Civil War in Ukraine: Western Empire vs Russia

[angelburst29]

Explosion destroys UAF convoy headed for Avdeevka
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/08/explosion-destroys-uaf-convoy-headed.html

The famous veteran of the DPR militia, Anatoly Gelyukh, has reported the destruction of a whole convoy of UAF armored vehicles at the Steppe station of the railway junction in Yasinovataya.

“Intelligence reports have confirmed the destruction of the UAF armored vehicle convoy at the unloading station near Steppe village on August 27th, 2016 as a result of a broken air conditioner explosion,” he stated.

Less than 10 km separate Steppe from Avdeevka. It is quite likely that the supply of new armored vehicles would have been thrown into fighting in the Avdeevka industrial area, as it was being carried along the railway leading to Avdeevka’s industrial sites.

Russian Foreign Minister will raise the need for objective reporting from the OSCE SMM in eastern Ukraine.

Russia's Lavrov to Address OSCE's Objectivity With Envoy to Ukraine Sept. 8-9
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160831/1044819578/russia-mfa-lavrov-osce.html

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will raise the need for objective reporting from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) special monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine at a meeting with the OSCE special envoy to Ukraine next week, the ministry spokeswoman said Wednesday.

She said Lavrov and Sajdik planned to discuss in detail the Ukrainian crisis resolution, including through the conflicting sides carrying out their obligations hammered out in the Minsk ceasefire agreements. "Russia intends to draw Mr. Sajdik's attention to the need to improve the objectivity and impartiality of [the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission's] reporting," Zakharova stressed.

Moscow welcomes a ceasefire agreement between the conflicting sides in eastern Ukraine.

Russia Welcomes Ceasefire in Donbass, Expects Full Implementation
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160831/1044818825/russia-ukraine-donbas-ceasefire.html

The ceasefire agreement between self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics in eastern Ukraine and the Kiev authorities comes into force at midnight August 31. "We are hoping that the implementation of this agreement by all sides of the conflict…will allow to make a progress in the implementation of the Minks complex of measures and intensify joint efforts in search of compromises on all aspects of a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Ukraine," Peskov told reporters.

Peskov stressed that Moscow was expecting Kiev to back the ceasefire with concrete steps in drafting and adopting laws on a special status of DPR and LPR, as well as on amnesty and local elections in Donbas. "We are calling on the OSCW Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine to provide the necessary assistance to the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in line with its current mandate," he added.

International organizations inaction leads to violence against journalists in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday.

Int’l Inaction Leads to Attacks on Journalists in Ukraine
http://sputniknews.com/world/20160831/1044815227/russia-mfa-ukraine-journalist.html

"The situation with the safety and favorable working conditions of media representatives in this country have been a matter of deep concern for a long time. Numerous cases of direct or indirect psychological violence against journalists are the result of the appeasement and inaction by specialized international organizations," Zakharova said at a briefing.

Zakharova spoke to reporters three days after police in Kiev said it found the body of Russian journalist Alexander Shchetinin, founder of the Novy Region (New Region) news agency, in his apartment with a gunshot wound to the head. She stressed the need for authorities to investigate Shchetinin’s death objectively and transparently.

"We would like to remind you that two years ago, in relation to similar tragic cases… there were no reactions from the OSCE at all. We have been waiting for them, we insisted, we raised this issue," Zakharova pointed out.

Shchetinin’s death comes a month after Pavel Sheremet, a well-known journalist who had worked in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, was killed when the car he was traveling in exploded in Kiev.

In the political life of any country, there are significant developments and events which serve as a kind of litmus test, an indicator of the state’s ranking in the world political arena.

Will Ukraine be Federalized?
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/08/will-ukraine-be-federalized.html

Ukraine’s Independence Day was precisely such an indicative celebration. Kiev sent invitations to its ceremony to all of its “good” friends. Out of all high-ranking European guests invited, only Polish President Andrzej Duda came. The rest limited themselves to congratulatory telegrams a complete disregard for the holiday which did not receive any visible reaction.

This fact allowed Ukraine’s political analysts to voice the opinion that the country has been cut out of the negotiation process on resolving the conflict in Donbass. In doing so, according to some political analysts,
Europeans have demonstrated that they are tired of Petro Poroshenko and are now ready to solve problems without him. This indirectly confirms Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that the “Normandy Format” would have to cease its work and negotiate without Kiev following the failed sabotage attempt in Crimea.

On the same note, the leader of the Ukrainian Politics Foundation, Kost Bondarenko, proposed quite radical actions up to the point of a Bosnian scenario.

“They talked with Poroshenko on good terms for a long time and convinced him of the necessity of resolving the situation in Donbass in the framework of the Minsk Agreements…Now, perhaps a different scenario will be put into action similar to the Dayton Agreement, i.e., large global players can recognize the incompetence of the Ukrainian government and endorse a settlement plan which would be brought to Kiev’s notice. They would be obliged to implement it,” the political analyst stated.

The Dayton Agreement was an agreement on ceasefire, separating warring parties, and dividing territories which put an end to the civil war in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a result of the document, the country was transformed into a confederation consisting of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. At the time of the settlement, a 60,000-strong NATO peacekeeping contingent was deployed in the country. In Bondarenko’s judgement, the same scenario can be realized in Ukraine.

“Has Porosehnko’s team requested that a peacekeeping contingent or police mission be deployed in Donbass? If the radicals raise their heads to frustrate the implementation of the settlement agreements, then such forces could be deployed throughout Ukraine. Someone will have to do so if the Ukrainian authorities can’t cope with the task,” the political scientist proposed.

Ukrainian authorities are perhaps beginning to understand that their Western partners’ patience is ending and are putting hopes in their forces alone. In this light the passage in Poroshenko’s speech in the 25th anniversary of independence can be assessed, in which he called the powerful UAF the best guarantor of Ukraine’s security, and not international agreements.

Europe is not up for Ukraine. European politicians are tired of messing around with the insane Ukrainian leadership. It’s time to treat Ukraine as it deserves, i.e., recognize that this is not even a state, but simply a territory which has lost all signs of statehood. The Ukrainian issue must be resolved as rapidly as possible, something which the Kiev leadership is incapable of.

If this is the case, then resolving the Ukrainian problem along the Dayton pattern is quite likely. But it is even more likely that this will not mean the creation of a federation or confederation following the example of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These states, although they were in crisis, still commanded a certain share of respect on the world stage. Their leaders were still considered to be capable of negotiating. But this is not the case with Ukraine. In regards to Ukraine, Europeans could take utilitarian actions.

Some political analysts believe that, if the situation leads to a Dayton scenario, then the Europeans could propose to divide Ukraine into sectors of responsibility like in the example of post-war Germany. In each sector, a separate country of group of countries will maintain order. And then they will think what architecture of governance should be constructed for this territory.

However, this is only an opinion, one which does not take into account the role of overseas curators in the likes of US Vice President Joseph Biden. The members of the Normandy Four, Merkel, Hollande, and Poroshenko can by all means simply refrain from interfering and allow the United States to realize its policy objectives. But if this is the case, then they have to wait for US presidential elections and the inauguration of the new head of the White House. Only then will it become clear what the balance for Ukraine is. Donald Trump has one look at the situation and Hillary Clinton is another. But it is clear that someone else will have to be responsible for Ukraine.

But the United States itself is growing tired of Ukraine, and have recently quite sharply responded to some of Poroshenko’s steps. In recent months, even Biden has begun to less actively interfere in the activities of the Kiev government. It’s difficult to just wait around. Today, the Kiev government has a bunch of people with no political experience or political will amidst the collapsing economy, and is creating difficulties which the West is tired of.

Today’s Ukraine lives on US, IMF, EU, and World Bank handouts. The signing of the association agreement only worsened the situation, since according to it quotas are to be introduced for many types of products. For comparison: earlier Ukraine could provide Europe with two million tons of grain, but now it can only sell 300,000. The country’s budget is empty.

Under the circumstances of their own problems and still dealing with the global economic crisis, the Europeans have come to the conclusion that they do not want and will not continue to feed Ukraine. Hence their total disregard for the independence celebrations which, in the nearest future, will make a u-turn of 180 degrees.

“Up until 2014, Ukraine was a subject of international law,” says Ukrainian politician Vladimir Oleynik. “After the coup d’etat, it became an object of international law. The US Ambassador decides who will be Prime Minister, who will be President, and who will be General Prosecutor! But everything is coming to an end. The current impostors will have to leave the heights of political Olympus.”

Only Russia has always considered Ukraine a brotherly state. And today, no one has any use for Ukraine, except Russia.

 

[angelburst29]

Criminal Kiev Regime Gets a CNN Makeover… Cue More War
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45383.htm (By Finian Cunningham)

August 29, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - "SCF" - This week Ukraine marks 25 years of independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and American news channel CNN was only too willing to lend an audacious rewriting of history to sanitize current conflict in that country.

A TV newscast on Wednesday, featuring CNN anchorwoman Rosemary Church, ran the following headline: «Ukraine still fighting for independence from Moscow».

The channel then cut to a report by its correspondent Phil Black from eastern Ukraine purporting to show Kiev-controlled armed forces coming under heavy gun and artillery fire from «Russian-backed separatists». Viewers were told that the separatists launched their attacks against Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) two years ago in August 2014.

Between whistling bullets, the intrepid CNN reporter also informed viewers, without verification, that the Russian army was amassing troops on its side of the border with Ukraine.

This absurd reduction of history provides a much-needed makeover for the illegal Kiev regime that seized power in February 2014. It also sanitizes the involvement of Washington and the European Union in fomenting the coup against Ukraine’s then elected government. And, recklessly, this kind of US media distortion serves to embolden the Kiev regime to continue its criminal aggression against the people of eastern Ukraine, and to ignore its commitments to the February 2015 Minsk peace deal, as well as reportedly conduct acts of terrorism against Crimea.

In other words, this is a case study in how ostensibly independent Western media dutifully perform a propaganda function and are in effect complicit in war crimes.

Moreover, in the bigger perspective, the gross caricature of Russia as a villain with regard to Ukraine also augments the warmongering narrative of Moscow allegedly posing a threat to European security. This week saw US Vice President Joe Biden traveling through the NATO-member Baltic states promising them that American forces would leap to their defense if they were attacked by Russia. Biden’s inflammatory, defamatory rhetoric is fuel for the anti-Russian Baltic regimes to escalate their unhinged accusations of hostility from Russia.

This wholly deranged dynamic is largely permitted because major Western news channels such as CNN engage in outrageous falsification of past and present events. Or, as Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly said recently, such Western media indulge in «telling their audiences that white is black and black is white».

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, while running up the national flag this week marking 25 years of independence, vowed that the Kiev regime would one day retake Crimea.

