Wow! Now things look very serious indeed. RT reports that Russia is starting military maneuvers involving not one, but TWO military districts plus the Air Force:
Russia has begun extensive military exercises in Ukrainian border area following the escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine.
“The order to use force against civilians has already been given, and if this military machine is not stopped, the amount of casualties will only grow,” Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said during an official meeting in Moscow.
“War games by NATO in Poland and the Baltic states are not helping the normalization of the situation. We are forced to react to the situation.”
Shoigu said that the drills involve march and deployment exercises by forces in the southern and western military districts, and separate Air Force maneuvers.
Shoigu said that 11,000 Ukrainian soldiers, 160 tanks, 230 armored carriers and at least 150 artillery pieces are involved in the operation against anti-Kiev activists.
“National guard units and Right Sector extremists are fighting against the peaceful population, as well as a volunteer Donbass ‘anti-terrorist’ unit. Also security and internal forces transferred to Lugansk and Donetsk from other areas of the country are suppressing dissent,” the minister said.
He added that Ukrainian sabotage units have been deployed near the Russian border.
In contrast, Shoigu said that the pro-Russian self-defense units number about 2,000 and have about 100 guns between them, which have mostly been taken from local police stations.
I did not expect such a dramatic and rapid escalation and if I was on the side of the forces currently attacking Slaviansk I would get really frightened. The size of the force Shoigu has just mobilized is huge, potentially enough to fight a major war on a full continental front. It also includes the best and most powerful and battle-hardened Russian units from the southern military district.
Now, this does not at all mean that the FULL forces of the military districts have been mobilized or are moving. But that the Russian high command can draw whatever units it deems necessary from these two districts (a misnomer, by the way, they are now called “strategic directions”). One thing is certain, not even during the Chechen wars or 08.08.08 did Russia assemble such a powerful military force. I am frankly astounded that they would make such a decision and announce it publicly even though the Ukrainian attack so far has been, frankly, minimal and lame.
Also, notice that unlike Putin, Shoigu is not talking about “consequences” for “individuals” but about stopping the Ukrainian military machine! He also presents this not a a choice for Russia, but as something Russia is forced to do. He clearly knows something we don’t. Maybe a NATO move in western Ukraine? It seems totally crazy to me that NATO would do that, but how can I otherwise explain the huge size of the force Russia has just put on alert?! You don’t need the resources of two of you most powerful strategic directions to deal with 5’000+ SBU/RS thugs? For that a single ODON division would be plenty.
I am getting very worried by this and I hope that this is a mistranslation or some kind of misunderstanding on RT’s part (stuff happens). But if not, then this is very, very serious.
I will try my best to figure out what is going on.
Stay tuned (and say prayer for peace), and let’s hope that things calm down.
The Saker
UPDATE @ 1522Z: 5 people reported killed in Slaviansk. Ukies have entered Slaviansk, there are combats inside the city. The cellular network has been disconnected.
@where-wolf
The problem for Shia, like everyone else, is a rotten and corrupt ruling class
Very true. Sometimes this leads to their downfall. And the rest have to face the consequences. Also they tend to behave self righteously that leads to cruelty. A lot of the cruelty is mentioned in Fisk’s book.
The energy block you talk about might in the end be just as bad as the current ruling class when it forms.
As regards to Fisk, I feel he’s genuine. Comes across as such. Even the Hizballah news outlet Al Manar quotes him at times. But maybe you know something others don’t.
@shia Muslim
Wa’alaika Salam
Regarding ibadhi Muslims. Their beliefs of no caliph on earth was similar to the kharjite belief. They may be the best of people but their thinking was similar. The reason they are different is that they ended up having imams of their own. Who they have now replaced with a sultan.
Regarding Imam Ali (as) and the kharjites, please refer to the battle of Nahrawan. He killed them only as a last resort and when they were resorting to cruelty and bloodshed. He tried to reform them at first.
Ali (as) moved the capital to Kufa, not Najaf. Najaf gained importance after his grave was identified there. Also scholars felt safer there when Karbala was constantly attacked.
Mindfriedo
A comment about “the guardian”.
if you look at that pper during 80s the gaurdian was rabid anti jewish and anti israle.
now the reason it is so pro israle is not ebcause it realikes jews but because it uses jews to beat others with.
the gurdain is a pure evil paper which supported iraq war,ssuooprted terrorisma gasint syria and which is an organ of english antionalist pirate evil rule.
the Guardian journalists shoudl be treated as enemy combatants and dealt with accordingly.
Once UK authorities told the Guardian it could face legal action, the newspaper destroyed computers containing Snowden-provided documents on GCHQ, though it did give copies of the material to the New York Times and ProPublica. How convenient for a british newspaper who was a pal of war criminal tony blair in Iraq war and which is really a british propaganda organ to dupe people that it is a liberal paper-the guardian cheated on not only snowden but also jualin assange and used them to get out of gutter of low sale.
That genocidal policy targeting the indigenous population of North America by the English pirates and scumbags –called pilgrim fathers!- will be recorded in history as the most terrible pogrom in human history. Never again.
