# News & Current Events > World News & Affairs >  'Slaughterhouse': Civilians die in Kiev's ruthless military attacks (GRAPHIC)

## Natural Citizen

> Bodies are piling up in Donetsk morgues after Kiev unleashed fighter jets and artillery on the country’s southeast just hours after the presidential election. New leader-elect Petro Poroshenko is pushing for the crackdown to become even “more effective.”
> 
> Ukraine’s southeast saw only a brief suspension of Kiev’s  military operations on Sunday while the nation took to the polls.  Just before the presidential election, Ukrainian MPs called for  immediate troop withdrawal from the country’s southeast.  
> 
>   Following the vote, the leading candidate – billionaire chocolate  tycoon Petro Poroshenko – said he sees no reason why the military  should stop the operation.  
> 
> _“I support its continuation, but demand a change in its  format – it must be shorter and it must be more effective,  military units must be better equipped,”
> _


Continued - 'Slaughterhouse': Civilians die in Kiev's ruthless military attacks (GRAPHIC)

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## Natural Citizen

*Shells hit school, kindergarten in Slavyansk amid Ukraine military op (VIDEO)*




> A school and a kindergarten have been shelled in Slavyansk as the city becomes increasingly unsafe in the intensified Kiev military campaign. At least 9 civilians were injured in Wednesday’s shelling incidents, including a child.
> 
>   Ukrainian mortar shells have for weeks been raining down on the  checkpoints and positions of the Slavyansk self-defense, but much  of the shelling occurred outside the city. Italian journalist  Andrea Rocchelli and his Russian interpreter, veteran human  rights activist Andrey Mironov, were almost _“_torn to pieces_”_ in one such  shelling.  
> 
> On Wednesday, there was a shocking reminder of how the situation  might unfold if the likely president-elect Petro Poroshenko  pushes on with the military operation in the region, as shells  struck the city’s streets, yards, a school and a kindergarten.
> 
> _“Around midday there was a loud explosion in the school, and  I fell to the floor, taking cover,”_ the teacher told RT over  the phone.  
> 
>   The man said that he rushed to the corridor to assemble all the  teachers and children in the school and take them to a safe  place. Clouds of dust were billowing on one side of the building.
> ...


Continued - Shells hit school, kindergarten in Slavyansk amid Ukraine military op (VIDEO)

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## Zippyjuan

There are thugs on both sides killing people. "Frontline" had an interesting documentary on last night on Ukraine and pro- Russian activists said that they are being paid by Moscow.

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## Natural Citizen

> There are thugs on both sides killing people. "Frontline" had an interesting documentary on last night on Ukraine and pro- Russian activists said that they are being paid by Moscow.


I don't think it's particularly wise to give Russia a free pass with some of this stuff. How these things are reported from varying sources is often far more important to analyze than what is actually being reported. What is missing...what is not. If that makes sense...

Of course, a coup is a coup is a coup.

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## Natural Citizen

Shells hit school, kindergarten in Slavyansk amid Ukraine military op (VIDEO)




> A school and a kindergarten have been shelled in Slavyansk as the city becomes increasingly unsafe in the intensified Kiev military campaign. At least 9 civilians were injured in Wednesday’s shelling incidents, including a child.
> 
>   Ukrainian mortar shells have for weeks been raining down on the  checkpoints and positions of the Slavyansk self-defense, but much  of the shelling occurred outside the city. Italian journalist  Andrea Rocchelli and his Russian interpreter, veteran human  rights activist Andrey Mironov, were almost _“_torn to pieces_”_ in one such  shelling.  
> 
>   However, this week the battleground apparently moved right into  civilian quarters of Slavyansk, as shells started hitting  residential blocks and nearby buildings, killing three people on Monday.



Aside... Slavyansk kids and women cross Russian border on foot after Ukraine seizes bus




> A bus carrying women and children from Slavyansk, including toddlers, was stopped at a border checkpoint by Ukrainian guards. The refugees managed to cross into Russia on foot and find new transport.
> 
>   The incident happened on Friday night at a border crossing  between Ukraine’s Donetsk region and Russia’s Rostov region. The  bus was carrying people from Slavyansk, the city that has become  the scene of constant battles between local militia and troops  loyal to Kiev.
> 
>   There were 38 refugees on board, including 21 children aged  between 2 months and 12 years, and 17 women, Rostov region  spokesman Aleksandr Titov told Itar-Tass. As the vehicle was  seized, they went across the border on foot with the help of  Russian border guards.
> 
> _“They managed to go through, everyone is alive and  well,”_ the Russian official said.
> 
>   Local authorities housed the Ukrainians in a border city for the  night and provided two buses for transportation.
> ...

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## pcosmar

Was expecting as much after the Nazis took control.

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## Natural Citizen

*Orphanage under fire as Kiev forces shell Slavyansk*...



> Several buildings, including an orphanage, have been severely damaged by artillery fire in Slavyansk, eastern Ukraine, where fighting between self-defense troops and Kiev’s army renewed over the weekend.
> 
>   Fortunately, there were no casualties among children at Sails of  Hope orphanage, as all of them were evacuated after the building  previously came under fire on May 19.
> 
> This is the third time that the orphanage has been shelled. Its  windows are now shattered, and its roof and walls are riddled  with bullets. There is a massive hole under a window. The  building is likely to not be repaired, meaning Sails of Hope will  be forced to find a new home.
> 
> On Wednesday, the Ukrainian military shelled a residential area of Slavyansk,  hitting a children’s hospital, a school, and a kindergarten.


Continued - Orphanage under fire as Kiev forces shell Slavyansk

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## Natural Citizen

*Parents in Ukraine’s Donetsk rally, demand security for their kids (PHOTOS, VIDEO)*...




> Since April, Kiev has been engaged in an intensive military  operation in the country's South East. The Donetsk and Lugansk  regions had their independence from Kiev supported by a majority  of voters in May referendums, proclaiming themselves "people's  republics." The Ukrainian government does not recognize the  regions' legitimacy, calling the opposition activists  “_terrorists_.”
> 
> After parts of the South East of the country, including the town  of Slavyansk, turned into a warzone, hundreds of children were  evacuated from the region, but the Ukrainian authorities seized  some of the transport carrying Slavyansk refugees. On May 31 a  bus carrying women and children from the area was stopped at a border checkpoint by Ukrainian  guards.
> 
>   Evacuation from Donetsk has not been launched, as the city is  blocked by Kiev's forces. The authorities of the self-proclaimed  republic are talking of sending several buses with children to  safety in Russia.
> 
>   After the presidential elections, Ukrainian troops launched a military operation in the eastern  city, deploying fighter jets and helicopters, aiming to gain  control over its international airport. During the operation,  traces of violence eventually shifted to Donetsk downtown and  several civilians were killed by random fire.


Continued - Parents in Ukraine’s Donetsk rally, demand security for their kids (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

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## Natural Citizen

*DEATH TOLL: 181 people killed, 293 injured in  Kiev military op

*


> *
> *A Ukrainian fighter flies above Lugansk during a battle between resistance fighters and the Ukrainian National Guard in June 2, 2014 
> 
> 
> Kiev has admitted showering the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk with dozens of missiles from the air, saying that its Air Force helicopters and jets “fired more than 150 missiles” in Monday’s military action.
> 
> The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)  also confirmed on Tuesday that the deadly explosion at the city’s  administrative building was indeed an airstrike. Kiev has so far  denied the responsibility for the incident, saying its forces _“do not target”_civilian areas.
> 
> 
> Not all the Monday fighting was on the outskirts of Lugansk,  apparently, as one Ukrainian missile hit the occupied Lugansk  administration building, killing at least eight civilians inside and nearby.  Some Kiev politicians have laid the blame on the self-defense  forces for the _“blast,”_ which has undoubtedly been  confirmed as an airstrike by the accounts of witnesses and the  CCTV footage from the scene.


Continued - Confirmed: Ukrainian air force fired over 150 missiles at Lugansk, bombed admin HQ

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## HOLLYWOOD

Goes beyond that... checkout the Atlantic Council and their 501c game plan... again, the USUAL SUSPECTS keep showing up. 


> Was expecting as much after the Nazis took control.


*"Toward a Europe Whole & Free" Via NATO global dominance - Atlantic Council*

Yes, the same *Brzezinski Family*... May 30, 2014    *
 Brzezinski: Ukrainian Crisis is "Not a Blip"*

*ATLANTIC COUNCIL - Staff & Directors*

*Matthew Brzezinski* - 


> He was a Wall Street Journal staff reporter in Moscow and Kiev in the late 1990s. His first book, _Casino Moscow_ (Free Press, 2001)[6] is a first-person account of the "Wild East" atmosphere prevailing in Russia in the 1990s



*Ian Brzezinski -* 


> Ian Joseph Brzezinski is an American foreign policy and military affairs expert.He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO Policy *Brzezinski, Ian*



*Frederick Kempe -  President and Chief Executive Officer - ATLANTIC COUNCIL

 former Governor of Utah  Jon Huntsman, Jr. - Chairman ATLANTIC COUNCIL*

Former Chairman:* Chuck Hagel,* Gen. *Brent Scowcroft,
*


> The Atlantic Council has influential supporters, with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen calling the Council a "pre-eminent think tank" with a "longstanding reputation"


*ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2010 filings:* Targeting Energy and Economics in the Black Sea Region




*To Liberate Ukraine, Get the Maidan Back in the Fight - ATLANTIC COUNCIL*

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## Natural Citizen

*Obama, Ukraine president-elect discuss US help to train Kiev's military...*




> A local resident outside his house destroyed in the Ukrainian army's artillery attack in Donetsk's Oktyabrsky district. (RIA Novosti/Alexey Kudenko)
> 
> 
> The US has pledged additional military help to Ukraine as well as potential training of its law enforcement and military personnel. President Obama’s vows comes as Kiev continues air strikes as a part of its military operation in southeastern Ukraine.
> 
> Billionaire Petro Poroshenko won Ukraine’s May 25 presidential  election and will be sworn in as the country’s new leader on  Saturday.
> 
>   Poroshenko announced that Kiev would step up its military  operation shortly after exit polls predicted his victory in the  election, saying that Kiev’s activities in the southeast of the  country _“will be more effective and military units must be  better equipped."
> 
> ...


Continued - Obama, Ukraine president-elect discuss US help to train Kiev's military

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## Miss Annie

> Was expecting as much after the Nazis took control.


Nailed it!  But the Nazis were installed though, by US!

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## Natural Citizen

*Dozens feared killed in Ukrainian military assault on hospital*...



> Ukrainian armed forces have allegedly killed more than 25 wounded people in a hospital in Krasny Liman, on the outskirts of Slavyansk, as the National Guard seized the town from the local militia following heavy shelling.
> 
> _“According to preliminary  information, more than 25 people have been  killed,”_Denis  Pushilin, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the People's  Republic of Donetsk was quoted by Itar-Tass.
>   While there are no official figures yet, Pushilin fears the body  count in Tuesday's assault on the hospital will eventually rise.  _“We fear that there may be more victims,”_ Pushilin said,  adding that the figures announced by Kiev and reported by locals  _“differ greatly.”_
> 
> The number of injured is still unknown as well. During an assault  on the town people inside the hospital tried to flee in panic and  hide in the basement. Medical staff scrambled to get the wounded,  mostly elderly out, as mortar shelling on the medical facility  continued.
> 
> According to Pushilin, Ukrainian forces were looking to kill the  wounded self-defense members. _“It is worse than a genocide –  shooting at the sick and wounded. The immoral actions by Kiev's  junta defy any explanation.”
> 
> ...


Continued - Dozens feared killed in Ukrainian military assault on hospital




Aside - _Another_ hospital was previously shelled just a few days prior to this one...

*Devastation: Ukraine army shells hit another hospital (VIDEO)

*


> The village of Krasny Liman near Slavyansk in the Donetsk region was heavily shelled by the Ukrainian army during Kiev’s military operation Tuesday. Residents were killed and injured as shells hit a hospital, school and train station..
> 
> The local hospital was also heavily shelled, with patients and  personnel still inside the building. Local resident Irina told RT  on the phone of unconfirmed reports that a surgeon was killed.  Irina and Roman said that a local school was also shelled, but  there is no official confirmation so far.
> 
> On Tuesday, the National Guard launched a massive artillery  attack on Slavyansk, a city with a population of over 110,000  people, and its suburbs at 6 am local time.  
> 
>   The fighting, which has been ongoing all day is _“the longest  fight that has happened during the entire standoff in  Ukraine,”_ said the press secretary of the People’s Mayor of  Slavyansk, Stella Khorosheva, Itar-Tass reported.  
> 
>   She added that there are no official figures on the killed and  injured, as their number is “_constantly increasing._”  
> ...



Kiev's  bloody eastern Ukraine campaign: LIVE UPDATES

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## specsaregood

N.C.,  do you know if there is much hubbub in Russia from people wanting to get involved militarily in all of this?

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## Natural Citizen

> N.C.,  do you know if there is much hubbub in Russia from people wanting to get involved militarily in all of this?


I don't think so. Not from Russian officials. Putin won't get involved in it. The idea here, I think, is that the U.S. wants to bait Russia into it in a manner in which they would be able to paint Russia into another Iraq by way of mainstream media and various politicians running and presenting platforms for foreign policy conforming to that same narrative.  The minute Russia were to become involved it would be the start of another cold war. Putin knows this so he's not going to take that bait, I don't think. People were fleeing to Russia when these shellings and attacks started taking out society but then we see now that they are being confined and not allowed to flee beyond the limits.


Here is Putin on Ukraine, its sovereignty and Russian troops...
‘Russian troops in Ukraine? Got any proof?' Putin's best quotes from French media talk



> The ongoing crisis in Ukraine has been occupying the center of  international attention since the end of last year. While the  coup-appointed government in Kiev is carrying out a military  crackdown on the southeast of the country, the US said that  Russian troops are allegedly involved in the crisis and they have  proof of that.
> 
> _“_What about proof? Why don’t they show it?” Putin told  French media.
> 
> “The entire world remembers the US Secretary of State  demonstrating the evidence of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction,  waving around some test tube with washing powder in the UN  Security Council. Eventually, the US troops invaded Iraq, Saddam  Hussein was hanged and later it turned out there had never been  any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. You know – it’s one  thing to say things and another to actually have  evidence._”
> 
> _“After the anti-constitutional coup in Kiev in February, the  first thing the new authorities tried to do was to deprive the  ethnic minorities of the right to use their native language. This  caused great concern among the people living in eastern Ukraine.”
> 
> “I wouldn’t call them either pro-Russian or pro-Ukrainian. They  are people who have certain rights, political, humanitarian  rights, and they must have a chance to exercise those rights.”
> ...



Something that is being ignored, though, is what Russia is doing in terms of economic impact. Especially with regard to agribusiness and energy. Also technology in critical areas of modern infrastructure. War doesn't always have to be with bullets and bombs. Right?

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## Natural Citizen

*Slavyansk under fire, without water and power as Kiev troops resume shelling*...




> Death and destruction is reported in eastern Ukraine as Kievs artillery has resumed shelling the rebellious city of Slavyansk. Locals tell RT they have been without running water and power for days, and that hope is fading.
> 
> _The shells broke just near the central square. They hit  residential houses, a furniture factory, a cafe and  communications post,_ an unnamed representative of the local  city council told Itar-Tass. _There are victims among the  civilians and some people received shrapnel wounds.
> 
> _Four people were killed in the result of the shelling, a small  girl among them. Seven people were taken to hospital with  injuries, RT's correspondent Andrey Krasnoschyokov reports from  the scene.
> 
> Slavyansk residents say their spirits are getting lower, as the  city is completely surrounded by Kievs armed forces and there is  constant shooting and shelling while evacuation is hindered.
> 
> _Slavyansk has been attacked by massive shelling  overnight,_ a local resident told RT, adding that the  shelling never stops.
> ...



Continued - Slavyansk under fire, without water and power as Kiev troops resume shelling

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## Natural Citizen

*‘Not safe for our children!’ Mothers with kids flee Kiev crackdown in Lugansk*...





> The refugees have been forced to leave the troubled city since  Kiev intensified the military crackdown on the country’s east.  Now families, packing their bags into buses and crying, are  leaving for an uncertain future.
> _
> “We don’t know what will happen there and for how long this  situation will continue. We want to return home as quickly as  possible,”_ Olga, another refugee, told RT.
> 
>   The residents have been on the waiting list for days. One woman  told RT that she received a phone call in the morning which told  her that she had less than four hours to pack her things and  leave Lugansk.
> 
> _“The airplanes and the bombings are the scariest because you  don't know where they’re going to fall and when. We can't always  stay inside a basement because of the small children,”_ says  Victoria, another mother who is traveling with her daughters and  like all women in the bus have had to leave her husband and her  family in the besieged city.
> 
> The refugees from all parts of eastern Ukrainian continue to  arrive in Russia to escape Kiev’s military operation. The  citizens of another eastern city, Slavyansk, who are now living  without tap water, are also leaving the city. A driver who said  he evacuates at least 10 residents a day from Slavyansk told RT  that Ukrainian troops only let women and children leave the city,  but they are forced to walk through the checkpoints.


Continued - ‘Not safe for our children!’ Mothers with kids flee Kiev crackdown in Lugansk



Aside - US deploys stealth B-2 bombers in Europe 




> The US has been sending additional troops to Europe lately in a  gesture meant to reassure its NATO partners, especially those in  Eastern Europe, that Washington is committed to defending them  militarily. NATO says the deployments are needed for a possible  aggression from Russia amid the ongoing political crisis in  Ukraine.
> 
> Moscow is criticizing the buildup of NATO forces close to  Russia's borders, calling them provocative and warning that the  US is using the Ukrainian events as a pretext to flex its  muscles.
> 
>   The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit is a multipurpose stealth bomber  first used by the US during the 1999 war in Kosovo. It was  designed primarily to deliver nuclear weapons, but has been used  extensively as a conventional bomber in all major US military  campaigns from Afghanistan to Libya.



Relevant reading - Ten NATO countries start war games in Latvia




> Britain's army soldiers march during opening ceremony of NATO military exercise "Saber Strike" in Adazi June 9, 2014. (Reuters/Ints Kalnins)
> 
> A major military exercise kicked off in Latvia, with 10 NATO member countries participating. The war games involve 4,700 troops and 800 military vehicles. Russia sees NATO's military build-up as a sign of aggression.
> 
>   The Saber Strike ground forces exercise is being conducted for  the fourth time this year and coincides with Baltic Host 2014 and  Baltops 2014 naval drills.
> 
>   Troops from the US, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia,  Lithuania, Poland, Norway and the UK are taking part.
> 
>   The two-week exercise is hosted by the three Baltic States,  although some parts will be conducted in Germany.
> ...

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## Natural Citizen

*E. Ukraine warzone: Demolished houses, fires after heavy shelling (VIDEOS)

*Several videos of destruction here. Is unfortunate...


> Local residents react as they stand near destroyed houses and vehicles after what locals say was overnight shelling by Ukrainian forces, in the eastern Ukrainian town of Slaviansk June 9, 2014 (Reuters / Gleb Garanich)
> 
> 
> Kiev's artillery has been firing on Slavyansk since mid-May, and  the city's residential areas suffer most under the attacks. A  multi-storeyed apartment block is seen damaged in the video,  another residential house's roof is on fire. A woman is heard  yelling, accusing the western press of lying, "_they say that  civilians do not suffer_," she says. Locals have told RT they  have been without running water and power for days.



Continued - E. Ukraine warzone: Demolished houses, fires after heavy shelling (VIDEOS)

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## Origanalist

NATO Falls Forward, Failing



A partial recap of recent activity by the US/EU/NATO/bankster coalition.  http://westernrifleshooters.wordpres...rward-failing/

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## Natural Citizen

*#Don’t kill us: Refugees from Eastern Ukraine make a plea for peace (VIDEO)*...




> Refugees who fled the turmoil in Eastern Ukraine made a video plea, where they hold a poster with the hashtag #DontKillUs, urging the Kiev government to stop military assaults in the area. Women and children that have been sheltered in a children’s  summer camp Dmitriadovsky in Russia’s southern Rostov Oblast  appear in the 5-minute video asking Ukraine’s newly elected  President Petro Poroshenko to stop the killing and withdraw  Ukrainian troops.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>   Each of their messages asks the president to let them live and  ends with a plea not to kill any more of their relatives.
> ...


Continued - #Don’t kill us: Refugees from Eastern Ukraine make a plea for peace (VIDEO)

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## presence

'bout all I can say is $#@!'s hectic

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## DFF

> There are thugs on both sides killing people. "Frontline" had an interesting documentary on last night on Ukraine and pro- Russian activists said that they are being paid by Moscow.


I wouldn't consider these separatists "thugs." They're just normal people trying to defend their homeland and way of life.

Kiev though - as thugged out as you can get.

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## Origanalist

The power play rolls on, and the poor mundanes caught in the middle suffer the consequences.

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## Natural Citizen

> The power play rolls on, and the poor mundanes caught in the middle suffer the consequences.


Well, the new sock puppet that was just installed is going to sign the trade agreement with the EU so we'll see the economic hitmen making their moves. I think most of this was retaliation because they couldn't do so without a battle the first time around. Heh. GMO corn for everyone in Ukraine, it looks like, if these political gangbangers have their way. Among other things, I imagine. Will see. We still don't see the TPP discussed very much these days. That's disturbing itself.

The more relevant things to watch here would be the implemetation of in house and international finance clearing models of these other nations. Specifically the BRICS. Dollar is going to get rocked as a result of some of these mergers with gas/oil pipelines and, of course, in the agriculture department while competitive non-GMO nations jump on the same bandwagon. Those are two very huge and significant outliers that our enlightened ones in political office didn't give much attention when they were pushing their chests out for the we ask, you decide crowd a month or so ago.

Well...with the exception of the statesman, that is.... Ron Paul: Neocons are right to be scared about dollar diminishing and even he hasn't touched upon the clearing models and mechanisms but that may be out of his area of expertise. I don't know. I've mentioned elsewhere that gone are the days when he who controlled the seas and ports were the beneficiaries of reserve status. Nope. Now it's determined by who rules the ruins up there in space since finance clearing and trade of nations is done electronically. It is certainly no coincidence that we are seeing so many countries suddenly put tremendous amounts of funds into their space programs as well as merging with one another. U.S. is doing the same thing except under the guise of "cyber security". That's very interesting given what we know regarding the NSA and other intelligence spying on various nations.

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## Natural Citizen

> The National Guard refuted reports that phosphorous ammunition was used against civilians in the south-east of the country, its press service said. Overnight Thursday the self-defense forces said that the village of Semyonovka had been shelled with fire-bombs. Reports in the local media asserted that the bombs might be phosphorous. Much of the village was set ablaze.
> 
> 	If confirmed, this will be the first case of fire-bombs being used in the conflict.


Kiev's bloody eastern Ukraine campaign LIVE UPDATES - http://rt.com/news/eastern-ukraine-army-operation-680/

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## presence

> GMO corn for everyone in Ukraine, it looks like


quite memetastic

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## Natural Citizen

> quite memetastic


Heh. Watch and see...

Monsanto in US Foreign Policy
WikiLeaks releases draft of highly-secretive multi-national trade deal

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## HOLLYWOOD

Where's all the Human Rights Watch blabbermouths? They sure were screaming bloody murder when protesters were whipping Moltov Cocktails at unarmed Police holding a line. Snipers inciting terror and pain purposely on both sides to escalate the drama for the covert operational plans of Washington DC/UK/NATO. Yeah, Viktor Yanukovychwas such the painted bloody red bad guy, but the US Thug Hunta of killers from the sky are exceptionally justified, because the propaganda says so... 

