetsk @jackson_villi Arty volleys tow/#Avdeevka
20:51 @PVB40 4+4+3+2+2 not that heavy loud volleys fr/other cannons

#Dzerzhynsk 9:23PM
Ongoing exchange of courtesies.
LOUD https://twitter.com/hdzerz/status/601090830313488384 …

#Dzerzhynsk 9:34PM
Battle, tracers, flares https://twitter.com/hdzerz/status/601093690057203712 …

#Dzerzhynsk 9:35PM
In general, every five minutes heavy incoming, something extremely powerful. https://twitter.com/blessmaster/status/601093974888226817 …

It seems that the word "ceasefire" it's just missing from the russian dictionary.

20:47 #Donetsk Putilovka @hauzenmynh outgoing mortar
20:50 #Makeevka @Shymanovski single heavies fr/mil base in Schorsa St

20:36 #Donetsk Kirovsky @ropogckou New "infernal volleys/rumble" heard, unclear what it is

20:52 #Donetsk @PVB40 "They started early today, 3-5 volleys fr/diff sides each min like fr/Petrovka to the center"

Battle between #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca and #Kamyanka, flares, machine guns, mortars, heavy explosions. https://twitter.com/Staroignatievca/status/601085436019224576 …

20:45 #Shakhtarsk @Helgi__UA 5 18-wheelers escorted by cars w/policelights-foghorns eastward

#Mariupol 21:30
The entire city has plunged into darkness! There is neither light nor water. https://twitter.com/DonUkrop/status/601093835368837120 …

They say now there''s power in some parts of the city.
RU source also saying Mariupol, #Horlivka partly w/o electricity

Don't forget, those 2 spetsnaz from 3rd brigade were on an op heading towards a power station.

This is why Lentsov wants DMZ at Shyrokyne so badly: Russian General Staff plan is to swing north of Mariupol, down on Berdyansk

yep, and pushing north of Gorlovka and Lugansk. It's pincer time all over Donbass soon

Of course, we all know what this means: Russia plans to make trouble in the Balkans to distract NATO/EU/US... https://twitter.com/tassagency_en/status/601096277770805248 …

Ground fighting is now intense in three locations-----


Heavy terrorists attack on #Mayorsk and Shumy 10 min ago, about 10 tanks and apcs.
Via @mihovil78

Even pro #Russia|n sources are reporting about heavy fighting in #Mayorsk and #Dzerzhynsk

Heavy shelling on #Dzerzhynsk tonight

#Donetsk 10:43PM
Shyroke cemetery area - tank firing https://twitter.com/kmet7575/status/601110947307073536 …

Heavy fighting in #Pisky and #Spartak betwen #Ukraine forces and #Russia|ns
Via @mihovil78

[OUTLAW 09]

"Is the 'World’s Deadliest Tank' Bankrupting #Russia?" by @HoansSolo

http://thediplomat.com/2015/05/is-the-worlds-deadliest-tank-bankrupting-russia/ …
pic.twitter.com/2U5ZvEt9qF

[OUTLAW 09]

Now wonder the Russian embassy in Kyiv wanted to see their Spetsnaz as fast as possible--and the following indicates that all "official statements" from Moscow that they "were former service members and or retired" were in fact out right lies.

So now just what is the US and UN response going to be when a country has a formal aggressor fighting inside their country--silence is not going to cut it any longer nor is hiding one's head in the sand and "hoping" it just disappears ie what the French and Germans are doing lately.

Ouch.............OPSEC, OPSEC, OPSEC--does not appear to be the Russian Spetsnaz "thing"--instead of constantly crowing about their "success" in the Ukraine maybe they should have simply done their jobs and disappeared quietly--typical Russian ego at work

Selfies will be their downfall it appears.

Captured terrorist bought car using special loan for russian servicemen, was sent to Ukraine to pay it off https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601308908699951104 …

Russian spetsnaz gets a lofty financial compensation for their "vacations" in Ukraine https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601308908699951104 …

SBU posting pics of entire unit captured Russian soldiers served in, say task of group was seizure of Shastya. https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601305567177629696 …

That's her, Alexandrov's wife, works in his military unit in HR dept but now says doesn't know where husband is https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601308120887984128 …

Ok, @ServiceSsu is now flooding TL with photos and personal data of other soldiers in the Alexandrov-Erofeef group https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601307133645316096 …

Other members of the captured Spetnaz group near #Shchastya
via @alcebaid pic.twitter.com/dxRu7ElwPY

Captured Spetsnaz group has been laying mines on Ukrainian side. With GPS coords.
https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601304774764535808 …
@alcebaid pic.twitter.com/8viRgA0LD7

Locations where captured Russian Spetsnaz conducted operations behind contact line https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601303431970725888 …
@alcebaid pic.twitter.com/O7OUpTIH71

[OUTLAW 09]

More on the Russian Spetsnaz POWs.

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
SBU uncovered the location of the GRU HQs based in Luhansk pic.twitter.com/59CtXT3TA0

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Ukrainian troops seized RU-made sniper rifle from one of him made exclusively for RU Special Forces pic.twitter.com/fiX5pfrrs1

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
SBU published new evidence of RU military involvement in eastern UA: detained RU soldiers were part of the intel unit pic.twitter.com/h7XsuAWEOP

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
More Russian Special Forces operatives engaged in UA acc to detained Aleksandrov & Yerofeev pic.twitter.com/B0gT3OMMfY

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Both RU soldiers confessed they were Russian regulars and told abt other servicemen engaged in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/TofZi2Y2tF

[OUTLAW 09]

While at Sochi both the Russian FM and Putin "claimed they want to honor the full implementation of Minsk 2.--just another Russian lie.

Russian mercenaries violate Minsk 2 again by not allowing OSCE to visit a particular area with their election team sub contact group--so much for the Russian complaints of “free and fair elections under Ukrainian law”????

An @osce_odihr delegation abandons trip to Donetsk after sep envoy Denis Pushilin says they won't be let through
http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/159171 …

Daniel Baer ✔ @danbbaer
Putin says serious abt Minsk, but ysdy Russia's proxies blocked @OSCE_SMM fr escorting @osce_odihr pre elex security assessmt team


Russian propaganda now attempts to divert US/NATO/EU attention from the Ukraine on the eve of possible major attack.
MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#OSCE envoy Andrey Kelin: Russia fears Macedonian crisis may grow into serious conflict http://tass.ru/en/world/795861 @Russian_Emb_MKD @RF_OSCE

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Spetsnaz in the Ukraine and also Norway???? they seem to have a wide mission set in times of so called "peace" but wait it is Russian UW at work so they assum there is no "peace".

Norwegian intelligence services claim infiltration attempts by Russian agents http://tass.ru/en/world/795866

[OUTLAW 09]

Several weeks ago it was "leaked" that the Ukrainian Army wanted to purchase Israeli drones and immediately Putin personally called the Israeli leader applied pressure and Israel backed away from the deal.

Begs the question as to what the "pressure" was by Putin to "force" this decision by a normally conservative Israeli leader who in the past openly criticized Russian support with weapons of Iran and Syria--strange is it not??

This article shows a similar 'Israelian' drone (Russian assembled) being shot down on May 8th 2015.
http://9tv.co.il/news/2015/05/08/203571.html …
via @eto_tak

Donbas rebels now have $6m drones, which #Ukraine never owned.
Quite a "shop" #Putin runs... pic.twitter.com/hFhDKEL7Km

Battalion Dnepr-1 shoots down drone with Israeli hightech components near Avdeevka.pic.twitter.com/MQHHo8EY6B
via @JulianRoepcke

PHOTO: Battalion Dnipro-1 shot down drone near #Avdiivka. #Ukraine - @UkrWatchTower
pic.twitter.com/gOJJL7d82C

Foto of Forpost UAV #923 downed near Avdiivka at the plant in Russia pic.twitter.com/1b9bT1Q0Wa via @RuslanLeviev http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/21-may-dnipro1-shot-down-russian-uav-forpost-near-avdiivka?ll=48.13425;37.76516&zoom=9 …

Dnipro-1 drone spots Russian air defense system 5km from front line. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DbXWMTLIXiQ&feature=youtu.be …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Army only ground radar—how did the “miners and truck drivers” afford it when they cannot even pay local wages????

Russian army "Novorossiya" soldier with Russian portable radar SBR-3 "Fara" in Ukraine.
https://vk.com/wall-62474637_129234 … pic.twitter.com/2avHGnhc25

Putin's #convoy #27 - 100 trucks - crossed into Ukraine, indeed illegally w/o @OSCE , @ICRC and border control. pic.twitter.com/aSGGeV1a51

BREAKING There was an explosion in/near #Mariupol minutes ago, smoke rising now.
via @Guderian_Xaba pic.twitter.com/JPtPk499mZ

The location of the explosion in/near Mariupol very likely is the Ukrainian checkpoint at the Eastern entrance pic.twitter.com/6fI0tRsuuL
sappers detonated a bomb they found on a road outside Mariupol

.@olliecarroll in Lugansk:
1 prof army being built
2 much military vehicle activity
3 'rebels' use ceasefire to train
4 frontline warming up

VIDEO: Destruction in Shyrokyne. May 16 2015 #Ukraine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfcLOa8Q3Ys&sns=tw … pic.twitter.com/3vOhdPuT44

Kadyrov's men have taken 400-700 Ukrainian prisoners fr Donbas as "slaves" to Chechnya, Ossetia & Adygea https://openrussia.org/post/view/7334/

There had been a single blog comment via Twitter about prisoners being shipped out of the Ukraine into Russia--might in fact be this.
Direct violation of Minsk 2 and the GC.

Kamensk-Shaktynsky. Russian military mobile bridge goes in Ukraine direction pic.twitter.com/jXpJlQqn4f
Bus stop on a #LNR front line reportedly .5km from #Adair batt & #rightsector . hearing shelling and gun fire. pic.twitter.com/HCroloTaBq

[OUTLAW 09]

From yesterday’s ground fighting:

SHYROKYNE: At 16:30 under cover of tank fire, terrorists attempted to break through the line of defence - AZOV
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1055950714435050&substory_index=0&id=879147128782077&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1055950714435050&__tn__=%2As …

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Another arms arsenal have been found in the Yasynuvatsky district: grenade launcher & explosives pic.twitter.com/MoocQggT9B

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Ukrainian policemen confiscated assault rifle, pistol, grenades & ammo during the search of a car & flat of Severodonetsk resident

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
SBU blocked 14m UAH on bank accounts that belonged to the leaders of Russia-backed militants

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Police force detained 2 pro-Russian militants who forced captive servicemen to dig trenches

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Ukrainian intelligence reported that militants in Horlivka loot Lenin’s mine equipment for scrap metal

WHAT the heck is with the mercenaries??--there has been a large number of comments and photo sightings of stealing of scrap metal over the last months---are salaries not being paid???--is this their "second day time job"?? OR just another sign of typical Russian corruption?

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Militants violated prior agreements and attacked Ukrainian engineers who came to restore water supply to Yenakieve & Donetsk.

1 #Ukraine soldiers killed, 8 wounded in last 24 hours, most of them during combat in #Svitlodarsk

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
In the Luhansk sector, ceasefire violations observed near Popasna & Zolote. Militants used 122mm artillery by Shchastya

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Areas between Krasnohorivka & Svitlodark – hotspots in Donetsk sector. Fired from tanks, IFVs, heavy artillery & mortars

[OUTLAW 09]

How US Corporations sidestep economic sanctions in the name of the USD.

Cisco has always been driven by the USD—it has no Corporate Values and or Ethnics other than the USDs and the 90 days sales cycle for their stock prices.

Why people hate big corps. Cisco lies, cheats, to sell stuff to #Russia's military despite sanctions.
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/601102777348161538 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Even the Russian military in the JCCC admit that the mercenaries committed a major Geneva Convention violation.

ATO spox: Acc to JCCC, pro-RU miltants shelled Pisky, Supposedly used phosphorous bombs, violating Geneva Conventions pic.twitter.com/wjoqxKrc7K

[OUTLAW 09]

There was a little noticed decsion by the Ukrainian government this week that they had actually where stopping all exports into the Transnistria --what was basically unknown to the world was the simple fact that the Ukrainians "allowed" Russian resupply of their troops located in the Transnistria via a land corridor that Russia was paying for.

By cutting exports into Transnistria from the Ukraine Russian resupply of her troops there is virtually now impossible.

Secondly, right after the Crimea annexation Russia announced that they could no longer economically provide 2B USDs in aid every year to Transnistria as they were now having a difficult time economically supporting the Crimea which is far more important to them.

#Russian troops in #transnistria just got cut off. This is really serious. http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2015/05/21/7068579/ …

Interestingly Russian FM has not said a single word on this--and they are usually far more talkative on any development that affects them

[OUTLAW 09]

A solid analysis of what is currently ongoing-------


http://www.rferl.org/content/lose-the-territory-win-the-war/27024973.html

The Power Vertical

Lose The Territory, Win The War

-- Brian Whitmore

May 19, 2015

More not so subtle indications Russia is now trying to shut down the "New Russia project" and structure a Bosnian solution around the occupied zones having a say in the coming Ukrainian Constitutional changes--which they can have BUT they must adhere to allowing the reestablishment of Ukrainian control over their zones.

Being a "special zone" which the Ukraine is elegantly sidestepping and keeping the full pressure on the failure of Minsk thus the dependence of the occupied zone financially full on Russia.

Russia is trying badly to get a form of "federalization" that allows for the occupied zones to have a voice in all decisions ie NATO/EU that the Ukraine makes thus making the Ukraine ungovernable similar to what is happening in Bosnia.

Jewish minister of "#DNR" Kofman recognized that the #Novorossiya project was defeated in #Kharkov and #Odesa. pic.twitter.com/5dZH8BMX3S

Russian media write that #Donetsk and Luhansk "people republics" announced #Novorossiya projected to be closed down" http://m.gazeta.ru/politics/2015/05/19_a_6694441.shtml …

What is interesting is the Russian former and or active FSB officer who kicked off the separatist movement in eastern Ukraine Girkin has given a number of recent interviews in Moscow stating the entire project has failed and overall Russia will fail in establishing a "New Russia" and the mercenaries on the whole will fail to beat the Ukrainian Army which he states has vastly improved in their fighting abilities.

BUT then today we have this event yesterday that questions whether Russia has it's mercenaries under full control or Russia actually is "faking" it in the reports that the New Russia project is dead.

This move basically looks like Russia does not want to fulfill fully Minsk 2.

@osce_odihr delegation abandons trip to Donetsk after sep envoy Denis Pushilin says they won't be let through
http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/159171 …

Daniel Baer ✔ @danbbaer
Putin says serious abt Minsk, but ysdy Russia's proxies blocked @OSCE_SMM fr escorting @osce_odihr pre elex security assessmt team

Minsk 2 was written in a way that the new elections must be carried out using Ukrainian election laws thus all these "Russian vacationers" ie "war tourists with a Russian passport cannot vote in the elections as they are not legally "residents" of the Ukraine at the time of starting of the "separatist movement. There has been serious talk that Russia would never allow such a vote as the mercenaries would loss and there is a growing "buyers remorse" among the ethnic proRussian Ukrainians still in the occupied zones.

[OUTLAW 09]

There is some serious truth in this article as I have also been saying repeatedly here--where is the US leadership, where is a solid US strategy and silence/hope are not strategies and "soft power is failing"-- when one of the participants keeps threatening the use of tactical nuclear weapons and "has lost touch with reality" via their brand of fascism.

http://uk.businessinsider.com/ian-bremmer-superpower-obama-foreign-policy-2015-5?r=US#ixzz3am2lPCZd

The problem with Obama's foreign policy is becoming clear

Elena Holodny

58 minutes ago


[QUOTE]President Barack Obama's biggest foreign policy failure wasn't any one particular episode.

Rather, it was the fact that he "refused to choose a clear path forward," argues Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer.

"President Obama refused to commit to any foreign policy framework to help him make difficult decisions," Bremmer writes in his new book, "Superpower. "His priorities have shifted with changing headlines, he has redrawn red lines to no effect, and the few commitments he has made have encouraged others to set tests of American will that the White House had no intention of passing."

That being said, it's important to draw a distinction between choosing "a clear path forward" and taking a more aggressive foreign policy stance.

"People have asked me, 'Basically, what you're saying is Obama has been failing and Obama needs a more hardline policy.' No, I'm not saying that," Bremmer told Business Insider in a sit-down interview.

"I'm saying that you need a more coherent policy that could be more hardline, that could be less hardline. It could be hardline in certain places. It means that you need to say what you're going to do and follow through it," he continued.

Obama's incoherent foreign policy strategy combined with his risk averse posture ultimately translated to several flubs.

"Obama is tactical and risk averse, which you see in Syria. He makes the misstep on the red line, and then he does everything possible, ties himself in knot contortions, that clearly hurt him strategically, to avoid getting sucked into Syria. And he’s done this in Iraq, and he’s done this with the Iran deal, and he’s done this in lots of different ways — even in Russia," Bremmer told BI.

"Some of those policies have been okay, like Iran — so far. But some have been disastrous — like Syria, and like Russia."

David Rothkopf, historian and author of "National Insecurity," made a similar point recently in Foreign Policy:

"While I am deeply sympathetic to the president’s impulse to avoid the mistakes of the Bush years, it is now clear that unilateralism, multilateralism, interventionism and/or strategic withdrawal all share one common reality — the trick is in the implementation.

"Too little is as bad as too much. Too cautious is as bad as too reckless. It may not feel that way at first, but if, for example, the Middle East descends into a major region-wide war and our long-term interests are at risk or we are drawn in at a more dangerous moment, we will recognize just how costly mismanaged restraint can be."

In our increasingly volatile and multi-polar world, risk aversion isn't the way to go for a powerful nation, according to Bremmer. Not only does it confuse Americans, but it also confuses US friends and adversaries.

"When I talk to foreign ministers from every country around the world, every one of our allies — they'll all tell you privately: 'My God. What does America stand for? Like, what do you guys want?' And they all want to hedge as a consequence of that," Bremmer told BI.

In other words, after a certain point, it's time to stop simply debating the options — and time to start making real choices.

[OUTLAW 09]

There was a little noticed decsion by the Ukrainian government this week that they had actually where stopping all exports into the Transnistria --what was basically unknown to the world was the simple fact that the Ukrainians "allowed" Russian resupply of their troops located in the Transnistria via a land corridor that Russia was paying for.

By cutting exports into Transnistria from the Ukraine Russian resupply of her troops there is virtually now impossible.

Secondly, right after the Crimea annexation Russia announced that they could no longer economically provide 2B USDs in aid every year to Transnistria as they were now having a difficult time economically supporting the Crimea which is far more important to them.

#Russian troops in #transnistria just got cut off. This is really serious. http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2015/05/21/7068579/ …

Interestingly Russian FM has not said a single word on this--and they are usually far more talkative on any development that affects them

Ukrainian Rada scrapped 5 military agreements with Russia, including RU troop transit to Transnistria http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/05/21/ukraine-suspends-military-cooperation-russia/27701189/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

More not so subtle indications Russia is now trying to shut down the "New Russia project" and structure a Bosnian solution around the occupied zones having a say in the coming Ukrainian Constitutional changes--which they can have BUT they must adhere to allowing the reestablishment of Ukrainian control over their zones.

Being a "special zone" which the Ukraine is elegantly sidestepping and keeping the full pressure on the failure of Minsk thus the dependence of the occupied zone financially full on Russia.

Russia is trying badly to get a form of "federalization" that allows for the occupied zones to have a voice in all decisions ie NATO/EU that the Ukraine makes thus making the Ukraine ungovernable similar to what is happening in Bosnia.

Jewish minister of "#DNR" Kofman recognized that the #Novorossiya project was defeated in #Kharkov and #Odesa. pic.twitter.com/5dZH8BMX3S

Russian media write that #Donetsk and Luhansk "people republics" announced #Novorossiya projected to be closed down" http://m.gazeta.ru/politics/2015/05/19_a_6694441.shtml …

What is interesting is the Russian former and or active FSB officer who kicked off the separatist movement in eastern Ukraine Girkin has given a number of recent interviews in Moscow stating the entire project has failed and overall Russia will fail in establishing a "New Russia" and the mercenaries on the whole will fail to beat the Ukrainian Army which he states has vastly improved in their fighting abilities.

BUT then today we have this event yesterday that questions whether Russia has it's mercenaries under full control or Russia actually is "faking" it in the reports that the New Russia project is dead.

This move basically looks like Russia does not want to fulfill fully Minsk 2.

@osce_odihr delegation abandons trip to Donetsk after sep envoy Denis Pushilin says they won't be let through
http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/159171 …

Daniel Baer ✔ @danbbaer
Putin says serious abt Minsk, but ysdy Russia's proxies blocked @OSCE_SMM fr escorting @osce_odihr pre elex security assessmt team

Minsk 2 was written in a way that the new elections must be carried out using Ukrainian election laws thus all these "Russian vacationers" ie "war tourists with a Russian passport cannot vote in the elections as they are not legally "residents" of the Ukraine at the time of starting of the "separatist movement. There has been serious talk that Russia would never allow such a vote as the mercenaries would loss and there is a growing "buyers remorse" among the ethnic proRussian Ukrainians still in the occupied zones.

BUT then there are the "die hards".
Oleg Tsarev: Project "New Russia" can not be closed, it has existed since the mother of Catherine, it's just frozen now bc of #Minsk.

BUT then they do this which makes one wonder what they have been truly smoking?
Curious: "DNR/LNR" submit amendments to UKR constitution, incl. passage stressing Crimea is part of Ukraine (art 133) http://dan-news.info/official/popravki-dnr-i-lnr-v-konstituciyu-ukrainy.html …

AGAIN the mercenary mindset swings backwards--part of their problem lies within their deep desire to actually annex themselves to Russia--their complaints about being beaten got Russia sucked into the actual fighting which Putin had assumed was not necessary after what occurred in Crimea so giving up the idea of "New Russia" is hard for them to envision and thus remaining Ukrainian is thought for many of them to shallow especially if charged with terrorist crimes committed during the fighting.

Remember when we reported yesterday that "Novorossiya" is dead? Now it's undead. https://meduza.io/en/news/2015/05/21/ukrainian-separatist-spokesman-denies-claims-that-novorossiya-is-dead … pic.twitter.com/egdGp7QIiY

[OUTLAW 09]

OSCE statement today from their visit with the two captured Russian Spetsnaz.


The SMM visited the two individuals currently held at the military hospital in Kyiv, who received medical treatment. The SMM spoke to the two individuals without the presence of Ukrainian authorities. The SMM assessed their general condition and gathered their accounts about their capture.

One of them said he had received military education in the Russian Federation. Both individuals claimed that they were members of a unit of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. They claimed that they were on a reconnaissance mission. They were armed but had no orders to attack. Both of them said that they came under fire, got injured and were captured on 16 May 2015 at the contact line near Shchastya. One of them said he had received orders from his military unit to go to Ukraine; he was to “rotate” after three months. Both of them said they had been to Ukraine “on missions” before. One of them stressed repeatedly that there were no Russian troops involved in fighting in Ukraine. Both said they were provided with a Ukrainian lawyer who visited them today.


More Russian Spetsnaz identified by social media via their combat equipment.
espreso.tv/news/2015/05/21/fotofakt_u_sbu_dovely__scho_hrushnyky_voyuvaly_ros iyskoyu_zbroyeyu … pic.twitter.com/PCHYU6F3Ic

Ukraine's Security Service publishes new evidence of Russian special forces in #Ukraine http://uatoday.tv/politics/ukraine-s-security-service-publishes-news-evidence-of-russian-spetsnaz-in-ukraine-428606.html … pic.twitter.com/dB4QqATZCp

Quoting captive Russian (former?)*** soldiers, Ukraine says they had plan to seize important Luhansk power plant http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-post-plus/sbu-captured-russian-special-ops-troops-had-mission-to-ready-armed-takeover-of-schastya-389122.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

VIDEO: Ukrainian government releases footage of the wreckage of an alleged Russian drone shot down in the country
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIk5vaF7b30&feature=youtu.be&t=27s …

youtube.com/watch?v=xIk5vaF7b30 … http://www.5.ua/ato-na-shodi/Biitsi-polku-Dnipro1-zbyly-rosiiskyi-bezpilotnyk-vartistiu-6-mln-81110.html?hootPostID=5ca3bd089a9efbc1c1b13490c489 fa72 … What brought this $6M #Russia-made/#Israel-licensed drone (Форпост/IAI Searcher) to #Ukraine?

Ah… the Russian Syrian connection we in the West especially the White House seems to not want to understand.
From @ServiceSsu presentation - Kulygina Olga, supplied weapons to DNR, and from May to Sept 2012 was in Syria pic.twitter.com/L5TycTQ2wZ

#Donetsk 2:13PM
Railway station area - outgoing, somewheare not too far away https://twitter.com/donetsk_ukrop/status/601345159176028160 …

#Russia|n forces suffered 3 KIA, 6 WIA in tank/infantry assault on #Shyrokyne yesterday. - Regiment #Azov

[OUTLAW 09]

Actually an interesting intel piece of information--that the GRU is the lead targeteer for all MRLS attacks in the Ukraine.

Russian Main Intelligence Directorate coordinates militants’ attacks from Grad and Urag http://24today.net/open/416642

SO the shelling of civilians targets, villages, towns and cities as well as the destruction of infrastructure and the use of the civilian population as shelling shields is being driven by the Russian top political leadership ie Putin as he is the "controller" in theory of the GRU via his national security council.

[OUTLAW 09]

How US Corporations sidestep economic sanctions in the name of the USD.

Cisco has always been driven by the USD—it has no Corporate Values and or Ethnics other than the USDs and the 90 days sales cycle for their stock prices.

Why people hate big corps. Cisco lies, cheats, to sell stuff to #Russia's military despite sanctions.
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/601102777348161538 …

Cisco denies skirting sanctions that forbid sales to Russia's military
http://www.businessinsider.com/cisco-is-under

BTW--the information on Cisco activities came via Cisco executives who were whistle blowers.

[OUTLAW 09]

Actually an interesting intel piece of information--that the GRU is the lead targeteer for all MRLS attacks in the Ukraine.

Russian Main Intelligence Directorate coordinates militants’ attacks from Grad and Urag http://24today.net/open/416642

SO the shelling of civilians targets, villages, towns and cities as well as the destruction of infrastructure and the use of the civilian population as shelling shields is being driven by the Russian top political leadership ie Putin as he is the "controller" in theory of the GRU via his national security council.

Over last 4 days, Russian forces (GRU/DPR/LPR) have produced too many photos of UA MLRS. Maskirovka is in gear for the Russian informational warfare side of the house.

This is being used to setup Russian troop and mercenary responses--under the mantra the Ukrainians are shelling civilians SO we were forced to fire back and it is the Ukrainians who are in direct violation of Minsk 2 not us the mercenaries.

Russian troops and mercenaries are seriously looking for any and all excuses even using blatant lies and fakes stories to break Minsk 2, blame it then on the Ukrainians and grab more territory as the current occupied zone is just not economically viable whatsoever.

They need a major port and two major cities to be viable.

[OUTLAW 09]

Radom shellings are starting now to occur with no defined pattern yet as is usual--actually a tad early today for this randomness to be happening--minimum heavy movement of mercenaries and vehicles being reported.

[OUTLAW 09]

Now wonder the Russian embassy in Kyiv wanted to see their Spetsnaz as fast as possible--and the following indicates that all "official statements" from Moscow that they "were former service members and or retired" were in fact out right lies.

So now just what is the US and UN response going to be when a country has a formal aggressor fighting inside their country--silence is not going to cut it any longer nor is hiding one's head in the sand and "hoping" it just disappears ie what the French and Germans are doing lately.

Ouch.............OPSEC, OPSEC, OPSEC--does not appear to be the Russian Spetsnaz "thing"--instead of constantly crowing about their "success" in the Ukraine maybe they should have simply done their jobs and disappeared quietly--typical Russian ego at work

Selfies will be their downfall it appears.

Captured terrorist bought car using special loan for russian servicemen, was sent to Ukraine to pay it off https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601308908699951104 …

Russian spetsnaz gets a lofty financial compensation for their "vacations" in Ukraine https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601308908699951104 …

SBU posting pics of entire unit captured Russian soldiers served in, say task of group was seizure of Shastya. https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601305567177629696 …

That's her, Alexandrov's wife, works in his military unit in HR dept but now says doesn't know where husband is https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601308120887984128 …

Ok, @ServiceSsu is now flooding TL with photos and personal data of other soldiers in the Alexandrov-Erofeef group https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601307133645316096 …

Other members of the captured Spetnaz group near #Shchastya
via @alcebaid pic.twitter.com/dxRu7ElwPY

Captured Spetsnaz group has been laying mines on Ukrainian side. With GPS coords.
https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601304774764535808 …
@alcebaid pic.twitter.com/8viRgA0LD7

Locations where captured Russian Spetsnaz conducted operations behind contact line https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601303431970725888 …
@alcebaid pic.twitter.com/O7OUpTIH71


Note how Aleksandrov's wife, a servicewoman herself, was made up to say she that she didn't know where A. was :-) pic.twitter.com/IQ91WnKsqs

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian grenade launcher captured in Ukraine - video via #SSU
http://24tv.ua/news/showNews.do?u_sbu_pokazali_zbroyu_viyskovih_rosiyi _na_donbasi&objectId=577076&tag=ukrayina … pic.twitter.com/jMycWeE8Z1

#Donetsk, billboard reads 'Enter Donbas people militia' @pavlushkaserg pic.twitter.com/nK2LpFBpK5 #schizo

#DPR 'Republican Guards' expects #Ukraine offensive end of May while 'DPR MoD' thinks it will happen in summer.
http://m.ria.ru/world/20150521/1065754928.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Some serious Russian mercenary shellings are underway now.

17:20 #Makeevka @Shymanovski Cannonade fr/Butovska coalmine dir'n lasts, shots are more frequent, sound is heavy w/metalclank

17:16 #Donetsk @liya2905 From bypass road or Butovka a #Grad volley like tow/#Avdeevka again

#Svitlodarsk 16:50
LOUD

#Donetsk
#Butovka mine is being shelled.

17:10 #Makeevka @Shymanovski Single heavy volley fr/Butovska coalmine each min, now more often

#Avdeevka @audrius1977
16:40 Rumble in Orlovka, smoke in Vodyane direction, not Tonenke
16:45 Hits to coking plant

18:00 #Avdeevka @rechnikato Cats and dogs are hiding in entrance lobbies

Electricity is down in #Avdeevka after it was under artillery shelling in the last hour, people ran to their shelters

17:33 #Avdeevka @rechnikato Electricity down

Again fighting can be heard in #Svitlodarsk in the last 10 minutes

17:55 #Svitlodarsk @GirkinGirkin Cannonade for 10 min already

Separatist rebel commander A.Mozgovoi is ready for more deaths' & warns ceasefire w/ Kiev won't hold via @Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-crisis-separatist-rebel-commander-aleksey-mozgovoi-says-he-is-ready-for-more-deaths--and-warns-ceasefire-with-kiev-wont-hold-10259509.html …

The most interesting close encounters between NATO and Russian planes in one cool infographic http://fb.me/3EhE4hVGp

[OUTLAW 09]

Serious escalation in the shellings by Russian troops and her mercenaries against infrastructure ----Ukrainian owned coking plant. This coking plant is the largest in all of Europe and it's shutdown would have a very negative impact across Europe.

If a coking plant has to and or is forced to come to a full standstill at anytime in the coking process one might as well simply teardown the plant and rebuild--it is like molten iron/steel being produced and allowed to cool down/harden in the smelting vats.

#Avdeevka
17:00 @audrius1977 Coking plant is under shelling, emergency siren, everyone ran to bombshelter

#Avdeevka Coking plant
@bamr69 Hits to railroad facilities
17:18 @audrius1977 Hits to depot&locomotive, there are wounded

17:35 #Avdeevka Coking plant @audrius1977 [There were] 3 hits to mechanical repair department
Sedova St 5:a hit to veg garden

120mm mortars were firing on coking plant.
#Avdeevka @bamr69 [there were] 27 impacts on the coking plant, 2 wounded (women)

[OUTLAW 09]

Now wonder the Russian embassy in Kyiv wanted to see their Spetsnaz as fast as possible--and the following indicates that all "official statements" from Moscow that they "were former service members and or retired" were in fact out right lies.

So now just what is the US and UN response going to be when a country has a formal aggressor fighting inside their country--silence is not going to cut it any longer nor is hiding one's head in the sand and "hoping" it just disappears ie what the French and Germans are doing lately.

Ouch.............OPSEC, OPSEC, OPSEC--does not appear to be the Russian Spetsnaz "thing"--instead of constantly crowing about their "success" in the Ukraine maybe they should have simply done their jobs and disappeared quietly--typical Russian ego at work

Selfies will be their downfall it appears.

