- The city hall and the city council buildings of the eastern city of Konstantinovka have been taken under control of Russian-speaking insurgents who say that they are here to protect the local authorities (who are opposed to the revolutionary regime in Kiev) from any attack by the junta.
- Probably lured by the oligarch-galore in the Ukraine, the Jewish oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky has showed up in the Dontesk region to show is support for the new regime. According to him, “Donetsk is far from being as pro-Russian as it could be”.
- The Mayor of Kharkov, Gennadi Kermes, has been shot in the back and critically wounded by an unknown gunman who used a rifle from long range. The bullet passed through Kermes’ body, damaging several internal organs.
- Six more Right Sector gunmen have been arrested over the week-end when they attempted to penetrate the Donetsk area under cover.
- According to The Guardian, the Jews of the Ukraine do not fear the neo-Nazi Banderists, but Putin, Russia and Russian propaganda.
- Obama is about to announce new sanctions against Russia.
- The EU is about to announce new sanctions against Russia.
- On Sunday, pro-regime soccer hooligans clashed with pro-federation Russian-speakers. There were injuries, but not fatalities.
- A number of fake snuff-videos purportedly made by the Right Sector which show policemen being killed have emerged on the Internet. They are almost certainly fake, but nobody knows who is behind this action.
A very interesting trend is beginning to emerge: the deepening of the rift between the, shall we say, “official” leaders of the eastern Ukraine and their own electorate. I am talking about folks like Mikhail Dobkin, Gennadi Kermes (the one shot today) or the various representatives of the Party of Regions in what is left of the Ukrainian Parliament. The folks leading the anti-regime insurgency are adamant that the Party of Regions and all its members have already betrayed them many times and that the idea of participating in the Presidential elections organized by the junta in Kiev is yet another betrayal. Yesterday, in one of the most popular talkshows on Russian TV (“Sunday Evening With Vladimir Soloviev“) one of the supposedly “pro-Russian” representatives of the Party of regions ended up having an ugly shouting match with about half of the guests on the show, including three representatives of the pro-Russian insurgency in the eastern Ukraine, and several well-known Russian analysts. At this point the “least disliked” “official” political figure in the eastern Ukraine might be Oleg Tsarev who was expelled from the Party of Regions and who initially announced that he was running for President, but who dropped out of the race when confronted about that by the local people in Donetsk. He is also the politician who was invited to the Ukie TV show “freedom of speech”, who was guaranteed protection and then who ended up several beaten and partially stripped of his clothes by neo-Nazi thugs outside the TV station.
Speaking of TV stations, following the ban on the re-broadcast of Russian TV in the Ukraine, a number of TV stations have been stormed and taken under control of local insurgents who, interestingly, did restore the broadcast of Russian TV stations alongside Kiev controlled TV station. They did not get the Ukrainian stations off the air.
For the time being the twice announced operation to put down the Russian-speaking East has achieved nothing besides getting a few people killed and radicalizing the local population. The current strategy of laying siege to the rebellious cities is bound to fail as time is most definitely not on the junta’s side. Again, to me, the eastern Ukraine has reached an escape velocity, a point of no return, and I simply do not see any figure who could make the idea of a federalized Ukraine work. I am not even sure if Putin could do that.
Finally, there are pretty good signs that somebody is definitely trying to make things worse by, for example, filming the fake snuff-video I mentioned. Or the shooting of Kermes for that matter. The irony is that the Right Sector and the Russian-speakers are both opposed to a negotiated settlement and both equally hate the junta in power. The shot which wounded Kermes today could have been fired by either side.
Note about terminology:
I employ a lot of expressions which I consider value-neutral. I there speak of the “insurgents” in the East just as I spoke of the “insurgents” on the Maidan. To me somebody who takes arms against a regime is an insurgent, that does not imply that I condone or condemn what he/she is doing. Same thing for the expression “revolutionary regime”. To me a revolutionary regime is one which brings about a radical change, a change in order, in regime. That can be good or that can be bad. Ditto for “rebels” who are, in my opinion, those who openly disobey the orders of an authority. Again, I don’t believe that these expression imply anything other than a factual situation.
