Ukraine: Russo-Ukr War (June-December 2015)

[OUTLAW 09]

Another Russian propaganda farce—they were not there at all.

Interfax today---
15:33
Investigative group on Boeing crash in Ukraine, which includes Russians, holding consultations in Netherlands

THEN why this
13:31
Russia calls for sharing of info about Boeing crash in Ukraine with detectives - Foreign Ministry

[OUTLAW 09]

AND it was the Ukrainians also Interfax today---

14:51
DPR blames Kyiv for setting fire to OSCE mission vehicles

[OUTLAW 09]

It is amazing to watch a Ukrainian Army express it confidence --they are showing an unusual amount of tenacity and resilience which I think is even surprising the Russian Army.

There is NO panic. Ukrainian Armed Forces hold their positions along ENTIRE front line. All else is Russian agitprop. pic.twitter.com/kyzW7NmUZr

[OUTLAW 09]

Selfie Soldiers of 18th Russian Motorized Rifles Brigade in Donbas: https://en.informnapalm.org/putin-s-eleven-selfie-soldiers-of-18th-russian-motorized-rifles-brigade-in-donbas/ … pic.twitter.com/szqjXmbtIc

Breaking
"28 civilians killed by Ukrainian shelling in first 7 days of August"
Russians come up w/ crazy numbers!!
http://dan-news.info/defence/zhertvami-ukrainskix-silovikov-za-nedelyu-stali-28-mirnyx-zhitelej-dnr-ombudsmen.html …

[EN] Self-Propelled Artillery of the 9th Brigade Fires Towards Mariupol... http://fb.me/1MHK9oJx1

.@ReggaeMortis1's investigation of the lessons in Hybrid war that the #Kremlin learned in #Georgia &used in Donbas https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/630752011403821056 …

"Peaceful" August in eastern UA. Trend continues. The so called "separatists" are "on fire" (as of August 10, 2015). pic.twitter.com/Ct43X581By

Reports that #Telmanove was shelled from #Russia|n held #Styla.
https://twitter.com/solomazheka/status/630755224077107200 … pic.twitter.com/tZT4UzIYeY

[OUTLAW 09]

Starohnativka: judging by equipment on the move, this night will be a disaster.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Insane nonsense continues!

"Ukr army fired 663 artillery shells on Sunday,killing 3 civilians."
Get ready Ukraine!

http://dan-news.info/defence/ukrainskie-siloviki-za-sutki-vypustili-po-dnr-bolee-600-snaryadov-pogibli-tri-mirnyx-zhitelya.html …

Correction

Among those shells, "160 shells were fired from the MLRS #Grad missiles."

They go bonkers.

Perfect example of Russian Orwellian doublespeak--they fire then it is the Ukrainian's fault.

[OUTLAW 09]

JUST IN: Starohnativka again hit by GRAD MLRS https://twitter.com/xuilolala/status/630771051316801536 …

Here is the inherent weakness of OSCE----

@Staroignatievca @OSCE_SMM "we could not identify shelling because we couldn't go there bc of heavy shelling"

@OSCE_SMM cannot guarantee Ukraine's safety: They are a powerless observer mission. ONLY the Ukrainian Armed Forces can guarantee our safety

NOW----
Heavy artillery attack on Starohnativka http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/10-august-heavy-artillery-attack-on-starohnativka …

Starohnativka - loud incoming shells, big explosions

Starohnativka: hit map by @Staroignatievca , fires reported... @OSCE_SMM where are you??? pic.twitter.com/7oqqY7CQU3

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Insane nonsense continues!

"Ukr army fired 663 artillery shells on Sunday,killing 3 civilians."
Get ready Ukraine!

http://dan-news.info/defence/ukrainskie-siloviki-za-sutki-vypustili-po-dnr-bolee-600-snaryadov-pogibli-tri-mirnyx-zhitelya.html …

Correction

Among those shells, "160 shells were fired from the MLRS #Grad missiles."

They go bonkers.

Perfect example of Russian Orwellian doublespeak--they fire then it is the Ukrainian's fault.

Telmanove. Lentsov on work: RUS sources reported on "160 hits" and 3 dead civilians @Ukr_Che pic.twitter.com/0PcwxGmi2C
Russians claimed 2 MRLS loads = BUT that is really 80 rockets NOT 160 as stated.
Seems they cannot get their propaganda together today---

If Lentsov's back in command, Russian armed forces have no intention to stop until they acquire landbridge to Crimea. pic.twitter.com/69f5zBXfY2

Russian military doctrine at work: if you don't give us what we want, we will destroy it/punish you for it. https://twitter.com/JulianRoepcke/status/630735877497593856 …

[OUTLAW 09]

VIDEO A Ukrainian convoy (or camp) came under fire. Location unknown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-2YUyGumrE …

Russia troops surrounded Novopavlovka v. in #Crimea fr 3 d,searching houses&cars,APCs&tanks spotted nr Trudolubovka:https://www.facebook.com/qhaqk

Destruction in Hranitne, where 10 civilians have been killed & 35 wounded during ATO -Abroskin
http://112.ua/ato/v-granitnom-za-vremya-ato-pogibli-10-mirnyh-zhiteley-abroskin-251086.html … pic.twitter.com/oPc4eZryy3

More escalation: we haven't seen that much civilian deaths in a single attack for a long time. https://twitter.com/UkrWatchTower/status/630773590179356672 …

4 MSTA-B on the move in #Donetsk city center https://twitter.com/zilbenshuher/status/630773243864068096 …

youtube.com/watch?v=KLSYb4pC0fE … EXTREMELY GRAPHIC. 2 #Ukrainians shot in the temple. Narrator: 'This happens to every Ukrop.

NOW: Dokuchaevsk listens to falling Grad MLRS from East direction https://twitter.com/Shrik_E/status/630776010926129152 …

VIDEO: Destruction in Krasnohorivka
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WeoIPFojeAU … pic.twitter.com/ufZNQj0rMy

[OUTLAW 09]

JUST IN: Starohnativka again hit by GRAD MLRS https://twitter.com/xuilolala/status/630771051316801536 …

Here is the inherent weakness of OSCE----

@Staroignatievca @OSCE_SMM "we could not identify shelling because we couldn't go there bc of heavy shelling"

@OSCE_SMM cannot guarantee Ukraine's safety: They are a powerless observer mission. ONLY the Ukrainian Armed Forces can guarantee our safety

NOW----
Heavy artillery attack on Starohnativka http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/10-august-heavy-artillery-attack-on-starohnativka …

Starohnativka - loud incoming shells, big explosions

Starohnativka: hit map by @Staroignatievca , fires reported... @OSCE_SMM where are you??? pic.twitter.com/7oqqY7CQU3

18:25 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca judging by the stir, this night will be hellish

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin's decision making process for the eastern Ukraine----

Fortress Crimea is unfinished. Russian military will not rest until it secures 100% control over east & west flanks. It drives strategy.

Kremlin believes (wrongly) that one major blow to Ukraine (eg Mariupol siege) will destabilise & redirect politics back towards Moscow.

NATO joint exercises in western Ukraine over. Obama = proven weakness. German-France/EU resolve (Minsk) = proven weakness. Opportunity.

Only two things stand in the way of a Russian mobilisation for an offensive: 1) window of opportunity 2) one word from Putin: "Go"

Those plans continuously evolve, are amended with updated intel. If/when Kremlin gives green light, plans are ready for every eventuality

It's all about cold, clinical calculations: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. The rest is cannon-fodder and logistics.

[OUTLAW 09]

More Ukrainian bloggers are reporting to the battlefield—
dear friends, I come with my company in Ukraine to the battlefield on Friday night, now I'm going to prepare the equipment. SU, GS!

35k (pro)Russian troops in occupied Donbas include 9k Russian army officers/troops, 13k combat-experienced/ready militia. Rest are useless.

Aug.10 UA reports 58 instances of night attacks including heavy artillery by separatists supported by RU armed forces pic.twitter.com/GMdoCG2eIL

Air Force Freak @AirForceFreak74
RUAF Tu-134Sh with bomb racks mounted @ Chelyabinsk Aug 2015 (C) I.Nightingale pic.twitter.com/OnV1JxYeLF

Great investigation - Pro-Russian Web Network Digs Up the Dirt on Kremlin Critics http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/08/10/pro-russian-web-network-digs-up-the-dirt-on-kremlin-critics/ …

Activists: Over twenty food outlets throughout Ukraine to feed ATO troops free of charge
http://uacrisis.org/30887-nagoduj_voina …

During the past year 12,000 pieces of equipment have been repaired and returned to UKR army
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=491931730976089&id=453559011480028&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.491931730976089&__tn__=%2As … pic.twitter.com/VdS48AYSkd

[OUTLAW 09]

21:05 #Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] now [machine guns] rattle again

RUS #propaganda SMS in #Krasnohorivka (translation in comments).Same before in #Debaltseve @ZOOdonetsk pic.twitter.com/6QT6iEoDVU

21:17 #Lysychansk @lisichanskiy Profound silence along all frontline near Lysychansk

20:55 #Donetsk @MitAndersen Along Universytetska (Izumrud) allegedly Strela ADMS went northward - tracked, covered, escorted by covered Ural

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia annexes more Georgian territory----

Russian annexes another 800meters of Georgia and NO one cares—how strange is that?????

They have now taken 1.8kms and the response from the West was what again—stone silence.

Quietly, with no fuss #russia shifts border again, shaves another 800 meters off Georgia today. No one notices

[OUTLAW 09]

Going to be a long and rough night all along the front line......

Why would 400 Russian military vehicles disappear from bases near #Ukraine just days before imagery shows hundreds of new "rebel" vehicles

22:05 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca quiet https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/630812251352604672 …

21:30 #Debaltseve @Debaltsevo_UA We met with an UAV as usually with all subsequent attempts to down it. Don't know it they succeded.

Novolaspa under fire again: https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/630812251352604672 …

Avdiivka 21:50
Incoming, loud! https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/630813522407108610 …

21:43 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Explosions and Flashes in #Novolaspa direction

21:23 #Dnipropetrovsk @gdalinka Just now ambulances column (the 3rd)...

21:39 #Donetsk pasta factory @Dusya60000018 Shooting down an UAV, muffed

21:35 #Horlivka @ahab7822 Again UAVs

21:35 #Donetsk @14720Maro bursts nearly over Kalmius
@forprivatepol like fr/Sechenova, there's a base
-yes, betw/Dzerzhynskogo&Ilyicha

21:34 #Donetsk @14720Maro Started firing to the sky
@14720Maro Goes from Kalinovka (pasta factory, Skladska, there),

RUS downed hardware in the neutral zone pic.twitter.com/4O0O8bQMng

21:48 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy Gunnery started from #Lisniy-Batman area, 3-4 cannons

Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk]
21:40 calmed down
22:00 Grenade launcher boomed and assault rifle shooting again

22:05 #Avdiivka @owl_ok I heard incoming, but didn't get where they landed.Hope not in city limits

22:09 #Avdiivka @JuZolyshkaLia Electricity down

youtube.com/watch?v=UG0JvdGWMuw … Sunflower power! Ukrainian SPG-9 recoilless gun repelling Russian attack. pic.twitter.com/2BtHF8FDkk

21:45 #Avdiivka @fingerw80 About 10 impacts on town old part,heavy calibre from afar, 1 cannon

Dense shelling around #Zhovanka : Imagery 8/8/15 Russian trenches hit http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=48.414619&lon=38.013468&z=14&m=b … pic.twitter.com/4j6DLMK1p4

21:53 @_John__Carter_ #Avdiivka is straddled from #Yasynuvata

Dnetsk 21:40
In Kirovsk ds AA-gun tries to shoot down something. https://twitter.com/ropogckou/status/630811412474925056 …

22:17 #Donetsk @PVB40 [fb] Strong salvos from DurnaBalka or further started

Krasnohorivka 22:20
Shooting, heavy incoming https://twitter.com/arthurnkua/status/630820950506930176 …

BREAKING: Heavy explosions can be heard in Shyrokyne direction http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/10-august-heavy-explosions-can-be-heard-in-shyrokyne-direction …

22:21 #Donetsk @902Albi So it goes. Volleys in the north, strong, flashes in #Pisky direction and in the northeast

22:21 #Donetsk @relictDon Volleys [heard] roughly from Hornyak-Azotny area

And with everybody looking into last attack on Ukrainian positions, Russia invades more of Georgia https://twitter.com/antelava/status/630804172409958400 …

Starohnativka under #Russia|n artillery shelling again
pic.twitter.com/bXqkHhzH99

Russians shelled with MRLS BM-21 positions of 72 brigade at Staroignativka today 11.10 - 11.50 am.
MRLS back. https://twitter.com/UaForces/status/630818188624818177 …

22:09 #Avdiivka @fingerw80 3-4 incoming more and power down, 2 outgoing

22:12 @sir_T_Lawrence They are trying to shoot down UAV in #Novoazovsk, it flew over the route toward RUS border - info fr/N

#Novoazovsk 22:12
"Trying to shoot down UAV. Passed over the road towards the russian border. I wonder whose is it" https://twitter.com/sir_T_Lawrence/status/630819105180942337 …

22:41 #Donetsk @14720Maro They shoot from the same position in Kalinovka, not at NW [as before], but at SW

22:40 #Donetsk Kalinovka @ukrainaw777 Again shooting at UAV

22:41 #Donetsk @14720Maro Also in Mira-Gvardeyka flashes can be seen

22:20 #Mariupol Vostochny @PVB40 [fb] We can hear volleys [from #Shyrokyne direction?]

22:44 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy And again volleys https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/630816746233053184 …

22:45 #Donetsk @14720Maro I can see blue flashes not far in the northeast (looking from Donetsk center), they shell from Gvardeyka

22:41 #Makiivka Gvardeyka @666_mancer [fb]Again shooting at UAV...

[OUTLAW 09]

Remember Putin demanded from the West that they pressure the Ukraine for a "sign of good faith" meaning an unilateral appeasement pull back.

This is what appeasement" gets the US----

OSCE ✔ @OSCE
Renewed violence in #Shyrokyne witnessed by @OSCE_SMM: latest daily report http://www.osce.org/node/176456

21:48 @sex_Dombas [Heavy rumble has been heard from #Shyrokyne direction]

Heavy explosions can be heard in #Shyrokyne direction

22:28
Glow can be seen from #Shyrokyno https://twitter.com/sex_Dombas/status/630823061927948288 …

AND this is the "sign of good faith"???

[OUTLAW 09]

Has the OSCE been actually intimidated by the Russian attacks on them?????
That or they cannot count to 20.

OSCE report on organised youth flashmob in #Luhansk city. pic.twitter.com/hvtXYgftr4

Another odd OSCE report from "DPR"-held Donetsk:
"the SMM heard 25 explosions, seven incoming and 18 undetermined."
Did arson work?! ...

Reading the daily OSCE reports, one could get the impression, "all are bad" / "all ignore Minsk".
Why?
Because it never say who fired FIRST!

[OUTLAW 09]

Going to be a long and rough night all along the front line......

Why would 400 Russian military vehicles disappear from bases near #Ukraine just days before imagery shows hundreds of new "rebel" vehicles

22:05 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca quiet https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/630812251352604672 …

21:30 #Debaltseve @Debaltsevo_UA We met with an UAV as usually with all subsequent attempts to down it. Don't know it they succeded.

Novolaspa under fire again: https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/630812251352604672 …

Avdiivka 21:50
Incoming, loud! https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/630813522407108610 …

21:43 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Explosions and Flashes in #Novolaspa direction

21:23 #Dnipropetrovsk @gdalinka Just now ambulances column (the 3rd)...

21:39 #Donetsk pasta factory @Dusya60000018 Shooting down an UAV, muffed

21:35 #Horlivka @ahab7822 Again UAVs

21:35 #Donetsk @14720Maro bursts nearly over Kalmius
@forprivatepol like fr/Sechenova, there's a base
-yes, betw/Dzerzhynskogo&Ilyicha

21:34 #Donetsk @14720Maro Started firing to the sky
@14720Maro Goes from Kalinovka (pasta factory, Skladska, there),

RUS downed hardware in the neutral zone pic.twitter.com/4O0O8bQMng

21:48 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy Gunnery started from #Lisniy-Batman area, 3-4 cannons

Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk]
21:40 calmed down
22:00 Grenade launcher boomed and assault rifle shooting again

22:05 #Avdiivka @owl_ok I heard incoming, but didn't get where they landed.Hope not in city limits

22:09 #Avdiivka @JuZolyshkaLia Electricity down

youtube.com/watch?v=UG0JvdGWMuw … Sunflower power! Ukrainian SPG-9 recoilless gun repelling Russian attack. pic.twitter.com/2BtHF8FDkk

21:45 #Avdiivka @fingerw80 About 10 impacts on town old part,heavy calibre from afar, 1 cannon

Dense shelling around #Zhovanka : Imagery 8/8/15 Russian trenches hit http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=48.414619&lon=38.013468&z=14&m=b … pic.twitter.com/4j6DLMK1p4

21:53 @_John__Carter_ #Avdiivka is straddled from #Yasynuvata

Dnetsk 21:40
In Kirovsk ds AA-gun tries to shoot down something. https://twitter.com/ropogckou/status/630811412474925056 …

22:17 #Donetsk @PVB40 [fb] Strong salvos from DurnaBalka or further started

Krasnohorivka 22:20
Shooting, heavy incoming https://twitter.com/arthurnkua/status/630820950506930176 …

BREAKING: Heavy explosions can be heard in Shyrokyne direction http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/10-august-heavy-explosions-can-be-heard-in-shyrokyne-direction …

22:21 #Donetsk @902Albi So it goes. Volleys in the north, strong, flashes in #Pisky direction and in the northeast

22:21 #Donetsk @relictDon Volleys [heard] roughly from Hornyak-Azotny area

And with everybody looking into last attack on Ukrainian positions, Russia invades more of Georgia https://twitter.com/antelava/status/630804172409958400 …

Starohnativka under #Russia|n artillery shelling again
pic.twitter.com/bXqkHhzH99

Russians shelled with MRLS BM-21 positions of 72 brigade at Staroignativka today 11.10 - 11.50 am.
MRLS back. https://twitter.com/UaForces/status/630818188624818177 …

22:09 #Avdiivka @fingerw80 3-4 incoming more and power down, 2 outgoing

22:12 @sir_T_Lawrence They are trying to shoot down UAV in #Novoazovsk, it flew over the route toward RUS border - info fr/N

#Novoazovsk 22:12
"Trying to shoot down UAV. Passed over the road towards the russian border. I wonder whose is it" https://twitter.com/sir_T_Lawrence/status/630819105180942337 …

22:41 #Donetsk @14720Maro They shoot from the same position in Kalinovka, not at NW [as before], but at SW

22:40 #Donetsk Kalinovka @ukrainaw777 Again shooting at UAV

22:41 #Donetsk @14720Maro Also in Mira-Gvardeyka flashes can be seen

22:20 #Mariupol Vostochny @PVB40 [fb] We can hear volleys [from #Shyrokyne direction?]

22:44 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy And again volleys https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/630816746233053184 …

22:45 #Donetsk @14720Maro I can see blue flashes not far in the northeast (looking from Donetsk center), they shell from Gvardeyka

22:41 #Makiivka Gvardeyka @666_mancer [fb]Again shooting at UAV...

Muzhenko: at 21:50 RUS started intense shelling w/152mm cannons at 72th brig positions https://www.facebook.com/svyatoslav.tsegolko/posts/755158947926970 …

22:47 #Donetsk @14720Maro I can see UAV again, [they'll start shooting it down]

22:51 #Stakhanov @elonline40 Loud artillery rumble. Feels like there were incoming not far away

22:46 #Staromykhaylivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] A woman lost her hand at Ivan_Marchenko St [=civilian, result of incoming]

22:50 #Stakhanov @DNSRRSTRTS Now something heavy started [to shell]
22:52 Like from technical carbon plant factory

Dokuchajevsk 22:51
"3 pieces, probably BMP's, thorugh town" https://twitter.com/Pink_Shark___/status/630828841242595328 …

23:03 #Dnipropevrovsk @gdalinka Information from mil hospital:8 ambulances for today...

#Report
At 21.50,pro-Russian militants supported by the Russian military started intensive 152mm arty shelling of the 72nd Brig"
-S.Tsegolko

23:04 #Stakhanov @yagoda_arbuz Artillery?

[OUTLAW 09]

ex-RU Army Colonel warned us: When army dissent on the ground stalls advances in Donbas, like Grozny, High Command will attack from the air.

We were discussing with him the increase in aerial ID markings on Russian army tanks, IFVs & trucks in occupied Donbas. https://twitter.com/GorseFires/status/630832588127662080 …

His point is: Russian Air Force and Army aviation close support and helicopter gun platforms may be used to "turn the tide" and take ground.

[OUTLAW 09]

After a rather lame DoS statement today concerning the massive Russian shellings and ground attacks---STILL nothing from Obama, Hollande and or Merkel.

The Russian offensive is underway and all we get from the US DoS is a lame excuse???????

Spokesperson of #Poroshenko:
One hour ago, heavy shelling of #Ukraine positions has started.

[OUTLAW 09]

Remember Putin demanded from the West that they pressure the Ukraine for a "sign of good faith" meaning an unilateral appeasement pull back.

This is what appeasement" gets the US----

OSCE ✔ @OSCE
Renewed violence in #Shyrokyne witnessed by @OSCE_SMM: latest daily report http://www.osce.org/node/176456

21:48 @sex_Dombas [Heavy rumble has been heard from #Shyrokyne direction]

Heavy explosions can be heard in #Shyrokyne direction

22:28
Glow can be seen from #Shyrokyno https://twitter.com/sex_Dombas/status/630823061927948288 …

AND this is the "sign of good faith"???

Petrimazepa blames Shyrokine fighting squarely on Azov battalion http://petrimazepa.com/anatomy-of-shyrokyno.html …

Another Russian lie as Azov was pulled off the line last week and replaced by Marines

[OUTLAW 09]

Heavy shellings on the entire front line are in progress as well as initial ground attacks--reports are to many and to fast--will pick them up in the morning.

Total attack numbers will be probably in the 130-150 range for tomorrow.

This war got hot in a hurry but the UAF are holding their own quite well in spite of the heavy artillery and rocket strikes.

Cannot tell if just Russian recon in force attacks or actual break through attempts.

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that the Russian army and her mercenaries were in a state of shock in their failed attack---as it was a major attempt to take a town across the Minsk 2 demarcation line in order to set the stage for surrounding the city port Mariupol. Everything was in place to celebrate a major victory--meaning they had a large number of "journalists and TV teams standing by. All they got out of it was "blaming the UA for the attack".

ATO presser reported 95 russian attacks yday in Donbas. #Bohdanivka was hit by russian GRADs several times at night. https://www.facebook.com/ato.news/posts/1046810348663104 …

Only 95 sounds like a reduction but at the height of Minsk 2 in February 2015 they were averaging 50-60 per day at the height of the Debaltseve fighting with a major assist from the Russian Spetsnaz the attack levels were at around 70-80 per day.

07:55 #Kirovsk @thisnameerror But there were outgoing (likely 152mm) for they went tow/#Krymske.
07:56 [2 series by 5 salvos]

07:52 #Kirovsk @thisnameerror There were outgoing fr/Lenin's plant, no incoming were there in those direction

01:57 #Stakhanov @elonline40 From #Bryanka a hardware column entered, by sound definitely not tanks, maybe Urals or MT-LB, slowly, 11 items

07:43 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca At 3am there was incoming Grad, arty and tanks pounded. [This Grad? https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/630963906043867136 …]

07:34 #Luhansk @100007182042214 #Stanytsia_Luhanska raion, #Schastya night passed relatively quiet. Short skirmishes in #Mykolayivka area

02:25 #Stakhanov @elonline40 Local report of [warning siren sound heard]

02:42 #Donetsk @ahab7822 Again volleys started
02:44 South
02:46 Roar heard from SE, like hardware on move

02:38 #Starobesheve @hubeshevo Distant Grad, probably #Starohnativka

02:27 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 3 trucks entered the town

Stakhanov 2:20
Howitzers working very loud. Flashes by #Almazna. It wasn't this loud since a long time. https://twitter.com/elonline40/status/630958359743700992 …

Staroignatievka
Around 3AM there was GRADs, artillery, tanks fire https://twitter.com/Staroignatievca/status/630962747426107392 …

02:21 #Stakhanov @Villa_riba Arty works nearby. Probably fr/#Maksymivka
02:27 @pasmden Flashes in #Almazna
@Villa_riba Maybe fr/2 positions

02:12 #Dokuchaevsk @goky4_ykpauHa Crickets [=quiet]

02:15 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 Quiet [in #Starohnativka direction]

01:51 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 Some hardware on move "up there"

Stepne: very loud, landings are so nearby https://twitter.com/Darren_Aro/status/630866266002223105 …

Dokuchaevsk sees flashes and explosions from Starohnativka direction... https://twitter.com/shuttle1907/status/630864846217695232 …

01:17 #Volnovakha @Volnovakha Explosions are heard more and more frequently

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that the Russian army and her mercenaries were in a state of shock in their failed attack---as it was a major attempt to take a town across the Minsk 2 demarcation line in order to set the stage for surrounding the city port Mariupol. Everything was in place to celebrate a major victory--meaning they had a large number of "journalists and TV teams standing by. All they got out of it was "blaming the UA for the attack".

ATO presser reported 95 russian attacks yday in Donbas. #Bohdanivka was hit by russian GRADs several times at night. https://www.facebook.com/ato.news/posts/1046810348663104 …

Only 95 sounds like a reduction but at the height of Minsk 2 in February 2015 they were averaging 50-60 per day at the height of the Debaltseve fighting with a major assist from the Russian Spetsnaz the attack levels were at around 70-80 per day.

07:55 #Kirovsk @thisnameerror But there were outgoing (likely 152mm) for they went tow/#Krymske.
07:56 [2 series by 5 salvos]

07:52 #Kirovsk @thisnameerror There were outgoing fr/Lenin's plant, no incoming were there in those direction

01:57 #Stakhanov @elonline40 From #Bryanka a hardware column entered, by sound definitely not tanks, maybe Urals or MT-LB, slowly, 11 items

07:43 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca At 3am there was incoming Grad, arty and tanks pounded. [This Grad? https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/630963906043867136 …]

07:34 #Luhansk @100007182042214 #Stanytsia_Luhanska raion, #Schastya night passed relatively quiet. Short skirmishes in #Mykolayivka area

02:25 #Stakhanov @elonline40 Local report of [warning siren sound heard]

02:42 #Donetsk @ahab7822 Again volleys started
02:44 South
02:46 Roar heard from SE, like hardware on move

02:38 #Starobesheve @hubeshevo Distant Grad, probably #Starohnativka

02:27 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 3 trucks entered the town

Stakhanov 2:20
Howitzers working very loud. Flashes by #Almazna. It wasn't this loud since a long time. https://twitter.com/elonline40/status/630958359743700992 …

Staroignatievka
Around 3AM there was GRADs, artillery, tanks fire https://twitter.com/Staroignatievca/status/630962747426107392 …

02:21 #Stakhanov @Villa_riba Arty works nearby. Probably fr/#Maksymivka
02:27 @pasmden Flashes in #Almazna
@Villa_riba Maybe fr/2 positions

02:12 #Dokuchaevsk @goky4_ykpauHa Crickets [=quiet]

02:15 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 Quiet [in #Starohnativka direction]

01:51 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 Some hardware on move "up there"

Stepne: very loud, landings are so nearby https://twitter.com/Darren_Aro/status/630866266002223105 …

Dokuchaevsk sees flashes and explosions from Starohnativka direction... https://twitter.com/shuttle1907/status/630864846217695232 …

01:17 #Volnovakha @Volnovakha Explosions are heard more and more frequently

It appears as if the Russians ie Putin are attempting to achieve some form of battlefield pressure in order to toss out Minsk 2 and go to a Minsk 3--it is interesting that the Russians crowed that Minsk 2 froze the Ukrainian government and it was a bad deal for them BUT in the end it was Russia that took the political hit with Minsk 2 meaning they had agreed to a number of points they normally would never agree to and now the Ukrainians are holding them to Minsk 2 and refuse anything similar to a Minsk 3.

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that the Russian army and her mercenaries were in a state of shock in their failed attack---as it was a major attempt to take a town across the Minsk 2 demarcation line in order to set the stage for surrounding the city port Mariupol. Everything was in place to celebrate a major victory--meaning they had a large number of "journalists and TV teams standing by. All they got out of it was "blaming the UA for the attack".

ATO presser reported 95 russian attacks yday in Donbas. #Bohdanivka was hit by russian GRADs several times at night. https://www.facebook.com/ato.news/posts/1046810348663104 …

Only 95 sounds like a reduction but at the height of Minsk 2 in February 2015 they were averaging 50-60 per day at the height of the Debaltseve fighting with a major assist from the Russian Spetsnaz the attack levels were at around 70-80 per day.

07:55 #Kirovsk @thisnameerror But there were outgoing (likely 152mm) for they went tow/#Krymske.
07:56 [2 series by 5 salvos]

07:52 #Kirovsk @thisnameerror There were outgoing fr/Lenin's plant, no incoming were there in those direction

01:57 #Stakhanov @elonline40 From #Bryanka a hardware column entered, by sound definitely not tanks, maybe Urals or MT-LB, slowly, 11 items

07:43 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca At 3am there was incoming Grad, arty and tanks pounded. [This Grad? https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/630963906043867136 …]

07:34 #Luhansk @100007182042214 #Stanytsia_Luhanska raion, #Schastya night passed relatively quiet. Short skirmishes in #Mykolayivka area

02:25 #Stakhanov @elonline40 Local report of [warning siren sound heard]

02:42 #Donetsk @ahab7822 Again volleys started
02:44 South
02:46 Roar heard from SE, like hardware on move

02:38 #Starobesheve @hubeshevo Distant Grad, probably #Starohnativka

02:27 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 3 trucks entered the town

Stakhanov 2:20
Howitzers working very loud. Flashes by #Almazna. It wasn't this loud since a long time. https://twitter.com/elonline40/status/630958359743700992 …

Staroignatievka
Around 3AM there was GRADs, artillery, tanks fire https://twitter.com/Staroignatievca/status/630962747426107392 …

02:21 #Stakhanov @Villa_riba Arty works nearby. Probably fr/#Maksymivka
02:27 @pasmden Flashes in #Almazna
@Villa_riba Maybe fr/2 positions

02:12 #Dokuchaevsk @goky4_ykpauHa Crickets [=quiet]

02:15 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 Quiet [in #Starohnativka direction]

01:51 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 Some hardware on move "up there"

Stepne: very loud, landings are so nearby https://twitter.com/Darren_Aro/status/630866266002223105 …

Dokuchaevsk sees flashes and explosions from Starohnativka direction... https://twitter.com/shuttle1907/status/630864846217695232 …

01:17 #Volnovakha @Volnovakha Explosions are heard more and more frequently

Has anyone noticed a total lack of political will on the part of Obama, Hollande and Merkel after these massive violations of Minsk 2 --the agreement they all supported---to call a spade a spade.

Outside of a rather lame comment by the US DoS --absolutely nothing but total silence.

[OUTLAW 09]

Has anyone noticed a total lack of political will on the part of Obama, Hollande and Merkel after these massive violations of Minsk 2 --the agreement they all supported---to call a spade a spade.

Outside of a rather lame comment by the US DoS --absolutely nothing but total silence.

This was the DoS statement concerning the massive Russian shellings and large ground attack.

It was really lame-----

.@StateDept Spokesperson Kirby on 10 August: we are deeply troubled by a sharp rise in attacks in eastern #Ukraine

On 10 August, the Ukrainians reported 127 different separatist attacks - most since the Debaltseve offensive in Feb 2015 - @statedeptspox

Ukrainian blogger's response to the somewhat lame statement---

"Deeply troubled". Damn. I've lost a few bucks. My bet was on "seriously concerned". https://twitter.com/UnitedforUkr/status/631018520164306944 …

Seriously--is this the best the DoS can come up with??--really does confirm Obama has thrown the Ukraine under the bus as there is no other reason for such a lame excuse especially in light of actual public statements made by Obama since 2014.

So now we can assume that all Obama utters is really public and private support for Putin and the Russian position on hybrid warfare.

[OUTLAW 09]

Recent UAV images of Russian camp near #Debaltseve. https://twitter.com/BuTaJIu4eK/status/631004594554994688 …

Recent UAV iamges of Russian shooting range near Lugansk. https://twitter.com/BuTaJIu4eK/status/631004573616992256 …

#News
Russians resumed attacks in sector M this morning,hitting Starohnativka w/ 152 mm arty & Bohdanivka w/ BM-21. pic.twitter.com/okQyqXnCbw

Map. Situation in eastern #Ukraine, August 11, 00:00 EET pic.twitter.com/QOhNkmYyGy

Fedychev: Between 8,000-13,000 Russian regular troops + 32,000-34,000 DPR/LPR irregulars in occupied eastern Ukraine http://www.unian.info/war/1110158-defense-ministry-up-to-43000-militants-and-russian-soldiers-in-donbas.html …

Ukrainian troops near Schastya report fresh enemy attacks http://uatoday.tv/politics/ukrainian-troops-near-schastya-report-fresh-enemy-attacks-472766.html … #luhansk pic.twitter.com/DA2re3ZMNd

OSCE SMM registers numerous evidence of recent artillery shelling of Ukrainian checkpoints
http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/283147.html …

At night positions near Donetsk AP came under fire from AGS, Mortar. 2 men suffered light injuries - Carpathian Sich
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1622392381310831&substory_index=0&id=1536808696535867&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1622392381310831&__tn__=%2As …

[OUTLAW 09]

The Kulish family.Executed by militants 1year ago 4 taking food to Luhansk airport defenders
pic.twitter.com/g12rF2SPGI

#Russian paratrooper veteran captured in #Ukraine near #Lugansk. See details at http://lugansk-news.com/russian-paratrooper-veteran-captured-in-ukraine-near-lugansk/ … pic.twitter.com/4XLrripVtP

Ukraine says it may use artillery in response to militants' massive attacks
http://www.unian.info/war/1110193-ukraine-says-it-may-use-artillery-in-response-to-militants-massive-attacks.html … pic.twitter.com/EXDWJpKjEW

Phantom war?-we are being attacked all along the frontline but world keeps saying we should hold ceasefire pic.twitter.com/Bp8mm0GeyR

Drone footage by ARMY SOS reveals 2 Russian bases in #Ukraine, 12 & 18 km from UA positions
https://www.facebook.com/euromaidanpress.en/posts/430505573799917 … pic.twitter.com/dPVhAGQyin

[OUTLAW 09]

ATO spox: UA border guards detained a militant near Berezove village, where two weeks ago Russian Major was caught.

ATO spox: 9 flights of enemy UAVs were recorded within the military operation area

ATO spokesperson: Hostile powerful artillery and mortar shelling of UA positions near Pavlopil water storage basin took place yesterday

ATO spox: Starohnativka was a key point of defense in the Mariupol sector

ATO spox: On the western outskirts of Donetsk the situation remains unchangeably complicated. Pisky village is the epicenter of clashes

ATO spox: Enemy attacked against UA defended posts near Verhniotoretske and Kamianka using heavy armament located in residential areas

ATO spox: Military situation near Horlivka stabilized: hostile actions occurred only near Mayorsk and Novhorodske.

ATO spokesperson: Donetsk sector: Breathing spell remained yesterday near Svitlodarsk: rare use of small arms from Rozsadky to Luhanske.

ATO spox: Military situation near Horlivka stabilized: hostile actions occurred only near Mayorsk and Novhorodske.

ATO spokesperson: Donetsk sector: Breathing spell remained yesterday near Svitlodarsk: rare use of small arms from Rozsadky to Luhanske.

ATO spox: Shelling of UA positions near Zolote town took place at night, and short shootout near Shchastya town occurred in the morning.

ATO spokesperson: Near centers of UA resistance, confrontation continues: 2-hour-long shelling near Stanytsia Luhanska.

Col.Motuzyanyk: Luhansk sector: military situation somewhat stabilized: from Stary Aidar to Orihove – no facts of violation of ceasefire.

Detained Colonel of SBU giving secret information to militants of DNR pic.twitter.com/E6LYNrRIbZ http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/11-august-detained-colonel-of-sbu-giving-secret-information …

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.rferl.mobi/a/27181633.html

Why Putin Is Losing


Are little green men about to appear on the North Pole?

Russia's claim last week, using an extremely creative interpretation of international law, to exclusive economic rights to nearly half a million square miles of the Arctic Sea, was certainly a head scratcher.

Sure the territory is valuable due to its untapped reserves of fossil fuels and for the shipping lanes that will open as Arctic ice melts. But the claim is likely to ultimately be rejected by the United Nations.

But sparking a manufactured international crisis over the Arctic, one that pits Russia against the United States and Canada, might be just what the doctor ordered.

Why? Because Vladimir Putin badly needs to make a new action movie to distract his people.

The Kremlin leader is boxed in on so many fronts right now that he badly needs to change the subject.

The Donbas Quagmire

For starters, Putin has no good options in eastern Ukraine.

The old fantasies about seizing so-called Novorossia, the strip of land from Kharkiv to Odesa, and establishing a land bridge to Crimea are dead. And the more modest goal expanding the territory Russia and its proxies currently hold, perhaps with a push to Mariupol, is probably out of the question too.

Either campaign would be costly in terms of blood and treasure, it would certainly spark a fresh round of sanctions, and it would involve occupying hostile territory. The recent uptick in fighting this week reeks more of desperation than of a serious move to acquire more territory.

Russia could, of course, just annex the territories controlled by Moscow's proxies; or it could freeze the conflict and establish a Russian protectorate there.

But in this case, Moscow would be shouldered with the burden of financing an economically unproductive enclave whose infrastructure has been destroyed. And do so while Russia's economy is sinking into an ever deeper recession.

Moreover, Russia would lose any leverage over the remainder of Ukraine, which would quickly move West. Sanctions would be continued, and possibly escalated.

The Kremlin's preferred option, given these limitations, is to force the territories back into Ukraine on Moscow's terms -- with broad autonomy and the ability to veto decisions by the Kyiv government. But Ukraine and the West appear unwilling to let this happen.

Putin has boxed himself into a corner in Ukraine, and it is difficult to see how he is going to get out of the quagmire he has created.

Trapped At Home

It's also difficult to imagine how Putin is going to extract himself from the quagmire he has created at home.

The Kremlin leader is caught in a trap of his own making, between economic and political imperatives.

With the economy sinking deeper into recession, inflation spiking, oil prices dipping below $50 a barrel, and the ruble approaching the lows it reached earlier in the year, Putin badly needs sanctions eased to give the economy breathing space.

But for that to happen, he would need to climb down in Ukraine, a move that would undermine the whole rationale for his rule and infuriate the nationalist supporters who make up his base.

"Putin's return to the presidential seat heralded a rather sudden pivot towards a deep-seated domestic nationalism," Moscow-based journalist Anna Arutunyan wrote recently.

"Yet nationalism as a state policy and identity, initially implemented to shore up Kremlin power, now has the Kremlin itself trapped and threatened by forces that it initially nurtured, but can no longer fully control."

A recent report in Novaya Gazeta, for example, claimed that the war in eastern Ukraine risks "metastasizing" as volunteer fighters have been returning to Russia with large quantities of heavy weapons.

During his first two terms in the Kremlin, Putin's team -- and most notably his chief political operator, Vladislav Surkov -- very skilfully co-opted and manipulated both liberal and nationalist groups.

That strategy caught up with him in 2011-12, when liberal disappointment resulted in the largest anti-Kremlin street protests Russia has seen since the breakup of the Soviet Union -- leaving him no place else to turn but toward the nationalists.

"Given the higher prevalence of nationalist views -- especially among members of the security services -- a sense of betrayal could have much bigger consequences for the Kremlin than simply mass protests," Arutunyan wrote.

Losing The Energy Card

And on top of it all, Putin has an energy problem. It's not just that oil prices are low, and will remain so for sometime -- although that certainly is a problem.

But the real essence of Putin's energy woes are structural, not cyclical. The global energy game is changing -- and it is not changing in Moscow's favor.

Shale, liquified natural gas (LNG), and renewables -- three areas where Russia is extremely weak -- are ascendant and are dramatically altering the market.

The potential for ending sanctions on Iran puts a powerful new player and competitor -- the world's third largest natural gas producer -- in the game.

And the Ukraine conflict and Moscow's aggressive posture toward the West have led Europe -- Russia's most important market -- to change its energy policies and seek alternative suppliers.

Moreover, rather than looking the other way as Gazprom repeatedly flouted the European Union's antitrust laws, now Brussels is now cracking down.

If one looks at Gazprom as a barometer of Russia's fortunes, one statistic says it all: in 2008, the company had a market value of $360 billion; today it is worth just $55 billion.

Energy has always been Putin's trump card. He has been able to use it to bully former neighbors into submission and bribe and blackmail the Europeans.

Now it's become a trump card he is losing fast.

Propaganda Can't Buy You Love

But at least Putin is still winning the battle for hearts and minds, right?

For more than a year, we've been hearing about how Russia's slick propaganda machine is crushing the West in the information war.

Moscow has no doubt been very effective mounting guerrilla marketing campaigns aim at sowing doubt and confusion in the West. And they have been skilfull in manipulating and surreptitiously influencing media narratives on issues like the Ukraine war and the downing of flight MH17.

But guess what? After spending nearly half a billion dollars to get its message out to the world, after unleashing armies of trolls to disrupt Western news sites, after launching the most widespread disinformation campaign since the end of the Cold War, after all this, Russia's global image is in the toilet.

According to the Pew Research Center's new report, only three countries in the world have a net positive opinion of Russia: China, Vietnam, and Ghana. Worldwide, a median of just 30 percent view Russia favorably.

Writing in Bloomberg View, political commentator Leonid Bershidsky quipped that "the money might be spent just as wisely buying more $600,000 watches for Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov."

And the numbers are dismal across the board. In Europe, just 26 percent view Russia favorably, in the Middle East, only 25 percent do. In Latin America, it's only 29 percent. In the regions most favorably inclined toward Russia -- Asia and Africa -- it's just 37 percent.

And if Russia's global image is bad, Putin's is dismal. Worldwide, just 24 percent trust him. In Europe, just 15 percent do.

To be sure, Russia's propaganda machine is working wonders at home, where Putin's popularity is stratospheric despite a flailing economy. But one has to wonder how much long that that can last.

[OUTLAW 09]

And so it begins--the long march by Putin to the Hague for war crimes against civilians----.

Both Dutch MH17 investigations announce that they are investigating "possible Buk missile parts."
https://www.om.nl/vaste-onderdelen/zoeken/@90384/investigation-into/ …

Another bad day for the #MH17 Truthers and their SU-25 fantasies

DSB and JIT announce they are examining possible Buk missile parts found in the #MH17 wreckage https://www.om.nl/vaste-onderdelen/zoeken/@90384/investigation-into/ …

Of course Russia will still blame the Ukrainians----

[OUTLAW 09]

Militants fired 39 mortar shells on Mariinka checkpoint. Also a militant was detained at Berezove CP - Border guards
http://dpsu.gov.ua/ua/about/news/news_8173.htm …

German resources,bloggers,personalities that collaborate w/Russian propaganda agency Anna-News.http://www.szona.org/putinskaya-agentura-na-zapade/ … pic.twitter.com/SONIy4jGf1
pic.twitter.com/zG1559KXSI

Minsk 2 has totally failed and has failed since Feb 2015 as the international community led by the US simply did not back up this many stated comments with real actions.

Minsk II failed in February as Putin ordered his forces to take Debaltseve after ceasefire with no intl' consequences

No surprise #Sarkozy supports #Putin's war on #Ukraine; Sarkozy also negotiated "ceasefire" that gave #Russia control of parts of #Georgia.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian threatened first strike use of tactical nuclear weapons and the constant verbalized nuclear threats against the US are part and parcel of the Russian non linear warfare.

I hate to say it but this President and his NSC have more in common with Putin than against Putin--both drive for their legacies

Silence over the massive Russian shellings and constant ground attacks on the Ukrainian Army and massive US unilateral appeasement pressure on the Ukraine to "comply" with Putin's demands for a "sign of good faith" that has cost the UA wounded and killed and the Russians have not stopped attacking through their own proposed DMZ.

NOW this----something I have pointed out on a number of occasions in the first Ukrainian war thread since the beginning of the Russian Crimea adventure.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/white-house-blocks-pentagon-report-on-russian-treaty-breach/

White House Blocks Pentagon Report on Russian Treaty Breach

House chairman urges fast U.S. response to Moscow’s INF missile breach

BY: Bill Gertz
August 11, 2015 5:00 am


The White House is blocking the release of a Pentagon risk assessment of Russia’s violation of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, according to a senior House leader.

Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, disclosed the existence of the Pentagon assessment last month and said the report is needed for Congress’ efforts to address the problem in legislation.

“As we look to the near-term future, we need to consider how we’re going to respond to Russia’s INF violations,” Rogers said in an Air Force Association breakfast July 8. “Congress will not continue to tolerate the administration dithering on this issue.”

Rogers said the assessment was conducted by chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, and noted that it outlines potential responses to the treaty breach.

However, Rogers noted that the assessment “seems to stay tied up in the White House.”

At the Pentagon, spokesman Capt. Greg Hicks said: “The Chairman’s assessment of Russia’s Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty violation is classified and not releasable to the public.”

Hicks said, however, that steps are being taking “across the government to address Russia’s violation of the treaty, including preserving military response options—but no decision has been made with regard to the type of response, if any.”

At the White House, a senior administration official said: “The United States continues to consider diplomatic, economic, and military responses to Russia’s violation of the INF Treaty.”

Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said in Omaha recently that a range of options is being studied.

“Clearly as a nation, we have options and we explore those options,” Haney told the Washington Free Beacon, declining to provide details.

The four-star admiral who is in charge of U.S. nuclear and other strategic forces said he hopes the INF breach can be solved diplomatically.

“But clearly there are other options involving economics and as well as militarily that are considered,” he said July 29.

Haney said Russia has “walked away” from international norms and treaties and “that is very problematic.”

“While at the same time I get to see and witness [Russia’s] very forthright execution that is occurring with the New START treaty that they are adhering to completely, this piece on the INF treaty is very problematic and we have to continue to encourage Russia to get back into compliance with the treaty,” Haney said.

The treaty violation was first disclosed by the State Department last year and details remain shrouded in secrecy.

The Pentagon assessment likely reflects the sentiments of NATO commander Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, who has stated that the INF violations “can’t go unanswered.”

“We need to first and foremost signal that we cannot accept this change and that, if this change is continued, that we will have to change the cost calculus for Russia in order to help them to find their way to a less bellicose position,” Breedlove said in April 2014.

Critics in Congress have charged that the administration covered up the violation for several years, including during debate on the 2010 New START arms treaty with Russia.

A department arms compliance report stated that the breach involved a new missile that violates the limits set by the treaty. The treaty bans holding, producing, or flight-testing ground-launched ballistic or cruise missiles with ranges of between 310 miles and 3,418 miles.

Rogers was asked what steps Congress should take if the administration continues to ignore the treaty violation.

“Well, the fact is we haven’t been doing enough so far,” he said. “It was only about a year and a half ago that the administration finally acknowledged that Russia has been violating the INF Treaty. But we know they’ve been violating it for several years.”

Rogers said President Obama has stated “in his normal dilatory fashion,” that he has directed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs to consider options for U.S. response.

“Those were given to him last December,” Rogers said. “The president is still pondering what the chairman of the Joint Chiefs told him we should do.”

The current defense authorization bill for Fiscal Year 2016 contains a requirement for the Pentagon to include anti-cruise missile defenses at bases built for that purpose in Poland and Romania, in response to the Russian violation.

The current bill would authorize $220.2 million for the missile defense base in Poland.

“What we are trying to do this year is put money in the budget for DoD to come up with some consequences that the Congress can implement to force some pain as a result of those actions,” Rogers said of the INF violation.

A House Armed Services Committee spokesman said the counter-INF violation provisions, including a requirement to protect the Polish and Romanian bases from Russian cruise missile attacks, is currently being debated in the House-Senate conference on the final bill.

The House report on the bill states that the defenses are needed to “provide defense against Russian aircraft and cruise missile attacks.”

“Russia has repeatedly threatened to attack these sites and the U.S. personnel who man them, and the Committee believes we have a moral obligation to defend our personnel against any threat,” the report said.

Additionally, the bill would direct the Pentagon to undertake research and development for responses to the INF violation.

The current legislation calls on the president to begin developing military capabilities that include unspecified “counterforce” weapons that would “prevent intermediate-range ground-launched ballistic missile and cruise missile attacks.

Also, the bill calls for building “countervailing strike capabilities” that also were not specified.

The bill states that the secretary of defense may use funds for research, development, testing, and evaluating responses recommended by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs that could be deployed in two years.

The legislation also would require a report to Congress within six months on the Pentagon’s plans for deploying new forces to counter the Russian INF violation.

Michaela Dodge, a military analyst with the Heritage Foundation, stated in a recent research report that the violation appears to involve Moscow’s development and testing of the R-500 cruise missile.

Moscow’s refusal to return to compliance with the accord indicates it should be abandoned.

“Russia’s aggressive and illegal behavior and the inability of the United States to bring Russia back into compliance with the INF Treaty indicate that the treaty has outlived its utility and is no longer in the U.S. interest,” she said.

Dodge said the president, State Department, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have raised the INF violations with Russian counterparts “to no avail.”

“The administration did not properly communicate deadlines to Russia for coming back into compliance with the treaty, and has failed to hold Russia accountable. As a consequence, Russian violations have gone unreported and unpunished for years,” Dodge said.

[OUTLAW 09]

This Ukrainian defense zone was the zone that Putin demanded the US, France and Germany apply pressure on the Ukrainians to "show a sign of good faith" and pull out of a strategic area protecting the city and then to establish a 30km DMZ with heavy weapons being pulled back--which the Ukrainians complied with and the Russians only pulled back 1.4kms and that move was not verified by the OSCE and the UA moved back 15kms.

So the US basically sold out the Ukrainians in the name of "assisting Putin in his demands"--ie a unilateral appeasement move with no reciprocal demand on Russia.

Since the UA pulled back they have been under a stream of attacks and the Ukrainian Marines have taken wounded and killed---so much for a "sign of good faith".

NOW this today--so much for the US appeasement approach--it did not work.

http://www.unian.info/war/1110309-mariupols-defense-staff-its-getting-worse.html

Mariupol's Defense Staff: It's getting worse

11.08.2015 | 15:40


The situation is getting worse near the Ukrainian-held city of Mariupol, Mariupol's Defense Staff wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

"In the last day, the situation has escalated in the Mariupol "M" sector," the report says.

"On August 10, the militants attacked Ukrainian troops 21 times. They fired 152mm artillery systems nine times, 120mm mortars eight times. Grad multiple rocket launchers and small arms, including heavy machine guns, were used twice each," the defense staff said.

The Russian proxies fired on the Ukrainian armed forces in the villages of Mykolaivka, Novohryhorivka, Novotroitske, Chermalyk, Bohdanivka, Starohnativka, Hranitne, and Shyrokyne.

In addition, a skirmish between the Ukrainian troops and the terrorists took place near the village of Starohnativka in the last 24 hours, the report says.

In the last day, one Ukrainian soldier was killed, and another nine were wounded in military clashes in this sector.

After midnight on August 11, the militants have attacked Ukrainian army positions five times already. They fired Grad rockets near the village of Bohdanivka four times. The village of Starohnativka came under fire from 152mm self-propelled artillery systems once.

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.politico.eu/article/minsk-fails-moscow-pay-ukraine-crisis-putin-ceasefire/

If Minsk fails, let Moscow pay

Declare Russia the occupying power and make them financially accountable for rebel enclave.

By Alan Riley and Adrian Karatnycky
8/10/15, 6:57 PM CET
Updated 8/10/15, 6:59 PM CET


The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany held a conference call last month to discuss the peace process in Eastern Ukraine. During their two-hour conversation, Presidents Putin, Poroshenko, Hollande and Chancellor Merkel agreed that all the terms of the Minsk-2 ceasefire agreement must be implemented by the end of 2015.

Notwithstanding the optimistic tone of the leaders’ declaration, a starkly different reality has emerged in Eastern Ukraine.

On the day the four spoke, a barrage of missiles was launched into a residential area of Donetsk, a city controlled by Russian proxies. Ukrainian officials quickly reported that the attack was a maskirovka (a military subterfuge) launched by the separatists. A day later, in “retaliation,” Russia-backed fighters attacked four municipalities in Ukraine-controlled territory, killing four civilians and threatened to destroy the Adviivka coal coking plant, Europe’s largest and crucial to Ukraine’s steel industry.

