Russian Invasion Of Ukraine (Formerly: Democratic Malaise Draws Ukraine Eastwards)

[American Patriot]

Was listening to the Michael Savage show... they took Hannity off the station I used to listen to him on and the station was there when I got in the truck yesterday.

Some guy... a "Dr. Coen" (I dont know who he was) was going on about how this is actually now a proxy war. Ukraine is being supported by Washington, while the rebels in Crimea are being supported by Moscow.

We all know this.

He said "A proxy war between the US and Russia can lead to a real war between Russia and the US."

We all know this.

He then went on to say several comments which lead me to believe he was dead set against this Administration helping the Ukraine, and that we are helping the Ukraine "kill innocent civilians in cities in Eastern Ukraine".

He hinted that our being there is a moral outrage.

Alright.... finally, at one point when asked about Obama handling this, he didn't want to get into any personal attacks, "since I voted for Obama twice".


I'm confused. Who the hell are these assholes going on radio and tv who supposedly are "experts on the region" and are apologists for Putin?????

Putin, plain and SIMPLE is a KGB Colonel. He was in the USSR, as part of the Soviet Union, and is the pure embodiment of the USSR.

Where these fools are getting off saying we're culpable for killing people in Eastern Ukraine I don't know.



Am I missing something?

[vector7]

Was listening to the Michael Savage show... they took Hannity off the station I used to listen to him on and the station was there when I got in the truck yesterday.

Some guy... a "Dr. Coen" (I dont know who he was) was going on about how this is actually now a proxy war. Ukraine is being supported by Washington, while the rebels in Crimea are being supported by Moscow.

We all know this.

He said "A proxy war between the US and Russia can lead to a real war between Russia and the US."

We all know this.

He then went on to say several comments which lead me to believe he was dead set against this Administration helping the Ukraine, and that we are helping the Ukraine "kill innocent civilians in cities in Eastern Ukraine".

He hinted that our being there is a moral outrage.

Alright.... finally, at one point when asked about Obama handling this, he didn't want to get into any personal attacks, "since I voted for Obama twice".


I'm confused. Who the hell are these assholes going on radio and tv who supposedly are "experts on the region" and are apologists for Putin?????

Putin, plain and SIMPLE is a KGB Colonel. He was in the USSR, as part of the Soviet Union, and is the pure embodiment of the USSR.

Where these fools are getting off saying we're culpable for killing people in Eastern Ukraine I don't know.



Am I missing something?

Michael Savage Podcast The Savage Nation August 6 2014 Podcast

Published on Aug 6, 2014 Michael Savage Podcast The Savage Nation August 6 2014 Podcast

[American Patriot]

Did you listen to it Vector? Did you get out of it what I heard?

[vector7]

Yep.

[American Patriot]

Russia Sends Aid Convoy to Eastern Ukraine

Kiev Had Demanded Aid be Coordinated Through Red Cross

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By Gregory L. White
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Updated Aug. 12, 2014 11:29 a.m. ET



A convoy of 280 trucks near Moscow left for Ukraine on an international humanitarian relief mission on Tuesday morning. Ukrainian and Western leaders have expressed concerns that Russia could use an aid mission as cover for sending troops into rebel-held territory. (Photo: AP)




MOSCOW—Russia sent a convoy of 280 trucks carrying what it said was humanitarian aid for war-torn cities in eastern Ukraine Tuesday, setting off a tense diplomatic battle over efforts to ease civilian suffering there.
Kiev said any assistance would have to be agreed with the Ukrainian government and delivered by the International Red Cross, warning that any unilateral attempt by Moscow to deliver aid would be viewed as "an act of aggression."
The Red Cross said Russia hadn't provided necessary information on the shipment or security guarantees.
Late Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Ministry said the column had been agreed with the Ukrainian government and the Red Cross and would be handed over to the Red Cross at a border post in the Kharkiv region controlled by Kiev and accused Ukraine of seeking to delay it.
The back-and-forth over the shipment raised fears of new tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow, which has supported the pro-Russian separatists fighting a four-month-old war against Ukrainian forces in the east of the country, has accused Kiev of not doing enough to ease the suffering of civilians, particularly in the rebel-controlled cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Kiev, meanwhile, accused Russia of "cynically" dispatching the aid even as it continues to supply weapons and fighters to the separatists and fire artillery and mortars across the border at Ukrainian forces. Moscow denies those allegations.
In recent weeks, Kiev has squeezed the separatist forces in an effort to cut Donetsk and Luhansk off from each other and from supply lines to the Russian border, with military gains slowing in the last few days. Conditions in the cities have worsened dramatically, with daily reports of shelling and frequent civilian casualties. In Luhansk, water, electricity and other city services have been out for more than a week.
A defeat for the separatists would also be a major setback for the Kremlin, which has supported them strongly for months. But overt military intervention by Russia would likely trigger a harsh Western reaction, including even-more-painful economic sanctions.
In the last few days, the Kremlin has stepped up calls for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations between Kiev and the separatists. Burned by the separatists' past failures to observe ceasefires and backed by the U.S. and Europe, the government in Kiev says it is determined to continue its military push.
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Amid a buildup of tens of thousands of Russian troops along the border in recent weeks, Moscow's latest push for its aid convoy raised fears in Kiev and western capitals that the column could be a cover for Russian military intervention.
French President François Hollande told Russian President Vladimir Putin of his "grave concern" about the possibility of a unilateral Russian mission on Ukrainian territory in a phone call Tuesday, the French president's office said in a statement.
"The French president insisted that a humanitarian mission can only take place on Ukrainian soil with the accord of Ukrainian national authorities" and through the International Red Cross, Mr. Hollande's office said in the statement.
Russian officials denied any ulterior motive. The Kremlin's account of the call said Mr. Putin had congratulated his French counterpart on his birthday and expressed concern about the "continuing degradation of the situation" in the war-racked regions.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said the convoy included 262 trucks carrying a total of 1809.9 tons of supplies—400 tons of grain, 340 tons of canned meat, 100 tons of sugar, 60 tons of condensed milk, 0.8 ton of tea, 679.5 tons of bottled water, 62.4 tons of baby food, 54 tons of medical supplies and 12,300 sleeping bags.
Russian state television showed the convoy of unmarked, white Kamaz trucks leaving what appeared to be a military base outside Moscow. An Emergency Ministry spokesman said the drivers were from his agency and that the trucks would arrive in a few days at a border crossing to be agreed with Kiev.
Enlarge Image


