[IMG]http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/30/13/35/6338412/7/628x471.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE]BLAHODATNE, Ukraine -- In the deadliest raid yet on Ukrainian troops, pro-Russia insurgents attacked a military checkpoint Thursday, killing 16 soldiers, and the interim prime minister accused Moscow of trying to disrupt the upcoming election for a new president to lead the divided country out of its crisis.
A rebel commander said one of his fighters also died in the raid in eastern Ukraine, which left a gruesome scene of charred military vehicles and scorched bodies near the town of Volnovakha, 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the city of Donetsk.
Witnesses, including a medical worker, said more than 30 Ukrainian troops were wounded, with some in grave condition. Fighting also raged in at least two other villages.
The armed uprising and the government's offensive to put it down have cast a shadow over Sunday's election, with Kyiv acknowledging it will be impossible to hold the vote in some areas. In the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where separatists have declared independence and pledged to derail the vote, election workers reported threats and interference from gunmen.
Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Russia of escalating the conflict and trying to disrupt the election. In a post on Facebook, he called for an urgent session of the U.N. Security Council and said Ukraine would present evidence of Moscow's involvement.
In the attack on the checkpoint, residents said the rebels arrived in an armoured bank truck, which the unsuspecting Ukrainian soldiers waved through. The rebels opened fire with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said.
The Donetsk regional administration and a Health Ministry official said 16 soldiers were killed. Associated Press journalists saw 11 dead soldiers in the field near the village of Blahodatne, outside Volnovakha.
Ukraine's Defence Ministry said the attackers hit an ammunition section in one of the military vehicles, which exploded in a fireball. Three blackened armoured infantry vehicles, their turrets blown away, and several burned trucks stood at the site. Bodies apparently burned by the explosion and fire were scattered nearby.
A leading rebel commander claimed responsibility for the raid. In the courtyard of the occupied police headquarters of the town of Horlivka, he displayed seized Ukrainian weapons and the passports of what he said were two of the dead soldiers. He also provided co-ordinates about the location of the attack shortly after it had occurred. There was no way to confirm his claim independently.
Read more: [url]http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/pro-russia-separatists-kill-16-ukrainian-soldiers-ahead-of-election-1.1832926#ixzz32VsyAxjG[/url][/QUOTE]
What a fucking trainwreck
They're... trying to disrupt their own election?
[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;44884205]They're... trying to disrupt their own election?[/QUOTE]
Russia, who is really backing these guys, doesn't give a shit about elections. They just wanted to destabilize Ukraine. They got what they wanted awhile ago.
[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;44884205]They're... trying to disrupt their own election?[/QUOTE]
They don't want their own government, they want someone else's.
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;44884216]Russia, who is really backing these guys, doesn't give a shit about elections. They just wanted to destabilize Ukraine. They got what they wanted awhile ago.[/QUOTE]
They got part of what they wanted a while ago. Now they want more.
This may sound dumb but I think this is where good intelligence can lead to effective use of drones. Im not sure it's something that myself I'd want to use against an enemy in my own country but it's starting to come down to it.
[QUOTE=Aide;44884503]This may sound dumb but I think this is where good intelligence can lead to effective use of drones. Im not sure it's something that myself I'd want to use against an enemy in my own country but it's starting to come down to it.[/QUOTE]
A little bit tilted already. Ukraine's army has a clear advantage when it comes to firepower.
Bastards.
OK ya so when is this sort of thing going to be considered terrorism because guys with RPGs blowing up the military in Iraq or Afghanistan was considered that, just because they have a mask on suddenly makes them rebels?
where's the worlds response to terrorism?
And seeing as this was a Trojan Horse of [I]clearly[/I] hostile intent, the Ukrainian military should (by all means, and indeed rights) crack down on this immediately. There is no bad PR or Russian agitation to be found in this. Just Ukraine dealing with violent militants by now. Not protesters or downtrodden minority. This whole situation has long since escalated far enough that even Russia has no real say to protect them.
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;44884216]Russia, who is really backing these guys, doesn't give a shit about elections. They just wanted to destabilize Ukraine. They got what they wanted awhile ago.[/QUOTE]
That's why Putin called them a step in the right direction, pulled his troops back some, and refuses to get on board with the referendums.
It's funny how many people think big bad russia just wants to 'destabilize' ukraine (as if a coup doesn't do that for them).
I can't tell if Ukraine are being insanely restrained or completely ineffective.
[QUOTE=SeamanStains;44887360]I can't tell if Ukraine are being insanely restrained or completely ineffective.[/QUOTE]
The army and police are very demoralized, with the latter sometimes outright breaking apart like we saw in Mariupol. The coup government in Kiev just doesn't command the legitimacy, so it relies on far-right paramilitaries and the National Guard (which is staffed with nationalist volunteers). Much of the weapons separatists used are seized from the army or bought from corrupt soldiers.
Interestingly, both and [url=http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27515514#]army major[/url] and [url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vzglyad.ru%2Fworld%2F2014%2F5%2F22%2F688005.html]Pavel Gubarev[/url] (Donetsk Peoples Governer) denied the attack was done by separatists, instead hinting at mercenaries (like Igor Kolomoisky, infamous pro-EU banker and oligarch-governor of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and his "Dnieper-1" Battalion which no doubt uses those armored security vans) or Right Sector. National Guard helicopters apparently came and destroyed equipment not long after this attack happened:
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGzumIz9Fuk[/url]
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXLDaRFXleQ[/url]
Probably leading to more deaths and wounded.
[QUOTE=Sableye;44887131]OK ya so when is this sort of thing going to be considered terrorism because guys with RPGs blowing up the military in Iraq or Afghanistan was considered that, just because they have a mask on suddenly makes them rebels?
where's the worlds response to terrorism?[/QUOTE]
They're called iraqi rebels outside of US media.
[QUOTE=Sableye;44887131]OK ya so when is this sort of thing going to be considered terrorism because guys with RPGs blowing up the military in Iraq or Afghanistan was considered that, just because they have a mask on suddenly makes them rebels?
where's the worlds response to terrorism?[/QUOTE]
terrorists wear turbans and bang the koran when preaching silly
[QUOTE=NoDachi;44887776]They're called iraqi rebels outside of US media.[/QUOTE]
Actually more often than not they're referred to as "insurgents" in our media.
[QUOTE=Zero-Point;44891667]Actually more often than not they're referred to as "insurgents" in our media.[/QUOTE]
That's because insurgents has a negative connotation but rebels does not.
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