Captured terrorist bought car using special loan for russian servicemen, was sent to Ukraine to pay it off https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601308908699951104 …

Russian spetsnaz gets a lofty financial compensation for their "vacations" in Ukraine https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601308908699951104 …

SBU posting pics of entire unit captured Russian soldiers served in, say task of group was seizure of Shastya. https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601305567177629696 …

That's her, Alexandrov's wife, works in his military unit in HR dept but now says doesn't know where husband is https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601308120887984128 …

Ok, @ServiceSsu is now flooding TL with photos and personal data of other soldiers in the Alexandrov-Erofeef group https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601307133645316096 …

Other members of the captured Spetnaz group near #Shchastya
via @alcebaid pic.twitter.com/dxRu7ElwPY

Captured Spetsnaz group has been laying mines on Ukrainian side. With GPS coords.
https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601304774764535808 …
@alcebaid pic.twitter.com/8viRgA0LD7

Locations where captured Russian Spetsnaz conducted operations behind contact line https://twitter.com/ServiceSsu/status/601303431970725888 …
@alcebaid pic.twitter.com/O7OUpTIH71

Just a side suggestion to the Russian GRU--before you send your recon teams on their mission sets you should actually SEARCH them and sanitize the entire team. What they did with OPSEC was totally "unprofessional"--kind of dents their SF reputation.

On the smart phone of the captured intel/recon SGT were 13 photos of his entire team.


May.21 3 more RU soldiers from 16th GRU brigade KIA in #Ukraine are identified https://goo.gl/jTsQGW #PutinAtWar pic.twitter.com/rzb8ZRLlHo

How will Russia react? Dismiss the @OSCE_SMM as biased & the soldiers as liars? Or distract attention by capturing "UKR soldiers" in Russia?

SBU displays evidence of #Russia's GRU spetsnaz participation in the #war in eastern #Ukraine to be passed to #OSCE pic.twitter.com/LzGWHTe9Vq

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian intelligence is causing trouble in the Balkans: http://20committee.com/2015/05/21/putins-macedonian-gambit/ … -- as I told you ]they would in 2015 http://20committee.com/2014/12/23/beware-putins-special-war-in-2015/ …

Strategic Russian bombers went airborne earlier today and now this:

Swedish fighter jets intercept Russian bombers near border http://reut.rs/1Lprtl1 via @Reuters
Swedish incident preparedness sent up two JAS Gripen to ward off the field of type TU-22 "Backfire" Source: @Aftonbladet
read.bi/1c7nop3 pic.twitter.com/j3WtrlgwNF

Are we seeing a growing anti war/pro Ukraine backlash in Russian developing??

Leonid Ragozin @leonidragozin
Moscow RGGU students has disrupted the lecture by Russian Antimaidan leader Nikolay Starikov, accuse him of sowing hatred

[OUTLAW 09]

The games the Russian troops and her mercenaries play with OSCE and the rest of the West.

RU forces continue to attack Shyrokyne today. Only stopped when OSCE arrived. now they've gone, resumed fire - AZOV
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?stor

AND then they will report “it was the Ukrainians that shelled and attacked us”.

18:09 #Avdeevka @rechnikato Electricity restored

Reports of battle in Mariinka http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/21-may-reports-of-battle-in-mariinka … #Ukraine via @faina_ukr

[OUTLAW 09]

http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/267031.html

13:37 21.05.2015

Russia intelligence service coordinates militant Grad, Uragan attacks in Donbas – SBU


The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has accused the Main Intelligence Directorate Russian General Staff of the Armed Forces of coordinating the attacks of militants using missile artillery on Ukrainian military personnel and civilians in Donbas.

"We clearly see that special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate [of the Russian General Staff] set all conditions and provide [the militants with] missile artillery and Grad and Uragan [multiple rocket launchers], which arrive from Russian territory to shell both the Ukrainian armed forces, as well as the peaceful population [of civilians in Donbas]," head of the SBU counter-intelligence department Vitaliy Naida said.

He presented two documents dated September 12-26, and September 14-17, 2014 to back up his position.

"The processed information proves that through this period a number of Ukrainian populated areas have been shelled with missile artillery. Ukrainian troops haven't been located in all these residential areas. The special units of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate provide bombing of the civilian population of Ukraine and we blame the Main Intelligence Directorate General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces for this," he said.

[OUTLAW 09]

Agree with the author's comments that the emerging eastern bloc of nations presents both for themselves and the EU an interesting future as they really will be an eventual and logical bridge for Russia to come out of the Cold.

BUT it requires from the EU leadership at the national levels that just might not be there some open and forward thinking for Europe in the coming years and what it wants to be.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/521997.html

EU Can Win the Battle for Its Eastern NeighborsBy Vladislav Inozemtsev

May. 21 2015 19:14
Last edited 19:15


The Eastern Partnership summit began in Riga yesterday. It brings together six former Soviet republics that are striving, in various degrees, to cooperate with the European Union.

This is the second such summit, and it is not expected to produce the same drama or fateful results as the first did in Vilnius in November 2013, when former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych made the worst choice of his life — one that led to his eventual ouster and to the current confrontation between Russia and the West.

However, this presents a good occasion to think seriously about the long-term orientation and direction of the European Neighborhood Policy.

It is clear that Europe and Russia are now unwilling to compromise over their joint "near abroad." Moscow holds no formal veto power over a single member state in the Eastern Partnership program, with the possible exception of Belarus, which has pledged itself to forming a unified state with Russia.

The European Union also faces no formal restrictions to incorporating new members, as long as they respect EU norms and values as spelled out in Article 49 of the Lisbon Treaty. As a result, all of the westernmost former Soviet republics will eventually become part of a larger Europe. The only questions are: When will it happen? At what price? What consequences will follow?

In this context, if two points were declared at the upcoming summit, they would send an important signal to Eastern Partnership states as well as to Russia.

First, the EU should clearly state that each member of the Eastern Partnership is a potential member of the European Union. Brussels launched that program without adequate preparation and used it as a palliative measure designed more to delay the entry of new EU member states than to expedite it.

The Europeans did not expect such a harsh reaction from Russia, but they definitely bear much of the responsibility for the recent events in Eastern Europe. In effect, the Eastern Partnership program set in motion a chain reaction that the EU cannot and should not stop — primarily because the composition of that strange political bloc gives Europeans great freedom to maneuver.

The Eastern Partnership program is currently focusing on Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. Moldova is moving forward and has received visa-free status with the EU.

Both Georgia and Ukraine hope to receive the same. Of course, cooperation with Ukraine might proceed at the slowest pace, but most important under the current circumstances is not to stop the process — and considering the different sizes of the participating states, that is not such a difficult task.

For example, Moldova, with a population of 3.5 million and a gross domestic product of $11.5 billion — 0.55 percent and 0.07 percent of the European Union's population and GDP respectively — could receive candidate status in the near future and formally accede to the EU as early as 2020-22.

That act would have nothing more than symbolic significance: it will present only a marginal expense for Europe and almost one-third of Moldova's adult population has already relocated in recent years to EU states anyway.

In one or two years, Georgia could receive candidate status and a visa-free regime: it has firm control over its borders, especially its borders with Russia and the separatist regions. Georgia is geographically not a part of Europe, and so its accession to the EU is somewhat debatable, although Tbilisi is perfectly capable of demonstrating that the country is moving toward European standards and norms.

If Ukraine implements the necessary reforms, it could also receive guarantees that its accession to the EU is both possible and desirable. Thus, by integrating Moldova at minimal cost and issuing formal promises to Georgia and Ukraine, the European Union could shift public opinion among Eastern European countries in its favor and strengthen pro-European sentiment in Belarus and Armenia.

Second, the EU could state clearly and unambiguously that it is abandoning its policy of refusing to discuss candidate status for any country plagued by internal conflicts. In fact, with the exception of Belarus, every Eastern Partnership country is struggling with separatist movements.

In the case of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine, Moscow is clearly inspiring and supporting those movements, and only for that reason has it proven impossible to resolve them. But by rescinding its current policy, the EU would remove the incentive for Moscow to interfere and would thereby make a major contribution to establishing peace among the former Soviet republics.

Although Moscow routinely claims that nothing can change the mood of the freedom-loving citizens of the self-proclaimed republic of Transdnestr and the Donbass, some facts call that into doubt.

For example, within one year of Moldova reaching agreement with the EU for a visa-free regime, 74,000 residents of Transdnestr — or one-fourth of that self-proclaimed republic's population — applied for and received Moldovan passports. And if Moldova's chances of joining the EU solidify, Transdnestr might abandon its claims of "independence" overnight.

In the same way, it is unlikely that residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia will take so much pride in their Russian passports if Georgia manages to secure a visa-free regime with the EU. Throughout the post-Soviet period, the Kremlin has used "managed instability" in neighboring countries as a means of ensuring that they do not leave Russia's sphere of influence — and that goal has spurred Moscow to maintain the potential for internal conflicts there.

If the EU were to announce its readiness to discuss accession even with countries where internal conflicts continue, it would prove the best tool for their gradual elimination.

Of course, the European Union might not feel ready to undertake this extremely ambitious and difficult plan. But it is worth remembering that, in global politics, ideas and promises often carry as much, and sometimes even more weight than actions.

Europe is already providing large-scale assistance to its eastern neighbors, but more than just technical and financial assistance is needed. Perhaps the EU should work with its partner states to identify long-term goals rather than focusing exclusively on small-scale concerns.

Vladislav Inozemtsev is a professor of economics at the Higher School of Economics and director of the Moscow-based Center for Post-Industrial Studies

[OUTLAW 09]

An excellent translation of an open source investigation conducted by a Russian free lance journalist who is now getting grieve in Russia over his investigative journalism into the deaths of three Russian Spetsnaz of the 16th GRU Spetsnaz Brigade killed recently in the Ukraine.

Great example of the power of open source analysis.

Really well worth reading and trying to grasp the pride and honor in their SF profession AND when the word gets around just how the Russian government basically "disowned them"--- not sure that will go down well when the word gets around and it will.

We should remember what the captured Russian Spetsnaz CPT said in his recently released tactical interview--was posted here--"the top is skimming the low is bleeding"......far more Russian Spetsnaz are paying the ultimate price ---for a war they did not start but are honor bound to serve ---than we in the West know about.

NOTE: it appears from the tactical interviews of the two captured Spetsnaz POWs that the individual teams within a Spetsnaz BN are rotating in and out after serving three or four months in the Ukraine and many Spetsnaz teams have been in the Ukraine three or four times already--the two POWs are on their third combat tour. If one does the math 3 times 3-4 months makes about one year--the fighting has been actively ongoing now for one year--begs the question were in fact Russian Spetsnaz teams already inside the Ukraine during the Maidan period???

There has been some Russian Spetsnaz VK (FB) pages released on social media several months ago that seems to suggest that--so was Russia already preparing military to takeover the eastern Ukraine even before the proRussian President fled??????

Photo of the three killed Spetsnaz
pic.twitter.com/uYpMWLXPcX

https://medium.com/@ReggaeMortis1/investigating-the-deaths-of-16th-separate-spetsnaz-brigade-servicemen-7e8293237236

Investigating the deaths of 16th separate Spetsnaz brigade servicemen


The following is a full translation of Ruslan Leviev’s livejournal post detailing the investigation of three Russian special forces servicemen’s deaths in Eastern Ukraine. The original post, along with donation info, can be found here.

This investigation was prompted by a post found on Russian social network Vkontakte on the death of a certain Anton who died “fighting for the Motherland” (original post | saved copy):

Today we paid the last respects to my best friend, we have supported each other for many years. God sends you such a friend once in a lifetime. He was a real man, a warrior. He died fighting for the motherland, for peaceful skies over our heads. May you live in our memory and rest in peace, my dear Antoshka, thanks for everything you’ve done for Russia and for me [praying emoticons]

While looking for information about this Anton, we found his profile among the friends of Anna (the author of the post above). The name was fake, but the photos were real: profile (saved copy). Last wall photo dated October 25, 2014: Anton is standing in front of an Il-76 of the 224 flight unit (Ministry of Defence’s subsidiary), the photo is geotagged as “Airfield Rostov-on-Don central (original photo | saved copy):

His profile also has various photos from his military service and Karate hobby. According to the photos, Anton had a Karate black belt, often winning various contests. Opening the full-size image of a victory certificate, we can see his full name (link to the full size picture): Anton Savelyev.

The profile also features a photo (link) of Anton in front of a memorial with his military unit’s name on it: military unit 54607 (16-th separate special forces brigade of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff of Russia’s Ministry of Defense, city of Tambov)

We keep on searching for clues as to circumstances of Anton’s death. We find a profile of his friend who went to the same school he did. In her profile we see a photo taken together with Anton on May 10, signed “Anton Savelyev, 20 years old. Died on military duty. Went to our school” (original post):

Anton Savelyev, 20 years old. Died on military duty. Went to our school.

The “military duty” part catches out attention. We keep looking and find another mourning post, but Anton’s not the only one featured there (original | saved copy):

We remember you, we love you, we grieve for you

The details become more interesting, it’s obvious now that they died together. We start looking for the names of the other two soldiers who died together with Anton. As we look through Anton’s friends’ profiles, we see a message that gives us their call signs (original message | saved copy): Sava, Kardan and Mamai.

Sava, Kardan, Mamai — you will remain in our ranks forever

[Song dedicated “to the defenders of the South-East” (aka Eastern Ukraine)]
This person’s profile also has lots of Spetsnaz references (photos, statuses), which clearly shows us he’s “one of them”. As we start looking for the other two’s call signs, we find Mamai and it’s a bit of luck: he is standing in front of two Donbas rebel armored vehicles (original post | original photo | saved copy).

The “toothed” APC to the right has been filmed many times in Luhansk, including a February 15, 2015 video(saved copy) that shows it driving in front of a Russian humanitarian convoy bearing an Luhansk People’s Republic flag. Here’s the same APC photographed in Luhansk, the letters “ЛНР” (“Luhansk People’s Republic”) clearly visible.

The beige building and metal fence indicate Timur’s photo was shot here as well.

Among those who reposted that message we find another account that hints that Mamai (full name — Timur Mamayusupov) was a Spetsnaz serviceman (original message | saved copy):

Aleksandr Baikal: You aren’t born a Spetsnaz, you become one. And you die as one, while doing your duty. Timur “Mamai” Mamayusupov. He was a great man and comrade-in-arms. May he live forever in our memory.

Sanya Khozhulin: From the skies to earth??? Now from earth to the skies… May you be remembered, Mamai…

This person’s profile also features a post from May 9, 2015, with a video from the 16th Spetsnaz brigade (original message | saved copy):


A year ago. Our parade column going back to base after a solemn march in honor of the 69th Victory anniversary. A passer-by cried: “Boys, sing to us!“ And we did.

Let’s sum up what we’ve got so far: Anton Savelyev, a 16th separate Spetsnaz brigade serviceman, died in early May (first message posted by relatives on May 6) “protecting the Motherland”, “on military duty”. Several profiles belonging to servicemen of the same Spetsnaz brigade feature messages that two other people, one named Timur Mamayusupov (call sign “Mamai”) and another (call sign “Kardan”) died together with Anton.

By the way, the 16th brigade’s parade video gives us another important hint: A Spetsnaz serviceman does not necessarily look like a bodybuilder and all the three people killed are built just like the guys in the video.

Moving on. Another project, also featuring war investigations, gives us info on Timur “Mamai” Mamayusupov. Turns out, they found the info on him before we did and published it long ago. The cargo200.org project has managed to find out several key details on Timur from his relatives’ messages: Timur was a soldier, was in the Spetsnaz and died at a war:


My dear Tumur!!! Just so, you ceased to be. Because of this damned war. And not long ago we danced a farewell waltz at the prom and smiled to each other. And we all have plans for life. You played the guitar and sang “A star called the Sun” [Russian rock song popular with guitar players] and now you turned into a shining star yourself((((((((((( And no one can believe you are no more. I have so many bright memories about you, and no we will never recall those moments together. You supported your parents and made them proud. And even I could boast to friends that you became a soldier to protect us. But you are no more, and no matter how much I want it, you’ll never be. You had a whole life ahead of you, but somebody decided it was not to happen. I will miss you a lot. May you be blissful in heaven, and may your soul not be tormented by the tears of your nearest and dearest. May you rest in peace. I will never forget this merry person who taught me so much. You will always live in my memory as the always positive Timur who loved arguing with me so much! May you always be remembered…
Continued.........



BTW--both POWs may end up being charged with murder as they killed an Ukrainian soldier as they were mine laying just before they got caught up in a fire fight that led to their capture. Remember this is an Ukrainian Anti Terror Operation (ATO)--not a war and Russia has claimed they are not in the Ukraine and that it is an internal civil war.

[OUTLAW 09]

Some serious Russian mercenary shellings are underway now.

17:20 #Makeevka @Shymanovski Cannonade fr/Butovska coalmine dir'n lasts, shots are more frequent, sound is heavy w/metalclank

17:16 #Donetsk @liya2905 From bypass road or Butovka a #Grad volley like tow/#Avdeevka again

#Svitlodarsk 16:50
LOUD

#Donetsk
#Butovka mine is being shelled.

17:10 #Makeevka @Shymanovski Single heavy volley fr/Butovska coalmine each min, now more often

#Avdeevka @audrius1977
16:40 Rumble in Orlovka, smoke in Vodyane direction, not Tonenke
16:45 Hits to coking plant

18:00 #Avdeevka @rechnikato Cats and dogs are hiding in entrance lobbies

Electricity is down in #Avdeevka after it was under artillery shelling in the last hour, people ran to their shelters

17:33 #Avdeevka @rechnikato Electricity down

Again fighting can be heard in #Svitlodarsk in the last 10 minutes

17:55 #Svitlodarsk @GirkinGirkin Cannonade for 10 min already

Separatist rebel commander A.Mozgovoi is ready for more deaths' & warns ceasefire w/ Kiev won't hold via @Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-crisis-separatist-rebel-commander-aleksey-mozgovoi-says-he-is-ready-for-more-deaths--and-warns-ceasefire-with-kiev-wont-hold-10259509.html …

The most interesting close encounters between NATO and Russian planes in one cool infographic http://fb.me/3EhE4hVGp

One can now say the eastern front in the Ukraine is going from warm to hot--so much for Minsk 2 the ground war should be breaking out any time now based on the artillery prep the Russians are doing on Ukrainian positions.

Artillery shelling in #Horlivka and #Dzerzhynsk now

Also in Shyrokyne, between 17:00-19:00, as a result of Rus shelling several buildings were utterly destroyed

Tonight, RU forces shelled Shyrokyne with howitzers. 1 Azov soldier injured. Shelling is ongoing right now - AZOV
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1056379354392186&substory_index=0&id=879147128782077&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1056379354392186&__tn__=%2As …

Russia-led terrorists just massively bombarded #Avdiivka chemical plant, over 30 MLRS rockets fell, fatalities. pic.twitter.com/KORN9BxGMV

#Avdiivka 21:00
The old city and Chapaev str area is very LOUD. https://twitter.com/audrius1977/status/601448892899545089 …

Two possibilities why shockwaves from #Shyrokyne are now can be felt in #Mariupol: Larger caliber used or shells falling more near to city.

#Dzerzhynsk 9:09PM
Shells flying (incoming) in a row from #Horlivka https://twitter.com/VFjiVv4eYK3kcc3/status/601449091277533184 …

#Dzerzhynsk 21:10
Incoming in the south https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/601450166017662976 …

ATO update: Militants fire on Mariynka, Opytne from tanks on Thursday
http://www.unian.info/war/1080734-ato-update-militants-fire-on-mariynka-opytne-from-tanks-on-thursday.html … pic.twitter.com/FLystxH2xn

#Donetsk 20:20
University street, 3 KAMAZ with fighters in the direction of the airport.
Candidates for CARGO-200 https://twitter.com/ZeppelinMint/status/601438908946128896 …

#Shyrokyne
"whether the caliber over 152mm (long accustomed to), of the fall was closer to the city"

8:33PM
In #Shyrokyne so heavy incoming shelling that the shockwave can be felt in #Mariupol! https://twitter.com/zanzy1975/status/601440735716487168 …

In intel speak this is called "an indicator"

Many #Russia|n war reporters heading to #Luhansk region @olliecarroll says. That's always a bad sign.

[OUTLAW 09]

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
Only a week away - Hiding in Plain Sight: Putin's War in Ukraine
http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/events/webcasts/hiding-in-plain-sight-putin-s-war-in-ukraine-and-boris-nemtsov-s-putin-war … #PutinAtWar pic.twitter.com/eIWu6ZEyzq

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
Ukrainian forces says two drones shot down over war zone are Russian http://gu.com/p/495te/stw #PutinAtWar

@LUGANSK_TODAY UPDATE: photos of this drone #923 were posted in 2013 from inside RU factory.
http://lugansk-news.com/ukrainian-army-shot-down-russian-uav-forpost-that-costs-6-million-usd/ … pic.twitter.com/5iAT2ShkR2

Putin is not endearing himself with the Turks and yet Gazprom wants a Turkish Stream pipeline that the Turks have not signed the contract on and the EU has not approved.

Erdogan says Russian ban on events marking Crimean Tatars' deportation unacceptable http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/erdogan-says-russian-ban-on-events-marking-crimean-tatars-deportation-unacceptable-389152.html

BTW, did anybody catch any update on the Russian army engineers pontoon bridging unit seen yesterday?

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia Deployed #Nuclear-Capable Gear Inside War-Torn Eastern #Ukraine, #NATO Commander Gen. @PMBreedlove Says. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-21/russia-deployed-nuclear-capable-gear-nato-commander-says …

[OUTLAW 09]

Ukraine is filing criminal murder charges against 60 fully named Russian Spetsnaz for killing Ukrainian civilians and military personnel.

Ukraine transfers names of 60 Russian GRU spetsnaz in the Donbas to the ICC http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2015/05/21/7068586/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Heavy shelling in Shirokino http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/21-may-heavy-shelling-in-shirokino …

Shelling of Stanytsia Luhanska from Luhansk http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/21-may-shelling-of--stanytsia-luhanska-from-luhansk …

The Russian drone was shot down near #Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine http://uaposition.com/the-russian-drone-was-shot-down-near-donetsk-in-eastern-ukraine/ …
pic.twitter.com/sfLZjVvVgF

Ruscists got so upset that they lost their $6mill.-worth drone nr #Avdiivka, that they shelled tday in #Avdiivka areas where are no military

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia manufactures bullets without any markings to use in Ukraine.
http://censor.net.ua/photo_news/337077/sbu_pokazala_spetsialnye_patrony_rossiyiskih_spets nazovtsev_foto … pic.twitter.com/hadQRO8dvM

More Russian pure propaganda—excellent example of how it functions—

Russian Smerch attack on Pobjeda is possibly old, since there was an attack on it in Okt '14
http://ukraineatwar.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/russia-shelled-ukraine-with-smerch.html … pic.twitter.com/ZbbNfxUU4Q

UNVERIFIED VIDEO Russian Smerch attack on Pobjeda Ukraine https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pobjeda,+Luhans'ka+oblast,+Ukraine/@49.0132739,39.0887634,11z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x411f87c5b8569ca7:0x743d260f895bd a38 …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qj5T6b_XPE …
@VolKalish pic.twitter.com/CjmCuMY9DU

New evidence footage of the downed drone.
No doubt this is the RF army's "Forpost 923".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLvynGAHiqc … pic.twitter.com/t9S3QBtaJW

[OUTLAW 09]

Shooting down a $6m Russian drone AGAIN shows what nonsense it is to talk about 'rebels' and 'separatists'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLvynGAHiqc …

After blaming Ukraine for a year to use phosphorous shells (which were flares & smoke grenades) Russia now uses them https://twitter.com/SpecGhost/status/601479887732527104 …

1:56AM
Near #Marinka is battle. https://twitter.com/Donetsk_Live/status/601522068161691648 …

I have repeatedly stated here that there is absolutely no US Russian strategy at all----winging it is not a strategy.

The U.S. continues to send the wrong message to Russia on Ukraine, says @washingtonpost http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/sending-the-wrong-message-to-russia/2015/05/21/fcb624e6-ff1a-11e4-805c-c3f407e5a9e9_story.html?postshare=4821432259462042 …

[OUTLAW 09]

An excellent translation of an open source investigation conducted by a Russian free lance journalist who is now getting grieve in Russia over his investigative journalism into the deaths of three Russian Spetsnaz of the 16th GRU Spetsnaz Brigade killed recently in the Ukraine.

Great example of the power of open source analysis.

Really well worth reading and trying to grasp the pride and honor in their SF profession AND when the word gets around just how the Russian government basically "disowned them"--- not sure that will go down well when the word gets around and it will.

We should remember what the captured Russian Spetsnaz CPT said in his recently released tactical interview--was posted here--"the top is skimming the low is bleeding"......far more Russian Spetsnaz are paying the ultimate price ---for a war they did not start but are honor bound to serve ---than we in the West know about.

NOTE: it appears from the tactical interviews of the two captured Spetsnaz POWs that the individual teams within a Spetsnaz BN are rotating in and out after serving three or four months in the Ukraine and many Spetsnaz teams have been in the Ukraine three or four times already--the two POWs are on their third combat tour. If one does the math 3 times 3-4 months makes about one year--the fighting has been actively ongoing now for one year--begs the question were in fact Russian Spetsnaz teams already inside the Ukraine during the Maidan period???

There has been some Russian Spetsnaz VK (FB) pages released on social media several months ago that seems to suggest that--so was Russia already preparing military to takeover the eastern Ukraine even before the proRussian President fled??????

Photo of the three killed Spetsnaz
pic.twitter.com/uYpMWLXPcX

https://medium.com/@ReggaeMortis1/investigating-the-deaths-of-16th-separate-spetsnaz-brigade-servicemen-7e8293237236

Investigating the deaths of 16th separate Spetsnaz brigade servicemen



BTW--both POWs may end up being charged with murder as they killed an Ukrainian soldier as they were mine laying just before they got caught up in a fire fight that led to their capture. Remember this is an Ukrainian Anti Terror Operation (ATO)--not a war and Russia has claimed they are not in the Ukraine and that it is an internal civil war.

Буряты и Пустота @ReggaeMortis1
UPDATE: photos of the grave of Ivan "Kardan" Kardapolov and his brother's account #PutinAtWar https://medium.com/@ReggaeMortis1/investigating-the-deaths-of-16th-separate-spetsnaz-brigade-servicemen-7e8293237236 … pic.twitter.com/In5QCyuIkQ

[OUTLAW 09]

Field reporting from last night’s shellings

Yesterday, from 21:00 there was a battle near #Marinka which lasted for about 2 hours, attack repelled. https://twitter.com/UaForces/status/601638460219387905 …

May21 #Shyrokyne @UaForces as for 22:00 [firing/shelling] at our positions is in progress, howitzers used, we fire in reply

May21 22:23 #Dzerzhynsk @dimetros7776 Incoming just as hell, ambulance cars shuttle, wounded civilians

Gov. Moskal: In the evening shelling at #Shchastya one APC was hit, 1 soldier seriously wounded, houses burned.

May21 22:12 @Karbatovsky #Schastya shelling started, from #Zhovte

May21 23:34 #Donetsk @jackson_villi "Kuybyshevsky, Vareykisa St 34. crater human scale deep" [src: http://vk.com ]

Terrorists resumed heavy shelling near Shchastya in Lugansk Region. Ukraine lost 1 WIA and APC http://lugansk-news.com/terrorists-resumed-heavy-shelling-near-shchastya-in-lugansk-region-ukraine-lost-1-wia-and-apc/ … pic.twitter.com/pRb4pQxobE

May21 23:25 #Luhansk @100007182042214 Some mil vehicle "as big as a house" moved fr/Gaevogo block tow/Yuvileyny. [MSTA-S]

Sooo,#Shchastya seems to be the 2nd point (beside Tr'okhizbenka) where Ukr hold the South. river bank.
http://censor.net.ua/resonance/336680/kak_vzyali_v_plen_rossiyiskih_spetsnazovtsev_16_ma ya_pod_schastem …

00:06 #Horlivka @Vika7Victoria
23:35 Fire in Gagarina area fr/high pressure gas pipeline
23:47 Houses are still on fire

00:18 #Luhansk @luhansk_news 4 SPGs work tow/#Schastya, shelling in pairs:

#News
A Russian #Grad attack hit the area around #Novolaspa last night.
pic.twitter.com/HNE0gCnQMX

On positions of our troops in the area of #Avdiivka RU fired at night several times w 122-mm artillery and mortars. https://twitter.com/UaForces/status/601634576918786049

[OUTLAW 09]

Ukraine wants ECHR to continue consideration of abduction of Donbas orphans to Russiahttp://www.unian.info/society/1080791-ukraine-wants-echr-to-continue-consideration-of-abduction-of-donbas-orphans-to-russia.html … pic.twitter.com/3GRHwrbV9I

Russian Foreign Ministry often uses the words “we adhere to international laws and regulations” BUT then this:

U.S. Mission to OSCE ✔ @usosce
If #Russia convoys truly contain what they claim, why not deliver + distribute according to int'l standards? http://1.usa.gov/1eiFMNw

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is constructing the first global “Iron Curtain” against the flow of electronic information—ARE they that “threatened” by a coming “colored revolt”????

NOW Russia is introducing legislation to "cleanse the Russian language of foreign words"--they should have asked the French how that exactly went for them--basically one cannot control the development of a language ---at least not in the 21st century.

Russian fascism is on the move these days coupled with a strong dose of ethnic nationalism. The Czar would be proud.

Now this is an interesting position for these IT/social media companies doing business in Russia—do they cave and provide thus virtually killing any blogger initiatives via their platforms OR do they STAND up for the freedom of expression.

Russia 'will block' Google, Twitter and Facebook if they withhold blogger data | World news | The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/22/russia-will-block-google-twitter-and-facebook-if-they-withhold-blogger-data …

Russian regulator vows to block mobile apps with banned books - report | Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI). http://www.rapsinews.com/news/20150521/273763047.html …

Russia Warns Apple and Google Over Extremist Literature | Business | The Moscow Times http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russia-warns-apple-and-google-over-extremist-literature/521990.html …

Notice the Russians do not define exactly what "extremist" is?

BUT having supported a proUkrainian position has been used by Russian trolls to block FB and Twitter accounts so we know what is meant by the word "extremist".

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia manufactures bullets without any marking to use in Ukraine.
http://censor.net.ua/photo_news/337077/sbu_pokazala_spetsialnye_patrony_rossiyiskih_spets nazovtsev_foto … pic.twitter.com/hadQRO8dvM

Not an exact science, but appearance of Russian war reporters is usually an ominous sign... Many are now heading for Lugansk

Dzerzhynsk center @dimetros7776 2 #OSCE cars cruise around. "It's late, why not yesterday? wait for evening, don't go away"

Yesterday russian "Vesti" TVnews: EU provides no financial aid for Ukraine. Today: EU provides over €1 bln aid https://twitter.com/n_jaresko/status/601668111603867648 …

Ukrainian soldier was executed in the forest of LC-militia. pic.twitter.com/p34S9ThVFO

#Avdiivka
Aftermath of yesterday's shelling at the coke plant. https://twitter.com/rechnikato/status/601670901919252480 …

New #map on the situation near #Shchastya according to the latest reports on clashes & the Russian soldiers' capture. pic.twitter.com/HKju2CYRCz

Stanytsia Luhanska - after tonight's battle now pedestrian passage to occupied territ. across the bridge is blocked https://twitter.com/LUGANSK_TODAY/status/601663900640276480 …

Somewhere in #Ukraine #Russian T-72 tanks drive over a bus just for fun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNJgnMVWf_I&feature=youtu.be …

[OUTLAW 09]

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
Secret Service of Ukraine's report on Russian soldiers in Ukraine https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7frKzBIbbQnZFZxVFFMdG9meW8/view …

In English

[OUTLAW 09]

So much for the Russian FM claiming they adhere to international law--the resupply of Russian peacekeepers stationed there since 1992 and which the OSCE recently stated they need to be pulled back out--is in fact regulated by international Ukrainian and Russian legal agreements--which do not preclude one or the other side from cancelling them.

So is Russia pushing for a direct war now with the Ukraine over resupplying their troops that should not actually be there based even on OSCE statements?

#Russia to send supplies to peacekeeping contingent in #Transdniestria under any circumstances - Defense Ministry

Last time I checked the Ukraine definitely hold this border under their direct military and border police control.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Railways train in Luhansk http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/22-may-russian-railways-train-in-luhansk … #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/wHL0oIuow5 via @BuTaJIu4eK

Video of large #Russia|n convoy in the #Luhansk region, uploaded today:
https://youtu.be/3T8fgCcFg-0

It is a massive Russian convoy--- near Luhansk pic.twitter.com/K2TFZVFtUB

MUST READ On EU's failure in media to address its Russian-speaking audience. Battleground Latvia by @leonidragozin http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-21/the-putin-channel-eu-is-losing-tv-fight-for-mind-share-of-europe-s-russian-speakers …

Once again: the Rome Statute might be abused inside #Ukraine by #Russia #hybridwarfare tactics, ESPECIALLY w/#Minsk https://twitter.com/maxfdn/status/601683992019079168 …

3 #Ukraine soldiers KIA, 12 WIA in the last 24 hours. Most casualties in the #Donetsk sector - NSDC

Seems like the Russian FM is smoking again—why would it be concerned at all about the EU and eastern Europe when it blocks anything the EU attempts to do AND at the same time wants vis free EU travel—Russian Orwellian double speak.

