Crisis in Ukraine

[LazyLion]

UKRAINIAN MILITARY: ATTACKS DOWN, BUT NOT YET A CEASE-FIRE

Ukraine's military says rebel violations of a cease-fire in the country's east are persisting, but have fallen off in recent days.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Anatoliy Stelmakh told a briefing Wednesday that Russian-backed rebels shelled the village of Popasna twice during the night and also continued trying to overrun Ukrainian positions at the village of Shyrokyne, near the strategic port city of Mariupol.

In all, 19 artillery and mine attacks were recorded, he said.

"For a second day, we observe a reduction in shelling," Stelmakh said. "But the last day was not a cease-fire."

Ukraine says it will not begin a pullback of heavy weapons under a peace deal until the cease-fire firmly takes hold. Rebels said Tuesday they were beginning a pullback. The claim could not be confirmed.


Source : Sapa-AP /mm
Date : 25 Feb 2015 10:58

 

[Dave]

About time! They need boots on the ground to stop these Russian terrorists.


British troops to be sent to Ukraine as Cameron warns against appeasing Putin like Hitler


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ppeasing-Putin-like-Hitler.html#ixzz3Skp5FXCp
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

There is an even bigger US contingent going.

A battalion of around 600 American paratroopers will be heading to Ukraine next month to train national guard troops there, a Pentagon spokesman told Fox News Wednesday.

The unit heading to the war-torn country is from the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, based out of Vicenza, Italy.

The training is to take place at the Yavariv training center in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, U.S. Army Europe Commander Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges said, according to The Associated Press.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/02/11/fighting-rages-on-in-ukraine-ahead-peace-talks/

 

[w1z4rd]

There is an even bigger US contingent going.

Awesome news. Hopefully more countries will follow and more troops will be deployed. The Russian terrorists are quick to bully a weaker neighbour (its that alcoholic wife beating mentality of theirs) but hopefully one day the will have to fight a fully modernized force.

 

[Xarog]

Awesome news. Hopefully more countries will follow and more troops will be deployed. The Russian terrorists are quick to bully a weaker neighbour (its that alcoholic wife beating mentality of theirs) but hopefully one day the will have to fight a fully modernized force.

Ok, now I'm curious. How do you actually think this is all going to play out?

 

[Seriously]

Continued



https://cgrozev.wordpress.com/2015/02/24/the-ukraine-plan/

There is a few idiots that will disagree with this, but it's ok, all those that know better knows that Putin have a plan all along and therefore he annexed Crimea and want to do the same with Ukraine.

 

[Unhappy438]

There is a few idiots that will disagree with this, but it's ok, all those that know better knows that Putin have a plan all along and therefore he annexed Crimea and want to do the same with Ukraine.

Im pretty sure he doesnt want to annex E.Ukraine, then he will be left with the bill to fix the damage done to it plus the political nightmare. He wants it to remain part of Ukraine (so Ukraine foots the bill) and he still has all the influence and power over it. Which would be achieved through federalisation where Donbass can veto decisions made in Kyiv.

 

[LazyLion]

UKRAINIAN POWS DIG OUT BODIES OF COMRADES KILLED AT AIRPORT

Ukrainian troops held captive in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk began digging through the rubble Wednesday to retrieve the bodies of fellow soldiers killed last month in a bitter battle for the city's airport.

Associated Press journalists saw at least four bodies being carried out of the waste of the once-glittering, now-obliterated terminal. Rebel representatives said many more were still buried under the rubble, but provided no figures.

Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops had battled regularly over Donetsk's airport since May, when government forces decisively rebuffed separatist attempts to take the showcase terminal built to help Ukraine host the 2012 Euro soccer championships. Fighting there then surged in mid-January, swiftly unraveling a monthlong truce over the New Year.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Vladislav Seleznev said Wednesday that 15 servicemen were killed in fighting over the airport in January. Their bodies have lain uncollected since that time.

Buckling under a barrage of artillery and small arms attacks, Ukrainian forces conceded Jan. 22 that they had lost much of the terminal.

The rebels handed over 139 captive Ukrainian soldiers last weekend in exchange for 52 people held by the government. Neither side has revealed how many captives they currently hold, but AP journalists saw up to 25 government POWs working at the airport.

Separatists have long insisted they are entitled to control over the international airport, now reduced to mounds of smashed concrete. Ukraine argued that a peace deal signed in September entitled them to keep the terminal.

Work to retrieve the bodies was interrupted Wednesday by the sounds of gunfire in the distance, but resumed after a brief period.

The fighting in eastern Ukraine has killed nearly 5,800 people since April. Russia denies charges that it is arming and supporting the rebels, but Western nations and NATO reject those denials as absurd. A peace plan agreed upon earlier this month by the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, brokered by France and Germany, aims to cement a cease-fire and begin a pullback of heavy weapons.

Ukraine's military said rebel violations of the cease-fire persisted Wednesday but had fallen off in recent days.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Anatoliy Stelmakh said the rebels shelled the village of Popasna twice overnight and also continued trying to overrun Ukrainian positions at the village of Shyrokyne, near the strategic port city of Mariupol. In all, 19 artillery and mine attacks were recorded, he said.

"For a second day, we observe a reduction in shelling," Stelmakh said. "But the last day was not a cease-fire."

Ukraine says it will not begin a pullback of heavy weapons under the peace deal until the latest cease-fire firmly takes hold. Rebels said Tuesday they were beginning a pullback, but the claim could not be independently confirmed.

The cease-fire deal is being monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. OSCE mission chief Ertugrul Apakan said Tuesday that the warring sides had yet to provide figures on the quantity of heavy weapons to pulled back from the front line and where they would be moved.

