Civil War in Ukraine: Western Empire vs Russia

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As the situation in eastern Ukraine escalates, photos have emerged on social networks showing tanks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces located among the residential buildings in the industrial town of Avdiivka.

Video Shows Ukrainian Tanks Parked in Front of Residential Buildings
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702021050289920-video-ukrainian-tanks-in-avdiivka/

The video was posted by BBC correspondent Tom Burridge on his Twitter account.

According to him, in Avdiivka he and his team came across Ukrainian soldiers and tanks that appeared to be battle ready and also heard noises that suggested that the ceasefire was not being observed.

Social network users noticed that in the video right behind the tanks there was a car and representatives of the OSCE mission.

​Strangely enough these huge noisy armored vehicles which are clearly visible on the video were not as noticeable to some people.

Earlier in the day an official representative of the press center of the Ukrainian security Leonid Matyukhin told Sputnik that he denied the presence of the tanks, saying that that there were no tanks in Avdiivka.

"I have spent the whole day in Avdiivka today, I have not seen any tanks, I saw one police armored reconnaissance vehicle," Matyukhin said, adding that it was necessary to check the scene of the filming.

The situation near the industrial town of Avdiivka and neighboring Yasynuvata has been tense for several days, with civilians being deprived of running water, central heating and electricity. The Ukrainian forces and Donbass militia have accused each other of being responsible for the escalation of fighting.

The Ukrainian army has redeployed heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers near the front line, as noted by international observers. [For more on this buildup, click]

OSCE observers fraternize with Ukrainian tankers using residential Avdeevka as human shields
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/02/osce-observers-fraternize-with.html

Weapons that are used from children's playgrounds, schools, or the Avdeyevka coke plant, allow the Ukrainian army to use the civilians who live there and work as human shields.

Yesterday the residents of Avdeyevka shared photos and videos taken in the afternoon showing OSCE observers having a sympathetic discussion with Ukrainian soldiers near the Ukrainian army tanks that were in the middle of the residential area, at Number 20 Molodyozhnaya Street.

While the deputy head of the OSCE mission, Alexander Hug, is trying to have the ceasefire respected (which allowed the repair work of the water treatment plant to take place and to restart), his subordinates in territory controlled by the Ukrainian army protect the Nazis who used artillery and tanks from the dwellings of Avdeyevka to fire on the cities of Donetsk, Makeyevka and Yasinovataya.

All this gives the impression that some representatives of the OSCE are trying to aggravate the situation by informing the Ukrainian army of the best places and times to shoot, to reach vital infrastructures, or prevent repairs from taking place.

In view of this new scandal, the authorities of the DNR have demanded that this flagrant violation of the OSCE mandate give rise to an investigation and that measures be taken for observers to objectively cover the situation -- without concealing the crimes of the army against civilians.

For his part, Alexander Zakharchenko, the head of the People's Republic of Donetsk, has issued assurances, saying that these attacks are those of a regime in its agonies and that despite the civilian losses of the last few days, victory is, from now on, at hand.

Amid spike in hostilities in the east of Ukraine, Kiev forces used the Uragan self-propelled multiple rocket launcher system in an attack on the city of Donetsk, killing two and injuring over a dozen of people, the emergencies authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

Two Killed, 13 Injured as Ukrainian Army Fires Rockets at Donetsk - DPR
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702031050295774-two-killed-13-injured-donetsk/

At least 2 people were killed and over a dozen were injured when Kiev forces attacked Donetsk in Ukraine’s southeast from the Uragan self-propelled multiple rocket launcher system, the authorities told journalists.

"As a result of the explosion in Donetsk, two people were killed, 13 received injuries of various degrees," DPR Minister of Emergencies Alexei Kostrubitsky said.

Meanwhile advisor to Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Zoryan Shkiryak wrote on Facebook that DPR troops had attacked several towns in Ukraine’s southeast (Donbas), including Avdiivka, from the Grad multiple rocket launcher system.

Head of Ukraine's State Emergencies Service Mykola Chechetkin wrote on Facebook that one member of the emergencies services was killed and another was injured during the shelling of Avdiivka.

The United States should provide Kiev with defensive lethal assistance amid the spike of violence in eastern Ukraine, US Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain said in a letter to President Donald Trump released on Thursday.

? McCain Calls on Trump to Provide Ukraine With Lethal Weapons ?
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201702021050287833-mccain-ukraine-weapons/

McCain has repeatedly called on Washington to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons.

"In light of the latest Russian attacks and the prospect of future aggression against Ukraine, I urge you to exercise the authority given to you by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 to provide defensive lethal assistance to Ukraine," McCain said in the letter.

The senator has also urged the US president to maintain and further expand sanctions on Russia.

 

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The Russian Investigative Committee said Friday it launched a criminal case into civilians deaths from Ukrainian government shelling in Donetsk on February 1-3.

Russia Initiates Criminal Case Into Ukraine Gov't Shelling in Donetsk (Video)
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702031050305703-russia-ukraine-shelling-probe/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFRYkAso0ns (0:50 min.)

The investigation believes Ukrainian artillery shelled several regions in Donetsk, as well as settlements in Yasynuvata and Makiivka from Wednesday to Friday. The shelling, conducted on orders of Ukrainian commanders and defense ministry officials, led to the deaths of three local residents and 15 hospitalizations, investigators said.

The Russian Investigative Committee's central investigation department's office investigating crimes involving the use of prohibited means and methods of warfare initiated another criminal case on the grounds of an offense," the committee said.

The situation near the industrial town of Avdiivka and neighboring Yasynuvata has been tense for several days, with civilians being deprived of running water, central heating and electricity. The Ukrainian forces and Donbass militia have accused each other of being responsible for the escalation of fighting.

At least two people were killed and three others injured as a result of night shelling of the town of Avdiivka in Donbass, the head of Ukraine's Regional State Administration said Friday.

Avdiivka Overnight Shelling Leaves Two Dead, Three Injured - Ukraine's RSA Head
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702031050305016-ukraine-donbass-avdiivka-shelling/

At least two people were killed and three others injured as a result of night shelling of the town of Avdiivka in Donbass, which is under control of Ukrainian military, Pavlo Zhebrivskyi, the head of Ukraine's Regional State Administration (RSA), said Friday.

As of 08:00 a.m. [06:00 GMT], there were two people killed — a local resident, a serviceman of the SESU (State Emergency Service of Ukraine). The three injured are a SESU officer, a foreign correspondent and a local resident, who was lightly injured after a shell had hit a five-storey building and refused admission to hospital," Zhebrivskyi said on his Facebook.

Ukrainian military shelling civilians in Donetsk on February, 3 was a 'barbarous raid', Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during her weekly press briefing on Friday.

Ukrainian Military Shelling of Civilians in Donetsk a 'Barbarous Raid'
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702031050303808-donetsk-ukraine-shelling/

This barbarous raid can not be justified. Kiev's actions violate not only the 1949 Geneva Convention on the protection of civil population during wartime but all moral norms as well," Zakharova said. "Only vandals can bomb a city while it's sleeping, destroying entirely blameless people. We have no other definition for the people who conducted this night sortie."

Zakharova said that in the early hours of February, 3 Donetsk was subjected to massed fire from Ukrainian Armed Forces. Residential areas suffered dozens of strikes from large-caliber armaments, including "Uragan" and "Grad" systems.

Zakharova stressed that this military campaign not only breaks all 'moral norms' but is also a violation of Kiev's international obligations.

US President Donald Trump should send Javelin FGM-148 handheld anti-tank missiles to Kiev to support Ukraine government forces, Senator John McCain told Sputnik.

Senator McCain Says US Should Send Javelin Anti-Tank Missiles to Ukraine
https://sputniknews.com/us/201702031050299158-mccain-javelin-anti-tank-missiles-ukraine/

When asked on Thursday what kind of weapons the United States should send to arm Ukrainian government forces, McCain named Javelin anti-tank missiles and counter-battery armor.

"Javelin, among other things, and counter-battery armor," McCain told Sputnik

In a letter released earlier in the day, McCain called on the Trump Administration to provide defensive lethal assistance to Ukraine in light of alleged intervention by Russia, but did not specify what types of weapons.

The Javelin antitank missile is the world’s first mass-produced infrared-homing "fire and forget" missile system capable of destroying tanks by hitting them head-on or by swooping down on them from above.

The downside of this system is its impressive price tag with the export version costing $125,000 and a single missile selling for $40,000. The Javelin uses an automatic, infrared guidance system that allows the user to seek cover immediately after launch, as opposed to older, wire-guided systems.

Russian officials have repeatedly warned that Washington providing Ukraine with weapons will only escalate violence and lead to more bloodshed.

US guided missile destroyer USS Porter, which has recently entered the Black Sea, is heading toward Romania'a port Constanta to take part in a conference in the framework of NATO-Ukraine joint drills, a military-diplomatic source told Sputnik Friday.

US Destroyer Heading to Romanian Black Sea Port Amid NATO-Ukraine Drills
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702031050310828-us-destroyer-porter-nato/

Spanish and Canadian frigates Almirante Juan de Borbon and St. John's arrived in Constanta earlier in the week.

"The USS Porter destroyer… is heading to Constanta, where participants of NATO-Ukraine Sea Shield-2017 drills gather for a planned conference on the eve of the joint maneuvers," the source said.

On Thursday, another source told Sputnik that after the conference the warships would head to the Black Sea’s eastern part to participate in NATO's standard procedures of countering aerial, maritime and submarine threats.

On Wednesday, the Sea Shield 2017 maritime drills formally kicked off in the Black Sea. The drills take place on the territory of 80,000 square kilometers (49,700 square miles). Approximately 2,800 personnel from Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, the United States, Canada, Spain and Ukraine, 16 warships and 10 warplanes will participate in the 10-day exercises.

Eduard Popov, born in 1973 in Konstantinovka, Donetsk region, is a Rostov State University graduate with a PhD in history and philosophy. In 2008, he founded the Center for Ukrainian Studies of the Southern Federal University of Russia in Rostov-on-Don. From 2009-2013, he was the founding head of the Black Sea-Caspian Center of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, an analytical institute of the Presidential Administration of Russia. In June 2014, Popov headed the establishment of the Representative Office of the Donetsk People's Republic in Rostov-on-Don. He has actively participated in humanitarian aid efforts for his native Donbass and has been a guest contributor to various Donbass media, such as the Lugansk-based Cossack Media Group. Popov has actively contributed to Fort Russ since June, 2016.

