Russian heavy equipment in a warehouse in #Debaltseve today.
pic.twitter.com/uGxUrBWfcd
Russian army to have more than 350,000 contract servicemen by year end http://tass.ru/en/russia/7861
After the last few days of Russian activity ie actual attacks, armed probes and shellings it has been relatively quiet today and into the evening.Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09
Today several attacks were physically turned back and the UA maintained their control on the attacked locations.
All current Russian resupply and rearming efforts point to a Russian offensive as it would be impossbile for them to accept a full implementation of Minsk 2 with Ukrainian conducting free elections under Ukrainian election laws as well as the Ukraine and OSCE controlling the border to Russia in the occuppied regions especially after paying a rather high cost in manpower loses and wounded just to hang onto the occuppied regions which the mercenaries were on the verge of losing in August 2014.
They have actaully been forced into this move as they assumed they could "freeze" the Donbas and apply pressure on Kyiv but Kyiv has been rather successful in actually "freezing" Russia in place and forcing them to support financially Donetsk at a time when Russia has limited funds and tying up a greater portion of her professional military units in the Ukraine driving the estimated daily cost into the 20 to 35M USDs per day and that since August 2014.
The question tremains just how much will the Russian troops and her mercenaries attempt to take and what will the Western response be.
Will it be a total takeover of all the Donbas region inclduing Kharkiv, Mariupol and Odessa or a combination of the three cities or a push to go past the Donbas and physically threaten Kyiv as the Russian end goal of keeping the Ukraine out of the EU and NATO has not been working and if anything it has driven Ukrainian support for NATO into ever increasing approval ratings with a massive decrease in a positive view of Russia which was previously always high?
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 04-01-2015 at 07:47 PM.
Russian heavy equipment in a warehouse in #Debaltseve today.
pic.twitter.com/uGxUrBWfcd
Russian army to have more than 350,000 contract servicemen by year end http://tass.ru/en/russia/7861
Russia threatens to use nuclear force over Crimea & Baltic states, plan to use ethnic Russians to destabilize Baltics http://ind.pn/1GhRzpf
#Putin Lies Again. Plans to annex #Crimea are far older than Putin's new documentary suggests.
http://www.interpretermag.com/putin-lies-again/ … pic.twitter.com/xArOAcjxaP
#Russia-backed militants well placed to launch a devastating offensive in #Ukraine very soon.
http://www.defenseone.com/threats/20...happen/108955/ … pic.twitter.com/CTte0jgrph
Russia’s economic outlook worse than thought, World Bank says http://on.wsj.com/1Cwm7Rx
#News
The @OSCE_SMM is in #Shyrokyne today so the Russian side stopped attacking. Last mortars fired at 3 am tonight.
NOTE: Russian supported mercenaries always seem to know when OSCE and where OSCE will be –before they themselves know it—23 members of the OSCE SMM are either Russian officers and or former Russian officers.
From retired General Clark:
Spot on accurate. #OSCE and Russian troops http://www.defenseone.com/threats/20...happen/108955/ … pic.twitter.com/trnmRSksUQ
#Odessa #Ukraine: Security Service arrests 3 suspects for 10 bombings in the city. http://dumskaya.net/news/podrobnosti...-oni-s-045222/ … pic.twitter.com/XtvpdaWxyx
Fearing #Russia, growing numbers of Poles are joining volunteer paramilitary groups http://www.themoscowtimes.com/multim...self/5679.html … #poland pic.twitter.com/zApp4Rc8FU
One of the key Minsk 2 requirements was the immediate release of all POWs on BOTH sides—to this date the mercenaries that Russia back thus Russia is not in compliance and is in direct violation of Minsk 2.