"The parties concerned still have not provided this information, and they need to do so promptly. Without this information, the SMM cannot effectively verify the withdrawal," he said.


Source : Sapa-AP /mm
Date : 25 Feb 2015 15:25

 

[Unhappy438]

France says Russia would face more sanctions if Mariupol attacked

Moscow would face more EU sanctions if pro-Russia separatists attack the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday, potentially opening a corridor to the south, including the annexed Crimean peninsula.

Kiev fears Mariupol, with its 500,000 people, could be the next major rebel target after separatists took the strategic railroad town of Debaltseve, its foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin said after ceasefire talks in Paris two weeks ago.

"The problem today is particularly around Mariupol. We've told the Russians clearly that if there was a separatist attack in the direction of Mariupol things would be drastically altered, including in terms of sanctions," Fabius said.

"At a European level the question of sanctions would be asked again," he told France Info radio, having hosted Tuesday's meeting where his Russian, Ukrainian and German counterparts all renewed calls for the ceasefire to be respected.

EU leaders had agreed not to increase or reduce sanctions after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande helped broker a ceasefire deal on Feb. 12.

However, following several breaches of the ceasefire, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Feb. 20 leaders were discussing possible further sanctions to penalize Russia.

A French diplomatic source, however, played down the prospect of more sanctions, saying that it was not an issue Paris supported for now as it would send the wrong message.

"You can't seriously discuss implementing the (Minsk) agreements and in parallel discuss sanctions. We are not entering this debate," the source said.

Rebel commander Eduard Basurin said on Tuesday that the rebels still aimed to gain control of the entire territory of east Ukraine's two rebellious provinces, including Mariupol, but would seek this through "negotiations with the Ukrainian side".

Klimkin told reporters in Paris late on Tuesday, "Mariupol is critical. Any kind of attack on Mariupol would change things ... Debaltseve was a game changer because it disrupted the spirit of the Minsk accords."

"Any further attacks would trigger a counter attack."

Basurin also denied Kiev's assertions that there were serious clashes in villages near Mariupol, saying there had been provocations from the Ukrainian side but no major incidents.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/25/us-ukraine-crisis-france-idUSKBN0LT0T520150225

 

[Xarog]

Im pretty sure he doesnt want to annex E.Ukraine, then he will be left with the bill to fix the damage done to it plus the political nightmare. He wants it to remain part of Ukraine (so Ukraine foots the bill) and he still has all the influence and power over it. Which would be achieved through federalisation where Donbass can veto decisions made in Kyiv.

Wait, are you actually admitting Putin is pragmatic as far as territorial matters are concerned? :wtf:

 

[AntiGanda]

Wait, are you actually admitting Putin is pragmatic as far as territorial matters are concerned? :wtf:

He's coming around to our way of thinking, abeit sluggishly.

 

[Seriously]

Wait, are you actually admitting Putin is pragmatic as far as territorial matters are concerned? :wtf:

Pragmatic in the sense that he will steal small bits and pieces in little takeovers until he reached his final goal, YES! He is just playing his options to make it seem as if the locals actually chose to hand themselves over to Russia. Crimea point and case.

 

[Seriously]

He's coming around to our way of thinking, abeit sluggishly.

Nah, Unhappy will never be able to think or act like an idiot. Never! So coming around he won't not even while you are cumming around.

 

[Unhappy438]

Wait, are you actually admitting Putin is pragmatic as far as territorial matters are concerned? :wtf:

In one of our first conversations i said exactly what i just said, you obviously didn't pay much attention.

 

[AntiGanda]

In one of our first conversations i said exactly what i just said, you obviously didn't pay much attention.

"Putin has exhibited some psychotic tendencies."

 

[Xarog]

In one of our first conversations i said exactly what i just said, you obviously didn't pay much attention.

But the point is that if you realise he's pragmatic with regards to territory then you must also realise that it is very unlikely he wanted Ukraine destabilised in the first place. Russia's responses to the diplomatic issue in Ukraine were entirely economic up until the Americans orchestrated a coup, and even if you don't believe that the Americans orchestrated a coup, there is mountains of evidence to suggest so and it's pretty obvious what the Russians would conclude that the Americans were involved.

 

[Xarog]

"Putin has exhibited some psychotic tendencies."

Yup, that's the response I do remember.

 

[Unhappy438]

Yup, that's the response I do remember.

Some being the keyword, comments about NATO legions for example are psychotic but that doesn't mean he behaves psychotically all the time.

 

[Xarog]

Some being the keyword, comments about NATO legions for example are psychotic but that doesn't mean he behaves psychotically all the time.

Or it's simply a diplomatically veiled message saying to everyone in diplomatic circles that Poroshenko is running for the stick every time the U.S. says fetch. I mean it's kind of obvious, isn't it? Putin made very similar comments at the outbreak of the Ukraine situation by commenting that there didn't seem to be a reason to talk to anyone in the EU when the US was obviously the one directing policy.

And I still want to know where you apparently think Russia went off the rails considering that all of their reactions to the crisis are in keeping with what one would expect from rational leaders of a regional power whose national security was being undermined.

 

[Unhappy438]

Or it's simply a diplomatically veiled message saying to everyone in diplomatic circles that Poroshenko is running for the stick every time the U.S. says fetch.

Then he should just say that, NATO legion makes him sound like a mad idiot.

Anyway i've got work to do, im not really in the mood to get into some deep conversation with you.

 

[AntiGanda]

Then he should just say that, NATO legion makes him sound like a mad idiot.

Anyway i've got work to do, im not really in the mood to get into some deep conversation with you.

This is about as deep as our forum opponent gets, Xarog, he should stick to posting slanted news reports. I believe he's Ukrainian, so his views are entrenched no matter who's in charge over there.