Separatist commander Mikhail Tolstykh, 'Givi', killed in eastern Ukraine

CBC NEWS ^ | 8 Feb 17 | Unknown

[elhombrelibre]

A prominent rebel leader in eastern Ukraine has been killed in an explosion in his office, his associates said on Wednesday.

The rebels' Donetsk News Agency said Mikhail Tolstykh, better known under his nom de guerre Givi, died early Wednesday morning in what it described as a terrorist attack. The agency said 35-year old Tolstykh was killed by a rocket fired from a portable launcher into his office.

Russian state television showed pictures of firefighters putting out flames in the building where Toltsykh's headquarters is believed to be. The footage from the scene showed several rooms in the building gutted from an apparent explosion.

[elhombrelibre]

It looks like the Putin-funded and equipped army is having a bad time. Add this report to the one below:

Oleg Anashchenko KIA.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38868600

[aynrandfreak]

How is this a terrorist attack? It’s a war.

[BeadCounter]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Tolstykh

“In January 2015, several videos surfaced of Tolstykh physically abusing prisoners captured at the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport. Tolstykh is seen clearly identifying himself before grabbing the prisoners by the face, brandishing a dagger, and cutting off military insignia and forcing them into the prisoners’ mouths.”

Some of us might have seen that video.

I’d find it hard to think anyone else but the Separatist Rebels could have done this. They have had known power struggles already.

[Chewbarkah]

Exactly how to interpret this is ambiguous.

It strikes me as odd (but not impossible) that Putin would be notching up the “separatist struggle” at the same time he is trying to make nice with Trump. Putin knows that the US left and right is trying hard to derail Trump’s desire to work with Russia, and specifically Putin, to de-escalate tensions, cooperate against the common Muzz enemy, triangulate China, etc. I would think that Putin would want to avoid renewed fighting in Ukraine until the normalization track plays out.

Could it be that separatist commanders who don’t follow today’s script get fragged to encourage the others? Or that some of these commanders have outlived their usefulness and are now unwanted witness? Alternatively, it could be a pretext for escalation.

It could be a straight up military operation by Ukrainians, but with the Russkies, I usually suspect more than meets the eye.

[The Toll]

Good. That dude is one sadistic ****!

Glad he’s dead.

[The Toll]

Agreed. The Ukranian forces aren’t anywhere near this location.

[ETL]

Re: “The rebels’ Donetsk News Agency said Mikhail Tolstykh, better known under his nom de guerre "Givi", died early Wednesday morning in what it described as a terrorist attack.”

How is this a terrorist attack? It’s a war.

Russian-backed propaganda. The sort that has flooded FR in recent months.

[ETL]

"Mikhail Sergeyevich Tolstykh (July 19, 1980 – February 8, 2017), better known by his callsign “Givi”, was a commander in the pro-Russian “Somalia Battalion”..."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Tolstykh

[donozark]

Givi was great friends of Arsen Pavlov (Motorola). Himself killed in and explosion in and elevator at his home, back in October. Both had many enemies...

[ETL]

“Givi led the DPR Somalia Battalion in the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport.[7]”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Tolstykh
_____________________________

"The Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) is a self-proclaimed state in the Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine.

It has been recognized only by the partially recognized Republic of South Ossetia.[7]

It receives humanitarian and military backing from Russia.[8]

The Ukrainian government has designated it as a terrorist organization and it is at war with Ukraine, alongside the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).[9]

It formed an unrecognized confederation of Novorossiya, referencing the corresponding historical region and its name with the also unrecognized LPR until its 20 May 2015 suspension,[10] and since February 2015 has postured itself as the successor to the historic Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic.[11]

Along with the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Donetsk People’s Republic is considered one of three temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine as a result of Russian military intervention of 2014.[12][13]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donetsk_People%27s_Republic

[ETL]

Donald Trump: 'Putin has eaten Obama's lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long period of time'

Mar 13, 2014
Eun Kyung Kim: TODAY SHOW (NBC)

Donald Trump slammed President Obama Thursday on TODAY for failing to take a stronger line against President Vladimir Putin in dealing with Ukraine, saying he feared Obama would now make up for lost time with imprudent moves to "show his manhood."