POW cyborg commander from Donetsk airport still not releasedpic.twitter.com/RbzCBGH7GS
#Donetsk direction stands as hottest, Avdiivka came under fire from 120-mm artillery, mortars https://www.facebook.com/ato.news/posts/974473519230121 … pic.twitter.com/5vMoKBwTn7
TYPICAL Russian MH17 disinformation and myths and RT knows how to manipulate Youtube:
Type "MH17" into youtube and you get three RT documentaries, "MH17: What you're not being told" and faked sat photos. pic.twitter.com/PnSyG4xD1F
More from the Dutch MH17 investigation team released video:
.@StevenDerix found 'this little gem' about Petrovsky, GRU-officer recognised in #MH17 tapes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6TGhrGyMrM …
pic.twitter.com/lnX9TkgGAH
#Footage
Russian army BMP-97 - after Donbas now also in #Crimea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC5Z61lgoXk …
pic.twitter.com/uD7u3On8S4
Militants fire heavy artillery at Ukrainian forces ten times overnight
http://www.unian.info/war/1062750-mi...overnight.html … pic.twitter.com/ABP9dKRNRt
Notice that while the western FMs are in Switzerland and not getting anywhere Russian troops and her supported mercenaries are busy violating Minsk 2 and nothing absolutely nothing is being said by the Us, France and or Germany.
Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-02-2015 at 10:07 PM.
Russia keeps closing itself from the rest of the world:
Incredible. New bill proposed by ruling party envisages monitoring of foreigners' social media, banning entry to RU for negative statements
Russian mercenaries being the Russia criminal elements they were inside Russia:
Separatist A. Zhuchkovsky from #Russia: separatists are selling humanitarian aid in #Donetsk and #Luhansk. http://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/2121276.html
Russia disinformation over the border shooting incident yesterday between the Ukraine and Transnistria—this is the same myth –the Ukrainians shell civilians that Russia has been throwing against the wall since August 2014 when in fact her mercenaries have been extensively shown to have been behind the shellings.
Now same Rus state TV channel claims #Ukraine border guards "have opened fire on the inhabitants of #Transnistria: http://tvzvezda.ru/news/vstrane_i_mi...21049-kf8o.htm …
Really badly done Russian MoD disinformation attempt:
#Russia MoD News Channel: Unknown tank in #Donbas!
so they photoshoped #Ukraine's coat of arms on a #US Abrams tank.pic.twitter.com/fS5lkWQsdE
Seems to be a Russian attempt to "prove" US has delivered weapons to the Ukraine.
Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-02-2015 at 10:08 PM.
"...the Russian Orthodox Church is becoming more like an auxiliary government agency for ideology." > @kvoneggert http://dw.de/p/1F0ZB
Appears that yes even the Russian disinformation news agencies sometimes get their own story wires crossed—not the first time in the last ten days—they seem to be losing the plot and their focus in order to just crank out their daily numbers:
What now?
@tassagency_en Russia Consulate in Aden attacked by Houthi rebels
@RT_com Russia consulate in Aden damaged by coalition airstrikes
Here is the inherent contradiction in Russian accusation’s against the Ukraine which they claimed was a “Nazi junta” and “Nazi’s” were going to kill Russians in the Crimea and Ukraine—then they send Russian far right mercenaries and other neo Nazi groups (six different Russian far right groups to fight in eastern Ukraine and THEN this meeting—Russia seems to want it both ways:
What does the fascist conference in St. Petersburg tell us about contemporary Russia?http://anton-shekhovtsov.blogspot.no...nce-in-st.html … pic.twitter.com/R7bcucKNpw
Igor Strelkov, "The Man Who Started the War in Ukraine"http://www.spiegel.de/international/...a-1023801.html …
Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-02-2015 at 10:08 PM.
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Accusations that Aidar battalion seized a bakery aren't true. Soldiers on their positions; those marauding have no relation to battalion.
