Something really weird has just happened in the Ukraine. Everybody agrees that an attack took place on a checkpoint of the Ukrainian national guard near the city of Volnovakha (see map). 35 soldiers were wounded, 15 died (other figures quote 8 confirmed dead and an unknown number of evacuated bodies of attackers who got killed; one source says “13-20 fatalities”). The surviving soldiers say that out of 53 men, only 7 survived.
So far all the sources point to the same sequence of events. Here is what I pieced together:
A Ukrainian national guard unit (according to one source the 51st motorized brigade which had been hastily made up with middle-aged reservists) brought in from the city of Vinnitsa. For three days were were told to man a checkpoint, but today they were given the order to attack civilians in a nearby village. The unit refused and the commander announced that he would withdraw because “there were no terrorists here, only civilians”. At around 5AM a black sedan, two jeeps and several vehicles (vans and armored) of the company Privat Bank (belongs to the Jewish oligarch Kolomoiski) carrying members of the “Donbass” and “Azov” death-squads drove to the checkpoint and opened fire with everything they had. The soldiers fired back as best they could. The attack lasted 15min after which the attackers put on some Saint George ribbons and beat up the surviving and wounded soldiers while telling them that they were from the Donbass Resistance forces. Not a single solider believed them.
About one hour later two or three more helicopters were seen shooting at the destroyed vehicles of the attackers in an apparent attempt to conceal their origin (Privat Bank). Still, witnesses have categorically identified the vans used by Privat Bank. There is also video footage confirming this.
This is a video showing the attack helicopters and the explosion of what was either an ammo dump or the ammo load of an infantry fighting vehicle.
The next video shows the aftermath of the attack:
This version of events was confirmed in a telephone conversation by the commander of the Ukrainian army brigade to whom the attacked unit belonged. It was also confirmed to the BBC, off the record, by a Major of the same brigade. Officials of the Donetsk People’s Republic categorically deny that their forces were involved in the attack.
Furthermore, wounded Ukrainian soldiers interviewed in the local hospitals declared that they had a non-aggression agreement with the local Donetsk Resistance forces. They also confirmed that the attackers were from the Privat Bank.
In other words, the Ukrainian soldiers were murdered for refusing to execute an order which amounted to a war crime. Just as in the case of the bloodbath in Odessa, this latest atrocity was ordered by Igor Kolomoiski.
Interestingly, the Ukie media is now reporting a wave of attacks on Privat Bank vans which, the media claims, “could be used by terrorists”.
This is not the first time that such a massacre is committed by the neo-Nazi junta: this is also what happened during the recent massacre of all the members of a police station in Mariupol who had refused to shoot at civilians: they were also all murdered.
In the meantime, in Lugansk heavy fighting is taking place and 24 Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered to the Resistance forces near the city of Rubezhnaia. The Ukrainian soldiers did not come empty handed: they brought several trucks and an anti-air gun with them.
The resistance estimates the total strength of the Ukrainian forces in the Lugansk area at 6’000 soldiers. Lugansk is bracing for an imminent assault, administrations and schools are now closed.
What we can say today is that so far the situation is close to catastrophic for the junta in Kiev. Clearly most conscripted soldiers are refusing to obey as for the death squads, they are only good to terrorize civilians or, at best, lightly armed folks.
The current attack will probably continue – at least this is what the freaks in Kiev have announced – but unless the Ukies have some hidden card up their sleeves, this operations most unlikely to succeed.
I wish that somebody in the Ukrainian military realized that this is the perfect timing for a coup. No need to be a Chief of Staff or anything like that. One well-connected and respected Colonel would do.
I am not holding by breath though.
Kind regards,
The Saker
new video heli attack http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQt7ukb0kmU
“The surviving soldiers say that out of 53 men, only 7 survived.”
Are these 53 soldiers or attackers?
Saker,
This event is not so clear: take a look at these two links:
http://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/1597521.html
http://forum-antikvariat.ru/topic/198863-а-чо-про-украину-не-трёте/page__st__21425#entry2144180
First link is colonel summarizing the events. The most interesting piece there, an announcement from Стрелков that it was DNR forces. However… the source of these Стрелков announcements leads to the second link
His forum account is, apparently, “Котыч”.
