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US
pulling out its Cold War-era plans over Ukraine conflict, top
commander admits
The United States military’s top commander said during a security summit this week that the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine has prompted the Pentagon to revisit old contingency plans unused since the days of the Cold War.
RT,
25
July 2014
Gen.
Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said
Thursday at the Aspen Security Forum that the US Department of
Defense has been “looking inside of our own readiness models to
look at things we haven’t had to look at for 20 years.”
Commenting
on the latest allegations against Russia to surface in the midst of
the escalating situation in Ukraine, Gen. Dempsey said that the
Kremlin “has made the conscious decision to use its military force
inside of another sovereign nation to achieve its objectives.”
“They
clearly are on a path to assert themselves differently not just in
Eastern Europe, but Europe in the main, and towards the United
States,” Dempsey said of Putin’s government.
Hours
before Dempsey delivered his address at the Aspen Security Forum, US
State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said during a scheduled
press briefing that new intelligence has surfaced suggesting Russia
has been firing artillery at Ukrainian military positions from within
its own borders. As RT reported at the time, however, Harf’s
remarks were quickly questioned by Associated Press reporter Matthew
Lee, who in turn called upon the State Dept. to present any evidence
beyond the spokesperson’s otherwise unsubstantiated allegations.
“I
think that it would be best for all concerned here if when you make
an allegation like that you’re able to make it up with something
more than just ‘because I said so,’”
Lee countered Harf’s claims.
Soon
after, though, Dempsey said during his Aspen speech that reports of
Russia firing into Ukraine, if correct, would constitute the “first
time, I think, probably, since 1939 or so that that’s been the
case.” That
year, Soviet Union leader Josef Stalin led the Red Army into Poland
unannounced and annexed that territory and its 13.5 million citizens
on behalf of the USSR.
“I
think this is very clearly Putin, the man himself, with a vision for
Europe, as he sees it, to what he considers to be an effort to
redress grievances that were burdened upon Russia after the fall of
the Soviet Union, and also to appeal to ethnic Russian enclaves
across Eastern Europe with … a foreign policy objective, but also a
domestic policy objective,” Dempsey
said. “And he’s very
aggressive about it, and he’s got a playbook that has worked for
him now two or three times. And he will continue to [use it].”
Regardless
of what the Russian president’s intentions are, Dempsey said that
Putin’s forces are in his opinion hesitant to engage in the
Kremlin’s current campaign as interpreted by the US government.
“I
think that the Russian military is probably reluctant -- -- you know,
this is risky for me to say this, and 10 of them could end up in a
gulag tomorrow -- but I think that the Russian military and its
leaders that I know are probably somewhat reluctant participants in
this form of warfare,” he
said.
Even
still, Dempsey added, the results could be catastrophic.
“At
a time when some folks could convince themselves that Putin would be
looking for a reason to de-escalate, he’s actually taken a decision
to escalate,” Dempsey said. “Putin may actually light a fire that
he loses control over,” he said. “There’s a rising tide of
nationalism in Europe right now that has been created in many ways by
these Russian activities.”
“And
I think that’s a real risk,” Dempsey said. “So I am maintaining
an open line of communication with my counterpart, and so far, he’s
doing the same with me.”
Earlier
this week, Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesperson for the Pentagon,
told reporters that the Defense Department was scheduled to send
military advisers to Ukraine within weeks to “shape
and establish an enduring program for future US efforts to support
the Ukrainian military through subject-matter expert teams and
long-term advisers.”
Sanctions
against Russia spark AK-47 buying frenzy in US
Russian-made
firearms are reportedly flying off the shelves of American gun stores
after the United States Treasury Department announced sanctions last
week against the maker of the popular AK-47 rifle.
RT,
25
July 2014
Kalashnikov
Concern, the company responsible for the eponymous gas-operated 7.62
caliber assault rifle known largely around the world as the AK-47, is
among the latest Russian-owned entities to be blacklisted by the US
government following last Wednesday’s announcement that several
Russian banks, energy firms and weapons makers were being targeted by
new sanctions.
Gun
sellers now say the Obama administration’s decision to sanction the
company has caused a spike in sale in the week since, with some
retailers warning customers that their stocks have been decimated
upon the addition of Kalashnikov Concern to the Treasury’s roster
of blacklisted businesses.
The
latest round of sanctions does not bar the selling of Russian-made
AK-47s within the US that have already been paid for in full, meaning
long-time owners and the distribution companies not in debt to
Kalashnikov Concern can continue to operate and offer the weapons as
they did ahead of last week’s announcement. Imports of all of the
company’s Russian-made weapons are now indefinitely on hold,
however, and reportedly has prompted a peak in demand as a result.
Blaine
Bunting, the president of Maryland gun distributor Atlantic Firearms,
told the Huffington Post this week that orders for their AK-47-style
rifles and shotguns have "tripled, if not quadrupled" since
the day sanctions were announced.
"We
have 15 employees here, and yesterday we started at 7:30 in the
morning and didn't leave until eight at night," he told HuffPo
on Tuesday. In all, the website reported, Atlantic Firearms parted
ways with its entire stock of over 400 Russian-made guns, causing the
distributors to post a warning to would-be buyers on its official
site.
“Due
to recent import restrictions, we have had a run on our supply of
Russian manufactured firearms. We are currently SOLD OUT of the
Russian AK47 CAK-132 Wood as of 7/17/14. We are working with our
importer to try and acquire what we can but are expecting price
increases,” part of the Atlantic Firearms site reads.
