Posts
US
Drone "Intercepted" Over Crimea By Russian Self-Defense
Forces
14
March, 2013
An
American scout-attack drone, "almost invisible at a height of
4000 meters" has, according
to AFP,
been intercepted in the Crimean sky. Reports from the Russian state
arms and technology group Rostec stated, judging by side-markings it
was an MQ-5B drone - which is likely part of the 66th
US Recon Brigade based in Bavaria.
It was possible to break the drone’s link with its American
operators with the help of the EW (electronic warfare) complex
Avtobaza. As a result, the device made
an emergency landing and passed into the possession of the
self-defense forces almost unbroken."
An American scout-attack drone was intercepted in the Crimean sky, the Rostec state corporation reports. "Judging by side marking, the MQ-5B drone was part of the 66th US brigade of military intelligence with the main location in Bavaria," the report on the website of the corporation reads.
According to the report, at the beginning of March, the American brigade was relocated to the Ukrainian Kirovohrad, from where drones commit reconnaissance raids in the direction of Crimea and Russian border areas.
Earlier, they reportedly appeared in the Kherson region, in the area of the Crimean roadblock Chongar. "According to some data, the American reconnaissance brigade had 18 MQ-5B drones in its arsenal. This is the second time the American UAV is intercepted over Crimea," the report says.
"The drone was at the height of about 4 thousand meters and was practically invisible from the earth. It was possible to break the drone’s link with its American operators with the help of the EW (electronic warfare) complex Avtobaza. As a result, the device made an emergency landing and passed into the possession of the self-defense forces almost unbroken," the report says.
"Self-defense"
it would appear does not cross a red-line (until Sunday).
It
is perhaps ironic that the US is complaining abouit Russia's military
presence in Ukraine even as its own equipment is reportedly operating
in the country.
What
next: CIA spooks in Kiev inciting a violent coup, oh wait, that would
be Libya or Egypt. And everyone knows what a success that way.
And
as expected, the Pentagon promptly denied the drone belonged to the
US. It denied it not the biblical three times, but four. They must
really mean it.
Two killed in gunmen attack on anti-Maidan activists in Kharkov – reports
RT,
14
March, 2014
Two
people were killed overnight in Ukraine's Kharkov, where gunmen from
the radical Right Sector movement attacked self-defense activists and
took hostages. Police eventually detained the armed people and the
hostages were released.
The
armed group barricaded itself inside the local headquarters of Right
Sector, from where it was shooting and throwing flash grenades and
Molotov cocktails at Kharkov anti-Maidan activists who gathered
outside.
Two people were killed in the shooting and at least four more were wounded, authorities said. The armed group took hostage three men – two activists and one policeman – who reportedly went inside to negotiate their surrender.
Mayor Gennady Kernes managed to get one of the hostages out after spending around 10 minutes inside the barricaded Right Sector headquarters.
“There are around 40 radicals inside,” Kernes told journalists, as cited by Itar-Tass. “Two men remain hostage, one of whom is a policeman who entered the building for negotiations.”
Police deployed at the scene cordoned off the area and in the early hours of Saturday stormed the building. Around 30 gunmen were detained as a result.
“We have started to identify these people, as they don’t have passports with them,” Anatoly Dmitriev, the head of the Kharkov region police told Itar-Tass. “We’ll lift fingerprints from weapons, which are left inside the building.”
Two people were killed in the shooting and at least four more were wounded, authorities said. The armed group took hostage three men – two activists and one policeman – who reportedly went inside to negotiate their surrender.
Mayor Gennady Kernes managed to get one of the hostages out after spending around 10 minutes inside the barricaded Right Sector headquarters.
“There are around 40 radicals inside,” Kernes told journalists, as cited by Itar-Tass. “Two men remain hostage, one of whom is a policeman who entered the building for negotiations.”
Police deployed at the scene cordoned off the area and in the early hours of Saturday stormed the building. Around 30 gunmen were detained as a result.
“We have started to identify these people, as they don’t have passports with them,” Anatoly Dmitriev, the head of the Kharkov region police told Itar-Tass. “We’ll lift fingerprints from weapons, which are left inside the building.”
The
incident reportedly began after a Kharkov self-defence group
patrolling the city square noticed a suspicious Volkswagen van and
tried to stop it. It was the same van involved in a shooting back on
March 8, when one of the anti-Maidan activists was wounded.
When
the driver refused to stop, LifeNews reports, activists chased the
van to the building on Rymarska Street, where the office of Right
Sector is located.
The
shooting started after the activists tried to enter the building.
Gunmen were also throwing flash grenades and Molotov cocktails from
the second floor of the building, LifeNews reports.
Activists
had to retreat waiting for police and ambulances to arrive. Meanwhile
numerous videos of the incident captured by the activists and have
been uploaded on YouTube.
The
mayor of Kharkov Gennady Kernes also arrived at the scene
for “negotiations,” but
when he approached the building the shooting resumed, local activist
Sergey Yudaev who was live streaming the incident told RT.
