Ukrainian blurred lines ?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/28/2014 14:56 -0500
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/28/2014 17:41 -0500
Not even a non red blurred line from Obama ????? Just how tough is the tough talk ? Blurred line from Secretary of State Kerry though !
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/02/28/as-russia-takes-over-crimea-kerry-carney-warn-putin-not-to-cross-the-line/
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/28/2014 16:35 -0500
Ukraine Acting President Says Russia Has Invaded Ukraine, As 2000 Russian Troops, Military Jets Arrive
Here we go:
- UKRAINE ACTING PRESIDENT TURCHYNOV STARTS BRIEFING
- UKRAINE LEADER SAYS RUSSIA STARTS AGGRESSION AGAINST COUNTRY
- UKRAINE SAYS RUSSIA INVADED UKRAINE UNDER GUISE OF EXERCISE
- UKRAINE LEADER SAYS RUSSIA TRYING TO PROVOKE CONFLICT
- UKRAINE LEADER SAYS RUSSIA SEEKING TO ANNEX CRIMEA
- UKRAINE'S TURCHYNOV SAYS WILL DEFEND ITS INDEPENDENCE
- UKRAINE ACTING PRESIDENT ACCUSES RUSSIA OF WORKING ON A SCENARIO LIKE BEFORE WAR WITH GEORGIA
Russia has sent "several hundred" troops into Ukraine's Crimea region, US defense officials said Friday, after Kiev called on Moscow to withdraw its forces from the peninsula."It looks like they’ve moved several hundred troops there (into Crimea)," a senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.The comments marked the first confirmation from President Barack Obama's administration that Russia had launched an incursion into Crimea.The Russians had not given the US government advance notice of the action or explained its intentions since the operation was launched, officials said.But Pentagon officials stressed Washington was focused on diplomacy, and there was no serious consideration being given to any US military action."It is now in the realm of diplomacy," said a second defense official, who asked not to be named.Officials also said they were not aware of any request from Ukraine for military assistance.
More from Interpretermag.com:
“Under the guise of military exercises, Russia has brought troops into the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. And not only have they seized the parliament of the Crimea, the Council of Ministers of the Crimea, they are trying to take civilian buildings under control, communications, and trying to block places where Ukrainian soldiers are based,” he said in an appeal to the nation.“They are provoking us to military conflict. According to information from our intelligence, they are working out scenarios that are completely analogous to Abkhazia, when after provoking a conflict, they began annexation of territory,” the acting president emphasized.
Some are using makeshift barricades and checkpoints to defend themselves: via Kyiv Post:
Is it starting?
Officers Of 76th Russian Shock Troops Division Operating In Ukraine
Everyone is curious who those unmarked men in unforms that have been seen in youtube clips from the Crimea are. Courtesy of Russian blogger Lev Shlosberg who writes for the newspaper Pskovskaya Guberniya, we now have an answer: according to him they are the officers of the 76th Chernihov (Pskov) Storm Troops Division and have slowly dispersed across key choke points in Ukraine.
From his post, translated byInterpretermag.com
According to one of the participants in the operation, officers and contractors of the 76th Shock Troops Division have been re-locating to Ukrainian territory since last week. By early this week, there were already more than 100 soldiers. The last of the famous detachments was sent on Thursday, 27 February. They are fully armed, with 5,000 rounds of ammunition per person. There is one truck per 10 soldiers, and they are completely loaded with weapons including flame-throwers. Upon arrival on the territory of Ukraine, they did not report their geographical locations to people, and they were assigned local tasks. Most likely, this was Sevastopol and Simferopol. Emergency troops remain in Yysk, and did not take part in the operation. The barracks of the 76th Storm Troops Division on Margelova Street in Pskov is practically empty.
Some background on the 76th:
Originally established in 1939 as the 157th Rifle Brigade, division gained prominence during WWII as the 76th Guards Rifle Division fighting on the USSR's southern frontiers. From 1988-1992 the 76th Airborne Division, as it had become known, engaged in preventative security, averting the possible outbreak of war in former USSR territory. The division battled alongside Chechen paramilitary forces in the 1990s to wrest control of Chechen territories from Chechen separatists in the first and second Chechen wars. In 2006 the 76th Airborne Division became an Air Assault Division. During the 2008 Battle of Tskhinvali 76th Airborne Division assaults were instrumental in driving Georgian troops from South Ossetia in the Southern Caucasus.
The 76th Division comprises three regiments - the 104th, 234th and 237th, whose ranks are filled by full time professional servicemen, as opposed to conscripts. The division is equipped with the most sophisticated weaponry in modern warfare, such as the 'smart' precision guided munitions, guided missiles and 2S9 NONA self-propelled mortar vehicles.
Perhaps not surprising, it was the 76ththat was also involved in Syria:
Given the worsening crisis in Syria, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper reported that the Russian army is apparently being prepared for a mission in Syria. Citing anonymous sources in the military leadership, the newspaper said that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the general staff to work out a plan for military operations outside Russia, including in Syria.The units being prepared for an intervention are the 76th Division of airborne forces (an especially experienced unit of the Russian army), the 15th Army Division, as well as special forces from a brigade of the Black Sea fleet, which has a base in the Syrian port of Tartus.The details of the operational plan are being prepared by the working parties of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, to which most of the post-Soviet states belong, as well as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to which China and Russia belong.