Stay tuned, kind regards,
The Saker
On Sunday, pro-regime soccer hooligans clashed with pro-federation Russian-speakers. There were injuries, but not fatalities.
—————————–
I see this as a bad sign for pro-Russian protestors. Soccer hooligans can usually have big influence in this kind of events. They are not the same as The Right Sector neo-nazis. I remember when Milosevic fell in Serbia, the key element was the role of football supporters. I would say this is a sign that Kharkov will remain pro-Ukrainian.
“To me somebody who takes arms against a regime is an insurgent,…” I think this definition does not go far enough. An insurgent has to have legitimacy within the country. For example to call Saudi jihadists or European jihadists fighting within Syria “insurgents” is a misnomer, in my opinion. They are invaders.
@Anonymous: An insurgent has to have legitimacy within the country.
I agree. Except that I would not call it “legitimacy” but “local roots”. I don’t see the Wahabi liver-eating reptiles in Syria as “legitimate” even if they are local. Anyway, for me the *Syrians* who fight the government are “insurgents” while the Saudi or European jihadists are either “mercenaries” “volunteers” or, frankly, “international terrorists” as they clearly have terror as a key tactic. They are also invaders as you correctly pointed out.
Cheers,
The Saker
The militaristic neo-Con Harper government in Canada has the country’s state news apparatus churning out feverish anti-Russian propaganda.
This probably at least partly due to a fear of having their funding cut if they don’t please Harper, and likely also in an attempt to curry favour with western Canada’s millions of Ukrainian-Canadians.
I now agree that the CBC should be abolished – it was always an alternative to CNN, CBS, etc, and now it has become more CNN than CNN is.
Speaking of insurgents, we saw what Iraqi insurgents managed against the might of the US military in Iraq with home made bombs, small-arms and home field advantage.
Still more potent insurgency-weaponry would be SAM:s, anti-tank RPG:s, and possibly mines. Portable weapons that can be used by guerillas against APC:s, tanks and helicopters. Russia has lots of all of those and could easily deliver them across the border. What would you reckon are the odds of that either going on already or is being planned as a possible move?
Does it matter where the hooligans are from? Weren’t they bussed in?
Anyway, this is a different scenario than Serbia. Russia is next door, and has an obligation to protect Russians, besides having economic and military concerns. And Milosevic was on the defense, while the junta is on the defense in this case.
Paul
Donetsk police in violent clashes with neo-Nazis- videos:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-28/donetsk-clashes-break-out-scenes-absolute-brutality
On the subject of the snuff videos (plural) there’s a very interesting and detailed examination by Russian-speakers of the contents of Irma Krat’s (alleged) flash drive, here:
http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Irma_Krat%27s_flash_drive
Irma Krat was part of the Pravy Sektor operation who got captured by rebels at a checkpoint. She is the highly symbolic grand daughter of a Ukrainian nationalist WW2 general. The CIA cultivated these families, they got invited to all kinds of workshops and conferences.
We also have a link to the new video (the hanging one), here:
http://vk.com/wall-70006340_55365
Of course, we all hope these things are completely faked, and faked by Right Sektor themselves, to terrorise and/or provoke eastern Ukrainians in general. That’s a pretty vague motivation, but the idea they were produced by someone else to discredit Right Sektor is very alarming in what it says about that someone else. Who could it logically be, except black propaganda factories in Moscow? To suggest western intelligence agencies want to discredit Right Sektor is just too far-fetched for me to credit.
If the comments (and their up-arrows) on the Guardian article are any indication, no one’s buying what the Guardian – and those who are behind it – are selling anymore.
Big Western Propaganda is a dying relic.