Kiev between America and Russia: Part 1 - Trump through Russian Eyes
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/02/kiev-between-america-and-russia-part-1.html

Foreword from Dr. Eduard Popov: I am grateful to have the opportunity to be featured on the pages of the authoritative and brilliant Fort Russ and be able to offer readers my views on the prospects of the emerging rapprochement between the United States and Russia, as well as the place in this two-way process occupied (or to be occupied) by Ukraine. Below is the first installment in a three-part series on this evermore pressing topic.

****
The outcome of negotiations between Moscow and Washington are far more important for the US than Russia.

On Saturday evening, January 28th, a telephone conversation was held between Vladimir Putin and the new US President, Donald Trump. This was the first telephone conversation between the two leaders since Trump assumed office. Both sides hurried to release statements on the results of the talks. Perhaps the main agreement reached by the presidents over their 40 minute conversation is the mutually recognized necessity of improving bilateral relations.

As follows from the press-service releases from the White House and the Kremlin, the presidents discussed a wide range of international issues, the main of which was the Middle East. Judging by his statements, Donald Trump seriously intends to eliminate ISIS, something which is impossible without Russia’s participation.

Both sides also evaluated the outcome of the talks with optimism. According to a representative of the US Administration, a green light was given during the talks to improving relations between the two countries. Yet an altogether different assessment of the negotiations is to be found in the American liberal media opposed to Trump. By such publications as Politico, The Hill, and others, Trump is harshly criticized by left-liberals on all fronts - from his ban on the entry of citizens from several Muslim countries to his desire to improve relations with Russia. In regards to the latter, Senator John McCain and several other American politicians have been particularly active, even promising to prevent this by all means through Congress. Side by side are leveled very rigid and adamant allegations of a connection between supposed interference by Russian hackers in the American elections and Trump’s policy towards Russia. Not even concrete initiatives, but Trump’s intent to improve relations alone is seen through the prism that Russia allegedly helped Trump win the elections, thereby now obliging him to "make it up" to Putin. Trump’s critics’ plan is very simple: they strive to drive a wedge in front of any step aimed at improving bilateral relations with Russia, which in itself will be characterized as a serious blow to the legitimacy of the new US President, thereby tying his hands.

However, as far as we can judge based on an analysis of the left-liberal American press, the restriction of immigration from Muslim countries has for now eclipsed the “popularity” of the Russian topic.

Russia is openly interested in and even to a certain extent hopes for an improvement of relations between the two countries. Even though Trump himself has repeatedly said that he will be a "tough" partner for Putin, Russia generally looks at the future of Russian-American relations with cautious optimism.
In Russia, Trump’s electoral victory was perceived as a victory of American egoism and common sense over the false thinking of the new American supranational elites. For Russians, Trump is not a US President that is beneficial for Russia, but a President of the United States who will look after America’s real national interests.

Of course, Russia could greatly win or lose with the line which the new American leader will take. Yet Russia’s successes is only dependent on American policy to a very limited extent. China, in my opinion, is dependent on relations with the US to a much larger extent, just as the US is heavily dependent on China. Russia has no intent of harboring illusions over future partnership with the US in the face of Donald Trump. However, Trump’s famous words that he will be a “tough” partner for Vladimir Putin have a hidden meaning: the US is now compelled to reckon with Russia. America is ceasing to be the only superpower in the modern world and is becoming the “first among equals.”

To call things by their names, let us recall how in the 1990’s and even early 2000’s, Russia was indeed dependent on the US. But starting with approximately the August War of 2008, the principles underlying the two countries’ relations cardinally changed. Under current conditions, we are no longer dealing with a Moscow dependent on Washington. Today’s Russia will not agree to anything less than equal relations with the US. In the words of the penetrating distinction of the famous Russian international affairs expert, Mikhail Demurin: “It’s better for there to be cooperation [between Russia and the US], albeit difficult, but the most important is for this to be fair and equal.”

Donald Trump is seen from Russia as a symbiosis of an American patriot and an American imperialist, perhaps with a clear predominance of the first aspect. His opponents from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s camp are not patriots at all, but imperialists (interventionists). Today’s Russia - and I say this with sincere joy - has rid itself of the imperial legacy which ultimately proved unsustainable for the country. America has also overextended itself and is obviously already crumbling under the wight of its imperial burdens. If this had been extended by another four, or even eight year term of Democratic rule, then perhaps it would have been too late to save America.

In this introduction, we've described the view on Trump predominant in Russian patriotic circles and added to this some of our own considerations. Now let us turn attention towards the country which has with great worry and anxiety anticipated the outcome of negotiations between the presidents of Russia and the US. This country is none other than Ukraine. As we will see in the next installment, Ukraine is no longer a monolith, and we can already begin to speak of two "Ukraines".

To be continued in Part 2...

Kiev between America and Russia: Part 2 - Trump's "Ukraine Audit" bodes Poroshenko's End
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/02/kiev-between-america-and-russia-part-2.html

As is well known, Ukraine did not occupy an important place in Donald Trump’s pre-election rhetoric. However, Ukraine paid especially heightened attention to candidate Trump’s opinion whenever it surfaced. Inexperienced Ukrainian diplomacy (Ukraine as a state emerged only in 1991 and a Ukrainian nation has still yet to form) hedged all of its bets on one player: Hillary Clinton. In addition, President Poroshenko’s regime [1] showed a complete lack of political culture and strategic thinking as Ukrainian media launched a real persecution campaign against Trump and the ex-head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Boris Lozhkin, even passed along “incriminating” materials on the head of Donald Trump’s campaign headquarters, Paul Manafort.

Donald Trump seems to perceive the European continent as a zone of chaos - and rightly so. Ukraine is simultaneously the distant periphery of this continent and the epicenter of the chaos, a kind of black hole in which people and money disappear without a trace. In the beginning of the 21st century, Ukraine has become a new geopolitical Balkans of Europe.

The anticipated - by some with horror, some with hope - correction of the United States’ policy towards Ukraine following Donald Trump’s victory has not yet begun. But Kiev is nevertheless already on the verge of panic. As this article is being written, bombs and rockets fired by the Ukrainian army are raining down on the cities of Donbass. The density of shelling and the use of rocket artillery has not been seen in Donbass for a long time. Experts, including the author of these lines, believe that this is Poroshenko’s reaction to the “Trump factor.”

But let us set the situation in Donbass aside for a separate study. We propose to direct the reader’s attention towards Ukraine itself or, more precisely,
the two Ukraines that have emerged: the official Ukraine personified by the Poroshenko regime, and the Ukraine of the oligarchs and regional barons. We could also add a third Ukraine: the Ukraine of the neo-Nazi parties and battalions, but we have already discussed this in depth in a separate article. http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/11/the-death-of-ukrainian-nationalism-and.html

Today, Poroshenko’s Ukraine and the oligarchs’ Ukraine are in a state nearing open war which could lead to a new Maidan or, in the very least, to the president's impeachment. This war's beginning was sparked by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections.

On January 26th, the American publication RealClearDefense analyzed the main problems gripping Ukraine in an article under the telling title “Ukraine’s Problem is Ukraine.” According to the Ukrainian publication Vesti which cited this article, Donald Trump plans to arrange an “audit” of the Ukrainian authorities by checking where Kiev has really allocated the funds received from the US under Barack Obama.

In short, Ukraine’s main problems are named to be the following four:

1. the problematic organization of authorities caused by a large number of officials taking part in military strategy and procurement;
2. the absence of a unified strategic vision and budget accounting;
3. pro-Russian officials
4. overwhelming corruption

Let us note that the publication does not identify the biggest problem: the illegitimate status of the ruling Poroshenko regime and the former US administration’s accountability for the violent overthrow of President Yanukovych.

The third point on the list is also questionable. Already in the first days following the victory of the Euromaidan, Ukrainian government agencies were decisively purged of any so-called “pro-Russian officials.” In fact, this work was carried out long before. In the first half of 2010, the author of these lines more than once came into contact with Ukrainian deputies, politicians, and experts who constantly supplied reports on how the US and the West (including foundations from both the Democratic and Republican parties in the US, NATO humanitarian organizations, etc.) were consistently engaged in drawing the ruling Ukrainian elite into the channels of pro-Western policies. A system of work was organized with this aim. Trips were arranged for deputies, politicians, and experts (as well as budding young specialists) to visit the US and the opening of NATO centers at universities even in pro-Russian cities like Donetsk, etc. I’ll emphasize that all of this was being carried out even during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, whom the leaders of the Euromaidan called “pro-Russian.”

Thus, the purging of the Ukrainian political sphere of pro-Russian figures began long before the victory of the Euromaidan. Assistant to the US Secretary of State on European and Eurasian affairs, Victoria Nuland, confirmed in an interview on CNN that the US had allocated as much as $5 billion “to support the Ukrainian people’s aspiration for a stronger, democratic government.” Part of this money was likely allocated for the outright bribery of Ukrainian politicians. There was also, of course, a hidden part of all this work including non-public negotiations and agreements with Ukrainian politicians on, among other things, personnel appointments. It is no coincidence that Yanukovych’s presidential reign was marked by the career advancements of collaborators and the disappearance and even arrest of genuinely pro-Russian politicians. The most famous among the latter examples is the leader of the Odessa-based Rodina Party, Igor Markov, who was arrested in October 2013 and spend several months in prison.

Thus, by the time of the coup, no more “purging” of the Ukrainian political field of pro-Russian forces was really needed. The ruling Party of Regions represented several groups competing against one another on domestic political and economic issues but overall in solidarity in matters of ideology (liberalism) and geopolitics (orientation towards the West, primarily on the EU). Put bluntly and crucially: it was a party of collaborators and conformists.

But why did this American publication dedicate an entire point on an extra short list of Ukraine’s problems to this?

A correct answer to this question would be possible if we possessed information on this publication. Does it speak for the representatives of the new US President’s entourage? Or do Ukrainian lobbyists in the US perhaps (but not necessarily) opposed to President Poroshenko stand behind it? I am inclined towards the second possibility, but perhaps American readers could correct me.

