A member of the armed forces of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic stands guard near a destroyed vehicle at a bus station after shelling in Donetsk, February 11, 2015. Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Maksymilian Czuperski , John Herbst , Alina Polyakova , and Damon Wilson, Newsweek: Putin’s Secret Warriors: Russian Soldiers Sent to Fight in Ukraine
On March 2, 2015, U.S. Army Europe Commander Ben Hodges estimated that 12,000 Russian soldiers, including “military advisers, weapons operators and combat troops,” are active in eastern Ukraine.
There have been hundreds, likely thousands, of Russian citizens who have voluntarily crossed the border into Ukraine on their own accord. Putin has confirmed this, and many eager Russians even filled out online applications to join the separatist ranks—that is how easy it is to become a separatist fighter in Ukraine.
The Russian military is sending its soldiers across the border to mix with Russian-instigated separatist forces in Ukraine. Once in eastern Ukraine, these soldiers are no longer considered Russian; rather they are told to refer to themselves as “local defense forces,” aiding the separatist soldiers with additional manpower and Russian equipment.
WNU Editor: The full Atlantic Council report can be read and downloaded here. What's my take .... at the risk of sounding repetitive I am not surprised that there are Russian military units in Ukraine. Ukraine is now filled with foreign forces from many countries, reports that Russian special forces may have been deployed in eastern Ukraine with that some of them involved in some of the critical battles of the past year does not surprise me. As to U.S./NATO claims that there 12,000 Russian solders there .... on that number I am very skeptical .... that is a large number of soldiers that would be impossible to hide. In almost every video on the front from the rebel side that I seen since the start of the war .... most of the soldiers who are fighting are middle aged men who also speak in the Russian dialect for that region. The Russian soldiers/volunteers that I spot .... which is rare .... I spot them because they are always younger and their Russian accent is distinctly different from how the locals speak it. In terms of large concentrations of foreign soldiers on the rebel side .... the Chechens have that one cornered .... and the Chechen government has made no secret that a few hundred of their soldiers are fighting in the Ukraine war.
The argument that there are Russians/Chechens/etc. in Ukraine is an important news story .... but it is not the main story. The Ukraine war is primarily a war between Ukrainians on one side, and Russian Ukrainians on the other side .... and it is these two sides that in the end must come to some form of an agreement. Unfortunately .... as the war grinds into its second year .... I see both sides becoming even more determined in their cause, and I am now resigned to the depressing realization that this is a conflict that is going to last for a few more years.
Update: U.S. Trains Ukrainian Forces on Russia's Doorstep — And Moscow Isn't Happy -- NBC
6 comments:
WNU Editor,
It's a report by the Atlantic Council, aka, NATO's wholly owned think tank,
In their entire 65 years of existence, they have never publically said or published anything that contradicts the NATO position, including the Bomber Gap, the Missile Gap, etc.
This report was published before recent comments by US Gen. Dempsey, US Defense Secretary Carter, and even President Obama at the G7 .... on what to do with Russia and the Ukraine crisis. I see this report and the media behind it as an indication that everyone is now positioning themselves (as well as laying the groundwork) for a more forceful response to Moscow .... a very dangerous positioning if you ask me.
WNU Editor,
They arn't even "consistent" about the Propaganda. The numbers given, and the size of the Republican forces, would make roughly 1:5 Russian Active Duty, with roughly the same numbers of "Volenteers", which is simply BS.
They are playing a very dangerous game, and one component they are pushing for, the rearming of NATO simply is not going to happen. NATO is beaten down, worn out and broke from extensive and expensive deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, Ops in Lybia, Mali, Somalia and now ISIS.
Jay ... you took the words out of my mouth.
WNU Editor,
It's starting to look like a reverse of the end of the Cold War, where the military, economic and social costs of the Arms Race and Afghanistan, allied with a collapsing economy, "broke" the Soviet Union.
Our economies are stuck in flat line modes due to austerity, the T-50 will be combat ready before the F-35 and 2/3rds the cost, and we are the ones stuck in on endless, unwinnable wars.
What I'd really like to know is the proportion of local rebels to Russian volunteers to actual Russian soldiers. But that is something that may not come to light for years, or decades.
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