Dr. Paul Craig Roberts / Global Research & Paula Slier / RT News – 2014-08-29 23:22:22
Washington Piles Lie Upon Lie. Accuses Russia of Having “Invaded Ukraine”
(August 28, 2014) — More than 400 people picketed the Ukrainian governments offices in Kiev, saying the authorities abandoned soldiers. Troops in one city have been encircled by anti-government forces for five days now and despair is growing both among the soldiers and their families.
Washington Piles Lie Upon Lie.
Accuses Russia of Having “Invaded Ukraine”
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts / Global Research
(August 29, 2014) — The latest Washington lie, this one coming from NATO, is that Russia has invaded Ukraine with 1,000 troops and self-propelled artillery.
How do we know that this is a lie? Is it because we have heard nothing but lies about Russia from NATO, from US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, from assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland, from Obama and his entire regime of pathological liars, and from the British, German, and French governments along with the BBC and the entirety of the Western media?
This, of course, is a good reason for knowing that the latest Western propaganda is a lie. Those who are pathological liars don’t suddenly start telling the truth. But there are even better rasons for understanding that Russia has not invaded Ukraine with 1,000 troops.
One reason is that Putin has invested heavily in diplomacy backed by unprovocative behavior. He would not risk his bet on diplomacy by sending in troops too few in number to have a decisive effect on the outcome.
Another reason is that if Putin decides he has no alternative to sending the Russian military to protect the Russian residents in eastern and southern Ukraine, Putin will send in enough troops to do the job quickly as he did in Georgia when the American and Israeli trained Georgian army invaded South Ossetia and was destroyed in a few hours by the Russian response. If you hear that 100,000 Russian troops accompanied by air cover have invaded Ukraine, it would be a more believable claim.
A third reason is that the Russian military does not need to send troops into Ukraine in order to stop the bombing and artillery shelling of the Russian populations by Washington’s puppet government in Kiev. The Russian air force can easily and quickly destroy the Ukrainian air force and artillery and, thereby, stop the Ukrainian attack on the secessionist provinces.
It was only two weeks ago that a fabricated report spread by the UK Guardian and the BBC that a Russian armored convoy entered Ukraine and was destroyed by the Ukrainian Military. And two weeks prior to that we had the hoax of the satellite images allegedly released by the US State Department that the corrupt US ambassador in Kiev spread around the world on social media allegedly showing that Russian forces were firing into Ukraine. One or two weeks from now we will have another lie, and another a week or two after that, and so on.
The cumulative effect of lie piled upon lie for most people is to build the view that the Russians are up to no good. Once this view is established, Western governments can take more serious moves against Russia.
The alleged entry of 1,000 Russian soldiers into Ukraine has been declared by NATO Brigadier General Niko Tak to be a “significant escalation in Russia’s military interference in Ukraine.” The champion liar Samantha Power told the US Security Council that “Russia has to stop lying.” The UK ambassador to the UN said that Russia was guilty of “a clear violation of sovereign Ukrainian territory.” UK prime minister Cameron warned Russia of “further consequences.”
German chancellor Merkel announced that there would be more sanctions. A German Security Council advisor declared that “war with Russia is an option.” Polish foreign minister Sikorski called it Russian aggression that required international action. French president Hollande declared Russia’s behavior to be “intolerable.” Ukraine’s security council imposed mandatory conscription.
This suicidal drive toward war with Russia by Europe’s leaders is based entirely on a transparent lie that 1,000 Russian troops crossed into Ukraine
Of course the Western media followed in lock-step. The BBC, CNN, and Die Welt are among the most reckless and irresponsible.
The mountain of lies piled up by Western governments and media has obscured the true story. The US government orchestrated the overthrow of the elected government in Ukraine and imposed a US puppet in Kiev.
Washington’s puppet government began issuing threats and committing violent acts against the Russian populations in the former Russian territories that Soviet leaders attached to Ukraine. The Russian people in eastern and southern Ukraine resisted the threat brought to them by Washington’s puppet government in Kiev.