It is obvious that such lobbies are attempting to misdirect Donald Trump by pointing to the consequences (corruption) and not the reasons (illegitimacy and criminal government) for Ukraine’s problems.

Donald Trump would be wise to refrain from being immersed in European chaos, and instead busy himself with cleaning the Augean stables of America before he is dragged into being involved in the Ukrainian mess. This obviously betrays the interests of the Ukrainian lobbyists in the US. Undoubtedly, in the near future we will see very high media and political activity on the part of these lobbyists.

Also on January 26th, another piece of news came - this time straight from Ukrainian officialdom. Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alene Zerkal practically issued an ultimatum to Washington in an interview with Reuters. Implying the coming telephone talk between President Putin and President Trump, Ms. Zerkal stated that Ukraine should have a word in any agreement achieved between the US and Russia on settling the conflict in Donbass.

“Since we are talking about the future of our country, we do not want to be excluded from negotiations. We do not want to be a playing card. We want to be a player,” Zerkal told Reuters.

Zerkal also stated that she does not believe in a “gentleman’s agreement” and supports Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s call for the West to keep the sanctions on Russia. Yet the Ukrainian foreign minister does not propose to include Russia in negotiations with Western countries during which the question of prolonging the anti-Russian sanctions is discussed.

The Ukrainian foreign minister’s statement speaks to the confusion, if not panic, that is gripping Kiev since Donald Trump’s inauguration. My sources with connections in Ukraine have confirmed that this attitude is prevalent in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The opinion of Ukrainian “volunteers” from the neo-Nazi battalions boils down to a simple formula: “Trump will gift Ukraine to Putin.” Poroshenko’s entourage, as far as we can judge, fears something else much more: a financial and political audit of the actions of the current Ukrainian leadership conducted by the US. This threat appears to be more real than the fears of Ukraine’s neo-Nazis. After all, changing out a failed leader for a more effective one is a well tested method of American policy in the former USSR, as in the case of Georgia, where the “Rose Revolution” overthrew pro-American President Eduard Shevardnadze and brought to power pro-American Mikhail Saakashvili.

The ruling Ukrainian establishment’s ill-concealed panic is paradoxically masked by categorical statements. Official Kiev’s opinion is expressed in the form of essentially an ultimatum. The foreign ministry’s statement is not an attempt to secure rights for Ukraine over the course of bilateral negotiations between the US and Russia, but an attempt to impose Ukraine’s monopoly over relations with Russia on Trump.

Ukraine’s sense of tact has once again failed it. Even the inept and foolish attempt to interfere in the American elections did not teach the Ukrainian establishment elementary rules of political etiquette.

Shortly thereafter, a hefty scandal erupted in Ukrainian media over this incident. The Ukrainian foreign ministry stated that Elena Zerkal’s words were misinterpreted by journalists from the American edition of Reuters and their meaning distorted. Apparently, the significance and consequences of her scandalous ultimatum even became obvious for Ukraine’s amateur diplomats.

Petro Poroshenko has now thrown in all forces in order to earn Donald Trump’s forgiveness. Before, the Ukrainian elite demonstrated contempt for the “outsider” candidate, Trump, but now they are striving to display extreme subservience. It has been openly said that Poroshenko has hired some lobbyist groups in the US and entrusted them with the hope of changing Trump’s attitude towards Poroshenko.

However, Poroshenko’s domestic opponents, who together with him defamed Donald Trump, have now rushed to take advantage of the Ukrainian president’s thunderous foreign policy failure. Preparations for a new coup are almost openly underway in Ukraine. Whether such will take place in the form of armed street protests (a Maidan) or impeachment are important details, but do not supersede the essence of the situation. We will discuss this in the following, concluding part of our analysis.

To be continued in Part 3…

 

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Ukraine War Awareness U-tube channel with periodic updates.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgMnMAgR8pY04npvnnlvoHw

[18+] Grad Rocket Attacks on Donetsk City, Civilian Casualties. Feb 2nd, English Subtitles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsqTnBujyK8 (11:56 min.)

February 2nd, 2017. During a now failed Offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces into the Grey Zone Area, during the Operation were launched a series of attacks from Grad Multiple Launch Rocket Vehicles (MLRS). These Rockets hit Donetsk City, North and South, resulting in Multiple injuries.

 

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Two people were killed and two others injured, including a British reporter, in the past 24 hours amid ongoing clashes in Eastern Ukraine.

Two Killed, Two Wounded, Including UK Journalist, in Donbass – OSCE Observers
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702041050334863-uk-journalist-wounded-donbass/

The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is reporting two fatalities and two wounded, including a British journalist, in clashes in Ukraine’s southeast in the past 24 hours.

"Medical staff at a hospital in government-controlled Avdiivka (17km [10.5 miles] north of Donetsk) informed the SMM about two civilian fatalities and two other persons who had suffered shrapnel injuries," the SMM said in a Friday spot report.

According to the statement, the dead include a 25-year-old man who was killed in an explosion at a school in Avdiivka, as well as a 47-year-old woman who died after being injured in an explosion. The woman worked at a factory in Avdiivka.

The injured include a commander of the State Emergency Services of Ukraine and a British journalist, the SMM said, adding that "the commander was in critical condition, while the journalist had been transferred to a hospital in Dnipro for further care," according to Avdiivka medical staff.

A terrorist attack in the capital of the Lugansk People's Republic in Donbass on Saturday killed two people including the chief of the LPR People's Militia Office.

Car Blast in Lugansk Kills Republic's Senior Commander (Video)
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702041050338242-lugansk-car-blast-anashchenko/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l320dGMTRSw (0:28 min.)

A terrorist attack in the capital of the Lugansk People's Republic in Donbass on Saturday killed two people including the chief of the LPR People's Militia Office.

"The car of the chief of the LPR People's Militia Office, Oleg Anashchenko, exploded… There were two people in the car, both are dead. According to the preliminary data, one of them is Anashchenko," the police press service said.

The blast occurred at about 7:50 a.m. local time (05:50 GMT) and the investigation is currently underway, the People's Militia's press service specified.

Later, the police press service confirmed the death of colonel Anashchenko, classifying the explosion as a terrorist attack.

"Chief of LPR People`s Militia Office Col. Oleg Anashchenko was killed today in a terrorist attack," Maj. Andrei Marochko, the militia department spokesman, said at a press briefing.

The LPR security forces suspect that the terrorist act was committed by the Kiev special forces to destabilize the situation in the region.

The Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) declared a day of mourning to begin on Sunday over the death of the commander of the LPR People's Militia Office Col. Oleg Anashchenko, the press service of the republic's Ministry of Communications told Sputnik on Saturday.

Lugansk Republic Declares Mourning After Death of Military Commander
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702041050345308-lugansk-anashchenko-blast-mourning/

Earlier in the day, Anashchenko was killed in a car explosion, which had been classified as a terrorist attack by the local security agencies.

"In the context of the tragic death of Col. Oleg Anashchenko, the first deputy commander of the people's militia corps of the People’s Republic of Lugansk, mourning is declared in the republic on February 5, 2017," the press service said in a statement.

Following the Saturday incident, Igor Plotnitsky, the head of the LPR, offered condolences to the family of Anashchenko.

Last night the Kievskiy District of Donetsk Kiev suffered massive fire from the APU, the Red Spring correspondent reported from the scene February 3.

Massive fire from MLRS through the night in Donetsk
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/02/massive-fire-from-mlrs-through-night-in.html

The APU used heavy artillery, MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) "Grad," and "Uragan" in the shelling of the northern regions of Donetsk.
Two schools (№19 and №65), two kindergartens (№354 and №204), the Kievskiy District Administration building, as well as multi-storey houses on Artema, Mountain, Mironov and Kievskiy Prospect streets were damaged.

In total, according to the Operational Command of the People's Militia of the DPR, in the past day the APU shelled DPR territory 3481 times. The enemy fired on settlements, launching 196 MLRS "Uragan" and "Grad" projectiles, 753 152-mm, and 122-mm shells, 1086 shots from mortars, 64 fired from tanks, 91 from BMPs , as well as the fire from grenade launchers and small arms.

In total 28 settlements were fired on, including the worst-affected region, Donetsk, Makiyivka, Yasinovataya, Zaytsevo village in the north of Horlivka and villages Lenin, Telmanovo, Saganka and Kominternovo, in the south of the Republic.

Recall that in the night of February 2-3, the Kievskiy District of Donetsk, was fired with the MLRS "Grad". Also MLRS "Uragan" rockets exploded in the evening in the around gas stations in the vicinity of the "Motel" bus station in the Kalinin district of Donetsk. There are dead and wounded among the civilians.

Continued from Part 2

Kiev between America and Russia: Part 3 - How the Ukrainian Oligarchy will Sacrifice Poroshenko for Trump
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/02/kiev-between-america-and-russia-part-3.html

The change of administration in the White House and the Ukrainian establishment’s support for the former Democratic administration and Hillary Clinton's candidacy have led to the biggest foreign policy fiasco of President Prosohenko in the entire history of post-Maidan Ukraine. This massive failure has spurred domestic political turbulence and intensified the activities of the opposition and oligarchical and regional groups in Ukraine.

On January 18th, people’s deputy and former member of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, Viktor Chumak, delivered a speech in front of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. From the tribune, he read an appeal to the president signed by 22 people’s deputies from Petro Poroshenko's own parliamentary bloc. The co-signing deputies demanded that Poroshenko adopt a law on impeachment, hold a referendum, and lift parliamentary immunity. According to Chumak, over the past two and half years since the president’s election and the two years of work of the current convocation of the Rada, the president and his political group have not fulfilled their election promises.

In other words, Petro Poroshenko has essentially been given an ultimatum. After all, a law on impeachment would be directed against none other than himself. What’s more, it appears like the mounting criticism being hurled at the president is based on the anti-oligarchical slogans recycled from the Euromaidan.

Anti-oligarchical criticism in Ukraine is always organized by oligarchs themselves. In this case, according to Ukrainian political analysts, the oligarchs Viktor Pinchuk, Igor Kolomoysky, Dmitry Firtash, and Viktor Baloga stand behind this parliamentary move, having concluded a “pact” to overthrow Poroshenko. It is worth recalling that Kolomoysky became Poroshenko’s main opponent immediately after the coup d’etat of February 2014. However, due to heavy US pressure, Kolomoysky was compelled to refrain from active opposition and slide into the shadows.

