Sooo....no talk on Kiev's gradual descent into Mad Max beyond Thunderdome status??
- Thread starter 2Quik4UHoes
- Start date
Freaky 23.03.2014 17:30
He is a war criminal and the USA will never hand him over to the Georgians, because he was working for them.
He started the war with the Russians, hoped that NATO would help him.
But he misunderstood the power of Russia in EU. That is that they could cut of gas etc.
I am sure that he was used by the USA
This guy is now teaching in USA and was formed at USA university's to use their dirty tricks
--------
basho 23.03.2014 06:43
i don't think the u.s. has an extradition treaty with Georgia. but this guy isn't of any use to anyone and the u.s. can use all the good publicity in that region it can get but then the CIA probably had a lot to do with the Georgia crisis so it wouldn't want this psychopath shooting his mouth off. he'll probably have an accident and that will solve the problem. LOL
homie's being exposed in the comment section.
Russia Warns Ukraine of Potential Military Response
By NEIL MacFARQUHARAPRIL 23, 2014
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A pro-Russian gunman patrols a street in the center of Slovyansk on Wednesday in eastern Ukraine. Credit Sergei Grits/Associated Press
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MOSCOW — Russia continued Wednesday to ratchet up pressure on the government in Kiev, warning that events in eastern Ukraine could prompt a military response and again accusing the United States of directing events there.
“If we are attacked, we would certainly respond,” Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said in an interview with the Kremlin’s satellite news network, Russia Today, or RT. The network’s website published a short excerpt from the interview, which was scheduled to be broadcast later Wednesday.
Mr. Lavrov also made one of the first high-profile statements comparing the events in Ukraine to the circumstances that led to the war in Georgia in 2008 and to the breaking away of two republics, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE
American paratroopers arrived on Wednesday at a Polish air force base in Swidwin.U.S. Military Exercises to Begin in Eastern EuropeAPRIL 23, 2014
As church bells rang at funerals in Slovyansk, the grieving cried, “Glory to the heroes of Donbass,” a reference to the region.At Funeral, Expressions of Grief and Anger Toward Kiev OfficialsAPRIL 22, 2014
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at a site in Kiev, Ukraine, where people had protested against Viktor F. Yanukovych, the former president. Mr. Biden pledged $50 million in aid on Tuesday.Biden Offers Strong Support to Ukraine and Issues a Sharp Rebuke to RussiaAPRIL 22, 2014
“If our interests, our legitimate interests, the interests of Russians have been attacked directly, like they were in South Ossetia for example, I do not see any other way but to respond in accordance with international law,” Mr. Lavrov said.
An accord reached in Geneva last week, when all sides seemed to agree on the need to defuse the confrontation over cities seized by armed, pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, is continuing to crumble. Each side has demanded that the other make the first move, and the agreement did not include an enforcement measure.
On Tuesday, Ukraine had announced that it was resurrecting an effort to use its armed forces to retake buildings, although a previous attempt sputtered out without changing the balance of forces.
Mr. Lavrov again denied that Russian troops massed along the border had crossed into Ukraine, but he also said that any attacks on Russians in Ukraine would bring a response. “Russian citizens being attacked is an attack against the Russian Federation,” he said.
Mr. Lavrov repeated his accusation that Washington was coordinating events in Ukraine, citing the visit by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to Kiev, the capital, earlier this week.
“There is no reason not to believe that the Americans are running the show,” Mr. Lavrov said. The announcement of the resumption of the military campaign came on the heels of Mr. Biden’s visit, the foreign minister said, just as the first call by leaders in Kiev for such a campaign came after a visit by John O. Brennan, the director of the C.I.A.
By NEIL MacFARQUHARAPRIL 23, 2014
Photo
A pro-Russian gunman patrols a street in the center of Slovyansk on Wednesday in eastern Ukraine. Credit Sergei Grits/Associated Press
Continue reading the main storyShare This Page
SAVE
MORE
MOSCOW — Russia continued Wednesday to ratchet up pressure on the government in Kiev, warning that events in eastern Ukraine could prompt a military response and again accusing the United States of directing events there.
“If we are attacked, we would certainly respond,” Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said in an interview with the Kremlin’s satellite news network, Russia Today, or RT. The network’s website published a short excerpt from the interview, which was scheduled to be broadcast later Wednesday.
Mr. Lavrov also made one of the first high-profile statements comparing the events in Ukraine to the circumstances that led to the war in Georgia in 2008 and to the breaking away of two republics, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE
American paratroopers arrived on Wednesday at a Polish air force base in Swidwin.U.S. Military Exercises to Begin in Eastern EuropeAPRIL 23, 2014
As church bells rang at funerals in Slovyansk, the grieving cried, “Glory to the heroes of Donbass,” a reference to the region.At Funeral, Expressions of Grief and Anger Toward Kiev OfficialsAPRIL 22, 2014
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at a site in Kiev, Ukraine, where people had protested against Viktor F. Yanukovych, the former president. Mr. Biden pledged $50 million in aid on Tuesday.Biden Offers Strong Support to Ukraine and Issues a Sharp Rebuke to RussiaAPRIL 22, 2014
“If our interests, our legitimate interests, the interests of Russians have been attacked directly, like they were in South Ossetia for example, I do not see any other way but to respond in accordance with international law,” Mr. Lavrov said.