In the weeks that followed, Ukrainian authorities reported a steep jump in ceasefire violations. Indeed, in the first five days of August, the number of Ukrainian military killed and wounded stood at over 50, the largest number of casualties since the Accords were signed less than half a year ago.

While the Minsk ceasefire is violated repeatedly with deadly effect (200 dead on the Ukrainian side since February), primarily by the Russia-backed forces, there are many other reasons why the Minsk peace process is in trouble.

With some 85,000 Russian soldiers massing near Ukraine’s Eastern border, there is no sign President Putin seeks demilitarization.

Halfway through the 10-month-long timetable for a settlement, most of the confidence-building measures have come from the Ukrainian side. Ukraine has removed its heavy artillery from the negotiated zone of separation between the combatants, while Russia’s proxies have not. Ukraine has also drafted constitutional amendments that allow separatist enclaves to elect their own leaders, and is working on decentralization legislation to grant their municipalities substantial budgetary authority and control over local police. Additionally, Ukraine pays pensions to most retirees in the breakaway regions.

There have been no reciprocal steps from the separatists. Instead of the drawdown of weapons, as called for by Minsk, NATO and Western intelligence services report a steady buildup over the last few months, which has left the enclaves with some 800 tanks (more than Italy, France, and Germany combined), an estimated 1,200 armored personnel carriers, hundreds of howitzers, and scores of Grad missile systems. There is also no progress on the return to Ukraine of hundreds of miles of territory along its Eastern border with Russia.

With Russian military and Russian proxies comprising at least a third of the forces in Eastern Ukraine, and with some 85,000 Russian soldiers massing near Ukraine’s Eastern border, there is no sign President Putin seeks demilitarization. Instead, he aims to block Ukraine’s path toward European and Euro-Atlantic integration by undermining Ukraine’s reformist leadership through a war of military and economic attrition, all-the-while working to weaken sanctions against Russia through lip service for the peace process.

With the likelihood that the Minsk process will fail, Ukraine and the West should be thinking of alternative approaches. Such approaches must have several aims: a) to engage international institutions; b) to defend the rights of the Ukrainian citizens in the rebel regions; and c) to exert economic pressure on Russia.

It is time for Ukraine to consider declaring Russia as the occupying power.

One way of achieving these aims is to declare Russia the occupying power in the Donetsk and Luhansk enclaves. Mounting evidence, including captured and killed Russian soldiers, geolocation on posts by Russian fighters on social networks, and the presence of massive numbers of weapons of exclusive Russian production, makes it clear that Russia is engaged in an occupation. The Russian state armed, engineered and continues to sustain the separatists. When its proxies were close to collapsing in August 2014, the Russian army stepped in directly to repel the Ukrainian army.

It is time for Ukraine to consider declaring Russia as the occupying power, making them financially accountable for the occupation. Under Article 69 of the fourth protocol of the Geneva Convention an occupier is responsible for the needs of the population. Currently it is the Ukrainian government that is paying the pensions, supplying some of the energy consumed on occupied territory. But these costs should be borne exclusively by Russia, whose broad legal liability for the costs of occupation stems from the respect for territorial integrity contained in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and from a range of provisions under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ukraine can start accounting for losses suffered to the state, companies, and people. Legal processes can be initiated before the European human rights court as well as in a range of other international fora. As the Yukos case indicates, international litigation may take years but can eventually deliver. However, in Ukraine’s case, accounting for the losses of occupation could potentially provide a quicker resolution. First, the Russian state will face reputational damage as international tribunals rule that Russia is indeed the occupier. Second, Russia will have to dodge seizure of foreign-held assets. Third, as the scale of Russia’s international liabilities becomes clear, those liabilities will affect the creditworthiness of the Russian state. These three factors can force the Russian state in the direction of settlement.

Every effort must be made to give the current peace process a chance. But with the odds heavily stacked against Minsk, it is essential for Ukraine and its friends in the West to explore alternative options. Even this first step, which would ratchet up the economic costs to Russia far beyond current sanctions, may bring Putin and Russia’s elite to their senses.

Adrian Karatnycky is Senior Fellow and co-director of the Ukraine in Europe initiative of the Atlantic Council of the U.S. Alan Riley is a U.K.-based solicitor and educator specializing in international law.

[OUTLAW 09]

ATO Staff Spokesman: Militants violated the ceasefire 434 times between August 7 and 10
http://uacrisis.org/30969-rechnik-shtabu-ato-38 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Bulk of militants in Bezimenne are citizens of RF. Also a large amount armored vehicles located there - Mariupol HQ
http://112.ua/ato/osnovnaya-massa-boevikov-v-bezymennom--eto-grazhdane-rf-v-poselke-mnogo-bronetehniki-oborona-mariupolya-251280.html …

Ukrainian Defense Ministry does not rule out new waves of mobilization "Depending on evolution of the situation there is more mobilizations"

Alchevsk
Around 2AM a ruscist convoy travelled through Sarmatska str. https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/631070716650233856 …

Russian state-controlled media is openly threatening Sweden with nuclear war. How nice. https://twitter.com/akihheikkinen/status/630843059559796736 … #säkpol=#turpo

11:38 #Khartsyzk @Irina16135931 "Early in the morning a long column drove towards #Donetsk, they say tanks, trucks w/cannons"

14:52 #Alchevsk @GirkinGirkin About 2hr ago a hardware column moved in Sarmatska St area

[OUTLAW 09]

And so it begins--the long march by Putin to the Hague for war crimes against civilians----.

Both Dutch MH17 investigations announce that they are investigating "possible Buk missile parts."
https://www.om.nl/vaste-onderdelen/zoeken/@90384/investigation-into/ …

Another bad day for the #MH17 Truthers and their SU-25 fantasies

DSB and JIT announce they are examining possible Buk missile parts found in the #MH17 wreckage https://www.om.nl/vaste-onderdelen/zoeken/@90384/investigation-into/ …

Of course Russia will still blame the Ukrainians----

Dutch prosecutors: fragments from #MH17 site may be from Russian-made BUK missile (via @AP + @reuters) http://bigstory.ap.org/article/787aedebf57f46c7bb05d6acd6350444/prosecutors-possible-buk-missile-parts-found-mh17-site …

[OUTLAW 09]

Another example of Russian Orwellian doublespeak--meaning when they say it is the Ukrainians they really mean themselves. Freud would have been proud.

Putin demands " a sign of good faith" and the West pressures the UA to pull back and THEN they complain about that now.

Seems the West never fully understands this style of "doublespeak".

http://tass.ru/en/world/813780

East Ukraine militia say Kiev is reinforcing troops on Mariupol direction


August 11, 15:37 UTC+3


Up to 1,000 Ukraine’s Armed Forces personnel have been massed in the Mariupol direction in the village of Andreyevka and Granitnoye

MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. Kiev is boosting forces and military equipment near the contact line in the Mariupol direction, in southern Ukraine, defense ministry spokesman of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Eduard Basurin said on Tuesday.

"Up to 1,000 Ukraine’s Armed Forces personnel have been massed in the Mariupol direction in the village of Andreyevka and Granitnoye. A tank battalion was spotted near the Zamozhnoye settlement," Basurin said.

A Marine brigade estimated at up to 2,000 people was seen near the villages of Lebedinskoye, Shirokino and Kominternovo.

The positions of Ukraine’s self-propelled artillery weapons have been discovered in four villages near the contact line, he added.


The UA never hid the fact of moving their Marines into the DMZ area--was open for all to see.

NOTICE he says nothing about their heavy shellings and rocket attacks.

[OUTLAW 09]

Long, fascinating interview of @Polk_Azov sniper @MikaelSkillt via @DailySignal http://dailysignal.com/2015/08/10/meet-the-former-neo-nazi-spokesman-who-now-fights-for-freedom-in-ukraine/ … by @nolanwpeterson

[OUTLAW 09]

Tracks show how Russian occupied Dolomite Plant in Horlivka-Holma is used as mobile-artillery fire base pic.twitter.com/bviAfv8hZq

Wow! This panoramic photo clearly shows how #MH17 wheather patterns matches w contrail photo.
http://mh17.webtalk.ru/viewtopic.php?id=259&p=30#p27109 … pic.twitter.com/StSubnznBW

Separatists using heavy artillery against Starognativka.
Is this the "August provocation" Muscovites are discussing? pic.twitter.com/HpiVIinVlr

[OUTLAW 09]

Here we go again in what the US DoS stated they are "deeply troubled"--maybe they should spend a night with the UAF and then the term "deeply troubled" might not be used......

Today, situation continues to deteriorate in Donbas. Militants are firing from heavy artillery - ATO press center

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1047087341968738&id=820651001279041&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1047087341968738&__tn__=%2As …

During the morning militants again bombarded positions near Starohnativka with 152-mm artillery - ATO press Center

16:22 [#Stepne] @Darren_Aro It has started to boom in #Dokuchaevsk direction [outgoing from D]

Donetsk
19:48 @Ukr_Che They pull it to #Telmanove
@relictDon [Tactical sign is 9 on photo] https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631145516051599360 …

19:58 #Donetsk @Don_Riccio By sound, they moved towards the center https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631148309411987460 …

19:45 #Donetsk @Don_Riccio Along Vuhlehirska St towards Petrovka circle a tank moved and something else tracked but smaller

Explodes the myth put forth by #Russia of NATO 'encirclement' & 'aggression' prior to invasion of peaceful Ukraine. https://twitter.com/NATOSource/status/631125896825556993 …

19:55 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca "Ceased. Projectiles in the kitchen gardens [curtilages] on the hill"

Intense shelling just started in Starohnativka again, smoke rising in the outskirts http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/11-august-intense-shelling-just-started-in-starohnativka …

19:42 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Village outskirts are covered with smoke

20:05 #Donetsk @idinmor Explosions in the airport direction

12:20 #Avdeevka @Donetskyi Till noon it has been relatively quiet here

19:30 #Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] They are starting provocate one another with assault rifle Bursts

Russian Spetsnaz attacks failed again to find a break through point in the UAF defenses.

In addition, around 1pm two sabotage and recon groups tried to break through UKR stronghold. Attack was repelled - ATO press Center

20:07 @Darren_Aro Recent days on #Slavne-#Berezove frontline can be described as tense. Days and nights. Every half hour something happens.

20:10 #Dokuchaevsk @Pink_Shark___ 2 RUS hardware items. Towards #Yasniy?
20:15 Tanks or BMP
@Shrik_E Sounds like BMP

Maybe the DoS and the US NSC should ask themsleves--is the above just typical normal every day examples of "deeply troubling"???

Could they have not found a better description for "war"???

[OUTLAW 09]

While controlling 2% of the Rus- occupied Ukr border, the @OSCE observed 1000s of military crossings!
July 29 report: pic.twitter.com/LPCErPEuhu

[OUTLAW 09]

Counter-UAV drills in #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/R0BU7cW2PX

It means this video is part of the attack on Lugansk Airport in 2014! https://twitter.com/AlexandruPlesca/status/631123478826123264 …

@DajeyPetros It seems video is unreleased dated 29.08.2014. Sat images showing BTR's:
http://lostarmour.info/armour/item.php?id=1031 …
http://lostarmour.info/armour/item.php?id=946 …

T-90a, somewhere on the road Lugansk, Krasnodon, 2014.
pic.twitter.com/oGAk7yBPti
via @ravelin_by @Glaz_CBYwnuka


@JulianRoepcke BTR formerly belonged 23 Motorized Brigade pic.twitter.com/GFbcMrBc

[OUTLAW 09]

Here we go again in what the US DoS stated they are "deeply troubled"--maybe they should spend a night with the UAF and then the term "deeply troubled" might not be used......

Today, situation continues to deteriorate in Donbas. Militants are firing from heavy artillery - ATO press center

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1047087341968738&id=820651001279041&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1047087341968738&__tn__=%2As …

During the morning militants again bombarded positions near Starohnativka with 152-mm artillery - ATO press Center

16:22 [#Stepne] @Darren_Aro It has started to boom in #Dokuchaevsk direction [outgoing from D]

Donetsk
19:48 @Ukr_Che They pull it to #Telmanove
@relictDon [Tactical sign is 9 on photo] https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631145516051599360 …

19:58 #Donetsk @Don_Riccio By sound, they moved towards the center https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631148309411987460 …

19:45 #Donetsk @Don_Riccio Along Vuhlehirska St towards Petrovka circle a tank moved and something else tracked but smaller

Explodes the myth put forth by #Russia of NATO 'encirclement' & 'aggression' prior to invasion of peaceful Ukraine. https://twitter.com/NATOSource/status/631125896825556993 …

19:55 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca "Ceased. Projectiles in the kitchen gardens [curtilages] on the hill"

Intense shelling just started in Starohnativka again, smoke rising in the outskirts http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/11-august-intense-shelling-just-started-in-starohnativka …

19:42 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Village outskirts are covered with smoke

20:05 #Donetsk @idinmor Explosions in the airport direction

12:20 #Avdeevka @Donetskyi Till noon it has been relatively quiet here

19:30 #Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] They are starting provocate one another with assault rifle Bursts

Russian Spetsnaz attacks failed again to find a break through point in the UAF defenses.

In addition, around 1pm two sabotage and recon groups tried to break through UKR stronghold. Attack was repelled - ATO press Center

20:07 @Darren_Aro Recent days on #Slavne-#Berezove frontline can be described as tense. Days and nights. Every half hour something happens.

20:10 #Dokuchaevsk @Pink_Shark___ 2 RUS hardware items. Towards #Yasniy?
20:15 Tanks or BMP
@Shrik_E Sounds like BMP

Maybe the DoS and the US NSC should ask themsleves--is the above just typical normal every day examples of "deeply troubling"???

Could they have not found a better description for "war"???

Avdiivka now under heavy #Russia|n artillery fire
source: https://twitter.com/bamr69/status/631152374673973248 …

20:30 #Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] ceased

20:34 #Donetsk @UkraineSuper1 "Regular outgoing, from #Mineralne-bypass? Heavy"

20:33 #Avdiivka @owl_ok [vk] In Melmitsa area a gas pipe is on fire

#Avdiivka is under heavy russian shelling right now, loud explosions.

20:24 #Avdiivka @owl_ok According to call-over, checkpoint area under fire

20:17 #Avdiivka @bamr69

20:28 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy Volleys in the west, #Mineralne-#Yasynuvata

20:35 #Donetsk @Buzzing_Rook Calm in Donetsk too. Either #Makiivka or #Yasynuvata shells at you

Obama, Kerry and the entire US NSC as well as Hollande and Merkel should really pay attention to this below?--in the face of massvie Russian shellings and ground attacks the Ukraine is still trying it's best to hold to the Minsk 2 Agreement.

Does not the DoS think the Ukraine deserves a little better verbal spport other than "we are deeply troubled"--come on that is even lame in American English

20:32 #Avdiivka @bamr69 Ongoing incoming, [U][I]a house on fire. UKR don't reply

No Ukr return fire so far!


20:45 #Luhansk East @ukrainebang RUS UAV flew towards #Stanytsia_Luhanska...

20:39 #Avdiivka @avdey777ka [vk] Hollow outgoing from #Yasynuvata, heard in Levanesvkogo St

20:23 #Avdiivka @JuZolyshkaLia First landing was around 20:12. Already 4 of them for now

20:39 #Avdiivka @bamr69 Wrong, again at town old part . Sadovy, Nechaeva

20:30 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] In Maryinka it had boomed 2 times in Sovkhos direction

20:30 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Almost all the time noisy in #Krasnohorivka direction - shooting or booms.

[OUTLAW 09]

In the #Donetsk region #SBU conducted a special operation to eliminate illegal coal mining on an industrial scale.

https://youtu.be/tzX_8TYL9A0

[OUTLAW 09]

And more DoS "deeply troubling events".......at least they are in DC and not tonight in the trenches and bunkers of the UAL......

20:49 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster It's getting noisy bit by bit

20:44 #Avdiivka @VadyXaXa After 4-5 impacts it has ceased

Intense shelling just started in Starohnativka again, smoke rising in the outskirts http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/11-august-intense-shelling-just-started-in-starohnativka …

20:56 #Dzrzhynsk @blessmaster I suppose that was saying welcome to UAV https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631160788837904384 …

20:55 #Avdiivka @GirkinGirkin Ongoing landings. "Direct hit at gas booth..."

Yesterday the Russian military "claimed" the UAL had shelled civilians in a Russian held town --seems the shells hit fields thus proving fired by Russians not UAL as their propaganda declared to the world......

Aug10 #Telmanove @GirkinGirkin New photos: landings were in the farm area, not in settlement pic.twitter.com/b04Co0wmlb

During this morning, militants Attacked positions near Donetsk airport with mortars and small arms - Carpathian Sich
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1622502897966446&substory_index=0&id=1536808696535867&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1622502897966446&__tn__=%2As …

Also today, positions in Pisky came under fire from heavy machine guns, small arms and snipers - Carpathian Sich

Makeevka 21:25
Ruscist artillery working from #Lisniy-Batman https://twitter.com/VasyaMakeevskiy/status/631170421983940608 …

Avdiivka 21:27
The second series, again incoming https://twitter.com/bamr69/status/631169989295349761 …

21:27 #Avdiivka @bamr69 We have the second series, again incoming have started over

20:55 #Avdiivka @Donetskyi Damn loud! Minsk accords [are landing] somewhere in Old market area, by sound [incoming]

Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk]
20:40 [Borysivka/Stalino road direction: assault rifle & heavy MG bursts, sporadic GL]
20:55 heavy shots

[OUTLAW 09]

4 Ukr photographers narrate one of most tragic episodes of the war in E #Ukraine - #Ilovaysk

http://empr.media/events/photo-exhibition-on-ilovaysk-battle-opens-in-kyiv …

pic.twitter.com/7htbOF8m3p

Photo exhibition showing one of the most tragic episodes in the current war in eastern Ukraine – the battle of Ilovaysk has opened in Kyiv. Ukrainian troops successfully conducted combat actions and entered Ilovaysk on 18 August 2014. They managed to take control over the major part of the town. On 23-24 August regular Russian troops entered Ukraine to reinforce militant forces. Then Ukrainian military command is also named accountable for the tragedy. On 28 August Ukrainian forces found themselves surrounded in a pocket by militant groups and Russian regular forces. Combined Russian-militant forces put forward an ultimatum: Ukrainian troops need to lay down arms and leave their equipment, they will be then let out of encirclement. On 30 August Ukrainian forces started moving out of the pocket in organized columns and were deliberately fired upon by the adversary. Hundreds were killed, wounded or taken captive. Until now no uniform numbers on Ukrainian losses in the battle of Ilovaysk are available. In April Chief Military Prosecutor Anatoliy Matios said 458 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 478 wounded in Ilovaysk pocket. Earlier this month the Prosecutor said 366 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 429 wounded. Donbas battalion commander Semen Semenchenko estimated Ukrainian losses in the battle as exceeding one thousand troops.

This key loss is what drives the current UAL and the volunteer BNs when they are fighting against the Russian Army and her mercenaries--it is understood that every time they engage Russian forces they are paying them back for that defeat--one of the best motivators for combat next to fighting to defend your own country and civil society.

This is the key for their current successes in limiting Russian advances--ask Spetsnaz as they have been taking a beating from the UAL.

Regardless of what Obama and his NSC think--this battle marks the Russian Army invasion of the eastern Ukraine and it was an invasion not an "incursion".

[OUTLAW 09]

No wonder Merkel and her FM have been so silent lately--back to business as usual even with sanctions in place----

What war? #Germany approves €118m in arms sales to #Russia. Signed Aug 3, 2015.
http://www.spiegel.de/media/media-37306.pdf …
pic.twitter.com/zsjAzXIZt8

[OUTLAW 09]

Counter-UAV drills in #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/R0BU7cW2PX

It means this video is part of the attack on Lugansk Airport in 2014! https://twitter.com/AlexandruPlesca/status/631123478826123264 …

@DajeyPetros It seems video is unreleased dated 29.08.2014. Sat images showing BTR's:
http://lostarmour.info/armour/item.php?id=1031 …
http://lostarmour.info/armour/item.php?id=946 …

T-90a, somewhere on the road Lugansk, Krasnodon, 2014.
pic.twitter.com/oGAk7yBPti
via @ravelin_by @Glaz_CBYwnuka

@JulianRoepcke BTR formerly belonged 23 Motorized Brigade pic.twitter.com/GFbcMrBc


Back during the 2014 Russian invasion the 23rd was identified inside the Ukraine and Russia adamently denied it...well it seems it was in fact there....social media open source analysis called it correctly then and now

Turns out attack on #ATO positions relates to Samara's 23rd Brigade:
https://www.facebook.com/anton.pavlushko/posts/10207559295840032 …
pic.twitter.com/tEYr6qDRnd
https://twitter.com/golub/status/631127797830950912 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Kremlin (GRU/SVR) repeats the mantra: "Kyiv prepares breakthrough in Donetsk" and DPR/LPR social media spreads the lie like wildfire.

11 August. Is this the final countdown? @mfa_russia position (lies and propaganda) blaming Ukraine https://vk.com/dnrarmy?w=wall-51146063_4901 …

REN TV worked with Russian GRU to make up story: Kyiv concentrates forces on border with DPR for a massive offensive! http://ren.tv/novosti/2015-08-11/razvedka-dnr-kiev-gotovit-proryv-na-doneck …

[OUTLAW 09]

Stories of Russian troops deserting army over Ukraine conflict contradict Kremlin's assertions

http://aje.io/aheb pic.twitter.com/V5fm1oWwBw

Callsign "Hanzhos" from Russian fascist volunteer unit "Vikings" #Cargo200 (incinerated while radioing UA movements) pic.twitter.com/3yvDr8L42W

Source (or should that be 'sauce'?) https://vk.com/id205292010?w=wall205292010_2639%2Fall …

From yesterdays fighting.......where the Ukrainianian volunteer BN Right Sector drove back a Russian attacking force of tanks and 200 infantry....

"Nord" from Russian fascist volunteer unit "Vikings" #Cargo200 (insides turned to jelly by blast) #Bila_Kamyanka pic.twitter.com/x7jYnVphfG

[OUTLAW 09]

On why #Russia is moving South Ossetia's de facto border deeper into #Georgia

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33675488 … pic.twitter.com/1RdOjhhtOF

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.unian.info/economics/1110461-explained-how-to-turn-ukraine-into-the-breadbasket-of-europe.html

Explained: How to turn Ukraine into the breadbasket of Europe

11.08.2015 | 21:30


As the EU standards imply more responsibilities of the farmers, Ukrainian regulatory agencies' job is to check quality and standards instead of meddling with the production, which spawns corruption, the Atlantic Council reports.

Taras Kachka, former acting President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, expressed optimism back in 2014 over the prospects for Ukrainian agriculture after the implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) between Ukraine and the European Union, noting that despite tremendous differences in production standards, Ukrainian legislation is catching up to the EU, reads the article on the Atlantic Council website, penned by Oksana Khomei, graduate of Warsaw's College of Europe.

Kachka says Ukraine already exports a wide range of agricultural products to many countries. DCFTA would help Ukraine by boosting competitiveness nationally and abroad; the adoption of EU standards will also help, due to gradual globalization of production standards.

Ukraine has more than 40 million hectares of land available for crops; at least half this land boasts very high soil quality. In 2013, agriculture ranked third in economic importance after services (60.5 percent) and manufacturing (29.6 percent), accounting for more than 10 percent of GDP. In 2016, the Economist Intelligence Unit estimates that agriculture's share of total GDP will rise by 3.3 percent, while manufacturing's share will fall by 7 percent.

Yet Ukrainian agriculture is constrained by a number of factors including limited land availability; old infrastructure; insufficient financing; ineffective government development policies; questionable production quality; complicated customs regulations and weak control systems.

Under the DCFTA between Ukraine and the EU, Ukrainian farmers will save €330 million in duties on farm exports to the EU, and €53 million in duties on processed foods. Observers expect the opening of the EU market to Ukrainian agriculture will lead to more investments, increased modernization, and better working conditions.

For example, the DCFTA envisions duty-free deliveries of 1.6 million tons of grains to the EU during the first year of the accord's implementation, gradually increasing to two million tons by the fifth year; likewise, poultry exports will rise from 16,000 to 20,000 tons over the same period.

Most of the increase in Ukraine's exports to the EU in 2014 were agricultural products like grains, corn, and edible oils. Transnational corporations export particularly large quantities and meet global production standards. Yet they ship mostly raw products. Only after Ukraine implements EU production standards will the export of canned food and other processed goods be a reality. For now, Ukrainian agribusiness hopes mainly to export more dairy products like milk and eggs, as well as beef and pork. Tsymbal suggested that within two or three years, Ukraine will be able to dramatically increase the export of agricultural products to the 28-member EU market.

Currently, Ukraine's Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food—with EU funding—is working on a project titled "Comprehensive Strategy for the Development of Agriculture and Rural Lands for 2015-20." The project seeks to boost the competitiveness of Ukrainian agriculture while sustaining ongoing development in rural areas through the adoption of European and international standards.

With these steps, Ukraine is poised to become the breadbasket of Europe once again.

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.unian.info/economics/1110461-explained-how-to-turn-ukraine-into-the-breadbasket-of-europe.html

Explained: How to turn Ukraine into the breadbasket of Europe

11.08.2015 | 21:30

It should be noted that social media reported recently that the Russian military had stolen over 150 semi trailor truck loads of Ukrainian grain harvested in eastern Ukraine and the entire harvest had been controlled by Russian "farm specialists".

[OUTLAW 09]

BreakingFootage
Russian offensive in #Luhansk oblast goes terribly wrong.
2 BTR-80 lost.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N0rplcH32g …

at 3:40 Ukr tank on the left appears. They shoot ATG at it. Black smoke from it, but it fires back. APC driver KIA (one/both?)

holy crap, their communication and discipline are no better than those of schoolchildren

awesome footage! They act like a bunch of chicken, doesn't look very pro..

man... they are really stupid, by the way, I confirm Russian Accent


This is Why #Russia's T-80 Tank Is a Total Disaster http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-russias-t-80-tank-total-disaster-13550 … pic.twitter.com/zKPjKWHQhh

[OUTLAW 09]

After two heavy and long days of shelling and ground attack reports--Need some light humor.

It's been a bad day for one tank crew - Just overheard a turret-wallah complain that a tomcat pissed over the cupola. Cats will be cats! :)

We'll get him neutered at the vets - the tomcat that is, not the tank commander ;)

[OUTLAW 09]

And more DoS "deeply troubling events".......at least they are in DC and not tonight in the trenches and bunkers of the UAL......

20:49 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster It's getting noisy bit by bit

20:44 #Avdiivka @VadyXaXa After 4-5 impacts it has ceased

Intense shelling just started in Starohnativka again, smoke rising in the outskirts http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/11-august-intense-shelling-just-started-in-starohnativka …

20:56 #Dzrzhynsk @blessmaster I suppose that was saying welcome to UAV https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631160788837904384 …

20:55 #Avdiivka @GirkinGirkin Ongoing landings. "Direct hit at gas booth..."

Yesterday the Russian military "claimed" the UAL had shelled civilians in a Russian held town --seems the shells hit fields thus proving fired by Russians not UAL as their propaganda declared to the world......

Aug10 #Telmanove @GirkinGirkin New photos: landings were in the farm area, not in settlement pic.twitter.com/b04Co0wmlb

During this morning, militants Attacked positions near Donetsk airport with mortars and small arms - Carpathian Sich
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1622502897966446&substory_index=0&id=1536808696535867&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1622502897966446&__tn__=%2As …

Also today, positions in Pisky came under fire from heavy machine guns, small arms and snipers - Carpathian Sich

Makeevka 21:25
Ruscist artillery working from #Lisniy-Batman https://twitter.com/VasyaMakeevskiy/status/631170421983940608 …

Avdiivka 21:27
The second series, again incoming https://twitter.com/bamr69/status/631169989295349761 …

21:27 #Avdiivka @bamr69 We have the second series, again incoming have started over

20:55 #Avdiivka @Donetskyi Damn loud! Minsk accords [are landing] somewhere in Old market area, by sound [incoming]

Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk]
20:40 [Borysivka/Stalino road direction: assault rifle & heavy MG bursts, sporadic GL]
20:55 heavy shots

shelling comes from #Yasynuvata i read. Business as usual.

21:57 #Komsomolske @hubeshevo Tanks roar has been heard. Direction unclear, but it sounded long, maybe moved towards #Telmanove

Looks like another large ground attack is building this evening just based on heavy equipment movements being reported.

22:05 #Novozaryivka,#Starobesheve raion @Ukr_Che Heavy hardware roar is heard
22:08 A column moves through the village, [no info where]

Between 21:00-21:30 from Novokaterinovka to #Komsomolske went two columns with about 6-7 tanks. https://twitter.com/Legion1770/status/631172853501665281 …

20:58 #Novotoshkivka @lugansk_co_ua Cricket kingdom all around [=quiet]

Mariupol
AA-guns shooting towards UAV https://twitter.com/iMariupol/status/631183847623946244 …

22:24 #Donetsk Kalinovka @14720Maro and again pats are heard from the south, I can hear but not see them

Horlivka 22:18
Shooting (possibly at UAVs) https://twitter.com/sau152mm/status/631182977012244481 …

22:31 #Horlivka @sau152mm MLRS?
22:32 #Dzerzhynsk @hdzerz Oh, I didn't mishear
22:32 #Horlivka @DobryShubin Yes
@CosmopolitUa I didn't hear

22:31 #Dzerzhynsk @hdzerz Grad? Or misheard?
22:32 #Horlivka @DobryShubin I'vealso heard volley, not full load

22:33 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster Not misheard, sounded strange
@DobryShubin Volley, but also din
#Horlivka @ahab7822 incoming fr/east?

The tank column was moving on route Novokaterynivka-Komsomolske-Novozarivka. Might be in Sontseve soon, and then to E (Novolaspa)?

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears that the Russian FM is not so familiar with the ability of the General Assembly in stripping the veto power if that UNSC nation has been declared an aggressor nation--they urgently need to reread the UN Charter--takes a simple majority.

Russia has been alrerady declared an aggressor state by both the OSCE and PACE.

MFA Russia
‏@mfa_russia #Lavrov: Ideas of scrapping or limiting the #UNSC veto power have been voiced before. We think they have no future

[OUTLAW 09]

Really good article as it might explain the Ukrainian ability to hold their on right now--they have a total 64K under arms and yet the Russians have 34K inside the ukraine and an estimated 55-85K on the borders and yet they are going no where fast on the ground.

http://warontherocks.com/2015/08/ukraine-and-the-art-of-exhaustion/

Ukraine and the Art of Exhaustion


Long-Form | August 11, 2015 | Lawrence Freedman



Russia’s war against Ukraine is now well into its second year. The contested area in East Ukraine is still marked by regular exchanges of fire and equally regular losses of life. At the end of June, the United Nations reported that 6,500 people had perished in the past year of the conflict, along with 16,000 wounded and that 5 million were in need of aid. There have been regular warnings of new Russian offensives, but these have yet to materialize, and for all the effort put in by both sides, the basic contours of the conflict have barely changed since last September. It is not evident that either side has a strategy for bringing the conflict to a conclusion. The situation can be described as one in which they are both seeking the exhaustion of the other. Exhaustion here does not so much describe a physical state of being unable to continue with the struggle, but more of a mental state – a sense of weariness and futility that leads to a readiness to accept a political compromise that would previously have been rejected. Exhaustion can be the result not only of frustration with a military position, but also of economic pressure and political discontent.

It is not unusual for conflicts to settle down to probes and pushes after an initial period marked by bigger movements and exchanges of territory, reaching a point where both sides are tired without either being ready to concede. In such situations, there may well be temptations to attempt occasional offensives intended to achieve breakthroughs or at least cause attrition. There may also be, as in this case, attempts by third parties to mediate cease-fires and peace treaties. A conflict that has reached the state of a “mutually hurting stalemate” is often seen to be one ripe for a negotiated settlement. Yet this does not mean that such efforts will succeed: they can instead provide breathing space, a chance to regain energy, and so in the end prolong the struggle.

It is not unusual for conflicts to settle down to probes and pushes after an initial period marked by bigger movements and exchanges of territory, reaching a point where both sides are tired without either being ready to concede. In such situations, there may well be temptations to attempt occasional offensives intended to achieve breakthroughs or at least cause attrition. There may also be, as in this case, attempts by third parties to mediate cease-fires and peace treaties. A conflict that has reached the state of a “mutually hurting stalemate” is often seen to be one ripe for a negotiated settlement. Yet this does not mean that such efforts will succeed: they can instead provide breathing space, a chance to regain energy, and so in the end prolong the struggle.

Continued........

[OUTLAW 09]

Really good article as it might explain the Ukrainian ability to hold their on right now--they have a total 64K under arms and yet the Russians have 34K inside the ukraine and an estimated 55-85K on the borders and yet they are going no where fast on the ground.

http://warontherocks.com/2015/08/ukraine-and-the-art-of-exhaustion/

Ukraine and the Art of Exhaustion


Long-Form | August 11, 2015 | Lawrence Freedman


Final sentence I fully agree with totally----

On balance, I conclude that a strategy of exhaustion is working better for the Ukraine than for Russia.

[OUTLAW 09]

shelling comes from #Yasynuvata i read. Business as usual.

21:57 #Komsomolske @hubeshevo Tanks roar has been heard. Direction unclear, but it sounded long, maybe moved towards #Telmanove

Looks like another large ground attack is building this evening just based on heavy equipment movements being reported.

22:05 #Novozaryivka,#Starobesheve raion @Ukr_Che Heavy hardware roar is heard
22:08 A column moves through the village, [no info where]

Between 21:00-21:30 from Novokaterinovka to #Komsomolske went two columns with about 6-7 tanks. https://twitter.com/Legion1770/status/631172853501665281 …

20:58 #Novotoshkivka @lugansk_co_ua Cricket kingdom all around [=quiet]

Mariupol
AA-guns shooting towards UAV https://twitter.com/iMariupol/status/631183847623946244 …

22:24 #Donetsk Kalinovka @14720Maro and again pats are heard from the south, I can hear but not see them

Horlivka 22:18
Shooting (possibly at UAVs) https://twitter.com/sau152mm/status/631182977012244481 …

22:31 #Horlivka @sau152mm MLRS?
22:32 #Dzerzhynsk @hdzerz Oh, I didn't mishear
22:32 #Horlivka @DobryShubin Yes
@CosmopolitUa I didn't hear

22:31 #Dzerzhynsk @hdzerz Grad? Or misheard?
22:32 #Horlivka @DobryShubin I'vealso heard volley, not full load

22:33 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster Not misheard, sounded strange
@DobryShubin Volley, but also din
#Horlivka @ahab7822 incoming fr/east?

The tank column was moving on route Novokaterynivka-Komsomolske-Novozarivka. Might be in Sontseve soon, and then to E (Novolaspa)?

No shxxxxxxxxt Sherlock!
BREAKING: #EU says escalation in eastern #Ukraine violates #Minsk peace deal

BUT nothing from Obama, Kerry and Nuland who pushed for the unilateral appeasement moves that I think triggered this offensive.

[OUTLAW 09]

GRADs column on the move in #Makiivka 30 minutes ago: https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631212513443610626 …

Multiple GRAD launches from #Donetsk reported in the last minutes. Also GRAD reports from #Horlivka.

As of now mostly quiet in Luhansk rgn, almost quiet in #Donetsk rgn apart fr/sporadic small arms bursts and 'usual' harassing fire at Pisky

00:51 #Makeevka @tatyana17112009 Grad has worked out

00:48 #Donetsk railway station @666_mancer [fb] "We can hear both salvos and landings in 4-5 sec, in Oktyabsky district?"

00:47 #Horlivka @_John__Carter_ Some distant volleys in #Zaytseve-#Mayorsk direction

00:40 #Donetsk @manirtal ...in city limits, maybe Putilovka-Tochmash

00:40 #Donetsk @manirtal Outgoing from Oktyabrsky ds, nearby, on Slovatska flashes seen in the sky and landings nearby,

00:30 #Donetsk @relictDon [one] explosion sound, approx in 30th market [=Kirovsky market] - #Rutchenkove machinery works area

00:18 #Donetsk Rozy_Luksemburg @0954771 A volley, one for now
00:20 Not one anymore
00:23 [ongoing gunnery].Strong singles

00:00 #Luhansk @100007182042214 As of 00:00 quiet in #Schastya and #Stanytsia_Luhanska
23:55 #Luhansk @ukrainebang #Stanytsia_Luhanska & #Schastya - suspiciously quiet, not any boom since evening

23:58 @jimmyprooff About 30 min ago thru #Makiivka tow/#Khartsyzk a Grads column went, 8-10 items

31 WIA #Ukrainians brought to #Odessa hospital: http://hromadske.od.ua/?p=4319

23:42 #Makeevka @nixer79 full Grad load fr/NW ettles, followed by 2 more series by 8-10 rockets, went approx at the west

23:49 #Makiivka @666_mancer [fb] "Grigoriev ettles have Grad|ed few times"

00:00 #Donetsk @DonBender07 There has been even 2 loads with addition, From bypass road, 3-4th km away fr/Gvardeyka center tow/#Opytne

Donetsk @14720Maro I heard [outgoing Grad sound] from the north, some other fr/south, relatively far, was dull like from a barrel

23:44 #Donetsk @PVB40 [fb] "One more short [Grad] volley" "And again, Damn, the 3rd for now, the 1st was the longest"

23:47 [#Donetsk] @liya2905 And some short [series], not too loud ones https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631209508950380548 …

23:44 [#Donetsk] @liya2905 Full Grad load shelled like fr/ #Makiivka, it flew over my home like a plane. No blasts were heard- went far away

Donetsk 23:49
"From Gvardeyka (Botanical Garden) MRLS GRADs outgoing. #Avdiivka this went to you?" https://twitter.com/NeilRem/status/631205798463569920 …

[OUTLAW 09]

GRADs column on the move in #Makiivka 30 minutes ago: https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631212513443610626 …

Multiple GRAD launches from #Donetsk reported in the last minutes. Also GRAD reports from #Horlivka.

As of now mostly quiet in Luhansk rgn, almost quiet in #Donetsk rgn apart fr/sporadic small arms bursts and 'usual' harassing fire at Pisky

00:51 #Makeevka @tatyana17112009 Grad has worked out

00:48 #Donetsk railway station @666_mancer [fb] "We can hear both salvos and landings in 4-5 sec, in Oktyabsky district?"

00:47 #Horlivka @_John__Carter_ Some distant volleys in #Zaytseve-#Mayorsk direction

00:40 #Donetsk @manirtal ...in city limits, maybe Putilovka-Tochmash

00:40 #Donetsk @manirtal Outgoing from Oktyabrsky ds, nearby, on Slovatska flashes seen in the sky and landings nearby,

00:30 #Donetsk @relictDon [one] explosion sound, approx in 30th market [=Kirovsky market] - #Rutchenkove machinery works area

00:18 #Donetsk Rozy_Luksemburg @0954771 A volley, one for now
00:20 Not one anymore
00:23 [ongoing gunnery].Strong singles

00:00 #Luhansk @100007182042214 As of 00:00 quiet in #Schastya and #Stanytsia_Luhanska
23:55 #Luhansk @ukrainebang #Stanytsia_Luhanska & #Schastya - suspiciously quiet, not any boom since evening

23:58 @jimmyprooff About 30 min ago thru #Makiivka tow/#Khartsyzk a Grads column went, 8-10 items

31 WIA #Ukrainians brought to #Odessa hospital: http://hromadske.od.ua/?p=4319

23:42 #Makeevka @nixer79 full Grad load fr/NW ettles, followed by 2 more series by 8-10 rockets, went approx at the west

23:49 #Makiivka @666_mancer [fb] "Grigoriev ettles have Grad|ed few times"

00:00 #Donetsk @DonBender07 There has been even 2 loads with addition, From bypass road, 3-4th km away fr/Gvardeyka center tow/#Opytne

Donetsk @14720Maro I heard [outgoing Grad sound] from the north, some other fr/south, relatively far, was dull like from a barrel

23:44 #Donetsk @PVB40 [fb] "One more short [Grad] volley" "And again, Damn, the 3rd for now, the 1st was the longest"

23:47 [#Donetsk] @liya2905 And some short [series], not too loud ones https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631209508950380548 …

23:44 [#Donetsk] @liya2905 Full Grad load shelled like fr/ #Makiivka, it flew over my home like a plane. No blasts were heard- went far away

Donetsk 23:49
"From Gvardeyka (Botanical Garden) MRLS GRADs outgoing. #Avdiivka this went to you?" https://twitter.com/NeilRem/status/631205798463569920 …

Attack numbers will be high for today despite quiet phases.

[OUTLAW 09]

Does the US DoS ever read the Russian Foreign Ministry press releases—the Ukrainians are being blatantly attacked by Russian troops and her mercenaries every day for over now five weeks with daily attack numbers being between 60-135 per day AND that does not count the combat ground attacks geared to capture more territory.

In the first 11 days the UAF has had 19 KIAs and 98 WIAs and that does not the volunteer BNs with high loses as well AND it does not count the civilians killed and or wounded to include children.

AND it does not count that the UAF “a sign of good faith” as demanded by Putin and forced on the UAF by the US, France and Germany AND then being attacked from this so called DMZ by Russian troops and her mercenaries.

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
We are calling on #Ukraine not to violate implementation of Minsk Agreements by their irresponsible actions,11/08 http://en.mid.ru/en/web/guest/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/1649231 …

NOTICE—not a single mention by the Russian FM ON the Minsk 2 points they Russia have implemented—actually nothing implemented.

WHEN will Obama and his 700 person NSC finally realize that unilateral appeasement moves demanded by Putin and not followed by reciprocal moves by Russia ALWAYS ends in failure.

[OUTLAW 09]

Does the US DoS ever read the Russian Foreign Ministry press releases—the Ukrainians are being blatantly attacked by Russian troops and her mercenaries every day for over now five weeks with daily attack numbers being between 60-135 per day AND that does not count the combat ground attacks geared to capture more territory.

In the first 11 days the UAF has had 19 KIAs and 98 WIAs and that does not the volunteer BNs with high loses as well AND it does not count the civilians killed and or wounded to include children.

AND it does not count that the UAF “a sign of good faith” as demanded by Putin and forced on the UAF by the US, France and Germany AND then being attacked from this so called DMZ by Russian troops and her mercenaries.

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
We are calling on #Ukraine not to violate implementation of Minsk Agreements by their irresponsible actions,11/08 http://en.mid.ru/en/web/guest/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/1649231 …

NOTICE—not a single mention by the Russian FM ON the Minsk 2 points they Russia have implemented—actually nothing implemented.

WHEN will Obama and his 700 person NSC finally realize that unilateral appeasement moves demanded by Putin and not followed by reciprocal moves by Russia ALWAYS ends in failure.

WHAT is irresponsible is the utter silence on the part of Obama after making in 2014 the following statement---

"we will judge Putin by his actions not his words"

AND what has he done and or said??-- he let's his DoS simply state----

"we are deeply troubled".

And that is suppose to be a "foreign policy with a strategy"?????

[OUTLAW 09]

The Russian FM statement "accusing the Ukraine of being irresponsible" seems to fly in the face of the ground reality and of actual Russian troop and her mercenaries released yesterday combat videos indicating they are the one's directly attacking.

By hey as long as the Western leaders Obama, Hollande and Merkel say absolutely nothing currently on the ongoing heavy fighting started by Russian troops and her mercenaries THEN I guess the Russians can continue to state "irresponsible".

News
Steady increase of BM-21 #Grad use by Russian forces acc. to the Ukr army.
5 times (among 87 attacks) on Tuesday.

ATO presser reported 87 russian attacks yday. After midnight they hit w GRADs #Vodyane, #Optyne, #Pisky, Novoselivka http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2015/08/12/7077557/ …

Map depicting fighting areas---
87 attacks (-8) of Russian forces on August, 11.
5 - with MLRS Grad - ATO HQ
pic.twitter.com/ghy5YufweY

@LUGANSK_TODAY Here you go : #Lugansk Armed Camp 2015 pic.twitter.com/SzN2m7X8EO

Donetsk 7:54AM
Ruscist convoy of 7 Urals, empty, on Chelyuskintsev str to south https://twitter.com/nixer79/status/631329991838576640 …

06:31 #Avdiivka @JuZolyshkaLia Power down
#donbasreports

06:26 [#Stepne] @Darren_Aro They shelled at our direction, it was rumble here... https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631326941090426880 …

#Donetsk 5:30AM
Kirovsk ds - For at least half hour can be heard heavy single shots. A little vibration in the air. https://twitter.com/UrriKara4en/status/631294459490209792 …

05:15 #Donetsk @ropogckou since 5am Donetsk can hear distant short MLRS volleys and explosions far away

05:12 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 [outgoing] SPGs from Molodizhny area, destination unclear, no explosions heard

03:42 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy Distant volley - [close] blast [interval is] about 6 seconds

03:28 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy 7-10 incoming in the city west (Grigoriev ettles - Donetsk bypass?)

03:25 #Makiivka @PaulVezko Heavy distant rumbles each 30-60sec

03:30 #Makiivka @Don_esoteric Those are incoming, mortar, 2 sec between round and landing
#donbasreports

03:12 #Russian #propaganda woke up @zvezdanews "National guard keeps shelling #Horlivka with Grads" https://twitter.com/zvezdanews/status/631256918602960896 … #vodka

[OUTLAW 09]

Does the US DoS ever read the Russian Foreign Ministry press releases—the Ukrainians are being blatantly attacked by Russian troops and her mercenaries every day for over now five weeks with daily attack numbers being between 60-135 per day AND that does not count the combat ground attacks geared to capture more territory.

In the first 11 days the UAF has had 19 KIAs and 98 WIAs and that does not the volunteer BNs with high loses as well AND it does not count the civilians killed and or wounded to include children.

AND it does not count that the UAF “a sign of good faith” as demanded by Putin and forced on the UAF by the US, France and Germany AND then being attacked from this so called DMZ by Russian troops and her mercenaries.

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
We are calling on #Ukraine not to violate implementation of Minsk Agreements by their irresponsible actions,11/08 http://en.mid.ru/en/web/guest/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/1649231 …

NOTICE—not a single mention by the Russian FM ON the Minsk 2 points they Russia have implemented—actually nothing implemented.

WHEN will Obama and his 700 person NSC finally realize that unilateral appeasement moves demanded by Putin and not followed by reciprocal moves by Russia ALWAYS ends in failure.

THIS is the perfect example of WHAT Obama in his unilateral appeasement moves demanded by Putin and his entire NSC is failing to recognize.

The Russian MADE a big deal propaganda wise out of the withdrawal of weapons of 100mm and smaller from the front lines JUST as the heavy weapons were supposed to be pulled back BUT where not by Russia. The Russian mercenaries made BIG statements that they were going to do and THAT the Ukrainians HAD to sign the agreement BUT then in Minsk recently they failed to sign even their own document they were proposing.

The Ukrainians implemented the 100mm weapons withdrawal BUT the Russians did not.

Yesterday in the heat of heavy artillery and MRLS fire being rained down on several UAF positions I reported the UAF HAD NOT even returned fire at all.

THEN last night--this---

News
Russian forces used 4 times BM-21 #Grad missiles in #Ukraine's Sector M since midnight.
Ukis fire back w/weapons under 100 mm caliber.

So in Russian FM Orwellian doublespeak being "irresponsible" means the Ukrainians are not holding to every point of Minsk 2, not holding to the withdrawal of heavy weapons and all weapons of 100mm or less and not holding to the Russian proposed 30km DMZ.

ALL the while Russia violates all of Minsk 2.

BTW the size of the BM21 MRLS is 122mm --a complete violation of Minsk 2 by Russia YET Western leaders utter not a single word or comment.

Social media comment to this rather one sided defense posture by the UAF----

Repel GRAD misiles with small arms? Hm.


Anyone else see the farce of the current US foreign policy or better yet lack of a FP??

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Spetsnaz was on the hunt last night trying to find a way through the well positioned UAF positions—were driven back—in the same area as the previous heavy infantry attack.

Enemy continued to hit Ukr pos @ Bila Kam'yanka w arty overnight, 3 russian DRG's attempted to enter rear Ukr lines http://www.ukrinform.ua/ukr/news/pid_novolaspoyu_suprotivnik_probue__artilerie_yu_v ibiti_sili_ato_z_klyuchovoii_visoti_2083816 …

1 soldier of 128th Brigade was wounded after militant fire near Stanytsia Luhanska last night - Luhansk RSA
http://www.loga.gov.ua/oda/press/news/2015/08/12/news_67329.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is attempting to physically change the appearance of the area surrounding the launch site of the BUK that shot down MH17--clear evidence they know who shot down the civilian airliner and the changes will be then used to argue see the evidence videos do not match the physical environment.

BUT the Russians failed to realize just how the social media open source analysis has a far deeper understanding on how to use the social media and internet to recover "long thought deleted evidence".

More evidence of attempts to alter the appearance of the location of the Luhansk #MH17 video. More soon @Bellingcat pic.twitter.com/6IAPXn2det

New RU #MH17 theory: there were 2 CIA-planted bombs onboard + CIA shot a BUK from rebel land, in operation "17.17" http://www.kp.ru/daily/26419.3/3291610/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Waiting to see what evidence of which by international treaty forbidden weapons and weapon systems have been used by Russian troops and her mercenaries in the last few days.

Seems like terrorists were test firing banned weapons in last days, are now waiting to see int'l, Ukr reaction - Head of #Luhansk Admin Tuka

Escalation of the conflict in Donbas continues. The terrorists are now using almost all avaliable weapons - Tymchuk
https://m.facebook.com/dmitry.tymchuk/posts/736814836447174 …

[OUTLAW 09]

To remind Obama and his 700 person NSC the war in Central Europe is still in full swing and shows no signs of decreasing ---actually the anticipated actual large scale move by Russian troops is a few days away as they are still trying to find a breakthrough point and Spetsnaz is trying hard to find it.

AND we still have no real comment from Obama--almost as if he is supporting Putin's moves in order to secure his legacy.

Militants decreased attacks in #Luhansk sector, fired at Stanytsia Luhanska, nearby villages. 1Ukr serviceman was WIA http://loga.gov.ua/oda/press/news/2015/08/12/news_67329.html …

Around 1am militants fired from GRAD MLRS on Pisky, Opytne and Vodyane - Carpathian Sich
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1622645634618839&substory_index=0&id=1536808696535867&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1622645634618839&__tn__=%2As …

EXCLUSIVE: First #Estonian fighting with East-#Ukraine terrorists caught. @EestiPaevaleht http://www.delfi.ee/news/en/news/first-estonian-caught-and-charged-for-fighting-against-ukraine-in-lugansk?id=72190445 … pic.twitter.com/MjNc2oMQP6

9AM
Mospino, Novyi Svet, Starobeshevo - Putin's orcs jammed MTS (mobile operator) https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/631356559642238977 …

Starognativka - All night long 2-5am we were shelled with artillery, tanks, Grad.
V @Staroignatievca

Volnovakha 9:50AM
Artillery fire can be heard in east https://twitter.com/solomazheka/status/631357037125980162 …

Avdiivka
The night was infernal. No electricity. https://twitter.com/tsnkvlt/status/631354290783821824 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Waiting to see what evidence of which by international treaty forbidden weapons and weapon systems have been used by Russian troops and her mercenaries in the last few days.

Seems like terrorists were test firing banned weapons in last days, are now waiting to see int'l, Ukr reaction - Head of #Luhansk Admin Tuka

Escalation of the conflict in Donbas continues. The terrorists are now using almost all avaliable weapons - Tymchuk
https://m.facebook.com/dmitry.tymchuk/posts/736814836447174 …

Russia testing international reaction on its intensified attacks with banned arms. NO REACTION.
@MikkoLaaksonen1

Suspecting these are their thermobaric weapons and WP rounds coupled with fragmentation effects (cluster munitions)which have been fired throughout the fighting in the last three months--even against civilian housing areas.

[OUTLAW 09]

A great article on women fighting in the Ukrainian armed forces.....is a long read.

http://dailysignal.com/2015/08/11/meet-ukraines-women-warriors/

Meet Ukraine’s Women Warriors


Nolan Peterson / @nolanwpeterson / August 11, 2015


KYIV, Ukraine—It was called position 18.

The house, which was yellow and had its roof caved in from artillery hits, was only a hundred meters or so behind the front-line trenches in Pisky, Ukraine.

Shrapnel and bullet holes had shredded the exterior walls, leaving the yellow paint polka-dotted by the grey concrete underneath. The soldiers used the living room as a communal space to eat and sleep.

