It
is early yet to determine the truth of what is happening. Russia is
moving its forces to the Kerch Strait but also (reportedly) to the
border area.
Hal
Turner below reckons that this might be indication that the
Ukrainians may be right but that comes with a sense of amnesia. We
have been here before. The Russians move some troops and the
Ukrainians scream that the Russians are “invading”.
If
I had to guess I would say that this is a reponse to the ultimate
provocation and is a response.
The
Russians,if they wanted to be, could be in Kiev within 72 hours but I
do not believe, even after this provocation, is their intention.
Escalation on the Russia-Ukraine border
Here is a comment that I have taken from beneath one of my articles that captures the essence of the sitiuation so far,
"Heads
up (video link below) - RT showing that Russia has moved to reinforce
its protection of the bridge! An entire Battalion of anti-ship
missiles is now being moved to Kerch to protect the bridge from any
ships failing to stop (ie carrying devices).
"NATO
100% needs that bridge gone before they can move on Crimea. It is the
only road, rail, water, and electric link to Crimea left - yes the
bridge IS the only link as Ukraine cut off all land supply to Crimea
(not reported in mainstram press) even blowing the power line pylons
so they cant be restored.
"The
bridge is of crucial strategic importance to keep Sevastopol
supplied, hence why it is being targeted. If it all goes hot NATO
will just take it down anyway, but there can only be one response to
that, same as the resposnce to a US carrier being sunk - nuclear
retaliation."
Here is the latest from Jake Morphonios
The airspace above Crimea will be getting very busy with US spy planes. This is described in the video above.
From RT
Russian anti-ship missiles filmed moving towards Kerch after flare-up with Ukraine
Russian anti-ship missiles filmed moving towards Kerch after flare-up with Ukraine
The latest report from South Front
On
November 27th, Ukraine’s state security agency
confirmed that its intelligence officers were among the crew of the
seized Ukrainian ships.
Late on November 26th, Russia’s FSB said that there were SBU officers on board the ships, saying that this is another proof of a provocation staged by Ukraine.
The Russian FSB security agency released a video of three crewmembers of the detained Ukrainian gunboats. In the interviews, the three seamen all confirmed that they violated the Russian border. Mainstream media scrutinizes the interviews, claiming that the men are talking “under duress” and that one of them “was clearly reading from a teleprompter”.In an escalation of absurdity, Chief of the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Gen. Viktor Muzhenko claimed that Russian aviation was used against the two gunboats and the tugboat.
“Today it became known that Russian aviation was also used during the attack on the Ukrainian ships. A Su-30 fighter jet launched two missiles,” Muzhenko said.That is unlikely, since there are only reports of several wounded sailors, who are being treated in the Kerch Pirogov hospital. If missiles were, in fact, launched at the boats they wouldn’t get tugged to the Kerch port, because they would simply be in pieces.
In the early hours of November 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his concern over the escalation with Ukraine and the martial law during a conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Kremlin reported.
According to the statement, Putin placed all blame on Ukraine and said the escalation was caused by it due to political reasons.
Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Merkel in the conversation with Putin stressed the need for de-escalation and dialogue.
The Kremlin warned that the martial law that is to go into effect on November 28th in Ukraine might cause an escalation in the country’s east.
Germany’s foreign minister is suggesting that Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine could work together to resolve tensions between Moscow and Kiev.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas “called on Russia and Ukraine to show the greatest possible restraint, and offered to work on a solution in the Normandy Format.” He further added that “we must do everything for de-escalation, to prevent this crisis turning into an even more serious crisis for security in Europe.”The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is urging Russia and Ukraine to refrain from “any further provocations” and engage in dialogue to reduce tensions. OSCE secretary general Thomas Greminger said in a statement that “immediate de-escalation is both urgent and essential.” He, similarly, to the UN and the EU, urged Moscow and Kiev “to exercise restraint, step back from any further provocations and immediately engage in dialogue to reduce the risk of further tensions in the region.”
In general, it appears that Ukraine’s “provocation play” appears to be unraveling and come undone at the seams. Thus, Ukraine is attempting to make as many questionable and maybe even absurd claims to see what will get some traction.
Hal Turner is better for his intelligence than for his understanding of geopolitics
BREAKING: RUSSIA MOVES 500 MILITARY AIRCRAFT & 340 MILITARY HELICOPTERS TO UKRAINE BORDER
27
November, 2018
As
of late Tuesday evening (Eastern U.S. Time) about 500 tactical
aircraft, combat aircraft, and up to 340 helicopters of the Russian
Army have been massed along the border of Ukraine.
Yesterday,
Ukraine implemented Martial Law in its provinces bordering
Russia, claiming they have intel that Russia plans an
invasion. Ukraine
MAY be correct.
UPDATE
7:19 PM EST -- Panic
buying has begun in local supermarkets near Kherson as martial law
comes into full effect. Buckwheat, matches, and salt are purchased in
large quantities, with some shortages reported.
After
a naval battle between Ukraine and Russia in the Kerch Strait on
Sunday, which resulted in numerous exchanges of weapons fire, and the
capture of three Ukraine vessels by Russia, things are heating-up
fast in Ukraine.