Outside Donetsk and Lugansk the reaction against Kiev is–from surface indications at least– retracting rather than expanding. The longer the situation remains stalled, the more time Kiev has to ‘detain’ or ‘disappear’ activists and develop suppressive mechanisms.The oligarchs and the Americans intend to ‘hang on’to the East; absent something to break the current impasse they may.
Putin has been bringing up the acute reliance of east Ukraine on Russian imports. He cannot, of course, cut them off without causing great distress to the very Russian speaking people who have faith in him. One way to ‘jar things loose’ however might be to set a deadline, beyond which imports will only be continued from those oblasts that have determined by peaceful referendum which political course they wish to take. To make this politically palatable Russia would probably have to disavow succession and would, of course. need to respect the popular verdicts without discrimination.
It is perfectly true that American efforts to apply “sanctions” are floundering and the rift between the ‘Anglosphere” and the rest of Europe has widened in recent days. But the success or failure of this American/NATO gambit will be determined, eventually, on the soil of the Ukraine.
Do you think maybe we don’t care about the chaos as long as (we believe) we’re keeping Putin on the defensive? I mean, we’ve got two oceans and the NSA to defend us (ha ha), but this is going on right in Russia’s backyard. So yeah, maybe these strategic geniuses (genii?) are thinking, it’s not Plan A but it may be good enough, ahem, for state work. Don’t forget, we’re stirring up a lot of pots and Syria really is still on the front burner.
Canadian says:
Thanks for the reporting Saker.
With regard to the “snuff” videos the one that I viewed was clearly a fake. A cut to the carotid artery can produce a stream of blood which will arc clear across the room. This is inconsistent with the scene in the video and also inconsistent with the amount of blood shown in the video.
Do you have any readers able to translate the language in the video or give an indication of the dialect being used?
I’m sure you know of Martin Armstrong, the economist. Take a look at this, which he just published. Is he full of BS, is he misinformed, is he manipulating, or does he know something? http://armstrongeconomics.com/2014/04/28/russia-using-chechnya-troops-to-occupy-eastern-ukraine-this-is-checkmate/
Reft is Light and dp is uown
Reporting from the „Montagsdemo“ (Moday’s Demonstration) at the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin, Germany.
Very close to the Russian Embassy in Berlin, Germany yet another Monday’s gathering by „peace loving“ Germans was held. It was a strange picture:
2000-3000 people, age 50:50 for above/below 35, many immigrants, roughly 20% under cover Nazis (not ONE! of them showing the typical insignias! I call that good organization!) and maybe 5% leftists. The rest: average people. The issue: „peace aka Russia = peace; USA=war“. Some speakers were openly showing support for Putin, others were talking about esoteric bullshit. “Peace is not left or right”. One guy even said that you have to get rid of everything you own to become free: he thinks that 60-80 euros per month are enough to have a good life (in Germany!!). LOL. No way. Even with 900 Euros you are dirt poor. However people applauded him. Some music. And also a lot of immigrants who obviously loved the show and did not get it at all. The German media is not covering it or is just calling them Nazis. Mostly a media-black out. The Pied Piper show is working however.
In the background there was another spot: One guy who was telling the people “the truth”. All (!) wars in the past 100 years or even more were caused by the FED. The problem is interest (code name for Jews). The USA is holding Germany captive. Germany is still subject to US rule etc. We do understand why Russia is doing what they do and we respect it etc.
There were also a few leftists from the left party. All of them were from the “sozialistische Linke” (socialist left) which is a wing in the left party. They are called friends of Oskar Lafontaine, who is a co-founder of the left party and known for his populist approaches like being anti-Euro, playing the social card against freedom of expression and also famous for “torture is okay if a human life is at stake”. Not to forget: he is in favor of concentration camps for Africans in Africa that are trying to get asylum in Europe. Nice guy! (not!!)
I talked with some guys and girls. I asked them why they think the way about Putin and Russia as they do. Most told me: the future of Germany is WITH RUSSIA!!!! That is what America is trying to avoid by all means necessary. I was a bit shocked. One guy – who looked like a nazi-stereotype told me: at least in Russia women know their place and gays get what they deserve. Wow!
