The Situation in the Ukraine. #16

JohninMK wrote:Here we go, the UA has to go in and protect the world from a radiation disaster. No mention that it was UA shells that did the damage. This is the second time they have announced this!

Ghost of Chernobyl: Ukrainian Forces Warn of Possible Radiation Leak in Donetsk Area Amid Ceasefire Violations

The Ukrainian government urged the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor the level of background radiation after the explosion at the Donetsk factory of chemical products. The factory manages the disposal of ammunition, upgrade and repair of ammo. The factory also produces industrial explosives.

“For a long time now the concentration of ammunition and explosives in the areas of the factory had reached almost critical level. For over a year the plant has been a threat to the entire region,” read the Facebook statement posted by the headquarters of Kiev’s special military operation in southeastern Ukraine.

It was earlier reported that an explosion that occurred at a Donetsk chemical factory on June 16 could have led to damages at the radiation storage site as it triggered the detonation of underground ammunition depots. “This situation is causing great concern of the Ukrainian side, because there is a possibility of leakage of radioactive elements that are very dangerous to the health and life of a large number of civilians in the region,” Ukrainian Maj. Gen. Andriy Taran was quoted as saying in a Facebook statement posted by the headquarters of Kiev’s special military operation in southeastern Ukraine.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150629/1023987253.html#ixzz3eSh8WBDz

Khepesh wrote:TheMedvedova is now a victim of youtube censorship and banned. I would not be surprised that when the war starts and it begins to go against Kiev, then youtube will terminate all obvious accounts that support Novorossiya, in the interests of "democracy and free speech" of course..... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy26U7Xp3e7W2V-rysEAkSw

Khepesh wrote:TheMedvedova is now a victim of youtube censorship and banned. I would not be surprised that when the war starts and it begins to go against Kiev, then youtube will terminate all obvious accounts that support Novorossiya, in the interests of "democracy and free speech" of course.....

Khepesh wrote:^ "he"

JohninMK wrote:Looks like Ukraine will be leaving the developed world way behind.

Due to the lack of support from the country’s military-industrial complex, Ukraine has to repair “old junk” and use it as its military hardware, said Yuri Biryukov, a senior adviser to President Petro Poroshenko. This is a case when one wants to "barf" when talking about Ukraine's military-industrial complex, Biryukov said on his Facebook account.

Out of 226 KrAZ army trucks that the Ukrainian army was supposed to receive on June 30, only 113 were delivered. That means only 50 percent of the delivery plan was completed, Poroshenko's adviser said. The army received 59 new trucks in May. Seventeen of them went out of service within the first week. Generators, gearboxes, front axles, breaks and engine cooling systems are all defective, Biryukov said. At the same time, the Ukrainian army needs more than two thousand trucks. But Ukrainian rear services are currently unable to fill in the demand.

Previously, Ukrainian media reported that two-thirds of armored vehicles that the Ukrainian army received in 2014 and 2015 are currently out of service. The vehicles are broken not because of military action, but due to manufacturing defects. After the fights in Debaltsevo, Latvian media said Ukrainian-made T-64 tanks had serious defects that significantly decreased their ability to take a hit. When Ukrainian tanks were hit, their top turrets tore away and hulls had abnormal damages, sometimes with welding seams breaking apart.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20150629/1023990783.html#ixzz3eSzZQnlN

JohninMK wrote:More Minsk false hope?

Dariia Olifer, the Press Secretary of Leonid Kuchma, the representative of Ukraine on the peace talks regarding the ongoing war in the Donbas, reported that the meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk was scheduled for July 7, Joinfo.ua informs. According to her,  representatives of the contact group will sign another weapons withdrawal agreement. “The meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk is scheduled for July 7. Security will be one of the key issues for discussion at this meeting.

Until this day it is planned to sign a document on mutual withdrawal of heavy weapons under 100 mm – tanks and mortars – from the contact line,” Olifer wrote.

It should be recalled that the sources from the contact group reported that an agreement on the withdrawal of weapons had been achieved and it would be signed soon.

Khepesh wrote:All across northern and northwest Gorlovka was under bombardment. The situation rapidly got worse but has now stopped, for the moment...

Erk wrote:

RT Crosstalk on Minsk II progress, the panel seems to think that not one of the 13 points on the Minsk II agreement has been fulfilled yet!

max steel wrote:

Erk wrote:

RT Crosstalk on Minsk II progress, the panel seems to think that not one of the 13 points on the Minsk II agreement has been fulfilled yet!

guy in the middle is Mark Sleboda . I know him .

