Dmitry Tymchuk’s Military Blog: Summary – July 31, 2014

byVoices of Ukraine

01/08/2014

2 minute read

Brothers and sisters!

Here’s the Summary for July 31, 2014 (for previous summary, please see Summary for July 30).

The bad news:

1. Today is “a day of silence” in the ATO zone, declared at the request of the UN Secretary General, to ensure that international experts can work in the area of the Malaysian airliner crash.

It came as a surprise to no-one that, in reality, this “day of silence” was only observed by the ATO forces, which carried out no active operations today, and only repelled attacks made against their positions. While terrorists battered [them] with everything they had and from everywhere they could.

Been there, done that–case in point, the “truce” of June 20-30th. If anyone in the world still wondered whether Putin’s insurgents give a damn about any truce (or the opinions of the international community, or basic moral and ethical norms), here is your answer, once again. We, on our part, had no doubts [about the insurgents].

2. The next stage of mobilization in Ukraine comes with new oddities. We are receiving signals that representatives of recruitment offices are handing out recruitment summons to all and sundry, and are being, to put it mildly, overly persistent about it.

Here, one must understand that the summons itself does not equal being sent off to the army. Enlistment offices don’t just call on those who will join the ranks when mobilized–they also “ring out” [check up on] other individuals liable for military service. Naturally, the Ministry of Defense should be constantly explaining all of this at the “top” level, while the military enlistment office [should be explaining it] locally, so as not to cause unnecessary commotion.

However, there are cases when the enlistment officers’ zeal gets way out of bounds. Each such case must be cleared up. Today, we discussed this with representatives of state agencies, and circulated a proposal to create a “hotline” on mobilization issues. Hopefully, the military authorities will welcome [this proposal], given how pressing the matter.

3. The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine states [the following fact]: Russia conducts aerial reconnaissance using military aircraft and drones from the territories of Crimea and Transnistria.

Crimea is a no-brainer–it is an occupied area, and the Russians in that territory are the occupiers. But we must clearly make up our mind regarding Transnistria. For a long time, Ukraine has actively participated in resolving the “Transnistrian issue.” Kyiv has always considered, and continues to view Transnistria as a territory of Moldova, but it has always advocated that this issue be resolved purely by political means.

I think it’s [high] time we recognized that Transnistria is a formation that is hostile towards our state, being a territory from which Russia carries out actions against Ukraine (we must remember that in March 2014, before the border was blocked, this was exactly from where crowds of subversives crept into Ukraine). This is the Kremlin’s springboard for acting against our state.

In the future, Ukraine must make every effort to restore Moldova’s control over this territory. Without this [control], Transnistria is like a Russian landmine near Ukraine, biding its time until it blows.

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January 20: Ukraine plans to bring a case against Russia before international courts on violation of the Convention on the Financing of Terrorism

January 20 – No Ukrainian military have died in the ATO area in the last 24 hours, – informed NSDC spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

January 20 – Led by Russian army professional, Russian terrorists are being transferred from Luhansk oblast closer to Donetsk. Amid the aggravation in the conflict area in the Donbas, Russian military leaders are trying to organize cooperation between terrorist organizations of so called Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Also in Luhansk the militants are being replaced with proper Russian servicemen.

January 20 – Approximately 800 Russian servicemen have entered Ukraine on Monday, January 19th – they all are a part of two battalion task forces, – informed NSDC spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

January 20 – Five Russians were arrested on suspicion of terrorist attack in French city of Beziers. All of them are of Chechen origin.

January 20 – Achieving real results, not the fact that the meeting was held, is of interest to Ukraine when it comes down to the meeting of Heads of States, held in "Normandy format" (Ukraine, Russia, Germany, France), – said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin. Thus, the meeting in Astana hasn't taken place – Russia's approach is contentious. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is ready for the next meeting of foreign ministers in the "Normandy format" in Berlin, and hopes that it will be held on January 21st.

January 20 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasizes that the scheduled trilateral meeting of the contact group in Minsk was disrupted by the representatives of the so-called People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, – stated the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin (as a result of Putin's orders, no doubt).

January 20 – Ukraine plans to bring a case against Russia before international courts on violation of the Convention on the Financing of Terrorism, – said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin.

January 20 – A bridge was blown up under a freight train in Zaporizhia oblast. The train was destined for Volnovakha. 10 out of 30 cars fell off the rails. According to preliminary data, there have been no victims.

January 20 – Experts have placed Ukraine on the 21st step in the world rating of the most strong armies among 106 countries. This is provided by Global Firepower rating. In compiling the rating, experts took into account 50 elements. In this rating Russia holds a 2nd place, immediately behind U.S. Army which holds the 1st place. in the 3rd place is China, followed by India, Great Britain, France, Germany, Turkey, and South Korea. Ukraine is placed between Australia (20th place) and Iran (22nd place). As the experts of Global Firepower noted, the Ukrainian army still bears the marks of the soviet era, although in a modernized version.

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