An accord reached in Geneva last week, when all sides seemed to agree on the need to defuse the confrontation over cities seized by armed, pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, is continuing to crumble. Each side has demanded that the other make the first move, and the agreement did not include an enforcement measure.
On Tuesday, Ukraine had announced that it was resurrecting an effort to use its armed forces to retake buildings, although a previous attempt sputtered out without changing the balance of forces.
Mr. Lavrov again denied that Russian troops massed along the border had crossed into Ukraine, but he also said that any attacks on Russians in Ukraine would bring a response. “Russian citizens being attacked is an attack against the Russian Federation,” he said.
Mr. Lavrov repeated his accusation that Washington was coordinating events in Ukraine, citing the visit by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to Kiev, the capital, earlier this week.
“There is no reason not to believe that the Americans are running the show,” Mr. Lavrov said. The announcement of the resumption of the military campaign came on the heels of Mr. Biden’s visit, the foreign minister said, just as the first call by leaders in Kiev for such a campaign came after a visit by John O. Brennan, the director of the C.I.A.
Russia threatens retaliation as Kiev orders military moves in eastern Ukraine
Video: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russia Today on Wednesday that his country would respond militarily if Russia's interests came under attack. He also said Americans are directing efforts against pro-Russian activists in Ukraine.
By William Booth and Michael Birnbaum, Updated: Wednesday, April 23, 5:13 PM E-mail the writers
HORLIVKA, Ukraine — Russia warned Wednesday that it was prepared to retaliate against any attack on its citizens or interests in Ukraine, as the Kiev government resumed military operations against pro-Russian militants in the eastern part of the country.
The escalation came as U.S. paratroopers landed in Poland to begin training exercises intended to demonstrate support for American allies in the region.
Gallery
Tensions high in eastern Ukraine: In Kiev on Tuesday, Vice President Biden pledged American support to help Ukraine stage a successful presidential election next month and to defy Russian economic pressure.
Read more
Here are the key terms on the Ukraine crisis
Adam Taylor, Ishaan Tharoor and Terri Rupar 11:34 AM ET
A glossary of key terms in the Ukraine crisis.
Russia’s new plan for Crimea: Vegas on the Black Sea?
Adam Taylor APR 21
Despite the fact Putin banned gambling years ago.
a Tuesday visit from Vice President Biden.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said it was “ludicrous” for Lavrov to claim “that the United States has anything to do with Ukraine’s counterterrorism operation or that . . . we’re running the show or funding it.” She called Lavrov’s remarks “counterproductive and inflammatory” and noted that he gave no indication of a Russian plan to implement last week’s Geneva agreement to use Moscow’s influence to disarm the separatists and push for occupied buildings to be vacated.
President Obama said last week that he hoped to see Russia follow through “over the next several days” on the agreement, reached with the United States, Ukraine and the European Union. After White House meetings this week, officials said they anticipated that U.S. asset freezes and visa bans would be announced against a new set of prominent Russians by Friday.
Lavrov’s declaration, which echoes warnings given by Russia before its annexation of Crimea last month, followed the discovery in eastern Ukraine of the body of a local politician who supported Ukrainian unity. He had been tortured and dumped in a river after being abducted last week, Ukrainian authorities said Wednesday.
“The terrorists who effectively took the whole Donetsk region hostage have now gone too far,” Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, said after officials identified the stabbed and bruised body of Volodymyr Rybak. His corpse and that of an unidentified man were found Saturday near Slovyansk, a city that international observers say is controlled by armed pro-Russian activists.
“These crimes are being committed with the full support and connivance of the Russian Federation,” Turchynov said.
A politician’s killing
Rybak was kidnapped last Thursday by four men in military uniforms who hustled him into a vehicle outside City Hall in Horlivka, a depressed industrial and mining city about 26 miles northeast of the regional capital, Donetsk. Rybak, a local council member, had tried to lower the flag of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” at City Hall and replace it with the Ukrainian flag.
Rybak’s wife, Elena, said in an interview soon after her husband was taken that she feared the worst. “He was a police and knows how to defend himself,” she said. “He would not have gone anywhere without a fight.”
Her hands shook as she held a cellphone, waiting for a call. A friend told her that Rybak would call soon. “I don’t think so,” she said.
She and her adult son identified Rybak’s body Wednesday.
Vasilii Mirozhnik, who knew Rybak well at City Hall, said, “He was a regular guy, a popular guy, with strong opinions, always fighting for justice.”
Mirozhnik wore a Ukrainian flag pin on his lapel. Asked about it, he said, “Why not? It’s my country. I am proud of it.”
For many residents here, the flag they fly — Ukrainian or Russian — is of profound importance. In the past few days, people who want to remain in a united Ukraine — though with more self-government and more say over budget issues — have begun to assert themselves in rallies and flash mobs organized over social media.
Video: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russia Today on Wednesday that his country would respond militarily if Russia's interests came under attack. He also said Americans are directing efforts against pro-Russian activists in Ukraine.
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By William Booth and Michael Birnbaum, Updated: Wednesday, April 23, 5:13 PM E-mail the writers
HORLIVKA, Ukraine — Russia warned Wednesday that it was prepared to retaliate against any attack on its citizens or interests in Ukraine, as the Kiev government resumed military operations against pro-Russian militants in the eastern part of the country.
