Thursday 16 July 2015

Ukraine: Neocons fight nazis

There is MAJOR trouble in Ukraine that has long been predicted but you would be forgiven for not knowing that anything was going on by reading western MSM.


It looks to me as if Poroshenko is trying to control the situation while his PM Yatsenyuk is behind the fascists

The only way Kiev is going to control this is to mount another "anti-terrorist operation". But this means fighting on two fronts.

Here is a collection of stories from a variety of sources

Right Sector Clash With Police Threatens Government Split in Kiev

  • Right Sector attacked police with machine guns and rocket launchers, killing officers and civilians
  • Instead of being promptly shut down significant political forces are taking its side
  • The clash was a turf war between rival cigarette smugglers one of which is a Right Sector financier

This article originally appearedat Gordon Hahn’s Blog

14 July, 2015

On Saturday, Ukraine’s neofascist Right Sector (Praviy Sektor or PS) militia movement attacked police in the western, Transcarpathian village of Mukachevo. Taking place far from the Donbass front, this was another case of the PS marauding across Ukraine’s countryside trying to raise money in order to boost its hopes of building a totalitarian, xenophobic, and exclusivist greater Ukraine; one ‘superior to Europe’ and antagonistic towards Russia.

In particular, PS was involved in a settling of scores between two Transcarpatian criminal ‘authorities’ who are simultaneously deputies in the Supreme Rada – the parliament of the ‘new democratic Ukraine’. One of kingpin-deputies, Viktor Baloga, is said to finance PS. A relationship PS struck up an in order to help finance its recruiting, propaganda, political, and military efforts.

In the battle that ensued – with PS using machine guns and a grenade launcher – several police and several civilians were killed and wounded, with up to 14 casualties, according to some reports.

Security forces flooded in but instead of attacking and arresting the PS fighters, negotiations ensued; some of them involving directly or indirectly Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko himself and his Interior Minister, Arsen Avakov, who implemented the policy of forming volunteer battalions to include a large component of neofascists, given their ‘patriotic enthusiasm.’

The PS continues to refuse to disarm and convened demonstrations in Kiev at the presidential administration and some ten provincial capitols, and other neofascist groups and their battalions are backing PS.

Even the recently fired head of Ukraine’s intelligence service, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Valentin Nalyvaichenko, backed PS against the Porosehnko-led factions of the Maidan regime. For in post-Orange Revolution Ukraine, ‘patriotism,’ which often morphs into ultra-natioalism and neo-fascism, trumps everything – from criminality to rule of law to democratic procedure.

It is now clear that the Maidan regime’s policy of allowing PS and like-minded elements to enter the corridors of power, the halls of parliament, and staffs of the army and National Guard and arming tens of neofascist-dominated battalions to the teeth in order to avoid negotiating with the Donbass rebels has been proved a catastrophic failure.

Ukraine is now faced with even greater political instability than before.

President Poroshenko is now faced with the Hobson’s choice of either disarming PS and other armed neo-fascist groups and their ‘battalions’ in order to establish the Maidan regime’s monopoly over the means of coercion or fashioning yet another compromise with neofascism.

In the event he chooses the former, there is a risk of a second civil war on Ukrainian territory and the rise of a neo-fascist insurgency.

In the event he chooses the latter, he will only increase the likelihood of a neofascist-led coup or revolt down the road.

Either way, Poroshenko’s life and that of the Maidan regime are now at grave risk.
Indeed, there is some reason to conclude that the conflict in Mukachevo and its broadening could lead to a regime split.
For now, the split is contained within the legislative branch, with the Petro Poroshenko Bloc (PPB) backing a crackdown on PS, Prime Minister Arsen Yatsenyuk’s National Front taking an ambiguous position, calling for personnel changes in Transcarpathia and the Customs Police, and the three smaller factions (the ultra-nationalist Radical Party, the moderately nationalist party Self-Help, and the Yulia Tymoshenko’s national chauvinist Fatherland party) backing PS’s call for MVD chief Arsen Avakov’s resignation (Link).

The questions are whether the National Front will abandon the coalition with the PPB and three small factions  and whether the split will extend into the executive branch.

Finally, will the conflict spark high-ranking defections to the ultra-nationalist opposition camp led by PS and other ultra-nationalist groups outside parliament like the Svoboda Party, the Social-National Assembly, the Black Committee, Revansh and others.

