Saturday, August 30, 2014

“Russia Invades Ukraine”, Strategic NATO Public Relations Stunt. Where are the Russian Tanks?

“Russia Invades Ukraine”, Strategic NATO Public
Relations Stunt. Where are the Russian Tanks?

Global Research, August 29, 2014


Read the London tabloids. Russia has launched “a full-scale invasion”. A
vast propaganda campaign has been launched. Where is the evidence?
The media is spreading “fake evidence” in the week leading up to the
Wales NATO Summit.
The objective is to herald Russia as the aggressor.
What is at stake is a strategic public relations stunt.
Sixty countries will be represented at the NATO Summit in Wales on 4-5
September including the 28 NATO member states.
NATO Summit Wales 2014The media lies “fit the military agenda” already formulated
by the Pentagon in consultation with NATO and Her Majesty’s Government.
US-NATO requires “evidence” to build a political consensus at the Wales NATO
Summit on September 4-5 hosted by Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron.
According to PM David Cameron in a letter addressed to heads of State and heads
of government of NATO member states ahead of the Summit:
“Leaders [of NATO countries] must review NATO ’s
long term relationship with Russia
at the summit in response
to Russia’s illegal actions in Ukraine.
“And the PM wants to use the summit to agree on how NATO will sustain a robust
presence in Eastern Europe in the coming months
to provide reassurance
to allies there, building on work already underway in NATO .” (See PM
writes to NATO leaders ahead of NATO Summit Wales 2014)
A pretext for an all out war on Russia under a humanitarian cloak? The West
coming to the rescue of civilians in Eastern Ukraine?
In late July in consultation with the Pentagon, NATO’s Europe commander
General Philip Breedlove had (ahead of the Wales NATO meeting) already called
for “stockpiling a base in Poland with enough weapons, ammunition and
other supplies to support a rapid deployment of thousands of troops against
Russia”
.(RT, July 24, 2014). According to General Breedlove, NATO needs
“pre-positioned supplies, pre-positioned capabilities and a basing area ready to
rapidly accept follow-on forces”:
“He plans to recommend placing supplies weapons, ammunition and ration
packs at the headquarters to enable a sudden influx of thousands of
Nato troops
” (Times,
August 22, 2014, emphasis added)
Breedlove’s “Blitzkrieg scenario” which could escalate into a World War III
scenario is part of NATO’s summit agenda in Wales next week. In substance it is
a “copy and paste” of the draft Russian
Aggression Prevention Act (RAPA
)
(in the US Senate) which directs
President Obama to initiate the militarization of Eastern Europe with a view to
confronting Russia.
The Convoy of Russian Tanks. Where is It?
In support of NATO’s planned deployments to Eastern Europe, the Western media
is claiming without evidence that a large convoy of Russian tanks has crossed
the border into Ukraine and are operating under Russian command inside
Ukraine.
The satellite images released by NATO show tanks and vehicles inside Ukraine,
within an area controlled by Donbass forces. Where did they come from?
While media reports (with extensive photographic
evidence). confirmed the entry into Ukraine of a convoy of Russian “white vans”
which were part of Russia’s humanitarian initiative, nobody actually saw
the tanks entering Ukraine.
With regard to the NATO satellite images, there is no indication as to where
these tanks and armored vehicles came from and whether they were operated by the
Russian military.
The
Daily Mail online
featured an unconvincing 20 second video of an alleged
Russian tank inside Ukraine (see still image above).

