Merkel Agrees to let Putin Carve off the Donbass From Ukraine, ahem, Grant it Special Status

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on Monday that Ukraine should give its separatist-led Donbass region a special status set out in Ukrainian law, the Kremlin said.

It gave no further details of the leaders’ discussions on the future of Donbass during a phone call, but agreement on its status would be a step toward convening a four-nation summit on ending five years of conflict in the eastern region.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy said last month that Kiev had agreed to grant Donbass special status and let local elections go ahead there. The breakthrough raised hopes that a date would be set for the summit involving Kiev, Moscow, Berlin and Paris.

link.

Russians Moves Forward With Annexation Tactics in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree expanding the list of Ukrainians and citizens of some other countries eligible for fast-tracked Russian passports, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

The list included Ukrainians who once lived in Ukraine’s Crimea region before it was annexed by Russia in 2014, and citizens of Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan who were born in Russia during the Soviet era.

An earlier Kremlin decree, simplifying the procedure for obtaining a Russian passport for residents of the rebel-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, was signed by Putin on April 24.

link.

Are Iran and Russia Fighting in Syria?

Between Jan. 23 and 27, 2017, there were reports that Syrian president Bashar Al Assad had suffered a stroke and had to be hospitalized. The usually pro-Assad British newspaper The Independent claimed that the Syrian president was suffering serious psychological strain.

Allegations of a president’s poor health take on extra significance in a Russian proxy state. During the Cold War, the Soviets frequently cited allied leaders’ purported medical and psychological problems when launching military interventions — takeovers, essentially — in the countries of the supposedly-ailing heads of state.

Did the same thing just happen in Syria?

link.

Ukraine War Update: Пожалейте бедных Украины. До сих пор от Бога, настолько полно коррумпированных людей и так близко к России.

Ukraine has been suffering through major fighting, or at least significant shelling, on the contact line in the Donbass.

Ukraine is fighting just to hang on.

The fighting had over 10,000 recorded explosions  in a day by the flacid OSCE between the Donnie Rebs and Ukrainian military. 

Some are saying this is a test of the new Trump administration to see what he will do.  Others are suggesting Trump has already abandoned Ukraine in favor of Russia and Putin has already been given the green light to cause Ukraine to collapse and take it over.

Some have been saying the fighting was going to be a second Debaltseve.  The Russian artillery has definitely been pounding

Here is a glimpse of life within the DNR.

Someone is assassinating the  warlords of the DNR: Givi is the latest death.  He was killed by a bomb in his office.

Much to my surprise, Trump's ambassador to the UN blamed Russia for the violence in the Donbass and she even stated the sanctions would remain in place until Crimea was returned to Ukraine.  o.O 

Russia's Most Syrian Adventure Extended for 49 More Years

Russia will maintain a military stronghold in Syria for at least the next 49 years, after the two nations signed an agreement allowing Russian ships to port in Tartus. This is Russia’s foothold in the Middle East, and yet another example of how the country is expanding its military power globally.

link.

More.

And, yes, it's looking like Assad is going to win.

Ukraine War Update: Большая ложь перед бурей

Putin hints at war with Ukraine.

Putin visited Crimea. 

Putin blamed Ukraine for the peace plan failing.

Kiev is struggling with fighting the Donnie Rebs propaganda war.

If the fighting continues to worsen in the Donbas, Kiev is threatening martial law.

The fighting is increasing in the Donbas. 

Russia is building up an army on the Ukrainian border.

Trump's campaign manager, Manafort, has been named as accepting bribes from the Donnie Rebs to move money into the US.  He has since resigned.

Here's a look at the Crimean Crisis.

Ukraine War Update: взять меня вниз к крымском городе, где девушки довольно

The strange case of the supposed terrorist attack on Crimea continued.

The tensions escalated.

Putin increased security in Crimea and moved combat troops to the Crimean 'border.'  

Russia immediately announced military exercises in Crimea.  This has been a cover for military actions in the past. 

Russia made threats if any of its soldiers are harmed and Ukraine flipped them the bird.