The escalation came as U.S. paratroopers landed in Poland to begin training exercises intended to demonstrate support for American allies in the region.
Gallery
Tensions high in eastern Ukraine: In Kiev on Tuesday, Vice President Biden pledged American support to help Ukraine stage a successful presidential election next month and to defy Russian economic pressure.
Read more
Here are the key terms on the Ukraine crisis
Adam Taylor, Ishaan Tharoor and Terri Rupar 11:34 AM ET
A glossary of key terms in the Ukraine crisis.
Russia’s new plan for Crimea: Vegas on the Black Sea?
Adam Taylor APR 21
Despite the fact Putin banned gambling years ago.
a Tuesday visit from Vice President Biden.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said it was “ludicrous” for Lavrov to claim “that the United States has anything to do with Ukraine’s counterterrorism operation or that . . . we’re running the show or funding it.” She called Lavrov’s remarks “counterproductive and inflammatory” and noted that he gave no indication of a Russian plan to implement last week’s Geneva agreement to use Moscow’s influence to disarm the separatists and push for occupied buildings to be vacated.
President Obama said last week that he hoped to see Russia follow through “over the next several days” on the agreement, reached with the United States, Ukraine and the European Union. After White House meetings this week, officials said they anticipated that U.S. asset freezes and visa bans would be announced against a new set of prominent Russians by Friday.
Lavrov’s declaration, which echoes warnings given by Russia before its annexation of Crimea last month, followed the discovery in eastern Ukraine of the body of a local politician who supported Ukrainian unity. He had been tortured and dumped in a river after being abducted last week, Ukrainian authorities said Wednesday.
“The terrorists who effectively took the whole Donetsk region hostage have now gone too far,” Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, said after officials identified the stabbed and bruised body of Volodymyr Rybak. His corpse and that of an unidentified man were found Saturday near Slovyansk, a city that international observers say is controlled by armed pro-Russian activists.
“These crimes are being committed with the full support and connivance of the Russian Federation,” Turchynov said.
A politician’s killing
Rybak was kidnapped last Thursday by four men in military uniforms who hustled him into a vehicle outside City Hall in Horlivka, a depressed industrial and mining city about 26 miles northeast of the regional capital, Donetsk. Rybak, a local council member, had tried to lower the flag of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” at City Hall and replace it with the Ukrainian flag.
Rybak’s wife, Elena, said in an interview soon after her husband was taken that she feared the worst. “He was a police and knows how to defend himself,” she said. “He would not have gone anywhere without a fight.”
Her hands shook as she held a cellphone, waiting for a call. A friend told her that Rybak would call soon. “I don’t think so,” she said.
She and her adult son identified Rybak’s body Wednesday.
Vasilii Mirozhnik, who knew Rybak well at City Hall, said, “He was a regular guy, a popular guy, with strong opinions, always fighting for justice.”
Mirozhnik wore a Ukrainian flag pin on his lapel. Asked about it, he said, “Why not? It’s my country. I am proud of it.”
For many residents here, the flag they fly — Ukrainian or Russian — is of profound importance. In the past few days, people who want to remain in a united Ukraine — though with more self-government and more say over budget issues — have begun to assert themselves in rallies and flash mobs organized over social media.
Growing violence
There has been a rise in reports of beatings, disappearances and detentions in recent days. On Tuesday in Kramatorsk , the police chief was taken out of his station by armed men, the deputy mayor was beaten and the Security Service building was seized.
The Kyiv Post newspaper reported Wednesday that 12 people have been kidnapped over the past week in Slovyansk and Horlivka.
“It’s chaos,” said Yurii Zhuk, a fellow deputy on the Horlivka City Council with Rybak. He said he did not know who kidnapped and killed Rybak. “They’re outsiders,” he said. “Radical elements.”
Zhuk said that “the police were useless.” In a video taken right before Rybak was kidnapped, police officers in blue uniforms are visible in the crowd. “They’re demoralized,” Zhuk said. “They’re divided.”
Oleg Gubanov, another City Council member, said the killing of Rybak and other violence are driven by “third parties who want to destabilize the situation.”
Several Ukrainian reporters have been arrested. And an American journalist, Simon Ostrovsky, who works for Vice News, has been detained in Slovyansk since Tuesday. The leader of the pro-Russian forces in the city, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, said Wednesday that Ostrovsky had been detained by “self-defense forces,” Interfax reported. “According to our information, he is an informer for Pravy Sektor,” the right-wing Ukrainian nationalist organization, Ponomaryov told the news agency.
“The journalist has normal living conditions and is being fed,” he said.
To the north and west of Ukraine, a company of 150 U.S. paratroopers landed in Poland on Wednesday to begin exercises with the Polish military, a move that has been greeted with relief by Eastern European leaders who fear Russian military actions near their borders. Three other similar-size companies of U.S. troops will be sent to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in the next several days.
Birnbaum reported from Moscow. Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.
There has been a rise in reports of beatings, disappearances and detentions in recent days. On Tuesday in Kramatorsk , the police chief was taken out of his station by armed men, the deputy mayor was beaten and the Security Service building was seized.
The Kyiv Post newspaper reported Wednesday that 12 people have been kidnapped over the past week in Slovyansk and Horlivka.
