Coffins full of slain Russian fighters for the People’s Republic of Donetsk travel to border

[Bosonic]

Source: Al Jazeera

DONETSK, Ukraine — The coffins sat in the loading bay of a local ice cream factory, filled with the battered bodies of fighters. They had gone to Ukraine to support the Donetsk People's Republic, and now they were bound for the border, heading home to Russia.

The men, who were described as volunteers, died earlier this week during a bloody battle for the Donetsk airport. Their corpses had since been stored in an industrial freezer. On Thursday afternoon they were packed in black plastic bags, placed in caskets lined with white fabric and stacked unceremoniously in the back of a truck.

There was no fanfare, no procession, no heroes' send-off. Instead, a shell-shocked work crew looked on while a man hand-painted the side of the truck with red crosses and "Cargo 200" — the Russian label for wartime casualties.

How the men — at least 30 Russian citizens, according to the Donetsk People's Republic — ended up at the front lines of Ukraine's brewing civil war remains a mystery. Neither their names nor their origins were revealed to the journalists who accompanied the cargo through rebel-held territory, a Ukrainian military checkpoint and up to the very edge of Ukraine. Тhe fighters' presence here and Russia's silence on their ominous return point to Russian President Vladimir Putin's precarious position as the conflict on his doorstep descends deeper into violence.

Read more: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/5/30/pro-russian-rebelsinukrainecollecttheirdeadandaskwhereisputin.html

[uhnope]

1. Putin's Blackwater mercenaries

[JDPriestly]

4. Or enlisted men? Which is it?

Why did Putin think he could get by with that in the Ukraine in the middle of Europe?

How naive.

[uhnope]

6. he has the impunity and Orwellian shamelessness of any Russian dictator

Whether a Czar or a Stalin.

[JDPriestly]

8. Must be something in the vodka (although I have read that he does not drink).

[karynnj]

9. He obviously seems not be embarrassed when caught in lies

Think of the Crimea - where they had no intention to attack, they were not there, they were not going to annex - they annexed it, he praised the soldiers (who previously were not there). I can understand why Kerry referred to some talks with Lavrov as Kafkaish.

He may have thought with that area being Russian speaking and the past history of both in the USSR that it would not be obvious. It was almost immediately. People said many fighters were not "local". Every news source, not related to Russia, mentioned it when they spoke to people.

I just hope that they can find a way to get the foreign seperatists out and get the others to lay down arms.

[boomer55]

2. More likely Russian army volunteers

[7962]

3. But according to Vlad, these were all Ukrainian citizens fighting fascists?

Shouldnt they be buried at home?

[rtracey]

5. Siding with Putin?

Well here are your choices.... fight and die in Putins name, although he doesn't give a crap about you.... or move back to Russia, and after the sanctions have really taken their toll, you have nothing to go home too.... Hmmm what would I do..... Proves the President was right....Sanctions work. My observation...Putin's an arrogant animal

[Benton D Struckcheon]

7. Is there any leader in the EU pointing to this and demanding that Russia ...

... actually take real, concrete steps to de-escalate this situation, as they were obligated to under the agreement they signed? Anyone with an actual spine over there?

[geek tragedy]

10. good riddance to bad rubbish, nt

[Duckhunter935]

11. where are all of the Putin supporters

that keep insisting there are no Russians in Ukraine? There are a few that like to post but seem to be very silent when provided with proof.

[Adrahil]

12. They are trying to figure out a way to blame this on the U.S. NT

[Sunlei]

17. some of them may be in the +++cargo 200+++truck.The russians recorded were using their iphones

[Duckhunter935]

13. Ukraine Says it Shot Down a Russian Spy Drone

Russia is all in, not just the dead soldiers.

The capture of the drone would appear to point to direct involvement of the Russian government in fighting in eastern Ukraine. So far Moscow has denied it is behind the pro-Russia uprising in the east but the appearance of Kremlin-loyal Chechen militants in the city of Donetsk, as well as Cossacks with Russian passports makes those denials seem increasingly untenable.

https://news.vice.com/article/untitled-post-1401465662

[dipsydoodle]

14. What is the association between a spy drone and Russia's direct involvement ?

NATO published pictures of exercises 75 miles from Ukraines's border. What's the difference ?

[Duckhunter935]

15. As far as I know

one side used satellite photography and the other violated another countries airspace.

[joshcryer]

16. Don't think NATO is yet providing intel for Ukraine.

Satellite images of stationary troops isn't as useful as real time or near real time data showing movements.

I'm sure the US will get involved though. Possibly with CIA. Military wise, not civil meddling wise.

[Bosonic]

18. Ukraine crisis: Traffic of war in a border town

Ukraine crisis: Traffic of war in a border town

The separatist-held east Ukrainian town of Antratsyt is turning into a hub for fighters and arms from neighbouring Russia, one frightened resident has told BBC News.

...

Cossack militiamen from the neighbouring Russian region of Rostov and fighters from the North Caucasus wander its streets, Oxana (not her real name) said by telephone.

Armoured troop carriers pass through the streets, four, five, six at a time, according to the woman, who is in her mid-thirties.

A friend in a block of flats closer to the centre, she says, witnessed helicopters hovering over the town centre at about 04:00 a few days earlier. After they left, a "huge" quantity of military hardware lay on the square, including what appeared to be heavy machine-guns and anti-aircraft cannon, destination unknown.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27643518