Situation in Ukraine Deteriorating

[River Song]

Thursday 11 Aug 2016 - 16:53

The current situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate. Ukraine's military has been ordered to its highest level of readiness and is deploying in defensive positions along its border with Crimea and the contested Donbas regions. Ukrainian units have been ordered to expect a large scale land war with Russia. Russia has begun to move more military ships in and around the area, while also deploying several submarines from its naval base at Sevastopol, Crimea. However, Russian officials say these Naval movements are for training purposes only. Russia has also been sighted moving massive numbers of heavy equipment throughout the Donbas and Crimea regions utilizing convoys and trains, while new equipment is reported to be moving in through the Russian border with Donbas, in a sign that Russia may be gearing up for further conflict. Putin and his closes advisors met today in a security briefing to talk about the current situation, while the UN Security Council will be discussing the same issue later today. NATO has begun to move equipment into Romania in what is possibly unrelated. NATO has stated that it is very concerned about the current situation and is watching very closely. NATO troops are currently stationed in Odessa, and a small NATO force is still in the Black Sea.

[Devonian]

Interesting and definitely one to keep a close eye on...

[Lightspeed]

RS,

What's your info source on this please?

Its one I need to keep an eye on.

[River Song]

LS

Sorry i Didnt get back to you.

Events are moving so quickly I cant remember where the source was from
but the last 24 hours since my OP have proved that it is getting a bit iffy.

Rock On Tommy

[River Song]

Military Vehicles seen last night on streets of Kiev (Ukraine)

https://twitter.com/M3t4_tr0n/status/764...76/video/1

[Lightspeed]

Thanks RS,

I watch Ukraine quite closely, and although RF is acting in a continuingly threatening manner towards them, I've not picked up any major escalations.

If trouble that will affect us comes from the RF, its my belief that it'll be through Ukraine because of their strangle hold on the RF's Oil and Gas Exports to the West.

[harrypalmer]

Some reports on the beeb web site LS.

[CharlesHarris]

http://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-puts-army-o...a-19465857

Unverified reports

The Russian claims that Ukraine attempted a terrorist attack in Crimea are unverified, an EU foreign policy spokeswoman said on Thursday, although she said the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) had no access to the occupied peninsula.

"There has been no independent confirmation of the claims made by the Russian authorities," the spokeswoman says in a statement. "We reiterate our condemnation and non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation," the statement read.

The OSCE statement also stressed the EU's "unwavering" support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
"The EU calls for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, including in eastern Ukraine, where all parties - including Russia - must fully engage in the complete implementation of the Minsk peace agreements," the spokeswoman added.
War of words

A spokesman for Ukraine's foreign ministry said this week that Putin was looking for ways to justify a war with Ukraine. "Putin wants more war. Russia escalates, desperately looks for a casus belli against Ukraine, tests West's reaction," a spokesman for Ukraine's foreign ministry, Dmytro Kuleba, wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the FSB said the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's intelligence agency was targeting Crimea's critical infrastructure, which the ministry has denied. Yuriy Tandit, an adviser to the head of Ukraine's security agency, told Interfax-Ukraine that Kyiv had no intention of taking back the territory "by force."