Tires and Tents on Fire: Attempts to Dismantle Remainders of Kyiv’s Maidan Protest Camp

Voices of Ukraine
Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Kyiv
08.07.2014
Photographs by Alex Cybriwsky

Photo: Alex Cybriwsky

Two heavily armed battalions of Ukrainian military troops (Kyiv 1 and Kyiv 2) and riot police (hundreds in total) attempted to “restore order” to Ukraine’s pro-democratic protest camp in the center of Kyiv this morning on Maidan Nezalezhnosti [Independence Square, called Maidan]. Their attempts failed after people pushed them back. Thankfully, the incident was mostly peaceful and few injuries were witnessed. However, government forces destroyed over 10 large protest tents with fire. Tires were also lit on fire by protesters who do not want to leave their encampments on Maidan.

Kyiv-2 Battalion member with automatic rifle who came with hundreds of other men to disassemble the Maidan protest camp.

Kyiv-2 Battalion [Klitschko’s battalions are K1 & K2] member with automatic rifle who came with hundreds of other men to disassemble the Maidan protest camp. Photo: Alex Cybriwsky

Unidentified persons are reinforcing the barricades using wooden pallets and barbed wire which they are laying atop the tires. This is being done by a few dozen people in camouflage with sticks, presumably Maidaners. The faces of some of them are covered with balaclavas.

Eyewitnesses say that in the early hours of the morning they heard police were staging on Mykhailivska Square. Additionally, it was announced from the Maidan stage this afternoon that there is to be an attack tonight and a viche [rally] has been called which started at 7pm, Kyiv time.

Photo: Alex Cybriwsky

The perimeter of the tent city on Maidan Nezalezhnosti has decreased slightly again and now occupies the roadway of Khreschatyk Street from the Trade Unions Building to the Post Office. (Photos: Alex Cybriwsky. Click on images for slide show or to enlarge):

Maintenance crews removing the mobilization center of the Donbas Battalion:

Photo source: Spilno.tv screenshot

———-

At the same time, Ukrainska Pravda reports that the head of the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU], Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, stated that saboteurs with a grenade launcher in a car with Russian plates were also detained on Maidan after the morning clashes.

“Two subversive groups were detained. The first one had grenades, and instead of helping the maintenance crews and the people of Maidan restore order, they were planning to make an act of sabotage against the civilians. The second one–was a vehicle with Russian license plates with a grenade launcher in it, which at the time was moving towards Maidan was detained,” Nalyvaichenko said.

He was not able to name the exact number of people in the subversive group with the grenades. Law enforcement officers detained the two subversive groups after the morning clashes on Maidan. The circumstances of the planned incidents are now being investigated in the course of interrogating the detainees, according to the head of the SBU.

“For the safety of the city and all citizens, it is really important that the maintenance crews can clear up at least the roadway, which will eliminate any opportunity to leave illegal items there and thus protect the people of Maidan and Kyiv residents,” Nalyvaichenko stated.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda

Here’s the take down of the saboteur group who had grenades:
Video from the scene. Shevchenko Boulevard. Detention of “pseudomaidaners” by soldiers of Kyiv-1 Battalion.

Read more, more photos:
Censor.net, Tires Are Burning on the Maidan Once Again. Remaining Activists Resist Clean Up. PHOTOS

VICE News: In photos: Kiev’s Euromaidan burns again as authorities move to clear protest site

And 2 good informative videos:
Maidan PressCenter: How they started burning tires on Maidan, August 7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69BNvv1Gy80#t=324

Alex Cybriwsky: The troops tried to destroy Maidan 08.07.2014
(Kyiv-2 Battalion is retreating here in the face of peaceful civilians walking them off Maidan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6OABQnfVBM

Spilno.tv live streamed videos earlier today:
www.ustream.tv/recorded/51033326
www.ustream.tv/recorded/51033536
www.ustream.tv/recorded/51033855
www.ustream.tv/recorded/51033907 (person with grenade found at 3:00)
www.ustream.tv/recorded/51033909
www.ustream.tv/recorded/51034205

Photo: Alex Cybriwsky

Photo: Alex Cybriwsky

 

 

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Dmitry Tymchuk’s Military Blog: Summary – August 6, 2014

Dmitry Tymchuk, Coordinator, Information Resistance
08.06.2014
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

Brothers and sisters!

information_resistance_logo_engHere’s the Summary for August 6, 2014 (for previous summary, please see Summary for August 5).

The bad news:

1. Recently, we have observed the quite effective efforts by terrorists to counter the ATO forces’ raid operations.

It is difficult to judge whether it is an “outpouring” of information to insurgents about the upcoming action of our units (hopefully military counterintelligence will [be able to] answer this question). But the fact that the planning and conduct of operations now requires effort and professionalism from the ATO leadership, and the initiative and ability to take personal responsibility from the unit commanders–many times over than [was required] even a couple of weeks ago–is an indisputable fact.