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
Deputy FM Sergey Ryabkov: #EasternPartnership to be successful If 'either-or' choice not proposed - http://bit.ly/1cRznYt

Now the Ukrainian SF wants some credit to after the Russian Spetsnaz publicity—especailly when it is all said and done it was a combined Ukrainian SF/SSU C-UW operation that netted the Russian POWs.
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Ukrainian heroes: Intelligence officers in Avdiivka gather critical information & successfully fight Russian soldiers pic.twitter.com/zA7uzmb06j

[OUTLAW 09]

#BreakingNews
Russian ground troops crossed the Seversky Donets river near #StanytsiaLuhanska last night to attack Ukr forces.
1 soldier WIA

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Ukrainian servicemen spotted 23 flights of enemy UAVs; 2 more at the admin border with Crimea; 1 more at UA-RU border in Sumy region

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Pro-Russian militants used 120mm mortars, 122mm artillery and tanks banned by Minsk accords in their attacks

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Pro-RU militants shelled Avdiivka, Opytne & Vodynane, killing 1 civilian and wounding 2 more. JCCC reps reported to @OSCE_SMM

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Hotspots: Fighting continues in Shyrokyne – Mariupol sec; Zolote, Shchastya, Stanytsia Luhanska – Luhansk sec

#News
Russian invaders executed at least 8 Ukrainian soldiers - @amnesty
http://censor.net.ua/news/337156/terroristy_kaznili_kak_minimum_8_ukrainskih_voenno slujaschih_amnesty_international …

[OUTLAW 09]

First it was reported the Russian mercenary negotiators flew today to Minsk and now this--they just must just wanted a break from the poor conditions in Donetsk their so called capital and all the recent shellings ongoing from civilian zones.

NOW this---and yet they claim the Ukrainians are not negotiating.

#DPR, #LPR leaders refuse to meet with Trilateral Contact Group - source
http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=594038 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
Secret Service of Ukraine's report on Russian soldiers in Ukraine https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7frKzBIbbQnZFZxVFFMdG9meW8/view …

In English

The 2 Russian POWs in Ukraine Moscow wants to go away just gave an interview to @novaya_gazeta. Here's our roundup. https://meduza.io/en/news/2015/05/22/ukraine-s-2-russian-pows-back-kiev-s-claims-say-they-re-still-russian-soldiers-on-active-duty …

This is one seriously ticked off Russian Spetsnaz member--the Russian military would do well in contacting him as I am sure he is holding back extremely damaging information that he has not revealed as he felt he would be freed and go home and nothing would happen to him as he had kept his mouth shut.

The Ukrainian SSU is probably hoping for this info to flow once he figures he has been truly abandoned by his own country that evidently did not even bother to pay him correctly--how cheap is that?????


Gazeta’s website.

“Everybody has come by to see us. Representatives from the UN, the Red Cross, the OSCE—everyone asked how I’m doing. Am I dead or alive? Am I receiving proper care? Everyone has come except representatives from the [Russian] embassy. I understand that they’ve disavowed my military status. To hell with it. But I’m still a citizen of my own country. I’d like to see some kind of representative,” Erofeev said.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is constructing the first global “Iron Curtain” against the flow of electronic information—ARE they that “threatened” by a coming “colored revolt”????

NOW Russia is introducing legislation to "cleanse the Russian language of foreign words"--they should have asked the French how that exactly went for them--basically one cannot control the development of a language ---at least not in the 21st century.

Russian fascism is on the move these days coupled with a strong dose of ethnic nationalism. The Czar would be proud.

Now this is an interesting position for these IT/social media companies doing business in Russia—do they cave and provide thus virtually killing any blogger initiatives via their platforms OR do they STAND up for the freedom of expression.

Russia 'will block' Google, Twitter and Facebook if they withhold blogger data | World news | The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/22/russia-will-block-google-twitter-and-facebook-if-they-withhold-blogger-data …

Russian regulator vows to block mobile apps with banned books - report | Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI). http://www.rapsinews.com/news/20150521/273763047.html …

Russia Warns Apple and Google Over Extremist Literature | Business | The Moscow Times http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russia-warns-apple-and-google-over-extremist-literature/521990.html …

Notice the Russians do not define exactly what "extremist" is?

BUT having supported a proUkrainian position has been used by Russian trolls to block FB and Twitter accounts so we know what is meant by the word "extremist".

Will be interesting to see if these two so called American internet/tech firms explain their actions to the US mainstream media??????

Apple and Google reportedly remove content from app stores Roskomnadzor had labeled extremist. https://meduza.io/en/news/2015/05/22/apple-and-google-reportedly-submit-to-russian-censor …

[OUTLAW 09]

For the previous two days the Russian Embassy in the Ukraine and the Russian Foreign Ministry complained bitterly that "they could not visit their two Russian citizens in the Ukrainian military hospital" although other organizations had.

These complaints made it into the TASS, Interfax and Sputnik press release news cycles.

today this was released in an interview conducted with both of the POWs by an independent Russian news media outlet known for balanced reporting.

I had mentioned that the initial denial by Russia that they were Spetsnaz and only "former Russian military service not active duty" would have a whiplash effect in the SF Force and it has evidently by some reporting coming out of their Spetsnaz Brigade today.

This is one seriously ticked off Russian Spetsnaz member--the Russian military would do well in contacting him as I am sure he is holding back extremely damaging information that he has not revealed as he felt he would be freed and go home and nothing would happen to him as long as he had kept his mouth shut. Remember this particular individual has been in the Ukraine on three combat tours.


Gazeta’s website.

“Everybody has come by to see us. Representatives from the UN, the Red Cross, the OSCE—everyone asked how I’m doing. Am I dead or alive? Am I receiving proper care? Everyone has come except representatives from the [Russian] embassy. I understand that they’ve disavowed my military status. To hell with it. But I’m still a citizen of my own country. I’d like to see some kind of representative,” Erofeev said Russia betrayed its soldiers - renounced POW, and now faces threat of Tolyatti SWAT unit revolt; unit was urgently withdrawn&to be disbanded.

.@novaya_gazeta journo Kanygin tells @HromadskeTV captured Russian soldier he spoke to cried when heard wife did fake interview on RU TV

Remember these are elite professional Russian soldiers who believed in their country and when the cognitive dissonance hits it can be brutal.

The GRU would be wise to get ahead of this problem that is if they even recognize it.

[OUTLAW 09]

U.S. Mission to OSCE @usosce
There is no denying it: There is a substantial #Russian presence in eastern #Ukraine - READ: http://1.usa.gov/1eiFMNw

Ukrainian army spots record number of militant drones in Donbas overnight
http://www.unian.info/war/1081020-ukrainian-army-spots-record-number-of-militant-drones-in-donbas-overnight.html … pic.twitter.com/MmjT6MxdNu

ATO spox Lysenko says Russian drone crossed into UA's Sumy oblast - well away from current conflict zone. Record drone activity last night

[OUTLAW 09]

For the previous two days the Russian Embassy in the Ukraine and the Russian Foreign Ministry complained bitterly that "they could not visit their two Russian citizens in the Ukrainian military hospital" although other organizations had.

These complaints made it into the TASS, Interfax and Sputnik press release news cycles.

today this was released in an interview conducted with both of the POWs by an independent Russian news media outlet known for balanced reporting.

I had mentioned that the initial denial by Russia that they were Spetsnaz and only "former Russian military service not active duty" would have a whiplash effect in the SF Force and it has evidently by some reporting coming out of their Spetsnaz Brigade today.

This is one seriously ticked off Russian Spetsnaz member--the Russian military would do well in contacting him as I am sure he is holding back extremely damaging information that he has not revealed as he felt he would be freed and go home and nothing would happen to him as long as he had kept his mouth shut. Remember this particular individual has been in the Ukraine on three combat tours.



.@novaya_gazeta journo Kanygin tells @HromadskeTV captured Russian soldier he spoke to cried when heard wife did fake interview on RU TV

Remember these are elite professional Russian soldiers who believed in their country and when the cognitive dissonance hits it can be brutal.

The GRU would be wise to get ahead of this problem that is if they even recognize it.

While this article is in German it alludes to some really negative treatment of the Spetsnaz BN that was flown immediately back to their Russian home base after the two POWs were taken.

https://de.informnapalm.org/hintergruende-des-hastigen-abzugs-der-russischen-speznas-abteilung-aus-luhansk/

If true then the Russian Army High Command has broken faith with one of their true historical Spetsnaz Brigades that came out of WW2.

By Russia's constant denials of their troops being in the Ukraine at every possibility they have basically "abandoned" members of one of their most historical Spetsnaz Brigades--by breaking faith with an elite unit you run an inherent risk in the future use of these types of units as they will never "volunteer" or become "contract fighters"-AND you deny them the POW status under the GC.

If the captured POW CPT is correct they had not even paid him what they said they would and that simple fact will spread fast among elite units.

Kiev Court Places Captured Russian Soldier (CPT) Under Arrest for terrorism and murder http://bit.ly/1LkKZ1C

[OUTLAW 09]

So much for the Russian FM claiming they adhere to international law--the resupply of Russian peacekeepers stationed there since 1992 and which the OSCE recently stated they need to be pulled back out--is in fact regulated by international Ukrainian and Russian legal agreements--which do not preclude one or the other side from cancelling them.

So is Russia pushing for a direct war now with the Ukraine over resupplying their troops that should not actually be there based even on OSCE statements?

#Russia to send supplies to peacekeeping contingent in #Transdniestria under any circumstances - Defense Ministry

Last time I checked the Ukraine definitely hold this border under their direct military and border police control.

#Ukraine has begun the process of discarding agreements that allowed #Kremlin to keep Kyiv on a “short leash.”http://euromaidanpress.com/2015/05/22/ukraine-cancels-risky-agreements-with-russia/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

While this article is in German it alludes to some really negative treatment of the Spetsnaz BN that was flown immediately back to their Russian home base after the two POWs were taken.

https://de.informnapalm.org/hintergruende-des-hastigen-abzugs-der-russischen-speznas-abteilung-aus-luhansk/

If true then the Russian Army High Command has broken faith with one of their true historical Spetsnaz Brigades that came out of WW2.

By Russia's constant denials of their troops being in the Ukraine at every possibility they have basically "abandoned" members of one of their most historical Spetsnaz Brigades--by breaking faith with an elite unit you run an inherent risk in the future use of these types of units as they will never "volunteer" or become "contract fighters"-AND you deny them the POW status under the GC.

If the captured POW CPT is correct they had not even paid him what they said they would and that simple fact will spread fast among elite units.

Kiev Court Places Captured Russian Soldier (CPT) Under Arrest for terrorism and murder http://bit.ly/1LkKZ1C


In Togliatti detained correspondent of Rain TV Timur @olevskiy http://russia.liveuamap.com/en/2015/22-may-in-togliatti-detained-correspondent-of-rain-tv-timur … via @tvrain Cause he filmed "that" GRU unit

Nothing to see here! @tvrain correspondent detained outside alleged home base of soldiers detained in Ukraine http://tvrain.ru/news/v_toljatti_zaderzhan_korrespondent_dozhdja_timur_o-387805/

[OUTLAW 09]

One of the Russian key demands for their occupied eastern Ukrainian zones has been "federalization"--a concept that will allow Russian direct control over the Ukraine in all matters--very similar to the Bosnian solution.

Russian newspaper exposes Moscow’s “federalization of Ukraine” hypocrisy http://euromaidanpress.com/2015/05/22/russian-newspaper-exposes-moscows-federalization-of-ukraine-hypocrisy/ … pic.twitter.com/gB09Tb42ce

[OUTLAW 09]

I find it interesting that this White House is so intent on “saving and or building a legacy” than solving problems and that includes Russia and the Ukraine—some Europeans are saying privately he has thrown the Ukrainians under the bus for an Iranian deal with aid of the Russians.

Thus the total and I mean total silence from Obama himself for at least now two months--not even the massively increased shellings and ground attacks has provoked a direct comment from him --all comments are coming from the senior military leadership and or the DoS--find that strange to say the least.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/22/special-ops-to-obama-let-us-fight-isis-already.html?via=mobile&source=twitter


Continued………
They blame the hands-off approach on an Obama administration unwilling to risk even small numbers of American lives in battle, burned by the fallout of the loss of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, and intent on preserving the legacy of President Barack Obama’s troop drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“You can’t say ‘We’re with you every step of the way, except when you are going on combat operations,’” said a former senior special operations official briefed on the ISIS campaign.

[OUTLAW 09]

Rather strangely quiet day with little to no shellings and or ground attacks on any of the hotspots.

A few reported isolated single artillery/mortar rounds or some general gun fire all day----but in general nothing much to write home about.

That is altogether totally not normal--either "peace" has completely broken out and it was totally unnoticed OR it is the coming prelude to a major offensive.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian black humor with a ring of truth to it……….

"Our hybrid President who backdates soldiers' dismissals" (in Russian) https://www.facebook.com/karina.orlova.3348/posts/991990677480003?__mref=message_bubble …

Highly recommend this @seansrussiablog podcast on Russian "hybrid" warfare, what it is--and more interesting--isn't: http://seansrussiablog.org/2015/05/14/questioning-russias-hybrid-war-in-ukraine/ …

If true this is significant due to their signatures being on the Minsk 1 and 2 documents.

Zaharchenko and Plotnitsky have refused to go to the meeting in Minsk - media pic.twitter.com/8CC66SNMgK http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/22-may-zaharchenko-and-plotnitsky-have-refused-to-go-to-the,,hm … significant

2 developments since Minsk-2: rebels turning into real army with #Russia help; Kremlin withdrawing from talks to raise profile of proxies.

OR is it a way for Russia to slip away from any responsibility whatsoever as they have been hammered repeatedly for noncompliance with fully implementing Minsk 2—now they can claim “it’s up to the mercenaries” and "it ain't us now" mantra.

[OUTLAW 09]

Several weeks ago it was "leaked" that the Ukrainian Army wanted to purchase Israeli drones and immediately Putin personally called the Israeli leader applied pressure and Israel backed away from the deal.

Begs the question as to what the "pressure" was by Putin to "force" this decision by a normally conservative Israeli leader who in the past openly criticized Russian support with weapons of Iran and Syria--strange is it not??

This article shows a similar 'Israelian' drone (Russian assembled) being shot down on May 8th 2015.
http://9tv.co.il/news/2015/05/08/203571.html …
via @eto_tak

Donbas rebels now have $6m drones, which #Ukraine never owned.
Quite a "shop" #Putin runs... pic.twitter.com/hFhDKEL7Km

Battalion Dnepr-1 shoots down drone with Israeli hightech components near Avdeevka.pic.twitter.com/MQHHo8EY6B
via @JulianRoepcke

PHOTO: Battalion Dnipro-1 shot down drone near #Avdiivka. #Ukraine - @UkrWatchTower
pic.twitter.com/gOJJL7d82C

Foto of Forpost UAV #923 downed near Avdiivka at the plant in Russia pic.twitter.com/1b9bT1Q0Wa via @RuslanLeviev http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/21-may-dnipro1-shot-down-russian-uav-forpost-near-avdiivka?ll=48.13425;37.76516&zoom=9 …

Dnipro-1 drone spots Russian air defense system 5km from front line. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DbXWMTLIXiQ&feature=youtu.be …

Reference this particular Russian shot down drone-still carrying the ID number 923:

The commander of the Ukrainian Aerorozvidka unit, Natan Chazin, explains the the importance of a drone his unit shot down this month. Chazin explains that the recovery of the the Israeli-made drone, called the Searcher 2, lasted two days as Ukrainian troops battled to reach the wreckage, saying this is indicative of the aircraft's importance. The commander also adds that the drone is highly advanced and used by only a few countries across the world

[OUTLAW 09]

#Cyborg commander Oleh Kuzminykh of 90th battalion's 81st brigade was liberated from captivity http://news.liga.net/news/politics/5831392-komandir_kiborgov_oleg_kuzminykh_osvobozhden_iz_pl ena_istochnik.htm … pic.twitter.com/NlciCnxm8p

He was “paraded” and had eggs and rotten tomatoes throw at him and 60 others during a mercenary celebration of the victory over the Cyborgs in the Donetsk battle—took a large number of videos to get AI active—his capture photos also depicted POW beatings.

Social media was able to verify the execution of eight Ukrainian POWs which again it took social media to move AI.

Amnesty International may have actually overstepped their remit—after charging the Ukraine with torturing POWs—and all those involved in the fighting have challenged AI to lay the prove on the table.

This is not the first time AI has actually overstepped with some accusations leveled against the Ukrainians using information provided by the Russian mercenaries or the Russian government ie incendiary weapons against civilians, shelling of civilian populations AND most of all it took the Ukrainians via video evidence to get AI even interested on the ongoing torture and execution by Russian mercenaries of Ukrainian POWs.

SBU denies torture of detainees and is calling for Amnesty International to verify as has the Right Sector, Aidar and Azov BNs

BTW--questioning POWs that were released back to the mercenaries on their home turf so to speak often leads to rat holes on accusations of torture--they should have been conducted during their detainment.

[OUTLAW 09]

Here is another clear mention of a "legacy" goal of Obama and his DoS--- question is does he really think that a regime built on revolutionary Islam with the US as it's principled enemy wanting complete regional hegemony is willing to dump it's core ideology for a treaty that "restricts them" in any form or fashion and forces them to abandon the Khomeini influence that is anchored by the IRGC??

Not so sure Obama get's revolutionary Islam. Not so sure Iran is ready and or willing to abandon Khomeini and his revolutionary Islam--Obama is trying to rationalize something that cannot be simply rationalized.

Notice achieving a Ukrainian solution is not enough of a "legacy" as it will be hard to now reign in Putin in his remaining two years and achieve anything close to being a "legacy" but is that not what Nobel Peace Prize winners do---they try and try and try.

http://uk.businessinsider.com/obama-just-hinted-at-something-that-could-unravel-his-entire-iran-policy-2015-5


Continued........
]"For Obama and Kerry, detente with Iran would be a proud part of their legacy," Sadjapour said.[/I] "Khamenei, on the other hand, has prided himself on defiance of the US."

Obama's years of Iran nuclear diplomacy will be a waste, in other words, if Iran's top leadership can't leave ideology aside and make a rational and unselfish decision about what the country's future should look like. It would have to jeopardize the 30-year-old anti-Semitic, anti-American, and anti-Western pillars of the regime's ideology in order to enter into a risky new diplomatic partnership with an enemy state.

Obama's statements about anti-Semitism suggest that he thinks this is something Iran's Supreme Leader is capable of doing. He won't find out for sure until the nuclear talks conclude.

But as Goldberg suggests, there's a tension in Obama's thinking that could prove fatal to his top foreign policy priority

[OUTLAW 09]

Rather strangely quiet day with little to no shellings and or ground attacks on any of the hotspots.

A few reported isolated single artillery/mortar rounds or some general gun fire all day----but in general nothing much to write home about.

That is altogether totally not normal--either "peace" has completely broken out and it was totally unnoticed OR it is the coming prelude to a major offensive.

This is about it for the early evening when the past week everything is flying in the air in all directions. Must be a resupply day as the shells must have run out.

6 "Gvozdika" were brought in Makiivka, in Alchevsk - 4 "Kushetka-B"

A battle held in Stanitsa Luhanska, one Ukrainian soldier was wounded

Latvian navy spotted Russian small missile ship Passat 570 near territorial waters http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/22-may-latvian-navy-spotted-russian-small-missile-ship-passat …

Wrap up from yesterday’s shellings and attacks.

Terrorists conduct dense fire from cannon artillery, 120-mm mortars and tanks - ATO speaker. PHOTOS+MAP http://en.censor.net.ua/n337165

Maybe spoke to soon---have to see if they have shifted to the midnight to 0300 timeframe-

#Marinka 21:20
The intensity got higher, louder shooting now. https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/601816334532550656 …

[OUTLAW 09]

While this article is in German it alludes to some really negative treatment of the Spetsnaz BN that was flown immediately back to their Russian home base after the two POWs were taken.

https://de.informnapalm.org/hintergruende-des-hastigen-abzugs-der-russischen-speznas-abteilung-aus-luhansk/

If true then the Russian Army High Command has broken faith with one of their true historical Spetsnaz Brigades that came out of WW2.

By Russia's constant denials of their troops being in the Ukraine at every possibility they have basically "abandoned" members of one of their most historical Spetsnaz Brigades--by breaking faith with an elite unit you run an inherent risk in the future use of these types of units as they will never "volunteer" or become "contract fighters"-AND you deny them the POW status under the GC.

If the captured POW CPT is correct they had not even paid him what they said they would and that simple fact will spread fast among elite units.

Kiev Court Places Captured Russian Soldier (CPT) Under Arrest for terrorism and murder http://bit.ly/1LkKZ1C

Second POW a SGT has been charged--both will be moved out of the ATO region in the coming days--still no Russian Embassy visit.

[OUTLAW 09]

This is about it for the early evening when the past week everything is flying in the air in all directions. Must be a resupply day as the shells must have run out.

6 "Gvozdika" were brought in Makiivka, in Alchevsk - 4 "Kushetka-B"

A battle held in Stanitsa Luhanska, one Ukrainian soldier was wounded

Latvian navy spotted Russian small missile ship Passat 570 near territorial waters http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/22-may-latvian-navy-spotted-russian-small-missile-ship-passat …

Wrap up from yesterday’s shellings and attacks.

Terrorists conduct dense fire from cannon artillery, 120-mm mortars and tanks - ATO speaker. PHOTOS+MAP http://en.censor.net.ua/n337165

Maybe spoke to soon---have to see if they have shifted to the midnight to 0300 timeframe-

#Marinka 21:20
The intensity got higher, louder shooting now. https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/601816334532550656 …

Russian mercenary gunners must have been getting resupplied-slowly getting started now-----

10:00PM
Salvos from #Yasynuvata towards #Vasylivka and #Kamyanka https://twitter.com/l_vinchenso/status/601824937788211200 …

#Horlivka 21:55
Towards #Shumy, #Mayorsk, distr. 6/7 noisy. https://twitter.com/audrius1977/status/601826328065789952

[OUTLAW 09]

New Russian drone “Tachyon” tested in Sakhalin
https://defencerussia.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/drone-tachyon-tested-in-sakhalin/ …

Evidence #Russia|n #GRU/army participate in military ops & shell residents w GRAD in #Ukraine
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7frKzBIbbQnZFZxVFFMdG9meW8/view … pic.twitter.com/qeAvzntDM6

VIDEO #Shyrokyne becoming #Donetsk Airport 2.0 with devastation by #Putin forces https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QSR1VHQqyo … pic.twitter.com/RPJTS5ippY

Russian forces (DPR) staging/training area between Komsomolske and Telmanove, Donetsk region, Ukraine. 21 May pic.twitter.com/wH5owjVxHG

VIDEO Technology exported to #Russia Kurganets-25 IFV almost identical to German "Puma" IFV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6uaAiGYKvE … pic.twitter.com/pa6u43EqOG

[OUTLAW 09]

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
Secret Service of Ukraine's report on Russian soldiers in Ukraine https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7frKzBIbbQnZFZxVFFMdG9meW8/view …

In English

There have been additional social media comments that this particular Spetsnaz BN has had a defining French FL Algerian experience.

When they were immediately flown back to Russia they were isolated from the rest of the Brigade and all cell phones and other recording media were taken away from them and told the BN would be disbanded, and the service members assigned to other Spetsnaz BNs and those that wanted to quit could leave but not leave Russia for a number of years.


Reports that the BN was highly dissatisfied and verbally voiced their angry at the government's denial/abandonment was the word often used of their two service members who were in fact ordered to the Ukraine as a single unit and had been there twice before over the last year.

This dissatisfaction was reported to be also coming from far further up the Russian GRU military command as well.

Social media is reporting that these comments are coming from former Spetsnaz veterans and former members of this Brigade--anger is deep among them that their own government ordered them to serve and then abandoned them basically.

This has been further reinforced by the total lack of a Russian Embassy visit to them after massively via press releases complaining they had no access when the Ukrainians have offered multiple times to them they could come and there would be no Ukrainians in the area when they visited.

IF these comments are true then the entire GRU Spetsnaz Force will know about it shortly as it is a tight knit military unit and the GRU will be facing a serious problem on just how to continue sending teams to the Ukraine with direct or no direct orders. Hiding them as "contract soldiers" fell apart and I am not sure what other term they could apply.

Never thought they could be a Algerian French FL day in the Russian Army but since they have gone to a professional army this kind of goes with the territory--- it is just that the Russian government ie Putin does not realize the long term impact of this decision to abandon them.

[OUTLAW 09]

This tends to happen when Obama, his NSC and his DoS have utterly no strategy or coherent foreing policies that all can understand…….

This President, his NSC and his DoS are literally the weakest set in over 40 years of US foreign policy--soft power and trying to share the burden in a uni/bipolar world and at the same time not showing leadership is a receipt for a major set of failures.

It is not only me stating that--it is slowly showing up in various other major media outlets from major political journalists of all colors--and Putin fully understands this and plays to it.

Showing any form of weakness in foreign relations at the level of the US President gets a nation nowhere.

"Leagcy" is not how they teach foreign relations at Harvard.

No surprise here: A New Turkish-Saudi Thaw is Helping Rebels in Syria and Worrying Washington via @DefenseOne http://www.defenseone.com/threats/2015/05/new-turkish-saudi-thaw-helping-rebels-syria-and-worrying-washington/113476/ …

#Russia – in ‘a state of war with the #UnitedStates,’ says RT commentator close to #Kremlin: http://euromaidanpress.com/2015/05/22/russia-in-a-state-of-war-for-survival-with-the-us-says-rt-commentator-close-to-kremlin/ … pic.twitter.com/1x8KrKSY0C

"Kerry’s outreach may have convinced Putin only that the Obama administration will eventually swallow his terms." http://wapo.st/1PzQGiy

THIS article alone is a great example of why Sochi failure if anything it reinforced Putin's believes that he is correct in his assessment of the US and WHY Putin will never fully implement Minsk 2 and anything else thus current Administration thinks is really a pipedream.

[OUTLAW 09]

VIDEO #Putin forces bury dead #Ukraine soldiers with parts exposed (just like in Chechnya) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7xQ57k52KE … pic.twitter.com/gxAjIUjwP2

Russia wants Sweden to demilitarise Gotland? http://kkrva.se/med-lognen-som-vapen/ … …

In Swedish but I will make a comment later on this as approximately a month ago I posted an article on the military importance of this small island to the overall defense of the entire Baltic and one wonders why Russia wants it void of any military?????

Russian black humor----

#Putin's #Russia says:
1. We don't leave soldiers behind.
2. If you catch them, they are not ours.
3. If you kill them, we'll send a wreath.

[OUTLAW 09]

#News
Suspected pro-Russian terrorists set the "Union members ATO Ukraine" office in #Kiev on fire this morning. pic.twitter.com/PCcKYdrW7z

#Russia's #FSB has access to 20% of #Ukraine's governmental/official email a/c's:
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/05/23/ukrainian-officials-russian-security-services-thank-you-for-your-cooperation/ …
pic.twitter.com/6SLLeH6AwW

#Ukraine decision to scrap mil co-op w/ #Russia means no transit for RU troops to Transnistria http://russia-insider.com/en/transdniest

#Russian Army barracks located in the center of #Luhansk, Ukraine http://lugansk-news.com/russian-army-barracks-located-in-lugansk-ukraine-photos-and-video/ … pic.twitter.com/kqzmtQ3CYg

Fresh #footage from the war in #Shyrokyne and interviews with the defenders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQfrKPJK5Dc …
#Ukraine pic.twitter.com/rhg5wPksdC

Russian T72 parked next to civilian clinic—hidden from OSCE
#Donetsk, polyclinic #18 @GirkinGirkin pic.twitter.com/HlMZmiTwfc 48°3'45"N 37°46'29"E

[OUTLAW 09]

Will be interesting to see if these two so called American internet/tech firms explain their actions to the US mainstream media??????

Apple and Google reportedly remove content from app stores Roskomnadzor had labeled extremist. https://meduza.io/en/news/2015/05/22/apple-and-google-reportedly-submit-to-russian-censor …

So now we see that by all accounts the US tech company Face Book is far from wanting to support "free of the press" and "freedom of speech" while ranking in the millions in Russian investments in FB and a Russian oligarch controlling FB out of Ireland.

So now the term "crimeantatar" is what "extremist" and not a simple fact of reality as an existing ethnic group of people that were brutally deported from the Crimea by Stalin and are now being massively discriminated against because they are Ukrainians by passport by Putin again in their homeland the Crimea?

#Facebook removed post of supporting #crimeantatar. pic.twitter.com/nPXbk7Uu3c

Someone needs to ask Zuckerberg what is the color of his passport and what does it say as the country of origin on the cover of that passport???

He may be a billionaire but does seem to have much understanding that social media is not exactly "non political"--the genie is out and stuffing it back in the "political bottle" is next to impossible and he knows this.

[OUTLAW 09]

After the events on Maidan, many of the police gangster left. Today they are russian terrorists. pic.twitter.com/w00AzlhPMI

http://www.newsru.com/russia/23may2015/voennye.html … Russian diplomats accuse Ukraine of barring their access to the 2 POWs, say Kiev is brainwashing them against Russia.

Do Russian diplomats really believe what they are saying????????

Indisputable evidence inUA are dead #Russia|ns killed in #Ukraine:Graves RF-#army:https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2015/05/22/three-graves/ … pic.twitter.com/6IHFsfmJnk

Polish "Tactics & Strategy" magazine published a war strategy game about #Mariupol & outskirts http://www.mariupol.tv/news/war/mariupol/4058/v_polshe_poyavilas_voennaya_igra_pro_za####u_mariu polya_fotofakt.html … pic.twitter.com/Ol3ggvkjFM

Members of militant group who were seizing #Mariupol admin buildings in May14 are identified https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1458656251093711&set=a.1393213520971318.1073741829.100008480501304&type=1 … pic.twitter.com/sfOTU38IMY

It'ill take western arms dealers 50 years to catch up with Russia's Armata tank, or at least LifeNews says so http://lifenews.ru/mobile/news/154393 …

Social media calls "LifeNews" --"LieNews".

[OUTLAW 09]

Three Graves: Russian Investigation Team Uncovers Spetsnaz Brigade in Ukraine https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2015/05/22/three-graves/ … via @bellingcat 22 May

Impt @novaya_gazeta investigation on role of propaganda, officials & church in recruiting Russians for war n Ukraine https://twitter.com/MarkGaleotti/status/601939603075895296 …

This russsian soldier geolocated himself in base near the ukr border, before deleting its entire profile pic.twitter.com/qRRiKHhfaG

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian troop shelling's are light to moderate for this time of day--strange.


#Avdiivka coke plant area is shelled again now. - via @bamr69

#Russia-backed militants use Grad MRLS again, this time near Novolaspa - daily report from ATO http://mediarnbo.org/2015/05/23/zvedeni-dani-shhodo-situatsiyi-u-zoni-ato-na-23-travnya/ … pic.twitter.com/aKWcXvGo56

[OUTLAW 09]

Western news media coverage in general of the Ukrainian fighting and in particular Russian troop presence in the Ukraine has actually be really basically overall poor to mediocre---example the capture of the two Spetsnaz officers if one tracks the western news releases--took almost eight hours for even a few western media sources to start their coverage.

Agree massively with the complaint of this particular article.

Social media coverage of the day to day events in the Ukraine/Russian fighting has been far quicker and has improved vastly over the year in their speed of fact checking, actual geo tagging abilities and cross confirmation of information than most of the respected large western media outlets and their own online reporting--how strange is that??

Social media for example has virtually denied Russia their six released propaganda stories about the shot down of MH17, has virtually proved who even shot down MH17 which was withstood massive attempts by the Russians to discredit, has proven the Russian artillery attacks into the Ukraine, has proven Russian executions of Ukrainian POWS even before AI and on and on ---and western media is again exactly where in their reporting????

http://euromaidanpress.com/2015/05/23/the-problem-with-allegedly/

The Problem with ‘Allegedly’

Article by: Euan MacDonald


allegedly
əˈlɛdʒɪdli/
adverb
used to convey that something is claimed to be the case or have taken place, although there is no proof.

I’m sick of the word “allegedly.” In the context of Russia’s involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, its nine letters just spell out misrepresentation, confusion, and unjustified doubt.

We see “allegedly” used in Western media reports, for instance, in conjunction with Ukraine’s claims that it has detained two Russian soldiers from a military intelligence unit operating in Ukraine.

“We have to use ‘allegedly’, because we don’t have 100% proof,” a Western journalist says, when asked about the use of the word when reporting the story of the capture of the Russian soldiers.

But the problem with “allegedly” in this context is twofold – first, it does not adequately convey the probability of the claim being true, and second, it says nothing of the credibility of the source throwing doubt on the claim.

“Allegedly” is a lazy word, which semantically attributes a 0.5/0.5 probability to any claim to which it is applied. It has the potential to be abused.

To illustrate this in an absurd way, it’s quite true to say “Allegedly, the British royal family are shape-shifting Lizard People.” Some people have actually claimed this.

But note that nothing in this claim tells us anything about the probability of the claim being true, or about the credibility of the person making the claim, or even their identity.

Thankfully, in this case we know from other information available to us (well, most of us), that the claim is highly unlikely to be true, and the person making such a claim is most probably a loonie, whose claims do not need to be taken seriously.

