"Armed men" have taken control of several towns in Eastern Ukraine outside of the Crimea. Slaviansk and Kramatorsk have been taken over and in Donetsk and Luhansk government buildings are currently occupied effectively cutting off the Ukrainian government control of the area. Ukraines central government is preparing for an armed response.
Not sure this is going to work out well for the Ukrainians, send in troops, Russia's army has an excuse to intervene in force. Sit back and do nothing, watch as your country gets slowly partitioned up by the Russians. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...c=932&irpc=932
Yup, this is a provocation operation by the Russians. The minute the first Russian nationalist eats a bullet is the moment that the Russians start moving in.
The Ukraine or at least most of it will cease to exist by the end of the year.
An Associated Press reporter found a bullet-ridden SUV on the side of the road on the outskirts of Slaviansk and a pool of blood on the passenger seat where the gun battle was supposed to have taken place.
Vladimir Kolodchenko, a lawmaker from the area who witnessed the attack, said a car with four gunmen pulled up on the road in a wooded area outside Slaviansk and open fire on Ukrainian soldiers who were standing beside their vehicles.
Shortly after the reports of the deaths and injuries surfaced, separatist protesters seized control of the mayor's office in the town of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, on the Azov Sea, local media in the area said
Quote:
NATO described the appearance in eastern Ukraine of men with specialized Russian weapons and identical uniforms without insignia — as previously worn by Moscow's troops when they seized Crimea — as a "grave development."
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said Sunday that the rebellion has "all the telltale signs of what we saw in Crimea: it's professional, it's coordinated, it's nothing grassroots-seeming about it. The forces are doing in each of the six or seven cities that they've been active in exactly the same thing."
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
Sounds like there was a running battle between Ukraine Russian Nationalists and the Ukraine military with casualties on the militia side.
Be interesting to see Russia's response now.
Russian Nationalists militia or Russian troops? These guys again are far far too well and consistently equipped to be militia. At least a few hundred to thousand Russian special forces agitators alone with along with the civilian Ukrainians taking over the police stations.
Russia's likely going to come down hard given the troops stationed at the border right now to protect 'Russian speakers and ethnic Russians'.
Oh I have no doubt that there are Russian Spetsnaz or some of their other special action groups in the Ukraine stirring things up and aiding the nationalists.
When I left this morning the Ukraine was moving troops in a major anti-terrorist operation.
We'll see what the Russian resolve is before the weekend.
Between this and the formation of the Eurasian Union is it fair to say the USSR is back?
I would think that a lot of the sentiments are back. They're not a command based economy, its more a combination of a corruption backed by government form of economy.
This all certainly isn't about the Soviets driving mantra of World Socialism in our lifetime, even though that was a bit of BS.
This is about Russia having a don't mess with texas attitude combined with a security concerns strategy, and if it destabilizes NATO then that's an added bonus.
Oh I have no doubt that there are Russian Spetsnaz or some of their other special action groups in the Ukraine stirring things up and aiding the nationalists.
When I left this morning the Ukraine was moving troops in a major anti-terrorist operation.
We'll see what the Russian resolve is before the weekend.
It's an invasion for sure. Most Ukrainian weapons are still the older issue wooden stock AK weapons. More 'protesters'
Spoiler!
Russian Army Colonel apparently caught inciting rebellion with the east Ukrainian police forces.
Quote:
The second propaganda disaster is a You Tube that captures a “Green Man” military officer in the Ukrainian town of Gorlovska. His uniform bears no insignias as he addresses about 20 local police, identified as having come over to the “side of the people.” Beside the officer stands a silent portly man in his 40s dressed in the black leather jacket attire of local mafia. The uniformed officer introduces himself as a “Podpolkovnik [lieutenant colonel] of the Russian Army.” He does not give his name. He then proceeds to appoint “black leather jacket” to lead the local ministry of interior, e.g. as the local chief of police. The lieutenant colonel then instructs the police officers to maintain order against those “who have not yet come over to the side of the people.” He instructs them to pin St. George ribbons on their uniforms to signify that they are fighting for the pro-Russian forces. One young policeman asks where the ribbons are. The Russian colonel answers dismissively that they are being “arranged.”
Ukrainians have apparently identified the unit stirring up trouble in East Ukraine. It's apparently the 45th Guards Regiment of VDV (Russian paratroopers). Announcement by the deputy PM of Ukraine.
Quote:
"We identified those people that were/are located in Slovyansk and Kramatorsk."
"They belong to the 45th Guards Regiment of VDV(Air Landing Forces)[paratroopers] Kubyanko-1 (a unit maybe, not sure) which is based near Moscow"
"Currently its element(s) is/are present on/in Ukrainian territory"
NATO needs to move troops east as a counter for all the activity. There really needs to be much better border security, but Ukraine doesn't have the people it can trust in place to do that atm. But like you said Captain, I really doubt the Ukraine will exist at the end of the year if NATO and the west continue to sit by and do nothing. Right now though, I'm waiting for a declaration of war.
Last edited by FlameOn; 04-15-2014 at 02:25 PM.
Reason: a word
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So if the UN wanted to put forth a peacekeeping mission can Russia still veto when they are an aggressor? Is there anything in the charter that can actually make a country lose their veto?
So if the UN wanted to put forth a peacekeeping mission can Russia still veto when they are an aggressor? Is there anything in the charter that can actually make a country lose their veto?
Security member nations cannot currently be expelled from the security council. Member nations of the UN can be expelled from the UN from a motion from the security council voted on by the general assembly, but this does not apply to security council members.
This is a major reason why the UN hasn't and cannot be reformed. China and Russia are in one bloc, the west is in the other. Unless one bloc boycotts the council for awhile like during the Korean war period, nothing is likely to happen in the UN aside from some stern words.
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I noticed that the U.S. has been "donating" a lot surplus weaponry to some of the frontier NATO countries in the past week.
It seems like both sides are upping the ante. I still don't expect anything big to come out of it, but man things are getting tense.
The FBI couldn't take on a Mormon Farmer in Nevada, so taking on Russia isn't high on our list
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