Today, it is Viktor Pinchuk, a Dnepropetrovsk oligarch, the son-in-law of ex-President Kuchma, and the former chairman of the Jewish Congress of Ukraine, who claims the role of the main opponent of the regime. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal at the end of December last year, Pinchuk offered a position of compromise with Russia, something for which he was subjected to harsh criticism in Ukrainian official mass media.

If we accept the theory put forth by Ukrainian political analysts that the oligarchs are unifying against Poroshenko, then we can draw the following conclusions: this united force wields powerful financial, media (control over a number of print and electronic media), political (control over groups of deputies in the Verkhovna Rada), and fighting potential (the private armies sponsored by them and the Ukrainian neo-Nazi volunteer battalions). The combination of these resources allows them to unleash a discrediting campaign against Poroshenko both in Ukraine and abroad. If the need arises, the oligarchs could not only instigate local social conflicts in Kiev and the regions, but also organize massive protest actions in the capital supported by militants. Simultaneously, the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada controlled by them will increase criticism of Poroshenko. This scenario is possible provided that the White House offers its approval.

Viktor Baloga’s presence in this network is symptomatic. The Baloga clan is the most powerful in Transcarpathia (the most Western region of Ukraine populated by Rusyns and a significant Hungarian minority - 12% of the population). Baloga himself is one of the most experienced and clever Ukrainian politicians. Currently, he is a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada (like his brother, Ivan, the former chairman of the Transcarpathian Regional Council) and he controls the most numerous fraction in the latter council, the United Center Party headed by his son, Andrey. Baloga’s family and supporters command widespread financial, political, social, and security resources, including criminal gangs controlling contraband flows from EU countries into Ukraine via Transcarpathia. In addition, Baloga partly controls the 128th separate Transcarpathian mountain infantry brigade of the Ukrainian army. After the Debaltsevo cauldron, Baloga demonstratively demanded that President Poroshenko not send servicemen from Transcarpathian to the Anti-Terrorist Operation zone in Donbass.

Viktor Baloga is famous for his extremely sharp political instincts. Throughout his career, he has repeatedly changed political bosses, thus helping him achieve new heights. Not once did he end up mistaken by his choice, and he has always come out a winner. For example, just before the “Orange Revolution”, he switched from Prime Minister Yanukovych’s camp to Viktor Yushchenko’s side, and won. After a while, he left the Yushchenko camp and returned to Yanukovych’s entourage, for which he received the post of Minister of Emergency Situations.

Let us quote an excerpt from Baloga’s speech in the Verkhovna Rada on January 27th: “Over all this time we have established not so much a quality new army as we have an environment of corruption in which the friends of the Guarantor (President Poroshenko) have made money, about which the American press is already writing. We have not carried out reforms which would have helped us become economically strong. What’s more, in the next three years we will be obliged to pay 14 billion dollars in debt, money which we do not have and won’t have with such an economy.”

Baloga is convinced that all the future responsibility for the sanctions against Russia being lifted rests solely on one person. This is Petro Poroshenko, who disregarded all the rules by interfering in the American presidential race. As a result, the Ukrainian people, undeservingly, will gain if not an enemy, then an indifferent observer in the person of Donald Trump.

“In such a state we have one exit: a complete reset of the government which would show the West our commitment to a new relationship with a clean slate in which there will be no corruption and double standards,” Baloga concluded.

Thus, Viktor Baloga is openly calling on the Ukrainian political elite to launch a “complete government reset,” i.e., force Poroshenko to resign. This will be the price of allowing trouble-free relations with the new American administration to be established and preventing Russia from taking advantage of new opportunities. But this is not Baloga’s first declaration of war on Poroshenko.

Just before the winter holidays, Baloga casually let slip to local journalists that Poroshenko will soon “be forced to send all of his political circle into resignation” and he himself will subsequently have to go. If the president will not want to go peacefully, according to Baloga, then he will be “taken out” by force. This, in addition to Baloga’s speech in the Verkhovna Rada on January 27th, speaks to the seriousness of the intentions of this public and shadow politician and the force which he represents.

Thus, the group of oligarchs opposing Petro Poroshenko has a serious foothold in Transcarpathia for realizing their plans. Perhaps it is Transcarpathia (along with Kiev) which will act at hour "x" as the frontline against the Poroshenko regime.

Thus, the oligarchs have appointed themselves to the role of “saving Ukraine from the oligarchs.” These oligarchs, like Petro Poroshenko, financed the Maidan and neo-Nazi militants and are now preparing to overthrow the oligarch President Poroshenko, whom they see as a small sacrifice in order to negotiate with Trump. They will place all the blame for corruption and the theft of American money in Ukraine on Petro.

For Ukraine itself, this will mean another, this time uncontrolled oligarchical reign and a slide into civil war - but this time not in “far away” Donbass, but Kiev itself and Central and Western Ukraine.

Last week, Polish Armed Forces' Chief of General Staff Mieczyslaw Gocul resigned. Being the second senior military official to do so recently, Gocul's departure has fueled rumors of a struggle underway between career officers and Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz. Speaking to Sputnik, retired Vice-Admiral Marek Toczek laid out what's at stake.

Polish Military Facing a Full-Scale Purge by Russophobic Defense Minister
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702041050342562-polish-military-purge-analysis/

Gocul left his post and ended his military career on Wednesday. In a letter published on the General Staff's website last week, the officer cryptically alluded to changes in the global security environment, and thanked "all the institutions, organizations and individuals who express their constant concern about the fate of our country."

Gocul is the second senior officer to resign in less than a month. In December, Lieutenant-General Miroslaw Rozanski, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, also tendered his resignation, allegedly amid pressure to do so by Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz. Over the past year, over 20 senior officers in the special forces, the army, and the military police have lost their posts. Last month, President Andrzej Duda announced plans to reorganize the military leadership, just two years following the last reorganization.

Speaking to Sputnik Poland about Gocul's resignation, retired Polish Navy Vice-Admiral Marek Toczek said that it was just one step in a full-scale purge that's facing the senior leadership of the country's military and security forces due to their disagreements with the government.

"This is far from being the first step, although it is the first dismissal of this magnitude," Toczek noted. "This is just an ordinary political purge of people who have their own views, who disagree with political manipulation or other actions which, in their view, undermine professional order in the military," he added.

Toczek recalled that Defense Minister Macierewicz is well-known in Poland for his outspoken nature and his rash decision-making style. What's most distressing, according to the officer, "is how his actions not only receive the approval of his party, but are met with silence in the media, who are obliged to monitor compliance with certain principles, but are strangely conciliatory and barely speak [about him]."

Warning that continued controversy surrounding Macierewicz and the military threatens to destabilize the country's armed services, Toczek stressed that the crackdown on the military's ability to take part in social discourse is undoubtedly bad news.

Earlier, some observers suggested that the ongoing purge is actually an attempt to rid the military of senior officers in any way affiliated with the Polish People's Republic, the Cold War-era Polish government which lost power in 1990. According to Toczek, this argument makes no sense, since many officers, like those affiliated with NATO missions, for example, rose in the ranks long after the transition period.

"Hence I am left wondering — why is nobody interested in what's going on? I'm talking about the media and politicians, who in a democracy are supposed to monitor the validity of decisions which are made. Yet somehow no one is concerned," the officer complained.

Noting that the purge cannot but worry the military, Toczek said that his colleagues, both active duty and those who have retired, have been left confused and frustrated. "The decision [forcing them to resign] has been very painful for them, but it was the only thing that was left for them to do in this situation," the officer concluded.

A senior figure in Poland's ruling Law and Justice Party, Defense Minister Macierewicz is well-known in Russia for his staunch and almost comically anti-Russian attitudes. His most bizarre comments include accusing Moscow of 'inventing' radical Islamic terrorism, his claim that the 2010 air catastrophe over Smolensk which resulted in the death of the Polish President was a Russian 'terrorist attack', and his suggestion that Poland and Russia have been in a de facto state of war since the Smolensk tragedy. Last year, six former defense ministers signed a letter urging Macierewicz to step down.

 

[angelburst29]

The self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk (DPR) increased security measures due to the threat of new terrorist attacks following the death of Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Militia Office Col. Oleg Anashchenko in a car explosion on Saturday, DPR Deputy Defense Minister Eduard Basurin said.

Donetsk Republic Boosts Security After Murder of Lugansk Militia Chief
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702041050354780-dpr-boosts-security/

Anashchenko was killed in the city of Lugansk with the LPR suspecting that the terrorist attack was carried out by Kiev's special forces to destabilize the situation in the region.

“The Ukrainian side is continuing to choose the most violent and devious methods of war, copying international terrorists … That’s why the DPR increased its security measures … We do not rule out the possibility of new provocative and terrorist acts in the republic,” Basurin told reporters.

The Ukrainian forces blew up the power tower near the Horlivka city in the Donbass region on Saturday, prompting the city's authorities to switch on to the reserve power line, a spokesman for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said Saturday.

Ukrainian Forces Blow Up Power Tower Near Donbass City of Horlivka - DPR
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702051050356986-ukrainian-forces-power-tower-blast-horlivka/

The statement follows the DPR decision to enhance security measures in the self-proclaimed republic due to the threat of terrorist attacks after the death of one of the neighboring Lugansk People’s Republic's (LPR) top commanders.

“The forces exploded the power tower at 14:30 local time [11:30 GMT] on the territory controlled by Kiev, near the town of Svitlodarsk. As a result, the whole city of Horlivka was left without power. Currently the city receives energy from the nearest towns,” the spokesman said.

The ceasefire in the southeastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka has been breached, according to OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.

Recovery Efforts in Eastern Ukraine's Avdiivka Disrupted by Truce Violation
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702041050351850-ukraine-avdiivka-osce-repair/

The repair works to restore electricity and water supplies in the southeastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka were suspended on Saturday, after the ceasefire was violated again.

"#DFS: Works ended abruptly. Ceasefire breached. Civilians continue to suffer. Stop shooting now!," OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine posted on Twitter.

The situation in Ukraine's southeast has been tense for several days, with Kiev forces and Donbas militia accusing each other of being responsible for the escalation of fighting.

The ongoing shelling near Avdiivka has left local residents without water supply, central heating and electricity in the midst of freezing temperatures.