Due to CNN’s corny coverage, the narrative that the Western public assimilates is that the «evil Soviet empire» [that is, its successor Russian Federation] has not forgiven Ukraine for declaring independence a quarter of a century ago, along with several other former Soviet Republics.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine is thus cosmetically and pleasingly presented as a continuation of «liberation» from «Moscow’s tyranny», in which the «freedom-loving» Ukrainians are heroically still battling for independence and for the desire to join the American-led «free world».

Nowhere in the schmaltzy CNN reportage was there mention of relevant historical background, such as how US planners like Zbigniew Brzezinski from the outset saw the newly established Ukraine in 1991 as a strategic spearhead with which to destabilize Russia. That is, Washington’s policy was far from detente. It was immediately hostile and expansionist with regard to Ukraine’s historic ties with Russia.

CNN did not mention either that the US State Department funneled $5 billion into Ukraine for the purpose of undermining fledgling governments there. We know of this clandestine subversion courtesy of bragging by State Department official Victoria Nuland.

The culmination of Washington’s «pro-democracy» operations was the violent overthrow of elected President Victor Yanukovych in February 2014, involving a mass sniper-shooting of police and protesters, conveniently used to blacken the Yanukovych government, again by dutiful Western media who never checked facts or followed up on later disclosure of a false flag atrocity, as EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton let slip.

The US State Department, CIA and EU governments pulled off the coup with the instrumental deployment of fascist Ukrainian paramilitaries. The political regime that then seized power and later installed the oligarch Poroshenko as president owes its existence to fascist goon squads orchestrated by the CIA.

That the people of Crimea voted overwhelmingly to join with their historic Russian motherland rather than being subjected to the caprice of Nazi-adulating fascists was their moral and legal prerogative. Crimea did so promptly in a referendum within weeks of the illegal seizure of power in Kiev, and yet, fantastically, Western governments and media invert reality by accusing Russia of «seizing» Crimea.

A similar revolt occurred in eastern Ukraine among the mainly ethnic Russian population there. They were simply unwilling to be ruled over by an illegally constituted west-Ukrainian cabal who extol their ancestors’ collaboration in Nazi extermination of millions of compatriots during the Second World War.

In CNN’s grotesque reduction of history this week, we are told that separatists from east Ukraine launched a war against Kiev-controlled forces. This is flagrant falsification by a supposedly reputable news channel. The verifiable record shows that CIA director John Brennan visited the new Kiev regime weeks before it launched the so-called «Anti-Terror Operation» in eastern Ukraine in August 2014.

Two years later, the Western-backed Kiev ATO proceeds unabated, albeit on a lower-intensity scale. Some 10,000 people have been killed and up to one million refugees displaced, many of them fleeing across the border into Russia.

Despite the Minsk ceasefire that was proclaimed in February 2015, the Kiev forces have not withdrawn heavy weaponry from the contact lines with separatist-declared Donetsk and Lugansk Peoples’ Republics. Towns and villages within these areas continue to be shelled by the UAF and its associated neo-Nazi militias. And all with NATO training and equipment.

Of course, the Kiev regime claims that the separatists are the ones in breach of the ceasefire. The CNN report cited above tends to substantiate that claim, and that’s exactly why CNN shows itself to be a propagandist service, rather than a public information service.

Meanwhile, the supposedly neutral Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) sits ineffectually on its hands and mealy-mouths claims that «both sides» are violating the ceasefire. The fact is that civilian homes are being bombarded by Kiev’s forces in acts of criminal aggression. There is no excuse for such war crimes. If separatists fire back at the UAF it is with the reasonable aim to push back what are offensive forces targeting civilians.

Besides, a touchstone for which party is to blame for the ongoing conflict is this: why hasn’t the Kiev regime implemented commitments it signed up to in Minsk for political devolution in the separatist Donbass region? The Kiev regime has not moved one iota towards affording the people of Donbass any autonomy, as it is obligated to do under the terms of Minsk.

This is the same regime that is covertly engaging in «special operations» to sabotage civilian infrastructure in eastern Ukraine as it reportedly did again earlier this month on the Crimean Peninsula.

Russia’s President Putin is reportedly prepared to meet with German and French leaders, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China next week. Putin has indicated that Kiev’s Poroshenko is no longer welcome to the discussions owing to his regime’s evident disinterest in finding a political solution to end the conflict in Ukraine.

Merkel and Hollande, as with the whole of the EU, need to come to an unequivocal and realistic determination about the source of instability in Ukraine – and that is the regime that they indulged to install in the first place. The EU’s ludicrous sanctions against Russia over trumped-up claims only compounds the problem and panders to the Kiev regime’s reckless belligerence.

The Europeans need to form an independent and accurate assessment on Ukraine that repudiates the historically falsified nonsense peddled by Washington. Europe also needs to repudiate its own past complicity.

The lionizing of the Kiev regime as exemplified by CNN this week is not just a travesty of history that offends common intelligence. It is an incendiary incentive to the Kiev regime to escalate its rogue conduct. And it also plays into the wider nefarious narrative Washington is pushing for an all-out war with Russia. A war that would mean Europe’s third conflagration in a century. Are European leaders really that gullible to be led by illiterate Americanized history? Do they have the moral and intellectual fiber to renounce?

Click for Spanish, German, Dutch, Danish, French, translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.

 

[Voyageur]

Patrick Lancaster has posted three videos of very recent Ukraine military bombings in Donetsk:

https://www.newcoldwar.org/patrick-lancaster-films-aftermath-of-another-night-of-shelling-by-ukraine-of-homes-in-donetsk/

Videographer Patrick Lancaster has posted three videos, each three to four minutes in length, documenting the aftermath of shellings against homes in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine by the armed forces of Ukraine. The shellings took place on the night of August 29-30, 2016.The videos are broadcast on his YouTube channel

Part one:

http://<iframe width="560" height="...6E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Part two:

http://<iframe width="560" height="...VA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Part three:

http://<iframe width="560" height="...Ew" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[angelburst29]

Patrick Lancaster has posted three videos of very recent Ukraine military bombings in Donetsk:

https://www.newcoldwar.org/patrick-lancaster-films-aftermath-of-another-night-of-shelling-by-ukraine-of-homes-in-donetsk/

Videographer Patrick Lancaster has posted three videos, each three to four minutes in length, documenting the aftermath of shellings against homes in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine by the armed forces of Ukraine. The shellings took place on the night of August 29-30, 2016.The videos are broadcast on his YouTube channel

Thanks for Posting the video's, Voyageur. The shelling by the armed forces of Ukraine in the residential areas of Donetsk continued during the night, adding more suffering and destruction.

Civil man got wounded in the western suburb of Donetsk by sniper shooting from Mariinka occupied by Ukrainian fighters. It was reported yesterday late in the evening by the DPR Defence Ministry.

Ceasefire regime broken by Kiev, civilian wounded in Donetsk by Ukrainian sniper
http://novorossia.today/ceasefire-regime-broken-by-kiev-civilian-wounded-in-donetsk-by-ukrainian-sniper/

‘Man of 39 years got wounded in his shoulder in the village Aleksandrovka of Donetsk at about 7 pm’, it was reported.

It was added that wounded man was delivered to the hospital 14 in Petrovskiy district. In regard to the estimation of doctors, he is in serious enough state.

Be reminded that Contact group on peaceful regulation agreed about absolute ceasefire regime in Donbass since 00.00 31st August.

Shelling from the side of Ukra-Nazis led to 46 wounded civilians and 8 casualties among civilians of the DPR. It has been today, on 2nd September by the head of operative commandment of the republic general-mayor Denis Sinenkov.

46 civilians wounded, and 8 killed by Kiev “army”
http://novorossia.today/46-civilians-wounded-and-8-killed-by-kiev-army/#respond

‘As a result of shelling by Kiev punitives of settlements of the DPR , 8 civilians perished and 46 civilians got wounded. DPR lost 6 soldiers and 10 soldiers were wounded’, Sinenkov pointed out.

Kiev authorities are using agreement of absolute ceasefire regime with a purpose to prepare for the war.

Kiev keeps on preparing for the war in Donbass
http://novorossia.today/kiev-keeps-on-preparing-for-the-war-in-donbass/

‘Minsk-1’ appeared after the Illovaysk trap, ‘Minsk-2” after Debaltsevo. All agreements on ceasefire regime that were sign in Minsk were used by Kiev for redeployment of troops. Regular ceasefire regime will be used by Ukraine for these purposes’, DPR’s head announced.

Be reminded that in during the first 24 hours after agreement was reached was reported about 139 cases of shelling in the DPR by Kiev junta fighters and about 1 civilian wounded by Ukrainian sniper in Donetsk.

A change in government in Kiev and the creation of a confederation on the entire territory of the country is necessary to resolve the crisis in Eastern Ukraine. This was stated to Izvestiya by the deputy commander of the Donetsk People’s Republic operational command, Eduard Basurin.

Donbass: Either Kiev junta steps down, or we're out
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/09/donbass-either-kiev-junta-steps-down-or.html

“The best form of governance suited for Ukraine is a confederation,” Basurin said.

Basurin also emphasized that yet another necessary condition for resolving the conflict in Donbass is a change of government in Kiev. “I’ve always spoken of this - as long as the government in Kiev doesn’t change, then the problems in Donbass can’t be solved by peaceful means. The resolution of the crisis lies in a change of the Ukrainian government,” Eduard Basurin stated.

Miroslav Rudenko, a deputy of the National Council of the DPR agrees with Basurin. In his words, the transformation of Ukraine into a confederation is inevitable.

“What’s necessary first is a change of government, and then a confederation. If a confederation was possible now, however, then this process would automatically lead to a change of government. Hence why Ukraine so persistently breaches the Minsk Agreements. This is why they delay the agreements’ implementation. If the path laid out by Minsk is followed, then this means either federalization or confederation,” Rudenko stressed.

He continued: “This is the only possible way out for the population of Ukraine that can take into account the regional, confessional, and ethnic peculiarities of the Ukrainian people. This model could have helped avoid the tragic events of 2014. But the current government won’t allow this, and they won’t have the Minsk Agreements realized without their consent. But what is so frightening about a confederation? Historically, this is inevitable.”

Despite the fact that a ceasefire was declared in Donbass at midnight on September 1st, Donetsk doubts that it will last in the long term.

As of September 1st, according to the estimates of both sides, the truce is being generally observed. As Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak reported, as of the morning of September 1st, there hasn’t been a single shelling.

The ministry of defense of the Donetsk People’s Republic has also noted that Ukrainian security forces have observed the truce. The ministry reported: “In connection with the reached agreements on a full ceasefire starting at 00:00 on September 1st, we note that the overall decision has been observed. This has also been observed by the Joint Center for Control and Coordination, which did not record any use of weapons prohibited by the Minsk Agreements by the enemy over the night.”

Just before the announcement of the ceasefire, LPR head Igor Plotnitsky also stated that establishing a ceasefire in Donbass can only be guaranteed by a change of government in Ukraine.

“No pressure, whether from the West, East, North, or South, is capable of forcing Kiev to permanently cease firing…Only a complete dismantling of the current regime in Kiev and a deep program for de-Nazifying Ukraine, as in Germany in 1945, can establish a lasting peace in Donbass. The sooner the West realizes this, the less time and money this will take,” Plotnitsky said.