A convoy of white trucks with humanitarian aid leaves Alabino, outside Moscow Tuesday. Associated Press




Ukrainian officials said Kiev had received notification from Moscow of the column and that it is expected to cross the border at a post near Kharkiv under the control of Ukrainian authorities. The cargo will be transferred to Red Cross trucks for delivery to the Luhansk region by Red Cross officials.
"This is an international mission," Valeriy Chaliy, deputy chief of staff to President Petro Poroshenko, told reporters in Kiev, noting that the EU, U.S. and Germany had also expressed interest in providing funding or supplies. "Everything will be done very quickly."
But he warned that any unauthorized attempt by Russian vehicles to cross into rebel-held territory would be considered "an act of aggression" and elicit a military response from Kiev.
Mr. Chaliy noted that the details of delivery in Luhansk remain to be worked out because the separatist leaders there had not participated in videoconference talks on the aid mission Monday. The rebels didn't immediate respond to that claim.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to Australia, said he was optimistic the aid issues could be ironed out quickly while also making progress in defusing the broader political crisis by beginning "to bring the separatists, to the degree that they are Ukrainian, into the political process," Mr. Kerry said. "For those who aren't Ukrainian they need to leave the country."
"Our hope is that that can happen through the diplomatic process, but we have all learned that we need to be cautious and strong and at the same time in our responses and be clear about what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable," Mr. Kerry told a news conference with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and their Australian counterparts at the conclusion of annual U.S.-Australian strategic talks known as AUSMIN.
In a phone call with Mr. Poroshenko late Tuesday, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso endorsed Ukraine's position on the process for delivering aid and the role of the red Cross, the Ukrainian president's office said in a statement.
The European Union's humanitarian aid commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva said the EU will use a new €2.5 million ($3.4 million) aid disbursement for Ukraine partly to help Kiev build up its humanitarian assistance capabilities.
EU ambassadors meet in Brussels Tuesday to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine. Donors are scheduled to meet in Kiev for a conference on Ukraine aid later this week.

[vector7]

Russia escalates tensions with aid convoy, reported firing of artillery inside Ukraine reported firing of artillery inside Ukraine

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Russia sent more than 130 aid trucks rolling into rebel-held eastern Ukraine without the approval of the government in Kiev. The convoy arrived in war-torn Luhansk on Friday. (AP)

By Karoun Demirjian and Michael Birnbaum August 22 at 6:51 PM

MOSCOW — The conflict between Russia and Ukraine hit dangerous new heights Friday as Russia sent an enormous aid convoy into rebel-held Ukrainian territory without the permission of the Kiev government, a move that a top Ukrainian security official described as a “direct invasion.”

The maneuver came amid reports from NATO that Ukrainian troops were coming under Russian artillery fire from inside their borders.

“Russian artillery support — both cross-border and from within Ukraine — is being employed against the Ukrainian armed forces,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement accusing Moscow of a “blatant breach of Russia’s international commitments” that would intensify a crisis he said it had helped to create and fuel.

“The disregard of international humanitarian principles raises further questions about whether the true purpose of the aid convoy is to support civilians or to resupply armed separatists,” Rasmussen said. It was the strongest denunciation of Russia’s role in Ukraine that NATO has issued and the first time the alliance has accused Russian forces of firing artillery at the Ukrainian army from within Ukraine.

The charges coincide with Russia’s decision to move a convoy of more than 200 trucks into Ukraine on Friday without either government permission or the participation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday morning that Moscow had run out of patience with “delays” and other “excuses” from Ukraine after a nearly 10-day standoff. It said Ukraine’s leaders were deliberately trying to slow-walk the delivery of aid to the war-torn region of Luhansk until “there is no one at all to provide help to.”

Russian aid trucks enter Ukraine View Graphic

The White House condemned the Russian action and said it raised the likelihood that Russia planned the convoy as a pretext for invasion.

“At the same time as Russian vehicles violate Ukraine’s sovereignty, Russia maintains a sizeable military force on the Ukrainian border capable of invading Ukraine on very short notice,” National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said. “We recall that Russia denied its military was occupying Crimea until it later admitted its military role and attempt to annex this part of Ukraine.”

U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, the supreme allied commander in Europe, separately condemned “Russia’s illegal incursion” into Ukraine as he expressed concern about the massing of 20,000 Russian “combat-ready troops” on the border with eastern Ukraine and the flow of Russian arms and operatives to pro-Moscow separatist forces. The unauthorized convoy “indicates that Russia is more interested in resupplying separatists rather than supporting local populations,” Breedlove said in a statement.

Ukrainian authorities appeared to be scrambling Friday to decide how to respond to the border incursion.

