Updates.
The People's Mayor of Slavyansk, Ponomarev, confirms that the OSCE mission has been detained by the rebels in Slavyansk, and considers them prisoners of war. He says they were enemy spies sent there, not neutral observers.
tutuskania:
A rebel checkpoint near Soledar was attacked by unknown men, but the attack was fought off.
Блог ÐлекÑандра Шакуна - 15 человек атаковали блокпоÑÑ‚ в районе украинÑкого города Соледар
An interview with Strelkov, the guy whose radio conversation was claimed by the Ukrainian government to be a GRU agent. He discusses the personnel of his militia (mostly Ukrainians, many with experience fighting in Yugoslavia or Iraq, some that served in Russian armed forces). He mentions they disarmed several 25th Airmobile Regiment detachments, and some Border Guard troops, getting over 150 automatic weapons, a few grenade launchers, and some vehicles. He mentions all the soldiers are conscripts and are unwilling to fight, which is why they don't want to kill them. He mentions that they bring in their conscripts using them as a shield, they set up a checkpoint, and then SBU and MVD units as well as Right Sector activists use the checkpoint to operate from. The militia is hesitant to fire on them. He mentions they have the ability to shoot down helicopters, and intentionally chose one that didn't have anyone in it except the crew.
He mentions that they have the OSCE observers and they will negotiate their release but only with representatives of the Russian Federation. He also mentions that they're being lied about in Ukrainian media, and that reality is that 80% of the locals are in favor of joining Russia. He mentions that they haven't received any help from Russia despite needing it. Finally he mentions that they're working with the local civilian government, even though they have a lot of issues with them.
Strelkov is also now the head of the Donetsk People's Militia.
Colonel Cassad -
Военный дневник Ð˜Ð³Ð¾Ñ€Ñ ÐšÐ¾Ñ€Ð¾Ñ‚Ñ‡ÐµÐ½ÐºÐ¾ - Силы Ñамообороны Донецкой реÑпублики возглавил Игорь Стрелков
Meanwhile the Russian MoD released a statement saying that their satellite imagery shows that the Ukrainians have a 15 000 troop concentration around Slavyansk that includes tanks, and heavy artillery. They fear that Ukraine will erase the city from the face of the earth.
u_96:
Some videos of Ukrainian troops have surfaced, where the Ukrainians have BMP-3s. I knew that they had inherited some from the USSR, but I was under the impression that it was no more then a handful. These shots don't show more then a handful which leaves two options. Either the Ukrainians took what few they had and tossed them into a unit, or they have quite a few more, and possibly a btln or brigade is armed with them. In all the videos it appears to be the same unit. Similar looking Msta-S, and MT-LBs.
At 0:47 [nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV_EwReyGbI"]ÑÑ‚. Фёдоровка (Ðовобогдановка) 18.04.14.mp4 - YouTube[/nomedia]
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/14014977152_c9f1b6fddb_o.jpg
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVmSFfkbvxI"]Ðовобогдановка - YouTube[/nomedia]
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBaJM8i7NTU#t=114"]УкраинÑкие СÐУ и БТР-и едут на аÑродромы МелитопольÑкого рай-но, ЗапорожÑкой обл. - YouTube[/nomedia]
According to this source, Ukraine has either 4 or 6 BMP-3s, and at least 3 were sighted as part of an artillery regiment.
Вооруженные Ñилы Украины решили применить БМП-3, которые ранее были в запаÑе
Also the Ukrainian MoD is talking about resuming a conscript based military, despite earlier attempts to transition to a contract structure, under Yanukovich. Seems like lunacy after the conscripts showed their total unwillingness to fight, and in some cases rebelled in their garrisons.
Ð”ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ñ ÐœÐ¾ÐºÑ€ÑƒÑˆÐ¸Ð½ - ЗаÑÐ²Ð»ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ñ ÐœÐž Украины
In Crimea while the water is already turned off, electricity may be next, as the Crimean government and many private parties have not been paying their bills.
Íîâîñòè NEWSru.com :: Êðûìó ìîãóò îòêëþ÷èòü ýëåêòðè÷åñòâî çà íåóïëàòó: äîëãè ïðåâûñèëè 70 ìëí äîëëàðîâ
EDIT: This is worth showing. This summs up the feelings in the east fairly well. It's BBC in english, so do watch.