Could be him. Or not. But very suspicious. Personally, I have trouble believing that he has the free time to post on the internet =P
Dear Saker,
Have you seen this article: http://vz.ru/world/2014/5/22/688005.html
It sounds like Strelkov is taking responsibility for what happened. Could be a fake, but who knows
Kind regards,
Геннадий
Dear Saker,
Have you seen this article: http://vz.ru/world/2014/5/22/688005.html
It sounds like Strelkov is taking responsibility for what happened. Could be a fake, but who knows
Kind regards,
Геннадий
All that wealth you’ve plundered and stolen, Ihor Kolomoyskyi, and still your greed consumes you. You kill your fellow countrymen in psychopathic fits and rages. Your days, all the days of the freaks you control, are numbered. May God have mercy on your worthless soul.
Your coup suggestion seems stangely coincidental with thwe pull-out of Russian troops from Uke’s border vicinity. 25th of May (as things like just described will likely increase in both nu,bers and intensity) would be MOST perfect time of all. Transitional period, fresh war crimes of candidates and all… what else one would need? And Russian withdraval gives additional crds to Putin’s statement on absence of Russian troops within Ukraine.In case of coup he’d be blamed anyway, but more precautions you take the tougher it would be to provide at least half-credible-looking shred of evidence. Actually, in China’s press conference he stressed that out by saying that withdrawal should be visible by everybody via satellite monitoring.
Thanks Saker, I have enjoyed the reading.
The NATO/EU is the main threat for the world peace and they are a dog who is doing dirty work for UKUSA in order to create an Unipolar world.
The western propaganda machine is sure to blame this massacre on the separatists.
Exactly happened in Serbia during Kosovo conflict in 1999.
http://youtu.be/Z-muEj_E0PY
Throughout this mess, I am still struck by the refusal by and large of ordinary Ukrainians to kill one another. They just will not be played or provoked or messed with. WOW! What a rebuke to the power mongers of the world.
I don’t ordinarily watch MSM, but happened to catch a 20 second report about the incident on a local Toronto news station.
The only info I could glean from the news report was that
1) A Ukie guardpost was attacked, many killed.
2) The “separatists” committed the attack. One of them was killed.
3) Putin was behind it.
And that’s the news from the Ministry of Truth, between ads for toothpaste and life insurance.
Luhansk announces conscription, full mobilization of all fit males of military age:
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140522/190040775/Luhansk-Peoples-Republic-to-Announce-Full-Mobilization.html
Dear Saker, I think you may be wrong on this one. Those were not Kolomoiski’s people.
If you follow daily reports from Igor Strelkov, the de-facto commander of the army of Donetsk Republic, you will find in his today’s comments that the attack had been carried out by his people. It’s just that the leader of the republic in the capital (Donetsk) do not coordinate very well with the republic’s military forces. For those who can read Russian the details are here
http://summer56.livejournal.com/119139.html
and here
http://el-murid.livejournal.com/
According to the BBC some other militia leader has claimed responsibility for the attack: “We destroyed a checkpoint of the fascist Ukrainian army deployed on the land of the Donetsk Republic,” said the commander, who wore a balaclava and identified himself by his nom de guerre, Bess (“demon” in Russian).
It is all a bloody mess. Ultimately the Ukrainian soldiers will fight because they understand that if they do not, one way or another, they get to die anyway.
So, who gains by stiffening the backbones of the Ukrainian military in this way?
Whether the claim of responsibility is true or not, the effect upon all actors will be the same. Everybody will have to treat the claim as if it were true.
angloamericans are openly giving wahabi teroorists antiaircraft guns and what not but russia doid nto give any agaisnt nato in afganistan nor is she giving much to russians in ukraine!
what a contrast in abndonign your ally.
It now transparent: while the people in eastern Ukraine are being murdered by scores by the fascists, Putin is blissfully ignoring the entire thing, in an obvious effort to “accommodate” his western fascist “partners” – while pretending in front of the Russian people all along that he “does not want to be provoked” (!!!). Well, Vladimir, one can not fool all the people all the time…
What a shame. What a shame.
During the first few days of the ‘conflict’ helicopters were shot down ASAP. Why are they flying around freely now?
Does anyone on the ground know?
@EVERYBODY: Did Strelkov really claim that he did it? Did he do it?
I don’t know, but I don’t believe so. There are A LOT for FIRST HAND sources which all confirm that the attack was Privat Bank backup up by helicopters. Does Strelkov have Privat Bank vans? Helicopters?
