Ukraine's European Revolution?

[jimmy olsen]

I'm shocked! Shocked!

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/russian-paramilitary-leaders-in-eastern-ukraine-caught-on-tape-communicating-with-moscow-343644.html

Russian paramilitary leaders in eastern Ukraine caught on tape communicating with Moscow

April 15, 2014, 4:37 p.m. | Ukraine — by Kyiv Post

A recording proving that Russia is backing separatists in eastern Ukraine has surfaced online. The SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) taped the operatives, whose code names are "Nose," "Adler," "Shooter" and "Agath," discussing strategy, weapon stockpiles, and requests for reinforcements.

The SBU has identified the number calling the separatists in Ukraine as having a Russian +7 area code. The person with the Russian number asks Shooter to contact him. Later in the conversation, Shooter reports "fighting off the first (Ukrainian) attack" and shooting "some significant (highly-ranked Ukrainian) people."

Below is a video of the recording, which was posted by EuroMaidan PR's YouTube account, with English subtitles:

The coordinator in Russia, named Alexander, asks Shooter to go on air and speak with Russian television channel "Life News." Alexander tells Shooter not to identify himself and suggests taking his "assistant with a Ukrainian accent." He asks Shooter to demand federalization, gubernatorial elections no earlier than the May 25 Ukrainian elections, and to emphasize the demand that the Verkhovna Rada should not be allowed to accept external financial support without the support from 2/3 of oblasts.

A man named Konstantin Valerievich later calls Shooter from the same Russian number. He asks: "Have you reported to Aksenov?"  Shooter responds "no," and Konstantin Valerievich requests that he report to Aksenov.

The conversation was in reference to an ambush the Russians organized against a Ukrainian force led by the SBU's anti-terrorism unit on the outskirts of Slovyansk on April 13. SBU Captain Hennadiy Bilichenko was killed in the firefight and nine others were seriously injured, said Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. In the same conversation, the Russian operatives in Slovyansk asked for anti-tank weapons. The other caller responded that he will send a platoon from Luhansk who have combat experience with the anti-armor weapons.

Shooter asks Konstantin Valerievich to identify who exactly was injured by their separatist group earlier.

"I can only provide official information: it was the chief of Ukraine's Anti-terrorism Center."

Avakov said, he [the chief] was injured. So you assaulted the right target," Konstantin Valerievich responds. 

[Syt]

From Guardian ticker:

Reuters is reporting that five or six armoured personnel carriers have entered the eastern Ukrainian town of Slaviansk, with the lead vehicle showing the Russian flag.

[Syt]

Also Reuters:


"Armed men, wearing black and orange ribbons of St. George - a symbol widely associated with pro-Russian protests in Ukraine, drive an airborne combat vehicle, with a Russian flag seen on the top, outside Kramatorsk April 16, 2014. "

[Syt]

Separatists have support from aliens!

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/16/pro-russian-separatists-seize-ukrainian-armoured-vehicles

Pro-Russian armed separatists have seized five armoured personnel carriers and a tank from the Ukrainian army, which they then drove in a victory lap through the centre of Kramatorsk in Ukraine's east, where government forces are attempting to wrest back control of the city.

About 100 heavily armed men, some in balaclavas and wearing military fatigues, rode on top of the seized armoured vehicles, the first of which was flying a Russian tricolour. Several hundred locals gathered around the convoy, cheering, tooting their car horns and waving in support as it rolled past Kramatorsk's railway station, not far from the airfield where Ukrainian soldiers clashed with separatists on Tuesday.

Ukrainian military helicopters hovered above the dramatic scenes in central Kramatorsk but there seemed to be no attempt by government forces to try and wrest back control of the situation.

The seized armoured personnel carriers were driven to Slavyansk, where a Russian flag had been raised above a checkpoint at the city entrance.

The pro-Russian militiamen who drove the troop carriers into town refused to say where they had got them.

"From space," one said. "They came on their own," said another.

Locals gathered as the militiamen parked the vehicles near city hall. A pair of women recognised one man and hugged him, suggesting that at least some of them were local.

The new "people's mayor", Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, arrived and greeted the men, then led a group of them off the square toward other occupied buildings.

But not all the locals who had gathered joined the hero's welcome. One man who identified himself only as Valery angrily asked the militiamen, who were enforcing a wide perimeter around the armoured vehicles, what they were doing.

"Part of the population supports them," he said. "But people who work, like me – I'm an entrepreneur – they don't want this."

Valery said he didn't support calls for a referendum and wanted to vote in the presidential elections planned for 25 May, which many here say they will boycott.

"People think everything in Russia is spread with honey," Valery said – a statement that provoked angry exclamations and arguments from nearby crowds.

Separately, there were unconfirmed reports that armed men have captured the city administration building in nearby Donetsk.