Poroshenko placed Ukraine's military on combat alert.  He also sought talks with Russia and the West.  Ukaine claimed Russia was getting ready to cause more trouble.

Medvedev threatened to break off diplomatic ties with Ukraine.

The Russians then called for calm.  The US called for calm.  Biden called on Ukraine to not escalate the situation.

Ukraine was the focus for German-Russian talks.

The Russians got a confession out of one of the supposed attackers they captured: they had planned to place bombs at the Simferopol airport and bus station.  The US stated there was no corroborating evidence the attack was real.  Ukraine demanded proof the so-called plot was real at the UN>

Russian troops received advanced SAM missiles.

Shyrokyne blew up again while the fighting along the contact line in the Donbas has been very active despite not being in the media. 

Ukraine War Update: Возможно падение обуви?

Russia just accused Ukraine of attempting a terrorist attack on Crimea.  

The 'incursion' was stopped and two supposed Ukrainians are dead.

Kiev denies it had anything to do with an attack.

Jane's has noted a possible build up of Russian forces in the Donbas and an offensive may be coming.

Car Bomb Used to Attack Lugansk People's Republic's Leader

The leader of a self-proclaimed separatist republic in eastern Ukraine was injured in a suspected car bombing Saturday, local media reported.

Igor Plotnitsky, the head of the Lugansk People's Republic, "was wounded this morning as a result of a powerful explosion that occurred near his car," the official pro-Russian rebels' news agency said.

Plotnitsky, 52, was being treated at a local hospital along with several other people who suffered injuries in the blast in the city of Lugansk, the report said.

The rebels' news agency claimed the explosion was an "attempt on the life" of their leader.

link.

What if Ukraine was Fighting a сидеть война and nobody noticed?

Ukraine’s top military commander promised an “adequate response” after seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 14 injured in the past 24 hours in fighting with Russian-backed separatists controlling the country’s breakaway far east.

link.

OSCE Report July 19, July 20, July 22 & July 24.

And the Donnie Rebs have trained people to be insurgents.

Russians are Quick to Threaten Nuclear Strikes in Regional Conflicts

The Soviet Union’s old doctrine was: You deter World War III with nuclear weapons. Now Russia’s new doctrine: Threaten to use nuclear weapons against any major power that may try to block Moscow from having its way in a regional conflict, a specialist in Russian nuclear strategy said on Monday.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Nikolai Sokov said, “The targets are military.” A slide he used at the presentation before the Washington, D.C., think-tank, showed the targets could be reached by medium or heavy bombers and include bomber bases in the United States; aircraft carrier battle groups in the Baltic and Pacific; as well as those in the Indian Ocean and Black Sea-Mediterranean.

link.

10,000 Little Green Men are in Syria

Around 10,000 citizens from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a Moscow-led security bloc of six post-Soviet nations, are fighting in Syria, Russian news agencies quoted CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha as saying on Tuesday.

link.

Russia has Moved two Brigades to the Ukrainain Border Region

Russian media has reported the relocation of Russia's 23rd and 28th Independent Motor Rifle Brigades to western Russia and the building of military infrastructure to support the units.

The move of the 28th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade was greeted by a National Guard band, official speeches and ceremonials. The brigade is transferring to Klintsy near Bryansk, in the Western Military District (WMD), from Yekaterinburg, Western Siberia, in the Central Military District (CMD). Klintsy is 30 km from the Gomel region of Belarus, and more importantly the Chernigov region of Ukraine in the direction of Kiev.

link.

Nadiya Savchenko, Imprisoned Ukrainian Pilot, Pardoned, Returned to Ukraine

Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko arrived home to scenes of jubilation on Wednesday after her release by Russia in a prisoner swap and she promptly offered to fight again for Kiev in its conflict with pro-Russian separatists.

Savchenko's handover, in return for two Russian prisoners - had been demanded by the West and was cast as a humanitarian gesture by Russian President Vladimir Putin a few weeks before the European Union decides whether to extend sanctions against Russia imposed over its support of the rebels.

