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Ukraine says it can prove that Russia coordinated weekend attacks
KyivPost ^ | April 13, 2014 | Katya Gorchinskaya

Posted on 04/13/2014 11:51:32 AM PDT by 1rudeboy

Ukrainian officials say that Russia coordinated the takeovers of several Donetsk Oblast government buildings seized over the weaken by heavily armed and masked men in military uniforms.

“We have all concrete proof of Russia's secret agency involvement in the separatist insurgency and takeovers of government buildings in eastern Ukraine. The evidence and witness testimonies will be presented to the international community on April 17 in Geneva,” Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on April 13.

Former Vladimir Putin's adviser Andrei Illarionov, expressed a similar conviction to Ukraine's Gordon.ua news website.

“I have to stress, this is an intervention, an insurgency of Russian special forces, not a separatist riot on the territory of Ukraine. If the problem is not solved within three days, the territories of Ukraine will be lost,” said Illarionov.

Some of Ukraine's security specialists say that the Russian military operation is supported by genuine separatist sentiment in the east.

“It's not a clean insurgence. There are, unfortunately, also separatist moods, and people think Kyiv is full of 'Banderites' and set them up,” says one senior source from a security agency, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of sensitivity of the issue. "Banderites" refers to supporters of Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera (1909-1959), who is reviled by the Kremlin as a Nazi collaborator.

“If it was just clearly Russian invasion, the operation would be much cleaner,” the source said.

Nevertheless, there is plenty of evidence to point to heavy Russian military presence in the coordinated takeovers.

Use of Russian weapons, well-trained men

Some of the weapons used by the “little green men,” the camouflaged soldiers with no insignia who appeared over the weekend in many towns in eastern Ukraine, are not carried by either the Ukrainian army, or any of its special agencies. In particular, automatic rifles of AK-100 series that are visible on many photos and videos from Sloviansk, are one type of such weapons.

Acting President Olekandr Turchynov also said in his April 13 address that it was “terrorist groups coordinated by the Russian Federation” who took over Interior Ministry departments and other administraive buildings in Sloviansk and other cities of Donetsk Oblast. “It was particularly dangerous in the town of Slovansk, where professionally trained criminals were working, dressed in Russian camouflage and armed with Russian automatic weapons,” Turchynov said.

Videos taken in Kramatorsk show what is clearly a well-organized military operation, where part of the camouflaged men walk inside the building, while others secure the perimeter outside as they kneel in front of the entrance, pointing their guns outwards. (More videos here and here.)

Heavy presence of Russian coordinators

Earlier this month, Ukraine's Security Service detained Roman Bannykh, affiliated with Russia's Main Intelligence Department, in Luhansk Oblast, when he attempted to enter Ukraine. The SBU said he organized and coordinated the work of a subversive group operating in Ukraine. SBU has reported a number of similar cases in the past two months, indicating a growth in the presence of Russia's secret agents in Ukraine.

Dmytro Tymchuk, a retired high-ranking army officer who organizes Information Resistance, a group that fact-checks and collects military information, said that “the general supervision over the actions of separatists is performed by the coordinators of Russian Main Intelligence Department.” He also said some of the operations are performed by troops of the Main Intelligence Department of the Military Headquarters of the Russian Federation, in coordination with private guard of a Ukrainian oligarch and local separatist troops made up of volunteers.

Communication traffic traced back to Russia

The analysis of communication traffic of the separatists can be traced back to Russia. The actions of separatist forces are coordinated through radio channels and online channels, and coordinators of actions can be traced back to the Russian Federation, Ukraine security source said.

Geography of attacks is not accidental

The geography of attacks in Donetsk Oblast is not accidental for two reasons. Many of the cities that were attacked are located close to the Svyatohorsk Assumption Lavra, or monastery, of the Moscow Patriarchate, which Ukrainian security officials believe serves as a military base for the insurgents. The towns such as Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast, where separatist actions have been particularly fierce, are easily accessible from that location.

