Kiev Burning

[physics90]

@Cerebus, thanks for all the updates. 

[greenminer]

This is one of my favorite non-sports threads in a while.

Thank you for the updates.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

On 6/18/2015 at 0:25 PM, Cerebus said:

Soviet Era Romanticist from Texas?  Has anyone noticed Screaming Eagle 66 doesn't post much anymore?  

 

 

Got tired of UNT90 or whatever his name is. Does't matter what I say he attacks me as an idiot.

. 

 

Just now, SCREAMING EAGLE-66 said:

Got tired of UNT90 or whatever his name is. Does't matter what I say he attacks me as an idiot.   What has that got to do with this topic... How have I ever insulted you..??? 

 

 

Just now, SCREAMING EAGLE-66 said:

. 

 

 

[greenminer]

??

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1968638-royal-air-force-scrambles-jets-to-intercept-russian-bombers-heading-toward-uk/

[Cerebus]

Guardian: MH17 report identifies Russian soldiers suspected of downing plane in Ukraine

Quote

Drawing on open source data such as soldiers’ social network photos, an online forum for soldiers’ relatives and Google Earth satellite imagery, the report expands on previous Bellingcat findings to argue that a Buk missile belonging to the 2nd battalion of Russia’s 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade likely shot down the Boeing 777.

---

Higgins said that Bellingcat’s findings show that responsibility ultimately lies with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the Russian military leadership that ordered troops and equipment into Ukraine in 2014.

Pretty much what everyone outside of Russia already knows, the social media evidence is a nice add however.  

 

On 2/17/2016 at 2:08 PM, greenminer said:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1968638-royal-air-force-scrambles-jets-to-intercept-russian-bombers-heading-toward-uk/

Pretty standard.  Testing reaction times.

 

[Army of Dad]

*sees cerebus posted in the Nest*

*clicks to see if it's the Kiev thread*

 

[Cerebus]

Reuters: U.S. to deploy armored brigade combat teams to Europe

Quote

The U.S. military said on Wednesday that it would deploy rotations of U.S.-based armored brigade combat teams to Europe, part of a wider effort to counter what the United States sees as Russian aggression on the continent.

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The United States has budgeted to sharply boost military training and exercises aimed at reassuring European countries concerned about Russia, which seized Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014 and has worried NATO allies with its strategic bomber flights.

Current equipment used in Europe will be upgraded and stored in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, and will allow for "additional combat power, if and when needed," the military said.

 

 

Government sanctioned Russian Pan Slavic protesters marching in Moscow, chanting:

"Our Migs will land in Riga"

"Mariupol?"  "A Russian city!"

"Kiev?" "A Russian city!"

"Tallinn?" "A Russian city!"

"Minsk?" "A Russian city!"

"Vilnius?" "A Russian city!" 

"Warsaw?" "A Russian city!"

"Berlin?" "A Russian city!"

"Stambul?" "A Russian city!"

 

[Cerebus]

There is still tons of social media and videos coming out of Ukraine from Russian "volunteers"

 

Warning, graphic:

 

DNR (Russian backed, ethnically Russian Ukrainian separatists) troopers advance across an open field behind two BTR80's.  They are moving towards Ukrainian troops at the opposite treeline.    You can clearly see their commander is afraid of getting too far ahead of their own lines and getting flanked.  They do in fact start taking small arms fire from their flank, and then all hell breaks loose when the tank shows up.

They fire two should launched missiles at it (RPG26?) and then the tank kills both BTRs.   After the first shot the tank begins to blow a smoke screen out of it's exhaust ports, It wasn't hit by either shot.  It doesn't chase the survivors down because 1) that is no longer doctrine, and 2) the DNR troopers run behind a ridge, bad idea for that tank to go over that without dismounts to check it first. 

The worst part is they are trying to help the wounded with nothing but tramadol, which is a hope skip and a jump up from tylenol and a long was to go to morphine.

 

[FirefightnRick]

I feel like The Salvation Army could kick that groups' asses.  Pitiful!

 

Rick

[Cerebus]

Reuters: Russia jets make 'simulated attack' passes near U.S. destroyer

Quote

Two Russian warplanes flew simulated attack passes near a U.S. guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea on Tuesday, the U.S. military said, with one official describing them as one of the most aggressive interactions in recent memory.

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The events were reminiscent of the Cold War, when a series of close calls led to a bilateral agreement aimed at avoiding dangerous interactions at sea that was signed in 1972 by then-Secretary of the Navy John Warner and Soviet Admiral Sergei Gorshkov.

The agreement prohibited "simulated attacks against aircraft or ships, performing aerobatics over ships, or dropping hazardous objects near them." The accord can be seen here: www.state.gov/t/isn/4791.htm

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, "This incident ... is entirely inconsistent with the professional norms of militaries operating in proximity to each other in international water and international airspace."

 

---

 

AP: Prosecutor orders suspension of Tatar assembly in Crimea

Quote

MOSCOW (AP) — The chief prosecutor of Crimea has ordered a suspension of the council representing the region's Tatar ethnic minority.

