Up to 30 Ukrainian servicemen killed by pro-Russian rebel grad missile attack

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Haaretz

REUTERS - A rebel attack with Grad missiles on a Ukrainian post on the border with Russia on Friday may have killed as many as 30 soldiers and border guards and final casualties may even be higher, an interior ministry official said.
If the casualty figures are confirmed, this would amount to the deadliest rebel attack on government forces since the Ukrainian military ended a unilateral ceasefire on June 30.

The pro-Russian separatists launched their attack at around 5 a.m. on the border post at Zelenopillya, in Luhansk region, military sources said.

"Up to thirty (were killed). It is not excluded that the number of victims will rise because these blood-thirsty scum despicably shot from Grad (missile) systems and there is destruction," Zoryan Shkyryak, an adviser to Interior Minister Arseny Avakov, told journalists.

"I think a response will not be slow in coming after this bloody terrorist act," he said. Earlier, at least four Ukrainian servicemen and five coal miners were on Friday reported killed in the latest violence in the east of the country, where government forces are fighting pro-Russian separatists.



Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.604480

[Kaleva]

1. Youtube video of a Grad rocket launcher being fired

&feature=kp

[another_liberal]

2. The bastards . . .

They're shooting back!

(sigh)

[7962]

3. Now I wonder where in the world they could've gotten THOSE?

I guess the Russians should check their inventory. I'm sure there's no way the Russian government could be involved!

[dipsydoodle]

5. Mixed sources including Moldovia.

.

[Igel]

9. Mixed sources, including Roston na Dony.

For all their sourcing in Moldova or the Sea of Tranquility, they're coming across the border posts from Russian territory, a number have Russian military production information that says they were manufactured in Russia after the USSR broke up, and more than a few were stationed at Russian bases as early as 4/14.

It's like saying, "Where did the soldiers that invaded Iraq in 2003 come from?"

Well, there were some immigrants from Mexico who joined the military to be granted automatic citizenship. So I guess the "correct answer" is, "The soldiers who invaded Iraq in 2003 came from mixed sources, including Mexico." Let's ignore that they were part of the US army. Just as we "get to" ignore how, exactly, the trade route manages to avoid Russian territory and Russian complicity in providing them. (I can't help but wonder if the recent visit by Lavrov to Transdniestria wasn't getting the two pieces of bread with the nice meaty Ukraine in between to work more closely together.)

Although it does help explain why there was a push about the same time as the "Moldovan connection" was published about how all the ex-Warsaw Pact countries were, at US exhortation, disposing of their functioning Sovok military hardware in the Ukraine. Russia's disposing of some, Moldova's disposing of some. It gives the Russians an alibi for those who need to exculpate Russia.

And did you see that the former head of state security for Transdniestria was just appointed a few days ago as a deputy prime minister in the Donetsk People's Republic? (He's a Russian citizen. It's nice, having all these "self-proclaimed" republics be headed by Russian "selves". Common language, common culture, common goals with their puppetmasters. Then again, Girkin did duty as a colonel in Transdniestria and is just calling a friend over to help out in setting up another portion of the Russian world.)

[7962]

16. You are a wealth of info. Especially love the 2nd sentence! Precisely! nt

[freshwest]

18. Eastern Ukraine has or had factories contracted to make weapons for Russia.

These devices are most likely in stock, no reason to cross the border and back again.

But it doesn't matter, they are killing people with that stuff...

Not good at all.

[ballyhoo]

4. Life in a war zone...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/05/life-in-a-war-zone-ukraine

[cosmicone]

6. Was the rocket named after Victoria Nuland? n/t

[bemildred]

7. Ukraine's Poroshenko says Kiev will destroy rebels behind missile attack

(Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Kiev would "find and destroy" the pro-Russian separatists responsible for a high-powered missile attack that possibly killed 30 Ukrainian servicemen on Friday.

"For every soldier's life, the militants will pay with scores and hundreds of their own. Not a single terrorist will avoid responsibility, each will get what they deserve," he said in a statement on his website following an emergency meeting of security chiefs.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/07/11/ukraine-crisis-poroshenko-idINKBN0FG1E020140711

[another_liberal]

14. Big talk . . .

Coming from a chocolate pushing billionaire.