As I have tried to warn for years, Ukraine and all other post-Soviet states (with the exception of the Baltic states on some parameters) are not very different from each other, suffering from excess of nationalism, intolerance, corruption, criminality, conflictive political cultures, and authoritarianism.

In such countries, when the regimes falter, coups and revolutions follow close behind. Where coups and revolutions come, often so do political chaos, economic dislocation, civil war and state failure.

Thus, the EU’s haste to maneuver Ukraine into an association agreement in November 2013 with strong American backing along the West’s encouragement of the Maidan revolution instead of a negotiated transition in Kiev have been nothing short of catastrophic for Ukraine and the EU.

Relations with their most powerful neighbor – Russia – are strained to the breaking point and fraught with the risk of war. Moreover, the instability wrought in Ukraine rather than complicating matters just on Russia’s borders is now reaching the EU’s borders.

The contraband cigarette trade that was the object of the dispute between two Rada deputies/Transcarpathian criminal kingpins in ‘democratic Ukraine’ went across state borders into Hungary and perhaps Romania.

The village of Mukachevo, where the fatal gun battle took place and where PS fighters disappeared into the hills is close to Ukraine’s borders with Hungary, Romania, Poland, and Slovakia.

In closing, I would suggest that the American, Canadian, Polish and other military trainers and advisors walking the lands of the neo-fascists in Lviv, Volyn, Ternopol and other places in western (and elsewhere in) Ukraine start aggressively weeding out the neo-fascists among their charges and begin training Ukraine’s army and government to do battle with their real enemy – Ukrainian ultra-nationalism – before it is too late, if it is not already.

I would also suggest to those focused exclusively on expanding American power, especially when it comes at Russia’s expense – to people like Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland – that they resign and repent before the ‘mothers, children, and grandmothers’ of ‘the Maidan’ – where, like in the rest of Ukraine, in her incompetent view, neo-fascists have never been.


Poroshenko to Be ‘Executed in Dark Basement’ After Coup – Right Sector


Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko should be worried, as things are getting hot on the streets of Kiev amid the standoff between the Ukrainian government and the Neo-Nazi radical group Right Sector.


15 July, 2015


The extremist group said Poroshenko won't be able to flee from the country in the event of a coup, as did his predecessor Viktor Yanukovych in February of 2014, the Voice of America (VOA) reported, citing Artem Skoropadsky, the press secretary of the Right Sector.

"If there's a new revolution, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his supporters won't be able to escape from the country, as did the previous president. They can't expect anything, but an execution in some dark basement carried out by a group of young Ukrainian soldiers or members of the National Guard," Skoropadsky warned the current president, as quoted by VOA.

Last week, the Right Sector openly challenged the government after a violent skirmish with police in the town of Mukachevo. The incident left three men dead and 13 wounded.


Kiev declared a manhunt operation. In response, the Right Sector staged rallies across Ukrainian cities, including Kiev, demanding the resignation of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.


Currently, there is a split between the Kiev regime and the union of several nationalist groups led by the Right Sector. Interestingly, a year and a half ago, Petro Poroshenko's team and the Right Sector worked together during the Maidan protests ousting previous president Yanukovych.


After the last year coup, the nationalists went to Donbass planning to annihilate Donbass residents who opposed Poroshenko's government. Kiev was actively supporting the nationalists fighting in the eastern part of the country, but the government never had full control over these radical groups.


Having started collaborating with the Right Sector for the Donbass war, the Ukrainian government is now in some kind of a trap. On the one hand, Kiev needs radicals to wage the war in the east, on the other hand, the Right Sector discredits Ukraine for its Western partners. The nationalists ended up with lots of arms and battlefield experience, and now they're strong enough to openly challenge the government.


The Right Sector poses a threat of further escalation. Citing the group's spokesperson, Der Spiegel said that the nationalists were ready to send two armed formations to Kiev. Two of their units are stationed in Donbass, and there are 18 or 19 more battalions awaiting orders.


On Monday during a briefing of the National Council for Security and Defense, Poroshenko demanded that the Interior Ministry, the Security Service of Ukraine, and other law enforcement agencies disarm all illegal armed groups operating in Ukraine. The Right Sector refused to lay down arms saying it is not an illegal armed formation, but "a volunteer corps which protects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ukrainian nation."


