Monthly Archives: May 2014

DPR in the near future once again will be asking to join Russia

Source: http://inforesist.org

Prime minister of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk announced that in the near future the Republic is planning to ask Russia for inclusion of the Republic into the Russian Federation. He made this announcement on a press conference on Saturday.

“Of course, we are planning,” – said he answering a question from an OstroV journalist.

When asked when such request can be officially prepared, Borodai answered that it will happen in the near future.

“We will do all this very hastily,” – he said.

A. Borodai has also announced that the DPR will ask the Russian Federation to establish diplomatic contacts with the Republic.

As was reported earlier, a political analyst from Moscow Alexander Borodai became the prime-minister of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk.

Symbols of subversives from Donbas explained

Do you know that symbols are signs and in turn signs are words? It doesn’t matter if you don’t, you just have to comprehend the following semiotic term: sign. Sign is a depiction of something, for example a word, a road sign, an emblem, coat of arms or something else. A sign always has a meaning and it is used to depict that meaning. It does not matter, whether the sign is spoken or drawn.

Flag of Donbas's People army, wuite popular between insurgents, and also translated symbol of Slovyansk TV. Do you notice something wrong with that shield and sword?

Flag of Donbass People’s army, quite popular between insurgents. Do you notice something wrong with that shield and sword?

For instance, the symbols of “self-defense” units of Donbass separatists were broadcasted on local television in Slavyansk and seen on different flags, although, now they are less seen (compared to how it was before), so maybe the separatists have come to reason. Does it give you any thoughts? Do you know what it says? Older people should remember the symbols.

If you have guessed, let’s go through some other signs, used in Donbass, now teeming with separatists and terrorists. If you haven’t guessed, I’ll tell you after some images with flags.

Continue reading →

Dmitry Tymchuk Military blog: summary for May 16

By Dmitry Tymchuk, Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

The bad news:

1. Today, we recorded a gathering of Russian troops previously located in the 100 km [62 mile] zone from the border between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, closer to the Ukrainian border. At the same time, they did not approach the direct line-of-sight zone immediately next to the border.

Russian commanders were instructed to prepare for a “peacekeeping operation.” Our border patrol servicemen note that the provocations at the border have died down.

It’s like the calm before the storm.

Although, if Vladimir Putin really wanted to move his troops into Ukraine–Moscow would have recognized the results of the May 11 “pseudoreferendums” in Donbass and would have done so.

It seems that this is just the continuation of long-standing pressure. Let’s see what happens close to the Presidential elections in Ukraine (scheduled for May 25). But we must be ready or anything–however, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported that the army is ready for the invasion scenario.

2. The anti-terrorist operation (ATO) once again resumed its crazy jolts. After yesterday’s pro-active phase, the special forces calmed down too quickly–and instantly received a reply.

In Donetsk and Slavyansk, terrorists keep building impressive checkpoints in broad daylight. They bring in the construction cranes, and install the concrete blocks. Military bases and even staff headquarters are being attacked–as happened with the HQ of the Eastern Operative Association of the National Guard in Donetsk.

To be honest with you, it’s already getting tired. Personally, I have no words for it. It’s already not a betrayal or “leaks” of the ATO–it’s some bloody surrealistic art house. And endless at that.

3. The Crimean Tatars. The day after tomorrow is the anniversary of their deportation (from Crimea to primarily Uzbek USSR). This year, they will celebrate this tragic date in a big prison camp once again–no longer called the “USSR” but the “Russian Federation.”

Crimean Tatars have been prohibited from holding any public events. Their homes are being searched throughout. Crimea is stuffed to its eyeballs with OMON police. In a word: Putin-style democracy.

We shouldn’t forget about our Crimean brothers–neither Crimean Tatars nor Ukrainians. Currently Kiev seems to have stopped paying attention to their problems. We don’t hear their confident and harsh statements addressed to Moscow regarding gross human rights violations in Crimea. We consider this a betrayal.

We, the Information Resistance group, are restoring our (information) network and resuming our work in Crimea. It’s our duty. Forgive us for temporarily being distracted from fulfilling our duty.

