Situationen i Ukraina just nu, del 3

During the rally many of the participants carried blue and yellow Ukrainian flags in a show of solidarity for the people of Ukraine. One woman, wearing a traditional Ukrainian wreath of flowers, carried a sign with Russian President Vladimir Putin's picture that read, "Stop lying."

"I'm here to protest against the rapid return of 1937, against censorship, (and) endless lies from our zombie-box (television)," protester Ekaterina Maldonko told the crowd, referencing the violent purges under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Maldonko added that she wanted to express support "for the heroes of Ukraine."

Retired Col. General Vladimir Ruban, interviewed on the pro-Ukrainian-Government Hromadske TV, then says:

„I want to offer the Ukrainian artillerists medals, to those who shell the city [Donetsk], the houses and the civilian population, … for they [artillerists] have deserved it [medals], both because of the accuracy and inaccuracy. … It’s one thing if attack groups or any mobile mortar troops drive through the city and shoot, … but if the artillery units fired from the airport [i.e., from the distance], then no one can claim that the separatists shoot themselves [i.e., that the people who are being killed in the city are victims of separatist troops mistakenly hitting passers-by when aiming at Government troops. He is saying that artillerists will clearly get the blame, whereas street-fighters can always blame the ‘terrorists.’]. …

The shelling there is done as intimidation, … not just object destruction, but intimidation [to get the population to flee to nearby Russia]. The civilian population is intimidated by a chaotic bombardment of different objects. There are many shells that plug directly into the streets or vegetable gardens [and so make the very ground on which these people live terrifying to them]. INTERVIEWER: This refers to those that didn’t explode? ANSWER: Yes, … there are many of those, … shells that fail to detonate. But Gorlowka has been fortunate to have not yet been totally eradicated from the face of the earth, along with the civilian population. INTERVIEWER: You mean that the city is bombarded violently? ANSWER: Gorlowka was shelled by our troops, [even] as I went there for the prisoner exchange. Although it was known that I was there, they [our troops] kept up the bombardment of Gorlowka.”

Terrorist speakers and pro-Russian media in Ukraine are notorious for rapidly shifting statements in the wake of disasters they cause. As details of the MH17 crash became known, terrorist propaganda sites and Kremlin news agencies quickly pulled down boasts of shutting down a Ukrainian military cargo plane. Right after the bus massacre at Volnovakha hit the news, a terrorist news group on the Russian social network Vkontakte promptly deleted a post claiming destruction of a Ukrainian checkpoint. Later there were several more twists to the story, unpicked by independent investigator website Bellingcat. The horrific strike at Mariupol on January 24 was no different.

These attempts to cover up atrocities are too sloppy to succeed and may even serve as circumstantial evidence to put the blame on the side rapidly shifting their testimony. In an age defined by instant news spread and quick independent investigation, they are not fooling anyone except the victims of Russian propaganda.

De ordningsmakter som satts in för att kuva upploppet har beordrats att skjuta skarpt, och enligt rykten planerar regimen att sätta in den fruktade högerextrema milisen Högra sektorn mot demonstranterna.

Incidenter av det slag som i Konstantinovka är snarare en regel än ett undantag. Enbart i Mariupol, en Kievkontrollerad östukrainsk stad, inträffade tre trafikolyckor som involverade ukrainska soldater bara under måndagen.

Att fylleri är ett stort problem bland soldaterna är något som företrädare för regimen i Kiev öppet beklagar. Den ukrainske presidenten Porosjenkos rådgivare Jurij Birjukov skrev nyligen ett inlägg på Facebook där han beklagade att de personer som nu mobiliseras till stor del är "alkoholister, narkomaner och idioter".

Journalist Jeroen Akkermans claims that the two pieces he found are sufficient proof that MH17 was shot down by a Buk.

The Netherlands has denied reports that the Malaysia Airlines plane was downed by a Buk missile, killing all 298 passengers and crew last July. The Dutch Safety Board (DSB), which is investigating the cause of the crash, responded to reports released earlier by Netherlands broadcaster RTL alleging that the flight MH17 was downed by a Russian-made anti-aircraft missile system.

In the investigation to the accident to flight MH17, the Dutch Safety Board wants to be able to confirm the final conclusion against multiple sources. This is a complex and time-consuming process. As a part of this, the link to the Malaysian Airlines aeroplane has to be demonstrated for each source, in part because the aeroplane crashed in an area of civil conflict.
The investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing and is focusing on many more sources than just the pieces of shrapnel. Additional material for investigation is welcome for this, but it is important that it be irrefutably demonstrated that there is a relationship between any material and the aeroplane that crashed. The Dutch Safety Board will accept any such material and include it in the investigation.