There is PLENTY of witnesses, including at least 3 officers, from the 51st Mech. which all say that this was the Donbass death squad and Kolomoiski.
BTW – this is not the first time that the Donbass folks hallucinate. They also confirmed that that sorry SOB Liashko had been caught (a dream come true for me) and then Liashko went TV – free and happy – and declared that hell would freeze over before he would be caught.
So there are at leas some maybe well-meaning but non-truthful clowns on the side of the Donbass resistance. I just hope that its not Strelkov himself (which I doubt).
As for who the 7 survivors out of 53 soldiers were? The 53 were the men present at the checkpoint who were attacked by the Ukie death squad.
HTH, cheers,
The Saker
These sort of videos need urgently English captions or translations, to counter the inevitable pro-regime propaganda. A task for appropriate members of the Saker Correspondence Team?
Strelkov is bogus – he is part of a misinformation campaign, always has been
Crazy Ivan says…
@ Daniel Rich 22 May, 2014 20:38
5 point for perceptiveness.
Perhaps they fly over own troops only keeping far away from the range of shoulder type small AA fire?
Posted earlier on the wrong thread.
An attack by the infamous mercenaries bought in to create a split between the Ukraine military and the eastern federalists.
Why mercenaries? The Right Sector would have no qualms killing but would not be able to handle the helicopters. The Ukraine military attacking their own – unlikely. Strelkov attacking the Ukrainians to create the split – no chance. This leaves the mercenaries who would have the professional ground and helicopter skills.
Someone using the alias Strelkov does show a pattern of issuing statements that play into the misinformation campaign.
Two key points and some comments
1st – Civil wars are always very messy and confused.
There are a bounch of armed groups in the theather of operations:
-regular Ukie army
-Ukie air force
-National Guard
-several nazi/oligarch mitlitias
-several anti-kiev militias
-probably armed bandits too…
With so many groups and agendas it is only normal that stuff gets confusing.
2nd Junta suffered an heavy blow.
Either if they were attacked by rebel anti-junta militia, or it was an execution by the nazi militias this always looks very bad and will disrupt operations for the Junta.
Comments
This is a war and Ukranian troops were warned to leave or defect. IF the Donetsk People´s Republic is to be taken seriously than their armed militias have all the right to kick out the invaders… and some times just talking and being nice is not enough. You need the carrot but also the stick! And being conscripts is no excuse.
What is sure is that Ukie helicopters destroyed the vans, but I have seen any other concrete evidence. More, some Gorkvlova militia from DPR said they did it and even showed some captured guns… Something Saker does not mention in this post.
Bottom line:
Very confusing evidence, but in any event a big blow to the fascist kiev junta
http://5dias.wordpress.com/tag/ucrania/
Thanks for your time to look into this so deeply in seeking the truth.
As this statement says: Meanwhile, a Ukrainian army major, who spoke to the survivors of the attack, told the BBC on condition of anonymity that he was sure that the attackers weren’t from the Donetsk self-defense forces, but were “mercenaries.”
He uses the word mercenaries, does he mean American? If so, the mercenaries would have been with Ukrainian death squad members. The Ukrainians would have struck up a conversation and put the soldiers at ease and the mercenaries would have said nothing.
There is another vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQt7ukb0kmU#t=58
There is a comment in English under the video. In addition, as it is stated here http://www.anna-news.info/node/16248, the video is shot by on of the solders of the battalion “Dnepr” being shot. The voices mostly are yelling “They are ours” or “They are not ours”. At the end the guy on the phone is trying to find out what’s going on apparently from the command authority. The video shooting guy is praying.
I think this video compliments another the first one posted.
“Why mercenaries? The Right Sector would have no qualms killing but would not be able to handle the helicopters.”
Although a few Hinds were brought over to the U.S. for training purposes after the collapse of the USSR/Warsaw Pact (including some Czech Air Force ones) the foreign mercs I’ve heard about who’ve flown them in recent civil wars in Africa are mostly South African. Perhaps an enterprising South African with connections in the merc community can put out feelers as to how many SA citizens especially helicopter pilots have departed recently for Ukraine. But the Hind while a fierce machine does not lend itself to pilots growing on trees.
In fact after the rebels shot down 5-8 machines (Kiev only admitted to 4 and 1 rendered a total loss) I thought the real problem for the junta would not be running out of helos but running short on pilots willing to conduct missions over air space thick with MANPADs.