But in the case of Western reporting of events in Ukraine, such as the capture of the two Russian special operations soldiers on May 16, the word “allegedly” is used too freely, seemingly without regard to the probability of the claim of their capture or identity as serving Russian soldiers being true, or to the credibility of the source of the doubt being thrown on the claim – the Kremlin.

In fact, there is a mountain of already-available evidence that the claim that Ukraine has captured two members of a team of Russian special operations soldiers on its soil is true – with a probability more like 0.95/0.05.

True, the individual pieces of evidence that make up this mountain cannot each be proved with 100% certainty to be true, but taking all of the pieces together there is an overwhelming body of circumstantial evidence that Russia is directly participating in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and this renders the “alleged” capture of two of Russia’s commandos on Ukrainian soil very highly likely.

It should be reported as such. Not just “allegedly.”

As for the credibility of the source making the counter claim – the Kremlin – it is not adequate merely to report this counter claim without making some reference to the credibility of the source.

It is a matter of record and fact that the Kremlin, more specifically Russian President Vladimir Putin, has lied about Russia’s military involvement in Ukraine (recall Crimea). There is a great deal of evidence that the Kremlin is conducting a covert war in the east of Ukraine, in order to destabilize the country and keep it within Russia’s orbit. So Russian denials of the involvement of their military in the fighting in eastern Ukraine should be reported as scarcely credible.

Thus it is quite wrong at this point to use the word “allegedly” when reporting the recent capture of the Russian soldiers in Ukraine – there is not actually much doubt that these soldiers are indeed serving members of the Russian military, engaged in a Kremlin-orchestrated covert war against Ukraine. Neither should the reader of news reports be left in any doubt about the credibility of the Kremlin’s claims – they are not credible, and have been proved not to be credible many times.

So drop “allegedly.” This lazy word can’t do the work needed to properly inform news readers about what is actually happening in Ukraine. Its flabby semantics are of use only to Kremlin propagandists.

[OUTLAW 09]

There is an old Leninist/Stalinist saying--"the Revolution will eat it's own children" and we are seeing this today being practiced again by the Russians in their occupied zone--this is not the first killing of a mercenary leader who did and or does follow Putin 300%.


John Schindler @20committee
Milosevic also killed off several top intel+police officials who stood behind his dirty wars of the 90s. Senior #FSB & #GRU guys, take note.

John Schindler @20committee
Milosevic ultimately wound up killing off several of his "separatist" "warlords" -- too many loose ends; Putin will wind up doing the same

Just after @20committee tweets this today, we hear that commander Mozgovoy is killed... pic.twitter.com/RfXIgh1LoY

LieNews reports that Russian Hybrid Army Commander Mozgovoy is assassinated
http://www.interpretermag.com/ukraine-life-day-460-russian-backed-separatist-leader-mozgovoy-reported-assassinated/#8454 … pic.twitter.com/wUfTC1xGJ8

BREAKING: Reports that separatist military commander Alexei Mozgovoi has been assassinated , confirmed by @olliecarroll

FYI Commander Mozgovoy ordered to execute a criminal by public vote and forbid women to go to bars.

The attack does seem to have been carried out by a well trained SF team if the wepons used are being correctly reported.

Alexei Mozgovoi was reportedly assassinated by Russian special forces (he feared this) because he did not follow orders from Moscow

BREAKING:1f #LPR leader terror.#Mozgovoy killed n hs car,allegedly order b LPRhead Plotnitskiy:http://korrespondent.net/ukraine/politics/3518651-ubyt-dyn-yz-lyderov-separatystov-mozghovoi … pic.twitter.com/iAcf0dQ6EU

One of the most effective & relatively independent commmanders of Russian forces in Ukraine has been assassinated pic.twitter.com/LUCaGHfZRv

Latest RUMINT—it was an alleged Russian Spetsnaz team that conducted the ambush.

Unconfirmed reports from rebel sources that Mozgovoy's Prizrak unit is being disarmed

IMORTANT: this is really important as his unit was actually a well trained and had fought extremely well under his command.


LifeNews Reports Russian-Backed Separatist Commander Mozgovoy Has Been Assassinated

16:45 (GMT)


LifeNews reports that Aleksei Mozgovoy, commander of the Prizrak (Ghost) Division of the Russian-backed separatist fighters, has been assassinated.

As a number of attempts have been made on the life of Mozgovoy in recent months, we are verifying the information. LifeNews appears to be using unknown separatist sources, but separatist news sites like DNR24 have the story from LifeNews.

Mozgovoy was said to be traveling in a jeep near Mikhailovka in Lugansk Region with the press secretary of the pro-separatist ANNA news and two or three bodyguards and was killed when the vehicle came under shell fire. Separatist sources are blaming a Ukrainian sabotage group for the attack, in which firearms and a mortar launcher were reportedly used.

Mozgovoy has been a maverick separatist leader who refused to subordinate to orders to consolidate his independent battalion into the unified forces of the self-proclaimed "Lugansk People's Republic". Earlier, an attack was made on him March 7 at the approach to a checkpoint near the entrance of Mikhailovka. In that attack, in which three explosives were involved, he had suffered light shrapnel wounds but his car was severely damaged.

Mozgovoy's car had come under fire in February in Lisichansk as well.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian troop shelling's are light to moderate for this time of day--strange.


#Avdiivka coke plant area is shelled again now. - via @bamr69

#Russia-backed militants use Grad MRLS again, this time near Novolaspa - daily report from ATO http://mediarnbo.org/2015/05/23/zvedeni-dani-shhodo-situatsiyi-u-zoni-ato-na-23-travnya/ … pic.twitter.com/aKWcXvGo56

Potential serious damage to a critical piece of Ukrainian economic infrastructure important to all of Europe ---Russian troops and her mercenaries seriously intend to destroy this plant.

#Avdiivka coke plant CEO, at 7PM: "The plant is shelled again. Over 40 hits in the last half an hour..."
#Avdiivka
The coke plant is burning. https://twitter.com/audrius1977/status/602173006182514688 …
pic.twitter.com/DNHnHbwR5K

Avdiivka -
Smoke rising, probably the fire at the coke plant after RU shelling https://twitter.com/evergreen_dn/status/602172642733469696 …

[OUTLAW 09]

#Russia(n) drone photographs of #Ukraine positions and troops near Horlivka https://vk.com/strelkov_info?w=wall-57424472_60237 … pic.twitter.com/sIqggyFhD7

Man….. social media is now on a roll—once they knew what to search for they are “discovering” the Ukraine has been overrun by Spetsnaz—just no one knew what to look for—it seems the info provided by the capture of two Spetsnaz has caused a flood of new internet searches for individuals serving with Russian Spetsnaz.

Russian lieutenant colonel from the Spetsnaz Interior Troops of Russian Federation in #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/JV7s6BvJ7L

Russian militants left Luhansk without water http://en.censor.net.ua/n337297

Ukrainian border guards spotted 12 enemy drones in ATO zone http://en.censor.net.ua/n337293

Here I learned that Luhansk rebel Mikhail Tarasenkov handed over to Ukrainians by FSB was AnnaNews cameraman http://anna-news.info/node/34589

[OUTLAW 09]

8:39PM
Shooting in Stanytsia Luhanska area. https://twitter.com/100007182042214/status/602166935929954304 …

#News
Some flashpoints of the Russian attacks on the Ukr. line of defense were #Hranitne,#Krymske,#Pisky,#Novotroitskaya and #Kirove today.

Stanytsia Luhanska -
Mortars and something heavy. By the sound like in the fish farm area. https://twitter.com/sdv_girtrest/status/602163958808711169 …

#Ukraine forces destroyed a #Putin DNR-Whatever checkpoint near #Donetsk kill 6 capture 1 http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=2&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=uk&u=http://uapress.info/uk/news/show/77421&usg=ALkJrhjhC7VmcCbNEe3OB408f9iQVC6cOw … pic.twitter.com/7jVegUNWXq

GRAPHIC Another photo of the captured DNR-Whatever "soldier"who had fingers blown off in battle pic.twitter.com/sIt4nGd6aE

15.08.2014 "Peacekeeper" vehicles from 65349 base, Samara. Filmed on M-4 highway https://instagram.com/p/rupTc6x2Ij/ pic.twitter.com/G6Mo7Efbn6

Fighters of #KarpatskaSich battalion sworn allegiance to and joined #Ukraine's Armed Forces. https://twitter.com/radiosvoboda/status/602185129776291840 …

Remember the Russian MoD and the Russian Foreign Ministry basically lied to the West when they openly and aggressively stated there ae no Russian AD systems in the Ukraine.
UK Delegation, NATO ✔ @UKNATO
.OSCE_SMM confirms #Ukraine separatists have advanced anti-air missiles SA-13 Gopher (stock pic). Who supplied them? pic.twitter.com/9aqqtfjqbu

[OUTLAW 09]

There is an old Leninist/Stalinist saying--"the Revolution will eat it's own children" and we are seeing this today being practiced again by the Russians in their occupied zone--this is not the first killing of a mercenary leader who did and or does follow Putin 300%.


John Schindler @20committee
Milosevic also killed off several top intel+police officials who stood behind his dirty wars of the 90s. Senior #FSB & #GRU guys, take note.

John Schindler @20committee
Milosevic ultimately wound up killing off several of his "separatist" "warlords" -- too many loose ends; Putin will wind up doing the same

Just after @20committee tweets this today, we hear that commander Mozgovoy is killed... pic.twitter.com/RfXIgh1LoY

LieNews reports that Russian Hybrid Army Commander Mozgovoy is assassinated
http://www.interpretermag.com/ukraine-life-day-460-russian-backed-separatist-leader-mozgovoy-reported-assassinated/#8454 … pic.twitter.com/wUfTC1xGJ8

BREAKING: Reports that separatist military commander Alexei Mozgovoi has been assassinated , confirmed by @olliecarroll

FYI Commander Mozgovoy ordered to execute a criminal by public vote and forbid women to go to bars.

The attack does seem to have been carried out by a well trained SF team if the wepons used are being correctly reported.

Alexei Mozgovoi was reportedly assassinated by Russian special forces (he feared this) because he did not follow orders from Moscow

BREAKING:1f #LPR leader terror.#Mozgovoy killed n hs car,allegedly order b LPRhead Plotnitskiy:http://korrespondent.net/ukraine/politics/3518651-ubyt-dyn-yz-lyderov-separatystov-mozghovoi … pic.twitter.com/iAcf0dQ6EU

One of the most effective & relatively independent commmanders of Russian forces in Ukraine has been assassinated pic.twitter.com/LUCaGHfZRv

Latest RUMINT—it was an alleged Russian Spetsnaz team that conducted the ambush.

Unconfirmed reports from rebel sources that Mozgovoy's Prizrak unit is being disarmed

IMORTANT: this is really important as his unit was actually a well trained and had fought extremely well under his command.


LifeNews Reports Russian-Backed Separatist Commander Mozgovoy Has Been Assassinated

16:45 (GMT)

MORE on this execution-----

Major militant warlord Mozgovoi killed in a coup near #Luhansk
http://euromaidanpress.com/2015/05/23/major-militant-warlord-killed-in-a-coup-near-luhansk/ … pic.twitter.com/5JKJcKnP5I

With #Mozgovoi 3 of 4 #Luhansk leaders have been murdered,leaving only #Plotnitsky, whom #Ukraine should award medal for cleaning up so well

LNR Prosecutor Confirms Killing of Prizrak (Ghost) Commander Mozgovoy; 6 Others May Be Dead
http://www.interpretermag.com/ukraine-life-day-460-russian-backed-separatist-leader-mozgovoy-reported-assassinated/#8456 … pic.twitter.com/wxiMuKV0DB

Oliver Carroll @olliecarroll
Mozgovoi's last words to me: "We're prepared, which is why we're not so worried. If they kill us, we become heroes. They won't do it"

#Mozgovoy's SUV ambushed, blown up by IED &destroyed by machine gun fire. 2 aids & 2 guards died w/ him, #ATO confirm pic.twitter.com/tlmu19s1sn
They'll blame Kiev but he'd clashed w/other rebels in past

#BreakingReport
One "Luhansk People's Republic" leader and 6 of his bodyguards killed by Russian special forces.
http://112.ua/obshchestvo/glavar-brigady-prizrak-mozgovoy-ubit-v-rayone-luganska-231458.html …

Information about Mozgovoi's assassination is being reported as breaking news on Russian biggest tv channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo88yz7RBvs …

Oliver Carroll @olliecarroll
Lugansk for their part considered Mozgovoi to be "infuriating" and "out of his mind". Be under no illusions: they did not get on

Oliver Carroll @olliecarroll
Assassinated Mozgovoi v critical of LNR leader Plotnitsky + other Lugansk authorities, whom he accused of appropriating humanitarian aid (1)

Mozgovoy in a fresh interview with @olliecarroll expected collapse of ceasefire, more deaths http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-crisis-separatist-rebel-commander-aleksey-mozgovoi-says-he-is-ready-for-more-deaths--and-warns-ceasefire-with-kiev-wont-hold-10259509.html …

Russian-backed military commander assassinated after speaking out against cease-fire http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-post-plus/russian-backed-military-commander-assassinated-after-speaking-out-against-cease-fire-389345.html …?

Avakov's adviser: Mozgovoy eliminated by Russia's GRU special forces
http://www.unian.info/war/1081359-avakovs-adviser-mozgovoy-eliminated-by-russias-gru-special-forces.html … pic.twitter.com/PEeIK4VsvN

[OUTLAW 09]

Heads up Obama, Hollande, Merkel and DoS Kerry--the Russians are starting to lose it completely and that makes things a tad more complicated.

No joke:
#Russia's parliament: If #Ukraine blocks our weapon shipments to #Transnistria, we will attack #Moldova & start a war with #Romania
twitter.com/eQ2rVOCicQ

googled and found this but also Rogozin, Lavrov and the Duma threatened Moldova with war: http://antikor.com.ua/articles/42895-ukraina_otrezala_rossiju_ot_pridnestrovjja_u_shojg u_sdelali_zajavlenie …

If Russia takes Bessarabia then Moldova is lost... so Romania will have to advance and fight Russia in the Budjak.

@anders_aslund They already try to create a People's Republic in the Budjak... so most likely scenario 3:
http://euromaidanpress.com/2015/05/01/where-and-how-romania-will-fight-russia-part-ii/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

#Izum, #Kharkiv reg. pklant develops equipment for navigating anti-tank missiles from 10-12 km distance.
https://twitter.com/Serglvivua/status/601862248907284481 …

[OUTLAW 09]

#Russia(n) drone photographs of #Ukraine positions and troops near Horlivka https://vk.com/strelkov_info?w=wall-57424472_60237 … pic.twitter.com/sIqggyFhD7

Man….. social media is now on a roll—once they knew what to search for they are “discovering” the Ukraine has been overrun by Spetsnaz—just no one knew what to look for—it seems the info provided by the capture of two Spetsnaz has caused a flood of new internet searches for individuals serving with Russian Spetsnaz.

Russian lieutenant colonel from the Spetsnaz Interior Troops of Russian Federation in #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/JV7s6BvJ7L

Russian militants left Luhansk without water http://en.censor.net.ua/n337297

Ukrainian border guards spotted 12 enemy drones in ATO zone http://en.censor.net.ua/n337293

Here I learned that Luhansk rebel Mikhail Tarasenkov handed over to Ukrainians by FSB was AnnaNews cameraman http://anna-news.info/node/34589

Better photo of the GRU Spetsnaz officer
pic.twitter.com/eQ2rVOCicQ

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings are light to moderate tonight evidently the mercenaries and Russian troops are simply to busy killing each other to think about shelling the Ukrainians.

#Pisky 9:44PM
Shooting. Sometimes heavy. https://twitter.com/arthurnkua/status/602183217685344256 …

Donetsk 10:11PM
Train station area - AGS firing https://twitter.com/HuAdvokatos/status/602190220306558976 …

#Donetsk 22:35
Tracers towards Tochmash plant.
Ruscists hunting UFO's again? https://twitter.com/Shymanovski/status/602194620936757248 …

Ukr 152-mm artillery firing https://youtu.be/-9Sirl5Zukg via @YouTube

[OUTLAW 09]

MORE on this execution-----

Major militant warlord Mozgovoi killed in a coup near #Luhansk
http://euromaidanpress.com/2015/05/23/major-militant-warlord-killed-in-a-coup-near-luhansk/ … pic.twitter.com/5JKJcKnP5I

With #Mozgovoi 3 of 4 #Luhansk leaders have been murdered,leaving only #Plotnitsky, whom #Ukraine should award medal for cleaning up so well

LNR Prosecutor Confirms Killing of Prizrak (Ghost) Commander Mozgovoy; 6 Others May Be Dead
http://www.interpretermag.com/ukraine-life-day-460-russian-backed-separatist-leader-mozgovoy-reported-assassinated/#8456 … pic.twitter.com/wxiMuKV0DB

Oliver Carroll @olliecarroll
Mozgovoi's last words to me: "We're prepared, which is why we're not so worried. If they kill us, we become heroes. They won't do it"

#Mozgovoy's SUV ambushed, blown up by IED &destroyed by machine gun fire. 2 aids & 2 guards died w/ him, #ATO confirm pic.twitter.com/tlmu19s1sn
They'll blame Kiev but he'd clashed w/other rebels in past

#BreakingReport
One "Luhansk People's Republic" leader and 6 of his bodyguards killed by Russian special forces.
http://112.ua/obshchestvo/glavar-brigady-prizrak-mozgovoy-ubit-v-rayone-luganska-231458.html …

Information about Mozgovoi's assassination is being reported as breaking news on Russian biggest tv channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo88yz7RBvs …

Oliver Carroll @olliecarroll
Lugansk for their part considered Mozgovoi to be "infuriating" and "out of his mind". Be under no illusions: they did not get on

Oliver Carroll @olliecarroll
Assassinated Mozgovoi v critical of LNR leader Plotnitsky + other Lugansk authorities, whom he accused of appropriating humanitarian aid (1)

Mozgovoy in a fresh interview with @olliecarroll expected collapse of ceasefire, more deaths http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-crisis-separatist-rebel-commander-aleksey-mozgovoi-says-he-is-ready-for-more-deaths--and-warns-ceasefire-with-kiev-wont-hold-10259509.html …

Russian-backed military commander assassinated after speaking out against cease-fire http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-post-plus/russian-backed-military-commander-assassinated-after-speaking-out-against-cease-fire-389345.html …?

Avakov's adviser: Mozgovoy eliminated by Russia's GRU special forces
http://www.unian.info/war/1081359-avakovs-adviser-mozgovoy-eliminated-by-russias-gru-special-forces.html … pic.twitter.com/PEeIK4VsvN

NOTE: Check the second video --the tactical interview with the captured Spetsnaz CPT that was released--posted here as well.

When asked what his team's mission set was--- one of the items listed was surveillance of what he called “resistance fighters”—means to me the Russia GRU is maintaining a far tighter control over them than the West seems to think—loose cannons are not definitely not being allowed.

If this is true then Russia has a far deeper and more solid control over the mercenaries than they “claim” they have when the Russian FM Lavrov states ”we will see if they listen to us when Kerry was in Sochi”—it seems that if they do not listen then “ambush” is the immediate answer via the Spetsnaz.

During some of the really heavy fighting there were social media comments coming out of eastern Ukraine about so called “blocking forces”—Russian Army troops that (types never were defined) were positioned behind the attacking mercenaries --—if they ran-- then these “blocking forces” much as did the NKVD troops in WW2 –shot the fleeing troops.

There were a number of such comments but no real evidence of this but where there is smoke the truth is not far away.

The timeframe of the reports was when Debaltseve was under heavy attack when Putin was in Budapest where he crowed during a press conference that "miners and tuck drivers" had beaten the UA and had taken Debaltseve yet it did not fall for another three days.

[OUTLAW 09]

Did you know that #Russia is selling POWs from E #Ukraine as slaves? Now you know! https://www.facebook.com/dobrovoltsi/posts/1071857762841653?__mref=message_bubble … pic.twitter.com/3aaQd5crWs

RU war crime in UA:POWs execution,watch before listening #Russia honey song at #Eurovision2015 http://empr.media/video/conflict-zone/russian-war-crime-18-ukrainian-pows-execution-and-other-interrogated-right-after … pic.twitter.com/XBopFKGsHC

[OUTLAW 09]

Potential serious damage to a critical piece of Ukrainian economic infrastructure important to all of Europe ---Russian troops and her mercenaries seriously intend to destroy this plant.

#Avdiivka coke plant CEO, at 7PM: "The plant is shelled again. Over 40 hits in the last half an hour..."
#Avdiivka
The coke plant is burning. https://twitter.com/audrius1977/status/602173006182514688 …
pic.twitter.com/DNHnHbwR5K

Avdiivka -
Smoke rising, probably the fire at the coke plant after RU shelling https://twitter.com/evergreen_dn/status/602172642733469696 …

So an important European wide production plant is effectively shut down by Russian artillery and MRLS troops and still the West does not realize this war is aimed as well at them?????

Still after days of intense shellings and Russian ground probes using among others Russian spetsnaz NOT a single comment from hollande, Merkel and Obama—just how strange is that???

Days of intense Russian shelling of Avdiivka Ukraine finally shut down one of the largest coke plants in Europe & the city's main employer

May23 18:39 #Avdeevka @bamr69 "Gas pipeline at the coking plant is broken, the plant will be stopped"

22:41 #Avdeevka @alla_xox Avdeevka was shelled w/incendiary munitions, coking plant's on fire

#Avdeevka @Firsov_Donetsk Avdeevka coking plant suspend its activities and ties up. "It's a big hit for the city

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings are light to moderate tonight evidently the mercenaries and Russian troops are simply to busy killing each other to think about shelling the Ukrainians.

#Pisky 9:44PM
Shooting. Sometimes heavy. https://twitter.com/arthurnkua/status/602183217685344256 …

Donetsk 10:11PM
Train station area - AGS firing https://twitter.com/HuAdvokatos/status/602190220306558976 …

#Donetsk 22:35
Tracers towards Tochmash plant.
Ruscists hunting UFO's again? https://twitter.com/Shymanovski/status/602194620936757248 …

Ukr 152-mm artillery firing https://youtu.be/-9Sirl5Zukg via @YouTube

Shellings began overnight and into the early morning --went from light to heavy all along the entire contact line accompanied by ground attacks, probes and Spetsnaz recon attacks.

May22 21:44 @l_vinchenso #Skotovata was shelled, above half score impacts 'over Yolochka shop'

23:05 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka "Yesternight sequel started" [shelling & attack]

01:34 #Luhansk @Karlik_Pu #Stanytsia_Luhanska was shelled w/large calibre artillery

02:19 #Luhansk @LuhanskJunta Mil hardware went through East Blocks, shelled fr/city egress at Stanytsia and went back

04:56 #Donetsk Kalinovka @Serzzze Smth shelled massively about 02:30-03:00. Double rumble and vibration against the windows

05:48 #Donetsk Kalinovka @Serzzze Shooting

02:27 #Debaltseve @samotniyvovk Small arms fire and faint pats

Avdiivka coke-chemical plant was shelled from multiple rocket launchers. 9 rockets hit the plant, over 40 landed near http://donoda.gov.ua/?lang=ru&sec=02.07.09&iface=Public&cmd=view&args=id:27043 …

Avdiivka is being shelled almost incessantly over the last 2days. 3servicemen were WIA y-day https://www.facebook.com/1446948288887742/photos/a.1446991178883453.1073741828.1446948288887742/1583850221864214/?type=1 … pic.twitter.com/W2OR18KRRm

Stanytsia Luhanska, Shchastya, Krymske was under enemy fire in the evening, 3 soldiers WIA.

In #Luhansk region militants shelled Stanytsia Luhanska, skirmishes occurred in Shchastia, Krymske. 3 Ukr are WIA http://moskal.in.ua/?categoty=news&news_id=1757 …

Russian Spetsnaz teams are still hard at work in the Ukraine.
Ukr forces engaged in combat and repelled attack of subversive recon group near Leninske-Nelypivka, #Donetsk region https://www.facebook.com/ato.news/posts/1003478606329612 …

[OUTLAW 09]

There is an old Leninist/Stalinist saying--"the Revolution will eat it's own children" and we are seeing this today being practiced again by the Russians in their occupied zone--this is not the first killing of a mercenary leader who did and or does follow Putin 300%.


John Schindler @20committee
Milosevic also killed off several top intel+police officials who stood behind his dirty wars of the 90s. Senior #FSB & #GRU guys, take note.

John Schindler @20committee
Milosevic ultimately wound up killing off several of his "separatist" "warlords" -- too many loose ends; Putin will wind up doing the same

Just after @20committee tweets this today, we hear that commander Mozgovoy is killed... pic.twitter.com/RfXIgh1LoY

LieNews reports that Russian Hybrid Army Commander Mozgovoy is assassinated
http://www.interpretermag.com/ukraine-life-day-460-russian-backed-separatist-leader-mozgovoy-reported-assassinated/#8454 … pic.twitter.com/wUfTC1xGJ8

BREAKING: Reports that separatist military commander Alexei Mozgovoi has been assassinated , confirmed by @olliecarroll

FYI Commander Mozgovoy ordered to execute a criminal by public vote and forbid women to go to bars.

The attack does seem to have been carried out by a well trained SF team if the wepons used are being correctly reported.

Alexei Mozgovoi was reportedly assassinated by Russian special forces (he feared this) because he did not follow orders from Moscow

BREAKING:1f #LPR leader terror.#Mozgovoy killed n hs car,allegedly order b LPRhead Plotnitskiy:http://korrespondent.net/ukraine/politics/3518651-ubyt-dyn-yz-lyderov-separatystov-mozghovoi … pic.twitter.com/iAcf0dQ6EU

One of the most effective & relatively independent commmanders of Russian forces in Ukraine has been assassinated pic.twitter.com/LUCaGHfZRv

Latest RUMINT—it was an alleged Russian Spetsnaz team that conducted the ambush.

Unconfirmed reports from rebel sources that Mozgovoy's Prizrak unit is being disarmed

IMORTANT: this is really important as his unit was actually a well trained and had fought extremely well under his command.


LifeNews Reports Russian-Backed Separatist Commander Mozgovoy Has Been Assassinated

16:45 (GMT)

More on his execution which it was. Have noticed that it is definitely "internal" as the Russian propaganda has made not a single attempt to "blame the Ukrainians".

If I am a mercenary leader in the Russian occupied zone—think an armored car would be the more preferred means of travel-not an modern SUV.

BUT since there were only four original mercenary leaders in the LNR it seems the fourth one has "won" the power struggle as the other three were all killed by "ambushes".

Car of Mozgovoy http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/24-may-car-of-mozgovoy … pic.twitter.com/I8YrZfcCGh via @xyevii_kharkov

VIDEO with English subs. LPR briefing about #Mozgovoy assassination.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U1Th1PUrPE … pic.twitter.com/j7JvMqAVmU

VIDEO #Putin LNR-Whatever "Ghost" Alex Mozgovoy shot up vehicles with body https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwhP3fgWAN8 … #Ukraine #Russia pic.twitter.com/6ayHpNc3EU

Earlier there was this idea of replacing Zakharchenko with #Mozgovoy...
https://twitter.com/DajeyPetros/status/590422297212637184 … pic.twitter.com/NCK1siaavg

[OUTLAW 09]

NOTE: Russia does have a serious “collective leadership mental health issue”--just what the heck was his mind thinking before he engaged his mouth???

Russia Deputy PM reaction on Russia not winning #Eurovision: West will collapse under the pressure of gays and ISIS. pic.twitter.com/wCaP08mVnf

If I was Ireland I would be considering after the Ukraine in building up my military defenses--Russia is coming to save you from the IS and gays.

This "official comment" does beg the question--so is the Russian army in the Ukraine "due to gays and the IS"??? Not geo political reasons??

[OUTLAW 09]

Great example of Russian “weponization of information”.

Russian @tass_agency = bunch of pathetic liars. See how they twist @OSCE_SMM's words at 180 degrees. pic.twitter.com/O5I3jQdTrw

[kaur]

About Mozgovoy. It is interesting to see that Putin's guards show fingers to Ukraine, but Russian nationalist and communists show fingers to Russia. Last group describes the situation as giving up idea of Russkii Mir and achieving compromise with the west to get rid of sanctions.

[OUTLAW 09]

So an important European wide production plant is effectively shut down by Russian artillery and MRLS troops and still the West does not realize this war is aimed as well at them?????

Still after days of intense shellings and Russian ground probes using among others Russian spetsnaz NOT a single comment from hollande, Merkel and Obama—just how strange is that???

Days of intense Russian shelling of Avdiivka Ukraine finally shut down one of the largest coke plants in Europe & the city's main employer

May23 18:39 #Avdeevka @bamr69 "Gas pipeline at the coking plant is broken, the plant will be stopped"

22:41 #Avdeevka @alla_xox Avdeevka was shelled w/incendiary munitions, coking plant's on fire

#Avdeevka @Firsov_Donetsk Avdeevka coking plant suspend its activities and ties up. "It's a big hit for the city

kaur--you will like this report that just came in via social media.

Seems that while Russian leaders can sanction the execution of a Russian mercenary their lower personnel MUST be running out of money and or just flat corrupt.

There is nothing worse than a loose cannon or two with ammunition in the hands of an extortionist.

Does it appear to anyone else the "so called New Russia" dream is evolving into simply another perfect example of typical Russian disorganization and blatant corruption?????? Seems that is about all they have perfected since the Wall came down.

#BreakingReport
Russian invaders offer to stop shelling the #Avdeevka coal plant if workers give them money. 70 hits in 2 days.
- V.Abroskin

Modern Russian mafia method of 'protection money'

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian propaganda has 4 Ds: dismiss, distort, distract, dismay.

This below is just since the Crimea--seems Russian info warriors are going for some sort of record--maybe they are simply paid on quantity not quality.

Myths
•NATO and its attitude to Russia ◦Claim: NATO is trying to encircle Russia
◦Claim: NATO has a Cold War mentality
◦Claim: NATO is a U.S. geopolitical project
◦Claim: NATO's purpose is to contain or weaken Russia
◦Claim: NATO has tried to isolate or marginalise Russia
◦Claim: NATO should have been disbanded at the end of the Cold War
◦Claim: NATO enlargement followed the same process as the expansion of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact

•NATO as a "threat" ◦Claim: NATO is a threat to Russia
◦Claim: NATO missile defence targets Russia and the Iran agreement proves it
◦Claim: The accession of new Allies to NATO threatens Russia
◦Claim: NATO exercises are a provocation which threatens Russia

•Promises and pledges ◦Claim: Russia has the right to oppose NATO-supported infrastructure on the territory of member states in Central and Eastern Europe
◦Claim: NATO's response to Russia's illegal actions in Ukraine violates the Founding Act
◦Claim: NATO leaders promised at the time of German reunification that the Alliance would not expand to the East

•NATO enlargement ◦Claim: NATO tried to "drag" Ukraine into the Alliance
◦Claim: Russia has the right to demand a "100% guarantee" that Ukraine will not join NATO
◦Claim: NATO provoked the "Maidan" protests in Ukraine
◦Claim: NATO enlargement in the Balkans is destabilizing
◦Claim: NATO was planning to base ships and missiles in Crimea
◦Claim: NATO intends to set up a military base in Georgia
◦Claim: NATO has bases all around the world

•NATO's operations ◦Claim: NATO's operation in Afghanistan was a failure
◦Claim: The NATO-led mission in Afghanistan failed to stop the Afghan drugs trade
◦Claim: NATO's operation over Libya was illegitimate
◦Claim: NATO's operation over Kosovo was illegitimate
◦Claim: The cases of Kosovo and Crimea are identical
◦Claim: Russia's annexation of Crimea was justified by the opinion of the International Court of Justice on the independence of Kosovo
◦Claim: The Ukrainian authorities are illegitimate

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian hybrid army's 2S1 Gvozdika hidden in the middle of #Luhansk city: https://archive.is/lQTQl Check it out, @OSCE pic.twitter.com/UVj5IPBBox

Likely location is either in this factory: https://maps.yandex.com/?text=48.536586%2C%2039.277244&sll=11.574832%2C48.134602&sspn=0.542450%2C0.175809&ol=geo&oll=39.277300%2C48.536583&ll=39.277300%2C48.536583&z=14&panorama%5Bpoint%5D=39.277305%2C48.535751&panorama%5Bdirection%5D=115.826471%2C-7.607854&panorama%5Bspan%5D=107.729707%2C55.467974 … or this fire station https://maps.yandex.com/?text=48.536586%2C%2039.277244&sll=11.574832%2C48.134602&sspn=0.542450%2C0.175809&ll=39.277300%2C48.536583&z=14&panorama%5Bpoint%5D=39.277305%2C48.535751&panorama%5Bdirection%5D=259.942939%2C-0.471196&panorama%5Bspan%5D=101.620716%2C55.467974&ol=geo&oll=39.277300%2C48.536583 … @OSCE pic.twitter.com/GoE04ejNnx

No lethal casualties in the last 24hrs in ATO zone, 5 #Ukrainian servicemen were wounded in action - ATO daily report, National Radio

@el_roosevelt Vehicle is likely the same as spotted earlier moving towards Ukraine https://twitter.com/el_roosevelt/status/595669599598813184 … -same camo pic.twitter.com/3MrmaneHdf

#Footage
"Local miners" from #Yekaterinburg and #Kaliningrad manning the front in #Luhansk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nq9j0Bf3mE … pic.twitter.com/IrV3S7tRfh

I know,I always believed the #Russian commanders that 10-25% of their troops are Ukrainians.
But honestly I start doubting that. I see none.