State depart/Capital Hill Fascist violence inciters; Victoria Nuland, Geofferey Pyatt, John Kerry, John McCain, et al, are such the bastion of peace and tranquility around the world, YEAH, RIGHT.  There's nothing but sociopaths and psychopaths controlling the US government today and there's one sure thing that is absolute, wherever senior US government clowns show up, death and destruction are soon to follow. It has been proven over and over, the facts are irrefutable and if they don't have the money, they will inflation print or steal it from the people's savings accounts(public & private).

PS: Also proves your TV is nothing but PROPAGANDA PROGRAMMING... turn it off, use alternative methods.



Until people wake up and see how violent covert operations are conducted, it will continues and increase.

*Six Mistakes the West Has Made (and Continues to Make) in Ukraine*
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/...0397?page=show

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## Natural Citizen

> Residents of Slavyansk and its suburbs were awoken overnight on Thursday by what they say were incendiary bombs that were dropped on their city by Kiev’s military. Witnesses and local media reports suggested that the bombs might be phosphorous.
> 
>   Much of the village of Semyonovka, located in the Slavyansk  suburbs, was set ablaze. Local residents told RT that the ground  didn't stop burning for some time.
> 
> _“We all saw what happened here yesterday. They used rocket  launchers as well as incendiary bombs against us. The ground was  on fire. How can the ground burn by itself. It burned for about  forty minutes,”_ resident Roman Litvinov told RT over the  phone.
> 
> _“Starting from 2 a.m. everyone I’ve met has a sore throat and  is coughing all the time. I think this is because of the burning.  I think we’ll feel the true consequences later. There are still a  lot of people here, a lot of children we haven’t managed to get  out yet,”_ resident Tatyana told RT.
> 
>   The use of incendiary bombs – designed to start fires using  materials such as napalm, white phosphorus or other dangerous  chemicals – is strictly prohibited by the UN.
> ...


Continued - 'White phosphorus' reports: Ukraine military 'dropped incendiary bombs' on Slavyansk (VIDEO)

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## Natural Citizen

‘*Bombardment never stops’: E. Ukrainian refugees share horrors of Kiev military op*...




> The humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine is increasingly desperate - thousands of people have fled to Russia from the bombings and artillery attacks. RT's Paul Scott talked to some of those who've uprooted their families to escape the violence.
> 
> _“According to the Federal Migration Service, more than 40,000  Ukrainian citizens have crossed into Rostov Region. As of today,  about 4,000 Ukrainians have been housed in temporary  accommodation centers,”_ a local Russian Emergencies Ministry  official, Aleksandr Naumov, told RT.
> 
> People from other regions of eastern Ukraine _“are in fact  fleeing because they know the story of Slavyansk,”_ another  woman, who crossed to Russia with her two sons and cats, told RT.  
> _
> “The [Ukrainian] National Guard is simply bombarding the people,  killing children. We fear for our children above all, we want  them to be alive and well,”_ she explained.  
> 
> According to the woman, her Ukrainian-speaking neighbors do not  understand her family and support Kiev’s military operation.  Moreover, the Ukrainian authorities and media are outright  _“lying”_ about civilian corridors being organized for  refugees, she said.  
> ...


Continued - ‘Bombardment never stops’: E. Ukrainian refugees share horrors of Kiev military op


Aside - *Ukrainian* APC with troops breaches *Russian* border




> In response to the incident, the Russian Foreign Ministry said  that the “_illegal act_” will not promote a peaceful  resolution of the conflict. The ministry has also demanded an end  to “_provocations_” on the border, which are making  dialogue between the two countries much more difficult. The  ministry directed a note of protest to Kiev on Friday.
> 
>   There are also reports that there was not one, but two armored  vehicles. A source from the FSB told LifeNews Channel that two  armored vehicles crossed the *Russian* border.
> 
> Earlier on Friday, NATO warned that if reports that *Russian* tanks  have breached the *Ukrainian* border are confirmed, *it would be  serious escalation of the conflict*.



"...acting with restraint...." - Jen Psaki﻿...

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## Natural Citizen

*Electronic war games blamed for jets vanishing off radars in Europe*...




> Electronic military exercises were to blame for the mysterious disappearance of dozens of planes from air-traffic control screens in the heart of Europe, Slovak authorities have said.
> 
> About 50 planes  temporarily disappeared from radars in Austria, Germany, the  Czech Republic, and Slovakia between June 5 and June 10,  Austria's flight safety monitor said.
> 
>   German and Czech air traffic control also reported brief  disappearances.
> 
>   Slovakia blamed the outages on planned military exercises.
> 
> _"The disappearance of objects on radar screens was connected  with a planned military exercise which took place in various  parts of Europe...whose goal was the interruption of radio  communication frequencies,"_ the Slovak air traffic services  said in a statement.
> ...


Continued - Electronic war games blamed for jets vanishing off radars in Europe

----------


## Natural Citizen

*

49 Ukrainian troops killed as transport plane downed in Lugansk

*







> Forty-nine Ukrainian troops were killed when their military Il-76 transport jet was taken down by local militia forces just before landing at Lugansk Airport. Some military hardware and supplies were lost as well.
> 
> Lugansk self-defense forces confirmed that they were behind the  downing of the transport aircraft.
> 
> The downing of the plane overnight Friday was apparently the  biggest single loss of Kiev loyalist forces, which has been  waging a military crackdown on defiant eastern provinces for  three months.
> 
> Meanwhile in Donetsk region, shooting resumed in Slavyansk and  Kramatorsk late on Friday as the Ukrainian military continued its  crackdown on self-defense forces in the country's east, a  self-defense representative said.
> 
> Kievs military operation in eastern Ukraine has been  intensifying. On Thursday, the Ukrainian military reportedly  dropped phosphorous bombs on the town of Slavyansk.


Continued - 49 Ukrainian troops killed as transport plane downed in Lugansk

----------


## Natural Citizen

Another plane down...*

Self-defense forces in Gorlovka, E.Ukraine, claim shooting down Kiev bomber jet*




> Self-defense forces in the town of Gorlovka, eastern Ukraine, say they have downed another plane - a Sukhoi-24 bomber jet. The pilot is alive and currently being taken for questioning, witnesses told RIA Novosti reports.
> 
> There were a total of two jets taking part in the overnight  bombarding of a local police station. 
> 
> The news follows reports of the two planes performing an attack  around 4:30am local time (01:30 GMT), which resulted in losses  among the self-defense forces ranks, as well as civilians. Two  have been killed and seven injured in the attack, according to  police reports.
> 
> _"The plane was downed just outside the Kayutovo township, we  know at this time that the pilot is being taken in for  questioning by the police,"_ a witness told RT by phone.
> 
> There were also reports of Ukrainian militias carrying out  several airstrikes on the neighboring town of Druzhovka.


Continued - Self-defense forces in Gorlovka, E.Ukraine, claim shooting down Kiev bomber jet

----------


## Natural Citizen

Kiev's bloody eastern Ukraine campaign - LIVE UPDATES





> *Recent:*
> 
> 
> A picture shows a burning house in the aftermath of combats between anti-government and Ukrainian forces in Slavyansk, southeastern Ukraine (AFP Photo/Andrey Krasnoschekov)
> 
> *Saturday, June 14*
> 
> *10:45 GMT:* The Ukrainian security forces have commenced artillery fire on Slavyansk, the representatives of self-defense forces told ITAR-TASS. A few residential buildings were hit, and also a school building, according to unconfirmed sources.
> 
> ...

----------


## Natural Citizen

*
Ukrainian airstrike kills over 50 self-defense fighters in Kramatorsk, injures 150*...




> The Ukrainian army has cracked down on self-defense forces in Kramatorsk, killing over 50 people and injuring 150 others in an airstrike, military operation spokesperson Vladislav Seleznev said on his Facebook page.
> 
>   Kiev’s forces also destroyed an ammunition depot belonging to  self-defense troops during the raid.
> 
> _“Total destruction_” awaits the anti-Kiev forces,  Seleznev warned in the post.


Continued - Ukrainian airstrike kills over 50 self-defense fighters in Kramatorsk, injures 150


Aside - 


> *
> 
> 
> 20:46 GMT:* About 200 people gathered in front of Ukraine’s embassy in Moscow, Itar-Tass reported. The demonstrators gathered to protest the attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev. The protesters also voiced their opposition towards Kiev’s actions in eastern Ukraine. Some demonstrators carried signs reading, _“Free the journalists”_ and _“We won’t forgive for the dead children.”
> _
> On Saturday, a few hundred Ukrainian protesters overturned several diplomatic cars and piled up tires to block entry into the building. They also threw stones, smoke grenades, eggs, and paint at the premises.


LIVE UPDATES

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Radicals vandalise Russian embassy in Kiev*








> A few hundred Ukrainian protesters rallying at the Russian embassy in Kiev have overturned several diplomatic cars and piled up tires to block entry into the building. They have also and thrown stones, smoke grenades, eggs, and paint at the premises.
> 
>   Police stood idly by as the anti-Moscow crowd blockaded the site,  expressing its anger over the Russian government’s alleged  involvement in the Ukrainian crisis.
> 
>   The protesters have thrown a Molotov cocktail at the embassy,  causing a minor fire which has been extinguished. As of midnight  local time, the situation had calmed down. However, protesters  still remain at the site.


Continued - http://rt.com/news/165952-ukraine-ru...bassy-protest/

----------


## Natural Citizen

Kiev's bloody eastern Ukraine campaign - LIVE UPDATES

Recent...




> *Sunday, June 15*
> 
> *00:32 GMT:* The head of the Russian State Duma's International Affairs Committee, Aleksey Pushkov, believes the attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev was pre-planned.
> 
> _"Otherwise, where did the protesters get the firecrackers?!”_ he wrote on Twitter. _"It was not a spontaneous action, but a thoroughly planned one."
> 
> _
> *Saturday, June 14*
> 
> ...

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Western UNSC members block Russia’s draft resolution on Kiev embassy attack*...





> People flip a car over during a rally against the Russian president in front of the Russian embassy in Kiev on June 14, 2014 (AFP Photo / Sergey Supinsky)
> 
> Western countries in the United Nations Security Council have blocked Moscow's draft resolution condemning the attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev, a source in the UN says.
> 
> _“Western delegations in the Security Council have blocked the  Russian draft resolution condemning the attack on the embassy of  the Russian federation in Kiev_,” the source told RIA Novosti  news agency.  
> 
>   Russia presented the proposal on Saturday after a few hundred  people stormed its embassy in the Ukrainian capital,  throwing stones and firecrackers and overturning diplomatic cars.  A Molotov cocktail was pelted at the premises, causing a minor  fire which was extinguished by firefighters. The demonstrators –  among them members of the far-right group Right Sector –  protested against Russia’s alleged involvement in the crisis in  eastern Ukraine.  
> 
>   Meanwhile, Didier Burkhalter, head of the Organization for  Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), expressed concern  over the incident and urged Ukrainian authorities to ensure the  safety of all diplomatic missions.  
> ...




Continued - Western UNSC members block Russia’s draft resolution on Kiev embassy attack

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Ukrainian army shells Slavyansk hospitals, one nurse killed*...*10 journalists came under artillery fire  while visiting a shelled maternity hospital
*



> A nurse died in the city of Slavyansk after a Ukrainian military shell hit a local hospital on Saturday. Meanwhile, a Ruptly journalist came under fire while visiting a shelled maternity hospital in the eastern Ukrainian city.
> 
>   The Ukrainian army resumed the shelling of Slavyansk on Saturday  afternoon, causing more damage to the city and igniting fires,  the local administration told RIA Novosti.  
> 
> _In the afternoon the Ukrainian army shelled the center of  Slavyansk, apparently trying to hit the self-defense forces. One  of the shells hit the hospital. Two people were injured. One of  them  a seriously injured nurse  passed away_, the source  said.  
> 
> All the patients and staff of the hospital took shelter in the  basement when the shelling began.  
> 
>   In another incident,  in Slavyansk. They  were forced to hide in the hospitals basement for about 20  minutes before coming out, but the shelling started again once  they attempted to leave the building. The maternity hospital was  evacuated a week ago.
> ...


Continued - Ukrainian army shells Slavyansk hospitals, one nurse killed

----------


## Natural Citizen

This is perhaps the most useful 14 minute discussion in this entire thread from an informative perspective. I hope that anyone who is interested in what is actually happening in Ukraine spend the 14 minutes it takes to watch.


*NATO's 'Gladio' army in Ukraine*... 




> The openly Nazi core of Kiev's new army; WikiLeaked cables set Ukraine 'nationalists' in NATO 'dirty wars' abroad; and the 'psychopaths' who run CIA special operations. 
> 
> Seek truth from facts with the world's leading scholar on NATO's Operation Gladio Dr. Daniele Ganser; Editor of new book Flashpoint in Ukraine - Dr. Stephen Lendman; Intelligence specialist William Engdahl; and victims of the Butcher of Lyon.

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Seizure, bloodshed could be aims behind Russian embassy attack – Lavrov*




> There are indications that “physical seizure” and bloodshed were the aims of the attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev, Russia's foreign minister told journalists.
> 
> _“From our diplomats'  point of view, the aim of the attackers was to physically seize  the embassy building. There are also grounds to believe that they  wanted bloodshed,”_ Lavrov said.
> 
> The leading players in  the attack on Russia’s embassy were _“fighters from Azov  Battalion, created and financed by oligarch Igor  Kolomoisky,"_ who was appointed by Kiev authorities as  governor of Dnepropetrovsk, Lavrov said.
> 
>   The foreign minister called the aggression _“disgusting,”_adding that the violence faced by Russian diplomats is “_good  reason”_ for _“our Western partners”_ to think about  how Kiev's ruling regime is using _“inherited”_ following  the protests at Independence Square (Maidan) this winter.
> 
> _“[This is] a good reason for our Western partners, who in  every possible way support any steps by Ukraine’s ruling regime,  to think about how this regime is using powers inherited after  Maidan,”_ Lavrov said.
> ...


Continued - Seizure, bloodshed could be aims behind Russian embassy attack – Lavrov

----------


## Natural Citizen

People in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkov took to the streets on Sunday to march in support of Russia. Kharkov is located in the northeast of the country, and the situation there has remained calm. Organizers of the Sunday rally said the march was inspired by local citizens who are outraged by the attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev.

Several provocateurs responsible for the attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev have been detained, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said early on Sunday. It added that the authorities are taking all measures to ensure the safety of the diplomatic premises. 

Western countries of the UNSC blocked Russia's draft resolution to condemn the attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev, Itar-Tass quoted a source as saying.

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Two detained with ‘homemade explosive device’ near Russian consulate in Odessa*...





> Ukrainian police have detained two men with a package presumably containing a homemade explosive device near Russia’s consulate in the city of Odessa. The explosive has been sent for inspection, the local Ministry of Interior reports.
> 
> Pictures of the suspected explosive device have been released on  the Interior Ministry's website. The images show a black plastic  bag with two plastic bottles filled with an unidentified clear  liquid. Wires and a power supply, as well as a box with metal  elements, have been connected to the bottles with sticky tape.  Investigators suspect the metal parts were aimed at harming  people during an explosion.  
> 
> On Monday, nearly 200 protesters, including some wearing symbols  of radical group Right Sector, gathered outside the consulate  demanding the Russian flag be taken down. The group was  confronted by another mob of people who also were there,  demanding that police _“go fight in Donetsk.”
> _
> Security around the office was boosted as protesters brought  tires and funeral flowers.
> 
>   Earlier on Monday, there were reports that police detained four  protesters carrying explosives and a knife outside the Russian  consulate. It was said that the four were involved in a brawl  with officers, in which several people were injured.


Continued - Two detained with ‘homemade explosive device’ near Russian consulate in Odessa

----------


## Natural Citizen

*2 Russian journalists killed in Ukraine military shelling*...




> Kievs army shelling near Lugansk, eastern Ukraine, took the lives of two Russian journalists  Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, who were filming refugees leaving the scene when a shell hit amidst their small group.
> 
> *Moment Ukraine army shell hits Russian TV crew  caught on tape (VIDEO)...
> 
> 
> *
> 
> The two journalists working for Rossiya TV died from their  wounds, with reporter Igor Kornelyuk passing away on the  operating table. Later in the day, the death of Anton Voloshin, a  sound engineer, was also confirmed by the channel.
> 
> ...



Continued - 2 Russian journalists killed in Ukraine military shelling

----------


## Natural Citizen

*West 'smiling' and fueling tension between Russia and Ukraine*...




> I think it is time to caution the people in Kiev and say to them,  guys you are working for the West. You are not working for the  interest of your own people. Do something, resolve this  situation. Stop causing problems.


Transcript - West 'smiling' and fueling tension between Russia and Ukraine

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

I waiting for the huge military/security contracts coming to the Industrial Complexes... IMF & WB  will have Ukraine indebted for decades as they strip the natural resources to the multinationals and kick the peasants out of the prime real estate.




> *West 'smiling' and fueling tension between Russia and Ukraine*...
> 
> Transcript - West 'smiling' and fueling tension between Russia and Ukraine

----------


## Natural Citizen

I keep telling myself that I'm retiring from RPF but I think it's going to be a gradual wean while moving onto other, more productive, things/directions. At the moment, I think it's important to counter the brainwashing and compete malfeasance coming from western/corporate and social media platforms regarding what is happening in Ukraine.

Anyhoo...here's another update on what is going on there...

Kiev’s army shelling kills 5yo boy & his mom in Slavyansk




> A five-year-old boy died in eastern Ukraine of multiple head wounds Friday from a Ukrainian mortar shell, despite a 5-hour-long operation by doctors to save his life, Russian media report. His mother died on the spot in the same mortar shelling.
> 
> When Arseny Danchenko was admitted into the hospital Thursday,  doctors found at least 30 head wounds caused by mortar shell  fragments from one to five millimeters in diameter. Many of the  wounds were declared inoperable, yet surgeons attempted to do  whatever they could._
> “Arseny died at 2am last night. Medics tried to save his life  for over five hours,”_ Russian daily newspaper Komsomolskaya  Pravda reported from the hospital.
> 
> 
> 
>   On Thursday evening, Ukraine’s National Guards artillery,  stationed on the Karachun mountain, rained a barrage of mortar  shells on the Golubovka suburb of Slavyansk.
> 
> ...

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

*Lugansk and Donetsk Oblasts Create Pro-Russian Unified State*Note this person of interest, another Billionaire Oligarch dual citizenship(sound familiar), Kolomoyskyi, which the Eastern Ukrainian states and separatists are also fighting against.





> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ihor_Kolomoyskyi
> 
> *Ihor Valeriyovych Kolomoyskyi* (Ukrainian: Ігор Валерійович Коломойський; Russian: Игорь Валерьевич Коломойский, Igor Kolomoisky; born February 13, 1963) *is an Ukrainian-Israeli business oligarch of Jewish descent and the current Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.*[4]
> 
>  A multibillionaire, Kolomoyskyi is rated as the second or third richest person in Ukraine (after Rinat Akhmetov and/or Viktor Pinchuk) since 2006[5][6] and 377th richest person in the world by the _Forbes_ (as of 2011.)[2]






> http://futuristrendcast.wordpress.co...unified-state/
> 
> *Lugansk and Donetsk Create Unified State*
> Jun 25
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *25/06/14.* #Donbass, eastern Ukraine: *#Donetsk and #Lugansk  Republics’* deputies just voted unanimously for the unification, creating  a _Soyuz_ (union) of the Lugansk and Donetsk  People’s Republics. The new unified state will share unified economy,  finance and defence. Earlier, Donetsk and Lugansk announced that along  with Ukrainian grivna, the official currency circulating on their  territory is Russian ruble.
> ...






*Ihor Kolomoyskyi*

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

Ukraine's Luhansk, Donetsk Republics Ratify Union of People's Republics Constitution Kiev Must Be Held Responsible for Journalist Killings

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Cameraman for Russia's top broadcaster killed in E. Ukraine*...




> A cameraman for Russia's Channel One TV station died from injuries after being shot by Ukrainian troops in Donetsk, the head of the press service for the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) said, as quoted by RIA Novosti.
> 
> _“The cameraman was injured in the stomach and died of the  wounds,_” Klavdia Kulbatskaya said.
> 
> Another team of Russian journalists also came under attack on  Sunday. A LifeNews crew was fired at near a Donetsk military  base, Kulbatskaya said. Their car was fired at from a grenade  launcher. No one was injured in the attack.
> 
>   The ceasefire between Kiev and self-defense forces in eastern  Ukraine expires at 10 a.m. local time on Monday.
> 
>   This latest death comes after a number of journalists were  already killed during the coverage of events in eastern Ukraine.
> ...


Continued - Cameraman for Russia's top broadcaster killed in E. Ukraine


Aside - RT Spanish correspondent denied entry to Ukraine 'for being Russian TV journo'




> Ukrainian authorities have blocked Mauricio Ampuero, a correspondent and presenter for RT Spanish, from entering Ukraine. Ampuero says the ban was explained by the fact that he is “a journalist of a Russian channel.”
> 
> When asked about the reason for the refusal, a Ukrainian border  guard told Ampuero that he was being banned from entering for  _“being a journalist of a Russian channel.”_
> 
> Journalists working for Russian media outlets have been  consistently persecuted by the new Ukrainian authorities for  covering the bloody military campaign waged by Kiev in  southeastern Ukraine.


Relevant reading - Captive Russian journalists told they’d be ‘cut to bits’ and ‘barbecued’




> Journalists from Russia's Zvezda TV channel were beaten and forced to apologize to the Ukrainian people by video during their two days in captivity. Radicals from Right Sector threatened to cut them up into slices and barbecue them.
> 
> _“They [the radicals] dictated us what to write. If I wrote  something wrong, they beat us and using death threats made us  re-write the letter,”_ said correspondent Evgeny Davydov at a  press conference. _“We were re-writing it until the text  satisfied them.”
> _
> Davydov, along with sound engineer Nikita Konashenkov, were  captured in the Donetsk region on Saturday while they were on  their way to Dnepropetrovsk Airport to catch a flight back to  Moscow. The journalists were freed on Monday afternoon.

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Slavyansk residential districts 'a mess' after Kiev troops' shelling, at least 3 killed (VIDEO)*...



> In an apparent breach of the ceasefire, Ukrainian forces shelled residential parts of Slavyansk for nearly an hour on Sunday, destroying buildings and killing at least 3 civilians. Ukrainian media claimed that a pro-Kiev checkpoint had been attacked.
> 
> Despite the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine being prolonged till June 30 by Ukrainian President  Petro Poroshenko, it appears that the National Guard units  fighting in Slavyansk have given little heed to the presidents  order and continued to shell the defiant city.
> 
> The shelling killed at least three people, and there have been  _many injured,_ Litvinov said, adding that not all the  devastated houses have been searched for victims yet.  Numerous videos of the aftermath of the shelling have been posted  on YouTube and on social networks by the locals, showing large  shell holes in blocks of flats, shell craters right in the middle  of a local market and destroyed rows of market stalls.  
> 
>   Some of the clips showed a lot of blood also, with a shocked  local woman working at the market telling the cameraman that a  victim had his kidney _burst_ as a result of the  shelling. Ambulances could be seen working at the scene.
> 
> Reports said that another Slavyansk woman, who was killed by  shelling in her flat, _had her head torn off._
> ...


Continued - *GRAPHIC* Slavyansk residential districts 'a mess' after Kiev troops' shelling, at least 3 killed (VIDEO)  - *GRAPHIC*

----------


## AngryCanadian

In Kiev Right Sector Members and Families of the Organization have organized an Rally in show of demands to kill all of innocents in East Ukraine and they want blood.