A generator powered a TV that was playing a women’s boxing match. A couple of soldiers sat on an old leather couch with Kalashnikov assault rifles propped against it, watching silently.

Out in the adjacent garage, which faced away from the trenches and was left open, soldiers were coming and going, grabbing weapons, ammunition, and bottles of water as they shuttled back and forth to the trenches.

The sectional garage door hung from the ceiling, suspended on tracks. A conical divot punctured the front right section, where the door was warped and the metal tracks twisted. A few weeks ago, one of the soldiers explained, a mortar had come through the roof; the suspended garage door trapped the round and stopped it from exploding at ground level.

The unit stationed at position 18 was OUN, a volunteer battalion recently incorporated into the Ukrainian regular army’s 93rd Brigade.

The 93rd Brigade was holding the line several kilometers outside the combined Russian-separatist stronghold of Donetsk. OUN stands for the “Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists,” a partisan group dating back to before World War II.

With the sun settling outside on the late summer afternoon, about a dozen Ukrainian soldiers stood casually inside the garage, talking and joking. They seemed unconcerned by the sounds of artillery and gunfire in the distance.

The soldiers ranged widely in age, some as young as 19, some in their 40s and even 50s. They wore mismatched military uniforms purchased off the Internet, or which civilian volunteers had donated. Some soldiers were cleaning their rifles or tinkering with equipment, while others relaxed, enjoying the relative safety of the garage.

One of the soldiers was a 22-year-old named Julia. She had just returned from the trenches and stood with a Kalashnikov assault rifle slung across her chest as she talked and laughed with the others.

Julia’s dark black hair was pulled back in a bun, but it was a little wild and disheveled. She wore a body armor vest, camouflage pants cut off below the knee, and high black combat boots. Her jewelry was simple—a silver necklace, silver gauge earrings through her earlobes, and a black stud in the upper ear. Two woven bracelets were on her right wrist and a ring on her left index finger.

Julia, whose nom de guerre is “Black,” seemed relaxed. She rolled her eyes and cocked her head in a dismissive laugh when a fellow soldier made a joke about Playboy magazine.

Suddenly, there was the sound of separatist machine gunfire only a hundred meters or so away. Everyone in the garage moved swiftly toward the walls for protection—a few went straight for the door leading into the house.

Julia reacted calmly and purposefully. She barely budged, standing her ground while some of the other soldiers, and this correspondent, scrambled for cover. The smile left her face like a balloon letting out air, and she looked in the direction of the gunfire with a flat, focused expression.

“With regard to her reaction to the fighting, then I would say that she bore them normally and was even more careless than most of the other soldiers,” said Andrey Mikheychenko, an OUN soldier who served with Julia in Pisky.

“As to her personal courage,” Mikheychenko continued, “then, of course, she is very brave—braver than many male soldiers.”

Unofficial Warriors

Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, women have played a key role for Ukraine’s armed forces. They have served on the front lines as infantry, combat medics, and even snipers. And they help sustain the war effort from the home front as civilian volunteers by procuring vital supplies and equipment and delivering them to the front lines.

“I always felt ashamed that I wasn’t in the war when some 18-year-old guys, even if they’re not patriots, have to go,” said Lera Burlakova, 29, who quit her job as a journalist last December to serve as a front-line soldier with the Karpatska Sich volunteer battalion in Pisky.

“If you want to look in the mirror and not turn away, you have to go,” she added. “But I don’t think all people have to do it. Some people are really scared, and that’s the way they are. And maybe they shouldn’t be there, in the war, and die without reason.”

Women are still officially barred from front-line service in Ukraine’s regular army, and most of the women who have served in combat have done so as members of civilian volunteer battalions.

So, as Ukraine continues to rein in the volunteer battalions by integrating them into the regular army or National Guard, new questions are emerging about the future role of female soldiers who have proven themselves in combat and are consequently reluctant to be relegated to support roles behind the lines.

“We have a war, and women are serving,” Burlakova said. “And if a woman wants to be in combat, if she passes the tests, doesn’t break, and has already taken part in the war … then yeah, of course she should be allowed—she shouldn’t have to be a cook.”

A Grassroots War

As Ukraine’s civilian volunteer battalions merged into the Ukrainian National Guard and regular army this year, women serving in combat roles had to officially register for support positions such as cooks or headquarters staff.

Those who wanted to remain in combat roles skirted the rules by registering for non-combat jobs, and then remained on the front lines with their old units, which, despite moving under government control, remained largely intact.

The resulting problem is that there is no official documentation of a female soldier seeing combat, excluding her from awards and benefits.

Due to her unofficial status, for example, Burlakova never received a salary for the five months she spent as a soldier in Pisky. And she is not eligible to receive awards and benefits awarded to male combat veterans, because, as a woman, it was not technically permitted for her to be on the front line.

“You never get official status as someone who was in the war,” Burlakova said. “I’m not sure what the status of combat veteran gives. But I see the guys are so proud of it, and yeah, it would be nice to have it be official.”

According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, 67,697 Ukrainian soldiers have been granted “ATO participant status,” indicating combat zone service. This designation entitles certain Social Security benefits as well as free public transportation, first-in-line status for housing and land lots, zero-percent loans for private construction, and a 75-percent discount on public utility service bills.

Government data on the number of women granted ATO participant status was not immediately available, although according to Ukrainian media reports, about 25 percent of Ukraine’s 250,000 military personnel are women.

In 2014, about 100 women were mobilized for military service as part of an emergency program, and the Ministry of Defense announced plans this year to potentially open up the national draft to include women between 20 and 50 years old.

On Equal Footing

Ukraine’s female soldiers serve alongside their male counterparts, enduring the same risks and battlefield living conditions. And while some of the male soldiers demonstrate a protective disposition toward the female soldiers, the women are resistant to special treatment and work to prove themselves as equals.

“Julia faced all the same problems, as everyday problems, physical and mental, as the male fighters,” Mikheychenko said.

“At the same time, the commanders tried in every way to protect her,” he added. “For example, Julia rarely came out on duty in a combat patrol, but she always asked that we put her in, in order to be on an equal footing with everyone else. At the same time, sometimes she was allowed to participate in reconnaissance raids on neutral territory, or even behind enemy lines.”

Burlakova decided to become a soldier after visiting front-line positions while working as a journalist. She attended a military training camp but was initially dissuaded from combat service, thinking it would be too difficult.

Ukrainian women also served in the Red Army during World War II, including Russian-Ukrainian sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko, who was credited with killing 309 German soldiers.

A contemporary example of a Ukrainian woman in combat is Nadiya Savchenko, a 33-year-old Ukrainian combat helicopter navigator who volunteered to serve with the Aidar battalion as a soldier in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Combined Russian-separatist forces captured Savchenko on June 18, 2014. She was accused of being a spotter during a mortar attack, which Russian authorities claim killed two Russian journalists. She is now being held in Russia after a year in custody in Donetsk and faces up to 25 years in prison.

Continued............

[OUTLAW 09]

Russo Ukrainian war is now starting to escalate badly AND not a single peep from Obama, Hollande and Merkel –the three that triggered this round of fighting due to the unilateral appeasement moves they pressured the Ukraine to accept AND now the Ukraine is paying the price for their rather dumb moves.

Tymchuk: Militants redeploy artillery to #Starohnativka and #Novolaspa
http://www.unian.info/war/1110664-tymchuk-militants-redeploy-artillery-to-starohnativka-and-novolaspa.html … pic.twitter.com/65FoeKzFh0

Russian military did the same type of artillery moves towards the Debaltseve battle THAT the EU and the US never complained about as it was the first true and direct violation of the just concluded Minsk 2.

.

Lysenko: On the western outskirts of #Donetsk, military situation escalates.

12 enemy drones spotted in ATO zone over the day. Another enemy drone crossed the administrative border with Crimea http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/12-august-12-enemy-drones-spotted-in-ato-zone-over-the-day …

Col.Lysenko: Mariupol sector: combat situation continues aggravating. The epicenter of confrontation – line from Bohdanivka to Starohnativka

ATO spox: The enemy fired with heavy weapons Ukrainian checkpoints near Berezove village twice.

ATO spox: One Ukrainian serviceman KIA, 3 were wounded in action in last 24 hours http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/12-august-ato-spox-one-ukrainian-serviceman-kia-3-were-wounded …

ATO spokesperson: Militants cannonaded Ukrainian positions near Troitske village with 152mm howitzers.

Col. Andriy Lysenko: 120mm shelling of UA positions near Zaitseve was recorded yesterday at night.

ATO spox: Donetsk sector: Situation in the area near Svitlodarsk remains restless. Ьilitants attacked UA positions, but unsuccessfully

Col. Lysenko: In the western part of Luhansk region, no military activities took place yesterday.

Col. Lysenko: Luhansk sector: Unabated enemy shelling of UA positions near Stanytsia Luhanska, Shchastya and Krymske occurred yesterday

Russians are using Hurricane now against Ukrainian positions. Yet another step up in hostilities. https://twitter.com/uacrisis/status/631400287446671360 …

ATO spokesperson: The enemy used MLRS “Hurricane” against UA positions near Bohdanivka.

MAP: Situation in Eastern Ukraine August 12. Militant shelling across the entire line of demarcation pic.twitter.com/v7RyGDTNrE

Last night as a result shelling of Avdiivka gas pipeline caught fire, homes damaged/destroyed
http://www.mns.gov.ua/news/41338.html pic.twitter.com/Tltdc6EWY3

[OUTLAW 09]

Sept 2014. 17th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade from Russia with SAU Msta-s near Novoazovsk wind farm in Ukraine. https://twitter.com/askai707/status/603174915135709185 …

More Russian supported “war crimes against Ukrainian POWs”
Ukraine POW about captivity in #DNR: they took hot iron & "ironed" my arm. Wanted it 2 sizzle http://www.radiosvoboda.org/content/article/27182947.html … pic.twitter.com/92lO6kX5fW

Ukraine : Need help. Can anyone help identify these blue train cars w/ white logo in center? pic.twitter.com/QFTGqJdLCL

Russian military transport brigade identified carrying “humanitarian aid” in latest illegal Russian convoy—
Russian 69th Brigade Transports 'Humanit. Aid' Under The Guise of EMERCOM: https://en.informnapalm.org/the-russian-69th-brigade-s-servicemen-transport-humanitarian-aid-to-donbas-under-the-guise-of-emercom/ … pic.twitter.com/GGOw546lDQ

[OUTLAW 09]

The story behind the DNR's Dirty Bomb: A Thwarted Putin False Flag Operation?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2015/08/11/the-dirty-bomb-a-thwarted-putin-false-flag-operation/ …

The Dirty Bomb: A Thwarted Putin False Flag Operation?


The Western media has decided to carry the story of a dirty bomb purportedly being assembled in Donetsk by rebel forces with the aid of Russian nuclear scientists. The accounts in The Times of London, Newsweek and Fox News cite Ukrainian intelligence sources, being careful to note that the Ukrainian intelligence cannot be independently verified. Nevertheless, they find the story of a Donetsk bunker full of radioactive waste and the arrival of nuclear scientists from Russia plausible enough to follow up. Most rebel leaders interviewed denied the story, but some boasted of the prospect of a nuclear weapon at their disposal. Rosatom, Russia’s nuclear energy agency, also denied sending scientists to Donetsk. Tight security prevented reporters from visiting the site of the chemical plant where the radioactive bunker is located.

Russian-backed news outlets decry the unprofessional coverage of Western mainstream media, who they claim employ novice reporters to cover the Ukraine battlefield. This, they say, is a false story not worth reporting.

Kremlin propaganda had already been peddling its own dirty bomb story. Its version accused Ukraine, not the Russian-backed rebels. LiveLeak reported that Ukrainian nationalists were caught trafficking in nuclear materials and radioactive substances with the potential to make a dirty bomb. Fascist Ukrainian organizations, they claim, are behind these nuclear escapades.

The mainstream media missed the signs pointing to a Kremlin false-flag operation aimed at blaming Ukraine for having (and using) a dirty bomb. Ukrainian analysts saw through it right away as another typical Putinesque provocation.

Imagine how a dirty bomb explosion somewhere in southeastern Ukraine, blamed on the Ukrainian neo-Nazi junta, would neutralize all the negativity associated with the Crimean annexation, the veto of the UN MH17 tribunal, the presence of regular Russian forces in Ukraine, and aggressive exercises against NATO countries. Putin would say the irate Russian people would leave him no choice but to expand military operations and that the West would have to stand by and watch it happen.

Russia sets up false-flag operations with patience and care. The Ukraine-junta-dirty-bomb story actually dates back to an April 9 address by the head of Ukraine’s national security council, Oleksander Turchynov. In his remarks (as summarized by Reuters), Turchynov laid out a Ukrainian military strategy based on continued Russian aggression and cooperation with NATO. Any mention of building a nuclear weapon, either conventional or dirty, would have been a headline that no reputable news organizations would have missed.

Moscow heard something quite different from Turchynov, whom it labeled a “moron” and accused of having an “inflamed mentality.” On April 22, the official news service of the Kremlin (TASS) claimed that Turchynov “told reporters on April 9 the Ukrainian authorities were allegedly bracing themselves for implementation of a number of unspecified confidential nuclear programs to create either nuclear weapons or a ‘dirty bomb.’” TASS warned “the creation of a ‘dirty bomb’ that incorporates fissionable materials will turn Ukraine into a rogue state . . . and would bring up the application of provisions of Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.”

Here is Putin going for broke. Chapter 7 allows the UN to intercede with the armed forces of member countries to restore international peace and security. Putin would claim that Russia, as a member of the UN Security Council must send in its own troops to restore order in its neighbor, Ukraine.

The video link carrying Turchynov’s allegedly controversial statements at his press conference identified by Russian news accounts does not work.

Contrary to Russian accounts, Turchynov’s April 9 address made no mention of nuclear weapons; on the same day Ukraine’s presidential adviser on strategic issues declared that Ukraine has no capacity to restore nuclear weapons.

Although missing the false-flag story, the mainstream media put Russian propagandists on the defensive. Instead of aggressively promoting the Ukrainian junta-dirty-bomb narrative, the Kremlin had to portray itself as the victim of another American false-flag intrigue. The Kremlin troll publication Novorossiya Daily included a story that complained:

“The last few times that the US tried this, with the downing of MH-17 and then the ‘shelling of Mariupol’ false flag, the US felt unable gain the upper hand either through regular proxy combat or its policy of terrorism upon civilians.”

So there you have it: the United States shot down MH17 so as to blame the Kremlin. The Ukrainian soldiers and civilians being killed daily in shelling around Mariupol are actually being killed by CIA and Blackwater agents. Russian foreign policies are again based on statements that were culled from the subconscious mind of a former secretary of state; the existence of Ukraine’s dirty bomb rests on statements of Ukrainian officials that were never made. Welcome again to Putin’s looking glass.

Skeptics will argue that Vladimir Putin cannot use a dirty bomb as a false flag operation because it would sicken and kill civilians in occupied Ukrainian territory and maybe even Russians across the nearby border. But the loss of civilian life in pursuit of political objectives has never deterred Putin, going back to the Moscow apartment bombings that brought him to power, his total war against Chechnya, and the loss of more than 6,000 lives in Ukraine. Even if we grant this point, would it not be too risky? Surely an investigation would identify the guilty party. On this count, Putin is sure of one thing: His propaganda machine can convince the Russian people that white is black and blue is red. If the Russian people believe that Ukraine set off a dirty bomb, it doesn’t matter much what other countries think.

[OUTLAW 09]

The story behind the DNR's Dirty Bomb: A Thwarted Putin False Flag Operation?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2015/08/11/the-dirty-bomb-a-thwarted-putin-false-flag-operation/ …

The Dirty Bomb: A Thwarted Putin False Flag Operation?


What is interesting is that Max Tucker broke this story for the UK Independent and not a single western and or US mass news media outlet covered the story--except for Forbes.

WHAT is also interesting is that it was social media that conducted their own open source analysis that backed up what Tucker was saying and had been questioning Russian activities at the chemical plant for the last several months.

The value of social media open source analysis in a Russian hybrid war.

Immense!!!

[OUTLAW 09]

The Russian FM "staged press conference" with the KSA FM and the Russian FM about Syria and Assad did not go well at all for the Russians NOT AT ALL WELL.

The Russian FM defended keeping Assad--the KSA--Assad is the problem he must be kicked out before we can do anything with you.

Russian translators skipped over much of what the KSA FM stated about Assad.

THEN this today is leaked---

Sergei Lavrov, Russia, called a colleague from Saudi Arabia idiot (moron + filthy language)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UDiFm8vINo …

Sergei Lavrov moment of rage in a press conference with the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister

Lavrov gets busted on camera muttering '****ing morons' under breath at presser with Saudis

Lavrov said "Дебилы, блядь"
дебилы="handicapped/retards/imbeciles"
блядь means here 'f####! s####!' as interjection https://twitter.com/svaboda/status/631411519931174912 …

Pressure seems to be getting to the Russian FM--Assad is basically now losing Syria after defeat after defeat, the Russians are the "frozen party" in Ukraine and the Russian economy due to sanctions is sliding badly.

And yet he just keeps smiling and lying.

AND Obama and Kerry just keep on trusting him.....

[OUTLAW 09]

Taken from an interview yesterday conducted by DoS Kerry.

If the US Congress rejects the Iran nuclear deal, that could destabilize the country's relations with allies on other crucial issues, including the Ukrainian conflict, US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Tuesday (August 11), Voice of America reported.


"That is a recipe, quickly, my friends, for them to walk away from Ukraine, where they are already very dicey and ready to say, 'Well, we have done our bit," Kerry said, referring to efforts of European allies to support the Ukrainian government in its fight against Russian-backed rebels.

I would argue the US has not led a single millimeter under Obama as Obama needs Putin in order to complete his legacy ie resolving the Syria problem and getting the Iranian deal as well as a number of other issues.

NOW it appears that it is the Europeans that have been weak on Russian –BUT it was Obama, Nuland and Kerry together with Hollande and Merkel that forced the Ukrainians to accept several harmful unilateral appeasement moves in order to “save Putin’s face”.

It has been the US and Germany that have inhibited a number of NATO members from sending defensive weapons to the Ukraine and it has been France and Germany that has kept the Ukraine out of NATO and initially the EU and it was France and Germany that kept the Polish government out of Minsk 2 when they assisted France and Germany in getting the Maidan Agreement in the first place.

NOW for Kerry to argue anything else is simply disingenuous.

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.bne.eu/content/story/stolypin-russias-biggest-security-threat-its-security-forces

STOLYPIN: Russia’s biggest security threat: its security forces

Mark Galeotti of New York University

August 12, 2015


Russia regards itself as under threat. Perhaps that is not surprising. Pew Global’s latest survey of attitudes towards Russia found only three countries – Vietnam, Ghana and, by just 1%, China – regarding it overall in positive rather than negative terms. Meanwhile, US military officers queue up to describe it (laughably) as their country’s number one security challenge, Nato is reinvigorated, and the very thing the ill-starred Donbas adventure was meant to forestall, closer Ukrainian alignment with the West, is becoming increasingly evident.

Even before the present storm of Russophobia and Russianoia, though, Vladimir Putin was pre-emptively arming with all the profligate enthusiasm he cold muster. The 2011-2020 State Armament Programme envisaged a massive overhaul of military equipment, while a reform process launched in 2008 saw organisational changes meant to take fullest advantage of new capacities. Indeed, just in August a new Aerospace Forces command was established to unite air, air defence and space forces.

Although this is a process still very much underway – the smooth occupation of Crimea by elite units should not be considered evidence that all Russian troops are as professional and capable – it does mean that Russia today has military capacities it lacked in 2008, let alone 1998.

So is Russia more secure? There’s the rub. The depressing irony is that despite an array of real challenges, from the prospect of a rising Islamic State (IS) presence in the unruly North Caucasus to the quagmire in the Donbas region of Ukraine, in many ways the greatest threat comes from the security apparatus itself.

By this I do not mean the prospect of a coup or the like. That is not at all likely: in the main they are loyal to the Putin regime, and in any case there is a complex balance of terror in place dating back to the Soviet times to prevent any such “Bonapartism”. (Even just consider the triangular disposition of forces in Moscow itself, where a division of Interior Troops responsible to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, three army brigades and the Kremlin Guard watch and counter each other.) Rather, the threats they pose are multiple.

Home grown

Russia today faces no external, existential threats. Nato is not waiting for the moment to roll its shrinking numbers of tanks eastwards. (Let’s be honest: it never even wanted Ukraine as a member.) China is happy to buy whatever it wants from a Russia desperate to sell; who knows what the medium- to long-term future may hold, but for now Moscow needs Beijing and Beijing, well, finds Moscow sometimes useful and otherwise no more than mildly irksome. The North Caucasus remains a bleeding wound, but even if IS finds a foothold there, it cannot bleed Russia enough to kill it, but at most leave the region a necrotic mess.

Why might IS be able to penetrate the North Caucasus? Because the region is ruinously under-developed, subject to crippling levels of corruption, lawlessness and youth unemployment, and as a result prone to the kind of legitimacy gap that leaves populations prey to all kinds of radical solutions. This is an extreme but useful metaphor for the real threats to Russia: they are home grown. Domestic failures of governance generate domestic challenges, which may be exacerbated by external pressures and translated into alien idiom – after all, historically the North Caucasus was Muslim, but by no means prone to the kind of jihadist excesses for which first Al-Qaeda and then IS stand – but which are essentially native.

In this context, the Kremlin’s concentration on the forms of military and security power in the name of presumed national defence and geopolitical status actually become problems, if only the regime were willing to see this.

Eating security

The first and most obvious is the sheer cost of Putin’s aspirations. The initial armament programme envisaged spending around RUB23 trillion over ten years. While assigning a dollar value to this is difficult and meaningless in today’s volatile days, that’s something like a sustained 3.0-3.5% of GDP over that decade, assuming no dramatic further economic decline. This is around the same level as the US spends on its military: but remember, this is not the total defence budget but just procurement, spending on stocking up the toy box. Actually maintaining the military, and fighting an undeclared war in the Donbas, all that is extra, bringing the total up to at least 4.5%

That is a great deal of money for a country also grappling with the need to modernise its infrastructure, diversify its economy, top up its pension pot, uplift Crimea, cope with massive regional inequalities (worsened by over $100bn in regional debt) and also absorb the levels of embezzlement and corruption necessary to keep the elite in the style to which they have become accustomed.

Despite upbeat claims, there is already evidence of some attempts to shave away at this procurement budget, with some projects being staged (the usual euphemism for put on the back burner) and others scaled down. However, ultimately these commitments are at least as much about placating a politically powerful defence-industrial complex than actually giving the generals what they think they need. Considering the plight of so much of Russian manufacturing these days, although logic might suggest less spent on tanks and more on subsidising cars, the usual result is that the defence industrialists leverage this to protect their order books.

So what? Every ruble spent on a tank or a missile unlikely to be used in anger and in any case hardly necessary for national security, is a ruble not spent on something else that might actually be more useful. If one accepts that the real challenges to the security of the current Russian state are domestic, then one has to look at such issues as poverty, under-development, radicalisation, the brain drain, health, crime and terrorism. Halving the overall defence spend would be very unlikely to change Russia’s external threat environment. On the other hand, it would leave money to spend on schools and hospitals, on police officers and social workers, on microfinance in Dagestan and grants to encourage resettlement in the Russian Far East. In other words, to address some of those real problems. At present, though, the military and above all the defence industries are eating the funds that might otherwise be used more productively.

(In)security states of mind

Meanwhile, the very scale of the military reform programme and the way it has allowed at least part of the military to brought to a far higher level of operational readiness means that it inclines a regime which, after all, is run by people who feel a close affinity to the military without ever having served in the ranks, to an overconfident assertiveness that causes its own problems.

The very ease with which Crimea was taken seems to have been a crucial factor in the hasty decision to move on to the Donbas. The outcome is a miserable conflict with no good outcomes for Moscow, which has seen its global standing plummet, its forces sucked into an unacknowledged but obvious proxy war, and a downed civilian airliner on its record, if not it seems on its conscience.

Furthermore, following the old cliché that every problem looks like a nail if all you have is a hammer, the Kremlin – watching its soft power and its economic leverage drain away – turns to military means in a desperate bid to exert influence. Bombers buzzing Nato airspace, warships in the Mediterranean and missiles being hawked to the global awkward squad do not represent a bid to create a neo-Soviet empire, just a desperate and ham-fisted attempt to become sufficiently worrying to the West that it seems better to make a deal with Moscow rather than maintain the present confrontation.

Yet here is the irony: Russia’s new military capacities, while actually quite moderate, and its “heavy metal diplomacy” have empowered every hawkish Russophobe in the West and precisely make Moscow look like a threat. Frankly, if ever there was a time for a statesmanlike willingness to step back from military postures and, by slashing defence expenditures address at once the country’s geopolitical and economic threats, it is now. No statesmen of that sort seem to be occupying the Kremlin, alas.

Mark Galeotti is Professor of Global Affairs at the SPS Center for Global Affairs, New York University. He writes the blog In Moscow’s Shadows (http://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/) and tweets as @MarkGaleotti.

[OUTLAW 09]

This is a major reason Putin demanded from the Ukrainians a “sign of good faith” meaning they had to pull their troops back—the Russian forces were losing constantly in Shirokyne and it took Putin to get them out of their predicament.

AND the US assisted Putin in their unilateral demands on the Ukraine to comply.

Azov commander: "In Shirokyne Russian forces lost 800 men" via @ZIK_IA @ostro_v http://ift.tt/1NpUsG2

So now after complying to the US demands the UAF are getting shelled and ground attacks in the same town that was suppose to be a DMZ as proposed by Putin.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is attempting to physically change the appearance of the area surrounding the launch site of the BUK that shot down MH17--clear evidence they know who shot down the civilian airliner and the changes will be then used to argue see the evidence videos do not match the physical environment.

BUT the Russians failed to realize just how the social media open source analysis has a far deeper understanding on how to use the social media and internet to recover "long thought deleted evidence".

More evidence of attempts to alter the appearance of the location of the Luhansk #MH17 video. More soon @Bellingcat pic.twitter.com/6IAPXn2det

New RU #MH17 theory: there were 2 CIA-planted bombs onboard + CIA shot a BUK from rebel land, in operation "17.17" http://www.kp.ru/daily/26419.3/3291610/ …

More Russian fake info on their new shot down version of--"it was the CIA".

The David Stern in their leaked recording - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPXpPWSBct0 …

Has a different accent to the real David Stern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BhJifVhqFU …

Here's the scripted sounded CIA agent #MH17 phone calls Life News published. Does this sound real to anyone at all? https://youtu.be/4BhJifVhqFU

Of course, this totally fails to explain the main examples of #MH17 debris with inward point holes.....

According to them two bombs were placed on board which blew the plane up, and a Ukrainian Buk was meant to fire on it too.

The http://Joker.buzz evidence was shared with Life News, it's totally laughable. The CIA did it! http://www.kp.ru/daily/26419.3/3291610/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

The Russian FM statement "accusing the Ukraine of being irresponsible" seems to fly in the face of the ground reality and of actual Russian troop and her mercenaries released yesterday combat videos indicating they are the one's directly attacking.

By hey as long as the Western leaders Obama, Hollande and Merkel say absolutely nothing currently on the ongoing heavy fighting started by Russian troops and her mercenaries THEN I guess the Russians can continue to state "irresponsible".

News
Steady increase of BM-21 #Grad use by Russian forces acc. to the Ukr army.
5 times (among 87 attacks) on Tuesday.

ATO presser reported 87 russian attacks yday. After midnight they hit w GRADs #Vodyane, #Optyne, #Pisky, Novoselivka http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2015/08/12/7077557/ …

Map depicting fighting areas---
87 attacks (-8) of Russian forces on August, 11.
5 - with MLRS Grad - ATO HQ
pic.twitter.com/ghy5YufweY

@LUGANSK_TODAY Here you go : #Lugansk Armed Camp 2015 pic.twitter.com/SzN2m7X8EO

Donetsk 7:54AM
Ruscist convoy of 7 Urals, empty, on Chelyuskintsev str to south https://twitter.com/nixer79/status/631329991838576640 …

06:31 #Avdiivka @JuZolyshkaLia Power down
#donbasreports

06:26 [#Stepne] @Darren_Aro They shelled at our direction, it was rumble here... https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631326941090426880 …

#Donetsk 5:30AM
Kirovsk ds - For at least half hour can be heard heavy single shots. A little vibration in the air. https://twitter.com/UrriKara4en/status/631294459490209792 …

05:15 #Donetsk @ropogckou since 5am Donetsk can hear distant short MLRS volleys and explosions far away

05:12 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 [outgoing] SPGs from Molodizhny area, destination unclear, no explosions heard

03:42 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy Distant volley - [close] blast [interval is] about 6 seconds

03:28 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy 7-10 incoming in the city west (Grigoriev ettles - Donetsk bypass?)

03:25 #Makiivka @PaulVezko Heavy distant rumbles each 30-60sec

03:30 #Makiivka @Don_esoteric Those are incoming, mortar, 2 sec between round and landing
#donbasreports

03:12 #Russian #propaganda woke up @zvezdanews "National guard keeps shelling #Horlivka with Grads" https://twitter.com/zvezdanews/status/631256918602960896 …

The Russians have been trying hard to find a way out of Minsk 2 as it actually “froze them not the Ukrainians” to demands and requirements they were never going to fulfill.

Pushilin: #Donetsk 'rebels' say Normandy talks on #Ukraine impossible now - RIA

[OUTLAW 09]

HERE COMES THE RUSSIAN PROVOCATION



MOSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. More than 90 tanks, artillery and armored vehicles of Ukraine’s Armed Forces have been moved towards the contact line in Donbas, the defense ministry spokesman of the self-proclaimed Donetsk republic said on Wednesday.

Moscow calls on Kiev to show restraint after failed attempt to break militias' defense

WTH is this statement when even Russian combat videos depicted Russian attacks on Ukrainian positions --typical Russian Orwellian doublespeak.

The movement of troops and equipment to the areas close to the frontline comes with the use of fraudulent maneuvers, Eduard Basurin told reporters citing intelligence data.

The vehicles were found in the villages of Kodema, Prohorovka, Nevelsky and Andreyevka.

This comes in violation of the February 12 Minsk agreements which envisage the pullout of all heavy weapons by both sides to equal distance with the aim of creating a security zone on at least 50 kilometers apart for artillery systems of 100 mm caliber or more.The pro-Kremlin report says DNR received a telephone message on civilian and military targets on possible air strikes.
- a provocation.

Russia's DNR declare alarm .."All units are prepared for a full-scale [#Ukraine] offensive"
http://cassad.net/vazhnoe/16232-v-dnr-obyavlena-boevaya-trevoga.html … pic.twitter.com/81FHNesm34

The #DNR has declared red alert. Something is going on in #Donetsk. http://goo.gl/KiKqE9 pic.twitter.com/X57Vi08XvD
BREAKING: #DPR declared red alert: "All units are prepared for a full-scale [#Ukraine] offensive, prepared for possible air strikes"BY THE WAY: the following was a standard Soviet Army concept that NATO followed closely on every maneuver held by the SU in the GDR and Poland.

The movement of troops and equipment to the areas close to the frontline comes with the use of fraudulent maneuvers, Eduard Basurin told reporters citing intelligence data.

Interesting how they turn it on the Ukraine now--typical Russian Orwellian doublespeak at work. Basurin by the way works for the Russian GRU and FSB.

[OUTLAW 09]

Money and drugs stopped on the way to #Donetsk by Security Service of Ukraine. Read at http://lugansk-news.com/money-and-drugs-stopped-on-the-way-to-donetsk-by-security-service-of-ukraine/ … pic.twitter.com/1sk7dqHJT4

During last day militants attacked checkpoints Mariinka & Berezove. 12 enemy drone flights recorded - Border guards
http://dpsu.gov.ua/ua/about/news/news_8194.htm …

Russia's MSTA-C and artillery unit of 17th IMRB brigade in Ukraine.
https://translate.google.com.ua/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=https://informnapalm.org/11391-sau-msta-s-novoazovskom&prev=search … pic.twitter.com/W34ShsmKeK

BreakingNews
Russian forces used the BM-27 #Uragan against Ukrainian positions in #Starohnativka last night
First time since half a year.

Russia mercenary supply creativity at work---
Border patrol guards found pipeline for smuggling gas at border with Russia
http://dpsu.gov.ua/ua/about/news/news_8187.htm … pic.twitter.com/QjS3xLobQM

167 National Guard soldiers killed, 708 wounded, 30 missing and 10 captured by terrorists since beginning of the ATO
http://en.censor.net.ua/news/347461/167_national_guard_soldiers_killed_708_wounded_30_ missing_10_captured_by_terrorists_since_antiterror ist

BTW--killed and wounded figures for the UAF do not include those loses within the NG and or the various independent volunteer BNs.

The Russian 8th Motorized Rifle Brigade as Part of the “People’s Militia” of LNR: https://en.informnapalm.org/the-russian-8th-motorized-rifle-brigade-as-part-of-the-people-s-militia-of-lnr/ … pic.twitter.com/sUTPVsaYPB

Russia's information soldiers are being moved into position, as fighting intensifies in e. #Ukraine

[OUTLAW 09]

Really good article as it might explain the Ukrainian ability to hold their on right now--they have a total 64K under arms and yet the Russians have 34K inside the ukraine and an estimated 55-85K on the borders and yet they are going no where fast on the ground.

http://warontherocks.com/2015/08/ukraine-and-the-art-of-exhaustion/

Ukraine and the Art of Exhaustion


Long-Form | August 11, 2015 | Lawrence Freedman

I keep going back to this article for a number of reasons that have started appearing over the last few weeks.

The West and even the Ukraine after the signing of Minsk 2 assumed that the Ukraine would be forced to concede everything Putin wanted and especially after he sent in the Russian army or at the very least it would be frozen along the Putin demands of a Bosnian solution.

Since Feb 2015 the Ukraine through some astute moves both with their military and politically have actually "frozen Putin now".

BTW with no and or little assistance from the US and Europe.

In this Russian MoD article it appears Russia also concedes they are frozen and must in the end push for a military solution which one writer say will be the end of August early Sept.

IMHO they are going for it now as the Ukraine is dry and tank ready.

Evidence of #Russia's plans 4 a major #Ukraine offensive late summer buried in this MoD report
http://tvzvezda.ru/news/vstrane_i_mire/content/201508121315-pv07.htm …

Maybe agitprop but there is always a grain of truth in agitprop----

Komsomolske: 'Militants' instructed locals to prepare their basements for August 18th http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2015/08/12/7077610/ … via @ukrpravda_news

[OUTLAW 09]

More Russian fake info on their new shot down version of--"it was the CIA".

The David Stern in their leaked recording - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPXpPWSBct0 …

Has a different accent to the real David Stern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BhJifVhqFU …

Here's the scripted sounded CIA agent #MH17 phone calls Life News published. Does this sound real to anyone at all? https://youtu.be/4BhJifVhqFU

Of course, this totally fails to explain the main examples of #MH17 debris with inward point holes.....

According to them two bombs were placed on board which blew the plane up, and a Ukrainian Buk was meant to fire on it too.

The http://Joker.buzz evidence was shared with Life News, it's totally laughable. The CIA did it! http://www.kp.ru/daily/26419.3/3291610/ …

FSB releases audio of "CIA agents" involved in MH-17 shootdown. They are more "Mr Bean" than "James Bond":

Russia's #MH17 mis-information became even more ridiculous"
Fake video of 'SBU agents in the cockpit of SAM "Buk"'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9Zj4-t1Wbo …

As the Russians attempt to spread another fake story and or stories to deflect the investigation--this---

Dutch prosecutor: Investigators close to establishing responsible for MH17 crash
http://www.unian.info/world/1110816-dutch-prosecutor-investigators-close-to-establishing-responsible-for-mh17-crash.html … pic.twitter.com/Hxa671Koes

[OUTLAW 09]

HERE COMES THE RUSSIAN PROVOCATION

The pro-Kremlin report says DNR received a telephone message on civilian and military targets on possible air strikes.
- a provocation.

Russia's DNR declare alarm .."All units are prepared for a full-scale [#Ukraine] offensive"
http://cassad.net/vazhnoe/16232-v-dnr-obyavlena-boevaya-trevoga.html … pic.twitter.com/81FHNesm34

The #DNR has declared red alert. Something is going on in #Donetsk. http://goo.gl/KiKqE9 pic.twitter.com/X57Vi08XvD
BREAKING: #DPR declared red alert: "All units are prepared for a full-scale [#Ukraine] offensive, prepared for possible air strikes"

BY THE WAY: the following was a standard Soviet Army concept that NATO followed closely on every maneuver held by the SU in the GDR and Poland.

The movement of troops and equipment to the areas close to the frontline comes with the use of fraudulent maneuvers, Eduard Basurin told reporters citing intelligence data.

Interesting how they turn it on the Ukraine now--typical Russian Orwellian doublespeak at work. Basurin by the way works for the Russian GRU and FSB.


Stakhanov
Ruscists announced curfew at 21:00hrs from 12.08.2015 https://twitter.com/100007182042214/status/631437155634647044 …

A convoy of military equipment arrived at night from Bryanka".
#Stakhanov

It's like they prepare smth. #Stakhanov announced curfew fr 21:00,
it was 23:00. Plus active movement of equipment. https://twitter.com/Villa_riba/status/631441761982877696 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Weather on the eastern front line is hot, dry and clear--may account for the majority of fighting going on in the evenings and at night due to the heat.

Which helps the UAF as it is harder to do combined arms maneuvers under the use of night vision as the UAF side has been getting a large number of night vision devices which has improved their night fighting abilities.

Patiently awaiting this evening as it will be the make it or break it for the Russian military and her mercenaries.

After two long days and the heavy use of Spetsnaz to find a breakthrough point they still have not broken through UAF defense lines combined with heavy manpower loses on the last two night attempts and the UAF has not been using their heavy artillery yet..

They are in the untenable situation of having to go for it and or standing down in defeat in their eyes as well in the eyes of Putin.

Keeping that large of force on a high stage of awaiting the attack signal and then not going will wear on their troops mentally and physically as the largest number of Russian troops in the Ukraine are conscript not volunteers/contractors.

The coming evening and night will be highly interesting.

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/12/ukraine-s-cold-war-gets-hot-as-combat-explodes-in-the-last-24-hours.html?via=ios

Annals of Escalation

08.12.151:00 AM ET

Ukraine’s Cold War Gets Hot as Combat Explodes in the Last 24 Hours


The most intense Russian-backed fighting in six months has occurred within the last 24 hours. But it’s where the flare-out has taken place that matters.

Monday morning saw some of the heaviest fighting in eastern Ukraine since the fall of Debaltsevo, almost a week after the signing of the second Minsk “cease-fire” agreement.

According to Ukrainian reports, hundreds of Russian-backed fighters took part in an assault, supported by tanks and artillery fire, on positions near the village of Starognatovka, in the south of the Donetsk region. The attack was repelled and Ukrainian forces made their first territorial gains since February 10. Since then, heavy artillery and Grad rockets have rained down across this section of the front line.

Kiev, which had already called a war cabinet on August 4, has responded by warning the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and its Western partners that it reserves the right to return heavy weaponry, withdrawn in accordance with Minsk II, to the front line. Monday Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered his foreign minister, Pavlo Klimkin, to arrange emergency consultations with other members of the “Normandy Four” — France, Germany and Russia.

While the Minsk ceasefire has been violated countless times since the fall of Debaltsevo, days after the signing of the agreement, this attack is of grave concern as it comes not only as the Kremlin and its proxies have raised the specter of “provocations” via threats of military action and attacks on the OSCE, but in an area of key strategic importance.

An OSCE statement released Tuesday said that recent attacks on their Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), including Sunday’s orchestrated protests and torching of four OSCE vehicles in separatist-held Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as two recent incidents in which SMM personnel came under fire, are endangering the role of the SMM in assisting with the implementation of Minsk II.

On the same day as the protests and arson attack on the OSCE, Evgeny Buzhinsky, a Moscow think tank head and former member of Russia’s General Staff, told the BBC that any Ukrainian move over the Minsk demarcation line could result in a full-scale military response from Russia.

Buzhinsky has made extreme threats before, claiming in February this year that any delivery of lethal weaponry to Ukraine by the USA would be seen by the Kremlin as a “declaration of war.”

He has also been keen to spread the claim that any Western intervention in the Ukrainian conflict could trigger nuclear war, a remote possibility that has been taken in by some of the more hysterically inclined members of the Western media.

The point of such statements is usually to scare off Westerners, to make them fear that any opposition to Russia’s plans may result in a nuclear holocaust. However, such high-profile individuals (and note here that Buzhinsky only retired from the General Staff in 2009) are likely used to disseminate specific political messages from the Kremlin, and the timing of Monday’s statement could well be a threat ahead of renewed military provocations in the Donbas.

And, in response to the attack Monday morning, judging from front-line reports, Ukraine did indeed go over the Minsk demarcation line as it launched a counter-attack.

In the early hours of August 10 Russian-backed forces pounded Ukrainian positions near the villages of Nikolaevka, Novogrigoryevka, Bogdanovka and Starognatovka with artillery and heavy mortars. Then, at around 3:20 a.m., a group of around 400 fighters launched an assault on a defensive position held by the Ukrainian 72nd Mechanized Brigade, near Starognatovka. They were supported, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said, by 10 tanks and 10 infantry fighting vehicles.

Aleksandr Samarsky, deputy commander of the 72nd, told a Ukrainian reporter: “Right now we have a contact fight, practically hand-to-hand. At first they hit our blockpost, apparently to zero in. They then shifted their fire on our positions and the village. There is destruction. We returned fire, after which their infantry went up to our positions.”

An hour later, the 72nd repelled the attack and were now on the offensive, pursuing the Russian-backed fighters back towards their own positions.

In fact, by 6 a.m., Ukrainian troops had entered the separatist-held village of Novolaspa, around 8 kilometers east of Starognatovka and were pushing out the Russian-backed fighters street by street. But then, having taken control of Novolaspa, Ukrainian troops were then ordered to withdraw for fear of being seen as in violation of Minsk II.

Perhaps heeding warnings such as that issued via Buzhinsky, Vladislav Seleznyov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian General Staff, has denied that Ukrainian troops ever entered Novolaspa, stressing that the village lay on the separatist side of the Minsk demarcation line and Ukraine had not violated the agreement. While Ukrainian troops were pulled back from Novolaspa, Kiev has made net territorial gains, taking control of a strategic hilltop just outside the village, allowing them commanding views over the valley of the river Kalmius, along which lie separatist-held towns and military positions. This is the first time that Ukrainian forces have gained ground since their brief offensive on February 10 this year.

The Russian-backed separatists have not released any casualty figures for Monday’s battle, but Misyura claimed “dozens if not hundreds” dead. The fighting was also costly for the Ukrainians: While the official report says one soldier was killed and nine wounded, Yana Zinkevych, chief of Pravyi Sektor’s medical unit, reported that seven Ukrainian fighters, three of them Pravyi Sektor members, had been killed and 11 wounded. (Pravyi Sektor is a highly controversial, far-right volunteer battalion fighting on behalf of Kiev.) Later Monday night, a volunteer group claimed that 19 wounded soldiers had been brought into a medical centre in Volnovakha over the last 24 hours.

Since the end of the battle, Ukrainian-held positions along this stretch of front have been subjected to repeated bombardment with heavy artillery and Grad rockets. These attacks continued throughout Monday, Monday night and into Tuesday. There are also reports that Ukraine has responded by shelling separatist-held settlements, most notably Telmanovo, where photos uploaded Monday showed smoke rising after alleged Grad bombardment by Ukrainian forces. The separatist-backed head of the Telmanovo administration, Sergei Ivanov, claimed Monday that a civilian woman had been killed.

Should these embers lead to all-out conflagration in this area of the front line, the implications for Mariupol, a city of enormous economic importance to the Donetsk region, would be grim. Mariupol, which was taken over by Russian-backed separatists for over a month last year before being retaken after two hard-fought battles, is of not only symbolic but vital economic significance to the region, as both a port and vast centre for steel production. It’s also a necessary win for Moscow’s proxies if Russia is to ever establish a “land bridge” from its own territory to illegally occupied and annexed Crimea.

What makes the latest flare-out worrisome is that it’s occurred in precisely the swathe of Ukrainian-held territory that any Russian pincer move on Mariupol would have to come.

To the west of Starognatovka, across sparsely inhabited fields, lies the Donetsk-Mariupol highway. Ukrainian troops hold most of this road, from Mariupol on the Azov coast up to separatist-held Yelenovka, south of Donetsk. Russia needs to push Ukrainian forces back from the river Kalmius and off the highway.

And even before Monday’s massive assault, it was clear that Russia was militarizing separatist-held territory along the eastern banks of the Kalmius.

For several months now, the OSCE has reported spotting concentrations of armor in several towns in this area: Komsomolskoye, Razdolnoye, Michurino and Telmanovo. At the end of June, the Ukrainian Dnipro-1 Battalion released drone footage revealing the rapid construction of a military base in the woods south of Sontsevo, complete with tanks, fuel bowsers and communications equipment. The speed and professionalism of the construction clearly indicates Russian military engineers’ work. The OSCE has also reported encountering military personnel in Russian uniforms in Petrovskoye, only a short distance north of Novolaspa. Our team at The Interpreter has documented, using abundant video and photographic evidence, the existence of a military training facility on the grounds of an agricultural college in Razdolnoye.

Ukraine is clearly aware of the importance of this front, and may well have already taken action to hinder the supply of armor from Russia: On July 6, a road bridge over the Kalmius in Razdolnoye was severely damaged by a blast, making the highway impassible to heavy vehicles. Kiev has not commented on the incident but the separatist claim that Ukrainian saboteurs planted explosives on the bridge.

Even if it takes a while for the bridge to be repaired, Russia can still send armor to territory north of Razdolnoye via the Uspenka border crossing, and to the south via occupied Novoazovsk, on the coast.

Russia may not be about to assault Mariupol right now, but the months of military build-up, followed by Monday’s assault, not to speak of the near-daily shelling along this section of the front line, indicates that such an offensive is a serious possibility.

[OUTLAW 09]

Drone footage shows ruins of militant-held town in east #Ukraine http://uatoday.tv/politics/drone-footage-shows-ruins-of-militant-held-town-in-east-ukraine-473818.html … #Horlivka pic.twitter.com/NYBIPwNDzE

VIDEO shows OSCE, Dutch and 'DPR' experts taking samples of suspected BUK launch location.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwizOTI_8o8 … pic.twitter.com/LpSwD56fJG

But I hope this was not the only location they sampled, because it was NOT the exact position.
(note the tree). pic.twitter.com/DeKYxTFRLR

Video how Russia-led terrorists cynically shell #Ukraine troops at Pisky by restricted via Minsk-2 120 mm artillery. https://youtu.be/ZgSBh2g8hug

Video of Russian 2014 invasion---

Field near Novoannovka on Aug7,14 and Aug31: Video was purportedly filmed there on Aug 29 - https://youtu.be/0N0rplcH32g pic.twitter.com/9ZPkYBP1tX

[OUTLAW 09]

The Russian FM "staged press conference" with the KSA FM and the Russian FM about Syria and Assad did not go well at all for the Russians NOT AT ALL WELL.

The Russian FM defended keeping Assad--the KSA--Assad is the problem he must be kicked out before we can do anything with you.

Russian translators skipped over much of what the KSA FM stated about Assad.

THEN this today is leaked---

Sergei Lavrov, Russia, called a colleague from Saudi Arabia idiot (moron + filthy language)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UDiFm8vINo …

Sergei Lavrov moment of rage in a press conference with the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister

Lavrov gets busted on camera muttering '****ing morons' under breath at presser with Saudis

Lavrov said "Дебилы, блядь"
дебилы="handicapped/retards/imbeciles"
блядь means here 'f####! s####!' as interjection https://twitter.com/svaboda/status/631411519931174912 …

Pressure seems to be getting to the Russian FM--Assad is basically now losing Syria after defeat after defeat, the Russians are the "frozen party" in Ukraine and the Russian economy due to sanctions is sliding badly.

And yet he just keeps smiling and lying.

AND Obama and Kerry just keep on trusting him.....

Honest to god --stated by the Russian FM when confronted about his under the breath curses at the KSA FM caught on video and audio.

Confronted with video of Lavrov saying "imbeciles" aloud and mouthing "fxxxxxx, @mfa_russia says: "What swearword? We didn't hear anything"

[OUTLAW 09]

A new ELN policy-brief on NATO/Russia military exercises has received global coverage, read the full report here -
http://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/preparing-for-the-worst-are-russian-and-nato-military-exercises-making-war-in-europe-more-likely_2997.html …

The Anatomy of a
#NATO exercise: http://goo.gl/hhCHjX
#Russian exercise: http://goo.gl/2uOsnQ
by @FrearUK pic.twitter.com/EMdvN0tXbE

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is having a bad hair day--first their very own FM gets caught on video and audio AND denies it even with the video and NOW the Russian MoD gets caught out in left field and is backpedaling badly.

Russia’s own videos and photos from their recent Baltic bombing exercises is now being called by the Russian MoD ---"photoshopping"----but it was their own photos—how strange is that---they just got caught out in left field.

BREAKINGNEWS
RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY CALLS OUR REPORT ON "TO-BERLIN" BOMB #STUPID,TO PROVOKE ANTI-RUSSIAN SENTIMENTS,PICTURE #PHOTOMONTAGE

After 230 Russian newspapers reported on it!!! Baltic Fleet spox called it "naval humor" to Russian news site: http://regnum.ru/news/polit/1951297.html …

and Sputnik is not sure what to say, but confirms pics are real http://www.sputniknews.com/military/20150812/1025658654/germany-russia-military-exercises-bombs.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/03/why-is-ukraine-s-war-so-bloody-the-soviet-union-trained-both-sides.html

Killing Fields

02.03.155:45 AM ET

Why Is Ukraine’s War So Bloody? The Soviet Union Trained Both Sides.


“First we work with massive artillery fire to clean up space and then infantry and tanks roll in.”

KIEV — Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian rebels have intensified exchanges of heavy artillery fire in several towns and villages in eastern Ukraine these last few days, destroying houses, slaughtering the people in them, blowing to bits passengers in public transport and mowing down pedestrians.

Time and again, each side blames the other for the needless carnage and the massive collateral damage. But that’s not the only reason it’s sometimes hard to tell who is doing what to whom. The real problem is that the commanders on both sides of the lines used to be in the same army before the breakup of the Soviet Union, and even the younger ones have learned the same military doctrines that date back to the days of Stalin, and are absolutely brutal.

Vasily Budik, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense ministry, described the core approach of the combat operations in the eastern Ukraine: “First we work with massive artillery fire to clean up space and then infantry and tanks roll in,” he told me over the phone. “That approach has been the same forever.”

Just so. It’s not about hearts and minds, it’s about bodies and real estate.

The Ukrainian military also uses a lot of the same equipment as the Russians, with minor differences. For example, the Ukrainian military mount their Grads (multiple rocket launchings systems) on Ural trucks, while pro-Russian forces used Kamaz trucks.

Such weapons are blunt instruments, and they often are clumsily employed. (The Ukraine defense ministry claims pro-Russian forces have also deployed newer weapons in the past few weeks—one of them, called Buratino, or "Pinocchio," allegedly fired powerful thermobaric bombs.) Complicating the situation, there are irregular forces on both sides, with Russian military professionals trying to keep a relatively low profile behind the often-impulsive rebels and the regular Ukrainian forces, which, at best, are uneasy with the volunteer units fighting alongside them.

Speaking at a cafe in Kiev on Friday, Ukrainian officers at the table looked gloomy, discussing the protest outside the defense ministry’s gate by members of the volunteer Aidar Battalion. The protesters complained of what they called a “real mess” in their own forces. They claimed that earlier in the week a Ukrainian defense ministry unit fired artillery, Grads and mortars 15 to 20 times against the Aidar Battalion’s positions, even though they are all supposed to be on the same side.

Every day adults and children die as a result of the traditional post-Soviet methods applied around the clock both by Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces in thickly populated urban areas. Since the beginning last year of what the Ukrainian forces call their “anti-terrorist operations” in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, more than 5,000 people have been killed and over a million have fled their homes. On Saturday officials reported 12 civilians killed in artillery fire in Debaltsevo, while in rebel-controlled Donetsk, six people were killed by artillery attacks from the direction of Donetsk airport.

