Russia sinks own ship to block Ukrainian vessels, official says

Russia sinks own ship to block Ukrainian vessels, official says

Russia has sunk one of its own ships in a bid to block Ukrainian vessels from heading out into the Black Sea, a Ukrainian official says.

Russian ships early Wednesday pulled the anti-submarine vessel Ochakov out of a naval junkyard and sunk it in Donuzlav Lake, near the city of Novoozerne on the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Col. Alexei Mazepa told the Los Angeles Times.

The Soviet-era ship was filled with water at the entrance of the lake, blocking Ukraine’s warships from leaving through a narrow channel, according to the maritime industry news website gCaptain.

Earlier this week, Adm. Alexander Vitko, the commander of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, reportedly visited Ukraine’s South Base.

“He asked me to invite all the officers and suggested that we collectively take up the Russian military allegiance oath and become part of the Black Sea fleet … promising good pay and a bright future,” Capt. Viktor Shmiganovsky told the Los Angeles Times. “He insisted we do that to help protect Ukraine from extremist gangs.”

Vitko left the base “in a rage” after the base commander said, “Comrade admiral, we didn't see any extremist gangs here until you came with your men,” Shmiganovsky added.

Click link above for remainder of FoxNews article.
Click link below for remainder of LA Times article.
LA Times full article

While the Russians have mostly worn unmarked uniforms and the Kremlin has denied that they are, in fact, Russian military units, some were seen Wednesday wearing regulation uniforms, with Russian epaulets and insignia, a Ukrainian army officer said.

Ukrainian Col. Andriy Matviyenko said about 200 Russian officers and soldiers arrived late Tuesday night at the gate of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft brigade stationed in the resort city of Yevpatoria, about 60 miles northwest of Sevastopol. They made no attempt to hide their Russian military identity.

“Their commander introduced himself as Col. Dyatlov, commander of a Russian anti-aircraft unit, who demanded that we open up the gates, let him and his men in and allow them to put our anti-aircraft missiles back on duty under the control and guidance of the Russian armed forces,” Matviyanko said in an interview. “I flatly said no, and they turned and left. They had no business being here, on Ukrainian soil.”


www.latimes.com...

Russian troops acting in a manner that is contrary to their agreement with Ukraine.
$12 dollars
Russia forces sinking a naval vessel in order to block Ukrainian vessels from leaving.
Another $12 dollars

Russia interfering in Ukraine while saying they are not.
Priceless

For everything else there is RT.

So you mean underhanded tactics are only legit if they are commited by westerners?
I was going to elaborate more but its pointless, blinders are doing their job.

Yusomad
So you mean underhanded tactics are only legit if they are commited by westerners?
I was going to elaborate more but its pointless, blinders are doing their job.

Speaking of blinders.. You missed the point because of them.

Russia is stating they are not involved in Ukraine yet they are blocking Ukrainian naval units in addition to a Ukrainian harbor.

Since people liked to throw this around in other threads - A port blockade is an act of war.

reply to post by Xcathdra

A port blockade is an act of war.

Fact.
Hard to argue with that.
I am not saying that the US should be involved, but the weak-arse lip service that Obama is giving the events there is making him (and the US) a laughing stock around the world.
Bring back Jimmie Carter to protect us, he looks like Teddy Roosevelt compared to Obama.

As an American, I'm not going to be able to condemn this. (Secretly, I think it's funny they sunk a junker. I mean, seriously??) Russia has seen the US covert operations unfolding around the world. It knows it's being backed into a very small corner.
BTW I personally think US and Russia are secret pals, with a plan to defeat China.
Only one thing is for sure: Putin realllly hates John Kerry.

reply to post by Xcathdra

Speaking of blinders.. You missed the point because of them.

Blinders?

Missing the point?

16,000 Russian troops, wearing Russian Uniforms AND Russian insignia LEGALLY entitled to be in Ukraine....check.

1.2 Million ethnic Russians living legally in Crimea Ukraine, some of which are in legal military militias, wearing Russian military uniforms WITHOUT Russian insignia...check.

There's the accounting for the regular Russian troops WITH insignia and your ethnic Russian Crimean militia troops wearing Russian uniforms WITHOUT insignia...and you find this hard to comprehend?

It's easy enough for even a child to understand, so i'm sure you do, but i'm not so sure why you seem to pretend not to.

If this was, as the Western media is parroting hour after hour, day after day actually a big, bad INVASION by brutal Russian troops..it's a very ineffective and courteous invasion!

By your own quoted article, it seems all the Ukrainian troops have to do to repel the brutal onslaught of a Russian 'invasion' is simply to say..'No'...and the big, bad Russians turn around and go away!