Tatars make up about 15 percent of the region's nearly 2 million people and have been broadly opposed to Russia's annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Since the annexation, Tatars have complained of official intimidation, the closure of Tatar language classes and a general atmosphere of mistrust of Tatar residents.

This escalation is a bad idea, there are hundreds of Crimean Tartars fighting as Jihadis right now.  If they Crimean Tartars begin to feel even more oppressed, they may not even return home to fight, they could well bring friends.

ACD: Crimean Tatars and Jihad

Quote

In seizing Crimea, Vladimir Putin may well have bitten off more than he can chew.  This, not because he lacks the power to suppress all opposition to a Russian takeover there, including the Crimean Tatars, but because jihadis may flock there in defense of the local Muslims. Moreover, jihadis everywhere are likely to target Russian interests outside the confines of Crimea as well.

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While some commentators still maintain that relations between Tatars, Russians, and Ukrainians have been largely peaceful in Crimea, such is not the case. Russian attacks on Tatars have been common and largely the work of Crimea’s nationalist party, Russia Unity, whose leader, Sergei Aksyonov, is now the Russian-installed prime minister.  Attacks have taken the form of fire bombings of mosques and Tatar businesses and desecration of Tatar monuments and graves.

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If the ‘unmarked’ soldiers in Crimea are really cossacks, then Putin has indeed gone back to the 19th century. If he aims to ethnically cleanse Crimea of its Tatars, he may find them not as placid or unprepared as assumed. As ACD’s J. Millard Burr has shown, Crimean Muslims have been receiving their share of Islamist proselytism. Reportedly, at least 100 of them are presently fighting alongside the rebels in Syria. Moreover, there are signs that some Tatars have organized themselves into guerrilla groups, while the international Sunni jihadist movement has taken up the Tatar cause.

 

[Cerebus]

U.S. sends F-22 fighters to reassure NATO allies facing Russia

Quote

The West is seeking to strengthen the defenses of its eastern flank and reassure eastern European NATO members - such as Poland, the Baltic states and Czech republic which spent decades under Soviet dominance - without provoking the Kremlin by stationing large forces permanently.

But tensions are rising and Russia says the NATO build-up is stoking a dangerous situation.

 

[Cerebus]

Reuters: Russia warns of retaliation as NATO plans more deployments in Eastern Europe

Quote

Russia will reinforce its western and southern flanks with three new divisions by the year-end, officials said on Wednesday, threatening retaliation to NATO's plans to boost its military presence in eastern members Poland and the Baltic States.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Monday NATO was weighing up rotating four battalions of troops through eastern member states amid rising tension in the Baltic.

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Russia announced in January it would create three new military divisions and bring five new strategic nuclear missile regiments into service.

On Wednesday, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the new divisions would be formed by the end of this year to counter what Moscow saw as NATO's growing strength.

 

[Cerebus]

One of my favorite reads in Foreign Affairs.  It's a great journal put out six times a year by The Council on Foreign Relations.  Each issue usually has a theme, and the latest is Putin's Russia:

It's a very good read, highly recommend it to anyone interested in this thread topic, or foreign affairs in general.  

[Aldo]

An interesting story map of Crimea, putting to perspective it's population, and some of the more significant military events

http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2014/crimea/ 

[Cerebus]

Reuters: Ex-Soviet exiles give Islamic State violence a Russian accent

Quote

The younger Batirashvili went on to create a force of Russian-speaking fighters under the flag of Islamic State, according to U.N. and U.S. officials. The ex-Soviet group that killed dozens of people at the airport on Tuesday is likely to be an offshoot of that force.

Turkish officials say the suspected attackers had ties to Islamic State and were from Russia and the ex-Soviet central Asia states of Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Turkish media also reported that a man of Chechen origin, Akhmed Chatayev, was the suspected organizer of the bombings.

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According to photographs circulated online, road signs erected in areas controlled by Islamist State are sometimes written in three languages - Arabic, English, and Russian - testifying to the important role of Russian speakers.

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In one part of that region, Dagestan, local officials facilitated the departure of known Islamist fighters, who later ended up in Syria, according to accounts gathered by Reuters. 

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In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin said between 5,000 and 7,000 militants from ex-Soviet states were fighting in the Middle East alongside jihadist groups.

In June, Russia’s Nikolai Bordyuzha, the secretary general of a military alliance of several ex-Soviet countries, raised this estimate to 10,000 militants.

 

This will all come home to roost for Russia sooner or later.  Getting the militants out sounds like a good idea, but they are learning valuable skills that they will bring back to the Caucasus and Crimea soon enough.  

[Cerebus]

I swear to God and Scrappy that if anyone tries to sludge this thread up and force it closed I will ban you.

 

Now, with that out of the way.  I recommend anyone interested in Russian to pick up a book I just read:

The New Tsar

Goes into great detail on Putin's youth and formative years, gives a great explanation for the formation of his mindset.    His lackluster career in the KGB,  his almost accidentally falling into the circles of power, the way he was selected by Yeltsin to succeed him almost on a whim, and then his surprising competence in grabbing and holding onto power, it's all there.  To tie it into this thread specifically, goes into great detail on all the recent military adventurism, including Ukraine and the accidental downing of the passenger jet.  