2. In Mykolaiv a rally was held “against the tariff increase.” It would seem, nothing to worry about, the more so since [the rally] came down to a pathetic goose egg, but the organizer of the rally, “The Institute of International Influence,” as reported by the media, earlier demanded from Yanukovych [the ousted Ukrainian President], along with the parliamentarian-separatist Oleh Tsaryov, to reward Berkut fighters for the dispersal of Maidan.

Characteristically, yesterday the same rally took place in Kherson. Journalists recorded how, afterwards, the organizers handed out money to its participants. The requirements are the same–on the pretext of solving social problems, require the local authority not to comply with Kyiv in its “anti-people politics.” For a better [TV screen] image, protesters were waving banners in English, yet to a request to read what they had written on them, they grunted something unintelligible.

… It is no secret that today Ukraine is taking an examination on survival as a sovereign nation. We are dealing with a cunning and insidious enemy. And if we do not learn to protect ourselves from the Moscow hydra in any of its appearances–whether in the form of a terrorist armed by Putin in the East or a “peaceful protester” in the South paid off by the FSB–then our independence isn’t worth a dime. And do not reassure yourself at the paucity of “protesters”–the picture changes very quickly, when Moscow pays lavishly.

3. From the same opera about a fifth column…Kharkiv City Council awarded the title of “Honorary Kharkivian” to a member of the Federation Council of Russia, Alexander Shishkin. The official wording says that this “Russian philanthropist” initiated the building of temples.

We are [already] aware of what an important role the temples of the UOC [Ukrainian Orthodox Church] of the Moscow Patriarchate [MP] play in the anti-Ukrainian propaganda in eastern Ukraine. The fact is, that the monasteries of the UOC MP very often [served] as the transshipment bases for terrorists too. And we are also well aware of the fact that the very Federation Council represented by Shishkin gave Putin the right to enter the Russian troops into Ukraine.

It remains to be understood what role is played by the members of the Kharkiv City Council and the City authorities in a system of Ukrainian collapse, carefully constructed by the Russian special services.

… By the way, the Prosecutor’s Office immediately appealed the assignment of Shishkin as an honorary Kharkivian. Applause [to the] prosecutors.

The good news:

1. Residents of Donbas actively give up terrorists and their accomplices to [Ukrainian] security forces.

The National Security and Defense Council [NSDC] said that over the past 24 hours, the ATO Staff telephone hotline in Mariupol received 45 messages about individuals participating in terrorist activity. The [residents] also report about terrorist firing positions.

This is no longer about the crucial and necessary work performed by a powerful network of patriots in Donbas since the beginning of the ATO, who worked to obtain such information. This is a truly large-scale civil movement. We can call it the Information Militia of Donbas.

2. The President of Ukraine has instructed the Defense Minister to dismiss the two department heads in the Ministry of Defense responsible for the procurement of arms, for the inefficient use of budget funds. The President referred to a corresponding investigation by the Prosecutor General’s Office.

No one has any doubts that it’s [high] time to arrange for a staff purgatory for military officials. The problem lies elsewhere. In past years, we have repeatedly witnessed loud dismissals of top officials (including the Ministry of Defense) for various ugly acts. But we are also aware of numerous cases, when these officials eventually sued and got successfully reinstated in their positions, although without advertising. I want to believe that the present case is a different matter, and that the dismissals are completely justified from the legal point of view.

Once again, it is unclear whether one should wait for the continuation of the banquet. In terms of–is the dismissal really a self-sufficient punishment for “inefficient use of budgetary funds?” This is a question for the Prosecutor [General’s] Office.

And one more comment on the matter. It’s not just important [to know] who was fired, but also who will be appointed [in their place]. For example, according to our data, currently one of the faithful companions of Salamatin–one of Yanukovych’s “strategists”–is being pushed for a very high-ranking position in the Ministry of Defense. If he and others like him do emerge, then such an exchange of six of one, and half dozen of another, will, shall we say, cause some questions.

3. And about our successes on the diplomatic front: the past meeting of the UN Security Council became an excellent gag into the insatiable throat of Putin. In particular, the Security Council did not support Russia’s proposal to send over the convoys of Russian “humanitarian aid” to Donbass, shot at with Russian weapons by Russian mercenaries.

Dear dishonorable Mr. Putin. Call your lackey, who suggested the idea of ​​humanitarian aid, and remove his scalp as a warning to other Russian bureaucrats. For Russia itself depends on food deliveries from abroad for main groups of foodstuffs from 20 to 60%. This significantly exceeds the threshold of food security. It would be better for you to keep your humanitarian assistance for the Russians. And Ukraine, if you finally leave her alone, will both feed herself and feed others.