LOL some invasion, where the supposed invaders get told "no, you can't come in" so they say "ok, we'll just go then...bye." and actually go away!

Brutal those Russians aren't they!

reply to post by MysterX


You are missing the point. Legality of the Russian presence aside, anyone deliberately blocking a waterway, thus preventing it's traversal, in any country is hostile. They're not building a damn reef in the middle of it, it's cutting them off. How the bleep are you not getting this??

reply to post by Nyiah


Would you like a list of blockades perpetrated by both the US and the UK?

As blockades go, this one is extremely gentle in comparison to many carried out in modern times.

You're forgetting that Russia has legitamacy in this Ukrainian fiasco, and a national interest in securing the peace and safety of the region, the US has not.

Besides the sunken old ship..what are your thoughts on the reported 'Invasion force of Russians' simply going away when they are refused access to a base?

Does that tally with the reports of a Russian military invasion do you think?

MysterX


There's the accounting for the regular Russian troops WITH insignia and your ethnic Russian Crimean militia troops wearing Russian uniforms WITHOUT insignia...and you find this hard to comprehend?

Seriously? Even the Russian Minister of Defence can't explain why the 'Russian Crimean Militia" have gotten hold of Russian military plated marked GAZ Tigr. He as the Russian Minister of Defence has no idea! Seriously? It is a complete farce, but he has to go along with it due to Putin and Lavrov who started the farce in the first place. He even disputed that the vehicles outside Ukrainian mil depots had Russian plates! He wasn't quick enough to backtrack and declare that GAZ Tigrs had been supplied to the 'Crimean Militia"

The mistake was not taking off all the plates from all the vehicles. They caught themselves out with the plated Tigr and Lynx. You will also see the video of the Russian soldier becoming agitated and compromising himself. A GRU soldier was also outed via social media due to a kit name tag. Crimean militia my arse!

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by tommyjo


Do you reckon the US defense Secretary and the President himself, being the 1st and 2nd in command of the entire US military forces, know where every piece of US military hardware is or who might have got their hands on any of it?

I doubt it.

But thats what your saying the Russian minister ought to know, which is stretching what he said...by him saying he didn't know how they got hardware is an honest answer..he simply doesn't know.

The same answer the US defense Sec and POTUS himself would have to give if they are asked what happened to the 400 SAMS that went walkabout from Libya recently...and probably a lot more gear besides.

reply to post by MysterX



Ukraine says Russian troops in Crimea have doubled to 30,000

Russia, whose forces occupied the isolated peninsula last week, says the only troops it has there are those based in Sevastopol. The Russian troops that have occupied positions across Crimea wear no insignia on their uniforms but drive vehicles with Russian military plates.

Ukraine says thousands of extra troops have arrived and have fanned out across the occupied peninsula in violation of the treaty governing the base. Earlier this week Ukraine said there were a total of 16,000 Russian troops in Crimea.

The treaty allows for 25k troops.
The treaty does not allow Russian troops to fan out across Crimea.
It also does not allow Russia to blockade the harbor / prevent Ukrainian naval vessels from deploying.
It does not allow Russia to surround Ukrainian bases.
It does not allow Russian military personnel to equip the "militias"
It does not allow Russian forces to be present without insignias.

As for non insignia troops -
Soldier with no Insignia identifies himself as Russian military

reply to post by MysterX


You should get a job with the Russian Ministry of Defence in their propaganda section. I suppose all those people are are just getting some nice selfie pics with the "Crimean self defence forces"

The Russian Defence Minister has to go along with the farce. Even the journalists during Putin's interview couldn't help but smile as he came up with the surplus store story!

He also claimed that the footage of the Russian plated vehicles was "complete nonsense"

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday denied that Russian forces are currently deployed in Ukraine's Crimea region and said that video footage showing Russian license plates on the military vehicles was "complete nonsense."

Link

Will you or he be claiming that the evil western media has photo shopped the number plates onto the vehicles?

Utter non-sense and a complete farce, but I guess some people are completely blinkered and naive?

Xcathdra

Russia has sunk one of its own ships in a bid to block Ukrainian vessels from heading out into the Black Sea, a Ukrainian official says.

Russian ships early Wednesday pulled the anti-submarine vessel Ochakov out of a naval junkyard and sunk it in Donuzlav Lake, near the city of Novoozerne on the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Col. Alexei Mazepa told the Los Angeles Times.

Have you cared looking at the Map & Satellite image of the said reason? Other than an abandoned fighter base there is very little of military installations. The whole lake with its few anchoring places looks more like being a ship scrap yard than any true base for an active "Fleet". I seen many banana republics with better Naval facilities for their 3 fishing boats converted to gun-ship

edit on 7 3 2014 by Guenter because: screwed up the quotes.