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Militants disguise as UA soldiers. #DPR and #LPR textile enterprises got samples of UA mil chevrons, preparing provocations vs civilians
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Another group detained in #Dnipropetrovsk who were promised funding from RU Communist Party for organizing terrorist acts
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
SBU uncovered large arms arsenal with explosives in #Kurakhove, Donetsk region pic.twitter.com/DxGfVyWqb2
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
UA counter-intelligence detained #DPR informer who gathered intel on Ukrainian forces pic.twitter.com/eH2Mj1RR0w
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Precisely these RU forces were used as barrier squads during the battle for #Debaltseve. Now they liquidate disobedient militants.
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Internal skirmishes escalate in #KrasnyuLuch, Luhansk region. RU forces attacked by unknown group of insurgents.
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
1,500 RU military advisors train pro-RU mercenaries on 6 firing ranges on occupied territories of #Donetsk & #Luhansk regions
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Ukrainian Armed Forces fought off RU-backed insurgents by #Zolote, Luhansk region
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
#DPR covertly relocate its weapons along the contact line in the area of #Maryinka & #Kurakhove
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
Pro-Russian militants used tanks and the artillery against the Ukrainian troops based near #Avdiivka
NSDC of Ukraine ✔ @NSDC_ua
#Avdiivka: major hotspot yesterday. Around 50% ceasefire violations in #Donetsk airport area.
Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-02-2015 at 10:09 PM.
MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Lukashevich: On April 10, Sergey Lavrov will hold the annual meeting of #Russian #NGOs that specialise in foreign affairs
MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
#Lukashevich: Settlement of the #Ukraine conflict, implementation of the February 12 Minsk Agreements will be discussed, among other things
Garry KASPAROV: “Putin is using the Minsk Accords as a smoke screen” | The Day newspaper http://www.day.kiev.ua/en/article/ec...s-smoke-screen …
Still have not seen the mainstream western media pick up on this particular Russian nuclear threat against the US and NATO.
I have been saying since the Crimea--- Putin and his inner circle of advisors have been basically "trapped" by their own propaganda since 2002 which is inherently dangerous why--when a leader who has a nuclear button "loses" touch with reality then it makes a misstep into war that much easier as he can no longer effectively make rational decisions--his decision making becomes then a reflect based on his own biases which are "colored" by the propaganda .
John Schindler @20committee
“Russia will use its nuclear weapons against NATO.” Stop fighting about pizza in Indiana for a couple minutes here. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1227289725875 …
John Schindler @20committee
ICYMI: Kremlin threatened US/NATO with nuclear war over Crimea, Baltics. Kinda important. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1227289725875 …
At Elbe Group mtg, RU interlocutors were on-message, reflecting how Putin & Kremlin actually think. That top US reps were surprised.....UGH.
"US party @ Elbe Group talks appears to have been surprised to discover RU scty experts believe the US is bent on destroying their country."
John Schindler @20committee
"Russia regards US as ailing superpower trying 2 create crisis situations 2 preserve its position of strategic superiority around the world"
Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-02-2015 at 10:09 PM.
Typical Russian disinformation moves—first they actually release the threat and then they deny they released the threat:
Apocalypse a bit later: The meaning of Putin’s nuclear threats. Brookings 1 Apr http://brook.gs/1P2l16I
Russia denies threatening use of nuclear weapons - http://China.org.cn http://on.china.cn/1FljWBi
BUT they did:
Russia Did Not Threaten West With Nukes to Protect Crimea – Kremlin / Sputnik (ie Kremlin) International http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150402/1020357197.html …
Russian COL in eastern Ukraine identified along with his GRU bodyguard:
Russian colonel Pan'kov and his GRU bodyguard identified in #Donbass http://fb.me/1ZFtDEfyu
Ukraine Claims More Russian Troops Have Arrived In Donetsk As Attacks Continue To The North http://www.interpretermag.com/ukrain...he-north/#7757 … pic.twitter.com/q5531fysv2
Perfect example of the Russian media being in “an altered state of reality as well”:
This particular Russian graveyard for those unknown killed in fighting in the Ukraine has been identified as well from sat photos and geo tagged BUT to the Russia media it did not exist????