“It’s chaos,” said Yurii Zhuk, a fellow deputy on the Horlivka City Council with Rybak. He said he did not know who kidnapped and killed Rybak. “They’re outsiders,” he said. “Radical elements.”
Zhuk said that “the police were useless.” In a video taken right before Rybak was kidnapped, police officers in blue uniforms are visible in the crowd. “They’re demoralized,” Zhuk said. “They’re divided.”
Oleg Gubanov, another City Council member, said the killing of Rybak and other violence are driven by “third parties who want to destabilize the situation.”
Several Ukrainian reporters have been arrested. And an American journalist, Simon Ostrovsky, who works for Vice News, has been detained in Slovyansk since Tuesday. The leader of the pro-Russian forces in the city, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, said Wednesday that Ostrovsky had been detained by “self-defense forces,” Interfax reported. “According to our information, he is an informer for Pravy Sektor,” the right-wing Ukrainian nationalist organization, Ponomaryov told the news agency.
“The journalist has normal living conditions and is being fed,” he said.
To the north and west of Ukraine, a company of 150 U.S. paratroopers landed in Poland on Wednesday to begin exercises with the Polish military, a move that has been greeted with relief by Eastern European leaders who fear Russian military actions near their borders. Three other similar-size companies of U.S. troops will be sent to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in the next several days.
Birnbaum reported from Moscow. Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.
National
Jas Gripen fighter jets above Gotland Island in the Baltic Sea. File photo: Saab
Sweden to beef up air force to counter Russia
Published: 22 Apr 2014 08:15 GMT+02:00
Updated: 22 Apr 2014 08:15 GMT+02:00
Sweden's centre-right government coalition announced plans on Tuesday to pump more funds into the military if the four parties win the September elections, with an emphasis on more fighter jets and submarines.
In an article published in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) the four party leaders wrote about the crisis in Ukraine and how Russia had now ramped up both its military and propaganda machines.
The leaders said they had previously welcomed Russia's attempts to embed itself deeper in the global community, despite harbouring fears that the tide could turn at any point.
"What we see today is a Russia that acts in a way that confirms and surpasses the fears we had then," the leaders of the Moderate, Liberal (Folkpartiet), Centre and Christian Democrat Parties wrote.
If the coalition were to remain in power, it would aim to increase the military budget by five billion kronor ($760 million) annually, starting in 2015.
"Seen against the backdrop of developments in our region it can be particularly motivated to increase Swedish presence on the Baltic Sea and on Gotland Island," the op-ed text stated.
It would also order Saab to provide the Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten) with 70 rather than 60 of the new generation of Jas Gripen E fighter jets. Adding more submarines to the naval fleet would also be on the cards if the government's proposals make it to the negotiation table with other parliamentary parties. Sweden has traditionally anchored much of defence policy across party lines to secure longevity.
"Sweden should have an accessible and useful defence, adapted to a rapidly changing world," Fredrik Reinfeldt, Jan Björklund, Göran Hägglund and Annie Lööf wrote.
The Local/at (news@thelocal.se)
Jas Gripen fighter jets above Gotland Island in the Baltic Sea. File photo: Saab
Sweden to beef up air force to counter Russia
Published: 22 Apr 2014 08:15 GMT+02:00
Updated: 22 Apr 2014 08:15 GMT+02:00
Sweden's centre-right government coalition announced plans on Tuesday to pump more funds into the military if the four parties win the September elections, with an emphasis on more fighter jets and submarines.
- World spends less on arms: Swedish think tank (14 Apr 14)
- Swiss voters to sink Swedish jet fighter deal (12 Apr 14)
- Swedes swarm to join the home guard (13 Mar 14)
In an article published in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) the four party leaders wrote about the crisis in Ukraine and how Russia had now ramped up both its military and propaganda machines.
The leaders said they had previously welcomed Russia's attempts to embed itself deeper in the global community, despite harbouring fears that the tide could turn at any point.
"What we see today is a Russia that acts in a way that confirms and surpasses the fears we had then," the leaders of the Moderate, Liberal (Folkpartiet), Centre and Christian Democrat Parties wrote.
If the coalition were to remain in power, it would aim to increase the military budget by five billion kronor ($760 million) annually, starting in 2015.
"Seen against the backdrop of developments in our region it can be particularly motivated to increase Swedish presence on the Baltic Sea and on Gotland Island," the op-ed text stated.
It would also order Saab to provide the Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten) with 70 rather than 60 of the new generation of Jas Gripen E fighter jets. Adding more submarines to the naval fleet would also be on the cards if the government's proposals make it to the negotiation table with other parliamentary parties. Sweden has traditionally anchored much of defence policy across party lines to secure longevity.
"Sweden should have an accessible and useful defence, adapted to a rapidly changing world," Fredrik Reinfeldt, Jan Björklund, Göran Hägglund and Annie Lööf wrote.
The Local/at (news@thelocal.se)
Military Industrial Complex FTW
Futuristic Eskimo
All Star
A military conflict in eastern ukraine will ensure russia having no influence in both eastern and western europe for decades. They have to take this l now to delay the inevitable.
Conversely, they can just say fukk it right here and speed up the process. Theyll save face at least. Tough choices
Conversely, they can just say fukk it right here and speed up the process. Theyll save face at least. Tough choices
All the fail-safes are failing...