 

[angelburst29]

Lithuania has supplied about 150 tonnes of ammunition to Ukraine for the first time since 2014, says a spokesman for the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Lithuania supplies Ukraine with lethal weaponry
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/03/482988/Lithuania-Ukraine-lethal-weaponry

The unnamed spokesman told Reuters on Saturday that a day earlier Vilnius had handed over to Ukrainian authorities the ammunition cargo, mostly 5.45 caliber cartridges for various modifications of Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Juozas Olekas said, “We are sending a message to Ukraine that it is not alone.”

“Lithuania has consistently helped Ukraine in its fight for territorial integrity and the defense of its values, and we would like to keep helping as much as we can.”

This is the second time Lithuania, a member of NATO and neighbor of Russia, has supplied Ukraine with lethal weaponry reportedly in an attempt to prevent the conflict in eastern Ukraine from spilling over into the Lithuanian territory.

This is the second time Lithuania, a member of NATO and neighbor of Russia, has supplied Ukraine with lethal weaponry reportedly in an attempt to prevent the conflict in eastern Ukraine from spilling over into the Lithuanian territory.

In April 2015, Russia accused Lithuania of violating the international Arms Trade Treaty as well as agreements of the European Union and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in supplying Kiev with ammunition, a complaint which was sent to the Lithuanian embassy in Moscow but was strongly rejected by Vilnius.

“We have supplied help to the Ukrainian army in small quantities and openly,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Antanas Linkevicius at the time, accusing Moscow of having a hand in the conflict and supplying weaponry to pro-Russians in eastern Ukraine. Moscow strongly denies the allegation.

Two months later, Lithuania’s Ambassador to Ukraine Marius Yanukonis reiterated Vilnius’ stance in supporting Kiev through supplying it with ammunition, saying, “We are ready to help Ukraine by all means, especially military.”

Linkevicius on August 29 also called for the EU sanctions on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine to remain as long as the situation on the ground does not improve.

troops for receiving medical care in Lithuanian hospitals and has sent military instructors to Kiev.

Ukraine has faced diminishing military and financial support from the Western countries over the past year as the United States and governments in Europe say they are not satisfied with the degree of progress Kiev has made in reforming its economy and getting rid of the vested interests that existed before 2014, when a Russian-backed leadership was in power.

The militants of Ukrainian nationalist formations involved in the war in Donbass could be convicted by an international tribunal as war criminals. This was recognized by the leader of the Svoboda party, Oleg Tyagnibok, live on NewsOne.

We are war criminals, Ukrainian party leader
http://novorossia.today/we-are-war-criminals-ukrainian-party-leader/

“Tomorrow we will have very big problems with international courts, because I have no doubt that, after this conflict, after this war, Moscow will take our today’s heroes to court, because according even to current legislation, they don’t have the right to bear arms,” Tyagnibok stated.

As PolitNavigator reported, earlier in Kiev the name of the first Ukrainian official who could be judged by the Hague Tribunal for unleashing the war in Donbass was revealed. The former leader of the Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian People’s Self Defense, Dmitry Korchinsky, expressed concern over this.

According to Korchinsky, the head of the interior ministry, Arsen Avakov, gave the order to distribute weapons to people (who were not supposed to obtain them according to law) at the very beginning of the tragic events of 2014 in Donbass.


“When there was an absolute paralysis of state will, there were only two or three people from the top government leadership who spat at all the consequences and went ahead and took responsibility.

They created the first volunteer battalions, and gave us weapons. We fought with these weapons, resisted an offensive, and beat the Moskals [a derogatory term for Russians, loosely meaning “Muscovites” – JA] back from Mariupol, and began to liberate Donbass with the weapons that Avakov was not afraid to give us. Any official in his place would have been scared to death and fled to somewhere in Portugal. But what consequences can there be for risking to give who knows what kind of patriots weapons in order to defend the fatherland? So it’s possible that this could go to the Hague Tribunal. But he was not afraid,” Korchinsky said.

Crimea has returned to Russia for good, and this issue is closed historically, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said during a discussion at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum on Saturday.

Crimea is a part of Russia now, people made their choice, people of Donbass expressed their will against Kiev regime (Video)
http://novorossia.today/crimea-is-a-part-of-russia-now-people-made-their-choice-people-of-donbass-expressed-their-will-against-kiev-regime/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WUtSKej0tg

“The people of Crimea made a decision, voted for it. The issue is closed historically, there is no whatsoever return to the previous system,” he said, and his words were followed by applause from the audience.

 

[angelburst29]

Russian military forces have launched large-scale military drills around the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry says.

Russian forces stage massive military drills around Crimea
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/05/483291/Russia-Ukraine-Crimea-Black-Sea-Kavkaz

The ministry said in a statement on Monday that 12,500 servicemen are taking part in the drills across its southern military region, which encompasses the annexed Crimea region.

“The exercise includes around 12,500 servicemen, aviation, military equipment and ships,” the statement read.

The Russian Navy in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea are participating in the drills and that planes also are being used in the exercises, the statement added.

The six-day strategic military drills dubbed ‘Kavkaz 2016’ will test the army's ability to "plan, prepare and carry out military actions."

Russia’s military forces last month staged massive snap military drills in districts close to the border with Ukraine and the Baltic states, putting ground troopers as well as airmen and marines on full combat readiness for possible future operations.

Russia has also recently beefed up its military might in Crimea by delivering its most advanced air defense system, the S-400, to the peninsula.

Tensions between Moscow and Kiev have flared in recent weeks after Russia’s Federal Security Service said that it had thwarted an incursion by the Ukrainian military into Crimea, but two Russians were killed in the incident.

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for “practicing terror” and vowed to retaliate the deaths.

Ukrainian officials, however, denied the allegations and accused Russia of creating an excuse for further “intervention.”

Former NATO Secretary General, Advisor to the President of Ukraine, Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that the West will give Ukraine lethal weapons in the event that Russia "destabilizes eastern Ukraine."

Rasmussen: NATO to re-arm Ukraine, ''Lethal Weapons''
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/09/rasmussen-nato-to-re-arm-ukraine-lethal.html

"Ukraine is not a member of NATO and, therefore, the Alliance has no obligations to Ukraine's security. However, if Russia will not fulfill the Minsk agreement, if it continues to destabilize eastern Ukraine, I think it's time for the West and for NATO to provide Ukraine with lethal defensive weapons. And then the Ukrainian military will be able to better defend against Russian aggression", Rasmussen said, in an interview with "Apostrof", released on Sunday.

He also noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine has done much to strengthen its defenses.

According to local journalists, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoysky have met on an Italian island in secret.

Poroshenko and Kolomoysky cover up secret negotiations
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/09/poroshenko-and-kolomoysky-cover-up.html

Journalists have claimed that the reason for the meeting is the president’s desire to acquire 50% of the oligarch’s shares in the TV channel 1+1. In turn, Kolomoysky asked the head of state for certain preferences for his business, in particular for the activities of PrivatBank.

In journalists’ opinion, such an exchange is beneficial to both parties. Upon securing half of the assets of one of the country’s main TV channels, Petro Poroshenko will have a powerful information resource ahead of the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine. Kolomoysky will be able to peacefully carry on with his business, given that a large part of the oligarch’s financial empire is tied to PrivatBank.

At the current moment, it is not known how the negotiations ended. Moreover, both sides have hastily denied reports that they held a meeting. Some Ukrainian media, however, citing sources from the president’s administration and the oligarch’s inner circle, have not only confirmed the negotiations, but also revealed that the plan for aiding PrivatBank was agreed upon with IMF experts.

Ukrainian national broadcaster Inter TV was set on fire on Sunday and was forced to start broadcasting from outside; employees say it was deliberate arson, which raises serious concerns about freedom of speech in Ukraine; meanwhile former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko claims high-ranking officials might have a hand in it.

Ukrainian TV Attack Impossible ‘Without Backing of High-Ranking Officials’
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160905/1044981185/ukraine-inter-tv-fire.html

A building housing the studios and offices of Ukrainian broadcaster Inter TV were set on fire on Sunday, the result of a “heavy attack from so-called “patriots” wearing military uniforms,” according to the statement posted on the channel’s website.

The statement, addressed to representatives of international organizations and to Ambassadors of foreign states accredited in Ukraine, details that the attack came at about 4:30 pm on September 4, when the attackers “set fire to the building, destroyed equipment, and trapped employees in the smoke-filled premises, leading to multiple injuries.”

Inter TV set on fire today. Owned by oligarch +old Yanukovych ally Firtash, long criticized for anti-Ukraine bias

Some eyewitnesses told the broadcaster that there were at least 15-20 attackers who set fire both to tires outside the building, and also entered the building with the aim of destroying broadcast equipment.

Some journalists believe that the evening news program, which was about to expose “massive corruption in the trafficking of precious stones in Western Ukraine,” might be the reason behind the attack.

The statement also reveals that while, “police were conspicuously absent in the immediate area surrounding the building at the time of the attack”, a news outlet partially owned by the country’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, was suspiciously quick and accurate to arrive at the site within minutes.

“A feat that would have proven difficult without advance notification of the attack,” the declaration suggests.

The attack left multiple Inter staff hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

One female employee suffered a broken leg trying to escape, and others fled to the building’s roof because the front doors were blocked by the attackers. The outlet says the attack raises serious concerns about freedom of speech in Ukraine and “the impunity the attackers demonstrated at the scene strongly suggests some form of official protection for their actions against the independent media outlet.”

On Monday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the attack saying that it is a gross violation of the Freedom of Expression principle.

Meanwhile, the country’s former prime minister and now opposite political leader Yulia Tymoshenko says that some of the country’s high-ranking officials might have a hand in the Sunday attack.

“Every entrepreneur knows that he had never before come under such violence which he is experiencing right now,” RIA Novosti reports Tymoshenko said on Monday at the meeting of the Conciliation Board of the leaders of the country’s parliamentary factions.

“The key TV channels are now being set on fire. Do you think you can suppose here that it is the fight against the Kremlin?” she wondered.

​Tymoshenko further said that “no one has any doubts that there are high-ranking officials behind what has happened with the channel.”

“Otherwise nobody would have allowed this and the police would not have been called off 15 minutes prior to this [the blaze],” she said.

“All of this is an inseparable part of the chaos which our country had submerged into,” Tymoshenko finally stated.

The fragile ceasefire is still preserved, but the number of shellings has begun to rise. IF yesterday only 9 shots from small arms were heard, then today it’s come to talking about mortar and artillery shelling.

UAF shells Donbass villages, ceasefire still in tact
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/09/uaf-shells-donbass-villages-ceasefire.html

Over the past 24 hours, the DPR’s territory was shelled 37 times. Infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers, and small arms were fired. Yesterday morning, the village of Sakhanka was shelled by mortars. Fortunately, there were no victims or destruction.