----------


## Natural Citizen

> In Kiev Right Sector Members and Families of the Organization have organized an Rally in show of demands to kill all of innocents in East Ukraine and they want blood.


Yep. There were over a thousand who showed up after some leader from Kiev tweeted  out a solicitation for the rally.

----------


## Natural Citizen

Here is what AngryCanadian is talking about...

Lets wage war! Huge crowd rallies in Kiev for end of ceasefire, martial law (VIDEO)

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Putin to West: Stop turning world into 'global barracks,' dictating rules to others*...



> Russias president has blamed the turmoil in Ukraine on the countrys newly-elected leader Petro Poroshenko. Vladimir Putin also criticized the West for its intention to turn the planet into a "global barracks."
> 
> _Everything thats going on in Ukraine is of course the  internal business of Ukrainian government, but we are painfully  sorry that people die, civilians,_ Putin said. He added that  the killing of journalists was _absolutely  unacceptable.
> __In my opinion, there is a deliberate attempt to eliminate  representatives of the press going on. It concerns both Russian  and foreign journalists,_ the president said.
> 
> Speaking in front of ambassadors on Tuesday, Putin expressed hope  that Western partners will stop imposing their principles on  other countries.
> 
> _"I hope pragmatism will still prevail. The West will get rid  of ambitions, pursuits to establish a world barracks  to  arrange all according to ranks, to impose uniform rules of  behavior and life of society,_ Putin said.
> 
> ...


Continued - Putin to West: Stop turning world into 'global barracks

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Shells devastate entire streets in eastern Ukrainian town (VIDEO, PHOTOS)*...





> Eyewitnesses in the Cossack settlement of Luganskaya have accused government forces of carrying out two airstrikes on densely-populated residential areas. Kiev says the devastation is the result of shelling by secessionist forces.
> 
> _The first plane appeared at 11 am, and hit the center of the  town  destroying the police building, damaging the courthouse,  and razing two houses. We wont know the death toll until the  rubble is cleared,_ said Vladimir Bilous, the head of the  local administration.
> 
> 
> 
> _At the site of the second strike the situation is even worse: 9  people have died, and 11 have been wounded. Among the victims is  a five year-old girl, who with her father. The impact was so  strong her legs were blown off. Once again, the exact number of  the dead will only become clear later.
> 
> 
> ...


Continued - Shells devastate entire streets in eastern Ukrainian town (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Recent Ukraine human rights violations released in 'White Book' report*...





> A senior Russian human rights official has called the updated research on human rights violations in Ukraine a forced measure, and an attempt to call for action from the international community to stop the violence.
> 
> “_This was a forced measure. This was not someone’s whim but a  reaction to the current situation, and the situation in the South  and South-East of Ukraine is extremely grave, disastrous_,”  the Foreign Ministry’s Plenipotentiary for Human Rights,  Konstantin Dolgov, said in a televised interview.
> 
>   He dismissed allegations the report was propaganda. “There is  some reaction to the White Book – some partners attempt to  describe it as propaganda. But it consists of facts, and facts  cannot be called propaganda,” he said.
> 
> 
> A woman killed during an artillery shelling of the Donetsk railway station (Image from mid.ru)
> 
> ...


Continued - Recent Ukraine human rights violations released in 'White Book' report


The full updated White Book report is available on the Foreign Ministry’s  website.

----------


## jllundqu

> I keep telling myself that I'm retiring from RPF but I think it's going to be a gradual wean while moving onto other, more productive, things/directions. At the moment, I think it's important to counter the brainwashing and compete malfeasance coming from western/corporate and social media platforms regarding what is happening in Ukraine.
> 
> Anyhoo...here's another update on what is going on there...
> 
> Kiev’s army shelling kills 5yo boy & his mom in Slavyansk


Well if you do retire, please share where you are going!

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Over 20 killed, 80 injured in ‘worst’ shelling of Lugansk by Ukrainian forces*...





> At least 24 civilians were killed and another 85 injured as the city of Lugansk in eastern Ukraine was heavily shelled by Kiev forces on Friday and Saturday, media reported.
> 
>   The bombardment of the city, home to over 400,000 people, began  at around 06:00 PM local time on Friday and went on during the  night and through Saturday morning.
>   Kiev forces hit 22 buildings, including a school and a  kindergarten. Self-defense forces told the LifeNews Channel that  24 have died, adding that the death toll may rise as shelling of  the city continues.
> 
>   An eyewitness told RT that around 10 people were killed at a bus  stop in the Yubileynoe village, which is also a part of Lugansk.
> 
> _“Peaceful civilians were torn into pieces at the bus  stop,”_ Viktor said, adding that the attack by Kiev forces  was _“aimed exclusively at the civilian population.”
> 
> ...


Continued - Over 20 killed, 80 injured in ‘worst’ shelling of Lugansk by Ukrainian forces

----------


## Natural Citizen

Dozens, including 2 children, die as Kiev troops shell Gorlovka in E.Ukraine (VIDEO)




> At least 13 civilians and likely dozens more have been killed by continuing artillery barrages, as government troops close in on militia positions around the city of Gorlovka in eastern Ukraine.
> 
>   A 1-year old - killed next to her parents - and a 5-year old are  among the dead, according to information published by the Donetsk  regional administration. Several local journalists on the ground  have reported that as many as 30 have been killed, as fighting  continues.
> 
> While comprehensive data on casualties during the conflict has  been hard to obtain, the Russia-based IGCP monitoring group has  concluded on the basis of collated OSCE and ATO data that over  1,100 Ukrainians have died in the conflict since the toppling of  Viktor Yanukovich in February
> 
> 
> A picture shows a Ukrainian multiple rocket launcher "Grad" set on the position near the eastern city of Seversk (AFP Photo / Genya Savilov)

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Over 30 civilians killed during two days of shelling in Gorlovka, E. Ukraine (VIDEO)*...













> Two days of shelling in Gorlovka, in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine, have resulted in 31 civilians being killed there, local authorities say. Ukrainian troops and anti-government forces are blaming each other for the bloodshed.
> 
> Ukraine civil war death toll 1,100, over 3,500  wounded - UN
> 
> _“Over the past 24 hours 17 residents of Gorlovka, including  three children, have been killed in the center of the town, which  got under artillery fire. 43 civilians have been wounded,”_Itar-Tass reported the press service of the Gorlovka city  administration as saying.
>   A day earlier, the Donetsk region administration said that 14  civilians, including five children, had being killed in Sunday’s  shelling of Gorlovka.
> 
>   Survivors of the attacks say they’ve gotten accustomed to  spending most of their day hiding in basements.
> 
> ...


Continued - Over 30 civilians killed during two days of shelling in Gorlovka, E. Ukraine (VIDEO)



Aside - Kiev's bloody eastern Ukraine campaign LIVE UPDATES




> Recent Update: *Tuesday, July 29*
> 
> *15:20 GMT:* Kiev is ready for a cease-fire “_now,_” US Secretary of State John Kerry claimed, following a meeting with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in Washington. Kerry added that President Petro Poroshenko is also ready to start talks with the militia in the southeast of the country.
> 
> *15:06 GMT:* Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a telephone conversation with US State Secretary John Kerry has urged Washington to influence Kiev to achieve a prompt ceasefire and to start negotiations with southeast Ukraine.


Spin - Sen. Rand Paul: U.S. Must Take Strong Action Against_ Putin’s_ Aggression

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

100,000s Flee Ukraine to Russia...




> *Refugee status in Russia have already received 233,000 people from Ukraine*
> 
>   Topic: 
> The situation with the Ukrainian refugees (581) 
> 
>   29.07.2014 14:34   (Updated:   29.07.2014 14:55   ) 678 10 March 
>    The number of officially registered reached 233,114 people, including  34,503 children and 751 pregnant women, of which 90 have already given  birth to babies in Russia, said Pavel Astakhov. 
>   © Photo: Press Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in Smolensk region 
> 
> ...

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

*WWIII continues... with US casualties in Ukraine...*



> *Bulgarian deputy chief-of-defense, signs agreement with European Command USAF major general Randy A. Key* *J5/8 - Policy, Strategy, Partnering and Capabilities*
> 
>  The J5/8 develops basic military/political policy and planning for  command activities involving relations with other U.S. combatant  commands, allied and international military organizations, and  subordinate commands. As a result of forward-operating military  representatives in U.S. embassies, the directorate has a unique  perspective that enhances partner and mil-to-mil outreach and training.  This dovetails with its strategy, plans and policy development that  support global peace and security in the region.
>   Every two years, the directorate builds the *“Strategy for Active  Security” (SAS)*, which serves as the command’s roadmap EUCOM’s  engagement activities in the coming years. The SAS enables *J5/8’s  diverse team to develop country-specific plans, policies, and priorities  that will guide theater-wide outreach*. The J5/8 works closely with the  other directorates, interagency partners and allies and uses diverse  inputs to continually refine plans, ensuring they remain aligned with  strategic guidance and the realities of an ever-changing environment.  Whether it is evaluating current capabilities, searching for the next  technological breakthroughs, or analyzing what EUCOM should look like in  the next 10 years, the J5/8 always has its eyes on the future.
> 
>   The directorate is fully committed to a secure, stable Europe through programs such as:
> 
> Partnership for PeaceU.S. National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program*International Military Education and Training program
> **Foreign military sales**Foreign military financing**NATO and coalition support* 
> ...





> *USAF  General Randy Allen Key Wounded In Ukraine?*
> 
> 
> *Wednesday, July 30, 2014 13:18*
> 
> U.S.  Secretary of State John Kerry said that “Kiev authorities are ready to  immediately stop” fighting in the Donbass. According to available  information, cause a sudden attack of peace in Washington in the deaths  of several American military trainers and wounded Pentagon General Randy  Allen Key (Kee Randy Alan) who commanded the Ukrainian punishers in the  southeast.
> 
>  On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State *John Kerry* , after a meeting with Foreign Minister of Ukraine *Pavel Klimkin* made ​​a statement that the Kiev authorities are ready for a ceasefire in the Donbas _“not in the future, and now”_ , based on _“peace plan President Poroshenko”_ .
>  Note that the U.S. official is already making statements on behalf of  the head of the “independent” Ukraine. Guys guys are palyatsya,  yes. But it is, bar, for illusions about who is now actually taxis in  Kiev, no longer exist.  
> ...






> _"Under attack Marinovka militias reflected the height of 198.3.__During this battle destroyed four tanks, four armored personnel carriers. All of them were burned._ _Among those killed are people blacks._ _Militia commander is ready to provide for the filming of the corpses "-_ told Shooters.
>  Another day later, it was reported new casualties among U.S. military  and among the victims were the general himself Randy Allen Key.
> 
> Tuesday, *July 29* at the social networks reported: _"In the area of  intelligence and Raisins subversive group (RDG) militia attacked a  convoy of U.S. military trainers. Killed three U.S. officers and wounded  General Key Randy Allen, who commands the punitive operation "._
> 
>  And right after that John Kerry requested ceasefire.
> 
> 
> 
> *US European Command National Guard State Partnership Program Conference*



*NATO Allied Land Command Turkish NATO exercise planning*




> *Consultations in MOD on the status of US armed forces in Poland* 
> 2014-02-07
> *On  Friday, 7th February the second meeting of Polish-US Common Commission  for Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) took place in Warsaw.* 
> 
> The Common  Commission is Polish-US body aimed at conducting consultations on using  the regulations of "Agreement between the Government of the United  States of America and the Government of the Republic of Poland on the  Status of the Armed Forces of the United States of America in the  Territory of the Republic  of Poland". 
> 
> The meeting  started with signing the executive agreement on procedures concerning  considering claims over damages made by US Armed Forces on the territory  of Poland. 
> 
> The document was  signed by chairmen of the Common Commission - Under-Secretary of State  in MOD Robert Kupiecki and *Director, Strategy and Policy, Headquarters  U.S. European Command J5/J8 Maj. Gen.  Randy A. Kee.* 
> ...

----------


## Natural Citizen

*EU quietly lifts ban on supplying Kiev with weapons and technology*...





> The European Union has quietly agreed to lift restrictions supplying Kiev with military technology and equipment which can be used for the repression in the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
> 
>   "_During a recent meeting of the Council of Europe in  Brussels, leaders of EU member states agreed 'on the quiet' to  remove restrictions on exports to Kiev of equipment that could be  used for internal repression_," the ministry said in a  statement on its website. "_Exports of military technologies  and equipment were also allowed._"
> 
>   Moscow slammed the move as _"contradicting the rules of  military technologies and ammunition exports which have been  earlier applied by the EU"_ and also "_pierced_" by  double standards.
> 
> Kievs so-called _anti-terrorist operation_ in the  eastern regions of Ukraine has intensified lately. The most  recent crackdown was in the village of Gorlovka, in the Donetsk  Region. It resulted in 31 civilians being killed there.
> 
>   According to UN figures, at least 1,129 people have been  killed and nearly 3,500 wounded in eastern Ukraine since the  start of the operation in April. Also, 100,000 people have been  forcibly displaced.
> ...


Continued - EU quietly lifts ban on supplying Kiev with weapons and technology 


Aside - Situation atrocious: Russian Red Cross says E.  Ukraine faces humanitarian catastrophe

----------


## Natural Citizen

*California and Ukraine National Guard gear up for military collaboration in 2015*...




> In the latest step by Washington to increase the pressure on Russia’s border with Ukraine, the Obama administration has informed Congress that the US will train and arm the Ukrainian National Guard next year, the Pentagon said.
> 
> _"The Defense Department and State Department have notified  Congress of our intent to use $19 million in global security  contingency fund authority to train and equip four companies and  one tactical headquarters of the Ukrainian National Guard as part  of their efforts to build their capacity for internal  defense,"_ Reuters quoted Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral  John Kirby as saying Friday.
> 
> Also Friday, the United States pledged about $8 million in new  aid to bolster the Ukrainian Border Guard Service.  
> 
>   The plan requires Congressional approval, but judging by the  level of anti-Russian rhetoric coming from US legislators, this  is expected to be forthcoming.
> 
> It may come as a surprise to many American taxpayers that the US  National Guard has nearly two dozen state partnerships with  foreign countries, most of which were once part of the Soviet  Union.  
> ...


Continued - California and Ukraine National Guard gear up for military collaboration in 2015

Relevant reading - Russian Aggression Prevention Act of 2014

----------


## Natural Citizen

*OSCE monitors and journos come under shelling from Ukraine at Russian border*...




> Russian border checkpoint at the Gukovo crossing was shelled from the Ukrainian side twice on Sunday. OSCE observers and journalists were working at the checkpoint when it was attacked. The first shell exploded at Gukovo at around 13:55 Moscow time  (0955 GMT), Russian border guard spokesman Vasily Malaev told  Itar-Tass news agency.
> 
> The Rostov Region is the main hub for Ukrainian refugees, who are  fleeing for Russia in order to escape the bloody conflict in the  country.  
> 
>   The governments crackdown on the south-east started in  mid-April, after people in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions  refused to recognize the coup-imposed authorities in Kiev and  demanded federalization.  
> 
> Some 1,129 people have been killed and nearly 3,500 wounded in  eastern Ukrainian violence, the UN announced in late July.


Continued - OSCE monitors and journos come under shelling from Ukraine at Russian border



Aside - Top Russian investigator protests against deliberate shooting by Ukrainian military




> The head of Russias Investigative Committee claims his agents have become victims of systematic and deliberate shootings by the Ukrainian military when they work near the border with the country.
> 
>   The Investigative Committee operatives are currently probing  alleged mortar attacks by Ukraine on Russia that have taken place  since the beginning of the summer. According to preliminary data,  the Ukrainians fired at least 45 mortar shells at targets  located inside the Rostov-on-Don region, destroying a number of  houses and forcing people from their homes.
> 
> According to local officials the situation in the areas adjacent  to Ukrainian territory can be described as a combat zone.
> 
> Russia has also had to relocate a temporary camp for Ukrainian  refugees who flee the conflict in the southeast of the country  after several mortars landed nearby.
> 
>   Russias Foreign Ministry has protested the Ukrainian militarys  actions, describing the shelling as _an act of  aggression_ and threatened _irreversible  consequences_ if attacks were not stopped.

----------


## Natural Citizen

*All-out war in E. Ukraine, intl humanitarian mission needed – Russia’s UN envoy*...




> The situation in eastern Ukraine was described as a catastrophic, full-blown war by Russia's UN envoy, Vitaly Churkin, during the latest UN Security Council meeting. Russia has also called for an international humanitarian mission to be launched.
> 
> Follow RT's LIVE UPDATES on Kiev's bloody  military campaign
> 
> Fighting between Kiev’s  army and self-defense forces intensified on Tuesday, with the  Ukrainian military using heavy weaponry around Donetsk in eastern  Ukraine. 
> 
> According to witnesses, the Ukrainian army resorted to  multiple rocket launchers, including Uragan launchers and cruise  missiles, RIA Novosti reported citing local militia.
> 
> Cruise missiles were spotted flying over the city of Gorlovka on  Tuesday, while Uragan launchers were seen near the town of  Snezhniy, witnesses told the news agency. Explosions reportedly  caused by airstrikes were also heard within the city of Donetsk.
> ...


Continued - All-out war in E. Ukraine, intl humanitarian mission needed – Russia’s UN envoy



Aside - Humanitarian catastrophe: Lugansk, E.  Ukraine, left with no water, power




> The eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk has declared a state of humanitarian catastrophe over a lack of medical supplies, electricity, lighting, mobile and internet communication. Some 250,000 civilians are unable to leave, the statement also says.
> 
> _“As of August 5, Lugansk remains disconnected from  electricity. The situation remains critical on the city’s  territory. Lugansk is has no energy, is in a state of  humanitarian catastrophe. Since Sunday, part of the population in  the region’s center have been without light or water, as well as  mobile and internet communication,”_ the statement on the city council website read.
> 
>   Due to high temperatures and the damage to most community  services’ cars, rubbish collection _“completely stopped,”_which is why the city is basically _“on the brink of an  ecological catastrophe,”_ the administration said.
> 
> _“Today 250,000 civilian Lugansk residents - mainly retirees  and families with children who don’t have the money to leave the  city and who have nowhere to go - have been the hostages to the  situation: the people are forced to live in the conditions of  armed clashes, with the lacking communications, the remaining  nutrition disappearing from the counter of shops and supermarkets  which are still working,”_ according to the statement.  
> 
>   An especially burning issue has become the lack of medical  supplies.



Heaving fighting over the weekend in Lugansk, eastern Ukraine, caused extensive damage to the city's Railway Hospital, as Ukrainian government forces slowly tightened their ring around the city...

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Police & activists clash on Maidan, tires burn anew in central Kiev*...



Activists and police have clashed in the Ukrainian capitals center after communal workers tried to dismantle the camp. It follows a months-old conflict over the camp with the city administration.

----------


## Natural Citizen

*NATO plane arrives in Ukraine with $4.5 mn worth of military aid for Kiev troops*...




> The CC-130J Super Hercules aircraft (Reuters / Fred Thornhill)
> 
> A massive Canadian transport plane has arrived in Kiev carrying US$4.5 million worth of non-lethal military equipment to help Ukraine protect its eastern border against Russian aggression.
> 
> The flight marks the first in a series, and all of the items will  be delivered by the CC-130J Hercules plane. Canadian military  personnel accompanied the equipment to Ukraine.
> 
> The news comes after Russia banned the imports of fruit,  vegetables, meat, fish, and dairy products from the 28 countries  of the EU, the US, Canada, Norway, and Australia for one year.
> 
>   Russias ban is set to cost Canadian pork farmers more than $500  million. But the Canadian government is continuing its current  stance on the matter. _We will not be intimidated by these  kinds of tactics,_ Canadian Industry Minister James Moore  said.
> ...





Continued - NATO plane arrives in Ukraine with $4.5 mn worth of military aid for Kiev troops


Aside - 
West blocks Moscows UN plea to reinstate ceasefire at MH17  crash site
NATO plans joint drills with Ukraine,  invites Poroshenko to summit
Reports of Russias military build-up  on Ukraine border groundless - Moscow

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Donetsk militia ready for ceasefire to prevent further humanitarian catastrophe*...



> Donetsk region militia says it is ready for a ceasefire to stop the humanitarian catastrophe deteriorating, the self-proclaimed Republic's prime minister said.
> LIVE  UPDATES:Kiev's  bloody eastern Ukraine campaign
> 
> _We hope that the international community will influence the  bloodthirsty Kiev government,_ Aleksandr Zakharchenko said  as cited by RIA Novosti. _But in the case of Ukrainian army  aggression continuing, our peoples militia will fight with any  balance of forces and in any conditions,_ he said.
> 
> _People are dying in shelling. In the case of a storming of  the city, the number of victims will increase. Today there are  absolutely no humanitarian corridors. Medicines cant get into  Donetsk and food supplies are running out. Because of the  blockade and bombardment, it is impossible to repair the  destroyed municipal network,_ Zakharchenko said. He added  the city has problems with water supplies and power. The statement comes as the UN voiced serious concerns over the  situation in eastern Ukraine.
> 
> _Innocent civilians trapped in the fighting continue to lose  their lives,_ UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on  Friday.
> 
> ...


Continued - Donetsk militia ready for ceasefire to prevent further humanitarian catastrophe

----------


## Natural Citizen

4 killed, 18 injured as hospital, residential area shelled in Donetsk, E. Ukraine (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)




> Rockets shoot off from a Ukrainian Grad multiple rocket launcher towards the position of anti-Kiev militants in Donetsk region on August 7, 2014. (AFP Photo/Anatolii Stepanov)
> 
> Five people from the same family were killed on Thursday in Lugansk as the basement  they were taking refuge in, was shelled by Kiev government  forces. An Orthodox Church suffered bomb damage in the city the  same day.


Rockets shoot off from a Ukrainian Grad multiple rocket launcher towards the position of anti-Kiev militants in Donetsk region on August 7, 2014. (AFP Photo/Anatolii Stepanov)

  The Ukrainian army could soon switch to street fighting.

_I cant say which of the cities [Donetsk or Lugansk] gets  more attention, because our military personnel is stationed next  to both of them, they are getting ready to free the cities,_  Andrey Lysenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Security Council  said. _Thats going to be very hard, because well have to  set free street after street, building after building_.

The UN has earlier this week expressed concern over the way military operations have  been conducted in eastern Ukraine.
_What will happen if we have intense fighting inside the big  urban centers of Lugansk and Donetsk?_ UN High Commissioner  for Refugees Vincent Cochetel asked. _Fighting in  highly-intensified urban areas could lead to massive exodus and  massive destruction._

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Unique church shelled, burnt to ashes in E. Ukraine (VIDEO)*...




> A unique wooden Orthodox church has burned to the ground after being hit by an artillery shell in Gorlovka. The city is located in Ukraines Donetsk region  the site of ongoing bloody confrontations between Kiev's military and self-defense troops.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>   Blagoveshchensky Cathedral was completely destroyed as the city  came under heavy shelling on Thursday. 
> 
> Several other churches have sustained damage since the beginning  of the bloody conflict in east Ukraine. Five clerics have been  killed, according to Orthodox news website pravmir.ru.
> ...


Continued - Unique church shelled, burnt to ashes in E. Ukraine (VIDEO)

----------


## Demigod

> *California and Ukraine National Guard gear up for military collaboration in 2015*...
> 
> 
> 
> Continued - California and Ukraine National Guard gear up for military collaboration in 2015
> 
> Relevant reading - Russian Aggression Prevention Act of 2014


My country is so $#@!ty we got Vermont national guard for partners  but lol at Iowa the capitol of social conservatives allied with Kosovo a criminal state that is Europes  drug/prostitution/weapons and organ ( the kind where they farm living humans ) hub.

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Ron Paul: US 'likely hiding truth' on downed Malaysian Flight MH17*...