The real estate mogul and reality-TV star, who has criticized Putin for sending military troops into Crimea, said Obama must now take fierce steps to prevent the situation from escalating further.

"We should definitely do sanctions and we have to show some strengths. I mean, Putin has eaten Obama's lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long period of time," Trump said. ..."

http://www.today.com/news/donald-trump-putin-has-eaten-obamas-lunch-ukraine-2D79372098
_______________________________________________

Here’s the interview w/ Matt Lauer on YouTube...

Donald Trump (2014): ‘Vladimir Putin Has Eaten Obama’s Lunch’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzURUENf1ns
___________________________________________________

Trump says NATO is obsolete but still ‘very important to me’

Reuters
January 16, 2017

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said NATO was obsolete because it had not defended against terror attacks, but that the military alliance was still very important to him, The Times of London reported.

“I took such heat, when I said NATO was obsolete,” Trump told the newspaper in an interview. “It’s obsolete because it wasn’t taking care of terror. I took a lot of heat for two days. And then they started saying Trump is right.”

Trump added that many NATO members were not paying their fair share for U.S. protection.

“A lot of these countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to be paying, which I think is very unfair to the United States,” Trump said. “With that being said, NATO is very important to me. There’s five countries that are paying what they’re supposed to. Five. It’s not much.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-nato-obsolete-still-very-important-004548554—finance.html?ref=gs

[elhombrelibre]

That’s good news and there was a third one killed just a few days ago. Is Putin knocking off his allies to make a deal, or is Kiev getting good at taking out the Putinista quislings? We don’t know yet. Both factors should be chilling for those aligned with Putin. He is either killing them or unable to protect them.

[ETL]

Trump’s U.N. Envoy, Nikki Haley, Condemns Russia’s ‘Aggressive Actions’ in Ukraine

By SOMINI SENGUPTA
Feb 2, 2017

UNITED NATIONS — Nikki R. Haley, the new American ambassador to the United Nations, condemned Russia on Thursday for its recent “aggressive actions” in eastern Ukraine.

“We do want to better our relations with Russia,” Ms. Haley said during her first remarks to an open briefing of the United Nations Security Council. “However, the dire situation in eastern Ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of Russian actions.”

She made it clear that American sanctions imposed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea would remain in place.

During her Senate confirmation hearing last month, Ms. Haley also expressed support for continuing the sanctions and accused Russia of committing war crimes in the Syrian conflict. But her strong criticism of the government of President Vladimir V. Putin put her at odds with President Trump, who has expressed a desire for warmer relations with the Kremlin. ...’

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/world/europe/nikki-haley-trump-ukraine-russia-putin.html?_r=0

Trump’s U.N. Envoy, Nikki Haley, Condemns Russia’s ‘Aggressive Actions’ in Ukraine

By SOMINI SENGUPTA
Feb 2, 2017

UNITED NATIONS — Nikki R. Haley, the new American ambassador to the United Nations, condemned Russia on Thursday for its recent “aggressive actions” in eastern Ukraine.

“We do want to better our relations with Russia,” Ms. Haley said during her first remarks to an open briefing of the United Nations Security Council. “However, the dire situation in eastern Ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of Russian actions.”

She made it clear that American sanctions imposed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea would remain in place.

During her Senate confirmation hearing last month, Ms. Haley also expressed support for continuing the sanctions and accused Russia of committing war crimes in the Syrian conflict. But her strong criticism of the government of President Vladimir V. Putin put her at odds with President Trump, who has expressed a desire for warmer relations with the Kremlin. ...’

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/world/europe/nikki-haley-trump-ukraine-russia-putin.html?_r=0

[elhombrelibre]

That’s good news and there was a third one killed just a few days ago. Is Putin knocking off his allies to make a deal, or is Kiev getting good at taking out the Putinista quislings? We don’t know yet. Both factors should be chilling for those aligned with Putin. He is either killing them or unable to protect them.

[ETL]

Mike Pence, from the VP debate on Oct 5, 2016, on the subject of Putin and Russia:

“When Donald Trump and I observe that, as I’ve said, in Syria, in Iran, in Ukraine, that the small and bullying leader of Russia has been stronger on the world stage than this administration, that’s stating painful facts. That’s not an endorsement of Vladimir Putin — that’s an indictment of the weak and feckless leadership of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.”