 

[angelburst29]

On Sunday, the Ukrainian forces resumed heavy shelling of the residential areas in the embattled Donbass city of Donetsk, pulling additional troops closer to the borders of the self-proclaimed republics in the east of Ukraine.

Kiev Forces Shell Donetsk as More Troops Head to Eastern Ukraine
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702051050376568-kiev-donetsk-shelling/

The Ukrainian forces have fired more than 50 shells since 4:10 p.m. local time (13:10 GMT), Deputy Defense Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Eduard Basurin said Sunday.

Ukrainian forces use heavy weaponry against the residential areas of Donetsk, they have already fired more than 50 shells from the weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreement starting from 4:10 p.m., despite the respect of ceasefire by our side," Basurin told reporters.

He added that Kiev had also started to deploy additional troops of Ukraine's Armed Forces and National Guard to the eastern Ukrainian regions, which could prove Ukraine's preparations for a large-scale offensive against Donbas militias, as well as for sabotage activities against the civilian infrastructure in the region.

Ealier in the day, a representativeof the DPR authorities told Sputnik that Kiev's forces were shelling the Zaitseve village near the town of Horlivka in Donbass.

The situation in the Donetsk region has escalated harshly recently, with over 40 people reported dead and more than 100 wounded in the clashes.

Zaitseve village near the town of Horlivka in the Donbass region of Ukraine is being shelled by heavy weaponry of Kiev's forces, according to a representative of the local authorities.

Ukraine's Military Shelling Horlivka Suburbs in Donbass Region
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702051050373993-horlivka-donbass-ukraine/

Kiev's forces are shelling the Zaitseve village near the town of Horlivka in the Donbass region of Ukraine, a representative of the local authorities told Sputnik Sunday.

“Currently the village is being shelled by heavy weaponry, the shelling has been ongoing since 17:00 local time [14:00 GMT]. There is no information on casualties or damage,” the representative said.

 

[angelburst29]

Kiev is stepping up its military presence along the contact line in Donbass and has sent nationalist militants there, the Russian Investigative Committee said.

Ukraine Increasing Military Presence in Donbass, Sends Nationalists There
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702071050431402-ukraine-donbass-military-presence/

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (VSU) keep increasing presence along the contact line in Donbass, deploying forces there, including the "Donbas" nationalist battalion, Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said Tuesday.

"The Kiev authorities continue to illegally, in violation of the Minsk agreements and ceasefire commitments arising from them, actively build up their military presence along the contact line, deploying additional forces there, including units of the 79th air assault brigade, as well as the 'Donbas' nationalist battalion and the 'Azov' regiment," Petrenko said.

The situation in Donbass has escalated over the past few days, in particular near the town of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, where clashes between Kiev forces and the troops of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have intensified. The conflicting parties have both accused each other of initiating the violence.

In the LPR, Interior Ministry Agents detained the killer of the Chief of the People’s Army of the Lugansk People’s Republic, Colonel Oleg Anaschenko

LPR Ministry Of Intelligence have detained the killer of the head of LPR People’s Army
http://novorossia.today/murderer-colonel-oleg-anaschenko-captured-detained-evil-hands-ukraine-junta-responsible/

It is reported by Rosbalt citing a source in the LPR Ministry of State Security. This information is also confirmed by participants of the special operation, the LPR Interior Ministry employees.

As it became known, late on February 5, as a result of an interception plan, the police detained a major of the Nazi Ukraine Units (AFU). Currently, investigations are being conducted to apprehend accomplices of the detained.

As reported, the Ukrainian officer admitted organizing and executing the murder.

Anaschenko was killed in Lugansk on February 4, as a result of his car explosion. The People’s Army press office immediately put forward a theory that the attack had been carried out by the Ukrainian Junta secret services in order to destabilize the situation in the LPR.

 

[Ca.]

US soldiers in Latvia (1-7-17)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj6yh-RCWxQ

Military units of cosmic forces put on alert (1-7-17)

https://youtu.be/BX73tdprkRY

Ukrainian shell hit the building of the hostel in Dokuchaevsk, damaged roof
Feb 7, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJWdGX81_Yk

Anti-Trump Protest in London: 'Why aren't you Marching against Ukrainian shelling of Donbass?' (Graphic)
Published on Feb 5, 2017
Graham Phillips
_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2s6t9yEzzw

Donbass: The Big Picture
ANALYSIS #DONBASS#RUSSIA 07.02.2017 - 77 views
Original by Boris Rozhin, translation by J.Hawk
https://southfront.org/donbass-the-big-picture/

1. From the military point of view, the situation remains unchanged, and while the intensity of fire and skirmishes has declined, they are continuing. Which leads to a curious paradox: on the one hand everything looks like an ordinary local escalation which happened many times before, but my contacts in the DPR and LPR military hierarchy are saying that nothing has ended yet, the probability of escalation remains, and both sides are amassing forces at the front line in addition to various preparatory and mobilization measures in the areas close to the front. And on top of that is the general weariness with this “ping-pong” and the desire to seek a decisive solution–which implies a UAF offensive and a counteroffensive by NAF army corps. But the front line remains static and it is still unknown whether this case will differ from other such incidents, since each side would prefer the other to initiate the offensive.

2. From the political point of view, the situation is also developing without serious changes. US reaction was mild. Pence said that the US is concerned about the situation on the Donbass but did not directly accuse the republics or the Russian Federation. The White House is in a general state of avoidance, stating that it has little information concerning what is happening on the Donbass even though US Global Hawk recon drones have been regularly flying over Ukraine in recent months. Reacting to the passive administration stance, the opposition in the Congress decided to remind everyone of its existence by blaming Russia of everything and calling for immediate new sanctions. So here too the situation is without major changes. Both Moscow and Donetsk stated adherence to the current political course, repeating their 2014-dated theses on the lack of alternative to Minsk Agreements, which cannot be implemented in any form and on the intra-Ukrainian conflict, which neither Kiev nor Washington acknowledge. This is why Zakharchenko once again publicly said that for as long as the Minsk format exists, DPR and LPR will not unite. As noted before, Russia will not make major changes to its policies prior to negotiations with Trump on Syria and Ukraine and will maintain present course irrespective of how intense the shelling is. Likewise no changes will be made by the Russia-dependent DPR and LPR governments. As we can see from the White House reaction, the Trump administration prefers to wait for the results of the negotiations, after which the events will begin to develop one way or another, depending on whether an agreement is reached or not. I think that we’ll learn already during the spring in what direction they will unfold. But it seems obvious these developments will come outside of the Minsk Agreements context.

3. Naturally Kiev does not want to await agreements on Ukraine without its participation and is trying to wedge itself into the process. But since the junta has no resources other than military, it leads to an increase in military tension and the threat of resuming combat operations. This in turn sharpens divisions and conflicts within the Ukrainian political elite, part of which is constantly trying to offer itself up to the new White House administration as an “effective replacement” for Poroshenko, with whom the Trump administration is naturally not thrilled due to Poroshenko’s involvement in Hillary Clinton’s election campaign as a source of compromising information on Trump. Tymoshenko, who tried to catch Trump as he was entering a bathroom and called for martial law, suggest preparations for early elections in which securing the radicals’ votes will be one of the guarantees of success. Saakashvili is likewise continuing his frenetic activity, in the hopes of returning to the good graces of his masters which during Obama’s term cooled considerably toward Michiko. Saakashvili continues to remind everyone that he’s always had good relations with the Republicans and that he’ll be more effective at combating corruption than Poroshenko. There is an ongoing revival of various fascist and semi-fascist marginals who are also jumping on the bandwagon of “martial law”, “volunteer battalion march on Kiev”, “third Maidan by the fascists and cheated investors.”

4. Naturally no pro-Russian forces are present there, it’s a proverbial battle of spiders in a bottle who are seeking to draw the attention of the master and receive a license to rule or at least the right to take part in the future division of authority and property when the Poroshenko regime is replaced. Russia has hardly anyone to bet on there–the Opposition Block is not only composed of former Party of Region members (which alone speaks volumes) but is facing the prospect of factionalization by interested oligarchs. Medvedchuk’s “Ukrainian Choice” was a politically marginal force even during better times. Neither the socialists (who could be bet on following the Moldova example) not the Communist Party are legal in Ukraine. Some of the Rada factions and groups are controlled by Kolomoysky and are orienting on Washington and Brussels. The only benefit from this dogfight is that it weakens the junta and raises the likelihood the conflict will be frozen.

3. If the US and Russia avoid taking big steps prior to direct negotiations concerning the fate of Syria and Ukraine, the reactions of the dependent regimes in Kiev and Lugansk/Donetsk will radically differ. If for Zakharchenko and Plotnitskiy the preservation of the current political limbo means continuing in Russia’s shadow and preserving their personal authority (which to a large extent is guaranteed by their signatures under Minsk Agreements), it’s a wholly different story for Poroshenko since the political limbo without active fighting deepens the internal political and socio-economic divisions which represent a direct threat to his power and wealth, and moreover Kiev can’t find a way to adjust itself to the new US administration in order to obtain the desirable guarantees of continued support for the Poroshenko regime. In order to show his usefulness, Poroshenko needs a limited war of sufficient intensity to attract US attention, in order to guarantee the White House support for him remaining in power and thus postpone the threat of early elections, the collapse of the current democracy, and active social protests that might be exploited by political demagogues and radicals. It is this collision that will continue pushing Kiev toward new attempts to influence the situation using military methods.

In conclusion, the current situation may be seriously changed only by a UAF offensive or a rather unlikely socio-economic explosion in Ukraine. Barring either of these events, US and Russia will continue their wait-and-see strategy.

SouthFront
DONBASS
https://southfront.org/category/all-articles/world/europe/ukraine/donbass/
Ukrainian Armed Forces Plan to Cut Across Seversky Donets River in Donbass
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have dispatched 28 pontoons to Luhansk region in order to leap the Seversky Donets River. The…

Donbass Update February 6, 2017
Original by Yuriy “yurasumy” Podolyaka published at Naspravdi; translation from Russian by J.Hawk Artillery activity has declined somewhat in recent…

Donbass Update February 5, 2017
Original by Boris Rozhin; translation by J.Hawk 1. In the second half of the day the intensity of shelling had.....