Moreover, the towns have a certain strategic significance, particularly from the point of view of securing control over transport and access to Donetsk Oblast. Krasnoarmeisk, for example, hosts a military air base used by a flight club at the moment. Druzhkovka and Gorlovka are railway junctions.

“From the map you can clearly see that all the towns that became epicenters of conflicts (on April 12) form a provisional chain that cuts Donetsk Oblast from Dnipropetrovsk,” Levyi Bereg news website wrote on April 12.

Copy of Maidan

The separatists in eastern Ukraine attempt to copy the EuroMaidan Revolution's successful tactics in their work. They create barricades around buildings they take over, they use car tires and set them on fire to protect themselves from attacks of anti-terrorist troops unleashed by the central government. These are all planned attempts to legitimize the separatist moves in eastern Ukraine, some analysts have noted.

At the same time, much of what happens in Ukraine is similar to the early stages of operations in Crimea. There, similarly clad military men also appeared at the early stages of the takeover of the peninsula, and were then followed by Russian army vehicles.

Turchynov, in his April 13 address, noted this similarity. “We will not allow Russia to repeat the Crimean spenario in the eastern region of Ukraine,” he said, announcing a massive anti-terrorist operation.

The action looks coordinated to be over by April 17

Ukraine's authorities fear that the separatist actions that started in eastern Ukraine this weekend look coordinated to finish by April 17, when multilateral talks are planned on Ukraine-Russan relations in the wake of Crimea annexation.

But Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned U.S. State Secretary John Kerry in a telephone conversation on April 12 that the talks will not happen in Kyiv uses force to deal with insurgence in the country's east.

“Lavrov warned that in the case of materialization of the threats that sound from Kyiv to use force against the desperate residents of southeast, the prospect of further cooperation on Ukrainian issue will be disrupted, including the planned four-side meeting in Geneva” Russia's Foreign Ministry warned in its April 13 statement.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: donetsk; putin; russia; ukraine
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To: 1rudeboy

2008 picture shows Special Battalion Vostok. Spetznaz unit of Russian military intelligence (GRU). Manned with Chechens.

21 posted on 04/13/2014 2:46:52 PM PDT by Krosan
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To: 1rudeboy
If they're Ukranian citizens who left the military when Crimea became part of Russia but don't live in Crimea, they're still Ukraine citizens. Add to that Ukranian military who sided with eastern Ukraine. They'd be Ukranian citizens and capable of running a military operation in their home area.

Meanwhile, it's pretty certain that McCain and Nuyland openly supported and met with the Kiev thugs. And isn't Biden going there to show support in about a week?

22 posted on 04/13/2014 2:47:16 PM PDT by grania
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To: elhombrelibre

Putin has meat shipped from Southside Market in Elgin, Texas. The man knows his sausage!


23 posted on 04/13/2014 2:47:24 PM PDT by VerySadAmerican
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To: grania

‘nuther thing I find humorous . . . we are supposed to believe that Nuland had her fingers in the pie, but Putin? How dare anyone even suggest the thought!


24 posted on 04/13/2014 2:50:32 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: elhombrelibre

People prefer lies over the truth.


25 posted on 04/13/2014 2:56:17 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: 1rudeboy

Do they really need proof? It’s not like Sri Lanka did it


26 posted on 04/13/2014 2:56:26 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: Krosan
Found a bigger image.


27 posted on 04/13/2014 2:56:31 PM PDT by Krosan
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To: Rashputin; All

The Ukrainians are correct in their assessment. Photos have been shown of known GRU and Spetznaz troops seen in Crimea now present in Eastern Ukraine, and many of their agents have been arrested, along with communications intercepted. Also, it is unlikely that home grown rebels are able to launch a coordinated assault against multiple targets all at the same time, all along an important invasion route for Russia. The Useful Idiots here are a little too trusting of their communist overlords in Moscow. Anyone who doesn’t understand what the Russians are doing in Ukraine is an idiot.