> Former Congressman Ron Paul said the US knows ‘more than it is telling’ about the Malaysian aircraft that crashed in eastern Ukraine last month, killing 298 people on board and seriously damaging US-Russian relations in the process.
> 
>   In an effort to inject some balance of opinion, not to mention  pure sanity, into the ongoing debate over what happened to  Malaysian Flight MH17, Ron Paul is convinced the US government is  withholding information on the catastrophe.  
> 
> _"The US government has grown strangely quiet on the  accusation that it was Russia or her allies that brought down the  Malaysian airliner with a Buk anti-aircraft missile,"_ Paul  said on his news website on Thursday.
> 
> Paul’s comments are in sharp contrast to the echo chamber of  one-sided opinion inside Western mainstream media, which has  almost unanimously blamed anti-Kiev militia for bringing down the  commercial airline. Incredibly, in many cases Washington had  nothing to show as evidence to incriminate Russian rebels aside  for references to social media.  
> 
> Just days after US intelligence officials admitted they had no conclusive evidence to  prove Russia was behind the downing of the airliner, Kiev  published satellite images as ‘proof’ it didn’t deploy  anti-aircraft batteries around the MH17 crash site. However,  these images have altered time-stamps and are from the days after  the MH17 tragedy, the Russian Defense Ministry revealed, fully discrediting the Ukrainian  claims.  
> ...


Continued - Ron Paul: US 'likely hiding truth' on downed Malaysian Flight MH17


Aside - Ron Paul to Obama: Let’s just leave Ukraine  alone!

----------


## Natural Citizen

*On the Brink of Survival: No electricity, water, communications in besieged Lugansk, E. Ukraine*...




> 250,000 people have been left without water, electricity and communications for over a week in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk. The town is subject to siege conditions and under heavy bombardment.
> 
> 250,000 people have been left without water, electricity and communications for over a week in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk. The town is subject to siege conditions and under heavy bombardment.
> 
> _“We're being bombed so severely, there's hardly anything left  to bomb. People are running out of money. How are we supposed to  survive in this heat? What if some sort of epidemic breaks out?  What should we do?”_ local woman Nadezhda Essaulinka  exclaimed, emotionally.
>   The local administration says that _“pension, salaries, and  social benefits haven’t been paid. Some employees haven’t  received their salaries for a month - others for over  two-and-a-half months.”
> _
> Most of the shops in the city are closed, and produce is sold in  the streets.
> 
> ...


Continued - On the Brink of Survival: No electricity, water, communications in besieged Lugansk, E. Ukraine

Aside - Ukraine crisis timeline

----------


## Natural Citizen

*RAW: 280 trucks with Russian humanitarian aid depart to E. Ukraine*... 



> Trucks carrying food, medication, and drinking water have been sent towards the border with Ukraine by Russias Emergencies Ministry on Tuesday morning.
> 
> Almost 300 trucks carrying 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid have been sent towards the border with Ukraine, Moscow regional authorities say. Earlier, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a humanitarian mission under the authority of the Red Cross.
> 
>   Some 280 Kamaz trucks carrying food, medication, and drinking  water were sent out by Russias Emergencies Ministry from the  Moscow region on Tuesday morning, Russian media reported.
> 
> _"The contact group has decided on Monday that the  humanitarian aid convoys will cross over at the Kharkov Oblast  border. The Lugansk route has also been agreed upon,"_ Leonid  Kuchma, Ukraine's second President and the mediator in the  operation told journalists.
> 
>   He added that _"the aid will be distributed by the Red Cross -  the convoy will be accompanied by representatives from the  OSCE."
> ...


Continued - Russian humanitarian convoy departs to E. Ukraine

----------


## Natural Citizen

*3 days in Donetsk: 70+ civilians killed, over 100 wounded*...





> Over 70 people have been killed in the Donetsk Region, and 116 others have been wounded over the last three days of fighting in eastern Ukraine, according to a statement by regional authorities.
> 
>   The Ukrainian army has been shelling Donetsk and its suburbs  overnight as well. On Tuesday, the military seized a key train  station near Donetsk.
> 
>   Many civilians are also feared dead after Kiev authorities  resumed shelling of eastern districts in Lugansk, the city  council reported. No figures for the number of casualties are  known yet.
> 
> According to residents reports, eastern Lugansk came under  intensive artillery attack on Wednesday, the city council  said on its website. Witnesses say that as a result of the  shelling, many civilians have been killed and wounded.
> 
> On Wednesday, the UN Human Rights office issued a statement saying that number of casualties  in eastern Ukraine has doubled over the last two weeks, reaching  over 2,000 people according to conservative estimates. Almost  5,000 have been wounded.
> ...


Continued - 3 days in Donetsk: 70+ civilians killed, over 100 wounded

----------


## Natural Citizen

*In the line of fire: Journalists killed and abducted in Eastern Ukraine*...




> As human rights organizations call for an end to repression against the press in Eastern Ukraine, RT recalls the journalists who were abducted, tortured or paid the ultimate price and lost their lives while reporting from the heart of the civil war.
> 
>   Eastern Ukraine has been dubbed a “_trap for journalists”_by Human Rights Watch’s representative in Russia as the deepening  crisis has already taken the lives of six journalists since the  beginning of the year.
> 
>   Many more journalists have been abducted, interrogated and even  tortured while caught in the crossfire in the fighting between  the Ukraine Army and the militia forces of southeastern Ukraine.
> 
> Some of the deadliest and most brutal  incidents...
> 
> *  Igor Kornelyuk, Anton Voloshin (Russia) – killed*
> ...


Continued - In the line of fire: Journalists killed and abducted in Eastern Ukraine


Relevant reading - American broadcasters see RT as major challenge, want to try to compete




> “_Let’s put together a plan of how much that would cost and  how to do something that we could compete with Russia Today [RT]  and then let’s go to the Hill and then let’s go to the White  House and tell them what it’s going to cost to compete and let’s  see if we can do it,_” BBG chairman Jeffrey Shell said.  
> 
> He also made mention of “_many different platforms_,”  including YouTube and Twitter, that the Russians were using  widely in conjunction with their TV broadcasting.
> 
> “_One of the things I've seen and have been surprised by in my  time here is just how sophisticated their messaging is on social  media, and just like you, I think this is the area that we should  own and we don't own it_,” he said.
> 
>   In June, the RT website received one of the most prestigious awards in the  online industry, outperforming 36 other competitors and winning  “The Best in Class” nomination in the News Website category of  the contest set by the Interactive Media Awards.
> 
>   A year ago, RT became the first TV news channel to garner 1 billion views on YouTube . Also in 2013,  RT’s Facebook page recorded over 1 million likes.

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

A real bloof bath that Western media is just ignoring, but when it was one of their "Patsies" in Maiden Square the whole world had to be informed of horrific repression of those "not so innocent" protesters.


It's all a sham, with western corporate media being just the unofficial public relations frims for Washington DC Imperialists and the thirst of the global money masters.

----------


## Natural Citizen

> Originally Posted by *HOLLYWOOD* 
> 
> It's all a sham, with western corporate media being just the unofficial public relations frims for Washington DC Imperialists...


Yeah, they're losing, HOLLYWOOD.

----------


## Natural Citizen

*White rain: Donetsk residents record alleged phosphorus shelling (VIDEO)*...




> Citizens of Donetsk have recorded multiple videos of white glowing particles raining on residential quarters. The locals allege that Ukraine's military has shelled their city with internationally prohibited phosphorus incendiaries.
> 
>   On Thursday night, people in the Lenin district of the city of  Donetsk saw a flow of white fire pouring down from the dark sky  alongside the now-familiar sound of bombing, RIA Novosti  reported.
> 
>   They suspect these have been incendiary shells stuffed with white  phosphorous, similar to those reportedly used by the military  during the blockade of another eastern city of Slavyansk in June.
> 
> Interfax news agency reported that unusual munitions that  resembled fireworks or white rain after exploding have been  seen on a front of the battlefield up to 5 kilometers wide.
> 
>   Charles Shoebridge, a former UK army officer, told RT that the  video _does appear to show some of the characteristics one  would expect to see with the use of white phosphorus or a similar  incendiary ammunition.
> ...


Continued - White rain: Donetsk residents record alleged phosphorus shelling (VIDEO)

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Aid convoy to Ukraine faces disruption, may be attacked - Russia*...




> Moscow has information that the convoy delivering humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine may be attacked by Kiev’s forces, with the “punitive” Aidar Battalion planning to mine the road that the vehicles will use, the Russian Foreign Ministry says.
> 
>   On Friday, Moscow accused Ukraine of attempting to disrupt the  humanitarian aid convoy now that the preparations for its  delivery have reached their final stages and all key issues have  been agreed upon.
> 
> _“We draw attention to the sharp intensification of military  actions by Ukrainian forces with the obvious goal to block the  route, agreed upon with Kiev, of the humanitarian convoy from the  Russia-Ukraine border to Lugansk_,” the Foreign Ministry said  in a statement.
> 
>   In Moscow’s view, all this gives the impression that there are  people both in Ukraine and abroad who are willing to disrupt the  humanitarian mission, even _“at the cost of new casualties and  destruction.”
> _
>   “_Those nurturing such criminal plans are taking huge  responsibility for their consequences,”_ the ministry said.
> ...



Continued - Aid convoy to Ukraine faces disruption, may be attacked - Russia

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

> Yeah, they're losing, HOLLYWOOD.


Action sure is picking up... Still haven't heard Victoria Nuland and her Imperial company, shooting off their mouths lately about death. I presume they'll have to wait until the CIA & JSOC rectifies the caldron the US State Department and NSC got themselves entrapped within. I just hope Joe Biden's son Hunter, doesn't have to suffer any  loss of profit if their shale fracking ops have to stop.

Amazing these global destructive parasites out of Washington DC, continue to getaway with their racketeering and crimes.

Let's see if the death toll will be reported from this weekend's war in Ukraine on corporate TV? Nowwwwww... back to Biff reporting from Ferguson, Missouri.

----------


## Natural Citizen

> Action sure is picking up... Still haven't heard Victoria Nuland and her Imperial company, shooting off their mouths lately about death. I presume they'll have to wait until the CIA & JSOC rectifies the caldron the US State Department and NSC got themselves entrapped within. I just hope Joe Biden's son Hunter, doesn't have to suffer any  loss of profit if their shale fracking ops have to stop.
> 
> Amazing these global destructive parasites out of Washington DC, continue to getaway with their racketeering and crimes.
> 
> Let's see if the death toll will be reported from this weekend's war in Ukraine on corporate TV? Nowwwwww... back to Biff reporting from Ferguson, Missouri.


Well. I don't know. It seems to me that, really, the US are the only people on the planet who don't know what is going on over there. And there is a lot to be said about that but I just don't think anyone is truly getting away with anything in the long run. Although it is truly unfortunate the lengths that special interests will reach in order to challenge the sovereignty of a nation. Still not hearing much about that TPP these days either which is itself a very telling phenomenon.

There are so many ground reports that I really want to share here but just cannot bring myself to post some of the horrors that are taking place over there.

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Kiev orders crackdown on Ukrainian providers broadcasting Russian TV channels*...




> Ukrainian cable providers could face heavy fines or have their licenses revoked if they broadcast leading Russian channels  including RT  which were earlier suspended by a series of court orders.
> 
> _Ukraine is a sovereign state and must defend its media space  from outside aggression from Russia, which is purposely inciting  hatred between different groups of Ukrainians within the  country,_ said interior ministry adviser Anton Geraschenko  in a statement on his Facebook page.
> 
>   Kiev has promised _total monitoring_ of all outlets,  including _hotels, sanatoriums and hospitals_ which have  been instructed to switch off their Russian feeds _before  officers of the law pay a visit._
> 
> Major providers have not carried Russian channels since a ban  that followed Crimeas vote to join the Russian Federation in  March. Officials then claimed that the sanction was a result of  Ukrainian channels being cut off on the peninsula.
> 
>   A further order to curtail Moscow broadcasts was produced by a  Kiev court in July, but many cable operators in the east have  continued to show their audiences Russian broadcasts, in defiance  of the law.
> ...


Continued - Kiev orders crackdown on Ukrainian providers broadcasting Russian TV channels

----------


## Natural Citizen

*'Why are they killing us?' E. Ukraine civilians fed up with everyday struggle for survival*...




> Almost a million people used to live Donetsk, which has been under constant fire since May. In three months, it's suffered at least 128 attacks from the Ukrainian military. Since the government launched, what it calls, an anti-terror operation in the east, over 800 civilians have been killed in the Donetsk region.




*

Desperation Limbo: The plight of Ukrainians who fled Kiev's war*...


*

GRAPHIC: Locals collect bodies after heavy shelling in Makeevka, Donetsk region*...

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

So is NATO going to come to the rescue of saving Eastern Ukrainian lives and strike at the Ukrainian military and assassinate the Ukraine government? ...oh wait, wrong country, wrong covert US State Department=Mossad/CIA plans.

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

Here yah go... check this out. Ukrainian Junta Military using HEAVY weapons on Donetsk, Ukraine

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Underground life: E.Ukraine civilians pushed to basements by constant shelling (VIDEO)*...

There are several videos at this link. I'm not going to post them since they can be found there. Plus it sucks to watch them. It's a travesty what these people are going through. And for what?




> Local residents sit in a basement used as a shelter from artillery fire, in the settlement of Makiivka, on the outskirts of Donetsk, August 19, 2014 (Reuters / Maxim Shemetov)
> 
> Heavy shelling of eastern Ukraine by the country's military continues, with people in despair and badly in need of water and electricity, hiding out in basements. Constant bombardment is laying waste to entire cities.
> 
>   City authorities say two people have been injured in Donetsk, a  city of nearly 954,000 people, on Tuesday. Several apartments,  gas pipes and cars have been destroyed by the government barrage.  Residents of almost all areas in the city are within earshot of  artillery fire.
> 
>   Bodies lying strewn on the ground, waiting to be picked up by  locals have become a common sight. People hiding in basements  went out for brief periods of _"fresh air,"_ but say they  _"can't stay out there for long."
> 
> _The Tuesday shelling of Lugansk by the Ukrainian military has  left burnt out vehicles and debris in its wake. As it continued  throughout the day, there were 200,000 people left in the city,  looking for shelter in basements. Aid was being given out at a  downtown building under the control of the Lugansk People's  Republic, however, there were _"old men and women who [were]  scared to go out on to the streets"_ for food, according to  one local.
> ...



Continued - Underground life: E.Ukraine civilians pushed to basements by constant shelling (VIDEO)


Aside...
Kiev deploying missile launchers,  multiple rocket systems near Donetsk - Moscow
Ukraine’s violent escalation - From  Molotov cocktails to ballistic missiles


Kiev's bloody eastern Ukraine campaign LIVE  UPDATES

----------


## Natural Citizen

> *In the line of fire: Journalists killed and abducted in Eastern Ukraine*...
> 
> 
> 
> As human rights organizations call for an end to repression against the press in Eastern Ukraine, RT recalls the journalists who were abducted, tortured or paid the ultimate price and lost their lives while reporting from the heart of the civil war.
> 
>   Eastern Ukraine has been dubbed a “_trap for journalists”_by Human Rights Watch’s representative in Russia as the deepening  crisis has already taken the lives of six journalists since the  beginning of the year.
> 
>   Many more journalists have been abducted, interrogated and even  tortured while caught in the crossfire in the fighting between  the Ukraine Army and the militia forces of southeastern Ukraine.
> ...



Update on the more recent missing journalist on the list...

Mother of Russian journalist missing in Ukraine addresses Red Cross for help




> The mother of Russian photojournalist, Andrey Stenin, missing in war-torn eastern Ukraine, has addressed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help find her son.
> 
>   Vera Stenina told RT that she addressed the ICRC “because they  are looking for missing relatives. And I had hopes that I will be  helped there.”  
> 
> _“They said that they’ll try to look for him,”_ the woman  told RT, adding that the Red Cross showed  _“understanding”_ of her problem.  
> 
>   An experienced war photographer, Stenin, who works for the  Rossiya Segodnya news agency (formerly RIA Novosti), disappeared  on August 5 as he was covering the Ukrainian army’s campaign  against the anti-Kiev rebels in the country’s southeastern  Donetsk and Lugansk regions.  
> 
>   Despite over two weeks having passed since his disappearance, the  journalist’s whereabouts still remain unknown.  
> ...




Relevant reading - Kiev silent on whereabouts of missing Russian journalist 2 weeks after abduction




> With over two weeks since his disappearance in eastern Ukraine, the whereabouts of Russian photojournalist Andrey Stenin remain unknown. His colleagues suggest that he may soon be freed as part of a large exchange of captives.
> 
>   Stenin’s employers at Rossiya Segodnya news agency (formerly RIA  Novosti), said that they have so far failed to get any  information on their journalist from the Kiev authorities.  
> _
> “Our attempts to receive any explanation and accurate information  about his fate have been in vain,”_ Aleksandr Shtoll, who  heads the photo department at Rossiya Segodnya, said at a press  conference in Moscow.  
> 
> _“We’d like to learn of his whereabouts as soon as possible.  We’re doing everything possible to achieve this,”_ he added.  
> 
>   The Russian government is also _“doing everything  possible”_ to locate the journalist, Shtoll said, saying that  the country’s ambassador to Kiev has already filed two enquiries  to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, but so far has received no  reply.  
> ...

----------


## Natural Citizen

*‘I never saw people die before’: Injured girl shares horrors of Kiev shelling (VIDEO)*...




> Still from Ruptly video
> 
> Ukrainian army shelling has forever changed the life of a teenage girl near Donetsk, who is now lying in hospital with a shattered arm and shrapnel wounds. The teen witnessed 15 people, including children killed by falling bombs along the river’s shore.
> 
> 
> Government forces first bombed the village of Zugres in the  Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on August 14. Several shells  hit a beach full of people relaxing by the river, with splinters  piercing and killing some and severing the limbs of others.  A total of fifteen people died in the attack, among them three  children. Yana Fenenko was one of the lucky ones who survived  that day.
> 
> _“We were swimming in the river when lots of bombs started  falling all at once. We left the water and I threw myself down on  the ground. I was lying prone, but I was still hit by a  bomb,”_ 15-year-old Yana told RT’s Ruptly agency from a  hospital bed.
> 
> ...




The UN has estimated that around 2,000 people have lost their  lives since the start of the riots in Kiev and the subsequent  military campaign in the south-eastern regions of the country.


Continued - ‘I never saw people die before’: Injured girl shares horrors of Kiev shelling (VIDEO)

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Solace for the struggling: E. Ukrainians without water, food crave Russian aid*...




> As the first 30 trucks in the humanitarian convoy headed for war-torn eastern Ukraine, the residents of Lugansk - struggling daily without regular food supplies, water, electricity and under constant shelling - are looking forward to the aid relief.
> 
> First trucks with Russian aid reach Lugansk, E.  Ukraine
> 
> On Friday, the Russian convoy crossed the Ukrainian border and  started moving in the direction of Lugansk, after Moscow had  ordered it to proceed, without waiting for further instructions  or permission from Kiev.
> 
>   Due to the electricity black-out and the lack of water, many  local enterprises have to a halt in Lugansk. RT traveled to what  used to be the area’s biggest bread-baking facilities and spoke  with one of the employees, Vasily, who said that he doesn’t know  how the locals get by.
> 
> _“I don’t know why they are doing this, I stopped being afraid  and just live my everyday life,”_ he told RT.
> ...


Continued - Solace for the struggling: E. Ukrainians without water, food crave Russian aid

----------


## juleswin

Ouch, just a few months ago, people were cheering these $#@!s for attacking the police. I always knew they were no freedom fighters, just petty tyrants trying to get on top of the food chain so they could unleash their version of hell on the easterners.

----------


## Natural Citizen

> Ouch, just a few months ago, people were cheering these $#@!s for attacking the police. I always knew they were no freedom fighters, just petty tyrants trying to get on top of the food chain so they could unleash their version of hell on the easterners.


Corporate Interests Behind Ukraine Putsch

WikiLeaks releases draft of highly-secretive multi-national trade deal

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post5307335

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Mission completed: Moscow confirms delivery of aid to E. Ukraine, trucks return to Russia*...





> Russias Foreign Ministry has confirmed humanitarian aid has been delivered to the besieged city of Lugansk in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile all trucks that delivered aid had returned to Russia.
> 
> _We express our satisfaction that the Russian humanitarian  aid for those in need in southeastern Ukraine has been delivered  as intended. We were motivated only by the goal of helping  civilian citizens in need,_ the statement read.
> 
>   All trucks have returned empty, Ukrainian and Russian border  guards confirmed, Russian Deputy Emergency Minister Eduard  Chizhikov said.
> 
> _There were 227 trucks in the humanitarian operation  participating in the operation, and they have all returned. All  those vehicles have been searched by the representatives of the  customs and border control, both on the Ukrainian and Russian  side. No issues have been pointed out. All vehicles were empty  upon returning, and the media representatives checked that, too,  while they were filming the search,_ Chizhikov stated.
> 
>   The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)  also confirmed that all 227 vehicles that entered Ukraine as part  of a Russian aid convoy have now returned home.
> ...


Continued - Mission completed: Moscow confirms delivery of aid to E. Ukraine, trucks return to Russia

----------


## Natural Citizen

*I regret Russian aid convoy issue became highly-politicized  UN humanitarian chief*...








> The UN recognizes the dire situation in east Ukraine, and underlines the importance of avoiding politicizing humanitarian issues, as happened with the Russian aid convoy, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told RT.
> 
>   The situation in east Ukraine, where fighting between the Kiev  troops and militia continues, is deteriorating, Valerie Amos, the  UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency  Relief Coordinator said in an interview with RT Saturday.  
> 
> _We are very concerned that the situation is getting worse  because the fighting has not stopped. In the east, where the  fighting continues, we still have a lot of people in need of  humanitarian aid,_ she said.  
> 
>   Baroness Amos is on a trip to Ukraine and has visited several  eastern regions, including Slavyansk (Sloviansk in Ukrainian  language). The city used to be a militia stronghold until  government forces regained control over the area in July  following fierce fighting.
> 
> _Today, I was able to meet and talk to people in Slavyansk  who have fled the fighting, who basically wanted to go home. That  is all they wanted. They wanted peace, stability and security and  were worried for those they have left behind,_ she said.  
> ...



Continued - I regret Russian aid convoy issue became highly-politicized  UN humanitarian chief

----------


## Natural Citizen

*US says military motive in Russian aid, empty trucks return home*...

The White House has issued a statement saying Russia's humanitarian convoy, which delivered aid to Ukraine, had a military motive, without anything to back its accusation. It also claims that most of the vehicles were inspected in Russia, despite checks by foreign journalists and the International Red Cross. Gayane Chichakyan sums up Washington's reaction.

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault
*
This paper comes from the Council on Foreign Relations. It's an interesting piece because it questions counter-intuitive policy that we see from the western political elite with regard to Russia and Ukraine.

I'll just quote a few of the more interesting paragraphs. Make of them what you wish...




> “But most realists opposed expansion, in the belief that a declining great power with an aging population and a one-dimensional economy did not in fact need to be contained. And they feared that enlargement would only give Moscow an incentive to cause trouble in eastern Europe. The U.S. diplomat George Kennan articulated this perspective in a 1998 interview, shortly after the U.S. Senate approved the first round of NATO expansion. ‘I think the Russians will gradually react quite adversely and it will affect their policies,’ he said. ‘I think it is a tragic mistake. There was no reason for this whatsoever. No one was threatening anyone else.’






