New Feature: Even More News for You

I'm making available today a new feature on my blog. While there is still a little bit more work that I want to do with it, I'd like to make it available to everyone right now in the hope that you'll find it useful. Click on one of the links below and you'll be taken there.

The new pages each contain a scrolling news widget. The news widgets are Russia News, Ukraine News, Novorossiya News, and Elsewhere in Ukraine News. This news widgets will allow access to a greater number of news stories than I could hope to post myself. Here's some basic information on each widget.

1. Russia News – the latest news concerning events and developments regarding Russia.

2. Ukraine News – the latest news regarding events and developments in Ukraine. This also includes NATO news, since we know that NATO is deeply involved in events in Ukraine.

3. Novorossiya News – news regarding the events Donetsk, Luhansk, and Novorossiya.

4. Elsewhere in Ukraine News – news regarding events elsewhere in Ukraine, with specific emphasis on cities and regions that may not remain in Ukraine for whole lot longer.

• Even More News for You - All four of the above feeds together on one page.


The first two categories have a larger number of news stories than the last two categories. This is not all that surprising. Because frankly, even a lot of alternative news sources are not covering these areas in much depth. Yet.

These news scrolls, while they contain a lot of current, up to the moment, news, are not updated instantaneously as news occurs. There will likely always be a couple hours delay. This is about the best that can be expected from a free solution. Yet, it will allow this website to be updated a lot more frequently than I could ever hope to update it myself.

Some caveats.

On the initial load, sometimes 1 or more news feeds don't load.  Refresh/reload the page and it should all work.  (Fingers crossed)

If you see a story that seems interesting, click it now. Once it disappears from the news scroll, it's gone and it won't come back.

Since the selection of these stories are computerized, there will no doubt be some stories that don't fit in well with the mission of this blog. As I discover these stories, I will go back and tweak the selection process in the hope that you see a more appropriate selection of stories.

If you see anything that appears not to be working too well, or doesn't seem to fit, feel free to leave a comment on the news scrolls page and I will look into it. And the feel free to drop me a comment and let me know how you like this new feature.

- Aaron Talka

Ukraine is divided in two, with or without Russia | Russia Direct

March 18 marks the anniversary of the signing of the agreement incorporating Crimea to Russia. This controversial event meant changing the Ukrainian borders from what they had been as the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. A year later we can say that Ukraine’s fragmentation continues.
Alienation continues to grow among various ethnic and cultural regions in the country. To maintain control of a range of these regions (Odessa, Kharkov and even Vinnitsa), Kiev has had to use force or place them under limited military administration.

The causes of the Ukrainian conflict are largely internal in nature. Moscow and Washington can make use of the contradictions among different regions in Ukraine for its own purposes. But, even if the Kremlin decided to withdraw entirely from Ukrainian affairs tomorrow, it would not mean a cessation of hostilities. The ethnic-territorial division of Ukraine would continue for objective reasons. There is a developing model of disintegration among modern states.

The historical basis of modern Ukraine

The historical ideological basis of Ukrainian identity - “ukrainstvo” as Georgy Fedotov, a Russian religious philosopher and historian, called it - was the “Galician-Poltavan Plan.” At the end of the 19th century, Malaya (“Little”) Russian identity was based around the Poltavan community. In the 1880s, as a result of Alexander III’s repressive policies, the center for the “Ukrainian” movement relocated from Poltava to Galicia. During the Civil War several unsuccessful attempts were made to create a Ukrainian state based on the Galicia and Poltava regions.

Complete story at - Ukraine is divided in two, with or without Russia | Russia Direct


Local residents walk past Soviet-era hammer and sickle sculptures outside an apartment building damaged after Saturday's shellingin Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015. The military conflict between Russia-backed separatists and the government forces in eastern Ukraine has been raging since April, claiming more than 5,100 lives, according to the United Nations. Photo: AP

'I Will Go Back as Soon as I Have the Chance': The Spaniards Arrested for Joining Ukraine's Rebels Vow to Keep Fighting | VICE News

In Madrid's Puerta del Sol square, a small group of Spaniards waved the flag of Novorossiya, the territory once ruled by the Russian empire that encompasses swathes of modern day Ukraine. With the Russian revolutionary symbol of the hammer and sickle fluttering behind them, they denounced the arrest of eight Spanish nationals for fighting with the pro-Russia militia force the International Brigades of Donbass — the first police operation on European soil against foreign civilians who have joined the separatists in the country's conflict-ravaged east.

The men, aged between 20 and 30 and hailing from six different Spanish provinces, were arrested in the first phase of the ongoing Operation Danko, a series of swoops beginning early on Friday morning. The self-styled "anti-fascists" have since been released on bail, but charged with jeopardizing the neutrality of Spain abroad, with alleged crimes of cooperation or complicity in murders, and, in some cases, of possessing weapons and explosives.

Sergio Becerra, 30, told VICE News that he was sleeping at home that morning, about two months after his return from Ukraine, when the doorbell rang. "The next thing I remember is a group of hooded policemen who entered the house without giving any explanations whatsoever. They just asked my name and whether I had been in Ukraine." Sergio responded that he had, since he believed he had "nothing to hide." The policemen searched every single piece of furniture, but found no weapons in his house, he said, adding "that's impossible, I don't own any." They did however find uniforms and military badges the United Armed Forces of Novorossiya, the Russia-backed rebel alliance comprised of the Donbass and Luhansk People's Militias. The force aims to bring the region firmly back into Moscow's orbit; Vladimir Putin has consistently referred to it by the long-buried name of Novorossiya, breathing new life back into the notion of this Greater Russia.

