– Russian Forces Attack Simferopol Military Unit; Shots Fired, 1 Injured, According To Reports (ZeroHedge, March 18, 2014):
It seems, despite all the market’s belief that Putin would go quietly into the night once more, that the situation is escalating:
- *GUNMEN STORM UKRAINE ARMY INSTALLATIONS IN CRIMEA: UKRAINE DEFMIN SELEZNYOV
- *GUNMEN STORMING CRIMEA BUILDINGS SHOOTING IN AIR: SELEZNYOV
- *UKRAINIAN OFFICER WOUNDED BY LIVE AMMUNITION, HAYDUK SAYS
- *ATTACKS ON UKRAINIAN UNITS INCREASING: NAVY CHIEF HAYDUK
Of course, the big question now is how will Ukraine respond? Because attacking (and injuring) citizens sure seems like a red-line someone should not be crossing (although, as per the referendum, that region is now Russian).
#Crimean unit under attack is the photogrammetric center of the Chief Directorate of Operational Support of the Armed Forces of #Ukraine |PR
— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) March 18, 2014
BREAKING #Ukrainian military unit in #Simferopol under attack. #Russian snipers on the scene, one injured! -D.Tymchuk |PR News #Crimea
— Euromaidan PR (@EuromaidanPR) March 18, 2014
Of course there is no confirmation that these are “Russian” troops per se but it is on the heels of news (via Slashdot) that:
this excerpt from The Examiner: “The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) confirmed March 16 the arrest of a group of Russians in the Zaporizhzhia (Zaporozhye) region of Ukraine. The men were armed with firearms, explosives and unspecified ‘special technical means’. This follows the March 14 arrest … of several Russians dressed black uniforms with no insignia, armed with AKS-74 assault rifles and in possession of numerous ID cards under various names. One of which was an ID card of Military Intelligence Directorate of the Russian armed forces; commonly known as ‘Spetsnaz’.
And the response by Ukraine has to be weighed based on this statement from the PM:
- *UKRAINE WON’T RECOGNIZE CRIMEA ANNEXATION, TURCHYNOV SAYS
- *UKRAINE SEEKS TO AVOID CRIMEA ESCALATION, HAYDUK SAYS
- *RUSSIAN TROOPS BLOCKING 38 UKRAINE UNITS IN CRIMEA, HAYDUK SAYS
And from ABC’s correspondent in Crimea:
Shots fired at a base in Simferopol. #Crimea
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) March 18, 2014
Arrived at military cartography bldg outside Simferopol where shots fired. Police&goons guarding entrance, say nothing. Ambulance out front.
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) March 18, 2014
From the history of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Afghanistan……I bet it is CIA or other dark ops dressed up as Russian soldiers. This is called destabilization, and the US is infamous for it.
I don’t think the world will buy it, the US is out of favors……and our fool leaders don’t realize how hated we have become around the world.
Nobody will believe it is anyone else but the US.