Gazeta.ru Reporter Investigates Rostov Cemetery; Finds No New Mass Graves of Russian Soldiers
http://www.interpretermag.com/russia...l-2-2015/#7756 … pic.twitter.com/VbZnN38EA1
#Russia’s new #military doctrine requires coordination with #Belarus". http://tass.ru/en/world/768187 #CSTO pic.twitter.com/jTSchUMy8w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-4igAC9d9Y … #Russia's Prokhanov, a #NorthKorea buff, pornifies #Russian-#Ukrainian "civil war." pic.twitter.com/UP5gwnjUE
Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-02-2015 at 10:09 PM.
Ukrainian military says militants are secretly relocating heavy weapons http://24today.net/open/364127 pic.twitter.com/TSKg1z27TP
This report says former DNR leader Alexander Borodai says Mariupol wasn't captured bc Akhmetov needs it for exports. http://www.ostro.org/general/society/news/467592/ …
Now more Russian disinformation focusing on the Ukraine as a whole—sometimes it borders on the “altered state of reality” levels:
Director, Russ. Inst. Strategic Studies: Spring/summer Donbas war highly likely. Predicts decay/collapse of Ukraine.http://www.materik.ru/rubric/detail.php?ID=19895
Important: Dir. RISS, reports to Ivanov: makes clear strategy shift to Russ NGOs. 'On direct orders of President.' Baltics?
Again it is the Ukraine’s fault more Russian disinformation or outright lies:
Not just lies, but threatening words by @DRogozin: "Ukraine is whipping up tensions on its border w/ Transnistria". Russian OCCUPIED Moldova
Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-02-2015 at 10:10 PM.
Proof that US was warned about potential Russian aggression against Ukraine and asked to prepare. Note pts 3 and 4. https://www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cabl...SAW1164_a.html …
US was warned about Russian threat to Crimea in 2009 http://www.unian.info/politics/10630...a-in-2009.html …
Old man after "DNR" shelled his farm house in #Sopyne near Shyrokyne:
"Russian bastards!"
http://censor.net.ua/video_news/3311...ki_obstrelyali … pic.twitter.com/bdYlM7LGgG
When Russia news media are ever in doubt—blame the US:
From Kremlin's SputnikNews French site: "Did the US bring down the German A320?" When in doubt, blame the US/CIA/NATO http://fr.sputniknews.com/points_de_...URL_shortening …
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 04-02-2015 at 03:52 PM.
This is the actions of a Russia that claimed when they annexed Crimea “they would protect the Crimean Tartars as they have been massively mistreated, tortured and then deported by Stalin—well so much for Russian “statements”. Was not this the reason Russia “claimed” was the main reason for going into the Crimea and eastern Ukraine in the first place “to protect ethnic Russians”?
Russia closes last #Crimea Tatar TV station. #Russia-backed PM accuses station of "intentionally" closing itself. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/02/wo...tars.html?_r=0 …
Crimean Tartars tried four times to get the necessary reregistration done for their ATR TV but the "Russians failed to respond a single time".
A number of Crimean Tartars have been tortured, killed and or simply disappeared after Russian annexation and the son of the Tartar leader has been jailed in an attempt in blackmail his father into cooperating with the Russians.
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 04-02-2015 at 03:45 PM.