At the police station, Becerra found his former comrades. But he insists they were unfazed by their arrests. "We were quite calm. I thought: I've come from a war, this doesn't scare me at all."

Shortly after the arrests VICE News spoke with Becerra and another of those arrested, Hector Arroyo, who had arranged to meet 50 others in the Puerta del Sol to protest their detentions. With them was Ramiro Gómez, a spokesman for Madrid Committee in Support of Anti-Fascist Ukraine, who admitted to having traveled to Luhansk, but only for "humanitarian work," he said. At the end of the demonstration, a Luhansk refugee woman, now living in Spain, approached us. She told Becerra that they had the "support" of the population and that "what you are doing means a lot to us." His swarthy, bearded face lit up. "We also felt this support when we were there, madam," he answered, visibly moved.

Complete story at - 'I Will Go Back as Soon as I Have the Chance': The Spaniards Arrested for Joining Ukraine's Rebels Vow to Keep Fighting | VICE News

Equalization and Dehumanization in Eastern Ukraine | Reconsidering Russia and the Former Soviet Union

Dehumanization is a central component of war propaganda. By removing the humanity of individuals and reclassifying them as anonymous “others,” it becomes easier for combatants in a war to kill them. Such is the case with eastern Ukraine, a conflict rife with dehumanization.

In the Ukraine conflict, the greatest victims of such dehumanization are the 5.2 million Russian-speaking civilians of the industrial eastern Ukrainian region of the Donbas. Lifelong residents, they are caught in the crossfire between the pro-Russian rebels and the pro-Kiev militias. Regardless of their political sentiments, the locals have been cast by officials in the Kiev government variously as “terrorists,” “Colorado beetles,” “Moskali,” and “subhumans.” Very little distinction is made among the civilians, the actual rebels, and the rebels’ supporters in Moscow. Civilians who remain in rebel-held territory are often considered “traitors” by the mere fact that they chose to remain in their homes.

This lack of clarity, combined with attacks against east Ukrainian civilians by far-right battalions (accused of war crimes by Amnesty International), has driven the majority of the population to support the rebels. If they were ambivalent toward the rebel cause before, the rhetoric and actions of the Kiev government and its supporters changed their stance. Further, since the start of the conflict, the dehumanization has extended to anyone in Ukraine deserting the army, dodging the draft, or explicitly voicing opposition to the war, like the journalist Ruslan Kotsaba. He was arrested by Ukrainian authorities for openly expressing his views in a YouTube video and now potentially faces 15 years in jail for treason. Amnesty International has declared him a prisoner of conscience.

The dehumanization of eastern Ukrainians has also spilled into the discourse of Western politicians, pundits, and analysts. One of the most vocal of these, the Ukrainian-American academic, Alexander Motyl, has called the people of the Donbas “the most retrograde part of [Ukraine’s] population” and has attempted on more than one occasion to draw parallels between them and white US southerners who supported Jim Crow. His discourse has only fueled the flames of the conflict, pitting Ukrainians against Ukrainians. It also drew strong criticism from Lev Golinkin, a writer originally from Kharkiv, in The Huffington Post.

Motyl was not alone. Other Western commentators have also dehumanized the people of eastern Ukraine. Further, this dehumanization has seeped into a general dehumanization of all things Russian. From the start of the crisis in Ukraine, the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement was presented to Western readers as a “civilization choice” for Ukrainians between a “civilized Europe” and a “barbaric, Asiatic Russia.” During the Euromaidan protests in December 2013, Sweden’s former Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, the co-architect of the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) program, tweeted that the growing conflict between the protestors and police symbolized “Eurasia versus Europe in [the] streets of Kiev.” Even more extreme, former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili declared Moscow to be the “new Tatar-Mongol yoke.”

Complete story at - Equalization and Dehumanization in Eastern Ukraine | Reconsidering Russia and the Former Soviet Union

The Vineyard of the Saker: The useless agreement which everybody wanted (Minsk 2.0)

I have to say that I am both amused and appalled at the completely over-the-top reaction of most commentators to what we might as well call the Mink-2 Agreement (M2A). Apparently, analysis has been abandoned altogether and has now been replaced with hyperbole and vociferous but empty statements. Reading some of the comments made here one could be forgiven for thinking that somehow the war in the Ukraine was over and that the AngloZionist Empire, aided by Putin, Surkov and an anonymous but sinister army of Russian oligarchs, has just inflicted a terrible and final blow to the Novorussian dream.

What is going on here? Has everybody just gone crazy?

In part, this is due that one could read anything, everything and its opposite into this agreement (more about that later) and also to the fact that the western media simply had to present any agreement as a triumph of western willpower, diplomacy and sanctions. This is all utter nonsense, of course, but that is what you get for exposing yourself to the corporate media. So let's set aside all the loud clamoring and use our brains to actually *think*.

First, I would remind everybody that the junta as broken every single agreement it committed to. Every single one. And there is absolutely no reasons at all to believe that this time around this will change.

Second, Poroshenko can promise all he wants, but the real power in the "independent Ukraine" is held by Uncle Sam and by the "Maidanites" he controls.

Third, why do you think that Merkel and Hollande suddenly felt a powerful urge to "scratch their diplomatic itch" and decided to intervene? Could that sudden urge to negotiate have a little something to do with a place called Debaltsevo? If yes, what does the M2A say about Debaltsevo? Exactly. *Nothing*.

Fourth, the agreement not even signed by Poroshenko, but by Kuchma on behalf of the Ukraine.

