Mariupol spotter ‘confession’ another fake by Kiev – Russian Defense Ministry — RT News

An internet video reportedly showing the confession of a man saying he was a spotter in the deadly shelling of Mariupol is just another low-quality fake created by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The ministry also hinted that closer examination of the footage actually points to the fact that Ukraine forces were responsible for the bombardment.

The video was published on the internet on Sunday, one day after shelling in the eastern Ukrainian port city killed at least 30 people and left another 100 injured.

“The SBU needed 24 hours to force this story out of a man, which – as we see in the clip – is read by the detainee from a piece of paper located left to the screen,” the statement by the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Complete story at - Mariupol spotter ‘confession’ another fake by Kiev – Russian Defense Ministry — RT News

Ukraine Currency Crashes After Senior EU Official Says "The Ukrainians Are Manipulating Us" | Zero Hedge

The much discussed tumble in the Russian ruble (or as Japan would call it "mission accomplished" if its was the Yen instead of the Ruble) may have stabilized somewhat, and judging by the Russian central bank's response to no longer intervene in the FX corridor-setting market on a daily basis, Russia is hardly too concerned by the impact to the economy as a result of the beating its currency has taken, but where Putin may have brushed off the "speculative" attack on its currency for the time being, things for Russia's western adversary, the Ukraine - the country whose economy is in a state of near terminal collapse and which unlike Russia doesn't have massive raw materials to fall back on - are just starting to go bump in the night.

As has been the case for nearly a year, the Ukraine has been on life support by its "western allies" ever since the Victoria Nuland/US State Department/CIA catalyzed coup early in the year. The problem is that those same "allies" now look like they have had enough of their "alliance" and are about to pull the "blank check" rug.

According to Reuters, nearly a year on from the first "EuroMaidan" protests that would topple the pro-Moscow president who had spurned an EU trade deal, some in Brussels are disillusioned by the experience of helping Ukraine. EU generosity in waiving import duties and funding gas supplies from Russia may be being abused, they say.

Corruption in Ukraine? Unpossible. But wait, it gets better:

Some in Ukraine's elite may be colluding with Russia, even as fighting in the east has begun to escalate again.
If true, this will be the biggest stunt a Russian leader has pulled since Khruschev banging on the desk in the UN with his shoe.

And the punchline:

"The Ukrainians are manipulating the EU," a senior EU official involved in negotiations told Reuters, saying the bloc was "waking up" to a need to better defend its own interests.
You mean those poor European taxpayers, raped for years to bail out insolvent Eurozone nations because, you know, "political capital", are now directly and indirectly funding Putin's extravagant habits?

Brilliant.

Complete story at - Ukraine Currency Crashes After Senior EU Official Says "The Ukrainians Are Manipulating Us" | Zero Hedge

The Ukraine Who Cried Wolf: Kiev Reports 32 Russian Tanks Cross Border, Market Completely Ignores | Zero Hedge

Forget Baghdad Bob. Meet Luhansk Lysenko, the spokesman of the Ukraine military, and the guy who every single day floods whatever wires still care with the daily report of fighting, military invasions, and Russian troops entering the country, aka the proverbial boy who cried wolf.

There was a time when the merest hint of Russia military activity at the Ukraine border would do the unthinkable: challenged central planners and send stocks lower. Who can forget the market drubbing when the Russian humanitarian convoy was going to enter east Ukraine and allegedly carry a DIY army?

Well, those days are long gone. Because with Ukraine repeating day after day after day, how many Russian soliders have entered the country, how many artilery shells have landed, and how Putin is just salivating to invade the economically devastated country, everyone completely tuned out.

Case in point, yet another report earlier today from Kiev, according to which "a column of 32 tanks, 16 howitzer artillery systems and trucks carrying ammunition and fighters has crossed into eastern Ukraine from Russia."

Complete story at - The Ukraine Who Cried Wolf: Kiev Reports 32 Russian Tanks Cross Border, Market Completely Ignores | Zero Hedge