The Situation in the Ukraine. #15

KoTeMoRe wrote:RIP to the firefighters, but in all honesty if this is a known location and staging point for the "Donbas Safari", why for the love of God wasn't it targeted last year.

whir wrote:

RT wrote:Firefighters die combating massive blaze at fuel storage facility near Kiev (VIDEO)
Published time: June 09, 2015 06:52 Edited time: June 09, 2015 09:34

A massive fire has caused explosions of oil tanks at a storage facility near Kiev, killing several firefighters. The inferno is out of control, setting 17 huge tanks ablaze. There are gas storage tanks on the site at risk of detonation.

According to a local TV channel 1+1, cited by RIA: "There were 180 rescuers at the facility when the blast occurred. It's not known how many survived. Ambulances can hardly manage to cope with transporting those injured. Rescuers say that gas pipelines run behind the oil tanks on fire, and they can explode as well.”

"Just like you, we consider the possibility that fire from the oil depot may spread to the airfield area. The Defense Ministry and the air command 'Center' did all they could to prevent such a scenario. All special services of the airfiled and personnel are ready. This is a facility under our special attention," Ukraine's Defense Ministry said.

The disaster at the BRSM-Nafta facility some 20 km southwest of the Ukrainian capital started Monday night, with one worker fatally burned in the initial fire. Five others were hospitalized with serious burns. Continue reading.

whir wrote:

Life-Maria Channel wrote:Giant fire at the tank farm BRYU Vasil'kov 9 June 15

PapaDragon wrote:Firefighters should pack their sht and leave, if they stay they can burn too for all I care.

Hope this burns hard, a lot and for a long time. Karma is a bitch.

auslander wrote:While I have not been too active on forum of late I/we have kept very much up to date on events revolving around the war in Novorossiya.

What we have here is a de facto war against Russian Federation. The ever increasing drumbeat of propaganda and twisted facts reported in West media (and East media is not much better) is increasing daily, demonizing Mr. Putin and Russia in the process. More sanctions against RF are coming, there is no doubt of this. Countries bordering the Black Sea on the west side are being actively courted to take sides in the conflict, thus opening up their naval bases to Nato assets, in effect putting a hostile presence in what is essentially a Russian lake. Countries on the east borders of what is known as European Union are being actively armed and reinforced by 'nato', read US, military units. Countries in the central and west regions of eu are in almost a panic as they realize that the cutting of their militaries to the bone is having unforeseen results and they are frightened, the fright more a result of them believing their own propaganda rather than any overt or covert threat from RF.

I think this entire crisis is manufactured, it follows a carefully laid out plan to slowly but steadily increase the economic and military pressure against RF and Mr. Putin personally thereby bringing the collapse of RF and the removal of Mr. Putin from power in RF. DoS in US is not what it seems. The real Secretary of State is V. Nuland, not J. Kerry, and V. Nuland has made it crystal clear what her agenda is, therefore her agenda is the same as B. Obama's agenda, the eventual and total destruction of RF.

Analogies using past and current history are useless. While there are similarities today of summer 1914, the reality is the situation and crisis is worlds apart from that time 100 years ago. At that time the aggressive economic attacks against RF would have long ago brought a declaration of war. The truly frightening reality is it is becoming more and more evident that USA seems to think it can wage this undeclared war to completion and destroy RF with no consequences to themselves. I honestly now believe USA thinks it can win in a nuclear exchange and actually survive.

I/we are not frightened, we are not worried of the end of the world as we know it, we are not looking for a doomsday scenario, but on the other hand we are realists. What will be will be, we are nothing but a very small cog in the wheel of life and have no effect on how things will turn out. We hope for the best but we have prepared as we can. We live life day to day, week to week, month to month. We, and you, can only hope and pray that this crisis, this war, eventually subsides and we can go on with life in peace and tranquility. All is in His hands, not ours.

whir wrote:

KoTeMoRe wrote:RIP to the firefighters, but in all honesty if this is a known location and staging point for the "Donbas Safari", why for the love of God wasn't it targeted last year.

Keep in mind that RS and NG have been training in the outskirts of the airfield for some time so an accident was more or less expected but not of this magnitude.