Putin gonna be vacationing in Kiev come winter
Putin gonna be vacationing in Kiev come winter
Go for broke, literally.
Might as well in their eyes.
They got ex-soviet nations being exposed as not being prepared to even deal with blatant threats.
Entire nations are being caught with their pants down.
Latvia and Poland trying to flex like little brothers knowing damn well big bro is just letting them get a few laps in before he spanks them.
Futuristic Eskimo
All Star
Yea but go for broke is taking eastern Ukraine. then what? Poland and Latvia don't need to be prepared because there's an implicit guarantee that we won't let anything happen. Even if they were prepared, they wouldn't have the forces to take on Russia so whats the point of spending the money when they're being backstopped?
Ukraine forces kill up to five rebels, Russia starts drill near border
BY ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC AND ALEXEI ANISHCHUK
SLAVIANSK, Ukraine/ST PETERSBURG, Russia Thu Apr 24, 2014 2:47pm EDT
(Reuters) - Ukrainian forces killed up to five pro-Moscow rebels on Thursday as they closed in on the separatists' military stronghold in the east and Russia launched army drills near the border in response, raising fears its troops would invade.
Under an international accord signed in Geneva last week, illegal armed groups in Ukraine, including the rebels occupying about a dozen public buildings in the largely Russian-speaking east, are supposed to disarm and go home.
But they have shown few signs of doing so and on Thursday the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said its forces backed by the army had removed three checkpoints manned by armed groups in the separatist-controlled city of Slaviansk.
"During the armed clash up to five terrorists were eliminated," it said in a statement, adding that one person had been wounded on the side of the government forces.
A rebel spokeswoman in Slaviansk said two fighters had died in a clash in the same area, northeast of the city center.
The Kremlin has built up forces on Ukraine's border - estimated by NATO officials at up to 40,000 troops - and maintains it has the right to protect Russian-speakers if they come under threat, a reason it gave for annexing the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine last month.
In St Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that if the authorities in Kiev had used the army in eastern Ukraine, this would be a very serious crime against its own people.
"It is just a punitive operation and it will of course incur consequences for the people making these decisions, including (an effect) on our interstate relations," Putin said in a televised meeting with regional media.
His spokesman said later that the violence threw into doubt the legitimacy of a presidential election planned by the pro-Western transitional authorities in Kiev for May 25.
Reuters journalists saw a Ukrainian detachment with five armored personnel carriers take over a checkpoint on a road north of Slaviansk in the late morning after it was abandoned by separatists who set tires alight to cover their retreat.
However, two hours later the troops pulled back and it was unclear if Kiev would risk storming Slaviansk, a city of 130,000 that has become the military stronghold of a movement seeking annexation by Moscow of Ukraine's industrialized east.
"FINISH WHAT WE HAVE STARTED"
At another checkpoint set up by the Ukrainian military, a soldier said they were there to instill law and order.
"Those separatists, they violated the constitution, they are torturing the country, they violated laws, they do not recognize the authority of police, so the army had to move in and we will finish what we have started so help me God," he said.
The Geneva agreement, signed by Russia, the United States, Ukraine and the European Union, was already in trouble as Kiev launched its offensive to regain control of the east.
Moscow and the West have put the onus on each other to ensure the accord is implemented on the ground. U.S. President Barack Obama said earlier he was poised to impose new sanctions on Russia if it did not act fast to end the armed stand-off.
Putin said sanctions were "dishonorable" and destroyed the global economy but that so far the damage had not been critical.
Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow had begun military drills near the border with Ukraine, where it has deployed tens of thousands of troops, in response to "Ukraine's military machine" and NATO exercises in eastern Europe.
"Apart from that, the air force will conduct flights to train for maneuvers along the state borders," Shoigu said. Two local residents in areas near the Ukrainian border told Reuters they had spotted formations of attack helicopters in the air.
Moscow also flexed its economic muscles in its worst stand-off with the West since the Cold War, with the government suggesting foreign firms which pull out of the country may not be able to get back in. A source at Gazprom said the gas exporter had slapped an additional $11.4 billion bill on Kiev.
Washington accuses Moscow of fomenting unrest in the east, where heavily armed separatists have occupied buildings since April 6. Russia denies it is responsible for unrest and counters that Europe and the United States are supporting what it considers an illegitimate government in Kiev.
Obama said the Russian leadership was not abiding by the spirit or the letter of the Geneva agreement so far. "We have prepared for the possibility of applying additional sanctions," he told a news conference in Japan.
U.S. TROOPS ARRIVE IN POLAND
So far, the United States and EU have imposed visa bans and asset freezes on a few Russians in protest at Moscow's annexation last month of Crimea from Ukraine.
In NATO member Poland, the first group of a contingent of around 600 U.S. soldiers arrived on Wednesday, part of an effort by Washington to reassure eastern European allies who are worried by the Russian build-up near Ukraine's borders.
Acting Ukrainian President Oleksander Turchinov called for the eastern offensive on Tuesday after the apparent torture and murder of a town councilor from his own party, whose body was found on Saturday near Slaviansk.
