Russian paramilitary leaders in eastern Ukraine caught on tape communicating with Moscow

[Tommy_Carcetti]

Source: Kyiv Post

A recording proving that Russia is backing separatists in eastern Ukraine has surfaced online. The SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) taped the operatives, whose code names are "Nose," "Adler," "Shooter" and "Agath," discussing strategy, weapon stockpiles, and requests for reinforcements.

The SBU has identified the number calling the separatists in Ukraine as having a Russian +7 area code. The person with the Russian number asks Shooter to contact him. Later in the conversation, Shooter reports “fighting off the first (Ukrainian) attack” and shooting “some significant (highly-ranked Ukrainian) people."

*****

The coordinator in Russia, named Alexander, asks Shooter to go on air and speak with Russian television channel "Life News." Alexander tells Shooter not to identify himself and suggests taking his “assistant with a Ukrainian accent." He asks Shooter to demand federalization, gubernatorial elections no earlier than the May 25 Ukrainian elections, and to emphasize the demand that the Verkhovna Rada should not be allowed to accept external financial support without the support from 2/3 of oblasts.

*****
The conversation was in reference to an ambush the Russians organized against a Ukrainian force led by the SBU's anti-terrorism unit on the outskirts of Slovyansk on April 13. SBU Captain Hennadiy Bilichenko was killed in the firefight and nine others were seriously injured, said Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. In the same conversation, the Russian operatives in Slovyansk asked for anti-tank weapons. The other caller responded that he will send a platoon from Luhansk who have combat experience with the anti-armor weapons.


Read more: http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/russian-paramilitary-leaders-in-eastern-ukraine-caught-on-tape-communicating-with-moscow-343644.html

---

Video with English subtitles:

&feature=player_embedded

[okaawhatever]

1. Wow. Talk about a smoking gun. I'm glad the truth is coming out. nt

[okaawhatever]

61. Did you claim the Victoria Neuland call was a fraud because it was leaked by Russia Today and

Voice of Russia?

[CFLDem]

2. Hopefully we can use this to embarass Putin

and avoid war.

Unfortunately I don't think history is on our side when it comes to paying attention to obvious red flags.

[DFW]

6. Putin is not embarrassed, and we won't go to war over it.

Putin couldn't care less. He knows the world knows, and it makes no difference to him. He cares about what will appear in Russian history books, and that will be history as he wants it recorded.

He also knows we wouldn't start a shooting war over the Ukraine now any more than we did over the Ukraine becoming part of the Soviet Union almost a century ago--or any more than Russia attacked us when we made States out of Hawaii and Alaska.

[freshwest]

30. Nailed it. n/t

[MBS]

38. Foreign Policy blog article on Ukrainian move and Putin's MO

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/04/15/ukraine_makes_good_on_threats_to_pounce_on_russian_protesters
Excerpt:
(bold highlights are mine)

According to Igor Sutyagin, a fellow at Royal United Services Institute who has written about the Russian military's plans in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin probably has not decided on a course of action. "Putin is a tactician. He does not know what he will do," Sutyagin said in an interview. "Many want to believe that Putin has some sort of plan. The problem is that he does not, and that is even more dangerous. The problem is that he reacts to opportunities that he very often gets wrong."

[blm]

3. Good that those Russia defenders claiming the militias are 'peaceful' protestors now have proof.

.

[Iliyah]

4. Nah

Putin is like our lovely GOP party here. He will ignore and continue with the invasion.

[MBS]

39. Yup, the similarities between our GOP and Putin are amazing.

No wonder so many GOP politicians have such a crush on Putin. He's better at their game of intolerance and autocracy than they are.
A big BOO to all of them.

[TwilightGardener]

5. I'm sure ordinary protesters form platoons and are familiar with anti-tank weapons.

Yeah, that happens all the time.

[dipsydoodle]

7. Only problem is that EuroMaidan PR have been proven to scam in the past

and have a credibility problem with their videosas a result. One of the most recent was where they posted a video on Youtube of two Russian Ambassadors discussing an upcoming UN meeting. Unfortunately one of the Ambassadors they used for the made up conversation died late last year.

Euro maiden may have subsequently deleted their original but many copies , with a variety of titles , persist on Youtube.

Some mention here well after the event : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10745425/Russian-ambassadors-joked-about-annexing-Scotland.html

[Adrahil]

19. And Putin a liar. Yet you choose to believe Putin?

I wonder why?

