Posted on 04/16/2014 6:49:32 AM PDT by jimbo123
Soldier Says Ukrainian Unit Switched to Pro-Russian Side, But Can't Be Confirmed
SLOVYANSK, Ukraine—An armored column of military vehicles flying a Russian flag and carrying dozens of heavily armed fighters motored into this eastern Ukrainian city early Wednesday, a day after the Ukrainian army launched an operation to clear out pro-Russian separatists who had taken control of cities in the region.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the men were Russian soldiers or local militants who had gotten their hands on military vehicles. A soldier on one of the vehicles said the unit was part of the 25th brigade of Ukraine's airborne forces that had switched sides and was joining the pro-Russian forces, but that couldn't be immediately confirmed.
All of the men appeared to be wearing military uniforms without insignia, similar to the heavily armed uniformed men who have seized government building around the region. Ukraine's defense minister declined to comment on the possible defection at a parliamentary meeting in Kiev, local media outlets reported. The headquarters for the 25th brigade did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The episode and others underscore the difficulties faced by the new government in Kiev as it seeks to avoid bloody clashes and as it remains unclear how tight a grip protesters hold. Some U.S. military officials have expressed concerns about the readiness of the Ukrainian armed forces for urban combat and have suggested that the deployment in the region appears disorganized.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
from the WSJ it was Russians or pro-Russian militants who got hold of APCs somewhere
from The Times (London) it was defecting Ukrainian troops joining the pro-Russian side
from a pro-Ukrainian-interim-government source it was Ukrainian troops using Russian flags as cover to infiltrate areas held by pro-Russian militants.
I think we can conclude we haven't a clue what was going on, who the folks in and on the Russian-flag-flying APCs were, or what they were doing beyond riding around in and on APCs flying Russian flags.
One thing we know for sure is that American taxpayers will be sending a big fat check to Putin to pay off Ukraine’s gas arrears to Gazprom very soon courtesy of Obama and Kerry.
More triumphalist pablum from the Putin bootlicking brigade. Russians murdering Ukrainians. Har har. That’s funny.
“I think we can conclude we haven’t a clue what was going on.”
One of the main principles of modern warfare.
Large flagged armies have gone the way of the redcoats.
It’s clear that the West Ukrainian Banderists that are in charge in Kiev don’t know what they are doing.
It’s also clear the Banderists in Kiev don’t have the support of the Ukrainian military.
It’s also clear that a large group of Ukrainians don’t want to be part of Russia and also don’t want the Western Ukrainian Banderists to be running things either.
The West Ukrainian Banderists are good at throwing molotov cocktails at police and storming government buildings, but they’re not capable of anything else.
Can we honor requests of the Ukraine government to put Air Launched Cruise Missiles into each government building held by the Russian-speaking Pirates?
You want to start a war with Russia over Ukraine? I hope you’re joking.
A few hours ago it was a brilliant move by the Ukrainian military to sneak into the rebel cities?
Heck no! Russia has declaimed the Spetznaz looking guys wearing Russian uniforms (without insignia) who speak Russian, make calls back to Russia for instructions, carry Russian weapons, etc.
Those AREN’T Russians. Putin said so.
Kill them.
It’s really a move by Putin to show the EU and the US that the Western Ukrainian Banderists in charge of Kiev don’t know what they are doing.
It’s to put pressure on the EU and US to force Kiev to add federalization question to the May 25th election.
Putin isn’t going to invade Ukraine.
He wants the US and IMF to pay off Ukraine’s gas arrears.
He wants federalization of Ukraine.
He want the regional governors of Ukraine to be elected by the people instead of appointed by the Western Ukrainian Banderists in Kiev.
He wants the Western Ukrainian Banderists to have as little power as possible over Eastern and Southern Ukraine.
And he wants market rates for gas from Ukraine from now on.
And he wants to humiliate the hell out of Obama.
Pal, you are projecting. What you are seeing a civil government in Ukraine now. Elections are schedule for next month. The Ukrainians running the government haven’t invaded their neighbors and murdered them.
There is a foreign army creating chaos in Ukraine. Putin can’t have free elections in Ukraine. He can’t afford an indepedent Ukraine while his kleptocracy robs the Russian people.
BTW, using your “logic” Ukraine is now free launch terrorist operations inside Russia in support of those groups denied self determination and federalism by Moscow.
How many candidates are running for President? More than 20, right? That means the Western Ukrainian Banderists will win of course thanks to vote splitting.
And then the Banderists will appoint the regional governors for the entire country despite the fact the regions don’t want Banderists running things. And then Ukraine stays a chaotic mess.
My other question is why do you want the regional governors to be appointed by Kiev rather than by being elected by the people?
Do you want Obama appointing all of our state’s governors instead of them being elected by the people, too?
You have a beef problem a government appointing governors? And then support Team KGB. LOL.
So that means you DON’T want the Ukrainian people to vote for their own regional governors? You want them all to be appointed by Oleh Tyahnybok or Dmytro Yarosh? How is that going to help Ukraine?
The federalism stuff is a canard the Russians are pushing to destabilize Ukraine. There is no real federalism in Russia. Everything is run from Moscow.
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