RFE/RL's Glenn Kates has been writing about the reaction in Russia to their troops apparently fighting in eastern Ukraine:
But now, as Moscow reinvigorates a flailing pro-Russian separatist insurgency with a barely concealed incursion into southeastern Ukraine, indications are that Russian military men are dying. And as captured Russian paratroopers are paraded on Ukrainian television and servicemen are buried in secrecy, some Russians are asking a seemingly simple question:
"Are we at war?"
The answer to the question, originally posed in an editorial in the "Vedomosti" business daily, is one that is becoming increasingly obvious for military families. It is the details that they say are not forthcoming.
In Kostroma, 1,300 kilometers from Russia's border with eastern Ukraine, family members of a group of 10 Russian paratroopers captured in Ukraine say all their information has come from secondhand, online sources.
One mother, Olga Pochtoyeva, says when she originally approached officials with photos on her son's Vkontakte page that appeared to show he had been taken prisoner in Ukraine, her claims were dismissed as "provocations." "We showed them [these pictures] and they didn't believe it," she says. "It's Photoshop, they told us. I'm sorry, my son has never used Photoshop."
Read the entire article here. (Kates' piece also includes this video of RFE/RL's Russian Service speaking to relatives of the Russian paratroopers detained in Ukraine:
#Ukraine protesters want better leadership, weapons in war against #Russia http://t.co/DR6LQGRaT0 pic.twitter.com/EbsEEuxukI
— Brian Bonner (@BSBonner) August 28, 2014
Here's the latest Ukraine-related update from our news desk:
The United Nations Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting today on the presence of Russian troops in southeastern Ukraine. The meeting comes after Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said Russia had brought forces into Ukraine.
The meeting comes after Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said Russia had deployed forces in eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned of "further consequences" for Moscow unless it halts the advance of Russian tanks into Ukraine.
A top NATO official said on August 28 that more than 1,000 Russian soldiers have invaded eastern Ukraine, with 20,000 more mobilized just across the border.
Kyiv's National Security and Defense Council says Russian tanks and troops seized the Ukrainian border town of Novoazovsk on the Sea of Azov, and that others were taking positions in the east.
A Ukrainian military spokesmen said government forces have regrouped to defend the city of Mariupol to the west of Novoazovsk.
(AFP, Reuters, BBC, ITAR-TASS, Interfax)
#Donetsk city center up in flames pic.twitter.com/RJH5a21FnE via @PaulaSlier_RT http://t.co/EgyzdWncpg
— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) August 28, 2014
Russia's NGO Soldiers Mothers says 250 more paratroopers from Ryazan to get dropped in Ukraine next week http://t.co/BQY4wOXlf2
— Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) August 28, 2014
Twitterplomacy http://t.co/wakR1m5T7D Canada tweets snarky 'Not Russia' map pic.twitter.com/pP8IqDFl51
— BBC Trending (@BBCtrending) August 28, 2014
Leonid Bershividsky has been writing for Bloomberg View about what happens now that it seems undeniable that there are regular Russian soldiers involved in the fighting in eastern Ukraine:
The involvement of Russian airborne troops in the conflict appears to be a recent phenomenon. Ukrainian servicemen had never captured regular Russian soldiers before, and reporters in the conflict zone had only seen nationalist volunteers and some Chechen fighters helping out the Ukrainian separatists in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. The flow of Russian weapons into the area was documented, and the participation of instructors from Russian intelligence strongly suspected, but that was the extent of it until this week.
Now, with the rebels being hammered by the Ukrainian army, such support is presumably no longer enough. Unwilling to surrender the fight, Putin is surrendering his cherished deniability instead.
European and U.S. leaders are nevertheless careful not to call this a Russian-Ukrainian war. Nor has the first credible evidence of Russian troops engaged in eastern Ukraine led to calls for further economic sanctions. To call Putin's increasingly obvious bluff would necessitate supporting the Ukrainian side, possibly with military aid. No one is prepared to do that.
Read the entire article here
According to "The Moscow Times," Ukrainian urban climber Mustang Wanted managed to get money out of a pro-Kremlin media organization which he promptly donated to a volunteer battalion fighting separatists in eastern Ukraine.
News Media is best known for its Яber-popular tabloid LifeNews.ru, which in recent months has expanded the scope of its coverage. Pages once devoted to the usual apolitical shockers and celebrity gossip have cleared space for articles extolling the virtues of the pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Mustang Wanted referred to the sale as the "loss of [LifeNews'] virginity," and announced that he had already donated the funds to a volunteer battalion currently fighting the besieged rebels in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region.
"This is the first time that LifeNews has invested in the victory of freedom and goodness over evil," the athlete said, by way of an explanation for his choice to sell the footage to the media holding.
Just to confuse you further, Poroshenko says today 1st consultations between Russia & Ukraine army HQs took place, after agreement in Minsk
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) August 28, 2014
Meanwhile, in Kyiv, protesters gathered today outside the Defense Ministry in Kyiv for a second day, demanding the rescue of Ukrainian forces encircled by pro-Russian separatists in the country's east. The protesters said the troops have not received adequate support, and demanded the resignation of Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey. (Video from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