Ukrainian media reports on the damages in Avdeevka | February 6 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GOFU3gOiNo

US military equipment arrives to Estonia | February 6th 2017

https://youtu.be/3wQxjAhEI34

Ukraine moving more forces towards front lines | February 6th 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50s23onKZ9U

Oliver Stone Russia to blame for Ukraine violence are Fake News

https://youtu.be/ycXxGbrYWAg
Published on Feb 6, 2017

Oliver Stone: Reports Russia to blame for Ukraine violence are fake news

Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone has branded reports that Russia is responsible for the escalating violence in Ukraine as “fake news”.
The American film-maker said claims Russia was “aggravating the situation” in the warzone were untrue and insisted the United States had a “huge responsibility” for the continuing conflict.

Stone, who interviewed Russian president Vladimir Putin for his new documentary, Ukraine On Fire, also backed President Donald Trump’s bid to improve US-Russian relations.

Speaking at a screening of the film in Los Angeles, Stone claimed America had used the Ukrainian conflict to “blackball” Russia and “keep the concept of Nato alive”.
He told the Press Association: “(America) has a huge role, a huge responsibility and has denied it. It’s completely denied the whole truth of the situation.


“It’s a very painful situation for the people who live in that area but at the same time it’s used by the United States to blackball Russia as much as possible and keep the concept of Nato alive. It’s a very important film and a very important subject that has been swept under the rug by our country.
“Frankly today I’m shocked they published fake news that the Russians are aggravating the situation when all the casualties are in (rebel-held) Donetsk. It’s a horrible situation and totally fake.”
Speaking at the Italian Institute of Culture in Los Angeles, Stone said he hoped Mr Trump could improve America’s relationship with Russia: “Certainly the US and Russia should be allies. As Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy said very well, we have a stake in humanity together.”


The Platoon director also said he did not believe Russia intervened in the US election, despite the findings of the CIA and FBI.
“It doesn’t make sense for them to get involved,” Stone said. “They’d get into trouble. Hillary Clinton was supposed to win. Everyone favoured her.
“It would be a huge mistake on his part to do it. Also that’s their policy, in general, never to get involved in a domestic (election). The United States is the one that gets involved in most domestic elections and interferes.”
Stone, who won best director Oscars for Platoon and Born On The Fourth Of July, produced the documentary Ukraine On Fire which looks at the country’s revolution in 2014. The film also features an interview with ousted Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych and argues he was the victim of a US-inspired coup with the intent of pushing back against Russia.

 

[thorbiorn]

The events in Hungary in 1956 where an uprising was put down by Sovjet intervention has played a role in shaping the perception of Russia in Western and Eastern Europe.

Recently there was a claim that CIA and former Nazis played a role:

[...]The ten-minute programme, which is presented personnaly by Dmitry Kiselyov, the deputy director of Russian state TV, also includes a reference to the uprising as a “pogrom”, insisting that “Nazis were let out of prisons by the thousands”. It also features Hungarian Socialist politician Szófia Havas, who says that “revolutionaries went from house to house in search of communists and Jews” and “the revolution couldn’t have broken out without groups of ex-Nazi dissenters trained by the CIA who were meant to promote a fascist-counterrevolutionary coup”.
[...]
In 2007, the former MP, who is half-Russian and the niece of former Socialist Prime Minister Gyula Horn, who took part in post-1956 reprisals between December 1956 and June 1957, sparked outrage in 2007 after telling the news magazine HVG that “For example, I don’t consider 1956 as a revolution because there’s no way I could call Arrow Cross supporters who escaped prison revolutionaries”.

The report, which can be viewed on Russian on the left-wing Hungarian blog Kettős Mérce, brands 1956 the first “colour revolution” stirred up in a “friendly country” arrives at the conclusion that “events in ’56 showed the catastrophe that sudden shifts can turn into”.

This was labeled as pro-Kremlin disinformation by the web page run by EU East Stratcom Task Force https://euvsdisinfo.eu/and-you-are-a-nazi-too/ Verifying the degree of CIA involvement is not simple, although one does find http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/9774822 or similar https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_Hungary

The search led to something possibly at least as significant; the role of China in Eastern Europe. In the case of the uprising in Hungary in 1956, China did play a role. From a paper written by SHEN ZHIHUA there is:

MAO AND THE 1956 SOVIET MILITARY INTERVENTION IN HUNGARY
[...]
WHY MAO SUPPORTED SUPPRESSION IN HUNGARY
Mao’s change of attitude to the Hungarian crisis on the night of October 30, or rather his attitude to the Nagy government, clearly had a profound effect on the Soviet decision to intervene in Hungary a second time. One factor encouraging Mao to shift his ground may have been Mikoyan’s telegram of October 30, forwarded by
Liu Shaoqi. There are data to show the situation reports from the Chinese Embassy in Budapest were also influential.
[...]
As for China’s role in the Polish and Hungarian affairs, it can safely be assumed that the decisions to give up armed intervention in Poland and to dispatch troops to Hungary after all were made by the Soviet leaders alone. Yet China played a dominant role, first in pulling the Soviet troops out of Budapest and then in bringing them back. But this paper is concerned more about something else. To this author’s mind, it is more apposite to say that Mao Zedong attained his goal of criticizing the great-power chauvinism of Moscow and that of maintaining the unity of the socialist camp, than that China helped the Soviet Union tide over its crises. In that sense, the author agrees with scholars who say that one of Khrushchev’s decisive acts in handling the crises of 1956 was to bring China into Europe.

In starting to become involved in East European affairs, the CCP symbolically ascended a new flight of steps in its position and role in the international communist movement. Thereafter Moscow’s leadership of the communist world began to be challenged from Beijing. (Translated by Guo Jie, East China Normal University, Shanghai.)

"CCP" could mean Chinese Communiste Party.

What is the relevance of the above to what is happening now? One can take a look at the relation between between China and Ukraine

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to play a constructive role in the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Tuesday.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

"We sincerely hope that Ukraine will maintain social stability and economic development," Xi said.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Ukraine.

Xi said China attaches great importance to relations with Ukraine and is ready to work with Ukraine to cement mutual political trust, strengthen exchanges between governments, legislatures and political parties, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation.

He also suggested that the two nations enhance exchanges and cooperation in such areas as education, culture, health, sports and tourism, and beef up dialogue and coordination in international and regional affairs as well as multilateral institutions like the United Nations.

For his part, Poroshenko said Ukraine-China relations are very important.

Ukraine will make concerted efforts with China to expand their political, economic and trade cooperation, he said.

There exists great potential in bilateral cooperation in such areas as logistics, ports, agriculture, steel and machine manufacturing, he said, welcoming more Chinese investments in Ukraine.

Ukraine, one of the non-permanent UN Security Council members, will assume the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for February, according to Poroshenko.

He said Ukraine is willing to increase communication and coordination with China in the world body.
[...]

The above meeting happened on the background

Ukraine sells state-owned bank to China
Thursday, 1 December, 2016 - 12:45

The Ukrainian Bank for Reconstruction and Development was sold to China's Bohai Commodity Exchange Co., Ltd. (BOCE), which was the single bidder. This bank was privatized at a starting price of UAH 82,827,000 (3.038 million euros).

After a short profitable period in 2012, the Ukrainian Bank was traditionally at a loss. In addition, according to the international bank rating compiled during the Economic Forum in Davos, Ukrainian banks have taken the last, 140 th place, as Forbes agreed, which prevented very pessimistic future of the banking sector in the country.

Nevertheless, China has taken the decision to buy it. Most likely, this is due to the so-called intelligence. Apparently, this is due to one of Beijing's large-scale economic projects and its desire not only to test the possibility of Ukraine, but also on their own to provide economic security to its investors.

In October of 2015 there was:

Ukraine and China have signed a currency swap agreement worth $2.4 billion, according to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). Ukraine expects it will relieve pressure on its currency which has lost above 40 percent against the US dollar in a year.

The three year agreement was signed in Shanghai by the governor of the National Bank of Ukraine(NBU) Valeria Gontareva and the governor of the People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan, according to NBU’s press release published on Friday.

Ukraine will provide some 54 billion hryvnia and China 15 billion yuan within the swap line.[...]

Earlier in 2015 a deal worth 15 bn$ was signed https://www.rt.com/business/244561-hina-ukraine-billions-investment/
It all adds up. China wants stability in Ukraine and they work to achieve it.

 

[thorbiorn]

The news this morning is that the DNR commander that had the call sign Givi has been killled:

Donetsk, Feb 8 — DAN. The unit commander "Somalia" Armed forces of the DNI Mikhail Tolstoy (call sign "Givi") was killed in Donetsk as a result of the attack. This was reported today in the operational command of the DNI.

"Today at 06:12, as a result of the terrorist act killed the Hero of the DNI, the commander of the battalion "Somalia" Mikhail Tolstoy Colonel, known as "Givi", — stated in the message. — A continuation of the terrorist war started by the Kiev junta against the Donbass".

The command added that the scene works investigative team. Details are specified. *AA

See also http://rusvesna.su/news/1486533716 or https://www.rbc.ua/rus/news/dnr-rossiyu-vyehali-17-gruzovikov-nadpisyu-1486378079.html about alledged losses to DNR. In any case people are dying, and with the intense fighting in the last few weeks, it is to be expected.

 

[thorbiorn]

Where European terror is born: Ukraine is creating 'Army of Terror'
Saturday, February 4, 2017 - 17:23

The fact that Ukraine has become the territory where international laws are not respected, has been known long ago. Violent upheaval of armed fighters in Ukraine was called 'the Revolution of Dignity', the illegally obtained power was legalized by means of western 'democracy assistants', and 'maidan morons' turned into deputies of the Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada.

Dmitry Tymchuk was one of such 'he-men' who had shown up in the Mariupol massacre during the people's rally honouring the celebration of an anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.

It would be a kind of nonsense to remember this provoker, but for one of his bills that Ukraine's western advisors must have just been legalized by his hands. It is about the scandalous bill No. 2389 - "On introduction of amendments to some acts concerning military service of foreigners and stateless persons in the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

In the explanatory note to the bill, it was told that, its approval would result in "improvement of fighting capacity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and reduction of human and financial losses coming as a consequence of military operations in the east of the state, by providing foreigners and stateless persons with the right to see military service (under the contract) in the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

Ukraine: Meat grinder for entire Europe

It was an act of outstanding cynicism to have said, that the needs for mobilization of Ukrainian citizens and expenses for various forms of payments to combatants, disabled persons, bereaved families and so forth would decrease at the expense of foreigners entering the Armed Forces' ranks.