Fifth, check out this section:
9. Restoration of full control over the state border of Ukraine by the government throughout the conflict zone, which should begin on the first day after the local elections and be completed after a comprehensive political settlement (local elections in some areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions on the basis of the Law of Ukraine and constitutional reform) at the end of 2015, subject to paragraph 11 — in consultation and agreement with the representatives of individual areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions in the framework of the Three-Party Contact Group.
Do you see what I see? Nevermind that the border is supposed to get back under Kiev's control only after "something" happens, but check out the "something" itself: constitutional reform in consultation and agreement with Novorussian leaders!!!! Does anybody seriously believe that the Rada will participate in anything even remotely looking like this? Liashko? Farion? Tsiagnibok and Iarosh all working together with the "subhuman colorads" from the Donbass to change the Ukrainian Constitution? Of course not!

So so far, let's sum this up. M2A was:

1) signed by a person with no authority
2) on behalf of a junta with no powers
3) it does not say a word about the main reason for the meeting in Minsk
4) it contains clearly impossible sections

How is that for a brilliant text?

Complete story at - The Vineyard of the Saker: The useless agreement which everybody wanted

ROCK SOLID POLITICS: Minsk 2.0 Bound for Failure

Minsk 2.0 Bound for Failure

Two hours ago the powers of Europe and Russia, along with Ukraine and representatives of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics, signed a new "peace deal" in Minsk. Problem is...it's not new. In fact, it's a regurgitated version of the first one that failed so miserably. Here's why the first one failed and the second one will as well.

1. The war in Ukraine has been witness to war crimes enmasse. Thousands of civilians have been slaughtered by the Ukraine army, and many more thousands have been maimed for life. During the first few months of the war, a deal like Minsk may have worked. After a year of the national government turning the guns of war against "its own" cities and villages the blood and destruction is far too great. Then there are the thousands of dead and wounded troops on either side. And their families. Are they supposed to submit to an agreement that allows the Ukrainian government to rule over them once more after such massive human rights abuses?

Almost as astonishing, the new Minsk deal calls for those who were responsible for these crimes against humanity to be pardoned from prosecution. An action that leaves human spirit betrayed. It defies the basic tenants of justice in the most vile way. A politically expedient hand shake that washes the blood of tens of thousands from the hands of those responsible.

2. The agreement ignores the referendums held by the people of Donetsk and Luhansk. It effectively ignores their democratic wish to be separate from Ukraine. That type of expression of will cannot be washed away with the stroke of a pen. It remains in the hearts and minds of the people. It was an expression of their will. A will that has been tossed to the wind again for political expediency. A betrayal of their collective hopes and aspirations.

3. Ukraine retakes its border with Russia effectively leaving the people of Novorossyia trapped and separated from their "guarantor" Russia. That leaves the door open for Ukraine to reverse all the battlefield losses they have suffered in the last year, and free to implement their will against the people of Donetsk and Luhansk.

4. The provisions for decentralization of powers and "special status" for Donetsk and Luhansk are left meaningless as Ukraine President Poroshenko so blatantly showed by declaring Ukraine will not federalize at a press conference held before he even left the venue of the talks. In other words, a meaningless promise.

5. Disarming of the military forces of Donetsk and Luhansk. The only real guarantor of security, safety, and defender of the will of the people of Donetsk and Luhansk. In other words, the very army that has been shelling their cities and villages will now be patrolling their streets. In other words, they will become occupied by their oppressors. Distasteful to any person with a shred of human dignity and pride.

The list goes on and on. Minsk 2.0 is nothing but a shallow, "diplomatic" attempt to appease the interests of Russia and Ukraine while ignoring those central to the equation: the people of Luhansk and Donetsk. A betrayal. An insult. Such an agreement can never have a long shelf life. It is doomed to failure because it ignores the human will and its need to see "justice done". Such an agreement leaves the wounds of war to fester and breeds deep routed hatred and resentment. It is not honourable and it is not practical. It is but a grand gesture, in a grand hall, that disrespects honour, sacrifice, and the human will to be free of one's oppressor. Shame on all involved.

Complete story at - ROCK SOLID POLITICS: Minsk 2.0 Bound for Failure

The Fallujah Option for East Ukraine » CounterPunch

by MIKE WHITNEY

“I want to appeal to the Ukrainian people, to the mothers, the fathers, the sisters and the grandparents. Stop sending your sons and brothers to this pointless, merciless slaughter. The interests of the Ukrainian government are not your interests. I beg of you: Come to your senses. You do not have to water Donbass fields with Ukrainian blood. It’s not worth it.”

— Alexander Zakharchenko, Prime Minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic

Washington needs a war in Ukraine to achieve its strategic objectives. This point cannot be overstated.

The US wants to push NATO to Russia’s western border. It wants a land-bridge to Asia to spread US military bases across the continent. It wants to control the pipeline corridors from Russia to Europe to monitor Moscow’s revenues and to ensure that gas continues to be denominated in dollars. And it wants a weaker, unstable Russia that is more prone to regime change, fragmentation and, ultimately, foreign control. These objectives cannot be achieved peacefully, indeed, if the fighting stopped tomorrow, the sanctions would be lifted shortly after, and the Russian economy would begin to recover. How would that benefit Washington?

It wouldn’t. It would undermine Washington’s broader plan to integrate China and Russia into the prevailing economic system, the dollar system. Powerbrokers in the US realize that the present system must either expand or collapse. Either China and Russia are brought to heel and persuaded to accept a subordinate role in the US-led global order or Washington’s tenure as global hegemon will come to an end.

