Kiev Burning

[Cerebus]

I think this may now be the longest (page count) thread in gmg.com history.

[Army of Dad]

I think this may now be the longest (page count) thread in gmg.com history.

It has 'I'm not saying beat'....

(Btw, newer members should read that HOF thread as time allows)

[UNT90]

The UN passed a resolution on Monday demanding access to the area for investigative purposes. Ukraine has officially handed over the stewardship of the international investigation to the Dutch. The Dutch are talking about securing the area underneath the UN resolution as the head investigators.

Kicking it up a couple dozen notches is that they are full members of NATO as well. "Separatists" attacking them opens up an enormous can of worms. Russian regular army attacking them and I guess we start the draft.

Like I have said before, Putin's not that crazy. Besides they have had several days to remove as much incriminating evidence as possible already.

Good to see the Durch and Germany providing some leadership...

[Censored by Laurie]

It has 'I'm not saying beat'....

that thread was little more than a freaking transient kitsch.

[Cerebus]

Good to see the Durch and Germany providing some leadership...

that thread was little more than a freaking transient kitsch.

I will murder both of you for different reasons.

Don't screw up this thread.

[Cerebus]

FT: France needs support to cancel the misbegotten Mistral sale

With Russia embarking on its neo-imperial enterprise, common sense militates against delivering tools of war that could put Nato allies at risk. So why is the deal proceeding, and how could the French be brought to cancel it?

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British moves against Russian interests in the form of asset freezes, bars from City of London exchanges and a full embargo on all current or prospective arms contracts could help meet French concerns about unequal burden-sharing.

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Poland is spending €20bn in the next few years to modernise its military. French industry is competing for, and is in some instances already shortlisted for, air defence, combat helicopter and submarine contracts. If the Mistrals were delivered, not only would these prospects evaporate but the rapidly developing French-Polish relationship would suffer immense moral and political harm.

[Cerebus]

FT: EU to weigh far-reaching sanctions on Russia

EU diplomats will weigh sweeping Russian sanctions on Thursday that include a proposal to ban all Europeans from purchasing any new debt or stock issued by Russia’s largest banks, according to a proposal seen by the Financial Times.

The sanctions measure, contained in a 10-page options memo prepared by the European Commission and distributed to national capitals, also proposes barring the Russian banks from listing new issues on European exchanges, preventing them from using London or other EU stock markets to raise funds from non-Europeans.

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State-controlled financial institutions account for the majority of banking assets in Russia, and the document estimates €7.5bn of the €15.8bn in bonds issued by Russian public financial institutions last year were in EU markets.

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In addition to the capital markets ban, one of the most sensitive measures included in the document is a proposed restriction on exporting “sensitive technologies”, which would include components needed by Russia’s critical energy sector.

The ban on such technologies would incorporate a licensing system similar to that used in sanctions against Iran, and would be target equipment in three sectors: deep-sea drilling, artic exploration, shale oil extraction. Although natural gas technologies were originally considered in earlier drafts, gas-related projects would not be affected in the final proposal.

[Cerebus]

DW: Dutch-led force hopes to secure Malaysia crash site in eastern Ukraine

Two newspapers, Sydney's Daily Telegraph and The Australian, said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had proposed a Dutch-led multinational security force for the crash site, including personnel from Malaysia and Australia.

On Monday, the UN Security Council passed unanimously a resolution demanding that rebels cooperate with an independent investigation and allow victims' remains to be fully recovered.

[Cerebus]

ABC: Australia Vows Help to Secure Ukraine Crash Site

Australia's foreign minister said Thursday that her country stood ready to provide whatever resources were needed to secure the Malaysian airliner's crash site in Ukraine, as newspapers reported Australian troops and police could soon be sent.

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Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Wednesday he was discussing with government leaders options for securing the 50-square kilometer (20-square mile) crash site, including his preferred option of a multinational security force mounted by countries such as Australia, Netherlands and Malaysia that lost citizens in the disaster.

[Rudy]

In regards to hurting the Russians in the pocketbook, I wonder if FIFA and Formula 1 will pull the World Cup and cancel their Grand Prix scheduled. This will be the first grand prix, and you'd have to think it would hurt to have a brand new, and never to be used track. On top of all the money an F1 race brings.

[UNT90]

If you believe the Ukrainians this is not the first time. With the amount of surveillance that is going on over the area since MH17 you would think the Russians would have to be idiots to do this now.

http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2715224

Not idiots, just people who believe there are no consequences for their actions.

I highly doubt the shots were fired from inside the Russian border, as it would be terribly easy for the Russian Army to roll the launcher into "rebel" territory and fire from there.

But if Ukraine is right and Russia is firing from within it's own borders, it just shows how little they fear anyone in the world holding them accountable.

[Cerebus]

9news.au: Fifty Australian police preparing to enter Ukraine

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced Australia has sent a team of 50 police officers to help secure the disaster site of MH17.

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"On the site it is still clear nothing is happening without the help of the armed rebels who most likely brought the plane down in the first place. There still has been nothing like a thorough professional search in the area where the plane came down and there can't be while the site is controlled by armed men."