As they say, fools for powder have no grades! Ukraine has turned into a big meat grinder for turn into powder soldiers of fortune from the entire Europe.

And now let's consider all this from the point of international laws: there is such a concept as International humanitarian law (the law of war, the law of armed conflicts).

It is a body of international legal norms and principles regulating protection of the war victims, and restricting methods and means of warfare. There was established a great deal of legal acts adopted by various institutes protecting the humanitarian law: The international law of armed conflicts is codified in The Hague Conventions, the Geneva Conventions on protection of the war victims of 1949 and Additional Protocols of 1977, resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, and other documents as well.

Taking into account all these precepts of law, it appears that mercenarism as such is condemned by the majority of civilized countries and is beyond the law. Foreign bandits cannot be presented as 'combatants' either, even though it would happen quite often previously: for this it is enough to issue a "correspondent's" certificate to bandits from "sheikh Mansour's battalion" or "Dudayev battalion."

Ukrainian deputies often try to draw analogies between 'gangs' and "The French legion", however it is an absolutely inappropriate analogy! "The French legion" doesn't apply the practice of short-term contracts and is, in fact, a set of units for 'future residents of France.'

Poroshenko signed this bill approved by 229 votes of the Verkhovna Rada, and Ukraine legalized foreign military 'off the books' service.' Now such questions as: "And what are foreigners doing in the Ukrainian army?" - won't arise.

Guys from Academy Military Company, Dincorp International, Tripe Canopy Inc., Military Company Resources Inc. recruit mercenaries for Ukraine worldwide, paying special attention to the Balkan region. Generally, mercenaries are recruited for nationalist paramilitary forces (battalion (and now a regiment) Azov, Volunteer Ukrainian Corps The Right Sector, in which citizens of European countries are at war.

Islamic battalions ("Battalion of sheikh Mansour", "Dudayev Battalion", battalion "Krym") recruit mostly fighters of the Caucasian and Crimean Tatar descent.

Foreign support for demoralized Ukrainian army

The Ukrainian army is demoralized and the majority of its fighters are psychologically unstable. Therefore the need for foreign instructors and physicians has increased.

If these 'experts', having a rather high level of training, nearly always act under the guise of various funds and humanitarian missions, then the matter of common cannon fodder is urgent more than ever. Informants on the Ukrainian side report that groups of 'soldiers of fortune', carefully picked up by recruiters, have been again redeployed to the frontline recently.

We have to remember some facts; Most of mercenaries have combat experience, and some of them have been trained in terrorist camps in Syria and Iraq.

Reportedly, many of the 'European trouble-makers', such as:

Francesco Saverio Fontana, founder of an international brigade under The Right Sector's wing, who was participating actively in protest actions on the Maidan;
Active recruiter Gaston Besson, a French citizen who is now actively engaged in recruitment of fighters for the AFU in Western and Eastern Europe;
The Balkan bandits of Davor Savicic recruited by the Military Company Resources Inc.;
Croatian citizens Denis Seler and Miroslav Masic; an activist of one of nationalist parties, Ivo Dumancic, as well a citizen of Croatia and gunnery instructor, other 'headhunters' and mercenaries from among the idea-driven Nazis have either made for Donbass again, or stepped up work on recruitment of fighters.

At first sight, the developed situation is even positive for the European commoner: all these thugs crack-brained on the war, who have visited a good deal of hot spots in their life already, all these "Inglourious Bastards" – will just stay under foreign skies and won't disturb them measured life.

However, it's not all as easy as it sounds... One has only to think about 'the Arab spring' and creation on people's protests' basis of apocalypse fighters – ISIS!

Civil opposition laid there the grounds for a real terrorist war. In the case of Ukraine – the same classical pattern: at first protests, then – a civil war, now – flooding of the Ukrainian army with terrorists. If citizens of France and Germany agree with the new army of terror ripening nearly in the centre of Europe, then politicians of these countries must be involved in its creation directly.

All this is absolute madness!

The Ukrainian tragedy is becoming an assembly point of the "European Army of Terror". It seems to be a 'successful idea' to someone in the West. Euro-Atlantic-oriented politicians are to go into elections which they expect to get grounded on the anti-Russian hysteria – with this end in view they need Ukraine to get flooded with arms and mercenaries: continuation of war is to become their admission to imperious corridors.

Editorial article, Janus Putkonen, DONi Donbass News Agency director

Thanks to our reliable sources among intelligence officials, from providing some of the most important details and specified information, published in this article.

One aspect of the mercenaries being hired to fight in Ukraine is who pays for them?

 

[thorbiorn]

I tried to look into the private military companies mentioned in the quotes from the article in the previous post and found:
"Acadmy Military Company" is actually Academi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academi now owned by the Constellis group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellis
"Tripe Canopy Inc" is actually Triple Canopy Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Canopy and is together with Academi part of Constellis based in Reston Virginia

For "DynCorp International" see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DynCorp It is based in McLean, Virginia

I could not find "Military Company Resources Inc" but did find Military Professional Resources Inc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Professional_Resources_Inc. Here it says that it is also called "L-3 MPRI" on the German page, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Professional_Resources there is an information saying that since 18. Juli 2012 the name is L-3 MPRI Engility. Going to Engility's page one understands it is based in Chantilly, Virginia and from it's history page:

History

Engility was launched in 2012 as an independent company made up of leading businesses within L-3's Government Services segments: including MPRI, Command & Control Systems and Software (C2S2), Global Security & Engineering Solutions (GS&ES), Linguist Operations & Technical Support (LOTS) and Engility Corporation and International Resources Group (IRG).

Engility's core businesses are renowned for providing critical services and support to the U.S. Department of Defense, Federal civilian agencies and allied foreign governments with work spanning several decades.
[...]
MPRI
Incorporated in 1987, MPRI is a global provider of integrated education, training staffing and logistics services and programs to a wide range of military, law enforcement and government customers.
[...]

About private military companies

[...]
A private military company (PMC) is a private company providing armed combat and/or security services. PMCs refer to their staff as "security contractors" or "private military contractors". Private military companies refer to their business generally as the "private military industry" or "The Circuit".[1][2]
[...]
According to a study from 2003 the PMC industry was worth over $100 billion a year at that time.[8]

According to a 2008 study by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, private contractors make up 29% of the workforce in the United States Intelligence Community and cost the equivalent of 49% of their personnel budgets.[9]

According to the Brazilian geostrategist De Leon Petta, far from meaning a possible weakening of the national state power and its monopoly on violence, these PMCs will actually serve as alternative forms of power application abroad through irregular means, without violating international law, causing troubles in the domestic or public policy, or too many international repercussions.[10] American scholar Phelps makes a similar claim by finding that PMCs cloak themselves in the state governments "cloak of legitimacy."[11] It is often difficult to tell national troops from private security contractors, or national support personnel from supply and support contractors. The obfuscation between private and public actors allows for the responsibility of criminal actions to be placed on the private firm, while allowing the state to achieve its foreign policy goals.

Considering the conflict in Donbass, probably no side will admit, that PMC personnel is taking part on their side, one approach is to find out what the sides say about each other.

In this article from April 2015 https://sputniknews.com/europe/201504051020490668/ they mention that Academi according to German media had 400 people in Ukraine. This article attemps among other things to proove there are no PMC working for the West in the Ukraine. There is only one comment to the article and he gives good reason to question the conclusion of the article, fx

[...]Moving to the question of ‘'why there are no western mercenaries in Ukraine'’: The article’s first point fails to support the author’s view, as it is not logically connected to Ukraine. The case of Moran Security Group is a separate case, and does not prove that mercenaries never existed in Ukraine. It is also very interesting, if not self-contradicting, that, in contrast to the author’s previous discussion of PMSC personnel, the Slavonic Corps contractors are identified in the article as mercenaries without any reservations.

Similarly, the second point mentions that between 2003 and 2011, “the U.S. budget has allocated $5.9 billion for contracts with major private military and security companies”, and that “it is highly improbable that the West could cover such expenses in Ukraine”. Since the Snowden leaks, we now know that the CIA alone, for example, has an annual ‘black budget’ of $14.7bn; which in fact makes it quite able to afford the services of PMSCs in Ukraine, if it wished.

The third point about the possible impact of a few hundred PMSC contractors is largely irrelevant, since the question regarded the existence or not of Western PMSC personnel in Ukraine, not whether they would make a difference or not (which is also open to debate).

Finally, the suggestion at the end of the article that PMSCs would always publicize their contracts seems to ignore, or knowingly disregard evidence that such companies have in the past provided their services to intelligence agencies for secret operations (see http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/us/politics/11blackwater.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0).

Dimitrios Machairas

For info about who Dimitrios Machairas is https://www.linkedin.com/in/dimitriosmachairas In 2013 he was PhD. student

Here is a link to an old article about PMSC personel allegedly working on the side of Kiev https://02varvara.wordpress.com/tag/private-military-company/

The role of Russia may be understood from:

MOSCOW, 11 APR - RIA Novosti. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin supports the idea of creation in Russia of private military companies, which could provide services for the protection of facilities and training of foreign military abroad without the participation of the Russian state.

The Deputy from "Fair Russia" Alexei Mitrofanov after the report of the Prime Minister to the state Duma asked him a question about the possibility of using private military companies as one of the tools of influence abroad. "Are you ready to create a working group that worked for this issue?" asked Mitrofanov.

"I understand Your question and believe that it really is a tool for implementing national interests without the direct involvement of the state. You are absolutely right," said in response to Putin. "I think that Yes, it is possible to think, to consider," - said the head of government.

It seems that the position of Russia is not much different from that of other countries.

About Russian PMCs and their alleged involvement in Donbas and Syria one can read an article from november 12. 2015: In Russian here http://sprotyv.info/ru/news/kiev/rossiyskie-chvk-ili-uzakonennye-terroristy In English here: https://informnapalm.org/en/russian-private-military-companies-as-licensed-tool-of-terror/
Another article is https://stopterror.in.ua/info/2016/01/chastnye-voennye-kompanii-rossii-na-donbasse/ and there also is a page that identify people from the Russian Federaton who have been spottet in Eastern Ukraine performing military kind of work https://stopterror.in.ua/

Thus it is not a black and white picture, and it all began with a Maidan supported by the US, the EU and other similar players.