> “Other analysts allege, more plausibly, that Putin regrets the demise of the Soviet Union and is determined to reverse it by expanding Russia’s borders. According to this interpretation, Putin, having taken Crimea, is now testing the waters to see if the time is right to conquer Ukraine, or at least its eastern part, and he will eventually behave aggressively toward other countries in Russia’s neighborhood. For some in this camp, Putin represents a modern-day Adolf Hitler, and striking any kind of deal with him would repeat the mistake of Munich. Thus, NATO must admit Georgia and Ukraine to contain Russia before it dominates its neighbors and threatens western Europe.
> 
> “This argument falls apart on close inspection. If Putin were committed to creating a greater Russia, signs of his intentions would almost certainly have arisen before February 22. But there is virtually no evidence that he was bent on taking Crimea, much less any other territory in Ukraine, before that date. Even Western leaders who supported NATO expansion were not doing so out of a fear that Russia was about to use military force. Putin’s actions in Crimea took them by complete surprise and appear to have been a spontaneous reaction to Yanukovych’s ouster. Right afterward, even Putin said he opposed Crimean secession, before quickly changing his mind.”






> “There is a solution to the crisis in Ukraine, however — although it would require the West to think about the country in a fundamentally new way. The United States and its allies should abandon their plan to westernize Ukraine and instead aim to make it a neutral buffer between NATO and Russia, akin to Austria’s position during the Cold War. Western leaders should acknowledge that Ukraine matters so much to Putin that they cannot support an anti-Russian regime there. This would not mean that a future Ukrainian government would have to be pro-Russian or anti-NATO. On the contrary, the goal should be a sovereign Ukraine that falls in neither the Russian nor the Western camp.
> 
> “To achieve this end, the United States and its allies should publicly rule out NATO’s expansion into both Georgia and Ukraine. The West should also help fashion an economic rescue plan for Ukraine funded jointly by the EU, the International Monetary Fund, Russia, and the United States — a proposal that Moscow should welcome, given its interest in having a prosperous and stable Ukraine on its western flank. And the West should considerably limit its social-engineering efforts inside Ukraine. It is time to put an end to Western support for another Orange Revolution. Nevertheless, U.S. and European leaders should encourage Ukraine to respect minority rights, especially the language rights of its Russian speakers.”
> 
> “_The United States will also someday need Russia’s help containing a rising China. Current U.S. policy, however, is only driving Moscow and Beijing closer together. 
> _
> “The United States and its European allies now face a choice on Ukraine. They can continue their current policy, which will exacerbate hostilities with Russia and devastate Ukraine in the process — a scenario in which everyone would come out a loser. Or they can switch gears and work to create a prosperous but neutral Ukraine, one that does not threaten Russia and allows the West to repair its relations with Moscow. With that approach, all sides would win.”


Continued - Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault The Liberal Delusions That Provoked Putin

----------


## Natural Citizen

The Ukraine remains under constant bombardment and real people are still dying. For nothing. Maybe they happened to be standing in the wrong place in their front yard. Perhaps they chose to go for a walk in the park on the wrong day. But with that said, humanitarian help is beginning to be distributed. I think that more will be on the way for these people.

*Russian humanitarian aid distribution begins in E. Ukraine*...




> With heavy fighting underway in south-eastern Ukraine, the distribution of humanitarian aid from Russia has started in the city of Lugansk, which is besieged by the Kiev forces.
> 
>   The first 12 points distributing food have already begun working.  The minimum offering includes rice, buckwheat and sugar, three  canned meats, a packet of tea and 10 liters of water, Novorossiya  news agency reports.  
> 
>   Kindergartens, schools and other social facilities were the first  to receive the aid.  
> 
>   The city said it was planning to open another 37 aid distribution  points in the coming days.  
> 
>   The Russian aid convoy of 227 trucks arrived in the city on  Friday, bringing almost 2,000 tons of relief supplies.
> ...


Continued - Russian humanitarian aid distribution begins in E. Ukraine

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Ukraine's Right Sector 'seizes' Crimea reporter, AFP freelancer*...





> Two Crimean journalists, including a photographer who works with AFP and RIA news agencies, say they have been detained by enforcers from Ukraine’s Right Sector movement, while covering the conflict in the east of the country.
> 
>   Reporter Evgeniya Korolyova and photographer Maksim Vasylenko  were returning on a bus from the warzone near Donetsk, which is  besieged by government forces, when a Right Sector patrol made  them disembark, before taking them prisoner.
> 
> The information was reported by the Crimean Telegraph newspaper,  where both journalists are on the payroll, which says that it  received a phone call from the detainees on Sunday night.
> “_Evgeniya was allowed one phone call, but it seemed that  there were people watching her every word as she spoke, so she  couldn’t say exactly where she was arrested. Asked if her life  was in danger, she denied it, but specified that she was detained  as a journalist, not an ordinary citizen,_” wrote the Crimean  Telegraph.
> 
>   The newspaper said that the pair were not on an editorial  assignment, while Russia's Rossiya Segodnya news agency (formerly  RIA Novosti) and AFP’s bureau in Moscow confirmed that Vasylenko  had been working for them as a freelance photographer.
>   Margarita Simonyan, RT’s editor-in-chief and the head of Rossiya  Segodnya international news agency, has called for the immediate  release of journalists held by Kiev.
> ...



Continued - Ukraine's Right Sector 'seizes' Crimea reporter, AFP freelancer



Relevant reading...




> *Journalists killed and abducted in Eastern Ukraine*...
> 
> 
> 
> As human rights organizations call for an end to repression against the press in Eastern Ukraine, RT recalls the journalists who were abducted, tortured or paid the ultimate price and lost their lives while reporting from the heart of the civil war.
> 
>   Eastern Ukraine has been dubbed a “_trap for journalists”_by Human Rights Watch’s representative in Russia as the deepening  crisis has already taken the lives of six journalists since the  beginning of the year.
> 
>   Many more journalists have been abducted, interrogated and even  tortured while caught in the crossfire in the fighting between  the Ukraine Army and the militia forces of southeastern Ukraine.
> ...


Continued - In the line of fire: Journalists killed and abducted in Eastern Ukraine




Update on the more recent missing journalist on the list...

Mother of Russian journalist missing in Ukraine addresses Red Cross for help




> The mother of Russian photojournalist, Andrey Stenin, missing in war-torn eastern Ukraine, has addressed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help find her son.
> 
>   Vera Stenina told RT that she addressed the ICRC “because they  are looking for missing relatives. And I had hopes that I will be  helped there.”  
> 
> _“They said that they’ll try to look for him,”_ the woman  told RT, adding that the Red Cross showed  _“understanding”_ of her problem.  
> 
>   An experienced war photographer, Stenin, who works for the  Rossiya Segodnya news agency (formerly RIA Novosti), disappeared  on August 5 as he was covering the Ukrainian army’s campaign  against the anti-Kiev rebels in the country’s southeastern  Donetsk and Lugansk regions.  
> 
>   Despite over two weeks having passed since his disappearance, the  journalist’s whereabouts still remain unknown.  
> ...




Relevant reading - Kiev silent on whereabouts of missing Russian journalist 2 weeks after abduction




> With over two weeks since his disappearance in eastern Ukraine, the whereabouts of Russian photojournalist Andrey Stenin remain unknown. His colleagues suggest that he may soon be freed as part of a large exchange of captives.
> 
>   Stenin’s employers at Rossiya Segodnya news agency (formerly RIA  Novosti), said that they have so far failed to get any  information on their journalist from the Kiev authorities.  
> _
> “Our attempts to receive any explanation and accurate information  about his fate have been in vain,”_ Aleksandr Shtoll, who  heads the photo department at Rossiya Segodnya, said at a press  conference in Moscow.  
> 
> _“We’d like to learn of his whereabouts as soon as possible.  We’re doing everything possible to achieve this,”_ he added.  
> 
>   The Russian government is also _“doing everything  possible”_ to locate the journalist, Shtoll said, saying that  the country’s ambassador to Kiev has already filed two enquiries  to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, but so far has received no  reply.  
> ...

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

Victoria Nuland, John Kerry, and the rest of the Neozionists have more blood on their hands... 



> *Ukrainian troops in 'full, chaotic retreat' as Putin opens 'third Stealth Front ...*
> 
> *Washington Times ‎- by Douglas Ernst*  ‎- 49 minutes ago 
> 
> _Ukrainian soldiers_ ride atop an APC near the village of Sakhanka, eastern _Ukraine_, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2014. Separatist rebels shelled a ..


.



here's the latest BBC statistics:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28961498
*
War in eastern Ukraine: The human cost 

*

 At least 2,119 people had been killed and 5,043 wounded since mid-April, a UN report on 7 August said 951 civilians have been killed in Donetsk region alone, the official regional authorities said on 20 August Official casualty counts only record certified deaths while in  some particularly dangerous parts of the war zone, such as Luhansk  region, victims are said to have been buried informally, for instance in  gardens Rebels (and some military sources) accuse the government of concealing the true numbers of soldiers killed 155,800 people have fled elsewhere in Ukraine while at least 188,000 have gone to Russia 


Look at Liberal-Progressive Washington Post  

 

*U.S. should send troops to quell Ukraine crisis - The Washington Post*

----------


## klamath

Looks like putin got what he wanted. I used to think he didn't have a part in the revolution in Ukraine but now I think his  fingers were all over it far more than the west. He has done nothing but deception from the start but how could he help it he was the CIAs counterpart in the soviet empire. Yep he is a world class imperialist like the rest.

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

> globaleconomicanalysi
> 
> 		 Ukraine is bankrupt. It accepted an $18 Billion IMF Bailout in March, allegedly with strict conditions. 
> 
> Do those conditions allow war funding?   I have to ask because Ukraine’s President Warns of ‘Constant Military Threat’ along with more military spending and a military parade. 
> 
> Ukraine’s pro-western president announced $3bn in  additional defence spending on Sunday as he warned the war-torn country  faced a “constant military threat” for the foreseeable future.
>  Petro Poroshenko flexed his might by holding a military parade during  commemorations of the former Soviet republic’s 23rd year of  independence. Things are going so well for Ukraine’s military that it needs to come up with $3 billion when it is flat broke.
> 
> ...

----------


## bolil

Right now drudge is rereporting that Russian troops are getting involved.

----------


## pcosmar

> Right now drudge is rereporting that Russian troops are getting involved.


US Media has been saying that for months.. They claimed there were tanks with the Aid convoy. (no evidence of such).

If Russia were to commit to a military invasion,, it would be over in days if not hours.
Ukraine,, despite the Nazis Bull$#@! smack talk,, could not even put up more than minimal resistance.

They are attempting to provoke Russia into doing such.. Russia has refused to do so.
Contrary to what US media reports.

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

> Right now drudge is rereporting that Russian troops are getting involved.


So what info I'm getting from eastern Ukrainians, it's Russian military members who are on leave/vacation helping their brethren against the ZioNazis recruited to fight in eastern Ukraine. Quite the clever way to assist without declarations. As usual, it's all proxy fighting, you still never hear about all the CIA, and NATO/US mercenaries fighting for the Kiev junta.

This is the nonsense of some media: 


> *Kiev, Ukraine (CNN)* -- A top Ukrainian army officer said a *"full-scale invasion"* of his country was under way

----------


## Natural Citizen

*UN: Ukraine conflict death toll hits 2,600, civilians trapped inside conflict zones*...



> A woman and the body of a person killed in an artillery attack on Lugansk. (RIA Novosti / Valeriy Melnikov)
> 
> At least 2,593 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since the start of the Kievs military operation against anti-government forces there started in mid-April, according to a new estimate by the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights.
>   The death toll includes civilians, members of the Ukrainian  troops and also fighters in the anti-government forces.
> 
> _"The trend is clear and alarming. There is a significant  increase in the death toll in the east,"_ Ivan Simonovic,  U.N. Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, told  journalists.  
> 
> _"The current number of killed is 2,593 - close to 3,000 if we  include the 298 victims of the MH17 (Malaysian airliner) plane  crash,"_ he said.
> 
> ...


Continued - UN: Ukraine conflict death toll hits 2,600, civilians trapped inside conflict zones

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Ukraine to pursue NATO membership*...




> Meanwhile Russian president Vladimir Putin said Kyivs operation in the eastern Ukraine region of Donbass is reminiscent of the Nazi siege of Leningrad.
> Unfortunately it reminds me of the events of World War II when German fascist occupiers surrounded our cities, for example Leningrad, and they executed the population of the villages, said Putin.


Continued - Ukraine to pursue NATO membership

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

> *Ukraine to pursue NATO membership*...
> 
> Continued - Ukraine to pursue NATO membership


  Putin stands between the US/EU's banskters obsession with taking over the  sovereignty of every country it can find to bring about a New World  Order - Yes, again, it's the Marxist ideologues pushing hard in the US as well as the world. Kinda ironic when you think about it, it's been the game plan from the beginning... the NWO has to be pushed before their "counterfeited paper enslavement debt notes/system" collapses. 

Ukraine could just hold a peaceful internationally supervised referendum on secession by Crimea and any other Oblasts (state) of the Ukraine.  But you know why this won't happen, the international hypocrites in Washington DC and London/Brussels are against any independence in Ukraine, because it's not part of their objectives set by the Marxists and Zionists of the NWO. 

Just imagine, holding honest elections for the people of their respective states to decide... the Ukrainian Junta doesn't want a referendum for the people to choose, but if there were any power for the people,  if the majority want to go with independence or even as far as pro Russian trade/alliance, then let  them do so, if the vote goes the other way, then the ones who wanted a Russian alliance, are free to leave or stay or go to wherever. But people don't have choice, it's all an illusion, it's all western controlled subversion and radicalization in with their puppet dictatorships, who then rule a corrupt criminal hand of force on the people. It's the Illusion of Choice...  

Here's an example, the US puppet and dictator,  the former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, well, how's he doing these days? Oh... that's right, he has fled Georgia, where did Saakashvili flee to? Boston, Massachusetts, good old USofA. Well, there's serious  charges of; racketeering, election fraud, and corruption against him.  SO where is the international outcry and media exposure or how about the International Criminal Court, or Interpol, filing arrest and warrants for Saakashvili and return him to Georgia to stand trial?  

Look below at this news capture below on Saaskashvilli... notice the Ukrainian flags? Goooood Puppet.

 

*Georgia Files More Criminal Charges Against Former President*

Well let's look at the hypocrisy again... Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange gets tagged in an international manhunt, ICC, Interpol alerts, media nonstop and even prison time in the UK just on the notion of apparently being accused by some wacko chick for not using a condom that she consented approval? Of course that claim came "AFTER" Wikileaks released private Manning's whistleblowing of US War Crimes in Iraq.    

Rule of Law?  Not for the criminals running governments.

The hypocrisy of the NWO masters is so easily exposed and Fascist corporate media is their propaganda PR firms, you see their work everyday now about Ukraine. The NWO prefers the theft, destruction, and death, for their conquests, which are at the expense of debt, insecurity, and costs to the taxpayers. There's no sovereignty or choice by citizens/people of their countries/states anymore... unless it the stamp of approval of the money masters' plan(s) say hello Serbia/Bosnia/Kosovo/Iraqi/et al.




> _"To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or  happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea"_ 
> *-- James  Madison 1788*

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

More...

 

*7,000  E.U. Kiev Soldiers Surrounded By Eastern Ukrainians: But But But ~  Rothschild Federal Reserve Already Received All Of Ukraine’s Gold!*

----------


## Demigod

I hate conspiracy theories but this is just ridiculous 


> Poroshenko, the countrys 18th richest man, whose wealth Forbes estimates at $1.3 billion, this month has picked an agent to sell off his significant business assets. His interests will be represented by Rothschild & Cie Investment Company,

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Amnesty Intl: Both sides of Ukrainian conflict committed war crimes*...




> AFP Photo / Dimitar Dilkoff 
> 
> Amnesty International has in its most recent report said both the Kiev troops and the anti-government forces could be responsible for war crimes in their disregard for civilian lives.
> 
> _All sides in this conflict have shown disregard for civilian  lives and are blatantly violating their international  obligations_, said Salil Shetty, Amnesty Internationals  Secretary General.  
> 
>   The conclusion was drawn on the basis of multiple interviews  conducted on the ground in eastern Ukraine by Amnesty  International researchers. They spoke to both people fleeing the  conflict zones and to refugees, who have already found shelter in  Russias Rostov region.
> 
> _Civilians from these areas told Amnesty International that  the Ukrainian government forces subjected their neighborhoods to  heavy shelling. Their testimonies suggest that the attacks were  indiscriminate and may amount to war crimes_, the watchdogs  statement reads.  
> ...


Continued - Amnesty Intl: Both sides of Ukrainian conflict committed war crimes


Aside - READ MORE: Minsk ceasefire protocol: Ukraine to be decentralized, special status for Lugansk, Donetsk

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Kiev and Ukraine militias exchange prisoners - report*...




> Captured Ukrainian soldiers taken out of the encirclement in Ilovaisk, near Donetsk.(RIA Novosti / Gennady Dubovoy)
> 
> 
> Defense forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic have exchanged a batch of prisoners with the Ukrainian army in a move that was stipulated as one of the key issues of the Minsk ceasefire agreement reached between the two sides last week.
> 
> _The exchange has  taken place,_ a representative of the DPRs defense ministry  told Interfax. _We handed 36 prisoners over to the Kiev side  in exchange for 31 our supporters. Five more Kiev promises to  hand over tomorrow.
> _
> Earlier on Thursday, the deputy PM of the DPR, Andrey Purgin,  told RIA that it was the Kiev side that has been stalling the  planned exchange, while Col. Andrey Lysenko, the spokesman for  Ukraine's National Security Council, blamed the rebels _lack  of consistency_ for disrupting the swap.
> 
> ...



Continued - Kiev and Ukraine militias exchange prisoners - report


Aside - Ukraine peace  plan: Withdraw military hardware, exchange POWs, open  corridors

----------


## Natural Citizen

All trucks of Russia’s second Ukraine aid convoy cross border as citizens remain under constant shelling from Kiev forces.




> A Russian convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Ukraine is parked at a camp near Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov Region, September 12, 2014 (Reuters / Alexey Koverznev)
> 
> All 200 trucks of Russia’s 2nd convoy carrying long-awaited humanitarian aid for devastated areas of eastern Ukraine have crossed the border after weeks of delays that occurred despite an agreement on relief corridors in the Minsk ceasefire deal.
> 
> The trucks started  passing through Russia’s ‘Donetsk’ checkpoint into the buffer  zone shortly before midnight on Friday. Trucks had to wait for  several hours to get clearance for further movement from Russian  customs officers supervised by their Ukrainian colleagues.
> 
> The 200 white Kamaz  trucks were waiting for their turn to undergo customs  proceedings, as the first group moved into Ukrainian territory  early on Saturday morning.
> 
>   Along the route of the convoy, the members of the self-proclaimed  republic’s defense forces are ensuring its safety, Itar-Tass  reports. Besides that,  the convoy that moves toward Lugansk at around 60 kilometers per  hour is escorted by road police vehicles.
> ...


Continued - All trucks of Russia’s second Ukraine aid convoy cross border


Aside - Russia to appeal against US, EU sanctions to WTO





> Russia considers the latest round of Western sanctions illegal and is ready to appeal against them to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Russian Economy Minister Aleksey Ulyukaev told reporters on Friday.
> 
> _“The latest round of  sanctions provides grounds to appeal to the WTO. And we will  appeal,”_ Ulyukaev said.
> 
>   Russia’s response to the new EU and US sanctions, besides  restricting the import of used cars, may also affect  petrochemicals and machinery products, the minister stressed.  Ulyukaev added that when Russia introduced the first package of  protective measures in the area of food security, it announced  the possibility of restrictions in other areas.
> 
> _“This applies primarily to industrial products, automobiles  and other equipment such as compressors and refrigerators. In  this case, a large number of machinery and petrochemical products  could also be included in the mechanism of protective  measures,”_ Ulyukaev said.
> 
>   However, the minister stressed that the Russian authorities so  far haven’t made the decision to implement the above mentioned  restrictions on Western producers.
> ...

----------


## Natural Citizen

*NATO members start supplying weapons to Kiev  Ukrainian Defense Minister*...




> NATO member states have started supplying weapons to Ukraine, the countrys Defense Minister said on TV. His comments came a few days after a similar statement by a Ukrainian presidential aide sparked a diplomatic scandal and a rash of denials.
> 
>   In an interview with Channel 5, Ukrainian Defense Minister Valery  Geletey said that he had held verbal consultations with the  defense ministers of the _leading countries of the world,  those that can help us, and they heard us. We have the supply of  arms under way.
> _
> _This process has begun, and I feel that this is exactly the  way we need to go,_ the minister said.
> 
>   Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who attended the Sept. 4-5  NATO summit in Wales, announced that he had negotiated direct  modern weapons supplies with a number of NATO member states.
> 
> Poroshenko claimed that some of the NATO member states said  during bilateral consultations they are ready to supply Ukraine  with lethal and non-lethal arms, including _high precision  weapons,_ as well as with medical equipment.
> ...


Continued - NATO members start supplying weapons to Kiev  Ukrainian Defense Minister


Aside - NATO to give Ukraine 15mn euros, lethal and non-lethal military supplies from members

Relevant reading - Hagel not aware of secret deal to supply Kiev with lethal weapons

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

Excellent information on the struggles of eastern Ukraine Oblasts against the western backed Fascists/Nazis. The people and leaders of the eastern states recognize the pillaging and theft by western powers around the world by overthrowing nations and they don't want any part of it.  All pages are translated to English: http://slavyangrad.org/


*A “Voentorg” in the Donbass Cauldrons*

*We Will Not Allow for Russia to be Ripped Asunder and Ruined*



> *Address by Igor Ivanovich Strelkov, September 11, 2014
> *...But what happened next? Right before our eyes the forces that once  almost destroyed the Russian Spring intervened, and thereafter never  ceased their attempts to eliminate the People’s Liberation Movement of  the Russian people of Novorossiya. There is no villainy, which is beyond  these forces that have repeatedly manifested themselves in the modern  history of our Fatherland in the most sinister of forms. It was these  forces, directed from abroad, that played a decisive role in the  destruction of the USSR in 1991, and thereafter throughout the 90’s  openly abused the peoples of Russia; organizing an orgy of looting of  the enormous Soviet economic and cultural heritage. They staged liberal  experiments – monstrous in their consequences – on the remnants of our  Motherland; not caring in the slightest about the consequences for the  country, which they referred to (and to this day continue to mock) with  contemptuous epithets.


*Does the Kiev Government have a plan?*

*The New Round of Sanctions – The Pre-War Period*

*Surrendered Ukrainian soldier: “Lyuba, don’t worry, I’m in captivity”*



*DOCUMENTARY:  A Slavyansk Farewell – Film by Alexander Kots & Dmitry Steshin*

----------


## Natural Citizen

Looks like coup installed neo-nazis just officially took over by way of lustration...

What is interesting here is that these protestors are actually made of up the Kiev far right neo-nazis. As well, the police who are called in to "manage" them are also a product of the same far right coup installed group. This bill wasn't going to pass until all of this theater started. 

Tires on fire: Right Sector rallying in Kiev as govt votes for political purging (VIDEO)


Aside - Protesters dump Ukrainian deputy in rubbish bin (PHOTO, VIDEO)

What is funny here is that they guy that they grabbed and stuffed in the trash is actually the one behind the bill and they just didn't know it. A very dangerous group, this one.

----------


## charrob

> *NATO members start supplying weapons to Kiev  Ukrainian Defense Minister*...
> 
> 
> 
> Continued - NATO members start supplying weapons to Kiev  Ukrainian Defense Minister
> 
> 
> Aside - NATO to give Ukraine 15mn euros, lethal and non-lethal military supplies from members
> 
> Relevant reading - Hagel not aware of secret deal to supply Kiev with lethal weapons


Makes me sick to my stomach.  -never EVER trust the U.S. Govt.  They are nothing more than snake oil salesman.  Their word is not honorable.  Like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, the U.S. Government can be counted on to lie and deceive.  

