Russian Forces Seize Ukrainian Village Beyond Border, Hotels In Crimea Stormed By Masked Gunmen

[Poll_Blind]

Source: Huffington Post

Russian forces have invaded the Ukraine, according to the Foreign Ministry in Kiev, with troops taking control of the village of Strilkove, six miles beyond the border of Crimea. The move comes ahead of Sunday’s referendum on whether the Black Sea peninsula should secede and become part of the Russian Federation.

According to AP, the seizure of the village, which involved troops, helicopter gunships and armoured vehicles, is the first move outside the peninsula by the Kremlin’s forces. There were no reports of gunshots fired in the village.

--snip--

Within Crimea, reports from journalists suggest that Russian Special Forces have stormed hotels, with masked men brandishing "silenced Kalashnikovs" placing residents under house arrest. Russian and Crimean authorities are claiming the move is part of a training exercise.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/15/russian-forces-invade-ukraine_n_4971538.html

---

PB

[dipsydoodle]

1. By 9:40 p.m. (1940 GMT) the policemen had started to leave the hotel.

see 7.52pm GMT and earlier http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/15/ukraine-crisis-fatal-clashes-as-tensions-rise-before-crimea-vote-live

For Strilkove see 3.57pm GMT same link as above. Also posted in LBN here http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014756180

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Nice centrist observers they've invited for the referendum

I’ve just come back from a rather bizarre “press conference” of international observers for the referendum. It was 45 minutes before there were any questions, as the six people present mainly went on political rants against US hegemony in the world. All said the referendum in Crimea was legitimate.
Bela Kovacs, an MEP from the far-right Hungarian party Jobbik, said that everything he had seen on Saturday conformed to international standards and he expected the vote to be free and fair.
He said there were no British observers at the referendum. The BNP’s Nick Griffin “really wanted to come, but we persuaded him not to”, he said. He added that Griffin planned to stand for president of the European Commission: “Just wait until you see what he has planned,” he said.
Serge Trifkovic, a Serbian-American writer, was the most entertaining, speaking in extraordinary metaphor and railing against the west.
“What is sauce for Kosovo’s goose is certainly sauce for Crimea’s gander,” he said, to the dismay of the Russian translator. When asked if he had been paid to attend, he said that if he were looking for money he would have approached the CIA. The observers, he said, were “as poor as church mice”.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/15/ukraine-crisis-fatal-clashes-as-tensions-rise-before-crimea-vote-live#block-5324a250e4b05ba05a3f8db5

Worth remembering which side the far right is on, in reality.

[dipsydoodle]

7. I've never made out who does the inviting.

Only "observer" I've ever met was the mother of a Canadian dance friend who told me about when she and other observers were kicked out of Azerbaijan and the US didn't bat an eye lid.

At a later date US observers declared Azerbaijan's elections to be free and fair whilst the EU observers said at the same time they were the exact opposite.

[Igel]

2. AP's wrong.

The first reported move was in Kherson oblast' near the village of Chomhar (or "Chomgar", if you're Russophone).


They may be confused since the Russians near Chomhar didn't have Russian insignia on their clothing. Even if one identified himself as attached to a unit based in Chechnya. Ramzan Something-or-other.

Doesn't matter. Six miles over the border isn't enough to count as an incursion. US forces are always "incursing" 6 miles into Mexico or Canada, or even Cuba. It's standard military practice and supported by progressives everywhere.

[SunSeeker]

5. Link please.

When was the last time US forces took a Mexican or Canadian town 6 miles within those countries' borders?

You do know you can be anti-war AND oppose what Russia is doing, right?

[William769]

8. If you get one it will probably be from rt.

[Igel]

10. Me? RT?

Hardly. Korrespondent, Unian, Kiev Post, various other sources from Lviv through Kyiv/Kiev through Kharkov and Donetsk up through Moscow. Not RT, except in self-parody. Liked lenta.ru from time to time. Blocked on my work computer, though--it didn't like .ru.

[levp]

9. +100

n/t

[geek tragedy]

11. the person was snarking, I believe nt

[Igel]

12. Sarcasm.

I dueled with somebody today who thought the 6 mile incursion near Strel'kovy wasn't anything out of the usual. Certainly not an "invasion," but Ukraine's whining for attention. Some Ukr sources are positing that perhaps that particular incursion was just because the troops were drunk.


Links about Chonhar/Chongar (the h ~ g difference is language-dependent. Ukrainian "h", Russian "g", but same Cyrillic spelling). I persist in misspelling it with an "m" instead of an "n." Podunk little place.

http://ua.korrespondent.net/ukraine/events/3316765-rosiiski-viiskovi-zainialy-selysche-chonhar-khersonskoi-oblasti

http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/03/8/7018158/

http://www.unian.ua/politics/894484-rosiyski-soldati-uviyshli-na-teritoriyu-mistechka-chongar-v-hersonskiy-oblasti-zmi.html

And, no, "pravda.com.ua" isn't the same as pravda.ru. Not sure if there's any behind-the-scenes connection. Not sure if there's a connection between korrespondent.net in Ukr and the one based in Moscow, either. Rather doubt it, though.

[SunSeeker]

17. Sorry, there was no sarcasm thingy and some here have been saying some crazy shit arguing for Putin

But I see you already have experienced that.

[SunSeeker]

4. I see the Russians take their Crimea "referendum" as seriously as the rest of the world does.

Putin is an evil fuck. My heart breaks for the people of Ukraine.

[RKP5637]

16. He is! I'm beginning to wonder if he's getting overly unbalanced mentally in all of this. n/t

[SunSeeker]

19. You have plenty of company. Angela Merkel thinks Putin has lost touch with reality.

He surrounds himself with yes men, so no one is there to bring him back to reality any time soon.

[RKP5637]

20. My hunch is this is just the beginning! As he gets some, he'll want more. Particularly

with 'we invaded to protect Russian speaking people.' Yes, coming from Angela Merkel, that is very telling!

[TwilightGardener]

6. It's a "training exercise" to storm hotels with silenced weapons and

hold people as prisoners? What exactly are they training for--to storm hotels and hold people as prisoners? In case they do that in real life?

[geek tragedy]

13. how long before the Putinistas post an rt.com article explaining why this is perfectly legal? nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Well, one already thinks the invasion of the village wasn't real, because it's not manly enough

for Putin: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014756180#post5

[geek tragedy]

15. that one is a performance artist at trolling. hates the United States, but defends drone strikes

against Pakistanis with great passion

[jakeXT]

18. The region is key to neighboring Crimea, because it gets electricity, freshwater and natural gas fro

The region is key to neighboring Crimea, because it gets electricity, freshwater and natural gas from there.http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/15/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/

good luck holding that

[blackspade]

21. I wonder how this will be justified?