Savchenko, 35, barefoot - it was unclear why - and wearing a T-shirt depicting the Ukrainian coat of arms, emerged from the terminal at Kiev's Boryspil airport to cries of "hero" from a crowd of supporters, among them her sister and mother.

"Huge thanks for fighting for me. I thank everyone who wished me well. Thanks to you I survived. To those who wished me ill, I survived despite you!" she shouted.

link.

*GASP*SHOCK* Russia Didn't Withdraw From Syria & the Media Actually Noticed

VLADIMIR PUTIN stares out from a poster hanging at Russian army installations throughout Syria. “Russia’s armed forces are the guarantor of world security,” the posters declare. It is a good summary of the thinking behind Russia’s mission, which has never been mainly about Syria. When it intervened in Syria last year, Russia sought to provide TV spectacles for the masses at home, re-establish itself as a global power and force the West into taking account of Russian interests.

So when Mr Putin said in March that “the main part” of Russia’s forces could now leave Syria, their mission having been accomplished, he was partly telling the truth. Russia today hardly looks like the mere “regional power” that Barack Obama once dubbed it. Any path to peace in Syria now runs through Moscow. “Only Russia and the United States of America are in a state to stop the war in Syria, even though they have different political interests and goals,” wrote Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s general staff, in a recent article.

link.

Russia has Built a Base outside of Palmyra, Syria

Russian ground forces have set up a forward operating base in the central Syrian city of Tadmur, the home of the ancient ruins of Palmyra, and installed an air-defence system to protect the site.

A video released by the AFP news agency on 7 May showed the Russian base has been built just to the west of the city, with Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle less than 1.5 km further to the west, and the ruins to the south.

The base is secured by a high chain-link fence topped with razor wire and has prefabricated container buildings, large tents for equipment maintenance, a field kitchen, and satellite communications dishes. A Russian flag could be seen flying inside the base.

link.

Ukraine War Update: Упрямым слепцом Никогда не видите

Anyone who has been following the OSCE Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has known this for some time: the truce is a farce.  Some days there are over a thousand artillery shells lobbed around Donetsk...and that's what the OSCE reports.  They have been noted in the past to have very spotty coverage of the entire line of contact and most of that line has been aflame for some time.

The increase in fighting intensity began when the political meltdown in Kiev began.  IMO, Donnie Reb is hoping for a meltdown sufficient they can begin offensives again, since the weather is improving.  It should be remembered though: Kiev != the People of Ukraine. 

In the last 24 hours, 3 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the fighting.

Even Merkel is finally saying the truce is not being respected.

There have been a few protests against the government in Odessa.  However, they were fairly limited.

I have not been posting as much here, because for personal reasons, I do not have direct contact with the people on the ground in Ukraine any more.

Russia's Most Syrian Adventure Mini Update

As Syrian forces push their advantage against the Islamic State, it is increasingly clear that there are Russians on the ground with them. Some are Spetsnaz special forces, there for recon and forward air control, but others are mercenaries, working for a shadowy outfit in St. Petersburg. Increasingly, the Kremlin is waking up to the potential advantages of outsourcing combat missions to private contractors — but doing so in a very Russian way, in which “private” is still a euphemism for “deniable,” and where official intelligence agencies are still in control.

Much of the confusion about the scale and nature of Russia’s direct commitment on the ground probably reflects the presence of both state and private forces, with each having their own deniable components. Russian contractors appear to be operating T-90 tanks in combat and similar heavy equipment, and were at the fore of the recent drive to take Palmyra.

link.

Russia's Most Syrian Adventure Mini Update: Ka-52 Combat Footage

US Considering Putting More Special Forces in Syria

The U.S. administration is considering a plan to greatly increase the number of American special operations forces deployed to Syria as it looks to accelerate recent gains against Islamic State, U.S. officials told Reuters.

The officials, with direct knowledge of the proposal's details, declined to disclose the exact increase under consideration. But one of them said it would leave the U.S. special operations contingent many times larger than the around 50 troops currently in Syria, where they operate largely as advisors away from the front lines.

The proposal is among the military options being prepared for President Barack Obama, who is also weighing an increase in the number of American troops in Iraq. A White House spokeswoman declined comment.

link.