A local opposition activist called on the police to clear up the death of Volodymyr Rybak, a member of the Batkivshchyna party who had remained loyal to Kiev. He disappeared after being filmed trying to take down a separatist flag while trying to enter town hall in Horlivka, a town near Slaviansk.
"He was bruised and punctured from head to toe ... it's clear they tortured him," said Aleksander Yaroshenko, a family friend who accompanied Rybak's widow when she identified his body at the morgue. "The police have lots of details, they have CCTV footage, they should know who did this," he told Reuters.
In an address to the nation on Thursday, Turchinov said: "Armed criminals have taken over buildings, are taking citizens, Ukrainian and foreign journalists, hostage and murdering Ukrainian patriots...At the level of the state, Russia is supporting terrorism in our country."
The government said the city hall in another eastern town, Mariupol, which had been seized by separatists, was back under central control. But a separatist crowd later surrounded the building, patrolled by police but otherwise apparently empty.
Kiev also reported a shootout overnight in another part of the east where a Ukrainian soldier was wounded. Pro-Russian separatists in Slaviansk are holding three journalists, including U.S. citizen Simon Ostrovsky.
Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, slid into unrest late last year when Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovich rejected a pact to build closer ties with Europe. Protesters took over central Kiev and he fled in February. Days later, Russian troops seized control of Crimea.
NO WAY BACK?
The Ukrainian defence ministry confirmed its involvement in the operation around Slaviansk on Thursday, saying the troops involved were airborne units with experience of such tasks from international peacekeeping missions.
"The morale of our forces will allow them to completely fulfill their task of defending Ukraine," it said.
Unarmed mediators from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe are in eastern Ukraine trying to persuade pro-Russian gunmen to go home, in line with the Geneva accord.
Reuters reporters have not been able to establish that any Russian troops or special forces members are in the region, though Kiev and Western powers say they have growing evidence that Moscow has a covert presence. Masked gunmen in the east, widely referred to as "green men", wear uniforms without insignia.
Putin has described as "nonsense" allegations that Moscow has its forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia says the unrest is a spontaneous protest by local people who fear persecution from a government it says has far-right links.
However, Moscow said the same was the case in Crimea last month, until Putin acknowledged last week that his troops were involved in the operation there.
(Additional reporting by Alexander Reshetnikov and Gleb Garanich near Slaviansk; Alissa de Carbonnel in Donetsk; Pavel Polityuk, Natalia Zinets, Richard Balmforth and Alastair Macdonald in Kiev, Denis Dyomkin in Birobidzhan, Russia, Mark Felsenthal in Tokyo, Alessandra Prentice and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; writing by Christian Lowe, David Stamp and Philippa Fletcher, editing by Peter Graff)
BY ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC AND ALEXEI ANISHCHUK
SLAVIANSK, Ukraine/ST PETERSBURG, Russia Thu Apr 24, 2014 2:47pm EDT
(Reuters) - Ukrainian forces killed up to five pro-Moscow rebels on Thursday as they closed in on the separatists' military stronghold in the east and Russia launched army drills near the border in response, raising fears its troops would invade.
Under an international accord signed in Geneva last week, illegal armed groups in Ukraine, including the rebels occupying about a dozen public buildings in the largely Russian-speaking east, are supposed to disarm and go home.
But they have shown few signs of doing so and on Thursday the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said its forces backed by the army had removed three checkpoints manned by armed groups in the separatist-controlled city of Slaviansk.
"During the armed clash up to five terrorists were eliminated," it said in a statement, adding that one person had been wounded on the side of the government forces.
A rebel spokeswoman in Slaviansk said two fighters had died in a clash in the same area, northeast of the city center.
The Kremlin has built up forces on Ukraine's border - estimated by NATO officials at up to 40,000 troops - and maintains it has the right to protect Russian-speakers if they come under threat, a reason it gave for annexing the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine last month.
In St Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that if the authorities in Kiev had used the army in eastern Ukraine, this would be a very serious crime against its own people.
"It is just a punitive operation and it will of course incur consequences for the people making these decisions, including (an effect) on our interstate relations," Putin said in a televised meeting with regional media.
His spokesman said later that the violence threw into doubt the legitimacy of a presidential election planned by the pro-Western transitional authorities in Kiev for May 25.
Reuters journalists saw a Ukrainian detachment with five armored personnel carriers take over a checkpoint on a road north of Slaviansk in the late morning after it was abandoned by separatists who set tires alight to cover their retreat.
However, two hours later the troops pulled back and it was unclear if Kiev would risk storming Slaviansk, a city of 130,000 that has become the military stronghold of a movement seeking annexation by Moscow of Ukraine's industrialized east.
"FINISH WHAT WE HAVE STARTED"
At another checkpoint set up by the Ukrainian military, a soldier said they were there to instill law and order.
"Those separatists, they violated the constitution, they are torturing the country, they violated laws, they do not recognize the authority of police, so the army had to move in and we will finish what we have started so help me God," he said.
The Geneva agreement, signed by Russia, the United States, Ukraine and the European Union, was already in trouble as Kiev launched its offensive to regain control of the east.
Moscow and the West have put the onus on each other to ensure the accord is implemented on the ground. U.S. President Barack Obama said earlier he was poised to impose new sanctions on Russia if it did not act fast to end the armed stand-off.
Putin said sanctions were "dishonorable" and destroyed the global economy but that so far the damage had not been critical.
Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow had begun military drills near the border with Ukraine, where it has deployed tens of thousands of troops, in response to "Ukraine's military machine" and NATO exercises in eastern Europe.
"Apart from that, the air force will conduct flights to train for maneuvers along the state borders," Shoigu said. Two local residents in areas near the Ukrainian border told Reuters they had spotted formations of attack helicopters in the air.
Moscow also flexed its economic muscles in its worst stand-off with the West since the Cold War, with the government suggesting foreign firms which pull out of the country may not be able to get back in. A source at Gazprom said the gas exporter had slapped an additional $11.4 billion bill on Kiev.
Washington accuses Moscow of fomenting unrest in the east, where heavily armed separatists have occupied buildings since April 6. Russia denies it is responsible for unrest and counters that Europe and the United States are supporting what it considers an illegitimate government in Kiev.
Obama said the Russian leadership was not abiding by the spirit or the letter of the Geneva agreement so far. "We have prepared for the possibility of applying additional sanctions," he told a news conference in Japan.
U.S. TROOPS ARRIVE IN POLAND
So far, the United States and EU have imposed visa bans and asset freezes on a few Russians in protest at Moscow's annexation last month of Crimea from Ukraine.
In NATO member Poland, the first group of a contingent of around 600 U.S. soldiers arrived on Wednesday, part of an effort by Washington to reassure eastern European allies who are worried by the Russian build-up near Ukraine's borders.
Acting Ukrainian President Oleksander Turchinov called for the eastern offensive on Tuesday after the apparent torture and murder of a town councilor from his own party, whose body was found on Saturday near Slaviansk.
A local opposition activist called on the police to clear up the death of Volodymyr Rybak, a member of the Batkivshchyna party who had remained loyal to Kiev. He disappeared after being filmed trying to take down a separatist flag while trying to enter town hall in Horlivka, a town near Slaviansk.
"He was bruised and punctured from head to toe ... it's clear they tortured him," said Aleksander Yaroshenko, a family friend who accompanied Rybak's widow when she identified his body at the morgue. "The police have lots of details, they have CCTV footage, they should know who did this," he told Reuters.
In an address to the nation on Thursday, Turchinov said: "Armed criminals have taken over buildings, are taking citizens, Ukrainian and foreign journalists, hostage and murdering Ukrainian patriots...At the level of the state, Russia is supporting terrorism in our country."
The government said the city hall in another eastern town, Mariupol, which had been seized by separatists, was back under central control. But a separatist crowd later surrounded the building, patrolled by police but otherwise apparently empty.
Kiev also reported a shootout overnight in another part of the east where a Ukrainian soldier was wounded. Pro-Russian separatists in Slaviansk are holding three journalists, including U.S. citizen Simon Ostrovsky.
Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, slid into unrest late last year when Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovich rejected a pact to build closer ties with Europe. Protesters took over central Kiev and he fled in February. Days later, Russian troops seized control of Crimea.
NO WAY BACK?
The Ukrainian defence ministry confirmed its involvement in the operation around Slaviansk on Thursday, saying the troops involved were airborne units with experience of such tasks from international peacekeeping missions.
"The morale of our forces will allow them to completely fulfill their task of defending Ukraine," it said.
Unarmed mediators from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe are in eastern Ukraine trying to persuade pro-Russian gunmen to go home, in line with the Geneva accord.
Reuters reporters have not been able to establish that any Russian troops or special forces members are in the region, though Kiev and Western powers say they have growing evidence that Moscow has a covert presence. Masked gunmen in the east, widely referred to as "green men", wear uniforms without insignia.
Putin has described as "nonsense" allegations that Moscow has its forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia says the unrest is a spontaneous protest by local people who fear persecution from a government it says has far-right links.
However, Moscow said the same was the case in Crimea last month, until Putin acknowledged last week that his troops were involved in the operation there.
(Additional reporting by Alexander Reshetnikov and Gleb Garanich near Slaviansk; Alissa de Carbonnel in Donetsk; Pavel Polityuk, Natalia Zinets, Richard Balmforth and Alastair Macdonald in Kiev, Denis Dyomkin in Birobidzhan, Russia, Mark Felsenthal in Tokyo, Alessandra Prentice and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; writing by Christian Lowe, David Stamp and Philippa Fletcher, editing by Peter Graff)
US troops arriving in Eastern Europe. Is it more than symbolic? (+video)
A contingent of 150 US troops began arriving in Poland Wednesday, the first of four such units being deployed for training exercises in Eastern Europe in a move criticized as unlikely to impress Russia.
By Anna Mulrine, Staff writer / April 23, 2014
Kacper Pempel/Reuters
Enlarge
In Pictures US military muscle
First troops land in Poland as US beefs up Baltic presence
Swidnica (Poland) (AFP) - The first American troops arrived in Poland on Wednesday, after Washington said it was sending a force of 600 there and to the Baltic states amid...
The first American troops arrived in Poland on Wednesday, after Washington said it was sending a force of 600 there and to the Baltic states amid rising tensions with Russia over Ukraine.
How much do you know about Ukraine? Take our quiz!
There will be a “company-sized” contingent of US troops headed to Poland for “the first in a series of expanded US land force training exercises.” In the coming days, US troops will also be heading to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia for similar exercises, for a total of 600 troops in the region by the end of the week.