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QGFZev_h7g#t=428"]Why do some Ukrainians want to be part of Russia? BBC News - YouTube[/nomedia]
The People's Mayor of Slavyansk, Ponomarev, confirms that the OSCE mission has been detained by the rebels in Slavyansk, and considers them prisoners of war. He says they were enemy spies sent there, not neutral observers.
tutuskania:
A rebel checkpoint near Soledar was attacked by unknown men, but the attack was fought off.
Блог ÐлекÑандра Шакуна - 15 человек атаковали блокпоÑÑ‚ в районе украинÑкого города Соледар
An interview with Strelkov, the guy whose radio conversation was claimed by the Ukrainian government to be a GRU agent. He discusses the personnel of his militia (mostly Ukrainians, many with experience fighting in Yugoslavia or Iraq, some that served in Russian armed forces). He mentions they disarmed several 25th Airmobile Regiment detachments, and some Border Guard troops, getting over 150 automatic weapons, a few grenade launchers, and some vehicles. He mentions all the soldiers are conscripts and are unwilling to fight, which is why they don't want to kill them. He mentions that they bring in their conscripts using them as a shield, they set up a checkpoint, and then SBU and MVD units as well as Right Sector activists use the checkpoint to operate from. The militia is hesitant to fire on them. He mentions they have the ability to shoot down helicopters, and intentionally chose one that didn't have anyone in it except the crew.
He mentions that they have the OSCE observers and they will negotiate their release but only with representatives of the Russian Federation. He also mentions that they're being lied about in Ukrainian media, and that reality is that 80% of the locals are in favor of joining Russia. He mentions that they haven't received any help from Russia despite needing it. Finally he mentions that they're working with the local civilian government, even though they have a lot of issues with them.
Strelkov is also now the head of the Donetsk People's Militia.
Colonel Cassad -
Военный дневник Ð˜Ð³Ð¾Ñ€Ñ ÐšÐ¾Ñ€Ð¾Ñ‚Ñ‡ÐµÐ½ÐºÐ¾ - Силы Ñамообороны Донецкой реÑпублики возглавил Игорь Стрелков
Meanwhile the Russian MoD released a statement saying that their satellite imagery shows that the Ukrainians have a 15 000 troop concentration around Slavyansk that includes tanks, and heavy artillery. They fear that Ukraine will erase the city from the face of the earth.
u_96:
Some videos of Ukrainian troops have surfaced, where the Ukrainians have BMP-3s. I knew that they had inherited some from the USSR, but I was under the impression that it was no more then a handful. These shots don't show more then a handful which leaves two options. Either the Ukrainians took what few they had and tossed them into a unit, or they have quite a few more, and possibly a btln or brigade is armed with them. In all the videos it appears to be the same unit. Similar looking Msta-S, and MT-LBs.
At 0:47 [nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV_EwReyGbI"]ÑÑ‚. Фёдоровка (Ðовобогдановка) 18.04.14.mp4 - YouTube[/nomedia]
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/14014977152_c9f1b6fddb_o.jpg
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVmSFfkbvxI"]Ðовобогдановка - YouTube[/nomedia]
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBaJM8i7NTU#t=114"]УкраинÑкие СÐУ и БТР-и едут на аÑродромы МелитопольÑкого рай-но, ЗапорожÑкой обл. - YouTube[/nomedia]
According to this source, Ukraine has either 4 or 6 BMP-3s, and at least 3 were sighted as part of an artillery regiment.
Вооруженные Ñилы Украины решили применить БМП-3, которые ранее были в запаÑе
Also the Ukrainian MoD is talking about resuming a conscript based military, despite earlier attempts to transition to a contract structure, under Yanukovich. Seems like lunacy after the conscripts showed their total unwillingness to fight, and in some cases rebelled in their garrisons.
Ð”ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ñ ÐœÐ¾ÐºÑ€ÑƒÑˆÐ¸Ð½ - ЗаÑÐ²Ð»ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ñ ÐœÐž Украины
In Crimea while the water is already turned off, electricity may be next, as the Crimean government and many private parties have not been paying their bills.
Íîâîñòè NEWSru.com :: Êðûìó ìîãóò îòêëþ÷èòü ýëåêòðè÷åñòâî çà íåóïëàòó: äîëãè ïðåâûñèëè 70 ìëí äîëëàðîâ
EDIT: This is worth showing. This summs up the feelings in the east fairly well. It's BBC in english, so do watch.
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QGFZev_h7g#t=428"]Why do some Ukrainians want to be part of Russia? BBC News - YouTube[/nomedia]
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