Russian-terrorist forces attack Pisky under Donetsk with mortars and infantry - OUN battalion
https://www.facebook.com/euromaidanp...81664718684003 …
Russian 9S737 "Ranzhir" mobile command centre for anti-aircraft battery (eg Tunguska, Strela-10) in Luhansk 31 March pic.twitter.com/9xbvq2Oync
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Illustrates Moscow's Foreign Policy Objectives in Syria, Yemen, Ukraine & Beyond http://www.interpretermag.com/russia...l-2-2015/#7760 …
Russians view "NATO troop deployments in eastern Europe & the Balkans" as "particularly dangerous" for nuclear powershttp://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs...ltics-and-nato …
Terrorists shot dead Russian soldiers, who stood blocking detachments in #Debaltseve - intell pic.twitter.com/dsO4mbVKYw http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/2-april...stood-blocking …
300 Russian soldiers arrived to Donetsk from Ulan-Ude - ATO headquartershttp://en.censor.net.ua/n331046
Russians torture & mock their POWs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRyvQbNrgb0 …
"Russian equipment is regularly coming over. Russian units are regularly coming over."http://bit.ly/1xy4CBg pic.twitter.com/4irogh4YnW
Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-02-2015 at 10:10 PM.
Ivan Sukhov: "...ever since 1991, Russia's image has always taken precedence over its reality." http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/518550.html …
Is Russia a Kamikaze Country?
By Ivan Sukhov
Apr. 02 2015 18:57
Last edited 18:58
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov played an active role in the negotiations between the six world powers and Iran. That is one tool Kremlin strategists can use to pretend that things are not so bad, to create the illusion that Russia is still an important and respected player in the international arena — influencing the resolution of global problems.
Meanwhile, Russians are breathing an almost audible sigh of relief as they see the value of the ruble gradually climbing upward again. Of course, the exchange rate is not as good as it was a year ago, but it is still much better than a month ago, and hopefully, they think, everything will return to normal soon.
That hope that the situation will somehow normalize without any serious effort on Moscow's part shows that Russia is now, more than ever before, a victim of wishful thinking.
In fact, this question of which is more important — Russia's image or its reality — has quietly become the most pressing issue of the day. In fact, ever since 1991, Russia's image has always taken precedence over its reality.
Russian leaders think they have duped the rest of the world into believing the illusions that they themselves have long taken as fact.
The main illusion that the Kremlin has attempted to foist on the Russian people and the world is that Russia is somehow the Soviet Union in new garb, and that as such, it has not only the power, but also the privilege to settle any questions arising on former Soviet territory.
It remains a mystery as to how much of that tale Kremlin officials actually believe, and how much is intended for public consumption.
That distorted perception of Russia and the world stems directly from the early 1990s. For the first few years after 1991, Russian officialdom interpreted the Soviet collapse as the result of a democratic revolution.
That burgeoning Russian democracy ostensibly inherited the legal, financial and nuclear structures of the Soviet Union and even had to shell its own parliament building with tanks in 1993 to weather the political storm threatening its survival. From the rubble of that conflict arose the Russian Constitution, still in force today and presented to the world as a charter of democracy.
There are now two prevailing points of view in Russia concerning democracy. The first is that democracy is absolute evil and that it was the advocates of democracy who brought down the Soviet Union.
The second is that democracy is not so bad, but that the way it was implemented during the early post-Soviet period discredited it in the eyes of many Russians.
Characteristically, those holding the latter point of view are often the same people who did everything in their power to discredit democracy during the 1990s and 2000s. They deceptively referred to the Soviet collapse as a "democratic revolution" when, if it was a revolution at all, it was more a revolution of government bureaucrats who got rid of bothersome Soviet controls by dismantling the entire Soviet Union — with the silent and passive citizenry looking on.
And after 1991, they referred to that citizenry as "civil society" to keep Western observers from guessing that they intended to trample on the reforms initiated by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. These were people who had not participated in anything themselves, but who associated that supposedly democratic government with the horrors that caused the collapse of the Soviet Union.
From the very beginning, post-Soviet Russia tried to appear to its citizens, its neighbors and even to itself as something that it was not. By indulging in this game of mimicry, leaders missed the moment when the new country needed to understand the reason it had come into being, for whom it would serve as a home and refuge, and what goals would guide it into the future.
When a new country appears in the place of an older one, a window of political opportunity opens. However, it cannot remain open as long as 25 years.