______________________________

Also from the Oct 5, 2016 first VP debate...

QUIJANO (Moderator): I want to turn now to Syria. Two hundred fifty thousand people, 100,000 of them children, are under siege in Aleppo, Syria. Bunker buster bombs, cluster munitions, and incendiary weapons are being dropped on them by Russian and Syrian militaries. Does the U.S. have a responsibility to protect civilians and prevent mass casualties on this scale, Governor Pence?

PENCE: The United States of America needs to begin to exercise strong leadership to protect the vulnerable citizens and over 100,000 children in Aleppo. Hillary Clinton’s top priority when she became secretary of state was the Russian reset, the Russians reset. After the Russian reset, the Russians invaded Ukraine and took over Crimea.

And the small and bullying leader of Russia is now dictating terms to the United States to the point where all the United States of America — the greatest nation on Earth — just withdraws from talks about a cease-fire while Vladimir Putin puts a missile defense system in Syria while he marshals the forces and begins — look, we have got to begin to lean into this with strong, broad-shouldered American leadership.

It begins by rebuilding our military. And the Russians and the Chinese have been making enormous investments in the military. We have the smallest Navy since 1916. We have the lowest number of troops since the end of the Second World War. We’ve got to work with Congress, and Donald Trump will, to rebuild our military and project American strength in the world.

But about Aleppo and about Syria, I truly do believe that what America ought to do right now is immediately establish safe zones, so that families and vulnerable families with children can move out of those areas, work with our Arab partners, real time, right now, to make that happen.

And secondly, I just have to tell you that the provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength. And if Russia chooses to be involved and continue, I should say, to be involved in this barbaric attack on civilians in Aleppo, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime to prevent them from this humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Aleppo.

There’s a broad range of other things that we ought to do, as well. We ought to deploy a missile defense shield to the Czech Republic and Poland which Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama pulled back on out of not wanting to offend the Russians back in 2009.

QUIJANO: Governor, your two minutes are up.

PENCE: We’ve just got to have American strength on the world stage. When Donald Trump becomes president of the United States, the Russians and other countries in the world will know they’re dealing with a strong American president.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/us/politics/vice-president-transcript.html

______________________________

And...

PENCE: What we’re dealing with is the — you know, there’s an old proverb that says the Russian bear never dies, it just hibernates.

And the truth of the matter is, the weak and feckless foreign policy of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has awakened an aggression in Russia that first appeared a few years ago with their move in Georgia, now their move into Crimea, now their move into the wider Middle East.

And all the while, all we do is fold our arms and say we’re not having talks anymore.

To answer your question, we just need American strength. We need to — we need to marshal the resources of our allies in the region, and in the immediate, we need to act and act now to get people out of harm’s way.

Mike Pence, from the VP debate on Oct 5, 2016, on the subject of Putin and Russia:

“When Donald Trump and I observe that, as I’ve said, in Syria, in Iran, in Ukraine, that the small and bullying leader of Russia has been stronger on the world stage than this administration, that’s stating painful facts. That’s not an endorsement of Vladimir Putin — that’s an indictment of the weak and feckless leadership of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.”

______________________________

Also from the Oct 5, 2016 first VP debate...

QUIJANO (Moderator): I want to turn now to Syria. Two hundred fifty thousand people, 100,000 of them children, are under siege in Aleppo, Syria. Bunker buster bombs, cluster munitions, and incendiary weapons are being dropped on them by Russian and Syrian militaries. Does the U.S. have a responsibility to protect civilians and prevent mass casualties on this scale, Governor Pence?

PENCE: The United States of America needs to begin to exercise strong leadership to protect the vulnerable citizens and over 100,000 children in Aleppo. Hillary Clinton’s top priority when she became secretary of state was the Russian reset, the Russians reset. After the Russian reset, the Russians invaded Ukraine and took over Crimea.

And the small and bullying leader of Russia is now dictating terms to the United States to the point where all the United States of America — the greatest nation on Earth — just withdraws from talks about a cease-fire while Vladimir Putin puts a missile defense system in Syria while he marshals the forces and begins — look, we have got to begin to lean into this with strong, broad-shouldered American leadership.