What does that have to do with this blog? A LOT!
It seems that some part of German population is getting ready to openly support Russia – not because to them Russia is so great (remember: to those people Russians are still sort of apes – BUT the enemy of my enemy is my friend) – but Russia might enable Germany to become a super-power. That is at least what they dream of. Over here the media call them “the new right”. Which is true, but then the media sucks too.
Anybody left in the left that gets sick about this shit too?
Any ideas? Any solutions? It is really getting terrible right now.
Anonymous Anonymous said…
Anonymous said…
Soccer hooligans can usually have big influence in this kind of events.
Soccer hooligans are a permanently mobilized mob of generally not too bright people who can whipped into a fury whenever someone deems it useful.
They are a well honed tool with a long history of being used for regime change or other political actions.
Here is a link about ‘optor’ — used to overthrow Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia. Skills developed by optor were subsequently used to ignite the Orange Revolution, Arab Spring, etc.
http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/5/4/5/8/p254585_index.html?phpsessid=kmggg7kkeeo1ld8t968f2o24s0
Anonymous said…
I now agree that the CBC should be abolished.
Lots of Canadians here, eh?
It took me a long time to come to this conclusion myself. CBC is an institution used for social control, intimately linked to intelligence agencies. Harper blows smoke about the CBC but its essential propaganda functions will remain intact.
Tell that to most Canadians and they’ll give you a blank stare.
Youtube channel and website devoted to the antimaydana in the south and east, Donbass mostly, I think.
В Макеевке – vmakeevke.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/VMakeevke/videos
В Макеевке
http://vmakeevke.com/
In Russian only, though.
вот так
Kluck Kluck Kerry confirms the zionazis were fronting Durov
Керри объявил увольнение Дурова из «ВКонтакте» борьбой со свободой интернета (Kerry announced the dismissal of Durov “VKontakte” struggle with the freedom of the Internet)
http://vz.ru/news/2014/4/28/684365.html
(If there wasn’t a zionazi interest behind Durov, Kerry and the Jewish owned/run western media wouldn’t be using him to demonise Russia.)
@Anonymous about “Montagsdemo”
Sorry, I have to disagree with a lot of what you say.
NPD thinks that they can hop on this train, but they won’t. NPD voters are simply too stupid to get the message of “Montagsdemo”, and if they reveal themlseves then they will be kicked out. The “Montagsdemo” movement is much more compatible with “Die Linke” and AfD. The rest have completely discredited themselves, CDU/CSU/SPD/Greens/FDP is actually the same, the play good cop, bad cop.
The movement is immature, that’s why you get some weirdos talking about how to live on 90€ a month. When the movement matures then discussion will get more serious. I hope that later on they will merge with Occupy.
This FED=interest=Jews is the MSM formula to discredit the protests. People won’t fall for this. Pay attention about who applies this formula, then you immediately know who works for who. Jutta Ditfurth recently revealed this formula in a now famous interview, immediately it was clear who she actually works for.
I don’t understand your problem with Oskar Lafontaine. In my view he is a bit of a saint, his work for “Die Linke” is extremely important. He is not at all a populist. His position is totally common sense and it would have been pretty much exactly the position of SPD if SPD hadn’t been usurped by the neoliberals and betrayed its voters. I’m not sure when you got the nonsense about torture and concentration camps – I’ve never heard Lafontaine say that.
People are with Russia because in the recent years Russia has been on the side of truth and law. People understand that as long as Germany is in conflict with Russia there won’t be a chance for peace. You are completely misreading the people’s sentiment when you think that they want to piggyback on Russia’s shoulders in order to create a super-power Germany. Above all people want to get rid of the currupt oligarchy that Germany now is, they want to get rid of USA influence on Germany, and they want to get rid of all the EU perversions.
