Ukraine Civil War -- News Updates June 7, 2014

'It's Hell Down There:' Inside The Battle For Eastern Ukraine -- CNN

Slovyansk, Ukraine (CNN) -- In a forest of pines to the east of Slovyansk, Prapor and his seventy men were digging in Thursday. A man in his late-fifties with a magnificent beard and four different weapons, Prapor freely admitted he was not a local. But he was here -- he said -- to resist the "Ukrainian fascists" in Krasny Liman, a nearby town just recaptured by government forces.

He was dismissive of the group that had fled Krasny -- "Cossacks," he sneered. He had already lost seven men, but his fighters were the bravest. They would not run away.

Meeting Prapor was revealing in several ways. Pro-Russian separatists working in eastern Ukraine are better organized, better armed (Prapor's group had a truck-mounted anti-aircraft gun that was clearly working), and more of them appear to come from beyond Ukraine. And they are building a maze of roadblocks and defensive positions across the region.

Read more ....

Ukraine Civil War -- News Updates June 7, 2014

Rejecting Poroshenko, east Ukraine rebels say fight will go on -- The Reuters
Rebels down Ukraine army plane on eve of Poroshenko's swearing-in -- Reuters
Ukraine army plane shot down by rebels -- Euronews
Ukrainian Forces Launch Armored Attack on Slaviansk Suburbs -- RIA Novosti
Rebel attack leaves dead and wounded among Ukraine forces: National Guard -- Reuters
Railwaymen killed as Ukrainian forces open mortar fire -- ITAR-TASS
Ukraine says 15 rebels killed in border clash -- Al Jazeera
Kiev Escalates: Air Strikes on Ukraine’s Rebel Cities -- Antiwar
Ukraine's Tenuous Grip on Russian Border Slips Further -- WSJ
Witness to a Ukraine Rebel Breakthrough -- Daily Beast
The Sky Explodes Over Luhansk, and Kiev Blames the Separatists -- Daily Beast
Ukraine's Weakened Military Could Hinder Poroshenko's Objectives -- NPR
Twelve Thousand People Flee Eastern Ukraine to Rostov – Russian Rights Ombudsman -- RIA Novosti
‘City of a Million Roses’ wilts as residents flee east Ukraine -- Financial Times
Luhansk Dispatch: Nowhere To Hide -- Radio Free Europe
Eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk keeps humming amid insurgency -- Washington Post
Volunteers or paid fighters? The Vostok Battalion looms large in war with Kiev -- The Guardian
Spokesman: Self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic not inclined to talk with Poroshenko -- Kyiv Post

My Comment: There is now a massive exodus occurring in eastern Ukraine as thousands (if not tens of thousands) of civilians start to flee the region .... ‘City of a Million Roses’ wilts as residents flee east Ukraine (Financial Times). What is replacing this exodus is even more frightening .... armed Right Sector militias from western Ukraine and "Russian volunteers" from Russia are now flooding into the region ... and all of them are eager to fight.

On the political front .... no one is really talking. Ukrainian President Poroshenko made it very clear in his acceptance speech today that he will not compromise and that the pro-Russian rebels in the East must lay down their arms. The pro-Russian rebel leadership have also made it very clear that they are not going to negotiate with the new Ukrainian President. In Russia itself .... there is growing fear that the civil war is abut to explode exponentially. Putin has ordered the tightening of border controls with Ukraine, and there are now unconfirmed reports that Russian military forces may return to the border region near Ukraine (all Russian military leaves in this sector have being cancelled .... so my contacts tell me).

About two months ago I had predicted that if the situation in eastern Ukraine implodes .... i.e. economic collapse, an exploding civil war, a massive refugee crisis, and an unwillingness for any negotiations .... Russia would start to ponder becoming more actively involved. Sadly .... it looks like we are getting there right now.

Update: What has also not been reported in the West (but everyone is talking about it privately in Ukraine) .... is a terror campaign being unleashed on Kiev and on the other parts of the country. Case in point .... this incident happened today .... and when it did the first thought that went through everyone's mind (including my mind) was that this was a terrorist strike.