Does this mean, then, that the Pentagon believes that the Russians have designs on Poland and other Baltic states?
“What I’ll tell you is that nothing we’ve seen out of Moscow, nothing we’ve seen out of Russia or their armed forces, is de-escalating the tension – is making things any more stable in Ukraine or on the continent of Europe,” Admiral Kirby said.
He then offered some insight into what Pentagon officials hope to achieve by this show of strength. “What would be very helpful is if they remove their forces off that border and took concrete actions to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine.”
The move is also meant to buoy US partners in the region. “Since Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, we have been constantly looking at ways to reassure allies and partners,” Kirby said. “The message is to the people of Poland and Lithuania, Estonia – that the United States takes seriously our obligation under Article 5 of the NATO alliance, even though these aren’t NATO exercises.” Article 5 is the mutual defense treaty, that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all.
The exercises are not being done through NATO, but rather bilaterally between the US and partner countries. While NATO was informed of the planned US troop movements to Europe, that was the extent of it. “NATO leadership has been very supportive of our willingness and desire to pursue these bilateral exercises,” Kirby said. “Do we need to seek specific approval? No, but we certainly did inform.”
Still, this modest show of force is not likely to inspire the Russians to roll back their forces and is “a waste of time,” says Stephen Blank, senior fellow for Russia at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C. “Sending company-size units is purely symbolic – a company is not the answer.”
Better to make a back channel offer to send NATO troops to Ukraine at the invitation of Kiev, says Dr. Blank, who served as a professor at the US Army War College for 24 years. “I’d send larger NATO units at the invitation of Kiev. The only answer here is not in Poland, but in Ukraine,” he adds. “That’s the only thing the Russians are going to understand.”
US military officials hope, however, that sending ground troops will send a message – particularly since they might be there a while. The Pentagon press secretary described the US troops in Poland as a new “persistent presence.”
True, the exercises will last “about a month or so,” but then US commanders will “rotate fresh troops in for more exercises,” Kirby says. “It could go beyond the end of this year. We just don’t know,” he added. “We’re just going to have to see how it goes.”
RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Ukraine? Take our quiz!
Related stories
A contingent of 150 US troops began arriving in Poland Wednesday, the first of four such units being deployed for training exercises in Eastern Europe in a move criticized as unlikely to impress Russia.
By Anna Mulrine, Staff writer / April 23, 2014
Kacper Pempel/Reuters
Enlarge
In Pictures US military muscle
First troops land in Poland as US beefs up Baltic presence
Swidnica (Poland) (AFP) - The first American troops arrived in Poland on Wednesday, after Washington said it was sending a force of 600 there and to the Baltic states amid...
The first American troops arrived in Poland on Wednesday, after Washington said it was sending a force of 600 there and to the Baltic states amid rising tensions with Russia over Ukraine.
How much do you know about Ukraine? Take our quiz!
There will be a “company-sized” contingent of US troops headed to Poland for “the first in a series of expanded US land force training exercises.” In the coming days, US troops will also be heading to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia for similar exercises, for a total of 600 troops in the region by the end of the week.
Does this mean, then, that the Pentagon believes that the Russians have designs on Poland and other Baltic states?
“What I’ll tell you is that nothing we’ve seen out of Moscow, nothing we’ve seen out of Russia or their armed forces, is de-escalating the tension – is making things any more stable in Ukraine or on the continent of Europe,” Admiral Kirby said.
He then offered some insight into what Pentagon officials hope to achieve by this show of strength. “What would be very helpful is if they remove their forces off that border and took concrete actions to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine.”
The move is also meant to buoy US partners in the region. “Since Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, we have been constantly looking at ways to reassure allies and partners,” Kirby said. “The message is to the people of Poland and Lithuania, Estonia – that the United States takes seriously our obligation under Article 5 of the NATO alliance, even though these aren’t NATO exercises.” Article 5 is the mutual defense treaty, that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all.
The exercises are not being done through NATO, but rather bilaterally between the US and partner countries. While NATO was informed of the planned US troop movements to Europe, that was the extent of it. “NATO leadership has been very supportive of our willingness and desire to pursue these bilateral exercises,” Kirby said. “Do we need to seek specific approval? No, but we certainly did inform.”
Still, this modest show of force is not likely to inspire the Russians to roll back their forces and is “a waste of time,” says Stephen Blank, senior fellow for Russia at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C. “Sending company-size units is purely symbolic – a company is not the answer.”
Better to make a back channel offer to send NATO troops to Ukraine at the invitation of Kiev, says Dr. Blank, who served as a professor at the US Army War College for 24 years. “I’d send larger NATO units at the invitation of Kiev. The only answer here is not in Poland, but in Ukraine,” he adds. “That’s the only thing the Russians are going to understand.”
US military officials hope, however, that sending ground troops will send a message – particularly since they might be there a while. The Pentagon press secretary described the US troops in Poland as a new “persistent presence.”
True, the exercises will last “about a month or so,” but then US commanders will “rotate fresh troops in for more exercises,” Kirby says. “It could go beyond the end of this year. We just don’t know,” he added. “We’re just going to have to see how it goes.”
RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Ukraine? Take our quiz!
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