Brzezinski's full recipe for solving the yearlong Ukrainian crisis is the following:

"Ukraine must have a right to freely choose its political identity and forge closer ties with Europe. At the same time, Russia must be reassured that Ukraine will never become a NATO member," Brzezinski said, as quoted by Spiegel Online.

In other words, Ukraine needs to become Finland of sorts. Brzezinski's ideas echo those of Henry Kissinger. In an opinion piece for the Washington Post published in March 2014, the former secretary of state urged the West to understand Russia's concerns and its attachment to Ukraine.

"Ukraine should have the right to choose freely its economic and political associations, including with Europe," Kissinger stated, adding that Kiev should not join NATO and "should pursue a posture comparable to that of Finland."

Brzezinski defended the US decision to position more troops and heavy weaponry in the Eastern European states and the Baltics, saying it was a cycle of action and reaction. To his mind, the United States would provoke a war with Russia if Washington does not respond to Moscow's steps.

Russia has made its stance on the issue abundantly clear: the US and NATO's increased military presence close to Russia's borders and intensified war-games in Russia's neighborhood risk undermining stability and security in the whole region. Western saber-rattling runs counter to the bloc's promises and prompts Moscow to seek ways to improve its defense capabilities.

Many call mounting tensions between Russia and the West a new installment of the Cold War. Brzezinski thinks the second Cold War has long since started. But it will not last as long and is unlikely to turn hot, he told Spiegel Online.

The document envisages increasing expenditures from 60 billion hryvnia (nearly $3 billion) in 2015 to 150 billion (over $7 billion) in 2018. Thus, the military budget will grow 2,5 times.

The share of the proposed defense budget in the country's GDP will mount, constituting 3,36 percent in 2015, 6,22 percent in 2016, 6,08 percent in 2017 and 5,67 percent in 2018. In comparison, NATO countries decided to limit their military spending at around two percent of GDP, CyberBerkut notes.

The strength of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has surpassed 250,000, increasing from 184,000 in early March, according to the deputy defense minister. He said earlier in June that Ukraine lacked funds to provide food and clothes for the growing army.

The increasing expenditures will scarcely have any positive effect on servicemen's salaries, housing, healthcare and other social needs, the hacker group said citing the document. The lion's share of the budget will be spent on fortification structures, mobilizations and reserve training.

We know not what is good until we have lost it: Mikheil Saakashvili, who actively supported the Euromaidan turmoil that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych, now asserted that it will take 20 years to reach the social level of Yanukovych's Ukraine.

The growing military costs will be too great strain on Ukraine's staggering economy and will hamper its restoration, hackers concluded.

CyberBerkut is a group of hackers opposed to the current government in Kiev. Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the group has conducted a series of high-profile hacks. It has previously reported on the details of US plans to send arms to Ukraine, released information revealing the high casualty figures among the Ukrainian Army, information about snipers on Maidan Square, and Victoria Nuland's famous "F**k the EU!" exchange with US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt.

The remarks came after Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk appealed to Brussels to check the agreement between Russian energy giant Gazprom and Slovakian company Eustream. According to the prime minister, the deal prevents Slovakia from allowing reverse flows through the Uzhgorod-Velke Kapusany pipeline.

"Ukrainians … should have thanked us for the gifts we made them. In a very short period of time we managed to launch the reverse gas flow through the Vojany-Uzhgorod pipeline. Instead they opted for deceitful tactics," the media outlet pointed out.

Good neighbors do not act like this, Martin Dargaj said. Kiev should have contacted the Slovaks to discuss the gas issue. The Ukrainians are hugely mistaken if they think that these actions will help them to increase the reverse gas flow form Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, he added.

Moreover, there is no ground for the Kiev accusations since Eustream did nothing wrong. The company issued a statement calling the complaint "irrelevant."

"The operation of the measurement station in Veľké Kapušany is not governed by the above mentioned contract but by separate agreements on technical conditions of transmission," the Slovak pipeline operator explained.

Interestingly, Kiev does not use the Vojany-Uzhgorod pipeline to its full capacity.

"Despite the fact that the overall capacity of this pipeline is 40 mil. m3. per day, Ukraine only uses half of its capacity. The level of current transmission is at  20.9 mil. m3. per day," Eustream pointed out.

According to Dargaj, Kiev's behavior is quite understandable in terms of profit seeking. Gas Ukraine buys from Russia is cheaper than the fuel it receives from the European Union.