28 posted on 04/13/2014 3:00:51 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans
"Anyone who doesn’t understand what the Russians are doing in Ukraine is an idiot."

And anyone who doesn't understand what the US and EU are doing in the Ukraine is an idiot.

But, it takes a really, really, special kind of idiot to think the Russians are the only ones double-dealing and murdering in the Ukraine.

29 posted on 04/13/2014 3:05:07 PM PDT by Rashputin (Jesus Christ doesn't evacuate His troops, He leads them to victory.)
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To: 1rudeboy

One group seemed to be calling themselves “Afghanistan Veterans”


30 posted on 04/13/2014 3:05:44 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (Do The Math)
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To: Rashputin

How many troops has the US or EU sent to Ukraine?


31 posted on 04/13/2014 3:08:58 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: mosesdapoet

Capture a couple of them and post pictures saying “Come get your husband/kid”. Interesting to see if Putin can get away with this in age of social media


32 posted on 04/13/2014 3:09:23 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (Do The Math)
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To: Rashputin
And anyone who doesn't understand what the US and EU are doing in the Ukraine is an idiot.

You mean, what the Ukrainians themselves are doing in Ukraine. I don't believe conspiracy theories about the NWO. But, it takes a really, really, special kind of idiot to think the Russians are the only ones double-dealing and murdering in the Ukraine.

Nothing sickens me more than liberal style moral relativism, seeking to equalize NATO with the Soviet bloc. Even with Obama at the helm, we are nothing like the Russians who are literally being led by people with sympathies for Neo-Nazi doctrines and Aleister Crowley Satanists.

33 posted on 04/13/2014 3:09:27 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: Rashputin
Whoops, forgot a slash: And anyone who doesn't understand what the US and EU are doing in the Ukraine is an idiot.

You mean, what the Ukrainians themselves are doing in Ukraine. I don't believe conspiracy theories about the NWO.

But, it takes a really, really, special kind of idiot to think the Russians are the only ones double-dealing and murdering in the Ukraine.

Nothing sickens me more than liberal style moral relativism, seeking to equalize NATO with the Soviet bloc. Even with Obama at the helm, we are nothing like the Russians who are literally being led by people with sympathies for Neo-Nazi doctrines and Aleister Crowley Satanists.

34 posted on 04/13/2014 3:10:07 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: elhombrelibre
Many people are deliberately believing Putin despite all the evidence that he’s a world class liar.

Many people believe that Russians are the majority, so what Putin is doing is OK.

35 posted on 04/13/2014 3:12:09 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (Do The Math)
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To: Mike Darancette

Or maybe they just think it’s none of our business.


36 posted on 04/13/2014 3:13:20 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Mike Darancette

65 percent of people in Eastern Ukraine, from recent polling, do not support being annexed by Russia, and a greater number do not claim to be “pressured” or under threat from Kiev. The “protestors,” with a good portion of them being pre-invasion forces of Russia, are a small minority.


37 posted on 04/13/2014 3:15:28 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: Rashputin
If that wasn't a mob in Kiev there's never been one. A mob can replace a bad government with a good one, a good government with a bad one, or a bad government with a worse one. It's still a mob, especially if it forces a change of government only months prior to a legal, Constitutional, election.

Is it just possible that Putin faced with an election which was probably going to go against Russian interests inject a "false flag" group into demonstrations? The only way he could grab Crimea was to delegitimize the Ukrainian government before the election.

38 posted on 04/13/2014 3:21:06 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (Do The Math)
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To: elhombrelibre

The Ukranian leaders simply need to come out against gays, that’ll bring the Putin fans back behind the Ukranians.


39 posted on 04/13/2014 3:25:43 PM PDT by AnAmericanInEngland
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To: AnAmericanInEngland

Slavs, in general, don’t care for gays.


40 posted on 04/13/2014 3:28:17 PM PDT by dfwgator
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