The Right Sector was formed as a coalition of nationalist and neo-Nazi organizations during the Maidan protests in Kiev at the end of 2013. In November 2014, Russia's Supreme Court blacklisted the Right Sector as an extremist organization and banned its activity in Russia. Earlier, Russia launched a criminal case against leader Dmitry Yarosh for public incitement of terrorism.


TASS: Fugitive Right Sector fighters are retreating from Mukachevo towards Poland





Updated: The Right Sector took the city of Lvov under its control


Translated by Kristina Rus


Extremist organization "Right sector" had set up checkpoints around the city of Lvov and is de facto controlling the city, said the representative of the office of the Right Sector in the Lvov region, Taras Kuzyak.

"Our organization is on call going to all emergency situations [has taken over the function of municipal police - KR], de facto controls the city to avoid provocations. To this end, we set up roadblocks around the city," - Kuzyak said Tuesday to UNN agency.


The Radicals of the "Right sector" deny involvement in the bombings near police stations in Lvov, which occurred Tuesday morning, and are confident that the organizers of the terrorist attacks are "anti-Ukrainian forces".



The first explosion occurred on Tuesday near a police station in Lvov, when the officer of the Railway district police department unlocked the office on the Plugovaya street. According to the Interior Ministry, a mine was detonated. The injured lieutenant was hospitalized, his condition is estimated as critical.



Later in the day in Lvov there was another explosion, this time near a local police station, wounding inspector of the district department.



The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine tied the two morning explosions at police stations in Lvov with the events in the Transcarpathian region, where over the weekend there was a skirmish between the police and the radicals of the "Right sector". The department has classified both the explosion as a terrorist attack.



The leader of the faction "Self-help" [
Lvov based "Samopomosh" which favors decentralisation of Ukraine and more autonomy for Lvov - KR] in the Ukrainian Parliament, Oleg Berezyuk proposed to hold an urgent meeting of the council of the coalition and hear the report of the Minister of Internal Affairs, the head of the SBU and the Prosecutor General in connection with the bombings in Lvov.

***


Update from Searchnews.info: 


The public in Ukraine is inclined to think that the explosions are the work of the nationalists from the “Right sector”, who wanted to take control of the cultural capital of Ukraine [
it has become a cultural center due to its Polish and Jewish heritage before it has been 'purified' by the banderites - KR], where they enjoy great support among the local population.


Recently it became known that in the fight against the current government of Ukraine the “Right sector” is supported by battalions “Azov”, “Tornado” and “OUN”.


The Right Sector consists of about 20 battalions, led by Dmitry Yarosh. Such a force is enough to take control of a few regions of Western Ukraine. The ATO can be started on two front.

Transcarpathia's regional prosecutor's car torched in Uzhgorod






The Right Sector People's Republic of Lvov



"Don't feed the lions!" [Lions in Russian is the same as 'Lvov']
Grigory Ignatov



What are the real prospects of the "Right sector" in the current situation of direct conflict with the authorities?


All the dreams of the all-Ukrainian "Maidan 3.0", which would become even more "right" than the "second" still remain just dreams. Moreover, given how hesitant was the all-mighty "big and scary" "Right sector" in the most critical hours after the shootout in Mukachevo, we can confidently say – the authorities have a significant power advantage. So what, a protest at the AP (even without the burning tires), so what, tents popped up in different cities – but is this what some expected, and others were afraid of?


What about all of this: "The Right Sector is transferring units from the front to Western Ukraine", "all Right Sector personnel is in full combat readiness"?.. Apparently, not feeling the public support, without real power advantage, the "Right sector" decided not go for the seizure of power in Kiev. Moreover, "pravoseki" [Right Sector members], being well aware of the internal situation and views of their colleagues in the new Ukrainian power politics, clearly knew that no one will play games with them and instead of "Berkut" with traumatic shotguns circa 2013, the government will simply bring out all the armored vehicles – "Saxons" and "Humvees" — which has still not reached the front just for such a situation and without unnecessary discussions will sweep all the radicals with a fire barrage, as the "agents of the Kremlin, seeking to strike the warring country in the back."


However, the situation is such that time has accelerated significantly and it is playing against the Right Sector. Every day and hour ushers the moment of the inevitable large-scale repressions – and worst of all, the Right Sector understands that there is no need for any dirt: illegal arsenals of small arms and heavy weapons in the possession of the "righties" are such that  it's time for Kiev to seek NATO's help in fighting the new terrorist threat. Arrest any Right Sector organization in any town – and you are sure to find machine guns and explosives. 


And everyone understands this.