Instead, Putin signed a decree to terminate the purchase of food in countries that have adopted sanctions against Russia. But what a humorist [he is]. Russians, prepare for frequent trips to neighboring countries–for food tours. From now on, your president yearns for the Russian tourists to be called “locusts” from now on.

Source: Dmitry Tymchuk FB

 

 

 

 

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Donetsk separatists were preparing for war since 2009

By Sirgis Inform
08.03.2014  18:09
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

Donetsk separatists from the terrorist organization DNR [Donetsk People’s Republic] were preparing for an armed overthrow of the constitutional order in Ukraine long before the events of 2014. This is evidenced by photos from DNR military training posted on social media networks back in 2009-2010. Even then, members of the terrorist organization were preparing to throw Molotov cocktails and learning to shoot firearms.

The group Donetsk Republic was registered in Vkontakte [Russian version of Facebook] in 2008, and a public organization with the same name in 2006. Photographs of the military camp, in which members of the organization were honing skills in street fighting, began to appear on the network in 2009.

One of the leaders of the organization, Oleg Frolov (Shaman), is a former trader of pirated discs at the Donetsk radio market, Mayak.

DNR 5

Leader of the organization and Deputy Prime Minister of the DNR, Purgin (standing on the right below).

Training continued in 2010. Recall that in the beginning of this year in Ukraine the presidential elections were held and were won by Viktor Yanukovych. Their legitimacy is not questioned, and nothing had yet been heard about a “junta” in Ukraine, but the militants were already preparing to split Ukraine.

DNR 12 DNR 13

Separatists openly declared their own purposes long before Euromaidan. Here, for example, is the map placed by them on the web at the very beginning of 2013. Thus, it becomes clear that the cause of the uprising in Donbas was not Euromaidan, as the separatists say, but the  continuous subversive activities [funded] by money from the Russian Federation, which have been conducted over the past 7-8 years.

Map of Novorossia from April 7, 2013

Map of Novorossia from April 7, 2013

Donetsk separatists consisted of Alexander Dugin’s Russian neo-fascist organization “Eurasian Youth Union,” and they also visited the pro-Kremlin forum “Seliger-2013” in Russia, where they received money for their activities. Photos posted on the blog of one of the forum members:

DNR 15

The first actions taken by the separatists were actually held in Donetsk back in 2006. And even then, Purgin and his supporters openly called for joining the separatist movement. In their leaflets, they declared plans to establish a Donetsk Federative Republic within the territories of the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Kharkiv, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The population of the DFR was meant to have been–17 million people and an area–172K sq m. Reportage on the public action in 2006 was allocated to the resources of News of Donbas.

DNR 18 DNR 19 - Banderite fascism OUN UPA

Alexander Dugin’s International Eurasian Movement published an interview with one of the leaders of the Donetsk separatists, Oleg Frolov, also in 2006.

For a long time, the organization Donetsk Republic received small amounts to operate its activities, which mainly settled into the pockets of the organizers. However, in 2014, members of the DR were involved via sponsors with the radical actions leading to the collapse of the constitutional system in Eastern Ukraine.

Source: Sirgis Inform
View full album here.

 

 

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Dmitry Tymchuk’s Military Blog: Summary – August 5, 2014

Dmitry Tymchuk, Coordinator, Information Resistance
08.05.2014
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

Brothers and sisters!

information_resistance_logo_engHere’s the Summary for August 5, 2014 (for previous summary, please see Summary for August 4).

The bad news:

1. The ATO forces left the city of Yasynuvata [Donetsk Oblast] without taking it under complete control. The reason–the threat of a large number of civilian casualties in any further offensive operations in the city.

Security officials promise to create a humanitarian corridor to allow the townspeople to leave, and then continue the liberation of the city, which plays a major role in blocking the north of Donetsk.

Although, as the experience of other settlements shows, the safety of humanitarian corridors is only guaranteed by the ATO forces–the terrorists promise nothing. And why should they–hiding behind a shield of peaceful residents is their favorite bloody amusement. How this problem is resolved (and this applies to other cities still controlled by the insurgents)–is unclear.

2. A rustling was spread throughout the media: the Prosecutor’s Office initiated a case against the company commander of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade, who led his men into Russia while saving them from annihilation. Earlier, the same response was heard about the upcoming court proceedings of the soldiers from the 51st Brigade, who also retreated to the Russian Federation.

Heated arguments are underway–are they heroes or traitors?

Let’s make up our mind. We are standing on a very thin line between justice and villainy. The society of a country at war is always very sensitive about any hint of betrayal, and at the same time is eager for heroes. But any label that is hung hastily may instantly destroy the fate of soldiers and officers. Or, conversely, [it can] elevate someone who doesn’t deserve it.