At 12:00 RU started firing at Ukr positions at #Shyrokyne w 122mm artillery, 82mm mortars and AGS.
#Mariupol

#News
Russian forces fired 120 mm mortars vs. #chermalyk and #Shyrokyne this morning. No injuries reported so far.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian propaganda has 4 Ds: dismiss, distort, distract, dismay.

Top Kremlin Critics In The West Face Media Smears On The Home Front http://onforb.es/1HwqJt8 via @forbes

Recurrent stars of #Russia's #propaganda videos about crimes of 'Bloody #Kyiv Junta" identified. https://twitter.com/StopRussia2014/status/602325533616123904

#NATO on #Russian disinformation ....
Deconstructing #Lavrov BS, point by point
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_111767.htm …

Peskov, Ivanov, Putin react angrily to critical questions about Petersburg days. Putin faces western 'info attack.' http://m.gazeta.ru/politics/2015/05/23_a_6705301.shtml …

Ivanov confuses asking a question and 'info attack' to explain away questions about Putin and corruption in west MSM. http://www.regnum.ru/news/1927154.html …

MP of "Edinaya Russia": the U.S. intelligence assassinated Mosgovoy http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/24-may-mp-of-edinaya-russia--the-us-intelligence-assassinated … #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/OV5JUuWLZX via @RidusNews

[OUTLAW 09]

Did you know that #Russia is selling POWs from E #Ukraine as slaves? Now you know! https://www.facebook.com/dobrovoltsi/posts/1071857762841653?__mref=message_bubble … pic.twitter.com/3aaQd5crWs

RU war crime in UA:POWs execution,watch before listening #Russia honey song at #Eurovision2015 http://empr.media/video/conflict-zone/russian-war-crime-18-ukrainian-pows-execution-and-other-interrogated-right-after … pic.twitter.com/XBopFKGsHC

This Ukrainian POW was held for over seven months--not released under the Minsk 2 exchange all for all agreements--THERE is another Russian mafia extortion game going on--they are attempting to sell each of the remaining 400 Ukrainians POWs AND not exchange them as Russia recently stated--they want to fulfill and implement all of Minsk 2.

Seven month long tortures in captivity of the Donbas russo-terrorists: hunger, electricity, naked in basement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPQNRaW5qe0 …

After the massive Amnesty International news of torture on both sides and their being challenged by the Ukrainian side to produce their evidence--which by the way they did not respond to--noticed they did not rush to interview this particular POW--ever wonder why???

Concerns a UK journalist who worked first for UK Russian Today and then as a war journalist for the Russian military in eastern Ukraine who has been near Ukrainian POW tortures and executions and has videoed some of the beatings.

#Footage
Graham is back in #Donbas (#Luhansk),visits place where Moscow-critical militia leader was killed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTnXi3ykP1c …

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings are on again –started at noon.

#Dzerzhynsk 1:31PM
Very loud explosion! https://twitter.com/dimetros7776/status/602421771627794432 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Ukrainian guerrilla unit "Shadows" has reported the following and there is some indication it is verified as true.

If verified then it is further prove the Ukrainian guerrilla war is starting to gain traction as this unit has actually even ambushed and killed two Russian Generals on the GRU side. Which by the way the Russians are always quick to deny if such a report surfaces—that time it was utter silence.

The attack was professionally and quickly carried out as if a true SOF team had done it and Shadows is made up to a degree of former Ukrainian SOF/Alpha types.

Commander of the Ukrainian 'Shadows' guerrilla unit takes responsibility for the assassination of the 'Ghost' rebel unit commander Mozgovoy.

[OUTLAW 09]

More on Russian Spetsnaz fighting and dying in the Ukraine.

BTW—this Russian soldier was actually identified as being a killed Spetsnaz soldier—died in fightin in the Ukraine—grave was found by Russian investigative reporters.

@LUGANSK_TODAY Timur Mamayusupov aka “Mamai” in Lugansk. This base geo-located here on April 8 http://lugansk-news.com/russian-army-barracks-located-in-lugansk-ukraine-photos-and-video/ … pic.twitter.com/P8znGnMC9v

Follow the “White Rabbit”. Graves of #Russian Special forces soldiers killed in #Ukraine. Read http://lugansk-news.com/follow-the-white-rabbit-graves-of-russian-special-forces-who-are-not-there-killed-in-ukraine/ … pic.twitter.com/eKfM4WP3Av

[OUTLAW 09]

kaur--you will like this report that just came in via social media.

Seems that while Russian leaders can sanction the execution of a Russian mercenary their lower personnel MUST be running out of money and or just flat corrupt.

There is nothing worse than a loose cannon or two with ammunition in the hands of an extortionist.

Does it appear to anyone else the "so called New Russia" dream is evolving into simply another perfect example of typical Russian disorganization and blatant corruption?????? Seems that is about all they have perfected since the Wall came down.

#BreakingReport
Russian invaders offer to stop shelling the #Avdeevka coal plant if workers give them money. 70 hits in 2 days.
- V.Abroskin

Modern Russian mafia method of 'protection money'

More Russian crime exported to the Ukraine in the name of "defending" ethnic Russians.

#Luhansk looting. Messages read: Cigarettes are not left in shop @ night. No building materials, no valuables inside. pic.twitter.com/97wdnojyIi

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian black humor:

Vladimir Putin
When I said Kadyrov needs to stop wearing tracksuits, I didn't mean "join the Nightwolves' Village People act"!

pic.twitter.com/ddSlz1tRxz

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings are on again –started at noon.

#Dzerzhynsk 1:31PM
Very loud explosion! https://twitter.com/dimetros7776/status/602421771627794432 …

Smoke rising from #Shyrokyno. Russians shelling with self-prop artillery. The explosions can be heard in #Mariupol. https://twitter.com/iMariupol/status/602430893467299841 …

Azov also confirms heavy attack on Shyrokyne which started at 11:40 and continues now. One soldier is wounded
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1057565087606946&substory_index=0&id=879147128782077&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1057565087606946&__tn__=%2As …

They say RU forces are firing from heavy machine gun and small arms, AGS, RPGs, 82-mm & 120-mm mortars. Several times worked SPGs

[OUTLAW 09]

More on Russian Spetsnaz fighting and dying in the Ukraine.

BTW—this Russian soldier was actually identified as being a killed Spetsnaz soldier—died in fightin in the Ukraine—grave was found by Russian investigative reporters.

@LUGANSK_TODAY Timur Mamayusupov aka “Mamai” in Lugansk. This base geo-located here on April 8 http://lugansk-news.com/russian-army-barracks-located-in-lugansk-ukraine-photos-and-video/ … pic.twitter.com/P8znGnMC9v

Follow the “White Rabbit”. Graves of #Russian Special forces soldiers killed in #Ukraine. Read http://lugansk-news.com/follow-the-white-rabbit-graves-of-russian-special-forces-who-are-not-there-killed-in-ukraine/ … pic.twitter.com/eKfM4WP3Av

@LUGANSK_TODAY Russia probably lost 9 elite soldiers in one day in Ukraine on May 5. UPDATE at http://lugansk-news.com/follow-the-white-rabbit-graves-of-russian-special-forces-who-are-not-there-killed-in-ukraine/ … pic.twitter.com/dXUDoQdJNZ

[OUTLAW 09]

kaur--even though he is a strange fellow in all of the eastern Ukraine "history" he has made some comments that have been very accurate.

Strelkov "Ukraine will be ready Next year for an open warfare against Russia" http://bit.ly/1FMARR8

To some degree he is actually correct as the Ukraine has been truly rebuilding a fighting army that indeed can fight and they fight for a flag and nation not for Putin.

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings and ground attacks have been heavy this afternoon at the typical hotspots.

KIA at #Shyrokyno, from Donbas battalion. https://twitter.com/litator/status/602429408931086336 …

Azov Reg.: After 4hrs of battle @ #Shyrokyne, the intensity of the attacks diminished.
Donbas batt. has 1 KIA, 1 WIA pic.twitter.com/g29llPTHm5

14:08 @iMariupol In #Shyrokyne RUS SPG works, #Mariupol listens to cannonade. Smoke over Shyrokyne pic.twitter.com/9do06Jhbj8

@Guderian_Xaba Air burst fragmentation shells?

It sounds like the russians have used again today at #Shyrokyno shells filled with shrapnel.
https://twitter.com/artem_cherep/status/602422391692726272 …

13:54 #Shyrokyne @tombreadley About 2 hrs ago RUS started massive mortar bombardment, 'Donbas' battalion has one wounded

14:02 #Shyrokyne @litator we [UKR] have one KIA

[OUTLAW 09]

Scene of #Mozgovoy assassination
Soldiers reckon assassins used anti-personnel mines, machine guns, AKs
pic.twitter.com/QZcusvGJ6w
@olliecarroll

Since 15th of Feb. Russia has delivered in Ukraine via railroad 80 MRLS units incl. Tornado, >200 tanks, up to 100 IFVs and 1000 ammo trucks

#Russia Army dressed as irregulars at the border with #Ukraine. Ready to invade. http://archive.is/TofZC pic.twitter.com/osf3RvZYrV@ el_roosevelt

Location seems to be right here: 47°51'26.20"N 38°51'51.31"E http://google.de/maps/place/47 %… pic.twitter.com/LX656G1mdf

Which is a main invasion location for the Russians as Google Earth shows
https://www.google.com.ua/maps/@47.8627747,38.8617406,365m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=ru …
pic.twitter.com/1Dvl5qyhaf
via @BuTaJIu4eK

Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
Here's my earlier piece on @Consortiumnews' attack on @60Mins' #Mh17 report, time for an apology from Parry https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2015/05/19/robert-parry-falsely-accuses-60-minutes-australia-of-using-mh17-fake-evidence/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

@LUGANSK_TODAY Russia probably lost 9 elite soldiers in one day in Ukraine on May 5. UPDATE at http://lugansk-news.com/follow-the-white-rabbit-graves-of-russian-special-forces-who-are-not-there-killed-in-ukraine/ … pic.twitter.com/dXUDoQdJNZ

During the heavy final fighting for Debaltseve after the mercenary troops could not take the town and Putin had declared it would be captured--it appears Russian Spetsnaz went into the attack as the lead Russian battle formation and took heavy loses with many of the Spetsnaz KIA being buried in the Ukraine and not sent back to Russia for burial as is normally normal but when hiding the loses the Ukraine will do.

Interesting if true:
150 Russian soldiers were taken POW in the last months but @poroshenko demanded to release them in silence http://goo.gl/fb/2ZeHHc

Might explain just how easy it was for the Ukraine to turn over the names/bios of 60 Russian Spetsnaz to the ICC for terrorist/war crimes charges.

#Russia|n #GRU kiled in #Ukraine.
Photo: @GettyImages pic.twitter.com/pI5xesOqSZ

#Russia|n #GRU killed in the battle for #Debaltseve in eastern #Ukraine were buried in #Donetsk.
@LUGANSK_TODAY pic.twitter.com/5lDWFzTxKj

#Russia|n #GRU killed in #Ukraine buried in #Donetsk after battle4 #Debaltseve
@LUGANSK_TODAY
https://twitter.com/RobPulseNews/status/568831788812013568 … pic.twitter.com/pAjUnRODYr

[OUTLAW 09]

May21 #Antratsyt: Drunk "LNR militiamen" shot 2 Cossack 'officers' @DobryShubin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMEYqxYDS7U …

Details of the "Форпост" Russian UAV shot down in #Ukraine http://apostrophe.com.ua/news/society/accidents/2015-05-24/v-sbu-rasskazali-o-sbitom-na-donbasse-bespilotnike-opublikovanyi-foto/24986 … pic.twitter.com/GnlGri9A7p

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is still trying for that provocation to launch a major attack. Waiting for the Russians to blame the Ukrainians as always is the case.

Appears to have been "friendly fire"--Russian.

Russian Colonel-General Lentsov's car came under fire betw #Horlivka-#Mayorsk on May 23, at 17:40. Nobody injured.
http://informator.lg.ua/?p=93366

[OUTLAW 09]

Come on just what is this Russian General thinking—they easily abandoned two Spetsnaz their elite in the Ukraine—just pack the 1500 up and go home and the problem is solved.

That has been what the OSCE has been telling them for years.

BREAKING: RUSSIAN GENERAL - "WE WILL NOT ALLOW THAT OUR ARMY IN TRANSNISTRIA WILL DIE OF HUNGER" http://www.mediafax.ro/externe/un-general-rus-afirma-ca-moscova-nu-va-permite-ca-militarii-rusi-din-transnistria-sa-indure-foamea-14319973 …

NOTE: is this General trying to imply that the Transnistria cannot provide enough food for 1500 extra individuals--does seem far fetched as to the idea of "starving". They could start farming and raising cattle as a number of Soviet military bases did in the SU to supplement their food rations from Moscow which were always "lean".

WE WILL PROVIDE THEM SUPPORT WITH OUR MILITARY AIR FLEET"

They still have to get airspace clearance for military flights—not a solution it seems.

Transnistrian "FM":"Ukr decision to denounce the security agreements with Russia "undermines the peace in the region" http://www.zf.ro/business-international/conflictul-ar-putea-reizbucni-in-estul-r-moldova-avertizeaza-oficiali-de-la-moscova-si-tiraspol-14321135 …

RUSSIAN OFFICER IN TRANSIT TO TRANSNISTRIA ON UNANNOUNCED MILITARY MISSION DETAINED AT CHISINAU AIRPORT http://www.europalibera.org/archive/news/latest/445/445.html?id=27030611 …

[OUTLAW 09]

That tidbit is from @A_SHEKH0VTS0V's recent piece on fascism information wars and reality. https://www.academia.edu/12461173/The_spectre_of_Ukrainian_fascism_information_wars_ political_manipulation_and_reality …

At a checkpoint in Lysychansk, 2 citizens of Belarus were detained. Planned 2 go fight alongside terrorists – Moskal

2005 Donetsk Republic's summer camp taught espionage, sabotage, guerrilla tactics for fight against democratic movements in neighbor states

[OUTLAW 09]

Ukrainian guerrilla unit "Shadows" has reported the following and there is some indication it is verified as true.

If verified then it is further prove the Ukrainian guerrilla war is starting to gain traction as this unit has actually even ambushed and killed two Russian Generals on the GRU side. Which by the way the Russians are always quick to deny if such a report surfaces—that time it was utter silence.

The attack was professionally and quickly carried out as if a true SOF team had done it and Shadows is made up to a degree of former Ukrainian SOF/Alpha types.

Commander of the Ukrainian 'Shadows' guerrilla unit takes responsibility for the assassination of the 'Ghost' rebel unit commander Mozgovoy.

Amazing that the Russian mercenaries were quick to accept the statement from "Shadows" an organization many know little to nothing about-even Ukrainians.

Might just be convenient to blame the Ukrainians but "Shadows" has been actually operating in his area of awhile--so it might in fact be correct.

#LNR's Basurin to LifeNews: leader of 'Ghost' battalion #Mozgovoi killed by #Ukrainian 'Shadow' saboteur group. https://twitter.com/lifenews_ru/status/602467059981758465 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Come on just what is this Russian General thinking—they easily abandoned two Spetsnaz their elite in the Ukraine—just pack the 1500 up and go home and the problem is solved.

That has been what the OSCE has been telling them for years.

BREAKING: RUSSIAN GENERAL - "WE WILL NOT ALLOW THAT OUR ARMY IN TRANSNISTRIA WILL DIE OF HUNGER" http://www.mediafax.ro/externe/un-general-rus-afirma-ca-moscova-nu-va-permite-ca-militarii-rusi-din-transnistria-sa-indure-foamea-14319973 …

NOTE: is this General trying to imply that the Transnistria cannot provide enough food for 1500 extra individuals--does seem far fetched as to the idea of "starving". They could start farming and raising cattle as a number of Soviet military bases did in the SU to supplement their food rations from Moscow which were always "lean".

WE WILL PROVIDE THEM SUPPORT WITH OUR MILITARY AIR FLEET"

They still have to get airspace clearance for military flights—not a solution it seems.

Transnistrian "FM":"Ukr decision to denounce the security agreements with Russia "undermines the peace in the region" http://www.zf.ro/business-international/conflictul-ar-putea-reizbucni-in-estul-r-moldova-avertizeaza-oficiali-de-la-moscova-si-tiraspol-14321135 …

RUSSIAN OFFICER IN TRANSIT TO TRANSNISTRIA ON UNANNOUNCED MILITARY MISSION DETAINED AT CHISINAU AIRPORT http://www.europalibera.org/archive/news/latest/445/445.html?id=27030611 …

20 March 2015, Kremlin proxies appealed to Russian parliament for #Transnistria to join Russian Federation. Pravda.ru http://english.pravda.ru/world/ussr/20-03-2014/127139-transdniestria-0/ …

Ukraine decision means 1,500 Russian troops stuck in occupied #Transnistria (Moldova) - Uaposition 22 May http://uaposition.com/ukraine-blocked-russian-contingent-to-transnistria-moldova/ …

Marakutsa: Supplies to #Transnistria will continue despite Ukraine decision; weaponry is stored. Pravda.ru 22 May http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/22-05-2015/130698-transnistria-0/ …

In #Transnistria, Moldovan citizens are being kidnapped for ransom by pro-Kremlin militia. DW 19 May http://www.dw.de/transnistria-secret-police-vs-ngos/a-18461829 …

The separatist border police from #Transnistria violated the territory of Moldova http://www.moldova.org/the-separatist-border-police-from-transnistria-violated-the-territory-of-moldova/ … via @moldovaorg 15 May

Why Moldova Won't be Russia's Next Target - The Globalist http://www.theglobalist.com/why-moldova-wont-be-russias-next-target/#.VWH5blNKaXY.twitter … via @theglobalist 22 May

Shevchuk: Kyiv ruining #Transnistria peacekeeping mechanism (Interfax Russia/Kremlin 22 May) http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=594068 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings and ground attacks have been heavy this afternoon at the typical hotspots.

KIA at #Shyrokyno, from Donbas battalion. https://twitter.com/litator/status/602429408931086336 …

Azov Reg.: After 4hrs of battle @ #Shyrokyne, the intensity of the attacks diminished.
Donbas batt. has 1 KIA, 1 WIA pic.twitter.com/g29llPTHm5

14:08 @iMariupol In #Shyrokyne RUS SPG works, #Mariupol listens to cannonade. Smoke over Shyrokyne pic.twitter.com/9do06Jhbj8

@Guderian_Xaba Air burst fragmentation shells?

It sounds like the russians have used again today at #Shyrokyno shells filled with shrapnel.
https://twitter.com/artem_cherep/status/602422391692726272 …

13:54 #Shyrokyne @tombreadley About 2 hrs ago RUS started massive mortar bombardment, 'Donbas' battalion has one wounded

14:02 #Shyrokyne @litator we [UKR] have one KIA

Shellings and especially the intense ground attacks from today have tapered off.


17:50 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 5 trucks w/troops towing 120mm mortars arrived

Smoke rising in Donetsk after large explosion (via @GirkinGirkin) pic.twitter.com/UrHIRplq95

Photos from the site of massive explosion in #Donetsk. Donetsk Metallurgical Plant? https://twitter.com/UKROPSTEEL/status/602503778865119232 …

#News
The Ukrainian army command needed more than one hour to answer the Russia language of violence in #Shyrokyne today.
Hence 1 KIA, 2 WIA

Russian troops must have taken off time for something to eat--shellings back on again.

15:11 #Donetsk @donetsk_ukrop Sounds like a tanks shells in airport or its area

.@UkraineSuper1 Fr/16:10 to16:50 something shelled fr/Tochmash park tow/#Opytne

17:16 [#Shyrokyne] @litator 2 more wounded

17:00 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka Quiet

17:29 #Alchevsk @ua_ares "A stage is being erected near city executive committee building for #Mozgovoy commemoration meeting"

17:33#Mariupol @sir_T_Lawrence One can hear cannonade

17:30 #Donetsk @donetsk_ukrop Distant battle for about 40 min, like tank volleys, like in #Opytne direction

Donbas militants continue using banned weapons
http://www.unian.info/war/1081464-donbas-militants-continue-using-banned-weapons.html … pic.twitter.com/0LEo3o60Sb

Reason of massive #Donetsk explosion still unknown. Pictures here:
http://bit.ly/1Sxotb8 pic.twitter.com/UkCbjZFHQ2

Another huge explosion in #Donetsk, locals reports @newsdonetsk http://goo.gl/IsUoHJ pic.twitter.com/TXcHppPQRW

#Donetsk @98760333 "Looks like here" pic.twitter.com/oQkg8IbPZf

[OUTLAW 09]

20 March 2015, Kremlin proxies appealed to Russian parliament for #Transnistria to join Russian Federation. Pravda.ru http://english.pravda.ru/world/ussr/20-03-2014/127139-transdniestria-0/ …

Ukraine decision means 1,500 Russian troops stuck in occupied #Transnistria (Moldova) - Uaposition 22 May http://uaposition.com/ukraine-blocked-russian-contingent-to-transnistria-moldova/ …

Marakutsa: Supplies to #Transnistria will continue despite Ukraine decision; weaponry is stored. Pravda.ru 22 May http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/22-05-2015/130698-transnistria-0/ …

In #Transnistria, Moldovan citizens are being kidnapped for ransom by pro-Kremlin militia. DW 19 May http://www.dw.de/transnistria-secret-police-vs-ngos/a-18461829 …

The separatist border police from #Transnistria violated the territory of Moldova http://www.moldova.org/the-separatist-border-police-from-transnistria-violated-the-territory-of-moldova/ … via @moldovaorg 15 May

Why Moldova Won't be Russia's Next Target - The Globalist http://www.theglobalist.com/why-moldova-wont-be-russias-next-target/#.VWH5blNKaXY.twitter … via @theglobalist 22 May

Shevchuk: Kyiv ruining #Transnistria peacekeeping mechanism (Interfax Russia/Kremlin 22 May) http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=594068 …

#Russia will do military airlifts in order to reach #Transnistria after Ukraines law change: http://www.interfax.ru/world/443141

#Russia implies it will violate #Ukraine or #Moldova airspace to supply #Transnistria via air to #Tiraspol http://www.ipn.md/en/dosar-transnistrean/69566 …

If true, would be serious escalation in #Transnistria, undermine #Moldova sovereignty further. https://twitter.com/alexandruc4/status/602490105916424192 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings and especially the intense ground attacks from today have tapered off.


17:50 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 5 trucks w/troops towing 120mm mortars arrived

Smoke rising in Donetsk after large explosion (via @GirkinGirkin) pic.twitter.com/UrHIRplq95

Photos from the site of massive explosion in #Donetsk. Donetsk Metallurgical Plant? https://twitter.com/UKROPSTEEL/status/602503778865119232 …

#News
The Ukrainian army command needed more than one hour to answer the Russia language of violence in #Shyrokyne today.
Hence 1 KIA, 2 WIA

Russian troops must have taken off time for something to eat--shellings back on again.

15:11 #Donetsk @donetsk_ukrop Sounds like a tanks shells in airport or its area

.@UkraineSuper1 Fr/16:10 to16:50 something shelled fr/Tochmash park tow/#Opytne

17:16 [#Shyrokyne] @litator 2 more wounded

17:00 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka Quiet

17:29 #Alchevsk @ua_ares "A stage is being erected near city executive committee building for #Mozgovoy commemoration meeting"

17:33#Mariupol @sir_T_Lawrence One can hear cannonade

17:30 #Donetsk @donetsk_ukrop Distant battle for about 40 min, like tank volleys, like in #Opytne direction

Donbas militants continue using banned weapons
http://www.unian.info/war/1081464-donbas-militants-continue-using-banned-weapons.html … pic.twitter.com/0LEo3o60Sb

Reason of massive #Donetsk explosion still unknown. Pictures here:
http://bit.ly/1Sxotb8 pic.twitter.com/UkCbjZFHQ2

Another huge explosion in #Donetsk, locals reports @newsdonetsk http://goo.gl/IsUoHJ pic.twitter.com/TXcHppPQRW

#Donetsk @98760333 "Looks like here" pic.twitter.com/oQkg8IbPZf

What amazes me and it is becoming rather strange to watch--as the Russian shellings and ground attacks all along the Minsk 2 contact line have massively increased over the last ten days THERE is a strange air of total silence out of Obama, his DoS Kerry, the US NSC, even NATO has gone silent as well as Hollande and Merkel.

Not a single word on the intense shellings and ground attacks--not even a Russia has no intentions on ever fulfilling and implementing Minsk 2 OR better yet the ceasefire has failed and we need new sanctions--nothing --total silence.

Ukraine manpower loses in killed and wounded are mounting fast.

18:33 #Donetsk Kalinovka, Med Univ @98760333 And explosion, "wind blast against windows

18:45 #Shakhtarsk @Helgi__UA UAZ-469 'Bobik' of army police w/foghorn &5 18-wheelers fr/#Donetsk
Eastwards

18:40 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka Air blast fr/Donetsk reached also Maryinka. Quiet in #Maryinka

18:55 #Shakhtarsk @Helgi__UA 6 Ural trucks eastwards, 'beat up a bit', 2 were towed

19:20 #Donetsk Budenovka @UrriKara4en Voltage is dropping [the same in some other districts]

The shelling can be heard in #Mariupol
8:12PM https://twitter.com/litator/status/602522534324604928 …

19:20 #Donetsk @BylByleva And again ambulance car foghorns are heard

8:26PM
#Shyrokyno, #Chermalyk
The shelling continues. Self propelled artillery and snipers working. https://twitter.com/fotomariupol/status/602525981795086337 …

#Avdiivka 8:28PM
Serious battle in the area of #Spartak-#Optyne, heavy on both sides. https://twitter.com/bamr69/status/602526659359674368 …

19:06 @lapa545 Donetsk explosion was heard from #Volnovakha and smoke volume was visible

19:05 #Donetsk @14720Maro And again the ambulance cars, doesn't look like mine neutralization

19:01 #Mariupol @iMariupol More intense&frequent shelling, the latest volley 9 shots/7 sec. Black smoke in #Shyrokyne dir'n

#Alchevsk @pandenik "Morning meeting failed, so they gather people in the evening"
pic.twitter.com/Ifb6HioVUJ #Mozgovoy

18:00 #Alchevsk @ZonaDonbassa Mozgovoy memory meeting - 600-700 people

#Avdeevka @Firsov_Donetsk Gas pipeline restored, no water&electricity yet. "Plant withstood". Now about 6000 ppl in the town

19:35 #Avdeevka @rechnikato Rumble

19:34 @Darren_Aro UKR didn't shell fr/Novomykhaylivka-Taramchuk-Novotroitske in the time of Donetsk explosion

20:19 #Horlivka Central city ds @CosmopolitUa 2 volleys

20:12 #Mariupol @litator Quite massive explosions heard

20:20 #Mariupol @Sergey_Osadchiy Impact behind Vostochny micro-ds, SPG

20:00 #Donetsk @nixer79 "Kyivsky ds heard the explosion as plangent blast or a series of explosions
"...like when they were detonated [new terminal] in the airport, but more massive"

20:28 #Shyrokyne, #Chermalyk @fotomariupol Shelling is not ceasing. Everything fr/snipers to SPGs

20:28 #Avdeevka @bamr69 Intense battle in#Spartak-#Opytne area, "heavy weapon fr/both sides

20:34 #Donetsk @funkermanjke Intense battle in #Spartak area for about 30 min. Small arms and many single explosions

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian loses are far higher than they really want to admit —if the video is correct as it appears 5-6 are being buried just in this video and the line of new graves counts over another 5-6--all new.


RU army buries its soldiers killed in action in Ukraine. Watch
pic.twitter.com/uNOeJEWa8Z
Video http://ow.ly/NmKxu

[OUTLAW 09]

What amazes me and it is becoming rather strange to watch--as the Russian shellings and ground attacks all along the Minsk 2 contact line have massively increased over the last ten days THERE is a strange air of total silence out of Obama, his DoS Kerry, the US NSC, even NATO has gone silent as well as Hollande and Merkel.

Not a single word on the intense shellings and ground attacks--not even a Russia has no intentions on ever fulfilling and implementing Minsk 2 OR better yet the ceasefire has failed and we need new sanctions--nothing --total silence.

Ukraine manpower loses in killed and wounded are mounting fast.

18:33 #Donetsk Kalinovka, Med Univ @98760333 And explosion, "wind blast against windows

18:45 #Shakhtarsk @Helgi__UA UAZ-469 'Bobik' of army police w/foghorn &5 18-wheelers fr/#Donetsk
Eastwards

18:40 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka Air blast fr/Donetsk reached also Maryinka. Quiet in #Maryinka

18:55 #Shakhtarsk @Helgi__UA 6 Ural trucks eastwards, 'beat up a bit', 2 were towed

19:20 #Donetsk Budenovka @UrriKara4en Voltage is dropping [the same in some other districts]

The shelling can be heard in #Mariupol
8:12PM https://twitter.com/litator/status/602522534324604928 …

19:20 #Donetsk @BylByleva And again ambulance car foghorns are heard

8:26PM
#Shyrokyno, #Chermalyk
The shelling continues. Self propelled artillery and snipers working. https://twitter.com/fotomariupol/status/602525981795086337 …

#Avdiivka 8:28PM
Serious battle in the area of #Spartak-#Optyne, heavy on both sides. https://twitter.com/bamr69/status/602526659359674368 …

19:06 @lapa545 Donetsk explosion was heard from #Volnovakha and smoke volume was visible

19:05 #Donetsk @14720Maro And again the ambulance cars, doesn't look like mine neutralization

19:01 #Mariupol @iMariupol More intense&frequent shelling, the latest volley 9 shots/7 sec. Black smoke in #Shyrokyne dir'n

#Alchevsk @pandenik "Morning meeting failed, so they gather people in the evening"
pic.twitter.com/Ifb6HioVUJ #Mozgovoy

18:00 #Alchevsk @ZonaDonbassa Mozgovoy memory meeting - 600-700 people

#Avdeevka @Firsov_Donetsk Gas pipeline restored, no water&electricity yet. "Plant withstood". Now about 6000 ppl in the town

19:35 #Avdeevka @rechnikato Rumble

19:34 @Darren_Aro UKR didn't shell fr/Novomykhaylivka-Taramchuk-Novotroitske in the time of Donetsk explosion

20:19 #Horlivka Central city ds @CosmopolitUa 2 volleys

20:12 #Mariupol @litator Quite massive explosions heard

20:20 #Mariupol @Sergey_Osadchiy Impact behind Vostochny micro-ds, SPG

20:00 #Donetsk @nixer79 "Kyivsky ds heard the explosion as plangent blast or a series of explosions
"...like when they were detonated [new terminal] in the airport, but more massive"

20:28 #Shyrokyne, #Chermalyk @fotomariupol Shelling is not ceasing. Everything fr/snipers to SPGs

20:28 #Avdeevka @bamr69 Intense battle in#Spartak-#Opytne area, "heavy weapon fr/both sides

20:34 #Donetsk @funkermanjke Intense battle in #Spartak area for about 30 min. Small arms and many single explosions

Again just where is the Western critique of Russian non compliance with Minsk 2---

Sounds like it was a really really difficult Sunday for the guys holding the lines at #Shyrokyno. https://twitter.com/Olga_kievljanka/status/602521913999646721 …

The ONLY difference between Russian Federation Ground Forces and so-called "DPR Republican Guard" is the badges. pic.twitter.com/oi3Z1uq0Ew

the Russian ground forces deployed against Ukrainian "Azov" Regt defenders of #Shyrokyne are the "3rd battalion DPR Republican Guard

SO are actually Russian troops in full combat operations at this moment in space and time????

[OUTLAW 09]

#Russia|n "Spetsnaz" special forces are everywhere at this #Donetsk funeral:
Photos courtesy @GettyImages
#Ukraine pic.twitter.com/09V5kTmwNb

Basurin (Russian forces DPR) is ramping up his rhetoric, inflating numbers, spreading disinfo, outrageous lies... https://vk.com/gvardiyadnr?z=photo-85052601_365667680%2Falbum-85052601_00%2Frev …

Instead 'the biggest problem for Russian gov right now is the loyalty of their own military' - suggests @Yakowina
http://int.hromadske.tv

"No Gay Europe": How Moscow's turning up the heat on this even in pro-EU countries (note role of US Amb to Georgia): http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/79462.htm …

[OUTLAW 09]

We now have tonight a formal close combat incident ongoing ACROSS the Minsk 2 contract line and yet still nothing from the US, French and Germans--total silence.

9:45PM
Stanytsia Luhanska area - now close combat is on. https://twitter.com/sdv_girtrest/status/602545977568919552 …

21:45 #Stanytsia_Luhanska and outskirts @sdv_girtrest in-fighting now

9:19PM
The russians are shelling Stanytsia Luhanska. https://twitter.com/sdv_girtrest/status/602539365714239489 …

First an execution of the Russian mercenary AND now this???