Officials had threatened a military response if the Russian convoy tried to force its way into Ukraine, despite the risk of triggering an all-out invasion by Russian forces. Yet allowing the trucks to disperse across the Luhansk region without any Ukrainian controls in effect allows Russia to force a cease-fire in Kiev’s fight against pro-Russian separatists.

State security chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko told journalists in Kiev that Ukrainian forces would not use force against the convoy because they want to avoid “provocations.” But Ukraine’s prime minister struck a more confrontational tone.

“It’s clear that Russia is not planning to conduct any humanitarian mission,” Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on national television. “We need to use all methods to stop Russian military aggression.”

The move appears to have come without the approval of Kiev, which has voiced suspicions that the mission is a cover for an invasion.
Aug. 22, 2014 The first trucks of a Russian convoy drive on the main road to Luhansk near the village of Uralo-Kavkaz, Ukraine. Sergei Grits/AP

For Ukrainian officials, a potential military response ultimately depends on whether the Russian convoy tries to do anything more than distribute aid.

“If we find in the convoy some other equipment, some other equipment that’s not humanitarian aid, then the direction will be different,” military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said.

On Friday evening, Russian state television broadcast images of the trucks pulling up to a loading dock in rebel-held Luhansk. Shirtless men wearing jeans unloaded large white bags that appeared to be filled with grain, beans or flour and moved them into a warehouse.

The original ICRC plan was for the trucks to enter Ukraine, deposit aid supplies and leave immediately by the same route. Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, declined to say whether the convoy would hold to that plan.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry urged international allies to condemn Russia for what Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called a “flagrant violation of international law.”

In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman, Rear Adm. John Kirby, stopped short of calling the movement an invasion but said “it strains credulity to think that this equipment’s not moving across the border accompanied by Russian forces.”

Kirby called on Russia to withdraw vehicles and personnel and threatened “additional costs and isolation” otherwise. That is a reference to potential further economic sanctions on Russia and diplomatic ostracizing of Moscow, tactics the West has applied for months with little success.

“They should not be doing this under the guise of a humanitarian convoy,” Kirby said.

In a conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin said “explicit delays from the side of Kiev” forced Russia to send the convoy across the border unilaterally. Further delays in getting help to Luhansk residents, many of whom have no water or electricity, would be “unacceptable,” he added.

The latest delays, however, emanated from the ICRC’s concerns for the safety of its workers.

Poroshenko had agreed last week to let Russian and European aid into rebel-held portions of the eastern region of Luhansk, but only if ICRC workers presided over the shipments. The ICRC asked for security guarantees, which Ukraine gave — but only for areas under government control.

On Friday morning, ICRC officials told Russia that after a night of heavy shelling in Luhansk, they did not yet have the necessary safety guarantees.

Yet the convoy was shrouded in controversy from the start. When Russia first sent the trucks toward Ukraine they did it without specific ICRC authorization, prompting Ukraine and its allies to worry that the shipment was designed as cover for a military invasion.

Ukrainian officials refused to let the trucks through a government-controlled border crossing in the Kharkiv region, so the convoy headed for rebel-controlled territory instead.

The trucks then spent more than a week idling outside the Izvaryne border crossing to Luhansk, which is controlled by pro-Russian rebels, as government ministers tried to hammer out a deal.

Reporters in the area noted the presence of food, water and emergency supplies in the trucks. Some on the scene also reported seeing heavy military vehicles near the convoy on the Russian side of the border.

Last week, Western reporters watched a column of Russian armored personnel carriers enter Ukraine while the aid convoy was waiting on the Russian side. Ukraine said its forces subsequently destroyed part of the column, but Russia denied that any of its vehicles had crossed the border or had been attacked.

On Thursday, Russian customs officials cleared the first group of aid trucks into the border zone between Russian and Ukrainian territory, where they were waiting for the go-ahead to enter Ukraine.

That night, ICRC officials said the first trucks would likely enter Ukraine on Friday.

William Branigin, Anne Gearan and Karen DeYoung in Washington and Stephanie Kirchner in Berlin contributed to this report.

[vector7]

T-72BM's in Luhansk and Donetsk

a T-72 BM in Donetsk


in Luhansk



video of said T-72BM in Luhansk by RT.com


Residents Lugansk met convoy with humanitarian aid from Russia

Published on Aug 23, 2014

Tons of food, water, medicines and other essentials, finally delivered from Russia in the war-torn Lugansk. August 22 the first trucks with humanitarian aid arrived at your destination, where they waited for more than one day. Together with a convoy traveling from the Russian-Ukrainian border to Lugansk done RT correspondent Maria Finoshina.

[American Patriot]

Looks like a Red Cross escorted aid truck to me....


But what do I know....

[Ryan Ruck]

Purely humanitarian.

[American Patriot]

I'm sure there's fresh food and water aboard that tan... er... truck.

[American Patriot]

Full scale Russian invasion is under way.

The media is ignoring it.