Spinning a Russian Invasion
This is not the first time that the media is spinning a “Russian Invasion”.
Earlier reports in June alluded to State Department sources that:
“three aging Russian T-64 tanks had been sent to Ukraine,” and that the
Ukrainian government was claiming that there were 10 more tanks. The
Times also noted:
Adding to Western concerns, the senior Obama administration official said,
artillery has been moved to a deployment site inside southwest Russia and may
soon be shipped across the border.
Not only are the anonymous claims of one official the source of the
informationthey also provide the analysis of that information, floating a
slightly-too-perfect theory that Russia is handing over old equipment in order
to make it seem like they’re not actually doing so (Peter Hart, Ukraine Tips
From Nameless US Officials: Good Enough for the New York Times, Global
Research, June 27, 2014, http://www.globalresearch.ca/ukraine-tips-from-nameless-us-officials-good-enough-for-the-new-york-times/5388916
It should be noted that this as well as previous “Russian invasions” have
been the object of sizable speculative gains on financial markets.
Where are the alleged Russian Tanks?
While various explanations are put forth concerning the alleged Russian tanks
and armored vehicles, what is never mentioned in Western media reports is
that the Donbass militia do not need Russian tanks.
In the course of the last two months, the Donbass militia have
acquired a significant arsenal of tanks and armored vehicles captured from
Ukrainian forces.

Separatist rebels operate a tank in eastern Ukraine (Rob Stothard/Getty Images)
Rebels operate a
tank in eastern Ukraine (Rob Stothard/Getty Images)
The large loss of military equipment is confirmed by the Ukraine Ministry of
Internal Affairs, either destroyed or captured by Donbass forces.
Official Ukraine sources acknowledge a significant loss of tanks and armored
vehicles.
Based on a two week period in July, 35 Ukraine Army tanks and 96 Armoured
Battle Vehicles were either confiscated or destroyed by Donetsk and Lugansk
forces, according to an official brief signed by Arsen Avakov (Minister of
Internal Affairs) and V. Gritsak (Head of ATO [Anti-Terrorism Operation])
  1. Tanks: 35
  2. Armoured Battle Vehicles: 96
  3. Artillery: 38
  4. Aircraft: 7
  5. Helicopters: 2
  6. Automobiles: 104
While the above figures do not distinguish between confiscated and destroyed
military equipment, Cyberberkut,
provides the following data based on leaked official information.
According to Cyberberkut: some 65 tanks and 69 armoured battle
vehicles were captured by the Donbass militia over a period of less than 2
months (from June 20 to August 15).
tanks T-64 65 units;
infantry fighting vehicles (BMP) 69 units;
armored personnel carriers (BTR) 39 units;
combat reconnaissance patrol vehicles (BRDM) 2
units;
airborne combat vehicles (BMD) 9 units;
multiple artillery rocket systems (RSZO) BM27
Uragan 2 units;
self-propelled guns (SAU) 2S4 “Tyulpan” 2
units;
self-propelled guns (SAU) 2S9 “Nona” 6
units;
self-propelled guns (SAU) 2S1 “Gvozdika” 25
units;
howitzers D-30 10 units; 82 mm. caliber mortars
32 units; anti-aircraft mounts ZU-23-2 18 units; wheeled vehicles 124
units.
While we are not in a position to fully corroborate the Cyberberkut report,
the figures collected over the period of June 20 to August 15 are broadly
consistent with the official release.
What these two sets of figures confirm is that rebel forces in Donesk and
Lugansk possess a significant military arsenal and this arsenal did not
originate from Russia.
It was captured from Ukraine forces as confirmed
by official Ukraine sources.
This information is of crucial significance because it refutes the
accusations by Washington and NATO that the tanks and armored vehicles
identified in Donbass came from Russia.
Moreover, there is evidence that entire Ukrainian battalions have surrendered
to the Donetsk and Lugansk militia, Large number of Ukrainian soldiers who have
abandoned the battlefield have fled to Russia or have the Donbass militia:
“The 72nd Brigade for all intents and purposes has ceased to
exist [in early August] due to ammunition and food rations running out. They
held on while they still had resources and then began to exit into the
territory of the Russian Federation at first in separate groups, followed by
the surviving remnants of the once full-fledged brigade.
The hardware was all abandoned at their positions, which continue to be
controlled by Junta troops that have not yet surrendered. When militiamen
would drive up on tanks as close as 400 metres away from the positions of the
Junta, there was no return fire there is simply nothing to fire back with.
Some of the soldiers of the 72ndBrigade had no rounds left during
the surrender; others had 1-2 magazines per automatic rifle. (Entire
Ukraine Military Brigade Abandons the Battlefield and Surrenders to Donbass
Militia, The Surrender of the 72nd Brigade,
Global Research, August 4,
2014)
More generally, the Western media has failed to cover the war theater in
Donbass. More than 2000 civilians have been killed as a result of shelling and
bombing by Kiev forces, close to a million Ukrainians are refugees in
Russia.
The humanitarian crisis is invariably not mentioned by the media and when it
is, the blame is placed on Russia.
BuMtBF6IQAAPmQi.png-large
Entire battalions of the Ukraine forces have
surrendered.