[okaawhatever]

62. Believe Putin? He is Putin's biggest fan and defender. In fact, Dipsey believes we're in need of

more accurate information about Russia and the former Soviet Union. (his/her words, not mine)

[Adrahil]

67. And I just don't understand it.

It's like some folks here just want to rewrite history and ignore the what the Soviet Union was, and particularly what the KGB was. They made the CIA look like an Amnesty International chapter. And Putin was a high ranking officer in it.

[CreekDog]

31. so you're saying that Russian sources are credible and honest

always?

maybe i can find a link to rt.com that will explain to me how awesome the Russian government is.

[jakeXT]

8. Alexander from Russia

That should be easy to find out with such a unique name in Russia.

Pravda from Ukraine claims it's the PR guy from the Kreml with his official number.

Boroday Alexander

I wonder why the Kiev Post isn't claiming that?

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=uk&tl=en&u=http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/04/14/7022426/

[bemildred]

9. I thought the English secret names were pretty cool. nt

[jakeXT]

11. "Shooter" reminds me of the Wahlberg movie where he is set up as a patsy

Last edited Tue Apr 15, 2014, 06:03 PM - Edit history (1)

At about 09:31 minutes into the full film, there is a scene where Wahlberg is checking the news online and says to himself "Let's see what lies they are trying to sell us today" all while a copy of the 9/11 Commission report can be seen in the right hand corner of the frame. He then proceed to read the book.

Agath seems to be character from the longest poem in American literature

Agath, another visitor at Mar Saba, a Greek sailor who was sent to Mar Saba to recover after being attacked in the Judean desert, similarly to the wounded Jew in Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarel

[cosmicone]

10. Yep ... and there are WMDs in Iraq

British intelligence has learned it .... aluminum tubes for centrifuges, yellow cake from Niger yessireee Bob.

[LanternWaste]

17. Cracklin' good example of the old "post hoc ergo prompter hoc" fallacy.

Cracklin' good example of the old "post hoc ergo prompter hoc" fallacy... all the better to reinforce a false equivalency based on bias rather than objective information.

[cosmicone]

23. It is propter and not prompter - second time I noticed in your posts

Furthermore, there is no logical fallacy. Both instances are examples of how fake info is used to start a war.

[EX500rider]

26. Except most sane people don't think this is fake.

Kinda obvious in fact that Russian GRU Spetnaz forces are across the border leading the action to destabilize eastern Ukraine.

[lark]

12. Fuck Putin!

Financially, not physically. He and GW are so much alike, macho jokes who care more about "proving" their manhood than about sanity or reality.

[nyabingi]

13. Instead of listening to the grievances

of the ethnic Russians and seeking to assuage their apprehensions, the silly post-coup government of Kiev has decided to send in their military to straighten those pesky ethnic Russians out. I'm sure there are plenty Right Sector members hankering to jump on those APC's and go bash some Russian-speaking Ukrainians (as they've been threatening to do) into submission, and it seems that many people on this website are cheering for them.

Since when did it become chic for American liberals to root for the victory of outright neo-Nazis? There are aspects to Putin's character that demand rejection (his over-reliance on machismo and his disgusting homophobia to name a couple), but violent right-wing fascists are the lesser of two evils in this situation???

I'm sorry people, but I can hold my nose and support anyone fighting against people who espouse violent white supremacy and hatred.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

14. So just to get you on the record....

....it is your position that the Ukrainian interim government, as a whole, are "outright neo-nazis", "violent right-wing fascists" who "espouse white supremacy and hatred"?

A simple yes or no will suffice.

[nyabingi]

16. Considering that the posts of

Director and Deputy Director of Ukraine's National Security Council are held by two leaders of the ultra-right Pravy Sektor and other ministerial positions are held by members of Svoboda, I would say my statements are accurate. You can look these people up yourself, Tommy - the information as to who is actually in control in Kiev is not a mystery, just whitewashed by the American media because they feel the public may not approve if it were widely known and questioned.

Please feel free to look up both of these groups and you'll see that my descriptions are apt and appropriate.

I take it you are the appointed foil against those of us who don't agree with the US/EU position on Ukraine here at the DU, but have you ever bothered to investigate what's going on for yourself?

A simple yes or no will suffice.

[LanternWaste]

18. So you do believe that "Ukrainian interim government, as a whole, are "outright neo-nazis"

So you do believe that "Ukrainian interim government, as a whole, are "outright neo-nazis". Weird.

Odd, that-- although it's cool the way you deflect the question by asking another non-predicated question. Would have been easier had you simply said "yes", rather than pretending to be clever.