The Strelkov acknowledgement of responsibility makes little sense. Strelkov seems to have more to gain from creating defections with large pieces of hardware the rebels lack (like artillery or BMPs/BTRs) than from boasting about his forces ability to kill scores of Ukrainian Army with near impunity. Beware perhaps some talented hacker in Kiev got into his page even if it is where he’s posted in the past.
American Kulak
Interview with Richard Sakwa on “Here and Now” (NPR Boston): http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2014/05/22/russian-sanctions-sakwa
A voice of sanity gets a little air time.
Maybe we’re backing down??? If so, I would imagine it’s because Merkel is no longer able to give us her undivided fealty. It certainly isn’t because we see the light.
from RT, “20:41 GMT US – Ukrainian military drills with some European NATO states have been postponed, the US European command announced.
“Exercise Rapid Trident 14, originally planned for July in Ukraine, will be moved to later in the year,” Air Force Lt. Col. David Westover Jr. said as quoted by Navy Times. “Exact dates and participants are to be determined as planning continues.”
The western Ukrainian city of Lvov is expected to host the military maneuvers. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Moldova, Poland, Romania and the UK, will also participate.
“Rapid Trident is an annual Ukrainian-led, US Army Europe-supported, situational training exercise and battalion field training exercise designed to train a US-Ukrainian combined battalion headquarters with a peace support operations scenario,” Westover explained.
Voicing his opinion on the Ukrainian tensions, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and Commander of US European Command, US Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove tweeted that “verified and complete withdrawal” of the alleged Russian troops near Ukrainian border will aid at deescalating the situation.
Verified and complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukraine border will do much to deescalate the situation.
— Phil Breedlove (@PMBreedlove) May 22, 2014″
This piece has nothing to do with Russia or Ukraine, and everything to do with America. It’s the best work I’ve seen on the subject to date, balanced, detailed, thought-provoking, unflinching, and did I say balanced? I can’t recommend it more highly, for real. You cannot understand where we are unless you understand where we’ve been and what we’ve done, because we’re still doing it. And the “we” is All. Of. Us., not just one group or another.
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/05/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
I heard on SOA that Strelkov’s website was under denial of service attack – and I notice these reports that are supposed to come from Strelkov don’t come from his site. So ignore.
Also, I am struck by the negative comments here – I think perhaps disinformation is on full stream at the moment because the global forensic study of this situation is burning away all deceptions faster than the people who think they own this world can fabricate.
How convenient that Hunter Biden is on the board for Burisma, able to report directly to Kolomoisky.
“Also, I am struck by the negative comments here – I think perhaps disinformation is on full stream at the moment because the global forensic study of this situation is burning away all deceptions faster than the people who think they own this world can fabricate.”
It’s interesting that Max Seddon is trying hard on his Twitter feed to downplay locals testimony that it was an attack by Kolomoyskyi’s thugs. The AP and BBC both reported it, with BBC putting the unnamed Ukrainian soldiers’ claims about them being attacked by ‘mercenaries’ not Donbass militia near the top. None of the Strelkov ‘responsibility’ claims online match up with his known website which may have been DDoSd’ to prevent a denial from being released. At any rate I expect Strelkov to resurface on video later this week maybe to a Russian film crew denying it.
Meanwhile Reason’s Soviet emigrant Cathy Young is whining about how too many people are falling for Moscow’s evil propaganda demonizing the new Ukrainian government as fascist, she cannot directly rebut any of the videos or claims about Odessa so she just cherry picks a few items favorable to pro-Kiev side and then asks the rhetorical question of why the junta would kill their own people handing Russia a propaganda coup. She doesn’t answer her own question by admitting that the intent was to terrorize pro-autonomy forces in Odessa which has largely succeeded — the pro-referendum rallies drew 10,000 or more and now have stopped.
Overall I see the junta and their Western propaganda helpers losing steam. It’s possible Ihor even tried his own little false flag without consulting his fellow oligarchs and junta bosses, though that seems doubtful. If Ihor continues to prove to be a loose cannon or liability for Washington watch for him to have a ‘heart attack’ or be assassinated and the killing blamed on Donbass forces or FSB. I fully expect as the evidence becomes overwhelming that Ukrainian army forces were shot up by Privat Bank van driving thugs/mercs the junta/West will shift to the ‘it was a Russian/FSB planned false flag’ Narrative.