Around 8 at night, Dokuchaevsk came under shelling. 122 caliber artillery opened fire on the city’s outskirts. The city of Yasinovataya and Spartak village were shelled by mortars.

Over the night of September 4th-5th, the village of Trudovskie west of Donetsk was also fired at. Local residents, already having gotten used to silence, reacted surprised on social networks.

As a result of mortar fire, three apartments on Petrovsky street were destroyed. Going out in the morning, the village’s residents saw shell pits in the roads: (Photos)

Meanwhile, Kiev is continuing to strengthen its forces along the contact line. In the direction of Gorlovka around Kodem village and the town of Konstantinovka, DPR intelligence has detected the concentration of infantry fighting vehicles, armored transports, and personnel of the 54th mechanized brigade. In Marinka and Krasnogorovka west of Donetsk, six mortars of 120 mm caliber were recorded. In the city of Artemovsk (Bakhmut), the arrival of two hundred personnel from the special Interior Ministry brigade “Golden Gates” was recorded.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a date of a Normandy format meeting between the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine is not specified.

Normandy Four Meeting on Ukraine to Be Held Soon, Date Yet to Be Coordinated
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160905/1044989625/ukraine-donbass-normandy.html

A Normandy format meeting between the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine will be held in the near future, with the specific date yet to be coordinated, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

“This is where it is leading to, but so far it has not yet been coordinated. We are talking about the near future, but it is not clear exactly when. A week, a month, a year,” Peskov told RIA Novosti.

German and Australian defense ministers are set to convene in Berlin on Tuesday, the German Foreign Office said Monday.

German, Australian Ministers to Discuss Ukraine, Syria at First Ever 2+2 Meeting
http://sputniknews.com/news/20160905/1044986894/germany-australia-ukraine-syria.html

Foreign and defense ministers from Germany and Australia are set to convene in Berlin on Tuesday for the first ever talks in this format on Syria and Ukraine, the German Foreign Office said Monday.

"The talks will focus, apart from the German-Australian relations, on urgent issues of international security and defense politics, such as the current situation in Ukraine and Syria," the German Foreign Office said in a statement.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defense Minister Marise Payne will be first greeted with military honors at the German Defense Ministry.

From there, they will proceed to Villa Borsig, the guest house of the German Foreign Office in Berlin, for "2+2 consultations" with Germany’s counterparts Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Ursula von der Leyen.

 

[angelburst29]

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says it is now difficult for his government to gather Western support in its confrontation with Russia, which Kiev and its allies accuse of having a hand in the crisis gripping eastern Ukraine.

Kiev losing Western support against Russia: Ukrainian president
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/06/483423/Ukraine-West-support-Russia

Addressing the parliament on Tuesday, Poroshenko said “Ukraine will continue to need strong international support in the fight against Russian aggression.”

He added, however, that “securing this support is becoming increasingly difficult for our diplomats due to different objective and subjective factors.”

He also said the internal strength of Europe was being tested by external issues, including the refugee crisis and terrorist assaults.

Poroshenko warned that European political forces willing to compromise with Russia could win in the 2017 elections.

“Over the course of the next year, political forces could come to power as a result of elections in several European countries that may not be extremist, but are inclined to compromise with the Kremlin,” he said.

“Europe still speaks with one voice, but there are also countries where the Russian accent is already too audible,” said Poroshenko.

The comments come as the European Union is divided over the future of economic sanctions imposed on Russia over its alleged role in the crisis in Ukraine.

Many European politicians argue the bans have also had a negative impact on the continent itself.

Deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration Kostiantyn Yelisieiev claims that the next Normandy format meeting between the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine may be held in Berlin.

Next Normandy Four Meeting May Be Held in Berlin
https://sputniknews.com/europe/20160906/1045034204/normandy-four-meeting-berlin.html

The next Normandy format meeting between the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine may be held in Berlin, deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration Kostiantyn Yelisieiev said on Tuesday.

According to the statement, Yelisieiev said that this was proposed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel during one of the phone conversations.

On Sunday, Ukrainian broadcaster Inter TV was set on fire by radicals, trapping employees in the smoke-filled building. Observers said that it was a miracle that the attack didn't lead to a repeat of the tragedy that struck the port city in May, 2014, when ultranationalists burned several dozen anti-Maidan activists alive.

Only Blind Luck Saved Journalists From Being Burned Alive by Radicals in Kiev
https://sputniknews.com/europe/20160906/1045029211/ukraine-inter-attack-odessa-parallels.html

According to the broadcaster, about 15-20 men wearing military fatigues and balaclavas attacked the building and set it ablaze on Sunday afternoon at around 4:30 pm.

Several employees ended up getting hospitalized for smoke inhalation, and one woman suffered a broken leg trying to escape, but thankfully no one was killed. Journalists were forced to flee to the roof of the building, with the front doors blocked by the attackers.

A statement released on the network's website complained that "police were conspicuously absent in the area surrounding the building at the time of the attack."

Ultimately, the journalist emphasized that "it's a miracle that no one was killed." Thankfully, unlike the Odessa events, rescue workers were able to arrive in time, to put out the blaze and rescue everyone, including 25 people trapped on the roof.

Despite simplistic claims by some Western mainstream media, including The Guardian, that Inter is a 'pro-Russian' channel, the reality, according to independent online newspaper Svobodnaya Pressa, is much more complicated.

Factually, the paper noted, "it would be difficult to call Inter TV an opposition network. Its coverage is consistent with the 'party line', that is, with the nationalist discourse in Ukraine. However, the channel is associated with the disgraced oligarch Dmitri Firtash, and Sergei Lyovochkin, the former head of the Yanukovych administration; for this reason, an information campaign has been carried out against it for a
long time."

"In February 2016, the chief editor of Inter, Russian citizen Maria Stolyarova, thinking she was off the air, used foul language to describe the 'heavenly hundred'" (protesters who were killed, mostly by mysterious snipers, during the events leading up to the Maidan coup d'état in February 2014). "A scandal erupted, and even her dismissal did not save the channel from the 'patriots' wrath." Then, as recently as last Wednesday, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov called on the Ukrainian Security Service to deal with Inter's 'treasonous' editorial style. Accordingly, Svobodnaya Pressa noted, it's not surprising that many Ukrainian political scientists have since suggested that persons from Avakov's People's Front Party may have been the masterminds behind Sunday's attack.

Avakov himself has since blamed former servicemen from the 30th Brigade of the Ukrainian Army, who were said to have thought up the "patriotic protest" against the politically "unreliable" channel. But the six men that were detained and initially charged with hooliganism and willful damage of property were released the same day without suspicion.

Commenting on the events, and their similarity to the events that shook his hometown in May 2014, Odessa journalist Yuri Tkachev told Svobodnaya Pressa that the attack on Inter was the logical outcome of the impunity granted to those responsible for the House of Trade Unions tragedy.

Moreover, the journalist recalled that "we have already heard Avakov's advisors talking about whether perhaps Inter actually set themselves on fire. It's unlikely that authorities will change their course of action. And the radicals will just be convinced that such behavior is acceptable, and similar incidents will be sure to take place, in more severe forms, in the future."

In Dmitriev's words, "Arsen Avakov and his People's Front are the 'party of war', which has built its business on military rhetoric and the theft of military assets under cover of the party. Recently, this group has begun to lose ground. It has almost no political rating left in the country. The influence they possess within the country's power structures is disproportionate to their real political weight. And so they decided to 'shut down' their potential rivals prior to snap elections," which the journalist suggested are now inevitable.

Inter is widely expected to support alternative parties, including the Opposition Bloc, during elections. Accordingly, the journalist noted, "the People's Front may have decided to batten down the hatches and use their militia to close down this influential channel…" In any case, Dmitriev emphasized, "one shouldn't think that the armed 'activists' in balaclavas acted independently. In recent years, they have neatly lined up behind various clans" vying for political and economic power over the country.

Note: Not confirmed by a reliable secondary source? Only by Ukrainian TV channcel “1+1" ?

Knife attack hospitalizes infamous Kiev Nazi (Photos - Video)
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/09/knife-attack-hospitalizes-infamous-kiev.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1rBmFe_AwA

The neo-Nazi Vatily Regor was stabbed 8 times with a knife in the center of Kiev, kp.ru reports.

The first video posted in one Euromaidan group on Facebook raised questions. The footage showed a bloodied young man in a camouflage uniform lying on his back answering questions:

“Who did this?”

“Separatists did it…”

“Who are you?”

“Vitaly Gigorevich Regor, I’m dying”

“We’ve called an ambulance for you, we’ve called the police. Do you have any description [of the perpetrator]?”

“Yes, a beard, I’m dying.”

He then started to pray, asking forgiveness for his sins, and said that he is cold. He then voiced something which made the video look less convincing: “Glory to Ukraine!” These words made social network users doubt the authenticity of the clip.

However, a bit later, another video was published, this time one from surveillance cameras. In the video, it is visible that a man came to a young man in military uniform and struck him several times, after which he quickly fled. One passerby tried to catch him.

On VKontakte, Vitaly Regor calls himself by the name of the German Field Marshall General Erwin Rommel.

This photo is from his personal social network page: (Photo)

If both of these video are not fake, then this might be the same Vitaly Regor, the Ukrainian neo-Nazi who attacked participants in the “Forgotten Regiment March” on May 9th. Then, he tore a St. George Ribbon off of a woman trying to protect her little daughter, Nastya. In May of this year, she became a symbol of the resistance of ordinary Ukrainians to the new trends incited by the Kiev authorities, according to which being proud of one’s past is not only prohibited - it is simply dangerous.

Regor then presented himself to Ukrainian journalists as a “patriot of independent Ukraine” whose grandfather “fought against the Russians” in the “SS Galician Brigade.” He claims he is now continuing his ancestor’s “glorious” cause in the ATO zone.

The Ukrainian TV channcel “1+1” has confirmed the authenticity of these clips. “This is not the first time that they [separatists] have attacked with knives,” the website reads, “The present attack occurred at the bust stop on 68 Victory Street. Regor received eight stab wounds and is in the intensive care of hospital #17. His spleen has been removed and his lungs and right hand are severely damaged.”

 

[sToRmR1dR]

US appoints Iraq War general & ex-CENTCOM chief as Ukraine senior defense adviser

https://www.rt.com/news/358705-us-general-ukraine-adviser/

General John Abizaid, former head of the US Central Command, has been appointed senior defense adviser to Ukraine’s top military brass, with the stated goal of bringing it “in line with Western principles and standards.”

The announcement was made on Thursday at a meeting between US Defense Secretary Ash Carter and his Ukrainian counterpart Stepan Poltorak, held during the UK-hosted UN Peacekeeping Defense Ministerial.

“Gen Abizaid will provide authoritative advice to Minister Poltorak and other senior Ukrainian officials as Ukraine aims to implement reforms designed to bring its armed forces in line with Western principles and standards,” Carter was quoted as saying by the Washington Examiner.