Washington continually accuses the Russian government of supporting the people in the territories who have voted their separation from Ukraine. There would be no war, Washington alleges, except for Russian support.
But, of course, Washington could easily stop the violence by ordering its puppet government in Kiev to stop the bombing and shelling of the former Russian provinces. If Russia can tell the “separatists” not to fight, Washington can tell Kiev not to fight.
The only possible conclusion from the facts is that Washington is determined to involve Europe in a war with Russia or at least in an armed standoff in order to break up Europe’s political and economic relations with Russia.
Europe’s leaders are going along with this because European countries, except for Charles de Gaulle’s France, have not had independent foreign policies since the end of World War II. They follow Washington’s lead and are well paid for doing so.
The inability of Europe to produce independent leadership dooms Russian President Putin’s diplomacy to failure. If European capitals cannot make decisions independently of Washington, there is no scope for Putin’s diplomacy.
Notice that the very day after Putin met with Washington’s Ukrainian vassal in an effort to resolve the situation, the new lie of Russian invasion was issued in order to ensure that no good can come of the meeting in which Putin invested his time and energy.
Washington’s only interest is in hegemony. Washington has no interest in resolving the situation that Washington itself created in order to bring discomfort and confusion to Russia. With the caveat that the situation could be resolved by Ukrainian economic collapse, otherwise the longer Putin waits to resolve the situation by force, the more difficult the task will be.
Putin Calls on Ukraine Militia To Let
Blocked Kiev Troops Cross into Russia
Paula Slier / RT News
(August 28, 2014) — President Putin has called on the self-defense militias in Ukraine to provide Kiev’s military units blocked in the east of the country with a safe humanitarian corridor to cross into Russia.
“It is clear the militia has achieved a major success in intercepting Kiev’s military operation, which represents a grave danger to the population of Donbass and which has already led to the loss of many lives among peaceful residents,” the Russian leader said in a statement.
As a result of militias’ counter-offense, large numbers of Ukrainian troops – many of whom were taking part in Kiev’s so-called anti-terrorist operation “against their will” and “just following orders” – have been surrounded, the President added.
“I call on the militia groups to open a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian service members who have been surrounded, so as to avoid any needless loss of life, giving them the opportunity to leave the combat area unimpeded and reunite with their families, to return them to their mothers, wives and children, and to quickly provide medical assistance to those who were injured in the course of the military operation,” Putin said.
Ukrainian troops have been routinely crossing into Russian territory over the course of the conflict seeking refuge from militia, who were pushing them towards the border, or after negotiating a safe passage from an encirclement. On Wednesday alone over 60 Kiev troops crossed into Russia, bringing the total number of those who fled to safety to over 600 men.
After getting medical help, if needed, Kiev’s troops were allowed to freely return to Ukraine. Not all of the did, however, fearing prosecution, as the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s office has launched over 1,000 investigations into those men on charges of disobedience, desertion and evasion of military service.
Russia in the meantime is ready and will provide aid to Ukraine’s regions suffering from a humanitarian disaster, the Russian leader added.
“I once again call on the Ukrainian authorities to immediately stop military actions, cease fire, sit down at the negotiating table with Donbass representatives and resolve all the accumulated problems exclusively via peaceful means,” Putin said according to the Kremlin’s press service.
Meanwhile on Thursday, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry in Kiev, demanding resignation of President Petro Poroshenko and the defense minister over the poor handling of the military operation in the southeast. The demonstrators, many of whom were mothers and wives of the soldiers involved in the fighting in the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions, were in despair following the encirclement of large groups of Kiev’s troops.
The Russian president’s call for a humanitarian corridor comes hours after the UN Security Council blocked a Russia proposed statement on a mutual ceasefire and peace talks in Ukraine – and just minutes after US President Barack Obama blasted at Russia and threatened it with more sanctions over its purportedly “direct role” in the Ukrainian crisis.
Over 400 Ukrainian Soldiers Flee to Russia, Ask for Refuge
RT News
(August 4, 2014) — A total of 438 soldiers, including 164 Ukrainian border guards have been allowed to cross into Russia on Sunday night after they requested sanctuary. RT correspondent Marina Kosareva has the details.
