This really sucks. Unbelievable Ukraine video.

[proudretiredvet]

I read this morning that things in the Ukraine are getting better, that the violence was declining. Then I found this.
I am not positive when it was taken but these are unarmed Ukraine citizens being shot by their own country.

I literally have no words.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. It's awful, but the riots are very much there, and it's all purely political. nt

[quinnox]

2. I have read that there are snipers on both sides

Both pro-government and anti-government.

[proudretiredvet]

3. I do not have a political position on this. I do not understand all of the politics.

But I have a huge people point on this. It sucks. Shooting unarmed people in the streets is murder. I do not care who is doing it, it is murder.

[quinnox]

6. yup

Just like in many other countries around the world, they are having widespread violence based on politics there right now.

[ret5hd]

4. When were these scenes taped?

[1000words]

7. This needs to be confirmed

[proudretiredvet]

8. More links According the News in Europe this vid came out of Kiev

http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/20/sniper-fire-brings-disturbing-new-dimension-to-ukraine-violence/


Lower vid on this one

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10651076/Ukraine-protests-Death-toll-mounts-amid-sniper-attacks-as-fresh-fighting-breaks-truce.html

Vid of one of the state snipers here. Not shooting but he is there.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/20/kiev-sniper-video-shows-ukraine-protesters-being-picked-off-by-police-4311768/

There is a lot more of the same stuff our there right now.
People, this is scary crap. All of this is happening on Russia's doorstep.

[1000words]

9. Thanks

[joshcryer]

10. This happened several days ago.

[proudretiredvet]

11. Thanks

[RedstDem]

12. there are even worse video's out there if you look

of police sharpshooters killing protesters.
saw a bad one on live leak yesterday. disgusting that any policeman could do such a thing. if i were ordered to something like that to my countrymen, I'd turn the barrel on the guy ordering it!

makes you think how far over the line the police in the USA would go.
personally, i think there would be rivers of blood.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. "makes you think how far over the line the police in the USA would go. "

They are heading in the direction of that line, for sure


hat tip to Zombie Horde for the image.

[proudretiredvet]

16. Until a few years ago most of the time I sided with the LEO.

Now I question what they do every time. They have become the Gestapo. Law Enforcement does not need IED proof vehicles. In high speed chases they kill enough of us with their squad cars. They do not need armored personnel carriers so they can do a better job of it. They do not need to all look like the best dressed and most aggressive SWAT teams on earth. They are civilians. They are there to protect and serve and not kill every barking dog they encounter.

[pampango]

14. I read that those shields would stop the rubber bullets fired during most of the protest duration,

but were useless against the live ammunition and snipers that were used in the last couple of days.

[Igel]

15. Some of the shields were metal. Others, wood-based.

The wood-based ones would stop the rubber bullets. They were found to not work if the bullets were metal.

The metal shields are heavier. They'll stop the bullets if they're lead and not fired from too close a range. Also helps to have them at an angle to the bullet's trajectory. In the vid, one guy was knocked down by sniper fire hitting his shield.

Even if the shields don't always stop the bullet, they can slow them down.


As for the video, they were walking towards the sniper. Considering the steady diet of "murderous fascists out to kill you" about the protesters that the snipers would have been fed, having a group of men approach your position is not likely to get you to break out the hot cocoa. Esp. when they're wearing heavy coats and walking from the Maidan--their location is clear from the rubble behind them, the break in the cobbles, and the fact that as they go back some of the rubble is burning. What's under those coats? Perhaps additional hot cocoa mix? Ledentsy?

Snaipers come in various forms. Some are positioned on rooftops to kill innocents. Some are there to try to take out leaders. And yet others are there to protect the building from those who would seize it. The first are unconscionable; the second I can understand even across a political and group divide; the latter pretty much anybody can understand except those who, when subject to an invasion, assume that the invaders are swell and dandy and let them in unopposed.


This makes it sound like I'm pro-Yanukovich. I'm decidedly not. Just used to shifting my frame of reference.

[proudretiredvet]

17. Some that I saw were ballistic shields.

I've been behind a few of them in the past. Others I saw were home made and would not stop much.
Just metal that they could lug around and handle that easily would not stop a high powered round, maybe a pistol round. I'm sure most of the shields they took from the cops or military as the retook those positions.

[Auntie Bush]

18. Sorry, Not watching!