Category: Dmitry Tymchuk

Events of April 23th

dmitry_tymchukDmitry Tymchuk, translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

Brothers and sisters,
Here’s the Summary for April 23, 2014

The bad news:

1. The Russian Foreign Ministry has announced that Ukraine and the U.S. are “distorting the Geneva agreement,” as in they must disarm “Right Sector” and not the separatists. Also, Moscow calls on Kyiv to withdraw its troops from the eastern regions of Ukraine (even though Moscow itself says that Russian troops can be deployed on Russian territory in any location, and in any numbers it wants).

We’ve heard these fables before. What’s worse is that today, Lavrov [Russian Foreign Minister] began to threaten a Russian invasion in eastern Ukraine.

Even though a Russian military invasion has essentially been underway for two months already, we lost Crimea as a result [of it]. Today, Moscow wants to use the same scenario to chop off eastern Ukraine, and the south in the bargain. It’s not the first day that Russian Spetsnaz and Cossack gangs, managed by Putin have been running around Donbas.

Therefore, Lavrov’s threat – it is rather a statement of fact.

2. People begin to pull me up as soon as I admit to any criticism of [our] military leadership. I totally agree, at this moment we shouldn’t criticize the government and the army. But when some of the processes they manage go beyond reason, I can’t restrain myself.

Speaking of which – let’s talk about the “division” procedure for military leadership bonuses. The Head of the Finance Department of the Ministry of Defense Lt.-Gen. Ivan Marko gave a document to the Defense Minister to sign (with the petition the Chief of Staff), which he happily signed. 20 million UAH [USD 1.732 million] went to awards for “Spring Rain” military exercises. Ukrainian Ground Forces received 2.971 million UAH [USD 257,229] of this, the Air Force received 1.717 million UAH [USD 148,658] respectively, and the operational commands received some change.

But the General Staff got the fattest piece – 9.640 million UAH [USD 834,631]!

Brothers, well, this is beastliness. The General Staff did not lift a finger during the withdrawal of troops from Crimea. Now, if our servicemen in eastern Ukraine do open fire in self-defense, they do so against the wishes of the General Staff, and under the responsibility of commanders on the ground. During the “Spring Rain” military exercises, the planes were crashing and tanks exploded. Mobilization, which the General Staff is responsible for, has turned into a sad circus.

Every second of these strategists should be put on trial, and they give themselves bonuses. Incidentally, they are raising money for the army among ordinary citizens meanwhile – they are saying that the military budget is not enough. How can this be?

3. Russian militaries are mining the border of Crimea with mainland Ukraine. They should have set a grate along the coast of Crimea that says, “Do not feed the occupiers.”

Overall, if Russia were smart, they would have mined all their border areas, not the occupied peninsula. So that its rabid dogs did not get scattered all over the world.

The good news:

1. At the moment, we have nothing over which to criticize the course of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO). Our current assessment of the situation showed that actions by security forces within the past 24 hours have become quite organized. On the surface, this is just the tip of the iceberg in the form of ongoing work.

I understand that these words will incur the wrath of many skeptics of the ATO. At the moment, their skepticism is fully justified. But I would suggest that they do not rush their judgments. If there is something to criticize – we will not force ourselves to wait.

Today, the special forces part of the Interior Ministry freed the Sviatohorsk, Donetsk oblast [region] from an armed separatist group. Hopefully, this is the first sign of more good things to come.

2. Since Monday, April 21 we, the Information Resistance group, have noted the sharp decrease in the number of representatives of the GRU of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces in the territory of settlements in the Donetsk oblast occupied by extremists.

At this moment, we are not able to say whether this is due to their exfiltration (withdrawal to the Russian territory) or their transfer to other Donbas raions [districts]. Let’s hope it’s the former. In any case, we are monitoring the situation.

3. Donetsk oblast Governor Serhiy Taruta urged mayors and raion heads to explain the implications of a “People’s Republic of Donetsk” to ordinary citizens.

