Dear friends,
Since my three research assistants are writing SITREPs from Monday through Saturday, a reader – Baaz – has offered to write weekly Ukraine SITREPs on Sundays covering the full past week. Below you will find his first weekly Ukraine SITREP. Please read through it and let us know what he should do differently/better and how he can improve them. Since *you*, the reader, are the ‘end user’ for all these SITREPs, *you* are the one who has to give your thumb up/down what you get.
Many thanks to all, kind regards,
The Saker
——-
1.Ukraine Blocks 10,000 Websites, Confiscates a Newspaper
http://orientalreview.org/2015/04/12/ukraine-blocks-10000-websites-confiscates-a-newspaper/
2. French Intelligence: USA lied about Russian invasion in Ukraine
http://fortruss.blogspot.in/2015/04/french-intelligence-usa-lied-about.html
3. Armed conflicts registered among Ukraine’s army units in Donbass
4. Sahra Wagenknecht: EU Policy Has Destroyed Ukraine and Damaged Europe
http://russia-insider.com/en/wagenknecht-eu-policy-has-destroyed-ukraine-and-damaged-europe/5516
5. Kiev Needs $1.5Bln for Ukraine’s East Reconstruction – Deputy PM
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150412/1020773766.html
6. Russia Has No Plans to Invade Ukraine – French Intelligence
http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150410/1020714734.html
7. Repression by Post-Maidan Ukraine Govt. Shows Support for It Strictly Limited
http://russia-insider.com/en/maidan-retroactively-criminalizes-itself/5490
8. Ukraine may lose Chinese investments due to outlawing communism
http://fortruss.blogspot.in/2015/04/ukraine-may-loose-chinese-investments.html
9. Odessa Protesters Give a Clear Warning to Poroshenko during his Visit
http://fortruss.blogspot.in/2015/04/odessa-protesters-give-clear-warning-to.html
10. Expert: Social protests may spiral into “left terror” in Ukraine after the ultra-right Kiev bans communist and left ideology
http://fortruss.blogspot.in/2015/04/expert-social-protests-may-spiral-into.html
11. NATO’s Anti-Russia Spearhead Force Conducts First Exercise
http://russia-insider.com/en/natos-spearhead-force-conducts-first-exercise/5529
12. S&P downgrades Ukraine’s rating to “CC” from “CCC-”
http://tass.ru/en/economy/788584
13. Russian Duma deputy proposes to declare the Ukrainian Armed Forces an extremist formation
http://izvestia.ru/news/585084
14. Political stability in Russia depends on Ukraine – report (has a link to report as well)
15. Great War is Coming in Ukraine?
http://journal-neo.org/2015/04/13/great-war-is-coming-in-ukraine/
16. A Tale of Two Countries: The Post-Soviet Evolution of Belarus and Ukraine
How come that Belarus, which used to be four times economically less productive than Ukraine, has become such a success story?
http://russia-insider.com/en/tale-two-countries-post-soviet-evolution-belarus-and-ukraine/5590
