Really?
For миномет?
Perhaps "mortar." If sufficiently large, "rocket launcher." Usually the former, but if you're looking from space perhaps "rocket launcher" is best.
Ponomar'ov changed his story recently. A couple of weeks ago he said they had automatic weapons and machine guns, grenade launchers and various other weapons in great quantities. They'd boasted of then raiding this police station and this arms depot, etc., etc. They were bristling with arms, armed to the teeth, had AK-100s armed with grenade launchers in both hands and in their back pockets.
When it became clear that there was a large buildup, suddenly his men contained just a few hand guns and some clubs. Even if automatic weapons fire had been observed repeatedly.
It helped that the call for the people of Slov'ansk to form a "living shield" also pretty much fell on deaf ears.
That leaves the question--was Ponomar'ev engaged in serious vran'ye the first time round, lying with some scant basis in truth; or is he lying now, engaging in "yabednichanie" (which is complaining about how poor you are when, well, you're not as poor as all that but want to avoid something unpleasant that getting poor gets you out of).
Strelkov, the guy in charge of the "Donetsk People's Army" or whatever they're calling it today said that he had come with a group from Crimea. And that while there were some locals, they also came from other parts of Ukraine. So they're "Ukrainians" but hardly "locals." Then again, Mozhaev, the guy who in the video shot down the helicopter, is a Russian mercenary. So they're not even all locals.
Then again, this is RIA Novosti. Today a small group of Ukr soldiers in Ukr military uniforms flew in on a chopper and detained a couple of men at a checkpoint. The rest ran. The "checkpoint"overlooked a road but was also next to an old mine with old WWI and WWII weapons that the locals were afraid would fall into the hands of the "National Guard" and other fascist units. The Ukr were then confronted by some miners with shovels and picks, the story goes, and retreated. The men at the checkpoint were poorly armed. The soldiers were terrified of the miners. (This is the miner's version--brave Russian miners, weak, cowardly Ukrainians.)
RIA Novosti got the story as a group of unknown assailants descended from a helicopter and attacked the checkpoint. Presumably to get access to the weapons stores. Who knew who the assailants were? But they needed these old weapons for something. This was also the miners' version, but filtered through the Russian media filter. Sounds ominous. Esp. since there's all this talk about fascist military units moving into the area to kill Russians.
The Ukr army hadn't commented on this, and so the only version that existed (at least as of 45 minutes ago) was the miners' version!
It's the same with trying to sort out the business with the canal bringing irrigation water to the Crimea. One source says the canal was shut off but doesn't say when. Another says that the water flow was simply diminished but doesn't say when. A third says that the canal is going as it has for the last few months, but not what that means. A fourth says that soil salinity is a problem and that's killing the crops. A fifth says that the Ukr government won't sign a water payment contract with Crimea. Yet a 6th says that payment hasn't been made and, IIRC, $0.17 million was owed to date for water. Good luck sorting out which to believe. These were all reported in the same newspaper.
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