 

[angelburst29]

Donbass escalation: Ukraine is extorting cash through war - Putin [Video]
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/02/donbass-escalation-ukraine-is-extorting.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTGE5j_SiB4 (2:50 min.)

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry hasn't specified the date of the maneuvers.

Ukraine to hold live-fire drills with Buk-M1 missile systems near Crimea
http://tass.com/world/930206

Friday February 10, 2017 - Ukraine will hold live-fire drills with Buk-M1 antiaircraft missile systems at the Yagorlyk practice range in the Kherson Region in the country’s southeast, spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry Dmitry Gutsulyak said on Friday.

"About 50 tactical exercises have been planned with the command posts of brigades, regiments and basic units, almost 25 tactical drills with Buk-M1 surface-to-air missile batteries at practice ranges, and also about 35 tactical and special maneuvers with logistics teams to ensure cohesion of antiaircraft missile formations," the spokesman said.

"Units of S-300 air defense systems will take part in tactical live-fire drills during the multinational exercises Saber Guardian - 2017 at the Shabla training range in Bulgaria," Gutsulyak told a press briefing.

Also, "units armed with Buk-M1 antiaircraft missile systems will hold live-fire drills at the Yagorlyk range," the spokesman said, without specifying the date of the maneuvers.

Separate radar platoons and radio-electronic equipment teams of the Air Force will monthly perform practical maneuvers with marches and deployment to new positioning areas, he said.

"Also, some tactical and special exercises will be held for the practical launches of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft," the spokesman said.

The first deputy chairman of Russia's upper house Defense and Security Committee did not rule out on Friday possibility of accidents during the upcoming Ukrainian missile drills at the Yagorlyk firing range close to the Russian border.

Russia's Lawmaker Not Ruling Out Accidents During Ukrainian Missile Drills
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702101050555208-russia-ukraine-missile-drills/

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Dmytro Gutsulyak announced that Kiev was planning to hold live-firing drills with Buk-M1 air defense systems at the Yagorlyk firing range in the Kherson region in southeastern Ukraine in 2017.

"The incidents could not be ruled out… It is not difficult to imagine what would the response be if such a missile would suddenly, for whatever reason, fly into our territory," Franz Klintsevich said.

The lawmaker is convinced that the shooting will be carried out in order to "irritate" Russia since there is no military necessity for them.

Residents of the capital of Greece held a rally in support of the people of Donbass.

Protests And Rallies Held In Greece And Spain In Support Of Donbass Republics Against Mass Murder Of Innocent Civilians By The Nazi Ukraine Junta Military Bombs
http://novorossia.today/protests-rallies-held-greece-spain-support-donbass-republics-mass-murder-innocent-civilians-nazi-ukraine-junta-military-bombs/

Residents of the capital of Greece held a rally in support of the people of Donbass in the central square of Athens, Syntagma or Constitution Square, located in front of the Greek parliament. This was reported in the LPR Trade Union Federation (TUF).

The event was organized by the theater group “2510” in cooperation with the organization “Save Donbass / Greece”.

‘Our friends and supporters abroad are trying to attract the attention of the authorities to the tragic events in Donbass. It is no accident such actions are held in central squares, in front of buildings of the official authorities which, as we know, turn a blind eye to the real situation, trying to ignore the death and suffering of the people in Donbass. Now they will not be able to do it. They will have to face the truth and admit the crimes of the Kiev regime against the people of Donbass,’ said the chairman of the LPR TUF, Oleg Akimov

Rally in support of Donbass was held in the center of Madrid~

A meeting in connection with the aggravation of the situation in Donbass was held in the center of Madrid in front of the Foreign Ministry in the evening on February 5. The protesters demanded that the Spanish government stop supporting Kiev and break off the diplomatic relations with Ukraine.

Dozens of people took part in the protest action, held under the slogan of ‘Kiev is bombing civilians. Donbass is resisting’. The reason for the rally was the sharp aggravation of the situation in the east of Ukraine. The participants held photos of the destroyed localities, as well as the flags of the unrecognized republics DPR and LPR.

‘We urge the Spanish government to sever the diplomatic relations with the Government of Ukraine,’ said the spokesperson of the «Forum against the imperialist war and NATO», the organizer of the action, Ángeles Maestro.

Crimean Tatars are convinced that "international law does not establish any prohibitory rules on matters of secession.

Crimean Tatars call on UN GA to recognize Crimea as part of Russia
http://tass.com/politics/929864

February 8, 2017 - Russia has handed to the United Nations an appeal of the Crimean Tatar civil movement Kyrym, which requests to recognize the Black Sea peninsula’s accession to Russia as compliant with norms of international law, to condemn Crimea’s blockade and to help lift anti-Russian sanctions imposed by Western countries.

The appeal was attached to a letter sent to President of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly Peter Thomson by Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin. The letter was posted on the UN website on Wednesday.

The appeal, approved by Kyrym movement in Simferopol on 10 December 2016, says that " <...> violent coup d’etat in Ukraine," in 2014 "which involved arson, the storming of administrative buildings and aggression against law enforcement forces resulting in numerous fatalities and considerable injuries, was a grave development that endangered the life, liberty and security of the people of Crimea."

In the wake of those developments, Crimea’s authorities "chose the only valid course of action: to create the independent sovereign State of the Republic of Crimea, to hold a referendum on 16 March 2014 and, based on the outcome thereof, to join Russia and, consequently, leave Ukraine. There is absolutely no doubt about the genuineness of the will expressed by the large majority of the population of Crimea in the referendum, which averted serious consequences for security, peace and stability in Europe."

Crimean Tatars are convinced that "international law does not establish any prohibitory rules on matters of secession," and reminded that this notion should not be replaced with the word annexation (forcible transition of one state’s land by another state).

Kyrym called on the UN General Assembly to admit that the declaration of independence of the Republic of Crimea and its free association with the Russian Federation are not incompatible with the norms of international law," to condemn "the policy of economic, trade and financial blockading of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol" and to lift "the political and economic sanctions" imposed on them.

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of Kiev authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014. Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.

 

[thorbiorn]

In the Ukrainian conflict there are losses, on both sides. The real number we don't hear. Kiev does not report too much, especially not if they are also foreigners fighting for Kiev. Somewhat similar from the position of DPR/LPR, if there are people hired by PMSC will not be. Here is a video that claim to show losses of some soldiers fighting on the side of DPR/LPR near Lugansk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxuB3YBVgaI

 

[angelburst29]

Military experts believe that such a configuration of the troops is typical for an offensive.

90,000 NAZI UKRAINE JUNTA TOY SOLDIERS ON THE FRONT LINES
http://novorossia.today/90-000-nazi-ukraine-junta-toy-soldiers-front-lines/

Ukraine Junta continues to deliver large forces to the contact line: on the DPR-Live portal appeared infographics of the operational formation of the grouping.

‘The Nazi Ukraine Units (AFU) grouping is divided into four parts nearly identical in size, such as the separate tactical group (STG) Lugansk, the STG Donetsk , the STG Mariupol and the operational reserve,’ the report says.

It is noted that each part consists of approximately 16-17 thousands of the personnel, 80-100 tanks, about 500 infantry fighting vehicles, about 260 artillery systems and mortars, about 40 MLRS, about 300 anti-tank systems, and up to 400 air-defense systems. In total, near the contact line, there are now amassed almost 90 thousand Ukrainian military.

‘The most interesting is the STG Donetsk sector. There are three backup airmobile brigades and one tank battalion tactic group, as well as another two tank brigades at the sector boundaries,’ stated the report.

At the same time, despite assurances of the Nazi Ukraine Units (AFU) command that such a configuration of the troops is a deeply layered defense, the military experts believe that it is typical rather for an offensive.

‘This fact is confirmed by the location of the Nazi Ukraine Units (AFU) artillery brigades armed with 152mm systems. Two of the three such brigades are amassed in the STG Donetsk sector. Such a configuration of armored vehicles, artillery and infantry units looks like an offensive fist of the AFU, with the city of Gorlovka as a possible target. In addition, a strike on Dokuchaevsk in the south of Donetsk is not excluded either,’ believe the authors of the material.

At the same time, the military experts question the fact that the Kiev Junta has enough forces to conduct offensive operations in all three directions, but two of them it can quite afford.

At the same time, the military experts question the fact that the Kiev Junta has enough forces to conduct offensive operations in all three directions, but two of them it can quite afford.

‘The option of «the north of Gorlovka and the south of Donetsk» is questionable, since involving reserves in these directions will weaken the position in the Avdeevka area. The other two cases involve a strike from Avdeevka. That is why the Avdeevka industrial area is so important as the failure of the AFU plans in this area will lead to the failure of plans of the entire winter campaign,’ underline the experts.


2 houses destroyed in Staromihaylovka as a result of night shelling by Kiev troops (Photo)
http://novorossia.today/2-houses-destroyed-in-staromihaylovka-as-a-result-of-night-shelling-by-kiev-troops/

‘One of the houses was directly struck in Staromihaylovka, on Zhukovskiy 2, another house was damaged, on the same street 17.

Data on casualties and destroying is being checked.

A total of nine civilians were killed and 41 were injured in Donbas from January 29 through February 9, Alexander Hug, the principal deputy chief monitor of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to Ukraine, said Saturday.

OSCE Mission Reveals Number of Civilian Victims Since Escalation in Donbass
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201702111050581656-osce-civilians-killed/

The situation in southeastern Ukraine has escalated again over the past weeks, in particular near the town of Avdiivka in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), where clashes between Kiev forces and the local militia have intensified. The conflicting parties have accused each other of initiating the violence.

"From January 29 through February 9, we confirmed 50 cases of civilians being injured, including nine fatally," Hug said.

Last week, Putin explained three reasons behind the escalation in eastern Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Moscow had reliable data that the Ukrainian independent armed groups, supported by the Ukrainian Armed Forces' artillery, were behind the attack on Avdiivka.

On Friday, a spokesperson of the Donetsk People's Republic ombudsman said that over 40 people had been killed in the DPR since the beginning of 2017 due to the recent escalation of violence.