Simply stated, “In two months, no one will pay your pensions, and you will be able get them from nowhere… Miners will not receive their wages because there will be no place to which to sell coal, and all benefit recipients like mothers with children, as well as the disabled, will also have nowhere from which to get any money.”

His words went into the ears of the kids holding Russian flags.

Events of April 22th

dmitry_tymchukBy Dmitry Tymchuk, translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

Brothers and sisters,
Here’s the Summary for April 22, 2014

The bad news:

1. Easter holidays brought no hope that Russia and the extremists pay any heed to the Geneva agreements. Extremist acts continue.

On the part of the security forces, sadly, we see no effective response, not even in blocking the loci of this infection. This problem must be addressed, and urgently. At this time, the flames of terrorism have engulfed Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Unless urgent action is taken, the next few days will see the entire region covered in such “Sloviansk-s.”

Especially since we continue receiving information about the diversions and provocations being prepared. By the way, today a journalist voiced an accusation against Information Resistance group – alleging that we are instigators because we “forecasted” the diversion in Kramatorsk two hours before it happened. Supposedly, our messages are spreading panic among the public.

Personally, I think that’s bull. Panic is spread by the events, not by messages. What’s more, such events can be avoided by using incoming information appropriately. But alas, this issue is not for us to address.

2. The deadline for refusal of Russian citizenship for residents of Crimea expired on April 18, and will not be extended. This was reported today by Sergei Kalyuzhny, Deputy Head of the Federal Migration service of Russia.

Earlier, the self-proclaimed Crimean princelings (Putin’s henchmen) from the “government of Crimea” swore that this term would be extended. Clearly, they are just like their master – liars through and through.

The bad news is, that this lie impacts the fates of hundreds and thousands of Crimeans who became hostages of the situation. While Ukraine, for some reason, has not voiced a single word of alarm about their future. Let alone any real attempts to solve these people’s problems. Lord High Officials, after losing Crimea, let us not lose our conscience yet.

3. Nelya Shtepa, the mayor of Sloviansk, continues to play the part of some surreal comedy character. One moment, she is with the separatists; the next, she swears that her support was not genuine.

She reminds me of the unnamed drunken major from Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies. Now and again, appearing out of nowhere, spouting some gibberish, and vanishing again. To what end? Nobody knows.

Today, in an interview with Russian TV channel lifenews.ru, Shtepa, once again, started licking Putin (“very grateful to Putin for entering Crimea”) and the insurgents (“they are strong in spirit, they will defeat both the Right Sector, and the military – they will defeat everyone here.”)

If I had any commentary on this lady’s personality, it would only be very rude. Being a gentleman, I will keep such commentary to myself. But the bad part is that such lovely creatures [as Shtepa] are supplying Russian PutinTV with a picture that Moscow so sorely requires.

The good news:

1. The Cabinet of Ministers registered a bill on the amnesty of extremists with the [Verkhovna] Rada [Ukrainian Parliament]. This means an exemption from liability for those who didn’t cause too much trouble and decided to hand themselves over.

After the law is passed, the criminals have three days to make a decision. Personally, I’m not that in favor of cottoning up to terrorists. But in current conditions, this is still a good move, which allows those who unintentionally found themselves involved in separatism to leave this mess behind quietly. Let us see what results it brings.

2. Joseph Biden, Vice President of the United States, declared that the U.S. is entirely in support of Ukraine.

This means not only moral support in the current situation. This also means strategic perspective – for example, their readiness to help lower [Ukraine’s] dependence on energy resources supplied from Russia.

It should be understood that the very visit of the U.S. Vice President to Kyiv is already a powerful political declaration.

However, Joseph Biden is a rampant optimist. He says that Ukrainian politicians currently have “a historical chance” to create a truly united state. This, alas, is an illusion. Should Ukraine become truly united, it will happen through the efforts of Ukrainians themselves. It looks like the less our politicians meddle in this, the higher the chances for success.

3. The “People’s Militia” in Mykolayiv work together with the police, and successfully detain miscreants.

Today, the headquarters of the city’s “People’s Militia” reported that approximately ten pieces of traumatic and combat weapons were confiscated at block posts around Mykolayiv in the last few days; several people were detained.

