Ukraine SITREP May 22th, 19:32 UTC/Zulu: Ukie death squad murders conscripts

Something really weird has just happened in the Ukraine.  Everybody agrees that an attack took place on a checkpoint of the Ukrainian national guard near the city of Volnovakha (see map).  35 soldiers were wounded, 15 died (other figures quote 8 confirmed dead and an unknown number of evacuated bodies of attackers who got killed; one source says "13-20 fatalities").  The surviving soldiers say that out of 53 men, only 7 survived.

So far all the sources point to the same sequence of events.  Here is what I pieced together:

A Ukrainian national guard unit (according to one source the 51st motorized brigade which had been hastily made up with middle-aged reservists) brought in from the city of Vinnitsa.  For three days were were told to man a checkpoint, but today they were given the order to attack civilians in a nearby village.  The unit refused and the commander announced that he would withdraw because "there were no terrorists here, only civilians".  At around 5AM a black sedan, two jeeps and several vehicles (vans and armored) of the company Privat Bank (belongs to the Jewish oligarch Kolomoiski) carrying members of the "Donbass" and "Azov" death-squads drove to the checkpoint and opened fire with everything they had.  The soldiers fired back as best they could.   The attack lasted 15min after which the attackers put on some Saint George ribbons and beat up the surviving and wounded soldiers while telling them that they were from the Donbass Resistance forces.  Not a single solider believed them.

About one hour later two or three more helicopters were seen shooting at the destroyed vehicles of the attackers in an apparent attempt to conceal their origin (Privat Bank).  Still, witnesses have categorically identified the vans used by Privat Bank.  There is also video footage confirming this.

This is a video showing the attack helicopters and the explosion of what was either an ammo dump or the ammo load of an infantry fighting vehicle.



The next video shows the aftermath of the attack:



This version of events was confirmed in a telephone conversation by the commander of the Ukrainian army brigade to whom the attacked unit belonged.  It was also confirmed to the BBC, off the record, by a Major of the same brigade.  Officials of the Donetsk People's Republic categorically deny that their forces were involved in the attack.

Furthermore, wounded Ukrainian soldiers interviewed in the local hospitals declared that they had a non-aggression agreement with the local Donetsk Resistance forces.  They also confirmed that the attackers were from the Privat Bank. 

In other words, the Ukrainian soldiers were murdered for refusing to execute an order which amounted to a war crime.  Just as in the case of the bloodbath in Odessa, this latest atrocity was ordered by Igor Kolomoiski.

Interestingly, the Ukie media is now reporting a wave of attacks on Privat Bank vans which, the media claims, "could be used by terrorists".

This is not the first time that such a massacre is committed by the neo-Nazi junta: this is also what happened during the recent massacre of all the members of a police station in Mariupol who had refused to shoot at civilians: they were also all murdered.

In the meantime, in Lugansk heavy fighting is taking place and 24  Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered to the Resistance forces near the city of Rubezhnaia.  The Ukrainian soldiers did not come empty handed: they brought several trucks and an anti-air gun with them.

The resistance estimates the total strength of the Ukrainian forces in the Lugansk area at 6'000 soldiers.  Lugansk is bracing for an imminent assault, administrations and schools are now closed.

What we can say today is that so far the situation is close to catastrophic for the junta in Kiev.  Clearly most conscripted soldiers are refusing to obey as for the death squads, they are only good to terrorize civilians or, at best, lightly armed folks.

The current attack will probably continue - at least this is what the freaks in Kiev have announced - but unless the Ukies have some hidden card up their sleeves, this operations most unlikely to succeed.

I wish that somebody in the Ukrainian military realized that this is the perfect timing for a coup.  No need to be a Chief of Staff or anything like that.  One well-connected and respected Colonel would do.

I am not holding by breath though.

Kind regards,

The Saker