Russia used that time to engage in a strange role-playing game, trying to act as both a democracy and as the successor to the Soviet Union, on one hand denying the Soviet legacy, and on the other perpetuating it.
However, something went wrong, and now it is clear that, unlike the Soviet Union, modern Russia has no ideas to offer.
At first it seemed like technocratic chic: after years of Soviet ideological intoxication, to have the luxury of not thinking about any ideas at all. Then it turned out that without some form of national idea, nothing would work. However, new ideas arise only after a country has undertaken the gargantuan task of understanding itself and the hard reality of its history.
Russia is still avoiding that work. All of the ideas that today's officials pull out of their hats are from the same bag of tricks that Soviet leaders, and before them the tsars, first conjured up.
Of course, the West does not take a very fond view of Russia.
Anyone not viewing this country through the prison window of state-controlled Russian television sees all too clearly Moscow's ridiculous attempts to hide its lack of a meaningful national agenda with its pretentious facade of Olympic Games, wars in Georgia and the Donbass, the annexation of Crimea, the ostentatious attempts to settle the Syria problem and its participation in six world powers negotiating with Iran on its nuclear program.
This is not a new Cold War — but not because Russia still acts as a relatively equal partner in certain international structures. This is not a new Cold War because it is obvious to everyone outside of Russia that this country has spent a quarter of a century fruitlessly pondering whether it wants to break with its Soviet past or return to it, that it has no heart, mind or means for waging a confrontation with the West that would revive the bipolar world of the past.
This does not mean, however, that the West should dismiss Russia as a potential threat. At a conference in Moscow last week devoted to the question of whether a new Cold War had begun, one Russian political analyst compared the Russian state to a suicide bomber.
He argued that Moscow suffers from an anxiety complex stemming from the realization that the country will either collapse or find itself hopelessly far behind Western levels of development, and that this has prompted leaders to ever more frequently hint at using its nuclear weapons in a last-ditch effort to assert its right to exist.
Russia and the West must find an escape from this dangerous deadlock.
And yet Moscow leaders continue pretending that nothing unusual is happening: Foreign Minister Lavrov casually speaks about Iran and everyone watches as the ruble strengthens to 58 against the dollar.
In the end, Russia's leaders know they have a nuclear button, and that if this country cannot — or will not — solve its problems any other way, it can always opt out of the game by triggering global Armageddon.
Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-02-2015 at 10:12 PM.
Russian Southern MD Special units received another batch of #Kamaz 63968 #Typhoon read http://bit.ly/1yyxFzQ pic.twitter.com/wqfxTCDCXm
Here Russian defence ministry channel lies about US-made hardware deployed in Eastern Ukraine http://tvzvezda.ru/news/vstrane_i_mi...21023-chms.htm …
New report by International Crisis Group : The #Ukraine Crisis: Risks of Renewed Military Conflict after Minsk II http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/region...-minsk-ii.aspx …
Battle for East #Ukraine: Russian-backed militants violate ceasefire again near Donetsk http://uatoday.tv/politics/battle-fo...sk-419253.html …
Militants plan provocations: to mine passenger buses heading from occupied areas to #Mariupol and blame it on Ukr mil http://donoda.gov.ua/?lang=ru&sec=02...&args=id:25623 …
ATO staff: Militants preparing a bloody provocation - mining buses towards Mariupol and Berdyanske http://www.ostro.org/general/society...medium=twitter …
Unusual activity by two Russian Generals inside eastern Ukraine---both Generals are members of the OSCE SMM/JCCC.
BOTH are currently AWOL from the Ukraine-----
Both have actually disappeared from any reporting in the last two days ie no photos nor press conferences etc.
THEN this late today
Our understanding (based on Mariupol rumint) is that #OSCE_SMM has "lost sight" of both Vyaznikov and Lentsov. Commanders meeting in Rostov?
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