Abizaid, a career officer who has seen various deployments since the 1991 Gulf War, will be in charge of what Carter described as “enhancing democratic civilian control of the military, transitioning to a NATO-interoperable staff structure, and combating corruption.” Abizaid served as deputy commander (Forward), Combined Forces Command, US Central Command during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Other details of Abizaid’s appointment have not yet been disclosed. It is also unclear if the move will affect the fragile truce between government and rebel forces in eastern Ukraine.

At the same meeting, the US and Ukraine signed a new partnership agreement likely to enhance military-to-military ties and efforts to tailor Ukraine's army to NATO standards.

“It's about Ukrainian capability for defending its own territory, that's been the objective of all of our assistance to Ukraine so it continues in the same vein,” Carter said.

"It just allows us greatly to strengthen that and get it off an ad hoc basis of the last two years, reacting to events and put it on, in this case, a five-year horizon.”

Other US nationals hold top positions in the Ukrainian government, including Natalia Yaresko, the current finance minister. In May, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former NATO secretary general, was chosen as a new “non-staff” adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

 

[angelburst29]

US appoints Iraq War general & ex-CENTCOM chief as Ukraine senior defense adviser
https://www.rt.com/news/358705-us-general-ukraine-adviser/

General John Abizaid, former head of the US Central Command, has been appointed senior defense adviser to Ukraine’s top military brass, with the stated goal of bringing it “in line with Western principles and standards.”

[...]

Abizaid, a career officer who has seen various deployments since the 1991 Gulf War, will be in charge of what Carter described as “enhancing democratic civilian control of the military, transitioning to a NATO-interoperable staff structure, and combating corruption.” Abizaid served as deputy commander (Forward), Combined Forces Command, US Central Command during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I sense - trouble? First they appointed former NATO Secretary General Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen as an Advisor to the President of Ukraine and now General John Abizaid duty is to transition the Ukrainian Military into a NATO inter-operable staff structure. Sounds like War Drums?

Add :

"Lithuania has supplied about 150 tonnes of ammunition to Ukraine - mostly 5.45 caliber cartridges for various modifications of Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle"

Plus:

Meanwhile, Kiev is continuing to strengthen its forces along the contact line. In the direction of Gorlovka around Kodem village and the town of Konstantinovka, DPR intelligence has detected the concentration of infantry fighting vehicles, armored transports, and personnel of the 54th mechanized brigade. In Marinka and Krasnogorovka west of Donetsk, six mortars of 120 mm caliber were recorded. In the city of Artemovsk (Bakhmut), the arrival of two hundred personnel from the special Interior Ministry brigade “Golden Gates” was recorded.

What are the chances - General John Abizaid is planning a full scale war to take full possession of Donbass and then try for Lugansk? Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has ignored the Minsk Agreements.

KIEV - On Ukraine's Channel 5, the director of the Political Department of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine Alexei Makeyev, revealed that Kiev sees no reason to meet in the Normandy format, as there are doubts in its productivity".

Is Kiev also backing out of the Normandy Format?
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/09/is-kiev-also-backing-out-of-normandy.html

This statements comes on the heels of similar statements of Russia's president Putin following Ukraine's failed attempt to carry out terrorist acts in Russia, in the Crimea.

However, President Putin seems to have clarified at the G20 that he would still participate in the format, but that rather, no new 'agreement' needed to be made. There is no legal framework for a new agreement to come into being.

Instead Putin has maintained that Ukraine must carry out its unfulfilled provisions of the agreement. The agreement mandates that certain acts be carried out by each party, but in a particular order. The initial steps required of the Kiev side still remain unfulfilled. Russia cannot return control of the border with the Donetsk and Lugansk regions until Kiev carries out constitutional changes including federalization and recognition of the two region's autonomy.

 

[Ca.]

US appoints Iraq War general & ex-CENTCOM chief as Ukraine senior defense adviser
https://www.rt.com/news/358705-us-general-ukraine-adviser/

General John Abizaid, former head of the US Central Command, has been appointed senior defense adviser to Ukraine’s top military brass, with the stated goal of bringing it “in line with Western principles and standards.”
[...]

Abizaid, a career officer who has seen various deployments since the 1991 Gulf War, will be in charge of what Carter described as “enhancing democratic civilian control of the military, transitioning to a NATO-interoperable staff structure, and combating corruption.” Abizaid served as deputy commander (Forward), Combined Forces Command, US Central Command during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I sense - trouble? First they appointed former NATO Secretary General Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen as an Advisor to the President of Ukraine and now General John Abizaid duty is to transition the Ukrainian Military into a NATO inter-operable staff structure. Sounds like War Drums?

I see just another extension of an ordinary military officer who does what he's told. Abizaid is nothing special, (he thinks he is), but just another mouth piece. A figurehead for the coalition that that supports the Nazi Ukraine genocide, the push of border intimidation, and the continued lies of Russian Aggregation.

At best he's just another entitled "errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill".

Conversations With History - General John Abizaid Mar 19, 2008
_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3F7Jsc83bU

NATO Secretary General welcomes Georgia’s reform efforts
_http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_134882.htm?selectedLocale=en
Snip:
At the end of a two-day visit to Tbilisi, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg encouraged Georgia to continue implementing fundamental reforms to prepare for NATO membership. He stressed that “the bonds between NATO and Georgia are stronger than ever.”

For you to get the best experience, we suggest you switch to the 2D version of the NATO map (Of Aggression)
_http://www.nato.int/nato-on-the-map/#lang=en&viewer=gmaps

NATO Secretary General with the President of Georgia, 08 SEP 2016
_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1RZn-hWWck

Georgia Has Tools to Prepare for Joining NATO: Alliance officials visit Tbilisi
U Shame Today
_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAfhZEdeK5A

Ukraine: 30 injured as Azov members storm disputed construction site in Kiev
Published on Sep 8, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oBUlo_m3-c

At least thirty people were injured as around hundred members of the nationalist Azov Battalion civil wing stormed a construction site in Kiev on Thursday, in an attempt to dismantle the base of a high-rise that they claim is illegal.
Footage from the scene shows Azov members scaling a wall to enter the construction site, followed by protesters tearing down a truck and setting tires on fire, as well as throwing objects at construction site security. Units of riot police were rushed to the scene to disperse the crowd.

Scoot Over, NATO! EU Army Plan to Press Ahead
https://sputniknews.com/europe/20160908/1045089399/eu-army-nato.html
The European Union is planning to forge ahead with plans for a combined EU military force, with some suggesting that it could eventually displace NATO.

Georgia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(country)

SOTT Exclusive: Ukraine cries foul over Nord Stream-2 while Russia outmaneuvers economic war
Shane LaChance Sott.net
https://www.sott.net/article/327808-SOTT-Exclusive-Ukraine-cries-foul-over-Nord-Stream-2-while-Russia-outmaneuvers-economic-war

 

[angelburst29]

US appoints Iraq War general & ex-CENTCOM chief as Ukraine senior defense adviser
https://www.rt.com/news/358705-us-general-ukraine-adviser/

I sense - trouble? First they appointed former NATO Secretary General Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen as an Advisor to the President of Ukraine and now General John Abizaid duty is to transition the Ukrainian Military into a NATO inter-operable staff structure. Sounds like War Drums?

I see just another extension of an ordinary military officer who does what he's told. Abizaid is nothing special, (he thinks he is), but just another mouth piece. A figurehead for the coalition that that supports the Nazi Ukraine genocide, the push of border intimidation, and the continued lies of Russian Aggregation.

At best he's just another entitled "errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill".

You got me giggling, C.A.! Errand boy, indeed. Wish I didn't have this awful feeling that they are planning something really STUPID? Plus, Kiev is still shelling Donbass? And delivery of 150 tones of Rifle ammo - is a lot, enough cover for a ground invasion? Doesn't feel - good? Even the Pentagon is making waves.

The US and Ukraine have agreed to cooperate on military technology and enhance Ukrainian military capabilities, according to the US Defense Department.

US agrees to enhance Ukrainian military: Pentagon
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/08/483778/Ashton-Carter-Ukraine-Russia

The partnership aims "to enhance the defense capacity of Ukraine's forces, advance critical Ukrainian defense reforms, improve resource management processes and boost defense technology cooperation," the Pentagon said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement followed a meeting between US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and his Ukrainian counterpart Stepan Poltorak in London.

The two officials signed the partnership agreement and also discussed the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian government forces are fighting Russia-backed forces.

Carter, speaking to reporters, called it a "very, very important agreement" to help further Ukraine's military capabilities.

The Pentagon chief also named retired Army General John Abizaid, former head of US Central Command, as a senior defense adviser to Ukraine to help Poltorak and other Ukrainian officials implement the agreement.

Edit=Quote

 

[angelburst29]

Originally titled: "Russia's Defense Ministry has responded to the data of 'investigation' by Bellingcat about the awards of the Russian military"

The Kremlin Busts Bellingcat's Obese Obfuscations
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/09/the-kremlin-busts-bellingcats-obese.html

The official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, said the Bellingcat group does not hesitate in "shameless lies and distortions," in saying that the Russian military was allegedly present in the Donbass.

"Since the non-random occurrence in the UK of bloggers of the so-called investigations of Bellingcat, we have repeatedly pointed out that this is nothing more than a clearinghouse publishing anti-Russian Western promotional materials. There was no exception in the last release from them, regarding the departmental awards of the Russian Defense Ministry, about which they published allegedly new "evidence" of the participation of Russian troops in the fighting in Ukraine on the basis of disparate images in social networks, honorary signs and numerous awards from the Russian military ", he said in a statement on the page 'Konashenkova', of the Russian Defense Ministry on Facebook.

The Defense Ministry spokesman also said that the increase in the number of Russian awards given, as reported in the Bellingcat document, is due to the amount of drills, which are frequent lately.

"In this regard, the relative increase in the number of serviceman awards in the years 2014-2016 is due to the fact of the increased number of unannounced inspections of combat readiness of troops and other combat training in the army and navy. In addition, a significant number of our soldiers were recognized for their work in the implementation of security measures (of combat duty) for the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, as well as carrying out counter-terrorist operations in the North Caucasus region ", said Konashenkov.

Previously, in Forbes, citing data from Bellingcat, combat medals issued to members of the Armed Forces in 2014-2015, claimed that the military was awarded for participation in combat operations in the Donbass.

Note, the official position of the Russian Federation has repeatedly stressed that Russia is not a party to the conflict in the Donbass.





Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation

Yesterday at 8:00am ·
..

Минобороны России комментирует публикацию «блогеров-расследователей» из Bellingcat:

«С момента неслучайного появления в Великобритании так называемых «блогеров-расследователей» из Bellingcat мы неоднократно отмечали, что это не более чем вывеска для публикации подготовленных западными коллегами антироссийских пропагандистских материалов.