Human Rights Watch has kept a record of dozens of cases violating the laws of war in eastern Ukraine. “Sadly we are seeing that both sides are using many of the same weapons and committing many of the same violations,” says Ole Solvang, senior researcher in HRW’s emergencies division. “They both have used Grad rockets extensively, leading to significant civilian casualties. Both Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces are using explosive weapons such as artillery—often not being able to target
them properly.”

Ukrainian officers say operations have suffered as a result of the old-style vertical command structure, with each unit waiting for orders to come down from the top of the military hierarchy. They long for the more flexible approach employed by Western armies, notably the United States. “If only we had American-style higher technology, where two men could eliminate the enemy’s rocket launcher within one and a half minutes, we would not need 50,000 people on the front, we’d finish this war in a few weeks,” says Yevgeny Vitchenko, an officer at the ministry of defense. But bad as things are, Vitchenko denied that Ukrainian forces ever fired accidentally at civilians.

The only plan Ukraine has at the moment is to increase the number of units arrayed against the constantly growing pro-Russian contingent, up from about 40,000 regular soldiers fighting against about the same number of rebels to 50,000 and more.

Soviet military schools did not train the army for fighting in the cities, says independent Russian military expert Alexander Golts. “We saw this kind of war by Grad in Grozny during the second Chechen war—it never takes you anywhere but to a bad aftermath of civilian deaths. The military always will be blamed for that. And this time Russia is involved in a military operation that it can neither stop, nor win,” Golts said. “Besides, there is no discipline in the rebel forces. They keep provoking fire from the Ukrainian military by placing a mortar or by setting off a couple of mines in the middle of a street to cause trouble.” Golts considers such tactics for urban warfare a “dead end.”

Serhiy Halushko of Ukraine’s ministry of defense attended the Soviet Suvorov military school, then later served with the Ukrainian contingent in the allied coalition in Iraq in 2008. With a tense face, he told The Daily Beast about the last few months of what’s been called Russia’s “hybrid war” of covert action and overt military force aimed at Ukraine.

At first Moscow planned to create a guerrilla army of local recruits, says Halushko, but “as locals did not want to become guerrilla fighters, Russia had to deploy the professional military to fight against us in the end of summer.”

Halushko cautions that, whatever its problems, the “modern Russian army should not be underestimated” and “it has improved significantly since the first Chechen war.”

While the doctrines for urban combat by the Ukrainians and the Russians are much the same, the bigger military picture is not even remotely comparable.

Russia’s defense expenditures have nearly doubled since 2007. Last year it spent $69.3 billion on its army needs, the third largest military budget in the world, after the U.S. and China. The military reform launched in 2010 was a 10-year weapons-modernization program with a budget of $720 billion.

Last December Ukraine also decided to double its military budget, but the announced increase to $3.2 billion is only a tiny fraction of Russian expenditure. The latest strategic doctrine from Ukraine, adopted in 2012, did not name any specific enemy, while the new doctrine signed by Vladimir Putin in December named NATO as Russia’s top military threat. It also said that Russia could use nuclear weapons “as part of strategic deterrent measures,” and also in case of aggression that “threatens the very existence” of the Russian state.

Is it possible that the war in Ukraine could develop into a bigger international conflict involving nuclear weapons? Some Russians like to play with that idea. “If USA-backed Kiev does not stop killing the people of Donbas [eastern Ukraine] now, it could be WWIII,” Yuriy Krupnov, a pro-Kremlin analyst, told The Daily Beast. “We would rather use nuclear against NATO’s constant threats, than live on our knees for ever. It goes without saying that the conflict in Ukraine is a between us and United States, with USA attacking our borders, our people.”

Amid such dramatic rhetoric, the Grads continue blasting apart one family’s life after another in an approach that has been the same forever.

[OUTLAW 09]

Read&think: OSCE ObservMission @ RUS Checkpoints:

http://www.osce.org/node/176816

RUS steals UKR coal, refuels its war hardware, rotates personnel

[OUTLAW 09]

Pro #Russia|n media outlet:
Ukrainian assault could "begin at any minute"


Pushilin (DNR Defense Minister-GRU/FSB): 'Full-Scale Fighting Could Break Out At Any Moment'

15:11 (GMT)


With the current escalation in fighting, messages from the Kremlin, their separatist proxies and their supporting media today are most disquieting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is broadcasting the message that violence is escalating in eastern Ukraine, but at the hands of the government's forces. The Kremlin press service announced that Putin will hold an "operative meeting" with the Russian Security Council today in order to address the worsening violence. RFE/RL reports:

The Kremlin said the focus of the meeting was on attacks on pro-Russian separatists as well as residents of eastern Ukraine, implying that the attacks were being carried out by Ukrainian government forces.

Russia's Foreign Ministry on August 11 also complained that the situation on the front line has deteriorated in recent days and urged Kyiv to end what Moscow said were "irresponsible actions."

Eduard Basurin, the deputy commander of the DNR's armed forces, told Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency today that Ukraine had moved 12 Grad MLRS and more than twenty armoured units up to within 20 km of the contact line near Kodema, north of Gorlovka.

Denis Pushilin, the DNR's envoy at the Minsk peace talks, gave a press conference today at which he claimed that Ukrainian forces had conducted 150-180 attacks over the last 24 hours, a dramatic rise over the 30 or so attacks reported daily by the separatists throughout the 'ceasefire.'

"Therefore," Pushilin said, "this is a cause for serious concern."
Pushilin warned ominously that "full-scale fighting could break out at any moment."

Zvezda TV, which is owned by the Russian Ministry of Defence, reports this afternoon that they have been told by "sources in the defence ministry of the Donetsk People's Republic [DNR]" that all separatist fighters (including those fighting for the Lugansk 'People's Republic') are being recalled from leave.

The separatist sources claim that a Ukrainian offensive may be imminent, and that their leadership has received "warnings of possible air strikes."

This, in itself, seems highly unlikely as Ukrainian Air Force operations over the Donbass ground to a halt last year due to the widespread deployment of surface-to-air missile systems in separatist-held territory. Ukrainian military flights over the region would be at great risk of being shot down from portable missile systems (MANPADS), or Strela-10 and Pantsir-S1 systems.

Zvezda cites comments made to Argumenty i Fakty today by Rostislav Ischenko, president of the Centre for Systematic Analysis and Forecasting:

"Sooner or later, real fighting will start because it is impossible to resolve this situation by other means. And both sides are preparing for this. Some experts say that the war will begin in October. I think it will be sooner: at the end of August or the beginning of September."

Ischenko, who was born in Kiev, left Ukraine after the collapse of the Yanukovych government and was involved in former Kharkiv governor Mikhail Dobkin's Ukrainian Front anti-Maidan movement.

Pro-separatist blogger Colonel Cassad wrote this afternoon that artillery duels were now raging between both sides in the Donetsk region, with wide-scale use of multiple-launch rocket systems.

Russian-backed fighters, he said, are reinforcing their positions "in anticipation of an offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces."

"According to various sources, the beginning of the active phase is expected in the coming days, if leaders aren't able to slow down the situation by diplomatic means."

Icorpus, another pro-separatist media outlet, claimed today that a Ukrainian assault could "begin at any minute," adding that:

"With every passing hour, the Ukrainian armed forces are increasing their numbers of armoured vehicles, artillery and manpower along the contact line."

Previous periods of escalation in fighting were preceded by increased rhetoric coming out of the Russian government, the Russian media, and statements by the Russian-backed separatists. This pattern, which some believe is orchestrated by the Kremlin, clearly connects the increasing violence in eastern Ukraine with the intentions of Moscow, effectively broadcasting a threat (albeit a veiled one) from the Russian government to Ukraine and its allies.

There are too many coincidences at the minute which suggest that the Russian government and its proxies want everyone to think that a separatist offensive is just over the horizon.

Monday's escalation in fighting has many Ukraine-Russia watchers paying closer attention. Possible disinformation campaigns put out earlier in the week in pro-separatist outlets and social media accounts indicated that the Russian-backed fighters could launch an offensive as early as today.

Basurin's statements earlier in the week that Ukraine, not the separatists, launched Monday's attack, and his statements today that Ukraine is deploying multiple-launch rocket systems to the front, add an urgency and a plausible motive for action by the Russian-backed fighters. That urgency is underscored by Pushilin's statement about Ukrainian artillery attacks and the report from the DNR defense ministry that DNR and LNR troops are being called up (which was broadcast by the Kremlin's defense ministry news agency) underscores the extent of the threat that the Russian-backed fighters want the world to think that the Ukrainian military poses.

The claims that Ukraine could resume using airstrikes goes even further in riling up the allies of the Russian-backed fighters. And now Putin's statements accomplish two goals -- they add legitimacy to the claims put out by the Russian-backed fighters, and they simultaneously let the world (via subtext, of course) know that Russia is serious and the next wave of escalation could be a Kremlin directive.

The fighting is real. Ukraine has been warning about increasing violence for weeks. But that the Kremlin is finally noticing and that the Russian-backed fighters are blaming Ukraine indicate that the Kremlin and the separatists at least want everyone to believe that an explosion in fighting is imminent. The heated rhetoric is reminiscent of the period of "Russian invasion" last August, and the period of intensifying separatist offensives in January and February 2015. Both of those ended in Ukraine signing Minsk ceasefire agreements which to some degree froze the conflict but which also gave the Russian-backed fighters major territorial concessions.


DNR+LNR "MoDs" have cancelled leaves for military personnel http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/12-august-dnrlnr-mods-have-cancelled-leaves-for-military …

[OUTLAW 09]

And the war just keeps grinding on and the West says nothing at all—Obama, Hollande and Merkel are simply missing in action yet call themselves “leaders”.

18:45 #Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Machine gun bursts in Stalino road direction. Quiet in the town

19:00 #Donetsk @relictDon Volleys, northwest

19:51 #Donetsk @relictDon A long column of covered trucks went along Kommunariv St fr/30th market towards Tekstilschik

19:46 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca All day the village is being monotonously pounded, now more intense, UAV in-flight

With every passing hour, the UAF increasing their numbers of armoured vehicles, artillery & manpower along the contact line"

Russian Spetsnaz on the move again—beaten back.
In the Artemovsk direction, Ukraine forces repelled an attack by enemy Subversive-intelligence group - ATO press center

Today situation in Donbas remained tense. Militants continue to shell positions in Donetsk & Mariupol areas - ATO
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1047640131913459&id=820651001279041&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1047640131913459&__tn__=%2As …

Village of Starohnativka south of Donetsk decimated by latest attacks - watch on - http://uatoday.tv http://uatoday.tv/politics/ut-exclusive-volodymyr-soluhub-reports-on-russian-led-attacks-amid-ceasefire-473914.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

And the war just keeps grinding on and the West says nothing at all—Obama, Hollande and Merkel are simply missing in action yet call themselves “leaders”.

18:45 #Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Machine gun bursts in Stalino road direction. Quiet in the town

19:00 #Donetsk @relictDon Volleys, northwest

19:51 #Donetsk @relictDon A long column of covered trucks went along Kommunariv St fr/30th market towards Tekstilschik

19:46 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca All day the village is being monotonously pounded, now more intense, UAV in-flight

With every passing hour, the UAF increasing their numbers of armoured vehicles, artillery & manpower along the contact line"

Russian Spetsnaz on the move again—beaten back.
In the Artemovsk direction, Ukraine forces repelled an attack by enemy Subversive-intelligence group - ATO press center

Today situation in Donbas remained tense. Militants continue to shell positions in Donetsk & Mariupol areas - ATO
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1047640131913459&id=820651001279041&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1047640131913459&__tn__=%2As …

Village of Starohnativka south of Donetsk decimated by latest attacks - watch on - http://uatoday.tv http://uatoday.tv/politics/ut-exclusive-volodymyr-soluhub-reports-on-russian-led-attacks-amid-ceasefire-473914.html …

All indications are that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are going into a full defensive mode and moving troops, armor and artillery into positions that will allow them to aggressively react to any more Russian breakthrough attempts.

The current UAF is not the same 6K poorly trained. armed and equipped military it was in August 2014 when they were winning against the Russian mercenaries and then surrounded by the invading Russian Army.

They have proven in the fighting in Debaltseve that they could even hold their own against overwhelming regular Russian tank units and Spetsnaz and have improved greatly in training and equipment since Feb 2015.

[OUTLAW 09]

And the war just keeps grinding on and the West says nothing at all—Obama, Hollande and Merkel are simply missing in action yet call themselves “leaders”.

18:45 #Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Machine gun bursts in Stalino road direction. Quiet in the town

19:00 #Donetsk @relictDon Volleys, northwest

19:51 #Donetsk @relictDon A long column of covered trucks went along Kommunariv St fr/30th market towards Tekstilschik

19:46 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca All day the village is being monotonously pounded, now more intense, UAV in-flight

With every passing hour, the UAF increasing their numbers of armoured vehicles, artillery & manpower along the contact line"

Russian Spetsnaz on the move again—beaten back.
In the Artemovsk direction, Ukraine forces repelled an attack by enemy Subversive-intelligence group - ATO press center

Today situation in Donbas remained tense. Militants continue to shell positions in Donetsk & Mariupol areas - ATO
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1047640131913459&id=820651001279041&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1047640131913459&__tn__=%2As …

Village of Starohnativka south of Donetsk decimated by latest attacks - watch on - http://uatoday.tv http://uatoday.tv/politics/ut-exclusive-volodymyr-soluhub-reports-on-russian-led-attacks-amid-ceasefire-473914.html …

Russian firing now their heaviest rocket caliber available to hit the town they failed to capture---preceding a possible ground assault.

Starohnativka being heavily bombarded tonight.

21:07 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Either Grad, or Uragan, but it is very horrible

21:05 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Blasts flashes all around
21:21 Something strong comes in

20:58 #Avdiivka @VadyXaXa Very strong incoming, about 7 of them

20:58 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Hardcore here, very loud

20:58 #Avdiivka @bamr69 Lull before the storm? [=quiet]

20:50 #Avdiivka @bamr69 Incoming started

20:49 #Avdiivka @bamr69 A. can hear, no landing sounds

20:52 #Donetsk @gray_dove It was clearly heard on Slovatska St

20:45 #Donetsk @nixer79 Evening Grad started, first session from Grigoriev ettles, #Makiivka, not less than half load

Avdeevka: incoming

20:48 #Donetsk Kalininsky ds @AlfaNubovsky Somewhere nearby 3 min ago 2 Grad volleys went, by about 10 rockets each, direciton unclear

20:48 #Mariupol @EmMemvm M northeast suburbs: pretty loud single artillery salvos

#Ukraine border guards detain priest Ukr #Moscow church worked 4 #Russian proxies in #Donetsk http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2015/08/12/7077640/ … pic.twitter.com/itmCM9JXQi

20:45 Donetsk @UkraineSuper1 Grad from the city north

20:46 #Avdiivka @VadyXaXa Outgoing Grad is clearly audible [=not close one]

Mariupol once again listen to the sounds of fighting from #Shyrokyne https://twitter.com/sir_T_Lawrence/status/631521211755827200 …

20:42 #Mariupol @sir_T_Lawrence Cannonade in #Shyrokyne direction, middle calibres incoming and outgoing

20:38 #Donetsk AkaDON12 Battle behind Putilovka,it's heard at Mirniy

20:38 #Donetsk @AkaDON12 Along Leninsky 4 loaded Ural trucks w/trailers to Zhdanivska, a tankette w/AA-guns to the center

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian firing now their heaviest rocket caliber available to hit the town they failed to capture---preceding a possible ground assault.


21:51 #Donetsk Kalininsky @AlfaNubovsky just now MLRS Grad series nearby, 6 pieces

"simple pro-Russian farmers" construct very precise and efficient entrenchments outside #Bohdanivka pic.twitter.com/smEiHDfZE5

21:51 #Donetsk @nixer79 Again rad volley from Grigoriev ettles, half score of them

21:56 @JRijJyY08AkRzL8 #Kuteynykove-#Osykove line - roar, I doubt there are combine harvesters

Starohnativka being heavily bombarded tonight.

21:07 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Either Grad, or Uragan, but it is very horrible

21:05 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Blasts flashes all around
21:21 Something strong comes in

20:58 #Avdiivka @VadyXaXa Very strong incoming, about 7 of them

20:58 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Hardcore here, very loud

20:58 #Avdiivka @bamr69 Lull before the storm? [=quiet]

20:50 #Avdiivka @bamr69 Incoming started

20:49 #Avdiivka @bamr69 A. can hear, no landing sounds

20:52 #Donetsk @gray_dove It was clearly heard on Slovatska St

20:45 #Donetsk @nixer79 Evening Grad started, first session from Grigoriev ettles, #Makiivka, not less than half load

Avdeevka: incoming

20:48 #Donetsk Kalininsky ds @AlfaNubovsky Somewhere nearby 3 min ago 2 Grad volleys went, by about 10 rockets each, direciton unclear

20:48 #Mariupol @EmMemvm M northeast suburbs: pretty loud single artillery salvos

#Ukraine border guards detain priest Ukr #Moscow church worked 4 #Russian proxies in #Donetsk http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2015/08/12/7077640/ … pic.twitter.com/itmCM9JXQi

20:45 Donetsk @UkraineSuper1 Grad from the city north

20:46 #Avdiivka @VadyXaXa Outgoing Grad is clearly audible [=not close one]

Mariupol once again listen to the sounds of fighting from #Shyrokyne https://twitter.com/sir_T_Lawrence/status/631521211755827200 …

20:42 #Mariupol @sir_T_Lawrence Cannonade in #Shyrokyne direction, middle calibres incoming and outgoing

20:38 #Donetsk AkaDON12 Battle behind Putilovka,it's heard at Mirniy

20:38 #Donetsk @AkaDON12 Along Leninsky 4 loaded Ural trucks w/trailers to Zhdanivska, a tankette w/AA-guns to the center

21:45 #Avdiivka @bamr69 What a landing! Strongly, 5 of them for now!

21:44 #Avdiivka @fingerw80 3 incoming to Khimik

21:42 #Donetsk @relictDon In #Lidiivka direction either fireworks or signal flares. 1 white and 2 red

21:42 #Avdiivka @bamr69 Rumble in #Opytne-#Pisky. Few UAVs over Avdiivka

21:40 #Donetsk @nixer79 about 10 more Grad rockets from Grigoriev ettles

21:40 #Donetsk @PVB40 [fb] 8 starts from Gladkovka direction, similar to Grad

21:41 #Donetsk center @ludmilka1906 Very strong outgoing MLRS

21:40 #Donetsk @PVB40 [fb] Grad went northward, not full load

21:20 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Hell resumed again

21:00 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] ceased

21:14 #Avdiivka @VadyXaXa Again A. can hear incoming, but not that strong

21:13 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 From #Komunarivka towards #Starohnativka something very heavy shelled

GRADs working from #Donetsk tonight.

Heavy rumble heard in #Shyrokyne.

The escalation goes on.

21:03 #Donetsk @AlfaNubovsky They seem to be calmed down

20:59 #Donetsk pasta factory @PVB40 [fb] Again Grad worked, today from closer position, but the same direction (north, Gvardeyka)

[OUTLAW 09]

THIS is serious tonight all along the eastern front there is shellings and ground attacks in progress.

This is getting out of control it seems, tons of GRAD reports----- cannot keep up with the flow coming via social media.



Russian MRLS volley fire & troop movement on approaches to #Bohdanivka last 48hrs http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=47.632950&lon=37.776790&z=15&m=b … pic.twitter.com/qTla1s0ri5

The sound of night approaching in Donetsk is the sound of Russian artillery volleys. Tonight that includes Grad rockets.

Donetsk 22:20
In addition to GRADs heard working whether SPG or tank. At Putilovka very loud! https://twitter.com/LifeInDonetsk/status/631545713713938432 …

Avdiivka
Gagarina st 15, entrance № 4, 3rd floor direct hit! https://twitter.com/avdey777ka/status/631546445267517440 …

Horlivka 22:19
Volleys from the centre, also the touchdowns can be seen.
22:23 and in the south, southwest incoming https://twitter.com/ahab7822/status/631545500714536960 …

Donetsk 22:21
Far North heavy volleys one by one last half an hour or more. https://twitter.com/relictDon/status/631545986024927238 …

Horlivka 22:20
Center - loud, often https://twitter.com/062_Region/status/631545887249072128 …

Horlivka 22:19
Very loud in the center https://twitter.com/levis_71/status/631545441172074496 …

Stakhanov 22:18
UAV over town, ruscists trying to shoot it down, many tracers https://twitter.com/elonline40/status/631545193741705216 …

[OUTLAW 09]

THIS is serious tonight all along the eastern front there is shellings and ground attacks in progress.

This is getting out of control it seems, tons of GRAD reports----- cannot keep up with the flow coming via social media.

Russian MRLS volley fire & troop movement on approaches to #Bohdanivka last 48hrs http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=47.632950&lon=37.776790&z=15&m=b … pic.twitter.com/qTla1s0ri5

The sound of night approaching in Donetsk is the sound of Russian artillery volleys. Tonight that includes Grad rockets.

Donetsk 22:20
In addition to GRADs heard working whether SPG or tank. At Putilovka very loud! https://twitter.com/LifeInDonetsk/status/631545713713938432 …

Avdiivka
Gagarina st 15, entrance № 4, 3rd floor direct hit! https://twitter.com/avdey777ka/status/631546445267517440 …

Horlivka 22:19
Volleys from the centre, also the touchdowns can be seen.
22:23 and in the south, southwest incoming https://twitter.com/ahab7822/status/631545500714536960 …

Donetsk 22:21
Far North heavy volleys one by one last half an hour or more. https://twitter.com/relictDon/status/631545986024927238 …

Horlivka 22:20
Center - loud, often https://twitter.com/062_Region/status/631545887249072128 …

Horlivka 22:19
Very loud in the center https://twitter.com/levis_71/status/631545441172074496 …

Stakhanov 22:18
UAV over town, ruscists trying to shoot it down, many tracers https://twitter.com/elonline40/status/631545193741705216 …[/QUOTE]

[OUTLAW 09]

THIS is serious tonight all along the eastern front there is shellings and ground attacks in progress.

This is getting out of control it seems, tons of GRAD reports----- cannot keep up with the flow coming via social media.

Russian MRLS volley fire & troop movement on approaches to #Bohdanivka last 48hrs http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=47.632950&lon=37.776790&z=15&m=b … pic.twitter.com/qTla1s0ri5

The sound of night approaching in Donetsk is the sound of Russian artillery volleys. Tonight that includes Grad rockets.

Donetsk 22:20
In addition to GRADs heard working whether SPG or tank. At Putilovka very loud! https://twitter.com/LifeInDonetsk/status/631545713713938432 …

Avdiivka
Gagarina st 15, entrance № 4, 3rd floor direct hit! https://twitter.com/avdey777ka/status/631546445267517440 …

Horlivka 22:19
Volleys from the centre, also the touchdowns can be seen.
22:23 and in the south, southwest incoming https://twitter.com/ahab7822/status/631545500714536960 …

Donetsk 22:21
Far North heavy volleys one by one last half an hour or more. https://twitter.com/relictDon/status/631545986024927238 …

Horlivka 22:20
Center - loud, often https://twitter.com/062_Region/status/631545887249072128 …

Horlivka 22:19
Very loud in the center https://twitter.com/levis_71/status/631545441172074496 …

Stakhanov 22:18
UAV over town, ruscists trying to shoot it down, many tracers https://twitter.com/elonline40/status/631545193741705216 …



Ukraine war was "red hot" in Apr'14. Now it's a FIRESTORM big enough to have killed #NATO by smoke inhalation. https://twitter.com/OdessaBlogger/status/631519176553689089 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Another MAJOR Russia offense in progress tonight-----

Currently, in the area of #Donetsk airport are intense fights. Russians are shelling massively with MRLS "Grad", SPG, tanks!

HAS everyone now noticed that from the US, Germany and France there is not not a single utterance in support of the Ukraine.

So much for supporting the concept of rule of law, good governance and transparency as the driving values of civil societies that the US and Obama have preached for over six years--means nothing to the UAF tonight as they dodge hundreds of artillery shells and GRAD rockets trying to defend those exact same principles that Obama and his NSC have basically abandoned as part and parcel of the US foreign policy.

As "legacy of a President"has won out over a strategic strategy for the US in dealing with Russia.

[OUTLAW 09]

My timeline is flooded with shelling reports from Ukraine. Sxxxxxxt hits the fan tonight.
:(

Ground assaults from Russian infantry and Spetsnaz in progress at the moment in a number of locations

Big escalation by the #Russia|n's in #Ukraine tonight massive use of MLRS GRAD seems they are on the offensive

Avdiivka #Horlivka #Donetsk #Luhansk you name it... Russian artillery's having a busy night

Ground assault now here---
Maryinka-#Aleksandrivka battle, mortars, AGS

22:30 #Donetsk @Buzzing_Rook an incoming
22:30 one more
@donetsk_ukrop I guess Putilovka is being hit

22:25 #Donetsk @nixer79 for 20 min frequent salvos of a battery in #Yakovlivka/#Yasynuvata dir'n, at least 6 tubes

22:40 #Luhansk. Hear sporadic explosions. Artillery.
Towards Bakhmutka. https://twitter.com/100007182042214/status/631553385666375680 …

22:17 #Novonazarievks, Starobesheve raion @Ukr_Che Shooting heard

Avdiivka 22:38
Fell between nr 17 and 19, Gagarina str, closer to school https://twitter.com/JuZolyshkaLia/status/631550299279355904 …

22:24 #Horlivka @15SVET15 Very loud. Outgoing SPG towards west

Donetsk 22:09
Another load of GRADs outgoing

22:11 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca I've never heard such hell, on the hill windows broke, electricity down in half village

22:01 #Donetsk @Dusya60000018 Full load of Grad [=outgoing]

22:02 center @papandopoolo Grad, now full load

Avdiivka 22.38
Again flying GRADs about 20, from where to where I can't hear. https://twitter.com/fingerw80/status/631550811672285189 …

Donetsk 22:39
Again a complete load of GRADs from Grigoryevskyi dumps. There is no return fire. https://twitter.com/nixer79/status/631550933802045440 …

22:19 #Dzerzhynsk @dimetros7776 Dull eplosions are getting closer

22:18 #Stakhanov @elonline40 They try to shoot down a UAV over the city with small arms

22:00 #Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] small arms battle in #Borysivka direction...

Donetsk 22:40
Again GRADs outgoing https://twitter.com/062_Region/status/631550947794120704 …

#Donetsk 22:38
Gvardeyka - GRADs (outgoing)

[OUTLAW 09]

My timeline is flooded with shelling reports from Ukraine. Sxxxxxxt hits the fan tonight.
:(

Ground assaults from Russian infantry and Spetsnaz in progress at the moment in a number of locations

Big escalation by the #Russia|n's in #Ukraine tonight massive use of MLRS GRAD seems they are on the offensive

Avdiivka #Horlivka #Donetsk #Luhansk you name it... Russian artillery's having a busy night

Ground assault now here---
Maryinka-#Aleksandrivka battle, mortars, AGS

22:30 #Donetsk @Buzzing_Rook an incoming
22:30 one more
@donetsk_ukrop I guess Putilovka is being hit

22:25 #Donetsk @nixer79 for 20 min frequent salvos of a battery in #Yakovlivka/#Yasynuvata dir'n, at least 6 tubes

22:40 #Luhansk. Hear sporadic explosions. Artillery.
Towards Bakhmutka. https://twitter.com/100007182042214/status/631553385666375680 …

22:17 #Novonazarievks, Starobesheve raion @Ukr_Che Shooting heard

Avdiivka 22:38
Fell between nr 17 and 19, Gagarina str, closer to school https://twitter.com/JuZolyshkaLia/status/631550299279355904 …

22:24 #Horlivka @15SVET15 Very loud. Outgoing SPG towards west

Donetsk 22:09
Another load of GRADs outgoing

22:11 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca I've never heard such hell, on the hill windows broke, electricity down in half village

22:01 #Donetsk @Dusya60000018 Full load of Grad [=outgoing]

22:02 center @papandopoolo Grad, now full load

Avdiivka 22.38
Again flying GRADs about 20, from where to where I can't hear. https://twitter.com/fingerw80/status/631550811672285189 …

Donetsk 22:39
Again a complete load of GRADs from Grigoryevskyi dumps. There is no return fire. https://twitter.com/nixer79/status/631550933802045440 …

22:19 #Dzerzhynsk @dimetros7776 Dull eplosions are getting closer

22:18 #Stakhanov @elonline40 They try to shoot down a UAV over the city with small arms

22:00 #Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] small arms battle in #Borysivka direction...

Donetsk 22:40
Again GRADs outgoing https://twitter.com/062_Region/status/631550947794120704 …

#Donetsk 22:38
Gvardeyka - GRADs (outgoing)

UAF is now on the move---
I have no contact with rest of the Collectif (They've all gone east, radio silence) Spooky! Wishing them success and safe return

[OUTLAW 09]

Maxim Tucker @MaxRTucker
Grad rockets, self-propelled artillery back in play in #Ukraine. Rebel hardware holding areas empty.Not looking good. pic.twitter.com/LqMDR6X2Zd

Ukr Gen Staff spox: 'Militants' concentrate their forces near the front lines with the purpose of an offensive http://inforesist.org/genshtab-boeviki-gotovyatsya-k-nastupleniyu/ …

Report in VK: tonight the battles will begin pic.twitter.com/qh6Sl7dEDC http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/12-august-report-in-vk-tonight-the-battles--will-begin …

The canonade in #Avdivka does not subside
22:53 https://twitter.com/tsnkvlt/status/631554185469759488 …

Dear ruscists! You will wake up the OSCE guys in the Park Inn Hotel with all this canonade!!!

DNR Battalion Commander ‘Kozyr’ Is Captured by the Ukrainian #Army. (Video en.subs)
We already reported the... http://fb.me/2ban1CBMG

Under colour of UAF offensive, orcs are pounding all evening with MLRS"

22:36 #Dorlivka @xy_gorlov4an [vk] outgoing from central cemetery area

23:08
From #Makiivka volleys, landings in the north-west. https://twitter.com/Irinkakap/status/631557903715975168 …

22:35 #Mariupol @sir_T_Lawrence Serious calibres heard from #Shyrokyne direction

23:09
"Volleys from heavy artillery under #Mariupol still rage." https://twitter.com/EmMemvm/status/631558048276979713 …

22:35 #Horlivka @_John__Carter_ Flashes. East. Seen from KSM

22:37 #Horlivka center @062_Region Glow seen

22:38 #Donetsk @donetskye Outgoing Grad

22:30 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] calmed down a bit, just shooting is heard in mine shaft direction

22:32 #Avdiivka @bamr69 great uproar in #Pisky direction. As in winter or even worse...
#donbasreports

#Donetsk 23:09
Artillery ping-pong started https://twitter.com/062_Region/status/631558244339683328 …


22:42 #Avdiivka @bamr69 again landings within city limits

22:38 #Avdiivka @fingerw80 Again Grad fly-by, about 20 rockets, it isn't audible whence and where to

22:47 #Avdiivka @JuZolyshkaLia more landings, nearby

22:45 #Donetsk @PVB40 [fb] some new [=unusual] pats

More outgoing GRADs from #Donetsk

#Horlivka: Flashes in the sky, heavy shelling

Serious explosions in #Shyrokyne audible in #Mariupol

Russians shell Lebedynske outside Mariupol w mortars, Grad audible in Mariupol's Vostochny district -sector M spox http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/12-august-russians-shell-lebedynske-outside-mariupol-w-mortars …

[OUTLAW 09]

Maxim Tucker @MaxRTucker
Grad rockets, self-propelled artillery back in play in #Ukraine. Rebel hardware holding areas empty.Not looking good. pic.twitter.com/LqMDR6X2Zd

Ukr Gen Staff spox: 'Militants' concentrate their forces near the front lines with the purpose of an offensive http://inforesist.org/genshtab-boeviki-gotovyatsya-k-nastupleniyu/ …

Report in VK: tonight the battles will begin pic.twitter.com/qh6Sl7dEDC http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/12-august-report-in-vk-tonight-the-battles--will-begin …

The canonade in #Avdivka does not subside
22:53 https://twitter.com/tsnkvlt/status/631554185469759488 …

Dear ruscists! You will wake up the OSCE guys in the Park Inn Hotel with all this canonade!!!

DNR Battalion Commander ‘Kozyr’ Is Captured by the Ukrainian #Army. (Video en.subs)
We already reported the... http://fb.me/2ban1CBMG

Under colour of UAF offensive, orcs are pounding all evening with MLRS"

22:36 #Dorlivka @xy_gorlov4an [vk] outgoing from central cemetery area

23:08
From #Makiivka volleys, landings in the north-west. https://twitter.com/Irinkakap/status/631557903715975168 …

22:35 #Mariupol @sir_T_Lawrence Serious calibres heard from #Shyrokyne direction

23:09
"Volleys from heavy artillery under #Mariupol still rage." https://twitter.com/EmMemvm/status/631558048276979713 …

22:35 #Horlivka @_John__Carter_ Flashes. East. Seen from KSM

22:37 #Horlivka center @062_Region Glow seen

22:38 #Donetsk @donetskye Outgoing Grad

22:30 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] calmed down a bit, just shooting is heard in mine shaft direction

22:32 #Avdiivka @bamr69 great uproar in #Pisky direction. As in winter or even worse...
#donbasreports

#Donetsk 23:09
Artillery ping-pong started https://twitter.com/062_Region/status/631558244339683328 …


22:42 #Avdiivka @bamr69 again landings within city limits

22:38 #Avdiivka @fingerw80 Again Grad fly-by, about 20 rockets, it isn't audible whence and where to

22:47 #Avdiivka @JuZolyshkaLia more landings, nearby

22:45 #Donetsk @PVB40 [fb] some new [=unusual] pats

More outgoing GRADs from #Donetsk

#Horlivka: Flashes in the sky, heavy shelling

Serious explosions in #Shyrokyne audible in #Mariupol

Russians shell Lebedynske outside Mariupol w mortars, Grad audible in Mariupol's Vostochny district -sector M spox http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/12-august-russians-shell-lebedynske-outside-mariupol-w-mortars …

Not even the US Army has experienced what the UAF is going through tonight
even after 11 years of war.

At the height of the Feb 2015 fighting the Russians were firing 150 tons of shells and rockets per night------

AND where is the US leadership--silent as ever.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia's MoD cancels all DNR/LNR leave prior to "the resumption of full-scale war in Donbas"
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Ftvzvezda.ru%2Fnews%2Fvstrane_i_mire %2Fcontent%2F201508121529-113u.htm&edit-text= … pic.twitter.com/C1ygeFPVZf

Russia|ns pushing large amount of military trucks to the #Donetsk airport area http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/12-august-russia-pushes-large-amount-of-military-trucks-to …

23:36 #Bryanka @elonline40 assault rifle bursts and like UBGL shots

23:33 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] perfect silence all around, only crickets can be heard

Dzerzhynsk 23:17
Return fire from Ukr Army https://twitter.com/The_Ukrop/status/631560243625988097 …

23:30 #Luhansk @ukrainebang From #Stanytsia_Luhanska one can hear sporadic MG bursts, 2-3 blast were there, AGL most likely

23:23 #Shyrokyne @sex_Dombas Resumption

Horlivka 23:19
Very loud volleys away. Sounds like something larger than the already familiar SPG. https://twitter.com/adochek/status/631560596538978304 …

[OUTLAW 09]

MAP 152 attacks(+65) of Russian forces on 13 of August, MLRS GRAD used 15 times http://liveuamap.com pic.twitter.com/JCK1U9NLmi

Yesterday Minister of DNR said that "150 attacks" is wartime, not ceasefire(ceasefire is only 30) https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/631687287164796929 …

edition.cnn.com/2015/08/12/politics/russia-army-leader-dangerous-odierno/index.html … Maybe because the 'separatist' mislabel+no lethal aid emboldens #Russia to go beyond #Ukraine? pic.twitter.com/y7QT6rA9Pu

Makeevka 6:45AM
Buzz of equipment somewhere in the east https://twitter.com/VasyaMakeevskiy/status/631674375503257600 …

Dokuchajevsk
Ruscist Somali gang arrived in the city https://twitter.com/whicard5/status/631687624432951296 …

02:09 #Horlivka _John__Carter_ "The same rumble in the center too. Ruscists work still at #Dzerzhynsk"

Dzerzhynsk
There was rumble until 6AM, since then quiet https://twitter.com/blessmaster/status/631666445085208577 …

6x GRADs went towards #Olenivka
7:21AM https://twitter.com/ua_patriotka1/status/631682009765691392 …

152 (!) russian attacks in Donbas on 12 Aug. They use MRLS now daily.
http://espreso.tv/news/2015/08/13/boyovyky_pobyly_vsi_rekordy_za_dobu_strilyaly_152_ razy …

12:43
"Tow. #Shyrokyno and #Pavlopil something's on fire."
"Orlivske. Fxxxxxd up on us" https://twitter.com/iMariupol/status/631581773978279936 …

06:51 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy Hardware roar heard from Vostochny area

05:33 #Dzezhynsk @blessmaster Landings in Yuzhna mine direction

05:28 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster Heavy explosions, house 'jumps'

03:19 #Donetsk #Makiivka @nixer79 Again [outgoing] Grad, full load, half load then. The same position, Grigoriev ettles

Mariupol 2:30AM
Woke up by artillery canonade https://twitter.com/shibkoalex/status/631620861515145216 …

03:21 #Horlivka Stroitel @ahab7822 Just now Grad, not far from us

[OUTLAW 09]

The following is a key indicator of just how badly Obama, Kerry and Nuland got "suckered" by Putin as Putin fully understands the Obama need for his "legacy".

Putin in the last Normandy Four meeting held demanded of the Germany and French FMs that the Ukrainians "give a sign of good faith" by pulling the the UAF out of a strategically important seaside town near the city port of Mariupol.

Obama gave in and demanded via Nuland that the Ukrainian government conceded on the unilateral appeasement demand and pulled their UAF out of the town but kept them on the strategic hill which over looked Mariupol.

AND the Ukrainians conceded more by pulling out their tanks and 120mm mortars as well and declared a 30km pullback as well as pulling all weapons of 100mm and smaller back as well--NOTE not matched at all by Russian troops and her mercenaries--INSTEAD we have had 110 attacks at day since then with 152 alone just last night.

The unilaterally demanded pull back consisted of the Russians ONLY back 1.4kms while the UAF a total of 15kms.

Since that pull back as demanded by the US--the UAF Marines have had a number of WIAs and one KIA and have been repeatedly shelled and ground attacked and shelled heavily last night --AND that is the "sign of good faith" Putin demanded.

As the major attacks are now underway--there is a serious question hanging in the air--HAS the unilateral demands by the US as well as the Obama reluctance to supply defensive weapons contributed greatly to the latest round of fighting which has cost the Ukrainians over 20 KIAs and over 100 WIAs not counting the loses of the NG and the volunteer BNs and Ukrainians civilians ?? THAT alone in the first 11 days of August.

It is a valid question--namely does one's own personal historical "legacy" balance against the loses of the Ukrainians??

At a time when "legacy" should be taking a backseat to an actual strategic level Russian strategy--we see coming out of this NSC with over 700 personnel--absolutely nothing.

When the outgoing and new incoming JCoS both state publicly Russia is an existential threat to the US and the outgoing ACoS states Russia is the single most danger to the US--we get what from this WH and their NSC.

Absolutely nothing, nada, nichts, silence--how can that be???

BUT wait they do answer--"we cannot walk, talk and chew gum at the same time as there are many other global problems that need our attention"--seeming to forget that the US has only one nuclear trigger pointed directly at it and Russia has vowed on a number of occasions recently to use it and wants the destruction of global liberal democracy ie the US.

Is there not a clear and concise strategist in all of those 700 NSC members??

Heck some BCT Staffs I mentored had the capacity to produce a strategic strategy if asked.

We the US will be paying for this "want of a legacy" in the years to come as we the US have failed badly with the current foreign policy of this administration.

[OUTLAW 09]

Has the Obama WH and the 700 person strong NSC forgotten the IC telephone number or is it they simply do not want the truth about the war in Central Europe???

If they take the word of the DNR MoD from yesterday who "defined the ceasefire" as being simply 30 attacks a day and full war at 150 attacks per day and the WH accepts my position that full war operations is reflected in attacks between 55-65 per day THEN we are in full war in Central Europe--AND have been for over five weeks now.

With the Russian offense being initially "masked" by a slow ramp up of shellings and ground attacks until the last five days where we are seeing a big time Russian offensive unfold before our eyes.

YET there is a stunning silence out of the WH and the NSC. For that matter absolutely nothing out of Hollande and Merkel--the creators of Minsk 2 which they used to keep the US from sending defensive arms to the Ukraine.

ATO spokesperson: Record number of enemy shelling of UA positions was recorded yesterday – more than 150

Col.Motuzyanyk: Military situation in Eastern Ukraine continues deteriorating: enemy deploys additional forces & brings up heavy equipment

Turchynov: sharp increase of number of attacks by militants considered as beginning of military action http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/13-august-turchynov-sharp-increase-of-number-of-attacks-by …

Map. Situation in eastern #Ukraine, August 13, 00:00 EET pic.twitter.com/gn0vFj6aTo

RUS @rentvchannel "Expert: Few hours left until delivering a devastating blow at Donetsk" https://twitter.com/rentvchannel/status/631736531670147072 …

Twitter Associated With Strelkov aka Girkin declares "Ukraine Will Fall! The Battles Are Beginning!" http://bit.ly/1hyMlNA pic.twitter.com/LvRoR6xq83

TT '@rnbo_gov_ua Oleksandr Turchynov from the ATO: the number of attacks is actually warfare

[OUTLAW 09]

BreakingNews
2 Ukrainian soldiers killed, 10 wounded in yesterday's Russian attacks in eastern #Ukraine.
21 KIA, 111 WIA in August.

Col. Oleksandr Motuzyanyk: MLRS "Grad” lodged in #Yasynuvata shelled area where strategically important railroads intercross.

ATO: Near #Donetsk, militants manifestly and systematically use rocket launchers “Grad” in the area of #Opytne – #Vodiane – #Pisky.

ATO: #Mariupol sector: Fighting continues. Trying to avenge the defeat in the battle of #Starohnativka the enemy actively shells the area

Col. Oleksandr Motuzyanyk: Thirteen flights of enemy UAVs were recorded within the military operation area.

Col. Oleksandr Motuzyanyk: To the south of Pavlopil water storage, enemy switched to tactics of cannonading UA positions from at long range

Col. Motuzyanyk: Near Hranitne, hostile tanks attacked UA defensive positions for more than 40 minutes.

ATO spokesperson: In the area of Krasnohorivka & Maryinka, skirmishes between militants & UA Army continue.

Russia continues to shell and deliberately damage Ukrainian critical infrastructure----

ATO spox: To the north of Svitlodarsk water storage basin, military situation is much worse.

Another Russian Spetsnaz team stopped in it’s tracks and thrown back—
ATO spokesperson: Donetsk sector: Yesterday Ukrainian military repelled enemy attack of sabotage-reconnaissance group near Svitlodarsk.

Motuzyanyk: At night enemy cannonaded Avdiyivka. 2 days ago militants shelling damaged gas-distributing plant &houses pic.twitter.com/RgHk4S5SgV

Col. Motuzyanyk: Militants use artillery and tanks in the day- and nighttime, artillery shelling occur at night non-stop.

[OUTLAW 09]

ATO spox: On the frontline stretching from Novhorodske to Verhniotoretske, a series of small militants provocations took place yesterday.

Col. Motuzyanyk: During the night enemy shelling in Dzerzhynsk two civilians were wounded and four houses were damaged.

Col. Oleksandr Motuzyanyk: Yesterday enemy combat provocations took place near Stanytsia Luhanska, Shchastya, near Bakhmut road.

Col. Motuzyanyk: Luhansk sector: The enemy continues “disturbing” attacks of Ukrainian positions trying to find weaknesses in their defense.

ATO spox: The enemy used missile artillery for 15 times in Donetsk and Mariupol sectors.

BUT I thought Putin has repeatedly stated as has his FM there are no Russian troops in the Ukraine????

Representatives of Putin said that information about Russian military losses may disclose the size of the army http://russia.liveuamap.com/en/2015/13-august-representatives-of-putin-said-that-the-information …

28th Brigade: militants attacked Mariinka & Krasnohorivka with, AGS, Mortars. Shelled Novomykhailivka with artillery
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1135034109843814&substory_index=0&id=1060798357267390&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1135034109843814&__tn__=%2As …

Maryinka 11:26
The city is calm but somewhere far away from us, from a northerly direction, constantly hear volleys https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/631755405601976321 …

News
Around 7 am, Russian forces conducted a heavy artillery raid on the center of #Stanytsia_Luhanska.
Casualties are specified.

[OUTLAW 09]

After the somewhat infamous attempt yesterday to frame the CIA for the shot down of MH17—NOW a newer theory comes out---it’s the Dutch stupid.

DNR: Netherlands hide the facts of non-participation of the RF and DNR in MH17 shotdown http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/13-august-dnr-netherlands-hide-the-facts-of-nonparticipation …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia won't sanction Ukraine if Ukraine does what Russia demands.

Sputnik ‏@SputnikInt · 3m3 minutes ago
#RussiaBan on Ukraine will go into effect if country implements economic part of EU #AssociationAgreement - #Medvedev http://sptnkne.ws/AhU

Social media responses---

Entire Ukraine or just the non-occupied parts?

RU hasn't given up hope to regain control over UKR: More fighting plus more econ threats meant to scare west away.

Will Russia be stopping the theft & transfer of coal from #Ukraine's Donbas region too?

[OUTLAW 09]

Militants shelled Berezove CP with artillery, mortars. 27 shells exploded near the checkpoint - Border guard service
http://dpsu.gov.ua/ua/about/news/news_8216.htm …

Rus. Paratrooper Gave Himself Away Sitting in Vehicle of 'Donbas' Battalion https://en.informnapalm.org/russian-paratrooper-gave-himself-away-sitting-in-a-vehicle-of-the-donbas-battalion/ … @en_informnapalm pic.twitter.com/sTHtAJBQak

Russia is still stealing Ukrainian coal but wait is not Russia not even in the Ukraine at least that is what Putin and his FM keep stating.

OSCE: Trucks continue transporting coal from Donbas to Russia
http://www.unian.info/war/1111018-osce-trucks-continue-transporting-coal-from-donbas-to-russia.html … pic.twitter.com/uCCt6cm81c

The place from where all the russian GRADs were outgoing last tonight. pic.twitter.com/rHj4ZV9lO7
Russians hiding behind civilian shields----

Situation in #Gorlovka: Russian Militant said, we have only come to count shooting stars. 🚜🇷🇺😃 pic.twitter.com/VBDzFu1u0U

Russians taking out their anger at losing this important ground battle---
In Starohnativka, war action doesn't ever stop: shelling again and again

[OUTLAW 09]

Some light humor is needed today after the last two days and nights----

Doctrine Man @Doctrine_Man
NSA pickup lines. #DailyDM pic.twitter.com/WVYsvqGYGH

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia attempting to block free press and free speech when it is coming from the Ukraine BUT demands everyone else be able to listen to Russian propaganda----

If you want to know why #Russia decided to block @reddit here is stats for http://lugansk-news.com for July 26 2015.

Really sharp piece on how Putin's Kremlin is an improvisational jazz group of aggrieved, paranoid KGB conspiracists: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/opinion/what-the-west-gets-wrong-about-russia.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0 …

Listen to Two Russians Badly Impersonate CIA Spies to Pin MH17 on U.S. | @foreignpolicy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/08/12/propaganda-watch-listen-to-two-russians-badly-impersonate-cia-spies-to-pin-mh17-on-u-s/ … pic.twitter.com/izsdNnBPX1

Social media took the fake apart in minutes of it being released--they cannot in for losing against the mobilized social media. There is nothing against crowd sourced analysis work across the globe.

Epic fail by #Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate in #Moscow.

[OUTLAW 09]

NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov visited the ATO zone http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/13-august-nsdc-secretary-oleksandr-turchynov-visited-the … pic.twitter.com/YPhObtbH8r

BUT it is controlled apparently by the Russians OR have in fact the UAF taken as it was initially reported after a major Russian ground attack failed.

Novolaspa under indiscriminate #Russian bombardment last 48hrs http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=47.573544&lon=37.878113&z=14&m=b … pic.twitter.com/vPH5tHvqeJ

177 Ukrainians are held captive on the occupied territory of the 'DPR' and 'LPR', and in Russia. - SBU
http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/283658.html …

Starohnativka #Staroignatievka 14:44
Since 40 minutes artillery duel ongoing, loud! https://twitter.com/Staroignatievca/status/631793387419664384 …

Russian soldier kills a family of seven while he was totally drunk and gets 10 years and a captured Ukrainian LT inside the Ukraine and then taken to Moscow is threatened with 25 years or more—make sense to anyone other than Putin????? Armenia wanted the death penalty.

Russian soldier accused of murdering Armenian family sentenced to 10 years in jail http://uatoday.tv/crime/russian-soldier-accused-of-murdering-armenian-family-sentenced-to-10-years-in-jail-474368.html … pic.twitter.com/tBZb1mMUhh

Russian paranoia reaches new heights these days—they have now fully left the realm of “an altered state of reality”.
Putin ready to fight with NATO, as he seriously believes US wants to occupy Russia.” http://www.thedailybeast.com/ …/american-paratroopers-in-ukr…

[OUTLAW 09]

After being in some of the heaviest ground fighting and shellings in the last four weeks the 28th finally comes back to Odessa.

Demobilized 28 brigade comes back home to Odessa,met by families, friends,volunteers pic.twitter.com/3qooNUTdiy
facebook.com/nebayduzhiy.narod/posts/401740376695366 …

The UAF is doing an excellent job at mobilizing and demobilizing thus keeping the pressure on the Russian army and her mercenaries but not effecting the entire civil society. A great job at mixing active duty, reservists and draftees whereas the 28th fought against pure Russian conscripts who took loses as they were poor fighters.

Avdeevka is out of power as a result of night shelling pic.twitter.com/hIXESRKNoh

MAP below—now the UAF heavy artillery is getting into the fight after holding back return fire for over two days.

Starohnativka: Ongoing artillery duel between #Ukraine Army and #Russia forces since 60 minutes
pic.twitter.com/WY8xxXQ1XC

Has now shifted from a duel to a full fledged artillery battle is there is such a beast but at 152mm/203mm guess it can be.

2S19 'Msta-S' Self-Propelled Mortar of the 17th Brigade near Novoazovsk: https://en.informnapalm.org/2s19-msta-s-self-propelled-mortar-of-the-17th-brigade-near-novoazovsk/ … pic.twitter.com/IhwR1SG4xR

Yatsenyuk instructed Demchishin to ensure supply of electricity to Poland, which suffers from energy crisis http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/13-august-yatsenyuk-instructed-demchishin-to-ensure-the-supply …

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.interpretermag.com/ukraine-live-day-542-after-night-of-ominous-warnings-and-heavy-shelling-fighting-continues-apace-today/#9475

After Night Of Ominous Warnings And Heavy Shelling, Fighting Continues Apace Today

10:58 (GMT)


After a night of intense shelling and ominous warnings from Russian-backed separatists, fighting continued this morning, with reports of shelling and gunfire near Mariupol, Donetsk and Stanitsa Luganskaya.

Censor.NET reports that Georgiy Tuka, the governor of the Lugansk region, announced today that Russian-backed forces had shelled the village of Bolotennoye with 122 mm artillery at 7 am. Casualty and damage reports are yet to be received.

In Stanitsa Luganskaya itself, small arms fire was heard. A gas mains was severed by shelling during the night but was repaired by the morning.

In Krymskoye, on the southern banks of the Seversky Donets river, a soldier from the Kiev-2 Battalion was wounded by an anti-personnel mine.

In Mariupol, Yaroslav Chepurnoy, a press officer for the Ukrainian military, told 0629.com.ua that Ukrainian positions near Pavlopol, on the river Kalmius, had been attacked today with 152 mm self-propelled artillery. In Shirokino, Russian-backed forces used 120 mm mortars. Otherwise, attacks today in the Mariupol area have been limited to small arms.

Last night however saw shelling closer to the city of Mariupol than we have seen for several months.

As we reported last night, Ukrainian positions near Lebedinskoye, which is less than 4 kilometres from Mariupol, were shelled last night with 152 mm artillery.

According to Chepurnoy, the village of Talakovka, 7 kilometres from the edge of Mariupol, was bombarded with Grad MLRS at 22:33.

Nikolai Krasikov, head of the village, told 0629 that residents had been forced to hide in their cellars during the shelling. Fortunately, no civilians were wounded and no homes were destroyed. He also reported that shells had fallen on the outskirts of nearby Gnutovo.