CNN: Ukraine Says “This Is A Full Scale Invasion From Russia”

Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) — Pro-Moscow rebel forces in eastern Ukraine, backed by Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers, battled government forces on two fronts Thursday, a Ukrainian military official said.
The fighting was taking place southeast of Donetsk, and along the nation’s southern coast in the town of Novoazovsk, about 12 miles (20 km) from the Russian border, according to Mykhailo Lysenko, the deputy commander of the Ukrainian Donbas battalion.
“This is a full-scale invasion,” Lysenko said, referring to the fighting in the south.
The latest flareup comes despite a meeting between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Minsk on Tuesday at which some progress appeared to have been made toward finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
U.S. ambassador: Russia is directly involved
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt also said Thursday that Russian soldiers were directly involved in the fighting, alongside the pro-Russia rebels.
“Russian supplied tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and multiple rocket launchers have been insufficient to defeat Ukraine’s armed forces, so now an increasing number of Russian troops are intervening directly in the fighting on Ukrainian territory,” he said on Twitter.
“Russia has also sent its newest air defense systems including the SA-22 into eastern Ukraine and is now directly involved in the fighting.”
Moscow denies supporting and arming the pro-Russia rebels. It has also repeatedly denied allegations by Kiev that it has sent troops over the border.
Yatsenyuk suggested tougher measures may be needed to curb Russia’s support for the rebels.
“Unfortunately, the sanctions were unhelpful as to deescalating the situation in Ukraine,” he said, referring to the economic sanctions already imposed by the United States and European Union against Russian individuals and companies.
Yatsenyuk suggested one way to halt “Russian aggression” could be to freeze all assets and ban all Russian bank transactions until Russia “pulls out all its military, equipment and agents” from Ukraine.
“Vladimir Putin has purposely started a war in Europe. It is impossible to hide from the fact,” he said.
‘Russian-directed counteroffensive’
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Wednesday highlighted the latest reports of heavy fighting around Novoazovsk and Donetsk airport, as well as of “additional columns of Russian tanks, multiple rocket launchers and armored vehicles” heading for communities in southeastern Ukraine.
“These incursions indict a Russian-directed counteroffensive is likely underway in Donetsk and Luhansk,” she said. “Clearly that is of deep concern to us.”
She accused Moscow of not acting in a transparent manner when it came to the Russian people, as well as Ukraine and the rest of the world.
“We’re also concerned by the Russian government’s unwillingness to tell the truth even as its soldiers are found 30 miles inside Ukraine,” she said.
“Russia is sending its young men into Ukraine but are not telling them where they’re going or telling their parents what they’re doing.”
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s National Defense and Security Council told reporters that Russian forces were directing massive artillery fire over the border at Novoazovsk. Russian forces and pro-Russia rebels have seized villages around the town, the NSDC said.
The NDSC also claimed that members of a Russian tactical battalion were present in the village of Pobeda, in Ukraine’s Luhansk region.
“If these troops got lost and accidentally found themselves in Ukraine as well, they should go back East,” the update said.
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s Security Service said it had detained 10 Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
Russian state media cited a source in the Russian Defense Ministry as saying the soldiers had been patrolling the border and “most likely crossed by accident” at an unmarked point.
Journalist Victoria Butenko reported from Kiev and CNN’s Diana Magnay from eastern Ukraine, while Laura Smith-Spark wrote and reported in London.

Ukrainian soldiers stop on a roadside as they wait for the start of their march into Mariupol, Ukraine, on Wednesday, August 27. Ukrainian government forces have been battling pro-Russian rebels near Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia. The fighting has left more than 2,000 people dead since mid-April, according to estimates from U.N. officials.


A man opens a box on August 27 filled with rocket-propelled grenades left by the Ukrainian army in Starobecheve, Ukraine, after pro-Russian forces took control of the town.


A pro-Russian rebel walks through a local market damaged by shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Tuesday, August 26.


Ukrainian servicemen of the volunteer battalion Azov leave for Novoazovsk, Ukraine, on August 26.




Residents sit in a makeshift bomb shelter during a shelling in Makiyivka, Ukraine, on Wednesday, August 20.

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Ukrainian forces take their position not far from Luhansk, Ukraine, on August 20. Ukrainian troops made a significant push into rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, claiming control over a large part of Luhansk and encircling the largest rebel-held city, Donetsk, in fighting that has left at least 43 dead.

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An Ukrainian helicopter flies near Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on August 19.


Ukrainian soldiers load a missile during fighting with pro-Russian rebels Monday, August 18, near Luhansk, Ukraine.

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Ukrainian soldiers carry weapons at a checkpoint near Debaltseve, Ukraine, on Saturday, August 16.


Pro-Russian rebels greet each other as they pass near Krasnodon, Ukraine, on August 16.


A fireman tries to extinguish a fire after shelling in Donetsk on August 16.


Ukrainian border guards patrol near Novoazovsk, Ukraine, on Friday, August 15.

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A tank belonging to pro-Russian rebels moves along a street in Donetsk on August 15.


A Ukrainian soldier walks past a line of self-propelled guns as a column of military vehicles prepares to head to the front line near Illovaisk, Ukraine, on Thursday, August 14.


A Ukrainian soldier prepares a mortar at a position near Illovaisk on August 14.


A man inspects damage at his house after a shelling in Donetsk on August 14.

[American Patriot]