Over 60 Ukrainian Troops Cross
Into Russia Seeking Refuge
Paula Slier / RT News
(August 28, 2014) — A group of 62 Ukrainian troops have crossed into Russia’s Rostov Region seeking shelter to save their lives amid an intensified counteroffensive recently launched by anti-Kiev militia in southeastern Ukraine.
“Today, 62 servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces turned to Russian border guards asking to let them into the Russian territory near Russia’s settlement of Shramko, Matveyevo-Kurgansky district, with the aim to save their lives,” the spokesman for the FSB’s border guard office in the Rostov Region, Nikolai Sinitsyn, told Itar-Tass news agency on Wednesday.
They were allowed to cross and provided with a transit corridor on the principles of humanism, but only after they left their weapons on the Ukrainian side of the border, Sinitsyn added.
This case became the latest in a series of similar incidents where a total of over 500 Ukrainian troops crossed into Russia since July seeking refuge and medical help.
Earlier this week, Ukraine released videos showing alleged Russian paratroopers captured on Ukrainian territory. Russian Defense Ministry sources were saying that they probably crossed the border by mistake during a routine patrol of an area which wasn’t manned.
President Putin, when asked about the issue said he hoped it won’t be blown out of proportion, since Ukrainian troops regularly cross into Russian territory, sometimes in armored vehicles and were never charged with anything and always allowed to return to Ukraine freely.
Kiev’s renewed accusations of Russian military’s alleged operations on Ukrainian territory are “nothing new,” says Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, adding that Russia regularly refutes such reports. Meanwhile Kiev says it has launched a preliminary investigation into the detained men on suspicion of “aiding terrorist groups.”
Ukraine’s own troops in the meantime are also facing prosecution, with General Prosecutor’s office announcing on Wednesday that 1,083 criminal proceeding had been launched since the beginning of the so-called anti-terrorist operation, with people being charged for “disobedience, unauthorized abandonment of a military unit or place of service, desertion, evasion of military service in another way, and so on.”
Anti-Kiev militia in the meantime announced that almost 90 Ukrainian troops laid down their arms and surrendered on Wednesday alone, following at least 129 the day before, Ria reports.
On Sunday, the main headquarters of the Donetsk People’s Republic announced that it had launched a counteroffensive against Kiev’s “punitive forces” in the region, blocking and surrounding many of the military and paramilitary units.
The military equipment captured from local army depots and those forces surrendering en masse has allowed militia to form 2 tank battalions, 3 multiple launcher rocket system batteries, 2 self-propelled howitzer batteries, 3 cannon battalions of various calibers and 8 mortar batteries, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Donetsk People’s Republic Aleksander Zakharchenko told the press at the time.
The DPR army will no more act in small groups as instead full-bodied independent military units had been formed, he added, announcing the beginning of a major counter-offensive but at the same time calling on Ukrainian troops to surrender and leave the territory of the republic, promising absolute safety for everyone not involved in war crimes against the civilian population.
Ukraine has been engulfed in a violent internal conflict since April, when Kiev’s military began its crackdown on the southeast parts of the country, which refused to recognize the coup-installed government.
According to United Nations’ estimates released Tuesday, over 2,249 people have so far been killed and over 6,033 wounded in the fighting in eastern Ukraine. The number of internally displaced Ukrainians has reached 190,000, with another 207,000 finding refuge in Russia, the UN said.
‘You Abandoned Us’: Ukrainian Soldiers,
Their Relatives, Accuse Kiev of Neglect
Ukraine President Blames Military Failure on Deserting Commanders
RT News
(August 28, 2014) — Petro Poroshenko has blamed Kiev troops’ blunder in the battle for the town of Ilovaysk in the south-east on two deserted unit commanders. Kiev authorities have opened over 1,000 investigations into Ukrainian soldiers who deserted from the army.