Therefore, let’s trust in justice. Only by fully restoring the course of events can we really learn the truth. If law enforcement officers, according to someone’s opinion, are wrong­–then it will be possible to start a discussion. Until then, there is nothing to argue about.

3. Terrorists need vatniks

The Russian media reported that the insurgent “commander-in-chief” [Igor] Girkin ordered “several thousand sturdy Soviet army vatniks” from his Russian masters. Word has it that the “DNR” [Donetsk People’s Republic] plans “to continue military operations after the summer is over.” That’s where they are aiming.

A vatnik in a quilted jacket is certainly not a sight for the faint of heart. But I think that for the masters of the DNR, unless they are thinking to surrender, it would be more relevant to order several thousand elegant zinc jackets for the end of summer. [They are] the latest word in terrorist fashion.

The good news:

1. The [Ukrainian] authorities have begun to think about the fate of our heroes.

In particular, the President has proposed considering the question of sending military enlistment employees into the ATO zone, and placing those officers who were wounded during the [military] operation, into the military recruitment offices. In turn, the defense minister instructed the military schools to start recruiting participants from among the wounded, who for health reasons cannot continue their military service. They will be able to obtain other [military] specialties.

… Let us hope that our current heroes who have fulfilled their duty to Ukraine, will not suffer the fate of many “Afghans [Afghanistan veterans],” when these guys returned from the war, another “silent war” awaited them–with the indifference of the state and society. In a country where the Revolution of Dignity has triumphed, this would be very wrong.

2. The Prosecutor General’s Office reported that officials are investigating the enchanting slowness of the Defense Ministry officials regarding the procurement of equipment for the military–for both the budgetary costs, and the donation funds received from citizens.

Frankly, in recent months we have heard a million explanations why a budget of billions, allocated for the ATO, is sitting motionless in the accounts and not moving, as well as an essential part of the charitable duties. And at this time we only see a shortage in the [military] units–in one, then another, or a third.

To be honest–I don’t really believe that someone will eventually bear a heavy responsibility [for this]. But at least the threat of it can make the army officials move at last. An official is a proud bird; until you kick it–it will not fly.

Although, I think if [we] put together a couple of battalions of military bureaucrats and send them over to keep the defense under Dyakove [village border post in Luhansk region that saw much fighting] without helmets and armored vests–within a day we would get the most nimble and swift officials in the world.

3. Today, a new video was posted on the Internet, which was shot by a Ukrainian driver on the territory of Russia, near the border with Ukraine. [In it], accompanied by Russian military traffic police, Russian “Grads” and artillery are being moved to the border.

VIDEO–A convoy of Russian military equipment near the border with Ukraine:  

The driver shouts at the Russian military “Pedera … ts!” I have nothing to add. It’s a short but exceptionally plentiful definition.

That he’s calling them “Pedera …ts”–that’s understandable. But I think if an unarmed Ukrainian in enemy territory is not afraid to shout this [word] in the face of the aggressor–then what [is there] to expect from that same Ukrainian protecting his land with a gun in his hands? Such people cannot be beat. If I’m wrong–try to convince me it’s otherwise.

Source: Dmitry Tymchuk FB

 

 

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Defense Force Donbas: Humanitarian aid from Lysychansk terrorist depot to benefit children’s hospitals and local residents

By Ukrainian Volunteer Defense Force “Donbas”
08.05.2014
Edited by Voices of Ukraine

The media center of “Donbas” reports:

A few days ago, children’s hospitals in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk received a large amount of medicine, which was delivered by the social organization Maidan Hospital in association with DFD [Defense Force Donbas] fighters from Lysychansk.

We would like to remind you that on July 26th, the special Defense Force Donbas of the National Guard seized a depot belonging to the terrorist “Prizrak” (Ghost) Battalion, situated in the territory of the Lysychansk glass factory.

The depot contained armored vehicles, anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank guided weapons, mortars, various small arms and ammo. In addition, there were about 800 boxes of humanitarian supplies, such as medical supplies, dry rations and canned food. The shipping labels on the boxes of humanitarian supplies clearly indicate where these supplies shipped from to the so-called “Ghost” Battalion [all supplies were shipped from or produced in various regions of the Russian Federation].

DFD fighters gave the food and water to the residents of Lysychansk, since all the city infrastructure facilities were not functioning at the time the city was liberated, and for some time before that.

Regarding the two densely-packed buses with medicine, which were found in the depot, DFD Commander Semyon Semyonchenko made a decision to distribute the medicine among the children’s hospitals of the liberated cities.

Semyon Semyonchenko says: “These supplies will heal many children and the city hospitals are now provided with good quality medicine for at least half a year. Our task is not limited to just military actions, we must fulfill a humanitarian mission as well. Our main goal is to restore normal life in the liberated territories, and we must do it swiftly and smoothly for the sake of the local residents.”

Source: Ukrainian Volunteer Defense Force “Donbas”

 

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