It’s complete nonsense when you say that to them Russians are like apes. There is solidarity with Russians, but also with Syrians, Iranians, the South American block, etc.
Yes, I think this movement is conservative. But that’s all it is, these are normal folks, neither hippies nor nazis. Just normal common sense conservatives who oppose the erosion of cultural standards, but that doesn’t mean that they elevate their view over the standards in other countries, instead it just means that in their country the standards have to be set by the majority and that a tiny minority can’t remove these standards, for example like is the case with equal rights of gay marriage.
– abc123 –
A week or so ago Der Speigel had an interview with Yarosh, the current head of Right Sektor, running for president and trying to sound respectable and that he has nothing against Jews. Given that Kolomoisky is (reportedly) paying for the RT battalion, and by some accounts has been financing Ukrainian “fascists” right along, maybe he shouldn’t.
Meanwhile, “Nie”,the weekly put out by Jerzy Urban,( who was minister of information in Poland’s last Communist gov’t) says that (current) Defense minister Sikorski arranged for 86 Right Sector members to take 4 weeks of “intensive” urban combat training at the police training academy down river from Warsava. This was done, says Nie, last September before the Maidan crisis.
As you likely know, Sikorski is married to Anne Applebaum, who works for the right wing American Enterprise Institute in DC. No doubt, given that they inhabit pretty much the same circles, she doubtless knows Kagan and Nuland.
Sikorski,Faubus and Sreinmeier were chief EU negotiators of the deal struck with Yanukovich hours before the coup.
A bit more grist, in any case, for the conspiracy mill.
Шойгу: ВС России вернулись с учений после заявлений Киева о неиспользовании армии (Shoigu: Russian Armed Forces returned from Kiev exercises following statements about non-military)
http://www.vz.ru/news/2014/4/29/684389.html
“After Kiev said that they would not use the army against the unarmed population of the Ukraine, part of the Russian Armed Forces returned from exercises to their bases, according to the press service of management information and the Defense Ministry on Monday…”
Only part of the Russian forces returned to base, no doubt because the banderivtsy are about as trustworthy as the Georgian tie-eater was.
I have been using the term “resistance” for movements in the SE, because it is not definitive re: goal in terms of separatism/acceding to Russia/federalization, but does signify resistance to illegal junta regime. Your reference to the term “rebel” opposed to “authority” is distracting from the fact that this “authority” in fact does not have legitimacy, much less legitimacy to be using army and ad-hoc armed militia to enforce it’s will on citizens, which is the basic reality prompting all this.
This is how Israel operates:
Ukraine’s leading presidential candidate visited Israel in secret, asked for public support
(That is the article title at Haaretz)
“The leading candidate for the Ukrainian presidency, former Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko, visited Israel over the weekend and met with President Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Poroshenko told Lieberman he expected Israel to clearly declare support for maintaining the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which Israel has refrained from doing since the beginning of the crisis.
Poroshenko arrived in Israel secretly last Thursday for a very low-profile, private visit of a few days. He did not make his arrival public, and both the President’s Office and the Israeli Foreign Ministry kept quiet about the visit. It was not until after his return to Ukraine on Monday night that Poroshenko reported on his visit.
Poroshenko met separately on Friday with Peres and Lieberman in Jerusalem, discussing both the Ukrainian presidential elections, scheduled for May 25, and the crisis with Russia.
“During a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Petro Poroshenko expressed hope that the Israeli side will give clear signals in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Poroshenko’s office said in a statement. In his meetings with Peres and Lieberman, Poroshenko asked Israel to help the Ukrainian security forces in their war against terror [gay]…”
Poroshenko is the one the zionazis, Americans and EU are rigging the vote to win. WTF did those zionazis really talk about?