(insert rationalization here)

[nyabingi]

20. I did say "yes"

by saying based on the information, my statements are accurate and I gave my rationale for my thoughts on the matter. There was no need to pretend to be clever at all nor a need to deflect anything.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

21. Parubyi is not a member of Right Sektor.

I don't believe he was ever a member of that group.

Regarding Svoboda, they hold a grand total of 3 seats in the entire 21 seat Ukrainian cabinet. Such proportionality would be in line with what is expected in a minority party under a parliamentary system such as Ukraine.

Bottom line though is that Svoboda is quite a minority party, so claiming that they represent the entire Ukrainian government as a whole would be foolish and inaccurate.

It also bears noting that both Svoboda and Right Sektor as they exist today, while clearly espousing an Ukrainian ultra-nationalist ideology (and certainly nothing that I personally would want to associate myself with), don't fall under your "neo-Nazi", "white supremacist" labels. Mind you, I'm not saying they are good political organizations, so don't try to tell me that I'm apologizing for them. However, that does not mean you aren't mislabeling who they are. They are minority, ultra-nationalist political organizations in Ukraine that represent a small portion of the population, and whose leaders will not be elected to the highest rungs of office in Ukraine. There's no need to spin it beyond that.

So, yeah, essentially you are full of shit. Hate to tell you that.

I have certainly looked into what is going on in Ukraine. I have relatives who are living what is going on in Ukraine, and who are in infinitely better shape to tell you what is going on in Ukraine than you are. Scanning a poorly sourced Common Dreams posting and regurgitating it does not mean you know what is going on.

[joshcryer]

24. Notably, Svoboda and Right Sektor are equal to United Russia.

The fascist Putin's party.

[EX500rider]

27. Yeah I get a big chuckle out of the "fascists Ukrainians" meme while ignoring the many...

...Russians that fit that description quite well.

[nyabingi]

32. You are most certainly trying to downplay the neo-Nazi

aspect to Svoboda and Right Sector and you're engaging in the same whitewashing that the corporate press in, Tommy. Right Sector members were photographed during the Maidan protests sporting Nazi symbols (the "14" for the "14 words" in white supremacist circles and the "88", shorthand for "Heil Hitler", emblazoned upon their makeshift shields, spray-painting the white power cross on buildings, and a US Confederate flag was even spotted hung in one of the government buildings they occupied. They also openly revere western Ukrainians who sided with Germany during the Nazis push into the USSR. Now how you can say they aren't neo-Nazis is beyond my comprehension. You're being dishonest.

As far as the post-coup Kiev government, there are more than three of these people present. Parubiy, who is now National Security Chief, was a co-founder of Svoboda and the Deputy Chief, Yarosh, was the founder of Right Sector. These are the folks in charge of the police and they've been threatening the ethnic Russian population with violence before and after the landed where they are now. Then there's the Minister of Agriculture, Svaika, who's a wealthy oligarch, Minister of Ecology (Moknyk), the Minister of Education and the Prosecutor-General are both members of Svoboda, as is the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs (Sych).

You are the one who is full of feces, Tommy. Having access to good information on these people, you choose to go the "they're not that bad" route instead of condemning the United States' assistance in elevating these thugs to positions of power. These radicals hold important positions in the pro-Western government in Ukraine and they are the reason the south and east of the country is rebelling, not because Putin requests it.

[Adrahil]

34. You are vastly inflating the importance of Svoboda and right sector.

They are a small minority. Meanwhile, the fascist Unite Russia party is in control of Russia. I have to conclude you are in the tank for the Russian fascists. Wait till the new policy on culture comes out where Putin's government officially rejects the principals of multi-culturalism and tolerance.

[nyabingi]

36. Regardless of how small a minority they may be...

...their very presence in positions of power is what is unsettling for the ethnic Russian population in the east of Ukraine. This is not about me supporting Vladimir Putin or his political party internally, but all about me being against US and EU machinations and mischief designed to make more territory safe for western predation.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

40. So what are the instances of ethnic Russian persecution after Yanukoych fled the country?

Because I'd really like to know that.

[nyabingi]

45. Besides the fact that the people from Svoboda, Right Sector and

many western Ukrainians harbor some anti-Russian sentiment, the post-coup parliament, as one of their first acts, tried to remove Russian as one of the country's officially recognized languages, a move seen as direct aggression by many ethnic Russians in the south and east. They were correct to feel that the Washington-imposed government was not going to protect their rights and that they were openly hostile to them. This got virtually no play in the American media.

The idea was scuttled after Kiev's western benefactors suggested they not move so fast with the repression.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

48. That's it?

One attempted law about the official language of governing business (which, by the way, didn't actually ban the use of Russian in Ukraine like some wish to claim).