If Israel belongs to Jews then North America belongs to the indigenous tribes.
In England, the Guardian is the leading newspaper for calls to war. Libya, Syria – the Guardian wants them bombed. Afghanistan, Serbia, Iraq, – the Guardian wanted them to be invaded. It is just the package is different: instead of right-wing jingoism, the Guardian served the neo-colonialist adventurism under delicate sauce of humanitarian intervention. The Guardian leads on hypocrisy. The Guardian is not the newspaper of the left; it is the problem of the left. The case of Guantanamo files proves that the Guardian redacted the most vital information as told by the CIA. =======================================
=================================================
January 11, 2011
Redacting Corruption
The Guardian’s Political Censorship of Wikileaks
By ISRAEL SHAMIR
Although we are treated to daily accounts of how the net tightens around Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the contents of the US embassy cables have been doled out to us in spoonfuls. To add insult to injury, it is now clear that The Guardian edits and distorts the cables in order to protect their readers
Russians had a taste of Luke Harding / Guardian / Economist / Edward Lucas “values” in the 1990’s when Russia was “democratically” looted and nearly steered into the Abyss by Yeltsin and his “democratic” Zionazi Circle such Borizovsky and “business leaders” like Khodorkovsky, heavily supported by the US and EU Governments.
In the 1990’s (under the rule of the heroes of Luke Harding & the Guardian) Russian’s lives were hell on earth faced with shortages, bankruptcy, anarchy, gangsterism, complete break downs in law and order, salaries being unpaid, mayhem on the borders and massive theft from the State on an Industrial Scale.
It’s well documented on the Internet how the 1990’s were “dark times” in Russia, what kind of misery ordinary peoples lives were being made by the oligarchs and their Western Liberal partners.
Only since the 2000’s there’s been a slow return to “normality” even though many problems remain to be resolved. Which country is perfect?
YEconomic and Political Liberalism (as advocated by The Guardian, Economist, Edward Lucas, Luke Harding) as if this would be some kind of improvement on Putin.
@kalithea 25 April, 2014 03:22 Your evaluation of Obama as a puppet serving the 2-party tyranny in the US was valid until Obama won the reelection. Since then he has not been behaving like a controlled puppet. Read about Obama’s purge of the putschist in his administration and armed forces still loyal to Bush/Cheney/Romney… and aiming atglobal confrontation with Russia, and also about his pact with Putin that prevented bombing of Syria, peace process with Iran, peace talks in Palestine and weakest Israel ever… Obviosly Obama has been under many threats from the evil cabal, but calls to remove him now are clear signs of being a “useful idiot” serving well Israeli agenda… Kerry’s lies are disgusting but harmless, and that’s what counts the most…
@ вот так 25 April, 2014 01:11 Many people are blinded by ideologies, especially those imposed by the ruling class and influential centres of opinion in societies. Winning them over is much more prudent, just and effective than obsessively potraying them as mortal enemies. Granted, zionist radicals, fanatics, extremists should be dealt with appropriately, but the innocent ones should be spared. At the core of the evil there are numerous people and groups, calculated, cynical, psychopathic, who do not care about ideologies, but are ruthlessly and coldly implementing their antihuman agenda. Your maniacal fixation on just one group supports continuation of the wrong doing by other groups without them being disturbed. Is that your agenda?
@ Anonymous said…
The Russians and Chinese will sink the US$ by just not accepting it anymore as payment.
It is easiest and cleanest way to deal with these warmonger banksters.
Oracle
24 April, 2014 15:22
——
If China wants to destroy the dollar, it will destroy its export market to the US.
In addition to destroying the value of the trillions in treasuries that it holds.
Anonymous said…25 April, 2014 13:05
Agree about the Guardian. It is the usual exploitative zionazi propaganda given a humanistic, left-leaning veneer.
Anonymous said…25 April, 2014 15:27
“Your maniacal fixation on just one group supports continuation of the wrong doing by other groups without them being disturbed. Is that your agenda?”
Your agenda is rather obvious. Typical web sayan smear.
Not sure where to post this question.
Why was Slavyansk chosen to make an exampel?
After all the self-defense forces operate in a number of cities. What is so special about Slavyansk?
‘Why was Slavyansk chosen to make an exampel?’
Protesters in Ukraine guard biggest weapons cache in eastern Europe
At least 1m firearms ranging from first world war machine guns to Soviet-era Kalashnikovs stored at Volodarsky salt mine
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/24/protesters-ukraine-weapons-cache-mine
T1
Anonymous said…25 April, 2014 19:27
“Why was Slavyansk chosen to make an exampel? After all the self-defense forces operate in a number of cities. What is so special about Slavyansk?”
I think because of its geographic position. It is the most exposed and easiest to isolate.
@T1 and вот так:
Thanks for your help. Your answers are greatly appreciated. In particular I didn’t know about the weapons Cache. Found the Guardian article. Surprised that there was no better security in order to avoid a take-over by the rebels.