Не стал исключением и последний материал этой «конторы» о ведомственных наградах Минобороны России, опубликовавший якобы очередные «доказательства» участия российских войск в боевых действиях на Украине на основе разрозненных изображений в соцсетях почетных знаков и наград российских военнослужащих с серийными номерами.

Как и в ранних опусах Bellingcat не стесняется приводить в качестве аргументов данные такой же украинской «лавочки» под само за себя говорящим названием «Информнапалм». И безбожно врать и передергивать, пытаясь «натянуть» нужный результат мозаикой лжестатистики и цитирования «официальных» данных.

Так, рассказывая о медали Минобороны России «За боевые отличия» авторы в самом начале подчеркивают, что она «вручается только российским военнослужащим и только за участие в военных действиях или выполнение боевых заданий». А в качестве подтверждения указана ссылка на публикацию в «Военно-историческом журнале» Минобороны России. Однако «блогеры» почему-то не стали раскрывать всё её содержание.
Приводим «несущественный» остаток этой публикации: «Первое награждение медалью «За боевые отличия» было произведено Приказом министра обороны от 25 августа 2003 года по итогам проведения охранных мероприятий в период празднования 300-летия города Санкт-Петербурга. Тогда, в августе 2003 года, кавалерами медали «За боевые отличия» стали 14 человек, в том числе: высших офицеров — 1; офицеров — 4; прапорщиков и мичманов — 9 человек. Всего же по состоянию на 1 июня 2008 года медалью «За боевые отличия» награждено 492 человека, в том числе за участие в контртеррористических операциях в Северо-Кавказском регионе — 253 военнослужащих».

Так же и с упомянутыми же в докладе Bellingcat государственными наградами (медалью «За отвагу», медалью Суворова, медалью Жукова), которыми российские военнослужащие награждаются как за личное мужество, отвагу и самоотверженность, проявленные в боевых действиях при защите Отечества и государственных интересов Российской Федерации, так и за особые отличия при несении боевой службы, боевого дежурства и при участии в учениях и маневрах, за отличные показатели в боевой подготовке, при исполнении воинского, служебного или гражданского долга и при других обстоятельствах, сопряженных с риском для жизни.

В этой связи относительное увеличение количества награжденных военнослужащих в 2014-2016 годах обусловлено, на самом деле, ростом интенсивности внезапных проверок боеготовности войск и других мероприятий боевой подготовки в армии и на флоте. Кроме того, значительное количество наших военнослужащих было поощрено по итогам выполнения мероприятий обеспечения безопасности (несение боевого дежурства) XXII Олимпийских зимних игр в Сочи, а также проведения контртеррористических операций в Северо-Кавказском регионе.

Поэтому, когда под видом якобы «объективных» и «профессиональных» разоблачений вам пытаются впихнуть очередную химеру от «Bellingcat», - задумайтесь, – настолько ли вы наивны, как редакция американского журнала «Forbes»?»
http://www.forbes.com/…/russian-combat-medals-put-lie-to-…/…

 

[angelburst29]

According to figures obtained from the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) authorities, since the February 2015 Minsk II agreement over 3,600 civilians have died in the republic due to shelling, sniper and other attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

War in Donbass on “Russia’s Doorstep”: 3,600 Civilians Killed by Ukrainian Forces and Neo-Nazi Militia since Minsk II Agreement
http://www.globalresearch.ca/war-in-donbass-on-russias-doorstep-3600-civilians-killed-by-ukrainian-forces-and-neo-nazi-militia-since-minsk-ii-agreement/5544926

The DPR, along with the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), broke away from Ukraine in May 2014 following ‘status referendums’, and on 24 May the two separatist republics signed an agreement creating a confederation, Novorossiya, but the region is more widely known as the Donbass.

After the February 2014 coup in Kiev, an ‘Anti-Maidan’ movement rapidly grew in the largely Russian-speaking Donbass, Odessa and Crimea regions, which sought to prevent the far-right groups which hijacked in the ‘Euromaidan’ protests entering their towns and cities.

Their fears were confirmed by the Odessa Trade Union House fire on 2 May 2014, in which at least 50 Anti-Maidan supporters died when the building was surrounded by a far-right mob and petrol-bombed.

There are reports of civilian casualties caused by Ukrainian strikes on the rebel republics on an almost daily basis. On 28 August, according to residents of the Petrovsky district of Donetsk city, a Ukrainian sniper shot two women dead.

It was hoped that Minsk II, which followed the September 2014 Minsk Protocol and was signed by Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel, Francois Holland and Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, would bring the war in eastern Ukraine to an end, paving the way for elections and separate status for the two Donbass ‘people’s republics’.

However low-level clashes have continued unabated for the past 18 months, with increasing warnings of escalation and a build-up of forces and equipment by the Ukrainian side in recent months. Tensions were heightened three weeks ago by allegations of armed incursions by Ukrainian forces into Crimea.

According to data obtained recently from the DPR authorities, 3,609 civilians died in strikes by Ukrainian forces between 13 February 2015 and 26 August 2016, of which 3,133 were men, 476 women, 65 children and 352 “unknown”.

As the neighbouring Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) has also experienced similar military strikes and civilian casualties, a very rough estimate would suggest that at least 6,000 civilians have died in strikes by Ukrainian forces on the Donbass republics since Minsk II.

Obtaining accurate figures for casualties in the war in eastern Ukraine is extremely difficult due to the unstable and insecure situation on the ground, and the fact that the conflict is highly politicised and controversial not only locally, but across Europe and globally.

On 3 August the UN assistant secretary-general for political affairs Tayé-Brook Zerihoun reported to the UN Security Council that the total number of conflict-related casualties since the Ukrainian government launched its ‘Anti-Terrorist Operation’ in April 2014 was 30,729, including 9,333 killed and 21,396 injured.

But the report provides no breakdown of where the casualties have occurred other than “in the conflict area”, and there is no indication of which side was responsible.

According to the latest figures from the UN Human Rights Office and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, from February 2015 to June 2016 261 civilians were killed in the conflict on both sides – far fewer than the DPR’s figures would suggest.

However, the UNHRO stresses that its figures are a “conservative estimate of the OHCHR based on available data” which are “incomplete due to gaps in coverage of certain geographic areas and time periods, and due to overall under-reporting”.

In February 2015, press reports quoted claims from the German BND intelligence service that 50,000 civilians and servicemen people had died in the Ukraine conflict, almost 10 times than figures given by Ukrainian president Petro Poroshkenko only days before, which said 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers and 5,400 civilians had died.

In fact the Ukraine government does not appear to have any accurate figures for civilian casualties in the conflict. A report in May quoting Mykhailo Koval, First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, says “Russia-backed militants have killed 10,000 Ukrainians and injured more than 20,000 over the past two years” – a strangely precise number, but with no breakdown of civilian and military casualties, or locations.

The only other body providing detailed information on casualties in the conflict is the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SSM) to Ukraine, which has over 570 unarmed civilian monitors in the conflict region. But apart from daily updates, the SMM has provided no total figures for casualties in the conflict, although it has issued reports on the displacement of civilians, access to water, and “Gender Dimensions of SMM’s Monitoring”.

Relations between the DPR and LPR governments and the OSCE mission have been deteriorating for months. The people’s republics claim its reporting is biased towards the Ukrainian side, while the OSCE alleges its monitors are being harassed on the territories of the republics.

On 29 August the DPR’s Defence Ministry claimed OSCE observers had refused to register damage caused by Ukrainian shelling of Yasinivataya, just north of Donetsk city, “explaining this by the absence of security in this area”.

Last April, the Donbass International News Agency reported that the OSCE mission failed to report heavy shelling of Zaitsevo, a village close to the frontline by Ukrainian forces. At the time Zaitsevo was a flashpoint stoking fears of a return to all-out war, with over a thousand residents denied electricity, gas and humanitarian aid for several months.

It was also claimed in April that the OSCE failed report the shelling of a hospital in Yelenovka, despite reporting another shelling only 880 meters away. According to reports from the DPR side, 6 civilians were killed and 10 wounded in the two strikes.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine’s mandate states that its mission is “to reduce tensions and to help foster peace, stability and security” by engaging “with authorities at all levels, as well as civil society, ethnic and religious groups and local communities to facilitate dialogue on the ground”.

Last May, the leaders of the DPR reacted strongly to claims by Petro Poroshenko’s press office that the other leaders of the ‘Normandy four’ contact group (Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine) had approved the deployment of an armed OSCE police force to the region, which according to Poroshenko would be “well-armed with heavy weapons”.

The most senior members of the DPR government, Denis Pushilin and Alexander Zakharchenko said such a force would be “foreign intervention”, and Zakharchenko called on Kiev to make a real effort for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, “rather than trying to arm the OSCE to seize the Donbass”.

It is important to bear in mind that the ‘Armed Forces of Ukraine’ include 84 far right and neo-Nazi militias who were incorporated into the AFU last year. These forces are extremely undisciplined, and to this day they continue to run amok across Ukraine, mounting racist, anti-semitic, anti-communist and homophobic attacks, murdering journalists, threatening and intimidating judges, and frequently kidnapping defendants when they are released by the courts.

These militias have played a major role in the ongoing clashes on the contact line with the Donbass, as well as deliberately targeting civilians on the DPR and LPR side in various ways.

The latest ceasefire announced on 1 September announced by the ‘Trilateral Contact Group’ (Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE) showed promise of holding for several days, building hopes of a return to talks on the implementing of Minsk agreements, but already the Ukrainian side is alleging violations by the DPR and LPR.

Despite the problems with obtaining a clear picture of casualties in the eastern Ukraine conflict, what is clear is that up to now the fighting has continued with civilian and military casualties on both sides, and this has blocked any prospect of a resolution allowing separate status for the Donbass republics.

Given the huge variations in figures given by the various parties, the latest very detailed data from the Donetsk People’s Republic authorities should be given serious consideration by observers.

 

[Ca.]

Arrested Serb Highlights South America's Balkan Connection
15 September 2016
http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/arrested-serb-highlights-south-americas-balkan-connection

The Serbian drug trafficker Zoran Jaksic
Argentina's request to extradite a Serbian crime boss provides insight into the Balkan mafia's long tentacles in Latin America -- a group that, over the years, has become one of Europe's main drug trafficking syndicates.

Zoran Jaksic was arrested in July 2016 in Tumbes department, Peru, while attempting to cross the border into Ecuador. The Serbian national is allegedly a leading member of "Group America" or "America Group," an Eastern European criminal organization that traffics drugs from South America across the Atlantic.

Following Jaksic's capture, Argentine Federal Judge Morón Juan Pablo Salas requested the 57-year-old's extradition, PERFIL was told by official sources. The judge had also requested Jaksic's capture back in September 2008, accusing the Serbian national of being the head of an organization that trafficked liquid cocaine to Europe, PERFIL reported.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of European Organized Crime

Evidence of Jaksic's criminal activities in Argentina had begun to emerge the previous year, when a Brazilian drug mule was arrested in Ezeiza airport. With time, detectives discovered that Jaksic had created a criminal structure that would buy cocaine from Peru and Ecuador, turn it into liquid form and export it to Europe by sea in "San Juan" wine bottles. He is suspected of smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine into the Netherlands and Belgium. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wekr2GvxYk

An international operation against the network forced Jaksic to flee Argentina. He was arrested in Madrid in 2009 and later extradited to Greece. The Serbian was released, however, and later returned to South America, PERFIL reported.