This is why hostilities in East Ukraine have escalated and will continue to escalate. This is why the U.S. Congress approved a bill for tougher sanctions on Russia’s energy sector and lethal aid for Ukraine’s military. This is why Washington has sent military trainers to Ukraine and is preparing to provide $3 billion in “anti-armor missiles, reconnaissance drones, armored Humvees, and radars that can determine the location of enemy rocket and artillery fire.” All of Washington’s actions are designed with one purpose in mind, to intensify the fighting and escalate the conflict. The heavy losses sustained by Ukraine’s inexperienced army and the terrible suffering of the civilians in Lugansk and Donetsk are of no interest to US war-planners. Their job is to make sure that peace is avoided at all cost because peace would derail US plans to pivot to Asia and remain the world’s only superpower. Here’s an except from an article in the WSWS:

“The ultimate aim of the US and its allies is to reduce Russia to an impoverished and semi-colonial status. Such a strategy, historically associated with Carter administration National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, is again being openly promoted.

In a speech last year at the Wilson Center, Brzezinski called on Washington to provide Kiev with “weapons designed particularly to permit the Ukrainians to engage in effective urban warfare of resistance.” In line with the policies now recommended in the report by the Brookings Institution and other think tanks calling for US arms to the Kiev regime, Brzezinski called for providing “anti-tank weapons…weapons capable for use in urban short-range fighting.”

While the strategy outlined by Brzezinski is politically criminal—trapping Russia in an ethnic urban war in Ukraine that would threaten the deaths of millions, if not billions of people—it is fully aligned with the policies he has promoted against Russia for decades.” (“The US arming of Ukraine and the danger of World War III“, World Socialist Web Site)

Complete story at - The Fallujah Option for East Ukraine » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

The Vineyard of the Saker: War in the Ukraine

by Alexander Mercouris

Russia Insider has published my latest piece on the course of the Ukrainian war. It is a more refined and thought through version of the piece I previously wrote on this Page.

http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/02/02/3054

1. My key point is that it is not minor tactical movements that are determining the course of this war. It is the level of casualties the Ukrainian military is suffering. They were hammered in the summer and they are being hammered again now.

In my pieces for Russia Insider I quoted the number of Ukrainian military deaths on the basis of official Ukrainian documents obtained by a hacking group as 1,100 for a two week period that covered the battle for Donetsk airport. The NAF today puts the total number of Ukrainian military deaths presumably since the resumption of the fighting at 1,500. Colonel Cassad yesterday was saying that the number could be over 1,800.

The figures of 1,500 and 1,800 cover a longer period than the 1,100 in the hacked Ukrainian documents. The fact that they are all of the same order of magnitude however suggests that all these figures are reliable. If so then that that shows that my guess that the Ukrainian army is suffering deaths at a rate of several hundred a week is probably correct.

2. Of course the NAF is also currently suffering a high rate of losses. However it is clear that these are at a substantially lesser level than the Ukrainian. As I said in the Russia Insider piece an NAF spokesman put the loss ratio at 4 to 1. Colonel Cassad put the total number of NAF deaths at 600 for the same period as that of his 1,800 estimate for Ukrainian deaths. That is a 3 to 1 ratio.

I suspect that the number of NAF deaths over the last 3 weeks is higher than usual because the NAF has been on the attack for most of this period. When that stage ends after the Debaltsevo pocket is fully encircled I would guess the number will fall. By contrast as the pocket collapses the rate of deaths of Ukrainians will rise especially if the pattern of unsuccessful counterattacks the Ukrainians have a habit of launching is followed.

3. As I said in the article for Russia Insider the Ukrainian military simply cannot go on taking losses at a rate of several hundred a week. In the slugfest we are seeing it is only a matter of time before it breaks. This is especially so since I strongly suspect that I have greatly overestimated the total number of Ukrainian troops in the Donbass in my Russia Insider piece. I put the number in the same range of 60,000 or so thousand that was the case in the summer. I suspect the real total is substantially less, thus the attempted mobilisations about which in the Russia Insider piece I have much to say.

4. On the political front, the DPR/LPR are taking a very hardline in the negotiations. Specifically:

(1) they are now formally challenging Kuchma's plenipotentiary rights i.e. his right to sign agreements that formally and legally bind the junta. They are insisting that he formally be given such rights.

As I have argued before there was no doubt that Kuchma was acting on behalf of the junta when he signed the Minsk Protocol and it is fatuous to deny the fact. However the junta has repeatedly resisted pressure to formalise Kuchma's position since if they formally admit he is their representative then they formally admit they are negotiating with the NAF, which is something for political and ideological reasons they emphatically do not want to do.

(2) the NAF has said that they would agree to a new ceasefire on the basis of the actual combat line and not the line agreed in the Minsk Memorandum. This is a way of rejecting calls for a ceasefire because they know perfectly well that the junta will not agree to this. Importantly the NAF rejected a call for a temporary 7 day ceasefire in Debaltsevo today. I think this is the first time the NAF has rejected a ceasefire when it has been offered.

This is a fundamental shift from the position last spring and summer. At that time it was the NAF (and the Russians) who were repeatedly calling for a ceasefire and the junta that was ignoring such calls even as it purported to agree to them. Now the situation is reversed. There is no better indicator that the initiative has now passed to the NAF than that.

Complete story at - The Vineyard of the Saker: War in the Ukraine

Ukraine Says Losing the Electronic War to Rebels - Russia Insider

Ukraine has appealed for urgent international military assistance to combat an “electronic warfare” offensive, which it said is giving pro-Russian rebels a critical advantage in the worsening conflict.

Western nations have so far rebuffed Kiev’s calls for direct military assistance in the fight against Moscow-backed separatists in the east of the country.

But Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said a deeper “understanding” was growing in the US and EU that Ukraine needed high-tech gadgetry and training as much as weapons.

“The terrorists have been given the most modern weapons by the Russians [and are] trained by Russians and guided by Russians,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times. “We badly need communications equipment, jamming equipment – not just things considered lethal.”