The good news:

1. The Prosecutor General’s office of Ukraine has finally officially recognized the “People’s Republic of Luhansk” (LPR) and “People’s Republic of Donetsk” (DPR) the terrorist organizations. This was the First Deputy to the Prosecutor General, Nikolay Golomsha.

The fact that these gentlemen who kidnap people and kill-rob-and-rape them, can never be called members of the Macrame Lovers Club, is obvious to everyone. But we now have their official definition. Everyone in the world knows what a terrorist is.

Today, I also resorted to polemics with a representative from Akhmetov’s company on this. She tried to prove to the whole wide world that cooperation with terrorists, as Rinat Akhmetov’s “Metinvest” engages in (accompanied by demands requiring Ukrainian security forces get out of Donbass), is a pledge of peace and prosperity. And since I criticize this tender friendship between Akhmetov’s structures and terrorists, I must be a very bad man. Like, the bandits in Donbass are not terrorists at all, but almost cute and pleasant people.

From now on, these guys can no longer justify their actions. Anyone who recognizes the “DPR” and “LPR” and enters into cooperation with them–are officially the accomplices of terrorists. In addition to our local “princelings” represented by oligarchs in the East, it also applies to the main sponsor of terrorism in Ukraine–Russia.

2. The UN report on Ukraine dotted it’s “i’s”.

The United Nations stated who the pro-Russian “people’s militia” (as Russia calls them) truly are. And this image completely coincides with that seen by simple Ukrainian citizens, patriots of their country. And thugs and criminals is what we see.

What’s even funnier is that Russia got immediately outraged by this. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in its deceitful terminology of propaganda, criticized the UN. According to Russian authorities, their own lying propagandists who get rewarded with prizes and awards by Vladimir Putin for dragging Ukraine into the mud, are the truth of last resort. And the rest of the world lies.

Really, the Kremlin inhabitants have the same rotten barley cereals instead of brains that little Russian soldiers devour in Rostov Region at the border with Ukraine.

3. In Luhansk, the terrorist Alexei Rilke, the man dubbed as the “commander” of the so-called “South-East army” was detained.

One would think–nothing out of the ordinary, another bandit has been captured. Slap him on the ears–and lock him up.

But in reality, there aren’t too many freaks stirring the pot in Donbass. If a dozen or two pro-Russian “figures” (which have now declared themselves “Ministers,” “Speakers,” and “Commanders-in-Chief”) get locked up–half the work is done. That’s why we should have more news like this.

4. The Ukrainian Defense Minister announced today: servicemen participating in the ATO will receive increased monetary compensation, an expanded range of social guarantees, and number of benefits.

This is a very rare occurrence in Ukraine, where the emergence of new beneficiaries can and should be welcomed.

At the same time, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk gave instructions to provide housing for the families of servicemen who died during the ATO. And this also is very important.

Guys who shed their blood today for the unity and sovereignty of our state are our Heroes. And the state should do everything it can so that they feel the state’s attention and care. This is the correct thing to do.

May 16, 2014 Lithuanian media round-up

On 16th of May Lithuanian Parliament delegated 8 Members of Parliament to observe elections of Ukrainian President, which will be held on 25th of May. (Lithuanian Parliament Press Office, BNS, ELTA, 15min.lt)

On 17th of May Street Music Day will be held for the first time in Kiev, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Odessa. Lithuanian artists will arrive to support European Ukraine: groups ‘Biplan’, ‘Dee&Kammy’, ‘Colors Of Bubbles’, Jurgis Didžiulis will perform in Kiev, Edgaras Lubys/Amberlife and percussionist Donatas Senkus – in Lviv. (veidas.lt, vz.lt, delfi.lt, 15min.lt)