Neutrality wrote:

whir wrote:

Life-Maria Channel wrote:Giant fire at the tank farm BRYU Vasil'kov 9 June 15

Just listen to the comments from the people on the background. They couldn't give 2 shits about a dangerously close out of hand fire. Hell, they are even laughing. Sums up your common Ukrainian who doesn't give a fuck about what happens outside as long as it stays out of their own circle. And people say patriotism is stupid. Lack of patriotism is exactly what leads to people destroying their own countries and fleeing to better resorts as soon as shit hits then fan.

The Ukrainian propaganda machine is probably working overtime now, trying to pin this on someone else.

KoTeMoRe wrote:If this is an accident it is even more horrible for the Firefighters. However if it isn't* then why so late? While I understand that this war* is going crescendo and the location made it difficult to reach, this should have been a priority for a deep strike.

auslander wrote:"I'm beginning to think you're right, and I agree.

I've been thinking about Jade Helm on-going in the USA, and yesterday had the thought it's preparation for the aftermath of a nuclear attack.

My grandkids asked me about it yesterday and I said it could be only for Massive earthquake, asteroid / metorite hit, volcano like at Yeallowstone (not likely to happen any time soon), or after a nuclear strike.....

from the lefty Huff Po, who thinks all Texans and all of Texas, except for the Democrats, are "extremists" lol"

My wife and I have discussed this several times. We have done all we can within reason. If it comes to an apocalypse it won't matter to us as we're sitting on Ground Zero.

I am not pleased with what I see going on in US. My visit last October was an eye opener and that's being kind, I didn't recognize the place after being gone for almost 7 years. My HOR is deep south and it is my understanding that things up in Yankeeland have changed far more than in our little village in CSA. Perhaps one day both sides will come to their senses but I doubt it.  

Cowboy's daughter wrote: Totally agree. People I know in Texas may not exactly know what is going on, but they trust the Federal government about as far as they can throw a fat lady at a circus. ...They're waiting for the other shoe to drop....i.e. watching to see what the Fed. gov. does to the public next.

inforesist via Google Translate wrote:Резолюция Европарламента: Россия больше не стратегический партнер ЕС
Resolution of the European Parliament: Russia is no longer a strategic partner of the EU


Russia is no longer a strategic partner for the EU because of their actions in the Crimea and eastern Ukraine. This is stated in the text of the resolution of the European Parliament, for which MEPs will vote on June 10.

"At present Russia as a result of his actions in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, can no longer be considered, or considered" strategic partner ", - the document says.
"The strategic partnership must be based on mutual trust and respect for international law, which is based on democracy, national sovereignty and freedom of choice of the internal constitutional order and foreign policy orientations" - said in a resolution.

In addition, the document emphasizes that the resumption of cooperation between the EU and Russia is possible only on the condition that "Russia will respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, including Crimea, fully implements Minsk transactions (which include full control of the border by the Ukrainian authorities unconditional withdrawal Russian troops and weapons, and the immediate cessation of aid to rebel groups). "

MEPs call on Russia to "stop destabilizing effect on the borders of the EU", and expressed concern because of the support and financing of Russian radical and extremist parties in the EU Member States ".

"The resolution calls on the Commission to develop legislation prohibiting the financing of political parties in the EU political and economic actors outside the EU", - the document says.
MEPs also urge the Commission to "immediately allocate sufficient funding for specific projects aimed at countering Russian propaganda and disinformation in the EU." Continue reading.

Sputnik wrote:Der Spiegel Apologizes to Readers over Coverage of Bellingcat MH17 Report
19:13 09.06.2015(updated 20:17 09.06.2015) Daniele Pozzati

Under the headline "What we learn from the coverage of the Bellingcat report," Der Spiegel's online edition has published an apology for taking it at face value.


"Among our journalistic principles is the fact that we do not assess explosive news as reliable until we have received it from two trustworthy sources independent from each other."

"If we rate news so explosive that we do not want to withhold it from you, dear readers, even if we could not verify it, then we choose a careful formulation."

But this, the choosing of a careful formulation for yet to be verified explosive news, is exactly what Der Spiegel failed to do at least twice during the initial coverage of the Bellingcat MH17 report. Continue reading.