Peruvian authorities are investigating Jaksic's possible ties to drug traffickers operating out of one of Peru's key drug exit ports, Callao, including the detained crime boss Gerald Oropeza.

Various countries had issued arrest warrants for the Serbian convict, who reportedly had over 40 false identities and multiple passports.

InSight Crime Analysis

Jaksic appears to have been an important South American connection for the Balkan crime group as they move their cocaine trafficking operations closer to the source. Eastern European groups have been trafficking drugs from South America across the Atlantic for decades, but since 2004 have step up their role in the international trade, Organized Crime & Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) journalist Stevan Dojčinović told InSight Crime.

Around that time, numerous Balkan traffickers, including Serbians and Montenegrins, came together and began working to transport bigger shipments -- of tons of drugs per month -- from South America, Dojčinović said. Today, the Serbians and Montenegrins form one of the main trafficking groups in Europe.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Criminal Migration

Despite the arrest of some of their top criminal bosses, the Balkans continue to run an intricate network that spreads over multiple continents and connects various criminal organizations around the world. The traffickers mainly buy drugs from Peruvians -- their closest contacts -- Colombians and Bolivians, Dojčinović explained. They then ship around 2 metric tons at a time directly to Europe or via South Africa. Spain, the Netherlands and Greece are among their main ports of entry in Europe.

A large part of the drugs are then moved to Italy. The Balkans have a good relationship with the local mafia, who allow them to use the country to sell cocaine to other European organizations in large quantities.

For a long time, the leading figure of the Balkan mafia in South America was Darko Saric, a Serbian-Montenegrin who was accused of trafficking 5.7 metric tons of cocaine to Europe. Saric's organization was estimated to make up to 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) a year operating routes through Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, and had ties to Russian, Italian and Colombian crime syndicates. After four years in hiding, Saric turned himself in to Serbian authorities in 2014 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison the following year.

Saric was believed to have ties to Group America, which is one of the Balkans' South American networks. This organization has been smuggling cocaine into Europe from the early 1990s and has several leaders -- although Jaksic is not one of them, Dojčinović told InSight Crime. The OCCRP reporter explained that Jaksic is allegedly the right-hand man of a Serbian boss known as Mileta Miljanic, who is based in New York City and is a US citizen.

Link's

Serbe Language G-Trans

Захтев Аргентине да изручи мафијашки бос Србије даје увид у дугим пипака ове балканске мафије у Латинској Америци - групи која, током година, постао један од главних синдиката трговине дрогом у Европи.

Зоран Јакшић је ухапшен у јулу 2016. године у Тумбес одељењу, Перу, док је покушавао да пређе границу у Еквадору. Српска национална је, наводно, један од водећих чланова "групе Америке" или "Америца Гроуп", Источне Европе криминалне организације која Траффицс дрогу из Јужне Америке преко Атлантика.

Након ЈАКШИЋ хапшења, аргентински савезни судија Морон Хуан Пабло Салаш затражио од 57-годишњи је изручење, ПРОФИЛ је рекао званичних извора. Судија је такође захтевао Јакшић је хватање у септембру 2008. године, оптужујући је српски држављанин је на челу организације која трговине течни кокаин у Европу, ПРОФИЛ пријавио.

Сее алсо: Покривеност Европске организованог криминала

Доказ криминалних активности Јакшићевих у Аргентини су почели да се појављују на претходну годину, када је бразилска мула дроге ухапшен у Езеиза аеродрому. С временом, детективи су открили да је Јакшић је створио кривично структуру која би купио кокаин из Перуа и Еквадора, претвори га у течном облику и извоз у Европу мора у "Сан Јуан" винске боце. Он је осумњичен за шверц стотине тона кокаина у Холандији и Белгији.

Међународне операције против мреже принуђени Јакшић да побегне Аргентина. Он је ухапшен у Мадриду 2009. године и касније изручен у Грчку. Републике Србије је пуштен, међутим, и касније се вратио у Јужној Америци, ПРОФИЛ пријавио.

Перуански власти истражују Јакшић је могуће везе са кријумчара дроге које делују из једне од Перу кључних излазних дрога лука, Цаллао, укључујући и притворен мафијашки бос Џералд Оропеза.

Разни земље је издао налоге за хапшење српског осуђеника, који је наводно имао преко 40 лажни идентитет и више пасоше.
ИнСигхт Анализа криминала

Јакшић изгледа да је важан Јужне Америке прикључак за Балкан криминалне групе, како се њихов рад кокаина ближе извору. Источноевропски групе су препродаје дрогу из Јужне Америке преко Атлантика већ деценијама, али од 2004. године имају појача своју улогу у међународној трговини, пројекат за организовани криминал и корупцију извештавање (ОЦЦРП) новинар Стеван Дојчиновић, рекао је ИнСигхт криминала.

У то време, бројни балкански трговци, укључујући и Срба и Црногораца, окупили су се и почео да ради за превоз веће пошиљке - тона лекова месечно - из Јужне Америке, рекао је Дојчиновић. Данас, Срби и Црногорци чине један од главних група трговине људима у Европи.

ПОГЛЕДАЈТЕ И: покривеност кривичног миграције

Упркос хапшењу неких од њихових највећих криминалних босова, Балкан и даље да ради има компликован мрежу која се простире на више континената и повезује различите криминалне организације широм света. Трговци углавном купују дрогу из Перуанци - своје најближе контакте - Колумбијци и Боливијци, објаснио је Реџић. Они тада брод око 2 тона у једном тренутку директно ка Европи или преко Јужне Африке. Шпанија, Холандија и Грчка су међу њиховим главним граничним прелазима у Европи.

Велики део лекова се затим преселио у Италију. Балкан има добре односе са локалном мафијом, који им омогућити да користе земљу за продају кокаин у другим европским организацијама у великим количинама.

Већ дуже време, водећа фигура балканске мафије у Јужној Америци био је Дарко Шарић, српски-црногорски који је оптужен за трговину 5,7 тона кокаина у Европу. организација Шарића је процијењена на 1 милијарду евра (1,1 милијарди долара) годишње оперативног руте кроз Колумбија, Аргентина, Уругвај и Бразил, а имао везе са руским, италијанским и колумбијских криминалних група. После четири године у бекству, Шарић предао српским властима 2014. године и осуђен је на 20 година затвора следеће године.

Шарић се веровало да има везе са групе Америци, која је једна од јужноамеричких мрежа на Балкану. Ова организација је кријумчарење кокаина у Европи од раних 1990-их и има неколико лидера - иако Јакшић није један од њих, Реџић рекао ИнСигхт криминала. Репортер ОЦЦРП објаснио да је Јакшић је, наводно, десна рука српског шефа познат као Милета Миљанић, који је заснован у Њујорку и који је амерички

EXCLUSIVE: How the Korsun Massacre sparked Crimea's breakaway from Ukraine (Graphic Recreations)

http://<iframe width="560" height="...zM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

News Front Journalists Detained in Kosovo Safe, Likely to Face Deportation
https://sputniknews.com/europe/20160916/1045358516/news-front-reporters-safe-likely-face-deportation.html

Гриша в Крыму 2016 (#25) Бизнес в Крыму Grisha in the Crimea in 2016 (# 25) business in the Crimea

http://<iframe width="560" height="...mo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Государственный Итальянский телеканал Rai 2 на передовой в ДНР
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFcMgsrzeQ0

 

[angelburst29]

The Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) will pull out of the new eastern Ukrainian ceasefire unless Kiev stops shelling its territory by next week, the DPR’s head Alexander Zakharchenko said Saturday.

Donetsk People's Republic to Pull Out of Ceasefire if Ukrainian Attacks Continue
https://sputniknews.com/europe/20160917/1045408261/donetsk-republic-kiev-ceasefire.html

On Tuesday, the leaders of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) in Donbass announced ceasefires effective midnight September 15 and urged Kiev to follow suit.

"Unless shelling is ceased by the end of this week, I will reverse the order on Monday," Zakharchenko told reporters.

Ukraine did not pay heed to the ceasefire offer, he added, stressing that shelling from the Ukrainian side reduced but did not stop following September 15.

The West might "lose faith in Ukraine's ability to carry out reforms," political commentator Bernd Johann wrote in his publication for DW. Despite the support from the EU and the IMF, Kiev often says that Western countries could soon leave Ukraine high and dry.

Kiev's 'Maneuvering' Might Make West 'Lose Faith' in Ukraine
https://sputniknews.com/europe/20160917/1045413151/west-lose-faith-ukraine.html

Over the past few months, Kiev politicians "have been slow" in carrying out required reforms and used "tactics of maneuvering," making many Western politicians question the effectiveness of their financial help to the country, Johann wrote. "The conflict with Russia, among other things, serves as an argument to divert attention from shortcomings in its reform policy. And often one can hear the statement that the West
could soon leave Ukraine to its faith," the analyst argued.

For instance, the recent statement of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko which he made in his annual address to the Verkhovna Rada sounded as if he "wanted to blame the failures of his country on someone else — on Russia, anyway, and possibly even on the West." His position, however, is more than surprising to Western countries as the IMF has just recently given Kiev a new loan amounting to one billion dollars.

The IMF executive board agreed to provide Kiev with a $1-billion tranche on Wednesday, the fund said in a statement. According to a statement posted on the official website of the president of Ukraine, the IMF decision opens the way for the allocation of $1 billion of assistance from the United States and 600 million euros (over $675 million at the current exchange rate) more from the European Union.

"The EU in particular is doing a lot for Ukraine: political support, financial aid and new markets. Sanctions against Russia are still in force. In the foreseeable future even a visa-free regime with the EU will be possible for Ukrainians," the author wrote.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko reiterated his promise of a bright European future, vowing that Ukrainians will soon be able to travel to the Schengen Area without a visa, and adding that Kiev expects a very large financial aid package from Brussels in the near future.

However, as Johann stated, the West might soon "lose faith in Ukraine's ability to carry out reforms."
Taking into account the "renewed fight among oligarchs," "ongoing corruption" and "crackdown on press freedom," Western countries might indeed come to a conclusion that their financial aid disappears in an unknown direction.

The branch on which sat the International Monetary Fund seems to be finally cut down. The meeting of the board of directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was held in Washington in the evening of September 14.

US forces IMF to change the rules over Ukraine, setting a time bomb under global financial system
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/09/us-forces-imf-to-change-rules-over.html

The main item on the agenda was the allocation of $1 billion to Ukraine. And the decision was made. The director of IMF from Russia voted against it. An extra-ordinary event occurred that will have an impact primarily on the future of the International Monetary Fund.