So let me clarify. Do you have any real examples of persecution of ethnic Russians by the interim Ukrainian government?

[nyabingi]

49. At this point, there doesn't need to be...

...any actual examples when the "interim" government expresses their hatred of all things Russian - it's not hard to see that they aren't going to be very kind to them and the idea of them solidifying their rule in Kiev is something many in the south and east couldn't stomach. The Crimeans reacted to it immediately and now other Ukrainians are as well.

And again, we're not talking about run-of-the-mill conservative lawmakers, but we're talking about people who are way to the right, extremists who don't see any moderate space politically.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

50. But there's been no actual threats of violence against ethnic Russians from the government.

Which was Russia's big "concern" over Crimea, and is undoubtedly Russia's big "concern" over Eastern Ukraine.

And it's all bogus. As bogus as the WMD argument we gave for Iraq, except it's Russia doing the trumping up of charges this time.

[nyabingi]

51. The unelected government...

...is being very careful not to do anything overtly anti-Russian for obvious reasons now, especially with the eastern half of the country in open revolt against their authority. Tommy, these Ukrainians are dead-set against being ruled by the post-coup government in Kiev for good reasons, whether you think they are trumped up or not.

Crimea wanted out, and the eastern half is wanting out as well.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

52. So, in short, "No."

As in, "No, there are no examples of the Ukrainian interim government persecuting ethnic Russians living in Ukraine."

Also funny how you blame the situation on the "unelected government". I mean, it's not like they have scheduled national elections for--I don't know--next month.

Oh wait. They have.

[nyabingi]

54. This interim government

was in no way chosen by the people of Ukraine and they shouldn't be in a position to be able to send the military to the east to threaten other Ukrainians, regardless of the fact that they have set up elections in the coming months. They are already making agreements to institute austerity measures and the people are already suffering as a result.

I know you're trying hard to make this whole fiasco look benign but you're failing my friend.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

57. It's an interim government. In-ter-im. Follow me?

Last edited Wed Apr 16, 2014, 04:45 PM - Edit history (1)

When Yanukoych high tailed it to Russia back in February, it's not as though they could hold legitimate elections the following week. (Well, unless you're Russia and you're voting on Crimea.....)

Someone's got to rule the country. Might as well be the people the Rada chose until elections could be held in May.

I mean, Gerald Ford was never chosen by the people of the United States to be our President (or even our Vice President, for that matter). It didn't make him an illegitimate President, did it?

And when you have extremely well-armed green men pop up in various parts of the country and demand that those parts be ceded to Russia, is that anything any government should ignore?

You are a complete fool.

[freshwest]

66. Shades of the Tea Party and Koch oligarchs who run the US HoR who have bad plans for most of us. n/t

[joshcryer]

68. Russia has supressed the Ukrainians language for centuries.

It is no surprise when some Ukrainians want to do the same thing.

[nyabingi]

69. Language is a touchy topic

in Ukraine and many people don't seem to understand that. The post-coup government in Kiev trying to remove the official status of the Russian language was seen as a hostile move by eastern and southern Ukrainians.

[Adrahil]

41. Yeah.... it's the WEST that are the predators here.....

... no offense but you're wearing Putin colored glasses.


Even the UN has concluded that Russia has been vastly exaggerating the "fascist" threat to ethnic Russians. But you're perfectly willing to swallow whatever Putin is spooning up.

[nyabingi]

44. The UN?

The UN is generally going to go along with whatever Washington wants. Come on, Adrahil, you should know that after they pretty much let the Bush regime launch their illegal wars, attacking two countries who were absolutely no threat the to US.

[Adrahil]

64. So, you believe Putin over the U.N.? Really? NT

[nyabingi]

70. The UN, as I've said,

is dominated by the US and all the weaker countries who want to be seen as supportive of the US. It has been used as an instrument of imperial aggression when the US has had its way, and has been disregarded when it has rarely voted against American wishes.

Do you really think the Ban Ki-Moon's and Kofi Annan's of the world have an independent voice in the UN? If you do then you having been paying attention.

[lanlady]

22. are you some kind of Russian mole?

Because you are repeating Putin's spurious talking points.

The fascists are in Russia, not Ukraine. The people espousing and perpetrating violence are trained Russian spetsnaz forces who have been sent into Ukraine on Putin's order to destabilize the country. Right Sector does not speak for the vast majority of Ukrainians. Russian speakers have never been threatened in Ukraine. All this is a fantasy fabricated by extremist nationalists in Moscow who are taking advantage of the post-Yanukovych political vacuum to artificially tear Ukraine apart.