Yudaev
said that local authorities were apparently covering up the actions
of Right Sector and trying to hide the fact that the group has a
hideout with a cache of weapons in that building. Yudaev also
confirmed the incident on March 8, when a group in that exact van
attacked several peaceful activists who were returning from an
anti-Maidan rally.
Yudaev
also said that it took activists almost 40 minutes to make the police
respond to the call, since the new police chief appointed by the
Kiev “junta”is
covering up all crimes carried out by the Right Sector in Kharkov.
The
local “junta
controlled” media,
Yudaev warned, have already twisted the story and tried to present it
as an attack by Oplot movement on an office of some "political
organization" that
has nothing to do with Right Sector. But the group inside the
building is anything but peaceful, Yudaev said, as videos clearly
show Molotov cocktails being thrown at people standing outside.
On
Thursday, bloody clashes in
the city of Donetsk between rival rallies ended with a murder and
multiple wounded. This proves those in power in Kiev do not control
the situation in Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated,
stressing Moscow reserves right to protect compatriots.
Over
5,000 Kalashnikovs, other guns stolen from Ukrainian military bases –
report
RT,
14
March, 2014
Fears
of possible armed assaults and provocation in Ukraine and neighboring
countries are on the rise after yet another report that rocket
grenade launchers, firearms and munitions have been stolen from a
military warehouse in western Ukraine.
A
source in the Ukrainian Interior Ministry told RIA Novosti that the
coup appointed Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has recently been
notified that a large cache of guns and ammunition was missing from
one of the military warehouses.
“Reports
to Avakov indicate that over 5,000 Kalashnikov rifles, 2,741 Makarov
handguns, 123 light machineguns and 12 Shmel rocket launchers were
stolen from the Interior Troops’ depots in the Lvov Region in late
February,” the
source said.
“The
investigation has also established that 1,500 F-1 hand grenades and a
large number of munitions are missing,” it
added.
Earlier
it was reported that
at the end of February 2014 during the assaults on a number Ukrainian
military units in the Western Lvov Region, radicals stole some 1,200
firearms, including around 1,000 Makarov handguns, over 170
Kalashnikov rifles as well as machineguns and sniper rifles.
The
authorities in Ukraine have so far failed to track down these weapons
igniting speculation that these weapons could be used to provoke more
unrest in Ukraine which could eventually spill outside the country.
“Given
that the northern and eastern borders of Ukraine are heavily guarded,
there is a high probability that a significant portion of these
weapons will be illegally smuggled through the western regions to the
neighboring countries - Romania, Albania, in Transnistria, the
Balkans. Of course, later part of the weapons may end up in other EU
countries,” says
Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Russian Center for Analysis of
Strategies and Technologies (CAST).
Some
military experts believe that the weapons will soon surface in the
hands of the Right Sector or other nationalistic movements, which
were the violent driving force of the coup that ousted Victor
Yanukovich.
"Right Sector" train in
Independence Square in central Kiev (Reuters / David Mdzinarishvili)
Russia adds Dmitry Yarosh to international wanted list
For inciting terrorism and participation in hostilities against Russian soldiers in Chechnya, Russia’s Investigative Committee has placed Right Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh on an international wanted list.
The
head of the Right Sector previously announced the creation of
Revolutionary National Guard, a formation that plans to unite all the
ultra-nationalists groups to serve as police and secret services.
Last week Yarosh also demanded the self-imposed government in Kiev to
arm Right Sector members.
The
nationalist movement wants weapons and military hardware in addition
to army training centers to be under the control of the Right Sector
to provide “quality
training for Right Sector fighters” in
order to “protect
the territorial integrity” of
Ukraine, Itar-Tass reported, quoting a source in the Ukrainian
Defense Ministry.
The
creation of a National Guard on the basis of Ukrainian troops to
protect Ukrainians against “external
and internal aggression” was
announced on Friday.
“The
Right Sector carries weapons, and will possess them as long as there
is a threat to our state and our people. When the threat is over, we
will lay down weapons,” the
notorious member of the Sector, Aleksandr Muzychko – or Sashko
Bilyi as he was known during his war against Russian soldiers in
Chechnya – announced last February.
The
question remains, whether Kiev considers Sunday’s referendum in
Crimea as such a threat that it should be prevented by any means
necessary. Crimean leader certainly thinks so.
On
Wednesday the Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksenov announced he had
information that the Right Sector might be planning an attack on one
of the Ukrainian army units in the peninsula under the guise of
Russian servicemen as a provocation to disrupt the referendum. Some
10,000 members of the Crimean military, recently formed from
self-defense squads, and over 5,000 police officers will ensure that
the referendum goes smoothly, Aksenov said
US aircraft carrier extends stay in Mediterranean amidst Ukraine tensions
RT,
14
March, 2014
The
aircraft carrier the USS George H.W. Bush and its group will remain
in in the Mediterranean Sea for a few more days than planned “to
reassure US allies” worried about the crisis in Ukraine, the
Pentagon says.
The
Pentagon has taken a number of steps to bolster its forces in Eastern
Europe, which it says is to reassure its allies over the crisis in
Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula where Russia’s Black Sea fleet is
based.