UKRAINE: Russia invading

August 28, 2014 Qronos 16 Leave a comment Go to comments
Source: Annie Gowen and Karoun Demirjian
KIEV, Ukraine — Fighting between the Ukrainian military and what Ukrainian and Western officials say are Russian troops worsened early Thursday, prompting fears in Ukraine that a Russian invasion of their territory has begun.
Ukrainian officials say Ukrainian troops are continuing to battle combined Russian and separatist forces on a new southern front around the border town of Novoazovsk, east of Crimea on the Sea of Azov. A military spokesman also said Russian troops are increasing surveillance from northern Crimea, the autonomous Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in March.
As firefights and shelling continued all day Wednesday and into the night, there were differing reports on whether Novoazovsk, a previously quiet border town, had fallen to Russian-backed separatists. Russian troops and their allies do control villages north of there, according to military spokesman Andriy Lysenko.
Referring to a “Russian-directed counteroffensive,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday, “Clearly, that is of deep concern to us, but we’re also concerned by the Russian government’s unwillingness to tell the truth, even as its soldiers are found 30 miles inside Ukraine.”
Widespread reports of Russian troop movements and fighting in Ukraine provoked renewed criticism from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, whose secretary general said in an interview with British reporters Wednesday that it will deploy forces at new bases in eastern Europe for the first time in response to the Ukraine crisis and to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Guardian newspaper.
“We have reports from multiple sources showing quite a lively Russian involvement in destabilizing eastern Ukraine,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. “We have seen artillery firing across the border and also inside Ukraine. We have seen a Russian military buildup along the border. Quite clearly, Russia is involved in destabilizing eastern Ukraine. . . . You see a sophisticated combination of traditional conventional warfare mixed up with information and primarily disinformation operations. It will take more than NATO to counter such hybrid warfare effectively.”
Moscow will consider the activity of NATO forces near Russia’s borders in its own military planning, Russia’s envoy to NATO told the Interfax news agency Thursday.
“Obviously, we will take into consideration the configuration and activity of the NATO forces at the Russian borders in our military planning, and will take all that is necessary to reliably provide security and to ensure safety against any threats,” envoy Alexander Grushko told Interfax.
German leader Angela Merkel demanded an explanation from Putin for the Russian troop movements, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported. The conversation between the two leaders took place as fighting intensified, the BBC reported.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he has canceled his working visit to Turkey due to a “sharp aggravation” of the situation in the east, “as Russian troops were brought into Ukraine.”
Europe’s security agency, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, has called an emergency meeting in Vienna on Ukraine, the BBC reported.
NATO’s Canadian delegation also posted a snarky map on its Twitter account with outlines of the countries titled “Russia” and “Not Russia” — a stab at Russian assertions that 10 paratroopers captured in Ukraine earlier this week wandered into the country by mistake.
A spokesman for Putin, Dmitry Peskov, brushed aside NATO’s criticism in an interview with Russian reporters Wednesday, according to Interfax.
“It’s not a new declaration. They do this regularly and Russia regularly repeats its denial, declaring that this information doesn’t correspond with reality,” Peskov said.
Peskov also said that Russia planned to send a humanitarian convoy back into Ukraine, after days of intense negotiation over the last convoy of around 220 trucks that entered the country without permission or the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross last Friday. The trucks were purportedly used to bring food and relief supplies to besieged residents near Luhansk, one of two rebel strongholds in the east.
“A second humanitarian convoy can be sent very soon. The Russian side is ready to do it tomorrow, so long as this operation, like last time, will happen under the auspices of the ICRC and total interaction with the Ukrainian authorities, though we can’t give a specific date,” Peskov said.
The increased fighting came after Tuesday’s meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, who exchanged a chilly handshake at a regional summit and pledged some cooperation in the ongoing crisis. Putin and Poroshenko spent more than two hours in a private meeting Tuesday and, afterward, pledged cooperation on tightening Ukraine’s eastern border and humanitarian relief for besieged residents in battleground cities.
Yet even as both leaders gave lip service to the idea of peace, verbal sniping on both sides continued — as reports of Russian tanks and soldiers on the ground grew. At his news briefing Wednesday, Lysenko showed a new video of most of the Russian paratroopers. The deputy commander of the men said they had “illegally come into the territory of Ukraine” for what they thought was a military exercise and were captured and detained.
Russia may not want to talk cease-fire terms, but it also isn’t interested in breaking up Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.
“We are not interested in breaking up the state,” Lavrov said, when asked at a youth forum why Russia has not yet recognized the rebels’ self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics as a state.
Ukrainian officials on Wednesday pushed back against Russia’s opposition to its desire to sign a trade agreement with the European Union, the genesis of the conflict that began in November. And Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatensyuk raised fears of a purported Russian plan to cut off gas supplies to Europe that go through Ukraine this winter. More than 15,000 were without gas in one Eastern city after the lines were cut, the Ukrainian military said Wednesday.
“Russia is and will be a reliable supplier of energy resources to Europe,” Peskov said. “We hope that Ukraine in turn will guarantee unhindered transit.”
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine’s east is worsening, with thousands in the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk without water and reliable food, and thousands more fleeing the southern city of Mariupol this week amid fears of a Russian invasion on the southern border. A U.N. report expected to be released Friday says that the death toll has dramatically worsened in recent weeks, with around 36 people dying daily, for a total of 2,200 killed in the conflict so far.
Anne Gearan in Washington contributed to this report.

[American Patriot]

ABC’s Terry Moran wants no ‘weasel words': ‘Say it. Russia has invaded Ukraine’ [photos]

Posted at 9:11 am on August 28, 2014 by Twitchy Staff | View Comments

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Russia has begun a full-scale invasion in Ukraine, fighting on two fronts.
—
luke gilmore (@lukegilmore_) August 28, 2014

Hey, President Obama, this is happening:

.@Richardgalpin reports as pro-Russian rebels enter Novoazovsk in eastern #Ukraine bbc.in/1qLWrry http://t.co/2ycAiLriV7—
BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 28, 2014

More from BBC:

Pro-Russian separatists have entered the port town of Novoazovsk in eastern Ukraine, an area which could be strategically vital.
Ukrainian forces insist they are still in control there, but the mayor of Novoazovsk confirmed rebels had arrived.

ABC’s Terry Moran is calling it like it is.