It begins by rebuilding our military. And the Russians and the Chinese have been making enormous investments in the military. We have the smallest Navy since 1916. We have the lowest number of troops since the end of the Second World War. We’ve got to work with Congress, and Donald Trump will, to rebuild our military and project American strength in the world.

But about Aleppo and about Syria, I truly do believe that what America ought to do right now is immediately establish safe zones, so that families and vulnerable families with children can move out of those areas, work with our Arab partners, real time, right now, to make that happen.

And secondly, I just have to tell you that the provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength. And if Russia chooses to be involved and continue, I should say, to be involved in this barbaric attack on civilians in Aleppo, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime to prevent them from this humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Aleppo.

There’s a broad range of other things that we ought to do, as well. We ought to deploy a missile defense shield to the Czech Republic and Poland which Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama pulled back on out of not wanting to offend the Russians back in 2009.

QUIJANO: Governor, your two minutes are up.

PENCE: We’ve just got to have American strength on the world stage. When Donald Trump becomes president of the United States, the Russians and other countries in the world will know they’re dealing with a strong American president.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/us/politics/vice-president-transcript.html

______________________________

And...

PENCE: What we’re dealing with is the — you know, there’s an old proverb that says the Russian bear never dies, it just hibernates.

And the truth of the matter is, the weak and feckless foreign policy of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has awakened an aggression in Russia that first appeared a few years ago with their move in Georgia, now their move into Crimea, now their move into the wider Middle East.

And all the while, all we do is fold our arms and say we’re not having talks anymore.

To answer your question, we just need American strength. We need to — we need to marshal the resources of our allies in the region, and in the immediate, we need to act and act now to get people out of harm’s way.

Mike Pence, from the VP debate on Oct 5, 2016, on the subject of Putin and Russia:

“When Donald Trump and I observe that, as I’ve said, in Syria, in Iran, in Ukraine, that the small and bullying leader of Russia has been stronger on the world stage than this administration, that’s stating painful facts. That’s not an endorsement of Vladimir Putin — that’s an indictment of the weak and feckless leadership of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.”

______________________________

Also from the Oct 5, 2016 first VP debate...

QUIJANO (Moderator): I want to turn now to Syria. Two hundred fifty thousand people, 100,000 of them children, are under siege in Aleppo, Syria. Bunker buster bombs, cluster munitions, and incendiary weapons are being dropped on them by Russian and Syrian militaries. Does the U.S. have a responsibility to protect civilians and prevent mass casualties on this scale, Governor Pence?

PENCE: The United States of America needs to begin to exercise strong leadership to protect the vulnerable citizens and over 100,000 children in Aleppo. Hillary Clinton’s top priority when she became secretary of state was the Russian reset, the Russians reset. After the Russian reset, the Russians invaded Ukraine and took over Crimea.

And the small and bullying leader of Russia is now dictating terms to the United States to the point where all the United States of America — the greatest nation on Earth — just withdraws from talks about a cease-fire while Vladimir Putin puts a missile defense system in Syria while he marshals the forces and begins — look, we have got to begin to lean into this with strong, broad-shouldered American leadership.

It begins by rebuilding our military. And the Russians and the Chinese have been making enormous investments in the military. We have the smallest Navy since 1916. We have the lowest number of troops since the end of the Second World War. We’ve got to work with Congress, and Donald Trump will, to rebuild our military and project American strength in the world.

But about Aleppo and about Syria, I truly do believe that what America ought to do right now is immediately establish safe zones, so that families and vulnerable families with children can move out of those areas, work with our Arab partners, real time, right now, to make that happen.

And secondly, I just have to tell you that the provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength. And if Russia chooses to be involved and continue, I should say, to be involved in this barbaric attack on civilians in Aleppo, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime to prevent them from this humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Aleppo.

There’s a broad range of other things that we ought to do, as well. We ought to deploy a missile defense shield to the Czech Republic and Poland which Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama pulled back on out of not wanting to offend the Russians back in 2009.

QUIJANO: Governor, your two minutes are up.

PENCE: We’ve just got to have American strength on the world stage. When Donald Trump becomes president of the United States, the Russians and other countries in the world will know they’re dealing with a strong American president.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/us/politics/vice-president-transcript.html

______________________________

And...