17. Historic statues smashed in Kharkiv, Ukraine following adoption of vicious thought-control laws
18. Statement of the left forces of Lugansk People’s Republic
http://newcoldwar.org/statement-of-the-left-forces-of-lugansk-peoples-republic/
19. This Is how Fascism looks like in Ukraine
http://firtka.if.ua/?action=show&id=74131
20. Ukraine: Which way to Europe and for Europe?
http://rt.com/op-edge/249657-ukraine-crisis-west-russia-relations/
21. Kiev starts reforms … by changing city names
http://fortruss.blogspot.in/2015/04/kiev-starts-reforms-by-changing-city.html
22. UN concerned about introduction of electronic pass system in Donbas
http://tass.ru/en/world/789097
23. NATO not going to cancel deployment of US missile defense system in Europe — Russian envoy
http://tass.ru/en/world/789567
24. On March 17, 1991, 70% of Ukrainians voted to remain inside USSR
http://us-russia.org/3030-on-march-17-1991-70-of-ukrainians-voted-to-remain-inside-ussr.html
25. Russian admiral dismisses Poroshenko’s threat to fight for returning Crimea as bluff
http://tass.ru/en/russia/789477
26. No comment from Kremlin regarding Kiev’s accusations regarding presidential aide
http://tass.ru/en/russia/789481
27. Russia to tighten rules for foreign-funded religious groups
http://rt.com/politics/249541-russia-religion-foreign-rules/
28. Ukrainian Anti-Totalitarianism Legislation an Act of Pure Totalitarianism
http://russia-insider.com/en/will-ukraines-new-anti-communist-law-usher-free-speech-dark-age/5696
29. Ukraine’s State News Agency Hopes for New World War
30. Russian political analyst Vladimir Fadeyev argues that the crisis in Ukraine not so much changed the make-up of the international system as revealed changes that have already happened within it but have not been revealed until the crisis brought them to the surface. And what the world saw surprised many
http://matveychev-oleg.livejournal.com/2142166.html
http://varjag-2007.livejournal.com/8192516.html
32. Ukraine needs $ 217mn to abolish Soviet names – expert
33. Lvov without water due to debts
http://varjag-2007.livejournal.com/8195675.html
34. Schengen countries are refusing visas to Ukrainians
http://matveychev-oleg.livejournal.com/2140714.html
35. US Paratroopers Arrive in Ukraine as Fighting Intensifies in Donbass
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150414/1020893219.html
36. NATO activity near Russian borders increased by 80% – General Staff
(strategic bombers from the US Air Force were used to perform strategic tasks during those exercises.
He also said that the US plans to supply its Eastern European allies with JASSM-ER long-range aviation cruise missiles, which will enable NATO warplanes to hit targets 1,300 kilometers inside the Russian territory.
“In the case of a military conflict, critical facilities on the territory of almost the entire European part of Russia will be vulnerable to NATO’s air attack, with the flight time of the missiles reduced by half,”Kartapolov warned.
The General Staff official also spoke about increased intelligence activity by NATO in the Black Sea.
He said that US Global Hawk drones were spotted in Ukrainian air space in March, with the UAVs increasing “the depth of reconnaissance on the territory of Russia by 250-300 kilometers.”)
37. DPR leader says many Ukrainian troops killed, 300 wounded nearby Donetsk airport
http://tass.ru/en/world/789956
38. Ukraine PM: Kiev never again to restore former trade relations with Russia ( Statement by a clown) (Once you read Mr.Buzinas last interview you will know why they killed him as to not spoil their party )
http://tass.ru/en/economy/789910
39. Ukraine a Vector for GMO Poison’s Spread Through EU
http://journal-neo.org/2015/04/17/ukraine-a-vector-for-gmo-poison-s-spread-through-eu/
40. Poroshenko Keeps his Word: Donbass Children Don’t Go to School
( A Gentleman who always keeps his promises)
http://slavyangrad.org/2015/03/23/donbass-children-do-not-go-to-school/
41. If you cant get it up its putins fault. Last interview of Mr.Buzina before he was murdered ( Gives an insight to the kind of man he was and why he must have been a roadblock to those crazies in power)
http://fortruss.blogspot.in/2015/04/if-you-cant-get-it-up-its-putins-fault.html
42. Kyiv’s war in eastern Ukraine having trouble finding soldiers
http://www.0542.ua/news/797093
43. Has Fighting Resumed in Donetsk?
http://fortruss.blogspot.in/2015/04/has-fighting-resumed-in-donetsk.html
44. America’s Weaponising of Ignorance
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/04/17/america-weaponising-of-ignorance.html
45. Conflict Rages in Donbass
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2015/04/16/conflict-rages-in-donbass
46. General Skrzypczak: “I retract everything I said about Ukraine
http://fortruss.blogspot.in/2015/04/general-skrzypczak-i-retract-everything.html
Ok my two cents.
1) double links indeed are annoying. It doubles the size of the doc. At one point you switch to info + full link, which is better but still heavy on the eye. I suggest the following formating:
1. Ukraine Blocks 10,000 Websites, Confiscates a Newspaper (link)
2) there should be some form of useful hierarchy. You shall decide if the goal is to give “this week in a nutshell” or “extensive list of info related to this week”.
In the first case remove 90% of the content and keep only 5 news, 3 lines each, with pictures. Easy to read.
In the second case, pick an organisation that has some added value. You can either go for Monday Tuesday Wednesday etc. (emphasis on the chronology) or per topic ([Ukr Gov][Nov Gov][Ru Gove][Human disaster][Military] etc. Or other, I guess.