This is a vivid example of a situation where people don’t expect favors from the law enforcement, but take the bull by the horns. This is especially important for the South. While everyone’s attention is drawn to the events in the East, the enemy keeps working here.

4. The Cabinet of Ministers allocated UAH 5.304 billion [USD 451.4 million] from the reserve fund of the State Budget for improvement of defense capabilities. Of this amount, the Ministry of Defense is set to receive UAH 3.1 billion [USD 263.8 million], the Interior Troops of the MIA, UAH 1.8 billion [USD 153.2 million], and the State Border Service, UAH 0.109 billion [USD 9.28 million].

This amount may not be that large, but the main question is how to manage it. Sadly, corruption remains a reality, and a thief in an official’s chair is a threat as large as an armed separatist in an ambush. I hope we can manage both of these types of threats.

Events of April 17th

dmitry_tymchukBrothers and sisters, the overview of the events of April 17th.

The bad:

1. Vladimir Putin has departed to the astral world. It doesn’t seem that he is coming back.

His today’s direct Q&A is a protocol of feverish delusions. The story of East Ukraine as “Newrussia, that has its roots tied to Russia” tells a lot.

And what about his claims that Russian soldiers in the East Ukraine is a “lie”? In the same way, this Kremlin storyteller asserted that there are no Russian soldiers in Crimea. Afterwards, it became clear that there actually are 22 000 of them. Today, even Putin himself admits – yes, Russian soldiers stood behind the “self-defense units” in Crimea.

The question then is the following. Who still believes this constantly lying creature? In the wide world – nobody. Yet, his subjects sit in front of the TVs and dutifully nod – the tsar is telling the truth. It’s hard to tell, should one laugh or cry.

2. In the East, the actions of extremists continue. There is some trouble in Stakhanov (the homeland of one of the coordinators of our “IR” group). Pro-Russian puppies fool around in Donetsk.

There are also worries concerning other regions. Today, the representatives of the local government of Zaporizhia talked about potential extremists actions.

We have our own information on this issue. According to our findings, planes carrying “Putin’s tourists” have landed at the Saki airport in Crimea today. Then the “tourists” were moved to microbuses with vehicle registration plates of Zaporizhia. This doesn’t look good.

The good:

1. During the meeting of Ukraine, the EU, the US and Russia, some agreements have been reached, including ones concerning the freeing of captured Ukrainian buildings and the amnesty for extremists. It sounded like an announcement directed at the “sides” of the conflict.

The question is whether one can trust Russia. After all, it does not accept that all this madness started because of its actions. That is, all of its statements are empty. And even if Moscow admitted its role, there would still be no trust in its goodwill.

Therefore, it is still very much unclear what role these agreements will play. Personally, I regard them skeptically. I think that Moscow is participating in the negotiations because it wants to avoid new sanctions by the West. At the same time, it continues its dirty work. Well, we’ll see. After all, there’s at least some dialogue at the international level.

One more advantage is that under these circumstances we can be sure that there will be no Russian invasion tomorrow. It doesn’t mean that, relatively speaking, there will be none the day after tomorrow.

2. Somehow, the problem of our brother citizens who remained in Crimea has been abandoned. They want to move to the continent but are unable to. Apparently, they were of little concern to the state previously. Now, these people are simply forgotten.

That, of course, is far from positive. The positive thing is that because of the election campaigns, the situation might get better. Today, the candidate for the presidency of Ukraine, N. Korolevska visited Crimea and discussed the problems of such families.

We all know that social issues is her field, and this is what is important today. All the social guarantees are destroyed in Crimea. The link between the Ukrainian state and those citizens is incomprehensible.

Together with the social issues, there is the problem of physical safety of these people. Previously, Russia set out a condition – the residents of Crimea must decide on their citizenship until April 18th. Nobody knows what will happen to those who won’t accept Russian citizenship.

If the official Kiev is silent on this issue, the politicians must raise such questions, even if it is due to the electoral campaign. The most important thing is not to conceal them, because behind every problem there are people – our brothers and sisters.