Hunter
Stuart, a reporter at HuffPo, wrote that similar shops across the US
are witnessing the same thing. At Nampa, Idaho’s Armageddon Armory
gun shop, for example, the store’s entire inventory of bought 60
Saiga semi-automatic shotguns made by Kalashnikov was bought within
days of last week’s announcement.
"We
sold out of them instantly," he said.
Other
shops in Oklahoma and North Carolina told Stuart that their stocks
were being depleted quickly after the Treasury Department’s
announcement.
According
to Kalashnikov Concern, however, the latest sanctions are only
hurting the US market, not Russia’s.
“The
products of Kalashnikov enjoy great demand in the United States,”
the company said in a statement after last week’s announcement.
“Preorders on civilian products are three times the annual volume
of deliveries. Thus, the sanctions taken against Kalashnikov go
against the interests of American consumers.”
Also
blacklisted by the Treasury in the latest rounds of sanctions are
armaments and parts manufactured by Izhmash Research & Production
Association of Russia, a centuries-old company known as one of the
best-selling firearms manufacturers in the world.
RWC
Group LLC, the sole company that exports Concern Kalashnikov to the
US, said last week that they were refraining from making any
immediate comment regarding the sanctions. The company did not
respond right away to RT’s request for comment on Friday this week.
Ukraine
used phosphorous incendiaries, cluster bombs against cities –
Russian military
RT,
25 July 2014
Ukrainian
troops have on many occasions used incendiary weapons and cluster
bombs against militia-held cities, acts that are banned under the
international law regulating warfare, the Russian military said.
The
accusation was voiced on Friday by Major General Viktor Poznikhir,
the deputy commander of the chief operations branch of the Russian
General Staff. Earlier some media reports claimed that munitions,
which are not allowed to be used against civilian targets, were used
in eastern Ukraine by the Kiev troops in their assault on armed
militias.
According
to the general, the Russian military are certain of a number of such
attacks by Ukrainian troops. Those include artillery shelling with
incendiary shells on June 12 in Slavyansk, on June 24 and June 29 in
Semyonovka and on July 7 in Lisichansk. There were also air strikes
with incendiary bombs on June 21 in Slavyansk and Kramatorsk and on
July 23 in Donetsk and shelling with cluster shells on June 24 in
Semyonovka.
“We
have sufficient proof that in the cities and villages of Ukraine I
mentioned, ammunition based on phosphorus was used,” Poznikhir
said. In all those instances characteristic fast-falling clusters of
sparks were spotted in the air and massive fires on the ground were
reported, proving that those were not illumination flares.
The
evidence behind the ministry’s assessment includes eyewitness
accounts, injuries sustained by the victims of the attacks and media
reports from Ukraine, the Russian general said.
“The
incendiaries were used against residential areas where only civilians
were present at the time,”Poznikhir stressed. “We believe the
Ukrainian side wanted to produce a demoralizing effect on the people
and inflict serious damage to communal infrastructure, which would
create the conditions for a humanitarian disaster.”
Most
of the incidents mentioned by the general happened in or near
Slavyansk, once the most defended strongholds of the Ukrainian
militia, which for two months held out against the siege by Ukrainian
troops. The city was eventually abandoned by militia forces, which
regrouped and fortified other Ukrainian cities.
Those are currently
under Ukrainian attack.
The
use of incendiary weapons against civilians or military objects
located in civilian areas is forbidden by Protocol III of the UN
Convention on Conventional Weapons. Ukraine is a signatory to the
protocol. Cluster munitions are prohibited by the Convention on
Cluster Munitions, but Ukraine did not ratify that agreement.
Over
40 mortar shells ‘fired to kill’ into Russia from Ukraine
At
least 45 mortar shells fired at targets located inside the
Rostov-on-Don region have been unleashed by Ukraine’s army,
Russia’s border officials said. The barrage destroyed multiple
houses and forced an evacuation of civilians.
RT,
25
July 2014
Investigators
say they were examining the site of a previous shelling near the
Primiusskiy hamlet right on the southwestern edge of Russia on
Wednesday, when a cannonade went off from the other side of the
border.
“There
is no doubt that those shooting from the Ukrainian side picked their
target, and tried to kill Russian security officials,” said
Investigative Committee representative Vladimir Markin.
“It
is only the poor training of Ukrainian gunners, and the timely
evacuation of Russian officials under the cover of armored vehicles
that thwarted their plan.”
Six
houses in the village were damaged, and one woman received a
concussion as a result of a nearby explosion.
“The
barrage is continuing from the other side of the border, and its
intensity has not decreased,” said Vasily Malaev, the regional
border service spokesman.
Shells
from artillery fights in Ukraine have frequently landed on Russian
territory since the beginning of summer. Primiusskiy was previously
shelled just two days ago.
Earlier
this week, a temporary refugee camp for Ukrainians fleeing the
conflict was relocated further from the border, after several mortars
landed nearby.
Additionally,
one man was killed and two others received serious injuries when a
Ukrainian shell hit a house in the region earlier this month.
At
the time, the Russian Foreign Ministry described the incident as “an
act of aggression” and threatened “irreversible consequences”
if attacks were not discontinued.
Ukrainian
officials have denied responsibility, and say that it is Russia that
has been using its artillery to support anti-Kiev militants in the
Donetsk region across the border.
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