[Cerebus]

Reuters: Death of Islamic State's Shishani may damage foreign recruitment

Quote

The death of Islamic State's "minister of war" may disrupt its operations, a senior U.S. military officer said on Thursday, and an Iraqi security expert said it could damage the group's important recruitment efforts in ex-Soviet republics.

Abu Omar al-Shishani (the Chechen), a close military adviser to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed in combat in the Iraqi district of Shirqat, south of Mosul, Amaq, a news agency that supports IS, said on Wednesday.

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Born in 1986 in Georgia, then still part of the Soviet Union, Shishani once fought with Chechen rebels against the Russian military in the Caucasus province. He then joined independent Georgia's military in 2006 and fought in its brief war with Russia two years later before receiving a medical discharge, according to U.S. officials.

Shishani was one of only a few Islamist leaders with a professional military background and had several hundred fighters, mostly from ex-Soviet republics, under his command when he came to prominence in a 2013 battle against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces in northern Syria.

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"The replacement must be Chechen because there was an agreement between (IS) and the Army of Muhajireen and Ansar that this position must be filled by a Chechen," said Hashimi, referring to a Syria-based militant group that split when Shishani pledged allegiance to Baghdadi.

According to photographs circulated online, road signs erected in areas controlled by Islamist State are sometimes written in three languages - Arabic, English, and Russian - testifying to the important role of Russian speakers.

 

 

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Reuters: In economic crisis, Putin helps a mogul he once attacked

Quote

Last month, three major banks rescued industrialist Igor Zyuzin's coal and steel firm Mechel from what would have been Russia's biggest ever corporate collapse.

The bailout was unusual in a country where so many decisions often lead back to President Vladimir Putin or his inner circle. Zyuzin has long been an outsider, a multi-millionaire who built his business empire by staying out of the reach of the Kremlin. Eight years ago, Putin publicly humiliated Zyuzin after the businessman failed to show up for a meeting.

The rescue deal shows how much Russia has changed since then. The commodity price slump and sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine have hurt the economy and unsettled Putin's grip on power.

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But authorities are still worried about unrest, especially in Russia's rust-belt. In May, state television showed riot police in the Chelyabinsk region training to put down potentially violent protests. Police officers playing the role of protesters built barricades out of car tyres, threw stones and sticks, and took an officer hostage.

VTB Chief Executive Andrei Kostin told Reuters that while the Mechel deal was decided by the creditors, "Of course it (the government) wanted us to reach an agreement. The social problem is important to it."

When Zyuzin's troubles first started, he stuck a quote on the wall of his office: "Loans, like sins, weigh on your soul."

 

[Army of Dad]

I'm more than a bit surprised to see talk like this.

Trump wouldn't automatically defend NATO allies:

http://nyti.ms/2ai4u3g

I'd love to see some serious discuss of how those comments could impact this region, but I understand if @TheTastyGreek wants to delete this post.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Army of Dad

[TheTastyGreek]

3 hours ago, Army of Dad said:

I'm more than a bit surprised to see talk like this.

Trump wouldn't automatically defend NATO allies:

http://nyti.ms/2ai4u3g

I'd love to see some serious discuss of how those comments could impact this region, but I understand if @TheTastyGreek wants to delete this post.

I feel confident that if anyone violates the spirit of the political rules, @Cerebus will be policing his own thread enough to keep it in check. 

[Aldo]

On 4/14/2016 at 11:53 AM, Cerebus said:

Reuters: Russia jets make 'simulated attack' passes near U.S. destroyer

Now an attack on US/British base in Syria (that was evacuated beforehand). 

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/07/22/russian-warplanes-reportedly-bombed-us-base-in-syria.html

[Aldo]

Buzzing of US patrol in Black Sea

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/russian-jets-buzzed-u-s-destroyer/

Missile test, Ukraine re-engagements. Russia's busy.

[Aldo]

Oh yeah and that Russian spy ship off the coast of Connecticut? 

[UNT Five&Dime]

Does anybody know what Sputnik is up to?

[Cerebus]

USNI: Russia Sends Frigate to Mediterranean Following U.S. Retaliation Strike; U.S. Destroyers Remain On Station

Quote

he Russian Navy has sent its most advanced Black Sea frigate into the Eastern Mediterranean on Friday following a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian airfield, according to ship spotters in Turkey.

Guided missile frigate Admiral Grigorovich – based in Sevastopol, Crimea – passed through the Bosporus Strait early Friday into the Mediterranean only hours after two U.S. guided missile destroyers fired 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles that targeted the al-Shayrat Airfield in central Syria

The Admiral Grigorovich is the namesake of the Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates, the USS Porter and Ross  are both Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.  I'm sure both sides have subs in the area as well.  

[MeanGreenTexan]

26 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

USNI: Russia Sends Frigate to Mediterranean Following U.S. Retaliation Strike; U.S. Destroyers Remain On Station

The Admiral Grigorovich is the namesake of the Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates, the USS Porter and Ross  are both Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.  I'm sure both sides have subs in the area as well.  

Wonder if the US is going to stand alone here.