On 16th of May Vytautas Leškevičius, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Valeriy Piatnytsk, Government’s Commissioner for European Integration of Ukraine chaired the 10th meeting of the Lithuania-Ukraine Commission for European Integration. The Commission meeting discussed the creation of a coordination mechanism for European integration in Ukraine, Ukraine’s progress towards a visa-free regime with the EU and possible Lithuania’s expert assistance to Ukraine in the implementation of the Association Agenda. The representatives of Ukraine pointed out that they highly appreciated Lithuania’s support and consultations. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs information, ELTA, lrytas.lt)

On 16th of May Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO chief, said that ‘he could no longer trust Russia’s assurances on sovereignty and the territorial integrity of countries in the region after its annexation of Crimea’ (vz.lt, lrytas.lt, 15min.lt, delfi.lt). Read more in The Times of Israel: http://www.timesofisrael.com/nato-chief-no-one-can-trust-russia-after-ukraine/#ixzz31u0kaIJu.

On 16th of May second United Nations report about human rights situation in Ukraine was published. It says that ‘human rights violations have escalated in Eastern Ukraine and serious problems are emerging in Crimea, as well as a “wave of abductions and unlawful detentions” of journalists, activists, politicians, representatives of international bodies and members of the military’ (delfi.lt, lrytas.lt, 15min.lt). Read more in Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/16/us-ukraine-crisis-un-idUSBREA4F05Y20140516.

On 14th of May Bill Clinton, former President of United States, accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of attempting to ‘re-establish Russian greatness, not in Cold War terms — in 19th-century-empire terms,’ warning world leaders they are perhaps dealing not with a rational foreign-policy thinker (delfi.lt, 15min.lt). Read more in Business insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-clinton-putin-ukraine-russia-obama-2014-5#ixzz31u3nvN7S.

On May 16th Helmut Schmidt, former Chancellor of Germany, said that ‘Ukraine’s crisis reminds the eve of World War I and danger that situation will become more tense, as it did in August of 1914, is growing everyday.’ (delfi.lt, balsas.lt, 15min.lt)

Dmitry Tymchuk: ‘The Generals of ATO are pathetic’

Source: http://sprotyv.info

We are speaking with Dmitry Tymchuk, the leader of ‘Information Resistance’ (IR) group and the head of ‘Military and Political center’, about anti-terrorist operation in general and problems of Ukrainian armed forces that relates to the execution of ATO.

-Everyone has questions why ATO is so sluggish and ineffective. What is your opinion why the operation has failed?

 I wouldn’t say that ATO has failed. Under all given circumstances ATO has reached some results and that is very good. We need to consider that there were plenty of factors influencing the success of ATO in order to understand the amount of problems that ATO soldiers had to overcome. There are several reasons for inefficiency: political, military, psychological, economic (speaking about material and technical supplies)

 -I prefer to start from the cornerstone – politics.

Starting from events in Crimea it has become very common to personally blame either O. Turchynov or A. Yatsenyuk. And Yatsenyuk is involved only to not leave Turchynov alone in the blacklist. And, of course, generals of armed forces are there to be blamed as well. Our ‘Information Resistance’ group is not an exception – we also have blamed our government on many occasions.

And it is pretty logical: a fish rots from the head down. On the other hand, after Crimea we had many opportunities to evaluate the situation from the common point of view. And the more we learned the more questions arose regarding every level of governance. Moreover, it turned out that most of questions aimed at Turchynov had to answered by someone else.

Talking about political situation. Yes, after events in Crimea we had no clear position from our highest ranking officers. But in last two months many things have changed. According to our data, Ukrainian government mustered the required political courage to finally start dealing with problems in Donbass.

Unfortunately there’s starts other problems. Firstly, international pressure. Yes, the West supports us – applying sanctions for Russia and encouraging us. But the West has a clear stance – only negotiations and no blood.

This is nonsense. Negotiations are possible only with those who solve problems in a diplomatic way. But if those invited to “round-table discussions” reply with terrorism, they must be punished.

Second problem is Russia. A lot was said about not provoking Russia that I can’t go into that again.

-What about famous ‘Tymoshenko trace’? We often hear that Yulia Volodymyrivna doesn’t need presidential elections in which she has no chances to win. Therefore, Turchynov and Yatsenyuk, who are controlled by Tymoshenko, are failing ATO on purpose to prevent the election.