[bemildred]

8. Deaths in Ukraine as Russia shuts border

At least nine people, including four Ukrainian soldiers, have been reported killed in the east of the country, where government forces are fighting pro-Russian separatists.

Two soldiers and at least one border guard were killed after their armoured vehicle drove over a mine on Friday near Dovzhansky, on Ukraine's border with Russia.

Vladyslav Seleznyov, a military spokesman, said a soldier was also killed in an incident near the town of Karlovka in the region of Donetsk, the main city where rebel fighters are holding out against the government forces.

He said at least 50 separatist fighters had been killed in the last few days following air attacks against rebel positions near the border with Russia.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/07/at-least-nine-killed-fresh-ukraine-attacks-20147119324747658.html

[Igel]

10. Russia keeps promising.

Of course, the latest shipment of Russian armored vehicles and fighters crossed the border in a couple of columns overnight, so it's okay for Russia to again proclaim, "We are closing the border!"

It's like a symphony performance. They close the doors and announce it. But only after letting people in. Or smuggling out the people they need smuggled out.

(Meanwhile, in Russia, thousands of Ukrainians have been interviewed. Two things are coming out of it. The first and official purpose is to accumulate evidence as to how horrible the Ukrainian government is and how horrible Ukrainians are. Any discrimination, any assaults, any thefts, any losses before, during, or after the insurgency began are signs of deep-seated fascism in Ukraine. They need to counteract that AR and the UN report about Crimea. Their rationale for taking over Crimea was rights violations against Russians. They're building a case for rights violations in E. Ukraine. Ahem. The closer you look, the less you see. So focus closely on the battlefield, focus closely on negotiations, focus closely on Lavrov. Don't watch what's going on elsewhere on stage.)

(The second is checking the documents and loyalties of Ukrainians as they look for the massive numbers of saboteurs and 5th columnists that the authorities know in their heart of hearts are pouring across the border, ready to stage a Maidan-like event in Moscow. They remember the "white ribbons" from a few years ago and really think this was a US-EU plot to overthrow the Great Russian people and re-enact that greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century. So today it was announced that some Ukrainians were in Moscow and armed. I wonder if they are pro-Ukrainian "unionists" or if they were on the side of the DNR or LNR, and fled, either recently or from Mariupol. Or if they're just allies of some of the gangs that are working with the DNR and LNR and part of the natural flow of traffic back and forth. Or even unrelated--here are some armed criminals, we can call them Ukrainians!)

[joshcryer]

13. Yep.

This attack seemed quite coordinated, the pictures of the aftermath show a completely obliterated armor group. I think that the rebels aren't that sophisticated and I'm starting to believe the rumors that they came from Russia, which is why they "shut" the border again.

[bemildred]

11. How Unrest in Ukraine Is Sending a Wave of Refugees to RussiaUkraine President Calls Emergency Meet

DONETSK, Ukraine — Pro-Russia rebels killed 19 and injured 93 of Ukraine's soldiers and border guards in a rocket attack near the country’s eastern border early on Friday, prompting the president to summon security advisers in Kiev for an emergency meeting, according to officials.

Ukrainian military officials said the rebels bombarded government forces stationed in the village of Zelenopillya, Luhansk region at 5 a.m. local time with rockets from a Russian-designed Grad system. Militants fired from a distance of more than 15 kilometers, and an air strike was carried out in response, according to the Defense Ministry.

The officials noted that casualties could be higher. Zoryan Shkyryak, an interior ministry adviser, told reporters in Kiev the exact death toll was difficult to discern, “because these bloodthirsty scum despicably shot from Grad systems and there is destruction,” Reuters reported.

The attack marks the biggest loss of life in a month. In June, rebels used man-powered air-defense systems, or MANPADS, to shoot down a military transport plane at Luhansk airport, killing all 40 servicemen and nine crew on board.

http://mashable.com/2014/07/11/ukraine-rocket-attack/

[joshcryer]

12. I'm reading rumors they came from Russia with the Grads.

Then high tailed it. This would explain why Russia decided to "close the borders" again.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

15. A fair trade.

Russia gets Ukrainian service members who they accuse--with dubious support--of murdering journalists.

And Ukraine gets GRAD missiles filed at them.

[Boomerproud]

17. When is mankind going to sick of this?

I ache for the innocent victims in all of this madness.