U.S. military members told to deliver weapons to the Kiev government should disobey orders:  that would be the honorable thing to do.  3,000 innocent Ukrainians already dead.  How many thousands more will die at the hands of U.S. made weapons?  The deception being done to Putin is unprecedented:  they are doing everything they can to start ww3.  Heres just a few of the outrageous, dishonorable lies and deceptions done to the Russians:


1)  James Bakers promise to Gorbachev that if Gorbachev removes Soviet troops from eastern Europe, that NATO will not build bases east of Germany.  Gorbachev does as was promised.  The U.S. slimy serpent deceives and opens NATO bases right up to Russias border.
2)  Kerry says last September if Syria would get rid of all its chemical stockpiles, there would be no reason for the U.S. to attack.  Putin drove that home, broadcasted it, and coordinated the removal of all Syrias chemical stockpile.  Putin lives up to promise.  The U.S. slimy serpent deceives and will now attack anywaydespite the entire chemical stockpile gone.
3)  February:  power sharing agreement signed between Yanukovich and Nazis.  U.S. slimy serpent in the background at the same time coordinating the coup of Yanukovich despite power sharing agreement.  
4)  And now this...


-------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Under Cover of Ceasefire, NATO-Armed Kiev Poised to Attack:

Just over ten days ago, as the pro-independence forces in east Ukraine were on the march with significant gains on the battlefield, a ceasefire was signed in Minsk, Belarus. According to the terms of the ceasefire, the pro-independence fighters were to lay down their arms, cease their offensive to regain lost territory in the Donetsk and Lugansk region, and disband. 

In exchange for this, the US-backed government in Kiev was to agree to an amnesty for pro-independence fighters, commit to economic development in the east, and agree to enshrine decentralization in law to provide autonomy to the east.

Most importantly, the ceasefire was to stop the Kiev government's shelling of major population centers in the east and stop the slaughter of military forces on both sides.

*It turns out to be a grotesque sleight of hand, with Kiev receiving guarantees at the September 5, NATO summit in Wales that NATO members would provide the military equipment to finish the pro-independence forces in the east after the ceasefire gave time to re-group a badly beaten, largely conscript Ukrainian army.
*
This grand deception came to light yesterday, as Valery Heletey, defense minister of the US-backed regime in Kiev, bragged that, as Reuters put it:  NATO countries were delivering weapons to his country to equip it to fight pro-Russian separatists and "stop" Russian President Vladimir Putin.

*We are already seeing the result of this bait and switch, as yesterday saw a dramatic resumption of the US-backed government's shelling civilian Donetsk,* which is under control of the pro-independence movement.

*The ceasefire provided pro-US Kiev forces time to regroup and absorb NATO weapons under the guise of stopping the violence, with the intent of slaughtering rather than negotiating with the pro-independence forces.* This is no great surprise, as the February coup itself proceeded with US cooperation just as a compromise power-sharing agreement between the elected president, Yanukovich, and the Maidan rebels was signed.

It remains a great mystery why the pro-independence forces would strike a deal with a Kiev regime which came to power as a result of a US and EU sponsored coup in February, and whose veracity and track record of fair play is rather wanting. 

A greater mystery perhaps, is why a Russia that was accused of "invading" Ukraine as the NATO summit kicked off, would agree to the decapitation of a Moscow-friendly independence movement next-door as it consolidated its gains. 

*Whatever the case, the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine is about to resume.* The pro-US regime in Kiev, *by deception*, is about to claim bloody victory from the jaws of defeat. 


http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives...to-attack.aspx

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

*Facebook page on covering Ukraine

Border Fences for the Ukraine with US taxpayer monies...* 



*
Ukraine: What is Really Happening's Photos - Ukraine: What is Really Happening | Facebook*

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Obama declines to give Ukraine 'lethal aid' despite Poroshenko's plea*...





> Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko (C) gestures while addressing a joint meeting of Congress in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, September 18, 2014. (Reuters / Kevin Lamarque)
> 
> President Barack Obama has declined to supply Ukraine with “lethal aide” despite the passionate plea for more military equipment that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko made to Congress earlier on Thursday.
> 
>   During a White House meeting between the two leaders that  occurred after Poroshenko’s address to Congress, President Obama  said the United States would keep working to mobilize the  international community in order for the conflict in Ukraine to  be solved diplomatically, Reuters reports.
> 
>   Following the meeting, Poroshenko said he was pleased with  Washington’s help, and expressed hope that the shaky ceasefire in  Ukraine would eventually lead to stability and peace.
> 
>   Earlier in the day, however, Poroshenko suggested that NATO give  _“special”_ security status to Ukraine. Addressing the US  Congress, he called on Washington to provide Kiev with _“more  military equipment, lethal and non-lethal”_ to _“keep  peace”_ in the eastern part of his country.
> ...


Continued - Obama declines to give Ukraine 'lethal aid' despite Poroshenko's plea


Aside -  'We will  react to NATO build-up!' Key Putin quotes from defense policy  address

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Huge blast devastates munitions factory in Ukraine’s rebel-held Donetsk (VIDEO)*...





> A powerful explosion occurred at a military plant in the rebel-held Ukrainian city of Donetsk after a shell hit it. A fire is now ravaging the damaged facility.
> 
>   The plant was used for producing explosives and ammunition as  well as for dismantling unexploded munitions collected on the  battlefields. On Saturday morning, residents of the war-torn city  heard a powerful blast, which was followed by a huge cloud of  white smoke rising into the sky.
> 
> A neighborhood official told Ukrainian 112 television that a  shell hit the plant.
> 
> _“There was a direct hit at the No 47 industrial explosives  shop, where some explosives were present. It detonated and caused  another explosion. Luckily it didn’t hit the main storage  facility where we have some 2.5 tons of explosives,”_ said  Ivan Prikhod’ko, deputy chair of the local community council.
> 
>   He added that while the incident caused considerable damage,  nobody was hurt. The plant itself was not working at the time, so  no one was there. Also, it was built far from any residential  areas specifically for safety purposes.
> ...


The blast happened just as a Russian humanitarian aid convoy was  unloading elsewhere in the city. Some 200 trucks carrying 2,000  tons of aid crossed the border earlier on Saturday.





Continued - Huge blast devastates munitions factory in Ukraine’s rebel-held Donetsk (VIDEO)

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Over 300 schools destroyed in E.Ukraine*...

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Russia calls for intl probe into Ukraine burials with signs of execution*...





> Screenshot from Channel One video
> 
> Russia is calling for an international investigation into the discovery of burial sites with signs of execution at locations where the Ukraine National Guard forces were stationed two days earlier.
> 
>   The head of Russia’s presidential human rights council, Mikhail  Fedotov, has called on the authorities to do everything to  _“ensure an independent international probe”_ and _“let  international human rights activists and journalists”_ gain  access to the site in Eastern Ukraine’s embattled Donetsk region.
> 
>   The crime, Fedotov noted, shouldn’t _“remain without  consequences.”_ He didn’t exclude the discovery of other  burial sites, reminding that mass killings are _“the reality  of the modern-day war”_ and that such crimes were committed  in the wars in the former Yugoslavia.
> 
>   The burial sites near the Kommunar mine, 60 kilometers from  Donetsk, were first discovered on Tuesday by self-defense forces.


Continued - Russia calls for intl probe into Ukraine burials with signs of execution

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Anti-govt forces circle 1000s of Kiev troops, capture 2 tank battalions in E.Ukraine*...





> After sustained defensive combat against Ukrainian troops in the self-proclaimed Peoples Republic of Donetsk during August, rebels are now reporting entrapping two large groups of Kiev troops and seizing military hardware in a counteroffensive.
> 
>   The main headquarters of the DPR army has made a decision to stop  operations in small groups and form full-bodied independent  military units, the anti-Kiev forces say in a summary of their  operations filed on Sunday.
> 
>   They also say they are blocking a large _punitive force_  near Alekseevskoe, Blagodatnoe, Voykovsky, Kuteinikovo,  Ulyanovskoe and Uspenka.
> 
> Some 5,000 Kiev troops _with military hardware_  including some 50 tanks, over 200 armored vehicles and 50  artillery rocket systems (including Grad) are trapped in the  area, the DPR claims.
> 
> _DNRs army has surrounded the staff headquarters of the 8th  army corps, 28th and 30th mechanized brigades, 95th air mobile  brigade of the army of Ukraine, and also punitive battalions  Aidar, Donbass and Shakhtersk_, the document claims.


Continued - Anti-govt forces circle 1000s of Kiev troops, capture 2 tank battalions in E.Ukraine

Kiev denies that they have been surrounded and lost tank battalions but given the technology age the pesky realism of photography and video tell a much different story.

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Total obliteration: OSCE releases footage of Lugansk airport in ruins...

*

----------


## Natural Citizen

*UN: 3,660 killed, 8,756 wounded in Ukraine conflict since April*...




> A man reacts near a house damaged by recent shelling by multiple Grad missiles in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, October 7, 2014. (Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov)
> 
> Kiev doesnt have full control of its military and paramilitary forces, who continue to violate the principles of international humanitarian law, highlights the latest UN report on the human rights situation in Ukraine.
> 
>   The UN has stated that at least 3,660 people have been killed in  eastern Ukraine since April  including 330 since the ceasefire  brokered on Sept. 5.
>   A total of 8,756 people have been wounded since April, the office  of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said.
> 
>   The UN statement notes in particular that, despite the ceasefire,  _in some areas artillery, tank and small arms exchanges have  continued on an almost daily basis, such as in Donetsk airport,  in the Debaltseve area in Donetsk region, and in the town of  Shchastya in Luhansk region.
> _
> ...


Continued - UN: 3,660 killed, 8,756 wounded in Ukraine conflict since April

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Ukrainian Defense Minister resigns, Poroshenko to announce another candidate*...




> Ukrainian Defense Minister Valery Geletey has officially stepped down with President Petro Poroshenko accepting his resignation. The Ukrainian leader is expected to announce a candidate for a new Defense Minister on Monday.
> 
> The Ukrainian president stressed that it was time to change the  military leadership.
> 
> Earlier in August, hundreds of protesters in Kiev, many of whom  were mothers and wives of the soldiers involved in the fighting  in Donetsk and Lugansk, demanded Geleteys resignation.
> 
> In early October, Russia's top Investigative Agency launched a  criminal case against Geletey over murder accusations, the use of  prohibited means and methods of warfare and genocide



Continued - Ukrainian Defense Minister resigns, Poroshenko to announce another candidate

----------


## charrob

*Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland  Washingtons Ukraine Hawk  Visit to Ukraine Carries the Foreboding of US-Backed War Escalation*

In an ominous sign that the war in Ukraine is set to further escalate, US state department official Victoria Nuland arrived in Kiev where she met with senior members of the Western-backed regime.

In recent days the ceasefire brokered on September 5 has come under intense pressure as Kiev military forces have stepped up their barrage of the eastern city of Donetsk, with several civilian casualties reported almost on a daily basis.

As civilian homes burn in Donetsk, the Kiev regime has also begun openly talking about resuming its war footing by raising combat readiness and mobilizing new army units toward the eastern Donbass regions, where it is trying to suppress a pro-independence movement in the self-declared Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

For the past month, the Kiev regime has been talking out of both sides of its mouth. At times it has been declaring commitment to a ceasefire brokered by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). At other times, hardliners in the regime have been warning that there was no such truce in practice, and that it was on the verge of an all-out war with Russia.

All the while, the putative ceasefire has been in tatters largely because Kievs forces have refused to withdraw from the conflict lines and continued to shell civilians centres.

Now the Kiev President Petro Poroshenko has flipped to a strident war rhetoric. In a televised appearance this week, the former industry tycoon had swapped his tie and suit for military uniform, and was warning that forces under his command were ready to use modern fighting techniques.

Poroshenko said that Ukraine has transferred its economy to a military footing and will provide everything possible for the Ukrainian army to be stronger. This while his bankrupt country owes Russia $5.3 billion in unpaid gas bills.

Last week his hardline Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk declared that Kievs military had been replenished with new equipment and winter gear.

The timing of this renewed militarism across the board in Kievs political leadership  together with increasing violations of the ceasefire in the east  seems more than coincidental with the arrival of eminence grise Victoria Nuland.

Nuland, who is Assistant Secretary of State to John Kerry, hasnt been in Kiev since March. For the past seven months, she has taken a noticeably low profile with regard to Ukraine. Her absence was no doubt aimed at deflecting from her earlier controversial involvement in overseeing the CIA-backed coup on February 22, when the elected government of then President Viktor Yanukovych was deposed by the fascist cabal headed up by Yatsenyuk.

Two weeks before that coup, Nuland had been caught in a private phone call with the US ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, plotting on the shape of the new regime, with Yatsenyuk nominated as the point man. Nuland was also caught disparaging the European Union with expletives, in a clear signal that Washington was taking the driving seat to install the new regime, headed up by their man Yats.

Yatsenyuks Fatherland Party and the neo-Nazi Svoboda party, with its Right Sector storm troopers, have dominated the regimes anti-Russia policies ever since. Following a secret visit to Kiev in April by CIA director John Brennan, the regime embarked on a massive military offensive to suppress dissident ethnic Russian populations in the east of the country who were refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the US-backed coup.

That offensive  dubbed an anti-terror operation  has been largely under-reported by Western news media, even though it has resulted in more than 3,600 deaths and up to one million refugees. Most of the casualties have been civilian, with a Russian Investigative Committee reporting last week that at least 2,500 people have been killed from indiscriminate shelling of civilian centers in Donetsk and Luhansk by Kiev forces. The latter comprise regular army units, as well as neo-Nazi paramilitaries belonging to the so-called National Guard and various private militia (death squads) run by pro-Kiev oligarch figures, such as Igor Kolomoisky.

Both Washington and Brussels have obfuscated this terror campaign by affecting to give it legality by referring to the Kiev regime as the government of Ukraine. Washington and Brussels have also amplified Kievs diversionary propaganda accusing Russia of covert aggression and destabilizing the Donbass regions. Moscow has consistently denied any involvement; and Western governments, the Kiev regime and NATO have not produced a shred of verifiable proof to support their tendentious claims against Russia.

Russias President Putin and the OSCE chairman, Didier Burkalter, who is also the Swiss president, this week reiterated that all sides in the Ukrainian conflict must abide by the terms of the ceasefire signed in Minsk on September 5.

But it seems that Kiev is now moving to dispel any pretense of recognizing that ceasefire.

Since the truce was called  and apparently signed up to by Kievs President Poroshenko  the pro-independence Russian-speaking militia in Donbass have claimed that Kievs forces were only using the lull in violence as an opportunity to regroup.

Speaking on September 8, Donetsk Peoples Republic deputy premier Andrei Purgin said: They are doing what was impossible without truce conditions. All the movements of convoys would have been impossible. During the truce, convoys of combat vehicles are reaching destinations and preparing for attacks.

Poroshenkos public role in all this seems to have been to give an outward impression of adhering to a cessation and paving the way for political dialogue with the dissident regions.

However, that impression has to be set against continual breaches of the ceasefire and mounting civilian casualties by his forces, relentless anti-Russian rhetoric from the hardliners like Yatsenyuk, and the supply of military aid to the Kiev regime from Washington  the last tranche worth $53 million was announced while Poroshenko was being feted in the White House three weeks ago.

This week on the day that Nuland landed in Kiev, the regime announced what many suspected all along  that it was merely using the month-old ceasefire as a tactical launchpad to redouble its military operations.

Andrey Lysenko, Kievs National Defense and Security Council spokesman, said on Monday: We have managed to upgrade the equipment currently in service, to get new armaments, and to reorganize and retool the defense industries that manufacture armaments and repair hardware. He added: We have also managed to regroup our forces, to carry out deep reconnaissance and to gather more information about the enemy. We have completed the third wave of mobilization. We have replaced the units that needed that, we gave them a chance to have some rest after heavy fighting and to get back to normal.

By normal, Lysenko means terrorizing civilians in eastern Ukraine.

This underscores what Poroshenko has in recent days said about the economy moving to a war footing.

The sinister sign is that the Kiev regime, including the Candy King Poroshenko, is now realigning to an all-out belligerent policy toward the people of eastern Ukraine, and by extension, toward Russia itself.

The long overdue visit to Kiev this week by Victoria Nuland  Washingtons Ukraine hawk  carries the foreboding imprimatur of US-backed war escalation.

http://www.popularresistance.org/nul...ls-up-for-war/

----------


## Natural Citizen

*2 teens killed, 4 injured in shelling nr Donetsk school, E. Ukraine*...




> RIA Novosti / Gennady Dubovoy
> 
> 
> Two schoolchildren were killed and four injured as an artillery shell hit a stadium in front of a school in the Eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, local self-defense forces said.
> 
> _"All the wounded were taken to the Donetsk regional trauma  unit,”_ Natalya Yemchenko, a militia official with the  Donetsk People’s Republic, was cited as saying by  Interfax-Ukraine news agency. _“They are now in intensive  care. One of them is in critical condition and three other are in  a state of moderate severity.”_
> _“There were children – a lot of them – at the stadium”_when the shell hit, Yemchenko wrote on her Facebook page.
> 
> _“When attempts were made to evacuate them from the pitch, the  massive shelling continued in the area. It was hard for the  medics to get to them,”_ she said.
> ...


Continued - 2 teens killed, 4 injured in shelling nr Donetsk school, E. Ukraine

Aside - Shard shower: Girl dodges death as glass rains down at E. Ukraine stadium (VIDEO)

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Kiev shells Donetsk amid tank battle in city suburb...
*



> The Ukrainian army attempted to take over Donetsk suburb with tanks a day after two children were killed in the shelling of a local school, rebels allege. This comes as Dutch inspectors, probing the Flight MH17 crash, arrived in the area.
> 
>   The self-defense forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR)  said that have repelled a tank attack on the outskirts of  Donetsk, with Kiev forces losing at least five armored vehicles  during the battle in the town of Yasinovataya.  
> 
> _“The tanks opened sporadic fire at our positions and  residential areas,”_ the staff of the DPR militias told  RIA-Novosti news agency.  
> 
> Meanwhile, Kiev has denied allegations that they had launched a  new offensive in the suburb of Donetsk.  
> 
> DPR’s Interior Ministry said that Kiev’s forces were continuing  the shelling of residential areas in Donetsk on Thursday.  
> ...


Continued - Kiev shells Donetsk amid tank battle in city suburb – E. Ukrainian militias


Aside - Ukraine: School-boys killed playing football by shelling brought to morgue *GRAPHIC*

Shells strike Donetsk civilian areas...





Meanwhile, Kiev has denied allegations that they had launched a  new offensive in the suburb of Donetsk....

----------


## charrob

*In Ukraine, a Tale of Two Elections*

The US government loves to promote democracy overseas, often at the barrel of a gun. Strangely enough, however, it often deplores actual elections being held in such places. Take Ukraine, for example. An election held last week by a group that forcibly seized power from a legitimately-elected government was hailed by the US administration as a great democratic achievement.

Said John Kerry about last weeks parliamentary election held by the post-coup government in Kiev: 

We applaud Ukraines commitment to an inclusive and transparent political process that strengthens national unity.  The people of Ukraine have spoken, and they have again chosen to chart the course of democracy, reform, and European integration.
In this US-approved vote, the parties disapproved by the US were harassed and even essentially banned. But thats OK.

However in eastern Ukraine, which refused to recognize Februarys US-backed coup in the western part of the country, parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for tomorrow [2014-11-02] are scorned and even deplored by the US administration. 

The White House condemned tomorrow's elections in eastern Ukraine in no uncertain terms: 

We deplore the intent of separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine to hold illegitimate so-called local 'elections' on Sunday, November 2. If held, these 'elections' would contravene Ukraines constitution and laws and the September 5 Minsk Protocol.
So much does the US administration hate the idea of unapproved people voting, that it even refused to call them elections, placing the very term in scare quotes. 

Shortly after the February coup in Kiev, referenda were held in Crimea and in parts of eastern Ukraine to determine whether to remain tied to Kiev or declare independence from the new regime. Those elections were also condemned by the US. 

We reject the referendum that took place today in the Crimean region of Ukraine.  This referendum is contrary to Ukraines constitution, said the White House immediately after the March vote in that region. The February coup was also contrary to Ukraines constitution but that did apparently not bother Washington.

Similarly, when referenda were held in eastern Ukraine this spring to determine that regions future course, the White House spokesman condemned them as illegal under Ukrainian law and a transparent attempt to create further division and disorder.

When the wrong people hold votes, it seems, division and disorder are the result.

Those who overthrow democracy by force are legitimized  you might even say laundered  by an election they had no legal right to hold in the first place, while those who stood by previously-elected leaders and scheduled elections as a way out of the crisis caused by US interference are condemned, ignored, and not even recognized by the US government.

*So here is the real message from the US government: elections overseas are only legitimate if we have pre-approved the parties allowed to stand and if we have pre-approved the outcome. The election must result in exactly the kind of pro-West government that we desire or we will begin destabilization and regime change, if completely ignoring the results does not do the trick.
*
Is that what John Kerry meant when he said, "you just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion? 

http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/arch...two-elections/

----------


## Natural Citizen

Seems like America forgot about this. Like it went away or something. Of course, it hasn't. Thanks for adding, charrob.

----------


## charrob

*Is Kiev Preparing Another Attack?*



November 3, 2014

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has steadily ramped up the rhetoric following last weekend's elections in breakaway eastern regions of the country. In just 15 minutes today, the US-backed leader racked up more than 30 Tweets mixing threats against the breakaway Donbas region of eastern Ukraine with promises of "free-trade zones" and "budgetary decentralization."

Some of Poroshenko's Tweets sound a bit like the seductive promises of the big bad wolf, particularly considering the recent findings by Human Rights Watch that the Kiev government used cluster bombs against the civilian population of the breakaway regions.

*The attempt to toss out a few carrots does not cover up the sticks, however. First, Poroshenko strongly insinuates that by voting in their own leaders, the citizens of eastern Ukraine have broken the Minsk ceasefire agreement. This could well be construed as Kiev giving itself a green light to resume bombarding the region with its military forces.*

*He tweets that he is meeting with his security council to re-analyze the situation and refers to the recently-elected leaders in the region as "militants," "occupants," "terrorists," and "bandits." All of these seem to set the stage for a renewed assault on the region.* 

*Two other factors that suggest perhaps imminent resumption of hostilities are the launching of yet another NATO military exercise on Russia's borders* and a renewed frenzy of unsubstantiated reports of Russian military movements (inside Russia, but still "threatening").

*Additionally, the US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoff Pyatt* (who was earlier this year on the other end of State Department's Victoria Nuland's "F*** the EU" telephone call), *pledged in a recent interview that the "United States will train Ukrainian servicemen and supply military high technology to Ukraine" to better operate in the Donbas  -- precisely the location of the breakaway areas.*

*After several months of US special forces presence in Ukraine, helping with training and tactics*, perhaps the Kiev government feels this it the time to attempt a final solution to the eastern problem.

http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/arch...nother-attack/

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*Pyatt: US to train Ukrainian military and supply high technology to Ukraine*

The United States will train Ukrainian servicemen and supply military high technology to Ukraine, which should help soldiers in Donbas protect themselves, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper.

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukra...ne-370087.html

In a move that will rankle Russian authorities, the U.S. government announced plans to give the Ukrainian military training, technology and weapons, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

The announcement was made by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper. The diplomat listed two challenges for Ukrainian security forces: eliminating corruption within its structure and developing a coherent response to Russian military activity. Russia annexed the territory of Crimea when political divisions in Ukraine grew into violent disorder earlier this year. 