I have to admit that we also had such suspicions. But now I can claim that yes, current government can’t find competent people to manage ATO. This is the problem and responsibility of our government. ATO is blocked by many internal problems, but we can’t see ‘Tymoshenko’s hand’ there. Whether you believe it or not, this is the way it is.

Personally I’m convinced that current government already has enough real shortages and there is no need to invent new ones. It would be better to realize the situation and fix those issues that currently are ‘in the shadows’.

-Responsibility of 13th of May, 2014 tragedy when soldiers of 95th brigade died, in social networks was assigned to Turchynov and Avakov…

This is nonsense. In case of Avakov – what is the relation between him and 95th brigade or military actions during ATO? These questions should be given to Koval  (Minister of Defense) and Mykhailo Kutsyn ( Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine). But for unknown reasons none of the critics have even mentioned them.

In case of Turchynov is the same situation. Is Turchynov assigning tasks for every brigade? Is he giving direct orders? Is he responsible for supplies? Is he personally responsible for actions that according to the military alphabet should be responsible head of a squad? If commanders starting from lieutenant doesn’t know statute then how president is involved into this?

We need to get rid of our habit to blame government for every single reason. It is very convenient to do so but with this way we will never solve our main problems and no significant victories will be achieved.

But I’m wrong – President is related. Turchynov‘s problem as the Supreme Commander is that in ATO headquarters sits incompetent bunch of high ranking officers, which competency and adequacy for that positions are questionable. And the all other problems goes down ike a domino to the lowest rank soldiers.  

By the way, the generals of military in ATO headquarters are causing most of the doubts. These gentlemen embody the poorness of our military. Pathological tendency to lie and pretend, panic fear to take responsibility for decision making, total lack of professionalism. This is an ugly picture and in today’s situation is unacceptable.

-There were many great talks about General Vasily Krutov, the Head of ATO, but as the time went on these talks were getting more and more negative…

Before ATO I talked with V. Krutov only once, therefore I can’t say that I know him well. I can only agree with the opinion of those who know him for a long time and are working with him now. The work in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has negatively affected him.

-Why is he not substituted with someone else?

To whom? Tell me the name. We (ed. Information Resistance group) will talk about the candidate and in case of him being trustworthy we start lobbying him. I personally don’t know any good candidates. On the other hand, I’m not an expert of anti-terrorism.

 -So, everything can be fixed by changing the government?

We (ed. Information Resistance group) group thinks that government issues are the main problem. Solving this problem will catalyze solutions for the rest of the problems.

First of all, behavior of the soldier depends from his commander. I know this from the times of my own military service when I was a deputy company commander.

From the very beginning of ATO campaign the biggest issue was and still is that our forces – firstly military (more precisely commanders of all levels)- are not psychologically prepared for a battle. It is a paradox, but it is a fact. There are plenty of examples starting from Crimea when officers of middle and juniors ranks and privates simply refused to execute commands or even sabotaged them.

Our army was never fighting seriously. Experience in peacemaking operations is very limited – only Iraq can be mentioned. In other campaigns our soldiers were mainly in guarding roles. All this leads to a catastrophic condition of military training and total degradation of the military education system.

And much the same is within the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Our officers were very brave when confronted with unarmed protesters of Maidan. But when they faced well armed criminals we immediately fell into trouble.

But now we see that SBU together with the National Guard of Ukraine are successfully executing their tasks. In general, experience has a high price, but it can be gained and this is the most important thing. Also I am sure if we would have more adequate generals coordinating operations we would have much more victories and much less blood.

 -Speaking about the provision of ATO or more exactly the already legendary lack of it?

At the very beginning of operation it turned out that army had no resources. Army warehouses were empty – most of the things were stolen ages ago. By the way most of the thieves are working in the Ministry of Defense and General Headquarters now and continue to do the dirty jobs. For now I’ll say no names, but I promise, we are going to reveal them.