Annex I
July 18, 2014 Official Ukrainian Military Accounting of Losses for
July 9-15, 2014

((1) Ukrainian Version;
(2) Translation)BREAKING!
TOTAL UKRAINIAN
LOSSES

  1. Killed in Action: 1600
  2. Wounded in Action: 4723
  3. Tanks: 35
  4. Armoured Battle Vehicles: 96
  5. Artillery: 38
  6. Aircraft: 7
  7. Helicopters: 2
  8. Automobiles: 104
TOTAL MILITIA
LOSSES

  1. Killed in Action: 48
  2. Wounded in Action: 64
  3. Tanks: 2
  4. Armoured Battle Vehicles: 0
  5. Artillery: 5
  6. Automobiles: 8
TOTAL CIVILIAN
LOSSES
  1. Killed: 496
  2. Wounded: 762
SIGNED & SUBMITTED BY:
Arsen Avakov (Minister of Internal Affairs) and V. Gritsak (Head of
ATO)


Annex II Cyberberkut Report
(Translated from Russian)

Having access to classified information of
Ukrainian security services, we are able to confirm that the fratricidal war led
by the Kiev regime is from a military standpoint in an impasse. The Kiev forces
have experienced significant losses.
From the new documents, we are able to confirm
that from 8 to 15th of August, the Army of the Southeast has
captured:
tanks T-64 18 units;
infantry fighting vehicles (BMP) 24
units;
armored personnel carriers (BTR) 11
units;
combat reconnaissance patrol vehicles (BRDM)
2 units; airborne combat vehicles (BMD) 9 units;
multiple artillery rocket systems (RSZO) BM27
“Uragan” 2 units;
self-propelled guns (SAU) 2S4 “Tyulpan” 2
units; self-propelled guns (SAU) 2S9 “Nona” 2 units;
self-propelled guns (SAU) 2S1 “Gvozdika” 10
units; 82 mm. caliber mortars 6 units;
anti-aircraft mounts ZU-23-2 3 units;
wheeled vehicles 44 units.
In total,
from June 20 to August 15 during the punitive action, according
to the reports of the Ukrainian military, the militia forces
captured:
tanks T-64 65 units; infantry fighting
vehicles (BMP) 69 units;
armored personnel carriers (BTR) 39
units;
combat reconnaissance patrol vehicles (BRDM)
2 units;

airborne combat vehicles (BMD) 9
units;

multiple artillery rocket systems (RSZO) BM27
Uragan 2 units;

self-propelled guns (SAU) 2S4 “Tyulpan” 2
units;

self-propelled guns (SAU) 2S9 “Nona” 6
units;

self-propelled guns (SAU) 2S1 “Gvozdika” 25
units;

howitzers D-30 10 units; 82 mm. caliber
mortars 32 units; anti-aircraft mounts ZU-23-2 18 units; wheeled vehicles
124 units.

References
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-ukraine-civil-war-latest-developments/5394563
http://www.globalresearch.ca/ukraine-handed-military-equipment-to-militia-forces-once-again/5396869
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