Say it: Russia has invaded Ukraine. Any other description is just weasel words. http://t.co/tOkSRxSetP—
Terry Moran (@TerryMoran) August 28, 2014

What will the Obama administration say? Perhaps this:

@TerryMoran @DapperDSM If you ask Obama they are just undocumented military advisers—
Melissa Mckee (@mistyblue20109) August 28, 2014

Related:
‘Or what?’ Pentagon calls on Russia to remove vehicles from Ukraine ‘immediately’
Twitchy coverage of Terry Moran

[American Patriot]

Ukraine’s President Poroshenko Says Meeting With Putin For Nothing — Russia Has Invaded Ukraine

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (second from the right) during a summit in Belarus’ capital of Minsk on Tuesday, August 26, 2014.(Photo: Sergei Bondarenko, AFP/Getty Images)
By Adam Chandler

As Russia reportedly opens a new front in its battle against Ukraine, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko became the latest and most notable figure to call Russia’s action an invasion of Ukraine. U.S. officials agree, telling CNN that as many 1,000 Russian troops have entered the country and are engaged in the fighting south of Donetsk on Thursday.

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This new incursion signals a heightened level of Russian military involvement, and a direct open conflict between the two nations, although Moscow continues to deny that they have not crossed the border.
From a statement on the presidential website:

I have made a decision to cancel my working visit to the Republic of Turkey due to sharp aggravation of the situation in Donetsk region, particularly in Amvrosiivka and Starobeshevo, as Russian troops were actually brought into Ukraine.”

Andrew Kramer and Michael Gordon are reporting on the new offensive by the pro-Russian rebels, anchored a “stealth invasion” by Russian forces:

The latest incursion, which Ukraine’s military said included five armored personnel carriers, was at least the third movement of troops and weapons from Russia across the southeast part of the border this week, further blunting the momentum Ukrainian forces have made in weakening the insurgents in their redoubts of Donetsk and Luhansk farther north. Evidence of a possible turn was seen in the panicky retreat of Ukrainian soldiers on Tuesday from a force they said had come over the Russian border.

Russia continues to deny any military involvement.
As we noted earlier, Poroshenko met with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, a meeting in which no peace agreement was ironed out between the two leaders. Putin, who also says there is no direct Russian link to the actions of the Russian pro-separatists….
http://news.yahoo.com/ukraines-presi...105700367.html
*********************
From The New York Times
MOSCOW — Declaring that Russian troops had crossed into Ukraine, President Petro O. Poroshenko on Thursday canceled a planned visit to Turkey and convened a meeting of the national security council to focus on the “marked aggravation of the situation” in the southeast of his country.
The meeting of the national security council will focus on shaping a response, and Ukraine will also request a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
Mr. Poroshenko made his comments as the leader of the main separatist group in southeastern Ukraine said that up to 4,000 Russians, including active-duty soldiers on leave, had been fighting against Ukrainian government forces, Russian television reported.
“There are active soldiers fighting among us who preferred to spend their vacation not on the beach, but with us, among their brothers, who are fighting for their freedom,” Aleksandr Zakharchenko, a rebel commander and the prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, said in an interview on Russian state-run television.
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/29/wo...lict.html?_r=0

Aleksandr Zakharchenko, a rebel commander and the prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, said on Thursday that Russians, including active-duty soldiers on leave, had been fighting against Ukrainian government forces. Credit Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

[vector7]

Ukraine conflict: Russian soldiers seen with 'up to 100' military vehicles in Ukrainian villages

Updated 28 Aug 2014, 12:29pmThu 28 Aug 2014, 12:29pm


Photo: Ukrainian servicemen take up position during fighting with pro-Russian separatists in Ilovaysk. (Reuters: Maks Levin)

Related Story: Ukraine military reports clashes with armoured column
Map: Ukraine

A group of Russian soldiers has crossed the Ukrainian border in armoured infantry carriers and trucks and entered the eastern town of Amvrosiyivka, according to a Ukrainian military spokesman.

A convoy of "up to 100" tanks, armoured vehicles and rocket launchers was seen travelling on a road toward Telmanove, a town about 80 kilometres south of rebel stronghold Donetsk and 20 kilometres from the Russian border, Ukraine's army said in a statement.

The army did not give details about the personnel on board the vehicles or when the column was thought to have entered Ukraine.

A military source said the convoy had come from Russia.

"We believe that this is Russian equipment. You cannot buy 100 tanks at a market in Donetsk or Lugansk," the source said.

"Of course they have been moved from across the border."

Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said government forces had killed about 200 separatists and destroyed tanks and missile systems in clashes in the towns of Horlivka and Ilovaysk further north.

Mr Lysenko said 13 Ukrainian service personnel had been killed in the latest fighting and 36 people had been wounded.

If it turns out Russian soldiers are fighting in Ukraine it could further deepen the country's crisis — the focus of talks this week between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian prime minister Arseny Yatseniuk.

US ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt said in a Twitter post: "The new columns of Russian tanks and armour crossing into Ukraine indicates a Russian-directed counter-offensive may be underway."

Fears about gas supplies for Europe

Meanwhile, Mr Yatseniuk claimed Russia planned to halt gas flows to Europe over the coming winter, comments which are likely to escalate the standoff between Moscow and the West.

"The situation in [Ukraine's] energy sector is difficult. We know of Russia's plans to block [gas] transit even to European Union countries this winter," he told a government meeting.

Russia stopped gas supplies to Ukraine in June over a gas pricing dispute but has continued supplies to Europe, its largest market.

Mr Yatseniuk did not say how he knew about the Russian plans.

Last year half of Russian gas exports to the EU were shipped via Ukraine.


NATO Not Looking for War With Russia - CSIS


© Flickr/ Medien Bundeswehr

04:15 28/08/2014
Tags: Cold War, mobilization, military presence, NATO, Ukraine, Russia

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WASHINGTON, August 28 (RIA Novosti) - NATO is not looking for ways to set off a war with Russia, despite the alliance’s commitment to build up rapid response forces close to Russia’s border, a representative of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told RIA Novosti.

“We are not looking for war with Russia. We aim to prevent any kind of unusual, unconventional approaches that might come after NATO territory or NATO stability,” International Security Director at CSIS Katherine Hicks said during a Wednesday press briefing on the upcoming NATO summit.

“It’s about that rapid reaction capability,” Hicks said on the plans for rotational bases and force presence along NATO’s Eastern front.

According to statements, made ahead of the September 4-5 NATO summit in Wales, the members of the alliance will focus their discussion on improving the readiness of NATO forces within the member-states.

Such plans on the improvement and modernization of NATO’s Response Forces (NRF) have raised concerns in Russia, which has watched the alliance gradually approach its western borders since the start of the Ukrainian crisis.

Within the NRF, NATO intends to ensure the readiness of the Immediate Response Forces, comprised of 13,000 troops provided by member nations, and also build non-alliance capabilities in Ukraine.

“The types of capabilities are going to look different than they would have during the Cold War. Sufficiency today looks a lot different than, maybe, one would have thought in the Cold War,” Hicks said.

NATO’s new capabilities are intended to provide assurance for both member-states and non-allies in the region, Hicks added.

"[NATO is] explicitly taking a step down to a building partnership capacity approach to non-NATO members, instead of making an attempt to officially incorporate them into the alliance,” she said, referring to such non-member states as Georgia and Ukraine.

Hicks said she believes NATO does not want to provoke a response that “could be misinterpreted and thus lead to a miscalculation that is not helpful in any way.”

[American Patriot]

Ukraine: Two Russian Tank Columns Near Novoazovsk, Russian Using ‘Grad’ Missiles

.


Aug 28, 9:46 AM (ET)

NOVOAZOVSK, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukraine security spokesman says two columns of tanks from Russia have entered a strategic town.


Ukrainian security council spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko says Ukrainian forces were fired at using Grad missile systems from Russian territory at about 11 a.m.

Lysenko says about an hour and a half later, two columns, including tanks and other fighting vehicles began an attack.


They later entered Ukraine from Veselo-Voznesenka and Maximovo of the Rostov region in Russia.


Ukrainian border guards retreated because they didn’t have heavy equipment.


Grad Missiles
–File photos for illustration only

[American Patriot]

Ukraine Accuses Russia Of Launching Invasion, Then Promptly Retracts


Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/28/2014 07:24 -0400

• BTFATH
• European Union
• Greenlight
• Reuters
• Turkey
• Twitter
• Twitter
• Ukraine

It has been a busy morning: following a substantial surge in Ukraine separatist activity in the past 24 hours, which saw them capture the strategic Sea of Azov port town of Novoazovsk, a move which the NYT classified as "Ukraine Reports Russian Invasion on a New Front", Ukraine has turned on the disinformation spigot to max resulting in a constant verbal, and headline, diarrhea as follows:

• POROSHENKO CONVENES SECURITY COUNCIL ON RUSSIAN `INVASION'
• POROSHENKO: SITUATION IN UKRAINE'S EAST DETERIORATED SHARPLY
• UKRAINE EU AMBASSADOR CALLS FOR JOINT EFFORT TO `STOP THIS WAR'
• POROSHENKO SAYS SECURITY COUNCIL WILL DRAW UP FURTHER PLANS
• RUSSIAN ARMY CONTROLS NOVOAZOVSK: UKRAINE SECURITY COUNCIL
• YATSENYUK URGES UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO DEBATE UKRAINE SITUATION

So sure was Ukraine that this time (unlike all those previous disinformation launches) Russia has invaded that Anton Herashchenko, adviser to Ukrainian Interior Ministry, actually commented on his Facebook page saying "Invasion of regular Russian army of Putin to Ukraine is an accomplished fact,” Adding that Putin "de-facto places Ukraine on a war-footing at a time when a decree was signed to dissolve parliament."
Well, yes, Ukraine has no government, but Russia of course denied all of it:

• PESKOV WON'T COMMENT ON REBEL CLAIM OF RUSSIAN TROOP SUPPORT

All of this latest disinformation propaganda was summarized by Reuters best:

Ukraine accused Russia on Thursday of mounting an invasion in the southeast of the country in support of pro-Moscow separatist rebels. Ukraine's security and defense council said the border town of Novoazovsk and other parts of Ukraine's south-east had fallen under the control of Russian forces who together with rebels were staging a counter-offensive.

"A counter-offensive by Russian troops and separatist units is continuing in south-east Ukraine," the council said in a post on Twitter.

President Petro Poroshenko, in a statement explaining his decision to cancel a visit to Turkey, said: "An invasion of Russian forces has taken place."

Russia denies intervening in Ukraine by arming the rebels or sending soldiers across the border. The defense ministry declined to comment on reports of Russian tanks in Novoazovsk.

“The Russian authorities clearly said many times there are no regular Russian troops there. Russia is not taking part in this armed conflict,” said a Russian diplomatic source. The latest escalation in the five-month crisis came only two days after the presidents of the two countries held their first talks in more than two months and agreed to work towards launching a peace process.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk appealed to the United States, European Union and G7 countries "to freeze Russian assets and finances until Russia withdraws armed forces, equipment and agents". Rebel advances this week have opened a new front in the conflict just as Ukraine's army appeared to have gained the upper hand, virtually encircling the separatists in their main strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, said on Facebook: "The invasion of Putin’s regular Russian army of Ukraine is now an established fact!"

French President Francois Hollande said it would be "intolerable and unacceptable" if it was proved true that Russian troops had entered Ukrainian territory.

So a lot of words all of which were best summarized by Ukraine's Prime Minister in dissolutia, Yatseniuk, who as a reminder does not have an official role any more after the Ukraine government was dissolved (on Twitter) last week:

• PUTIN STARTED WAR IN EUROPE, UKRAINE’S PREMIER YATSENYUK SAYS

Ok so far so good: accusations, counteraccusations - we are used to that.
But where things once again got surreal, making everyone not only laugh but wonder how the CIA has lost the plotline so badly, was the following "clarification" headline from Reuters, which noticed some rather substantial change in the language on the website of the Ukraine president:

• CORRECTED-UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT POROSHENKO SAYS RUSSIAN TROOPS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT INTO UKRAINE (NOT 'RUSSIAN MILITARY INVASION HAS TAKEN PLACE') - PRESIDENTIAL WEBSITE

Indeed, instead of explicitly saying a "Russian military invasion has taken place", the website now reads: "I have made a decision to cancel my working visit to the Republic of Turkey due to sharp aggravation of the situation in Donetsk region, particularly in Amvrosiivka and Starobeshevo, as Russian troops were actually brought into Ukraine," the President noted."
For all those wondering if to BTFATH or STFR, please sit tight until Ukraine gets its marching orders from the US State Dept whether to brand the "Russian troops being brought into Ukraine" as an invasion, or merely an accidental crossing, depending on how all of this will impact US strategy in Syria, which all of this is really all about: because remember, if and when the US begins to bomb the Assad regime under the guise it is fighting ISIS, all it will do is greenlight Qatar sending its gas pipeline to Europe... which after all has been the plan all along since 2012.
So stay tuned as this "socially-networked war" comedy unfolds before our eyes.

[American Patriot]

[American Patriot]

Over 60 Ukrainian troops cross into Russia seeking refuge

Published time: August 28, 2014 02:19
Edited time: August 28, 2014 13:48 Get short URL

ARCHIVE PHOTO: Ukrainian soldiers in a tent camp in Rostov Region on 4 August, 2014. (RIA Novosti / Julia Nasulina)

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A group of 62 Ukrainian troops have crossed into Russia’s Rostov Region seeking shelter to save their lives amid an intensified counteroffensive recently launched by anti-Kiev militia in southeastern Ukraine.
“Today, 62 servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces turned to Russian border guards asking to let them into the Russian territory near Russia’s settlement of Shramko, Matveyevo-Kurgansky district, with the aim to save their lives,” the spokesman for the FSB's border guard office in the Rostov Region, Nikolay Sinitsyn, told Itar-Tass news agency on Wednesday.
They were allowed to cross and provided with a transit corridor on the principles of humanism, but only after they left their weapons on the Ukrainian side of the border, Sinitsyn added.
This case became the latest in a series of similar incidents where a total of over 500 Ukrainian troops crossed into Russia since July seeking refuge and medical help.
Earlier this week, Ukraine released videos showing alleged Russian paratroopers captured on Ukrainian territory. Russian Defense Ministry sources were saying that they probably crossed the border by mistake during a routine patrol of an area which wasn’t manned. President Putin, when asked about the issue said he hoped it won’t be blown out of proportion, since Ukrainian troops regularly cross into Russian territory, sometimes in armored vehicles and were never charged with anything and always allowed to return to Ukraine freely.
Kiev’s renewed accusations of Russian military’s alleged operations on Ukrainian territory are “nothing new,” says Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, adding that Russia regularly refutes such reports. Meanwhile Kiev says it has launched a preliminary investigation into the detained men on suspicion of “aiding terrorist groups.”

This combination of handout pictures released by Ukrainian security service (SBU) press service on August 26, 2014 purportedly shows Russian paratroopers captured by Ukrainian forces near the village of Dzerkalne, Donetsk region (AFP Photo / SBU Press-Service / Str)

Ukraine’s own troops in the meantime are also facing prosecution, with General Prosecutor’s office announcing on Wednesday that 1,083 criminal proceeding had been launched since the beginning of the so-called anti-terrorist operation, with people being charged for “disobedience, unauthorized abandonment of a military unit or place of service, desertion, evasion of military service in another way, and so on.”
Anti-Kiev militia in the meantime announced that almost 90 Ukrainian troops laid down their arms and surrendered on Wednesday alone, following at least 129 the day before, Ria reports.
On Sunday, the main headquarters of the Donetsk People’s Republic announced that it had launched a counteroffensive against Kiev’s “punitive forces” in the region, blocking and surrounding many of the military and paramilitary units.
The military equipment captured from local army depots and those forces surrendering en masse has allowed militia to form 2 tank battalions, 3 multiple launcher rocket system batteries, 2 self-propelled howitzer batteries, 3 cannon battalions of various calibers and 8 mortar batteries, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Donetsk People’s Republic Aleksander Zakharchenko told the press at the time.

The DPR army will no more act in small groups as instead full-bodied independent military units had been formed, he added, announcing the beginning of a major counter-offensive but at the same time calling on Ukrainian troops to surrender and leave the territory of the republic, promising absolute safety for everyone not involved in war crimes against the civilian population.
Ukraine has been engulfed in a violent internal conflict since April, when Kiev’s military began its crackdown on the southeast parts of the country which refused to recognize the coup-installed government.
According to United Nations’ estimates released Tuesday, over 2,249 people have so far been killed and over 6,033 wounded in the fighting in eastern Ukraine. The number of internally displaced Ukrainians has reached 190,000, with another 207,000 finding refuge in Russia, the UN said.

[American Patriot]

Ok, this cracks me up.

Those Russians that drove in with tanks and trucks... you know, hey, they aren't attacking anyone. THEY ARE ON VACATION!!!!


LMAO