Let me remind you that we are talking about the money in the framework of loan agreement to Ukraine for a total amount of $17.5 billion. It is provided under a four-year program of reforms of Ukrainian economy, compiled with the active participation of the IMF. The total amount of external funding, including the fund loan - $40 billion.

Under this program, Kiev received the first tranche of $5 billion, then the second ($1.7 billion) and was expecting more. However, the third tranche did not arrive before the end of 2015. The process has stalled. The official explanation was that Ukraine is not able to perform its obligations. Especially on the part of the various reforms - of the tax system, social security system, utilities tariffs, etc.

In addition, the IMF complained about the lack of progress in the fight against corruption, privatization, etc. Almost every month a list of these claims was updated and changed. For reference, I note that to date Ukraine managed to obtain about $20 billion from the IMF (since 1994). If you look at the files from those years, you will find: Ukraine never fulfilled its obligations, but received the money without delay. So the dog is buried somewhere else.

With the emergence in the beginning of 2014 of the Ukrainian issue as a matter of international policy, the U.S. began to use it to put pressure on Russia - and the IMF began to undergo a radical change. Uncle Sam, being the main shareholder of the Fund (who owns a blocking share in capital and votes of this 'International' financial organization), began using the IMF as a tool of its policy in Ukraine in the most shameless way. The decision of the fund to grant the last loan in the beginning of last year was taken under unprecedented pressure from the top shareholder. It was illegal, which all the members of the board of directors are aware of, including the executive director, Christine Lagarde.

First of all, the previous credit agreement with Ukraine from 2014 was terminated. The reason is very simple – the borrower is insolvent. At this point, it would seem that it was time to put an end to the relations between the IMF and the client. This is what the fund has done with many countries over decades. However, what followed was unheard of: the insolvent client was offered a new credit agreement in the spring of 2015, and on much more favorable terms than the previous one.

Second, more importantly: the IMF had no right to provide credit for political reasons. The rules of the organization say in black and white: loans are not granted to those countries with war underway on their territory. Only the blind can not see that a bloody war was raging on the territory of Ukraine since spring of 2014. However, Madame Lagarde and other fund officials were given a command by the main shareholder to turn blind. And in this state they made the decision on loan agreement with Ukraine.

The IMF has always been a politicized organization, an essential tool of U.S. foreign policy. However, both Washington and the IMF for a long time adhered to minimum standards of decency, acting within the rules, which were formally approved by all the members of the organization. Or seeking to change these rules in needed direction, but under existing procedures.

Today, all formalities were cast aside. At the end of last year the loan agreement signed in December 2013 with Russia had expired. Loan amount – $3 billion. It was provided by Russia from the National Welfare Fund and was designed in the form of purchases of Eurobonds issued by the Treasury of Ukraine.


Abetted by Washington Ukrainian authorities declared that they will not pay long before the date of repayment of the loan, and demand that Moscow restructure the debt in the same way, as when Kiev managed to restructure other external debts on Eurobonds. That, however, was a restructuring of debt securities purchased by private investors. Russia is not included in this category. Kiev's debt in the amount of $3 billion to Moscow – is a classic sovereign debt. Kiev did not want to recognize this, equating this debt to the debt to private holders of Eurobonds.

The IMF was pretending that the dispute between Moscow and Kiev is irrelevant. Meanwhile Christine Lagarde, and other fund officials were aware that the issue of this debt could seriously affect the future of the IMF. After all, if Kiev refused to repay the debt to Moscow, it will mean a full-scale default of Ukraine. Then the entire program of restoration of the Ukrainian economy along with the latest loan agreement can be written off. This can't be allowed, as the main shareholder demands unconditional support for the Kiev regime from the IMF.

Last year the IMF had to admit that 2 X 2 = 4. That the debt of Ukraine to Russia is sovereign. At the same time the IMF under pressure from Washington made another move. It introduced revolutionary changes in lending rules, specially tailored to Ukraine. The new rules allow the ability to continue to lend to the country, even in the event of a complete default on sovereign debt. An amendment stated that the continuation of lending is possible only if the debtor county demonstrates a "good faith attempt" to resolve the relationship with the country-creditor.

Further everything unfolded like clockwork. In December 2015, Kiev officially declared that it will not repay the loan to Russia, triggering a full-scale default on sovereign debt of Ukraine. And the IMF failed to notice this event! Even the world's leading rating agencies failed to notice it, which usually change their assessments after every 'sneeze' from the debtor country.

Kiev, emboldened by uncle Sam, and with unprecedented audacity, announced that it will never pay its debt to Russia. No attempts were made to even create the appearance that the debtor country is trying "in good faith" to resolve their debt problems with country-creditor. Moscow filed a lawsuit with international court, but it seems like the court will consider this case with turtle speed.

It is no exaggeration to say that the end of 2015 marked a revolution in global finance. Over time it will cause a powerful wave of chaos in the global financial system. This system has been deprived of basic rules and norms, which served as a sort of guarantee to prevent financial entropy on global markets.

The executive director of the IMF Christine Lagarde had a difficult year. She understands that the triumph of nihilism at the IMF could end badly for the organization. As much as possible she resisted the pressure from the main shareholder, and then Uncle Sam resorted to the tried and tested means of pressure. Suddenly last year the court of France has opened a case against her involving the possible abuse of Lagarde during her tenure as French Minister of Finance. Soon, however, the story went silent, and it was a signal – the executive director of the IMF had agreed with the arguments of the main shareholder.


For several months Lagarde was trying to prevent the nightmare that happened on the evening of September 14 at the meeting of the IMF board of directors. Constant postponements of the issue on granting the next tranche to Ukraine was not due to Kiev not fulfilling something, which is not able to fulfill anything. It was a show organized by Madame Lagarde. Finally, the chief director Uncle Sam interfered, saying: "Enough is enough!" Uncle Sam doesn't care about the 'economic recovery' of Ukraine, but it needs it (under the current regime) as a tool of continuous pressure on Russia. Pressure not only political and military but also financial. Which is IMF's purpose.

Washington is behaving towards IMF lately as a legendary Herostratus. For seven decades the IMF was a faithful instrument of U.S. foreign policy, but today this golden time for Washington is running out. The vast majority of IMF member countries are dissatisfied with the dictate of the United States. The discontent eventually led to the beginning of reform process, particularly - revision of quotas of member countries in capital and votes. In the near future this may lead to the loss of the United States of controlling interest in IMF capital and votes. Uncle Sam does not need this kind of fund.

The September 14 vote of the IMF Board of Directors was not a blow struck on Russia. The main blow was inflicted on the fund itself. And also on the global financial system, which developed over seven decades.

Moscow investigates details of the alleged attack on the Russian embassy in Ukraine, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

Moscow Investigates Details of Alleged Attack on Russian Embassy in Kiev
https://sputniknews.com/europe/20160917/1045399589/russian-embassy-kiev-attack.html

Commenting on the attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev, the source said:

"The ministry verifies information, checks all the details of the incident. If it is confirmed, the [Moscow's] reaction will follow immediately." Earlier on Saturday, about 20 individuals reportedly attacked the Russian embassy in Kiev with firecrackers and fireworks. The embassy building did not sustain any visible damage, according to Ukrainian media reports.

The Russian Embassy in Kiev sent a note of protest to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry after the attack on its headquarters.

Russian Embassy Sends Protest Note to Kiev Over Attack on Mission Headquarters
https://sputniknews.com/europe/20160917/1045404704/embassy-russia-attack-ukraine.html

The Russian Embassy in Kiev sent a note of protest to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry following the attack on its headquarters on Saturday night, demanding to ensure the safety of the Russian diplomatic mission, according to a representative of the Embassy.

"In connection with the night attack, the Russian embassy in Kiev sent a protest note to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry demanding to investigate the incident and ensure the safety of the Russian diplomatic mission," the representative told RIA Novosti.

The Russian Embassy in Kiev confirmed on Saturday that about 20 individuals had attacked its building with smoke pellets and fireworks.

According to the Kiev police, no one was injured in the attack, though the embassy building has sustained insignificant damage. The investigation of the incident is underway.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman called the attack an insignificant incident, though unacceptable.

In a previous article, we warned of inevitable provocations against the buildings of Russia’s diplomatic missions in Ukraine - the embassy in Kiev and three general consulates (Kharkov, Odessa, Lvov). The aim of such provocations is creating an atmosphere of fear among Russian citizens temporarily residing in Ukraine and disrupting the vote in elections to the State Duma of Russia.

"Today fireworks, but tomorrow Grad's": Ukrainian neo-Nazis attack Russian embassy
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/09/today-fireworks-but-tomorrow-grads.html

The other aspect of Ukraine’s tactic for disrupting elections is an information and diplomatic attack. The goal is to prove to the world that the elections in Russia are illegitimate. We predicted that the embassy and general consulates would be subjected to attacks on the eve of the vote (September 18th).

As last night’s events showed, Ukraine is accordingly carrying out at least the first part of these anti-Russian plans.

On the night of September 17th, around 20 Ukrainian neo-Nazis attacked the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Kiev, throwing smoke bombs and shooting at the building with fireworks. As the embassy’s staff noted, the shots were fired directly at the diplomatic mission’s building.

Local police did not arrest the attackers. What’s more, in a demonstrative manner, the Ukrainian government has refused to guarantee any security when the elections will be held. Back on August 30th, this was announced by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin live on Echo of Moscow radio.

Today, Klimkin’s statement was repeated in an even more insulting and provocative manner by Ukrainian Prime Minister Vladimir Groysman. At the 13th annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) meeting in Kiev, he stated: “This is a petty conflict which does not require any comments at all.”

On the same note, Groysman remarked that Kiev would not take any special measures to protect Russian diplomatic buildings during elections on September 18th. Of course, the attack on the embassy is by no means a “petty conflict.” And the demonstrative refusal to ensure Russian citizens' freedom to vote is a blatant violation of international law. Then again, Ukrainian authorities should not be seen as mere hooligan bullies in world politics who do not want to behave like gentlemen. It is similarly not worth looking for any emotionality inherent to the Ukrainian mentality in the attack on Russia’s embassy. There were no emotions involved - this was a thorough calculation.

It was not local neo-Nazis behind the attack on the Russian Embassy, but the governing authorities of Ukraine. Neo-Nazi militants are a convenient and obedient instrument in the hands of the SBU, for whom they do the dirty work.

What did the Ukrainian authorities gain by organizing the attack on the Russian Embassy? I think that they had set two goals before themselves: disrupting the elections to the State Duma, and provoking Russia to take not only retaliatory measures, but equivalent ones.

What did they achieve?

Commenting on the events in Kiev, the head of the Central Electoral Commission of the Russia, E. Pamfilova, stated that Russian citizens in Ukraine who want to vote in the Duma elections will not be left without such an opportunity. Earlier, the president of Russia’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, also stated that elections to the Duma will be held on the property of Russian diplomatic institutions in Ukraine no matter what.