3. Today, in Donetsk, 3 000 people came to a demonstration for unified Ukraine. In Luhansk, there came 1 000.

I don’t know if it’s many or few. But what I know is that these people are the most active patriots. There are hundreds of times more people that want to live in stable and unified Ukraine.

On the edge

Today, the fate of Ukraine is being decided in Donbas. Unable to stir the unrest in the whole Southeastern region, Kremlin decided to act gradually and take the control of smaller regions one by one.

It must be understood that the Donetsk oblast is the “pilot project” of the second stage (the first being Crimea) of Putin’s gamble with the purpose of destroying Ukraine. If Moscow manages to achieve its goals there, a similar scenario will be enacted in Lugansk and in Kharkov. And further on.

Hromadske.tv interview with soldiers in Mariupol

Hromadske.tv interview with soldiers in Mariupol

By the way, events in the South may be initiated at the same time. The base for active Russian operations already exists – it is Transnistria. It is no coincidence that 2 000 Russian soldiers were moved there in March. Half of these soldiers are members of the special forces, already dressed as “the green men”  – groups prepared to carry out sabotage acts.

While Ukraine’s attention is directed towards Donbas, the time is suitable for implementing the same plan in Odessa. Without Odessa Ukraine would loose the whole South.

Nonetheless, Southeast is not the endpoint of the scenario. While Vladimir Putin is waving his devil’s pitchfork with the name of Viktor Yanukovych, we cannot be sure that he is not intending to go for Kiev with the pretext of “reestablishing the legitimate government in Ukraine”.

This scenario can be partly hindered by the effective work of law enforcement on the four criminal cases against Yanukovych. If they would clearly show the whole world that the “legitimate president” is a thief and a murderer, it would be more difficult for Putin to use him in his puppet-play.

Still, this is only a small fragment. What is the most important is the actions involving the use of direct force. For some decades already, there exists a prevailing pacifist notion of a flower blossom placed in a gun barrel. Our government loudly declared the beginning of the anti-terrorist operation, but at the same time limited the actions of our force structures and put those flowers into their guns.

Yes, the casualties of the supposedly “peaceful residents” are unnecessary and unwelcome. Yet, what is preventing the government from declaring the state of emergency in this turbulent region? And explaining people that those who are preventing the force structures from fulfilling their duty are outside the law?

For instance, yesterday, during the assault on the military unit in Mariupol, soldiers have wounded several participating extremists. At once, the latter declared that they were simply promenading near the military compound at around midnight, and thus were accidental victims. What is the conclusion? Of course, the soldiers are bloodthirsty maniacs. The fact that within the zone of the anti-terrorist operation, someone is attacking the soldiers, taking away their guns and attacking military units, is a complete nonsense. Certainly.

In the end, it should be understood that you cannot attempt to swaddle the soldiers following the “rules of peacetime” and hope to get miraculous results. You cannot use a knife if you haven’t pulled it out of its sheath.

I am strictly against bloodshed. Yet, there are moments when one side or the other must make a decision – to defend itself or cease to exist. If we decided to become the most peaceful nation within the Great Russia, we must say so. There is no need to be modest because it is misleading.

Yet, if we do not want to be a part of Russia, we must defend ourselves. Maybe, for some it is a difficult decision. But it must have been made already yesterday.

Yes, today are all walking on the edge. On the one hand there is a danger of “provoking” Russia into an open invasion, which would mean casualties and the loss of the country. On the other hand the country would be lost without casualties.

I respect the Christian morality. But at the same time I cannot remember any example in the history of world, when an indecisive nation was declared great and worth respect.

At the same time, government decisions are not the only problem. There are many issues concerning the chosen tactics, for instance, the actions of the command of separate units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Yesterday, the whole country was astonished by the “fighting actions” carried out by the troopers. Yet, the causes of this phantasmagoria lie not in the soldiers’ torn boots, but rather in the shoulder straps of senior officers. It is these factors that have to be analyzed and eliminated immediately.

Tomorrow, it will be too late.