Flag of #Ukraine in downtown #Luhansk over Parkhomenko market - since early morning today. https://twitter.com/Pantaev666/status/602532535185350656 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Final wrap up on the ambush of the Russian mercenary leader.

VIDEO LieNews made a reconstruction animation of the assassination of #Mozgovoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiKTnFjsd3E …

GRAPHIC VIDEO Aftermath of attack on 'DPR' commander #Mozgovoy cars that killed 7.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx31_vn6-i8 …
pic.twitter.com/AV7MVF8Vmk
@loogunda

[OUTLAW 09]

Totally new areas being shelled tonight----highly unusual

22:26 @Darren_Aro #Taramchuk under bombardment for now

22:11 @Darren_Aro Explosions in #Taramchuk-#Berezove area, mortars shell fr/#Dokuchaevsk, pass-by in Yasny

#Dokuchaevsk
22:13 @Shrik_E Mortar fire,#Yasne direction
22:18 @shuttle1907 Freq heavy shelling fr/ponds in Yasne tow/#Stepne

10:13PM
#Dokuchajevsk - mortars firing towards #Yasne https://twitter.com/Shrik_E/status/602552917250482176 …

A column of several dozen RU military vehicles seen entering a field heading towards Ukr @InfoResist @tsnua pic.twitter.com/EbRM3qlqAb w/no military license plates

NOTE--this route has been used previously as a Russian invasion route into the Ukraine---

Ex "DNR" chief Strelkov: in 12 months/sooner #Ukraine could be ready to take on RU militarily pic.twitter.com/b1FLjxbx3w http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/24-may-ex--dnr-chief-strelkov-in-12-monthssooner-ukraine

Someone forgot to tell "DPR Republican Guards" officer he's still wearing his Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) badges! pic.twitter.com/HL0ZfOPyfd

[OUTLAW 09]

@LUGANSK_TODAY on Jan 12 Russian Special Forces unit was recorded in Lugansk, see video here http://lugansk-news.com/russian-army-unit-moving-in-the-center-of-lugansk-equipped-with-as-val-assault-riffles/ … pic.twitter.com/hrRhsoMdiA


'@GirkinGirkin Russian armour staging area at Vodino/Golovinka/Chkalova/Kuzminka, Rostov region, Russia 24 May' pic.twitter.com/GqeSEUS2cp

[OUTLAW 09]

Totally new areas being shelled tonight----highly unusual

22:26 @Darren_Aro #Taramchuk under bombardment for now

22:11 @Darren_Aro Explosions in #Taramchuk-#Berezove area, mortars shell fr/#Dokuchaevsk, pass-by in Yasny

#Dokuchaevsk
22:13 @Shrik_E Mortar fire,#Yasne direction
22:18 @shuttle1907 Freq heavy shelling fr/ponds in Yasne tow/#Stepne

10:13PM
#Dokuchajevsk - mortars firing towards #Yasne https://twitter.com/Shrik_E/status/602552917250482176 …

A column of several dozen RU military vehicles seen entering a field heading towards Ukr @InfoResist @tsnua pic.twitter.com/EbRM3qlqAb w/no military license plates

NOTE--this route has been used previously as a Russian invasion route into the Ukraine---

Ex "DNR" chief Strelkov: in 12 months/sooner #Ukraine could be ready to take on RU militarily pic.twitter.com/b1FLjxbx3w http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/24-may-ex--dnr-chief-strelkov-in-12-monthssooner-ukraine

Someone forgot to tell "DPR Republican Guards" officer he's still wearing his Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) badges! pic.twitter.com/HL0ZfOPyfd

Reference the Russian MRLS unit moving towards the Ukrainian border filmed by Reuters.

Social media open source analysis immediately started to track it and geo tag the unit as it is using the same standard Russian invasion route into the Ukraine used by the Russian Army in August 2014.

BLOG Reuters photographed Russian Hurricane MLRS convoy without license plates heading for Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/jqv7JHVTLb

Great geolocation and analysis of #RussianArmy BM-27 column by @DajeyPetros.http://ukraineatwar.blogspot.nl/2015/05/reuter

Yesterday a Reuters journalists photographed THE SAME Russian Hurricane MLRS on a railway.
pic.twitter.com/tlaovF83Gf
via @antoine_sans

Russian military convoys without license plates going through fields to Ukrainian border near Matveev Kurgan pic.twitter.com/GTuF87NVw3

[OUTLAW 09]

Have today a serious question for Obama, Kerry, Hollande and Merkel--after the massive shellings and ground attacks of the last ten days DO they really really believe Putin has an interesting in implementing Minsk 2?

OR do they simply view this as being "armed negotiations"???

With the following Ukrainian loss numbers ONE can not any longer truly believe Minsk 2 even exists outside of the paper it is written on.

There is no ceasefire and has been no ceasefire thus no Minsk 2.

At some point Western leaders have to at least say something as their total combined silence is deafening.

Remember in a war of perception AND when one side says nothing THEN the other side "assumes" they can more forward and the other side will not stop them.

This is what Putin is currently doing-he is probably right in his assumption that the combined West leadership is right now the weakest it has ever been since 1990. He definitely views Obama has been totally weak and unwilling to challenge him AS Obama needs him for his "legacy".

20 #Ukraine servicemen #KIA in fighting for #Shyrokyne between Feb 10 -May 10; 18 were @Polk_Azov. Nearly 100 #WIA. https://twitter.com/Irina16135931/status/602564076577890304 …

One #Donbas battalion fighter is #KIA and 4 #WIA in shelling of #Shyrokyne. #Ukraine #war https://twitter.com/24todaynetua/status/602732113964707841 …

The fun begins again in #Shyrokyno, artillery working.
9:16AM
#Mariupol https://twitter.com/dertien1488/status/602719929746489344 …

Quiet times on #Mariupol directions are over: militants incessantly shell #Shyrokyne, Ukr repelled attack in Hnutove https://www.facebook.com/ato.news/posts/1003886122955527 …

09:16 #Shyrokyne @dertien1488 It started, artillery works
09:19 #Mariupol @EmMemvm Shellings resumed. Quite loud and close.

Gov. Moskal: Stanytsia Luhanska and surrounding villages Artem, Valuiske under heavy fire almost all night fr artillery, mortars, RPG, AGS

08:55 #Shakhtarsk @Helgi__UA 10 BMP, 1 command vehicle http://goo.gl/4JRBYP , 8 ural trucks w/troops tow/#Donetsk

#Donetsk
Some black smoke rising from Gvardeyka area. https://twitter.com/BylByleva/status/602705760213200896 …

Important economic development----
#ATO spox: #Avdeevka coking plant resumed work via @SputnikATO

Ukrainian army spots record number of militant drones in Donbas on Saturday http://www.unian.info/war/1081494-ukrainian-army-spots-record-number-of-militant-drones-in-donbas-on-saturday.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Seems even the Russian Orthodox church is religiously “losing it’s way” politically by being 300% Putin focused and nationalistic in their countless comments against the Ukraine?

Has the entire Russian civil society entered an "altered state of reality" ie they are actually believing their own propaganda?

Patriarch Kirill: Godlessness becoming Ukraine’s ideology
http://www.unian.info/politics/1081557-patriarch-kirill-godlessness-becoming-ukraines-ideology.html … pic.twitter.com/cw5dLlUvjC

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian propaganda has 4 Ds: dismiss, distort, distract, dismay.

#Moscow’s account of #Nato expansion is a case of false memory syndrome http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/24/russia-nato-expansion-memory-grievances … pic.twitter.com/fboZx79OVu

[OUTLAW 09]

More Russian black humor:

Vladimir Putin
Russian "tanks don't need visas" as those are not Russian tanks and those drives are simple "miners and truck drivers".

This tweet contains all the documentary evidence Russia has that @NATO never promised to move east.

[OUTLAW 09]

Mariupol sector: enemy shelled Shyrokine with 122mm artillery and 120mm mortars – #ATO Spokesperson

Debate in #Russia about protecting those who serve it after alleged soldiers captured in #Ukraine http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/22/us-ukraine-crisis-russia-military-idUSKBN0O71WG20150522 …

.@JohnKerry and President Poroshenko agreed that it is a critical moment for Russia and the separatists to fulfill commitments under Minsk.

Is this 'coded' diplomatic language for it's "now or never", as Russia moves more heavy forces into Ukraine... https://twitter.com/StateDept/status/602521457336410113 …

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Ukrainian border guards confiscated 1,000 copies of anti-Ukrainian propaganda leaflets & papers shipped from Donetsk to Olhynka village.

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Ukrainian Armed Forces undergo intensive drills in Donetsk region & tank troops in Dnipropetrovsk region pic.twitter.com/dHPGxEIXG7

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Fighting also continued near Shchastya & Stanytsia Luhanska. Militants destroy residential houses & infrastructure.

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
In Donetsk sector, ceasefire violated near Matyinka, Hranitne, Kamyanka, Verkhnyoteretkse

Pro-Russian mercenaries (callsigns "Talib", "Lens", others) at #Shyrokyne. Added 25 May https://vk.com/albums-57424472?z=photo-57424472_367254896%2Fphotos-57424472 … pic.twitter.com/hqCEflZ7YJ

[OUTLAW 09]

Notice the Russian FM does not “offer” anything in return NOR does he talk about what Russia has implemented under Minsk 2???? Yet the blockade is actually working and causing Russia massive economic pain. Besides what nation pays for services and pensions in an occupied zone they have no control over???

Sergei Lavrov urged Kyiv to lift the blockade of Donbas http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/25-may-sergei-lavrov-urged-kyiv-to-lift-the-blockade-of-donbas … #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/MzqzqDET0H via @RT_russian

[OUTLAW 09]

Wake up Obama, Kerry, Hollande and especially Merkel whose idea Minsk 1 and 2 was—THIS is suppose to be the Russian “fully implementing Minsk 2????
Russian "Hurricanes" near the Ukrainian border. Seemingly new efforts for ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/H28JXnxafE

No need for panic. But Russian forces sneaking independent Uragan MLRS battery across border into Ukraine is clear indication of intent

Evidence #Russia|n #GRU/army participate in military ops & shell #Ukraine's residents w/ GRAD
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7frKzBIbbQnZFZxVFFMdG9meW8/view … pic.twitter.com/PkVQi8dAXq

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin's charm is seemingly decreasing.....

Extremely interesting Russian political development----

Sign of what's coming?: Putin's "United Russia" lost district council elections in Kaliningrad

https://www.newkaliningrad.ru/news/briefs/politics/6076501-edinaya-rossiya-ne-poluchila-v-baltiyske-ni-odnogo-deputatskogo-mandata.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

The Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) structure turned out to be fig-leaf for Russian military deception---it effectively allows a senior Russian General complete freedom to roam everywhere and not be challenged ----and his staff of over 70 consists also of FSB/GRU officers AND he is the current Commander of the CSTO “peacekeeping forces”.

—DOES that make sense to anyone in the West????

Russian forces prepare offensive, yet Ukrainian Staff continue to talk #Shyrokyne "demilitarization" with Lentsov! pic.twitter.com/QmD5nCAMEM

Azov Regiment @Polk_Azov: At HQ, it is recognised that "relative truce" in #Mariupol sector is over.

VIDEO (24 May) Russian Airborne Forces (VDV, Ivanovo) in CSTO Rapid Reaction Force joint exercises in Tajikistan https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1DMTXZiY3cM …

[OUTLAW 09]

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Map. Situation in eastern #Ukraine, May 25, 12:00 EET pic.twitter.com/UlhhaZFcmj

@LUGANSK_TODAY UPDATE. New photos of Russian UAV FORPOST after crash. Read and share http://lugansk-news.com/ukrainian-army-shot-down-russian-uav-forpost-that-costs-6-million-usd/ … pic.twitter.com/ukpyph7phb

@LUGANSK_TODAY UPDATE Map with crash site of Russian UAV posted, read at http://lugansk-news.com/ukrainian-army-shot-down-russian-uav-forpost-that-costs-6-million-usd/ … pic.twitter.com/omykEV0NMt

Avdiivka Coke plant has not resumed production, only reconstruction work - Director of Metinvest
http://economics.lb.ua/business/2015/05/25/306015_avdeevskiy_koksohim_ostanovil.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

More Russian black humor:

Vladimir Putin
Russian "tanks don't need visas" as those are not Russian tanks and those drives are simple "miners and truck drivers".

This tweet contains all the documentary evidence Russia has that @NATO never promised to move east.

Yes the Russian DPM really did state this......

DPM #Rogozin about West #sanctions:Tanks do not need visas

[OUTLAW 09]

Notice that even Russia's FM in his press releases follows the rules--

Russian propaganda has 4 Ds: dismiss, distort, distract, dismay.

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Lavrov: We are willing to meet in any format that will focus on unconditional compliance with the Minsk Agreements

Russia has absolutely not complied with anything written in Minsk 2 --distort, distract

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Lavrov: We will propose additional measures to prevent any deviation from the Minsk Agreements

Again he follows the rules of dismiss, distort, distract.

Russian mercenary comments are even worse--they take in all the rules.

DPR's Basurin makes up story that "Kyiv formed 19 sabotage groups of foreign special forces"! https://vk.com/gvardiyadnr?w=wall-85052601_5919 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears the world of OPSEC finally caught up with the Russian Spetsnaz-----

Russian soldiers in Togliatti have been ordered to remove profiles in social networks at least until the summer. And turn over mobile phones and ordered to not even contact their parents. So they are going back into the Ukraine it appears from this action. http://tvrain.ru/news/istochnik_soldatam_iz_chasti_gru_v_toljatti_prikaz-387901/ …

We've noticed change in pattern since Thursday (21 May) with RU photo uploads: personal stopped, 'deliberate' ones continue



http://www.unian.info/war/1081620-tymchuk-ukrainian-army-repels-militant-saboteurs-attack-near-dzerzhynsk.html

More Russian Spetsnaz activity----

Tymchuk: Ukrainian army repels militant saboteurs’ attack near Dzerzhynsk

NOTE: For an elite unit they are being worn into the ground being used simply as recon infantry

25.05.2015 | 11:48


The Ukrainian armed forces exchanged fire with a Russian-backed militant sabotage and reconnaissance group in the area between the villages of Leninske and Nelipivka near the town of Dzerzhynsk in Donetsk region, head of the Information Resistance Group and MP Dmytro Tymchuk wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.

"In the area between the villages of Leninske and Nelipivka, [a group of] militants of the Donetsk People’s Republic, consisting of 12 people, under the cover of heavy mortar fire, tried to penetrate deep into the battle formations of the Ukrainian troops, bypassing the town of Artemove and the village of Shumy from the southwest," Tymchuk wrote.

According to Tymchuk, the militants’ goal was to probe Ukrainian defenses in the area of Artemove and possibly to reach the outskirts of Dzerzhynsk.

"However, having reached the village of Ruchei Zhelezniy, the saboteurs were discovered by the Ukrainian security forces and as a result of an exchange of fire were forced to retreat. At least two militants were wounded," Tymchuk said.

[OUTLAW 09]

Drones Company of Russian 19th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Ukraine: https://en.informnapalm.org/drones-company-of-russian-19th-motorized-rifle-brigade-a-story-of-their-ukrainian-trip/ … via @en_informnapalm pic.twitter.com/y6LOxLEKGO

Saxon APC in #Ukraine with NIR camera on telescopic pole and carrying UAVs pic.twitter.com/IzaDY02GGD

#Military training of contract #soldiers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu8ExH5fkkg …

Russian aviation & air defences combat readiness "full alert" in Central plus Western & Southern Military Districts http://ria.ru/defense_safety/20150525/1066342888.html …

T-80U of elite 4th Guards Kantemir Tank Division on exercise in Rostov region (added 25 May) https://vk.com/warsonline_military_observer?z=photo-62474637_367550538%2Falbum-62474637_00%2Frev … pic.twitter.com/PPJNonMRfs

4th Guards "Kantemirovskaya" (Kantemir) is an elite armoured division:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_Guards_Kantemirovskaya_Tank_Division …
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/4-div.htm …
http://english.gosu-wot.com/t-80u-kantemir-tank-division-of-the-russian-federation-combat-training-crews/ …

My piece on how the ambush & assassination of rebel leader in #Ukraine exposes LPR infighting http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article4449889.ece … pic.twitter.com/OpSBFz9P3K

Tymchuk: Militants in Luhansk produce bootlegged alcohol
http://www.unian.info/politics/1081709-tymchuk-militants-in-luhansk-produce-bootlegged-alcohol.html … pic.twitter.com/YUUHpsh8Y5

[OUTLAW 09]

I hate using an old pre WW1/WW2 term called “appeasement” BUT in fact the current Obama/Kerry moves in the Ukraine smack closely to “appeasement” meant to entice Putin into assisting in the creation of an Obama “legacy in Syria and Iran—there can be no other reason for sheer and utter silence coming out of the US since Sochi and the massive increase in shellings and ground attacks in the Ukraine.

It also explains the sheer silence as well from France and Germany—especially Germany since Minsk 1 and 2 were basically their idea of appeasing Russian expansionism.

Leadership is what Western politicians get paid for or at least this is what the voting public thinks.

Putin is conducting "a war of perception" and he is winning right now.

http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/the-west-s-failure-of-nerve

May 19, 2015

The West’s Failure of Nerve

By Stephen Blank


Continued.......

The second trend is no less important and demands critical attention. If we are honest with ourselves, the Polish-Baltic demand for permanent forces reflects an open indictment of failed US and NATO policy and a vote of no confidence in the current allied policy. There are major tendencies, even in key European powers such as Germany and France, to force Ukraine to appease Russian demands that amount to the evisceration of Ukraine as an independent state. US Secretary of State John Kerry's trip to Sochi, where he did not publicly mention Crimea, denotes a continuing Western and US failure of nerve. Kerry's trip came right after Russian President Vladimir Putin defended the Nazi-Soviet pact in front of German Chancellor Angela Merkel after she forthrightly and accurately denounced Russia's aggression as criminal.

Under the circumstances, it is no surprise that the governments in Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius, and Warsaw lack confidence in Western resolve. They have seen far too little of it since February 2014 when Moscow invaded and then annexed Crimea and tore up the treaties it had signed with the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine as well as with the governments of other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) affirming the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. Moreover, they have long been warning about Russia's revisionist and aggressive proclivities.

[OUTLAW 09]

3:13PM
Ruscists shelled Ukr positions from #Shyrokyno with 120-mm mortars for 3 hours. https://twitter.com/dertien1488/status/602809732978585601 …

Just another form of the Russian UW non linear warfare strategy at work but not talked about in western media.

Is #Russia preparing for a new customs war with #Lithuania? http://tass.ru/en/world/796562?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=ITAR-TASS … pic.twitter.com/pM7tuqZhM0

Drones Company of Russian 19th Motorized Rifle Brigade. A story of their Ukrainian ‘trip’: https://en.informnapalm.org/drones-company-of-russian-19th-motorized-rifle-brigade-a-story-of-their-ukrainian-trip/ …

Is the Russia civil society going backwards in time or what…….?
New moral outrage in Russia as end-of-school party features go-go girls and liquid in bottles "presumed to be beer" http://lifenews.ru/news/154487

[OUTLAW 09]

Downed Russian Forpost drone 'reconstructed' from wreckage recovered in UA. Via @LUGANSK_TODAY http://lugansk-news.com/ukrainian-army-shot-down-russian-uav-forpost-that-costs-6-million-usd/ … pic.twitter.com/EUoHZVelg8

@LUGANSK_TODAY the OPTICS ONLY is about 1 million USD, stupid loss for #Russia http://lugansk-news.com/ukrainian-army-shot-down-russian-uav-forpost-that-costs-6-million-usd/ … pic.twitter.com/31LNwrYwZ5

BTW--it took the UA two days to fight through the mercenary held areas to get to the drone and one day to recover it fighting their way back out with the drone debris.

[OUTLAW 09]

This is an interesting video as it confirms the Russian Spetsnaz have been working out of this town for a long while---this must have been the previous Spetsnaz BN that the captured Spetsnaz CPT had replaced as they do typical 3 months rotating tours into the Ukraine and the CPTs BN had come in early April 2015.

Russian Army unit moving in the center of Lugansk equipped with “AS Val” assault riffles:lugansk-news.com/russian-army-unit-moving-in-the-center-of-lugansk-equipped-with-as-val-assault-riffles (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/lugansk-news.com/russian-army-unit-moving-in-the-center-of-lugansk-equipped-with-as-val-assault-riffles)

January 13, 2015 lugansknews

This video was taken yesterday just in the center of Lugansk near central market. The operator was standing at the bus stop when he saw military truck parking just few meters in front of him. 2 men got out of the cabin and a group of soldiers got out of the truck, they lined up and just passed by the people. The unit was equipped with “AS Val” assault riffles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AS_Val used by Russian anti-terrorist special forces. The soldiers are dressed in SURPAT camouflage used by Russian “Rys” special forces units. This is very specific type of assault rifles.

[OUTLAW 09]

Drones Company of Russian 19th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Ukraine: https://en.informnapalm.org/drones-company-of-russian-19th-motorized-rifle-brigade-a-story-of-their-ukrainian-trip/ … via @en_informnapalm pic.twitter.com/y6LOxLEKGO

Saxon APC in #Ukraine with NIR camera on telescopic pole and carrying UAVs pic.twitter.com/IzaDY02GGD

#Military training of contract #soldiers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu8ExH5fkkg …

Russian aviation & air defences combat readiness "full alert" in Central plus Western & Southern Military Districts http://ria.ru/defense_safety/20150525/1066342888.html …

T-80U of elite 4th Guards Kantemir Tank Division on exercise in Rostov region (added 25 May) https://vk.com/warsonline_military_observer?z=photo-62474637_367550538%2Falbum-62474637_00%2Frev … pic.twitter.com/PPJNonMRfs

4th Guards "Kantemirovskaya" (Kantemir) is an elite armoured division:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_Guards_Kantemirovskaya_Tank_Division …
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/4-div.htm …
http://english.gosu-wot.com/t-80u-kantemir-tank-division-of-the-russian-federation-combat-training-crews/ …

My piece on how the ambush & assassination of rebel leader in #Ukraine exposes LPR infighting http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article4449889.ece … pic.twitter.com/OpSBFz9P3K

Tymchuk: Militants in Luhansk produce bootlegged alcohol
http://www.unian.info/politics/1081709-tymchuk-militants-in-luhansk-produce-bootlegged-alcohol.html … pic.twitter.com/YUUHpsh8Y5

Looks like 'snap' Russian aviation/air defence combat readiness alert (to coincide with #ACE2015) has rattled #NATO https://twitter.com/rumoverijse/status/602807817544806400 …

[OUTLAW 09]

https://en.informnapalm.org/drones-company-of-russian-19th-motorized-rifle-brigade-a-story-of-their-ukrainian-trip/

‘Drone Company’ of Russian 19th Motorized Rifle Brigade. A story of their Ukrainian ‘trip’

Main News


Our investigation found information and photos, confirming the presence of another Russian unit in Ukraine. That is a drones company of the 19th motorized brigade (military unit No. 20634, Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia-Alania), which is a part of the 58th combined army of the Southern military command of the Russian army.

OSINT-reconnaissance in the area of the settlement of Svobodny in the Kuibyshev district, Rostov Oblast, Russia, bordering with Ukraine, resulted into recognition of the Russian units. Through examining of VK profiles of soldiers who are serving under contract: Ales Dzhumargaliev and Ruslan Galimov, this unit was identified as drones company of the 19th motorized rifle brigade from Vladikavkaz.

VK photo galleries of these servicemen have pictures with a geographical location on the territory of Ukraine, namely: Amvrosyyivskyi Raion of Donetsk Oblast. Not only the personal information of the servicemen, but also pictures themselves confirm that this group of people is a part of a drone company. Pictures show KAMAZ truck with special modules and a few black plastic boxes.

These boxes are signature evidence of the Russian dones. Compare them with boxes and other equipment on this video, shot in 2014 by Russian Mir TV company.

By the way, this video shows public flight practice of the same drone unit from Vladikavkaz. After checking friend contacts of mentioned servicemen, we have also found their colleagues from the same company. A person named Nikolay Dmitrievich Belokobylenko happened to be the most curious and open to public, since he has 3 different VK profiles: https://vk.com/id146791893, https://vk.com/id279602335, https://vk.com/id161164012.

It is enough to examine only one profile of Nikolay Belokobylenko in order to know about his whole career path: from compulsory military service in the 141st separate tank brigade (military unit No.64514, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Vladikavkaz) in 2008—2009 to the present contract service in the 19th separate motorized rifle battalion (military unit No. 20634, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Vladikavkaz).

The fact that Belokolybenko has been serving in drones company since 2009 is confirmed by a picture taken in Kolomna (a town near Moscow), where he was trained in a Training center for specialists of drone aircraft complexes (military unit No. 20924). Moreover, Nikolay Belokolybenko is a Youtube star, he took part in a mentioned video by Mir TV, shot in Vladikavkaz in 2014 and featuring Russian reconnaissance drone Orlan-10. In it Nikolay was called a senior crew controller (see 1:45).

Over the last year Nikolay Belokobylenko numerously visited Donbas during his missions. This is confirmed by pictures from Donbas Arena Stadium and Tsar cannon (known to all Donetsk residents) on the background.

Drone operators from 19th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade are usually present on pictures together with artillerists from the same brigade. This brings us to conclusion that their main task is to conduct reconnaissance of Ukrainian positions and objects of military significance to supply this information to their artillery. 19th Motorized Rifle Brigade is armed with self-propelled howitzers 2S19 Msta-S and 9К51М Tornado-G modernized multiple rocket launchers (modernized BM-21 Grad), which have modern guidance and control units and have longer destruction range comparing to their predecessors.

Original article by Irakli Komakhidze and Krmvictory, translated by Maksym Sviezhentsev, edited by Gennadiy Kornev

Amazing what open source can provide. If this is what can bee seen by open source as evidence of Russian troops inside eastern Ukraine JUST what are the complex ISR systems the US taxpayer paid billions for "seeing" BUT not "saying"?

AND if they are not "saying" THEN why???

[OUTLAW 09]

Canada at NATO ✔ @CanadaNATO

#Russia attacks two neighbours. Two other neighbours react by moving closer to #NATO. Russia acts surprised, upset.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/warfare/2015/05/24/finland-new-government-nato-membership-russia-sweden-tension-ukraine-baltic/27710113/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Well the evenings shellings and ground attacks are starting again even though actually under Minsk 2 Western leaders are assuming ARE NOT happening because there is a "ceasefire" THAT somehow they "assume" is working.

MAYBE someone should tell them "it ain't working".

17:28 #Donetsk @666_mancer [FB:] "Zaperevalna St - '2 organisms in camouflage' are firing at the sky fr/AKs"

17:07 #Donetsk @AlfaNubovsky Mortar bomb hits in Putilovsky bridge area or closer to airport in Vzletna St, "where from?"

17:16 #Donetsk @funkermanjke Fire in reply probably, RUS are shelling fr/airport area for an hour http

19:30 #Avdeevka @rechnikato yday's evening&night were noisy - UAV was shot down. Daytime was quiet. Evening's louder, but oks://twitter.com/loogunda/status/602873122581311490 …

19:20 #Donetsk @tomka71268071 [vk:] Kyivsky exec committee: hits to Tochmash gatehouse & children polyclinic area

19:00 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka All quiet
19:16 #Donetsk @funkermanjke Single hit to ATB store area in Zasyadko

19:06 #Donetsk Putilovka @Kotya875 Just now 5 mortar bomb impacts: 3 on Kyivsky Ave up to Poligraficheskaya, other further

19:59 #Avdeevka @bamr69 'Evening is getting not that languorous', battle near #Spartak, "weapons of all sorts"

RU forces also heavily fired on Opytne. Pisky, Dutovka mine, Krymske and Zolote also came under attack - ATO

Ukraine observers informed OSCE of barbaric shelling of Avdiivka coke plant, hit by 77 shells
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1004153599595446&id=820651001279041&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1004153599595446&__tn__=%2As … pic.twitter.com/DfGJ9VL9Me

[OUTLAW 09]

OSCE noted Ukrainian withdrawal of heavy weapons from depots.

1. Russian GRU commandos and UAV (drone) units have been surveiling Ukrainian heavy weapons holding areas - In which case they have to be moved

2. UA may have good reason for moving weapons: like intel that RU forces have targeted holding areas for strikes. #OSCE https://twitter.com/kjovano/status/602836054941573120 …

The most important reasons outside of protecting the heavy weapons from Russian artillery and tactical missile strikes AND Spetsnaz is simply:

They are being massively shelled and attacked and have the right of self defense, they did basically withdraw under OSCE supervision WHICH the Russian troops/mercenaries did not do AND extremely important the OSCE has been refused the right to monitor and or inspect large areas inside the mercenary held areas vs freedom of movement inside all of the rest of the Ukraine.

So if the Ukrainians want to pull weapons out of depots because basically Minsk 2 has largely failed and Russia has not implemented a single point in Minsk 2 why not pull them out.

Remember Ukrainian loses since the signing of Minsk 2 in Feb 2015--- in defending the contact line has been over 150 KIA, and over 240 WIA --seems to me they have bent over backwards to ensure Minsk 2 holds BUT are getting massively shelled and attacks for the last ten days from a side that is not adhering to the Minsk 2.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian propaganda has 4 Ds: dismiss, distort, distract, dismay

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
Moscow Calls on Kiev to Grant Access to Russians Detained in Donbass http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150525/1022539483.html

Propaganda---distort, distract.

The Ukrainian FM has stated three times since the capture the Russian Embassy has never even called them to set up an appointment to see them.

Secondly, an independent Russian news outlet went by the Russian Embassy and wanted to ask them why they had not contacted the two POWs--answer--"go away it is a holiday".

Does not sound like they really want to contact them--JUST the Russian FM trying to make propaganda points and distract from the two captured Russian active duty Spetsnaz.

[OUTLAW 09]

The Family: A Film by Open Russia about Ramzan Kadyrov, Putin's 'Vassal'
http://www.interpretermag.com/russia-update-may-25-2015/#8468 … pic.twitter.com/xDftPKX6s0

"Novorossiya as a geopolitical project to break Ukraine has fallen well short of its objective. " http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/05/25/what-people-in-southeast-ukraine-really-think-of-novorossiya/ …

Typical ethnic Russian Ukrainian who claims to be proRussian:
#Perevalsk @protiv_voiny "Mozgovoy's murder is discussed in each shared-taxi,queue,shop. All over. No food, work, but each bewailes M death"

Russoterrorist gangs easily enter Donbas from #Russia as easily as RU regular forces via @GirkinGirkin pic.twitter.com/7gpEBTrIIM

Russia blocks entry to German member of parliament for being "Ukraine-friendly". German foreign ministry outraged https://twitter.com/BLZonline/status/602840176235290624 …

[OUTLAW 09]

More now on this topic:

Who would like to defend Face Book as being proRussian and anti Ukrainian maybe it is the Russian investments into FB or the Russian Regulator pressure—who knows but they definitely are not defending the right to free speech yet rake in millions –so exactly again which side is FB on—democracy and free speech or the millions in Russian investments?

They blocked a photo of a grieving Ukrainian young child whose father was killed in the fighting with Russian troops under the guise of “graphic violence”?????

Yesterday they blocked Ukrainian accounts that carried the videos of the captured Russian Spetsnaz---if one looks at the Russian Regulator's comments about extremist materials--they view anything being proUkrainian and or anti Russia ie these two videos as "extremist".

UKRAINE TODAY @uatodaytv
Facebook blocks more Ukrainian users
http://uatoday.tv/politics/facebook-blocks-more-ukrainian-users-428335.html …

Russian Watchdog Threatens Google, Facebook Over 'Extremist' Content | News | The Moscow Times http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russian-watchdog-threatens-google-facebook-over-extremist-content/521832.html …

NOTE: all social media these days is political in nature and to attempt to refute that is simply not smart.

Well so much for an American social media company "defending free speech".

Seems those Russian oligarch investors have a larger influence than does American values.

#Facebook blocks #UKROP/#Ukranian resistance group for a picture in support of #CrimeanTatars. http://zaxid.net/news/showNews.do?admini_facebook_vidalili_spilnotu_ukro p_z_sotsmerezhi&objectId=1352687 … pic.twitter.com/SIxeVlsPmD

[OUTLAW 09]

OSCE noted Ukrainian withdrawal of heavy weapons from depots.

1. Russian GRU commandos and UAV (drone) units have been surveiling Ukrainian heavy weapons holding areas - In which case they have to be moved

2. UA may have good reason for moving weapons: like intel that RU forces have targeted holding areas for strikes. #OSCE https://twitter.com/kjovano/status/602836054941573120 …

The most important reasons outside of protecting the heavy weapons from Russian artillery and tactical missile strikes AND Spetsnaz is simply:

They are being massively shelled and attacked and have the right of self defense, they did basically withdraw under OSCE supervision WHICH the Russian troops/mercenaries did not do AND extremely important the OSCE has been refused the right to monitor and or inspect large areas inside the mercenary held areas vs freedom of movement inside all of the rest of the Ukraine.

So if the Ukrainians want to pull weapons out of depots because basically Minsk 2 has largely failed and Russia has not implemented a single point in Minsk 2 why not pull them out.