Resource allocation system (which was implemented even before Yanukovych and his team) turned out to be a very efficient way to steal governmental money, but was poorly suited to supply outside the permanent dislocation place located military units combat actions.

In the Ministry of Internal Affairs – the same problem. Suddenly it was noticed that there are no basic tools for police operations, for example stun grenades. It seems that everything was consumed for Maidan protests during reign of Yanukovych.

All these problems are being solved now. But urgency causes other troubles. The Ministry of Defense public purchasing system (which is declared as “clear”, which in fact is strongly corrupted) allows to receive goods only after 120 days from the day of the public offer is made even when finances are available. Recently a special law for ATO was passed but we can’t say that it was implemented successfully.

Another problem is that we simply can’t buy all the equipment we need from local manufacturers. Nevertheless the West promised their support, but until now not much of it had reached us. We can’t buy equipment from Europe because while “supporting” us, Europe has prohibited selling military equipment to Ukraine. On one hand, it makes sense because EU and UN has regulations preventing sale of weapons to conflict zones. But on the other hand, no one needs such “West support”. It is just a hypocrisy. As of now we can only rely on ourselves and partly on Americans.

But we must remember, that every problem with supplies of equipment is directly related with health and lives of our soldiers. Also every military officer that is responsible for solving these problems must be named and we should demand personal responsibility from him. Otherwise ATO will remain a waste without any significant results.

Interviewer: Ana Shumakova

 

London Ukrainians Demonstrate Against Immoral Investment in Russia

Source: Euromaidanpr

 

On Thursday, 15th of May around 25 Ukrainians held a demonstration outside FTSE Russian Investment Forum in London. The protesters held banners saying ‘Stop Financing Terrorists!’ ‘Do not invest in TerrorRussia!’ and ‘Buying Russian bonds finances Russian bombs!’.

Delegates entering Fishmongers’ Hall, where FTSE Accessing Russia 2014 – a briefing for institutional investors -took place had to pass the demonstration in order to enter the event. Most delegates kept their heads down when entering.

A spokesperson for London Euromaidan Stepan says “While almost daily, new sanctions are placed on Russia, searching for ways around them to invest into the Russian criminal regime is not only immoral but also traitorous.”

“These immoral bankers, hedge fund managers and investors who, through their own greed, are ready to invest in Putin’s criminal regime, are exactly like those who kept on trading with and financing Hitler.”

London Euromaidan outlines it’s to demands to the UK government that needs to use all means at its disposal to send a clear message to Putin that the civilized world will not tolerate his aggression by:

  • Introducing Iran-style sanctions on Russia
  • Freezing Russian state and oligarchs’ assets in the UK
  • Travel bans for the government officials and oligarchs, economic sanctions and embargoes on the Russian companies and products, including oil
  • Isolation of the Russian economy and its financial system

NOTES:

The Ukrainian community formed a group called London EuroMaidan who have been one of the most vocal and visible diaspora communities throughout the events, holding continuous protests since November 2013. You can follow them on Twitter: @londonmaidan or in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/london.maidan.

Dmitry Tymchuk’s Military Blog: Summary for May 15, 2014

Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

The bad news:

1. Pro-Russian terrorists have issued an ultimatum: they have threatened to start a “military operation” against Ukrainian special forces unless the latter leave Donbass. They have given [Ukrainian special ops] 24 hours to comply with their demands.

It’s understandable that for these half-baked strategists, even taking a half-empty beer bottle from a street bum counts as a “military operation.” But to spoil blood with all kinds of attacks and other abominations, this they still can do.

2. Moreover, these Donbass clowns, who are a danger to people around them, continue their make-believe statehood. These pro-Russian mutineers already started appointing their own “Speakers” and “Ministers,” while they also prepare their “Constitution” and “Parliamentary elections.”

It seems to me that these guys have gotten completely carried away. It’s high time to explain that their “parliamentarians” and “ministers” belong next to Napoleon’s ward.

3. It seems that Putin wouldn’t be Putin if he ever stopped shitting on people. To mark the Presidential elections of May 25, he has prepared his very own heap of manure to present to Ukrainians.