Australia already has a 200-strong task force operating in Ukraine, led by former Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston. They include scientists, police officers, diplomats and embassy staff from Australia and Europe.

[Cerebus]

USAToday: Russian military fires artillery into eastern Ukraine

The Russian military fired artillery rounds into eastern Ukraine on Thursday, a "clear escalation" of hostilities there, Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said

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The Russians have conducted artillery attacks on Ukraine military targets for the last several days, Warren said.

The State Department also said Thursday they had evidence of the Russian attack.

"We have new evidence that the Russians intend to deliver heavier and more powerful multiple rocket launchers to separatist forces in Ukraine and have evidence that Russia is firing artillery from within Russian to attack Ukrainian military positions," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters.

[UNT90]

USAToday: Russian military fires artillery into eastern Ukraine

Again, no fear of any meaningful reprisal.

[Cerebus]

U.S. Ambassador to NATO says Russia has massed more than 15k troops along Ukraine border, higher than past estimates, @Reuters reported.

— Stratfor (@Stratfor)

July 25, 2014

[Cerebus]

Bloomberg: Australia Risks Tension With Ukraine Rebels Sending Armed Police

“They must be nuts,” Joerg Forbrig, senior program officer for central and eastern Europe at the Berlin bureau of the German Marshall Fund of the U.S., said in a phone interview. “It’s a very dangerous proposal and will be seen as a provocation by the separatists and the Russians.”

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Karl-Heinz Kamp, academic director at the German government’s Federal Academy for Security Policy in Berlin, said the Australian military is experienced and wouldn’t take risks, especially in a situation “where some of the rebels are drunk.”

“The only way the Australians are going to send armed officers into rebel territory is if there’s some kind of back-room deal,” Kamp said by phone. “It’s totally far-fetched but if it’s true, maybe the Russians are under such pressure to do something they told the rebels ‘you have to accept this.’”

[Cerebus]

https://twitter.com/Ukroblogger/status/492674794681139201/photo/1

[Cerebus]

Now this makes thing interesting:

Sky News: SAS Forces On Standby For Trip To Ukraine

A detachment of Australian SAS has arrived in the UK within the past 24 hours, Sky News has learned.

If authorised, they will help secure the crash site of MH17 in eastern Ukraine along with international partners.

They are currently working with British and Dutch special forces - all three nations lost citizens in the disaster.

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The area, under the control of various pro-Russian separatist groups, remains highly volatile.

The soldiers will only be authorised to fire their weapons if shot at first.

A separate detachment of Special Forces troops will remain in Eindhoven, on an hour's notice to deploy in the event of a major incident.

[Cerebus]

#Dutch Prime Minister says #Netherlands will support further sanctions if #Russia continues to arm militants in #Ukraine.

— Tom Barton (@TomBartonJourno)

July 25, 2014

[Cerebus]

Telegraph: Ukraine conflict sparks shock rates rise in Russia

Russia's central bank has unexpectedly raised its key interest rate in a bid to stem inflation amid increased economic pressure over its policies in Ukraine.

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That had helped support the rouble after a period of weakness, but growth is sliding as US and European sanctions begin to bite.

[Cerebus]

Govt: UK to send "full battle group" of 1,350 personnel to military exercise in Poland for #Nato package to reassure eastern Europe allies

— Sky News Newsdesk (@SkyNewsBreak)

July 28, 2014

[Cerebus]

#Breaking 4 Ukrainian border guards were killed and 2 injured in Russian army shelling of the #Dolzhanskogo border crossing with 250+ shells

— Julian Röpcke (@JulianRoepcke)

July 28, 2014

[Cerebus]

IndiaTimes: Japan rolls out more sanctions over Ukraine

Tokyo would also cooperate with the European Union on a plan with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to freeze funding for new projects in Russia, said Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.
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"Japan will continue to strongly ask that Russia use its influence on the military and insurgents so that they would cooperate with the international investigation into the shooting of the Malaysia Airlines plane."

[Cerebus]

Mashable: Police Team Abandons Attempt to Reach Ukraine Crash Site

SHAKHTARSK, Ukraine — An international police team abandoned its attempt to reach the crash site of a Malaysia Airlines plane for a second day running Monday as clashes raged in a town on the road to the area.

With government troops intensifying their push to claw back more territory from pro-Russian separatist rebels, the death toll is mounting steadily. The United Nations released new figures Monday showing that more than 1,100 people have died in more than four months of fighting.

The international delegation of Australian and Dutch police and forensic experts stopped Monday in Shakhtarsk, a town around 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the fields where the Boeing 777 was brought down.

[Cerebus]

Economist: Trillion-dollar boo-boo

ONE trillion dollars. That may be the cost to Russian investors of Vladimir Putin’s rule. It is the equivalent of about $7,000 for every Russian citizen.
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Investors have been nervous about corporate governance in Russia, thanks to a series of high-profile incidents such as the jailing of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an oil magnate who fell out with Mr Putin, the expulsion of William Browder, a hedge-fund manager who campaigned against corruption, and the trouble faced by oil companies such as BP and Shell in dealing with local partners. All those events occurred well before Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine, steps that have prompted Western sanctions.
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