Remember Ukrainian loses since the signing of Minsk 2 in Feb 2015--- in defending the contact line has been over 150 KIA, and over 240 WIA --seems to me they have bent over backwards to ensure Minsk 2 holds BUT are getting massively shelled and attacks for the last ten days from a side that is not adhering to the Minsk 2.

Remember at the height of the last round of fighting the Russians were receiving 150 tons of artillery, mortar and MLRS munitions on a daily basis out of Russia delivered via rail and truck convoys at night.

#Novorossiya welcomes a new shipment of Russian humanitraian aid,which is now packed in rocket form for fast delivery pic.twitter.com/UCdQuxwsnr

Once again #Mariupol residents can hear battle from #Shyrokyne. Russians seems to have unlimited ammo, reminds me a lot of #Donetsk airport.

@loogunda Yep, yday night guy fr Dokuchajevsk (while the big shelling) said that 90% of shelling is made by RU, only 10% is Ukr return fire

7:57PM
Judging by the sound, there is battle at #Pisky https://twitter.com/arthurnkua/status/602881085861732352 …

20:30 #Mariupol @sir_T_Lawrence Cannonade fr/#Shyrokyne direction

#Avdiivka 7:39PM
As always, loud in #Spartak-#Optyne area. Our artillery 5+ https://twitter.com/bamr69/status/602876529429864449 …

@Guderian_Xaba If UAF uses counter battery radars, they have no need to shell more

@Guderian_Xaba At least UKR started to fire in reply.

20:12 #Avdeevka @rechnikato "Machine gun fire for 1/2hr already"

20:20 Impacts on Lenina St in Sportyvny shop area

Also Rus Forces attacked an ambulance car near Syze. UKR forces came and repelled the attack and evacuated crew

Missing from Horlivka Hospital since 17 April. Sergey Kotlyar, DPR (Russian forces) recon div Ryazan http://vk.com/news_slavs?w=wall-67176886_14691 … pic.twitter.com/uqwvPpJ8k4

SBU detained the founder of a Russian fascist organization, a seller of weapons from ATO pic.twitter.com/ZRto2FDCID http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/25-may-the-sbu-detained-the-founder-of-the-russian-fascist …

#Kurakhove hearing heavy shelling, louder as usual
8:51PM https://twitter.com/PVB40/status/602894662794407937 …

The positions of 92nd brigade at #Shchastya are shelled now. https://twitter.com/Karbatovsky/status/602896970659794945 …

21:00 #Avdiivka, from #Donetsk to the north, #Spartak/airport area serious fight, all calibers https://twitter.com/TopNewsUkraine/status/602896909011910656 …

21:03 @dertien1488 Sounds like howizers are now shelling at #Shyrokyne. Non-stop [cannonade]

#Marinka 21:00
Hearing (rumble) from #Krasnohorivka https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka

From what we see, 'official' DPR channels are now focusing on stirring hatred of Ukrainian officials rather than on glorious tanks. A sign.

Russian aviation and air defense forces placed on alert for tests, including on Ukrainian border
http://www.unian.info/world/1081812-russian-aviation-and-air-defense-forces-placed-on-alert-for-tests-including-on-ukrainian-border.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

More Russian humor:

Vladimir Putin
A secure international border has visa-free travel for Russian tanks.
cc @Rogozin

[OUTLAW 09]

Well so much for an American social media company "defending free speech".

Seems those Russian oligarch investors have a larger influence than does American values.

#Facebook blocks #UKROP/#Ukranian resistance group for a picture in support of #CrimeanTatars. http://zaxid.net/news/showNews.do?admini_facebook_vidalili_spilnotu_ukro p_z_sotsmerezhi&objectId=1352687 … pic.twitter.com/SIxeVlsPmD

Epic battle #Russia'n trolls via #Facebook vs #Ukranian users continues: Banned Boris #Filatov & @TarasBerezovets https://twitter.com/24todaynetua/status/602905007642550272 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Can any SWJ commenter explain to me the value of having a civilian organization such as OSCE monitoring and observing in a war zone and they cannot do anything nor stop anything.

One would think they would literally park themselves next to the Ukrainian military unit and actual spend 24 X 7 there in order to keep the Russian shellings to zero as they literally know when they leave the Russians resume shellings.

So just stay in place and challenge the Russians to fire on them.

But they must be back for evening dinner--so not much of any value add to anything from what I can see from their work.

150 tons of shells and missiles are still being fired at the Ukrainians and there is nothing OSCE can do.


#Luhansk @Ohrene_Luganda "What a work #OSCE's got! Idle in a hotel & fees are charged" pic.twitter.com/m0eL58cyy2 Here: https://goo.gl/c7uuGY

REMEBER it was Russia that wanted the OSCE involved--now we know why--unless.

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings and ground attacks are still unabated----

10:23PM
#Krasnohorivka - does not subside, shooting and explosions and volleys. Already since a hour and a half. https://twitter.com/audrius1977/status/602917913260138496 …

Stanytsia Luhanska now. Ruscists are firing from Vesela Hora and the bridge area. Tanks, mortars. https://twitter.com/tombreadley/status/602919165473726465 …

#Shyrokno today
This car was delivering food supplies to Ukr soldiers. Russians shot at it with ATGM. https://twitter.com/tombreadley/status/602918573460295680 …

There was a battle in the evening at #Shyrokyno, now it's "quiet".
1 Ukr WIA reported 1 hour ago.

@Guderian_Xaba The "quiet" was reported abt 30mins ago.
Now i read "Currently all #Mariupol shivers from volleys." - via @iMariupol

10 Videos exposing Russian Propaganda, Myths & Lies
@EuromaidanPR @EuromaidanPress @guardiannews @ScienceforPeace
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-1p5NiSu_anhZ31X4AgIqWUhiz4KI-cV …

Death of Novorossia: Why Kremlin Abandoned Ukraine Separatist Project: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/death-of-novorossia-why-kremlin-abandoned-ukraine-separatist-project/522320.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings continued through the night and into the early morning--still ongoing as of now.

1:54AM
From time to time from #Pisky hearing the echoes of artillery fire. https://twitter.com/idinmor/status/602971132308893696 …

3:48AM
#Shyrokyne very noisy! https://twitter.com/dertien1488/status/602999771717054464 …

4:08AM #Staroignatievka #Starohnativka
Already since 40 minutes the village is pounded with mortars, GRADs https://twitter.com/Staroignatievca/status/603004836846641153 …

Russia’s Expansionist Disease, by Andreas Umland @UmlandAndreas http://www.tol.org/client/article/24810-russias-expansionist-disease.html …

This is why Putin views the discrediting of the EU to be a geo political goal-yet he does not realize it is about economic laws and regulations—80B USD fine coming at Gazprom and he does not see it coming.

Because Gazprom is RU political tool
#Russia perceives #EU antitrust case against #Gazprom as mere political actionhttp://www.bruegel.org/nc/blog/detail/article/1616-the-gazprom-case-good-timing-or-bad-timing/?utm_content=buffer8b0ba&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer+(bruegel …)

[OUTLAW 09]

http://khpg.org/index.php?id=1432348106

Almost no support for militant ‘republics’ in Donbas cities
26.05.15 | Halya Coynash


версія для друку »
Leaflets circulated in Severodonetsk after it came under attack from militants in July 2014, telling them to leave the city in peace. “It is and will remain Ukrainian”

A recent survey in two Luhansk oblast cities has found virtually no support for independence of the self-proclaimed ‘Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics’ [‘LNR’, ‘DPR’, respectively], or for joining Russia. A majority view Russia as a party to the military conflict and want the Ukrainian military to remain in their city.

The latest survey was carried out in Severodonetsk and Starobilsk from March to April by the authoritative Democratic Initiatives Foundation [DIF] and the Ukrainian Sociological Service, as well as by volunteers and civic activists. It followed a similar survey in the two Donetsk oblast cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk reported here.

Both surveys highlighted major differences between cities that are geographically close to one another and show, as DIF Director Iryna Bekeshkina points out, that the idea of a single Donbas identity is fundamentally wrong.

There were important differences with Severodonetsk having been both under ‘LNR’ occupation and suffered from military action, whereas Starobilsk had not been directly affected.

In both cities the greatest fear was of renewed fighting (79% in Severodonetsk; 77% in Starobilsk). In Severodonetsk which had been under the militants, 36% said that they feared the returned of the self-proclaimed ‘LNR’, and 22% Russian invasion. Only 34% mentioned non-payment of pensions and salary against 58% in Starobilsk.

Most interestingly, the standard bogeymen of Russian propaganda – ‘Right Sector’ and Ukrainian nationalists were feared by only 1.6% in Severodonetsk and 0.7% in Starobilsk. A mere 1% of people in Severodonetsk were worried about Ukraine joining NATO, and 0.5% in Starobilsk.

Moscow has consistently claimed that Ukraine is discriminating against Russian speakers. Fear of this was expressed by only 1% of Severodonetsk residents and not mentioned at all by those in Starobilsk.

Who is to blame?

There were interesting differences in opinion between those in Starobilsk which had not been under militant control and Severodonetsk. In the latter city, 39% blame Russia for the tragic events in Donbas; the former regime of Viktor Yanukovych (38%) while only 16% see the current Ukrainian leadership as responsible.

In Starobilsk, 58% blame the present government; 48% - Yanukovych and his people; and Russia – 41%.

In both cities the majority see their city as part of Ukraine (Severodonetsk – 64%; Starobilsk – 67%). However in Severodonetsk the majority believe the region should have greater independence from Kyiv and broader powers, whereas in Starobilsk they want to retain the status quo.

Less than 1% of both cities support the independence of the self-proclaimed ‘republics’. Only 2% of people in Starobilsk would want to join Russia, and 5% in Severodonetsk.

62% of people in Severodonetsk view Russia as a party to the conflict in the East of the country, against 53% in Starobilsk. Majorities of those who name Russia as party believe that their engagement involvements mainly providing weapons, but also in the participation of Russian armed forces.

61% in both cities want Ukrainian soldiers to remain with Severodonetsk residents wanting this presence to be permanent, in Starobilsk only until the situation stabilizes. Starobilsk residents were more inclined to name factors that they viewed as inconvenient in the soldiers’ presence, whereas in Severodonetsk which had lived under militant occupation a hefty 72% saw no problems.

These results are broadly similar to those from the above-mentioned DIF survey in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, but do reveal interesting differences, especially in the degree to which Russian propaganda about ‘Ukrainian nationalists’ and discrimination of Russian speakers does not seem to be taken seriously. Back in November 2014, DIF was reporting that a third of Donbas residents saw ‘Ukrainian nationalism’ as what divided Ukrainians. A proper comparison would need to be carried out to ascertain whether the difference is due to the time that has passed, or perhaps the degree to which Russian propaganda channels pushed out all other media from the cities. It was certainly the case from April 2014 that one of the first things the militants did when seizing control of a city was to cut off all Ukrainian channels and other media, replacing them with Russian.

The findings are particularly interesting in the light of the reasons given by the Kremlin-backed militants for suspending their ‘Novorossiya’ plans. The declared suspension was almost certainly dictated from Moscow and there are varying interpretations of the motives. Clearly, however, the acknowledgement that the plans had not received sufficient support in the Kharkiv and Odesa oblasts did not go far enough. It appears support in Donetsk and Luhansk oblast cities is also extremely limited.

[OUTLAW 09]

Did in fact DoS Kerry by not explicitly mentioning the annexation of Crimea during his Sochi trip actually signal the US "throwing the Ukraine under the bus" in a silent exchange for Russian support in Syria and Iran??

Which I and others have been saying for a long time based strictly on the total silence by the US since the failures of Minsk 2 are now utterly apparent.

In the face of the massive shellings and continuing ground attacks with the resulting ever increasing killed and wounded Ukrainian Army personnel one would have thought that at least DoS Kerry would have come up for air and state something---anything--but again utter silence and the shellings just keep on.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/death-of-novorossia-why-kremlin-abandoned-ukraine-separatist-project/522320.html

Death of Novorossia: Why Kremlin Abandoned Ukraine Separatist Project

By Ivan Nechepurenko
May. 25 2015 21:29
Last edited 21:31


“The Novorossia project is frozen until a new political elite emerges," said Alexander Kofman, foreign minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.
.
Standing in front of a small Moscow church last September, President Vladimir Putin told journalists that he had lit candles inside for people who had been injured or given up their lives defending Novorossia.

The historical term, meaning "New Russia," was first used by the president last April and was subsequently picked up by insurgents in Ukraine's east to define their effort to spread their anti-Kiev rebellion across the country's southeast — the same large region north of the Black Sea that became known as Novorossia after Russia conquered it during 18th-century wars with Turkey, and that became part of Ukraine after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.

Russian conservative ideologists and Putin himself used the term to justify their claim that it was the Kremlin's duty to protect the interests of ethnic Russians there.

In June, amid the pro-Russian rebellion in Ukraine's east, Novorossia was proclaimed by rebels as a separate entity with its own parliament, flag and news agency. Novorossia was supposed to unite the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics into a confederation and also absorb other regions of Ukraine in the future.

But last week, Alexander Kofman, foreign minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, announced that the Novorossia project had been put on hold.

"The Novorossia project is frozen until a new political elite emerges in all these regions that will be able to head the movement. We don't have the right to impose our opinion on [the Ukrainian cities of] Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and Odessa," Kofman told the Vechernyaya Makeyevka newspaper published in the Donetsk region.

His words echoed those of Novorossia parliament head Oleg Tsaryov, a former deputy of Ukraine's official parliament in Kiev. Last month, Tsaryov told the Kiev-based Vesti Reporter magazine that Novorossia's activities had been frozen because they did not fit into the Minsk cease-fire agreements signed in February by Putin, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko and the leaders of France and Germany. The official website of Novorossia's parliament is now offline.

Change of Tune

During recent weeks, as though in a preplanned chain of events, Russian officials have become remarkably active in stating that the Russian government wants the self-proclaimed republics to remain part of Ukraine.

"At all levels, including the presidential one and in other formats, we say that we want [these republics] to become part of Ukraine," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta last week.

"They have unveiled their own constitution project in which they talk about their status as envisaged by the Minsk agreements: The republics will become part of Ukraine, followed by constitutional reform that will solidify this status into a permanent one," he said.A month earlier, Putin had something very different to say about the same subject. "I believe that — provided that the Minsk agreements are implemented — it is possible to find some elements for restoring a sort of common political field with Ukraine. However, in the long run, of course, ultimately the final say about how and with whom to live and on what terms should belong to the people who live in those territories," he said during his most recent call-in show on April 16.

Leaders of the Donetsk People's Republic were already proposing their own amendments to the Ukrainian constitution back in February, suggesting that they intended to remain part of Ukraine.

Instrument of Leverage

Analysts interviewed by The Moscow Times said the change of rhetoric demonstrated that Russia had been using the prospect of the further expansion of the self-proclaimed entities into Ukraine's southeast as leverage during negotiations with the West and Ukraine on how to resolve the crisis.

At the same time, Andrei Piontkovsky, an opposition-minded Moscow-based political analyst, said that Kremlin policymakers have realized that they had reached levels of tension with the West that they cannot afford.

"In order to maintain the level of tension, the Kremlin would have had to escalate the crisis further, which would have meant more victims among Russian soldiers and more sanctions," said Piontkovsky, a senior researcher at the Institute of Systems Analysis of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Crimea Deal?

Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior associate at the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank, noted that the end of the Novorossia project was announced shortly after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Putin in Sochi for the first time since the Ukraine crisis unfolded at the end of 2013. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland followed hot on his heels with visits to Kiev and Moscow.

In an article published on the Carnegie Center's website last week, Kolesnikov said that it was possible that during those negotiations, U.S. neutrality or silence with regard to Russia's annexation of Crimea was offered in exchange for Russian support for the reintegration of Ukraine's rebellious regions. Piontkovsky agreed.

"Putin has offered the Americans a draw: They close their eyes to the Crimea issue, while Russia freezes the conflict in Ukraine's east. This is a lucrative option for the West, but Ukraine cannot like it," Piontkovsky said.

In the same interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta last week, Lavrov made a point of mentioning that the question of Crimea had not been brought up by Kerry during his meeting with Putin.

"Draw your own conclusions," Lavrov said at the time.

According to Fyodor Lukyanov, chairman of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a think tank with close links to the Foreign Ministry, pro-Russian insurgents in Ukraine's east have realized that Moscow will not support their independence or make them part of Russia.

"Despite their declarations, they understand that they want to stay within a unified Ukraine. The Kiev authorities will reject them [the rebels' reintegration terms], but in that situation they can portray themselves as proponents of peace," Lukyanov told The Moscow Times in a phone interview.

As a result, analysts say, Russia and the West have reached a situation in which the crisis has been defused — at least for a while — with neither side losing face.

What remains unclear, however, is how the Ukrainian government will react if Russia and the U.S. really have reached a deal behind its back.BUT based on the following--is in fact this article just another smokescreen of deception as the military facts on the ground coming from Russian troops and her mercenaries speaks another language AND the massive heavy weapons still going in also reinforces this.

Russia is far from attempting any form of implementation of Minsk 2. Outside of talking Russian has done basically nothing since Sochi to reinforce the view they want a settlement.

At all levels, including the presidential one and in other formats, we say that we want [these republics] to become part of Ukraine," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta last week.

"They have unveiled their own constitution project in which they talk about their status as envisaged by the Minsk agreements: The republics will become part of Ukraine, followed by constitutional reform that will solidify this status into a permanent one," he said.

A month earlier, Putin had something very different to say about the same subject. "I believe that — provided that the Minsk agreements are implemented — it is possible to find some elements for restoring a sort of common political field with Ukraine.

Regardless of what many of the mercenaries think whatever they are attempting to do in getting any changes in the Minsk 2 agreement and any modifications to the Special Zone law passed in their favor is like asking a polar bear to move to the tropics--the Ukraine has suffered massive damages and killed civilians in the name of "New Russia"--doubt seriously if any Kyiv political group supporting such modifications will be kicked out of parliament.

Russia knows that as well as the US.

[OUTLAW 09]

#Footage
A Russian "hybrid" army group trains with the Msta-B, BM-21 and 2S1 in occup #Donbas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CatH-Y1Wo6s … pic.twitter.com/7TFMZxBCkg

Militants fired upon ambulance car btwn Komyshne/Syze near Rus border. 1 serviceman KIA, 1 WIA http://moskal.in.ua/?categoty=news&news_id=1763 … pic.twitter.com/CqND0SjTyY

PHOTO: Russian River crossing exercise last week ©Lex Kitaev pic.twitter.com/YRW86b8YnE

@spie2010 PHOTO: Russian River crossing exercise last week: «Yars» ©Lex Kitaev pic.twitter.com/Cs3PLTkGw7

VIDEO Russian Anti-Air units BUK, Pantsir, S-300 put on 'active phase' during 'exercizes'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE94piCwEFY … pic.twitter.com/APeqEDVWPO

Russian GRU major Teresa recognized by eyewitness for killing prisoners of war http://youtu.be/-RF482XKdI8
@cttmario pic.twitter.com/buuFgzJlLe

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings and ground attacks still continue--so much for Minsk 2 implementation. Thought Russian was for full implementation of all points in Minsk 2????

Four Aidar battalion servicemen WIA in an attack on a roadblock near the village #Rodyna,((#Zolote, Luhansk region) http://24today.net/open/421436

#Donetsk some outgoing shelling in north, from Mashzavod plant area, explosions heard from #Avdiivka coke plant.

#Shyrokyno 11:19AM
Artillery working https://twitter.com/dertien1488/status/603113281365082112 …

Dissatisfaction w/separatist rule in Donbas rising. Author of this piece thinks reintegration w/#Ukraine will be easy http://www.radiosvoboda.org/content/article/27035309.html …

VIDEO Russia Hybrid Army training North of Zuhres, Ukraine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CatH-Y1Wo6s …
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.0916,38.2927,638m/data=!3m1!1e3 … pic.twitter.com/RtDptt0qXQ

[OUTLAW 09]

Just another day of losing Ukrainian troops either KIA or WIA and yet still silence from Obama. Hollande, and Merkel???

Seems the so call "ceasefire" is nothing but a farce and Minsk 2 has to if this keeps up be finally declared by the West a failure.

The NSDC of Ukraine reported 1 KIA and 14 WIA for yesterday. Most casualties near #Porvomaysk

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Ukrainian police force confiscated grenades, mines and 5 “Uragan” missiles from the resident of Luhansk region
Just your typical Ukrainian household: a pig, a cow, and 5 "Uragan" missiles. Just in case it is a bad growing season.

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Map. Situation in eastern #Ukraine, May 26, 12:00 EET pic.twitter.com/F9DZQI3UXs

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
SBU blocked fraud scheme that financed pro-RU militants. Confiscated UAH 200,000.

NOTICE---this is the first such attack on the Ukrainian JCCC personnel who are authorized to go anywhere and where ever they want to—NOTICE the Russian General’s JCCC patrol is never attacked.
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Ukrainian JCCC patrol was attacked. One car damaged, no casualties. pic.twitter.com/1AGYdFyUAD
Rus terrorists fire on car of ceasefire monitors in Ukrainian-controlled territory

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
@OSCE_SMM reported of shelling of Avdiivka coke-chemical plant. Acc to UA reps in JCCC, militants fired 45 artillery & mortars rounds

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Ukrainian servicemen spotted 9 flights of enemy UAVs yesterday

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Hotspots in Luhansk sector: Shchastya & northern and eastern outskirts of militant-controlled Pervomaysk

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Hotspots in Donetsk sector: airport area & western edges of Horvika

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Fighting continues in Shyrokyne. Pro-RU militants use 120mm mortars that they hide in Sakhanka & Shyrokyne itself

[OUTLAW 09]

A collection of Russian military vehicles sent to occupied Ukraine.
http://surpher.livejournal.com/762.html pic.twitter.com/jz66q6dpV2

#BreakingFootage
#RussianArmy hightech radio equipment used by its forces in Eastern #Ukraine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPkztUd5cQ4 … pic.twitter.com/O1yo3rPia4

At least one of the #RussianArmy officers doesn't want to be recognized ... pic.twitter.com/fL2TxFYGV1

#Footage
Train with dozens of Russian Army tanks moving in #Rostov.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMHM0DXZ304 …
pic.twitter.com/sDhirRsuDy

Video (25 May) of Russian armed forces officers giving training to LPR unit officers/NCOs, occupied Donbas, Ukraine https://youtu.be/SHUeRB_LjpQ?t=2m49s …

#Analysis #Map
Perfect example of a Russian ceasefire violation near Tr'okhizbenka.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lblnh92xtrw …
#Ukraine pic.twitter.com/d9f4NbeGRk

BREAKING OSCE reports Russian general Lentsov was attacked in his car with AK47 on May 23rd.
http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/159866 … pic.twitter.com/ZxUYHZMIj1

BREAKING Was Russian general Lentsov attacked? https://twitter.com/NSDC_ua/status/603132685188497408 …

[OUTLAW 09]

They shelled] fr/#Rodnykove from behind dam
https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/603206212604276737 …

#Dokuchaevsk @nataffka17 Warning sirens will be also tested at 14:00-14:30 tomorrow

17:11 #Donetsk @idinmor Quiet in the north unlike south, 'let's wait evening'#Rodnykove

@RabindrantTagor at 4am 2 #Grad|s shelled from us (full and half load)
@Staroignatievca Hits near #Starohnativka

Хуёвый Бердянск
#Donetsk
On Illych Avenue two Urals marked CARGO-200, drove towards the city.

17:10 #Shakhtarsk @Helgi__UA 6 BMP, 1 command vehicle, 6 ural trucks fr/#Donetsk eastwards

No disrespect to @OSCE, but why is @OSCE_SMM pansying around Donetsk airport and Shyrokyne when they should be at Komsomolske and Telmanove?

#Russia's gross violations of nuclear treaties in occupied Crimea are real https://goo.gl/6NmVuW https://twitter.com/rnbo_gov_ua/status/600966545502773248 …

Alex Mozgovoy bodyguard back fr #Russia says #Ukraine partisans "Shadows" not behind killing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNwM4x3ay18 … pic.twitter.com/BIZ5M4ljQF

Frontline position of DPR volunteer/mercenary unit "Vikings", Donbas, occupied Ukraine 25 May https://vk.com/album-93369497_216164883 … pic.twitter.com/ImUOe3PnY4

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin burns his war dead to hide #Russia's military involvement in #Ukraine; mobile crematoriums destroy the bodies:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/putin-burns-dead-hide-ukraine-100017882.html;_ylt=AwrC0wwaW2RVw1EAESTQtDMD;_ylu= X3oDMTBybGY3bmpvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYw Nzcg-- …
bloombergview.com/articles/2015-05-26/putin-burns-his-dead-to-hide-ukraine-aggression …

US confirms presence of Russian mobile crematoriums in Ukraine. Each burns 8-10 bodies/day. Horrific that RU shows no honour for its dead

It took media at least six months to pick up the story about Putin's mobile crematoria. But they trash Poroshenko for little on daily basis

.@molodyko A member of US Congress reported on Putin's mobile crematoria two months ago. https://twitter.com/sethmoulton/status/582661612445806592 … pic.twitter.com/miitcShwYj

NOW from the social media open source analysis side for their comments--
Bellingcat comment:
Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
Until I see a verifiable photo or video of one of these Russian mobile incinerators I'm going to keep my big cynicism hat on.

[OUTLAW 09]

Lysenko: #Russia digs ditches on #Ukraine border to stop militants from returning by tanks http://uatoday.tv/news/lysenko-russia-digs-ditches-on-ukraine-border-to-stop-militants-from-returning-by-tanks-429543.html …

Vestnik Mordovii: T-72B3 doesn't match up with battlefield realities, Kontakt-5 outdated. http://vestnik-rm.ru/news-4-12267.htm … pic.twitter.com/T16raw9oh2

Interview: Col. Mikhail Tikhonov, Cmdr 5th Donetsk Inde' Motor Rifle Brigade, Russian forces https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=x4kKlb4erCw … pic.twitter.com/9V0XNroupU

Director of the mine financed #DNR with $420 millions - Ministry of Internal Affairs pic.twitter.com/dbRAmjT6XD http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/26-may-director-of-the-mine-financed-a-dnr-at-420-millions …

'Maj-Gen' Ivan Kondratov (Иван Кондратов) commander "Republican Guard" DPR unit of Russian armed forces at #Shyrokyne pic.twitter.com/twZZbzi9hJ

Major-General my xxxxxx! Sergeant maybe... The Ivans like over-inflating rank as much as wearing 'gongs' and making-up badges!

[OUTLAW 09]

Sudden serious ground fighting has broken out at a hotspot near Mariupol------

#Mariupol right now: Very loud fighting can be heard from the east (#Shyrokyne).

@Guderian_Xaba @GorseFires Russian source say they are under Ukr tank attack in Shyrokyne?!

Russian source say they are under Ukr tank attack in Shyrokyne?!

They could push them out for sure, just seriously doubt that Gen Staff would let Donbas batt/Azov to go on offensive

Yes, the source is Ukr, not pro-RU. And reliable.

10:21PM
#Mariupol - very loud! https://twitter.com/sir_T_Lawrence/status/603279891732238336 …

Interesting thing is: any increase in Russian attempts to create 'fog' could be an indicator of something coming... I'm a bit skeptical about this, just translated the report. Ruscist source just said that they're under tanks attack.

#Shyrokyno https://youtu.be/lGVmB3SvKqw via @YouTube

#Donbas battalion destroyed militant Kamaz truck w/ ammunition and infantry in #Shyrokyne - Semenchenko http://www.0629.com.ua/news/837728

"Terrible explosions from #Shyrokyno. I'm on the opposite side of the city (#Mariupol)" https://twitter.com/sviritat/status/603280137174577152

[OUTLAW 09]

#Avdiivka, 1 KIA reported from 93rd brigade

#Footage
First pictures of today's #RussianArmy air force drills in central #Russia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmuuE2rgmBA … pic.twitter.com/LyPJnX1dRI

#Russia|n Nazi Dmitry Demushkin ID'd at Saur-Tomb near #Snezhnoye on Victory Day:
#Donetsk pic.twitter.com/KZxpJzKFpu

Drones of militants were seen in o Novotroitske and Stepne – Taramchuk http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/26-may-drone-of-militants-were-seen-in-o-novotroitske-and …

High absurdity: Fighting so intense in parts of front that OSCE unable to patrol some areas "to monitor ceasefire." http://www.osce.org/node/160096

Hate to say this but this is a total lie on the part of OSCE and they know it—they just are not allowed to by Russia and her mercenaries—that is all so state the simple facts.

#Ukraine will never supply agressor Russia with elements of weaponry, as @NSDC_ua secretary Alex Turchynov said to journalists.

21:23 #Donetsk @ADivinorum Fr/west along Derzhavna St tow/Svobody abt 4-5 heavy SPG (Gvozdika or Akatsiya - hard 2C in dusk)

#Horlivka
21:46 @ComedianGor Small arms bursts in the Central city ds
@sv_inaya Small arms heard in Pobedy Sq area

‘In the #Donbas, There is a #War, But in #Crimea, There is #Terror,’ Residents Say.@PaulGoble1 http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2015/05/in-donbas-there-is-war-but-in-crimea.html … pic.twitter.com/TzxJBfBBLu

Peskov sees no need to respond to the words of Obama about Russian aggression in Ukraine http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/26-may-peskov-sees-no-need-to-respond-to-the-words-of-obama …

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference now Moldavia---and the Ukraine cutting off Russian resupply transit route into Transnistria for it's troops.

Russian MFA called in Moldova's charge d'affairs to complain/threaten over Transnistria access issue http://tass.ru/en/russia/796858 …

#Transnistria is THE flashpoint: once it is blocked Putin be forced either to withdraw or wage total war on Ukraine https://twitter.com/AlexandruC4/status/603273795646914561 …

Kremlin spokesman dismisses media reports about appeals for help from Transdniestria http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/26-may-kremlin-spokesman-dismisses-media-reports-about-appeals … via @tassagency_en

NOTICE the media reports came straight from Russian sources---
HERE WE GO: "People of Transnistria Ask Putin for Protection From External Threat" http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150526/1022549313.html … prin @SputnikInt

Might be a bit more complex than that; but agree, it's a trigger (Gerasimov said so) and may prompt Russia to open a second front. this, or start pillaging factories within arty range: Avdiivka, AzovStal, etc. to devastate Ukrainian economy

The Washington Times: Kremlin stole Moldova’s millions http://www.moldova.org/the-washington-times-the-kremlin-stole-moldovas-millions/ … prin @moldovaorg

[OUTLAW 09]

Another form of new generational warfare (UW)—this time Chinese non linear warfare.

Philippines President: " We will defy China's airspace claim in West Philippine Sea"
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/05/25/1458614/aquino-we-will-defy-chinas-airspace-claim-west-philippine-sea …

China says U.S. South China Sea actions 'irresponsible, dangerous'
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/22/us-usa-china-southchinasea-idUSKBN0O70MO20150522 …

Xi Jinping may cancel US visit in event of South China Sea incident
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150526000128&cid=1101 …

China publishes first White Paper on military strategy, & sets out goals & missions of PLA
http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/163974/china-publishes-defense-white-paper.html …

Important development: White paper outlines China's 'active defense' strategy - Global Times http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/923555.shtml?utm_source=Morning+News+Digest&utm_campaign=5b66e0fb9e-Morning_Emails5_26_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b4a0944fbd-5b66e0fb9e-74427849 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Sudden serious ground fighting has broken out at a hotspot near Mariupol------

#Mariupol right now: Very loud fighting can be heard from the east (#Shyrokyne).

@Guderian_Xaba @GorseFires Russian source say they are under Ukr tank attack in Shyrokyne?!

Russian source say they are under Ukr tank attack in Shyrokyne?!

They could push them out for sure, just seriously doubt that Gen Staff would let Donbas batt/Azov to go on offensive

Yes, the source is Ukr, not pro-RU. And reliable.

10:21PM
#Mariupol - very loud! https://twitter.com/sir_T_Lawrence/status/603279891732238336 …

Interesting thing is: any increase in Russian attempts to create 'fog' could be an indicator of something coming... I'm a bit skeptical about this, just translated the report. Ruscist source just said that they're under tanks attack.

#Shyrokyno https://youtu.be/lGVmB3SvKqw via @YouTube

#Donbas battalion destroyed militant Kamaz truck w/ ammunition and infantry in #Shyrokyne - Semenchenko http://www.0629.com.ua/news/837728

"Terrible explosions from #Shyrokyno. I'm on the opposite side of the city (#Mariupol)" https://twitter.com/sviritat/status/603280137174577152

Neither of the UA BNs defending this are have come up on their FB accounts which does mean they are in heavy fighting as they are usually quick to do it.

My guys from the #Shyrokyno outskirts doesn't confirm the info about full liberation". https://twitter.com/Guderian_Xaba/status/603289164033830913 …

"Received information that #Shyrokyno is fully ours. Waiting for confirmation". https://twitter.com/rechnikato/status/603261444138864640 …

#Shyrokyno is under heavy shelling right now. https://twitter.com/GolovanJ/status/603282957332324355 …

@Guderian_Xaba well it would fit somehow with the intense shelling right now

[OUTLAW 09]

And the shellings just keep on.............AND this is Russia wanting to fully implement Minsk 2????