Mr Klimkin, who became foreign minister in June, is a former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany who was born in the Russian city of Kursk.

Ukrainian forces are at a strategic disadvantage against separatists equipped with sophisticated technology including drones, which allow them to target artillery strikes and track troop movements. Ukrainian units are also often unable to contact each other because the separatists can jam their communications.

Complete story at - Ukraine Says Losing the Electronic War to Rebels - Russia Insider

"Thus began the slaughter"--Debaltsevo and its Consequences - Fort Russ

The Debaltsevo Collapse

By Yurasumy

Translated from Russian by J.Hawk

Fighting in Debaltsevo outskirts have been continuing for several days. Their intensity approaches the earlier fight for the Donetsk Airport. Considering the length of the frontline, the Battle for Debaltsevo is increasingly reminiscent of the Battle of Ilovaysk.

The wedge that was pushed into Novorossia defenses during the summer had strategic sense for the Ukrainian military. In the event the offensive was continued, one could have launched a disintegrating blow that would have cut off the entire Donetsk-Makeyevka-Gorlovka urban agglomeration in one fell swoop. But during the winter, when it became obvious the Ukrainian military is in no condition to attack, from the military point of view the salient should have been abandoned.

But that’s the military point of view. As we know, wars are started and ended by politicians, the soldiers just do the dying. The Ukrainian politicians, for their part, could not care less about Ukrainian soldiers. The media, in its attempt to consolidate Poroshenko’s oligarchic regime, inflated many myths, about the “cyborgs”, the “unbreakable three lines of defense,” etc., thus luring the Ukrainian army into the Debaltsevo noose out of which there is no way out.

One could not have thought of a better configuration of the frontline and the confluence of circumstances (specifically the junta’s attachment to its positions) in order to destroy the Debaltsevo grouping. Novorossia, of course, could not pass it up…

But the Ukrainian soldiers could not retreat. They were forbidden by their commanders, who were told by politicians that they HAVE TO hold on to Debaltsevo, just as they were told half a year ago that they HAVE TO hold Ilovaysk. No matter what. Even if it is an ideal target for modern artillery.

Just to understand the hopelessness of the Ukrainian position, one must keep in mind that at Debaltsevo 90% of casualties are caused by artillery fire. In the last few days Novorossia forces gradually used its artillery to force Ukrainian units off the commanding heights, took the only road from Artemovsk under fire. Junta soldiers report that Novorossia artillery superiority here is simply overwhelming. Even without a full encirclement, Novorossia can shoot Ukrainian fortified points with impunity.

Thus began the slaughter.

Complete story at - "Thus began the slaughter"--Debaltsevo and its Consequences - Fort Russ

The Vineyard of the Saker: Ukraine SITREP

Debaltsevo cauldron - still *not* closed:

According to Cassad, the cauldron is still not closed and I trust him. This being said, the Novorussians are holding the only highway out of the cauldron under their fire and they selectively allow some units to leave (medical, support & staff, for propaganda purposes) while destroying others (combat units). So even if the cauldron ain't quite closed, the junta forces are de-facto surrounded. See map (from Cassad):

Novorussian air defenses:

Remember the Tochka-Us shot down over Saur Mogila? Auslander reported that they had been shot down by (non-Novo) Russian. Then recently, two junta Tochkas "broke up in mid air". This time around the Novorussians have admitted that they shot down at least one Tochka. See the photo (also from Cassad):

The interesting thing is that Cassad mentions the Russian short range air defense system Pantsir as the system which might have shot down the Tochka. This is interesting for a number of reasons:

1) The Pantsir is a brand new Russian system. IF a Pantsir really did this, then the fact that the Novorussians are saying so basically means "Putin is arming us and we ain't even hiding it". A message to Kiev maybe?

2) The Pantsir is not supposed to be designed to shoot down ballistic missiles. IF a Pantsir really did this, then it proves that its real capabilities are far larger then its officially advertised ones.

3) If this was NOT a Pantsir, then we go right back to the explanation of last summer: the Russians are "covering" Novorussians with their S-300PMs.

I am personally inclined to believe the that this is what happened. The Pantsir is a very advanced "combined" (missile+guns) mobile but *point* defense systems designed to shoot down cruise missiles, aircraft and precision weapons. Ballistic missiles are different due to their speed and flight trajectory. Whatever may be the case, the fact that the Novorussians admitted that "they" shot down the Tochka is very good news as it shows a degree of confidence which will horrify Kiev.

The 4th Junta mobilization is the 4th one to totally fail:

Yup, just like the 3 previous ones, the 4th mobilization completely failed. According to a Ukrainian newspaper up to 80% of the conscripts do not want to go to fight. I am not sure about the 80% figure, but it appears to be a huge problem which further waves of mobilizations (the 5th one has already been announce) will, of course, not solve at all.

Novorussia (finally) announces a full mobilization:

Zakharchenko has announced that Novorussia is declaring a full mobilization. The neat thing is that this mobilization will be *voluntary* but that Zakharchenko expects 100'000 men to show up. Here we can only "thank" the junta for its systematic terror campaign against the towns and cities of Novorussia which has acted better than any recruitment center ever could. If the Novorussians really succeed in getting these kinds of numbers, and my guess is that they will, by next summer the junta will be in real danger of really losing all of historical Novorussia and of having Crimea linked to Russia by land.

Complete story at - The Vineyard of the Saker: Ukraine SITREP + open thread

Marginalised Groups Struggle to Access Healthcare in Conflict-Torn East Ukraine — Global Issues

KIEV, Jan 28 (IPS) - With international organisations warning that East Ukraine is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe as its health system collapses, marginalised groups are among those facing the greatest struggle to access even basic health care in the war-torn region.

