Tag Archives: Invasion

Invasion Has Begun Now Moscow Ratifies Two Treaties that Enables Them to Build Military Bases in East Ukraine

Important Takeaways:

  • Russia now has right to build military bases in eastern Ukraine – treaties
  • Putin on Monday officially recognized the two breakaway regions – the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic – as independent statelets, defying Western warnings that such a step would be illegal and kill peace negotiations. read more
  • Under the two identical friendship treaties, submitted by Putin for ratification by parliament, Russia has the right to build bases in the separatist regions and they, on paper, can do the same in Russia.
  • The 31-point treaties also say Russia and the breakaway statelets will work to integrate their economies. Both of them are former industrial areas in need of massive support to rebuild after eight years of war with Ukrainian government forces.

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British Politician Sajid Javid Declares “Invasion Has Begun” as Russia Moves 10,000 Troops into Separatist Region

Matthew 24:6 “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Russia ‘has moved 10,000 troops into contested areas in 12 hours’, Ukraine military sources claim after Sajid Javid declared ‘the invasion has begun’ – as Kremlin warns it recognizes some Ukrainian-held areas as ‘independent regions’
  • 6,000 went to Donetsk, 5,000 to Luhansk and 1,500 to Horlivka, source with links to Ukraine intelligence said
  • Came as Kremlin said Putin’s order to recognize Donetsk and Luhansk as independent extends to areas currently held by Ukrainian forces, raising fears of a land-grab and direct conflict
  • German Chancellor Olaf Scholz led world leaders in responding, announcing that the multi-billion dollar Nord Stream 2 gas pipe from Russia will not be approved
  • Boris Johnson followed, sanctioning five Russian banks – Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and the Black Sea Bank
  • The EU will to announce measures this afternoon, with the White House also pledging tougher action after a limited response against businesses in the Donbass region last night.
  • General Sir Richard Sherriff, Britain’s former top Nato commander, warned that Europe is now facing its most-perilous moment since the end of the Cold War.

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Warning from U.S. officials Moscow has list of Ukrainians to target

Matthew 24:6 “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.”

Important Takeaways:

  • U.S. warns that Moscow has compiled lists of Ukrainians to target after invasion
  • The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. has said the U.S. has “credible information” that Russia has compiled lists of Ukrainians “to be killed or sent to camps” following an invasion.
  • Western officials have said that Russia may use false claims about the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine as a pretext for an invasion.
  • The U.S. has warned that Moscow is preparing for “a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon,” as President Joe Biden agreed “in principle” to a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

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Shelling in Eastern Ukraine Intensifies with Pro Russian Separatists

Matthew 24:6 “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Shelling intensifies in eastern Ukraine amid concern Russia’s creating a pretext for an invasion
  • Ukrainian forces and the pro-Russian separatists they’re fighting in the country’s east reported a second day of increased shelling
  • Western leaders say an escalation in the fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region — which has simmered for almost eight years — could be part of Russian efforts to create a pretext to invade.
  • America’s defense chief said the United States had still seen no drawdown of the Russian forces massed around Ukraine’s borders.
  • The Russian deployment around Ukraine’s borders had actually swelled to between 169,000 and 190,000 troops — the biggest military buildup in Europe since World War II.
  • On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave a stark assessment of the situation to the U.N. Security Council, saying Washington believed Russia was planning a full-scale attack on Ukraine. He echoed what President Joe Biden had said, that the U.S. believes Russia is trying to manufacture an excuse for war.

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Russia Positioning Helicopters

Matthew 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

Important Takeaways:

  • Russia Positioning Helicopters, in Possible Sign of Ukraine Plans
  • S. officials say the Russian president’s window for an invasion is limited, dictated by temperatures that will freeze the ground — allowing for the easy movement of heavy vehicles and equipment — before a spring thaw, which could begin by March, creates a muddy quagmire.
  • Currently, Russia has just under 60 battalion tactical groups on the ground, or somewhere between 85,000 and 100,000 troops, according to American officials. Those troops have conducted exercises and drills, demonstrating that the Russian forces are at their highest levels of readiness.
  • In addition to building up aviation assets, the Russian government has ordered in more units specializing in logistics

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Low-to-medium risk of Russian invasion of Ukraine in next few weeks -US general

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -There is a “low to medium” risk that Russia will invade Ukraine over the next few weeks, the top U.S. general in Europe said on Thursday, in the first such military assessment amid mounting concern about Russian troop movements toward Ukraine’s borders.

Air Force General Tod Wolters declined to explain the intelligence driving his assessment, which does not suggest the U.S. military expects a Russian invasion at this point, but is not ruling one out or playing down the risk.