According to local residents, the fire came from the direction of separatist-held Oktyabr.

The same weapons were used twice against positions near Starognatovka, where Ukrainian troops gained ground after repelling a major assault on Monday morning.

Ukrainian troops were also attacked near Bogdanovka, Granitnoye, Chermalyk, Novogrigoryevka and Novoignatovka.


The Obama WH should take notice that the so called Putin demanded "sign of good faith" and a pull back from Mariupol area contested seaside town seems to have not worked--basically the WH and NSC got suckered again by Putin--they never seem to learn and there are 700 NSC staff members??

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/opinion/what-the-west-gets-wrong-about-russia.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

The Opinion Pages

What the West Gets Wrong About Russia

AUG. 12, 2015

Contributing Op-Ed Writer

By IVAN KRASTEV


SOFIA, Bulgaria — WHEN George Kennan wrote his famous “Long Telegram,” his 1946 letter to Secretary of State James F. Byrnes that laid the foundation for America’s containment policy against the Soviet Union, he mentioned Joseph Stalin just three times — despite the fact that, by then, the Russian leader ran his country like an emperor.

Seven decades on, Stalin’s current heir, Vladimir V. Putin, finds his name emblazoned on nearly every page of the myriad memos and papers struggling to understand the mind-set driving Russia’s strategic behavior. To understand Mr. Putin, the thinking goes, is to understand Russia. But is that quite right?

In the heady days of the Cold War, Americans tended to view Soviet decision making as a black box: You know what goes in, you know what comes out, but you are clueless about what is happening inside. Soviet policy was thus believed to be both enigmatic and strategic. There was little room for personality or personal philosophy; understanding the system was the only way.

According to Gleb Pavlovsky, Mr. Putin’s former spin doctor extraordinaire, these days the Kremlin is still enigmatic, but no longer strategic. For Mr. Pavlovsky, Kremlin policy is fashioned rather like the music of a jazz group; its continuing improvisation is an attempt to survive the latest crisis.

Mr. Pavlovsky may not be a household name in the West, but he’s worth listening to. An erstwhile Soviet dissident trained as a historian who transformed himself into one of the interior designers of Mr. Putin’s regime, he performed in the Kremlin’s “jazz band” for over a decade. This year he published “The System of the Russian Federation,” which relies heavily on Mr. Kennan’s ideas to offer a timely critique of the West’s assumptions about Mr. Putin’s Russia (for now, it’s available only in Russian).

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Mr. Pavlovsky insists, after Mr. Putin took personal responsibility for the annexation of Crimea and won the support of more than 80 percent of the population, he lost interest in day-to-day decision making. He wants to be informed about everything, but is reluctant to play national housekeeper.

Ministers, Mr. Pavlovsky writes, spend endless hours waiting by Mr. Putin’s office to take orders, but in the end he doesn’t order, he only listens. What runs the Kremlin today is not Mr. Putin’s will but his ambiguity. Wars among different power factions, as a result, have escalated.

In Mr. Pavlovsky’s reading, Russia today is neither an ideological warrior seeking to remake the world order nor a hard-nosed realist desperately defending its sphere of influence. Far from grand strategy, what animates Mr. Putin’s Kremlin is the assertion of its right to break international rules. In fact, breaking the rules without being punished is the Kremlin’s peculiar definition of being a great power.

Russia, to Mr. Pavlovsky, is driven not by a search for external power but by internal weakness — a lack of vision for its impending post-Putin existence. Mr. Putin has successfully made any political alternative unthinkable, and his entire country is now trapped by his success. In other words, Mr. Putin’s enormous popular support is a weakness, not a strength — and Russia’s leaders know it.

The Kremlin’s deputy chief of staff, Vyacheslav Volodin, concisely summed things up when he explained to international analysts at a private forum in Valdai last year, “There is no Russia today if there is no Putin.” The Russian political system implicitly functions on the assumption that its president is immortal.

But while Mr. Putin may be a czar, Russia is no monarchy. His daughters will not succeed him in the Kremlin. Mr. Putin is a popularly elected president whose political system has destroyed the legitimacy of elections as an instrument for the peaceful change of power. His United Russia party is a valuable instrument for winning rigged elections, but unlike the Chinese Communist Party, it lacks the autonomy and ideological coherence needed for securing power succession.

Deprived of a vision for the future, Russian elites are tempted by conspiracy theories and apocalyptic pronouncements. As Aleksandr A. Prokhanov, a writer and leading voice of Russian imperial nationalists, lamented, the elites know that if they attempt a Perestroika II, they will fail. Better, he said, to provoke another world war than try to dismantle Mr. Putin’s designs.

Reading Mr. Pavlovsky’s book, one realizes that what is totally absent in the Western analyses of today’s Russia is this “end of the world” mentality among Mr. Putin’s political and intellectual elites. In Mr. Pavlovsky’s view, the experience of the catastrophic collapse of the Soviet Union, rather than geopolitical interests or values, is the key for understanding Russia’s strategic behavior and the inner logic of Mr. Putin’s regime.

The Kremlin is populated not by mere survivors of the post-Soviet transition but by survivalists, people who think in terms of worst-case scenarios, who believe that the next disaster is just around the corner, who thrive on crises, who are addicted to extraordinary situations and no-rules politics.

That complex and unpredictable context, rather than the vagaries of Mr. Putin’s mind alone, is the key to understanding contemporary Russian politics.


Russian paranoia reaches new heights these days—they have now fully left the realm of “an altered state of reality”.
Putin ready to fight with NATO, as he seriously believes US wants to occupy Russia.” http://www.thedailybeast.com/ …/american-paratroopers-in-ukr…

Debunking Moscow's myth of NATO mil expansion. Will Russia reciprocate in dispelling worries abt its growing forces? pic.twitter.com/imsV7LPj8t

the situation with to Berlin bombs is turning into Russian media war, those insane vs having a drop of sense--refers to the recent Kaliningrad Russian military bombing practice exercise where one of the bombs had written on it--"on to Berlin" which the Russian MoD stated was a fake BUT then it turned out to be 400% true.

Putin hinted that if #NATO takes in #Ukraine, #Russia could seize Crimea, eastern Ukraine." -Kommersant, April 2008 http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/877224

When and how did the KGB seized power in Russia - Felshtinsky (google-translated)
https://translate.google.com.ua/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://obozrevatel.com/blogs/16958-kogda-i-kak-kgb-zahvatil-vlast-v-rossii.htm&prev=search …
pic.twitter.com/JuAZ7Xj6Op

Notice how Putin in his 2008 threat takes Crimea BUT then gets bent out of shape if the Ukraine looks to the West??? BUT he threated to take Crimea After the Ukraine went West not before.

[OUTLAW 09]

NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov visited the ATO zone http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/13-august-nsdc-secretary-oleksandr-turchynov-visited-the … pic.twitter.com/YPhObtbH8r

BUT it is controlled apparently by the Russians OR have in fact the UAF taken as it was initially reported after a major Russian ground attack failed.

Novolaspa under indiscriminate #Russian bombardment last 48hrs http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=47.573544&lon=37.878113&z=14&m=b … pic.twitter.com/vPH5tHvqeJ

177 Ukrainians are held captive on the occupied territory of the 'DPR' and 'LPR', and in Russia. - SBU
http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/283658.html …

Starohnativka #Staroignatievka 14:44
Since 40 minutes artillery duel ongoing, loud! https://twitter.com/Staroignatievca/status/631793387419664384 …

Russian soldier kills a family of seven while he was totally drunk and gets 10 years and a captured Ukrainian LT inside the Ukraine and then taken to Moscow is threatened with 25 years or more—make sense to anyone other than Putin????? Armenia wanted the death penalty.

Russian soldier accused of murdering Armenian family sentenced to 10 years in jail http://uatoday.tv/crime/russian-soldier-accused-of-murdering-armenian-family-sentenced-to-10-years-in-jail-474368.html … pic.twitter.com/tBZb1mMUhh

Russian paranoia reaches new heights these days—they have now fully left the realm of “an altered state of reality”.
Putin ready to fight with NATO, as he seriously believes US wants to occupy Russia.” http://www.thedailybeast.com/ …/american-paratroopers-in-ukr…

Why would Russian troops and her mercenaries shell their own controlled town???

Novolaspa is now under the control of the militants - Seleznev http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/13-august-novolaspa-is-now-under-the-control-of-the-militants …

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/opinion/what-the-west-gets-wrong-about-russia.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

The Opinion Pages

What the West Gets Wrong About Russia

AUG. 12, 2015

Contributing Op-Ed Writer

By IVAN KRASTEV



Russian paranoia reaches new heights these days—they have now fully left the realm of “an altered state of reality”.
Putin ready to fight with NATO, as he seriously believes US wants to occupy Russia.” http://www.thedailybeast.com/ …/american-paratroopers-in-ukr…

Debunking Moscow's myth of NATO mil expansion. Will Russia reciprocate in dispelling worries abt its growing forces? pic.twitter.com/imsV7LPj8t

the situation with to Berlin bombs is turning into Russian media war, those insane vs having a drop of sense--refers to the recent Kaliningrad Russian military bombing practice exercise where one of the bombs had written on it--"on to Berlin" which the Russian MoD stated was a fake BUT then it turned out to be 400% true.

Putin hinted that if #NATO takes in #Ukraine, #Russia could seize Crimea, eastern Ukraine." -Kommersant, April 2008 http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/877224

When and how did the KGB seized power in Russia - Felshtinsky (google-translated)
https://translate.google.com.ua/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://obozrevatel.com/blogs/16958-kogda-i-kak-kgb-zahvatil-vlast-v-rossii.htm&prev=search …
pic.twitter.com/JuAZ7Xj6Op

Notice how Putin in his 2008 threat takes Crimea BUT then gets bent out of shape if the Ukraine looks to the West??? BUT he threated to take Crimea After the Ukraine went West not before.


CatherineFitzpatrick @catfitz
Pavlovsky isn't a "former insider" with "insights" but another staged voice What the West Gets Wrong About Russia http://nyti.ms/1WioSQC

CatherineFitzpatrick @catfitz
We're always hearing Russia "weak,erratic" - yeah so weak, erratic as to invade, threaten neighbors. Deterrence, deterrence! Why so hard?

[OUTLAW 09]

More light humor before the heavy shellings and ground attacks start again----

Ukraine wants to break up with Russia & see other people and Russia is that crazy chick that calls 150 times a day & smashes your car up.

[OUTLAW 09]

SBU spots channel used to syphon Yanukovych junior's funds to Russia
http://www.unian.info/politics/1111257-sbu-spots-channel-used-to-syphon-yanukovych-juniors-funds-to-russia.html … pic.twitter.com/8DSeBlJukV

He, his father the former fled President of the Ukraine and close family members stole, looted and simply took literally billions of USDs from the Ukrainian government via corruption and out right theft.
THEN claimed they were overthrown by a jewish Nazi junta??????

A mother of a victim of the #Kursk disaster is silenced for speaking out against #Russia's authorities
Retweet pls..
https://twitter.com/RobPulseNews/status/631814576447848448 …

Even Sputnik, in a roundabout way, seems to think the "CIA did #MH17" theory is nonsense https://twitter.com/SputnikInt/status/631806172421451776 …

Next to the encirclement at Debaltseve—this battle was the worst loss of the UAF.
Sorry in Russian and Ukrainian---
Ukrainian military publishes document with analysis of the Russian invasion in August 2014 (Illovaisk etc) https://twitter.com/samiramoto/status/631818471324540928 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Will pick up the shelling and ground attack reports later this evening--will simply pick out the ones that appear to be the most serious as yesterday overwhelmed my translation abilities when they were flowing in almost every 20-30 seconds.

Hope the Russians have gained some sanity (but they are as well as Putin is now in an "altered state of reality") but I know they have not as none of the Western leaders has pushed back so Putin knows he is home free and clear and will continue.

In many ways all the Western leaders including Obama are now responsible for the continuing shellings, ground attacks and the killing of Ukrainian military and Ukrainian civilians.

Show strength and determination and Putin will cease--do not show it and he will continue--it is that simple now.

[OUTLAW 09]

AND we are off to the shelling races again this evening—with full knowledge that Kerry spoke to Lavrov today—what a waste of time and about four weeks to late----------

US Secretary of State Kerry has phoned Russian FM Lavrov to urge immediate Ukraine ceasefire, says State Department - @Reuters

More Heavy Shelling Reported Outside Mariupol In Shirokino, Vostochny, Lebedinskoye & Pavlopol http://bit.ly/1hyIZdu pic.twitter.com/QMBpr8iWmE

13:09 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Artillery pounds

14:48 @papandopoolo #Donetsk #rumours:UAF is ordered to capture #Horlivka by Aug24,UKR air strikes&feints across frontline planned for today

13:14 @erst0954 In #Novoazovsk power was off all night in waiting for UKR air strike, tanks were shelling towards see

15:35 #Avdiivka @bamr69 [Yday: 4 incoming Grad volleys 10 rockets each, 2 homes burnt up, 2 apartments ruined, household outbuildings]

16:09 #Donetsk @Buzzing_Rook This morning along Leninsly Ave in Obzhora area a heavy hardware column moved,.. no info on dir'n

16:38 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] From #Krasnohorivka direction shooting is heard

16:35 #Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Shooting resumed in Stalino road - Dubki direction

17:36-37 #Donetsk @nixer79 2 strong incoming in Scheglovka cemetery, not fragmentation ones, from afar, salvos weren't heard

UAF is getting extremely accurate on their return fire—US counter radar at work????
17:29 #Donetsk @PVB40 [fb] [Affirm on Putilovka grove yday: Grad/SPG outgoing, then reply went in - 2 massive blasts, silence&half-sky glow]

13:35 #Donetsk @UkraineSuper1 Along Kyivsky towards the center 2 D-30 'Somalia' were towed, 'one burnt out'...

14:08 #Donetsk @TaylerRid Along Kyivsky Ave RUS towed 2 downed cannons 'falling to pieces on the go',. they had hell in Putilovka grove yday

[OUTLAW 09]

Some not so light Russian humor----

Taken from Russian news outlets:
#Russia says
1.America drowned Kursk
2.There was no Holodomor
3.Litvinenko self administered polonium
4.Dutch flowers are infected
5.Lack of condoms promotes chastity
6.It's ok to impersonate CIA agents (badly)

[OUTLAW 09]

I made an map to show how the warmongering NATO is provokingly surrounding Russia
pic.twitter.com/PbAe8MigyB

Gen Staff cast light on Rus troops invasion in Aug 2014: 8 battalion tactical groups - 4K Rus troops invaded Ukr, ENG http://www.unian.info/war/1111340-ukraine-military-explain-delayed-response-to-russian-invasion-in-2014.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

This is why the OSCE is totally useless in the eastern Ukraine----
Russia|ns attacking with artillery, #Ukraine responds and the #OSCE statement is: #Ukraine use heavy artillery too. WTH?????? 😡😫

Mariupol hears heavy rumble, GRAD's or heavier.
Heavy volleys on #Volnovakha.
#Starohnativka under heavy shelling again.

22:28 #Svitlodarsk @Brisk127 Car alarms are going off, windows vibrate. Outgoing

22:25 #Donetsk Kirovsky ds @UrriKara4en Vibration on the floor. Shelling from #Hrabari northwards

Donetsk 22:32
Kyivskyi ds, #Makiivka, Gvardeyka - loud

Very heavy cargo traffic between #Russia and Russian-Occupied #Ukraine over the last 72 hours. Mostly incoming now outgoing

Russian trucks returning from Occupied #Ukraine yesterday - #Marynivka crossing http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=47.865630&lon=38.855102&z=16&m=b … pic.twitter.com/0eIx6jH2RZ

22:07 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Quiet here, but distant gunnery is heard

22:21 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy volleys from #Lisniy-#Batman area

22:20 #Horlivka @_John__Carter_ Sounds like single rocket starts. Boom and hiss
[mortars may sound like that too]

22:18 #Horlivka @xy_gorlov4an There still were no incoming anywhere

22:11 #Donetsk @666_mancer [fb] Zapadny bus station: Mortaring, blasts seen in #Pisky [direction]

MLRS movements reported today, actual usage is confirmed in Donetsk, Starohnativka by "DPR"

22:17 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster Noisy. Battle sounds heard from #Mayorsk/#Shumy

Maryinka 22:07
Here quiet, but volleys can be heard from somewheare https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/631908622298152961 …

22:15 #Donetsk @nixer79 They've shelled methodically. Gave 40 volleys, lull for now

Dzerzhynsk 22:20
You can hear the vibrations from the incoming! https://twitter.com/dimetros7776/status/631908132822851584 …

22:08 #Avdiivka @fingerw80 3 howitzers' work is heard in DNR direction, far landings for 5 min non-stop

22:12 #Svitlodarsk @hu_svetlodarsk Fire and explosions in #Skeleva (#Mironovsky), maybe ammo depot, pretty strong, no incoming were there

22:06 #Donetsk Kirovsky ds @PVB40 [fb] [Shelling was from Gvardeyka, now Durna_Balka joined with something heavy]

Horlivka 22:21
Mine 6/7 - battle. https://twitter.com/062_Region/status/631908399509295109 …

22:15 #Horlivka @Julia_Twinkle It's getting loud and louder

22:09 #Horlivka @audrius1977 They shell from powder depots or #Rumyantseve too
22:12 @tetyana2012 Heavy non-stop. Glow in #Svitlodarsk dir'n

22:07 #Artemivsk @Svet_inaya Artemivsk outskirts can hear heavy, like starts. Horlivka or Dzerzhynsk?

22:03 #Donetsk @nixer79 now artillery joined, still 4-5 tubesfrom #Yakovlivka up-cast facilities of Zasyadko mine

22:06 #Kirovsk @thisnameerror I can hear incoming

23:03 #Dokuchaevsk @goky4_ykpauHa 2-3SPG at least, or further fr/farm,landings audible
22:08 #Volnovakha @solomazheka at #Stepne/#Berezove

22:03 #Dokuchaevsk - #Oleksndrinovka, old farm @goky4_ykpauHa SPG [shells]

22:00 #Horlivka @pravy63 Shelling is heard from afar

Donetsk center, RIGHT NOW, Mira Ave, towards center: AT LEAST 8 GRAD MLRS! @OSCE_SMM ?! https://twitter.com/AlfaNubovsky/status/631904458406936577 …

22:01 #Horlivka @adochek Like from Rumyantseve cemetery flashes are seen, volleys meke strong air blast

Elenovka: there was a concentration of >20 Grad vehicles today. UA HQ knew that, ZERO REACTION https://twitter.com/shuttle1907/status/631902258154852353 …

22:00 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca The hill is on fire [again]
[Grads hit the same area as before]

21:56 #Donetsk @nixer79 In 2 min 2 more [MLRS] series by 10 items

21:56 #Donetsk Kalininsky @AlfaNubovsky 2 more volleys by few rockets,MLRS Grad

Here we go again, GRADs starting to fly from #Donetsk as we speak

21:54 #Mariupol @PVB40 [fb] ...evening cannonade is audible

21:53 #Donetsk @nixer79 First night Grad shelled, full load

21:53 #Donetsk @PVB40 Outgoing Grad from Gvardeyka [=#Makiivka]

21:54 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Artillery, Grads - they pound with everything and anything

21:50 #Luhansk @ukrainebang RUS mortars work at #Stanytsia_Luhanska, no small arms heard

21:38 #Mariupol @EmMemvm I hadn't tell about calmness. Grads [are now heard from] northeast or something even heavier

21:41 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Very loud artillery
[sounds like outgoing]

21:41 #Volnovakha @solomazheka Volleys resumed. Now stronger and more frequent [=volleys audible]

21:45 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Incoming Grad

[OUTLAW 09]

Ukraine Posts Video Of Captured 'Russian Soldier' Asking For Putin's Help - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty http://bit.ly/1TwFhC5

Detained Russian officer asks Putin not to disown his soldiers
http://www.unian.info/war/1111422-detained-russian-officer-asks-putin-not-to-disown-his-soldiers.html … pic.twitter.com/vCLESmtzp9

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING: Romania under cyber attacks - 38.000 registered in the last day - Romanian Intelligence Service

http://www.realitatea.net/sri-numar-record-de-atacuri-cibernetice-in-doar-o-zi-_1769031.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

2S1 133 in Novocherkassk RF then later in Krasnodon Ukr. Dec 2014
https://instagram.com/p/wEIBROkbTC/
https://archive.is/1w0jG pic.twitter.com/4cyqEch8pC

There are no US Abram's tanks in #Ukraine but that's not stopping #Russia's military channel from blatantly lying. https://twitter.com/zvezdanews/status/631903076811689988 …

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKING: Romania under cyber attacks - 38.000 registered in the last day - Romanian Intelligence Service

http://www.realitatea.net/sri-numar-record-de-atacuri-cibernetice-in-doar-o-zi-_1769031.html …

Madrid under massive shirt duration cyber attack via Turkey over a cloud server.
Type of attack--domain
http://map.norsecorp.com/

Second short intense duration cyber attack coming out of Beijing against Dubai UAE
Type of attack----ms-wbt-server
http://map.norsecorp.com/
Second wave of attacks against Dubai from multiple Chinese locations

Second wave attack coming out of Guizhou China headed to the US in the St. Louis area.

[OUTLAW 09]

Heavy shelling on multiple places in eastern Ukraine tonight

During the day near Donetsk AP & Pisky militants made provocative attacks with small arms, heavy machine guns - Sich
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1623113351238734&substory_index=0&id=1536808696535867&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1623113351238734&__tn__=%2As …

Dzerzhinsk - Battle and shelling at Shumy http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/13-august-dzerzhinsk--battle-and-shelling-at-shumy …

Bila Hora was shelled with 152mm artillery http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/13-august-bila-hora-was-shelled-with-152mm-artillery- …

23:05 #Avdiivka @fingerw80 Less, like about 10 hit Avdiivka at 23:00 https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/631920053366165504 …

23:01 #Dokuchaevsk @goky4_ykpauHa Strong incoming
#Volnovakha @solomazheka not from us
@goky4_ykpauHa like at Vostochny

22:52 #Horlivka @adochek UKR take unerring aim, just at position orcs shelled from, but it's late, nobody there

Militants continue to fire on Ukrainian positions near Mariupol. Explosions can be heard from the city - Activist
http://112.ua/ato/boeviki-prodolzhayut-obstrelivat-pozicii-sil-ato-pod-mariupolem-v-gorode-slyshny-vzryvy-aktivist-251900.html …

22:54 #Horlivka @jackson_villi Ongoing artillery duel. Strong salvos and landings are heard

Ground attack in progress---
22;47 #Donetsk
#Pisky, #Optyne, #Spartak – battle

22:39 #Horlivka @adochek Trucks w/lights off towed cannons

22:38 #Perevalsk @legion111113 One could see intense flashes in #Lohvynove direction & further towards #Debaltseve

22:40 #Horlivka @adochek loud incoming
@062_Region Landings in Rumyantseve
22:46 @adochek 1 close incoming

Orlivs'ke, Talakivka, Chernenko - ALL SHELLED BY RUSCISTS https://twitter.com/vs1310/status/631907841998221312 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian trucks returning from Occupied Ukraine yesterday - Marynivka crossing pic.twitter.com/X4swzk4IeS http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/13-august-ussian-trucks-returning-from-occupied-ukraine-yesterday …

Part 2 of massive Russian truck column returning from Occupied #Ukraine August 12th 2015 http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=47.855013&lon=38.865552&z=15&m=b … pic.twitter.com/zVz4dWToNJ

That's a looooot of Russian trucks stealing whatever from Ukraine transporting it back to Russia. https://twitter.com/finriswolf/status/631918277963313152 …

Part 3 Massive Russian convoy returning Aug 12th 2015 from Occupied #Ukraine http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=47.845653&lon=38.872590&z=15&m=b … pic.twitter.com/8aMOAlmqAh

[OUTLAW 09]

Light humor to go along with the extremely heavy shellings tonight---

Because of the food embargo, Russia has developed a new balanced diet pyramid for its citizens to follow Russia ban pic.twitter.com/kn1HOWOITS

[OUTLAW 09]

Ukraine General Staff confirms: #Russia|n forces seized #Novolaspa and are near #Starohnativka now
pic.twitter.com/smmE85BL9u

Militants prepare armed provocations, evacuate families http://www.unian.info/war/1111288-militants-prepare-armed-provocations-evacuate-families.html …

Not sure if it's really from tonight but if, #Russia|ns moving a lot of artillery tonight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3VuNoJccC8 …

[OUTLAW 09]

WAY to many shelling and ground attack reports flowing in—almost one every second or two for hours now—the Ukrainians are into about the 0020 timeframe and it getting heavier.

Around 0020 it slacked for a period but Russians and her mercenaries are back up and shelling again—maybe they had an early morning coffee before reloading.

Will pick up the reporting tomorrow morning---

[OUTLAW 09]

Madrid under massive shirt duration cyber attack via Turkey over a cloud server.
Type of attack--domain
http://map.norsecorp.com/

Second short intense duration cyber attack coming out of Beijing against Dubai UAE
Type of attack----ms-wbt-server
http://map.norsecorp.com/
Second wave of attacks against Dubai from multiple Chinese locations

Second wave attack coming out of Guizhou China headed to the US in the St. Louis area.

Madrid via Turkey being attacked again and Dubai via China and now Belgium--has been in both cases going on all night long.

[OUTLAW 09]

Let’s see does the below reflect any being achieved with a single telephone call between Kerry and Lavrov---nothing absolutely nothing is achieved.

Especially when not a single major Western leader ie Obama, Hollande and Merkel—have not say a single word or comment on the current major Russian offensive—as if they want it swept under the rug.


95 attacks of Russian forces on August, 13. Heavy artillery and MLRS http://liveuamap.com pic.twitter.com/xRR1SY3CK1

2 Ukr KIA, 1 WIA reported in the airport area in shelling yesterday evening
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004474692463&fref=ts …

Novotroitske was under 120-mm mortar fire from 6PM till midnight. Several GRAD salvos hit #Avdiivka and #Optyne at night.

Staroignatievka #Starohnativka
It rumbled all night https://twitter.com/Staroignatievca/status/632034489343066113 …

Sector M: Around 10PM russians shelled w BM-21 GRAD #Talakivka, #Pavlopil, #Starohnativka. Talakivka & Starohnativka hit also w 152-mm arty

Avdiivka
Around 3AM the plant was shelled again.
At 3:30AM direct hit to steel plant.
At 4:50AM GRADs incoming. https://twitter.com/audrius1977/status/632058419973914624 …

Dzerzhynsk 4:40AM
The monotonous dull volleys started again. Some tow. Artemovo, some tow. Shumy. https://twitter.com/blessmaster/status/632003806243520513 …

Avdiivka 4:52AM
About 20 GRADs incoming. https://twitter.com/fingerw80/status/632008637473533952 …

Donetsk 5:07AM
Again GRADs https://twitter.com/ADivinorum/status/632010739557896192 …

Donetsk 5:07AM
Second package of morning GRADs went apparently again towards #Optyne.
No Ukr return fire. https://twitter.com/nixer79/status/632011572324499456 …

#Donetsk #Makeevka 4:52
Mmorning GRAD, full package, all outgoing from Grigoryevska dumps - Mineralne area. https://twitter.com/nixer79/status/632007324509556736 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Kerry needs to double check about his call to the Russian FM Larvov—if anything Russian troops are actually into a formal offensive mode staging right now and YET he just talks.

Guess the US calls telephone calls a new form of foreign policy??

Maybe this video might help Obama, Kerry and the entire 700 person staff of the NSC figure out that Putin is not going to back down unless straight forward forcefull measures are announced and carried out—but again this President will not do anything as he has more fear of his “legacy” going badly than the loses of Ukrainian military personal and civilians.

He seems to prefer a true war in Central Europe than the necessary actions that do need to be taken to get the total attention of Putin---ie ATMs to the Ukraine---

Obama and Kerry have argued that by sending ATMs to the Ukraine that would provoke Putin to escalate—BUT is he not now actually escalating WITHOUT the ATMs—so sending them will not trigger something that is already happening???

The following might just help the entire NSC visualize the true extent of Russian territorial expansion inside the Ukraine. Remember it was the NSC, Kerry and Obama who pressured the Ukraine into unilateral moves that I think actually triggered this latest fighting.

A year ago and now, pictorially @hyeva_maryinka pic.twitter.com/Icb3Zifzq0

A call from Elenovka: something is brewing, lot of armor vehicles, they don't dig in, seems like prepare for attack https://twitter.com/Volnovakha/status/632102222478901248 …

Novolaspa/Starolaspa: Tymchuk reports on vehicle concentrations, perhaps they want to break thru the front

Tymchuk a former UAF LTC who fought in Iraq has had solid intel reports for over a year now.

And also seen many reports of RU equipment and manpower amassing a north from that area. https://twitter.com/xuilolala/status/632105600302907392 …

Called #Olenivka, they say a lot of equipment massed, but not digging trenches, looks like preparing offensive." https://twitter.com/Volnovakha/status/632102222478901248 …

Turchinov: we will go on high alert, mobilize more troops if Russia will continue to escalate situation further in Donbas.

In one line: something is brewing in occupied Donetsk region...

Based on the countless statements by Russia and her mercenaries—ALL and I mean ALL heavy weapons have been pulled back and they are in full compliance with Minsk2—OR they say???

As all heavy arms were 'pulled back', here in #Avdiivka probably fell a meteorite today" https://twitter.com/rechnikato/status/632099165133271040 …

Massive enemy attack causes major destruction in Artemove
http://www.unian.info/war/1111577-massive-enemy-attack-causes-major-destruction-in-artemove.html … pic.twitter.com/2iEpFJE0jk

Map. Situation in eastern #Ukraine, August 14, 00:00 EET pic.twitter.com/EXSESekEOr

Donetsk didn't sleep well all night: ruscists shelled everything around the city, got some fire back.

Yesterday militants 15 times attacked Ukrainian positions in Mariupol sector. 3 times using GRAD MLRS - Sec. M spox
http://m.0629.com.ua/news/924728

Militants intensified attacks on Ukr positions in #Mariupol area. Fired Grad upon Talakivka, Pavlopil, Starohnativka http://www.0629.com.ua/news/924728

Militants fired on Mariinka and Krasnohorivka with heavy artillery. Ukrainian soldier was wounded - RSA
http://112.ua/ato/v-doneckoy-obl-v-rezultate-obstrelov-ranen-ukrainskiy-voennyy-vga-251953.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

More serious problems with the current OSCE-SMM in the Ukraine—they seem to want to observe everywhere there is now shellings and or fighting BUT is exactly where they should be---
Who the fxxxxxx is Hug trying to convince? It's we (joe-public/joe-military) who are informing #OSCE_SMM where to look! https://twitter.com/uatodaytv/status/632110672021557248 …

One would think they could tap into social media to stay informed???

Militants block removal of Ukrainian soldiers' bodies from Donbas
http://www.unian.info/war/1111550-militants-block-removal-of-ukrainian-soldiers-bodies-from-donbas.html … pic.twitter.com/QxjjToKqbb

In Donetsk, the militants of "DNR" looking for Ukrainian saboteurs http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/14-august-in-donetsk-the-militants-of-dnr-looking-for-ukrainian … pic.twitter.com/Y7R4pYFKz3 via @novostidnua

Lots of military police on Donetsk streets, car searches are on the increase. Lots of military equip movement in past 48 hrs.

Latitude 67N SIGINT @uascan
@uascan intense RUAF VHF traffic in south Baltic Sea: SU24 and SU27?

Latitude 67N SIGINT @uascan
RUAF VHF comms consistent with SU24s in south Baltic Sea

Eight Russian Battalion-Level Tactical Groups Entered Ukraine a Year Ago – General Staff
http://ukraineunderattack.org/en/29563-eight-russia-s-battalion-level-tactical-groups-entered-ukraine-a-year-ago-general-staff.html …

Ukraine is preparing an asymmetric response to sanctions of Russia http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/14-august-ukraine-is-preparing-an-asymmetric-response-to …

This week’s Top Extremism- and Terrorism-Related Stories in Russia http://extremistrussia.com/2015/08/14/top-extremism-and-terrorism-related-stories-in-russia-7-14-august-2015/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

IMPORTANT!
"Civilians from #Styla evacuated (by RU) to Novyi Svit" https://twitter.com/hu_WarWar84/status/632134045955158016 …

Russia|ns evacuated civilians from #Styla to Novyi Svit, all taken by bus. RU Equipment and manpower is gathering now.

My mother said that all taken out by bus."
RU equipment and manpower also accumulating in that area, you know what's next.

And this was yesterday:
Road from #Starobeshevo to #Styla closed.
Same from #Dokuchajevsk to #Styla.

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings are on again………

Staroignatievka #Starohnativka 13:16
Artillery pounding. https://twitter.com/Staroignatievca/status/632133731524956161 …

Col. Lysenko: For the 3rd day in a row militants used MLRS Grad in the western outskirts of Donetsk pic.twitter.com/3V1QU3Tlsr

Lysenko: 1 flight of enemy UAV was recorded within the military operation area. 1 RU UAV was detected above the Crimean administration line

ATO spokesperson: One Ukrainian serviceman KIA, 6 were wounded in action in last 24 hours

Col. Lysenko: In Mariupol sector, from Aug 1, 19 civilians were killed, 54 civil persons were wounded from militants actions

ATO spox: At the frontline stretching from Novhorodske to Avdiyivka, Novobahmutivka was a single area of of military confrontation.

Col. Lysenko: To the north of Horlivka, militants shelled Kirove & Novhorodske.

Col. Andriy Lysenko: Attack of militants sabotage-reconnaissance group was repelled by UA servicemen near Semyhirya.

ATO spox: Near Horlivka enemy concentrated their activity to the north of the city.

Col. Andriy Lysenko: Donetsk sector: several enemy armed provocations were recorded near Svitlodarsk.

Col. Lysenko: At the frontline stretching from Popasna to Troitske – stand-down.

Col. Lysenko: Bakhmut road area: enemy shelled UA positions near Nyzhnie and Zolote, militants provocation took place near Novotoshkivske.

Col. Lysenko: Near Pavlopil and Orlivske attacks of enemy artillery and MLRS Grad were also recorded.

ATO spox: Near Starohnativka, enemy attacked UA positions with 152-mm artillery and in the evening fired with MLRS Grad

Col. Lysenko: Mariupol sector: Enemy use howitzers and heavy mortars at the frontline from Novotroitske to Talakivka both day and night

ATO spokesperson: In the area of Krasnohorivka and Maryinka situation is somewhat calmer: heavy armament was not used.

[OUTLAW 09]

More light humor as Russian forces stage today for general offense—after more than four weeks of artillery and rocket shellings to pre the battlefield per typical Russian attack doctrine.

In Russia, Duma officials read news how West is again "deeply troubled-very concerned" about the situation in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/pWxBG2KFDu

There's so much sanctioned food to be destroyed that the bar in State Duma Building supersized its Bloody Mary pic.twitter.com/yGOAjNLzqq

Russia's new nuclear-powered icebreaker will keep the Northern Sea Route open all winter pic.twitter.com/JLUQRKAsTO

Russia's BQ Mobile introduced a phone with a bottle opener. This is not a joke. pic.twitter.com/94rsH4rYWe

Russia's 35th humanitarian aid convoy is being blessed in Rostov before crossing the border to Ukraine pic.twitter.com/XPlb5iOhC2

[OUTLAW 09]

ATO spox: 1 KIA, 6 WIA yesterday.
Again, who to believe?
One Ukr servicemen said they had 2 KIA yesterday evening near the Donetsk airport.

MoD and ATO speaker Motuzyanik said that all helicopters are safe, info on downed one near Artemivsk is fake

The state border service reported armed clash on the border with Russia with smugglers pic.twitter.com/XTTj1GEjOK http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/14-august-the-state-border-service-reported-armed-clash-on …

Turchynov: Russia masterminding provocation for Ukraine's Independence Day
http://www.unian.info/society/1111622-turchynov-russia-masterminding-provocation-for-ukraines-independence-day.html … pic.twitter.com/qujfykBMsk

Searching the Earth: Essential geolocation tools for verification http://buff.ly/1DP916t by @EliotHiggins pic.twitter.com/2KhnbwQyxX

[OUTLAW 09]

IMPORTANT!
"Civilians from #Styla evacuated (by RU) to Novyi Svit" https://twitter.com/hu_WarWar84/status/632134045955158016 …

Russia|ns evacuated civilians from #Styla to Novyi Svit, all taken by bus. RU Equipment and manpower is gathering now.

My mother said that all taken out by bus."
RU equipment and manpower also accumulating in that area, you know what's next.

And this was yesterday:
Road from #Starobeshevo to #Styla closed.
Same from #Dokuchajevsk to #Styla.


It's all about Volnovakha (which in turn is all about Mariupol north flank).

Maybe RU push from north (Styla) and east (Novolaspa) too?

Politicians cling to Minsk like migrants cling to liferafts (EU knows about both). Russian forces attack. Aim: take more Ukrainian territory

It is as simple as that and the entire West does nothing.

11:56AM
"Huge queue at #Volnovakha checkpoint towards #Mariupol almost till #Buhas"
(3-4km) https://twitter.com/BylByleva/status/632137316035862528 …

Appears Ukrainians know more about what Putin is up to than the entire 700 person US NSC does these days.

Appears the civilians were correct---
Volnovakha 13:15
"20-30mins ago... heavy volleys in the distance. About triangle #Mykolaivka-#Styla-#Petrivske." https://twitter.com/solomazheka/status/632133457414631424 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Volunteers report heavy shelling on positions near Donetsk airport overnight. Militants used GRAD, Tanks, SPGs, BMP
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1623290604554342&substory_index=0&id=1536808696535867&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1623290604554342&__tn__=%2As …

Militants also shelled Opytne and Vodyane with GRAD MLRS. Attacked positions near Pisky with mortars and machine guns

Are these the 7 BUK missile parts as reported by RTL? http://bit.ly/1N6wim7 & http://bit.ly/1NuixM8 pic.twitter.com/PsILrFIPn7

[OUTLAW 09]

Lying is easy when you are Russian propagandist. Just turn everything you say 180 degrees... https://twitter.com/WBStevens/status/632115900796248064 …

This is what is called the Russian Orwellian doublespeak---say something but mean something else.

[OUTLAW 09]

Tymchuk: Russians continue to bring reinforcements to #Novolaspa - #Starolaspa area, manpower, armor, tanks http://espreso.tv/news/2015/08/14/boyovyky_perekynuly_pid_starognativku_pikhotnu_rot u_i_tankovyy_vzvod …

Russians are amassing equipment in #Staromykhailivka too. https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/632152604445908992 …

Militants from Mortars and GRAD fired towards Hnutove CP. About 40 shells landed near the checkpoint - Border guards
http://dpsu.gov.ua/ua/about/news/news_8233.htm …

Head of Russian Railways Yakunin said that US is guilty of "disaster" in Ukraine http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/14-august-head-of-russian-railways-yakunin-said-that-us-is …

Massive enemy attack causes major destruction in Artemove http://www.unian.info/war/1111577-massive-enemy-attack-causes-major-destruction-in-artemove.html …

More #Avdiivka @novostidnua_en pic.twitter.com/btuAv9yCVO

Avdiivka, #5, Timiryazeva St, Aug13 shelling aftermath @666_mancer pic.twitter.com/YSe2x2PuiH More photos at https://vk.com/wall-1206792_531768 …

Main power lines are down---
Avdiivka today @Ukr_Che pic.twitter.com/KSjNgkrtuq

BU found an Arsenal of weapons in the center of Kyiv http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/14-august-sbu-found-an-arsenal-of-weapons-in-the-center-of …

In Kharkiv SBU detained saboteurs who prepared an explosion on the railway http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/14-august-in-kharkiv-sbu-detained-saboteurs-who-prepared …

[OUTLAW 09]

The #Russia|ns woke up, shelling started in multiple places in eastern #Ukraine

Ukrainian artillery destroys terrorist warehouse with ammunition and fuel
http://www.unian.info/war/1111711-ukrainian-artillery-destroys-terrorist-warehouse-with-ammunition-and-fuel.html … pic.twitter.com/RM57KI0YT2

19:31 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster Landings in Nakhalivka so far - I hear blasts from there

Russian Spetsnaz is on the move again-beaten back---
Today, militants continued to use heavy weapons including GRAD. UKR forces repelled DRG near Syze - ATO press center
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1048607601816712&id=820651001279041&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1048607601816712&__tn__=%2As …

19:29 #Dzerzhynsk @partizan201415 Zabalka along Gertsena can hear landings clearly

19:29 #Dzerzhynsk @VFjiVv4eYK3kcc3 I can see huge pillar of smoke and fire behind #Nakhalivka

19:23 #Dzerzhynsk @hdzerz Incoming on 8th micro-ds, it's in smoke, hit at slag heap

19:21 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster Strong voltage drops, one block is already without electricity

19:20 #Dzerzhynsk-#Mayorks @oksi_art incoming 122mm from #Horlivka

19:17 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster They are pounding fanwise at the town. Landings almost near us so far

19:13 #Dzerzhynsk @VFjiVv4eYK3kcc3 [my] house in the center is in a whirl

19:10 #Dzerzhynsk @pereimenovannyi Incoming from #Horlivka started, they fly over our heads, I'm in #Artemove now

19:07 #Dzerzhynsk @VFjiVv4eYK3kcc3 Very strong incoming

[OUTLAW 09]

More confirmation of exactly which Russian Airborne units have been fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Russian airborne troops on a roll, now Putin awards Ivanovo and Tula paratroopers for heroism and bravery pic.twitter.com/MAkBs6EVnA

There has been some serious concerning the past about this since their have a very close relationship to the Russian State Security FSB.

Exclusive: Russian antivirus firm #Kaspersky Lab faked malware to harm rivals
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/14/us-kaspersky-rivals-idUSKCN0QJ1CR20150814 … #Russia pic.twitter.com/Whb4b1ws7p

[OUTLAW 09]

One of the current three geo political goals of Putin and they have been stated numerous times in the last year—is;
1. disconnect totally the US from Europe

Russia knows only to well the Iranian missile development is well advanced and they are capable of launching missile strikes against NATO.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/14/us-russia-usa-idUSKCN0QJ0UB20150814

Russia steps up demand for U.S. to drop European missile shield

MOSCOW | By Gabriela Baczynska


Russia urged the United States on Friday to scrap plans to station parts of a missile shield system in Europe now that Iran has reached an agreement with world powers to limit its nuclear program.

Moscow has long opposed the plan, which it sees as a threat to its nuclear deterrence, and vowed to retaliate if it goes ahead. Washington has previously assured Moscow the shield was meant as protection from "rogue" states like Iran, and not directed against Russia.

Since the July agreement under which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for an easing of U.N., U.S. and European Union sanctions, Moscow has stepped up its rhetoric against the missile shield.

"We don't see any reason to continue with the program, let alone at such an accelerated pace and with a clear aim at the Russian nuclear potential," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters.

The latest spat threatens to further worsen a deep chill in ties between Moscow and Washington, now at their lowest point since the Cold War because of the conflict in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last week said Barack Obama "was not telling the truth" in comments he made in 2009 linking the need for a missile shield to what the president called the "real threat" from Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile activity.


"ARTIFICIAL ARGUMENTS"

At the time, Obama said: "As long as the threat from Iran persists, we will go forward with a missile defense system that is cost-effective and proven. If the Iranian threat is eliminated, we will have a stronger basis for security, and the driving force for missile defense construction in Europe will be removed."

Moscow says those comments mean that with the resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue, Washington should now walk away from the missile shield plan.

But William Stevens, spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Moscow, said even if the agreement was fully implemented, it did not annul the threat from Iran's ballistic missiles that Obama also mentioned back in 2009.

Under the July deal, U.N. sanctions on Iran's ballistic missiles program will stay in place for eight years.

"As long as Iran goes on developing and deploying ballistic missiles, the U.S. together with its allies and partners will be working to ensure protection from this threat, including through deploying the NATO missile shield system," Stevens said.

Ryabkov said Moscow ruled out the possibility of using mid-range ballistic missiles with non-nuclear warheads to target Europe.

"So I conclude that the U.S. administration is artificially stitching arguments together behind a decision to continue and increase the pace of creating the European missile shield that was in fact taken for different reasons," he said.

If the shield goes ahead, Russia has said it would retaliate, including by deploying short-range Iskander ballistic missiles in its enclave of Kaliningrad, on the border with NATO members Poland and Lithuania.

Ryabkov also said Russia and Iran had agreed on two bilateral deals as part of implementing the wider nuclear agreement, and were now discussing the details.

He said Russia would take in some 8 tonnes of low-enriched uranium from Iran in exchange for supplies of natural uranium. Moscow and Tehran would also produce medical isotopes at Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment facility.

[OUTLAW 09]

OSCE SMM observed Russian (hybrid) forces in Donetsk using Aistyonok artillery radar http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bec_1421352728 … and http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/135211 …


Horlivka #Zaytseve battle. #Ukraine's positions are being fired upon by machine guns and grenade launchers.

20:05 #Dzerzhynsk @gg_artem They say milk plant at Zabalka was hit

19:59 #Horlivka @_John__Carter_ Volleys from city center as these days

19:48 #Dzerzhynsk @TarasUkrop_ Very loud,there wasn't such loud long ago. Hum, power is periodically down. Windows vibrate

19:45 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca Rumble, projectiles are hissing

19:45 #Horlivka Kalinovka @Xykalinovka Loud

19:45 #Horlivka @adochek And artillery volleys resumed

19:44 #Horlivka @adochek Mortar rounds, 4 sec interval betw shot/blast, not nearby

19:42 #Horlivka Central city ds @15SVET15 2 mortar rounds, 2 incoming. RUS 'Samooborona Gorlovki' admin lied that was from Dzerzhynsk

19:41 #Horlivka @andreyboss77 Volleys and landings started

19:39 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster "UKR one outgoing, hmm"

19:38 #Horlivka @adochek Rumble also here for now, SPG volleys

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/14/pentagon-fears-it-s-not-ready-for-a-war-with-putin.html

08.14.151:13 AM ET

Pentagon Fears It’s Not Ready for a War With Putin


The U.S. military has run the numbers on a sustained fight with Moscow, and they do not look good for the American side.

A series of classified exercises over the summer has raised concerns inside the Defense Department that its forces are not prepared for a sustained military campaign against Russia, two defense officials told The Daily Beast.

Many within the military believe that 15 years of counter terrorism warfare has left the ground troops ill prepared to maintain logistics or troops levels should Russia make an advance on NATO allies, the officials said.

Among the challenges the exercises revealed were that the number of precision-guided munitions available across the force were short of the war plans and it would be difficult to sustain a large troop presence.

“Could we probably beat the Russians today [in a sustained battle]? Sure, but it would take everything we had,” one defense official said. “What we are saying is that we are not as ready as we want to be.”

One classified “tabletop exercise” or “TTX”—a kind of in-office war game—“told us that the wars [in Iraq and Afghanistan] have depleted our sustainment capability,” a second defense official explained, using military jargon for the ability to maintain a fight. The exercise was led by the Department of Defense and involved several other federal agencies.

In recent months, the top officers of the military have begun to call Putin’s Russia an “existential threat” to the United States. The results of those exercises—and Russian-backed forces’ latest advance in Ukraine—didn’t exactly tamp down those fears.

But these concerns about readiness and sustainability are not universally held—not even inside the Pentagon. Nor is there a consensus about the kind of risk Putin's Russia really poses. Everyone in the U.S. security establishment acknowledges that Moscow has roughly 4,000 nuclear weapons, the world’s third largest military budget, and an increasingly bellicose leader. There’s little agreement on how likely that threat could be.

“A war between Russian and NATO is an unlikely scenario given the severe repercussions Russia would face. In addition to the overwhelming reaction it would provoke, Russia’s aging military equipment and strained logistical capabilities make a successful offensive attack a very difficult proposition for them,” one U.S. intelligence official told The Daily Beast. “In short, direct conflict with Russia is a low probability, high-risk situation. The challenge of Putin’s erratic leadership is that low probability events are slightly more probable.”

The U.S. military still has the upper hand in so many ways, after all. But there are limits—severe limits—on those advantages. For its air power, for example, the U.S. military would be leaning on worn out fighter pilots and limited maintenance abilities for their planes. And the surveillance drones needed would have to be drawn from other conflict zones.

“Against an adversary like Russia, we can’t take the kind of air dominance we’ve had in conflicts since 9/11 for granted,” a second defense official explained. “Any conflict of significant magnitude against an adversary like Russia means we’d need to commit airmen and resources that are now operating in other parts of the world at a rate that minimizes their ability to train for that kind of fight.”

The official added, “We may very well be able to provide the airpower that would allow us and our allies to prevail in a high-end fight, but the current state of our air forces definitely doesn’t make that a sure bet.”

Around the time of that TTX, in June, the U.S. military also conducted four major field exercises with its NATO counterparts, called Allied Shield, consisting of 15,000 troops and 19 member countries. In March, Russia conducted its own exercises, at one point deploying as many as 80,000 personnel.

“The focus of the exercises is on what each side sees as its most exposed areas, with NATO concentrating on the Baltic States and Poland whilst Russia is focusing primarily on the Arctic and High North, Kaliningrad, occupied Crimea, and its border areas with NATO members Estonia and Latvia,” is how one reported summarized the dueling manuevers (PDF).

And like the tabletop exercise, Allied Shield suggested the U.S. could not maintain a sustained fight against the Russians.

Moreover, Russia’s blend of special forces, local proxies, weaponized propaganda, cyber espionage, and sneak attacks has many in the U.S. military struggling to figure out how to respond. Of course, they want to check Russian aggression—especially if Putin makes a move for America’s NATO allies in the Baltics. They’re not sure how do to that without starting down the path towards World War III. Especially now that Russia has declared itself open to the notion of using first-strike nuclear weapons in a conventional conflict.

The Daily Beast’s Anna Nemtsova, who is currently with U.S. military trainers in Ukraine, asked one of them what they would they do if their units were suddenly surrounded by Russian-backed forces.

“Let me think for a moment, that is a difficult one,” the American soldier said.

At his last briefing with reporters, Army Gen. Raymond Odierno, the outgoing Chief of Staff of the Army, said NATO exercises conducted in Europe exposed even small challenges that could have outsized impact in a fight against Russia.

“One of the things we learned is the logistical challenges we have in Eastern Europe. For example, Eastern Europe has a different gauge railroad than Western Europe [where U.S. has traditionally trained] does so moving supplies is a more difficult. So we are learning great lessons like that,” Odierno said.

“We may very well be able to provide the airpower that would allow us to prevail in a fight, but the current state of our air forces definitely doesn’t make that a sure bet.”

More serious was Odierno’s warning that “only 33 percent” of the U.S. Army’s brigades are sufficiently trained to confront Russia. That’s far short of the 60 percent needed. Odierno said that he does not believe the Army will reach those levels for several more years.

During the height of the Cold War, there were roughly 250,000 U.S. troops deployed to Europe. After the first Gulf War, that number fell to roughly to 91,000. That number today stands at 31,000—although some additional troops have been added since the stealth invasion of Ukraine.

And yet, many throughout government are not nearly as worried as the military. In fact, these insiders suspect that the Pentagon’s warning is more a means to seek leverage amid threats of budget cuts. The military is hoping to stave off major cuts to its ground force and cash flow, as the war in Afghanistan winds down.

Lawrence Korb—a senior fellow at the Washington D.C.-based Center for American Progress, which is closely aligned with the Obama White House and the Hillary Clinton campaign, said that he believes the military is taking advantage of Russian aggressions over the last two years to fight its budget battles.

Further, Korb is not convinced the exercises reflect reality, noting the U.S. spends roughly $600 billion on its defense compared to Russia’s $60 billion. Russian weapons are far less modern, and Putin had to abandon his $400 billion plan to upgrade them earlier this year as the Russian ruble fell.

“We’d clean their clocks. [Russian troops are] not that good. They are not as modern,” Korb said. “I think [the military] took advantage of recent Russian aggression because it has become clear we would not use large ground armies” to confront groups like the self proclaimed Islamic State.”

The U.S. military is now worried about Russia “in the same way the Navy [once] talked about the Chinese” to stop cuts to its budget, he added.

But Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, who retired in 2012 as the commander of U.S. Army Europe, said that the Russian threat existed far before the latest budget squabbles. And when he raised them in 2010, they fell on deaf ears.

“We were beating the drum of Russia in 2010 and we were told [by Washington officials], ‘You are still in the Cold War.’ All the things we predicted would happen, happened, but it wasn’t at the forefront of the time,” Hertling said.