Xcathdra
reply to post by MysterX

 

Ukraine says Russian troops in Crimea have doubled to 30,000

Russia, whose forces occupied the isolated peninsula last week, says the only troops it has there are those based in Sevastopol. The Russian troops that have occupied positions across Crimea wear no insignia on their uniforms but drive vehicles with Russian military plates.

Ukraine says thousands of extra troops have arrived and have fanned out across the occupied peninsula in violation of the treaty governing the base. Earlier this week Ukraine said there were a total of 16,000 Russian troops in Crimea.

The treaty allows for 25k troops.
The treaty does not allow Russian troops to fan out across Crimea.
It also does not allow Russia to blockade the harbor / prevent Ukrainian naval vessels from deploying.
It does not allow Russia to surround Ukrainian bases.
It does not allow Russian military personnel to equip the "militias"
It does not allow Russian forces to be present without insignias.

As for non insignia troops -
Soldier with no Insignia identifies himself as Russian military

edit on 7-3-2014 by Xcathdra because: (no reason given)

Considering the situation, i wouldn't trust what a Ukrainain official would say about the time of day, let alone being able to properly count 5,000 + or - extra Russian troops among 16,000 - 25,000 troops allowed there...what did this 'official' do..go along and ask them all to line up nicely and do a head count?

Does the treaty specifically say anything about not being able to fan out around Crimea in the event of a situation such as this?

According to your article, the Russians were refused access and left...hardly surrounding the bases.

The militia have their own Russian spec hardware, always have had and extra hardware is always available on the black market in situations like this.

No...you're right about the blockade, that is not allowed under treaty...didn't and hasn't stopped just about any other seafaring power on planet Earth, from doing it though.

Ethnic Russian forces can choose their own insignia for their militias...the Regular Russian troops stationed legally in Crimea must wear Russian insignia, as has been seen.

Guenter
Have you cared looking at the Map & Satellite image of the said reason? Other than an abandoned fighter base there is very little of military installations. The whole lake with its few anchoring places looks more like being a ship scrap yard than any true base for an active "Fleet". I seen many banana republics with better Naval facilities for their 3 fishing boats converted to gun-ship

If its that worthless then why did Russia invade it? You don't send in 30k troops / blockade a harbor for crappy infrastructure.

Do you think Chechnya deserves their independence from Russia?

Nyiah
reply to post by MysterX

 

You are missing the point. Legality of the Russian presence aside, anyone deliberately blocking a waterway, thus preventing it's traversal, in any country is hostile. They're not building a damn reef in the middle of it, it's cutting them off. How the bleep are you not getting this??

LOOK at the lake yourself on the map. There is no naval base and no one is "blocked"

reply to post by Xcathdra


WELL DONE RUSSIA

Why leave the Ukrainian ships in Crimea to be part of New NATO membership and new NATO ships.

The more guys like you are ticked off by Russia, the more it means Russia is successfully resisting the New World Banking Order.

I sincerely hope that in the future guys like you get really ticked off.

Guenter

Nyiah
reply to post by MysterX

 

You are missing the point. Legality of the Russian presence aside, anyone deliberately blocking a waterway, thus preventing it's traversal, in any country is hostile. They're not building a damn reef in the middle of it, it's cutting them off. How the bleep are you not getting this??

LOOK at the lake yourself on the map. There is no naval base and no one is "blocked"

Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine and is home to the Russian and Ukrainian naval commands. So yes, their is a naval base / port there. Yes the port is big and not small. Yes Russian forces sunk a vessel to prevent Ukrainian naval vessels from leaving.

Ukraine and Russia signed the 1997 bilateral Peace and Friendship Treaty, where Russia gave up all claims to Crimea and Sevastopol.

reply to post by AntiPrivateWestBankers


It's marvelous to know people of this mentality are on Putins side.

Very telling.

Xcathdra

Guenter
Have you cared looking at the Map & Satellite image of the said reason? Other than an abandoned fighter base there is very little of military installations. The whole lake with its few anchoring places looks more like being a ship scrap yard than any true base for an active "Fleet". I seen many banana republics with better Naval facilities for their 3 fishing boats converted to gun-ship

If its that worthless then why did Russia invade it? You don't send in 30k troops / blockade a harbor for crappy infrastructure.

Who says they even did it? Just because some pissed off Ukrainian officer says so does it make it a fact? Where are the Pictures of the "blocked" entrance? Care to look at the damn map and tell me if one little mine sweeper can block such a wide entrance?

Coordinates: 45,-19, 36.43 N - 32, - 59, 14.41 E