Pyatt said the U.S. has provided night vision devices, first aid kits, body armor and ready-to-eat military meals to help improve the Ukrainian militarys ability to act in the short term. *The United States longer-term plans are aimed primarily at retraining and raising the professionalism of Ukrainian military to create what President Petro Poroshenko said he really wants - an army built in line with NATO standards, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

At a briefing in the capital city of Kiev a few days before the announcement, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, a deputy head of the Senate Committee on Armed Forces, said that President Obama is entitled to supply arms to Ukraine for self-defense with or without Senate approval. If no such decision is made by Obama, he added, the Senate will consider taking steps that would make the weapons available.

Inhofe said the weapons could be delivered in four days to two weeks. The Ukrainian defense minister gave him a list of weapons the military wanted, Inhofe said, but the senator would not say exactly what it contained.
*
http://www.truthdig.com/eartothegrou...apons_20141031

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## charrob

> Seems like America forgot about this. Like it went away or something. Of course, it hasn't. Thanks for adding, charrob.


Thanks N.C.  I put separation lines in the next article that are too long and look messy (sorry).  I'm trying to edit to shorten them but for some reason the editor isn't coming up (I'll try later -- may there's some sort of glitch going on right now).

I agree with you; it seems like this is forgotten.  But it's really frightening; the U.S. government seems to be pushing Putin to the edge.  And I can't help but ask 'why'?  Why are they provoking him like this constantly?  At some point he's going to say 'enough'.  And if Russia and China join to together, this is not going to end well for the U.S.

----------


## Natural Citizen

> Thanks N.C.  I put separation lines in the next article that are too long and look messy (sorry).  I'm trying to edit to shorten them but for some reason the editor isn't coming up (I'll try later -- may there's some sort of glitch going on right now).
> 
> I agree with you; it seems like this is forgotten.  But it's really frightening; the U.S. government seems to be pushing Putin to the edge.  And I can't help but ask 'why'?  Why are they provoking him like this constantly?  At some point he's going to say 'enough'.  And if Russia and China join to together, this is not going to end well for the U.S.


It's not just Russia and China, though. Economically, the U.S. is isolating itself from essentially the entire globe. I think they understand the mistakes that they made here with regard to the Ukraine. The fact is that the folks who decided on sanctions and this coup there in the Ukraine simply didn't possess a firm grasp on the history of these countries and their existence with one another. That's a big deal. It's a dangerous thing to have the wrong people making foreign policy when they lack an understanding of the rest of the world. Particularly their history. Putin and the BRICS are going to economically hammer western nations, for sure. I do worry about war, though,. We just traded one group of war mongerers for another during this recent mid-term. TPP is still floating around at the whim of the same brand of economic hitmen that started this thing in the Ukraine as well...

----------


## charrob

> It's not just Russia and China, though. Economically, the U.S. is isolating itself from essentially the entire globe. I think they understand the mistakes that they made here with regard to the Ukraine. The fact is that the folks who decided on sanctions and this coup there in the Ukraine simply didn't possess a firm grasp on the history of these countries and their existence with one another. That's a big deal. It's a dangerous thing to have the wrong people making foreign policy when they lack an understanding of the rest of the world. Particularly their history. Putin and the BRICS are going to economically hammer western nations, for sure. I do worry about war, though,. We just traded one group of war mongerers for another during this recent mid-term.  TPP is still floating around at the whim of the same brand of economic hitmen that started this thing in the Ukraine as well...


That's interesting; you're take is a little more positive than mine.  I don't know if they do understand what a mistake they have done because they're continuing on the same path.  More training for Ukraine troops by U.S. Special Forces / U.S. military and, additionally, now U.S. weapons being discussed.  And all this on Russia's border.  This is just crazy.

----------


## charrob

A little more about the recent election in the East:

*Large crowds turn out for controversial vote, Ukrainian separatists say*



November 3, 2014

*Voters in rebel-held eastern Ukraine turned out at the polls Sunday to elect members of Parliament and prime ministers in the pro-Russian separatist provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in a vote criticized by the Ukrainian government in Kiev and Western governments.
*
Against a backdrop of violence and bloodshed, the vote played out despite a truce on paper between pro-Russian separatist groups and Ukrainian government forces.

*Moscow has said it will recognize the results, while the central Ukraine government in Kiev, the United States and European Union have condemned the elections, calling them "illegitimate" and a violation of the Minsk agreement.
*
The self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk announced that its current Prime Minister, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, had won the vote there.

After all the ballot papers were counted, Zakharchenko secured 765,350 votes, Roman Lyagin, the leader of the Central Election Commission in Donetsk, told a news conference Monday. He didn't say what percentage of the vote that was.

"Everything went better than expected," Lyagin had earlier told Novorossiya, the press center for the separatist Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

*In the self-declared Luhansk People's Republic, the head of the Central Election Commission said more then a half million people turned out to cast ballots at over 100 polling stations, including three inside Russia, according to preliminary numbers from the CEC's website. The vote count is now under way.

Earlier Sunday, Luhansk CEC head Sergei Kozyakov told Itar-Tass so many people turned out to vote they extended polling station hours at several locations until 10 p.m.
*
The Russian news agency also reported on a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, which said it considers the vote valid.

"The elections in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions were held in an organized way in general and with high voter turnout," the ministry said, according to Itar-Tass. "We respect the will expression of the citizens of the southeast."

Authorities in Kiev are basically ignoring the election. In a statement Sunday, the Security Service of Ukraine said "it is a false election ... and a farce organized by criminals to collect data about people."

Before the vote, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called the ballot "pseudo elections ... by terrorists and bandits."

*Ukrainian authorities also said Sunday they are launching a criminal investigation into the separatist elections*, calling it "a power grab," Agence France-Presse reported, citing the Security Service of Ukraine.


*Vegetables in exchange for votes*

Some residents of the devastated region have said they were determined to participate in the vote, whether it's recognized by Kiev or not.

And many were rewarded with offers of free or cheap fruits and vegetables. Pictures at polling stations show large piles of vegetables outside stations in some areas in a bid to lure voters to polls.

Produce aside, people said they hoped the election would help end the violence.

"Day and night we hear shots. Yes, they bomb us. Yes, we have bomb shelters and basements. But we don't want to go back there. That's why we are preparing for the elections and hope for something better," said Tatyana, a schoolteacher.

"Mostly people are afraid. The constant shooting scares people. But of course we should go and vote to reach something good in life," said Valentina.

But there is no way to even verify the credibility of the balloting in the rebel-held areas. The voting has actually been under way for a week, by email and at mobile voting stations. And no official observers have been used to monitor the voting.

Last weekend, the bulk of Ukraine under government control held its own parliamentary elections, which kept pro-Western parties in power.  But citizens in Russian-annexed Crimea and the eastern areas controlled by separatists didn't participate in those elections because of the ongoing violence.


*U.S. and Russia at loggerheads

*As Ukraine wrestles with internal turmoil, torn between Russian influence and Western support,* the United States slammed the separatist vote*.

"US will not recognize any election in separatist areas that doesn't follow Ukrainian law (and) is not held with consent of Ukrainian government," Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, tweeted on Sunday.

"We deplore the intent of separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine to hold illegitimate so-called local 'elections' on Sunday, November 2," National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement Friday.

She warned Russia "against using any such illegitimate vote as a pretext to insert additional troops and military equipment into Ukraine."

Russia is rejecting calls to distance itself from the rebel vote.

"We will of course recognize their results. And we expect that this election will be free and that no one will try to disrupt it from the outside," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/02/world/...bel-elections/

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

Zionist scum will stop at nothing to gain complete control, no amount of death, destruction, or cost.

 

*Ron Paul Institute | Ukraine Collapse // Украина летит в пропасть

*


> Russia to recognize elections in Novorossiya Republics unlike the  US photo © РИА Новости. Эдуард Песов  Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia would recognize  the results of the forthcoming elections in the People’s Republics of  Luhansk and Donetsk  "The elections to be held on November 2 on the territories of the  proclaimed People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk will be crucial to  the legitimization of power. We believe this is one of the top  priorities of the Minsk accords," he said.   Sergey Lavrov expressed hope that the “voting would be free and no one  from the outside would attempt to disrupt it.” He also noted that Russia  is ready to accept the results of the parliamentary election in Ukraine  even though it is not being held throughout the country.   
> 
> The Foreign Minister stressed that neither the rebels nor the Ukrainian  troops “fail to finalize the line of separation.” The heavy weapons can  only be withdrawn after both sides agree on that.   Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama said that the US will not recognize  the Donbas election if it does not comply with Ukrainian legislation,  the White House website reports. 
> 
> Читать далее: http://en.ukraina.ru/news/20141028/1010998784.html

----------


## charrob

*Ukraine Launches Intense Shelling of Rebel Donetsk* 


November 9, 2014

Tensions are on the rise between Ukraine and the eastern rebels again, with the city of Donetsk, the de facto rebel capital, seeing the worst shelling its had in over a month* as Ukrainian military forces move into the area.*

Not that the Ukrainian military were the only ones fighting. The rebels were quick to start shelling the airport on the outskirts of town, which lies in ruins, but still in government hands.

Over a month into the ceasefire, what fighting theres been has been in Donetsk, though whether this latest escalation actually means a resumption of the war or not yet remains to be seen. *The Ukrainian military sent additional troops into the area after the easterners held a vote they objected to.
*
The White House blasted the rebel moves against the airport as a blatant violation of the Minsk agreements, but was mum on the government shelling of Donetsk itself.

http://news.antiwar.com/2014/11/09/u...rebel-donetsk/

----------


## Natural Citizen

This was mentioned previously here but coming under more scrutiny now.

*Ukraine, Syria civilians attacked with incendiary weapons – HRW*...





> Incendiary weapons were used in recent conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says, citing their own evidence. The organization also reported that residential areas in Ukraine suffered rocket attacks from Kiev’s army.
> 
>   The watchdog has analyzed evidence of attacks involving  “_exceptionally cruel_” incendiary weapons, including  white phosphorus. These allegedly occurred in 2014, during the  ongoing civil war in Syria and the military operation waged in  eastern Ukraine. In a damning report, the watchdog urged tougher  laws on the use of munitions.
> 
>   According to the report, victims of incendiary weapons, which  burn at exceptionally high temperatures, often suffer long-term  physical and psychological damage, as these kinds of weapons can  cause exceptionally painful thermal and respiratory burns.
> 
> _“Weapons that cause terrible burns and disfigure survivors  have been used against towns in both Syria and Ukraine,”_said Bonnie Docherty, lead author of the report, in a statement. _“The recent attacks with  incendiary weapons show it’s past time for nations to reassess  and strengthen international law on these cruel weapons.”
> _
> The HRW report recalls two _“especially troubling”_attacks in Ukraine – in Ilovaisk, a town 30km southeast of  Donetsk, and Luganskoe, a small village south of Donetsk – where  researchers have documented use of incendiary Grad rockets.
> ...


Continued - Ukraine, Syria civilians attacked with incendiary weapons – HRW


Aside - 112 trucks carrying German humanitarian aid enter Ukraine (VIDEO)

Previously - 3rd Russian humanitarian aid convoy arrives in Donetsk

----------


## Natural Citizen

This is a minimally lengthy read so will share a sizable snippet. *


Russia fears ethnic cleansing in Ukraine amid rise of neo-Nazism  Putin*...




> U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland (R) and U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt (2nd R) distribute bread to riot police near Independence square in Kiev December 11, 2013. (Reuters / Andrew Kravchenko)
> 
> As Kiev continues to amass its forces in eastern Ukraine despite the ceasefire and use radical nationalist groups as armed battalions, Moscow is concerned about possible ethnic cleansing there, Russian President Vladimir Putin told ARD in an interview.
> 
> Speaking with Hubert Seipel of the German channel ARD ahead of  the G20 summit, Putin warned of catastrophic consequences for  Ukraine if the Kiev government continues to nurture radical  nationalism and Russophobia, including in the ranks of its  military and National Guard units that are still being sent as  reinforcements to the countrys troubled east.  
> 
> _Frankly speaking, we are very concerned about any possible  ethnic cleansings and Ukraine ending up as a neo-Nazi state. What  are we supposed to think if people are bearing swastikas on their  sleeves? Or what about the SS emblems that we see on the helmets  of some military units now fighting in eastern Ukraine? If it is  a civilized state, where are the authorities looking? At least  they could get rid of this uniform, they could make the  nationalists remove these emblems,_ Putin said.
> 
> The Russian leader dismissed the idea that only Russia has the  key to solve the Ukraine crisis, saying that it sounds as if  someone is trying to pass responsibility for the conflict to  Moscow.  
> ...


Continued - Russia fears ethnic cleansing in Ukraine amid rise of neo-Nazism  Putin

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Over 4,000 dead, almost 10,000 injured in E. Ukraine fighting since April - UN*...





> At least 4,317 people have been killed and 9,921 wounded in the conflict in eastern Ukraine since April, according to the latest UN human rights report.
>   Of these, over 900 deaths have occurred since the ceasefire was  announced on September 5.
> 
>   The number of the internally displaced people also spiraled out  of control: from more than 275,489 in September to about 466,829  in November.
> 
> _Violations of international human rights law and  international humanitarian law persist,_ the report states. _The situation in the  conflict-affected area is becoming increasingly entrenched, with  the total breakdown of law and order and the emergence of  parallel governance systems in the territories under the control  of the [self-proclaimed] Donetsk peoples republic and the  [self-proclaimed] Luhansk peoples republic.
> _
> The report, the seventh produced by the 35-strong UN Human Rights  Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, covers the period between 17  September and 31 October 2014.
> 
>   DETAILS TO FOLLOW


Continued - Over 4,000 dead, almost 10,000 injured in E. Ukraine fighting since April - UN

----------


## Natural Citizen

*#Euromaidan 1st birthday: How the Kiev coup grew (Op-Edge)*...

Continued - #Euromaidan 1st birthday: How the Kiev coup grew (Op-Edge)




> State forces stood down and Yanukovich was forced to  flee. The hardcore nationalists had ignored the peace agreement  and the US capitalized by installing a puppet government, exactly  per Nuland’s intercepted phone call.
> 
>   There had been a coup in Kiev. Despite their agreement with  Yanukovich, the EU leaders, amazingly, also backed the militant  regime. Ukraine would never be the same again.


Continued - #Euromaidan 1st birthday: How the Kiev coup grew (Op-Edge)

----------


## Natural Citizen

*NATO top commander vague about 'Russian threat' while pledging more military aid to Kiev*...




> Polish servicemen take part in military exercises outside the town of Yavoriv near Lviv, September 19, 2014 (Reuters / Roman Baluk)
> 
> NATO  and its supreme allied commander in Europe, General  Breedlove  has previously made statements on Russia's military  presence in Ukraine, without providing any concrete proof of  such. The Russian Defense Ministry has called NATO's claims  "_groundless_," reminding of earlier accusations by the  alliance which were not backed up by any evidence.
> 
> Speaking about the possibility of sending lethal equipment into  Ukraine, the general said that "_nothing at this time is off  the table_," but the "_focus remains on pursuing a  diplomatic solution_."
> 
> Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has previously suggested  that NATO give "_special_" status to the country outside  the bloc, calling on Washington to provide Kiev with more  "_lethal and non-lethal_" military equipment. Ukraine's  appeal was turned down by US President Barack Obama, who promised  Poroshenko only non-lethal assistance  which, according to the  latter, is not enough.
> 
> While Ukraine is not a NATO member, the US Department of Defense  intends to increase its military presence for constant army  drills on the territory of the neighboring countries in Eastern  Europe, including Poland and the Baltic states. 
> ...



Continued - NATO top commander vague about 'Russian threat' while pledging more military aid to Kiev

----------


## AngryCanadian

Its ironic how the westren news media outlets have never shown  any of these videos show the war crimes which the westren pro EU government have caused and created agaisnt the eastern Ukrainians, well they spew anti russian hatred and propaganda to fuel there agenda.

----------


## Natural Citizen

> Its ironic how the westren news media outlets have never shown  any of these videos show the war crimes which the westren pro EU government have caused and created agaisnt the eastern Ukrainians, well they spew anti russian hatred and propaganda to fuel there agenda.


Heh...
*
Poroshenko aims to change laws to allow foreigners into Ukrainian govt*...




> Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gives a speech during a parliament session in Kiev on November 27, 2014. (AFP Photo / Sergei Supinsky)
> 
> Ukraines president has announced plans to change the nation's legislation to make it possible to appoint foreigners to top government positions. This has been dubbed unprecedented, and may indicate that the country is being governed from outside.
> 
> _My idea is to change the laws in order to give the right to  engage foreigners in state service, including government,_President Petro Poroshenko said in his address to Parliament on  Thursday. _Or to expand the list of people whom Ukraines  president may provide with Ukrainian citizenship in a speedy  procedure,_ he added.  
> 
> Poroshenko also suggested appointing a foreigner as the head of  the newly-created National Anti-corruption Bureau.
> 
> Earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenuk suggested the  creation of a new position  deputy prime minister of European  integration affairs. He proposed that a European leader be  appointed to the post.
> ...


Continued - Poroshenko aims to change laws to allow foreigners into Ukrainian govt

----------


## HOLLYWOOD

Boy does that sound familiar? Just like the Washington DC's ZOG with dual citizenship sleeper agents. 



> Heh...*  Poroshenko aims to change laws to allow foreigners into Ukrainian govt*...
> Continued - Poroshenko aims to change laws to allow foreigners into Ukrainian govt


So where's the US media coverage of  1,000+ killed and 5,000+ wounded in eastern Ukrainian Oblasts?  All you hear from the US/NATO corporate media is the Russian tanks that keep rolling into eastern Ukraine for the invasion that keep happening over and over...  Western Ministry's of Propaganda  keep on spewing lies across North America. Joseph Geobbels would be proud of American media/gov propaganda.

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2014...g-saddams-wmd/

 

 

*Russia Invades Ukraine. Again. And Again. And Yet Again … Using Saddam’s WMD!*

----------


## Natural Citizen

The BRICS summit thread has a lot of great information that is relevant to this, HOLLYWOOD. There is some serious skulldugerry happening with regard to a couple of major nations that will affect this whole thing.

This is a good thread... http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post5710196

A lot of what we see discussed or shared there directly relates to what we see happening in the Ukraine. I'm going to add to it maybe tonight or tomorrow once I get my thoughts together because now we have this... http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post5714391

----------


## libertarianinternational

> Was expecting as much after the Nazis took control.


As much as I despise the Ukrainian government and their policies, they are more neo-liberal internationalists than Nazis. The Nazis were removed from government after the elections in October. The current coalition consists of four mainstream conservative and centrist parties and one agrarian socialist party. In the whole 450 seat legislature, Svoboda have 6 seats and Right Sector have 1 seat. That's 1.6% of seats. By contrast, the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn has 5.3% of seats in the Greek legislature and Svoboda's former Hungarian ally, Jobbik, has 11.6% of seats in the Hungarian legislature. Both of these parties have pro-Russian orientations.

Neither side of this conflict are good. The real solution would be opening direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, which many in the Ukrainian government seem not to be interested in.

----------


## Natural Citizen

I'm just adding this as an update to the previous report...

Source note...



> *2. Using our material*
> 
> Information presented on this website is considered public information (unless otherwise noted in material) and may be distributed or copied for non-commercial (personal, educational, research etc.) purposes.
> 
> The use of any material from this website and quoting in mass media requires appropriate credit and link to the web page where the information was taken from.





> *Poroshenko aims to change laws to allow foreigners into Ukrainian govt*...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gives a speech during a parliament session in Kiev on November 27, 2014. (AFP Photo / Sergei Supinsky)
> ...



Update...

*American, Georgian & Lithuanian get key jobs in Ukraine’s new govt*...




> Ukrainian Prime Minsiter Arseny Yatsenyuk (third right) in the government box at a session of Verkhovna Rada in Kiev (RIA Novosti / Nikolay Lazarenko)
> 
> 
> The natives of the US, Georgia and Lithuania were hastily granted Ukrainian citizenship in order to become key ministers in the new government of Ukraine, which was approved by the country’s parliament on Tuesday.
> 
>   President Poroshenko has also announced he will sign a decree to  grant citizenship to foreigners fighting on Kiev’s side in the  east of the country.
> 
>   Natalie Jaresko of the US, who currently heads the Kiev-based  Horizon Capital investment fund, will take reigns at the  Ukrainian Finance Ministry.
> 
> ...


Continued - American, Georgian & Lithuanian get key jobs in Ukraine’s new govt

----------


## Natural Citizen

*HRW: Kiev fails to probe cluster bomb use against Donbass civilians, should invite ICC*...




> A local resident outside his house destroyed in the Ukrainian army's artillery attack in Donetsk's Oktyabrsky district. (RIA Novosti/Alexey Kudenko)
> 
> Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Kiev has failed to investigate its army’s use of prohibited cluster bombs against civilians in the country’s east. It also recommends Kiev invite the International Criminal Court to investigate.
> 
>   The human rights watchdog is dissatisfied with the investigation  conducted by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office into the  use of cluster bombs by the Ukrainian armed forces in the east of  the country, Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth  told a media briefing in Kiev on Wednesday.
> 
> _"Instead of analyzing physical evidence,_” Ukraine’s  Prosecutor General looked into the _"presence of weapons in  depots,”_ and said they were not taken anywhere, said Roth.
> 
>   He explained the watchdog had appealed to Ukraine’s Military  Prosecutor’s Office regarding the use of cluster bombs and Grad  multiple rocket launchers by Kiev’s military in residential  areas. In turn, the prosecutor appealed to the Ministry of  Defense. Therefore he said _“it’s no surprise”_ the  ministry did not find any violations by Kiev’s military. In  addition, the inspection did not check cluster bombs, but mines,  he added.


Continued - HRW: Kiev fails to probe cluster bomb use against Donbass civilians, should invite ICC

----------


## Natural Citizen

*International human rights bodies confirm Russias White Book reports on Ukrainian abuse*...




> A woman enters a destroyed building after it was damaged by recent shelling in the western part of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, November 27, 2014. (Reuters/Antonio Bronic)
> 
> International organizations have confirmed the reports contained in the Russian White Book listing the human rights violations by Kiev troops in Eastern Ukraine, says the Russian Foreign Ministrys top human rights official.
> 
> _For the first time Human Rights Watch clearly recognized  that the Ukrainian military are using multiple-launch missile  systems and banned weapons against civilians in Donbass. This  confirms the data contained in the White Book released by the  Russian Foreign Ministry_, Foreign Ministrys  plenipotentiary for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, Konstantin  Dolgov told a news conference in Moscow. _Rights activists  must put pressure on the West and on Kiev authorities to prevent  further crimes_, the official added.
> 
>   The conference was to mark the publication of the third edition  of the White Book. The updated edition contains documented proof  of new crimes and abuses, in particular those connected with the  strategy of _social and economic strangling_ of the  eastern republics by the Kiev regime.
> 
>   Earlier this week the Human Rights Watch group said Kiev had  failed to investigate its armys use of prohibited cluster bombs  against civilians and recommended the International Criminal  Court be invited to investigate.
> ...


Continued - International human rights bodies confirm Russias White Book reports on Ukrainian abuse

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Canada's military police to help Ukraine boost security, defense capability*...




