Reports out of media/government sources in Ukraine have more of the unmarked Russian troops/mercenaries that have all but occupied the Crimean penninsula now settling-into already established positions on the Ukranian mainland...
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| Ukrainian line is to the north, Russians man the southern one |
Roadblocks/defensive lines have developed within the settlement of Chonhar in the Kherson Oblast (or area), with Ukrainian and Russian troops facing each other from a few hundred meters away. This area is a peninsula attached to contenental Ukraine, and not part of the Crimea at all. As in Crimea, the Kremlin will not admit them to be their men, regardless of these 'self-defense forces' having arrived in Russian armored personnel carriers with black Russian plates.
The Russians have even laid mines in farmer's fields along the developing frontier, erected minefield warning signs followed by tractors drilling holes for poles of a new border/security fence- looks like they're confident of pulling-out a squeaker in that plebescite, heh:
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| Looks a lot like Russian special forces at camp near Chonhar |
In protest of the uninvited Russian military presense in Kherson Oblast, residents of Chonhar have taken to flying Ukrianian flags throughout the town of 1500. Yet many are wary to leave their residence, and the town's school has been closed for a few days now. One parent commented that 'nine Russian flagpoles' had been erected in eyeshot, enough to scare any parents into keeping their children at home.
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| Ukrainian line |
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| Ukrainian military personnel survey Russian lines |
It is indeed unsettling to see the Kremlin establishing positions further into Ukrainian territory -beyond the Crimea- while plainly lying to us about their origin and intentions as they run a fraudulent succession vote on the Crimean penninsula itself.
Ukraine's territorial integrity was guaranteed by the Budapest Memorandum, with Russia one of the signees and thus guarantors of that security agreement. Why doesn't Obama have the balls to call them on it? The US and UK signed it too!
Although not capable of conducting a WWIII on the plains of Europe -as the USSR could have been mobilized to do- the Russian military has instead been reformed in recent years to be a lean, mean fighting machine working with skilled brigades rather than massive Soviet divisions- and all in preparation for militarily enforcing what it sees as the Russian sphere of influence in their near-abroad. Putin has spent a lot of money on technology, training, and expansion of Spetsnatz forces, and has tested new strategies and equipment in Chechnya and Georgia over the last few years. They are ready for this kind of war... mix all that preparation with KGB-mentality deception and unscrupulous sneaky tricks and the disheveled Ukrainians are clearly in no shape to repel them.
But the seeming establishment of what they consider a new border between Crimea and mainland Ukraine does have a positive side... perhaps Putin is not planning for an invasion of all the country- we better hope not, because with the spineless EU/US providing little actual deterrent, he could probably take it in a matter of days, thus destroying any NATO crediblity remaining in the wake of Obama's idiotic cancellation of US missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic.