BALTIMORE, Maryland April 27, 2014 - The man in charge of a leading group of anti-Ukraine armed insurgents has admitted that up to half of the men-at-arms in his unit are not Ukrainian citizens. And the leader himself is said to be a Russian Operative.
Identifying himself in a publication available to the west for the first time, Igor Strelkov told a Russian newspaper that the men in his unit - which works out of Slovyansk, was put together in Crimea after Russia invaded it in early March. As many as one-half of the men in the unit are not Ukrainians, Steikov admitted. This admission supports charges by the Kiev Government that Russia is behind the violence in Eastern Ukraine, and is supplying much of the manpower for it. It also challenges Moscow's line that it has done what it could to end the occupation of Government Buildings in the eastern sector of Ukraine.
Speaking in a video interview with the Moscow-based Komsomolskaya Pravda, Streikov said that as many as two-thirds and at least one-half of the men in his unit are Ukrainian volunteers. Streikov himself is a Russian operative, according to the Interim Ukraine Government in Kiev. It is also a very difficult to accept statement: the leader doesn't know for sure how many of his soldiers came from Russia with him.
It is Streikov's group that is holding seven independent observers from the OSCE after releasing one hostage - a Swedish man - on Sunday. Late reports say that the release of the Swedish hostage occurred when a team of negotiators from the OSCE arrived to speak with Separatist Leaders. The remaining captives, from Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Poland remain in the hands of pro-Russia separatists in Slovyansk where militia leaders have indicated they intend to swap them for members of their own movement currently imprisoned by Ukraine. The men, part of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, were paraded in front of the reporters Sunday where, under armed guard, they said they had not been mistreated. Western leaders were outraged. "The public parading of the OSCE observers and Ukrainian security forces as prisoners is revolting and blatantly hurts the dignity of the victims," said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. To date, Ukraine's interim government has refused to negotiate with the separatists who they accuse of being puppets of Russia trying to destabilize the country.
All of this occurred against a backdrop of an impending ramping-up of sanctions against Russia imposed by the United States and the EU. Sanctions that include the freezing of assets of persons in Putin's inner circle, but not Putin himself, President Obama said today. Meanwhile, the blog "War is Boring" reports that the Ukraine Military is scrambling to prepare for possible hostilities with Russia. One sign of this has been the painting of unique markings on Ukraine Air Craft to make it easier for ground forces to determine if a helicopter or plane is Russian or Ukrainian. Almost all of Ukraine's aircraft were made in Russia. The sad fact also is that most of the aircraft is old.
In another stunning development, unknown gunmen have shot and critically wounded the Mayor of Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine. The Mayor opposed the Kiev demonstrations that ousted the former President of Ukraine. Hennady Kernes, the mayor of Kharkiv, was shot Monday morning and was in surgery "fighting for his life," according to city officials.
Despite his opposition to the protests in Kiev early in the year, USA today says Kernes has changed his tune of late. In a recent interview he said he does not support the separatists and their building-seizing in the east. And, Kharkiv was the scene of the first efforts by the Ukraine government to retake buildings.
On Saturday, separatists in the city of Gorlivka — also in the restive Donetsk region — captured three members of Ukraine's elite Afla team, a special forces unit of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
The commandos had reportedly been trying to apprehend the suspected murderer of a politician found dead and mutilated last week. But the Alfa team was overwhelmed by separatist gunmen and later paraded bloodied and bandaged in their underwear before pro-Russia TV channels.
Still on his Asian trip, President Obama asked today why "everybody is so anxious to use military force." He was responding to the many newspaper columns and comments by observers who believe he has exhibited weakness in the face of provocative military steps by Russian Strongman Vladimir Putin.
Putin has almost exclusively used military force in gaining the upper hand in Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe, including Georgia.
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