American Kulak
The Streltsev claim ‘followed’ a DDoS attack on rusvesna.ru, his outlet. So maybe the site was briefly hijacked. After all, if he denies it and the whole black op/disinfo package falls apart, it won’t matter in terms of the primary goal, which would have been to influence the election, and permit a quantum leap in aggression immediately following it, a claim that “the Russians” have escalated, a genuine Army (as opposed to just Right Sector) offensive in the east, something immediate. They never worry that their disinfo will be exposed after it has achieved its purpose, because once something is done, they ‘set it in stone’ in subsequent western reporting and repeat it in every goddam Reuters roundup, day after day after day.
So, to sum up: I don’t really see why we should cling on to the presupposition that the helicopters were trying to destroy evidence. (Who exactly did it come from?) I think they were driving off the raiders. The troops in the field were obviously worried that the helicopters were part of the black op, since the troops knew they were subject to a black op anyway, having seen the PrivatBank armored vans. My hypothesis is that the only Ministry the neo-Nazis control outright is Parubyi’s Interior Ministry, and Right Sector is getting govt support out of there, and black ops support out of Kolomoisky and the CIA. Meantime, the army is doing as little to help the Right Sector “punitive battalions” as it can (these “punitive battalions” are really provocateurs, attacking both sides). In this case, the helicopters thwarted and helped expose a classic black op, but the Bes and Streltsev disinfo claims went ahead anyway, as if the attack phase of the op had succeeded in its planned goal, which would have been to annihilate the troops completely. And thus, the other initial claim, that these troops had refused a “punitive” assignment, needs to be examined very carefully. Who initially made this claim, which seems to have preceded all other reporting on our side? Was this claim itself disinfo that set us all off on the wrong track?
Its quite possible the insane clown posse posing as Ukie Army and National Guard now running around in Donbass indiscriminately shooting at everything, including their own troops whether by accident or on purpose, may kill themselves off.
Kiev seems to have already suffered 1% of its forces dead and at least 3-4% wounded.
I wonder if they can actually muster more than 6000?
I fully expect them to start shelling their own positions around Slavyansk soon.
Yhe fact that Biden’s son and Kerry’s relative are working for mass murderer Kolomoisky should be widely exposed.
Re: Parubiy the most amusing part of Cathy Young’s rant in Reason magazine was the bit about how Parubiy used to be Svoboda back when they were the Social National (Nazi) Party of Ukraine in the 1990s but he’s ‘moderated to the center left’ since then, so he doesn’t count as a Svoboda Party member in the junta despite running the National Security Council (UKR equivalent to Natl Security Advisor in the White House?).
I keep forgetting about the Joe Biden son connection. He’s truly an employee of Ihor K. with only a few cutouts in between! Unbelievable corruption extending from Kiev and Dnetropetrovsk to D.C.! And to date nobody in US MSM has bothered to ask Sen. McInsane about his friend Oleh Tyanhbok’s history of anti-Semitic statements including ranting about that 70s Show girl Mila Kunis…and ever since a Marine veteran called McInsane a traitor for supporting Al-Qaeda in Syria on video he has avoided town hall meetings with his constituents in AZ like the plague.
American Kulak
Nora, Interesting article regarding reparations. Thanks. The slave trade in North America was centered in Newport, RI. Same families also controlled the rum distilleries — which were used to trade with American Indians — and we know how that ended. Not. Well. Interesting that Newport has the oldest Synagog in North America. Slave trading and selling alcohol/drugs was a lucrative family business. Same families went on to Wall Street and continued to enslave Americans — regardless of color.
Blacks in America have been used and screwed-over by variety of evil-doers. Including members of their own tribe — as well as other tribal types professing to work on their behalf. Goes to show that one can only trust in God. Humanity tends to be untrustworthy. The article certainly makes that point. AGS
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-22/putin-s-singapore-dream-costs-crimea-banks-and-burgers.html
Kolomoisky Privat Bank steals all of the deposit accounts of Crimean residents.
Anonymous 02:12
No need to focus on any one group, there’s plenty of blame to go around and it’s all of our responsibility: every single white-skinned person in America has shared in the wealth of this country — and it all goes back to cotton and slavery. None of us would have lived so well, and most of the 19th- and 20th-century immigrants would not even have come here — think about that — had slavery not created such wealth and Jim Crow perpetuated it. And attitudes towards people of color remain pretty horrifying, frankly; the most recent example would be a bill in the House of Representatives offering free lunches over the summer Only. To. Schoolchildren. In. Rural. Areas. YAY! Let’s keep kicking victims — it’s one of the things we do best. And we really need to stop it, you know?
