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Female Tank Commander Defects for Love, Warns Kiev of Russian Invasion Plan
RFE/RL ^ | Mar 2019 | Christopher Miller

Posted on 03/08/2019 4:26:43 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege

It may be a Ukrainian love story as complicated and dubious as the motives behind the simmering war itself: A female separatist commander and star propagandist for Russia-backed separatists defects to Kyiv to be with her Ukrainian spy lover. But she also brings word of Russian plans for a massive invasion. Moreover, she's ready to testify in The Hague to Moscow's role in alleged war crimes.

Svitlana Dryuk, the notorious commander of an all-female tank crew for anti-Kyiv forces in some of the bloodiest battles of the five-year conflict, aired her allegations on Ukraine's 1+1 TV channel on March 3.

The report was met with celebration by many Ukrainians who cited her defection and disclosures as a victory, worry by others who took seriously her claims of a return to possible all-out war, and indignation by former separatist comrades who said she should be "hanged" as a "turncoat."

But some skeptical Ukrainians are questioning whether she could actually possess the information she claims.

Known by the nom de guerre Veterok (Breeze), the 40-year-old Dryuk debuted as a defector in a nearly nine-minute TV segment in which she admitted to having killed Ukrainians.

"I'm not excusing myself," she told reporter Andriy Tsapliyenko. "It was just a specific time and I was doing what I was told to do."

The United Nations estimates that around 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

Dryuk became a darling of separatist and Russian media, which featured her in such documentaries as one extolling her all-female tank unit as "Heroes Of Our Time."

Now in Kyiv with her two teenage children, Dryuk said she was collaborating with Ukraine's intelligence services, a claim corroborated by the SBU in a statement.

Specifically, Dryuk claimed to have shared Russian plans for a "full-scale invasion" involving "100,000 troops" who could pour into Ukraine in just four hours' time.

Dryuk reportedly said "special identification documents" have been created for "every Russian soldier who will enter" Ukraine, allowing such servicemen to present themselves as citizens from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and granting Moscow plausible deniability of direct involvement in the war. (EXCERPT)


TOPICS: Russia
KEYWORDS: defection; defectors; propaganda; ukraine


1 posted on 03/08/2019 4:26:43 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: NFHale

Ping.


2 posted on 03/08/2019 4:29:30 PM PST by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

She’s no Hedy Lamarr. /”Comrade X”


3 posted on 03/08/2019 4:47:43 PM PST by Calvin Locke
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
A female separatist commander and star propagandist for Russia-backed separatists defects to Kyiv to be with her Ukrainian spy lover.

And of course the globalist deepsters want to get involved to sort out this mess. Can someone give us a program so we can understand which side is which and who is on it and tell us which side we are for. I presume we support the western liberal free market democrats. Just tell me who they are so I can keep score. Oh, and what point spread is on offer here.

4 posted on 03/08/2019 4:57:34 PM PST by AndyJackson
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To: Calvin Locke
Hedley Lamarr?


5 posted on 03/08/2019 5:00:07 PM PST by newfreep ("INSIDE EVERY PROGRESSIVE IS A TOTALITARIAN SCREAMING TO GET OUT" - DAVID HOROWITZ)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
This 'defection' sounds as believable as the Babchenko murder plot.


6 posted on 03/08/2019 5:19:18 PM PST by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Well, it is womans day!


7 posted on 03/08/2019 5:27:58 PM PST by 2banana (Were you)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

“with her Ukrainian spy lover.”

Did he realize she was following? Maybe he was undercover playing the part, and he got a clingy one.


8 posted on 03/08/2019 5:42:36 PM PST by dgbrown
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

She is no Tank Girl.


9 posted on 03/08/2019 5:46:15 PM PST by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Well, that’s one way for Putin to infiltrate a spy into the Ukraine.


10 posted on 03/08/2019 5:55:46 PM PST by PAR35
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To: DuncanWaring

So I guess the old insult “Your mother wears Army boots!” isn’t an insult there... ‘Cause mama really DOES wear Army boots...


11 posted on 03/08/2019 6:10:11 PM PST by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

...she admitted to having killed Ukrainians.

She’ll fit right in with the Ukrainian military then.


12 posted on 03/08/2019 6:13:21 PM PST by McGruff
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

“I’m not excusing myself,” she told reporter Andriy Tsapliyenko. “It was just a specific time and I was doing what I was told to do.”

A-HA! So she’s using the Jussie Smollett line of defense, Eh? ;)


13 posted on 03/08/2019 7:26:01 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin ( "Why can't you be more like Lloyd Braun?")
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

This isn’t news in any way. Not even a little bit.

How could it be news that Russia has a plan to invade Ukraine? Is it news that the USA has for decades had a plan to invade Russia, and a long list of other countries?
It would be totally shocking if either wasn’t true.

Militaries have contingency and scenerio planning for all sorts of things that are unlikely to be used, but they are still filed away somewhere ready to go if the day comes.
Military is paid to consider contingencies that people don’t like to think about or that are unlikely.

It would be news if she had any knowledge of the likelihood of this plan being used, which this article doesn’t indicate


14 posted on 03/08/2019 7:55:24 PM PST by Mount Athos (A Giant luxury mega-mansion for Gore, a Government Green EcoShack made of poo for you)
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To: shanover

She is a real life tank girl not a hollywood cartoon caricature - she would eat your lunch and fart on your nose ... )


15 posted on 03/09/2019 1:14:53 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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