> Canada will send its military police to Ukraine as a part of a security cooperation agreement signed Monday that aims to help the government and security forces to protect the country's territorial integrity.
> 
> Canadian Defense  Minister Rob Nicholson and his Ukrainian counterpart Stepan  Poltorak signed a declaration of intent between the two  ministries on Monday. It stated that the two countries are  _committed to continue working together to strengthen the  capacity of the Ukrainian government and its security forces to  defend Ukraines territorial integrity and its  people.
> 
> __Today  representatives of Canadas military police will arrive in  Ukraine to look into the possibilities of cooperation,_Nicholson told reporters in Kiev.
> 
> The declaration does not  represent a legally binding commitment between Canada and Ukraine  under international, Canadian or Ukrainian law, said the  document.


*Continued* - Canada's military police to help Ukraine boost security, defense capability



*Aside* - US seeks to overthrow political leadership in Russia - Foreign Ministry




> By imposing sanctions on Moscow, the US aims to change the political leadership, says the Russian Foreign Ministry, adding that Washington is twisting the arms of its allies so that they can continue an anti-Russian front.
> 
> _Behind the  formally-declared aim to make us alter our position towards  Ukraine, [we] see the [US] plan to form social and economic  conditions to change leadership in Russia,_ said Russian  Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.
> 
>   According to Ryabkov, first of all Western countries wanted to  punish Russia for _free will of people in Crimea and [the  city of] Sevastopol,_ who in a March referendum decided to  separate from Ukraine and to join Russia.
> 
>   Then they decided _that Russia has to, according to US  opinion, totally change course towards the Kiev authorities and  Eastern Ukraine in general, and to re-evaluate its foreign  policy,_ he said.
> 
>   Ryabkov noted that apart from plans to destabilize Moscow  leadership, US are _twisting arms_ of their own allies  so that they could continue _Anti-Russian front_ and  follow US policies on sanctions against Russia.




*Relevant Reading*...

Ron Paul: US provoking war with Russia, could result in total destruction




> "I_t's propaganda, is what it is"_  said Paul. "_It's part of the war propaganda machines just like the major networks are, you know, you're not going to hear criticism on FOX or MSNBC or CNN about this. They're just going to ignore it."
> 
> _





> Former US Representative Ron Paul (AFP Photo / Brendan Smialowski)
> 
> Lawmakers in the House of Representatives passed HR 758 this week by a vote of 411-10, in turn approving a bill strongly condemning the action of the Russian Federation under Pres. Vladimir Putin. Some in Congress are saying could be the green-light to another cold war, and Ron Paul, a former member of the House of Representatives for Texas, is one of them. 
> 
> Speaking to RTs Ameera David on Friday, Paul said he wasnt surprised by the bills passage, but doubts many members of Congress bothered to read the act before approving it.
> 
> Resolution 758 strongly condemns the actions of Russia under  Vladimir Putin, for what it describes as a policy of  _aggression against neighboring countries,_ in a motion  that describes Moscows political and economic domination in the  region.
> 
>   However, Ron Paul says the bill was nothing but _16 pages of  war propaganda that should have made even neocons blush._
> ...

----------


## Natural Citizen

*11 killed, 13 injured as shell hits bus near Donetsk, E. Ukraine - reports


*


> Over 40 people have been killed and 120 wounded in shelling in  the period January 1-12...
> 
> Markin said that more  than 4,800 people have died in the military operation in eastern  Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict last April.
> 
> Eleven people died and 13 more were injured as a bus was shelled in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukraines Interior Ministry said. Denis Pushilin, Donetsk Peoples Republic representative at Minsk talks, said the attack may have been staged by Kiev.
> 
>   The incident took place near a Ukrainian military checkpoint near  the town of Volnovakha on Tuesday, the spokesman for the Interior  Ministry in the Donetsk region, Vyacheslav Ambroskin, said. He  posted the information on his Facebook page.
> 
>   Initially, 10 people were killed in the shelling. A woman  reportedly died in hospital later in the day, according to the  Donetsk regional administration which cited health officials. The  regional administration also reported that 18 people had been  injured.
> ...


Continued - 11 killed, 13 injured as shell hits bus near Donetsk, E. Ukraine - reports

----------


## Natural Citizen

*E. Ukrainian rebels say they now control Donetsk airport*...




> Smoke rises above a new terminal of the Sergey Prokofiev International Airport after the recent shelling (Reuters / Maxim Zmeyev) 
> 
> The militias in southeastern Ukraine say they’ve taken control over the strategic Donetsk airport, following an exhausting standoff with government forces. The airport has been a scene of violent fighting since last May.
> 
> _“The airport is under our full control now,”_ Valentin  Motuzenko, an advisor to the head of the People’s Republic of  Donetsk, told Rossiya TV channel.
> 
> According to the adviser, Ukrainian forces again opened fire on  the militias at the airport without any warning on Wednesday.
> 
> Motuzenko stressed that before coming up with any  counter-measures, the militias provided a green corridor for the  Kiev troops to retreat.
> ...


Continued - E. Ukrainian rebels say they now control Donetsk airport

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Donetsk shelled as Kiev 'orders massive fire' on militia-held E. Ukraine*...











> Ukrainian troops have launched a massive assault on militia-held areas Sunday morning after an order from Kiev, a presidential aide said. The self-proclaimed Donetsk republic’s leader accused Kiev of trying to restart the war.
> 
>   The order to launch the offensive was issued early approximately  at 6:00 am, according to Yury Biryukov, an aide to President  Petro Poroshenko.
> 
> _“Today we will show  HOW good we are at jabbing in the teeth,”_ he wrote on  his Facebook page, a mode of conveying information  favored by many Ukrainian officials.
> 
> In a later post he said:  _“They are now striking a dot. Uuu…”_ in a reference to  Tochka-U (‘tochka’ means ‘dot’ in Russian), a tactical ballistic  missile, one of the most powerful weapons Ukraine so far deployed  against rebel forces.
> 
> _“That wasn’t a dot but ellipsis. Strong booms,”_ he  added.
> ...



Continued - Donetsk shelled as Kiev 'orders massive fire' on militia-held E. Ukraine

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Constant shelling in Donetsk as peace talks in Minsk end in blame game*...




> According to the UN's estimate, the civil war in Eastern Ukraine  has claimed at least 5,000 lives since April 2014, when residents  in Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine took up arms against a  coup-imposed government in Kiev, which responded with a military  crackdown on the area.
> 
> Shelling of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk is continuing practically non-stop with shells landing in civilian areas after mediators’ talks failed Saturday. Militia and Kiev forces are fighting for the strategically key area of Debaltsevo.
> 
> Officials of the  self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said at least  three civilians have been killed by Ukrainian artillery fire  targeting residential areas overnight.
> 
> _“Overnight, the Ukrainian troops fired about 30 barrages at  DPR cities. The night shelling injured 14 civilians”_ in two  of the city’s neighborhoods, reported Eduard Basurin, deputy  defense minister in the DPR.
> 
> 
> ...


Continued - Constant shelling in Donetsk as peace talks in Minsk end in blame game

----------


## Natural Citizen

Video... Conflict torn region of Donetsk  

Recent...




> Ukraine: Shelling causes further death in Donetsk
> 1:17 
> 
> Ukraine: Gorlovka cathedral BOMBARDED by heavy shelling
> 1:22 
> 
> Ukraine: Deadly shelling of Donetsk aid centre kills five *GRAPHIC*
> 1:01 
> 
> ...

----------


## Natural Citizen

*RAW: Ukrainian nationalists stage torch-lit march in Kiev*...

----------


## enhanced_deficit

*Haaretz.com*                @haaretzcom                          ·                        2h     2 hours ago  

                                  Ukraine led by 'miserable Jews,' says rebel leader http://dlvr.it/8N85NF  
   





                                               0 replies                                 63 retweets                                 19 favorites

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## Natural Citizen

*Hundreds trying to break into Ukraine president’s office in Kiev*...

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry has, however, denied there were  any attempts to storm the president’s HQ.








> Several hundred protesters have reportedly tried to break into the Ukrainian president’s administrational office in the country’s capital Kiev, but were repelled by security forces guarding the building. The stand-off grew into clashes in the street.
> 
>   The demonstrators, who demand access to the administration’s  conference room in order to make a TV statement, are still  clashing with the National Guard, TASS reports.
> 
> The rioters’ demands include the introduction of martial law in  Ukraine over the fighting with the rebels in the southeast of the  country. They also insisted on the resignation of the heads of  all Ukrainian security agencies – from defense minister to  prosecutor general – due to their incompetence.
> 
> *The Ukrainian Interior Ministry has, however, denied there were  any attempts to storm the president’s HQ.
> 
> *The Ukrainian capital has already seen several protests by  volunteer troops, who returned from Ukraine’s war-torn Donetsk  and Lugansk regions, after the government disbanded the Aidar  volunteer battalion last week. On Sunday and Monday, Aidar  fighters staged a protest and burnt tires outside the Defense  Ministry.
> ...



Continued - Hundreds trying to break into Ukraine president’s office in Kiev


Report...

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Europe reticent about supplying Ukraine with weapons & money*...





> A single day of warfare in eastern Ukraine drains the nation’s ailing economy of millions of euros, the Ukrainian president told German media. Poroshenko is asking for money and arms, but so far no European state has agreed to supply weapons to Kiev.
> 
> The military crackdown  in the eastern regions of Ukraine, which has already claimed the  lives of at least 5,300 people, is ruining Ukraine’s  economy.
> _“A day of war costs €5-7 million, infrastructure has been  destroyed, and industrial downturn has reached 20 percent,”_President Petro Poroshenko acknowledged in an exclusive interview  with Germany’s Die Welt media outlet.
> 
> A number of the NATO member states have officially refused to  provide Ukraine with military aid, and certainly not free of  charge.
> 
>   On Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would not supply  weapons to Ukraine, a line echoed on Wednesday by the French  defense minister.
> 
> ...


Continued - Europe reticent about supplying Ukraine with weapons & money




Relevant reding - Hollande, Merkel go to Moscow to discuss Ukraine without consulting US – report





> French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.(AFP Photo / Sergei Supinsky)
> 
> German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande did not consult Washington before deciding to visit Moscow to hold talks on the Ukrainian crisis, a source in the French government told AP.
> 
> The two leaders, who are  part of the so-called ‘Normandy Four’ group along with Moscow and  Kiev, decided on a trip on Wednesday night, an unnamed French  government official said. Merkel and Hollande are due to arrive  to the Russian capital on Friday, the next day after visiting  Kiev.
> 
> _“Together with Angela Merkel we have decided to take a new  initiative,”_ Hollande told a news conference on Thursday.
> 
> Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that _“the  leaders of the three states will discuss what specifically the  countries can do to contribute to speedy end of the civil war in  the southeast of Ukraine, which has escalated in recent days and  resulted in many casualties.”
> ...



Congruently - 72 points of BRICS Summit Declaration

----------


## Natural Citizen

There have been dozens of reports shared in this thread with regard to ground reporting in the Ukraine and those journalists being killed, taken political hostage as well as random injuries from gun fire.

May as well add to the list, I suppose...

Russian journalists including RT crew come under fire in eastern Ukraine




> Russian journalists from the Rossiya TV channel and RT have come under fire near Debaltsevo in the Donetsk region. They were reporting on the evacuation of civilians from the conflict zone.
> 
>   The RT crew of four, including correspondents Roman Kosarev and  Anna Knishenko, were near a checkpoint from which a bus with  Debaltsevo refugees was supposed to leave for Donetsk when they  came under fire.  
> 
> _The bullets were flying two or three meters from us_,  said Kosarev after the attack. _The [humanitarian] column  stopped and we were shot at by a sniper. We laid low.
> 
> _Knishenko told RT by phone that she believed they had come under  sniper fire.

----------


## Natural Citizen

Images and video @ link illustrate ongoings in the Ukraine.*

'Ominous silence when shelling halts': 10 signs you live in war-torn Donetsk, E. Ukraine*...




> A man walks past a shop which was recently damaged by shelling, at a local market in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, January 29, 2015. (Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko)
> 
> A Donetsk resident has put together a list of new daily routines which she and many others in the eastern Ukrainian city have developed after months of deadly shelling.
> 
>   Evgenia Martynova, 33, has not left Donetsk. Like most of the  people around her, she cant understand why she should flee from  her home.
> 
> _Donbass is my home. Its like a relative to me. And youre  not going to give up on your relative if he becomes seriously  ill, are you?_ she told RT.
> 
>   It takes _surprisingly little time_ for a person to get  used to constant shelling and explosions, she said.
> ...


Continued - 'Ominous silence when shelling halts': 10 signs you live in war-torn Donetsk, E. Ukraine

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Ukraine ultranationalist leader rejects Minsk peace deal, vows 'to continue war'*...





> Ukraine’s Right Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh said his radical movement rejects the Minsk peace deal and that their paramilitary units in eastern Ukraine will continue “active fighting" according to their "own plans."
> 
> Ukraine’s Right Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh said his radical movement rejects the Minsk peace deal and that their paramilitary units in eastern Ukraine will continue “active fighting" according to their "own plans."
> 
> The Right Sector paramilitary organization continues to deploy  its combat and reserve units, to train and logistically support  personnel, while coordinating its activities with the military  command of the Ukrainian army, paramilitary units of the Defense  Ministry and the Interior Ministry, he said.
> 
> The breakthrough Minsk  agreement was reached on Thursday following marathon overnight  negotiations between Ukraine, France, Germany and Russia, and  offer hope the fighting in Eastern Ukraine may come to an end.  The talks were part of a Franco-German initiative. President  Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Kiev and  Moscow before meeting the Russian and Ukrainian leaders at the  negotiating table in Minsk.
> 
> Bluntly rejecting the German and French initiative, Yarosh said  President Petro Poroshenko should have turned to the US or UK  which _“observe a consistent anti-Kremlin policy.”
> ...


Continued - Ukraine ultranationalist leader rejects Minsk peace deal, vows 'to continue war'



Aside - US military to train Kiev troops fighting in E. Ukraine – US Army commander




> The US military will train Kiev troops fighting against militias in southeast Ukraine, Ben Hodges, US Army Europe commander, said hours before the start of “Normandy Four” talks dubbed a “last chance” for the peaceful resolution of the conflict.
> 
> The officers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in  northeast Italy will be deployed to Ukraine as part of the plan,  said Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Vanessa Hillman.
> 
>   According to Hillman, the military aid requested by the Kiev  authorities was to help the formation and strengthening of the  National Guard, which Kiev launched shortly after the coup in  February 2014.
> 
> The National Guard troops will be exercising according to  _“the traditional training systems of the US Navy Seals and  Delta Force,”_ Semenchenko said.
> 
>   Since the fighting began in southeast Ukraine, the National Guard  has been repeatedly accused of war crimes, including deliberate  artillery fire at residential areas in the Donetsk and Lugansk  Regions, and of blocking humanitarian aid for the regions.
> ...




Relevant reading - Obama: 'We have to twist arms when countries don't do what we need them to'




> U.S. President Barack Obama.(Reuters / Kevin Lamarque)
> 
> President Barack Obama has said the reality of “American leadership” at times entails “twisting the arms” of states which “don’t do what we need them to do,” and that the US relied on its military strength and other leverage to achieve its goals.
> 
> _“Well, American leadership, in part, comes out of our can-do  spirit. We're the largest, most powerful country on Earth. As I  said previously in speeches: when problems happen, they don't  call Beijing. They don't call Moscow. They call us. And we  embrace that responsibility."
> 
> _In a September 2013 Op-Ed article in the New York Times, Russian  President Vladimir Putin said that the concept of American  exceptionalism was a precarious one in the global arena.
> 
> _"It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see  themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation," Putin  wrote. "There are big countries and small countries, rich and  poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still  finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We  are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we  must not forget that God created us equal."
> _

----------


## Natural Citizen

*10 dramatic videos from Ukraine's Maidan riots in 2014*... _1-5_

1. Protesters tore up the pavement and threw rocks at police, who  were initially ordered to refrain from violence. They also used  metal chains, pepper-spray and even brought in a digger to  intimidate officers.




2. Riot shields failed to provide police with any protection  against Molotov cocktails thrown at them from the crowd. This  dramatic video shows the officers turning into human torches and  only avoiding fatal injuries thanks to fire brigades working on  site.




3. The footage released by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry shows  the protesters using firearms, torching vehicles and tires on the  chaos-ridden Kiev streets.




4. The fighting continued into the evening, as protesters  assembled barricades and hurled Molotov cocktails at security  forces.




5. This video shot from the top floors of the building adjacent  to Independence Square – the heart of the protests – shows a  police vehicle ramming into barricade, which the people behind  set ablaze.

----------


## Natural Citizen

*10 dramatic videos from Ukraine's Maidan riots in 2014*... _6-10_6. 

Maidan Square (also known as Independence Square) was never  dark or quiet during these nights of unrest. It was lit up by  burning tires and fireworks, as police forced the protesters back  with water cannons and engaged in running street battles.




7. Many were reportedly killed by unidentified sniper fire from  the top floors of the buildings overlooking the main protest  site.




8. Police used live ammunition against the protesters on the  streets. This footage was shot on Institutskaya Street, next to  Maidan Square, another scene of violent skirmishes.




9. There were a great number of law enforcers deployed to  disperse the raging crowds, but they weren’t always able to hold  their positions. The video below shows protesters pushing a truck  into a line of shield-bearing riot police, and then torching them  with Molotov cocktails.




10. Maidan Square transformed beyond recognition during the  unrest - massive clouds of black smoke rose from the historic  city center and the buildings on the square were partly  destroyed.

----------


## Natural Citizen

Review...

Ukraine Uprising: 1 Year of Turmoil

----------


## charrob

_

This article gives hope, in that Merkel has acknowledged that the West needs to stand down to prevent further harm and death in Ukraine.  We can only hope the Obama administration and Congress will follow suit; if they do, it appears the planet can sigh a deep sigh of relief that the West has averted continuing escalation with Russia and eventual nuclear war:_




> As we have also previously said, Der Spiegel shows *this was a Western not a Russian initiative*. The Russians did not initiate it. Merkel did. According to Der Spiegel, she first floated the idea at the end of January when she was dining at a restaurant in Strasbourg with Hollande and European Parliament President Martin Schultz. 
> 
> This is the key to understanding what happened in Minsk. Because it is difficult for some in the West to acknowledge that the initiative was launched by Merkel because of the critical condition the Ukrainians are in, and that this forced Merkel to make major concessions to Putin in Minsk, parts of the Western media are trying to deny the fact.
> 
> "The Chancellery has continued to insist that a modern-day Yalta conference -- whereby Ukraine is divided up between Russia and the West -- is not in the cards. 
> 
> And it was conspicuous that Merkel's file folder that she had with her during the negotiations didn't contain a single map. 
> 
> The chancellor, Berlin officials say, is uninterested in taking part in negotiations over the precise route of the demarcation line between the separatist areas and those areas under Kiev's control."
> ...

----------


## Natural Citizen

Merkel has basically said in so many words that they'll have no part in the goings on with the U.S. and NATO. But it's not just her.

charrob, here is a critical aspect of what we are hearing from Germany and others. There is a lot in this thread. You'll see right away. http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post5789513

----------


## DFF

> Merkel then flew to Washington to brief Obama and obtain his consent


Ukraine is part of Europe. It has nothing to do with the US. So why would Merkel need Obama's approval to do anything?

Perhaps it's because to this day, Germany is not a fully sovereign state, and is still in may ways, occupied by the United States.

----------


## charrob

> Merkel has basically said in so many words that they'll have no part in the goings on with the U.S. and NATO. But it's not just her.
> 
> charrob, here is a critical aspect of what we are hearing from Germany and others. There is a lot in this thread. You'll see right away. http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post5789513


-thanks N.C.!

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Ukrainian police get ‘shoot-to-kill orders’ amid unrest over army hit & run killing of 8yo*...




> Screenshot from YouTube user SputnikTV
> 
> Police have reportedly been allowed to use live rounds as tensions flare in the eastern Ukrainian town of Konstantinovka, where an eight-year-old girl was killed in a hit-and-run accident by an Ukrainian forces’ armored vehicle.
> 
> Following the incident on Monday, in which an armored vehicle has  run over and killed an eight-year-old child, enraged people  gathered in front of the military unit stationed in the local  school building, demanding for the military to surrender those  who were involved in the hit and run accident, Sputnik reported.  The crowd has also reportedly set fire to the entrance of the  dorms of the Ukrainian forces.
> 
> According to Popular Front deputy Anton Gerashchenko,  shoot-to-kill orders are enforced in Konstantinovka, to stop  those trying to _“incite”_ the violence.
> 
> _If there is no time to warn , we will be  shooting to kill immediately,”_ said Gerashchenko. _“No  one is allowed to undermine the Ukrainian government with arms in  their hands.”
> ...


Continued - Ukrainian police get ‘shoot-to-kill orders’ amid unrest over army hit & run killing of 8yo

----------


## Natural Citizen

*Ukraine’s neo-Nazi leader becomes top military adviser, legalizes fighters*...




> Image from mil.gov.ua
> 
> Ukraine’s Interpol-wanted leader of extremist group Right Sector, Dmitry Yarosh, has been appointed as an adviser to the country’s Chief of General Staff. He has agreed to legalize thousands of fighters as an assault team subordinate to the regular army.
> 
> The  appointment apparently comes after successful negotiations took  place between the so-called Ukrainian Volunteer Corps (DUK Right  Sector) and Ukraine’s top military command regarding possible  options of incorporating the armed gangs inside the defense  ministry’s structure of command.
> 
> The Right Sector’s armed paramilitary battalions agreed to be  _“subordinated to military leaders,”_ the ministry said.  According to the statement, Muzhenko and Yarosh stressed the need  for _“unity”,_ confirming fighters’ readiness to obey  Kiev’s central command.
> 
> Yarosh, who was one of the main figureheads of the  violence-seeped coup last year, is wanted by Interpol for incitement of terrorism, and  extremist activities. He was placed on the international wanted  list at the request of Russian authorities. Despite his  notoriety, Yarosh is an elected member of the Ukrainian  parliament heading the Right Sector political party, which is  banned in Russia as an extremist organization.
> ...



Continued - Ukraine’s neo-Nazi leader becomes top military adviser, legalizes fighters

----------


## Natural Citizen

*House committee approves $200 million for arming Ukraine*...





> Reuters/Gleb Garanich
> 
> Citing an anti-Russia policy brief, US lawmakers approved $200 million for providing “lethal weapons of a defensive nature” to the Ukrainian government as part of the $600 billion Pentagon budget proposal for the fiscal year 2016.
> 
> The House Armed Services  Committee passed its proposal for the 2016 National Defense  Authorization Act (NDAA) with a bipartisan vote of 60 to 2, in  what Defense News described as a “marathon” session  that ended around 4:30am on Thursday.
> 
>   Section 1532 of the 498-page document calls for the US to provide  assistance, _“including training, equipment, lethal weapons of  a defensive nature, logistics support, supplies and services, and  sustainment to the military and national security forces of  Ukraine”_ through the end of September 2016.
> 
>   In addition to the $200 million allocated for the program, the  proposal also authorizes the Pentagon to _“accept and retain  contributions, including in-kind contributions, from foreign  governments."_
> ...


Continued - House committee approves $200 million for arming Ukraine



Previously - US House urges Obama to send arms to Ukraine




> Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko
> 
> It comes as the White House is unwilling to make any radical  moves on Ukraine, and follows German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s  efforts to persuade Obama to commit to Ukraine’s truce plan  during her February visit to the US.
> 
> Back in September, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko requested  Congress to authorize a delivery of US military equipment to the  Ukrainian government. So far, Obama has only signed off on  non-lethal aid and sanctions against Russia – which Kiev and  Washington claim is involved in the conflict, despite giving no  evidence to support the notion.
> 
>   The Ukrainian military launched an operation in the country’s  southeast last April, after the Donetsk and Lugansk regions  refused to recognized the new authorities in Kiev which were  installed during the February 2014 coup.
> 
> 
> ...

----------