“This
is a few more days than the original plan was. There’re two
reasons. One is to conduct these additional training opportunities,
and frankly because a lot of what we’re doing there now is an
effort to reassure our allies,” said Colonel Steven Warren, a
Pentagon spokesman.
He
added that he did not rule out that USS George Bush might remain in
the Mediterranean a bit longer.
The
US has also beefed up its training with the Polish air force and is
providing more aircraft for the NATO air policing mission in the
Baltics.
12
extra F-16s have arrived in Poland as well as a C-130 and C-17
transport planes, including 150 personnel.
US
officials said Thursday that Ukraine had requested lethal and
non-lethal military help from the US but for the moment Washington
had agreed to send only military food rations.
Last
week the USS Truxton, a destroyer, entered the Black sea for what the
Pentagon said were previously planned exercises with the Bulgarian
and Romanian navies.
The
military deployments in Europe come as Crimea is due to hold a
referendum on whether it wants to remain part of Ukraine or join
Russia on Sunday. The peninsula, which has a majority ethnic Russian
population, is widely expected to secede.
The
carrier group consists of seventeen other ships and three submarines.
The USS George HW Bush is carrying 90 aircraft including helicopters
of various types.
The
super carrier was first reported to be off the Greek coast on March 4
2014 and left the Naval Station Norfolk base on 15 February.
Attempt to jam Russian satellites carried out from Western Ukraine
RT,
14 March, 2014
An attempted
radio-electronic attack on Russian television satellites from the
territory of Western Ukraine has been recorded by the Ministry of
Communications. It comes days after Ukraine blocked Russian TV
channels, a move criticized by the OSCE.
The ministry noted that
“people who make such decisions” to attack Russian satellites
that retransmit TV signals, “should think about the consequences,”
Ria reports. The ministry did not share any details of the attack.
Earlier this week, the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) criticized
Kiev’s “repressive” move to halt the broadcasting of Russian TV
channels after the Ukrainian media watchdog claimed that shutting
down TV stations ensured “national security and sovereignty” of
Ukraine.
“Banning programming
without a legal basis is a form of censorship; national security
concerns should not be used at the expense of media freedom,” OSCE
Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović said.
More than half of
Ukraine's population speaks Russian regularly and one third say it's
their native tongue. In Crimea over 90 percent of the population uses
Russian on an everyday basis.
On Thursday, a number of
Russian state TV channels websites suffered a large cyber-attack
partially coming from Ukraine.
Russia’s Channel One
website was temporarily unavailable due to a distributed
denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. Meanwhile, Russia-24 TV also said it
suffered from a “massive network attack.”
According to Itar-Tass,
the targeted Russian media have connected attacks to their editorial
policy of covering the recent events in Ukraine.
Crimea Prime Minister Says May Formally Join Russia Next Week
14
March, 2014
Crimea's
Prime Minister Sergie Aksenov has been very vocal this morning with
comments on nationalizing the region's banks, but the following few
comments are sparking concerns:
- *AKSENOV SAYS CRIMEA ISN'T TAKING ORDERS FROM RUSSIA
- *AKSENOV SAYS DOESN'T ENVISAGE UKRAINIAN CIVIL WAR
- *CRIMEA MAY FORMALLY JOIN RUSSIA NEXT WK, INTEGRATE IN 1 YR: PM
We
will see what Obama, Merkel, and Ukraine's leadership has to say
about that... Turchynov,
for one, has warned to be "ready for a full-scale invasion at
any moment."
Via
Interfax,
The Crimean authorities do not consider the possibility of proclaiming independence "under the Abkhaz scenario" and think that the process of joining Russia will take up to a year, Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov said at a briefing in Simferopol on Friday.
"I suppose that the transition period will last up to one year, when we will able to use all the processes and privileges in Russia comprehensively," Aksyonov said.
When asked whether "the Abkhaz variant" was possible, Aksyonov said no. "No, we will not have independence. We currently think, I personally think, that Crimea should join Russia as a Russian region," he said.
At the same time, when asked how quickly Crimea will be able to join Russia after the referendum is held, Aksyonov said: "In terms of passing a legislative act, I think this will be virtually next week and in regard comprehensive joining, transition period will last up to a year at most."
Is
that crossing a red line? It certainly seems from Turchynov's words
that it is...
Ukraine must be ready for a full-scale Russian invasion "at any moment," the country's acting president warned Thursday, as officials announced the emergency call-up of a 60,000-strong national guard force.
Oleksander Turchynov said Moscow was "ready" to go much further than the annexation of the Black Sea territory of Crimea, which is expected to vote to secede from Ukraine in a referendum on Sunday.
Only clear international pressure could halt slow the momentum of the Kremlin, he said. "All of civilized humanity supports our country," said Mr. Turchynov. "I am sure that this united effort in the international arena, bringing together all democratic countries, can still allow us to halt this aggression."
Ukraine won't give up 'a single centimetre' of Crimea to Russia, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says
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