Video of shelling in #Horlivka today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoh8dnAFmvI …

Video of heavy fighting in #Shyrokyne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGVmB3SvKqw …

#Russia fortifies border with self-proclaimed ‘republics’ in #Donbashttps://www.facebook.com/freedonbas/photos/a.1503286579888428.1073741827.1496439973906422/1603176236566128/?type=1&permPage=1 … pic.twitter.com/T48dCJi9s1

OSCE Reports Shelling, Movement of Armored Vehicles, Building of Defensive Positions http://bit.ly/1BnKRch

#Donetsk 23:02
Semashko ave. - LOUD https://twitter.com/kaktusjara/status/603290454109659136 …

@levzeja Ukrainian Soviet Socialist republic flag in Hornostayivska St pic.twitter.com/j5WWBfbHvM

BREAKING: Stoltenberg - "We urge Russia not to do these kinds of snap exercises"
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nato-chief-reacts-to-russian-surprise-military-exercises/ …

#Donetsk 11:26PM
Train station area - mortar working https://twitter.com/HuAdvokatos/status/603296044580007936 …

#Horlivka @evroplastid Today's shelling. "Mortar works 4.5km apart, center behind idiot's back,bombs over his house" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoh8dnAFmvI …

Aydar batt fighter seriously wounded by explosive device (booby trap) near #Zolote. https://twitter.com/virtyoza_666/status/603293315312783360 …

22:21 #Mariupol @sir_T_Lawrence Loud rumble

22:21 #Luhansk @LuhanskJunta Via Luhansk East RUS went towards Zmiyina Hora (hill over Stanytsia on the other bank of Donets)

22:18 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka Quiet in both town and outskirts
22:21 #Mariupol @sviritat Very heavy rumble fr/#Shyrokyne

overnight into May26 @GirkinGirkin fr/#Horlivka Stroitel via #Novhorodske a group up to 50 RUS entered #Dzerzhynsk (1/2)

@GirkinGirkin "inprocess of hurry-scurry they left 2 dead and one POW fr/Petersburg"

22:28 #Donetsk @Dusya60000018 Something heavy went along #Makeevka road tow/Makeevka

22:11 @100007182042214 As on schedule Ruscists started shelling Stanytsia_Luhanska & Schastya

VIDEO #Putin DNR-Whatever shelling #Ukraine positions in #OSCE "demilitarized" #Shyrokyne https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOtsbiVlEbk … pic.twitter.com/aULbBI1Eae

#Horlivka
22:23 Center @DobryShubin Intense SA fire again
22:24 245th block @NeonDok Machine gun tracers

22:21 #Luhansk @LuhanskJunta Via Luhansk East RUS went towards Zmiyina Hora (hill over Stanytsia on the other bank of Donets)

#Horlivka 11:31PM
Center - Series of shots heard from automats. Like firing at an UAV. https://twitter.com/ItechVK/status/603297435348238336 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Learning Military and Intelligence Lessons: Toward a #Ukrainian Defencive Strategyhttp://empr.media/opinion/analytics/learning-military-and-intelligence-lessons-part-2-toward-a-ukrainian-defencive-strategy … pic.twitter.com/kJVO64xic6

Further escalation of Russian aggression against Ukraine will lead to the Russian Federation’s collapse - Newsweekhttp://en.censor.net.ua/n337679

Obama and NATO Chief Discuss Russia's 'Increasingly Aggressive Posture'http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/obama-and-nato-chief-discuss-russia-s-increasingly-aggressive-posture … #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/QTFJ1iPgEg

[OUTLAW 09]

Seems Putin cannot catch a fair shake these days--this is prestige thing for him and it would hurt if taken away.

Charges filed against FIFA which allege that corruption is behind the World Cup being awarded to Russia in 2018 http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/27/football/fifa-corruption-charges-justice-department/index.html …

The state of football this monring: A. Gulag labor: http://goo.gl/0XnGBJ B. fraud, racketeering, money laundering http://nyti.ms/1Q9poKR

DEVELOPING: FIFA officials reportedly arrested, charged with corruption by US prosecutors http://fxn.ws/1Q9r0V0

FIFA President Sepp Blatter NOT among those arrested on corruption charges at #Zurich hotel during annual conference pic.twitter.com/t3z4f2ZSuX

[OUTLAW 09]

Neither of the UA BNs defending this are have come up on their FB accounts which does mean they are in heavy fighting as they are usually quick to do it.

My guys from the #Shyrokyno outskirts doesn't confirm the info about full liberation". https://twitter.com/Guderian_Xaba/status/603289164033830913 …

"Received information that #Shyrokyno is fully ours. Waiting for confirmation". https://twitter.com/rechnikato/status/603261444138864640 …

#Shyrokyno is under heavy shelling right now. https://twitter.com/GolovanJ/status/603282957332324355 …

@Guderian_Xaba well it would fit somehow with the intense shelling right now


Was in fact a heavy battle --they were simply pushing their defensive line forward to gain a better defense of their positions--interesting that still neither of the BNs used their FB accounts--their OPSEC is improving.

Did catch the Russian defenders off guard and caused loses.

@Guderian_Xaba So this turned out not to be true. Donbass batt is rotating troops today, "all in their positions".

Info about RU Kamaz w ammo &fighters destroyed @ #Shyrokyno was also not confirmed, was a Suzuki jeep w 4-5 ruscists https://twitter.com/litator/status/603432057734340608 …

[OUTLAW 09]

07:57 #Popasna @stepan_klimov "We anxiously listen attentively shell bursts in the east"
#News

Russian Spetsnaz at work--indicator---
Russian forces ambushed a #BattalionAydar position near #Zolote yesterday, killing 1 trooper (Eugene A., Marchuk) & injuring another.

Gordon: #Ukrainian weapons - What local factories are producing for the army https://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine-abroad/gordon-ukrainian-weapons-what-local-factories-are-producing-for-the-army-389487.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Realistic and thoughtful article on #Belarus attempted rapprochement with the West, without commitments, preferably. https://twitter.com/Carnegie_Europe/status/603160740309110784 …

Russian economy faces 'serious consequences' of falling foreign currency reserves (VIDEO)https://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ukraine-today-russian-economy-faces-serious-consequences-of-falling-foreign-currency-reserves-video-389523.html …

Excellent piece on the long term and adverse effects of Putin's Ukraine policy on Russia itself. https://twitter.com/UmlandAndreas/status/603237273845387264 …

Media expert: Russians do not believe Kremlin propaganda, they make fun of stories
http://belsat.eu/en/articles/media-expert-russians-do-not-believe-kremlins-propaganda-they-make-fun-stories/ …
#Russia pic.twitter.com/fgEmqZN1C3

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin burns his war dead to hide #Russia's military involvement in #Ukraine; mobile crematoriums destroy the bodies:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/putin-burns-dead-hide-ukraine-100017882.html;_ylt=AwrC0wwaW2RVw1EAESTQtDMD;_ylu= X3oDMTBybGY3bmpvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYw Nzcg-- …
bloombergview.com/articles/2015-05-26/putin-burns-his-dead-to-hide-ukraine-aggression …

US confirms presence of Russian mobile crematoriums in Ukraine. Each burns 8-10 bodies/day. Horrific that RU shows no honour for its dead

It took media at least six months to pick up the story about Putin's mobile crematoria. But they trash Poroshenko for little on daily basis

.@molodyko A member of US Congress reported on Putin's mobile crematoria two months ago. https://twitter.com/sethmoulton/status/582661612445806592 … pic.twitter.com/miitcShwYj

NOW from the social media open source analysis side for their comments--
Bellingcat comment:
Eliot Higgins @EliotHiggins
Until I see a verifiable photo or video of one of these Russian mobile incinerators I'm going to keep my big cynicism hat on.

What is interesting is that social media caught via video and photos two of these entering the Ukraine back in Nov 2014 and it was dismissed by mainstream media sources and the social media side backed off it as they did not appear anywhere again in the Ukraine.

Now surprise surprise mainstream media picks up and it is the greatest news cycle since sliced bread--how strange is that?

[OUTLAW 09]

Obama, Hollande and especially Merkel--does this strike anyone of the three to be great examples of Putin "attempting" to fully implement Minsk 2 in any form?????

460-480 shells a day on May 26. Russia-led terrorists bombard Stakhanovets village in #Luhansk rgn, said gvrnr Moskal http://hvylya.net/news/exclusive/boeviki-nanesli-480-ognevyih-udarov-po-pozitsiyam-sil-ato-vozle-stahanovtsa-pogib-voennyiy-moskal.html …

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
One Ukrainian serviceman KIA, 8 got wounded in the last 24 hours

#BreakingFootage
Fresh Russian T-72B1 arrived in #Luhansk region, adding to T-64.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs61E-bJnkQ …
pic.twitter.com/HVvzCk3xi6

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Pro-Russian militants active near Shyrokyne: use 122mm artillery, 120mm mortars, sniper fire & 152 self-propelled artillery

These weapons use are clear violations of Minsk 2 and yet we hear nothing from western leaders about their constant use by the Russians.

[OUTLAW 09]

Just another "average fighting day" on the eastern Ukrainian front --the "so called ceasefire contact line"--from "ceasefire" is nothing to be seen for days now does Minsk 2 really exist????

Shellings and ground fighting is slowly expanding to the entire length of the "contact line" not just the "traditional hotspots" AND OSCE is seen absolutely nowhere????? Well maybe in Kyiv and western Ukraine but the fighting is in the east.

#Shakhtarsk
3x Strela-10 and 5x MTLB from #Donetsk towards east. https://twitter.com/Helgi__UA/status/603498406049353728 …

12:45 #Shakhtarsk @Irina16135931 2 MTLB #520&#512, 2 Strela-10 eastwards. Then 5 more MT-LB #524,#528,#527 etc also eastward

Sounds like outgoing artillery fire from #Severodonetsk
12:52 https://twitter.com/Deavy/status/603498988449431552 …

12:43 #Severodonetsk @Deavy Artillery volleys can be heard
12:47 2 more volleys
12:52 And more, louder & more intense

Powerful explosions in the area of #Bobrove (Lisychansk reg.)
12:49 https://twitter.com/sevrriv/status/603498132832428032 …

13:15 #Avdeevka @rechnikato It's quiet here. Absolutely quiet.

#Stakhanov 11:10AM
Artillery firing.
#Popasnaya direction. https://twitter.com/VoinKsena/status/603473296957513728 …

13:07 #Lysychansk @lis_ukrop Sporadic outgoing volleys. 'Some activity began'

Appears that the Russian mercenaries after all their recent Russian training still are losing high numbers KIA and WIA—so much for the Russian army training---

#Horlivka
From 8PM yesterday evening delivered at least 10 corpses to morgue and at least 15 wounded "DNR" fighters https://twitter.com/Utilizator_/status/603493900163092480 …

[OUTLAW 09]

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
UA border guards detained three kidnappers who have abducted resident of Mariupol & attempted to bring him to militant-controlled areas

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
SBU detained militant artillery fire spotter from Shchastya pic.twitter.com/MLlOldgqPp

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Fighting continued, stretching from Zolote to Stanytsia Luhanska. Major hotspot: Pervomaysk

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Hotspots in Donetsk sector: Pisky, Avdiivka & Maryinka, outskirts of Horlivka. Militants twice used Grad missile systems.

SBU detained the administrator of the anti-Ukrainian groups in social networks led by Russians pic.twitter.com/bVDAXImFxY http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/27-may-sbu-detained-the-administrator-of-the-antiukrainian …

Police arrested the second suspect in the killing of Ukrainian officer at Artemivsk pic.twitter.com/XL299LJf6O http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/27-may-police-arrested-the-second-suspect-in-the-killing …

Security forces detained fleeing to Russia former Chairman of Stanichno-Lugansk Council pic.twitter.com/jrKApMtCSK http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/27-may-security-forces-detained-fleeing-to-russia-former …

NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Discontent escalates on militant-held territories: Residents of Stakhanov, Antratsyt, Dyakove protest against self-declared authorities

#RussianWorld and "heroes" of "#Novorossiya" (Givi here).Is this what you'd call rebels?Terrorizing local population https://twitter.com/navalny/status/603497283389431809 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian humor---

Vladimir Putin
Russia has nothing to hide from #FIFA. Because we destroyed the computers. pic.twitter.com/cr8PRr1N7G

[OUTLAW 09]

Notice just how Russia plays the "disinformation/propaganda game"--they release this comment from a "well informed Russian elite connected individual" which at first glance looks "promising" BUT then it is balanced by the two following fighting reality checks that actually then depicts the "battlefield" truth of Russian intentions.

So in fact was the US journalist being "fed"? AND which of the Russian propaganda 4Ds fits this journalist's comment below???

Dismiss, distort, distract, dismay--Russia's 4Ds of propaganda.

I would choose distort and distract and to a degree dismay.

Does not seem to appear that Russia is "ready as of today to abandon Donbas does it????

What is an interesting question right now is--can really after all the false, fake and outright lies Putin and his FM have used over the last year---can anything they say, state, write and or utter be "trusted"???? Second question would be--if one negotiates with them how does DoS Kerry truly know when he is being lied to unless he is reading Us IC reports after each comment they make in order to check the reality??

Leonid Ragozin @leonidragozin
The well-informed Valery Solovey claims Russian elite, including the military, is ready to abandon Donbass, normalize relations west West

Extremely difficult situation on the outskirts of #Pervomaisk, near Bakhmutka. The enemy is trying to break through. https://twitter.com/UaForces/status/603529414060670976 …

The fighting continued almost throughout entire contact line from #Zolote - Stanitsya Luhanska. We have losses. https://twitter.com/UaForces/statu

[OUTLAW 09]

15:45 #Luhansk @LutuginskyRayon [There was blast wave], white smoke cloud over #Oleksandrivsk [range] pic.twitter.com/O6QeYKqyhX

It looks like the explosion reported earlier from #Luhansk was in the teaching range. https://twitter.com/100007182042214/status/603550416131993600 …

#Luhansk
15:26 @vzglyd2 East heard double sound of a shot, curtains shaked
15:30 @100007182042214 Something exploded loudly

13:00 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka Quiet, single small arms shots were 10 min ago fr/Sovkhoz dir'n w/2-3min interval

#Shchastya 4:06PM
There is a battle near the bridge over the S. Donets river. https://twitter.com/100007182042214/status/603547764434272257 …

Hundreds of vehicles wait in line to leave the occupied city of #Horlivka, towards #Artemivsk (to the "junta"). https://twitter.com/novostidnua/status/603541326186024960 …

Map of location/distance https://www.google.ie/maps/place/Matveev+Kurgan,+Rostovskaya+oblast%27,+Russia,+346 970/@47.6260419,38.7084569,12z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x40e16c5452f85a07:0x9a74e3db54601 5ec …. Russian Uragan MLRS battery seen 24 May south of Matveev Kurgan http://ukraineatwar.blogspot.ie/2015/05/reuter

[OUTLAW 09]

We're listening in to "DPR armed forces radio" (ie GRU) breaking in to UA army nets: Ivans have ramped up psyops operations today

Does sound like the idiot stuff Weps & Co were listening to: kind of Kremlin trolls on the radio net! So 1940s!

Militants kidnapped and then killed the son of Luhansk businessman pic.twitter.com/5WAGPQjCQ4 http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/27-may

SBU: Putin’s assistants personally oversee separatists and terrorists in Ukraine
http://www.unian.info/politics/1082604-sbu-putins-assistants-personally-oversee-separatists-and-terrorists-in-ukraine.html … pic.twitter.com/cmfuTZjNSC

Mass grave of Soviet executions discovered in NW #Ukraine. 367 ppl (100 kids) shot after #MolotovRibbentroppPact. pic.twitter.com/uCAqv6oKVx

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference now Moldavia---and the Ukraine cutting off Russian resupply transit route into Transnistria for it's troops.

Russian MFA called in Moldova's charge d'affairs to complain/threaten over Transnistria access issue http://tass.ru/en/russia/796858 …

#Transnistria is THE flashpoint: once it is blocked Putin be forced either to withdraw or wage total war on Ukraine https://twitter.com/AlexandruC4/status/603273795646914561 …

Kremlin spokesman dismisses media reports about appeals for help from Transdniestria http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/26-may-kremlin-spokesman-dismisses-media-reports-about-appeals … via @tassagency_en

NOTICE the media reports came straight from Russian sources---
HERE WE GO: "People of Transnistria Ask Putin for Protection From External Threat" http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150526/1022549313.html … prin @SputnikInt

Might be a bit more complex than that; but agree, it's a trigger (Gerasimov said so) and may prompt Russia to open a second front. this, or start pillaging factories within arty range: Avdiivka, AzovStal, etc. to devastate Ukrainian economy

The Washington Times: Kremlin stole Moldova’s millions http://www.moldova.org/the-washington-times-the-kremlin-stole-moldovas-millions/ … prin @moldovaorg

BREAKING: MOLDOVA BANNED THE RUSSIAN TV ROSSIA 24 http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-russia_report-20192169-republica-moldova-fost-sistata-retransmiterea-postului-rossia-24-reactia-ministerului-rus-externe-nu-lasat-asteptata.htm …

[OUTLAW 09]

The hypocrisy of the Russian FM is reaching new heights these days --he refers to full implementation of Minsk 2 and yet more BM27s and Russian tanks have been shipped into the Ukraine in large numbers just over the last two days and they came from Russia not Germany.

So using Russian troops in the Ukraine, supplying the newest Russian military equipment to her mercenaries, and using Spetsnaz troops over a year now in the Ukraine is according to "international law"???? Annexing Crimea is again what "according to international law" BUT wait one does notice he fails to actually name any international law they are in accordance with OR more importantly what others are "violating".

The Russian mantra of repeating over and over "international law" is an attempt to whitewash themselves meaning if one repeats it often enough then everyone assumes "hey they are acting in accordance with international law".

Typical Russian 4D propaganda----- dismiss ,distort, distract----


MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Lavrov:We agree on Ukraine:the Minsk Agreements must be implemented undeviatingly & in full, through direct dialogue pic.twitter.com/2YmL4dIGSb

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Lavrov: We also discussed the situation in #Ukraine, in that foreign interference and disregard for international law is not acceptable

[OUTLAW 09]

These two and yet separate incidents carry a massive problem for the Russian military in the Ukraine.

I had written a comment on the capture after the Russian Embassy in Kyiv "claimed" they had not been able to see them"--that they better hurry up as the GRU had better worry about what happens when the two who have been basically abandoned by their own military and Putin basically "wake up" to the realization of being abandoned. In the POW world it is known as a "cognitive dissonance" moment.

These two Spetsnaz have a lot to say and explain to the Ukrainian security and intelligence services but IMO they have held back to see just what "protection" they would be getting via the Russian Embassy. Well they got a visit yesterday by a low level Consul and that was about it.

THEN today this came across the net and it is a hammer against the GRU--

Alexandrov, one of the alleged Russian soldiers captured in eastern Ukraine, will cooperate with prosecutors http://ru.tsn.ua/ato/grushnik-aleksandrov-ne-budet-obzhalovat-svoy-arest-i-budet-pomogat-sledstviyu-427662.html …

After he has decided to turn on the Russian Spetsnaz it will be interesting when the Spetsnaz CPT turns and he will and he has far more to talk about.

The Russian military has made one heck of a bad decision--you just support your troops even when captured--not to gets you this mess caused by themselves.

Secondly, on the same day as the recent ambush of a well known Russian mercenary who was killed a little known Ukrainian guerrilla unit claimed responsibility and yet they did not claim the attack public via open sources.

THEN there was a small comment on the net that the Russian General at the JCCC had been "shot at" and that was about it. WHAT is extremely interesting is it had happened twice before and the Russian news media made a super big thing out of it--this time there was absolutely nothing being mentioned even by the JCCC or the OSCE to whom the Russians complained to in the past-Wonder why????

Same day of ambush that killed #Mozgovoy there was an attack against JCCC's Russian General #Lentsov anyone know where?

Evidently the Russian General was in a mercenary controlled area almost in the same location as the first ambush occurred--core question exactly why was he there and what was the "exact location" of the shooting directed at him.

Am suspecting it was an ambush attempt that barely missed him but the Russians are unwilling to concede it was an ambush.

THEN this came back on the question--just a short comment also via the net

231800may, abt 1.5 km fr Gorlovka, UKR sabotage and recon group atk on the Rus rep at the JCCC, ColGen Alexander Lentsov

SO just what was the Russian General doing deep in mercenary controlled territory --just joy riding???--- as his trip in that area was not known to his Ukrainian JCCC counterparts and he did not say anything to them when he came back to the JCCC.

Earlier he was a press release hog on the prior shootings this time silence--strange is it not???

Maybe he "understood" the warning that he could be as easily killed as were two other Russian Generals by the same Ukrainian guerrilla unit and even if he is in the JCCC he is "fair game" to them.

[OUTLAW 09]

http://maidantranslations.com/2015/05/27/dmitry-tymchuk-military-update-5-26-freesavchenko/

Dmitry Tymchuk: Military update 5.26

Posted on May 27, 2015 by tilamuse

Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine


Operational data from Information Resistance:

Over the past 24 hours, Russian- terrorist troops in Donbas carried out attacks mainly from small arms, grenade launchers, 82- and 120-mm mortars. There are also documented cases of [terrorist] use of armored vehicles and artillery systems, which were to be withdrawn from the line of contact under the Minsk Agreements.

The enemy was leading sniper fire on the positions [of Ukrainian troops] in the vicinity of Mariinka. In the Pisky – Avdiivka stretch, insurgents were operating in firing groups armed with mobile means of destruction. A fortified area of Ukrainian troops near Opytne was shelled by ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft systems at least twice, with their subsequent transfer and departure. As a result of the ensuing firefight in the vicinity of Leninske, terrorists used 82-mm mortars to suppress the firing positions of our troops. An insurgent tank group has been operating between Novhorodske and Verkhnotoretske. Three enemy tanks periodically aimed open fire at our forefront from camouflaged positions.

In the seaside direction, tensions remain in Shyrokyne and on the Pavlopil – Chermalyk stretch. In these areas, illegal armed groups fired at the positions of ATO forces from large-caliber machine guns, grenade launchers, and mortars (including 120-mm caliber mortars). A stronghold near Chermalyk and the positions of the ATO forces north and west of Shyrokyne have been shelled several times from 122-mm D-30 and 2S1 Gvozdika howitzers.

The situation remains difficult in the Luhansk direction. Terrorists fire from infantry weapons, occasionally interrupted by artillery raids from 122-mm artillery in the vicinity of Krymske, Zolote, and Novotoshkivka. In the Luhanske – Myronivskyi stretch, insurgents used several BMP-2 to fire at Ukrainian troop positions. After intensive fire from regular 30-mm automatic guns, the BMP moved back to insurgent battle formations under cover of mortar fire.

Movement of military equipment and units of the Russian-terrorist forces:

Movement of insurgent traffic remains the busiest in Donetsk, Luhansk and their surrounding areas – from Krasnyi Luch towards Snizhne and Debaltseve, from Amvrosiivka to Starobeshevo and the South. In addition, the Torez – Shakhtarsk – Yenakijeve – Horlivka direction has been “revived.” However, the main cargo flow intended for terrorists goes through the Ilovaisk transport hub, as before.

Armored vehicles of illegal armed gangs contine to accumulate in the Kirovskyi and Petrovskyi districts of Donetsk. They are dispersed at the city auto-repair shops and logistics terminals, as well as disguised in the close vicinity of residential areas. To date, according to the IR group estimates, there are no less than 120 armored vehicles, a quarter of which are tanks (mainly T-72M, T-72BA, T-72B3, a T-64B and T-64BV).

To the south of Makiivka (between Hirnytskyi district and the Donetsk Koltseva road), two “Tor-M1” air defense missile systems and their outfitted positions have been seen.

The regrouping of armored terrorist vehicles continues from the Pervomaisk – Stakhanov area to the right flank in the direction of Donetske – Zhelobok. More armored vehicles have been moved into this area – two BMP-2, a BTR-80, and three T-64B tanksbeen observed.

A terrorist infrantry grop (40 men on three BTR-80 and three trucks) have proceeded from Amvrosiivka in the direction of Telmanove.

In Yakovlivka and Yasynuvata, the arrival of “brand new” units of illegal armed gangs has been recorded – 10 tanks, 15 vehicles, and about 250 insurgents.

[OUTLAW 09]

These two and yet separate incidents carry a massive problem for the Russian military in the Ukraine.

I had written a comment on the capture after the Russian Embassy in Kyiv "claimed" they had not been able to see them"--that they better hurry up as the GRU had better worry about what happens when the two who have been basically abandoned by their own military and Putin basically "wake up" to the realization of being abandoned. In the POW world it is known as a "cognitive dissonance" moment.

These two Spetsnaz have a lot to say and explain to the Ukrainian security and intelligence services but IMO they have held back to see just what "protection" they would be getting via the Russian Embassy. Well they got a visit yesterday by a low level Consul and that was about it.

THEN today this came across the net and it is a hammer against the GRU--

Alexandrov, one of the alleged Russian soldiers captured in eastern Ukraine, will cooperate with prosecutors http://ru.tsn.ua/ato/grushnik-aleksandrov-ne-budet-obzhalovat-svoy-arest-i-budet-pomogat-sledstviyu-427662.html …

After he has decided to turn on the Russian Spetsnaz it will be interesting when the Spetsnaz CPT turns and he will and he has far more to talk about.

The Russian military has made one heck of a bad decision--you just support your troops even when captured--not to gets you this mess caused by themselves.

Secondly, on the same day as the recent ambush of a well known Russian mercenary who was killed a little known Ukrainian guerrilla unit claimed responsibility and yet they did not claim the attack public via open sources.

THEN there was a small comment on the net that the Russian General at the JCCC had been "shot at" and that was about it. WHAT is extremely interesting is it had happened twice before and the Russian news media made a super big thing out of it--this time there was absolutely nothing being mentioned even by the JCCC or the OSCE to whom the Russians complained to in the past-Wonder why????

Same day of ambush that killed #Mozgovoy there was an attack against JCCC's Russian General #Lentsov anyone know where?

Evidently the Russian General was in a mercenary controlled area almost in the same location as the first ambush occurred--core question exactly why was he there and what was the "exact location" of the shooting directed at him.

Am suspecting it was an ambush attempt that barely missed him but the Russians are unwilling to concede it was an ambush.

THEN this came back on the question--just a short comment also via the net

231800may, abt 1.5 km fr Gorlovka, UKR sabotage and recon group atk on the Rus rep at the JCCC, ColGen Alexander Lentsov

SO just what was the Russian General doing deep in mercenary controlled territory --just joy riding???--- as his trip in that area was not known to his Ukrainian JCCC counterparts and he did not say anything to them when he came back to the JCCC.

Earlier he was a press release hog on the prior shootings this time silence--strange is it not???

Maybe he "understood" the warning that he could be as easily killed as were two other Russian Generals by the same Ukrainian guerrilla unit and even if he is in the JCCC he is "fair game" to them.


Captured Russian Soldier Aleksandrov Will Not Appeal Detention In Kiev

16:41 (GMT)


TSN reports that Konstantin Kravchuk, a Ukrainian lawyer for Aleksandr Aleksandrov, a Russian GRU Spetsnaz soldier captured outside Schastye on May 17, has told the television channel that his client will not appeal the decision of a Kiev court to place him under arrest.

Kravchuk said that Aleksandrov would cooperate with the investigation and that the conditions of his detention in the VIP ward of a military hospital were "more than good enough."

The lawyer has made a request to the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General that the terrorism charges against his client be withdrawn as he says that Aleksandrov did not use firearms on Ukrainian territory. Instead, Kravchuk says, he can only be found guilty of illegally entering Ukrainian territory with the aim of gathering intelligence.

Aleksandrov's fellow captive and commander, Yevgeniy Yerofeyev, will appeal against his arrest, TSN reports.

Yesterday, both captives finally received visits from a Russian consul, Aleksei Grubiy.

Will be interesting to see just how long the Spetsnaz CPT will hold out on saying anything as his trial goes forward in the coming weeks.

[OUTLAW 09]

More open source retro analysis video and Russian FB analysis---on the Russian 3rd Spetsnaz Brigade---the 2nd BN was the unit that had the two POWs from.

It appears that the 3rd Spetsnaz Brigade had been fighting inside the Ukraine for well over a year now--appears to be the primary Sf Brigade doing the overall Spetsnaz fighting.

“Royal Flush”. Russian Special Forces soldier fighting in Ukraine showed us all! http://lugansk-news.com/royal-flush-russian-special-forces-soldier-fighting-in-ukraine-showed-us-all/ … pic.twitter.com/b6rymko379

Well worth reading the link as this Spetsnaz soldier definitely made the wrong OPSEC choice and posted everything including photos that could be geo tagged.

At the end of January Ukrainian investigative team of InformNapalm.org found profile of a Russian soldier who was fighting in Ukraine on the side of so-called Lugansk People’s Republic. His name is Krivko. That guy really gave us all possible proofs of Russian aggression against Ukraine posting photos of all his steps in Ukraine.


Here is a brief summary of what that guy showed us, so everybody can see who is really fighting against Ukrainian Army.

1. He is Russian citizen.

2. He is a soldier of 3rd Brigade of Special Forces of Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, aka Spetsnaz GRU. He is exactly from the same 3rd Brigade of Special Forces as Russian POW Aleksadr Aleksandrov and Evgeniy Erofeev captured by Ukrainian Army on May 16 2015 near Lugansk. See Aleksandrov’s 1st interview here “I am a soldier of Russian Federation”

3. He was on a training camp inside Ukraine on the territory controlled by so-called Lugansk People’s Republic just 8km away from Lugansk Airport at already at end of September 2014.

4. He got AS “Val” assault rifle, manufactured in Russia only and used by Russian Special Forces unit. And he was wounded in a battle against Ukrainian Army near Sanzharivka on Jan 28 2015.

5. He is driving armored personnel carrier BPM-97 “Vystrel” manufactured only in Russia and used only by Russian Special Forces units.

Here is a link to Krivko’s profile https://vk.com/hakir79 The irony is that he deactivated his profile after it became public and just re-activated it today. His details were also added to Security Service of Ukraine list of terrorists fighting in Ukraine, he was listed as mercenary and instructor, here is a link https://psb4ukr.org/criminal/master-yoda-krivko/ Initially he used nickname “Master Yoda”. The interisting fact is that Alexey Mozgovoy, the leader of pro-Russian terrorists who controlled Alchevsk and was killed on May 23 2015, is in his friends list, link to Mozgovoy page https://vk.com/id265927036

On January 2015 28 at about 3:30pm Krivko aka “Master Yoda” was wounded in a battle against Ukrainian Army near Sanzharivka, he was taken to the hospital in Stakhanov and posted few photos from there. The photos below were taken just before the battle at 13:34 on Jan 28, and in those photos you can see AS Val assault riffle used only by Russian Special Forces units.

Earlier that day Krivko was in Bryanka. He posted a photo taken there at 02:17am. In the photo is a plate from “Ukraine presidential elections” voting office number #30 of Bryanka city.

In the evening the day he was wounded he posted a photo of the wounds. The time stamp in the photo is Jan 28 2015 20:40.

Next day early in the morning he posted history written by his doctor in Stakhanov hospital. The document says that he was wounded near Sanzharivka during military actions at 15:30 on Jan 28 2015. The medical form is printed in Ukrainian language.

Earlier on January 13 2015 Krivko posted a photo of himself on an armored personnel carried BPM-97 “Vystrel” used only by Russian Special Forces, but still those vehicles were reported being used by pro-Russian separatists on the territory of Ukraine. 1st time that vehicle was seen in Lugansk on Jan 1 2015, same day when one of the separatist leader Bednov aka “Batman” was killed.

Krivko was in Ukraine at least since the end of Septerber 2014. On September 22 2014 he posted he posted a photo with geo-location mark. The photo was taken in Pershozvanivka village, at that time it was on terrorists controlled part of Lugansk Region. The village is locate about 8 km from Lugansk Airport and obviously it was used as some kind of training camp by Russian units.

On the same day September 22 he posted photos of Ukrainian and USA MRE packages that his group obviously got from the positions of Ukrainian army they took or from Ukrainian POW they captured.

Other photos from the same locating were posted on October 3 and October 9.

On October 9 2014 he posted another photo of his military unit from the same location in Pershozvanivka village.

This guy has a lot of photos that identifies him as a soldier of Russian Army special forces unit. The photos below were taken in Samara, Russian Federation. The sign on the background says “Samara’s Regional Civic Organization – Union of Veterans of Airborne Troops and Special Forces Troops” (in Russian “Самарская Региональная Общественная Организация Союз Ветеранов Воздушно-Десантных войск и войск специального назначения”). Here is a link to this Airborne Veterans Organization website http://sonko.samregion.ru/sonko/catalog/272

There is also a photo that identifies him as a soldier of 3rd Brigade of Special Forces of Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, aka Spetsnaz GRU. In the photo with his friends they are holding a flag, the letters on the flag is abbreviation of the full name of 3rd Brigade of Spetsnaz GRU.

Obviously they had some kind of meeting in Samara, the soldiers who served in the same unit. And more likely they were recruited during that meeting and went to Ukraine to fight against Ukrainian Army on the side of so-called Lugansk People’s Republic. Here is a link to Google Map of the location where the photo was take that match the map behind the guys in the photo.