But Wolters later suggested his view about the risks in the coming weeks and months was at least partly based on the disposition of Russian forces.

The Pentagon has declined to detail its assessment on the size and composition of those troops, referring reporters to Moscow. However, the White House disclosed that Russia has more troops on Ukraine’s eastern border than at any time since 2014, when it annexed Crimea and backed separatist territory seizures.

Asked by a lawmaker to estimate the chances of an invasion in the next few weeks, Wolters said: “Low to medium.”

Pressed by a different lawmaker to explain whether that risk would change after that period, Wolters kept his cards close, saying: “The answer is, it depends.”

“And I would have to take each and every second of the day from this point till tomorrow to give you a different answer,” he said.

If the current trajectory stayed the same, however, Wolters estimated the risk of an invasion could decrease.

“My sense is, with the trend that I see right now, that the likelihood of an occurrence will start to wane,” he said.

Ukraine and Russia have traded blame over a spike in violence in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian troops have battled Russian-backed forces in a conflict that Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people since 2014.

Tensions over a buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine’s eastern border have pushed up the cost of raising domestic debt and prompted the government to accelerate efforts to secure more International Monetary Fund loans, a presidential adviser told Reuters on Thursday.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Franklin Paul and Jonathan Oatis)

Trump likely to give U.S. troops authority to protect immigration agents

A migrant, part of a caravan of thousands traveling from Central America en route to the United States, poses for a photo after climbing up the border fence between Mexico and United States while moving to a new shelter in Mexicali, Mexico November 19, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

By Idrees Ali and Lizbeth Diaz

WASHINGTON/TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) – President Donald Trump is likely to give U.S. troops authority to protect immigration agents stationed along the U.S. border with Mexico if they come under threat from migrants seeking to cross into the United States, a U.S. official said on Monday.

Ahead of U.S. congressional elections earlier this month, Trump denounced the approach of a caravan of migrants as an “invasion” that threatened American national security, and he sent thousands of U.S. troops to the border to help secure it.

Currently, the troops do not have authority to protect U.S. Customs and Border Patrol personnel. The new authority could be announced on Tuesday, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. officials briefly closed the busiest border crossing from Mexico early on Monday to add concrete barricades and razor wire amid concerns some of the thousands of Central American migrants at the border could try to rush the crossing.

Northbound lanes at the San Ysidro crossing from Tijuana to San Diego, California, were temporarily closed “to position additional port hardening materials,” a U.S. CBP spokesperson said.

A Department of Homeland Security official, who requested anonymity, told reporters on a conference call that U.S. officials had heard reports some migrants were intending to run through border crossings into California.

Migrants, part of a caravan of thousands traveling from Central America en route to the United States, move to a new shelter in Mexicali, Mexico November 19, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Migrants, part of a caravan of thousands traveling from Central America en route to the United States, move to a new shelter in Mexicali, Mexico November 19, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

The closing was rare for the station, which is one of the busiest border crossings in the world with tens of thousands of Mexicans heading every day into the United States to work or study.

“Today was a lost day of work. I already called my boss to tell her that everything was closed and I did not know what time I would be able to get in,” said Maria Gomez, a Mexican woman who crosses the border every day for work. “I cannot believe this is happening.”

Trump had remained mostly silent about the caravan since the Nov. 6 vote, but on Monday he posted a photo on Twitter showing a fence that runs from the beach in Tijuana into the ocean now covered with razor wire.

Critics charged that his talk of a migrant “invasion” was an effort to rouse his political base ahead of the elections.

Officials have stressed that the 5,900 active-duty U.S. troops on the border are not there in a law enforcement capacity and that there are no plans for them to interact with migrants.

Instead, their mission is to lend support to the CBP, and they have been stringing up concertina wire and erecting temporary housing.

The commander of the mission told Reuters last week that the number of troops may have peaked, and he would soon look at whether to begin sending forces home or shifting some to new border positions.

About 6,000 Central Americans have reached the border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali, according to local officials. More bands of migrants are making their way toward Tijuana, with around 10,000 expected.

Hundreds of local residents on Sunday massed at a monument in a wealthy neighborhood of Tijuana to protest the arrival of the migrants, with some carrying signs that said “Mexico first” and “No more migrants.”

Last month, thousands of Central American migrants began a long journey from Honduras through Mexico toward the United States to seek asylum.

Other bands of mostly Salvadorans followed, with a small group setting off on Sunday from San Salvador.

