Ukraine Crisis - Page 386

Exclusive: Photographs Expose Russian-Trained Killers in Kiev

Most of the photographs accompanying this article were taken on February 20, and they appear to reveal the truth about who carried out the shootings in Independence Square on that day. The pictures shared exclusively with The Daily Beast show members of a crack anti-terrorist unit known as the Alfa Team in the courtyard of the headquarters of Ukraine’s feared state security service, the SBU, preparing themselves for battle. The agency’s seven-story headquarters occupies an entire city block and is just three streets from the Maidan.

The SBU is the successor intelligence agency to the Ukrainian branch of the Soviet-era KGB and it still maintains exceptionally close ties to Moscow. For many years “leading SBU functionaries came from the KGB,” says Boris Volodarsky, a former Russian military intelligence officer and author of the book The KGB’s Poison Factory. He says Russia’s intelligence service, now known as the FSB, has made sure over the years to maintain deep penetration of its Ukrainian counterpart and to ensure that its “agents and associates remain in place.” That was easily done during thepresidency of the pro-Russian Yanukovych.

A U.S. intelligence source says that “since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Western security services have considered Kiev to be FSB territory.” Instructors from Russian Special Forces have trained Alfa units.

...

From early morning until midday on February 20 Alfa Team members come and go in the courtyard of the SBU’s national headquarters as firing echoes three blocks away in the charnel house of the Maidan. No afternoon pictures of the courtyard were taken by the sources, who are ordinary Ukrainians and not connected with any government authority either in Ukraine or overseas. They filmed the material themselves and their camera numbers match the metadata on the supplied digital pictures and video footage.
Source.

Some notable highlights by Lavrov from the interview conducted with Rossiya 24:

“Isolation” is a term invented by our Western partners who act with nostalgic neo-imperial ambitions in mind. The instant something isn’t to their liking they draw out this sanctions stick. The times when such strategy could be employed are long gone.... I’m surprised at how obsessively they’re trying to – create rather than find – proof of Russia’s isolation.
China is a very close partner of Russia. In our joint documents our relations are defined as comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation. All of China’s actions reaffirm its commitment to the principles we agreed on. If, as you say, the Americans did try to convince China to review its economic agreements with Russia on the highest level, it’s an off-the-scale naïve or brazen attitude. I would even say that not understanding the essence of Chinese politics and mentality is just inexcusable for the officials in charge of such negotiations.

At the very beginning China said that it takes into consideration the combination of historical and political factors. China strongly opposed using non-diplomatic measures and threats of sanctions to resolve this problem. Our contacts with our Chinese partners show that they not only understand Russia’s rightful interests in this case, but are also hand-in-hand with us in the understanding of the initial causes of the current crisis in Ukraine. There is no doubt about it.
Over a month ago I raised the issue of the Right Sector and the necessity to dissociate from the radical forces with our Western partners. I asked them a very simple question: “If you agree that we need to defuse the situation, why won’t you publicly say what the Right Sector really is?” Same to a degree goes for the Svoboda party, whose platform references The Declaration of June 30, 1941, which expressed support of Nazi Germany and its efforts to establish a new world order. According to the party’s charter, it’s still committed to this principle. US Secretary of State John Kerry told me that after close scrutiny they concluded that the Right Sector was trying to become a political movement. The subtext was that it’s a good thing, and Svoboda is moving towards [the] mainstream. That’s a quote.
The punchline:

It is wrong for NATO members to be protected with indivisible security and for everybody else to be treated as second-rate nations, so NATO can act as a magnet to attract new members and keep pushing the dividing line further to the east.
We were promised that NATO would not bring its military infrastructure closer to our borders – and we were cheated. We were promised there would be no military installations on the territory of the new NATO members. At first, we just listened to those promises and believed them. Then we started putting them on paper as political obligations, and serious people, Western leaders, signed those documents. But when we asked them how come those political obligations were ignored and whether we can make them legally binding, they told us, “No, political obligations are enough, and anyway, don’t worry, whatever we do is not against you.”

Eastern Partnership – as well as NATO expansion – was simply an instrument used to quickly take control over geopolitical territory. The EU was ready to push this project through at any cost. It completely ignored legitimate economic interests of both Ukraine’s neighbors, like Russia and other countries, and even the nations that were part of this program. There have been many studies on this issue. No wonder even Yatsenyuk says that Ukraine needs to take a closer look at the economic section of this agreement.


And the next steps in terms of what Russia sees an ongoing response to NATO incursion:

The same will happen with Moldova. They are doing their best to sign a similar agreement with Moldova this summer, before the upcoming election. And this agreement they intend to sign with Moldova – it completely ignores the issue of Transnistria. It ignores the 1997 agreement between Chisinau and Tiraspol which entitled Transnistria to international trade. It ignores what is happening with Transnistria today: Chisinau and the new Ukrainian authorities have basically blockaded the territory. But our European partners keep mum about that. In fact, the European Union and, I think, the United States approve of this policy.


We want to talk to them very seriously about that, because they are escalating tensions over Transnistria, almost claiming that it will be next. This is outrageous, provocative rhetoric. Actually, they want to create unbearable conditions for Tiraspol in violation, I repeat, of the agreements which entitled Transnistrians to certain travel, transit and trade rights. This is outrageous. They never learn. Once again, they seek to create a sore point in our relations

On March 30 2014 18:56 Ghanburighan wrote:

And why people shouldn't trust any remaining Russian media outlets:
https://twitter.com/IlvesToomas/status/450031653012779009

On March 31 2014 00:03 sekritzzz wrote:

Not that I'm defending Russian media, but American media is just as bad. CNN, fox, abc, nbc. Most of the time they are simply the pentagons machine.