Pro-Russian protesters seeking independence from Kiev have occupied at least nine government buildings in the region for more than a week – but this is the first time that separatist forces deep inside Ukraine have managed to seize heavy military equipment and a further sign that the situation in the east is slipping out of Kiev's grip.

Ukrainian government forces launched their first significant military action in the east of the country on Tuesday, clashing with about 30 pro-Russian gunmen at a provincial airfield and heightening fears that the standoff could escalate into a major armed conflict.

Shots were fired in Kramatorsk airport as Ukrainian special forces stormed in to reassert Kiev's control. As troop helicopters hovered above and tempers flared, a Ukrainian general was set upon by a group of local people incensed that two protesters had been injured, knocking off his military-issue fur hat and yelling: "Jail him."

At the same time as Kramatorsk airport was being seized, elite Ukrainian units were also gathering outside the nearby city of Slavyansk in an operation aimed at taking back control from armed pro- Russian groups.

Ukraine's acting president said the recapture of the airport was just the first such action aimed at restoring Kiev's control over the east.

"I just got a call from the Donetsk region: Ukrainian special forces have liberated the airport in the city of Kramatorsk from terrorists," Oleksandr Turchynov told parliament.

"I'm convinced that there will not be any terrorists left soon in Donetsk and other regions and they will find themselves in the dock – this is where they belong."

[Syt]

ITAR TASS reports: Breaking news - Anti-govt protesters declare Odessa 'People's Republic' in southern Ukraine

[Razgovory]

It seems to be really difficult to get any information on this now.  It seems that there are few Western Reporter there.  It's like Kitty Genovese on a global scale.  Everyone is turning their heads away and just waiting till it's over.

[Tamas]

Yeah. Based on some news and also the online comments of the Hungarian pro-Russian Nazis (that is quite a thing isn't it), Russian news sources are eager to tell how quickly and en masse Ukrainian military personnel is defecting to the Russian side. How true that is, seems impossible to tell.

[PDH]

If only we had kept my thread open all of this wouldn't have happened 

[Syt]

Guardian:

Channel 4 News's Lindsey Hilsum was in Kramatorsk as Ukrainian troops went in.

    The Ukrainian government may want to force the separatist armed men out of buildings they have occupied in towns across eastern Ukraine, but their soldiers are very reluctant. "I don't want to shoot anyone," one said to me. "Actually I was against this mission."

Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers heading home from Slaviansk with sad faces after a long talk with pro-Russian militia
    — Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) April 16, 2014

    The militia let departing Ukrainian soldiers keep their guns but not their APCs...
    — Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) April 16, 2014

[Ed Anger]

Lolz

[Syt]

CIA Director John Brennan's presence in Ukraine at the weekend has inevitably sparked much speculation. According to the Daily Beast site, he was there to discuss the formation of new, more secure channels for sharing US intelligence with Kiev. Here's an extract:

"    One of the biggest problems facing the Ukrainians now is that their encrypted military communications channels are widely believed to be penetrated by the Russians. As a result, the crucial communications of Ukraine's military divisions as they move into eastern Ukraine have been conducted over unencrypted lines, making it nearly impossible for the Ukrainian military to have any element of surprise.

    The Ukrainian government is said to be requesting advanced secure communications equipment from the United States, one on a long list of items the US government has not yet agreed to provide. "

[alfred russel]

It seems to be really difficult to get any information on this now.  It seems that there are few Western Reporter there.  It's like Kitty Genovese on a global scale.  Everyone is turning their heads away and just waiting till it's over.

You will not enjoy this. ... This will not be over quickly.

[Tamas]

Guardian:

Channel 4 News's Lindsey Hilsum was in Kramatorsk as Ukrainian troops went in.

    The Ukrainian government may want to force the separatist armed men out of buildings they have occupied in towns across eastern Ukraine, but their soldiers are very reluctant. "I don't want to shoot anyone," one said to me. "Actually I was against this mission."

Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers heading home from Slaviansk with sad faces after a long talk with pro-Russian militia
    — Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) April 16, 2014

    The militia let departing Ukrainian soldiers keep their guns but not their APCs...
    — Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) April 16, 2014

what a disaster.

What do they mean they don't want to shoot? Really the Ukrainian population doesn't give a shit if half of the country goes to Russia? Maybe they want to go to?

[KRonn]

So when Russia takes over some of these areas then the real riots and protests will start among the Ukrainian population. Then we'll see real human rights abuses, against those protesters, the kind that Putin will have said he moved forces in to prevent against ethnic Russians which are most likely fabricated.

[alfred russel]

what a disaster.

Not a total disaster though. Yes they gave up on the mission and turned over their APCs without a fight, but they still have their guns. Assuming they still have bayonets, they can affix them to their rifles and have an excellent cookout of hot dogs and smores around the campfire tonight.