In particular, Moscow has announced that Aviadarts-2014 military exercises of the Russian Air Force will take place between May 21 and May 25, 2014, in the area of the cities Lipetsk, Voronezh, and Ryazan. Putin’s “brave eagles” will master the use of missiles and other weapons against ground targets, and learn to overcome the air defense systems of a simulated opponent.

We are growing weary of these intimidation attempts. Putin has such a maniacal craving to instill fear in others that we’re starting to suspect that his complexes go far beyond harmless mental abnormalities.

The good news:

1. The ATO [anti-terrorist operation] is still on. Whether people like it or not, Ukraine is fighting back. Last night was quite eventful–our servicemen were busy. The insurgents won’t give up easily, but when a well-thought out and planned operation is underway, their chances are slim.

As long as the ATO doesn’t start skidding to a halt just as things get interesting, again. Everyone is getting tired of false starts.

2. Velyka Novosilka District (Donetsk Region) has been cleared of pro-Russian scum. Here, a People’s Militia has been formed to protect the district from separatists. The new formation has already taken control of the district council, the district police department, and the prosecutor’s office.

I really enjoyed the commentary regarding the creation of this militia given by S. Semenchenko, commander of the “Donbass” Volunteer Battalion.

“All bureaucrats that went over to serve the DPR [Donetsk People’s Republic], and thereby lost their legitimacy, will be removed from office. Armed people from the DPR militia will be blocked and, in case of imminent threat to the life and health of civilians, destroyed.”

The commentary folds up into one phrase–great job!

3. The [State] Treasury has unblocked the funds on the Ministry of Defense account, which were transferred by citizens as donations to support the army.

About time, too. The situation was starting to stink of idiocy: the government was unable to provide for its own army, and the citizens were prevented from doing that. Now, the army will be able to purchase basic necessities–firstly and foremost, in the interests of the ATO.

Now we have to ensure that the use of this money is monitored. We are far too familiar with the notion of a military bureaucrat who uses the veil of “military secrets” for theft. We learned the hard way.

4. Today, [Acting President Olexander] Turchynov signed Presidential Decree No. 862/2014-rp “On Measures to Ensure that the Public is Informed about the Anti-Terrorist Operation.”

Many of the issues concerning informational support during the ATO (which I had mentioned earlier) are currently being implemented. A normal working relationship with journalists will be established. In the next three days, an operational information group will be created. The mass media will be provided with security and working conditions, and the public will be provided with complete, up-to-date information. That–objective, timely information–is one of our key weapons.

My friends, I can offer one general comment about this. These actions are only the tip of the iceberg. We–activists, patriots, and the state–are finally beginning to join forces on the information front. We, and I mean the IR [Information Resistance] group, remain a public initiative outside of any government agency. We are confident that we can be much more effective this way. But people at the highest levels hear us, and we have a mutual desire to support the common cause, and this brings a lot of joy to me personally.

It’s time to stand up to Russia–for starters, on the information front. No more retreating

May 15, 2014 Lithuanian media round-up

On 15th of May, Alexander Lukashenko, Belarusian President, met with Mikhail Yezhel, Ukraine’s Ambassador in Belarus. During the meeting Belarusian President said that ‘he wishes that the Ukraine crisis ended as soon as possible and that there was no need to pull Ukraine in any blocs or bring troops there from any side.’ (delfi.lt, lrytas.lt)

Marius Laurinavičius, analyst of Eastern Europe Studies Center, in his commentary in IQ journal said that ‘Russia is determined to target weak states such as Ukraine firstly, because in these countries it is easy to split up society according to plans form directors of Moscow and also that they hoped to win without any help from army.’ (IQ journal)

On 15th of May Linas Linkevičius, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, participated in global security forum GLOBSEC and stressed the need to ensure independent elections of Ukrainian President in order to stabilise situation in Ukraine.The representatives of the states also agreed to continue to strengthen and coordinate a response to Russian aggression, annexation of Crimea and continuous subversion activities in Eastern Ukraine. (Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs information, ELTA, 15min.lt)