“This gets to a lack of trust between the government and the military,” Hertling added. “We were monitoring Russian movement and they were increasing not only their budget but their pace of operation and their development of new equipment. They were repeatedly aggressive and provocative even though we were trying to work with them.”

Since then, the Army has shrunk rapidly—by 80,000 troops. Should Congress enact the across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration, the Army could fall from 450,000 soldiers to 420,000, making it the smallest U.S. ground force since the end of World War II. Odierno has called such figures dangerous.

“The unrelenting budget impasse has compelled us to degrade readiness to historically low levels,” Odierno said last month at a conference.

Either way, the London-based European Leadership Network released a report Wednesday, and concluded the dueling large scale military exercises are aggravating tensions, not deterring the opposing side, as intended.

“Russia is preparing for a conflict with NATO, and NATO is preparing for a possible confrontation with Russia. We do not suggest that the leadership of either side has made a decision to go to war or that a military conflict between the two is inevitable, but that the changed profile of exercises is a fact and it does play a role in sustaining the current climate of tensions in Europe,” found the report,

[OUTLAW 09]

Obama is out playing golf, Kerry makes only one telephone call to Larvov, Merkel and Hollande are totally missing in action……….

Poro, Yatseniuk, Turchynov - there is heavy shelling all around #Donetsk, HELL, if this is not RU aggression then what is it?

20:40 #Dzerzhynsk @gg_artem For 15min strong landings in Yuzhna, Artema direction

20:40 #Donetsk @papandopoolo In Gvardeyka direction single shots rumble

20:39 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster Explosions somewhere within visual range, loud, ear-splitting
№вщтифыкузщкеы

20:36 #Dzerzhynsk @hdzerz Very strong explosions, tremor on walls

20:38 #Dzerzhynsk @VFjiVv4eYK3kcc3 Heavy landings, house is shaking

#Staromikhailivka 21:07
Again no electricity https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/632253317809315840 …

20:36 #Dzerzhynsk @hdzerz Very strong explosions, tremor on walls

20:35 #Dzerzhynsk @pereimenovannyi They are pounding #Artemove just as hell. Cellar is in a flurry...

Donetsk 21:11
#Staromikhailivka-#Krasnohorivka - Battle in fields south of Abakumova mine, hear heavy russian arty https://twitter.com/UrriKara4en/status/632253305352269824 …

Horlivka 20:51
Incoming at the mercury mine. https://twitter.com/xy_gorlov4an/status/632248076963586048 …

Avdiivka 20:30
Loud! https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/632244010132877312 …

Horlivka 20:43
(RU) artillery is shelling #Dzerzhynsk https://twitter.com/xy_gorlov4an/status/632246055548141568 …

Dzerzhynsk 20:38
Heavy shelling, house is shaking. https://twitter.com/VFjiVv4eYK3kcc3/status/632244914252849152 …

[OUTLAW 09]

#Cargo200 Burial of Russian fascist volunteer "Hanzhosa" and wife killed while directing fire against UA positions. pic.twitter.com/4j6llFbYTb

Ukrainian-Held Villages North Of Gorlovka Under Fire. http://www.interpretermag.com/ukraine-live-day-543-sbu-releases-video-purporting-to-show-captured-russian-army-officer/#9496 … pic.twitter.com/3E9LWNfNMM

This was the August 2014 battle when Russian invasion forces surrounded the UAF------
Ukraine forces in Ilovaisk outnumbered by enemy by 18 times
http://www.unian.info/war/1111788-ukraine-forces-in-ilovaisk-outnumbered-by-enemy-by-18-times.html … pic.twitter.com/quCFOAVGHv

More destruction to Avdiivka coke plant. Caused by militant shelling. Aug 14 - JCCC pic.twitter.com/1vWsVnrtLc

[OUTLAW 09]

Obama is out playing golf, Kerry makes only one telephone call to Larvov, Merkel and Hollande are totally missing in action……….

Poro, Yatseniuk, Turchynov - there is heavy shelling all around #Donetsk, HELL, if this is not RU aggression then what is it?

20:40 #Dzerzhynsk @gg_artem For 15min strong landings in Yuzhna, Artema direction

20:40 #Donetsk @papandopoolo In Gvardeyka direction single shots rumble

20:39 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster Explosions somewhere within visual range, loud, ear-splitting
№вщтифыкузщкеы

20:36 #Dzerzhynsk @hdzerz Very strong explosions, tremor on walls

20:38 #Dzerzhynsk @VFjiVv4eYK3kcc3 Heavy landings, house is shaking

#Staromikhailivka 21:07
Again no electricity https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/632253317809315840 …

20:36 #Dzerzhynsk @hdzerz Very strong explosions, tremor on walls

20:35 #Dzerzhynsk @pereimenovannyi They are pounding #Artemove just as hell. Cellar is in a flurry...

Donetsk 21:11
#Staromikhailivka-#Krasnohorivka - Battle in fields south of Abakumova mine, hear heavy russian arty https://twitter.com/UrriKara4en/status/632253305352269824 …

Horlivka 20:51
Incoming at the mercury mine. https://twitter.com/xy_gorlov4an/status/632248076963586048 …

Avdiivka 20:30
Loud! https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/632244010132877312 …

Horlivka 20:43
(RU) artillery is shelling #Dzerzhynsk https://twitter.com/xy_gorlov4an/status/632246055548141568 …

Dzerzhynsk 20:38
Heavy shelling, house is shaking. https://twitter.com/VFjiVv4eYK3kcc3/status/632244914252849152 …

Absolutely to many shelling and ground attack reports coming in to translate—will do random as I can do…….just as bad tonight as the day with 150 attacks and there are a number of ground attacks in progress…………


22:13 @SPaWN_ua #Novotroitske under shelling

More artillery... everything went to Peski...

22:01
Strong canonade and all the sky glowing over #Pisky. https://twitter.com/old_dn/status/632265800729128960 …

21:40 #Dzerzhynsk @dimetros7776 Entire #Dyliivka on fire.Artema too
@blessmaster I see neither fire nor glow there
@dimetros7776 Fields

22:03
GRAD from #Yasynuvata towards north, full load.
#Donetsk https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/632266405354860545 …

22:00
In north-east from #Krasnohorivka a very intense battle.
Perhaps #Pisky-Nevel′skoe-#Avdiivka. https://twitter.com/arthurnkua/status/632265582428168193 …

Donetsk 21:45
Artillery volleys from Mineralne-#Yasinovata. https://twitter.com/nixer79/status/632263060351229952 …

21:15 #Makiivka, Gvardeyka @Palchakkk A UAV is being shot down over Batman settlement

21:15 #Kurakhove @rybalko_evgeny It rumbled that loud when DNR crept to #Maryinka Jun03

21:09 #Kurakhove area @pinokioner Blasts became more frequent

21:11 between #Kurakhove&#Maryinka according to my trembling window sill

21:09 [#Kurakhove area] @pinokioner Maryinka, Krasnohorivka or closer to Kurakhove: heavy blasts. They are ealy today

21:11 #Donetsk @UrriKara4en Battle in #Staromykhaylivka-#Krasnohorivka area. Fr/fields behind Abakumova heavy gunshots are audible

Horlivka 21:3
Hum of heavy equipment. It will be fun again.
At Kurganka. https://twitter.com/xy_gorlov4an/status/632258336327639041 …

21:17 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster 3rd shelling wave started - booma again

20:46 #Dzerzhynsk @blessmaster After a short lull something 'fruity' landed, explosion wave shaked walls few times

21:05 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Boarding school - horse stables -mine shaft: battles. Like Zavodska joined

20:31 #Donetsk Petrovka @Ykrainaponadyse Single outgoing salvos

#Krasnohorivka 21:22
LOUD
All evening, small and heavy caliber https://twitter.com/arthurnkua/status/632256051438583809 …

20:40 #Luhansk @ukrainebang Quiet all day in #Stanytsia_Luhanska & #Schastya direction, have they driven all local orcs to Horlivka&Donetsk?

Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk]
20:20 Resumed, loud shots, some hits within town limits...
20:45 No change, same rumbles, tracers

[OUTLAW 09]

One of the current three geo political goals of Putin and they have been stated numerous times in the last year—is;
1. disconnect totally the US from Europe

Russia knows only to well the Iranian missile development is well advanced and they are capable of launching missile strikes against NATO.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/14/us-russia-usa-idUSKCN0QJ0UB20150814

Russia steps up demand for U.S. to drop European missile shield

MOSCOW | By Gabriela Baczynska


Russian Topol-M (SS-27) mobile ICBM system estimated min range 2,000km, max range 10,500km. It is designed for possible use against Europe.

Russian SS21 is a tactical nuclear missile with a 500km range.

NOW does everyone fully understand just why they want the MD removed--remove it and Russia has nuclear superiority over Europe.

[OUTLAW 09]

War is actually occurring in Central Europe—but not a single comment from any Western leader---strange is it not????

Grigoryevka fields: incoming shells! that means at least some response from UA! https://twitter.com/malinazr/status/632272839501070337 …

movements of howitzers, both SP and towed around in Donetsk....

22:03 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy like outgoing MLRS volley from #Yasynuvata-#Yasynivka direction, 10 pieces

22:03 #Donetsk @papandopoolo Distant rumble almost non-stop, N/NE - intense heavy sounds...

21:57 #Donetsk @nixer79 Together with arty Grad shelled,full load[=40 rockets]...
@Eastpeace1 All skyline in flashes
https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/632272068176932864 …

#Makiivka 22:25
Another volley, 15-20 rockets https://twitter.com/VasyaMakeevskiy/status/632272049818497025 …

Donetsk 23:16
At Lidievka heavy incoming since about 1 hour, and at Tekstishchik ds, very loud https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/632271612214124544 …

21:59 #Donetsk Kalinovka @funkermanjke Strong salvos are heard fr/#Makiivka direction,5min of non-stop fire, at least 5 tubes

22:25 #Donetsk @donetskye Onemore outgoing Grad, half load [=20 rockets]

DNR shelling Mariinka, very heavy landings, people describe it as hell

Staromikhailivka 21:59
21.59 Shevchenko street: No electricity, heavy incoming, there is a lot of damage! https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/632270892077305857 …

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/14/pentagon-fears-it-s-not-ready-for-a-war-with-putin.html

08.14.151:13 AM ET

Pentagon Fears It’s Not Ready for a War With Putin

As someone who has trained 41 BCT Staffs and has seen the Cold War up close and personal--I will comment more on this tomorrow--understand exactly what the ACoS is not saying between the lines in what they learned from their exercises as I started pointing out these shortcomings as early as 2010 BUT was laughed out of the room as the world rotated around COIN.

Noticed the outgoing ACoS is not laughing anymore.

Also designed a specific training scenario and worked with the Russian 14th Peacekeeping Brigade in 2012 and 2013 on that scenario--where their strongest interest was surprise surprise -- logistics.

Mark Galeotti @MarkGaleotti
Pentagon Fears Not Ready for War With Putin
Bizarre + alarmist piece in @thedailybeast
http://thebea.st/1NeUPp1


Mark Galeotti @MarkGaleotti
US really just "learned" #Russia different rail gauge? #NATO, which outmans + outspends Moscow, only "prob" win if attacked? Nonsense

I value greatly Galeotti's comments especially on the Russian military--BUT he has not the inherent experience in seeing just how far the current Army has degraded since 9/11 and COIN.

[OUTLAW 09]

In Peski there's serious combat fighting between UA and DPR. Is ongoing right now.

https://twitter.com/OPK_KH_UA_2011/status/632279955993456640 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Kremlin ordered “DPR” militants to hold "parade of prisoners" on Independence Day of Ukraine

http://en.censor.net.ua/photo_news/347817/kremlin_ordered_dpr_militants_to_hold_parade_of_pr isoners_on_the_independence_day_of_ukraine_documen t … pic.twitter.com/94sBhtVBgr

NOTICE----these same POWS were to have been exchanged in Feb 2015 under the Minsk 2 agreement.

So Russia now fully admits they are in full violation of Minsk 2.

[OUTLAW 09]

Strong Russian ground attacks are being reported all along the eastern Minsk 2 contact line.

Some are close combat but it appears UAF is still holding their own.

Going to be a seriously bad night for the UAF.

Total attack number will be again high.

[OUTLAW 09]

Obama’s own words 2014—“we will judge Putin by his actions not his words” and from 2015—“if the fighting becomes serious we will make it hurt Russia”.

Now we have his actions and what do we hear from the White House???

Kerry makes a telephone call and the DoS is “deeply troubled”—well below seems to totally contradict Obama and Kerry as well as the 700 person NSC.

22:33 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] quiet as of now

22:31 #Kurakhove @pinokioner As of now they've suddenly ceased - just 1-2 landings per minute

22:23 #Donetsk @nixer79 Scheglovka is heavily pounded from #Spartak

Lebedyns'ke also struck from militant artillery and later with GRAD MLRS - Reporter

22:13 #Novhorodske @manirtal Intense artywork from #Donetsk, 2-3 projectiles per second. In #Spartak dir'n soundless blasts seen sometimes

22:45 #Luhansk @100007182042214 Eastern blocks: hardware roar is heard, direction unknown

22:17 #Mariupol @PatriotoffUA Cannonades are audible near #Mariupol...

Tonight militants shelled Pisky with tanks, Pervomais'ke shelled with mortars. Vodyane with mortars, SPGs - Reporter
http://society.lb.ua/war/2015/08/14/313504_peskah_idet_boy_obnovleno.html …

22:20 #Kurakhove @pinokioner One blast after another [heard]

22:10 #Mariupol @zanzy1975 From #Mariupol [area] UKR reply went eastward

22:13 #Donetsk Rozy_Luksemburg @0954771 Rumble and resonance over high-rise buildings..
22:14 Strange volleys with long resonance.Frequently

Telmanove 22:20
Incoming shelling in this area.
(Ukr return fire?) https://twitter.com/Ukr_Che/status/632274987752275969 …

22:20 #Luhansk @100007182042214 They've calmed down near #Schastya

22:04 #Donetsk @donetskye 21:52-22:02 2 Grad volleys from the north of Donetsk and more than 100 152mm projectiles

#Donetsk 22:34
#Pisky, #Optyne, #Spartak - very intense battle, everything flying from both sides https://twitter.com/062_Region/status/632274084865273856 …

Mariupol 22:02
(Rumble) in the west of the town is very well heard, long ago there was no such thing https://twitter.com/bohdan_ukr/status/632266073501532160 …

22:08 #Mariupol @vladpug They wrote, flashes seen in #Talakivka-#Lebydynske direction

22:02 #Donetsk Kirovsky ds @UrriKara4en about 5min of non-stop gunnery from nearby #Lidiivka

Sounds like shelling also at the Bakhmutka.
22:38 https://twitter.com/mrtoxa5555/status/632275154182242304 …

Luhansk @roroko1980 "track vehicles, Urals and other hardware moving for 3-5 days, nothing like that for few months before"

Dokuchajevsk 23:19
Our (artillery) work has started. https://twitter.com/shuttle1907/status/632285368486895617 …

23:20 #Luhansk @LUGANSKA_JUNTA From the eastern outskirts one can hear non-stop outgoing gunshots 122-152mm

23:25
Restless in the #Styla area https://twitter.com/idinmor/status/632286901622448128 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Some visual assistance for Obama, Kerry, Nuland and the entire NSC for their declared Russian "incursion".

Karan being shelled today @GirkinGirkin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iiOFJ2FXF8 …
20kms from contact line, being shelled by Russian artillery/MLRS.


Footage
Hell in northern #Donetsk tonight.
Back to #January before capture of the airport...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piegTs2D6WY …

Footage
Claims to show outgoing #Grad fire from #Makiivka tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hpq4y4h_Sk …
Russians unleash hell on Ukrainian front&towns.

Appears Obama forgot his 2014 statement--"we will judge Putin on his actions not his words"--well the above is his actions and from Obama and Kerry--golfing and one single telephone call.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russians are still looking for that false flag provocation--throughout the entire heavy shellings from the Russians this evening --the UAF has only returned fire four times as noticed and reported on by the social media in those towns and villages getting shelled.

BY not returning fire it seems it is pushing the Russians to shell their own towns and villages "claiming" it's the UAF just like they claimed on MH17.

Russian Orwellian doublespeak at work again----

Footage
Russians claim "brutal Ukr shelling by #Ukraine" while THEY shell #Donetsk outskirts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkF2Lpu_b9Q … pic.twitter.com/MkNYWEkLJe

[OUTLAW 09]

A lot of good that Kerry phone call to Larvov did--he got suckered just like in Sochi----he never seems to learn.


Breaking
Looking very bad North of #Donetsk airport now.
Russians use tanks, #Grad/s, artillery.
1 Ukr Carpathian Sich trooper WIA so far.

News
Also Lebedyns'ke is under Russian #artillery and #Grad fire tonight.
Origin is near Sakhanka.
pic.twitter.com/MFqojR1MRr

[OUTLAW 09]

No wonder the US Army ACoS is concerned……..The US Army does not even have the same number of artillery and rockets units as this so called Russian hybrid army has.

Actually even Germany has only two artillery BNs left in their entire Army....I would be concerned as well....

23:19 #Dokuchaevsk @shuttle1907 UKR started to work

23:06 #Donetsk #Makiivka @nixer79 Again several volleys from #Spartak like at #Hryhorivka. Landings in #Spartak then - UKR reply?

Mariupol 23:46
Deaf heavy explosions can be heard from #Shyrokyno https://twitter.com/sviritat/status/632292311674789888 …

23:41 #Mariupol @vladpug 2 silent hours and volleys resumed

23:44 #Mariupol @vladpug 'Wild pats in #Vostochne direction' [=light calibre artillery?]
23:45 one per 30sec-2min

23:42 #Luhansk @LUGANSKA_JUNTA Does it seem to me or orcs have really calmed down?

23:05 #Horlivka @xy_gorlov4an It seems to be finishing for today - #Horlivka separatists reported

23:34 #Horlivka
Volleys and immediat landings https://twitter.com/SolomiaAsti/status/632289549033578496 …

22:59 #Mariupol @sviritat Again heavy booms [heard]

22:59 #Mariupol @sviritat Again heavy booms [heard]

23:30 #Makiivka @Irinkakap Volleys, loudly

23:15
Ruscists continue to shell #Stanytsia_Luhanska https://twitter.com/100007182042214/status/632287515442061312 …

22:39 @hugowow1 UKR reply at #Donetsk, #Telmanove, #Horlivka directions has started

23:32 #Luhansk @LUGANSKA_JUNTA #Stanytsia_Luhanska [still] under intense shelling
#donbasreports

22:39 #Horlivka @NovaGorlivka "Novohorlivka is hunting UAV, AA-guns are shooting at the stars, Mars attacks"

22:35 #Staromykhaylivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Heavy hits at Zhukovskogo-Bakinslikh_Komissarov

Luhansk: the old good base at Transpele, tanks #540&#547 @BuTaJIu4eK http://archive.is/R4nKe pic.twitter.com/3hHjNokp8C

[OUTLAW 09]

Mariupol 00:02
Again hot! Our artillery gives a good return fire! https://twitter.com/sviritat/status/632296352865734657 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Going to be a rather long early morning for the UAF along the entire eastern front line---regardless of shellings and ground attacks there is no social media reports of the UAF losing a village or town they are defending tonight.

UAF units in the Pisky area near the airport are under a major attack for hours now but last social media reporting seems to indicate they are holding as well.

A larger number of ground attacks than usual were being led by Spetsnaz which were pushed back as well.

Russia troops and her mercenaries are seriously looking for weak defense points and are not finding them.

00:13 #Stakhanov @elonline40 For 40min already heavy salvos and blinding flashes in #Almazna direction. Single heavy volleys

[OUTLAW 09]

Either the Russian artillery and rocket units have basically run out of munitions and or they are doing a very very early morning breakfast--shellings are going quiet and are ceasing but again who knows they could just as easily start up again later this morning.

The latest Russian aid convoy ie resupply convoy arrived yesterday Ukrainian time so maybe they were low on munitions to begin with and just fired up what they had at the various positions.

[TheCurmudgeon]

Outlaw,

Been a while since I have checked in. I am curious what your thoughts are on why Putin has not put more effort into this, or opened up another front somewhere else along the border? Or even reengaged in Georgia?

[OUTLAW 09]

http://maidantranslations.com/2015/08/14/dmitry-tymchuk-military-update-8-14-freesavchenko/

Dmitry Tymchuk: Military update 8.14

posted on August 14, 2015 by chervonaruta


Operational data from Information Resistance:

In addition to the intense shelling of the ATO forces positions and civilian objects (including with the use of heavy armaments), Russian-terrorist troops in Donbas are using sabotage and reconnaissance groups (SRG) en masse, on different sections of the front line. The SRG are staffed with military servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as local militants and Russian mercenaries who have undergone training in “training centers” under Russian Armed Forces instructors. The enemy’s SRGs are particularly active in the vicinity of Avdiivka, Mar’inka, the Svitlodarsk bridgehead, in the coastal areas, and in the Shchastya – Stanytsia Luhanska stretch. In addition to this, the enemy is widely using reconnaissance equipment (aerial drones, electronic intelligence stations, electro-optical equipment).

Over the past 24 hours, terrorists continued carrying out “harassing” fire and purposeful fire strikes. In the area northeast of Horlivka (Kodema – Semyhirya), militants employed a battery of six 152 mm Msta-B guns to make two fire strikes on the ATO forces’ strongholds. Mortars were used to fire on the positions of Ukrainian troops near Novoluhanske – Zaitseve – Dacha. During one of the fire strikes, two militant infantry groups were spotted moving towards the ATO forces’ positions, through the “greenery.” One of the groups opened fire on the positions of the Ukrainian forces battlefield security, while the other attempted to covertly infiltrate the rear of the ATO forces’ stronghold. Both of these groups were stopped and thrown back by Ukrainian troop fire.

In the stretch between Avdiivka – Shumy, the enemy used mortars (82 mm and 120 mm), 122 mm artillery (three batteries operating), AGS-17 automatic grenade launchers, and ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft units mounted on transport platform.

In the areas of Krasnohorivka – Lozove, and near the settlement of Opytne, the enemy used armored vehicles in addition to artillery (4 tanks and 6 armored combat vehicles), firing from tank guns from positions that were spread out, equipped, and camouflaged.

The maneuvers of enemy infantry groups in the “greenery” were spotted in the vicinity of Mar’inka and Krasnohorivka. Units with 82 mm mortars and AGS-17 grenade launchers were recorded transferring to this area.

Terrorists continue shelling the ATO forces’ positions near Pavlopil, Chermalyk, and Orlivske. In these areas, militants mainly use 120 mm mortars; strikes from 122 mm artillery and BM-21 Grad MLRS were also recorded.

The IR group’s network in this area reports the presence of a powerful militant artillery group, which includes units operating 122 mm cannon artillery, 152 mm 2S19 Msta-C self-propelled guns (six guns), and a battery of BM-21 Grad MLRS. Every day, the enemy uses no more than one or two artillery units from this artillery group, while other units remain on camouflaged positions.

Near the settlements of Starohnativka, Talakivka, Hranitne, and Berezove, the enemy continued carrying out harassing artillery fire during the past 24 hours, and made purposeful powerful artillery strikes on the positions of Ukrainian troops. The enemy mainly used 152 mm artillery; strikes from BM-21 Grad MLRS, 120 mm mortars, and 122 mm artillery were also recorded.

A soldier waiting at a block post behind some trees near Mariupol while continued shelling targets their position. Photo: Noah Brooks

The enemy continues transferring reinforcements to the vicinity of Novolaspa and Starolaspa. Over the past 24 hours, the terrorist battalion already concentrated in this area was joined by a reinforced infantry company (seven armored combat vehicles, including two BMP-2, MT-LB, and BTR-80 armored personnel carriers), and a tank platoon (4 tanks).

Several militant groups operating BM-21 Grad MLRS (2-3 units in each, up to 10 systems in total) were spotted maneuvering. These groups had previously fired on the settlements of Opytne, Vodyane, Pisky, and the Kyivskyi district of Donetsk.

Reinforcements were recorded arriving for the militants’ artillery group in the “Horlivka Garrison.” Additional three D-30 howitzers, escorted by two BTR-80 APCs were transferred to this area.

Militants continue “combat training” near Lutuhyne (in the so-called “Lutuhyne Camps“). In the context of “preparing for repelling the Ukrainian troop offensive,” a large portion of the “field center” personnel and combat equipment (10-11 tanks and at least 14 other armored combat vehicles) has transferred to an area north of Luhansk. At this time, a militant motorized rifle unit, reinforced by an artillery battery, is practicing inter-unit cooperation organization in the “training center.”

[OUTLAW 09]

Outlaw,

Been a while since I have checked in. I am curious what your thoughts are on why Putin has not put more effort into this, or opened up another front somewhere else along the border? Or even reengaged in Georgia?

TC---your question is an interesting one---IMHO he has and still is pouring in more efforts--his financials are at an estimated 40M USD per day up from August 2014 of 20MUSD per day---he has run his 34 "aid convoy" in which are basically a rearm and refit supply run with a little food for the civilians--the captured Russian MAJ is indicating 2K Russian "advisors" assigned to the mercenary units and the last estimate of actual Russian boots on the ground varies from the steady state 9K to up to now 13K so he is increasing at a steady pace.

The Russian military has injected just about every new piece of equipment and munitions they have in their inventory especially on the cluster, themobaric, guided munitions side and their Spetsnaz presence is up from 3 Bdes to now 4.

So he has in fact upped the game from an aggression point of view.

The real question in my opinion is with all of this just why has the Russian military not been able to take more territory??

Even under the massive shelling of last night with 175 shelling and ground attacks he has gained no new village or town.

AND if the OSCE is correct in their observation of 21 +200 semi trailer trucks heading to Rostov---200 indicates KIAs just in the last month--their loses are high as well.

What is surprising and it has even surprised the Russia military is the tenacity and resilience of the UAF and their volunteer BNs--remember the volunteers have been fighting with no pay from the government and have actually saved the Ukraine until the UAF could rearm and refit. Recently a highly decorated UAF tank commander said "they fight with a glow in their eyes" and have been from the very beginning--much like our own Minutemen in the early part of our war for independence.

During the August 2014 fighting the UAF had only a total of 6K troops available and yet with this rag tag group they were almost ready to finish off the mercenaries until the Russian Army stepped--in a major defeat where they suffered high loses and POWs they were facing over 4K-6K regular Russian army troops--some estimates had them surrounded by a 18 times larger force.

Since that defeat it is almost as if they now have a battle cry of never losing again to the Russians --they took another beating in Debaltseve when again they were surrounded by 8K Russian troops and her mercenaries led by Spetsnaz--yet pulled off an interesting fighting withdrawal losing relatively few (2.4K were pulled out of the pocket) in the process much to the surprise of Putin himself who had announced in Budapest their surrender to just "truck drivers and miners".

They have fought, learned and adapted and right now have positioned themselves for a defense in depth following suggestions by former officers who had served with the US in AFG and Iraq.

This the key reason for success--they have learned to rotate entire units every four weeks with the outgoing unit doing excellent handoffs thus allowing the units to recover from the constant shelling and then the same unit goes back in so they fully understand the combat environment in front of them--while Russia is constantly sending in conscripts for three months and then out the same for Spetsnaz.

The UAF and the Ukrainian defense industries have been able to rehab over 12K military vehicles ie tanks, trucks, artillery and MLRSs that were rotting away in depots for 25 to 30 years--has made a big difference. While they are not as modern as Russian equipment they still in fact kill and wound just as effectively --the counter battery radars that the US gave while the older models have given the UAF a strong counter battery ability which they have been using selectively the last few days. They are even using the CBRs to spot and shot down UAVs which they are getting good at lately.

Putin has agitated in Georgia in the last few weeks but it has gone largely unnoticed by the mass media--first a 1km land grab declaring a new border and then last week another 800m for a total of 1.8kms and nothing said by the international community.

He has as well actually annexed a massive new area in the Artic with little to no push back by the US so I would not say he has been inactive--active yes-- just in new places attempting to distract from the Ukraine.

UAF resilience comes down to something that the Iraqi military never had --the UAF and the volunteer BNs fight for a nation/flag and it's civil society and that civil society is doing everything possible to assist the UAF---it has molded the Ukraine into a nation with it's own distinct identity in a way Putin will never understand. The more he pushes the more they reform and head West and the less they identify with Russia.

Again your question is worth a doctorial thesis when this is over as the open source social media has side has provided a wealth of information on the topic that needs to be mined.

[OUTLAW 09]

Obama golfing/vacationing and Kerry telephoning YET there is a massive war ongoing in Central Europe and they seem to not care--that is what the US foreign policy has become--nothing really.

ATO HQ: Russian forces violated ceasefire 175 times (+80) on 14/08. 19 attacks with MLRS GRAD
http://liveuamap.com pic.twitter.com/pOE5jxPvIu

05:57 #Dzerzhynsk @GirkinGirkin #Horlivka - #Dzerzhynsk artillery duel in progress since 5am in Yuzhna mine area

Alchevsk: abt 5 a hardware column has been forming, tracked vehicles & trucks were on move, roar and clatter were also heard in #Perevalsk.

Donetsk: outgoing shelling started fr/Smolyanka/Azotny tow/#Pisky since 4am, ceased at 4:50&continued fr/fields near 23th mine untill 5:15

[OUTLAW 09]

Donetsk Expo-Donbas facility used by Rus communications & Headquarters troops http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/15-august-in-donetsk-expodonbas-facility-used-by-russian … pic.twitter.com/b9nl82QiIh via @finriswolf

Russians staff a comms center on the top floor of this apartment building w/ new arrays on roof #Donetsk pic.twitter.com/0THZIwa5qD

48.023297, 37.803446 geo location

@finriswolf Thanks:-) surprise, surprise it's near the Arena where it's understood they keep their strela-10's, tanks etc..

[OUTLAW 09]

What open source analysis via social media is able to do that the entire US Ic cannot somewhere verify and remains extremely quiet on the shot down of MH17--

Possible truck and tanks identified that escorted the Russian BUK that shot down MH17

This blog about how the BUK had entered Ukraine on the 17th of July 2014, shows this photo:

It was a screenshot taken from the video that was shot from an apartment building in Zuhres and it was released by the SBU at that time. Yet they never released the video itself containing the truck. Only the part where the BUK could be seen on the loader.

It is a typical reinforced Ural truck, but it never got much attention.

We know from the leaked telephone calls that an escort would be arranged and we know it that Vostok battalion had it's base very close to were the BUK was waiting in Donetsk.

This movie from July 10th 2014 shows a Vostok convoy driving through Donetsk into the direction of Donetsk Airport:

Two reinforced trucks can be seen identical to the one from the BUK-video-screenshot.

TRUCK #1

TRUCK #2

Since Ural #2 has a machine gun mounted on top, that is not visible on the screenshot, it is very likely that this Ural #2 accompanied the BUK on that fatal day.

Of course there is a slight chance that they even had more of these modified Urals and that another such one accompanied the BUK. Yet that specific design was typical for Vostok battalion and thus it was Vostok battalion that accompanied the BUK to Snizhne.

Another piece of the puzzle

Another piece of the puzzle comes from this video. Three Russian T-64 can be seen driving on a road:

This is the road driving TOWARDS Torez coming from Donetsk direction. This is the location:

This Panoramio photo has been shot into the same direction, but further down the road. The buildings in the distance are the same as in the video:

Red x = approximate position of camera filming the T-64s

The shadow of the barrel can be seen on the ground (in the video it is a bit more clear than on the photo). The light is coming from the (upper) left side of the road/tank:

With suncalc.net we can now calculate the approximate time at that moment. Set the location and the date. Then slide the time-button (red encircled) until the orange line corresponds with the direction of the light/shadow:
That time is somewhere between 11:00 and 12:00, which also is the probable time the BUK was transported down this same road.

So it is very well possible that these three T-64s were part of that transport!

Another screenshot from the Zuhres-video does show exactly such a tank too:

It means it is very well possible that the BUK was filmed at this moment too! But RT left those shots unpublished for obvious reasons.

[OUTLAW 09]

Hope this helps Kerry get his focus the next time he talks with the Russian FM Larvov—or when Obama sits down with his 700 person NSC –all have simply failed at being decisive leaders on anything other than focusing on his “legacy”.

Some might in DC say it is time for a Plan B but this administration does not even have a PLAN A.

As an American I am totally embarrassed by this utter lack of a clear, concise and coherent foreign policy on anything.

Golfing, vacationing and telephoning when Central Europe is experiencing a major war by a large aggressor nation against a smaller neighbor indicates just how weak this administration is on it’s so called foreign policy.

THAT is what the history books will judge this President on not his so called "legacy". Did he stop it and or could have he stopped it--if so THEN why not will be what the books ask.

Obama’s clear words of “we will judge Putin on his actions not his words” will haunt Obama as it is locked in for the history books as being so stated.

VIDEO: Self propelled artillery moving in Makiivka. supposedly yesterday
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ay0UmKAqvvQ … pic.twitter.com/8iVmM5iWct

VIDEO: Dzerzhyns'k. Shells hit near the slag heap w. Artemove. August 14, 2015
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BrLEjSFwKMo … pic.twitter.com/tbBoe6a66z

Ukraine reports unprecedented shelling by militants in combat zone

Record number of truce violations on August 14.


Ukrainian military spokesmen have said that combined Russia-separatist forces on August 14 shelled Ukrainian positions in east Ukraine 170 times, the most since Russia invaded Donbas last April.

Most of the shelling took place near Donetsk, using 120 mm calibre artillery, which is banned under the psuedo-truce agreed in February with the leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine. Russian-led forces also used multiple rocket systems to fire on Ukrainian positions, according to the brief.

Militants fired on several villages near the strategic port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine using 120 mm artillery.

In total, the ceasefire was broken 175 times, 25 times using artillery, 64 times by mortar fire, 19 times by multiple-rocket systems and 93 times by small arms fire.



This total of over 175 attacks seems to clearly indicate there is no ceasefire and there is no Minsk 2.

EVEN though the German FM and other EU reps recently stated --it appears the ceasefire is largely holding--just what the heck were they smoking????

[OUTLAW 09]

Hope this helps Kerry get his focus the next time he talks with the Russian FM Larvov—or when Obama sits down with his 700 person NSC –all have simply failed at being decisive leaders on anything other than focusing on his “legacy”.

Some might in DC say it is time for a Plan B but this administration does not even have a PLAN A.

As an American I am totally embarrassed by this utter lack of a clear, concise and coherent foreign policy on anything.

Golfing, vacationing and telephoning when Central Europe is experiencing a major war by a large aggressor nation against a smaller neighbor indicates just how weak this administration is on it’s so called foreign policy.

THAT is what the history books will judge this President on not his so called "legacy". Did he stop it and or could have he stopped it--if so THEN why not will be what the books ask.

Obama’s clear words of “we will judge Putin on his actions not his words” will haunt Obama as it is locked in for the history books as being so stated.

VIDEO: Self propelled artillery moving in Makiivka. supposedly yesterday
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ay0UmKAqvvQ … pic.twitter.com/8iVmM5iWct

VIDEO: Dzerzhyns'k. Shells hit near the slag heap w. Artemove. August 14, 2015
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BrLEjSFwKMo … pic.twitter.com/tbBoe6a66z

Ukraine reports unprecedented shelling by militants in combat zone

Record number of truce violations on August 14.




This total of over 175 attacks seems to clearly indicate there is no ceasefire and there is no Minsk 2.

EVEN though the German FM and other EU reps recently stated --it appears the ceasefire is largely holding--just what the heck were they smoking????

Since the WH and the NSC seems to believe Russia is not an existential threat to the US and they apparently do not talk to either DoD or the IC--here is a map indicating all the points of fighting yesterday.

Operational Environment in E. Ukraine as of Aug. 15, 2015, 00:00 EET pic.twitter.com/eZ43Fu2wtU

[OUTLAW 09]

What open source analysis via social media is able to do that the entire US Ic cannot somewhere verify and remains extremely quiet on the shot down of MH17--

Possible truck and tanks identified that escorted the Russian BUK that shot down MH17

This blog about how the BUK had entered Ukraine on the 17th of July 2014, shows this photo:

It was a screenshot taken from the video that was shot from an apartment building in Zuhres and it was released by the SBU at that time. Yet they never released the video itself containing the truck. Only the part where the BUK could be seen on the loader.

It is a typical reinforced Ural truck, but it never got much attention.

We know from the leaked telephone calls that an escort would be arranged and we know it that Vostok battalion had it's base very close to were the BUK was waiting in Donetsk.

This movie from July 10th 2014 shows a Vostok convoy driving through Donetsk into the direction of Donetsk Airport:

Two reinforced trucks can be seen identical to the one from the BUK-video-screenshot.

TRUCK #1

TRUCK #2

Since Ural #2 has a machine gun mounted on top, that is not visible on the screenshot, it is very likely that this Ural #2 accompanied the BUK on that fatal day.

Of course there is a slight chance that they even had more of these modified Urals and that another such one accompanied the BUK. Yet that specific design was typical for Vostok battalion and thus it was Vostok battalion that accompanied the BUK to Snizhne.

Another piece of the puzzle

Another piece of the puzzle comes from this video. Three Russian T-64 can be seen driving on a road:

This is the road driving TOWARDS Torez coming from Donetsk direction. This is the location:

This Panoramio photo has been shot into the same direction, but further down the road. The buildings in the distance are the same as in the video:

Red x = approximate position of camera filming the T-64s

The shadow of the barrel can be seen on the ground (in the video it is a bit more clear than on the photo). The light is coming from the (upper) left side of the road/tank:

With suncalc.net we can now calculate the approximate time at that moment. Set the location and the date. Then slide the time-button (red encircled) until the orange line corresponds with the direction of the light/shadow:
That time is somewhere between 11:00 and 12:00, which also is the probable time the BUK was transported down this same road.

So it is very well possible that these three T-64s were part of that transport!

Another screenshot from the Zuhres-video does show exactly such a tank too:

It means it is very well possible that the BUK was filmed at this moment too! But RT left those shots unpublished for obvious reasons.


BTW --two items of interest;

1. the Vostok commander was the previous Ukrainian Alpha Special Police commander and he stated in a major interview conducted shortly after the shot down that he was mad as heck as it was the mercenaries' in his opinion who shot down the civilian aircraft using a Russian supplied BUK and he was embarrassed as a Ukrainian for the mass killing of civilians and children.

THEN suddenly he recanted his publicly recorded stated and has said nothing since then.

2. Appears that social media now has a copy of the RT video and they are just waiting to see how Russia/Putin respond before releasing the entire RT video containing the BUK

[OUTLAW 09]

TC---your question is an interesting one---IMHO he has and still is pouring in more efforts--his financials are at an estimated 40M USD per day up from August 2014 of 20MUSD per day---he has run his 34 "aid convoy" in which are basically a rearm and refit supply run with a little food for the civilians--the captured Russian MAJ is indicating 2K Russian "advisors" assigned to the mercenary units and the last estimate of actual Russian boots on the ground varies from the steady state 9K to up to now 13K so he is increasing at a steady pace.

The Russian military has injected just about every new piece of equipment and munitions they have in their inventory especially on the cluster, themobaric, guided munitions side and their Spetsnaz presence is up from 3 Bdes to now 4.

So he has in fact upped the game from an aggression point of view.

The real question in my opinion is with all of this just why has the Russian military not been able to take more territory??

Even under the massive shelling of last night with 175 shelling and ground attacks he has gained no new village or town.

AND if the OSCE is correct in their observation of 21 +200 semi trailer trucks heading to Rostov---200 indicates KIAs just in the last month--their loses are high as well.

What is surprising and it has even surprised the Russia military is the tenacity and resilience of the UAF and their volunteer BNs--remember the volunteers have been fighting with no pay from the government and have actually saved the Ukraine until the UAF could rearm and refit. Recently a highly decorated UAF tank commander said "they fight with a glow in their eyes" and have been from the very beginning--much like our own Minutemen in the early part of our war for independence.

During the August 2014 fighting the UAF had only a total of 6K troops available and yet with this rag tag group they were almost ready to finish off the mercenaries until the Russian Army stepped--in a major defeat where they suffered high loses and POWs they were facing over 4K-6K regular Russian army troops--some estimates had them surrounded by a 18 times larger force.

Since that defeat it is almost as if they now have a battle cry of never losing again to the Russians --they took another beating in Debaltseve when again they were surrounded by 8K Russian troops and her mercenaries led by Spetsnaz--yet pulled off an interesting fighting withdrawal losing relatively few (2.4K were pulled out of the pocket) in the process much to the surprise of Putin himself who had announced in Budapest their surrender to just "truck drivers and miners".

They have fought, learned and adapted and right now have positioned themselves for a defense in depth following suggestions by former officers who had served with the US in AFG and Iraq.

This the key reason for success--they have learned to rotate entire units every four weeks with the outgoing unit doing excellent handoffs thus allowing the units to recover from the constant shelling and then the same unit goes back in so they fully understand the combat environment in front of them--while Russia is constantly sending in conscripts for three months and then out the same for Spetsnaz.

The UAF and the Ukrainian defense industries have been able to rehab over 12K military vehicles ie tanks, trucks, artillery and MLRSs that were rotting away in depots for 25 to 30 years--has made a big difference. While they are not as modern as Russian equipment they still in fact kill and wound just as effectively --the counter battery radars that the US gave while the older models have given the UAF a strong counter battery ability which they have been using selectively the last few days. They are even using the CBRs to spot and shot down UAVs which they are getting good at lately.

Putin has agitated in Georgia in the last few weeks but it has gone largely unnoticed by the mass media--first a 1km land grab declaring a new border and then last week another 800m for a total of 1.8kms and nothing said by the international community.

He has as well actually annexed a massive new area in the Artic with little to no push back by the US so I would not say he has been inactive--active yes-- just in new places attempting to distract from the Ukraine.

UAF resilience comes down to something that the Iraqi military never had --the UAF and the volunteer BNs fight for a nation/flag and it's civil society and that civil society is doing everything possible to assist the UAF---it has molded the Ukraine into a nation with it's own distinct identity in a way Putin will never understand. The more he pushes the more they reform and head West and the less they identify with Russia.

Again your question is worth a doctorial thesis when this is over as the open source social media has side has provided a wealth of information on the topic that needs to be mined.

TC--this goes to the tenacity and resilience of the UAF and their volunteer BNs.

1. in a major Russian infantry/IFV attack three days ago that they themselves filmed thinking they were going to win the battle--they were advancing behind two BTR-80s when suddenly out of a tree line defilade came a UAF T64 that raced up popped several smoke grenades to conceal it and then promptly damaged one 80 with a shell round and the other with the turret MG still hidden in their smoke grenade and basically single handedly beat off the attack before disappearing again into the tree line and going back into defilade.

2. yesterday was the highest number of heavy arty 122 to 152mm fire strikes with MLRS and 120mm mortar attacks AND YET only two UAF WIAs.
There is an estimation of over 200 tons of munitions having been fired at them starting yesterday evening into this morning.

They have learned how to sustain themselves while under heavy arty fire--something our own Army would not be able to do.

[OUTLAW 09]

TC--this goes to the tenacity and resilience of the UAF and their volunteer BNs.

1. in a major Russian infantry/IFV attack three days ago that they themselves filmed thinking they were going to win the battle--they were advancing behind two BTR-80s when suddenly out of a tree line defilade came a UAF T64 that raced up popped several smoke grenades to conceal it and then promptly damaged one 80 with a shell round and the other with the turret MG still hidden in their smoke grenade and basically single handedly beat off the attack before disappearing again into the tree line and going back into defilade.

2. yesterday was the highest number of heavy arty 122 to 152mm fire strikes with MLRS and 120mm mortar attacks AND YET only two UAF WIAs.
There is an estimation of over 200 tons of munitions having been fired at them starting yesterday evening into this morning.

They have learned how to sustain themselves while under heavy arty fire--something our own Army would not be able to do.

TC—this is a perfect example of just how crazy it has gotten on the Russian/mercenary side—they have not successfully beaten the UAF on anything since they were forced out of Debaltseve and having thrown an average of 150 tons of munitions every night for the last four weeks at the UAF and launched any number of ground attacks led by Spetsnaz NOW this---

Maxim Tucker @MaxRTucker
"It's the height of madness" - Rebels challenge #Ukraine to tank race. My story: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article4527740.ece … pic.twitter.com/9T07s0nmhQ

Well done Max. You're very observant: not many folks noticed that "spirit of brotherhood" gauntlet being thrown down. Bizarre

[OUTLAW 09]

OSCE ✔ @OSCE
A Russian 49-vehicle convoy crossed into Ukraine and returned through Donetsk Border Crossing Point. Spot report: http://bit.ly/1INMju6

SBU detains terrorist group in the act of planting bomb under railroad track in Kharkiv https://www.facebook.com/freedonbas/photos/pcb.1628098000740618/1628097937407291/?type=1&theater …

Donetsk sector: 2 civilians killed, 1 wounded in Dzerzhynsk; 2 wounded in Sladke in overnight militant shelling http://novosti.dn.ua/details/257602/

1st logistical center for ppl from occupied areas to be opened in #Donetsk reg btwn blockposts Mayorsk/Zaitseve 22Aug http://donoda.gov.ua/?lang=ru&sec=02.03.09&iface=Public&cmd=view&args=id:29345;tags%24_exclude:46 …

Rus proxies fired upon Andriyivka #Mariupol sector where no Ukr troops are stationed. 4 civilians wounded @0629ComUa pic.twitter.com/kvbx7SC50v

[OUTLAW 09]

Plotnitsky threatens LPR will (re)take northern Luhansk region, currently controlled by Ukrainian security forces http://dnr-news.com/dnr/24130-plotnickiy-lnr-nikogda-ne-otkazhetsya-ot-severnyh-territoriy.html …

Front line reports: Russian Grad rocket attacks on Ukrainian positions and towns have significantly increased in the last 48 hours.

[OUTLAW 09]

More light humor after 175 attacks is needed…..

Russia built a bigger bulldozer that can destroy up to six banned frozen geese at the same time pic.twitter.com/tD7QWwfM4L

Kremlin published a previously unseen picture of last year's #G20 Brisbane summit pic.twitter.com/q5KE6ENT6d

Alexandr Dugin was supposed to get married today but he was stood up pic.twitter.com/3d7IcDNoKj

Putin personally tasting all sanctioned food before destroying it, 'Quite good, especially the meat' pic.twitter.com/CLEMwQ1Yay

[OUTLAW 09]

It seems there is an explosion at the Donetsk Chemical plant again... https://twitter.com/UKRINFORM/status/632494026541957121 …
pic.twitter.com/ZEbXSxU0Ki

This is where there is a 300 ton nuclear waste site.

A "quiet" Donetsk's night ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AFbfK1f5Rg …
August 14, Kyivskiy District. Very loud ...((

[OUTLAW 09]

What open source analysis via social media is able to do that the entire US Ic cannot somewhere verify and remains extremely quiet on the shot down of MH17--

Possible truck and tanks identified that escorted the Russian BUK that shot down MH17

This blog about how the BUK had entered Ukraine on the 17th of July 2014, shows this photo:

It was a screenshot taken from the video that was shot from an apartment building in Zuhres and it was released by the SBU at that time. Yet they never released the video itself containing the truck. Only the part where the BUK could be seen on the loader.

It is a typical reinforced Ural truck, but it never got much attention.

We know from the leaked telephone calls that an escort would be arranged and we know it that Vostok battalion had it's base very close to were the BUK was waiting in Donetsk.

This movie from July 10th 2014 shows a Vostok convoy driving through Donetsk into the direction of Donetsk Airport:

Two reinforced trucks can be seen identical to the one from the BUK-video-screenshot.

TRUCK #1

TRUCK #2

Since Ural #2 has a machine gun mounted on top, that is not visible on the screenshot, it is very likely that this Ural #2 accompanied the BUK on that fatal day.

Of course there is a slight chance that they even had more of these modified Urals and that another such one accompanied the BUK. Yet that specific design was typical for Vostok battalion and thus it was Vostok battalion that accompanied the BUK to Snizhne.

Another piece of the puzzle

Another piece of the puzzle comes from this video. Three Russian T-64 can be seen driving on a road:

This is the road driving TOWARDS Torez coming from Donetsk direction. This is the location:

This Panoramio photo has been shot into the same direction, but further down the road. The buildings in the distance are the same as in the video:

Red x = approximate position of camera filming the T-64s

The shadow of the barrel can be seen on the ground (in the video it is a bit more clear than on the photo). The light is coming from the (upper) left side of the road/tank:

With suncalc.net we can now calculate the approximate time at that moment. Set the location and the date. Then slide the time-button (red encircled) until the orange line corresponds with the direction of the light/shadow:
That time is somewhere between 11:00 and 12:00, which also is the probable time the BUK was transported down this same road.

So it is very well possible that these three T-64s were part of that transport!

Another screenshot from the Zuhres-video does show exactly such a tank too:

It means it is very well possible that the BUK was filmed at this moment too! But RT left those shots unpublished for obvious reasons.


Moreover... RT_com filmed Vostok/BUK convoy from THIS car. Maybe somebody can trace it down? @noclador @Nessie43 pic.twitter.com/fGXO3V1VAO

[OUTLAW 09]

Outlaw,

Been a while since I have checked in. I am curious what your thoughts are on why Putin has not put more effort into this, or opened up another front somewhere else along the border? Or even reengaged in Georgia?

TC--another set of indicators that he has not given up---he needs a victory to save his face and the UAF is denying him that---even Obama and Nuland both who forced unilateral appeasement moves on the Ukraine in order to help Putin have not achieved much.

There is an ever growing feeling in the Ukraine that Obama sides more with Putin than against him based on those unilateral moves taken on Putin's recent Normandy Four demands.

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.de/2015/08/putin-will-launch-new-attacks-as.html

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Putin Will Launch New Attacks as Ukrainian Independence Day Approaches, Portnikov Warns

Paul Goble


Staunton, August 15 – Nine days from now Ukrainians will mark their Independence Day, and during that period, Vladimir Putin is certain to be especially aggressive in their country given the Kremlin leader’s desire to punish Ukrainians for an action that constituted the effective death of the Russian imperial project, according to Vitaly Portnikov.

Putin “will do everything possible” to spoil the holiday, and “of course, [his] bandits very much want that as many Ukrainians as possible won’t live to see it, in particular those who are defending Ukraine. This is the classic logic of criminals: we simply are its witnesses” (rus.newsru.ua/columnists/14Aug2015/record.html).

For the Russian leader, “Ukraine’s independence day is a special holiday.” It killed off any chance for “the re-incarnation” of the Russian empire in any form “feudal, Bolshevik, or Putinist.” Indeed, Portnikov argues, “the independence of Ukraine is a guarantee” that sooner or later Moscow will have to give up its imperial projects.

Other Ukrainians are warning of more Russian attacks in the run-up to their country’s independence day. Pavel Zhebrivsky, the chairman of the Donetsk oblast military-civil administration, says that “Ukraine must be prepared for an attack of the militants on August 24 (nr2.ru/video/ZHebrivskiy-Den-nezavisimosti-Ukraine-sakralnyy-dlya-Putina-VIDEO-103908.html).

“For [Putin], an independent Ukraine is something anomalous,” and consequently, he is especially exercised as its independence day approaches. Last year, Zhebrivsky recalls, Putin ordered the attacks at Ilovaysk, “and in this year” already there has been “an increase in shelling” attacks.

A confirmation of this is provided by Ukrainian officials who report that yesterday the pro-Moscow militants in the Donbas established “a new record” in terms of the number of shells fired against Ukrainian positions. See nr2.ru/hots/Vojna_na_Donbasse/Boeviki-ustanovili-novyy-rekord-po-kolichestvu-obstrelov-sil-ATO-103904.html.

Putin clearly wants to undermine the spirit of Ukraine by inflicting defeats, staging provocations, or doing things like parading Ukrainian prisoners in Russian-controlled areas of the Donbas on August 24 as has just been announced (nr2.ru/News/Ukraine_and_Europe/Kreml-dal-zadanie-boevikam-provesti-24-avgusta-parad-plennyh-v-Donecke-103903.html).

Zhebrivsky expressed his conviction that Putin would not succeed: “today,” he said, “the Ukrainian army is already not what it was a year ago.” But “we must be prepared” for a new round of attacks in the coming days, adding “if you want peace, you must prepare for war."