On March 31 2014 00:03 sekritzzz wrote:
Not that I'm defending Russian media, but American media is just as bad. CNN, fox, abc, nbc. Most of the time they are simply the pentagons machine.

UN chief: Putin promised no new moves in Ukraine
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin assured him he had no intention of making another military move into Ukraine following the annexation of Crimea.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin echoed the UN chief, saying Putin made clear in a March 18 statement that there was not going to be any new Russian move into Ukraine. He accused unnamed countries of "trying to artificially whip up the atmosphere of international crisis."

.....

"Some parties were trying to whip up tension - Russian aggression is imminent, or something like that, throwing wild assessments of the presence of our troops allegedly on the border with Ukraine," Churkin said.

"Our forces in Russia are undergoing their usual routine, staying in their barracks or doing some training," he said. "But there is no worry of any Russian initiative against Ukraine."

Churkin said there have been four inspections along the Russia-Ukraine border by about a dozen countries this month - including one by the United States, Germany and Ukraine - "and none of them told us they saw anything particularly disconcerting."

He said Putin told Russia's defense minister on Friday to return Ukraine's military hardware from Crimea, adding "this is not something you do if you plan anything dramatic against this country."

Ban said during his visits to Moscow and Kiev on March 20-21 "emotions were running high ... and tensions have been very highly charged." He said he urged leaders in both countries to de-escalate the situation and engage in direct talks, and called on Ukraine's leaders to address domestic concerns that Russia has.

But the secretary-general said "President Putin ... told me that he had no intention to make any military move."

Churkin said the effort to whip up an international crisis "is not helpful at all." What all parties need to do is help the Ukrainians get out of the crisis in the country, he said.

Churkin said Russia has spelled out its views of what needs to be done to "our international colleagues" and the Ukrainians.

"The armed groups must be disarmed. The radicals must be reined in, and most importantly there must be (a) constitutional process ... and the results of a constitutional assembly must be put to a referendum," Churkin said. Then, there will be a new constitution "where all the regions of the country will be comfortable about where they are, about their rights, and about where their country is going.

Russia has pushed strongly for federalizing Ukraine - giving its regions more autonomy - but Ukraine's interim authorities in Kiev have rejected such a move.

.....

"There is no political leader in sight who might be able to unite the country," he said. "All the politicians one can hear about are extremely divisive for the Ukrainian society."

Churkin said Russia is being urged to engage in dialogue and is ready to talk if there's a response to its views of what must be done.

The Ukrainians say they can't hold a constitutional assembly now because there's no one to organize it, so Churkin proposed that the international community help. And he reiterated Russia's call for the establishment of an international contact group that could take on this role.

Source

On March 31 2014 01:52 Geisterkarle wrote:
That doesn't make a media not biased!
Could we just agree that "both sides" try to use their media to support their cause and "bash" anything the others are saying? Because THAT is happening!

Aside from that Russia is telling - again and again - what they want: Ukraine block-free / not added to the NATO! Maybe finally they agree so that all heads will cool down!

On March 30 2014 23:59 sekritzzz wrote:
Well it looks like Russia has had enough of the west's manipulation throughout the past 25 years to further extend their sphere of influence through missile shields and pressing nations to join NATO. This is going to be a new chapter in the way Russia conducts it's foreign policy and it looks like it will rely on real politik from now on. This is a copy/paste from zerohedge on highlights from Russia's foreign minister.

.

On March 31 2014 03:02 Sub40APM wrote:

"Whats ours is ours but whats theirs is negotiable!"
The fact that people still think the West has "pressured" anyone to join NATO is pretty laughable.

Could we just agree that "both sides" try to use their media to support their cause and "bash" anything the others are saying? Because THAT is happening!

On March 31 2014 03:42 sekritzzz wrote:
As far as press freedom goes, I'm talking about the US, although the government does not directly give them bullets points, they heavily terrorize them up to the point where they have become just as ineffective as Russian media.


Common ways for the US govt to control media is by "punishing" them if they don't write stories in line with the current administrations. Punishments include not inviting them to press conferences, etc amongst other things. The govt also heavily relies on selective "leaks" from "officials" which most news sites rely on to send out specific information. Anyone who still thinks American media is actually not heavily influenced/controlled by the govt is delusional. There is a vast amount of information on the net on the ways the govt sends "signals" to the American media and anyone interested can do the research for himself or simply follow the "we have a free press parade" and sing kumbaya.

On March 31 2014 03:42 sekritzzz wrote:
As far as press freedom goes, I'm talking about the US, although the government does not directly give them bullets points, they heavily terrorize them up to the point where they have become just as ineffective as Russian media.


Common ways for the US govt to control media is by "punishing" them if they don't write stories in line with the current administrations. Punishments include not inviting them to press conferences, etc amongst other things. The govt also heavily relies on selective "leaks" from "officials" which most news sites rely on to send out specific information. Anyone who still thinks American media is actually not heavily influenced/controlled by the govt is delusional. There is a vast amount of information on the net on the ways the govt sends "signals" to the American media and anyone interested can do the research for himself or simply follow the "we have a free press parade" and sing kumbaya.

On March 30 2014 23:59 sekritzzz wrote:
Well it looks like Russia has had enough of the west's manipulation throughout the past 25 years to further extend their sphere of influence through missile shields and pressing nations to join NATO. This is going to be a new chapter in the way Russia conducts it's foreign policy and it looks like it will rely on real politik from now on. This is a copy/paste from zerohedge on highlights from Russia's foreign minister.

On March 31 2014 03:59 oo_Wonderful_oo wrote:


O'kay.
Because of it you can just turn on Echo Moscow/RBC/TVRain or some other stuff, if you want to see other side of coin/listen to some experts/have fun.

There aren't 2-3 channels in this country.
It's srsly like we have everything blocked, living with bag on head and don't know anything.