But it's a problem. A weapon is an instrument of force, self-defence, the seizure of power, finally! But if it turns out that the Right Sector is not ready for mutiny, the stockpiled weapons instead of the "trump card" become a "suitcase without a handle" and a "hot potato". To use it makes no sense, but to keep is more risky, it is easy to go to jail. However, no one will get rid of it.


Zugzwang? Actually, no.


The only logical solution for right-wing radicals becomes "privatization" of some particular region where they would feel in relative or absolute security. Kind of a "Pravo-Sich". Of course, it is desirable that it is within Ukraine's borders as nobody will welcome banderites anywhere abroad (Canada is too far [home of Bandera grandson and a largest Ukrainian diaspora]), and preferably in a big city, and not in the damp underground caves of the Carpathian mountains.


By very simple reasoning we find that Lvov best fits the role of "Pravo-Sich".


There is traditionally a high percentage of sympathisers of the radical nationalists, here they can recruit new cadres, a long-standing dialogue has been established with many of the power structures (if not fusion). And there is another significant factor – the desire of Galicia to expand its own managerial and financial autonomy. More than once the Galicians lost during redistribution of power. Yushchenko of Sumy, Timoshenko of Dnepropetrovsk, Yanukovich of Donetsk, and Poroshenko of Vinnitsa did not share much with them. Galicians are always in demand to aid a Maidan, but not as much when it comes to distributing portfolios. Kiev is too much to bite for Lvov. Is it not better in this case to arrange a informal autonomy by distancing from the dictate of the center? It is best done by negotiating with Kiev, using a few dozen thousand fighters as a card.


[Decentralization is particularly desperately needed in the current economic crisis, due to the fact that all Ukrainian regions only get 20% of their revenue and have to transfer 80% to the center - Kiev - KR]


That the Right Sector is moving in this direction is clearly shown by the recent bombings of police stations in Lvov, after which it was stated that the town is taken under the control of the "righties". "In order to avoid further terrorist attacks" (of course!) Right Sector checkpoints were put up around the city. What is the status of the informal (and possibly armed) searches of personal property? That's right – completely illegal. But in Lvov no one said a word. The analogy with Donetsk will be correct – there the first checkpoints of the militia have also been accepted as a necessity. Each region has its own "militia".


Most likely, terrorist attacks will continue. Everyone will understand who is behind them, but the Right Sector will loudly declare that only it can provide security in the region. So it was in the 90s: the bandits offered to provide security to businesses, otherwise the business was on fire and exploding. By such blackmail an agreement will be reached with the government, according to which "pravoseki" will become guarantors of peaceful life of the city, and therefore all persecution will be stopped and menacing arrest decrees from Kiev will be openly or secretly sabotaged on the ground. In turn, the Right Sector will chase away all the Kiev appointees, branding them as corrupt and "unpatriotic". Everyone is happy – elites will sit in their chairs without the risk to be deposed and the Right Sector will march with guns and keep order.


The only way for Kiev to regain control of the region is another ATO. But a war on two fronts, and even with a decrease of a significant portion of its Western mobilization potential, Ukraine is unlikely to even dare to start. Withdraw troops from Donbass – Mariupol or Slavyansk will have to be abandoned. And in general, punitive actions of Kiev in Galicia would cause such a monstrous cognitive dissonance that it will almost certainly lead to the overall collapse of the entire modern Ukrainian mythology.


It's possible that it's even for the better. Right radicals will get their reservation, beyond which open criminal cases will be awaiting them. A large part of all the extreme nationalist element from all over Ukraine will descend on "Pravo-Sich", which means in the Dnepr, Kharkov and Odessa it will be much easier to breathe and safer to live. And Kiev will also have to find a new basis for their own identity, because the outdated Galician underground nationalism will become something indecent and criminally punishable, like Wahhabism in Russia. Anyway, there will be a substantial cooling of senses in a tangled love story of the Ukrainian people with their Bandera "half".


KR: The only thing standing in the way of such a scenario are the ambitions of the new generation of proud Dnepropetrovsk, Mariupol and Kharkov radical nationalists infected with the Galician bug. Judging by the events of the last year they can not be expected to rationally and peacefully surrender and move to Galicia, which is unfortunate for them because they are outnumbered. But the swing is about to go the other way. 