Andrew
It’s really rather funny to see Bloomberg equate losing a couple of McDonalds (which were replaced by, what, Burger King or something) with losing all the money in one’s bank accounts. But the phrase “Kolomoiskiy-supporter, you know, that hideous gangster who killed all those people in Odessa, and all those Ukrainian soldiers in the South-East, and threatened that presidential candidate and burned down his house, and put bounties on the heads of all sorts of people” really ought to appear before Biden’s name every time it is uttered.
” the phrase “Kolomoiskiy-supporter, you know, that hideous gangster who killed all those people in Odessa, and all those Ukrainian soldiers in the South-East, and threatened that presidential candidate and burned down his house, and put bounties on the heads of all sorts of .people” really ought to appear before Biden’s name every time it is uttered.”
I like this idea. Tar Biden with the company he keeps.
The more people discover what monsters they are in bed with, the more people will wake up.
The way the mainstream media has avoided reporting on and judging the Biden/Ihor K connection displays how complicit and corrupt the MSM is, if any further proof were needed.
Blood soaked Kolomoiski is being thrown under the bus for the stupidity of Anglo-Zionist policy in Ukraine — and he deserves it. Refer again to the Forbes article “Everything you know about Ukraine is wrong.” Someone is pissed.
The Anglo-Zionists made a high stakes wager on revovering their losses from Syria with an even bigger — and more maniacal wager on Ukraine. Kolomoisky was the guy who promised to deliver the goods and failed, miserably.
They Anglo-Zionists have lost badly on all counts. Their credibility has never been lower, at home and abroad. A gaping hole has opened between the Five Eyes and EU. By every measure this is a disaster for the Empire. The Fed is secretly shipping cash to Belgium in a desperate attempt to keep the bubble from bursting. Would the BBC or other official media ever quesioned an Oligarch unless it’s been sanctioned? Let’s get serious.
I have no idea what’s happening in the east but Strelkov has been spewing non-stop disinformation from the begining. I don’t like any of the possibilities. Both sides seem to agree on nothing but the ‘Strelkov’ factor. Nothing is believable.
My speculation is that the EU and Russia are co-operating in an operation to de-escalte and exit the conflict. No one in Russia or the EU want a war in Europe or the especially the disruption of gas supplies to the West. Merkel is non suicidal. Negotiations are ongoing. That might not be popular to say but it fits with every credible piece of information I’ve seen so far and also accounts for some of the things we’re not seeing.
One more thing.
In the long run Kolomisky will be rewarded for his service as a bag man for the Empire. In the meantime his rough treatment serves as a warning to all the oligarchs concerning who’s in charge.
This goes to the very top of the Anglo-Zionist pyramid. These sick people toy with lives without pity and are directly responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in just the last several years.
It’s about time we stopped playing along with their fairy tale reality. I’m sorry for the people of who died or are suffereing in Ukraine and elsewhere but we’ll be right back here again in a few months unless we focus our attention on those responsible for this mass murdering insanity and take them down.
I damn well hope Putin is up for that when things do settle down. Kolomoisky is no more a war criminal than Barack Obama or a thousand other people.
@anonymouse 3:42…
FWIW Naked Capitalism’s Richard Smith has covered a lot of the boring, colourless intricacies of Burisma holdings for “us” so we don’t have to here:
http://m.nakedcapitalism.com/nakedcapitalism/#!/entry/r-hunter-biden-should-declare-who-really-owns-his-new,537c75c2b7d8d24162dc7da8
The really damning stuff of course you’ll find here.
Generally I think much of the rubbish on traditional media sites can be put down to self-satisfied group think among both readers, writers and editors.
Pathetically you don’t you need a conspiracy. Most of the time. Sheer ignorance, prejudice and careerism will get you 90 % of the way there.
As a kind of control I’d suggest thinking about the ways the financial crisis was reported. It’s almost a decade later and from my reading the shibboleth’s that blinded everyone to that utterly predictable disaster are still firmly in place.
Crazy-making but not completely surprising. Ditto the sheer inanity of how Ukraine has been handled / (not) understood.
Something like we go mad in herds but regain our sanity only one-by-one.