Sputnik wrote:'Maidan 3.0' Organizer With Possible Ties to US Kicked Out of Ukraine
20:06 09.06.2015(updated 20:35 09.06.2015)

'Maidan 3.0' organizer Rustam Tashbaev has been expelled from Ukraine and declared persona non grata, Ukrainian Security Service head Valentin Nalyvaichenko announced on Tuesday. Questions remain about Tashbaev's identity and about his political masters.

"The foreigner whose name you mentioned [Rustam Tashbaev] has been expelled by the SBU and has been denied entry into the country, to prevent further provocations," Nalyvaichenko stated, speaking before reporters in Lviv.

Nalyvaichenko added that Tashbaev had been one of the organizers of "a provocative aping of the just protests which took place a year-and-a-half ago, including on Maidan Square in Kiev." The security official also noted that Tashbaev "was among those who, with funding and support from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics purchased tents, a platform and attempted to express his provocative rhetoric."

On Sunday night, several dozen masked men dispersed a protest on Kiev's Maidan Square, after about 100 demonstrators set up several tents and unfurled banners ahead of the one year anniversary of President Petro Poroshenko's inauguration. The protesters demanded that the president account for his actions. The masked men were reported to have first approached police, who had surrounded the protest site, to demand police action, before themselves entering the makeshift camp and dismantling it. According to Nalyvaichenko, the so-called 'Maidan Self-Defense' force had effectively done its job. Continue reading.

Sputnik wrote:Czechs and Slovaks Form 'Czechoslovak' Volunteer Fighting Unit in Donbass
18:15 09.06.2015(updated 20:33 09.06.2015)

Czech and Slovak volunteers fighting in Donbass on the side of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic have announced the formation of a joint Czech-Slovak fighting unit, a statement on the Slovak Facebook page of the 'International Brigade 15' has announced.

The Facebook post noted that the Czech-Slovak squad, formed from the Pyatnashka 15 international brigade, already has eight members, and is looking for several more volunteers to create a 10 member squad, complete with its own badge and nomenclature. The page notes that prospective volunteers should have previous military experience, a working knowledge of Russian, be in good shape, and be under 40 years of age.

Dnesnym dnom sa zacala formovat samostatna cesko-slovenska jednotka. Pocet ludi v Patnastke zatial dostacuje na…

Posted by International Brigade 15 — Slovak page on Thursday, June 4, 2015
The Facebook post announcing the formation of the new unit.

On Monday, Slovak news site Aktuality.sk published an interview with one of the new unit's volunteers, who spoke on condition of anonymity. According to the volunteer fighter, the eight-person squad consists of four Czechs and four Slovaks, among them the famous Slovak militia commander nicknamed 'Sojka' ('The Jay') who is on leave following an injury. The other volunteers include rank-and-file troops as well as several specialists. Continue reading.

Eye Tech wrote:Fire in basil, AYTEK tank Patriot RV010. June 9, 2015, 13:30

The Wall Street Journal wrote:Anger Grows Behind Rebel Lines as Ukraine Limits Access
By LAURA MILLS June 9, 2015 5:30 a.m. ET

Long waits at checkpoints deter crossings; food, medical supplies run short

KURAKHOVE, Ukraine—Once a month, Nina Petrenko and her husband drive across the front line here to pick up their government pension and buy groceries. Both are often hard to get behind rebel lines, where they live. Continue reading.

The Japan Times wrote:Opposing Russian aggression
JUN 8, 2015 BY GWYNNE DYER

LONDON – Just before he sat down to a traditional Bavarian meal of sausages and beer with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the start of the Group of Seven summit on Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama told the media that one of the meeting’s priorities would be discussing ways of “standing up to Russian aggression in Ukraine.” Which begs the question: what kind of aggression are we talking about here?

There are unquestionably Russian troops in the rebel provinces of eastern Ukraine, and that is certainly an act of aggression under international law. (The Russian troops there are definitely not just volunteers lending the rebels a hand while they are on leave, as Moscow maintains. How can we be sure? Because soldiers on leave do not take their tanks and artillery with them.)

But is this a prelude to a Russian invasion that would take over all of Ukraine, as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko recently alleged? If it is, it would require a whole different level of response, and the result could easily be a new Cold War.

Is it also the first step in a Russian campaign to take back everything that used to be part of the Soviet Union, and before that of the Russian empire, as many in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Georgia and other former “Soviet Republics” fear? If so, “standing up to Russian aggression” would be an even bigger task, involving a major NATO troop build-up in Europe and probably a new nuclear arms race.