Protest in support of the Right Sector in Kiev (RIA Novosti)

"Tornado," "Azov", "Aidar" and OUN volunteer battalions side with the Right Sector



While it has been mentioned in the western media it has not made the headlines

Ukraine government in armed standoff with nationalist militia


Ukrainian servicemen guard entrance to the western city of Mukacheve, after fighting between police and Right Sector fighters took place on Saturday.

Government forces barricade bases of Right Sector, which has helped it battle pro-Russian forces, after gunfight reportedly killed two people


Ukrainian servicemen guard entrance to the western city of Mukacheve, after fighting between police and Right Sector fighters took place on Saturday.


Soldiers and police have been locked in a standoff with a nationalist militia in western Ukraine after a gun and grenade battle that left at least two dead.


Tensions have been rising between the government and the Right Sector militia that has helped it fight pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country.

Ukrainian prime minister Yatsenyuk defends the Right Sector attack on police


Arseny Yatsenyuk, Prime Minister of Ukraine (in the middle)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ukraine's prime minister pushed back against a pair of forces threatening to undermine his fragile government, likening members of Ukraine's parliament to "lunatics" while defending a nationalist militia that is locked in a standoff with police.

***
As Yatsenyuk pushed for more U.S. investment, security forces in western Ukraine were locked in conflict with the nationalist Right Sector militia, which has accused local police of smuggling contraband across the border with Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. On Saturday, the group launched a deadly gun-and-grenade attack on police, sparking an ongiong standoff, and on Monday the group briefly took a 6-year-old boy hostage.

But the prime minister, in his remarks to the AP, appeared to echo the group's accusations against police, while also denouncing violations of the law by any of the parties.
"It wasn't about the Right Sector. This is about corruption and smuggling and arms on the street," Yatsenyuk said. "They supported smugglers and contraband, and everyone will be brought to justice for the crimes that have been committed."

Whoops?
In unusually honest language, The Times has expertly summarized the latest display of “western values” in Ukraine:

Two quick points:
  1. As we’ve written previously, Right Sector cop killin’ sprees should not surprise anyone. Wise men and women haven been warning about it since March, 2014
  2. Apparently The Times didn’t want to frighten its upper-crust readership with an actual photograph of Right Sector. Will an Instagram photo of an old man and a (Swiss?) flag work? “Sure,” according to the Times’ photo editor, who should be fired for utter incompetence. 

Ukrainian tank battalion in Donbas refuses to follow orders from Poroshenko, wants to go home





Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 17th Tank Brigade of the UAF announced they will not follow their commanders' orders in a video address to President Petro Poroshenko. The tankers called on the president to deal with "the anarchy which is unfolding in the army," stating that over the course of the year their unit was never rotated, and when the brigade commander decided he had enough, "he simply shrugged his shoulders and went on leave," RIA Novosti reports. "We don't give a sh*t about our superiors, just as they don't give a sh*t about us--we'll ignore their orders and we won't give up our weapons, you shouldn't try to disarm us. We're ready to demobilize and we'd be ready to give up our weapons in that situation, but if they try to take us by force, we'll fight them", the soldiers said. The soldiers also complained about their shoddy equipment. "Look at how we are dressed. We're look like the homeless," the soldiers said, noting that the only support they receive comes from volunteers. "If even in March some 50% of us would have been willing to remain in service, now it's 0%," the soldiers said. The sixth wave of Ukrainian mobilization started in June. The Ukrainian authorities are planning to induct 100-150 thousand people into the military. On March 25, Poroshenko signed an order to increase the armed forces' size to 250 thousand. However, mobilizations invariably encounter young men's mass refusals to serve. Evasion, including through emigration (there are 1.2 million Ukrainians of military age in Russia) is now a widespread phenomenon. Kiev reacted by increasing penalties for evading service, which now include severe jail terms.


В 17-й танковой бригаде, (2-й батальон) назревает бунт! 10 июля 2015 года, Кривой Рог, 17-я танковая бригада Бойцы 2 батальона 17-й танковой бригады, после года службы должны быть демобилизованы. Но комбриг кинул всех напризволяще и поехал в отпуск. Бойцы одетые во что горазд (будто бомжы), не заслуживают такого отношения. Так как командование плюет на бойцов, то и выполнять приказы командования бойцы отказываются. Батальон обращается к Президенту навести порядок в бригаде, а в случае разгона спецназом обещает дать вооруженный отпор.


Meanwhile....



Washington can start the implementation of a wider training program for the Ukrainian military in November 2015, Der Spiegel wrote

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