And the 76th appears to have been busy today: Ayder Muzhdabayev, deputy editor of Moskovsky Komsomolets, reported on Facebook 2 hours ago:
Urgent from CrimeaArmed divisions have seized the state television station (GTRK) of Crimea. All the staff have gathered together at the Crimean Tatar TV channel ATR, hundreds of others have come. They are waiting for the seizure. Several APCs have arrived. For now, they’ve passed by. They are also expected seizure of the building of the Crimean Tatar’s Medjlis [Assembly]. People are already going there. Everyone is afraid of what will happen tonight. There it is.Friends, colleagues, take care of yourself! Don’t resist the military. God save Crimea!
It would appear Putin is not exactly deterred by Obama's harsh language.
Not even a non red blurred line from Obama ????? Just how tough is the tough talk ? Blurred line from Secretary of State Kerry though !
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/02/28/as-russia-takes-over-crimea-kerry-carney-warn-putin-not-to-cross-the-line/
As Russia takes over Crimea, Kerry, Carney warn Putin not to cross the “line”
POSTED AT 2:01 PM ON FEBRUARY 28, 2014 BY ALLAHPUNDIT
In their defense, what else can they say? If they say nothing, they’ll be pilloried for silence in the face of aggression. If they get too explicit about the consequences of line-crossing, everyone will think of Obama’s humiliation over his Syria “red line” and laugh. There’s nothing the U.S. can do to stop Russia from knocking heads and reclaiming Crimea if it wants to. Which means all that’s left is the traditional stern yet scrupulously vague admonishment.
Kerry, in comments that highlighted Washington’s rising suspicion of Moscow, said the U.S. is watching to see if Russian activity in Crimea “might be crossing a line in any way.” He added that the administration would be “very careful” in making judgments about that.“While we were told that they are not engaging in any violation of the sovereignty and do not intend to, I nevertheless made it clear that could be misinterpreted at this moment,” Kerry said. “There are enough tensions that it is important for everybody to be extremely careful not to inflame the situation and not send the wrong messages.”
Meanwhile:
Obama To Deliver Statement On Ukraine At 4:45 PM - Live Stream
Obama is scheduled to speak on the Ukraine 4:45pm. He may not even be half an hour last this time. And while we are waiting, we just got this:
- U.S. BELIEVES GROUND TROUPS IN CRIMEA ARE INDEED RUSSIAN: CNN
Perhaps this confirms there are no Russian troops on the ground after all.
Well that was quick:
- OBAMA SAYS ‘DEEPLY CONCERNED’ BY RUSSIAN MILITARY MOVEMENTS
- OBAMA SAYS "THERE WILL BE COSTS" FOR MILITARY INTERVENTION IN UKRAINE
- OBAMA SAYS "UKRAINE PEOPLE DESERVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DETERMINE THEIR OWN FUTURE"
- OBAMA SAYS HE COMMENDS RESTRAINT OF UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT
- OBAMA SAYS BIDEN HAS SPOKEN WITH PRIME MINISTER OF UKRAINE
- OBAMA SAYS U.S. SUPPORTS UKRAINIAN SOVERIGNTY
And... that's it: no statement on what if anything the US will do if Russia keeps its presence there and continues piling troops and equipment.
Not tough at all it would appear.....
Not tough at all it would appear.....
U.S. assessment of Crimea: This isn’t an invasion, it’s an … “uncontested arrival”
POSTED AT 5:58 PM ON FEBRUARY 28, 2014 BY ALLAHPUNDIT
My mistake. I thought the White House might try to make all of this go away by accepting Putin’s phony pretense that it’s a domestic uprising among ethnic Russians in Crimea, not an invasion by Russia. In fact, says the White House, there is a foreign element to the new troop presence — but it’s all good so far because Crimea isn’t resisting.
In other words, to save face over the fact that there’s nothing much we can do to stop this, the official U.S. line is that this can’t be an invasion if the Russians are being … greeted as liberators.
Popehat’s right: “Uncontested arrival” is the best Orwellian euphemism for war since “kinetic military action.” Laying aside the fact that we’re now lending rhetorical support to aggressive irredentism (the Tatars in Crimea are going to “contest” this “arrival,” I’m pretty sure), explain to me why he went out there an hour ago and blathered about his “deep concern” for violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty if we’re adopting the position that maybe Ukraine’s not the rightful sovereign in Crimea after all. I took his statement to be a condemnation of Russian action today, but maybe I have it wrong. Maybe all he meant was that a broaderinvasion of Ukraine would threaten the country’s sovereignty — although your guess is as good as mine as to how broad it’d have to be to trigger U.S. disapproval. A Russian incursion into the rest of eastern Ukraine might also go uncontested. At this point, if you’re Putin, hearing this reaction from the White House (and crickets from the EU, do note), why not give it a go?
By the way, while Moscow’s digesting the green light it just got from the U.S. to consolidate its gains, Obama’s at DNC headquarters kicking off happy hour for Democrats. I’m not kidding.
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