[EX500rider]

28. +1000

The 50 Ruble Army strikes again!! (Russian has copied China's 50 yuan army, people paid to push their agenda online)

[nyabingi]

35. How much is Obama, John McCain,

John Kerry and Bill Kristol paying you man?

[EX500rider]

37. Not enough!!! lol

[Tommy_Carcetti]

60. You forgot the obligatory Victoria Nuland reference.

Because nothing happens in this world without Victoria Nuland's magic coup cookies.

[nyabingi]

71. So you're resorting to

buffoonery now that your arguments are falling flat huh?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

72. Explain exactly how my arguments are falling flat.

Buffoonery begets buffoonery.

[nyabingi]

33. Get your head out of the sand

and try to educate yourself before opening your mouth again please.

[EX500rider]

59. that's funny, we were all thinking that about you!! lol n/t

[christx30]

42. Kind of like how the Soviets patiently listened to

grievances from the countries they invaded and took over. Wait... that didn't happen. Just mass executions and shipping people off to Siberia. I'm sure your friend Putin wouldn't know anything about that, right? Having been a member of the KGB?

[nyabingi]

46. my friend Putin? Hahaha!

[EX500rider]

58. Sure, 1st thing you do during a protest...

is leave your neighborhood and go take a strategically useful airfield.....lol

[joshcryer]

15. Unsurprising.

The Russian fascists have no popular support in the east, they need armed paramilitaries to pull a Bundy and throw their weight around.

[penultimate]

25. Did those people have permission to record that conversation?

If not, then this entire conversation should be ignored and not discussed.

[christx30]

43. Sorry,

US evidentary procedure has no place here. This isn't a trial. If we're trying to expose Russian interrference in Ukranian politics, any bit of evidence that we can gather can be used.

[freshwest]

29. Oops! Bookmarking for tomorrow. n/t

[William769]

47. Oops.

[yurbud]

53. geeze, it's almost like the Contras we backed in Nicaragua, the anti-Castro Cubans, the various

rent-a-mobs and disgruntled elites in various countries we helped to put down governments that strayed too far toward helping their own people instead of "our" oil companies, sweatshop and plantation owners, or banks isn't it?

[Bosonic]

63. Armed men trying to storm military unit in Mariupol

Fighting ongoing between Ukrainian soldiers and armed men who tried to storm military unit in Mariupol. Eyewitness report gunfire, wounded.

https://twitter.com/olgatokariuk/status/456559894053658624

Storming a military base. At night.

Classic. Protester. Behavior.

[Igel]

65. Aleksandr was IDed not as a politician or military guy.

Political scientists (or commentator) and "piarnyk", which turns out to mean "PR man."

Has pushed dividing up Ukraine for a while.


In othe news, they caught some Russian-speakers from Crimea trying to import something like 1.1 million hr to Ukraine to support the "activsits".

One "lieutenant general", self-professed BTW, turned out to be a former Russian-something turned minor crime boss.


The mayor of Slov'ansk, I believe it was, said that he came home one night and found his wife in possession of a weapon. "They were handing them out." Said that "about" (which may mean 500 or 1250) automatic weapons and/or grenade launchers were handed out. This is before they looted the local military/police for another 400. These "protesters", as opposed to the horrible fascist Nazi "Svobodniks" are peaceful and in need of defense, per Russia.

In many cases, they attack with live fire. In the last few days they've attacked popular defense forces that are pro Ukr in Russian-speaking areas and haven't been so kind with their fellow Russian-speakers Donecchani.


The rockets for a Grad were found loaded on a truck by opposition folk. Nobody could say who, exactly, they belonged to. Perhaps the Ukr military. Perhaps they were stolen left to be found. Perhaps they were imports. Hard to know.


Recent reports are that Sberbank, a Russian clip-blend for "Savings bank" in that characteristically monotone Sovet way of naming things that, unfortunately, Ukraine has retained in full, is the primary funding source. All the fuel, vehicles, weapons, etc., require some money.


Those occupying the Town Council building in Mariupol, in response to the latest violence there, have denied any connection with those occupying the "military base" and call it a "provocation." Please note that these "military bases" aren't large things. Just as most of the US 'military bases' are rather narrowly focused. The Mariupol "military base" for Military Unit 3057 is a "kontrol'no-propusknyi punkt", otherwise known as an "inspection and admittance center" (or some such thing--perhaps "inspection and permit center&quot . Don't think "Fort Hood" here. It's not.

And so it