On
Monday, Ukraine President Poroshenko blamed Russia for "aggression"
but later, Intelligence reports surfaced that the Ukrainian vessels
may have been delivering a NATO device to attack and destroy the
Kerch Bridge between Crimea and the Russian mainland.
Also
on Monday, Ukraine's Rada (Their Parliament/Congress) approved
MARTIAL LAW in Ukrainian provinces bordering Russia, called-up
Military Reserves, and began deploying those Reserve Troops to areas
which border Russia.
Earlier
today, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed they have adopted
greater security around the Kerch Bridge amid threats to destroy it.
Late
today, Ukraine instructed its railroads to make ready for military
use of all rail facilities.
Now,
we have these new developments . . .
About
500 tactical aircraft, combat aircraft, and up to 340 helicopters of
the Russian Army have been massed along the border of Ukraine as of
Tuesday evening, eastern US time.
This
was stated at a briefing titled "Military and strategic
assessment of the threat of invasion of Ukraine by the armed forces
of Russia", said the representative of the Main Directorate of
Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Vadym Skibitsky
"Special
attention is being paid to the increase of the grouping of aircraft
of the airborne forces of the Russian Federation near the state
border of Ukraine, and since 2013, the Russian Federation (RF) has
been upgrading the entire airdrome network along the Ukrainian
border, upgrading the fleet of combat aircraft, and expanding the
capabilities of the military aircraft. Currently about 500 tactical
aircraft combat aircraft are concentrated along the Ukrainian border.
and up to 340 helicopters of the Army Aviation, "said Skibitsky.
He
specified that the crews both combat helicopters and tactical
aircraft took and participate in hostilities in Syria. "This
means that crews have enough experience to use bombs, high-precision
weapons on civilian populations," said Skibicki.
He
added that the combat radius of aircraft that deployed Russia along
the border with Ukraine covers the entire territory of Ukraine.
According
to Skibitsky, during the period of aggressive actions of
the RF against
Ukraine, a significant increase in troops was made, and the formation
of new unions and associations near the state border of Ukraine and
in general in the European part of the Russian
Federation. "Considerable attention of the Russian
Federation is paid to the creation and preparation of battalion
tactical groups, which are currently deployed along the border of our
state. The total number of battalion tactical groups of the RF
capable of carrying out combat missions in our territory is 25
units," he informed.
Skibitsky
also said that during the strategic exercises of the RF Armed Forces
"Kavkaz-2016", "Vostok-2018", "West-2017",
issues of the creation of shock groups in the Ukrainian direction,
mobilization, and the redeployment of reserve forces and means from
the central regions of the Russian Federation were worked out to the
borders with Ukraine.
Sudden Military "Exercise"
Russia
has made a rather sudden announcement of a "Military Exercise"
in its Southern Military District, which borders Ukraine.
From
the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD)
To
check the readiness of more than 40 formations and military units of
the Southern Military District (YuVO) to the beginning of the new
school year, complex commissions started from the directorates and
services of the district headquarters appointed by the commander of
the Southern Military District Colonel-General Alexander Dvornikov.
Representatives
of the branches of the branches of troops and services of the
Southern Military District check the readiness of the training
material base, weapons and military equipment, as well as the state
of social facilities in the units and military units of the district
subordination, combined-arms units, the Black Sea Fleet, the Caspian
Flotilla and 4 air forces and armies Air Defense.
In
order to organize the training process in the new academic year, more
than 30 combined-arms ranges, shooting ranges, as well as more than
400 training classes and about 200 training complexes at the order
base were trained in the Southern Military District.
More
than 3.5 thousand targets and radio-controlled firing systems were
equipped for conducting training in firing training at combined-arms
ranges.
The
new academic year in the troops of the Southern Military District
will begin on December 1 of this year.
UPDATE 6:15 PM EST --
My
sources in the US State Department confirm to me directly there was a
telephone conversation earlier this afternoon between Ukrainian
President Porochenko and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
During that call the U.S. Secretary of State pledged
“full assistance, including military assistance,” to protect
Ukrainian sovereignty.
UPDATE 6:20 PM EST --
USAF
Global Hawk drone and US Navy P-8 Poseidon now over the Black Sea
monitoring near the Kerch Strait and Crimea
UPDATE 6:27 PM EST --
Ukraine
regions placed under martial law start preparing defenses: Kherson
regional defense council already moved law enforcement to heightened
alert, in Kharkiv military troops put to combat readiness, Mykolayiv
inspecting fortifications and bomb shelters.
As
of 4:40 PM EST this afternoon, Britain is sending HMS Echo - a
vessel that specializes in survey exercises, so the Black Sea amid
Russia-Ukraine incident.
Echo
and her sister ship are designed to conduct survey operations in
support of submarines or amphibious operations. She can provide
almost real-time tailored environmental information, and also has a
secondary role as a mine countermeasure tasking authority platform,
for which she is capable of embarking a dedicated mine counter
measures command team.
JUST-IN
Moscow
to host meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense of Russia
This
is a big deal. They've called all the military big shots -- ALL
OF THEM -- to Moscow on extremely short notice. Something big
is up . . .
UPDATE 7:19 PM EST --
Panic
buying has begun in local supermarkets near Kherson as martial law
comes into full effect. Buckwheat, matches, and salt are purchased in
large quantities, with some shortages reported
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