What’s for sure is that a very long unsorted list like this isn’t helpful.
Not to say it’s not a nice kind of article to make. Actually I would be happy with just one weekly report and extras when big stuff happen.
Thanks,
could be useful for many who do not follow the agenda daily and/or do not distinguish reliable sources from the “democratic” ones.
Probably some link to regular VV.Piakin comments would be welcome by many –
here nicely listed by topics of each issue:
http://wiki.kob.su/%D0%9F%D1%8F%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BD_%D0%92._%D0%92._%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81-%D0%9E%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82._%D0%A5%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6#13_.D0.B0.D0.BF.D1.80.D0.B5.D0.BB.D1.8F_2015_.D0.B3.
the master on April 19, 2015 · at 5:31 pm UTC said:
“Thanks,
could be useful for many who do not follow the agenda daily and/or do not distinguish reliable sources from the “democratic” ones.”
I agree that this is very reliable to aid reading between the lines , but be under no illusion –
Russia is no more democratic than anyone else – it is an oligarchy no less than the US – this piece was posted earlier @ /zag-russia-does-another-libya-at-the-unsc/#comments:
“http://www.clydefitchreport.com/2014/12/oligarchys-sibling-rivals-the-u-s-and-russia/
“…[]…But the Times article’s most telling paragraph, and not just for Russia, was one summarizing Putin’s power over the economy:
Enlightenment’s story also traces, in miniature, the arc of the Russian economy over the last quarter-century, from Soviet state ownership, to privatization, to what might be called the theater of state-sponsored private enterprise that flourishes today under Mr. Putin. In theory, market competition exists. In reality, the Kremlin and its functionaries have divvied up the nation’s strategic industries among a small and malleable circle of allies. They command some of the nation’s largest energy companies, control banks and much of the news media, and, increasingly, have a footprint in smaller sectors, like book publishing, that are nonetheless important to Mr. Putin’s political control.
It’s that paragraph’s section beginning with “In theory…” that’s particularly telling, because that description of a small circle controlling energy, banks, news media, and increasingly smaller sectors, happens to mirror the United States. The two major powers, now at odds over who will benefit from the global economy and control of energy sources in Eurasia, are essentially sibling rivals in economic oligarchy.
Indeed, two American political science professors earlier this year released a study determining that the U.S. is no longer a democracy, but an oligarchy. That study, penned by Princeton’s Martin Gilens and Northwestern’s Benjamin Page, stated:
…we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened…
… In the United States, our findings indicate, the majority does not rule—at least not in the causal sense of actually determining policy outcomes. When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover … even when fairly large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they generally do not get it.
This is why Peculiar Progressive has concentrated columns on the five vital realities politicians won’t discuss, but — along with Wall Street and the military-industrial complex — will manipulate. And why we refer to the Millionaire President and Millionaire Congress, because when Big Money controls Washington, then the democracy is dissolved. As it obviously also is in Russia, though both Moscow and Washington claim they continue to grow democracies, while, in fact, they don’t.“
Thank you for this SITREP Baaz. It is very useful.
I can speak for myself, but I hope that others share a similar view.
Given that I spend a considerable time analyzing current events, (what is happening these days is historically significant), I need the kind of catch phrase summaries that you provide to verify my information or complement what I missed during the week. Therefore your summary is useful because I can quickly assess the contents of the link, I do not have to spend much time to determine if the reference is worth reviewing, and I can quickly identify missing points.
For the time being I would keep the format as it is: one catch phrase followed by the link. At times, depending on the nature of the information, you may want to add one or two lines to summarize the contents.
This format is probably the most efficient for you as well, since your time is as precious as mine.
Good luck and tank you for your contribution. We are all “Truth Warriors”, united by a common goal.
” He also said that the US plans to supply its Eastern European allies with JASSM-ER long-range aviation cruise missiles, which will enable NATO warplanes to hit targets 1,300 kilometers inside the Russian territory.”
Can someone please clarify regarding this missile? I thought the START treaty bans intermediate range missiles with a range of over 500km. If this is a violation then Russia should upgrade their iskanders in order to wack targets all over Europe,
Financial news directly related to the moment here, since it (supposedly ) relates to those Greek-Russ meetings in moscow last week:
Greek bond (prices) collapsing again, same downslope as late Jan/2015.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-16/contagion-arrives-european-peripheral-bond-risk-soars#comment-5999295
for APR 20, i have showing Greece owing a mere 80 MM Euros on some kind of EU ECB loan.