I don’t mean by this to absolve any of the criminal behaviour involved by people who are real actors in this drama, particularly in the west.
Just suggesting that the vast majority of stenographers passing themselves off as journalists are barely worth the ire.
Here’s my trick: whenever I read / hear some particularly tendentious piece of rubbish – BBC / CBC whatever – I just remind myself that Thomas Friedman is a wildly successful intellectual.
Always takes the edge off.
Very powerful and eloquent rebuke of Western politics in Syria, alluding to Libya by Churkin:
http://rt.com/politics/official-word/160860-syria-russia-veto-churkin/
Honk
Kolomoysky’s mercenary Donbass Battalion is trapped in Karlivka, 15 km northwest of Donetsk. Desperate calls via telephone from commander Semen Sementchenko on his Facebook page:
1 h ago:
The bulk of the Donbass Battalion is broke. 50% of personnel injured, many have lost a lot of blood. The wounded were taken to an army checkpoint in Krasnoarmeysk.
With are surrounded by a group that has settled in the building until this moment maintained telephone. Just reported that the connection was lost. The fighters have no ammunition. Approach to them is not possible – sniper at work. A BTR needs to drive up to the building and take out the guys. It is impossible to pass past the fueling station.
Near the hospital with the wounded guard exhibited. The rest of the survivors come back. Surrounded by a group of almost all wounded.
I am confident that our movement route was known in advance to terrorists. Since this concentration at normal checkpoint separatists usually not observed. We employ well-trained against Chechen forces.
The leadership and command of ATO (= “anti-terror operation”) knows about our situation.
Please bring reinforcements and armored vehicles!
https://www.facebook.com/dostali.hvatit/posts/754117394623037
57 min ago:
Appeal to the separators of “Vostok” battalion!
We need a truce for the exchange of prisoners. Get in touch by phone 0501482373
Colorado, reading my Facebook: pass up! If something glows with our people – is terror in the city!
https://www.facebook.com/dostali.hvatit/posts/754125867955523
Summary here:
Батальон “Донбасс” попал в засаду террористов: ранена половина личного состава (обновлено)
Battalion “Donbass” ambushed by terrorists: half of personnel wounded (updated)
Is Strelkov’s website hosted in the US? If so, it wouldn’t need to have been hacked to put on false content. The CIA/NSA contact as the ISP could easily introduce false flag pages.
Maybe the ‘mercenaries’ came from that middle eastern country which has been so helpful in spreading cannibalism to its neighbour, and whose troops helped the Ukrainians kill each other in Kiev. Perhaps this is another of their helpful interventions, helping the locals to kill each other in the eastern Ukraine.
Perhaps the oligarch whose bank vans were used might have paid them. Maybe he has connections in that country who could supply pilots. Spreading democracy can be lucrative for those who are well connected, and bloody for those who are not.
How truly tragic that Kolomoisky “Dumbass” batallion fell into an ambush and is trapped.
My heart bleeds for these thugs just as much as their bodies bleed out for them.
Now they know they are in for a war, instead of just killing innocents. I hope they are finished off or forced to surrender.
Alex P at 22:22 mentions that the soldier filming the video is praying. I will enlarge his statement to place these brave men refusing to shell innocent civilians in the context of the historical record which can be found here:
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Boris_and_Gleb
I would submit that Putin’s prayers also, being a Vladimir in his own right, will be for these companions to first heroes of the early Russian state. This historic analogy is what the regime in Kiev is carving out for themselves.
I don’t think the vehicles and equipment were destroyed to obliterate criminal activity, but simply to deny weaponry to the feds (using current terminology), They wanted this atrocious deed to be feared among the ranks of disobedient soldiers, as well as being a third provocation towards a larger conflict, timed to disrupt the election.
It may be a tactic that has worked elsewhere. But the citizens of Ukraine have the advantage so far, morally speaking, and it might be that this attempted thrust into chaos had to be rushed forward before all supporting evils could be put in place. It all has an air of desperation about it to me.
Blessings on those who died for refusing to fight. You will be remembered with tears in our eyes.
juliana,
I went to the site you recommended, and found this:
“The Transfer of the Relics of the Holy Passion-Bearers Boris and Gleb is commemorated on May 2.”
That is the date of the Odessa atrocity.
I can’t even find words…
Some constructive criticism on your post:
http://www.reddit.com/r/russia/comments/26ajnp/the_saker_ukraine_sitrep_may_22th/
CS