“To a large extent, the events in Ilovaysk were caused by the leaders of the two units, who deserted their defensive line and created an emergency situation to their brothers in arms,” Poroshenko said in his opening word at the meeting of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
The president stressed that the Ukrainian state will take drastic measures “to prevent any betrayal or desertion” during the operation in the southeast. The strategic town of Ilovaysk in Donetsk Region was retaken by the self-defense forces after several days of fighting on Tuesday, which led to the encirclement of five National Guard battalions.
The military failure caused a wave of rallies in Kiev and across the country as the protesters blocked Kiev’s main street and demanded Poroshenko and the country’s top military commanders resign.
As for the situation in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, where the militias are advancing on Kiev’s forces, the president said that it’s “extremely complicated. . . but controllable, so that we don’t panic.”
However, National Security Council spokesman, Andrey Lysenko, said government forces took Ilovaysk under control on Thursday. According to the spokesman, the trapped government troops received reinforcement on Wednesday. Interfax-Ukraine news agency, which cited Lysenko, stressed that his claims aren’t confirmed by any of its other sources.
Kiev authorities have opened over 1,000 investigations into Ukrainian soldiers who deserted from the army. Protests of soldiers’ mothers and wives who don’t want them to fight have become frequent as troops say they have been abandoned by the government.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s office announced that 1,083 criminal proceeding of desertion had been launched since the beginning of the ‘anti-terrorist’ operation.
Kiev troops have been charged with “disobedience, unauthorized abandonment of a military unit or place of service, desertion, evasion of military service in another way, and so on.”
There have been a number of cases in which Ukrainian soldiers left their military hardware and surrendered to anti-government forces. Anti-Kiev militia, meanwhile announced that almost 90 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered on Wednesday alone, following at least 129 the day before, RIA Novosti reports.
The soldiers claim that Ukrainian media underreports the number of casualties in the country’s east. “About 70 soldiers die every day, but they say it’s only three or four per day on TV,” an unnamed militia soldier told Hromadske.TV.
According to Ukraine’s National Security Council spokesman Andrey Lysenko, at least 722 military personnel were killed and 2,625 others injured during the so-called ‘anti-terrorist’ operation in Ukraine’s east. However, the self-defense forces in Donetsk and Lugansk Regions say the number of casualties is much higher and Kiev is concealing the data, reports Novorossiya news agency. Over 400 Ukrainian troops have crossed into Russia for refuge.
Since the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine’s east, the relatives of Kiev troops have repeatedly accused the government of inaction and demanded it stop the crackdown in Donetsk and Lugansk Regions.
Protests Are Frequent Near Military Bases
“When my husband was captured, how did you talk to me for the first time? You were swearing at me!” a woman shouted at an unnamed Kiev commander in the city of Novograd-Volynsky, Zhytomyr Region, western Ukraine, as reported by Hromadske.TV.
“When it comes to captured soldiers what are you doing?” she added, sobbing. “I don’t need my son in a coffin being called a hero! I need my hero at home! Alive! And they’re yelling ‘Glory to Ukraine, glory to heroes!’ But I don’t need THIS Ukraine!” shouted another woman.
The protests have been held in several western major Ukrainian cities, such as Ivano-Frankovsk, Nikolaev, Lvov and Zhitomir. At the beginning of August, mothers of Kiev soldiers gathered in the southern city of Odessa to take part in a flash mob against the military operation. They wore slogans saying “Children should be born, not killed.”
The soldiers taking part in the military operation in the country’s east also feel frustration towards the Kiev government.
“Colonel, tell me one thing,” shouted a Ukrainian soldier at one of the Kiev commanders. “When we were at Saur-Mogila [a strategic point in the Donetsk Region] for two days waiting for reinforcements, why were we abandoned? We got out of the encirclement. And the officers told us, ‘Oh, you’re alive!'” he added.
Ukraine has faced a violent internal conflict since April, when Kiev started a crackdown in the country’s eastern regions, which refused to recognize the coup-installed government.
According to United Nations’ estimates released Tuesday, over 2,249 people have so far been killed and over 6,033 wounded in the fighting in eastern Ukraine. The number of internally-displaced Ukrainians has reached 190,000, with another 207,000 finding refuge in Russia, the UN said.
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