I like it.neat,tight spot on.thx
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2015/04/17/congress-is-attempting-to-reauthorize-key-patriot-act-provisions-by-sneaking-it-into-usa-freedom-act/
June 1, 2015 is a very important day for American civil liberties and the Constitution. On that day, Section 215 of the Patriot Act, one of the most egregious pieces of legislation passed in U.S. history, will expire automatically without reauthorization from Congress. Naturally, this is causing a panic attack within the heart of the NSA, FBI and all the authoritarian lackey legislators in Washington D.C….
——————————————
April 17, 2015 Backed up against a rapidly approaching do-or-die deadline, bipartisan lawmakers are poised to introduce legislation next week that would roll back the National Security Agency’s expansive surveillance powers.
The legislation could land as soon as Tuesday in the House, congressional aides and privacy advocates said, who would only speak on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.
Now just what illicit drugs could they be talking about that are such a scourge to them?
https://theremustbejustice.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/smuggle-route.gif
http://www.tasnimnews.com/english/Home/Single/715634
Iran, Afghanistan to Boost Cooperation in Fighting Terrorism, Illicit Drugs
April 19, 2015 – 15:48
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran and Kabul have agreed to boost cooperation in the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.
printPrint
Speaking Sunday at a joint press conference with his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, President Rouhani pointed to his talks with Ghani and said the two sides exchanged views on a host of issues, including ways to combat illicit drugs.
http://www.tasnimnews.com/english/Home/Single/715893
Saudi-Led Coalition Drops Poisonous Bombs on Yemen: Report
April 19, 2015 – 18:41
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – As Riyadh and its allies continue to pound Yemen with daily aerial strikes, the Saudi-led coalition is reported to have launched gas attacks in its offensive against the impoverished country.
Had problems with several links–one was dead; another came right back to this page. I’d add the interview by RT with Chomsky because of its importance, http://rt.com/usa/250729-complete-chomsky-rt-interview/
http://russia-insider.com/en/tale-two-countries-post-soviet-evolution-belarus-and-ukraine/5590
gives me not found
http://russia-insider.com/tale-two-countries-post-soviet-evolution-belarus-and-ukraine/5590
works
Thanks Blue. The contrast between Belarus and Ukraine is stupendous. Western media always painted Minsk being backwards compared with Kiev; easy to see why now.
Thanks for your comments for the Sitrep..I shall try to get it more structured ..but friends links not working is not my fault as you all are well versed that its a weekly SITREP and some might be blocked during 7 days .but I am like you all..we are all brothers in arms ..give me your feedback and Saker shall also try to help me make it more to your taste.. I can only put in the efforts…and rest my case with you
all of you have a wonderful and healthy week
regards
baaz
Hi Baaz !! thanks for the friendly work !!
I thought slavyangrad was verboten…
On April 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, for the first time, that Russia could recognize DPR’s and LPR’s independence. Hopefully, if is such an action will be taken, It should be done in a different way as in Crimea. Russia, indeed, should not recognize DPR’s and LPR as independent (from Ukraine) states, but as the legitimate representatives of Ukraine, whose other regions are actually under an illegitimate, nazi-oriented and violent government infringing the basic rules and human rights of the population.
Well the Germans have already started to throw their weight around on this – maybe they should try harder to implement the Minsk agreements:
http://tass.ru/en/world/790380
Rgds,
Veritas
A suggestion to improve this list would be to include the original publication date, or arrange the entries by date subheading. For those entries from Fort Russ, the date they were posted there may not necessarily be the original date. For that you would have to check the source it was translated from. The same applies to other reposts found on other blogs.
I like the format. Well done.
Saker
I sent you a direct email and you didn’t answer so I will ask here even though it is off subject
Colonel Cassad English blog in Canada.Ontario in particular seems to be stuck on April 8 article.
I have tried everything and can’t get it to load current page.Russian speaking site works ok.
So my question is does the site work in Canada Ontario or is it being blocked.I thought with your connections you would be able to verify.It would be appreciated.
You are aware that Canada is sending soldiers to Ukraine so they might be reason for blocking.