[OUTLAW 09]

Ukrainian scouts also discovered BTR-82 in Novolaspa, which is only in service with the Russian Federation - Sector M spox


Today Ukrainian scouts discovered in Novoazovsk, 6 militant tanks painted with Ukrainian markings - Sector M spox
http://m.0629.com.ua/news/926310

[OUTLAW 09]

Donetsk & #Luhansk pro-RU terrorists will try to destibilize situation on the eve of #Ukraine's Independence Day Aug 24 - Gen. Kremenetskyj

Cases against chief of Russian General Staff, Russian troops to be handed to intl courts – official http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/15-august-cases-against-chief-of-russian-general-staff-russian …

DNR" do not want to see Poland at the negotiations in Minsk http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/15-august-dnr-do-not-want-to-see-poland-at-the-negotiations …

Polish President suggests new format of Ukraine peace talks
http://www.unian.info/politics/1111967-polish-president-suggests-new-format-of-ukraine-peace-talks.html … pic.twitter.com/vNcSMw4qfN

Russian (hybrid) forces, near Markyne, Novoazovsk District, Donetsk Region, Ukraine 15 Aug pic.twitter.com/QowWbP2K95 via @GirkinGirkin

Russia used newest T-90 tanks against Ukraine. PHOTOS http://24today.net/open/501449 pic.twitter.com/CeW1YqGluZ

OSCE SMM, #News:
Despite jamming, SMM UAV managed to observe signs of shelling in #Starohnativka & report on it. (http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/177221 …)

ATTENTION: "Spy gadget" was found at the #Chernobyl nuclear power plant gate
http://www.ukrinform.ua/ukr/news/na_prohidniy_chaes_znayshli_shpigunskiy_gadget_fot o_2084991 … pic.twitter.com/4mC21KpBvM

Footage
The Ukrainian line of defence in #Dzerzhinsk is under heavy Russian attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M5VUTjPyLY …
pic.twitter.com/1HPyDBSFLX

Rozdolne, Aug 14, DNR tanks https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/632545432728678400 …

[OUTLAW 09]

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.de/2015/08/current-crisis-in-ukraine-has-its-roots.html

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Current Crisis in Ukraine has Its Roots in Stalin’s Terror Famine and Ethnic Engineering

Paul Goble


Staunton, August 15—The current crisis in Ukraine has its roots in Stalin’s terror famine in the 1930s because the Soviet government in an act of genocide exploited its destruction of the peasantry of eastern Ukraine to change the ethnic mix of the region by sending in Russians and Belarusians to what had been Ukrainian areas.

Not surprisingly, most attention has been directed at the murderous effects of Stalin’s war against the peasantry generally and in Ukraine in particular, as in the late Robert Conquest’s now classic study, Harvest of Sorrow. That was one aspect of the genocide the Soviet conducted, but the other aspect, exploiting these deaths to change the ethnic mix, has received less attention.

That is now being redressed by an exhibit at Kyiv’s Holodomor Museum, in which the curators have put on display documents showing that Moscow artificially resettled Russians and Belarusians on territories where Ukrainians had been wiped out (zn.ua/UKRAINE/v-muzee-golodomora-pokazali-dokumenty-o-zaselenii-donbassa-russkimi-v-1930-e-176212_.html).

Those documents, according to Radio Liberty, had long been classified to hide what the Soviet state did. Museum officials are convinced that this Soviet policy of forcible assimilation “can partially explain separatism in the east of contemporary Ukraine,” which would have been far more Ukrainian had there been no famine or forcible transfer of people.

According to the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, approximately 4.5 million people died in Ukraine in the Golodomor of 1932-33. The number of Belarusians and Russians moved in was less, but as a result of Stalin’s actions, the share of those two Slavic groups in the Ukrainian population increased from 9.5 percent in 1926 to 14 percent in 1939.

[OUTLAW 09]

http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-calls-an-emergency-defense-meeting-as-tensions-mount-in-ukraine-2015-8#ixzz3iu1PDoDU

Putin calls an emergency defense meeting as tensions mount in Ukraine

Clark Mindock, International Business Times

Aug. 15, 2015, 10:50 AM


Russian-backed rebel forces in Ukraine are building up to "full combat readiness" after an urgent meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and some of his top military advisers.

The announcement that the rebels were getting prepared in eastern Ukraine came hours after Putin called the defense meeting.

The situation on the ground in Ukraine has been tense lately. Violence has surged in recent months.

Ukrainian officials have claimed that the pro-Russian forces have violated a peace treaty signed in February and have targeted Ukrainian troops with heavy weaponry.

The head of Ukraine's national security and defense council has said that the "shelling is carried out around the clock using large-calibre artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, prohibited by the [peace agreements]. During the day, the enemy carried out 153 artillery attacks."

War, apparently, is imminent and soldiers in the area had their August vacation leave taken away following concerns that the violence might escalate more and result in an all out confrontation.

Also on Friday, it was reported that Russia and Finland might be preparing to go to war with one another. The two countries share over 800 miles of border. The reserve units in Finland on active duty jumped from 6,000 to 18,000 from last year to this year as tensions between Helsinki and Moscow have become increasingly strained.

Meanwhile, pro-Russian forces have begun claiming that the Ukrainian troops are fighting back with lethal weapons acquired from Italy and Poland. The allegations have been denied by Kiev, which has said that its efforts to unblock the flow of lethal weapons from its allies in the last 18 months have so far been thwarted.

[OUTLAW 09]

Donetsk & #Luhansk pro-RU terrorists will try to destibilize situation on the eve of #Ukraine's Independence Day Aug 24 - Gen. Kremenetskyj

Cases against chief of Russian General Staff, Russian troops to be handed to intl courts – official http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/15-august-cases-against-chief-of-russian-general-staff-russian …

DNR" do not want to see Poland at the negotiations in Minsk http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/15-august-dnr-do-not-want-to-see-poland-at-the-negotiations …

Polish President suggests new format of Ukraine peace talks
http://www.unian.info/politics/1111967-polish-president-suggests-new-format-of-ukraine-peace-talks.html … pic.twitter.com/vNcSMw4qfN

Russian (hybrid) forces, near Markyne, Novoazovsk District, Donetsk Region, Ukraine 15 Aug pic.twitter.com/QowWbP2K95 via @GirkinGirkin

Russia used newest T-90 tanks against Ukraine. PHOTOS http://24today.net/open/501449 pic.twitter.com/CeW1YqGluZ

OSCE SMM, #News:
Despite jamming, SMM UAV managed to observe signs of shelling in #Starohnativka & report on it. (http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/177221 …)

ATTENTION: "Spy gadget" was found at the #Chernobyl nuclear power plant gate
http://www.ukrinform.ua/ukr/news/na_prohidniy_chaes_znayshli_shpigunskiy_gadget_fot o_2084991 … pic.twitter.com/4mC21KpBvM

Footage
The Ukrainian line of defence in #Dzerzhinsk is under heavy Russian attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M5VUTjPyLY …
pic.twitter.com/1HPyDBSFLX

Rozdolne, Aug 14, DNR tanks https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/632545432728678400 …

Here in Russian is an excellent open source analysis of the Russians working with the T90A inside eastern in the August 2014 timeframe----

http://sled-vzayt.livejournal.com/3367.html

[OUTLAW 09]

Smoke over Donetsk pic.twitter.com/DnJb23v3q9 http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/15-august-smoke-over-donetsk …

Although 11 months old still confirms the Russian Army’s newest tank the T90A in the Ukraine---
Pictures
"Ukrainian separatists" received the latest #RussianArmy T-90A, pictured driving through #Luhansk region. pic.twitter.com/bZrDUpnbXN

MLRS Grad, Tanks, Military trucks on the move in Kerch pic.twitter.com/sOcLVnBFdx http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/15-august-mlrs-grad-tanks-military-trucks-on-the-move-in …

Moldova's Transnistria is the biggest military depot in Europe with Russia's 14th Army based there.

Russian (hybrid) forces (DPR "Diesel" tank unit) at Rozdolne, Donetsk Region, Ukraine 14 Aug pic.twitter.com/OcD89vP4SG via @GirkinGirkin

Eastern #Ukraine right now.
Russian invasion forces getting resupplies by the Russian regime.
#Illegal "aid convoy". https://twitter.com/062_Region/status/632460961513869312 …

13K blank #Ukraine passports were seized by #Russia in '14 #Crimea occupation; being used 4 #terrorism etc. #АТО https://twitter.com/HromadskeTV/status/632581299304308736 …

[OUTLAW 09]

BREAKINGNEWS
"DPR" militant tells the @OSCE_SMM, ELEVEN BM-21 #Grad systems are in #Donetsk city now!
pic.twitter.com/lDArt1cIf8
Social media had early this week reported their movement into Donetsk.

Clear and distinct violation of Minsk 2 by Russia.

[OUTLAW 09]

Today in the area of the ATO, there was a slight decrease in militant attacks. Hottest area was near Donetsk - ATO
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1049137981763674&id=820651001279041&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1049137981763674&__tn__=%2As …


2S1 Gvozdika & 2S3 Akatsiya in Novocherkask, RU ~ 80km from #Ukraine
https://instagram.com/p/6UeRzjjgYd/
https://instagram.com/p/6UfyirO-Hx/ pic.twitter.com/zqaYtqlIFH

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings have been steady state all day today. The evening will be a major problem again……but right now shelling reports are scarce…..

Right now--- Donetsk, frontline - quiet.

#Dzerzhynsk, #Artemove, conflagration after direct projectile hit (posted this morning) @Ukr_Che https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqwLQp-eWIA …

14:55 #Horlivka @NovaGorlivka Along Komsomolska St towards Pyatochok a column moved, 1 Ural w/ammo, 1 Ural w/troops, 3 MT-LB

Not much on equipment movements almost as if they are all in place thus no need to move.

[OUTLAW 09]

Appears they have woken up and getting active again…………

Alchevsk: local LNR fighters are called from their residencies, moved to barracks. https://twitter.com/erst0954/status/632543910473170944 …

Perevalsk: DNR HQ reports high alert https://twitter.com/erst0954/status/632544152190853120 …

17:15 @huyovyvuyko 10 SPG shots in a row from #Bezymenne, allegedly towards #Mariupol

Makiivka, Plany settlement area today, shelling aftermath @VasyaMakeevskiy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiapXeTi28U …

19:42 #Donetsk @nixer79 [quiet]

19:32 [#Lysychansk] @spirik_ 3 times booms, #Zolote?
@pervomaisklug Like from #Kirovsk at #Toshkivka

[OUTLAW 09]

Still 'buffer overflow' in my reports timeline-----

The hell the UAF is experiencing tonight is the direct result of the unilateral moves pressured on the Ukraine by Obama, Nulan, Hollande and Merkel as they have attempted to appease Putin and have basically caved to his recent demands and together have thrown the Ukrainians under the bus for their combined political careers.

Basically he was told if you do not cave and give in you receive no economic and political support.

OR does any reader here at SWJ have any other excuse why the combined Western political leaders have not uttered a single statement or comment in the last five days of heavy Russian shellings and ground attacks.

Poroshenko, constrained by the West, believes Ukraine's only option is to passively defend against Russia, many cmdrs in the field disagree.

Meet Romka Novik. Member of the Russian Interior Troops (Moscow Region). He is in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/VKTrchpWSi

22:08 @huyovyvuyko Kachkara-Zaichenko-Kominternove-Leninske-Sakhanka line flashes with volleys. Mostly SPG. Don't remember such since winter

22:04 #Donetsk @Ykraino4_ka the 3rd Grad load from #Hryhoruvkja ettles

GRADs flying from #Donetsk

21:57 #Donetsk @relictDon Hardware roar along Petrovskogo
@Aida99689068 heard it too

VIDEO: Donetsk tonight. Massive shelling going on
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=551tRQPmsVo … pic.twitter.com/Ik4ZcGVJna

Anastasia "Lisa" Gorbacheva, the scout of the #RightSector fell defending #Ukraine http://ukrainiancrusade.blogspot.com/2015/08/anastasia-lisa-gorbacheva-scout-of.html … #war pic.twitter.com/ccAPCwEf6d

21:58 #Avdiivka @owl_ok Incoming Grad, I thought the roof would break [to its sound]

21:56 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy one more Grad volley https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/632627553367404545 …

#Lysychansk 21:56
Don't understand, no shooting from us, who shells Mihajlovka?
Shoot themselves &say that we do it? https://twitter.com/lisichanskiy/status/632626831057920002 …

21:53 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy Grad volley from #Yasynuvata coking plant direction, full load [=40 rockets]
or even Uragan

Donetsk: 'The sky is on fire'
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=551tRQPmsVo …

21:53 #Makiivka @Don_esoteric Outgoing Grad

21:54 #Donetsk @Ykraino4_ka Grad

21:50 @huyovyvuyko Intense flashes over #Kominternove as of now. Both white and red-yellow. White are like SPGs

#Horlivka 21:49
Incoming. Possibly at mine 6/7, unclear. https://twitter.com/xy_gorlov4an/status/632625239831220224 …


21:53 #Donetsk @14720Maro Damn, I remember such sky in winter. Hell is there
21:54 a new position closer to center added

Donetsk @0954771 Even windows vibrate as it flies https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/632626160799715332 …

21:49 #Donetsk Rozy_Luksemburg @0954771 Here the volleys are barely heard, but fly-overs and din in the sky is hellish.


Basurin: "Kiev relocated the black mercenaries to Telmanovo"
Oh dear... https://twitter.com/23kiskis/status/632619771599679488 …

21:40
#Telmanovo becomes noisy https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/632624087018422272 …

21:48 #Donetsk @Donetsk_Ukraine "The sky is on fire"

21:43 #Donetsk @nixer79 Very strong landings in #Pisky

21:45 #Starobesheve @GirkinGirkin "horrible close flashes, and booms nearby"

21:43 #Donetsk Putilovka @idinmor From Petrovka direction very heavy rumbles sound, ground shakes under feet many km away from

21:44 #Donetsk @idinmor And now it was heard from the north. And quiet

Intense shelling started also in #Starohnativka.
#Mariupol can hear heavy shelling from the east.

21:40 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Party started, one can hear it from all sides, landings nearby or at us

21:43 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca That's it, hell started [=shelling]
#donbasreports

'South of #Donetsk very heavy combat, i see lots of explosions there, very scary'
Via @xuilolala
https://twitter.com/Donetsk_Ukraine/status/632622090269655040 …

21:40 #Telmanove @GirkinGirkin it's getting rumbly

Intense shelling from multiple positions started in #Donetsk

Donetsk, to the south, very hard combat, i see lots of explosions there, very scary https://twitter.com/Donetsk_Ukraine/status/632622090269655040 …

21:38 #Avdiivka @bamr69 #Tonenke settlement under shelling. Heavy hits from #Yakovlivka

21:37 #Mariupol @EmMemvm Again northeast outskirts. Very heavy cannonade

21:28 Intense shelling started from several positions in #Donetsk simultaneously

21:00 #Horlivka @pvinogradov90f About 30min from #Zaytseve area small arms is heard and blasts flashes are seen

21:05 #Avdiivka @bamr69 Heavy landings started. Werewolves getting up as sun sets
21:26 #Donetsk @Switttttter [heavy sounds]

19:15 @SPaWN_ua Good 20 min #Starohnativka area is under shelling. Low clouds, glow is clearly seen, like artillery

20:47 #Lysychansk @lisichanskiy Sirens can be heard, ambulances went from the frontline

[OUTLAW 09]

Still 'buffer overflow' in my reports timeline-----

The hell the UAF is experiencing tonight is the direct result of the unilateral moves pressured on the Ukraine by Obama, Nulan, Hollande and Merkel as they have attempted to appease Putin and have basically caved to his recent demands and together have thrown the Ukrainians under the bus for their combined political careers.

Basically he was told if you do not cave and give in you receive no economic and political support.

OR does any reader here at SWJ have any other excuse why the combined Western political leaders have not uttered a single statement or comment in the last five days of heavy Russian shellings and ground attacks.

Poroshenko, constrained by the West, believes Ukraine's only option is to passively defend against Russia, many cmdrs in the field disagree.

Meet Romka Novik. Member of the Russian Interior Troops (Moscow Region). He is in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/VKTrchpWSi

22:08 @huyovyvuyko Kachkara-Zaichenko-Kominternove-Leninske-Sakhanka line flashes with volleys. Mostly SPG. Don't remember such since winter

22:04 #Donetsk @Ykraino4_ka the 3rd Grad load from #Hryhoruvkja ettles

GRADs flying from #Donetsk

21:57 #Donetsk @relictDon Hardware roar along Petrovskogo
@Aida99689068 heard it too

VIDEO: Donetsk tonight. Massive shelling going on
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=551tRQPmsVo … pic.twitter.com/Ik4ZcGVJna

Anastasia "Lisa" Gorbacheva, the scout of the #RightSector fell defending #Ukraine http://ukrainiancrusade.blogspot.com/2015/08/anastasia-lisa-gorbacheva-scout-of.html … #war pic.twitter.com/ccAPCwEf6d

21:58 #Avdiivka @owl_ok Incoming Grad, I thought the roof would break [to its sound]

21:56 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy one more Grad volley https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/632627553367404545 …

#Lysychansk 21:56
Don't understand, no shooting from us, who shells Mihajlovka?
Shoot themselves &say that we do it? https://twitter.com/lisichanskiy/status/632626831057920002 …

21:53 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy Grad volley from #Yasynuvata coking plant direction, full load [=40 rockets]
or even Uragan

Donetsk: 'The sky is on fire'
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=551tRQPmsVo …

21:53 #Makiivka @Don_esoteric Outgoing Grad

21:54 #Donetsk @Ykraino4_ka Grad

21:50 @huyovyvuyko Intense flashes over #Kominternove as of now. Both white and red-yellow. White are like SPGs

#Horlivka 21:49
Incoming. Possibly at mine 6/7, unclear. https://twitter.com/xy_gorlov4an/status/632625239831220224 …


21:53 #Donetsk @14720Maro Damn, I remember such sky in winter. Hell is there
21:54 a new position closer to center added

Donetsk @0954771 Even windows vibrate as it flies https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/632626160799715332 …

21:49 #Donetsk Rozy_Luksemburg @0954771 Here the volleys are barely heard, but fly-overs and din in the sky is hellish.


Basurin: "Kiev relocated the black mercenaries to Telmanovo"
Oh dear... https://twitter.com/23kiskis/status/632619771599679488 …

21:40
#Telmanovo becomes noisy https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/632624087018422272 …

21:48 #Donetsk @Donetsk_Ukraine "The sky is on fire"

21:43 #Donetsk @nixer79 Very strong landings in #Pisky

21:45 #Starobesheve @GirkinGirkin "horrible close flashes, and booms nearby"

21:43 #Donetsk Putilovka @idinmor From Petrovka direction very heavy rumbles sound, ground shakes under feet many km away from

21:44 #Donetsk @idinmor And now it was heard from the north. And quiet

Intense shelling started also in #Starohnativka.
#Mariupol can hear heavy shelling from the east.

21:40 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Party started, one can hear it from all sides, landings nearby or at us

21:43 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca That's it, hell started [=shelling]
#donbasreports

'South of #Donetsk very heavy combat, i see lots of explosions there, very scary'
Via @xuilolala
https://twitter.com/Donetsk_Ukraine/status/632622090269655040 …

21:40 #Telmanove @GirkinGirkin it's getting rumbly

Intense shelling from multiple positions started in #Donetsk

Donetsk, to the south, very hard combat, i see lots of explosions there, very scary https://twitter.com/Donetsk_Ukraine/status/632622090269655040 …

21:38 #Avdiivka @bamr69 #Tonenke settlement under shelling. Heavy hits from #Yakovlivka

21:37 #Mariupol @EmMemvm Again northeast outskirts. Very heavy cannonade

21:28 Intense shelling started from several positions in #Donetsk simultaneously

21:00 #Horlivka @pvinogradov90f About 30min from #Zaytseve area small arms is heard and blasts flashes are seen

21:05 #Avdiivka @bamr69 Heavy landings started. Werewolves getting up as sun sets
21:26 #Donetsk @Switttttter [heavy sounds]

19:15 @SPaWN_ua Good 20 min #Starohnativka area is under shelling. Low clouds, glow is clearly seen, like artillery

20:47 #Lysychansk @lisichanskiy Sirens can be heard, ambulances went from the frontline

Russia now checking Ukrainian (and West) response to current provocations, if no serious consequences for RF forces and Kremlin - escalation
https://twitter.com/Andryulik/status/632634667838099456 …

BREAKING: #DPR officially announces the return of heavy weapons to the front line of #Donetsk -

[OUTLAW 09]

Still 'buffer overflow' in my reports timeline-----

The hell the UAF is experiencing tonight is the direct result of the unilateral moves pressured on the Ukraine by Obama, Nulan, Hollande and Merkel as they have attempted to appease Putin and have basically caved to his recent demands and together have thrown the Ukrainians under the bus for their combined political careers.

Basically he was told if you do not cave and give in you receive no economic and political support.

OR does any reader here at SWJ have any other excuse why the combined Western political leaders have not uttered a single statement or comment in the last five days of heavy Russian shellings and ground attacks.

Poroshenko, constrained by the West, believes Ukraine's only option is to passively defend against Russia, many cmdrs in the field disagree.

Meet Romka Novik. Member of the Russian Interior Troops (Moscow Region). He is in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/VKTrchpWSi

22:08 @huyovyvuyko Kachkara-Zaichenko-Kominternove-Leninske-Sakhanka line flashes with volleys. Mostly SPG. Don't remember such since winter

22:04 #Donetsk @Ykraino4_ka the 3rd Grad load from #Hryhoruvkja ettles

GRADs flying from #Donetsk

21:57 #Donetsk @relictDon Hardware roar along Petrovskogo
@Aida99689068 heard it too

VIDEO: Donetsk tonight. Massive shelling going on
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=551tRQPmsVo … pic.twitter.com/Ik4ZcGVJna

Anastasia "Lisa" Gorbacheva, the scout of the #RightSector fell defending #Ukraine http://ukrainiancrusade.blogspot.com/2015/08/anastasia-lisa-gorbacheva-scout-of.html … #war pic.twitter.com/ccAPCwEf6d

21:58 #Avdiivka @owl_ok Incoming Grad, I thought the roof would break [to its sound]

21:56 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy one more Grad volley https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/632627553367404545 …

#Lysychansk 21:56
Don't understand, no shooting from us, who shells Mihajlovka?
Shoot themselves &say that we do it? https://twitter.com/lisichanskiy/status/632626831057920002 …

21:53 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy Grad volley from #Yasynuvata coking plant direction, full load [=40 rockets]
or even Uragan

Donetsk: 'The sky is on fire'
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=551tRQPmsVo …

21:53 #Makiivka @Don_esoteric Outgoing Grad

21:54 #Donetsk @Ykraino4_ka Grad

21:50 @huyovyvuyko Intense flashes over #Kominternove as of now. Both white and red-yellow. White are like SPGs

#Horlivka 21:49
Incoming. Possibly at mine 6/7, unclear. https://twitter.com/xy_gorlov4an/status/632625239831220224 …


21:53 #Donetsk @14720Maro Damn, I remember such sky in winter. Hell is there
21:54 a new position closer to center added

Donetsk @0954771 Even windows vibrate as it flies https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/632626160799715332 …

21:49 #Donetsk Rozy_Luksemburg @0954771 Here the volleys are barely heard, but fly-overs and din in the sky is hellish.


Basurin: "Kiev relocated the black mercenaries to Telmanovo"
Oh dear... https://twitter.com/23kiskis/status/632619771599679488 …

21:40
#Telmanovo becomes noisy https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/632624087018422272 …

21:48 #Donetsk @Donetsk_Ukraine "The sky is on fire"

21:43 #Donetsk @nixer79 Very strong landings in #Pisky

21:45 #Starobesheve @GirkinGirkin "horrible close flashes, and booms nearby"

21:43 #Donetsk Putilovka @idinmor From Petrovka direction very heavy rumbles sound, ground shakes under feet many km away from

21:44 #Donetsk @idinmor And now it was heard from the north. And quiet

Intense shelling started also in #Starohnativka.
#Mariupol can hear heavy shelling from the east.

21:40 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Party started, one can hear it from all sides, landings nearby or at us

21:43 #Starohnativka @Staroignatievca That's it, hell started [=shelling]

'South of #Donetsk very heavy combat, i see lots of explosions there, very scary'
Via @xuilolala
https://twitter.com/Donetsk_Ukraine/status/632622090269655040 …

21:40 #Telmanove @GirkinGirkin it's getting rumbly

Intense shelling from multiple positions started in #Donetsk

Donetsk, to the south, very hard combat, i see lots of explosions there, very scary https://twitter.com/Donetsk_Ukraine/status/632622090269655040 …

21:38 #Avdiivka @bamr69 #Tonenke settlement under shelling. Heavy hits from #Yakovlivka

21:37 #Mariupol @EmMemvm Again northeast outskirts. Very heavy cannonade

21:28 Intense shelling started from several positions in #Donetsk simultaneously

21:00 #Horlivka @pvinogradov90f About 30min from #Zaytseve area small arms is heard and blasts flashes are seen

21:05 #Avdiivka @bamr69 Heavy landings started. Werewolves getting up as sun sets
21:26 #Donetsk @Switttttter [heavy sounds]

19:15 @SPaWN_ua Good 20 min #Starohnativka area is under shelling. Low clouds, glow is clearly seen, like artillery

20:47 #Lysychansk @lisichanskiy Sirens can be heard, ambulances went from the frontline

The terrorists started the escalation of the conflict: in #Donetsk, Makiivka coke plant burns http://lastnews.com.ua/voyna-v-donbasse/67745-terroristy-nachali-eskalaciyu-konflikta-v-donecke-gorit-koksohimzavod-v-makeevke-artilleriyskiy-ad.html … https://twitter.com/nullgaybiaasa/status/632639928007008256 …

The "withdrawn" artillery working now along the "demarcation" line from Mariupol up to Luhansk reg https://twitter.com/HughesovkaUA/status/632638638430527488 …

DNR: "Ukraine push 4 Tochka-U/Scarab-B to Artemivsk. Troops declared battle readiness " http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/15-august-dnr-ukraine-push-4-tochkauscarabb-to-artemivsk … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e92NMfOGgYA …

Provocation warning: Ukr reconnaissance men discovered 6 enemy tanks in Novoazovsk w/ yellow-&-blue marks, Ukr flags http://www.0629.com.ua/news/926310

Maryinka 22:40
Artillery duel https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/632641742261616640 …
Heavier than everything else---Russian Pion 203mm

Shelling of Dokuchaevsk, Olenivkavka Lyubovka from Donetsk - SSW to Donetsk

22:42 #Donetsk Tamansky intersection: 5 #Pion|s and 2 Urals w/troops towards #Vetka


#Donetsk 15 Aug 2015
HELL
https://youtu.be/551tRQPmsVo via @YouTube

22:45 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy ceased
[have they covered Pions relocation w/this shelling? https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/632640285823123456 …]

22:43 #Donetsk @papandopoolo It has just ceased, gossips started.

#Donetsk 22:43
You can hear the hum of machinery in Kalininsky ds. Somewhere very far away, in a westerly direction. https://twitter.com/LifeInDonetsk/status/632638709914075136 …

22:42 #Donetsk @14720Maro [fb] Tamansky intersection: 5 #Pion|s and 2 Urals w/troops towards #Vetka

22:28 #Makiivka @14720Maro along H21 road towards center from #Khartsyzk direction 8 fully loaded w/ammo Kamaz trucks moved

Russia|n mercenary call-sign "Narrow".. Eliminated 08/08/2015 → https://vk.com/id94956607
TT @likvidator_ato | #Putin
pic.twitter.com/quk5QcCsoT

Kachkara-Zaichenko-Kominternove-Leninske-Sakhanka line flashes with volleys.
pic.twitter.com/mGaRfDFOG7

[OUTLAW 09]

The terrorists started the escalation of the conflict: in #Donetsk, Makiivka coke plant burns http://lastnews.com.ua/voyna-v-donbasse/67745-terroristy-nachali-eskalaciyu-konflikta-v-donecke-gorit-koksohimzavod-v-makeevke-artilleriyskiy-ad.html … https://twitter.com/nullgaybiaasa/status/632639928007008256 …

The "withdrawn" artillery working now along the "demarcation" line from Mariupol up to Luhansk reg https://twitter.com/HughesovkaUA/status/632638638430527488 …

DNR: "Ukraine push 4 Tochka-U/Scarab-B to Artemivsk. Troops declared battle readiness " http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/15-august-dnr-ukraine-push-4-tochkauscarabb-to-artemivsk … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e92NMfOGgYA …

Provocation warning: Ukr reconnaissance men discovered 6 enemy tanks in Novoazovsk w/ yellow-&-blue marks, Ukr flags http://www.0629.com.ua/news/926310

Maryinka 22:40
Artillery duel https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/632641742261616640 …
Heavier than everything else---Russian Pion 203mm

Shelling of Dokuchaevsk, Olenivkavka Lyubovka from Donetsk - SSW to Donetsk

22:42 #Donetsk Tamansky intersection: 5 #Pion|s and 2 Urals w/troops towards #Vetka


#Donetsk 15 Aug 2015
HELL
https://youtu.be/551tRQPmsVo via @YouTube

22:45 #Makiivka @VasyaMakeevskiy ceased
[have they covered Pions relocation w/this shelling? https://twitter.com/loogunda/status/632640285823123456 …]

22:43 #Donetsk @papandopoolo It has just ceased, gossips started.

#Donetsk 22:43
You can hear the hum of machinery in Kalininsky ds. Somewhere very far away, in a westerly direction. https://twitter.com/LifeInDonetsk/status/632638709914075136 …

22:42 #Donetsk @14720Maro [fb] Tamansky intersection: 5 #Pion|s and 2 Urals w/troops towards #Vetka

22:28 #Makiivka @14720Maro along H21 road towards center from #Khartsyzk direction 8 fully loaded w/ammo Kamaz trucks moved

Russia|n mercenary call-sign "Narrow".. Eliminated 08/08/2015 → https://vk.com/id94956607
TT @likvidator_ato | #Putin
pic.twitter.com/quk5QcCsoT

Kachkara-Zaichenko-Kominternove-Leninske-Sakhanka line flashes with volleys.
pic.twitter.com/mGaRfDFOG7

Russian mercenary--Narrow---
Ruslan Uskombaev's @vkontakte profile has already been deleted by #Russia FSB
>http://vk.com/id94956607
pic.twitter.com/TBoq1U5VPu

[OUTLAW 09]

This is interesting
Incoming shelling in #Olenivka
23:00 https://twitter.com/nektonh/status/632643078524899328 …

Olenivka is RU-controlled w large concentration of manpower & equipment. They want to simulate Ukr attack on their positions?

[OUTLAW 09]

Makeevka 23:17
Artillery salvos towards Yakovlevka-Mineralne https://twitter.com/VasyaMakeevskiy/status/632647769082187776 …

Donetsk 23:18
Smolyanka - again incoming https://twitter.com/Buzzing_Rook/status/632647695056900096 …

Maryinka 23:03
No change. Exchange of courtesies continues. https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/632646027938557953 …

VIDEO: Another one of Putin's "Humanitarian aid" convoys moving thought Makiivka yesterday
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WY6frriAFzk … pic.twitter.com/K1iWwt3RI9

Donetsk 23:11
Proletarsky ds - again hear the sounds of the launches and strong volleys

23:00
#Novozarivka-#Komsomolske
Artillery working again https://twitter.com/Ukr_Che/status/632643385703157760 …

Donetsk #Makiivka 23:46 RU artillery, 5 barrels, smwh near Mineralne shelling on Yasynuvata fork, shootout there https://twitter.com/nixer79/status/632655502351167489 …

23:51 #Volnovakha @solomazheka "Quiet here. Crickets. Time to sleep"

23:47 [#Stepne] @Darren_Aro Situationis normal, but just go outside and you can hear all 'ceasefire' enchantments at smart distance

Donetsk 23:45
Proletarka, Shchetinina ds - very frequent salvos https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/632654569038852096 …

21:26 #Donetsk center @CatBoobon Volleys and loud ones

Continuous blasts rip through #Donetsk
On the terrace nobody pays attention
Waitress says outgoing fire

Dokuchajevsk 23:34
Powerful incoming at #Yasne. https://twitter.com/goky4_ykpauHa/status/632651565497761794 …

20:59 #Donetsk @nixer79 Artillery started to work from #Mineralne area, singles, adjustment fire? [yes, it was,now we know]

#Donetsk 23:32
At Petrovka tank battle. People in basements and shelters. https://twitter.com/A_B_Brightside/status/632650984267874304 …

Krasnohorivka 23:17
Artillery duel https://twitter.com/hyeva_maryinka/status/632651811489492992 …

Avdiivka 23:30
Khimik ds - loud again https://twitter.com/audrius1977/status/632651832792367104 …

[OUTLAW 09]

More Russian propaganda----

Kiev may call offensive on Lugansk ‘preventive measure’ - militias

August 15, 23:46 UTC+3


A source in LPR’s defence ministry said earlier that Kiev was planning to launch an offensive with the goal of capturing Lugansk

MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. Kiev could say that its offensive in the Lugansk direction expected to begin later this month is a "preventive measure," a military official of the Lugansk republic said on Saturday.

"The offensive operation in the anti-terrorist zone is planned to be conducted as part of a ‘preventive strike’ with the goal of allegedly preventing an offensive by units of the LPR People’s Militias," Col. Igor Yaschenko said.

Kiev is preparing a mass smear campaign to "knock into people’s heads" that the self-proclaimed Lugansk and Donetsk republics plan to launch an offensive in violation of the Minsk peace agreements, he said.

This shows again that Ukraine is doing its utmost to undermine the Minsk agreements. "Kiev just needed the Minsk accords to restore the combat capability and pull in forces to the contact line," he said.

A source in LPR’s defence ministry said earlier that Kiev was planning to launch an offensive with the goal of capturing Lugansk.

[OUTLAW 09]

Video of intense GRAD launch and incoming fire in #Ukraine last night. Heavy explosions and flshes in the sky:
http://flashvideo.rferl.org/Videoroot/Pangeavideo/2015/08/f/f4/f4edb787-6eeb-4abc-b02b-0212dbab9e79_mobile.mp4?download=1 …

Don't recall THIS MANY reports of #Russia artillery strikes on #Ukraine defences in 1 hour since spring offensives on #марьинка & #Mariupol(

Donetsk - Incoming shelling at Mirnyi, tonight https://youtu.be/ry1_bdSZOa4

[OUTLAW 09]

This article actually depicts a growing number of Obama foreign policy failures or better yet depicts that Obama and his NSC are so nave they do not fully understand how they were suckered into making unilateral appeasement moves by a demanding Putin OR better yet is depicts they simply do not care and the Obama legacy is worth far more than 45M Ukrainians who decided the rule of law, good governance and transparency were values worth fighting and dying for.

Playing golf, vacationing and one telephone call is just about all this Administration seems to be ablet to do in the face of some of the heaviest shellings and ground attacks in the Ukraine since August 2014.

BUT again it seems Obama has forgotten his own public words--"we will judge Putin on his actions not his words---something that needs to be applied now to this Administration after the last three days in the Ukraine.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/at-point-18-in-eastern-ukraine-the-war-grinds-on-night-after-night/2015/08/15/fffcf2c0-405f-11e5-9561-4b3dc93e3b9a_story.html

National Security

At Point 18 in eastern Ukraine, the war grinds on, night after night
Photo

Sasha Bak, 7th companys commander, tours the trenches at one of his platoons positions in Pisky, Ukraine. Point 18 is the only place where Baks men live above ground; the rest live in trenches like this. By Thomas

Gibbons-Neff August 15 at 5:38 PM 



PISKY, Ukraine The staccato of machine-gun fire begins at dusk, just as the sunflower fields here turn orange with the setting sun.

A Ukrainian army company of 110 soldiers defends the right flank of this largely deserted village, less than a mile outside of separatist-controlled Donetsk in eastern Ukraine and close to the citys strategically key airport.

The unit 7th Company of the 93rd Brigade is headquartered in a partially destroyed two-story house known only as Point 18. In the front yard are Point 18s defenses, a series of trenches and firing positions that start at the houses garage and extend a hundred yards into the farmland beyond. The trenches are six feet deep and shored with felled birch trees and wood panels to keep them from turning into a morass when it rains.

In May, the trenches were a meter deep, explained Sasha Bak, the companys 21-year-old commander. And after we lost a soldier to shelling, then we dug them deeper.

During the day, when the shelling is sporadic, the company goes about improving Point 18s defenses. Some soldiers fill fertilizer bags with dirt and replace those damaged from the night before. Others dig the companys new living quarters an underground dugout they will inhabit in the coming months. Point 18, Bak says, cannot suffer many more direct hits before it collapses.

Now in its second year, the conflict in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 6,000 lives as government forces battle Russian-backed separatists; 7th Company has lost 9 men and had 26 wounded this year all since a cease-fire was signed in February and was almost immediately breached.
At night, as the temperature drops, the fighting begins in earnest. The air is filled with the snap of bullets and the low whistle of mortar rounds. Ukrainian and separatist tanks exchange fire from pre-dug positions, the sound of their massive guns distinct over the din of small-arms fire and mortar impacts.

Inside Point 18, plaster falls from the ceiling and the structure hums when rounds skip off the exposed steel of its frame. Some soldiers prepare ammunition for the automatic grenade-launchers and machine guns in the trenches; others smoke and watch Russian TV on their lone 20-inch set.

Though some nights are quieter than others, on average, 7th Company expends more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition a week from weapons including Kalashnikovs and the 30mm cannons fired by its armored personnel carriers.
One of the hallmarks of Point 18s defenses is what the men call the museum. In the trench closest to the separatists positions is a Russian heavy machine gun made in the 1930s. It is a massive antique the company keeps operational through constant maintenance.

The old machine gun is an apt metaphor for how 7th Company wages war. Almost everything in the companys arsenal is either aging and Soviet or captured from the better-equipped separatists.

Photo: Soldiers from 7th company relax inside Point 18, while the companys cook prepares dinner in Pisky, Ukraine. (Thomas Gibbons-Neff/The Washington Post)

The men fight from trenches, and some live in them their underground quarters a throwback to World War I. Important information for other commanders is sent by messenger, because separatists frequently listen to their unsecure radios. And 7th Company has only four night-vision devices for its 110 men.

At night, the separatists fly drones, a capability mostly unmatched by the Ukrainian forces. Most of them are of the cheaper quadcopter variety, though Bak says he has seen bigger ones much like the U.S.-made Predator. The drones, equipped with thermal and night vision, are used to spot Baks positions and help guide separatist artillery, he says.

Although the Ukrainians have air support, they havent used it since the government in Kiev signed a cease-fire agreement in 2014, leaving the skies to the lawn-mower whine of separatist drones. The separatists also have radio-jamming equipment and better tanks than the Ukrainian army. At least 10 T-72 tanks are housed in a nearby abandoned chemical factory, Bak said.

The only reason they were alive, he said, is because those tanks dont have any trained drivers for them.

Bak knows that his company couldnt hold out for long against a full-scale attack, particularly if it included Russian forces, but his defenses are ready. Antitank mines litter approach routes and heavy weapons are concealed in hedgerows.

In March 2014, the United States began sending the first of $244 million in non-lethal aid and training to the Ukrainian military to help counter its Russian-supplied foe. Pentagon spokeswoman Laura Seal said in an e-mail that the aid has included radio equipment, Humvees, counter-artillery radar, night-vision and thermal-imaging gear, body armor and various other supplies.

The only U.S. aid 7th Company has received is one night-vision device. One of the press officers for the 93rd Brigade, which includes 7th Company, has a U.S.-supplied bullet-proof vest. The vest, an older version last used in the Iraq war in the mid-2000s, still had the previous owners Bible in one of its pockets.

[OUTLAW 09]

This article actually depicts a growing number of Obama foreign policy failures or better yet depicts that Obama and his NSC are so nave they do not fully understand how they were suckered into making unilateral appeasement moves by a demanding Putin OR better yet is depicts they simply do not care and the Obama legacy is worth far more than 45M Ukrainians who decided the rule of law, good governance and transparency were values worth fighting and dying for.

Playing golf, vacationing and one telephone call is just about all this Administration seems to be ablet to do in the face of some of the heaviest shellings and ground attacks in the Ukraine since August 2014.

BUT again it seems Obama has forgotten his own public words--"we will judge Putin on his actions not his words---something that needs to be applied now to this Administration after the last three days in the Ukraine.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/at-point-18-in-eastern-ukraine-the-war-grinds-on-night-after-night/2015/08/15/fffcf2c0-405f-11e5-9561-4b3dc93e3b9a_story.html

National Security

At Point 18 in eastern Ukraine, the war grinds on, night after night
Photo

Sasha Bak, 7th companys commander, tours the trenches at one of his platoons positions in Pisky, Ukraine. Point 18 is the only place where Baks men live above ground; the rest live in trenches like this. By Thomas

Gibbons-Neff August 15 at 5:38 PM 

This President is sitting on an Congress approved 300M USDs in defensive weapons aid for a number of alleged foreign policy reasons.

1. Obama initially stated that he was not sending defensive weapons because of the fear that the Ukrainians would use them to attack the Russians WHICH now is a total farce and the UAF was never designed for nor could carry out an attack on the entire Russian army in Russia--Obama knows this.

2. Then that argument changed to the now mantra--if we ship them defensive weapons then PUTIN will escalate the fighting and possible taken more territory.

WHY my question to Obama and all of the 700 members of the NSC--- HAS NOT Putin already escalated four times since August 2014 AND there were no defensive weapons shipped by the US??

THERE is an interesting analysis done by a Finnish Russian specialist that states --in fact defensive weapons would actually negate the current Russian negotiation edge via their military inside eastern Ukraine and actually force some serious and honest decisions on the part of Putin.

RIGHT now Putin has stated a number of times openly and publicly since 2008 the three geo political goals of his;

1. discredit and damage NATO
2. discredit and damage the EU
3. fully disconnect the US from Europe

MY question to any SWJ reader--is Putin achieving these openly stated goals by the inactions and unilateral moves by Obama and his entire NSC.

[OUTLAW 09]

Ukraine fears drastic escalation as #Russian troop levels exceed 50K and are combat ready http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-fears-big-war-as-russia-sends-in-more-troops-10457571.html … pic.twitter.com/icPDs8y9Bd

ATO presser reported 136 russian attacks on Ukr positions and civilian areas in #Donbas yesterday.

MAP---
ATO HQ: 136 attacks of Russian forces on 15 of August(-39)
http://liveuamap.com pic.twitter.com/tBRPN9qodF

Through the occupied border check-point "Uspenka", #Donetsk reg. again began to enter russian military equipment. https://twitter.com/informatorlgua/status/632812695847309312 …

Fire after shelling last night in Donetsk http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/16-august-fire-after-shelling-last-night-in-donetsk … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crLg6ot9gWE … pic.twitter.com/NWi1A7ZFYX

Rus proxies derailed "POWs" exchange: 13 for 13 swap pre-agreed, last minute demanded exchange in area they control http://tsn.ua/ato/boyoviki-v-ostannyu-mit-zirvali-obmin-polonenimi-scho-gotuvavsya-tri-misyaci-475756.html …

This map shows the advancement of Russia since the "cease-fire" in September http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-is-getting-caught-in-his-own-trap-2015-8?IR=T … pic.twitter.com/A39gaVG9gh

Russia's ridiculous food sanctions — short compilation of memes & videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66wp_Yj1eJw …

VIDEO: Landing GRAD shells. View from Donetsk last night
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HYPp_iIkxjU … pic.twitter.com/0RYOkDPCrq

Since Russian seems to be unable to win on the battlefield then they attempt intimidation via heavy shellings---from Putin this move makes sense.

True goal of intensification of shellings by Russia-led terrorists is to force #Ukraine to do more compromises in Minsk - GS spox Selezniov.

What a wimp out by the German FM who just recently stated “the Minsk 2 ceasefire is largely working” if working then why the need to AGAIN withdraw heavy weapons the Russian troops and her mercenaries already claimed they had withdrawn but this week moved them agai to the front lines in clear violation of Minsk 2 and even told OSCE they had moved them.

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Russia & #Germany FMs voiced support for the implementation of measures on heavy weapons withdrawal #Ukraine, 14/08 http://en.mid.ru/en/web/guest/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/1653653 …

What a farce of a FM statement by the German FM----not a single major comment by the Germans on the heavy fighting in the last four weeks--that is how much them seem to care about an agreement they brokered.

[OUTLAW 09]

To understand the nature of the Russian non linear warfare one must thoroughly understand the nature of the beast that commands it.

Obama and his 700 person NSC has decided to throw fate to the wind and ignore history and are assuming they need Putin's help in the Iran deal, combating IS and in resolving Syria. AND to do this they must then follow a road of unilateral appeasement as practiced by the West in Munich 1938 which got the West WW2 and was a blatant failure historically.

Let's see--the Russians are now breaking all UNSC sanctions on Iran long before the deal has been ratified and submitted to the UNSC, Russia has been actually prolonging the Assad departure because they need his naval port and Syria purchasing Russian weapons and they needed a GRU intel center monitoring the ME--AND now Assad is basically militarily losing so WHY do we need Russia? and the IS--we created the problem and Russia is not going to solve it--all they are interested in is keeping IS out southern Russia.

An excellent article that all but contradicts anything Obama has done in the Ukraine and what his unilateral appeasement is doing.

It addresses the nature of the beast that one must understand before one even develops a strategy which this President and his NSC has never done.

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.de/2015/08/putin-isnt-afraid-of-problems-he-faces.html

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Putin Isn’t Afraid of Problems He Faces -- and West Should Be Worried about That, Pavlova Says

Paul Goble


Staunton, August 16 – Those who think Vladimir Putin is afraid because of the problems he now faces are profoundly mistaken because regimes of his kind, which “act as the administration of occupied territories,” need not fear the kind of challenges other forms of government do, according to Irina Pavlova.

And that reality is something Putin’s opponents in the West need to understand because otherwise they are likely to equate his survival in the face of difficulties as a measure of his legitimacy rather than seeing his longevity as an indication of why he and the regime he has created must be replaced (ivpavlova.blogspot.com/2015/08/blog-post_12.html).

Unfortunately, those who want to view Putin as a ruler like any other fail to understand this; and their lack of comprehension, the US-based Russian analyst says, is fed by the drumbeat of commentaries by Russian writers that Putin’s government is in trouble because of its failed policy in Ukraine or Western sanctions.

“It is time to recognize,” she continues, “that to a regime of this type, which acts like the administration on an occupied territory, disorders, thefts and corruption are not frightening. They of course can interfere with its operation, but they represent for it an incomparable lesser evil than organized resistance.”

As long as these various adverse phenomena are kept within “definite limits,” they do not represent a challenge. And the Putin regime has done everything it can so that there will not be any “organized resistance to it” inside the country by means of its “mastery of political manipulations, propaganda and populist measures” and its strengthening of law enforcement.

“More than that,” Pavlova continues, the Putin regime “has learned to use the dissatisfaction of society in its own favor by more sophisticated measures than were done under Stalin, when it was necessary to ‘raise the anger of the masses’” in order to generate support for the repressive regime.

“Today,” she argues, “progressive society in many cases does not even recognize that it is playing into the hands of the authorities and by its rules” and strengthening the authorities by its actions rather than weakening them as it imagines. A clear example of that, Pavlova suggests, is Aleksey Navalny and his struggle with corruption.

The reason is this: the Putin regime is happy to have the population focus on other issues rather than on itself because that gives the Kremlin time “not only to successfully solve its own tasks but also to position the country under its control in the world arena guided by the traditional ideas of the pursuit of great power status.”

Such a power, Putin and his entourage are convinced, is one that “no one yet can oppose not in the country or in the world,” Pavlova says. “Moreover, one can see with a naked eye how the leaders of Western countries step by step make concessions not recognizing to what such a policy may lead.”

Pavlova’s brief comment calls attention to something few people want to acknowledge: the West has pursued a policy designed to restrain Putin that is based on the assumption that he is animated by a concern for his own people and thus will change course if he sees that they are suffering because of what he is doing.

That assumption is wrong: Putin doesn’t care about the Russian people. He cares only about his own power. And consequently, until Western actions strike at the basis of that power – the elites around him with their wealth and children in the West – the Kremlin leader will not only remain in power but will not change his course.

In the years preceding World War II, the British elites experienced exactly the same problem in analyzing Hitler. Many around Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain believed that Hitler and other dictators were despite everything like themselves, leaders who wanted to do in Chamberlain’s words “the best for their peoples.”

Winston Churchill and those around him recognized that Hitler did not care about the Germans but only about his own power and that as a result, the only effective way to oppose him was by building up sufficient force not only to counter his actions but ultimately to defeat and remove him.

There have been some hopeful signs in recent months that in the wake of the Anschluss of Crimea, the shooting down of the Malaysian airliner, and the continuing Russian aggression in the Donbas that many in the West are coming to recognize that Putin is not a leader just like their own but something far worse and that what would dissuade their leaders won’t work with him.

But at the same time, many in the West appear trapped not only by the inertia of continuing to do what they have been doing lest they have to take more dramatic and expensive steps but also by the desire to use their personal diplomatic skills to reach a settlement that will solve the problems they see.

That strategy didn’t work in Munich; it won’t work at Minsk either.

[OUTLAW 09]

Right now the shellings are largely quiet—high heat temps and rain maybe the reasons—on the other hand the mercenaries are probably trying to figure out that after an estimated 400 tons of munitions being fired only 8 UAF were wounded in two days.

Tactically speaking the massive shellings and very strong ground attacks have been largely a total failure outside of creating a lot of noise, dust and destruction.

[OUTLAW 09]

Right now the shellings are largely quiet—high heat temps and rain maybe the reasons—on the other hand the mercenaries are probably trying to figure out that after an estimated 400 tons of munitions being fired only 8 UAF were wounded in two days.

Tactically speaking the massive shellings and very strong ground attacks have been largely a total failure outside of creating a lot of noise, dust and destruction.

Happy ceasefire!
Situation in eastern #Ukraine, August 16, 00:00 EET pic.twitter.com/TzrTBrQ90s

Must be a miracle, right? Almost 300 russian attacks in the last 2 days.
Despite intense shelling in the last two days, Ukraine troops had no KIA's. 'Only' 8 wounded from Friday and Saturday.

[OUTLAW 09]

Ukraine fears drastic escalation as #Russian troop levels exceed 50K and are combat ready http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-fears-big-war-as-russia-sends-in-more-troops-10457571.html … pic.twitter.com/icPDs8y9Bd

ATO presser reported 136 russian attacks on Ukr positions and civilian areas in #Donbas yesterday.

MAP---
ATO HQ: 136 attacks of Russian forces on 15 of August(-39)
http://liveuamap.com pic.twitter.com/tBRPN9qodF

Through the occupied border check-point "Uspenka", #Donetsk reg. again began to enter russian military equipment. https://twitter.com/informatorlgua/status/632812695847309312 …

Fire after shelling last night in Donetsk http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/16-august-fire-after-shelling-last-night-in-donetsk … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crLg6ot9gWE … pic.twitter.com/NWi1A7ZFYX

Rus proxies derailed "POWs" exchange: 13 for 13 swap pre-agreed, last minute demanded exchange in area they control http://tsn.ua/ato/boyoviki-v-ostannyu-mit-zirvali-obmin-polonenimi-scho-gotuvavsya-tri-misyaci-475756.html …

This map shows the advancement of Russia since the "cease-fire" in September http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-is-getting-caught-in-his-own-trap-2015-8?IR=T … pic.twitter.com/A39gaVG9gh

Russia's ridiculous food sanctions — short compilation of memes & videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66wp_Yj1eJw …

VIDEO: Landing GRAD shells. View from Donetsk last night
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HYPp_iIkxjU … pic.twitter.com/0RYOkDPCrq

Since Russian seems to be unable to win on the battlefield then they attempt intimidation via heavy shellings---from Putin this move makes sense.

True goal of intensification of shellings by Russia-led terrorists is to force #Ukraine to do more compromises in Minsk - GS spox Selezniov.

What a wimp out by the German FM who just recently stated “the Minsk 2 ceasefire is largely working” if working then why the need to AGAIN withdraw heavy weapons the Russian troops and her mercenaries already claimed they had withdrawn but this week moved them agai to the front lines in clear violation of Minsk 2 and even told OSCE they had moved them.

MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Russia & #Germany FMs voiced support for the implementation of measures on heavy weapons withdrawal #Ukraine, 14/08 http://en.mid.ru/en/web/guest/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/1653653 …

What a farce of a FM statement by the German FM----not a single major comment by the Germans on the heavy fighting in the last four weeks--that is how much them seem to care about an agreement they brokered.