(Additional reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington; Editing by Dan Grebler and Cynthia Osterman)

Russia gears up for major war games, neighbors watch with unease

Russia gears up for major war games, neighbors watch with unease

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia is preparing to hold large-scale military exercises it says will be of a purely defensive nature, amid concerns in neighboring nations that the drills may be used as a precursor for an invasion.

A total of around 12,700 servicemen will take part in the war games, code named Zapad 2017, which will be held on Sept. 14-20 in western Russia, Belarus and Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad. These will include around 5,500 Russian troops.

Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the U.S. Army’s top general in Europe, told Reuters last month that U.S. allies in eastern Europe and Ukraine were worried the exercises could be a “Trojan horse” aimed at leaving behind military equipment brought into Belarus.

This week Russia’s Defence Ministry rejected what it said were false allegations it might use the drills as a springboard to launch invasions of Poland, Lithuania or Ukraine.

The following graphic shows the breakdown of the troops and military hardware, including warships and aircraft, to be used in the exercises, according to data provided by Russia’s Defence Ministry. It also shows the locations of the drills.

(Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; editing by Mark Heinrich)

Russia seeks to reassure over war games, denies invasion plans

FILE PHOTO: Servicemen take part in the joint war games Zapad-2013 (West-2013), attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, at the Khmelevka range on Russia's Baltic Sea in the Kaliningrad Region, September 26, 2013. REUTERS/Alexei Druzhinin/RIA Novosti/Kremlin

By Andrew Osborn and Maria Tsvetkova

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia tried to calm fears over war games it plans to hold next month, saying on Tuesday the large-scale exercise would rehearse a purely defensive scenario and that allegations it was a springboard to invade Poland, Lithuania or Ukraine were false.

The Zapad-2017 war games next month have stirred unease in some countries because Russian troops and military hardware will be training inside Belarus, a Russian ally which borders Ukraine as well as NATO member states Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.

Russia has used such exercises in the past as a precursor or as a cover to project force in other countries such as Georgia and Ukraine, and the war games are taking place at a time when East-West tensions are high.

Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the U.S. Army’s top general in Europe, told Reuters last month that U.S. allies in eastern Europe and Ukraine were worried the exercises could be a “Trojan horse” aimed at leaving behind military equipment brought into Belarus.

And NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who has warned that “substantially more” troops may take part than will be officially divulged, said last week the alliance would be watching closely.

Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin told Western military attaches in Moscow on Tuesday the West had nothing to fear.

“Some people are even going as far as to say that the Zapad-2017 exercises will be used as a springboard to invade and occupy Lithuania, Poland or Ukraine,” said Fomin.

“Not a single one of these paradoxical versions has anything to do with reality.” He called suggestions that Russia posed a threat to anyone “myths”.

The drills, which will be held from Sept. 14 to 20 in Belarus, western Russia and Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad, will simulate repelling an attack by extremist groups.

“As well as its anti-terrorist backdrop, the Zapad-2017 exercise is of a purely defensive nature,” said Fomin, who said the drills were routine and conducted with ally Belarus every two years.

Moscow says almost 13,000 Russian and Belarussian servicemen will take part, as well as around 70 planes and helicopters. Almost 700 pieces of military hardware will be deployed, including almost 250 tanks, 10 ships and various artillery and rocket systems.

Russia said the scale of the exercise was in line with international rules. With less than 13,000 troops, international observation of the drills was not mandatory, it said.

Belarussian Deputy Defence Minister Oleg Belokonev, speaking in Minsk, said any troops and equipment brought into Belarus for the war games would be withdrawn afterwards.

(Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov and Maria Kiselyova in Moscow and by Andrey Makhovsky in Minsk; Editing by Andrew Roche)

NATO Refocusing Mission Upon Russia

NATO is refocusing their efforts toward Russia in light of Vladimir Putin’s invasion and takeover of Crimea last year.

NATO wants to prevent Russia from doing the same thing to other former Soviet Republics.

“We have reasons to believe that Russia views the Baltic region as one of NATO’s most vulnerable areas, a place where NATO’s resolve can be tested,” said Sven Mikser, Estonia’s defense minister.

“If the Russians sense a window of opportunity, they will use it to their advantage,” said Estonia’s chief of defense, Lt. Gen. Riho Terras. “We must make sure there’s no room for miscalculation.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has been traveling to the capitals of NATO member nations to talk about the refocus on Russia.  He has pledged the U.S. to give weapons and loan commandos to a new NATO rapid reaction force.

The U.S. will also place heavy weapons and tanks in the Baltics and Eastern Europe for the first time.

NATO is facing issues with member nations such as Germany, Italy and France not being in favor of going to war with Russia should an invasion of Estonia or other former Soviet republics take place.