Thanks and regards
Branko
Colonel Cassad’s English blog only translates when something important happens. So when he is “stuck” this is actually good news, means that all in all the situation is calm.
Cheers!
The Saker
Dear Baaz,
Thank you for all your efforts.
Rgds,
Veritas
Thanks Baaz.
Here’s another one:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/04/19/406980/US-Poland-behind-Maidan-unrest-MEP
This is the second significant ‘off-message’ signal coming from Poland.
Minsk is dead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKQjeD-VqbU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I will give my 2 cents on presentation.
Presentation is important, consider that many
peoples monitors and browsers vary, many
like to sit back and read from 3 feet + from their
screen.
I have experience doing good presentations
of information and getting good positive feedback.
The main reason why I am commenting is the blue highlight
overpowers the presentation of line item points, you do not
need this.
Try this and see what people think, clean looking and easy to read.
LINE ONE
Bold the title and maybe make it slightly larger.
People save links, spread them around, good titles
are important, using a source that has a better title
would be beneficial.
LINE TWO
Space.
LINE THREE
The link, no bold, no blue highlighter, you do not need that,
the link can even be smaller script, it is very visible, keep it
visible to read source, etc, you do not need any form of
highlighting.
LINE FOUR
Space.
LINE FIVE
Maybe a quote, no bold, keep it regular smaller font from title.
More at source comment, use quotes to highlight important point.
Nobody is going to read all the articles in their entirety posted
in sit rep, this is not what most people do, highlight what you
want known. Why are people posting info ? Simple truth cuts
through the lies, highlight these truths in quotes.
NEXT ARTICLE
Leave two spaces, not one.
So you basically have it organized in small sections,
easy to read quickly and highlighted appropriately.
The above works great on a VB forum, maybe there
is some limitations here ?
You do not need to number it, this is a distraction, not necessary.
You can group info but I would go with the top news of the day
at top, number one story, and proceed down.
If something is well known I would omit it or put it at bottom.
Formatting in the above manner makes it easy to spread info.
Copy and paste.
Proper titles are important for people writing stories,
put some punch into the title, key info, etc,
RI just did something stupid, their old links now do not show
up, bad move, how do you think your site got off the ground
so fast, by having dead links ? People do not have time to
dig for your old links now, they look like buried stories.
I am pissed about this. Spreading these links about,
they are dead now. I am their sucker, seen lots of stories
memory holed, they memory holed their own links.
Never use yahoo, they do same fast. RI should address this.
Do you want just readers or do you want people to spread
knowledge ?
Some RI links are missing, ” link not found ” , I went to
some older ones, they seem to be working, ? , I tried
this earlier too, some of the links look like different
formatting of html folders, the ” /en/ ” is not in a lot
of the older links, this is recent, maybe they fixed it
or maybe some of their stories are gone or changed
location ?
I have seen a lot of people comment on the format.
So I gave my 2 cents.
Having everything numbered and not consistent going
down from story to story does make it harder to read,
at the very least there has to be consistency in bolding
and highlighting. You do not need to highlight bolding
or bolding quotes, bold only title, small letter link, some
space, quote in regular smaller letters,
People should see clean headlines, they do not now,
this is why you have so many comments on format,
it is hard to read, people are not going to be reading
all articles, keep that in mind.
April 20. /TASS/. Russian Defence Ministry units have fully restored the supply of fresh water to south-eastern Crimea. The area experienced water shortages after Kiev shut off the supply of water from the Dnieper River via the North Crimean Canal, a source meeting up to 85% of the peninsula’s demand for fresh water.
an example of where Rus military helps locals
just as in the emergency force response that Putin has announced the other day, as Kiev had blocked of water supplies to Crimea- my in-laws actually got together with friends to drill successfully an artesian well in Djankoi.
Thinks-also you need fresh water to build concrete embattlements!
“The “European” Ukraine … After the recent crimes, Maidán paramilitary with US flags, topple the statue of Lenin in a terrified Kramatorsk”:
http://www.elespiadigital.com/index.php/noticias/historico-de-noticias/9241-la-ucrania-europea-tras-los-ultimos-crimenes-paramilitares-del-maidan-con-banderas-de-eeuu-derriban-la-estatua-de-lenin-en-una-aterrorizada-kramatorsk-
They were only 200 brought from various points. They are few, and cowards.
People of Kramatorsk rise up.