"Uspenka" check-point on Ukraine-Russia border is Russian Army's main transport route from Matveev Kurgan railhead https://twitter.com/GorseFires/status/624290721982513152 …

This indicates the Russians are feeding even more equipment and troops straight from their railhead into the Ukraine--AND not a single comment by any so called Western leader.

[OUTLAW 09]

22 July #OSCE_SMM saw 10x Russian (LPR) T-64 at Uspenka (23km south-west of Luhansk) http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/174226 … Map https://www.google.ie/maps/place/Uspenka,+Luhans%27ka+oblast,+Ukraine/@48.4732201,39.1464705,11z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x40e02904ca5ca617:0x47294077ede49 f98 …

Russian (hybrid) army 2S1 Gvozdika 122mm self-propelled howitzer at Novoivanivka, Ukraine 13 Aug (via @GirkinGirkin) pic.twitter.com/u2yNrMPTEH

#Telmanovo--Russian controlled Ukrainian town
Hit by russian shelling last night. https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/632853761912868864 …

One of three units of the #RightSector UVC,who participated in battle near Starognativka, alignment before the battle pic.twitter.com/Fw8SfJKwxk

Russian (hybrid) forces on the move, Starobesheve district, Donetsk region, Ukraine 10 Aug (via @GirkinGirkin) pic.twitter.com/U1THWnv0zv

News
Ukr. army "Carpathian sich" claims to have destroyed one D-30 arty, twi BM-21 #Grad launcher and 30 "terrorists" at #Donetsk airport.

[OUTLAW 09]

Not sure the US President and his NSC fully understand exactly what is ongoing in the eastern Ukraine--this goes as well for Hollande whom we have not heard not a single word from over the last four weeks and Merkel who now let's her FM mention some pretty stupid comments concerning both parties must hold to withdrawing the heavy weapons under Minsk 2--that failed months ago.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-fears-big-war-as-russia-sends-in-more-troops-10457571.html … pic.twitter.com/WgojQ7Nr3j

Ukraine fears 'big war' as Russia sends in more troops

Adam Nathan

Opytne

Sunday 16 August 2015


Military authorities in Ukraine believe the number of Russian troops within and close to its borders has risen to more than 50,000, raising fears of a substantial escalation in the conflict raging in Ukraine's eastern regions.

Almost 9,000 Russian Federation Armed Forces personnel are believed to be based inside Ukraine, according to reports from the country’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) seen by The Independent on Sunday. The rest are based in the neighbouring Rostov region of Russia, including mechanised assault units and communications command systems.

This is in addition to 33,400 so-called “illegal armed formations” of Russian-backed separatist soldiers inside eastern Ukraine, with 400 main battle tanks and close to 2,000 armoured troop carriers reported to be at “full combat readiness”.

Western countries have repeatedly accused Russia of becoming involved in the conflict, a claim Moscow has denied – despite what Ukraine and other observers see as evidence of troop build-up.

Western officials have been quick to talk of their “concern” at the rise in the number of attacks and rocket fire between Ukrainian forces and the Russian-backed separatists in recent days. Specifically, there is concern at the number of violations of a ceasefire agreement, implemented back in February after talks in Minsk, that was aimed at ending the conflict. While the levels of fighting have decreased since then, the recent surge is worrying. For example, the firing of banned “Grad” multiple-rocket launch systems restarted last Wednesday evening, with dozens of separate Grad rocket attacks recorded through to yesterday [SAT] morning.

Russian-backed separatists were believed to have fired Grad rockets at residential areas of Opytne, Avdiivka, and Starohnativka on Thursday night. By Friday morning, Alexander Turchynov, the secretary of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC), said that Ukraine might be forced to declare martial law and full mobilisation.

“Ukrainian armed forces are ready to not only to repel attacks, but if necessary to counter enemy forces,” Mr Turchynov said.

His words appear to have gone unheeded with 19 Grad multiple missile rockets being fired and 175 separate Minsk ceasefire violations recorded on Friday night through Saturday morning.

In Opytne, one multiple rocket attack, witnessed by The IoS, resulted in five missiles struck within 20 yards of each other, creating craters 10m wide and 3m deep – and narrowly missing civilian homes. On the outskirts of the town, one civilian home had been completely destroyed by a heavy artillery shell – banned under the Minsk II agreement.

A clearly distressed grandmother spoke of how her daughter and three grandchildren – aged three, seven and 11 – had been rushed to hospital by Ukrainian military forces, but remained in critical condition. The seven-year-old was suffering from serious head injuries.

The grandmother, who gave her name as Natalyia, said the force of the explosion had sent her flying through a window. Natalyia, whose house was bombed sending her daughter and three grandchildren to hospital Natalyia, whose house was bombed sending her daughter and three grandchildren to hospital

“I thank the Ukrainian army for acting so fast but all we want is for the war to end and for no more innocent lives to be lost,” she said.

Ukrainian military intelligence reports seen by The IoS suggest that 300 Grad missile systems are based inside Ukraine – 200 with Russian-backed separatists and 100 with Russian Federation forces – including a number of rocket systems based inside the Donetsk city football stadium.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) haves said that its monitors continued to observe ceasefire violations, including the use of heavy weapons, tanks and smaller-calibre weapons. The OSCE said that most of the violence they observed occurred in residential areas, where military positions continue to endanger civilian lives.

Emboldened rebel commanders have launched renewed offensives against Ukrainian towns recently. Last week, up to 400 Russian-backed separatist fighters from the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) tried to storm Starohnativka but were repelled by Ukraine’s 72nd Brigade. with more than 130 were killed, with the Moscow-backed separatists were killed; they were described by one commander as “Russian cannon fodder”.

Separatist envoy Denis Pushilin was another to raise the prospect of “war”, telling a briefing this week: “Kiev most likely also understands that if the Minsk process will be halted as it is ... this means war ... not only in the Donbass [eastern Ukraine], but this may be a big war.”

Mr Pushilin said that that Kiev’s implementation of the Minsk agreement had been limited, and accused Ukrainian forces of “unfortunately” violating the ceasefire with Ukraine’s armed forces by engaging in military “provocations” against separatist forces, according to Reuters news agency.

As more than six thousand 6,000 people have died in the conflict since it began in April last year, and up to a million others have been displaced, fears of an escalation are significant.

Michael Fallon, the UK’s Defence Secretary, made clear that he believed that the conflict was “still red-hot” on a visit to Kiev this week, saying that he could not see an end to the fighting “any time soon”.

The NSDC reports set out in detail what Ukraine sees as growing Russian troop numbers, and the social media and wi-fi activity of Russian soldiers that places them inside Ukraine, including text messages and phone calls. and some analysts think that this apparent increase in personnel could have an impact on tactics for the separatists.

Mark Galeotti, a professor of global affairs at the New York University School of Professional Studies, said that the evidence the NSDC had assembled suggested Russia was preparing forces it could use to launch a renewed offensive.

“Even more significant than the renewed increase in Russian troops on the ground is the colonisation of the DNR and LNR [Luhansk People’s Republic] command structures by serving Russian officers from the army and security services. A Russian-armed and supported insurgency is becoming a Russian-commanded one,” said Professor Galeotti.

The commander of the 93rd Mechanised Brigade, a frontline 4,500-strong Ukrainian unit, who asked not to be named to prevent reprisals against his family, said that the country was now well defended and could repel any attack.

However, he made clear the potential consequences if Russian forces with Russian-backed separatists tried to further invade Ukraine – the potential might be the “World War Three".

[OUTLAW 09]

This is why I truly believe that this Administration is absolutely lost when it comes to Russian non linear warfare being carried out by a Russian hybrid military.

So lost that there is not a coherent foreign policy to be seen anywhere when dealing with Putin.

Right now Russian forces have fired an average of 150 to 200 tons of munitions at Ukrainian positions daily 24 X 7 for over four weeks now and have conducted numerous large and small ground attacks.

The following Ukrainian towns and villages have been either fired on and or ground attacked just in the last 24 hours.

Ukraine: Battles in/close to loc's last 24 hrs:
Dzerzhynsk
Horlivka
Donetsk
Pisky
Smolyanka
Makiivka
Pavlopil
Hnutove
Azotny
Lidiivka

Perevalsk
Telmanovo
Yasynuvata
Yasne
Staromykhaylivka
Krasnohorivka
Artemove
Starohnavtika
Maryinka
Shyrokyne
Dokuchaevsk

Olenivka
Lyubivka
Stepne
Starobesheve
Bezimenne
Komsomolske
Yakovlivka

Surely missed some loc's but this gives the picture.

Ukrainian intelligence is now reporting today the following;
9K Russian troops are massed inside the Ukraine
33.4K Russian mercenaries led by 2K Russian officers
400 tanks
2000 APCs
300 MLRSs
and hundreds of artillery various calibers with the 203mm Pion being fired last night

ALL of the above is being now reported at "full combat readiness--ready for attack".

AND then this dropped in on top of all of the above--Russian troops and heavy weapons ie tanks are now crossing into the Ukraine from a major Russian railhead--ie straight from railhead to the front.

Russia sends in more troops via occupied Uspenka & continue shelling Ukraine positions 24/7; its warlords threaten to start "full-scale war"

Russian fighters moving through CP "Uspenka" btwn Rostov & Horlivka Google translation (ENG) https://translate.google.ie/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Farguendi.livejournal.com%2F1550684. html … pic.twitter.com/koE875zWmv

Admission by Russian fighters crossing in/out Ukraine via CP Uspenka btwn Horlivka & Matveev Kurgan/Rostov 14/15 Aug http://arguendi.livejournal.com/1550684.html

More info: A #Russia|n tank column entered #Ukraine via Uspenka border crossing point https://twitter.com/Gong_Ego/status/632782205102739456 …

Friend was going through Uspenka, drove car on side of road, there was a ruscist tank column"
https://twitter.com/Gong_Ego/status/632782205102739456 …

Russian army control over logistics-supply route Matveev Kurgan (Rostov reg, RU) to Kuteinykov (Donetsk reg, UA) is a real problem.

AND what is the response to all of this by this Administration and the 700 person strong NSC after repeated warnings that Russia is the existential threat of the US by the former JCoS and ACoS AND the current SACEUR?

One telephone call, golfing and vacationing--AND that is a "foreign policy" towards a non linear war that is now going into a full offense??

Even the Germans finally woke up out of their sleep walking and stated today--"the situation is explosive".

NOT even a warning press conference or a really serious statement expressing something other than "troubled".

With this Administration---Russian non linear warfare as being practiced in the Ukraine is home free and clear.

[OUTLAW 09]

Heat or no heat rain and or no rain—we are back off to the shellings and ground attacks game early today—and out of Western capitals some more rather dumb comments from the German Foreign Ministry—“both sides should hold to the Minsk heavy weapons pull back”—appears he is not being informed by his BND as to who started the shellings and WHO admitted yesterday to OSCE they placed 11 GRAD launchers in Donetsk city.

Germany says situation in eastern #Ukraine 'explosive' http://reut.rs/1Nb4ii4

Shelling in #Donetsk continues despite bad weather conditions right now

MAP--Intense and increasing fighting along all frontlines in east #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/Wam2Ds5oNV

DPR says that they are on the verge of beginning full-scale hostilities
http://inforesist.org/dnr-ugrozhaet-polnocennymi-voennymi-dejstviyami/ …

Donetsk 14:59
"They've started early today. OSCE in holidays? In north single volleys & series & also machine guns" https://twitter.com/PVB40/status/632884577992863744 …

Can anyone ID the townland name behind these Russian fighters? http://arguendi.livejournal.com/1550684.html 15 Aug pic.twitter.com/mIzLWpKJRn

Ukr mil intelligence suggest that 300 Grads are based inside #Ukraine – 200 with Rus-backed separatists & 100 with Russian Federation forces

9k #Russia Fed forces & 33.4k Russia-backed separatist soldiers in #Ukraine w/ 400 battle tanks & 2k APC's --- at “full combat readiness” !

Latitude 67N SIGINT @uascan
RUAF VHF comms consistent with SU27 fighters in Baltic Sea

Sorry in Russian-----
The unparalleled @askai707 with a new article, detailing how Russian T-90 tanks were spotted near Luhansk:
http://sled-vzayt.livejournal.com/3367.html

[OUTLAW 09]

Some light humor concerning the Russian destruction ie bulldozing of three illegally import frozen geese----

Russia bans bird migration, 'We can't know where they're from, they have no labels' pic.twitter.com/Z5BKAilY7W

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
A lot to hide ...
Battalion Vostok T-72 training.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0oYznENnYg …
pic.twitter.com/Rywu6QMY8y

BreakingLie
"#Ukraine plans series of devastating terror attacks on its territory to justify offensive in #Donbas". - "DPR MoD"

Russian propagandist Maria Katasonova promises hell on earth in Donetsk in "coming days" https://twitter.com/pharaon01/status/632928480552976385 …
She is also the girlfriend of a GRU officer currently in the eastern Ukraine and a member of the Russian Nazi party.

[OUTLAW 09]

Dry Humor-----

Russia's orthodox priests help to keep up the spirit of vacationers in Novorossiya pic.twitter.com/TFj6o5lfU7

A new type of taxi service has been introduced for opposition members in Russia pic.twitter.com/ciUvI23GJD

Millions of foreign tourists arrive to Crimea every month pic.twitter.com/YKavqVkWh6

Man carrying a magical music device was detained in Novorossiya, accused of witchcraft pic.twitter.com/yt0zDwqfLx

Putin found a Pug of Dutch origin, dog to be euthanized and bulldozed, children fined 10000 rubles pic.twitter.com/u2YvRaCsld

[OUTLAW 09]

Footage
A lot to hide ...
Battalion Vostok T-72 training.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0oYznENnYg …
pic.twitter.com/Rywu6QMY8y

BreakingLie
"#Ukraine plans series of devastating terror attacks on its territory to justify offensive in #Donbas". - "DPR MoD"

Russian propagandist Maria Katasonova promises hell on earth in Donetsk in "coming days" https://twitter.com/pharaon01/status/632928480552976385 …
She is also the girlfriend of a GRU officer currently in the eastern Ukraine and a member of the Russian Nazi party.

If you don't know Maria #Katasonova: that's her mocking #Russia's murdered opposition politician Boris #Nemtsov... pic.twitter.com/g9fFVFIBk1

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia's proxy #Ukraine forces put on full combat alert, expect offensive in a week
v @rykov
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fvz.ru%2Fnews%2F2015%2F8%2F16%2F7614 57.html&sandbox=1 …

Compilation of #ATO map June 2-Aug 16 https://youtu.be/MOe-cxtOcRM
Really worth watching the compilation of how the Russia offensive has actually unfolded.

[OUTLAW 09]

VK has plenty of evidence of Russian Troops in Ukraine. You just have to take time and look for it.

Meet Vitaly Solovyov. Member of the FSB/Vityaz (Special Forces). He is in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/ypacBzRhpU

[OUTLAW 09]

Donetsk, multiple positions active. It's not even dark yet!

Donetsk 19:42
Gvardeyka - GRADs outgoing https://twitter.com/PVB40/status/632956270945914880 …

Live feed from #Donetsk, distant explosion in the west can be heard. clockwork24 http://ustre.am/1ciOU

Outgoing GRAD fire from #Donetsk

Donetsk - heavy MLRS outgoing shelling. Possible Smerch

Zaitsevo - explosions and shooting http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/16-august-zaitsevo--explosions-and-shooting …

Dzerzhinsk: Loud explosions
#Yasinovataya: Heavy outgoing

BTR-82 spotted near #Novolaspa. Not in #Ukraine army's inventory.
http://en.censor.net.ua/news/347916/btr82_which_is_not_in_ukrainian_armys_inventory_sp otted_near_novolaspa …

[OUTLAW 09]

More Russian lies in order to cover their own shellings and attacks----

Basurin now says his fighters caputerd #Ukraine soldiers on August 13 which told them Ukr will start offensive on #DPR / #LPR

Non stop heavy explosions and flashes on #Donetsk live cam since about 10 minutes.

Heavy distant explosions started at the #Donetsk live feed every few seconds

Flashes on the horizon

AA fire audible at #Donetsk live feed. UAV hunt probably.

Flares in the sky in #Donetsk now

According to owner cam faces #Mariinka but hard to tell the distance of the flare

Source: Russian multiple launch rocket systems embedded in the northern residential areas of Donetsk are now shelling Ukrainian-held towns.

Heavy shelling in #Donetsk now. Explosions visible. Check out the live feed from #Donetsk
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/clockwork24

[OUTLAW 09]

Fort/Форт-401 magazine-feed in #Ukraine, the rise of the automatic rifles (which never get out, really) pic.twitter.com/T7mQJvcb7d

Russian (hybrid "Vostok") forces video attempts to hide tactical marks. 16 Aug https://youtu.be/y0oYznENnYg pic.twitter.com/WDaSpFEwWD

More Russian tanks have recently entered Ukraine by railroad. pic.twitter.com/ayXNdz7laL

Ukraine marines concluded that militants "openly come to #Shyrokyne even at day and dig something, presumably, build fortifications."
Source: http://en.censor.net.ua/news/347916/btr82_which_is_not_in_ukrainian_armys_inventory_sp otted_near_novolaspa …

16 August. Zakharchenko speaks about Minsk https://youtu.be/S0hP2cE3Rhs?t=10s …
Full meeting (Pushilin, Zakharchenko, Purgin) https://youtu.be/-49uecqs9og

Russian Duma Vice-President threatens Moldova with the Ukraine scenario http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/16-august-russian-duma-vicepresident-threatens-moldova-with …

[OUTLAW 09]

More Russian lies in order to cover their own shellings and attacks----

Basurin now says his fighters caputerd #Ukraine soldiers on August 13 which told them Ukr will start offensive on #DPR / #LPR

Non stop heavy explosions and flashes on #Donetsk live cam since about 10 minutes.

Heavy distant explosions started at the #Donetsk live feed every few seconds

Flashes on the horizon

AA fire audible at #Donetsk live feed. UAV hunt probably.

Flares in the sky in #Donetsk now

According to owner cam faces #Mariinka but hard to tell the distance of the flare

Source: Russian multiple launch rocket systems embedded in the northern residential areas of Donetsk are now shelling Ukrainian-held towns.

Heavy shelling in #Donetsk now. Explosions visible. Check out the live feed from #Donetsk
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/clockwork24


In #Luhansk today at 21:00 declared martial law. Waiting for the Ukropy attack. Now in Staytsia Luhanska very loud! https://twitter.com/twchernov/status/632984171250630656 …

Translation: they're awaiting a command to attack Ukrainian military.

Avdiivka 21:49
Alarm siren at the factory. https://twitter.com/GirkinGirkin/status/632987523401281537 …

Makiivka 21:23
MRLS volleys from Grigoriev ettles area, 15 rockets.
21:38 Another 10-15 rockets. https://twitter.com/VasyaMakeevskiy/status/632981271342354432 …

Volnovakha 21:45
Towards #Novotroitske LOUD https://twitter.com/solomazheka/status/632986436480946176 …

21:37 #Luhansk @twchernov Since noon [some] providers сut off the internet. 'Martial law' is imposed, prompt mobilization


Dzerzhynsk has been shelled from #Horlivka, incoming in Avdiivka, shelling activity across all frontline in #Donetsk region.

Today militant attacks slightly decreased. They mainly tried to provoke UKR forces using small arms - ATO
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1049663278377811&id=820651001279041&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1049663278377811&__tn__=%2As …

Horlivka tonight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsZwIJwzDew …

Mariupol listens to heavy explosions. In the center, light disappeared.

Mariupol 22:09
Volleys can be heard in city center, problems with the electricity https://twitter.com/Donetsk_Ukraine/status/632992527407255552 …

Mariupol 22:09
Sounds like outgoing. 152-mm SPG? https://twitter.com/sir_T_Lawrence/status/632992699000467456 …

Mariupol few minutes ago: '@iMariupol In the center the windows shaking, artillery sounds and flashing lights.' https://twitter.com/iMariupol/status/632992373010771968 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia's propaganda apparatus went into overdrive today...
#RussiaLies: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Frussian.rt.com%2Farticle%2F109509&edit-text= …

DNR: Kiev tightens to the contact line of thousands of pieces of military equipment

Defense Ministry spokesman Eduard Eduard Basurin DNI said that Ukrainian army pulls to the contact line of hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles, more than a thousand.

08/16/2015, 20:58


"During the day, there was increased activity of the Ukrainian security services to build firepower caliber of 100 millimeters on the sides of the demarcation line, in violation of the Minsk agreements that she has signed Ukrainian side", - quotes RIA Novosti Eduard Basurin.

"In the sector" C "enemy group has up to 22 battalions. Its composition: up to 130 units of tanks, armored combat vehicles and 950 units, field artillery pieces and mortars to 290 units, up 35 MLRS units, "- he said.

According to the militia DNI, in the sector "B" group APU has 26 battalions, "in its composition: up to 230 units of tanks, armored combat vehicles, 830 units, field artillery pieces and mortars up to 360 units, up 75 MLRS units."

In the sector of the "M" group of forces APU has 20 battalions, in its composition, according to Eduard Basurin - 75 tanks, 545 units of armored combat vehicles and 180 pieces of field artillery guns and mortars, 22 MLRS units.


16 August. Zakharchenko speaks about Minsk https://youtu.be/S0hP2cE3Rhs?t=10s …
Full meeting (Pushilin, Zakharchenko, Purgin) https://youtu.be/-49uecqs9og

Tonight, Kremlin's stooges Basurin (GRU), Zakharchenko/Pushilin (DPR), Plotnitsky (LPR) ramping up lies to blame Ukraine for Minsk "failure"

Announcement from #Zakharchenko: #Ukraine will attack, most likely early in the morning
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fd5_1439748054#pyZQwuolGyjm3Gwx.99 …

[OUTLAW 09]

It is going to be a very very long super long night for the UAF all along the front line.


Judging by the triangular military tactical marking on the T-72B destroyed Aug 13, it was from #Russia's 18th OMSBr
pic.twitter.com/Kh1VaC5Dzi

22:00 #Lysychansk @lisichanskiy Quiet in #Bakhmutka road area

#Makiivka 22:45
Again howitzers working from Lisniy-Batman https://twitter.com/VasyaMakeevskiy/status/633002046401191936 …

22:36 #Donetsk @donetskye Again outgoing MLRS

#Donetsk live feed: Heavy incoming!

22:38 #Donetsk @relictDon Again single ones from Smolyanka

22:31 #Volnovakha @solomazheka [Far] in the west one can hear Grad landings, half load by sound [20 rokets]

22:28 #Donetsk center @papandopoolo Ishould write, Grad grain. Almost non-stop.

Lebedynske near #Mariupol under artillery fire. Flashes can be seen in #Mariupol.

Outskirts were shelled. Volonterovka checkpoint, Sartana, Lebedynske.

21:23 #Avdiivka @bamr69 Started here. Arty works accross entire frontline, [incoming like] from depth of #Donetsk

The Russian tank fleet in the area #Donetsk ... #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/7bN4xw6EJI

Militants are shelling Lebedynske. Ppl of #Mariupol see flashlights in a district or feel ground shaking in another http://www.0629.com.ua/news/927052

#Makiivka 22:36
Another MRLS salvo, 20 rockets https://twitter.com/VasyaMakeevskiy/status/632999773478473728 …

Reports: Sartana military base near Mariupol hit by artillery fire, possible injures

22:35
Ruscists are shelling the Volonterivskyi outpost
#Mariupol https://twitter.com/tsnkvlt/status/632999102666670080 …

21:20 #Dzerzhynsk @gg_artem Loud
21:21 Incoming. Rumble in the west, Sovkhoz, Druzhba

Donetsk, more and more outgoing Grads

Mariupol 22:09
Some very loud shots https://twitter.com/NtKontent/status/632992545908367360 …

Ukraine troops at #Pisky village at occupied #Donetsk report on bombardments, received an order to open return fire https://twitter.com/UaForces/status/632993841616953344 …

Day was relatively quiet. Evening militants began firing on positions near DAP with IFVs, grenade launchers - "Sich"
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1623972857819450&substory_index=0&id=1536808696535867&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1623972857819450&__tn__=%2As …

Mariupol 22:08
In the center windows shaking from the artillery sound and lights flashing (electricity problems). https://twitter.com/iMariupol/status/632992373010771968 …

Video claims to be filmed from #Mariupol tonight, heavy shelling can be heard and a lot's of flares (?) in the sky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVxj3fpwng8 …

Mariupol 22:17
"Rumble not only in the city center, and on the outskirts, but the whole city is shaking." https://twitter.com/VAksenoff/status/632994607031316480 …

Shelling from #Donetsk started at 21:20.

Report from #Mariupol (5 mins ago): East, very loud. Car alarms went off [in Mariupol].

Donetsk 22:20
Again GRAD salvos https://twitter.com/kozerog_62/status/632997138247630848 …

Avdiivka 22:28
Incoming at the quarry https://twitter.com/tsnkvlt/status/632997255725883392 …

21:16 #Donetsk @papandopoolo Ka-boom! No day off [for them]. Heavy singles again, dense and intense [fire]

Reports of heavy shelling in both Mariupol and Donetsk with multiple launches of GRAD. Ukr ordered to return fire in Piski.

Ambulances in #Mariupol rushing through the city

Donetsk anther MRLS volley outgoing just now, locals say sounded like URAGAN.

21:16 #Donetsk @14720Maro Howitzer [is shelling] not far from city center. Loud

20:06 #Donetsk @DoneckiiPatriot I can see UAV and tracers...

20:50 #Luhansk @vzglyd2 In the west in #Mykolayivka direction one can hear periodical cannonade

[OUTLAW 09]

It is going to be a very very long super long night for the UAF all along the front line.


Judging by the triangular military tactical marking on the T-72B destroyed Aug 13, it was from #Russia's 18th OMSBr
pic.twitter.com/Kh1VaC5Dzi

22:00 #Lysychansk @lisichanskiy Quiet in #Bakhmutka road area

#Makiivka 22:45
Again howitzers working from Lisniy-Batman https://twitter.com/VasyaMakeevskiy/status/633002046401191936 …

22:36 #Donetsk @donetskye Again outgoing MLRS

#Donetsk live feed: Heavy incoming!

22:38 #Donetsk @relictDon Again single ones from Smolyanka

22:31 #Volnovakha @solomazheka [Far] in the west one can hear Grad landings, half load by sound [20 rokets]

22:28 #Donetsk center @papandopoolo Ishould write, Grad grain. Almost non-stop.

Lebedynske near #Mariupol under artillery fire. Flashes can be seen in #Mariupol.

Outskirts were shelled. Volonterovka checkpoint, Sartana, Lebedynske.

21:23 #Avdiivka @bamr69 Started here. Arty works accross entire frontline, [incoming like] from depth of #Donetsk

The Russian tank fleet in the area #Donetsk ... #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/7bN4xw6EJI

Militants are shelling Lebedynske. Ppl of #Mariupol see flashlights in a district or feel ground shaking in another http://www.0629.com.ua/news/927052

#Makiivka 22:36
Another MRLS salvo, 20 rockets https://twitter.com/VasyaMakeevskiy/status/632999773478473728 …

Reports: Sartana military base near Mariupol hit by artillery fire, possible injures

22:35
Ruscists are shelling the Volonterivskyi outpost
#Mariupol https://twitter.com/tsnkvlt/status/632999102666670080 …

21:20 #Dzerzhynsk @gg_artem Loud
21:21 Incoming. Rumble in the west, Sovkhoz, Druzhba

Donetsk, more and more outgoing Grads

Mariupol 22:09
Some very loud shots https://twitter.com/NtKontent/status/632992545908367360 …

Ukraine troops at #Pisky village at occupied #Donetsk report on bombardments, received an order to open return fire https://twitter.com/UaForces/status/632993841616953344 …

Day was relatively quiet. Evening militants began firing on positions near DAP with IFVs, grenade launchers - "Sich"
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1623972857819450&substory_index=0&id=1536808696535867&refid=17&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1623972857819450&__tn__=%2As …

Mariupol 22:08
In the center windows shaking from the artillery sound and lights flashing (electricity problems). https://twitter.com/iMariupol/status/632992373010771968 …

Video claims to be filmed from #Mariupol tonight, heavy shelling can be heard and a lot's of flares (?) in the sky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVxj3fpwng8 …

Mariupol 22:17
"Rumble not only in the city center, and on the outskirts, but the whole city is shaking." https://twitter.com/VAksenoff/status/632994607031316480 …

Shelling from #Donetsk started at 21:20.

Report from #Mariupol (5 mins ago): East, very loud. Car alarms went off [in Mariupol].

Donetsk 22:20
Again GRAD salvos https://twitter.com/kozerog_62/status/632997138247630848 …

Avdiivka 22:28
Incoming at the quarry https://twitter.com/tsnkvlt/status/632997255725883392 …

21:16 #Donetsk @papandopoolo Ka-boom! No day off [for them]. Heavy singles again, dense and intense [fire]

Reports of heavy shelling in both Mariupol and Donetsk with multiple launches of GRAD. Ukr ordered to return fire in Piski.

Ambulances in #Mariupol rushing through the city

Donetsk anther MRLS volley outgoing just now, locals say sounded like URAGAN.

21:16 #Donetsk @14720Maro Howitzer [is shelling] not far from city center. Loud

20:06 #Donetsk @DoneckiiPatriot I can see UAV and tracers...

20:50 #Luhansk @vzglyd2 In the west in #Mykolayivka direction one can hear periodical cannonade

Lebedyns'ke also subject to militant shelling from self propelled artillery tonight - Sector M spox

In Mariupol. Ukrainian soldiers are gearing up, on alert. "We must be ready to fight" one said. http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/16-august-in-mariupol-ukrainian-soldiers-are-gearing-up-on … via @nolanwpeterson

22:40 militants fired on Sartana (near Mariupol) with self propelled artillery, hitting civilian area - Sec. M spox
http://m.0629.com.ua/news/927052

BREAKING: Heavy incoming now heard on the #Donetsk live stream #Ukraine
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/clockwork24?utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=ustre.am%2F1ciOU&utm_medium=social&utm_content=20150816095008 …

Russian propaganda is in full swing. Rykov used images from the Near East for alleged bombings of #Mariupol. pic.twitter.com/jNO8QQeV86

Shelling from #Donetsk at #Avdiivka today @novostidnua https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPhc3CdN_-E&feature=youtu.be …

Avdiivka 22:51
Sounds like ours are returning fire now, heavy https://twitter.com/tsnkvlt/status/633003057815625729 …

In #Mariupol. Constant sounds of explosions to the east. About 5-10 seconds interval between on avg. Welcome to the cease-fire.

22:38 @vladicvp Incoming ones near #Dokuchaevsk

Mariupol, one more video @Polk_Azov http://youtu.be/kVxj3fpwng8

Mariupol @Polk_Azov http://youtu.be/6R1qQEpdCNQ

Outgoing reported from #Avdeevka minutes ago, fits with imapcts on the live feed. Now calm. Good aiming huh?

(Unconfirmed) report about 3 civilians killed in #Sartana, houses burning there.
https://twitter.com/bohdan_ukr/status/633005421884743681 …

Russian TASS: "Security forces began shelling of residential sector in the center of Donetsk" http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/16-august-russian-tass--security-forces-began-shelling-of … via @tass_agency

Donetsk, more Grads..

#Donetsk: Shelling continues. GRAD fire most heavy since a very long time.

Spetsnaz attack beaten back
Confirmed 2 dead civilians(Sartana).Attack repelled.Ukr answered Sahanka,Lukovo,Oktyabr,Zaichenko. No casualties https://twitter.com/bohdan_ukr/status/633009277251264513 …

23:22 #Mariupol @vladpug 5-7 quiet minutes and started over

23:15 #Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka And again boom sounds reach us

In Mariupol. Ukrainian soldiers are gearing up, on alert. "We must be ready to fight" one said. http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/16-augu...-gearing-up-on … via @nolanwpeterson

The shelling attack near Mariupol was used as the cover for a Russian Spetsnaz attack which was beaten back.

Right now is difficult to find a place in the Ukrainian front without combat. Full offensive in the making

Stanitsa Luhanska village in #Luhansk region is also under fire by Russia-led terrorists from 9:30pm https://twitter.com/LUGANSK_TODAY/status/633006912469135360 …

22:25 #Avdiivka @tsnkvlt Blackout in town, power transmission line was damaged.NoMTSmobile communications. Water services down.

Right now.
Avdiyivka. Heavy shelling. City's de-energized, no water. https://twitter.com/novostidnua/status/633006655391825921 …

Coking plant has taken a number of artillery hits to the facilities.

23:10 #Donetsk @AkaDON12 They keep bombarding at the city, now from other location closer to chemicals plant, 3 landings(4sec) in Kuybysheva

23:10 #Donetsk @GirkinGirkin Hardware roar was audible, on move northward

23:11 #Luhansk @LUGANSK_TODAY #Stanytsia_Luhanska was pounded intensively since 21:30 till 22:40. Now quiet

VIDEO: Footage supposedly from Mariupol, where distant explosions can be seen
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B_fRSMuE9qk … pic.twitter.com/UV1lpRZw0F

Russo-terrorists have been shelling Mariupol outskirts: Sartana, Lebedynske, Shyrokine, Gnutove.
v @Polk_Azov pic.twitter.com/qk6Jy0iDHu

[OUTLAW 09]

"DNR" announced the end of truce ...

The Russian offensive is now on----

Reports are flowing in to fast --will pick them up in the morning

[OUTLAW 09]

Sartana, under Russian attack, just 15km from Mariupol. Req's no crossing of Kalmius river to Mariupol. pic.twitter.com/mA8J9zYTYP

mariupol #ukraine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLQNIRfskWk&feature=youtu.be&a … listen to the dogs, the bombardments and the silence in between as if they are afraid to speak

[OUTLAW 09]

Shellings are still on—seems to be non stop today—Russia offensive is now formally underway….

ATO presser reported 148 russian attacks in #Donbas yesterday. Used MRLS 13 times.
https://www.facebook.com/ato.news/posts/1049910145019791 …

I was drunk I don't remember anything"? @rianru "#Donetsk militants stated, that they are not implicated in shelling #Mariupol"

Let the choreography begin. While separatists are pounding Mariupol, Russian media already spreading disinformation https://twitter.com/mission_russian/status/633010560414711808 …

It was obvious Russia wasn't going to keep the war in Ukraine on the back burner for much longer. Turning up the heat in Mariupol.

Sartana @Jonsonal72 approximate yday's engagement area pic.twitter.com/okotxKGiFi

02:37 #Staromykhaylivka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Impact on a house on Pevomayska street.

07:07 #Lysychansk @lisichanskiy some boomes at #Bakhmutka again

06:45 #Dzerzhynsk @dimetros7776 distant blasts

06:20 #Avdiivka @JuZolyshkaLia "I conserve my battery. No power&water. Allegedly power is up in the town new part for mobile telephony's up"

[OUTLAW 09]

"DNR" announced the end of truce ...

The Russian offensive is now on----

Reports are flowing in to fast --will pick them up in the morning

Regardless of what Obama, Nuland, Kerry, Hollande and Merkel think the war is now formally engaged and the Russian offensive has started--actually four weeks ago.

Western political leadership has totally failed or in the case of the US--Obama's unilateral appeasement moves failed just as did Munich in 1938 with the same drastic results.

[OUTLAW 09]

Must apologize for not posting much yesterday---I have posted here a number of times information concerning the major and massive hack of an Italian internet security software company called "The Hacking Company" which I am still working through as the information contained in those 400Gs of data is a major insight into a large number of current hacks being carried out here in Europe and used based on their email traffic by the various Security Services around the globe especially the FSB.

Yesterday I lost connectivity and based on the own long experience in the internet since 1992 I ended up walking through a internet security team of T-Systems what the problem was. Nothing like conducting remote network analysis without a computer and only with a cellphone.

"Little green men" have been able to block a specific port that was being used to route my DSL traffic---"what little green men it is ie NSA, BND and or FSB" cannot be determined but it is definitely the same hack software being pushed by "The Hacking Team".

You know it is not a good day when an American in Germany has to walk a German security team in German through various scenarios to defend against an Italian developed piece of attack software.

We were able to identify the issue but the solution is difficult without rebuilding the key T-Systems traffic router but we are currently testing a workaround that might in fact work well--takes time.

So I will be up and down as time and Mikey D's allows and some of my customers let me.

[OUTLAW 09]

ALL FROM YESTERDAY---8/17/15


All clashes outside occupied areas. Ukrainian forces hold Minsk line, not attacking. Attackers (=RU) breach Minsk II. pic.twitter.com/rrW7pNj4fN

From yesterday----
BreakingNews
Russian forces tried to overrun Lebedyns'ke shortly ago.
Heavy Ukrainian artillery thwarts the assault. pic.twitter.com/2sXXIKxS65

Breaking
Russian invaders bombed the main water pump in #Popasna last night, stopping fresh water supplies to 500.000+ people in the "LPR".

From yesterday---
Volnovakha locals report that artillery duel has been finished. It seems return fire destroyed enemy firing spots. https://twitter.com/solomazheka/status/633000639321219072 …

At night militants shelled Krasnohorivka, #Donetsk region w/ artillery. 1 civilian was killed http://www.mvs.gov.ua/mvs/control/donetsk/uk/publish/article/214763 … pic.twitter.com/PxefgzFiXw

Battalion "Donbass" returns to the forefront of Mariupol. https://twitter.com/rbc_ukraine/status/633190444621500416 …

Militant bombardment of Stanytsia Luhanska last night damaged gas pipeline. Zolote-4, shell hit children's playground
http://www.loga.gov.ua/oda/press/news/2015/08/17/news_67427.html …

Militants shell two villages near #Mariupol leaving two civilians dead, another six wounded http://uatoday.tv/news/militants-shell-two-villages-near-mariupol-leaving-two-civilians-dead-another-six-wounded-476221.html … pic.twitter.com/1XUH9SR67X

Massive ammo dump in #Russia used to stage ammo for transport into UKR http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=48.361025&lon=40.186121&z=16&m=b … pic.twitter.com/s1MZIi6BHK

Southern section of 'pro-Russian' Engineer training camp in #Russia http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=48.337210&lon=40.193492&z=17&m=b … pic.twitter.com/BadgwtOWhy

Engineering 'River Assault' camp for 'pro-Russians' http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=48.346089&lon=40.193406&z=17&m=b … 48.346188, 40.193934 pic.twitter.com/hlvOsH0tYI

MAP--ATO Press Center reports 148 attack on #Ukrainian position. Areas near #Mariupol shelled. http://lugansk-news.com/ato-press-center-reports-148-attack-on-ukrainian-position-several-villages-near-mariupol-shelled-by-artillery/ … pic.twitter.com/rZ5J5YX4Rj

Video footage of consequences of night shelling of Sartana settlement near #Mariupol, #Ukraine by RU-led terrorists. https://youtu.be/UDxtV0oN80s
VIDEO: Intense footage of Ukrainian positions under fire from tanks. (Unknown date, location)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rE1AR3i2k6c … pic.twitter.com/DTu4xuQath

Map. Situation in eastern #Ukraine, August 17, 2015, 00:00 EET pic.twitter.com/D4qacCj1bs

#News
Another 2 Ukrainian soldiers got killed and 7 injured in Russian attacks yesterday

Col. Lysenko: The enemy shelled UA Army near Verhniotoretske and Troitske for 10 times, including 2 times with MLRS Grad

ATO spox:Horlivka: complicated situation is to the North of the city, where enemy shelled UA positions with heavy mortars, artillery & tanks

ATO spox: Near Donetsk, situation remains intense as always: more than half of all truce violations by occupants occured here.

Col. Lysenko: The enemy shelled UA Army near Verhniotoretske and Troitske for 10 times, including 2 times with MLRS Grad

Col. Lysenko: Donetsk sector: In the Svitlodarsk area, military situation remains calm – only 3 episodes of hostile ceasefire violations

ATO spox: Lull in fighting at the frontline Novotoshkivske - Zolote - Popasna - Troitske prevailed yesterday

Col. Lysenko: Armed provocations, shelling and attacks with grenade launchers took place near Triohizbenka and Nyzhnie villages.

ATO spokesperson: Hostile armed provocations near Shchastya occurred day and night. Heavy armament was not applied.

Col. Andriy Lysenko: Luhansk sector: Yesterday evening, hostile shelling and armed provocations took place near Stanytsia Luhanska

ATO spox: Yesterday RU-backed invaders shelled suburbs of Mariupol, Sartana village: 2 civilians killed, 6 injured. pic.twitter.com/CYWcw0yxCB

VIDEO: Intense footage of Ukrainian positions under fire from tanks. (Unknown date, location)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rE1AR3i2k6c … pic.twitter.com/DTu4xuQath

Col. Lysenko: 1 hostile UAV and 2 helicopters were detected at the boundary of the Crimea with the Kherson region.

Col. Andriy Lysenko: Four flights of enemy UAVs were recorded within the military operation area

OSCE Quick Response Team…..????? barely makes the combat area-----
The OSCE mission arrived in Sartana 12 hours after shelling

OSCE as usual acts "with lightning speed" ... https://twitter.com/0629ComUa/status/633210562277691392 …

Col. Lysenko: Mariupol sector: militants used 120mm mortars & howitzers both day and night

ATO spokesperson: Mariupol sector: Hotzones: Bohdanivka, Starohnativka, Hranitne, Talakivka, Sartana.

Col. Andriy Lysenko: Military activity at Donetsk exit to Mariupol renewed: the enemy attacked with MLRS Grad UA positions near Berezove.

Col. Lysenko: Donetsk sector: In the Svitlodarsk area, military situation remains calm – only 3 episodes of hostile ceasefire violations

ATO spox: Lull in fighting at the frontline Novotoshkivske - Zolote - Popasna - Troitske prevailed yesterday

Col. Lysenko: Armed provocations, shelling and attacks with grenade launchers took place near Triohizbenka and Nyzhnie villages.

ATO spokesperson: Hostile armed provocations near Shchastya occurred day and night. Heavy armament was not applied.

Col. Andriy Lysenko: Luhansk sector: Yesterday evening, hostile shelling and armed provocations took place near Stanytsia Luhanska

Following overnight shelling of Sartana Ukr artillery in area was redeployed, fire calculations were revised to ensure safety - Col. Lysenko

Sartana was shelled from over 12km distance, presumably from howitzers - ATO spox Col. Lysenko, presser



NOTICE—RUMINT UNCONFIRMED—from today
We have rumint - emphasis UNCONFIRMED - that Russian Army motor rifle brigades in Rostov region (50km from Ukraine border) put on ALERT.

We will follow that up - UNCONFIRMED - possibly disinformation. But given Kremlin line of "Ukraine prepares offensive" we are concerned.

Russian Army TV lies that Ukraine moves 90,000 troops, armour to front "ready to begin full-scale war in the Donbas" https://twitter.com/zvezdanews/status/633200580161372160 …

Typical Russian agitprop—the entire strength of the UAF right now is only 64K and that counts the volunteers as well SO how did the Russian Army TV get the figure of 90,000??????

We EMPHASISE that this lie is carried/spread by the Russian Ministry of Defence which operates & controls TV Zvezda. An official Kremlin lie

BREAKING 17 Aug: Nine thousand military raised alarm in the South of Russia http://tvzvezda.ru/news/vstrane_i_mire/content/201508171154-rqz9.htm … pic.twitter.com/2lgdrS0Tio via @zvezdanews


Appears Kerry, Obama, Nuland urgently need a new approach to foreign policy—seems unilateral appeasement a la Munich 1938 is not working-----

Wow!
Lavrov:RF prepared documents with detailed analysis implementation Minsk-2 by Kyiv
Kyiv waiting impatiently)) https://twitter.com/tass_agency/status/633213856257572864 …

Lavrov says Russian 'alarmed' by recent developments in eastern Ukraine pic.twitter.com/2IO2E4aTRw

BRK: #Lavrov accuses #Kiev of escalating tensions in eastern #Ukraine

Lavrov: the situation in the Donbas looks like a preparation for hostilities http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/17-august-lavrov-the-situation-in-the-donbas-looks-like-a …

MustBeAJoke ...
Two guys in front of a #RussianArmy #KAMAZ43114 in #Ukraine: "America is the evil empire." pic.twitter.com/sKFCXfj5em


The inherent danger from the Obama, Hollande and Merkel unilateral appeasement moves is their total failure in understanding the drive of the Ukrainians to ditch a systemic corrupt Soviet style government and business structure for the concepts of rule of law, good governance and transparency as esposed by the EU and the US.

ALL those things supposedly the EU and the US profess to be their European and US “values”—challenge that and you challenge the very basis of the EU and the US---if the EU and the US “bails” on that set of “values” who in the future will trust them??

Remember Putin’s three core geo political goals have been since 2008---
1. discredit and damage NATO
2. discredit and damage the EU
3. disconnect completely the US from Europe

[OUTLAW 09]

Right now the US is carrying 70% of all the NATO defense costs—for how much longer of the EU led by France and Germany truly fail to lead with a clear and concise foreign policy—right now they remind me to much of Munich 1938 and that is not good for Europe as a whole.

Ukrainians fear Berlin & Paris are pressing them too much in Moscow direction. In German. Worth reading. http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/westliche-einflussnahme-der-albtraum-ukrainischer-politiker-13753144.html?printPagedArticle=true#pageIndex_2 …

In German though----

[OUTLAW 09]

The Russian troops and her mercenaries are truly going over the cliff with their emotions----
Wow! ...
A "DPR" member threw an "Ukrainian" unexploded D-30 artillery shell into an @OSCE_SMM vehicle in Olenivka.
http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/177826 …

Daily #Basurin propaganda presser: @lifenews_ru, "#Novorossiya" TV (and 2 more) mics held by the same "journalist"... pic.twitter.com/FcslIvZArs

Maxim Tucker @MaxRTucker
Nine dead at end of day's clashes in #Ukraine after rebels strike at #Mariupol http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33962356 … pic.twitter.com/A9V4d6BOax

Militants launch fresh artillery attacks against Ukrainian positions http://uatoday.tv/politics/militants-launch-fresh-artillery-attacks-against-ukrainian-positions-476950.html … pic.twitter.com/fikJ1XRPlW

Sector M: 12 russian attacks yesterday, incl. one with MRLS. Today there were 2 attacks at #Chermalyk after 5AM http://www.0629.com.ua/news/928629

Can NATO effectively counter RUS? @smallwars gives you a hint: "DIME" (diplomacy, information, military, economy). http://bit.ly/1IYPIWX

Russian civil aircraft maker "Sukhoi" is having serious issues over sanctions http://www.vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2015/08/18/605181-gss-predupredila-o-problemah-s-postavkami-detalei … 40% of each jet made of imported parts

Russia’s Troll Army Is Making Life Harder for US Spies via @DefenseOne http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2015/08/russias-troll-army-making-life-harder-us-spies/119179/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is attempting to stifle any and all remnants of free press left in Russia—

Moscow lets Kremlin-backed militants attack independent Russian journalists
http://khpg.org/index.php?id=1439861828 …
pic.twitter.com/odBc80lFcq

Russian Censors Falsify Evidence Against Newspaper to Uphold Ban on Political Coverage http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/08/17/russian-censors-falsify-evidence-against-newspaper-to-uphold-ban-on-political-coverage/ … pic.twitter.com/4FywoM30sC

“The Russians want to sow discord within NATO, where the nuclear issue is extremely divisive.” http://www.politico.eu/article/nato-putin-russia-nuclear-weapons-ukraine-war/ …

New escalation of Ukraine conflict provoked by Russian side is a racket for pressing the West, same type of politics as in Syria

Russian heavy weapons on the move again last night---
At night over a dozen russian Ural trucks towing RAPIRA's or MSTA-B's went towards #Donetsk via #Khartsyzk. https://twitter.com/Irina16135931/status/633508105964417024 …

Donbas Btn. fighters were in this classroom on Aug. 21. We are dying for you to never know war." pic.twitter.com/vJH56Tt9Nd

[OUTLAW 09]

Some shelling attacks from early morning into 0700 today---

Russian attacks are down—only 86 last night ---anything though over 55 is major combat though---
ATO HQ: 86 attacks(-62) of Russian forces on 17 of August
http://liveuamap.com pic.twitter.com/v5dyvEjhfh

7:26AM
Checkpoints #Mayorsk, #Zaitseve closed, they don't let through nobody. https://twitter.com/100007182042214/status/633495062563917825 …

Tonight #Russian terrorists were shelling from howitzers from inside the city of #Lugansk between 2 am and 2:15 am.

02:33 #Luhansk @VovaKonoplyanka [by sound, there were 2 howitzers shelling at #Stanytsia_Luhanska]

02:27 #Luhansk @Ohrene_Luganda At 02:20 ammo was over? Everything ceased. There was no UAF reply

02:33 #Luhansk @VovaKonoplyanka [by sound, there were 2 howitzers shelling at #Stanytsia_Luhanska]

02:05 #Luhansk @vzglyd2 Strong volleys heard in the East[ern blocks] fr/the outskirts,south [=west facilities here 48.554669, 39.407045]

02:27 #Luhansk @Ohrene_Luganda At 02:20 ammo was over? Everything ceased. There was no UAF reply

02:27 #Luhansk @VovaKonoplyanka ...It sounds like a howitzer shelling from waste treatment facilities behind 30_richya_Peremohy St

02:15 #Luhansk @vzglyd2 10 min in a row, 5-10sec interval between, allegedly howitzers

02:10 #Luhansk @ukrainebang They've started to shellfrom the city

02:10 #Luhansk @ukrainebang RUS are shelling w/howitzers fr/waste treatment facilities behind Vokova block, distant fly, blasts barely heard

02:20 @MedicNiko being 50 km away, I can hear rumble in #Stanytsia_Luhanska lasting for 10 minutes

02:06am #Luhansk @1lugansk Wow, something rubmles

02:08 east @LuhanskJunta Something very serious. It awoke us all

02:05 #Luhansk @LUGANSKA_JUNTA Loud, 2-3 SPG are working. From eastern blocks one can see flashes of salvos flying tow/ Petrivka [?]

06:11 #Dokuchaevsk @whicard5 This night passed calm. We heard distant din and saw flashes in #Olenivka/#Berezove direction...

Lysychansk 6:30AM
Again tank or mortar shooting https://twitter.com/lisichanskiy/status/633489410386993152 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Sartana shelled by #Russian terrorists: two people killed, six wounded, more than 50 homes damaged http://en.censor.net.ua/n347987

Young woman wounded during shelling of #Sartana died td leaving 10y old daughter an orphan.child has lost her leg
What ceasefire? What Minsk?

What Western political leadership is there currently—they are all missing in action???

NOTE: right after a series of heavy fighting around Mariupol the US President stated—if the fighting in and around Mariupol get serious then Russia will be hurt more and then there were leaked potential sanctions if that happened—NOTICE—no response by Obama after this round of serious fighting in and near Mariupol—Russia was testing Obama, Hollande, Merkel and they failed again.

[OUTLAW 09]

Not making this up folks: Russian mafia members arrested after running illegal cheese trade in Moscow. https://twitter.com/svobodaradio/status/633531933797011456 …

Russia police discover $30 million cheese smuggling ring (!). Raids in 3 regions find 470 tons of sanctioned cheese. https://mvd.ru/news/item/6363040/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Heads up US Army and NATO---more combat testing of Russian weapons systems and special munitions.

Russians used artillery with "special ammunition capable of penetrating bunkers" vs. Ukr-held Verkhn'otorets'ke, the #OSCE reports.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia is attempting to stifle any and all remnants of free press left in Russia—

Moscow lets Kremlin-backed militants attack independent Russian journalists
http://khpg.org/index.php?id=1439861828 …
pic.twitter.com/odBc80lFcq

Russian Censors Falsify Evidence Against Newspaper to Uphold Ban on Political Coverage http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/08/17/russian-censors-falsify-evidence-against-newspaper-to-uphold-ban-on-political-coverage/ … pic.twitter.com/4FywoM30sC

“The Russians want to sow discord within NATO, where the nuclear issue is extremely divisive.” http://www.politico.eu/article/nato-putin-russia-nuclear-weapons-ukraine-war/ …

New escalation of Ukraine conflict provoked by Russian side is a racket for pressing the West, same type of politics as in Syria

Russian heavy weapons on the move again last night---
At night over a dozen russian Ural trucks towing RAPIRA's or MSTA-B's went towards #Donetsk via #Khartsyzk. https://twitter.com/Irina16135931/status/633508105964417024 …

Donbas Btn. fighters were in this classroom on Aug. 21. We are dying for you to never know war." pic.twitter.com/vJH56Tt9Nd

Russia's talk of nukes: Information warfare, or full-blown nuclear build-up? http://politi.co/1MztU8y #Ukraine #NATO pic.twitter.com/BwtTjQrVST