PENCE: What we’re dealing with is the — you know, there’s an old proverb that says the Russian bear never dies, it just hibernates.

And the truth of the matter is, the weak and feckless foreign policy of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has awakened an aggression in Russia that first appeared a few years ago with their move in Georgia, now their move into Crimea, now their move into the wider Middle East.

And all the while, all we do is fold our arms and say we’re not having talks anymore.

To answer your question, we just need American strength. We need to — we need to marshal the resources of our allies in the region, and in the immediate, we need to act and act now to get people out of harm’s way.

[ETL]

Senator Jeff Sessions on Putin...

March 26, 2015

Interview with Jeff Sessions: U.S. and Europe "Have to Unify" Against Russia

excerpt...

What do you expect next from Russia?

Sessions: Well, there's a danger that they may continue this overreach. They just solidified power in Georgia, in South Ossetia. That was I think in the last week. Pressure is still on Ukraine. We don't know whether the Minsk Agreement will hold, I don't think it's holding very well now.

We have the Estonians, the Lithuanians, the Romanians, they're very worried. This is reality, I wish it weren't, but I'm afraid it is. It needs to be clear that Russia knows that there will be a high price to pay if this behavior continues.

If Minsk breaks down, at what point does the president have to act and supply Ukraine with lethal weaponry? What is the breaking point? We know from what Victoria Nuland said that the administration hasn't decided yet.

Sessions: From what I understand from this conference, I think it's clear that Germany has said publicly that they will support harsher sanctions and more military support if the Minsk Agreement fails. And that will be key.

Merkel has worked very very hard to establish a relationship with Putin and Russia. It's been a good-faith effort. If it fails, I would hope that Europe and the United States would have to unify and push back more firmly against Russian overreach. ..."

http://www.realclearworld.com/blog/2015/03/interview_with_jeff_sessions_us_and_europe_have_to_unify_against_russia_111076.html

or,

https://web.archive.org/web/20150709024356/http://www.realclearworld.com/blog/2015/03/interview_with_jeff_sessions_us_and_europe_have_to_unify_against_russia_111076.html

--------------------------------------------------------------

"In a Montgomery speech in March 2014...he [Sen Jeff Sessions] called for international scorn toward Russia for its aggressive actions in Ukraine and, before then, Georgia.

"I believe a systematic effort should be undertaken so that Russia feels pain for this," Sessions said then. "Because if you don't act now to make some sanctions against Russia then why will they believe in the future that we're going to impose sanctions or do anything aggressive if they move forward to take all of Ukraine, all of Georgia?""

Sessions, not that long ago, was calling for more sanctions against an expansionist Russia that was rattling U.S. allies in Europe. And he regularly blamed the Obama administration for what he argued was an overly optimistic and weak foreign policy, including a decision to scale back planned missile defense sites in the Czech Republic and Poland.

“There’s no good solution now. The bottle of milk has shattered on the floor and you can’t put it back together,” the Alabama senator said about relations with Russia in the aftermath of the annexation of Crimea.

Sessions has also pointed to Russia’s record as justification for a robust missile defense system, which has deep roots in north Alabama.

“Russia’s recent actions in Georgia remind us that country, which we once hoped was on a path to greater integration into the global world community, might again be seeking to restore old Soviet ideas of dominance throughout their neighbors and in Eastern Europe, all of which should serve as a motivation to move ahead with the necessary capabilities to defend ourselves and our allies from missile attack, in particular,” Sessions said on the Senate floor in 2008.

Two years later, Sessions voted against the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia, in part because he thought Obama conceded too much ground to the Russians.

“Just signing an agreement on a piece of paper does not create security,” Sessions said. “A consistent, principled, just approach to our legitimate national defense, advocated clearly and forthrightly without misunderstanding, is the best way to have security in this dangerous world.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/08/15/sen-jeff-sessions-backs-donald-trump-russia-policy/88796584/

or,

https://web.archive.org/web/20161115103421/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/08/15/sen-jeff-sessions-backs-donald-trump-russia-policy/88796584/

[elhombrelibre]

Agree. In any circumstance, it must make the key leaders of the putinista chauvinistic army very worried.

[elhombrelibre]

Oleg Anashchenko KIA.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38868600

[ETL]

Pro-Russia Rebels Ping...