Might Russian President Vladimir Putin actually be the next would-be world conqueror, out of the same mold as Napoleon and Hitler? In that case, get ready for the Third World War, because it’s unlikely that anything less would stop him. So exactly what kind of aggressor Putin is matters quite a lot. Continue reading.

Игорь Гаврилюк wrote:BRSM.Turchynov, Avakov, Poltorak, Shandra, Moseychuk to eliminate fires BRSM,

AlbautovD 93 wrote:Detention Paul Gubarev. Donetsk mall SkyCity 8.06.2015

Громадське Телебачення wrote:The Sunday Show - Obama Has Outsourced The Ukraine War To Merkel — David Kramer

News-Front wrote:[18+] DNR. Fight in the Donetsk airport is the battalion "Somalia" June 9, 2015

[18+] Donetsk airport battalion "Somalia" came under heavy shelling APU June 9, 2015

Horrific shelling w / w station in Donetsk on June 8 perecherknuvshy all the talk of peace

wrote:Ukraine: A phoney war in strategic Mariupol
Latest update: 2015-06-08

Mariupol is a strategic port on the Sea of Azov in eastern Ukraine. It is one of the last major eastern cities still controlled by Kiev, but it remains under constant threat from pro-Russian separatists.

Since the Minsk agreement in February, the ceasefire has not been fully respected and people are still being killed. Ukrainian soldiers and pro-Russia separatists are stuck in stalemate.

Mariupol’s residents are trying to live normal lives, just a few kilometres from the front line of the ongoing conflict. But they remain permanently on alert.

Our international affairs editor Robert Parsons went back to Mariupol to bring you an up-close look at how ordinary people are trying to cope. Video.

People are overreacting to the G7 summit, just as they overreacted to the Putin-Kerry meeting.

The Putin-Kerry meeting was not a breakthrough in US-Russia relations (see Kerry in Sochi: Better Relations Between Moscow and Washington - No Peace in Ukraine, Russia Insider, 18th May 2015:  http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/why-kerrys-meeting-putin-may-mean-us-russia-relations-have-turned-corner-does-not-mean ).  

At most it was an understanding by the realists on both sides that the US had failed in its larger geopolitical objectives in Ukraine and that the conflict there should be put to one side so that the US and Russia could work together on other matters.  However even the realists in the US continue to see Russia as an adversary.

Nothing that happened at the G7 summit changes that picture.

There was a commitment to continue the sanctions but no-one - certainly not the Russians - seriously imagined they would be lifted (see G7 and Sanctions: Doubling Down on a Failed Policy, Russia Insider, 9th June 2015).

Obama made his usual over-the-top comments about Putin “wrecking the Russian economy”, “leading Russia into isolation” and “wanting to restore the Soviet empire”.  As my colleague Danielle Ryan rightly says, it is impossible Obama really believes this nonsense (see The Lights Are on in Washington, but Nobody’s Home, Russia Insider, 9th June 2015)

At the end of the day however these are just words intended for domestic consumption - to show the folks back home how tough Obama is - and they were followed up with no action.

The G7’s communique contains a threat to increase the sanctions if Russia doesn’t behave itself.  Merkel however admitted that no new sanctions were discussed. That particular sentence in the communique - like the rest of the communique - was almost certainly agreed weeks ago.

There were the usual bromides about supporting Ukraine.  However no money was actually offered, which is what in its present condition Ukraine actually needs.

Someone - possibly the Canadians or the British - brought up the idea of arming the Ukrainians again.  That idea was however rejected, as it was before, with the Europeans adamantly opposed to it.  Apparently the discussion of this subject was perfunctory, lasting just a few minutes.

Most of the summit’s communique was not about Russia or Ukraine at all, but was the usual airy talk on a diverse medley of subjects - prepared months in advance - packed with the usual grandiose commitments for example on climate change no one expects will ever be fulfilled.

So far as relations with Russia are concerned the G7 summit was a non-event.

The best indicator of that is the stolid reaction to the summit of Russia’s financial markets.  

After the communique was published the rouble actually strengthened and Russia’s stock markets rose.  

Financial markets are febrile beasts and not always reliable, but this time we should take a lesson from their calm.