An insurgent is someone who fights against a legitimate government
US regime refers to rebels in Iraq or Afghanistan as ‘insurgents’ ; but rarely used that word for the jihadis in Syria or Libya : these are ennobled with the word ‘rebel’
Is it possible that all these hostilities are being instigated by the US and its allies in EU in order to delay the inevitable economic powerhouse that would be created by an alliance between the EU, Russia and China? China needs a land bridge to the EU and that bridge is through Russia. The US does not want to be second fiddle to this alliance.
Mike Whitney has another piece in CounterPunch and it’s worth reading; quite interesting to see his position, and confidence in Putin’s ability to out-think Washington, evolve over time.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/28/why-is-putin-in-washingtons-crosshairs/
There was some discussion about the mission of the “OSCE-observers” hold in Slavjansk by the rebels. Peaceful observers, somehow by accident on the wrong place, or spies?
http://www.phoenix.de/content/phoenix/die_sendungen/diskussionen/833472?datum=2014-04-28
contains, after min 8.00, a confirmation that they are spies.
“Zusammen mit Steinmeier haben wir die getroffen, als wir da waren, haben mit denen gesprochen, die haben uns erklärt, was sie, unter internationaler Aufsicht, tun …- Aber warum muss man die in dieser Situation gerade dorthin schicken – das erklär ich Ihnen gerne, weil wir ständig den Verdacht haben, dass russische Truppen, paramilitärische Sondereinheiten, die berühmten Speznas-Einheiten … das hat Putin ja zugegeben, öffentlich, letzte Woche, er hat ja gesagt, unsere Soldaten waren auf der Krim, und jetzt sind sie von der Krim eben in der Ostukraine … das war doch die Idee dieser Beobachtermission, unbewaffnete Leute, dass sie Transparenz herstellen, und uns, der Öffentlichkeit, den Medien ein unabhängiges Bild vermitteln …”
The Italian press is lying in a coordinated manner.
Notwithstanding the fact that Claus Neukrich of the OSCE’s conflict prevention center told Austrian state television ORF that the captured spies are not OSCE observers, all Italian newspapers nevertheless parroted the phrase “7 Osservatori OSCE Rapiti” (7 OSCE observers captured).
For example, Corriere della Sera leads their article with:
“Mentre i 7 osservatori Ocse rapiti in Ucraina sono ancora nelle mani dei filorussi,” (While the 7 OSCE observers captured in ukraine are in the hands of the pro-russians,)
But admits the truth deeper in the article:
“non sono osservatori della stessa Osce, ma fanno parte di una missione bilaterale in ambito Osce. Il governo di Kiev aveva invitato osservatori militari disarmati di cinque Paesi europei sotto il comando della Germania” (they are not OSCE observers but part of a bilateral mission in an OSCE context. The Kiev government had sent unarmed military observers from five European countries led by Germany)
http://www.corriere.it/esteri/14_aprile_26/ucraina-preoccupa-g7-lunedi-nuove-sanzioni-la-russia-6ef01bf8-cd11-11e3-8231-7e1a669c55f6.shtml
In sum, all Italian newspapers felt compelled to a) lie to their readership by falsely claiming that “7 OSCE observers captured” and to b) deliberately deceive their readership by using “unarmed military observers” as euphemism for spies.
Other newspapers lying (besides corriere):
La Repubblica:
“sequestro dei sette inviati dell’Organizzazione, trattenuti dalle milizie filorusse”
http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2014/04/29/news/zannier_gli_ispettori_in_pericol_non_sappiamo_ancora_chi_li_tiene_in_ostaggio-84766249/?ref=search
Il Tempo:
“osservatori dell’Organizzazione per la Sicurezza e la Cooperazione in Europa rapiti venerdì scorso”
http://www.iltempo.it/esteri/2014/04/28/gli-inviati-dell-osce-in-cambio-di-miliziani-1.1244620
Il Giornale:
“8 osservatori dell’Osce rapiti venerdì”
http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/esteri/i-filorussi-liberano-rapito-osce-e-catturano-3-spie-1014605.html
The above 4 are the main newspapers but the lying extends to all the rest.
Vortex