Donetsk drug addiction services

The conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces has affected more than five million people, with 1.4 million classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and human rights bodies as "highly vulnerable" because of displacement, lack of income and a breakdown of essential services, including health care.

Fighting and accompanying measures imposed by both sides have led to medical supplies being severely interrupted or cut off entirely, hospitals destroyed or battling constant water and power cuts, and crippling staff shortages at health facilities as medical staff flee the fighting.

A complete lack of vaccines is threatening outbreaks of diseases such as polio and measles, while there are concerns for HIV/AIDS and TB sufferers as supplies of vital medicines dry up and disease monitoring becomes almost impossible.3

Massive internal displacement because of the conflict – latest U.N. estimates are of 700,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) with the figure rising by as much as 100,000 per week – has also left hundreds of thousands living in sometimes desperate and unhygienic conditions, creating a further health risk and the chance that infectious diseases, such as TB, will spread.

But while there is a threat to healthcare provision from collapsing resources, some in the region are facing extra barriers to accessing health care.

Complete story at - Marginalised Groups Struggle to Access Healthcare in Conflict-Torn East Ukraine — Global Issues

'Send Ukrainian slavs to die' is Washington's order to Poroshenko. Ukraine's "shock and awe" attack falls flat. Novorussia beats back attack - Red Pill Times

Here is the Ukraine putsch government logic for you:

• Putin calls on Ukrainian military, Donbass militias to take measures to stop shelling.
• Poroshenko received a written message from Russian President Putin on Thursday night with a concrete plan for both sides of the conflict to withdraw their heavy artillery.
• Poroshenko rejects the plan for peace without offering any alternatives.
• Kiev instead orders a full scale military attack on East Ukraine, opting to make a massive military style “shock and awe” offensive with tanks, ballistic missiles, and bombers.
• Ukraine putsch government attack fails miserably, as a Novorussian counteroffensive starts picking up speed.
• Kiev forces are in mass retreat in Peski (it was is described as a bloodbath), Mariupol is about to undergo a Novorussian offensive, Airport is still (contrary to Ukrainian propaganda and lazy main stream media reporting) under Novorussian control.
• A Ukrainian journalist working for TV channel 112, Ruslan Kotsaba, has asked Ukrainians to boycott military mobilization, describing the events on the Donbass as a civil war in which “DPR supermen” are killing “VSU [Ukrainian army] supermen.”
• After defeat, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has announced that Kiev is ready to participate in consultations of the trilateral contact group with the parties that signed the Minsk agreements.

Complete story at - 'Send Ukrainian slavs to die' is Washington's order to Poroshenko. Ukraine's "shock and awe" attack falls flat. Novorussia beats back attack, goes on counteroffensive - Red Pill Times

Obama: "Glory to Ukraine"  Battering Ram: "To the heroes, glory!"

"Children of War" Photo Series Tells Stories of Youth in Wartime Ukraine

Over the past several months, the thrice-weekly Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta has featured five photo stories about children in the war zone of eastern Ukraine. There are three more reports to come, said the series creator, Yan Shenkman, a journalist in Moscow and a contributor to Novaya Gazeta, in an email.

"The idea of our project is quite simple - we take pictures of children affected by the conflict in Ukraine, and tell their stories. No analysis, no political showdown, only their stories. Monologues, for the most part," Shenkman told Truthout.

"The idea came from a friend, a writer and political activist Maxim Gromov. He had already worked on a similar project - 'The Children of Prisoners,'" Shenkman added.

"The aim of the project is to show that because of the conflict, the most vulnerable parts of the population suffer."

"The second participant in our project is well-known St. Petersburg photographer Vladimir Telegin. I offered the idea to the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov. That's how 'The Children of War' became a special project of the Novaya Gazeta. We have published five reports so far. There will be three more."

"After that," Shenkman continued, "I created a Facebook group to post the articles, photos and notes which were not included in the published reports in Novaya Gazeta. Soon, the group began to receive photos and notes from people who are doing similar things as well as posts of volunteers who work with children. I block any attempts at hate speech or aggressive expression in the Facebook group."

"We made three trips for the project - to the Rostov region of Russia, where we visited the refugee camps; to Donetsk city and the surrounding area; and thirdly to Slavyansk, Melitopol and Kharkiv which also have refugee camps. Volunteers from both sides helped us a great lot. If not for them, the whole thing wouldn't have worked."

Shenkman explained: "The aim of the project is to show that because of the conflict, the most vulnerable parts of the population suffer. And people are suffering on both sides. Children and their parents often don't even realize who and why is fighting and who is shooting at them."

Complete story at - "Children of War" Photo Series Tells Stories of Youth in Wartime Ukraine

The Vineyard of the Saker: A Grim and Fatalist Post-Holiday Sitrep for the Dream that Was "NovoRossiya" and the People of the Donbass

Russia will obviously not allow the West-backed and installed Kiev regime to conquer the rump "NovoRossiya" by military means. This latest "offensive" of theirs will either peter out quickly or will end very badly for them if it expands in the Spring.

But the NAF is even less a coherent and organized force than the UAF/batallions (and that's saying a lot because Kiev has very limited control of its warlords and their death squads ie the "battalions) - with no real offensive capability or logistics network. They are only really a defensive force thus far, though it must be said competent at that. The Kremlin, further, purposefully and when necessary, brutally, weeds their leadership and retards their supplies and growth to make sure they cannot become truly independent of either Russia or Ukraine.

The Kremlin has gone out of their way to prevent the NAF from seizing even the rest of Donetsk or Lugansk Republics, letting them keep only this tiny rump principality which is only a third of the territory of the respective two Republics. They wouldn't even let the NAF take Donetsk airport for over 7 months. This was obviously a signal to the West of their limited intentions and an attempt to prevent the conflict from spiraling into anything bigger. The West either appears to have not gotten that message or completely ignored and taken advantage of it. The people who truly suffered from this policy of the Kremlin's are the people of Donetsk and the rank and file NAF. They have hid and died under regular Putsch regime shelling directed through the airport into the residential districts of the city since the summer.

The NAF being "let off the leash" and, after far more of a struggle than it should have been, finally taking their own city's airport tells us two things. First the Kremlin is growing frustrated with both Kiev and the West as negotiations are going nowhere. This is a signal of their discontent, but a very limited one in scope. Second it is painfully obvious that the NAF without greater Russian support than the Russian government has ever given them, or intends to give them (whatever the hysteric and regular pronouncements from Kiev or the Western MSM and governments to the contrary), has NO offensive capability to speak of.

The Kremlin has no intent to either annex Donetsk and Lugansk and take economic responsibility for them and their people - nor to let them expand and become independent. Novorossiya literally has NO economy at all - nor do they have the ability to develop one without massive outside investment which neither the Kremlin nor the West has any intent of giving them. This is very important as NovoRossiya can NEVER be independent nor is it even sustainable in the medium term without one. There is literally NO money, no paying jobs, no economy. Even the standard of life under Putsch neoliberal "austerity" in Ukraine is far better at this point. The people of Donbass are suffering and the vulnerable literally starving to DEATH, and they cannot continue much longer like this.

The NovoRossiya "project" was NOT dreamed up in the Kremlin. It was an organic idea with historical roots that grew out of the desires of the people of the Donbass to get out of the post-Maidan Ukrainian madhouse and encouraged by various Eurasianist and nostalgic-Imperial/Orthodox elements of Russian civil society. Perhaps a few in the Kremlin inner circle of the more conservative patriotic bent tried to pick it up and run with it for a while - but it is obvious that for Putin it was never anything more than toy for leverage with the West to force a negotiated settlement in Ukraine. A "bad cop" approach. But it was never more than a bluff - and it appears that the West has (correctly) called him on it - whatever their public rhetoric on the matter to the contrary.

Complete story at - The Vineyard of the Saker: A Grim and Fatalist Post-Holiday Sitrep for the Dream that Was "NovoRossiya" and the People of the Donbass

'Send Ukrainian slavs to die' is Washington's order to Poroshenko. Ukraine's "shock and awe" attack falls flat. Novorussia beats back attack, goes on counteroffensive - Red Pill Times

Here is the Ukraine putsch government logic for you:

• Putin calls on Ukrainian military, Donbass militias to take measures to stop shelling.
• Poroshenko received a written message from Russian President Putin on Thursday night with a concrete plan for both sides of the conflict to withdraw their heavy artillery.
• Poroshenko rejects the plan for peace without offering any alternatives.
• Kiev instead orders a full scale military attack on East Ukraine, opting to make a massive military style “shock and awe” offensive with tanks, ballistic missiles, and bombers.
• Ukraine putsch government attack fails miserably, as a Novorussian counteroffensive starts picking up speed.
• Kiev forces are in mass retreat in Peski (it was is described as a bloodbath), Mariupol is about to undergo a Novorussian offensive, Airport is still (contrary to Ukrainian propaganda and lazy main stream media reporting) under Novorussian control.
• A Ukrainian journalist working for TV channel 112, Ruslan Kotsaba, has asked Ukrainians to boycott military mobilization, describing the events on the Donbass as a civil war in which “DPR supermen” are killing “VSU [Ukrainian army] supermen.”
• After defeat, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has announced that Kiev is ready to participate in consultations of the trilateral contact group with the parties that signed the Minsk agreements.
• Poroshenko forwarded Putin’s proposal to his US bosses in Kiev, who in turn ordered Porky to reject said proposal, and instead deliver a massive strike on Novorussia…which ended in another humiliating defeat for Porky’s army.

Complete story at - 'Send Ukrainian slavs to die' is Washington's order to Poroshenko. Ukraine's "shock and awe" attack falls flat. Novorussia beats back attack, goes on counteroffensive - Red Pill Times

Vladimir Suchan: Logos politikos: On Mark Sleboda's Wittenberg Church Post or Why I Am Still a Believer and Optimist

The situation in Donbass has not been easy, and Moscow's policy was obviously to upset and anger the Empire bent on her existential destruction and demise as little as possible, which, in practice, means and meant giving in to the Empire as much as was possible at a given moment.

Mark Sleboda's piece should deserve an honest response (i.e., honest, not PR rebuttal and not silence) from someone co-responsible in Moscow for the situation. The point is that the Russians and also Novorossiya's supporters do need some honesty and a demonstration of true leadership. Honesty is what restores trust and what also serves as a good reason to forgive. Lying to the nation in vital, fundamental matters on which life and death depends in a Machiavellian fashion does not work and is disgraceful.

At the same time, the events now unfolding in Donbass show very clearly that the previous course was not sustainable and that things are no moving unto a new ground.

At the same time, I would like to stress one important thing, which seems to get lost. The struggle of the working people of Donbass for Novorossiya is real and its effect is already going to be profound. For, in this struggle, a new stronger Russian character is being forged. In other words, despite all, I am and remain a believer and optimist. I believe in the Russian character and the strength of the Russians. Thus, instead of "dying" I see a very difficult process of birth or rebirth, in which Moscow has served so far as a much hapless midwife who, till now, believed that her business is not this midwifery, but something more akin to the old "profession" or let's say a continued "professional" or "business-oriented" courting and flirting with her "Western partners" who are playing a role of Herod to Russia's new birth.

Nevertheless, while Moscow (or at least Lavrov) is trying to look for "pacifist" fascists or Banderites among the leaders and US puppets of the Maidanite junta (something as plausible as "moderate terrorists" in Syria with whom the West vows to change the Middle East and make them into "tolerant democrats"), the people of Donbass and many Russians are leading a heroic struggle in which a new, true Russia, her rebirth, is being forged.

Complete story at - Vladimir Suchan: Logos politikos: On Mark Sleboda's Wittenberg Church Post or Why I Am Still a Believer and Optimist

Opportunists take advantage of east Ukraine leadership confusion | Al Jazeera America (3)

PEREVALSK, Ukraine — The armed camouflaged men and women immediately stand to attention when Ataman Nikolai Kozitsyn enters the salmon-hued hall of the Soviet-era House of Culture he uses as one of his three offices.

At just over 6 feet 2 inches tall with a protruding belly, Kozitsyn commands a presence, and his Cossack soldiers stare straight ahead as he addresses one of his female troops.

“You’re too skinny,” he boomed. He then turned to the young woman’s husband, who stood by his side with an automatic weapon slung over his shoulder. “Aren’t you feeding her enough?”

Kozitsyn bellowed a laugh, and the dozen or so in the room laughed nervously. Most of them wore the traditional Cossack fighter’s cap, black fur with a red center. Their hats were no match for Kozitsyn’s headwear, which was about three times the height and twice the circumference.

He has been the de facto ruler of this small mining city about 25 miles southwest of the rebel-held city of Luhansk since July. He and his Cossack fighters from Russia’s Don River basin came to the aid of the pro-Russian separatists when the Ukrainian forces fighting the rebels controlling the area began to gain ground.

In a matter of months, he has turned Perevalsk into his fief. He said he has brought stability back to a city that had been ransacked by a corrupt government “calling itself Ukraine” and took credit for getting the city’s main services back up and running, including water, heat and electricity.

Complete story at - Opportunists take advantage of east Ukraine leadership confusion | Al Jazeera America



Nikolai Kozitsyn took control of the small city of Perevalsk, east Ukraine, in July. He walked through its streets on Nov. 15, 2014. Dmitry Beliakov for Al Jazeera America

In eastern Ukraine’s Miusynsk, pensioners struggle to survive winter | Al Jazeera America (2)

MIUSYNSK, Ukraine — Natalia Shevchenko, 57, doesn’t know if she and her husband are going to survive the winter. Her last pension check arrived in June, and since then, she and her husband have eaten through most of the pickled tomatoes and canned food on their shelves. “Now we understand that no one needs us,” she said.

Shevchenko lives in Miusynsk, a village in eastern Ukraine of fewer than 2,000 people that hugs the border between Luhansk and Donetsk, the two regions controlled by pro-Russian rebels fighting Ukrainian forces.

Elsewhere across the region, some help has trickled in. Russian Cossack commanders have set up a soup kitchen for the elderly and distributed a one-time payment of 1,000 hryvnia, about $63, to pensioners in other cities. Russian and international aid groups have delivered food, clothing and basic medical supplies to the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukrainian aid trucks made a delivery to other parts just before the New Year.

But it appears that no humanitarian help has reached Miusynsk. With no money and no food aid to speak of, many villagers here say they feel forgotten in the 10-month conflict that has left more than 4,700 dead.

International aid organizations warn that Miusynsk is an example of the growing risk for a humanitarian crisis this winter in the rebel-controlled areas as the conflict drags on and the region becomes more and more isolated.

Most of the village supported the pro-Russian movement that declared itself independent from a European-leaning Kiev after the massive Maidan demonstrations in 2013. They patiently waited out the intense fighting that brought the front line through their village, just as it had during WWII.

Complete story at - In eastern Ukraine’s Miusynsk, pensioners struggle to survive winter | Al Jazeera America

The people of Donetsk trudge along warily under the rebel government | Al Jazeera America (1)

DONETSK, Ukraine — Backstage in the Donbas Opera house, Natalia Kovalova is doing her best to maintain a sense of normality amid the chaos that has taken hold in this rebel-held city during the past seven months.

The rumble of artillery shells demolishing what’s left of the city’s airport has become so routine, Donetsk’s residents hardly flinch. Senior citizens who haven’t received their monthly pensions in five months stand in line to collect humanitarian aid packets of food and medicine.

The opera house continues to put on shows, but only matinees and only on the weekend because people don’t feel safe leaving their homes at night. Tickets are half-price, and sometimes given out for free. A large sign in the theater’s entryway reads “bomb shelter” in Russian and points toward the basement classroom used by the ballet school.

But behind the stage and in the costume rooms and practice halls that Kovalova, the theater’s administrator, has called her second home for 25 years, she said she finds her bit of peace watching the ballerinas and opera singers rehearse for their next performance as if it were just a normal day of practice.

“Kiev has said we should leave and relocate somewhere else, but where would we go?” Kovalova said. “The Ukrainian government has just forgotten about us here.”

A year has passed since the Euromaidan protests began in Kiev on Nov. 21 and sparked Ukraine’s worst political crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union. Within six months of the demonstrations’ start, Ukraine’s eastern industrialized heartland was transformed into a brutal battleground between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian rebels declaring independence.

Complete story at - The people of Donetsk trudge along warily under the rebel government | Al Jazeera America



A student writes on the board in a classroom at school No. 18 in Shakhtyorsk, a town not far from Donetsk, on Nov. 17, 2014. Dmitry Beliakov for Al Jazeera America